“This is an extremely powerful, spiritually enhanced acid.”

“Can’t you just say, 'spiritual acid?'”

”That’s not… fine, whatever.”

I pointed to one of the smallest chunks of metal as it visibly vanished.

“It’s so strong that it destroys metals used in forging medium-quality, sky-rank weapons and below.”

Then I gestured to the now reddish liquid in the glass. “However, it only dissolves the Red Titanium. Essentially, our acid turns that metal into a liquid without melting it.”

Okay, technically, it was closer to breaking it into the smallest pieces possible, while still keeping the spiritual signature intact.

This was actually a method I deduced based on my experiences in my past-past life purifying gold. Of course, since the materials in this universe were very different, it took significant trial and error to get it right.

I often watched my contemporaries weep with jealousy and complain about the amount of materials I used up. But my results spoke for themselves.

Just thinking about their slapped faces... Muahahaha!

Little Spring looked like he wanted to say something but held himself back.

I bet he was finally realizing how amazing my decision to buy that ugly pearl was.

He stared at the bubbling liquid and poked the glass. He jerked his finger back and blew on it.

“It’s warm now!”

No shit!

I pulled his wrist toward me and looked at his completely unharmed hand. His body cultivation once again saved his ass from getting a nasty burn.

“Don’t touch anything in the forge unless you know it isn’t hot!”

“Ah, how long will it take to finish?”

I shrugged. “A few hours.”

“So, are we just going to... wait here for this to dissolve?”

I narrowed my eyes. I knew he was changing the topic to avoid another lecture on safety, but I had to introduce the next section of our project. “Metal is just one part of armor. What do you think makes up a majority of it?”

He shook his head.

“The answer is fabric!”

The brat scowled.

“Even if you’re wearing leather, you’re going to need something underneath it.”

“Isn’t that… obvious?”

“But what if what you wore under your armor was also armor?”

“Like spiritual robes?”

I nodded. “The armor we use is essentially a set of wearable defensive spiritual items. And at our level, the best types are made from alloys.”

After clasping my arms behind my back like the little master I was, I continued. “Unfortunately, while metal is great for blocking sharp blows, it’s heavy and affects movement. And at this stage in our cultivation, we can’t just stand still and throw spells at our opponents while we fly around using divine sense. We have to move our bodies.”

“But fabric isn’t as strong as metal,” he pointed out.

No shit.

“However, there are special silks made from Magnificent Silver Silkworm Cocoons that can be even stronger.” Better than Kevlar. “And if you process Cloud Puff Cotton, it will become a very powerful cloth.”

“Do we have any of those?”

“With what spirit stones could we afford either one?!” I cleared my throat. “Though I did sow a small field of cotton seeds behind the palace.”

“Those spiritual chickens you borrowed from Chef Garlic really messed up that area. Will any of those plants actually grow?”

I cleared my throat. “Anyway. The seedlings that survived the chicken catastrophe should be ready to turn into good spiritual armor by the time we’re in Golden Core.”

“It could be sooner since the upgrade increased plant growth.”

“I already included that.”

“Does that mean you think we’ll reach Golden Core in a few years?” He scowled up at me with an adorable, confused face.

“Since you still have a lot to learn, there is no telling how soon you’ll be able to reach it, but as long as I have enough spirit stones and defensive measures, I should make it in under a decade.”

If I didn’t first die from my goddamn Heavenly Tribulation.

The kid scowled at me. “You think I can’t match your cultivation speed?”

Brat. “While you learn fast, I still have a thousand years on you.”

With his arms crossed the brat looked determined. “I bet I can be as fast as you.”

I raised both eyebrows and smirked. “Oh, we’re betting now?”

He nodded.

“Bets require stakes. A stake needs to be something that the other party finds worth their effort. So, do you have anything that I need?”

He looked at me like I was stupid and gestured to the room.

Wait! Was he talking about the space?

I scowled at him. “Never make a bet with an item you aren’t willing to part with.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Besides, the stakes need to be of similar value. What could I possibly put up that is as priceless as your space?”

Besides, if he ever used it for a bet, I’d beat him up until he learned not to.

Then again, this brat was still the fucking protagonist of this universe. There was no way the original author would ever allow the kid to part with it over a wager.

“What if we keep it friendly?” He suggested. ”Each time we reach a new stage, if you win — I’ll prepare whatever meal you want. And if I win, you can forge whatever spiritual tool I need.”

I scowled. “Don’t we already craft what we each need?”

“Well, whatever you want me to cook doesn’t have to be for you.”

Huh. Actually, it was possible that I may ask the kid to make something for someone else. For instance, if I wanted to help a junior who had consumed too many pills and needed a meridian-cleansing spiritual meal.

I grinned. “One more condition — the food and the tool need to be under thirty mid-tier spirit stones.”

He hesitated. “Anything above that can be paid for by the other party.”

“Fine.”

And since it was a friendly match, it wouldn’t violate rule number four of the Transmigrated into a Novel Club — always stay on the main character’s side, even if the odds seem bad.

Besides, I had such an enormous advantage that I might actually win!

“Since spiritual silk and cotton are out of our price range, what are we going to use to create your armored robes?”

“Our robes. While I don’t currently have sufficient funds to make the metal parts, we should be able to produce enough fabric to prepare two sets of clothes.”

“How are we going to do that?”

I set out over twenty piles of items, cluttering up the stone worktable.

“When you don’t have quality materials, you make your own!”

I patted the pile of crystals and it moved a few inches away from the edge of the table. “To do this, we’ll use a process similar to alchemy. The difference is that we’re forging it. And the procedure I’m about to show you will create a type of fabric that has never appeared in this world before. Muahahaha!”

Little Spring looked at me like I was crazy, then poked at one of the beetle shells. It slid across the stone.

The kid picked up a trash-can-sized silvery honeycomb and examined its empty hexagons. “I remember this! I thought you were taking it to make special candles or nail polish.”

I scowled. “You can’t use the wax from the Giant Three Striped Bees for makeup. And considering its high melting point, it would become a shitty candle.”

He looked up at me with his brows scrunched.

I slowly went over each of the items. There were piles of insect shells, bunches of roots from strong weed-like spiritual plants, and various crystalline ingredients. It actually came out to be a lot of individually cheap materials. Some were even considered literal trash.

With a gesture, I increased the flames of the forge up to its highest point.

From the top shelf, I used spiritual energy to pull down the largest crucible I had and tossed it into the furnace.

The harder substances were more difficult to melt, so I sent the crystals in first.

Little Spring tugged at my sleeve. “You aren’t counting.”

“While timing for this is important, it’s not as exact as alchemy. Instead of paying attention to the time, you need to be aware of when the substance melts.”

He nodded. “Are you sure those shiny rocks will melt?”

I scowled. “Of course I am. But it will take some time. While we wait, why don’t you add some more lime juice to the jar and a few shavings of pearl until it bubbles again?”

His eyes sparkled, and he immediately ran to do as I asked.

Well, alchemical-forging was super fun.

In the meantime...

I pulled out a thick metal stand and trough I’d made a few days ago. Many thread-sized holes were punched out of the bottom where I’d used several dozen ‘Thousand Cuts.’

Honestly, this was makeshift as fuck, but it would get the job done. And it wasn’t like my punctures weren’t more exact than a computer.

Once I sensed that the crystals had finished melting, I used my spiritual energy to grab an enormous pile of insect shells and scatter them around the cherry-red liquid. They burst into flames on contact as the undesirable parts burned away.

Next, I tossed in the spiritual plants. These would not take long to mix in since most of each plant would get refined before they even touched the molten mixture. Of course, the parts I desired would make it through, even with the high temperatures.

Using a series of complicated hand seals, I sent the liquid inside the crucible churning. It started to glow green.

“How is that going to turn into fabric?”

“Very carefully.”

I sent the beeswax over the kid’s head and into the forge.

The scent coming out of the furnace was almost indescribable. Like ash and honey with the sting of alcohol.

At this point, the liquid contracted by three-quarters of its original size and turned bright white.

But I wasn’t done yet. I used another series of hand seals to shuffle everything in a way that would strengthen it and even out the ingredients. Next, I twisted it to increase the protective properties while still keeping it soft and malleable.

This was the most I could do with this substance. There were other things I could have added to it to strengthen it, but they weren’t cost-effective in this era.

“It’s time!” I pulled the stand and trough over to the forge.

Little Spring poked at it. “Are you sure about this? It doesn’t look very stable.”

I grinned. “That’s why we always wear protective talismans whenever we craft.”

“But this seems… more dangerous than usual.”

I very seriously ignored that statement and said, “When I tell you to, use your spiritual energy to grab the threads and pull.”

His eyes widened.

I laughed.

He scowled at me like I was crazy.

Whatever. It was fine. Even if he didn’t take care of the threads, I’d do it. It wasn’t like this was my first time.

With a scooping gesture, I sent the crucible floating out of the furnace. Once I had it hovering above the trough, I quickly poured it in.

Initially, due to surface tension and the smallness of the cuts, nothing happened. Then I made a special hand seal and used a square of spiritual energy to push the molten liquid down, compressing it until it had no choice but to go through the tiny holes.

Thin strands exited out the other end. Little Spring grabbed them with a hand-shaped energy attack and pulled them across the room at the same rate they were being created.

Quickly, the liquid finished turning into malleable strings.

The alabaster threads shimmered on the stone floor in the same way I imagined qillin fur would.

The kid pressed his hand to his heart and breathed swiftly, as if I had scared him. “I thought you were going to get that molten stuff everywhere and get injured.”

Muahahaha! “This stuff cools fast. You did well.”

He stepped up to the long line of threads and poked a steaming strand. Then, when he realized his finger didn’t burn, he ran it over the thread.

“Are you serious?!” I jerked his hand back and flicked his glabella.

“I already told you not to poke something if you don’t know if it’s cool or not! Even with your body cultivation, you can still get hurt. That’s a waste of a healing pill!”

I had said that it cooled fast, not that it cooled immediately! And it wasn’t like the talismans I had protected us from our own stupid actions.

He rolled his eyes at me.

Fuckin’ brat. This was the second goddamn time today! Was he asking for an hour-long lecture on how to be safe in the lab… er forge?

“It feels soft. Not like silk, and not like cotton either. What is it?”