Ye Xi's words gave Ningguang a moment of genuine surprise.
Making the Jade Chamber was easy?
That... seemed a bit far-fetched, didn't it?
The Jade Chamber required a great many materials. Beyond the Qianqi Core, the hardest to come by were large pieces of Mingxia Floating Stone and talismans from the Adepti.
Ye Xi was on excellent terms with the Adepti, so the talismans were no problem at all.
But Mingxia Floating Stone was genuinely extraordinarily rare.
When the Jade Chamber had been rebuilt, the Floating Stone used had been tracked down by Lumine herself, found inside an Adepti's cave dwelling.
At the time, another piece of Mingxia Floating Stone had appeared at an auction run by the Feiyun Commerce Guild — and the opening bid alone had already reached five hundred million Mora.
And that was only the starting price.
Even with Ye Xi's extraordinary mechanism techniques, building the Jade Chamber from scratch seemed all but impossible, didn't it?
What Ningguang didn't know was that Ye Xi was already turning the problem over in his mind, considering exactly which method to use.
He could use the [Abyss Core] — doable, but it would burn through a considerable amount of his stored energy. The upside was that he could adjust the scale freely, producing an oversized Jade Chamber if he wanted.
A truly massive one. Now wouldn't that be something?
Of course, if he wanted to save himself the effort, he could simply use [Copy and Paste] — far lower cost, and the resulting Jade Chamber would be a perfect replica of the one right in front of him.
Weighing it all up, Ye Xi had already made up his mind.
He gave a small nod. "All right. I'll make you two to start."
"Huh!?"
Ningguang blinked, not quite sure she'd heard right. "Two of them? Right now?"
The way he said it — he might as well have been offering to pour her another cup of tea.
Ye Xi pressed his hand flat against the wall of the Jade Chamber and began parsing its structure in his mind.
[Copy]
In an instant, a perfect three-dimensional model of the Jade Chamber took shape inside his head — carpets, tables and chairs, porcelain vases, every last detail, all captured and held within the model.
He extended his hand toward the window.
[Paste]
The next moment, not far outside the window, an enormous floating structure materialized out of nowhere.
Ningguang's eyes went wide, disbelief written across every feature.
"Wh— what!?"
"H-how is this possible!?"
She pressed herself against the window and peered outside.
There, bathed in moonlight, an exact replica of the Jade Chamber hung suspended in the sky right before her.
Ningguang stared at it again and again, verifying with her own eyes — it was absolutely, undeniably real.
"Don't get too excited — there's still one more to go."
Ye Xi used [Paste] a second time. Another massive floating structure appeared in the air without warning.
Now Ningguang's heart was flooded with pure, stunned awe.
She couldn't begin to understand how this was possible.
It was simply beyond the scope of anything she had ever known.
Even an Adeptus couldn't do something like this — to say nothing of the Adepti, Rex Lapis himself could appear in person and still fall short!
Rex Lapis knew Geo better than anyone, and he could create stone.
But that was not the same as being able to conjure ore out of thin air.
Both of these Jade Chambers were floating in the sky — which meant they weren't hollow shells. There was real Mingxia Floating Stone inside them!
If Rex Lapis could actually create Mingxia Floating Stone — or any other ore, for that matter — there would have been no need to send countless workers down into The Chasm to mine it!
And yet here was the problem.
Something even Rex Lapis couldn't do — Ye Xi had just done it.
Effortlessly. In seconds. Out of nowhere.
Even if you somehow had the Mingxia Floating Stone, the Adepti talismans, and the Qianqi Core all on hand, it would still take an enormous amount of time to actually build a structure like this!
And yet Ye Xi had just... finished two entire Jade Chambers in the blink of an eye.
It was beyond all reason.
Ye Xi lowered his hand and spoke. "That's two done for now. The rest — I'm planning to make some larger ones."
"That said, the drain on my energy at the moment isn't small."
"Give me a little time to recover, and I'll finish the rest."
"How does that sound?"
Ningguang's face was a picture of bewilderment.
[Planning to make some larger ones!]
Larger...
The Jade Chamber's size was already the absolute maximum that Mingxia Floating Stone could support — the largest floating structure physically possible!
The bigger the Jade Chamber, the larger the piece of Floating Stone required!
But the size of Mingxia Floating Stone was entirely determined by nature — it couldn't be forced!
A piece larger than what nature produced simply didn't exist!
Though her mind was full of questions, Ningguang couldn't shake a certain feeling.
That Ye Xi wasn't joking.
And that he could actually do it.
Whatever the case, what she'd just witnessed had opened her eyes wider than anything in all her years.
She had been Tianquan Star for so long — and this was the first time she had ever seen anything this breathtaking.
"I... can I go and see them?"
Ningguang could barely contain herself.
It was the feeling of discovering two brand-new treasure chests — and not being able to open them for even a single second was absolutely maddening.
Ye Xi understood that feeling completely.
It was like being in the middle of a game, finally getting your hands on a rare pink gacha ball, and somehow forcing yourself not to pull — the agony was real.
He nodded his agreement without hesitation.
The moment she saw him nod, delight spread across Ningguang's face.
She immediately took hold of Ye Xi's hand and pulled him out of the room.
Outside in the corridor, the three little secretaries — Baiwen, Baishi, and Baixiao — had been whispering amongst themselves.
They had all guessed that tonight's dinner was anything but ordinary.
For one thing, Ningguang had never held a private dinner before — this was an absolute first.
And even on the rare occasions when she did host a banquet, the Jade Chamber would always have Millelith soldiers stationed throughout, just in case.
But tonight? Ningguang had invited only Ye Xi, and left without a single guard.
That alone said everything about how much she trusted him.
She had even dismissed the maids who normally handled cleaning on the Jade Chamber, sending them all home for the night.
The entire Jade Chamber, left to just the three little secretaries on watch.
If that didn't say something, what would?
She clearly wanted a world of two!
"Hey, Baishi — do you think Lady Ningguang will actually..."
Baishi's pretty face flushed immediately. She shook her head in a hurry. "Probably not! That's way too fast!"
"I think Lady Ningguang would start as close friends first."
"That does make sense. After all, this is Lady Ningguang we're talking about — always thinking ten steps ahead. She wouldn't do something so impulsive."
But Baiwen wasn't so sure. "Honestly? I think when it comes to Master Ye Xi, no woman stays rational for long."
"If you gave me the choice, I'd want to climb into Master Ye Xi's bed as soon as possible."
"My goodness, Baiwen — I had no idea you were so bold!"
Baiwen sniffed. "He's practically a celestial being! Handsome, and with a celestial being's powers to match!"
"Who knows — follow Master Ye Xi and you might stay young forever, eat whatever you want without gaining an ounce, and add a hundred years to your life!"
At that, both Baishi and Baixiao drifted off into their own private daydreams.
What did women want most, when it came down to it?
A beautiful face, a perfect figure, a lifespan without end, all the Mora you could ever spend, and a powerful, dashing man who excelled in every way.
And based on everything they'd seen, apart from one particular area they hadn't yet had the chance to verify — Ye Xi ticked every single box flawlessly.
The most perfect man imaginable.
Just as they were lost in their thoughts, the door to the room suddenly swung open, giving all three secretaries a start.
"L-Lady Ningguang!?"
"Do you have orders for us!?"
Ningguang nodded. "Come with me outside — I want to look at the Jade Chamber."
The secretaries were thoroughly baffled.
Look at the Jade Chamber?
What was there to see? Lady Ningguang lived here every single day — after all these years, what was left to look at?
Still, Ningguang had given the order, and they followed without question.
Though their eyes were quickly drawn to something else entirely.
"Lady Ningguang is actually holding Master Ye Xi's hand...!"
"And the most important part — she's not wearing her gloves!"
"Heavens above! It really is exactly like we imagined!"
The three little secretaries trailed behind Ningguang, whispering furiously amongst themselves.
Normally, Ningguang was extraordinarily protective of her hands.
She rarely removed her gloves, and almost never touched anything directly. There were times she wouldn't even take another woman's hand — to say nothing of a man's.
Yet here she was, right now, holding Ye Xi's hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. That said more than enough.
Three sharp minds working in perfect sync, they had already, in their hearts, begun to think of Ye Xi as their new master.
But when they climbed the steps and stepped out through the main hall of the Jade Chamber, all three secretaries stopped dead.
"W-whaaaaat!?"
"Why — why are there three Jade Chambers!?"
"Since when — how is this even possible!?"
.....
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