Time slipped by like flowing water.
Each day, Tang Ling trained his body under Xiao Lao's brutal guidance, and each night, he buried himself in the towering mountain of books inside the house. The books Xiao Lao had thrown at him weren't just for show — every page was dense with knowledge on spiritual device crafting, forging techniques.
While Tang Ling pushed his limits, Xiao Lao remained focused on his own task — upgrading Tang Ling's gun.
Just like that, two days passed in a blur.
To anyone else, it might've seemed impossible — but Tang Ling had actually memorized all the books. He hadn't done anything else; his world for those two days was only training and studying. Not even sleep had interrupted him much.
Now, stepping outside for the first time in a while, Tang Ling stretched and walked over to where Xiao Lao sat, surrounded by tools, scraps of rare metals, and glowing blueprints. He quietly took a seat nearby, watching.
Without looking up from his work, Xiao Lao asked, "So, you actually finished reading all of them? Didn't expect you to be such a nerd."
Tang Ling tilted his head, a little confused. "Wait… was that a compliment or an insult?"
Xiao Lao snorted, not looking up from his work. "Both. You're a nerd, but at least you're not a useless one."
Tang Ling blinked, processing the unexpected praise before a grin crept onto his face. "I'll take it as a compliment then, Master."
Xiao Lao smirked. "You little troublemaker."
Tang Ling chuckled, his excitement building. "So, am I ready to create my first spiritual device?"
Xiao Lao gave a nod, not missing a beat. "Let's see if you really absorbed everything. Are you ready?"
Tang Ling's grin widened. "Absolutely! Those books might have been a mountain, but they were filled with so much valuable knowledge. I didn't expect creating a spiritual device to be just as exciting as designing one. I'm all in."
Xiao Lao stored all the materials he had been using for the upgrade, along with Tang Ling's gun, in his storage ring. He then raised his left arm, and with a subtle motion, a massive stone was vacuumed from the far side of the river. With a resounding bang, it landed heavily on the ground.
Without missing a beat, Xiao Lao pulled out a pair of black gloves that appeared to be perfectly sized for Tang Ling's hands, a rune cutter, metal bars, and a monster core. He laid them out on the stone.
The rune cutter, a small dagger-like tool, was sharp and precise — essential for carving delicate energy patterns—a special rune into cores. But its function didn't stop there. It was also used during the crafting process to shape and engrave the metal parts of a device, especially during the initial formation of the device's body. Its balanced edge allowed for both fine rune work and small-scale metal cutting, making it one of the most important tools in any spiritual device creator's arsenal.
The energy core was crafted by purifying a monster core, using a variety of methods to remove all impurities. The highest-quality cores were blue, while the lower-tier ones remained a faint light color, reflecting the original hue of their respective monsters.
"These cores are crucial," Xiao Lao explained, looking at Tang Ling. "They help channel spiritual energy from the user to the device. The better the core, the more power it can handle. It stores spiritual energy and releases it according to the user's will. With higher-grade monster cores, you also get many additional benefits. Higher-tier runes can only be carved into higher-quality cores."
Xiao Lao paused, then gripped the rune cutter and, with a flick of his wrist, swiftly carved several precise lines into the surface of the large stone. Instantly, the solid rock began reshaping itself — transforming into a smooth, two-seat crafting station. The surface flattened out, grooves forming to hold tools, metal pieces, and blueprints. It was now perfectly designed for precision and stability during spiritual device crafting. Xiao Lao seated himself on one side, calmly watching.
"Boy, sit down, and create a gun with a fifty-meter attack range."
Tang Ling's eyes widened in amazement. Xiao Lao had casually reshaped a boulder into a professional workstation using nothing more than a tool in his hand. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
"Okay, Master," Tang Ling said, excitement bubbling in his chest. "Watch closely as I make a gun so beautiful, you'll be amazed."
Tang Ling took out a sheet of high-quality paper and a green azure pen that had a jade-green crystal embedded at its end. The crystal seemed to act as a storage device, holding a large amount of ink inside.
Xiao Lao instantly recognized it and said, "I didn't expect Dan to give you that pen. You're really a lucky boy — he doesn't even let me touch it."
Tang Ling then began designing the gun on paper with the pen. His lines were clean and clear, creating a well-organized and understandable blueprint.
In half an hour, the design was complete. He put on the gloves, picked up the rune cutter, and began cutting the metal slowly and precisely.
As he worked, a flicker of nervousness crossed his mind. "This is my first time creating something… I have the knowledge, but no real experience. What if I mess it up?"
He knew very well — any mistake during the crafting process, especially while carving runes onto the energy core, could lead to disaster. If the rune failed to form properly or the energy channels were misaligned, the core could burst with uncontrollable force. And if the core came from a powerful beast, that explosion wouldn't just destroy the spiritual device— it had the potential to flatten an entire city.
He took a deep breath. "No — focus. I can't afford even the slightest slip."
After two hours of careful work, he finally completed the body parts of the gun in three sections: the core housing, the energy channel barrel, and the recoil stabilizer. Then, taking the energy core in his left hand, he began carving the rune onto it with full concentration.
His hands moved with deliberate care, each line etched into the glowing core with absolute precision. But midway through a stroke, the core suddenly flared — a brief, angry pulse of light flickered through it.
Tang Ling's breath caught. The rune cutter froze mid-line.
His heart pounded in his chest. "Did I mess up?"
The core buzzed with unstable energy, a faint hum growing louder — like it was moments away from rejecting the rune.
A flicker of spiritual light pulsed within… then slowly, the chaos subsided. The core stabilized.
He let out a shaky breath. "That was close…"
Then, tightening his grip, he continued — slower now, with even more focus. Every stroke had to be flawless.
He was so focused, he didn't even notice the passage of time. It took him another two hours to fully finish the rune carving.
Xiao Lao simply watched the entire process silently, looking either bored or completely uninterested.
Finally, Tang Ling finished the energy core. He glanced once at the spiritual device design he had drawn, then joined all the body parts together and fitted the core into the center of the gun.
After everything was in place, Tang Ling looked up at Xiao Lao with a proud grin and said, "You saw me, right? Didn't I make it beautifully?"
Xiao Lao, clearly annoyed after watching for hours, shot him a deadpan look. "Yes, I saw a snail taking four hours to do a one-hour job. Now let's find out if that gun even works."
Then he raised the gun and aimed at a tree standing about fifty meters away, steadying his breath as he locked onto the target.