Examining the wooden robot in front of him, Lu Feng couldn't help but clicked his tongue. It was amazing that Jianjun could create this kind of thing at his age. Even if he asked his father for help to complete some parts, it was still impressive that he managed to create the blueprint by just listening to the story he told.

Lu Feng moved the arm and noticed that it wasn't stiff at all. The joint was perfectly sized so that it won't hinder any movement nor was too loose to stay in place.

Then while Lu Feng was being immersed in his creation, Jianjun placed a colorful crystal into a socket on its head.

"Brother Feng, do press the button on its chest. I'm sure you'll be surprised. "

Intrigued, Lu Feng did as told. He clicked the button on the robot's chest.

*Ziingg!

Suddenly the crystal on its forehead emitted blue light. Fine particles then rose up from the ground and the robot's eyes began to glow.

Startled, Lu Feng backed away. His eyes widened.

"Don't tell me..."

*Kacha!

The robot unfolded its wings which were shrouded by bluish particles.

"I... Is it going to fly? " Lu Feng anticipated.

But then the particles suddenly vanished, along with the bluish glow emitted by the crystal.

*Crack

The crystal then cracked before turning to dust, leaving the robot standing there with its wings unfolded.

"Sigh, I guess it still needs further refinement after all. "

Jianjun sighed from behind him. He then grinned and said,

"As you can see, I'm now officially a two-star craft meister. And that energy stone we've used was given by my dad as a reward for me. How is it? Hahaha... "

Jianjun laughed wildly, he didn't even care about the snot that might fall out from his nose.

Lu Feng waking up from his trance turned to look at Jianjun. His eyes were full of pride as he scrutinize the boy before him.

"Woah, you're really good at this. Considering your age, I'm sure you've got a bright future ahead of you. "

Lu Feng complimented as though he was Jianjun's elder.

Hearing Lu Feng's compliments, Jianjun lowered his head. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Somehow, bragging to Lu Feng wasn't as satisfying compared to the others. In fact, he would even feel bad about it since the idea was Lu Feng's in the first place.

Wipes off his snot with a handkerchief he asked,

"Anyway Brother Feng, what is it that led you here? Will the gathering be canceled this evening? "

Lu Feng shook his head,

"No, in fact, I want to inform you that we got a new member tonight. "

He grinned,

"Also, I want to buy some supplies to practice my craft. It's been running out for quite some time already. Surely I couldn't slack off, not when you've reached the second stage while here I am still haven't figured out how to become a meister yet. "

"New member huh? I wonder if you could tell me who is it, " Jianjun said as he walks into the shop to gather the supplies that Lu Feng needs.

"Well, I could only say that you must know about her. "

"Really? Then she should be pretty famous right? "

"Yeah, kind of... "

After packing the materials and supplies Lu Feng requested, Jianjun gave them to him.

"How much is it? "

"Still the same as usual. "

"Alright... "

Lu Feng took out his pouch from his pocket. He then took out 50 copper coins from inside of it and gave them to Jianjun.

"Thank you for supporting our business. "

"Haha, then I'll be going. "

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Alright, see you later! "

"Okay, see you in the evening! "

With that, Lu Feng walked away from the toy shop. He then went to the street leading up to the hill.

***

Finding a spot beside a giant rock that faced the city; Lu Feng sat down below a giant tree. He unpacked the materials he bought and placed them in front of him. There were two pieces of logs, a sheet of sandpaper, and a polishing solution. He also got some resin to coat the end product.

He then raised his right hand to the air and closed his eyes.

*Swoosh!

A wind suddenly came from nowhere and an axe appeared in his hand. Quickly, he swung the axe in his hand downwards to the log in front of him.

*Snap!

The log was then chopped in half.

Lu Feng opened his eyes and smiled. The technique he developed turned out to be quite practical. It was worth it to invest more of his time in understanding his peculiar ability.

“As expected, it could be improved,” he said as he closes his eyes once again in order to make the axe disappear. He then willed for a chisel and a hammer to appear in his hands instead.

Picking up the materials he prepared; he pondered for a while before deciding to carve a fish. He thought that it would be easy enough for him to proceed.

First, he started by removing the skin and reducing the size of the wood he used. Then he started to carve out the basic shape of the fish.

Next was to create the detail, in which he carefully transform the basic shape into the shape of a fish. He started with the head and finished it with no problem, but then he moved into the body where he faced some struggle with the fins and the proportion.

He took his time to move his chisel slowly, afraid to ruin the whole process as beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

***

It was afternoon by the time he finished sculpting. Time passed quickly when one focused on doing something. Lu Feng felt that wasn’t a good thing as he would need more time to master the craft. Especially when a fish-headed lump of wood had found its place on his hand.

He sighed, wondering where everything went wrong. He reckoned that the basic shape he created should be good enough, but why the heck it turned out to be like this?

He was going to try again when he remembered that he had an appointment with his father this afternoon. As such, he stopped practicing and started packing his belongings instead. He collected the wood crumbs on the ground; putting them inside a sack before making them disappear along with the tools he used.

After everything was done, he stood up and dusted off his clothes. He gazed towards the vibrant city and said,

”Guess, this was truly my second life huh?”

***

The city streets were quiet in the afternoon. People have gone outside the city walls to tend their crops. While children should have taken their naps at this time of the day. The shops were closed except for restaurants which were packed with customers who drop by to take a break and order their lunch.

Lu Feng walked along the empty streets to his family’s mansion which was located in the northern part of the city where many influential families gathered.

Lu family’s mansion especially was located beside the city lord’s residence. It was planned by the Imperial government so they could closely monitor the city lord and took the necessary precaution should suspicions arise.

Fortunately, there was no such thing happened; both the Lu and City Lord’s Zhang families had been in a harmonious relationship ever since they lived with each other.

Zhang Yunyu, the city lord’s daughter, would often play in the Lu family’s mansion; looking for Lu Feng to tell her some story.

Thinking about Zhang Yunyu, he couldn't help but wonder about what would happen this evening when he introduced her to the others.

Would they be surprised? Or would they be frightened instead? After all, they had never knowingly met someone as famous as Zhang Yunyu.

Still in thought, Lu Feng finally arrived at the border between districts. The sight of a towering stone gate appeared before him as he slowly approached the northern part of the city.

This gate was the one built as the last stand if the need ever arise; if the Silver Empire was ever attacked by its southern nemesis, The Iron Republic. So it was built extremely tall and sturdy.

No one knew what kind of materials were used to build such a structure, but It was said that the wall was built with the technology possessed by cultivators.

Walking into the gate, he was greeted by the guards stationed there.

"Hello, young master Feng!"

Lu Feng nodded and smiled at them.

“Hello uncle guards, good weather isn’t it?”

“Indeed young master, it was nice as always.”

“I see, then it would be as usual. Erase my records and never mentioned my real identity,” said Lu Feng as he tossed some coins to the guards.

Receiving the coins the guards were all smiling.

“Don’t you worry young master, we wouldn’t leak out any information even when the heaven collapses.”

“Good, now open the gate.”

“As you wish..”

*Creaak…

Lu Feng immediately walked into the gate.

Soon he passed the wall and then a breathtaking scenery appeared in front of his eyes.

An antique stone pathway stretched far into the distance. Banyan trees decorated the surroundings along with many kinds of flowers such as peonies and chrysanthemums, emitting a faint scent of flowers that filled the nearby space.

The air was cold even in the afternoon. It was fresh and abundant; clear without any pollution.

This was the northern district, the place where influential people gathered. A place full of privilege that someone from the other districts would willingly spend a huge sum of money just to move in.

Lu Feng walked through the pathways as he increased his speed a little bit so that he would be able to meet his father on time.

His father was an important government official, and for that reason, his schedule was always packed to the point that he wouldn't be able to spend his time with his own family. Lu Feng could only meet his father after an appointment in the morning. Or else he wouldn't be able to even take a glance at his back.

It was quite sad actually, knowing that his father was deeply in love with his family. So Lu Feng would occasionally make a pointless appointment just to freed his father from his responsibilities even for a moment.

Lu Feng sighed, looking at the flowers along the pathways he remembered a certain story of a certain Promised Chrysanthemum. A tale of a promised love severed by the chains of responsibility.

“Right, I might as well tell that story tonight…”

End of Chapter 2 - Vol 1: The Promised Chrysanthemum

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