Chapter 188. Demons and Monsters (12) The Diverse Innate Talent of the Yāo Jīng(Monsters/Demons/Spirits)

     The mermaid also became idle.

     The complex work that followed meant that almost none of those with zero cleaning skills could help. At first, they all watched in bewilderment, completely not understanding what it was, what was being done, or why it was being done.

     Ye Mo could sense their eagerness to help and their thirst for knowledge, but she didn’t have the time to teach and explain everything to them in detail. It all depended on each individual’s comprehension.

     After all, if someone lacked comprehension, or wasn’t talented enough, even 100 days of one-on-one tutoring wouldn’t teach them much.

     Ye Mo operated multiple devices simultaneously, carrying out intricate processes like fine carving, magical treatment, and array deployment. Beneath the seemingly chaotic yet meticulously organized steps, finished weapons and semi-finished equipment were freshly produced one after another.

The longer they watched, the more the little half-emon found different aspects to focus on.  

     The stone monster’s focus was on the basic material processing. She had an innate talent for ore and could extend this to other inanimate materials, able to identify the basic characteristics of materials such as hardness, toughness, and brittleness.

     Opportunities are earned.

     The little stone monster learned this from the little mermaid. It stood up and quickly rolled to a pile of congealing stone, looking left and then right.

     Finally, she picked out a freshly molded spherical copper blank. As she approached it, the wave of heat rushing toward her startled her into rolling backward several times.  

     Guiltily, she peeked to the left.  

     Seeing that Ye Mo was engrossed in carving markings onto a long, narrow object with a knife—apparently unaware of her—she continued rolling forward.  

     Because the blank chosen by the little stone monster hadn’t completely solidified in the cooling array, her touch left a shallow circular indentation. She instantly panicked and tried to smooth it over.

     Ye Mo finished inscribing the wind-based array in her hand before getting up and walking over to the little stone monster. Pointing to the first three steps, she said, “The ore is smelted and refined according to a certain ratio, and then solidified.”

     “Both the smelted and refined blanks need to solidify. Cooling is the most common process. Only blanks that have completely solidified in the cooling array can proceed to the next step.”

     “?” Perhaps due to too many unfamiliar words, the little stone monster still didn’t quite understand.

     Ye Mo didn’t continue to explain in the afternoon, and asked her to roll the broken blank to the area of the successfully solidified blank and compare it herself.

     The little stone monster felt a little wronged, but she was obedient.

     Perhaps because it genuinely possessed some talent, or perhaps because the intelligence of spirits and demons was quite high, merely lacking training, the little stone monster compared the two for a short while. It quickly discerned the difference in their temperature and hardness and discovered the cooling array Ye Mo had mentioned.

     Ye Mo’s forging process involved mostly machinery plus a small portion of manual work using tools like hammers, files, saws, drills, scrapers, and reamers.

     The little stone monster chose the latter, non-mechanical processing. The shape and material of the blanks it selected were basically suitable, and it quickly began to hammer and forge one of the relatively simple samples.

     But a problem arose.

     The little stone monster’s limbs and size were different from humans, so the tools suitable for Ye Mo might not be suitable for it, and could even be counterproductive, making operation completely awkward.

     So, first, it gave up trying to work on complete blanks and began experimenting on flawed products with known causes. Second, it abandoned tools and used stone to forge stone.

     Nearly an hour passed…

     Ye Mo had already crafted over a hundred new array-based equipment pieces, defensive brooches, and specialized weapons, while the little stone monster had only just finished grinding and forging its first discarded blank.

     Patience was its first strong point.

     Ye Mo scanned the discarded blank with her mental energy. Excluding the circular indentation, it was still a reject. In terms of precision, it didn’t meet the 100% standard, but it reached 80%. The stone monster had a high talent for imitation and was very meticulous.

     Its biggest flaw was being overly cautious, which was likely due to a lack of proficiency.

     “You can make it according to the dimensions of this mold.”

     Ye Mo handed the stone monster a set of complex steel molds composed of squares, spheres, trapezoids, polygons, and other shapes. By comparing the discarded blank with the measuring tools, it would know where the remaining 20% dimensional discrepancy lay and could refer to the dimensions during grinding and forging.

     With so many stones that the little stone monster had let go, it could instantly understand that what was being observed was its operational ability.

     Just as it was about to start working on the next piece, Ye Mo flew a newly crafted brooch to the little stone monster.

     The brooch was so small that its dimensions could be measured in millimeters. It was primarily made of mithril, with some fake moss on it to mislead others. It could merge with the stone monster’s body and had pure wood attributes (Strength +6, Agility +8, Constitution +11).

     “Work while wearing the brooch.”

     The little stone monster didn’t fully understand. Holding the brooch, she instinctively rubbed it against the blank before realizing that her strength and speed had increased. This thing called a “brooch” was as magical as the futon from before.

     Not only strength and speed, but even growing green grass on the back of the little stone monster’s moss sprouted more effortlessly. It quickly hung the brooch on its back and continued its learning journey.

     Unlike the little stone monster, the red-tailed little mermaid lingered for a long time at each process and still hadn’t found one suitable for herself, even damaging a few pieces of equipment.

     The others who were still confused were the same.

     Indeed, if the little stone monster hadn’t had its innate talent for ore and imitation, as well as Ye Mo’s question-and-answer session about mineral terminology yesterday, it wouldn’t have been able to quickly pinpoint what it could do.

     So in the end, Ye Mo gave the merfolk a task based on their talents: water carving, which meant using water-based magic to complete the carving.

     This carving work also required a lot of research patience and carving talent. It greatly trained the precision of water-based magic, and it also required a spirit of diligent study.

     Because Ye Mo uses relatively few water carvings now, even if she uses them, because she has not awakened any elemental talents, she has to borrow water arrays and energy.

     Therefore, she only knows the basics of water carving, and more needs to be studied by the mermaids themselves.

     One by one, the semi-finished products with high waterproofness were put into the water. The mermaids divided them up and carved around the sample.

     It was their first time, and they didn’t know what their talents were. Ye Mo didn’t give them customized equipment. It must be that the lack of strength was more beneficial than harmful to the new learners.

     Just by looking at the actions of some mermaids rushing towards the semi-finished products, two or three students could be ruled out.

     There were only the tiny little stone monster that couldn’t move yet and the dying raven demon idle in the basement.

     The tiny little stone monster had a heart that yearned for freedom as never before, and tried its best to devour the surrounding spiritual energy. After Ye Mo put a suitable small spirit gathering array plate on it, she turned back to continue her work.

     The raven demon ignored by all the half-demons: “…”

     The raven demon was a strong man among the young generation of the raven clan. He had been highly valued for his extraordinary talents since he was a child, Yet now, not only had he been captured alive by a half-demon, but he was also being ignored by those weak little half-demons he could have scattered with a single flap of his wings.  

     “!!!”

     The raven demon vomited blood again.

     He felt very uncomfortable now, just as uncomfortable as when he was about to die. After all, he had yet to realize that psychological blows could sometimes cut deeper than physical ones.  

     And his vomiting blood finally attracted the attention of the three little mermaids who had no talent on the water carving.

     One by one, they either swung their tails or blew bubbles.

     At this time, it can be seen that the little mermaid with white fins is also innocent and cute, but it is more courageous. When the red mermaid was obsessed with water carving, it became the center of the three little mermaids.

     It was also afraid of the raven demon, but when other little mermaids were afraid and approached him, it took the initiative to protect it own people, straightened it chest, and looked at the raven demon.

    The two monsters did not communicate in words, but the mermaid blew bubbles physiologically, or provoked the raven demon to spit out another mouthful of blood, and trembled with anger.

     In the morning today, the raven demon had lost the courage to die. As he was trapped, his desire to survive became stronger and stronger.

     It’s not so easy to die. The only sounds in the basement were the sounds of cutting, ding-dong, and hissing.

     Time passed unnoticed.

     After the watch on her hand vibrated, Ye Mo worked for another half an hour before stopping to rest.

     The little stone monster wasted two blanks, one of low quality and one of medium quality; the red-tailed mermaid was all scrapped, but looking at the last scrap, it had learned a lot and would get started sooner or later.

     What surprised Ye Mo was another little mermaid.

     She had the head of a fish and the body of a human. Her fish head was black with a hint of blue, and her body’s skin was also somewhat dark, covered in dark blue fur that looked like a blue feather cloak.

     She was shy and introverted, and she would stammer a little when speaking quickly.

     The little blue mermaid’s water-based magic was the purest among all the merfolk, and her talent was also relatively outstanding. She was meticulous and patient, a good seedling for research.

     Although she hadn’t produced a single complete product yet and had ruined three materials, the semi-finished piece in her hands was already one-quarter complete.

     If she continued without making mistakes, it could enter the next magical treatment process and become a low-grade dagger.

     Water carving is not the same as forging, carving is almost the most difficult process in magical artifact crafting.

     Even if it is a goblin, if they can learn the introductory carving technique in an afternoon, they will be praised by all craftsmen. This is talent.

     Ye Mo did not stop the little blue mermaid from continuing to work, but stopped the work of the little stone monster and other mermaids, and began to distribute rewards one by one.

     The rewards are all spirit stones.

     In addition, each half-demons received a newly made matching spirit gathering array and defense needle, and the little stone monster and the red-tailed mermaid received a new set of unknown tools.

     The little blue mermaid was inevitably attracted by their movements and distracted for more than ten seconds.

     After a difficult struggle, it chose to immerse itself in the subsequent micro-carving in it hands.

     Ye Mo’s needs were there. The spirit stones she absorbed were definitely many times more than what the other sprites absorbed. While absorbing, she also prepared for her stomach.

     The grill had been made before entering the instance.

     Ye Mo took out the ordinary rabbits, sparrows, and fish she had collected that morning (not the spirit or demon types) from her inventory, quickly cleaned them, and placed them on it.

     It was a very simple, temporary barbecue feast.

     The barbecue seasoning was made of ordinary seeds produced by the system, which Watson planted with the soil unearthed by the system to ripen, and Watson and Wang Xue made it together.

     The finished products include oil, salt, chili, garlic, ginger, onion, cumin, pepper salt, black pepper, etc.

     In fact, the system seeds are not cheap, but in Watson’s hands, these seeds can grow many, many seeds and make more seasonings. They are renewable resources and are basically unlimited.

     Points are always lacking, but now they have a certain strength. Ye Mo and the other two are not like the thrifty master Grandet, and Wang Xue, the financial officer, is not so poor that she can’t afford these points.

     Sizzle–

     The aroma of meat is overflowing.