Chapter 4060 — Something Went Wrong
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Right! We haven't failed—more precisely, we haven't completely failed!" In an instant the Scrap King was brimming with vigor again. Pointing at the forging pool, he explained, "Look closely and you'll see it: the pool hasn't fully cooled, and the divine weapon hasn't fully set. The way it looks now, if we don't find a solution, it'll just stay stuck in this lukewarm state—which means we still have room to salvage it."
At those words, Wei Zhao's spirits lifted. After observing carefully for a while, he confirmed that it was indeed as the Scrap King said: the divine weapon was still changing, at a rate too slow for the naked eye to discern. He asked at once, "Solve what problem?"
"The attribute clash between the myriad-year tree crystal and the primeval pure soil!" the Scrap King declared with certainty. "Brother Lin, I told you before—forging has one most basic requirement: all the materials must be attribute-compatible. And if they aren't, you must find some way to neutralize them with other auxiliary materials. That's exactly the problem we're facing now."
"How can that be? The myriad-year tree crystal is of the wood attribute, and the primeval pure soil is of the earth attribute. How could there be any clash between the two?" Wei Zhao asked, puzzled. Wood and earth generate each other—that was common knowledge.
The Scrap King shook his head. "Wrong. These two materials are far too rare, and their precise origins are very hard to pin down, so we both made a mistake on the most basic point. The myriad-year tree crystal is indeed of the wood attribute—but the primeval pure soil is not purely of the earth attribute!"
"Not earth attribute? Then what else could it be?" Wei Zhao asked in confusion. Even without knowing its origins, how could something as quintessentially earthy as primeval pure soil be of any other attribute?
"I once saw primeval pure soil mentioned in my master's handwritten notes. It didn't state its attribute explicitly, but it did note that primeval pure soil generally appears only in ancient volcanic craters!" the Scrap King said excitedly. "Now do you see? The primeval pure soil does have the earth attribute, but it also carries the fire attribute. So with the wood-attribute myriad-year tree crystal, there is to some degree an attribute clash!"
Only then did Wei Zhao understand. He nodded. "No wonder the situation turned out so bizarre. Normally, a simple attribute clash would mean total failure—it wouldn't just drag on in this lukewarm state. So it's because the primeval pure soil's dual earth-and-fire nature both clashes with and harmonizes with the wood nature of the myriad-year tree crystal."
"Exactly so. Fortunately, my mistake wasn't too fatal. Otherwise, we wouldn't even have a chance to salvage it this time, and I'd have even less face to show you, Brother Lin." The Scrap King looked embarrassed.
"Don't say that. If only for the painstaking effort you've poured into this, Brother Wang, I'd be deeply grateful to you even if it failed. Hearing you say that puts me in an awkward spot," Wei Zhao consoled him with a smile. "Since we've already used materials like the myriad-year tree crystal and the primeval pure soil, there's bound to be no precedent to follow. How could anything go off without a single hitch? Besides, we still have a chance to fix it—it's not yet time for gloomy talk." (To be continued..) R527