After forging four Curios in a single day, the mentally and physically exhausted Chen Li slept soundly.
But in a hazy dream, he felt a heavy weight pressing down on him, making it impossible to get up.
Could it be... sleep paralysis?!
Chen Li struggled to open his eyes, only to see Tonghua sitting on his stomach. She was bent at the knees, her right hand propping up her chin in deep contemplation—the classic pose of "The Thinker."
That scared me. It wasn't sleep paralysis, just an Evil God on my bed.
"Tonghua, are you insane?" Chen Li said, exasperated, as he directly punched her on the head.
Showing tenderness and compassion for the fairer sex? Not a chance.
"I thought about it all night and came up with a plan that satisfies both our needs," Tonghua said excitedly, paying no mind to Chen Li's excessive action.
"What plan? Before you tell me about your world-shaking, god-moving plan, can you please get off of me?"
"Since you helping me forge a God-Slaying Curio to reap other Evil Gods might cause me to lose my sense of self, couldn't you just make another Curio for me that preserves my self? Wouldn't that solve the problem?" Tonghua completely ignored Chen Li's question.
"And it took you an entire night to come up with that? Now get the hell off my bed."
"Oh." When Chen Li invoked his Guardian authority and stopped negotiating, the ward could only obey.
"So, what do you think of my idea? You forge two Curios for me," Tonghua said, still excited even after being kicked off the bed.
"I don't think much of it."
"How could you not? Take a look at the commission's risk assessment and rewards in your Forging Guide. The former will definitely be low, and the latter will definitely be high."
"Hmm, you're right," Chen Li nodded after glancing at The Guide to Forging Curios that had floated in front of him.
Risk: [CRITICAL] -> [LOW]
Reward: 30 -> 150
"So?" Tonghua stood expectantly by his bed, watching him.
"It's not completely out of the question. Go find the Entries needed for these two Curios. I'll take a look at their quality. If the quality is good, it might just work," Chen Li agreed.
"Quality?"
"The Entry brightness. In other words, the quality of the materials must be high. The God-Slaying Entry needs to be very bright because it's a necessity. As for the Entry that preserves your self, something passable will do."
"Why does the second one only need to be passable?"
"The God-Slaying Curio must be powerful enough because it might be used to kill many strange and powerful gods in the future. So, we can't be sloppy with its Entry. The Curio that preserves your self can only be used by you, so its application is very narrow. That's why passable is fine," Chen Li said casually as he pulled up his blanket.
"Oh... wait, hold on. Why is it that the thing only I can use is just 'passable'? And are you implying you're going to lend that God-Slaying Curio to other people later?"
"Of course," Chen Li nodded honestly.
This was how forging Curios worked. Tonghua only needed to issue the commission; Chen Li had to consider a lot more.
Sharing Curios was one of Chen Li's grand ideas!
Of course, the rental fee would be non-negotiable!
"When you forge a Curio for me, don't you just give it to me directly?"
"Let's be realistic. Can you even afford the forging fee? Do you have any idea how much a single Miracle Crystal is worth?" Chen Li asked, tossing a crystal in his hand.
Chen Li wasn't trying to be harsh with Tonghua, nor was he being stingy.
It was just that a God-Slaying Curio was genuinely useful. It could have many applications in the future and generate a significant amount of revenue.
"How much?" Tonghua's heart instantly filled with anxiety.
"I don't know," Chen Li shook his head.
"???"
"In any case, I'm not lying to you."
As a condensation of Miracle Power, Miracle Crystals could not only be used to forge Curios but also to make the impossible possible.
For example, it was incredibly difficult for a cockroach to solo-kill a human, but not entirely impossible.
Chen Li would need to study it more carefully to draw a more accurate conclusion.
"Although I can earn Miracle Crystals by forging Curios for others, those aren't provided by the clients. Miracles aren't free. I hope I can meet some clients in the future who can afford a proper forging fee," Chen Li sighed.
Whether it was special items or money, he couldn't be expected to work for free forever.
Of course, the recent development phase was an exception.
"Mm, now that you've passed the most difficult initial period and earned your first pot of gold, it's indeed time to change your business model," Tonghua nodded in agreement.
It was the same for Evil Gods developing their base of believers, so she understood perfectly.
"So, until you can provide a sufficient forging fee, you only get the usage rights to the Curio, not the ownership. Besides, it's not like you'll be using the God-Slaying Curio all the time, right?" Chen Li said.
Are you going to be killing gods day in and day out, for three days and three nights straight? Won't your eyes get dry?
"Emmm... okay," Tonghua nodded.
"And if I'm shameless enough, I can even take back things I've already sold to you," Chen Li said, tossing The Guide to Forging Curios.
The Omni-Archive within the Guide was designed for reclaiming Curios.
Squandering Miracles could lead to great disaster.
This was a lesson learned from the Miracle System's own experience.
"Alright. But for the second Curio, I need you to forge a single-use one for me," Tonghua said.
"Fine," Chen Li nodded.
Tonghua meant that she didn't want to share the second Curio with anyone else, which Chen Li could understand.
Besides, she did need a Curio that was completely bound to her to act as a summoning medium for the "Friend" system.
"Then I'll go find something with a God-Slaying Entry," Tonghua said.
"A Relic would be best. The Entry brightness of Relics is generally very high, and they cost less to modify," Chen Li advised.
He only had 94 Crystals left and needed to be frugal.
"A God-Slaying Relic? Isn't that too difficult to find?" Tonghua complained.
Anything even remotely related to god-slaying had an extremely high price and value.
"You can be flexible. For example, if you want a single-use Curio, try to get your hands on [Self] and [Anchor] Entries. As for the god-slaying part, [Slaughter] + [God] will work just fine," Chen Li suggested.
"Isn't your Entry system a little too convenient?"
"That's just how we Curio Forgers are," Chen Li said "modestly."
"Alright, no problem. I'll go sort through my collection. What about you? Coming with me?"
"Me? I'm going to school, of course. What else would a student like me do?"
"You're on the verge of saving the world and you still have the mind to go to school? Are you sick?" Tonghua looked at Chen Li with astonishment.
Even if Chen Li just stayed home and continuously spent Crystals to refresh commissions, Tonghua would think that while it was a bit wasteful, at least he was doing something productive.
But school? What are you going to school for?
"Ahem, don't put it so harshly. I was just thinking of checking if there are any other Relics at school and figuring out a way to get my hands on some," Chen Li revealed his true reason for going to school.
Based on his experience, there was an 80% chance he'd run into trouble within two hours of being at school.
Going to school to stir up an incident wouldn't take much time at all.
"That's true. Your school is full of monsters and demons. You might be able to find some decent Relics," Tonghua couldn't help but nod.
Second-generation Professionals, special profession holders, members of reclusive families, reserve members of the Investigation Bureau, magical girls, descendants of heroes, church saints—Chen Li's school had them all.