320: Chapter 320 Magical Inheritance, Technological Fusion

Chen Wuwang immediately stepped forward half a pace, the blue light of his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye flashing as it locked onto the rune's fluctuation curve. "Continue."

Bai Ling took a deep breath, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "It's not a sentence, nor is it an incantation."

"It's... a melody, like wind passing through leaves, or spring water dripping onto a stone surface. It's teaching me how to 'invite'—not to suppress it with spiritual power, but to receive it with intent."

Chen Xiaodao frowned. "Invite? In our swordsmanship, we speak of slashing, piercing, crashing, and parrying. Where is there any talk of 'inviting'?"

"That's why you were just hit by the backlash." Chen Wuwang turned to look at him. "The moment you strike, it's with killing intent; your Sword Intent is like a blade. But this magic is about inviting the wind to sit and the water to drink. If you strike the guests with a blade, who would be willing to enter the door?"

Chen Xiaodao was stunned for a moment, then looked down at his sword. The faint green glow that had just emerged on the hilt had already extinguished.

"Let me try again." He closed his eyes, his breathing slowing down as his fingers gently stroked the spine of the blade, as if petting a sleeping cat.

Bai Ling sat cross-legged, her hands pressed against the ground, and a faint light flickered at her fingertips again. This time, she no longer forced the resonance; instead, like coaxing a child, she hummed that "melody" bit by bit. It wasn't a tune, yet it possessed a strange rhythm.

Chen Wuwang's ears twitched, and he suddenly drew his Titanium Alloy Dagger from his waist, drawing a line on the ground. "Tiezhu! Get the Resonance Meter! Record this frequency!"

Chen Tiezhu was jolted into action and quickly rummaged through his bag for the equipment. As he set up the instrument, he muttered, "In all my years of Artifact Refining, I've heard of 'the heat is right' or 'Spiritual Qi saturation,' but this is the first time I've heard that magic can be hummed out..."

"Less talk!" Chen Wuwang's eyes didn't leave Bai Ling. "This is data! Not metaphysics!"

The Resonance Meter started up, and a waveform graph appeared on the light screen—rising and falling gently, like wind blowing through a field of wheat. Chen Wuwang's Mechanical Prosthetic Eye scanned it rapidly as he whispered, "Frequency range 12-18 Hz, stable amplitude, clear harmonic layering... This is a damn natural resonance model!"

He suddenly looked up. "Bai Ling, can you break it down into steps? Like... walking, first lift the left foot, then the right."

Bai Ling nodded. "I can. Step one, calm the mind; step two, perceive the Wood-element Spiritual Qi in the environment; step three, use intent to guide it, 'inviting' it over like beckoning with a hand; step four, let it circulate through the Meridians, and finally release it from the fingertips."

"Good!" Chen Wuwang slapped his thigh. "Xiao Dao! Did you hear that? This isn't spellcasting; it's an operating procedure! Practice it as if it were the breakdown of a sword move!"

Chen Xiaodao opened his eyes and gave Bai Ling a deep look. "Again."

This time, he didn't rush to draw his sword. Instead, he stood in place, breathing slowly. He remembered hiding in the ruins as a child, clutching that broken wooden sword while the Zerg roared outside, but he had heard it—the sound of a sprout pushing through the rubble.

His heart grew calm.

His fingertips moved slightly, and a sliver of green light quietly emerged, crawling up the hilt and onto the blade like a vine climbing a branch.

"It worked!" Chen Tiezhu shouted at the top of his lungs. "It's green! It's really turned green!"

Chen Xiaodao didn't move, afraid that a single breath would break the connection. The green light became more and more stable, finally condensing into a tiny point of light at the tip of the sword, swaying gently.

"It's not taking, it's inviting..." he murmured. "So that's how it is."

Chen Wuwang grinned and suddenly turned to leave. "Tiezhu! Follow me to the Technology Workshop!"

"Huh?" Chen Tiezhu was stunned. "Now?"

"You want to wait until dawn?" Chen Wuwang didn't look back. "Magic is energy flow, and technology is the conductor. We need to take this 'invited' force and weld it onto a machine!"

The two quickly left the ruins. Chen Xiaodao remained standing there, the green light at his sword tip still present. He stared at that point of light, as if seeing a crack in the door to a new world.

The lights were still on inside the Technology Workshop.

Chen Wuwang kicked the door open and shouted, "Open the main console! Check the inventory for Nano-wires! Find the thinnest ones!"

Chen Tiezhu scrambled to start the machine. "Wait! We haven't even figured out the principles of magic yet, and you're going straight to hardware?"

"Aren't the principles right in front of us?" Chen Wuwang stabbed his dagger into the table. "I've already stored Bai Ling's frequency in my prosthetic eye. Look—"

With a wave of his hand, he projected the waveform graph into the air. "This thing isn't much different from our psionic signals. The only problem is it's too 'soft'; ordinary circuits can't handle it."

"So we need to make a conversion layer." Chen Tiezhu narrowed his eyes in thought. "Like... leading stream water into a pipe, there has to be a filter, or else the silt will block everything."

"Exactly!" Chen Wuwang slapped the table. "I want you to build a Miniature Resonance Chamber. Put star-patterned stone fragments inside as a medium, and connect Nano-wires on the outside to convert magic energy into a controllable spiritual flow."

"But magic relies on people to use it. How can a machine 'invite'?" Chen Tiezhu scratched his head.

"Who said the machine has to invite?" Chen Wuwang sneered. "I want the machine to remember the 'invite' posture! Like a recording—you sing it once, it saves it, and next time you press a button, it plays it back just the same!"

Chen Tiezhu's eyes widened. "Are you trying to... turn magic into a chip?"

"More than that." Chen Wuwang's eyes gleamed. "I want it to be replicable, mass-producible, and able to be fitted into mecha cannon barrels—today it's a single green strand, tomorrow it'll be an entire forest smashed into their faces!"

"Crazy... truly crazy..." Chen Tiezhu murmured, yet he was already drawing blueprints. "But I just love the path a madman leads!"

Three hours later.

On the experimental table sat a fist-sized hexahedral device. Its outer shell shimmered with a metallic luster, and a small piece of star-patterned stone was embedded inside. It was covered in wires, connected to two psionic readers.

"It's done." Chen Tiezhu wiped his face. "A double-layered structure: an outer psionic protective shell to prevent interference, and an inner programmable rune board to mitigate pressure. Now we see if it can withstand the first wave of loading."

Chen Wuwang put on insulated gloves and inserted the crystal card containing the 'Nature's Guidance' waveform data into the interface. "Start it up."

Buzz—

The device vibrated slightly, and the star-patterned stone began to glow. On the readout screen, the energy curve slowly rose.

"It's stable... it really seems stable..." Chen Tiezhu stared at the screen, his breathing becoming light.

Suddenly, there was a sharp crack!

"It's cracked!" Chen Xiaodao appeared at the door at some point and blurted out.

A fine line appeared on the surface of the chip, green light leaked out, and a piercing alarm sounded.

"Power down!" Chen Wuwang yanked out the crystal card.

The alarm stopped.

"So close." Chen Tiezhu picked up the device to inspect it. "The core's endurance is enough, but the material at the interface is no good; it can't withstand high-frequency oscillations."

"Switch to a ceramic base," Chen Wuwang said solemnly. "Or add a layer of graphene buffer film."

"Makes sense." Chen Tiezhu nodded. "I still have a batch of composite film left in the warehouse from last time. It's heat-resistant and impact-resistant. Shall we try it?"

"Try it." Chen Wuwang reloaded the card. "This time I'll manually lower the frequency and run it at one-third power first."

Half an hour later.

The new device started up.

The energy curve rose steadily, green light was injected into the star-patterned stone without issue, and finally, it condensed into an imperceptible rune chain, sealed within the chip's core.

"It's done," Chen Wuwang said softly.

"It's actually fucking done!" Chen Tiezhu grabbed and hugged him. "A living magic chip! Made by my own hands!"

Chen Wuwang didn't smile; he just carefully removed the chip. It was only the size of a palm, hexagonal, with fine patterns etched on the edges, and a point of green light in the center flickering like a heartbeat.

"Mage-Tech Core - Type I," he named it in a low voice.

Chen Xiaodao walked in, that sliver of green light still wrapped around his sword tip. "Can I... try it?"

Chen Wuwang handed him the chip. "Install it on your hilt. Don't get greedy; first feel how it 'invites'."

Chen Xiaodao took it, his fingers trembling slightly. He embedded the chip into the groove on the sword hilt and pressed it gently.

Buzz—

The green light suddenly brightened, spreading along the blade and perfectly fusing with the magic he was guiding himself.

"It's different..." His eyes widened. "It's helping me 'invite.' It's not snatching; it's lending a hand..."

Chen Wuwang watched this scene, his finger unconsciously tapping the table, once, twice, as if calculating the next step.

Then he turned and said to Chen Xiaodao, "Assemble tomorrow morning. We're going to the West Valley to test the sword."