Chapter 15: Remodeling the New Home

Little Sam's card repair shop changed owners, and the news quickly spread among the neighbors. Many nearby shop owners specially came to take a look and have a chat with Duke.

There weren't any significant changes, and business hadn't declined either.

After all, in this part of Second Vertical Street, there was only one Little Sam's card repair shop. When nearby residents had damaged spirit cards, they could get them fixed at Little Sam's, so who would go farther away to have their cards repaired?

Delanco and Sanet would come to repair cards almost every day.

Only Bast would frequently take leave and not show up. Even when he did, his attitude wasn't great, and the consumption of materials for repairs had significantly increased compared to before.

"Bast, have you been having trouble with your skills lately? It's only been a week, but your material usage has surpassed what you used in a whole month before," Duke said, his brow furrowing.

"What's it to you?" Bast replied with a straight face.

"I hope you could be more careful and try to reduce material wastage. We're running a small business, so we need to save wherever possible."

"Heh." Bast gave a dismissive laugh. "Everyone has off days. Even when Old Sam was around, there were times when I used more materials. So the new owner is already latching onto this?"

Duke said calmly, "I've looked at the records Old Sam left behind, and for the past year, Bast, you've been pretty consistent. I just wanted to give you a reminder."

Bast raised his head defiantly and retorted, "Are you planning to audit the records? You know my level, didn't you see it when you were an apprentice? Why the rush to find me now?"

"Enough, Bast," Sanet intervened as he walked over.

While he held Bast back from saying more, he also smiled at Duke and said, "Bast has this kind of temper, but his skills are trustworthy. Duke, don't take it to heart."

And so, a small conflict was resolved.

Though Duke found Bast somewhat irritating, he couldn't immediately find a suitable replacement for repairs. Thus, he decided to let the matter of material usage slide for now.

However, he secretly hastened his own learning process.

He hoped to advance to become a card repairer as soon as possible, so he could replace Bast.

Unfortunately, even with Xiaoyi's theoretical guidance, he still struggled to master card repair techniques. The reason lay in the fact that he was only a 1-ring spiritual apprentice.

Spiritual liquid was merely a crude accumulation of spiritual energy, incapable of finer manipulation.

Card repair, on the other hand, was a delicate art of inscribing on a grain of rice. It demanded extensive control over spiritual energy, necessitating the condensation of energy lines and mastery over control. Otherwise, it was challenging to perform effectively.

Meanwhile, Xiaoyi's growth rate had been rapid during this time.

With Duke poring over numerous books with Xiaoyi's help, the database had expanded significantly. Particularly in the field of card repair, Xiaoyi had become incredibly adept. It could provide comprehensive repair solutions for even the most damaged spirit cards. Due to Duke's limited strength, Xiaoyi's full potential couldn't be unleashed yet.

It was like having a powerful software running on a single-core CPU; its capabilities were restricted by its hardware.

Only when Duke's power increased could Xiaoyi truly excel.

"Xiaoyi, your card repair skills have reached a high level. How is your progress in card crafting?" Duke lay on the bed, the "Blank Slate Meditation Technique" self-operating under Xiaoyi's control.

"Card crafting is still in progress. Each 'ring' requires a lot of data processing. Currently, I can only conduct simulated calculations. The success rate of simulating the ring is less than one percent."

"So, there's still a chance of success?"

"Yes."

"Keep working at it. I'll gather more books on rings and card crafting for you." Duke responded, suddenly recalling something. "By the way, Xiaoyi."

"Please speak, Master."

"If you've successfully simulated the creation of a ring, allocate some of your processing power to try improving the 1-ring Desert Eagle's ring."

"Sure, Master. Which direction do you want me to improve the Desert Eagle toward?"

"Toward... the direction of a silencer. Attach a silencer to the Desert Eagle. I understand how silencers work, so design it based on that principle. It should reduce the difficulty."

As a 1-ring Arcane Artifact, the Desert Eagle's power had already been verified. It was an absolute deadly weapon.

However, the gunshots were too loud, audible even from a mile away. For a highly sensitive Knight, the sound of a gunshot might carry for a mile.

In a busy urban area, all heads might turn towards the sound.

Exposing secrets was a significant risk.

Xiaoyi swiftly replied, "Understood. In the time ahead, I will work on improving the Desert Eagle with a silencer. I'll notify you as soon as I achieve the successful improvement."

...

Over the next few days, everything was normal in the shop.

Regarding card repair techniques, Duke found it challenging to make further progress. The control offered by spiritual liquid wasn't sufficient to support modifications to energy pathways.

So, besides accumulating knowledge, he spent a lot of time tidying up the backyard and warehouse.

Little Sam's card repair shop had been operating for over twenty years, and various parts of it had become dilapidated. Furthermore, it was cluttered with various odds and ends, all of which needed Duke's attention.

Bob and the three apprentices had been called in to help as well.

After almost half a month's effort, the shop had been thoroughly cleaned and reorganized.

At the front were the street-facing storefronts, with two rooms on each of the two floors. The two rooms downstairs were a counter area and a repair area, while the two rooms upstairs served as a spirit card storage area and a card repair equipment area.

Behind the shopfront, there was an area that Old Sam had expanded, roughly the size of another room, used to store necessary materials.

Further back was a small courtyard of around a hundred square meters. Behind the courtyard was a large warehouse. Objects that had accumulated over many years had all been cleared out and sold as scrap.

The space was now free, and Duke hired a construction team to convert it into a one-bedroom apartment, moving in officially from his rented place.

"The apartment is at the back, and there's an alley behind it, not far from the vegetable market. It'll be convenient to buy groceries and everything in the future," Duke stood at the back door of the apartment, quite satisfied with his new home.

He closed the back door and walked to the front courtyard.

The courtyard wall was high, but the space inside was empty. The clutter from Old Sam's era had all been thrown away.

"If I manage to gather enough money later on, I'll buy a spirit plant and cultivate it. It would attract more free-floating spiritual energy, making it easier for me to practice." He planned in his mind.

Bast had once mentioned that Old Sam had also planted spirit plants in the courtyard at the beginning, creating a practice environment.

Unfortunately, Old Sam's cultivation had stagnated, and he grew lazy about maintaining the plants. That particular spirit plant had withered and been removed.

"My cultivation will never stagnate. Therefore, I must plan for spirit plant cultivation as soon as possible." Duke thought.

He glanced at the grayish sky. "Although spiritual energy is everywhere, it's still divided between dense and thin... Snakehead Town was built on a spring of spiritual energy. The central point of the town square, right there in the middle of the crossroads, is where the emanations from the spiritual spring disperse. By the time these free-floating spiritual energies reach Second Vertical Street, they have already become much thinner. They need to be refined using spirit plants."