Translator: AnubisTL
The so-called laboratory was a small room, barely a dozen square meters in size. Its walls were not metal but rough-hewn rock, and the floor was covered with a simple rune-inscribed tile pattern.
At the center of the room stood a rudimentary workbench, above which hung a magic energy lamp. In the corners, basic equipment lay piled: small crucibles, bellows, water troughs, and the like.
Most crucially, fundamental runes were inscribed at the four corners of the room and along the doorframe.
"Is this a basic detection-blocking magic formation?"
After locking the door, Jieming sensed the faint energy fluctuations as the formation activated.
While this level of formation might not withstand the powerful probing of a high-level wizard, any attempt to breach its barrier would trigger an alarm, making it sufficient as a warning system.
Everything within the laboratory appeared crude and rudimentary. Apart from the protective and isolation formations, the room seemed utterly unremarkable.
However, upon closer inspection, Jieming discovered a pleasant surprise: "The laboratory actually has its own magic net terminal?"
In a corner of the laboratory sat a machine identical to the magic net terminals in the mission hall.
Jieming effortlessly activated the machine with his badge and discovered that its content was even more comprehensive than what was available in the mission hall. In addition to the standard array of missions, the various laboratories also used the network to buy and sell needed materials and products among themselves.
"They even offer free delivery for basic supplies! This is far better than the mission hall," Jieming remarked.
While the mission hall also offered a similar service for basic supplies, it didn't include delivery. Buyers had to collect their purchases themselves.
This wasn't a problem for high-end resources, but for common materials, the purchasing power of merit points here was astonishingly high.
Jieming also noticed that the missions and purchase requests posted by the various laboratories had given rise to something resembling the "forums" of his previous life.
Unfortunately, in this world, the value of knowledge far outweighed all other considerations. Most discussions remained superficial, and despite years of development, the "forum" remained only a rudimentary prototype.
Even so, the scattered information gleaned from these discussions proved immensely valuable to Jieming.
"The knowledge purchasing system is terrifyingly comprehensive. Zhiwang and similar platforms can't even hold a candle to it..."
After losing himself in the magic network for a while, Jieming finally snapped back to reality. "Good grief, I've been offline for so long I'm getting excited. So, it seems the most crucial function of these low-level laboratories, besides ensuring privacy, is their constant access to the magic network..."
Having reached this conclusion, Jieming stared silently at the magic net terminal before him. "What is this? A private internet cafe? And the connection fees are outrageously expensive!"
After mentally grumbling for a while, Jieming decided to stop wasting time and focus on his primary objective for the day.
From his toolbox, he retrieved the piece of gold he had repeatedly reshaped through alchemy. Instead of using the laboratory's crucible, he pulled out a stone from his personal toolbox.
According to the knowledge he had acquired from the Great Dao Library Pavilion, a first-layer qi refiner required the aid of tools to refine adamantium.
The simplest method involved a specially crafted crucible with an internal structure designed to concentrate heat and aid in refinement.
Jieming retrieved his alchemy plate and placed the stone on it. Within moments, the entire stone transformed into a small cauldron, roughly the size of a rice cooker.
"This shaping feels so smooth," Jieming marveled inwardly. "It's clear that releasing the inner circulation allows for far greater control."
He placed the gold nugget into the stone crucible he had fashioned, focused his mental power, and began channeling his hard-earned true essence.
"The Geng Metal Refinement Method... This is a fundamental metal purification technique from the Great Dao Library Pavilion. It works by using the high-purity penetration of true essence and the precise guidance of divine sense to strip away impurities and extract the core essence of the metal. Unfortunately, with my current cultivation level, I can only refine small quantities, and the method requires materials with stable properties. Thankfully, gold's stability makes it barely suitable."
Activating the laboratory's heating formation, a flame materialized above the experimental platform.
After placing the stone crucible on the flame, Jieming began gradually channeling true essence into the gold nugget.
The true essence permeated the gold's interior like a supreme solvent, quickly seeping between every particle.
Simultaneously, his divine sense, as precise as a surgeon's scalpel, probed the gold's core, sensing its fundamental "golden essence" and the impure "mortal impurities" within.
This process consumed vast amounts of true essence. Jieming felt his meager reserves draining like a flood released from a dam, leaving him increasingly weak.
His face paled, and fine beads of sweat dotted his forehead.
Fortunately, he had already mastered a meditation technique that allowed him to draw elemental power from the environment and convert it into true essence to replenish his reserves.
Clenching his jaw, Jieming maintained the flow of true essence and the precise guidance of his divine sense. Following the principles of the Geng Metal Refinement Method, he utilized the simple equipment in the laboratory for assistance.
Each step demanded absolute focus and control. He could sense the "mortal impurities" within the gold resisting and separating under the combined influence of true essence and external forces. These impurities transformed into invisible dust, leaching from the gold's surface and burning away in the high-temperature stone furnace.
As time ticked by, Jieming's true essence dwindled to near depletion, and his physical weakness reached its peak.
He felt dizzy, and the faint hum of the isolation array seemed to fade into the distance.
Finally!
Just before his true essence was completely exhausted, all impurities within the gold had been stripped away.
The fist-sized lump of gold in the furnace had been reduced to a fingertip-sized, golden nugget radiating a restrained, inner radiance.
Success!
Jieming leaned weakly against the workbench, gasping for breath.
Too exhausted to examine his creation, he sat cross-legged on the ground to meditate. He activated the full power of the truth rune in his mental sea, drawing elemental power from the surroundings to replenish his depleted true essence.
After more than half an hour, Jieming, his condition mostly recovered, finally stood up. He carefully retrieved the golden nugget from the stone cauldron with tweezers.
It felt ice-cold to the touch, yet impossibly heavy.
This was no longer ordinary gold, but a substance imbued with an indescribable concept of eternal stability.
After consulting the Great Dao Library Pavilion's knowledge, Jieming confirmed its identity: adamantium, a metallic essence that could only be refined through special methods in the immortal cultivation world!
Jieming gazed excitedly at the fingertip-sized nugget of adamantium in his hand. This was likely the first time he had encountered a truly extraordinary material since arriving in this world.
(End of the Chapter)
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