https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-1036-The-Imperial-Ancestral-Cauldron/13047475/
Chapter 1037: The Task
Chapter 1037: The Task
September 25, 2017
Bingzhou, Bei Feng, City Lord's Mansion.
As Lu HaiKong examined the attributes of the blueprint, the system notification arrived as expected.
【Congratulations, you have obtained the Divine Artifact Refinement Blueprint for the Imperial Ancestral Cauldron. Detecting your identity, you have triggered the special task 'Refining the Imperial Ancestral Cauldron'. Do you accept?】
Upon hearing this system notification, Lu HaiKong was momentarily stunned. He hadn't anticipated that he would encounter a task at this moment, and even more so, a task involving the refinement of a divine artifact.
It was well known that tasks in this world, especially those for Foreign Lords, were not abundant.
In the five or six years that Lu HaiKong had been in this world, the number of tasks he had received hadn't even exceeded ten, indicating their rarity.
However, what surprised Lu HaiKong the most was not the task itself but its content. Judging from the information provided by the system, it was evident that the blueprint for the Imperial Ancestral Cauldron in front of him, even if not designed by Xuan Yuan, was undoubtedly extraordinary.
This news and task were perfect for Lu HaiKong, who was in dire need of a Marquis Artifact. Without hesitation, he chose to accept.
【You have successfully accepted the task: Refining the Imperial Ancestral Cauldron. Here are the task details:
Refining the Imperial Ancestral Cauldron
Task Category: Marquis/Divine Artifact Refinement
Task Level: ???
Task Requirements: Three Master Blacksmiths, thirty types of Mythical Ores, 100,000 Fortune, and more...
Task Rewards: Imperial Ancestral Cauldron, ???】
These were the basic details of the task Lu HaiKong had accepted. The task requirements listed dozens of items, appearing quite complex. However, in Lu HaiKong's opinion, the most challenging were the first three. The remaining requirements, with Lu HaiKong's current abilities, would be incredibly easy to gather. Only the first three posed a slight challenge.
Lu HaiKong already had two Master Blacksmiths but needed one more. He possessed various mythical ores but not thirty different types. As for the final requirement of 100,000 Fortune, it was a headache for Lu HaiKong.
Lu HaiKong had initially thought that his Fortune was so abundant it might overwhelm him. After data conversion, he believed it would far exceed 100,000. However, upon accepting this task, he realized he had overestimated himself. His Fortune stood at a little over 70,000, still falling short of the required amount, which slightly disturbed Lu HaiKong's sense of the world.
Among all the issues, Fortune was the easiest to resolve.
On the one hand, Lu HaiKong's Fortune was continuously growing at a remarkable rate. Even if this pace continued, he would accumulate 100,000 within a year or two at most.
Of course, if Lu HaiKong wanted to expedite the process, there was a quicker method.
Should Lu HaiKong have everything else prepared and only lack Fortune, marrying Princess San would likely solve the problem entirely.
Who was Princess San? She was not only a princess of the Han Dynasty but also the wielder of the Red Glow Sword. If she married Lu HaiKong, his Fortune would increase by at least 100,000.
In fact, Princess San had already agreed to marry Lu HaiKong, who had planned to wed her after defeating Dong Zhuo. However, he hadn't anticipated encountering a situation where his Fortune would skyrocket. This unforeseen circumstance made him hesitant even to marry, fearing that it might lead to his demise!
"Regardless, since we have a lead on the Marquis Artifact and it's of such a high caliber, let's give it our all, Xu Shu!"
As Lu HaiKong spoke, Xu Shu, his new secretary, appeared by his side.
Lu HaiKong retrieved paper and pen, copied down the task requirements, and then handed the lengthy list of several dozen items to Xu Shu.
With Lu HaiKong's command and Xu Shu's receipt of the list, the entire Bingzhou, or rather, Lu HaiKong's forces, sprang into action, unleashing an unimaginable display of power.
Had Lu HaiKong received this task a few years ago, even the three most critical requirements, let alone the dozens of other items, would have been challenging to gather. Even if possible, it would have taken at least a year or two.
However, the situation was different now. Lu HaiKong was the Governor of Bingzhou and the undisputed overlord of northern China. Under his command were not only formidable troops but also various powerful institutions.
At Lu Hai Kong's command, with the combined efforts of the Foreigner's Home, the Loose Person Market, and the Shadow Guards, the dozens of ordinary task requirements were completely fulfilled in just three days.
However, as these tasks were completed, Lu Hai Kong's biggest challenge emerged.
Master-level talents were already rare, and it was not easy for Lu Hai Kong to find one temporarily.
It was known that there were only two master-level blacksmiths in the entire world, and both were under Lu Hai Kong's command. There were no other master-level skilled talents elsewhere, at least not in the north. To recruit a master-level blacksmith, Lu Hai Kong had no choice but to send people to the south to try their luck.
But the chances were slim; after all, master-level talents were not like cabbages that Lu Hai Kong could find easily.
In this situation, with no ready-made solution, Lu Hai Kong could only focus on cultivating a master-level talent using all the resources at his disposal.
After all, Old Gongsun had been under Lu Hai Kong's command for several years, and during this time, although he had not cultivated a master-level talent, he had trained many advanced peak blacksmiths.
These advanced peak blacksmiths were just a step away from the master level. Although this step was extremely challenging, and many could not cross it in their lifetime, Lu Hai Kong was determined to make it happen. By pouring resources into these blacksmiths, he believed that at least one of them would reach the master level.
While the issue of master-level blacksmiths was being addressed, Lu Hai Kong was also doing everything he could to acquire mythical-level ores.
On one hand, he was purchasing from Zhang Yan and Baron Yuan, and on the other, he was posting tasks in the Foreigner's Home and issuing acquisition orders among the loose persons.
However, these methods and channels were not the most fruitful for Lu Hai Kong. Instead, he resorted to a rather shameless approach.
Lu Hai Kong turned his attention to Nuinu, remembering that when she moved, she brought a significant amount of ore, most of which were of high grade, including some mythical-level ores.
After all, she used to live near a mine with a massive vein, and it was not unusual for her to have collected some mythical-level ores in that environment.
Previously, Lu Hai Kong felt embarrassed to ask Nuinu directly, thinking it was unfair to take advantage of a child, but after spending more time with her and considering her as his own daughter, he felt it was acceptable.
When other methods of collecting mythical-level ores proved challenging, Lu Hai Kong finally extended his greedy hand towards Nuinu.
With a deceitful smile, like a parent asking for New Year's money, he approached Nuinu and bombarded her with sweet talk.
Naive Nuinu, unfamiliar with such tactics, was overwhelmed by Lu Hai Kong's flattery and happily handed over her collection to him.
The entire process was witnessed by Princess San, who had just emerged from her seclusion.
Seeing Lu Hai Kong's despicable behavior, Princess San did not hesitate to give him a disdainful look.
Despite Princess San's contempt, Lu Hai Kong persisted and managed to obtain Nuinu's ores.
Although Lu Hai Kong acquired seven types of mythical-level ores from Nuinu, even with his existing collection, he was still short of nearly half of the thirty types required for the task.
At this point, Lu Hai Kong recalled the legend about Kunlun City that Ye Wu and the others had mentioned, and with Princess San just coming out of seclusion, he asked her about Kunlun City.
Princess San had indeed entered Kunlun City and spent about half a month there, so she was very familiar with the place.
After learning about Kunlun City from Princess San, especially that almost everything could be bought with money, Lu Hai Kong confidently declared that money was not an issue for him.
With that, Lu Hai Kong was about to take Princess San to Kunlun City to purchase the materials he needed.
However, before they could set off, news came from Xu Shu that Chen Ping was about to break through.
Upon hearing this, Lu Hai Kong halted his plans to visit Kunlun City...
(End of Chapter)
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