Section 159: A Difficult Problem
"Since all of you are in special professions, it's difficult to categorize you. We have no choice but to invite relevant Masters to oversee this assessment. The specific assessment method will be determined by the Masters. Please submit the list of required raw materials to your respective guides. However, please note that the rarity of the materials you use will also affect your final score. Heh, but there's no need to be overly worried. Even if you don't pass, you will still remain in Jiukai City. I believe you all have some understanding of Jiukai City. Unlike the chaotic and lawless Track-shaped Sphere, this place is stable and peaceful, like heaven."
With sharp eyes, Ye Zhong caught several people around him showing looks of disdain from his peripheral vision.
The old man pretended not to see and continued, "Next, I will assign the Masters responsible for your assessments."
The one assigned to Ye Zhong was Master Xiao. Master Xiao had a large head and ears, a strikingly prominent, red, bulbous nose, and eyes that frequently narrowed into slits. He looked jovial and amiable overall.
Delve Deeper Book Book
Master Xiao looked Ye Zhong up and down carefully: "Heh, so you're the Bone Artificer. Not bad, not bad. To have such achievements at such a young age, your future prospects are limitless."
"Thank you for your praise," Ye Zhong said calmly, his expression showing no arrogance or excitement.
A trace of appreciation flashed in Master Xiao's slightly narrowed eyes: "Even more rare is being so young yet neither arrogant nor impatient. Good, good, good!" Master Xiao said 'good' three times in a row.
Ye Zhong remained completely unfazed and asked, "Might I ask what the content of my assessment is?" Ye Zhong was more concerned about this topic.
"Young man, no need to rush!" Master Xiao said with a laugh. "I've thought about this problem for a long time as well, and after much consideration, I finally came up with what should be a pretty good test question!"
"Oh," Ye Zhong merely responded, waiting for Master Xiao to reveal the question.
"Hmm, this is my first time encountering bone components. I've carefully tested your works before; they're good. Hmm, I should say quite excellent, with outstanding performance in all aspects! However, bone material still has many inherent flaws that are hard to remedy. For example, its performance drops sharply in high-temperature environments." Master Xiao spoke knowledgeably.
Ye Zhong nodded, indicating agreement. Master Xiao was right; bone material indeed had inherent shortcomings compared to metal in this aspect.
Master Xiao continued jovially, "And in a light mech, the most important components besides the optical brain are the engines. Of course, the optical brain cannot be made from bone material, but the engine seems somewhat possible. However, whether it's actually feasible or not, I don't know – that's for you to solve. Heh, don't look at me like that, it's perfectly normal that I don't know. After all, my understanding of bone material isn't as deep as yours! Hmm, this will be your test. Use bone material to create a light mech engine. I won't specify the model; any light mech engine will do. Of course, you can also use components made from other materials. But remember, the greater the proportion of bone material in the entire engine, the higher your chances of passing the fourth-level assessment!"
Ye Zhong was immediately stunned. Using bone material to make a light mech engine? Wasn't that a mistake?
Seeing the questioning look in Ye Zhong's eyes, Master Xiao chuckled: "You heard correctly. Use bone material to make a light mech engine! Alright, I've told you the test question. You have three months to think and create it. Master Fan already mentioned earlier that if you need any raw materials, you can tell your guide. Hmm, this is my access code. If you have any questions, or if you've completed it, you can contact me using this access code. Heh, I'm really looking forward to an engine made from bone material. Young man, work hard!"
Watching Ye Zhong input his access code into the access wristband, Master Xiao said, "Alright, you may go. Heh, I need to leave too; I have many things to attend to!"
After bidding farewell to Master Xiao, Ye Zhong left the room. On the way, he encountered several other applicants he had seen earlier, but judging by their furrowed brows, their test questions were evidently quite difficult as well.
Returning to his residence, Ye Zhong pondered how to use bone material to make a light mech engine the entire way.
Bone material is animal skeleton. Even mutated creatures have incredibly strong and tough bones, but in terms of high-temperature resistance, bone material is far inferior to metal. This was also why Ye Zhong had never considered using bone material to make a light mech engine. In his view, this was an inherent characteristic, a fundamental limitation of bone material – it was almost entirely impossible. The engine used in his so-called All-Bone Light Mech, 'Hanjia', was the engine from the broken 'Fish'. Among the bone components he had made so far, the only one with relatively mature application in engines was gaskets.
But now this difficult problem was placed right before him, and he had no other choice. There was no time to ponder whether this problem was solvable, but rather how to solve it.
"Mu, do you think it's possible?" Ye Zhong asked Mu. After thinking for so long, the conclusion he reached was still discouraging – bone material couldn't be used to make an engine.
"Of course it's possible. It's only a matter of the degree of possibility!" Mu said seriously.
Ye Zhong immediately deflated like a pricked balloon: "What you said is completely useless!"
"To a certain extent, yes. However, Yezi, that is the only answer to your question. Honesty should be praised!" Mu declared righteously.
Ye Zhong broke out in a cold sweat. Was this still Mu? Ye Zhong seemed to detect a bit of Shang's flavor.
It seemed he had to figure this out himself, Ye Zhong thought. Giving up when encountering difficulties wasn't his style. Furthermore, Master Xiao had said he could use other materials, which was undoubtedly a compromise.
But, is it really impossible to use bone material to make a light mech engine?
These past few days, Ye Zhong thought about this problem every day, often sitting still for an entire day like a statue.
Ye Zhong rubbed his somewhat sore and stiff thighs and stood up to stretch his back. This was already the tenth day, and Ye Zhong still hadn't thought of a method that satisfied him. However, he had thought of quite a few compromise methods, such as still using a metal core and only using bone material in some less critical parts. If he really couldn't come up with a better method by the end, he would have to resort to this approach.
After moving his limbs a bit, Ye Zhong walked to the table, picked up the self-cleaning water cup on it, and brought it to his lips.
He saw his own frowning, slightly haggard reflection in the water inside the cup.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration crossed Ye Zhong's mind like a meteor streaking across the night sky. Water... water... water... Ye Zhong vaguely grasped something... What about water?... Ah... it's Formulation Liquid!
Yes! Formulation Liquid could be used to alter the properties of bone material! Weren't the strengthening liquids he used before precisely changing the properties of bone material? If he could use a type of Formulation Liquid that could significantly improve the high-temperature performance of bone material, then the problem would be solved!
Ye Zhong was immediately exhilarated and drank the water in the cup in one gulp.
After ten days of contemplation without any breakthrough, finally having a clue filled Ye Zhong with excitement.
But soon, Ye Zhong calmed down from his excitement. Although he had a concept, the process of realizing it would undoubtedly be extremely arduous. Moreover, apart from this idea, Ye Zhong was still completely at a loss, without any other leads.
Although he had studied Formulation under Madwoman Guan, he was only a beginner. The strengthening liquids Madwoman Guan gave him were all for changing hardness and toughness; there was no formula for a strengthening liquid that improved high-temperature performance. For a novice Formulation Master like Ye Zhong to discover a new strengthening liquid formula that could enhance the high-temperature performance of bone material in such a short time was simply a fantasy!
Ye Zhong recalled all the Formulation knowledge he had learned, but still made no progress.
Helpless, Ye Zhong had to ask Mu for help: "Mu, do you have any good ideas?"
Mu pondered and said, "Yezi, your idea is good. But as you know, I don't have much data on Formulation studies. However, there is one method we can try!"
"What method?" Ye Zhong asked eagerly. He was like a traveler walking in darkness suddenly seeing a glimmer of light. Based on his past experience, whenever Mu said something was worth trying, it indicated the method had a fairly high feasibility.
"Remember the Guan-style Automatic Analysis Mechanism that Madwoman Guan gave you last time? We can try that!" Mu reminded Ye Zhong.
Ye Zhong's eyes lit up: "Ah, how could I forget that good thing? Hey, Mu, wasn't that thing already stored in your database?"
"Hmm, it is in my database. However, I still haven't analyzed the core of this automatic analysis mechanism, which is the most fundamental principle of Formulation studies. Because the data on Formulation studies in my database is too scarce, I cannot perform an effective analysis, nor can I verify its correctness!" Mu explained.
"So powerful?" Ye Zhong was greatly surprised. Even Mu couldn't analyze it? That meant the craftsmanship behind Madwoman Guan's so-called Guan-style Automatic Analysis Mechanism was extremely high-level! So far, the only things Mu hadn't been able to analyze were the Guardian, and now there was one more.
Ah, there are so many geniuses in this world. Whether it's Gu Shaoze or Madwoman Guan, they didn't seem much older than him, yet they had both carved out their own fields and made innovations based on their predecessors! It's just a pity that both their fates were unfortunate. Gu Shaoze was dead, and Madwoman Guan disappeared searching for her sister. Was heaven jealous of them?
Thinking about this, Ye Zhong became lost in thought.
"Yezi!" Mu noticed Ye Zhong's distraction and called out.
"Oh!" Coming back to his senses, Ye Zhong laughed at himself for overthinking. He was just an ordinary person; being able to survive was already good enough! Right now, what Ye Zhong wanted most was to resolve the strange disease on his body and then live quietly in a place where no one knew him! But it seemed achieving this goal wasn't that easy either!
"Shall we try it?" Mu asked.
Collecting himself, Ye Zhong let out a breath and said, "Let's try it!"