Chapter 925: Remedial Action

"How about you and I work on the Star Falcon Restriction by ourselves, Senior Liu Hua? That way, we'll be a little behind schedule, but it'll be a much safer route to take, and I'm sure City Lord E and the others won't mind," Han Li suggested.

"That won't work. The Star Falcon Restriction was designed with five people in mind, so all five of us need to work on it at once. Otherwise, the restriction will be thrown into a state of imbalance and completely collapse. Alright, that's enough talking, let's get started," Mistress Liu Hua said.

After that, Mistress Liu Hua gave Han Li and the others another detailed rundown of the Star Falcon Restriction before work commenced.

Just like in their prior arrangement, Mistress Liu Hua was responsible for the central area of the boat, while Han Li and the others worked around him.

Han Li began inscribing runes onto the flying boat with his Star Wave Pen, but the Silver Gilded Fluid in the walls of the ship was constantly conflicting against the star fluid in his pen, making the process several times more difficult.

Han Li took a deep breath, then increased his spiritual sense to stabilize the star fluid in response.

Given his current level of spiritual sense and his understanding of the Star Falcon Restriction,k he was able to acclimate himself very quickly, and it didn't take long before things began to fall into place for him.

In contrast, Xuanyuan Xing's trio was having a much rougher time. In particular, Xuanyuan Xing had failed four or five times in a row within the span of less than half a day, wasting a lot of materials in the process.

Mistress Liu Hua was getting very disgruntled by these repeated failures, and he had no choice but to stop what he was doing and provide more instruction to Xuanyuan Xing's trio.

Some time later, the majority of the Star Falcon Flying Boat's interior was riddled with glowing silver patterns, while Mistress Liu Hua and the others were standing at the center of the boat.

Xuanyuan Xing's trio were hanging their heads in shame, while Han Li stood beside them in silence.

Mistress Liu Hua was standing in front of them with a grim expression, seemingly contemplating something.

At this point, most of the array had already been completed, but due to the fact that Xuanyuan Xing's trio had wasted too much materials in the process, they had finally run out.

"What do we do now, Senior Liu Hua?" Han Li asked after a long silence.

"I still have some array tools left, and the used up materials aren't all completely ruined, so they can be reused after some repair. The main problem right now is that we're missing Sea Condensed Jade, Blush Crystals, and Earth Tide Stones," Mistress Liu Hua replied in a calm manner.

"Could it be that you already have a way to source more of those three materials, Senior Liu Hua?" Han Li asked after seeing Mistress Liu Hua's calm expression.

"There's a type of scaled beast called the Ice Scaled Armadillo in the Bipolar Extreme Mountain Range, and the horn on its head is very similar to Sea Condensing Crystal, so that can be used as a substitute. I recall spotting some Ice Scaled Armadillo tracks on the way here, and I presume it'll only take us about two days to go and hunt a few.

“As for Blush Crystals, according to my knowledge, City Lord Fu Jian has some, so I can just go ask for a few from him. The only problem right now is that I don't know where we're going to procure more Earth Tide Stones from," Mistress Liu Hua said.

Right at this moment, a voice rang out from outside the flying boat.

"There's a type of Puppet City puppet that has parts made from Earth Tide Stones, so I assume Fellow Daoist Sha Xin should have some. I'll go borrow some from her."

Immediately thereafter, E Kuai and Chen Yang made their way into the boat.

"City Lord E!" Mistress Liu Hua hurriedly rose to his feet as an awkward look flashed through his eyes.

"You're still just as prideful as ever, Fellow Daoist Liu Hua. Even though you promised me that you would take care of the Star Falcon Flying Boat's construction, you should've spoken to me upon encountering difficulties, rather than try to tackle everything on your own," E Kuai said with a faint smile.

Upon hearing this, Han Li finally understood why Mistress Liu Hua was unwilling to bring up this matter to E Kuai.

An embarrassed look appeared on Mistress Liu Hua's face as he sighed, "I was too ashamed to turn to you for help after screwing everything up, but seeing as you've already been made aware of this, then we'll do as you say, City Lord E."

E Kuai nodded in response, then turned to Chen Yang as he said, "I'll get you to hunt the Ice Scaled Armadillos. I also recall seeing some tracks on the way here, and if I recall correctly, it was roughly in this location."

He pulled out a jade slip as he spoke, then drew out a rough map of the Bipolar Extreme Mountain Range onto it before marking out a spot on the map and handing it to Chen Yang.

"Leave it to me," Chen Yang said as he took the jade slip before turning to depart, only to be stopped by E Kuai.

"Hold on a second. The Bipolar Extreme Mountain Range is fraught with peril, so it wouldn't be wise for you to go on your own. I'll get Li Feiyu to come with you. He just so happens to be familiar with Sea Condensing Crystals, so he'll be able to help you out."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, then nodded in response.

"City Lord E, I was the one who wasted the most materials, so please let me go and help them as well. That way, I can at least somewhat atone for my mistakes," Xuanyuan Xing suddenly implored as he stepped forward.

"Alright, then you can go as well," E Kuai replied with a nod.

The three of them made some brief preparations, then left the campsite to hunt for Ice Scaled Armadillos.

Due to the fact that they were going back the same way that they had come from, they were able to make very fast progress, closing in the marked spot on the map after only a day.

At night, the glacial aura in the air suddenly became more pronounced, and gusts of freezing winds were blowing through the area without pause.

The winds were truly freezing, to the point that even with their tremendous physical constitutions, the three of them were beginning to feel numb in their extremities.

"These weather conditions are a little abnormal, so let's find a place to seek shelter in for now," Chen Yang said.

Xuanyuan Xing seemed to be struggling quite a bit, and he eagerly nodded in agreement with this proposal.

Han Li was still able to go on, but he didn't raise any objections, either.

After searching around nearby for a while, they quickly found a relatively obscure cave to enter.

The temperatures in the cave were slightly less unforgiving, and the three of them were all quite relieved as they sat down inside.

Xuanyuan Xing seemed to be the one struggling the most with the frigid temperatures, and he found a place to sit in the deepest part of the cave.

After that, he pulled out a small brazier and a bamboo container from the cloth pouch on his back, and he poured out some oily black substance into the brazier.

A small spark landed in the brazier, and the oily black substance instantly erupted into flames.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

Even though the cave was quite obscure, a bright flame could still attract the attention of scaled beasts outside.

He took a glance at Chen Yang, who didn't raise any objections, so he didn't say anything, either.

"City Lord Chen, Fellow Daoist Li, come and join me by the fire. I can see that the two of you are far more resistant to the cold than I am, but it's still a good idea to keep yourselves warm," Xuanyuan Xing said.

"Sure," Chen Yang said as he strode over to the brazier, followed closely by Han Li.

The fire generated by the combusting black oil in the brazier was extremely hot, and even in these freezing conditions, Han Li felt as if he were basking in the light of the noon sun.

"This is quite a remarkable substance!" Han Li exclaimed as he looked into the brazier.

"It's just a type of scaled beast fat," Xuanyuan Xing replied with a smile.

Han Li nodded in response and didn't ask any further questions.

"Why are the winds so strong tonight?" Xuanyuan Xing murmured in a perplexed voice.

"Due to its close proximity to the black abyss, the Bipolar Extreme Mountain has always been prone to drastic changes in weather, so this is not a strange occurrence," Chen Yang said.

The howling of the wind outside was growing louder and louder, but despite this, the interior of the cave remained as warm as ever, resembling a safe haven in a cold and bleak world.

Thanks to the fire, their stiff and frozen bodies gradually loosened up, the task that they had been assigned wasn't particularly difficult, so the three of them were feeling quite relaxed and began chatting with one another.

However, as the night deepened, the conversation quickly petered out.

Xuanyuan Xing leaned against the wall of the cave and fell asleep first, while Chen Yang also sat down with his legs crossed before closing his eyes to rest.

Han Li didn't feel like sleeping, nor was he in the mood to cultivate, and he stared into the flame in the brazier with a contemplative look on his face.

At some point, Chen Yang opened his eyes, and he asked through voice transmission, "It's already quite late, Fellow Daoist Li, why are you not resting? The task assigned to us isn't overly difficult, but it's still a good idea to rest up."

Han Li took a glance at Xuanyuan Xing, then replied through voice transmission, "This cave is quite obscure, but we're still in the Bipolar Extreme Mountain Range, so there's no guarantee that we won't be attacked at night. Hence, it's best to have someone stay up through the night."

"With your exceptional powers and cautious nature, I'm sure you'll be able to accomplish great things in the Great Ruins," Chen Yang chuckled.

"I don't know about that, I'm only accompanying everyone into the Great Ruins on this occasion in order to broaden my own horizons," Han Li replied with a smile.

"There are countless precious treasures in the Great Ruins, is there nothing that appeals to you?" Chen Yang asked with a meaningful expression.

"Oh? What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Chen?" Han Li asked.

"I heard that you paid a visit to Fellow Daoist Liu Hua prior to the Five City Martial Gathering, and there seemed to have been some mention of Heavenly Qilin Crystals during that visit," Chen Yang mused.