Chapter 37: Experiment (Part 1)

Though it was somewhat whimsical, Chen Lin was in a state of high spirits; no matter what, he had to try it.

Once the experiment succeeded, he would possess a hidden trump card that no one knew about.

Primarily, Yu Yuehai would be kept in the dark; Ye Jingyun would not know.

If the production was successful and the power reached his expectations, it might become his hope for breaking free from them at the right moment.

The more he thought about it, the more excited and agitated he became, causing him to pace back and forth on the ground.

It took a while before he finally calmed down.

After re-evaluating the feasibility and determining that success was possible, he began his attempt at production.

Despite the fervor in his heart, Chen Lin did not rush into action. Instead, he took out the damaged Artifact Refining Manual to review its contents once more.

To ensure a thorough understanding, he did not hesitate to waste an Enlightenment Pill, using the duration of its medicinal effect to re-examine all the content, including his own theories.

Only after confirming there were absolutely no issues did he begin the refining process.

First, he cast a Vajra Shield on himself, then picked up the Thunderbolt Beads one by one, carefully inscribing array patterns upon them.

This single bead alone left him drenched in sweat.

Thunderbolt Beads were originally intended to be detonated using magic power, yet he was attempting to use magic power to engrave array patterns onto them; the level of danger was self-evident.

A single minor mistake would cause the Thunderbolt Bead to explode.

Fortunately, his technique was sufficiently skilled, and he succeeded on his first attempt.

He proceeded to engrave the second one, which was also a success on the first try.

This smooth progress greatly bolstered Chen Lin's confidence, and he immediately laid out the auxiliary materials to begin his work.

The auxiliary material was a substance resembling mercury but with a slightly higher hardness; it had a dark luster and was known as Dark Silver.

Dark Silver possessed excellent magic power conductivity and could be condensed into various shapes, making it a commonly used low-grade material in the refining of magical artifacts.

Although Dark Silver was not expensive, it was the most costly material used in the production of Thunderbolt Beads.

Chen Lin spread the Dark Silver into a flat plane.

His proposed method was to wrap two inscribed Thunderbolt Beads within it, then engrave a connecting array on top to make the patterns of the two beads overlap and fuse into a single, larger bead for easier use.

Furthermore, according to his speculation, the effect of this stacking would not be a simple addition, but a multiplicative increase in power.

Of course, the specific outcome would only be known once it was actually refined.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Lin carefully placed the two Thunderbolt Beads into the auxiliary material and then circulated his magic power to engrave the array.

As the patterns were outlined one by one, he soon reached the final, critical closing step.

The refining would be complete as long as the beginning and end of the array were connected to form a complete formation.

But this was also the most difficult part.

In the past, his attempts to refine single Thunderbolt Beads had always failed at this step; the energy leakage generated during the connection of the array was extremely likely to disrupt the internal balance of the material, causing it to explode.

Chen Lin's expression turned solemn, and he even cast another Vajra Shield spell on himself.

This time, the materials consisted of two Thunderbolt Beads; if they failed, the resulting explosion would likely be immense, so he had to be prepared in advance.

He couldn't afford to blow himself up just because he was innovating a new artifact.

Just as he was about to start, Chen Lin thought of another oversight.

His purpose in making these combined Thunderbolt Beads was to deal with Yu Yuehai or Ye Jingyun at a critical moment; he could not refine them so ostentatiously.

If the commotion was too great, wouldn't they notice?

While there had been some noise when he refined single Thunderbolt Beads before, it was comparable to the sound of a failed alchemy attempt. But now that the materials were Thunderbolt Beads, it would be different.

The power of two Thunderbolt Beads might very well blow the entire house away.

After some thought, he went to one side of the room and removed the floorboards one by one, revealing a three-foot square opening with a ladder inside.

This was a vegetable cellar used to store food for the winter to prevent freezing; it was not a tunnel.

Moreover, he hadn't dug it himself; it was there when he rented the house.

Initially, he had indeed intended to dig a tunnel leading outside, but since he didn't have a storage bag at the time, transporting the excavated soil was very inconvenient, and he wasn't the only one living in the courtyard—there were too many eyes and ears.

The purpose of digging a tunnel was for concealment; if everyone knew about it, it would lose its meaning, so he had abandoned the idea.

Even so, he had deepened and widened this cellar significantly, even carving out a small room at the bottom.

His idea was that if a demon beast attacked, he could hide inside to seek safety.

Now, it could serve perfectly as a place for artifact refining.

He took out a luminous stone, lay down by the light, and then reached back to cover the opening.

Instead of using the ladder, he used the Wind Control Technique to float down.

The cellar was over three zhang deep and grew wider the further down one went.

There weren't many things inside, mostly stored ordinary food and some of the original owner's daily necessities that he had tossed there.

Conveniently, there was an old, unused wooden board; Chen Lin picked it up, wiped it clean, and nodded in satisfaction.

Conducting experiments here meant that even if an explosion occurred, it wouldn't sound too loud to those outside, likely similar to the noises he frequently made.

As for whether it would collapse the cellar, the power shouldn't be that great.

Even if he were buried alive, it wouldn't matter; he still had Earth Escape Talismans to get out.

After preparing, Chen Lin took out the semi-finished product that was at a critical stage of refining, placed it on the wooden board, and cast a Vajra Shield on himself.

Feeling that it still wasn't quite secure enough, he took out a Vajra Talisman he had purchased previously and activated it, forming a second layer of light; only then did his heart ease slightly.

In truth, even with double protection, Chen Lin wasn't entirely confident. His greatest reliance was the Six Ding Mysterious Armor Talisman; otherwise, he wouldn't dare take such a risk.

He took out another luminous stone and placed it on the wall above his head, providing just the right amount of light.

Then, standing before the wooden board, Chen Lin calmed his mind and began to cautiously engrave the final array pattern.

*Bang!*

The moment the beginning and end of the array touched, a loud bang rang out, and two bursts of fire exploded.

A wave of impact sent Chen Lin reeling backward, but his face showed a look of astonishment.

Failure was expected, but the power of this explosion was far beyond what he had anticipated.

It was too weak.

Forget activating the Six Ding Mysterious Armor Talisman; even the outer shield created by the Vajra Talisman wasn't broken; it only trembled slightly.

With such power, even without any defensive measures, his clothes might be scorched, but he might not even suffer a flesh wound.

"This isn't scientific!"

Chen Lin was somewhat bewildered.

He had secretly tested the power of Thunderbolt Beads before, and a single one was stronger than this, yet here two were exploding together.

Could it be that Thunderbolt Beads had varying strengths, and these two just happened to be the weak ones?

Chen Lin thought about it and decided that was impossible.

They were refined from the same materials; how could they be different? Moreover, they were both products of innate abilities, so there shouldn't be any discrepancy.

Therefore, it must be some other reason.

He couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

(End of Chapter)