Lei Dong was quite satisfied with this Arena Artifact Spirit; not only was it knowledgeable and possessed considerable spiritual intelligence, but it was also capable of research and development. For instance, Lei Dong’s Ghost Soldier system was handed over to the Artifact Spirit for continuous refinement, attempting to push its capabilities further. Since the creation of the specialized Ghost Soldiers, they had repeatedly proven their worth, significantly boosting Lei Dong’s combat strength. To survive and thrive in this perilous world, one must constantly enhance one's power, ensuring one's martial might stands at the apex.

Otherwise, powerful enemies certainly wouldn't bother reasoning with you. The materials for Ghost Soldiers were inexhaustible; as long as life existed, soul resources could be found for their refinement. This, clearly, was a sustainable path of development. "Very well, I have compiled the list of materials needed to repair the Arena Tower.

You may examine it yourself." The Artifact Spirit sent out waves of divine thought, transmitting the material requirements directly to Lei Dong. Even with Lei Dong's immensely deep coffers, his eyes started to glaze over slightly upon first seeing the list. It was a terrifying inventory, with every single item listed being incredibly precious and rare. A large portion of these materials were substances Lei Dong had never even heard mentioned, perhaps long since exhausted in the river of history.

"Senior Artifact Spirit, isn't this list a bit exaggerated?" Lei Dong shook his head with a wry smile, "With my fortune, I could procure perhaps one or two tenths at most. Another two or three tenths are materials so rare in the current world that I've only heard their names, never seen the things themselves. For the remainder, I haven't even heard the names." Cultivation is a process of self-evolution; it not only drastically improves one's physique and extends lifespan but also elevates intelligence through repeated life transformations. The concrete manifestation of this is memory.

At Lei Dong’s current stage of life, while he might not possess perfect recall, he could at least commit anything he scanned over once to memory with about eighty or ninety percent accuracy. His efficiency in recalling things was astonishing and exaggerated. It was for this reason that cultivators in many major sects focused solely on cultivation during their lower stages. Only after achieving the Golden Core stage, or perhaps the Nascent Soul stage, would they be willing to spend time studying various miscellaneous techniques.

Firstly, life was too short; there wasn't enough time for cultivation, so how could they afford to waste it? Secondly, intelligence significantly sharpens upon reaching higher cultivation levels, making learning much faster. Of course, the most crucial reason was the scarcity: in a sect, fewer than one in a hundred cultivators might reach the Golden Core stage, and one in ten thousand might reach Nascent Soul. This was for sects with resources; for smaller sects, a Nascent Soul cultivator might not appear for a millennium.

Therefore, unless one believed pure cultivation offered no future prospects, they would absolutely not waste time on certain technologies. "A scarcity of resources, a scarcity of resources," the Artifact Spirit sighed mournfully. "How has the world come to this? There is nothing when you need it.

Alas, even the level of cultivation has dropped considerably. In my Master's era, Nascent Soul stage cultivators or beasts, while not flooding the land, were merely considered the cornerstone of a sect. Not like now, where they act as if they own the world. These materials I listed were common fare for my Master, used and discarded readily." "Perhaps it is precisely because your generation of seniors treated natural resources with such extreme wastefulness, consuming them wantonly, that we, the latecomers, are forced to face a world of scarcity.

And you have the audacity to bring it up?" Lei Dong scoffed with a cold smile. "Uh, let's drop that topic," the Artifact Spirit sounded slightly awkward, re-issuing a list to Lei Dong. "This is the absolute minimum list I could devise based on the current state of the world. I've used the lowest-grade materials available; it cannot be reduced further." Lei Dong re-sensed the new list with his divine thought and felt a slight easing of tension.

"Senior, I have memorized this list. Within a hundred years, I will certainly gather all the materials and begin repairing the Arena Tower." This list was significantly better than the previous one. Although it still contained many precious and hard-to-find items, the vast majority could be acquired if one was willing to spend spirit stones. Only a few items looked potentially difficult to obtain.

But repairing the Arena was not an urgent matter; he could gather the materials slowly. Pleased by Lei Dong's commitment, the Artifact Spirit seemed more content, its mood softening considerably. "It's not an issue if it takes time, but you must set aside some free time to study the art of artifact forging with me. Otherwise, even if you gather all the materials, you won't know how to re-forge the Arena Tower." "If that is the case, I shall trouble you, Senior," Lei Dong replied with unusual politeness.

In truth, Lei Dong himself was extremely interested in the Artifact Spirit's forging skills. After all, the Artifact Spirit hailed from some supreme powerhouse of ancient times; an entity capable of creating an entire Arena could not have inferior forging arts. Many techniques were likely lost to time now, with no means to learn them. "Your Ghost Soldier art, while immature, certainly shows remarkable originality," the Artifact Spirit offered a rare compliment.

"I spent some time re-examining it for you; the localized destructive power can be pushed a step further." "Senior, I do have a nascent idea, I wonder if it can be realized," Lei Dong mused. "A single Ghost Soldier, even when its abilities are pushed to the extreme, has its limits. My thought is, why not combine individual Ghost Soldiers to form unique combat armaments?" "Oh? Elaborate," the Artifact Spirit pondered for a moment before speaking, seeming intrigued.

"It is commonly known that whether human or any other species, we are fundamentally multi-factor life forms," Lei Dong thought, adjusting his language for this world. "Our bodies are composed of countless life factors with different functions. Any single life factor is fragile, but when combined, they manifest immense capability. Ghost Soldiers, however, are refined from various Yin Souls, a unique fusion between soul-form and Nether Ghost Qi energy, possessing extreme malleability through formation arrays.

Could we not refine individual Yin Souls into different components and assemble them into powerful weapons? For example, like this..." As Lei Dong communicated via divine thought, he directly sketched a simple blueprint and explanation in his mind, transmitting it to the Artifact Spirit via mental waves. This form of communication was akin to telepathy—incredibly convenient and intuitive, far surpassing purely verbal exchange. The design Lei Dong provided depicted what outwardly appeared to be a single Belly Cannon Ghost, but it was actually refined from two Yin Souls.

One Yin Soul was shaped into the cannon barrel, while the other formed the entire pot-belly. These two were then connected in a combined manner. Consequently, the resulting Belly Cannon Ghost's performance far surpassed that of a single unit. The Artifact Spirit remained silent for a long time, a touch of awe entering its tone.

"Young man surnamed Lei, in my long existence, you are the most creatively thinking person I have ever encountered. If you persist in learning artifact forging, perhaps your future achievements will surpass those of my Master." Lei Dong's previous Ghost Soldier refinements had already surprised the Artifact Spirit greatly; otherwise, the Spirit would not have leaned toward Lei Dong’s side during the fair final battle. Lei Dong smiled, shaking his head, knowing his own limitations. It wasn't that he possessed inherently superior creative thinking, but rather the convergence of knowledge and experience from two lifetimes.

Although his previous life was short, only twenty-odd years, the knowledge systems of that previous life were entirely different from this world's model. Combining the two sparked some remarkable flashes of insight. Refining two Yin Souls into different parts to compose the Belly Cannon Ghost was merely one way Lei Dong illustrated his design philosophy. In reality, his ideas were even more radical.

Theoretically, provided one had the time to design the formation arrays—which acted as molds—there was a way to refine Yin Souls into myriad components, which could then be assembled into a colossal entity. Even a Flying Vessel could theoretically be created through the refinement of a huge number of Yin Souls, given enough patience and skill. Perhaps energized by Lei Dong’s inspiration, the Artifact Spirit excitedly prepared to test that Belly Cannon Ghost design. However, Lei Dong stopped him for the moment and began instilling some "advanced" concepts.

Soon, after several hours were spent, their first designed piece emerged. It was an object the Artifact Spirit had never seen before: one Yin Soul refined into a thin, elongated tube, while several others were shaped into various peculiar forms. When finally pieced together, it resembled a much smaller Cannon Ghost in some aspects, and a magical artifact in others, yet its overall shape was bizarrely distinct. The Artifact Spirit had no idea, but Lei Dong knew precisely what this object was: something men in his previous life had been extremely fond of—a gun, more accurately, something resembling an assault rifle, its slender body brimming with lethal intent.

After arriving in this world, Lei Dong had considered building a gun for amusement. But considering the sheer might of the magical treasures in this world, a firearm’s advantage wasn't obvious, and it required significant forging knowledge to construct. Thus, the idea had long been suppressed. Now, having started learning the art of forging, all those long-suppressed, strange ideas began to erupt in his mind.

This gun was made from a total of seven refined Yin Souls. Its structure was simple, but its power should not be underestimated. Lei Dong extended his divine sense beyond the Flying Vessel, searching outward for over ten li, locating a Golden Core-level Nether Beast.