CHAPTER 436: CHAPTER 436: MAKING A GIFT

As night fell, all around was quiet.

Ji You made up her mind to proceed and did not hesitate; she picked up her tools, first took out the materials needed, and then determined the proportions to use.

She had previously carved materials like grass seed and Companion Stone and had a decent success rate, so using ’Mithril’, Ji You was filled with confidence.

She cut a palm-sized piece of Mithril into nine small pieces, each about the size of a fingernail, allowing for a certain failure rate.

Even if 4 or 5 of the 9 pieces of Mithril material failed, it wouldn’t matter.

Ji You picked up a piece of Mithril, took out a small cutter, and carefully cut the four corners. After cutting, she used a polisher to gradually make the edges smooth and round...

This was a meticulous task requiring great care. Fortunately, the Six Stupid Strands in Ji You’s Spiritual World were very compliant at this moment, doing exactly as told.

These Stupid Strands were lazy and gluttonous, each one with schemes that often gave Ji You a headache, and seemed to have nothing but flaws...

However— these Spiritual Threads showed great sense in major matters. For instance, during the battle with the Fourth-level Star Beast at Taoyuan Space Station, Ji You didn’t have good things to feed them, but they still fought alongside her wholeheartedly.

And in the online competitions, during several crucial battles, Ji You won with the extraordinary performance of the Spiritual Threads.

And more...

There were many examples. These Spiritual Threads, though clever as if they were enchanted, were after all part of Ji You’s body and depended on her existence. They understood the principle of shared fate, and although they often acted coquettishly or threw tantrums to gain various benefits, they were unequivocal when it came to their master’s important matters.

Like now, Ji You wanted to give Senior Shi Ya the best gift she could, so before officially starting production, she sternly declared in the Spiritual World that they must work diligently without any negligence! The Six Strands chirped in protest, but they dared not slack off in action.

Polishing the Mithril, the first to act was Boss, robust in build and precise in work. Coordinating with Ji You’s meticulous operation, it took about 30 minutes to smooth the four corners of the Mithril piece.

At this moment, the shape of the entire piece of Mithril had turned into a four-leaf clover.

Correct.

The gift Ji You wanted to give to Senior Shi Ya was a necklace in the shape of a four-leaf clover!

A four-leaf clover symbolizes luck. Before making it, Ji You had many ideas flashing through her mind—necklaces, bracelets, anklets, earrings, Mecha models...

In the end, thinking of Senior Shi Ya’s personality, Ji You decided to make a simple, understated necklace. As for the design of the pendant, what exactly should it be?

After much deliberation, Ji You thought of the four-leaf clover. Although she hadn’t known Senior Shi Ya for long, Ji You felt inexplicably close to her. From her first meeting, beneath her cold exterior, Ji You could feel her inner softness and kindness...

This girl, so wonderful, thus Ji You hoped the world would treat her kindly, and that luck would always envelop her...

This was Ji You’s most beautiful and sincere blessing to Senior Shi Ya.

...

After finishing the pendant shape, looking at the exquisite four-leaf clover in her palm, Ji You was very satisfied. Next came the crucial step.

Engraving the Array Diagram.

From Teacher Cheng Yu’s classes, Ji You knew that the patterns she used to carve on the Soul Devices were actually types of Array Diagrams, and Array Diagrams were critical to the formation of Soul Devices!

Otherwise, no matter how finely crafted the four-leaf clover pendant was, it would just be an ordinary pendant.

What to engrave?

Regarding the steps to engrave an Array Diagram, Ji You actually had no idea; each time, she relied on a burst of inspiration and completed it in one go.

This time, Ji You planned to do the same. Holding the engraving pen, she pondered for a moment and then began to carve...

The pendant’s embryonic form had a very small surface area, giving Ji You limited space to work with. She decided to fill the entire pendant with the Array Diagram. Naturally, the Array Diagram would also be a four-leaf clover pattern, Ji You carefully carved along the four edges...

But as soon as Ji You picked up her engraving tool, she couldn’t complete the task in one go; she paused several times along the way. It was the unfamiliar feeling of not having engraved for a long time. Ji You struggled through the discomfort and finally reached the last step...

Then—

Ji You shouted aloud: "Boss, Second, Third... all six of you team up!"

The final step required the embellishment of Spiritual Silk.

The Six Strands waved their tails, full of confidence: [Master, rest assured, we guarantee to complete the task!]

Ji You focused, her fingers tightly gripping the engraving pen, and made the final stroke...

Ding~

At the very moment Ji You made her stroke, led by Boss, the Six Strands swiftly darted into the clover pattern that Ji You had drawn. Their robust figures now moved like agile snakes...

In the blink of an eye, the Six Strands circled around, and the clover pattern they traveled through, originally dull and dim, suddenly started glowing brightly...

The lustrous gloss, so vivid, seemed like it was about to move the next second!

Ji You was overjoyed! She knew it was a success!

Just as Ji You was about to savor the accomplishment, suddenly—

The radiant clover pendant made a cracking sound, and the next second, it shattered into several pieces.

Ji You: "!!!"

Ji You was so shocked her eyes nearly popped out!

Damn!

What happened?

It was clearly successful on the last step!

She had already seen the formation of the Soul Device; why did it suddenly break?

Ji You was utterly baffled and immediately took out a sophisticated detector to carefully examine the shattered mithril...

Upon inspection, Ji You discovered that the original molecular density of the mithril had dropped by at least 30%!

What happened?

Ji You was sure she had done nothing but cut the mithril and carved an Array Diagram on it!

To think, it actually reduced the molecular density of the mithril!

...

After checking several times and finding nothing unusual, Ji You speculated that it might be a mismatch between the Array Diagram and the mithril material, or perhaps, the pauses she made while carving had caused the Array Diagram to be unstable...

In any case, there could be many reasons; it was just one failure, Ji You wasn’t discouraged, and she started her second attempt.

This time, Ji You again carved the clover pattern, but she wasn’t in too much of a hurry and was more careful and attentive. Perhaps because of her full concentration, this time Ji You completed the carving in one go.

Then, just the last step left, and the Six Spiritual Threads cooperated well, once again completing the task perfectly.

Ji You was full of anticipation—

Was it a success?

Or a failure?