239: Material selection

"Elf Race... branches of the World Tree..."

After class ended and he returned to the dormitory, Zhang Huaiyuan pondered the suggestion given by the "Micro-Materials Science" instructor.

He had heard this name before.

On the way to the association with Brie Dawn, he had encountered a man from the Elf Race who seemed to have handed him a small branch.

"That's it..."

Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he took out a small branch from his storage device.

It seemed to have been preserved through special means, with no sense of decay at all. Looking closely, exquisite patterns were carved on the gray bark, forming a profound array.

[Token of the Elf Race]

Holding this token allows one to be received upon entering Elf Race territory without being attacked.

"So it's an entry token."

Zhang Huaiyuan looked at the small branch thoughtfully.

He recalled the secret of the Elf Race that Brie Dawn had told him:

The Sovereign of the Zerg married the Empress of a branch of the Elf Race, and since then, the entire Elf Race has existed transcendently above the entire All Heavens and Myriad Realms.

"Asroth, search for information related to the Elf Race and World Tree branches for me."

After a moment of silence, Zhang Huaiyuan said.

Once the intelligent assistant is bound to an identity, it can connect to the main intelligence of the Virtual Tower to a certain extent and consult the entire association's data according to the level of the identity.

As a registered disciple of two Tower Lords, his identity clearance was extremely high.

"Master, no information on World Tree branches was found, but relevant information about the Elf Race has been filtered for you."

Asroth responded quickly, and integrated projection information appeared before his eyes one after another.

"The Elf Race, mainly gathered in the Origin Star Sea, a humanoid species, primarily a rune magic civilization. Most have outstanding appearances and are relatively friendly towards humans, especially handsome ones."

"They are closely related to one of the most powerful races in the All Heavens and Myriad Realms—the Zerg—and are protected by the Zerg."

Zhang Huaiyuan's gaze paused slightly as he saw the dense news information under this category.

"Origin Era 99236, the Cloud River Empire acted out of greed and plotted to secretly rob an Elf. After being discovered, considering no lives were lost, only one billion viral source bodies were deployed, resulting in the deaths of 3,000 billion billion lives, including the monarch, as a warning..."

"Origin Era 387221, an Elf Race Elder died mysteriously. The contemporary Elf Queen personally pleaded with the Sovereign. Subsequently, a top expert within the Zerg traveled back through the long river of time, dragged out the culprit, and exterminated the entire clan, leaving not even a chicken or dog alive..."

"..."

Lines of simple and unadorned text, yet they sent chills down one's spine.

Poisoning, reversing time, exterminating clans... "It's even more terrifying than I imagined... It seems I can only use normal means of exchange. Let's look at the other materials first."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head and instructed Asroth to continue filtering.

"Star Marrow Gold... a precious alloy formed by repeatedly folding artificial Hyper-dimensional Neutron Star fragments in high dimensions. Its density is similar to human bone, and it can easily withstand the explosive power of a galaxy-level blast. Price: 10 million time coins per gram."

"Sand of Time... condensed from liquid time extracted in high-dimensional worlds, it can adapt to physical impact in an instant and make adjustments in advance. Price: 100 million time coins per milliliter."

"Memory Blood Crystal... in a red liquid state, one of the best storage substances. It can even sense emotional fluctuations, triggering corresponding temperature rises, accelerated circulation, and other states. Price: 800,000 time coins per gram."

"..."

Rare treasures and resources appeared before his eyes one by one.

These were the materials recommended by the "Micro-Materials Science" instructor as the most suitable for manufacturing a body.

Star Marrow Gold for bones, Sand of Time for ligaments, Memory Blood Crystal to replace blood... In a sense, it could create a body no different from a real human life.

The only drawback was... expensive!

A normal human skeleton weighs about 8-12 jin, which means at least 10 jin of Star Marrow Gold is needed, which is 50 billion time coins!

Adding in other materials, even without counting the World Tree branches for which no data could be found, the total cost exceeded 500 billion time coins!

And his current balance was only... 100,000 time coins.

It was the reward from the Time Book House for every student entering the Elite Class.

No, to be precise... he was still 2 billion time coins in debt.

Although Brie Dawn had set him up, he was a man of his word; since he had agreed, he had to do it as soon as possible.

"A single penny can drive a hero to the wall..."

"Your Excellency, there is no need for you to use such expensive materials. As long as I can have a body to stay by your side for real, even if it's just ordinary bionic skin, I would be satisfied."

At this moment, the light on his right wrist lit up, and a soft voice came out.

"That won't do."

Zhang Huaiyuan smiled and said gently:

"You are my most important partner. Since I've decided to make a physical body for you, it is as important as the real you. I cannot bear to use inferior materials to brush off your trust, nor can I bear for you to be injured in front of me by even a slight aftershock of an explosion one day."

"Your Excellency..."

The light on his right wrist suddenly began to flash intensely.

"Master, what about me?"

Asroth on his left wrist couldn't help but jump out as well.

"You're the same."

Zhang Huaiyuan nodded and promised without hesitation.

These two intelligent lifeforms were his most trusted partners; of course, he would treat them equally.

"Uh... Master, I was joking. You just need to prepare it for the Statue of Liberty. I don't want that kind of restrictive physical body. Roaming in the infinite virtual network is the true joy of being an intelligent lifeform!"

Asroth echoed with satisfaction, but at the same time, he was somewhat puzzled:

"Your Excellency Statue of Liberty, why would you want a body that restricts you..."

"Shut up, mind your own business!"

As soon as these words were spoken, both Zhang Huaiyuan and Asroth were stunned for a moment.

And the Statue of Liberty seemed to sense something was wrong, and for the first time, she explained with some panic: "Your Excellency, I... I'm going to study the virtual technology you gave me!"

With that, the light dimmed completely.

"As expected of one of the highest academies in the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, the knowledge they selected is so useful. The Statue of Liberty has only been studying for a short while, and her emotional module unit has evolved so much."

Zhang Huaiyuan thought for a moment, then suddenly realized, a bit of gratification appearing in his eyes.

"Master, I'm going to study too! I can't fall too far behind."

Hearing this, Asroth's voice became serious; he didn't want to be left behind too much. His goal was to become the most useful and trustworthy assistant in his master's hands!

"Alright, keep it up."

Watching the intelligent assistants on both wrists go about their business, Zhang Huaiyuan restrained his smile and began to quietly think about how to make money as quickly as possible.

Not just for the 2 billion debt and the materials for the Statue of Liberty's body.

Further study, borrowing auxiliary equipment like the Mimic World, and purchasing experimental materials all required money.

Although with his identity, if he were to be thick-skinned and mention it to his two teachers or senior brothers, even a tiny bit leaking from their fingertips would be far more than this amount.

However, if it affected their impression of him, it would be a loss.

"Hmm... this person seems to know quite a lot. Should I ask her?"

Zhang Huaiyuan looked at a number saved in his communicator, hesitated for a moment, edited a message, and sent it...