One must be wondering, given the blueprint which showed how to make something, and raw materials, why could the three creation classes make those things but cultivators and Oathkeepers could not?
After all, you just follow instructions, right? Easy. Then boom, item ready, problem solved.
The answer to that was the fact that almost everything in the world contained Qi lines.
Cultivators and Oathkeepers circulated Qi through the lines in their own bodies to perform their cultivation skills, while the creation classes assembled the Qi lines of raw materials they touched, stitched, bullied, and rearranged into something formidable, ridiculous, terrifying, and occasionally stabby.
Just like how creation classes couldn't see the Qi lines of their own body, the other classes also couldn't sense the Qi lines of these items.
Blueprints and cultivation skills granted one a clear path of Qi lines for them to assemble the Qi lines or control their Qi through, making it easier to make that item or perform that skill.
If someone tried to invent their own blueprint or cultivation skill, they would have to test countless Qi paths forged from 10 percent raw fortune, 20 percent trained ability, 15 percent iron-wrought willpower, 5 percent enlightenment, 50 percent spiritual endurance to not self-destruct, and 100 percent conviction that the technique must have a reason to exist, even if the cultivator barely does by the end of its creation.
There was also another common question which some beginners who wanted to practice one of the five domains asked.
"Cultivators and Oathkeepers could use cultivation skills, on top of that they could also utilise the creations like swords.
"Whereas the creation classes could only wield items but not use cultivation skills, wasn't that unfair? Also, didn't that make them weak in combat?"
Well, the answer to that was creations could display higher might in the hands of a creation class.
This enhancement might not be significant in the lower ranks, however at higher ranks, it was absolutely broken, allowing them to bridge the gap with cultivators in terms of combat power.
Suppose at higher ranks, there was a cultivator who had a cultivation skill with combat prowess of 100, and used a sword which boosted his combat prowess by another 100, making it 200.
In the case of an artifact refiner, depending on the path they had taken, the sword in their hand could display a combat prowess of 200, making both the parties equal.
Kaizen controlled the Qi in his body, and began operating on the first set of materials.
He first sorted out the Qi path on the wooden plate he was using.
Just like the human body had numerous Qi paths, and circulating Qi through different Qi paths would activate different cultivation skills, every object in the world carried its own branching maze of Qi paths as well.
Depending on the item you wanted to manufacture, you had to single out a Qi path of the raw materials constituting the item. And that path needed to link cleanly with the paths of the other components, or the entire construction would tear itself apart.
How did you isolate a Qi path? Simple. You pulsed your own Qi through the material over and over until it responded by glowing under your class enhanced senses.
With his top tier Qi control, Kaizen was able to guide his Qi through the correct path without letting it deviate elsewhere.
With the first wooden plate done, he picked the second one, which needed to be joined with the first one.
He repeated the process and isolated the exact Qi path dictated by the blueprint.
Now comes the joining part.
He thought, gazing at the miscellaneous materials. They were those provided by the fourth prince, and not among the raw materials he bought. They were things like hammers, nails, a furnace, masks, gloves and such.
He joined the two wooden plates using the tools and began attempting to fuse the isolated Qi paths from both plates into a stable connection.
He had to make sure that only the correct Qi paths he had singled out connected, if a mistake took place, the plates would break apart.
He wouldn't be able to use them again in that case.
BANG!
Unfortunately, that was exactly what happened.
He reflexively leaned back, and covered his face with a film of Qi. However, the breakdown wasn't as dramatic as he had imagined.
The wooden plates didn't explode but only broke in a few pieces which didn't even have the passion to scatter but simply dropped down.
Heaving a sigh, he went over the blueprint and started again.
On the second try, he successfully joined the two wooden plates, but failed when installing a third one.
Till the seventh try, his wooden plates kept breaking down.
Only on the eighth try did he have a complete wooden structure which could fit around his arm.
Of course, there was a fitting mechanism present which meant one didn't need to measure their arm beforehand to create this blueprint.
He then began installing the mechanism of the shield, which took four failed tries.
On the twelfth try, he started with the dagger mechanism.
I have 9 sets of raw materials left and I'm already on the last part, I think I can make more than just one simple arm brace. Even four to five shouldn't be a problem.
He thought with a hopeful expression.
He couldn't be more wrong. It taught him not to have any hope towards life.
Wait, that's wrong. I should not have any hopes toward artifacts, not life. Life is amazing.
It sounded like character growth, but was actually just bargaining in denial form.
Only on the eighteenth try did he succeed, shooting his confidence through the sky, out of the star cluster, with no hint of coming back.
Two more sets left, it means I'll have three total, that's still good. I'll be rich.
Bad news, life fucked him again.
His nineteenth try failed, the dagger barely scraping by his cheek. His confidence returned to planet Calan.
Fuck, my handsome face was almost ruined.
Fortunately, he managed to successfully make the simple arm brace again on his twentieth try.
Holding two complete sets, Kaizen thought.
One for myself, one to sell.
Time to scam—, uhm, get rich.