Chapter 126: The Results (Part 2)

After Jiang Chen made his choice, the voice fell silent.

It was not until Jiang Chen reached the end of the first level that it spoke again: "Please select your challenge content. You may choose from: Mechanical Weaponry, Biological Weaponry, or Secret Pattern Weaponry."

"I choose 'Mechanical Weaponry'," Jiang Chen said clearly.

Within the mist, a humanoid puppet immediately appeared, along with a vast array of materials and equipment.

"Please select materials for fusion to add shell armor to the puppet. The armor thickness must not exceed 10 centimeters. Once the armor is added, victory will be determined by a duel between the puppets."

"You have thirty minutes of preparation time."

The voice from the mist stated the rules of the challenge.

"Fuse materials to forge armor, then decide the winner through a puppet duel? Under these rules, the performance metrics of the puppets should be identical; the only difference is the strength of the armor..."

Although there were no explicit rules, Jiang Chen immediately deduced the essence of the challenge and stepped forward to examine the various materials.

The assessment corresponding to the "Heavenly Craft Chaos Tablet" was indeed quite different from the mainstream Chaos Tablets. This "Creation Challenge" mode was not found in any of the mainstream ones. Only the niche system Chaos Tablets featured such peculiar testing content.

This made sense. Different Chaos Tablets represented different systems, and not all systems were geared toward combat. For instance, paths like "Technology" or "Pharmacology" might not necessarily have low combat power, but in the conflicts between cosmic races, practitioners of these paths often served as logistical support. A technology-based practitioner leading a mechanical army into battle was surely less valuable to a race than one remaining behind to manufacture massive quantities of weapons and equipment for other powerhouses to use.

There were not many types of materials—only about a thousand—all of which were Grade A or Grade B metals, ores, or biological materials. This number was a mere drop in the bucket compared to even the most basic material synthesis laboratories on Earth, to say nothing of the scale of the universe.

These materials were entirely unknown to Jiang Chen. Given his knowledge, while it was possible he might not recognize high-level treasures, being unfamiliar with every single Grade A and B material suggested they likely did not exist in reality at all. They were purely simulations created by the Virtual Universe, designed solely to test a challenger’s mastery over material properties.

This did not stump Jiang Chen. Whether in natural science, arcanum, or alchemy, analyzing material properties was a fundamental skill that one had to master.

With a surge of mental energy, he cast a minor arcanum spell called "Analysis." The various properties of the thousand-plus materials clearly manifested in his mind: molecular structure, physical characteristics, extraordinary traits—every detail was laid bare, leaving nothing out.

The moment he analyzed their properties, numerous synthesis directions emerged in his mind. Some stemmed from Jiang Chen’s own experience, but more came from the insights into "material synthesis" he had gained after contemplating the Heavenly Craft Chaos Tablet.

However, Jiang Chen did not rush to begin. Instead, he walked up to the puppet—which was roughly the size of a normal human—and carefully observed its internal structure. Under the penetration of his spiritual power, the interior of the puppet was fully revealed to him, holding no secrets.

"The energy density of this power cell is quite low, even worse than the lowest-grade energy cells. It’s about the same as the high-energy batteries I used when I built the 'Boxer' mecha back in the day."

"The transmission loss in the motor components is significant, too."

"There is no dedicated weapon configuration; it attacks only with fists and kicks."

"This design... its combat power is barely at the Apprentice level."

"In that case, the shell cannot be too heavy, or the puppet won't be able to run and will just be a sitting duck."

"The requirement for the shell material is that it must be hard yet sufficiently lightweight..."

"Since defense and offense rely entirely on the hardness of the armor material, I should pursue the absolute limit in hardness..."

Analyzing the puppet's performance, Jiang Chen quickly formulated a plan. He went to the pile of materials, grabbed 824 types, and brought them to the processing equipment. Large chunks of material were cut and placed into the furnace. Some were used in large quantities, while others were measured down to the gram.

After a series of processes, the eight hundred-plus materials fused perfectly into a new alloy. Once cast and installed, the armor fit onto the puppet’s body seamlessly, without hindering its flexibility in the slightest. After being armored, the puppet looked entirely different, reflecting a faint cyan glow in the light, which was quite aesthetically pleasing. Jiang Chen had even added sharp, spike-like protrusions to the knuckles, elbows, knees, and feet to serve as makeshift weapons.

"I am ready," Jiang Chen said. As soon as he finished speaking, a blob of liquid flew out of the mist, rapidly deforming in mid-air into a near-identical humanoid puppet. The difference was that this second puppet had a deep black exterior.

The two puppets immediately engaged in combat. Just as Jiang Chen had guessed, their strength, speed, and other attributes were at the "Apprentice" level, with identical performance. The only difference was the quality of the armor.

The puppets seemed to lack intelligence, attacking in a straightforward manner without dodging. The black puppet threw a punch at the cyan puppet's head, but it left not a single mark. The cyan puppet countered with an elbow strike; *thwack!* The sharp spike instantly punched a large hole through the black puppet's chest.

The armor strength of the two was simply not in the same league!

Although the "vitality" of the puppets was much higher than that of normal living beings, and it did not collapse despite such a heavy blow, the outcome of the battle was already clear. A moment later, the black puppet fell and dissolved back into a liquid, flying back into the mist. The cyan puppet also gradually dissipated.

"Level one cleared. You may proceed to the next level!" A voice emanated from the mist, announcing Jiang Chen's success.

"This challenge mode is quite interesting—more fun than a direct fight," Jiang Chen remarked with a look of genuine interest, proceeding through the newly revealed passage to the next level.

***

Material synthesis involves many fields. The Heavenly Craft Chaos Tablet pointed to a direction, not the whole picture. In the process of synthesizing materials, a vast amount of knowledge from other disciplines—such as chemistry and physics—was still required. It even included knowledge related to the extraordinary. Any material above Grade A inherently possessed some "extraordinary traits." Knowing how to utilize these traits, and how to retain the ones needed while discarding the unwanted ones during synthesis, required an immense reserve of knowledge.

With Jiang Chen’s accumulated knowledge, the early levels of the Heavenly Craft Heaven Bridge could not stump him. He pushed all the way to the sixth level before the skyrocketing difficulty finally halted his progress.

Up to that point, the challenge remained the same: an "Apprentice" level puppet using Grade A and B materials to forge armor, fighting another "Apprentice" level puppet. However, the armor performance of the opponent’s puppet kept increasing. By the sixth level, it was comparable to armor made from "Grade D9 materials."

The materials Jiang Chen synthesized were not much worse, but since the two sides were evenly matched, he could not defeat his opponent within the allotted time, resulting in a failure. Under these rules, Jiang Chen’s materials had to be at least one grade higher than his opponent's to win. But synthesizing Grade E materials using only Grade A and B components was, for the current Jiang Chen, a near-impossible task. It wasn't a lack of knowledge, but rather that his understanding of "material synthesis" was not yet deep enough.

"Clearing five levels—I've certainly crushed this batch of geniuses..."

Jiang Chen exited the Heaven Bridge and returned to the plaza. He was met with the incredulous stares of the other geniuses. Even the "Sentinel Baffin," who guarded the Heaven Bridge, looked at Jiang Chen with astonishment, as if questioning reality itself.

To arrive for the first time and clear five levels of the Heaven Bridge—such a scene had not occurred in a very long time. Even though Jiang Chen was challenging the specialized "Heavenly Craft Heaven Bridge," that did not mean the difficulty was lower. In some ways, Heaven Bridges with special challenge modes like the "Heavenly Craft" or the "Mother Ancestor" were actually more difficult!

"Chen, you..." Luo Feng opened his mouth, but suddenly didn't know what to say.

Surprise? He had long known that Jiang Chen’s strength was far superior to his own. Though he was a bit taken aback by Jiang Chen's achievement, it wasn't entirely unacceptable. Yet, upon hearing from Sentinel Baffin that Jiang Chen had cleared five levels, Luo Feng still felt incredibly conflicted.

"The 'Heavenly Craft Heaven Bridge' is a system of the technological path. It doesn't test combat, but other things. Don't overthink it; just follow your own path," Jiang Chen patted Luo Feng on the shoulder.

"Technological system?" Luo Feng looked puzzled.

"I'll tell you later," Jiang Chen said, changing the subject. "I saw you all gathered together earlier, what were you doing?" He already knew what had happened, but was deliberately diverting Luo Feng's attention.

"Oh, it's about Uchiha Shisui," Luo Feng said. "Shisui went to challenge the first level of the 'Heart Trace Heaven Bridge' and failed. He didn't even pass the first level."

Luo Feng's tone was strange, as if he were equally confused. Having challenged the Heaven Bridge himself, he knew the difficulty of the first level. In his view, given the strength Uchiha Shisui had displayed in the Genius Battle, even if he hadn't made any progress in the last few years, he shouldn't have failed the first level. Besides, was it possible to have zero progress after three years and a session of contemplating the Chaos Tablet? Thus, Luo Feng found Shisui's performance very odd.

Other geniuses were as clear-headed as Luo Feng and sensed something was wrong. But most believed that "Uchiha Shisui" had exhausted his talent and was no longer worthy of his spot in the Primal Secret Realm, feeling it was time to surpass him. Although the ranking on the Heaven Bridge brought no practical benefits, all the geniuses were itching to surpass the guy who had taken second place in the overall universe ranking. It seemed that doing so would prove their own strength.

Jiang Chen was, of course, well aware of all this. While he was challenging the "Heavenly Craft Heaven Bridge," his clone, "Uchiha Shisui," was challenging the "Heart Trace Heaven Bridge." Failing the first level wasn't him throwing the match; he genuinely couldn't win. The Heaven Bridge tested "Chaos Tablet insights," not "Law insights." Aside from the techniques of the Chaos Tablet, other methods were strictly restricted. Having high Law insight didn't guarantee a pass. The "Heart Trace Heaven Bridge" prioritized blade techniques, and among all of Jiang Chen's abilities, his close-quarters combat was his weakest—inferior even to the geniuses of the End-World Secret Realm. Even after contemplating the Chaos Tablet once, failing the first level was the expected outcome.

Jiang Chen didn't think there was anything wrong with that. He had chosen this Chaos Tablet specifically to address his shortcomings. Seeing Luo Feng's confusion, Jiang Chen didn't say much. If he wanted to display heaven-defying talent, it wouldn't be difficult. Redeeming a few blade-technique specializations would allow him to catch up quickly.

As the two talked, Jiang Chen’s other clone, "Esuo," also stepped out from the entrance of the "Dark Heaven Bridge," ending his attempt.

Suddenly, Sentinel Baffin announced loudly: "All the geniuses of this batch have completed their first round of attempts! Among them, four have successfully cleared at least one level of the Heaven Bridge!"

"Jiang Chen, cleared five levels of the Heaven Bridge!"

"Boland, cleared two levels of the Heaven Bridge!"

"Rong Jun, cleared one level of the Heaven Bridge!"

"And 'Esuo' from the Universe Mercenary Alliance, cleared three levels of the 'Dark Heaven Bridge'!"

"You still have thirty years in Chaos City. A momentary lead does not mean you will always lead! These thirty years in Chaos City will be the thirty years of your greatest change! I hope that in thirty years, I will see astounding progress from all of you!"

Sentinel Baffin spoke loudly, his tone carrying a strange magic that incited the geniuses to compete with one another.