Chapter 12

Currently, my body is strong enough to crush boulders with my palm, and I can achieve this without using any energy. My situation would be impossible using normal cultivation methods, but with my unique approach, I can sculpt my body as I desire. Usually, attaining a tank-like physique is only achieved at level 10, but it hasn't come easy for me. Over the past two months, I've relentlessly pushed my body to its limits, consuming the equivalent of 10 limbs' worth of protein every single day. Sometimes, I even think death would be preferable. Each training session feels like my muscles being plucked one by one, my bones hammered into dust, and then healed, only to be destroyed again. The pain intensifies as my body grows stronger, but I persist, day after day, for the entire two months. By the end of each routine, my body is riddled with bleeding wounds, and I suffer from nightly cramps throughout my entire being.

Despite the pain, I'm immensely satisfied with the results. "This power... it's incredibly addictive. I feel like a goddamn Superman," I thought to myself, though I'm nowhere near that level yet. Focusing my attention back on my body, I can feel every inch of my muscles and bones pulsating with hardness. My bones are as strong as steel, and my muscles are as powerful as steel wires. (Gatotkaca)

However, despite the incredible physical prowess I've attained, my cultivation level has yet to reach level 1, and it has already been around four months since my reincarnation. For a normal cultivator, it would only take two months to reach level 1, but for me, it has been three years and five months of cultivation without reaching that milestone. It's not because I lack aptitude; if we were to discuss aptitude, Zen would likely be considered one of the most gifted geniuses on this planet. The issue lies in the scarcity of blank energy.

"I need to solve this issue, or I won't advance in any field at all," I thought to myself.

I made my way to my workplace, sitting there pondering my options. "How should I tackle this?" I wondered. Scarcity isn't something easily solved; it's akin to money. If you don't have money, you need to work for it. But what if there's no work available?

"Hmm, well, I need to create work," I concluded.

I delved into reading books in my office, drawing upon Moria's memories and crafting a plan. A week passed swiftly, and now I find myself in the midst of a formation.

This formation is my masterpiece, designed to collect and filter the surrounding energy, allowing only pure energy to enter and trapping it for future use. The size of the formation spans the dimensions of a football field, with a transparent stork flower positioned at its center. Drawing inspiration from simple formations, I incorporated inscriptions that function as energy absorbers. These inscriptions can draw energy from the user's body or energy crystals, with the absorption rate being adjustable. However, the absorbed energy is random and can interfere with the effectiveness of specific elemental inscriptions. To counter this, most inscriptions utilize specific elemental energy crystals to overpower other types of energy.

And so, I followed suit by placing the transparent stork flower in the middle of the inscription, utilizing it as the central node and filtering mechanism. When activated, the formation takes the shape of a double dome, with the smaller dome nestled within the larger one. The outer layer of the larger dome acts as the absorber, while the space between the two domes serves as the storage area. The upper part of the outer layer is shaped like an inverted cone, functioning as a drain for the absorbed energy. The dense pure energy within the inner dome pushes other energy toward the outer dome, making the inner dome the storage for pure energy and the outer dome the storage for elemental energy.

In addition to the energy formation, I implemented an illusion formation to conceal the dense energy within the domes. It would be sheer folly to become a conspicuous beacon in a forest teeming with energy beasts. The illusion formation draws energy from the outer dome, creating an infinite cycle. Inside the inner dome, I placed some empty energy crystals as experimental waste from previous endeavors.

"I hope this works because it's going to be insane," I thought to myself.

After completing the formation, I made my way to the office and noticed a flickering light on the crystal card, indicating a notification. Intrigued, I infused energy into the card, and a hologram filled with letters materialized before my eyes.

"To honorable Mr. Zen,

Thank you for agreeing to form a contract with me. Here are some details for our future project:..."

The details outlined the requirements of the project, including a large concealment formation, a beast repellent formation, a substantial illusion formation, and 100 sets of electrically-charged sticks.

"What the hell are they planning?" I grinned, intrigued by the peculiar nature of their requested formations. Such a specific and extensive set of formations hinted at something significant. When things got fishy, people tended to turn a blind eye to any unusual occurrences.

The requested formations were massive in scale. They asked for a 1 km wide concealment formation, a 1.5 km beast repellent formation, and a 3 km illusion formation. The combined power of these formations could deceive even a level 60 cultivator (note: Bamboo Jade Emperor is level 60). The prince's offer for the contract amounted to 450 million EC, indicating the seriousness of his intentions. He had something significant to conceal.

Typically, craftsmen have a profit margin of around 80% of the total price, but as a new craftsman, I decided to settle for 68%. Even so, this would yield a pure profit of 306 million EC. With such a substantial sum of money involved and the underlying motives, I promptly accepted the project.

Over the next few months, in addition to training my body, I dedicated myself to the project. I procured a vast quantity of materials, costing me nearly 120 million EC. I meticulously prepared the design drafts and set up the workshop, which took an entire month to complete.

Once the preparations were finished, I focused on finalizing the formation designs, starting with the concealment formation. Crafting a concealment formation of 1 km width was a formidable challenge. Furthermore, the prince requested that the formation be easy to assemble to avoid burdening me personally.

During the preparation phase, I already made estimations on the formation's shape. Now, I needed to calculate the energy consumption rate, energy distribution, and inscription formulation. The formation would have an octagonal shape with a web-like structure on the inside. From the center, prism-shaped formations would stretch to each point of the octagon, connecting all the prisms with multiple lines. This particular formation required 86 nodes, each made of different materials but sharing the same shape with varying sizes. Each shape on the formation served a distinct purpose, necessitating the use of different materials.

The octagonal nodes, essential components of the formation, would be crafted using a combination of spiritual iron, earth gold, and crushed rock peanuts. Each material possessed unique properties, but the primary objective was to absorb various effects such as sound, heat waves, life energy, and smell. Notably, all these materials belonged to the earth element, evident from the inclusion of "earth" in their names.

As for the prism structure, the nodes would be constructed using spiritual iron, white stones, horned flash rabbit's horn, and melted illuminating bee wax. These ingredients shared a common elemental affinity: light. This section of the formation would be responsible for morphing anything within its boundaries to appear as empty space, blending seamlessly with the surrounding environment.

To achieve this illusion, a reflection-like mechanism would be employed. The nodes would capture and reflect the surrounding visuals, transforming them into random new structures. It was akin to capturing a series of random pictures and using them to create an entirely different scene.