Ancestor Above - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Nurture
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Lu Chaohe activated an earth-controlling technique and retrieved the small cluster of Thousand-Ton Heavy Earth. It was rather effortful.
However, he at least managed to pick it up.
The two of them sent the item over to their fourth brother, Lu Chaoling.
Naturally, Lu Chaoling was elated.
He was extremely confident that he could forge a Level Two mid-grade magic equipment if he only had the Energy Stone Essence. However, the success rate of forging a Level Two high-grade magic equipment might not even reach 20%.
Now that he had a bundle of Thousand-Ton Heavy Earth, his success rate reached 60%! Because of this, he would also have a higher chance of advancing to become a Level Two high-grade forger. 2
Furthermore, not only would the end product have an even better defensive capability, but also the earth-element magic equipment that was made with the Thousand-Ton Heavy Earth would be able to apply pressure on people using gravity in the hands of an earth-element cultivator. It would become an all-around piece of magic equipment that could manage both defense and offense.
Of course, there were shortcomings. Only a cultivator who cultivated Earth Elemental Techniques could use the piece of magic equipment. Cultivators who cultivated different elemental techniques did not have access to the earth-controlling technique and would be unable to wield the piece of magic equipment that was imbued with the Thousand-Ton Heavy Earth.
However, that was not too much of a problem. Lu Chaohe was an earth-element cultivator. He did not have to worry that no one would be able to use the powerful final product once he finished forging it. He did not have to worry about wasting a powerful piece of magic equipment.
Lu Chaoling engaged in closed-door training after he obtained the two pieces of material. He locked himself in the forging room of Yuyan Mountain. He ate and slept in the room. He focused on researching how best to bring out the characteristics of the materials and the best way to forge the equipment. He needed to consider all of those factors.
Forging equipment was different from creating elixirs. A person needed specific recipes to made elixirs. They had to follow the recipe strictly and search for the necessary herbs. They had to follow the instructions recorded in the recipe without error to create elixirs successfully.
That was understandable. After all, elixirs were something that had to be consumed. The recipe had been created after tens of thousands of trials and experimentation. The elixir that was produced might not have the best effects, but what was common between all elixirs was that they were all safe to consume.
However, in the area of equipment forging, aside from a few specific pieces of magic equipment that were produced in batches, most forgers needed to adapt to the material they were presented with. They could only create pieces of magic equipment based on the materials they had. This was because most of the materials that were needed for forging equipment were rather valuable. Also, it wasn’t easy to find a replica of the most expensive materials. This made it unsuitable to use a recipe for the forging of a piece of high-level magic equipment.
From this angle, both alchemists and forgers needed both prowess in research and experience. However, the focus of their research differed. The former needed to learn more recipes and strive to increase their success rate in creating pills, while the latter needed to learn more methods and improve their design standards.
One was not more complicated than the other, but both areas required large amounts of time for research.
After Lu Chaoling realized that he had no future on the path of cultivation, he devoted all of his energy into forging equipment. Over the years, he accumulated a decent amount of experience by forging equipment for the clan. Many of his techniques had been passed down to him by Lu Qing many years ago, so he did not lack in that area. He also had decent talent when it came to forging equipment. All of these factors combined made him relatively confident that he could forge an exceptional piece of magic equipment.
While designing a method to forge the equipment, he also brought along his grandson, Lu Mingjie, by his side.
Lu Mingjie was 29 years old and a fourth-tier Qi Refining cultivator. He was Lu Tingying’s only son. Lu Tingying was Lu Chaoling’s eldest son.
Lu Chaoling did not go far on his path of cultivation, but his eldest son, Lu Tingying, was far more talented than he was. He had become a Foundation Building cultivator. Lu Chaoling had placed high hopes on his eldest son. Unfortunately, Lu Tingying died in battle during the demon uprising 20 years ago. Lu Chaoling was devastated when he received the news. He felt as though his life had turned gray.
Lu Tingying only left behind one child, Lu Mingjie.
Lu Mingjie’s talent for cultivation was not as strong as his father’s, but he favored forging equipment. His Fire–Wood–Metal Spiritual Roots also made him more suitable for becoming a forger. 2
Thus, Lu Chaoling brought along Lu Mingjie to study the arts of forging equipment. However, at the same time, he required that Lu Mingjie did not fall behind in terms of his cultivation.
Whether a forger or an alchemist or even an amulet craftsman, array mage, or beast tamer… While all of these side occupations were important in the world of cultivation, how high of a level a person got in their side occupations was directly related to that person’s cultivation level.
A Qi Refining cultivator couldn’t forge a piece of Level Four magic equipment for a Golden Core Patriarch. A Qi Refining cultivator possessed a pathetic amount of spiritual strength and might not even be able to handle Level Three or Level Four materials.
A Qi Refining cultivator would have reached his limits if he managed to increase the level of his side occupation to Level Two high-grade. A Level Three high-grade equipment was the limit of a Foundation Building cultivator, while a Level Four high-grade equipment was the limit of an Initial Enlightenment cultivator, so on and so forth.
Lu Chaoling had brought along Lu Mingjie this time around as there were not many opportunities for him to forge a piece of Level Two high-grade magic equipment. Not only could his grandson act as his assistant, but also he could broaden his grandson’s horizons.
Currently, Lu Mingjie was a Level One mid-grade forger. His level in forging might break through to top-grade after his horizons had been widened. Furthermore, this would be a good foundation for his future advancement to Level Two.
******
While Lu Chaoling and Lu Mingjie were researching a forging method, Lu Qing was studying his system.
The Stonemother that had suddenly appeared in the Energy Stone Mine was regarded as a conquest mission.
The abilities of the Stonemother reached Level Two mid-grade. After it entered the mine, its abilities were increased to Level Two high-grade from its home-ground advantage and the boost it got from the Energy Stones.
Facing such a monster, the system regarded the conquest mission as Level Two.
However, since the Stonemother was only one enemy, the reward he got was not great.
Compared to the conquest mission at the Water Ghost Lake, which was also Level Two, the Water Ghost Lake had four Level Two Water Ghosts, with one of them being a Level Two high-grade. There were also over 40 ordinary Level One Water Ghosts. That might be one of the hardest Level Two conquest missions that existed.
Even so, Lu Qing still profited a considerable amount after the Stonemother was defeated.
It was very probable that the Energy Stone Essence and the Thousand-Ton Heavy Earth would result in a piece of Level Two high-grade magic equipment. Furthermore, there was also a chance that Lu Chaoling’s level in forging would increase to Level Two high-grade because of that. At the same time, he also received an income of 175 Karma.
That boosted his remaining Karma that had nearly been depleted back to 222.
He could conduct a series of actions again.
However, he noticed that there was nothing great when he glanced at his “Exchange” tab. He thought about the current situation of the clan. There seemed to be nothing that required his urgent attention. They lacked too many things, and that made Lu Qing unsure of what to work on.
Thus, he glanced toward three relatively inexpensive options.
They were two blueprints and one blessing-type function.
“Level One Amulet Room,””Level Two Cavern Abode,” and “Level One Blessing-type: Cultivation Acceleration.” 2