"You're a miracle worker, doctor." Having had the scar on her neck successfully repaired, Robin looked at Chen Li with gratitude.
Robin had never considered the scar a mark of shame; it was a testament to her principle of using her strength to aid the weak.
However, because of the scar, she had to wear elaborate chokers for every performance and even during daily outings. So, if it could be smoothed away, that would be for the best.
"You're welcome, it was nothing. The Path of Abundance has its own wonders. The flesh is strong, the machine is weak. In the eyes of the Denizens of Abundance who have mastered its power, flesh is a toy that can be molded at will. The only thing to be wary of is not to forget your original body amidst excessive flesh-crafting," Chen Li said as he put away his Abundance Curio.
"Then... has the power of Abundance been fully dispelled?" Robin asked quietly, watching Chen Li hold a crystal in one hand while his other index finger deliberately traced the spot where the scar used to be on her neck.
Even for a woman who wasn't a singer whose voice was her life, being caressed on the neck by a man's finger would still make her feel a tickle in her heart.
"It's done. The power of Abundance is certainly useful, but the problem is that traces of it might have remained on your neck, which could have affected your Harmony-aligned singing. That's why it needed to be dispelled," Chen Li explained.
In his hand was the very miracle crystal that possessed the [Dispel] Entry.
Before treating Robin's wound, Chen Li had considered all possibilities. He had Robin call her manager into the dressing room beforehand and successfully spotted the [Dispel] Entry on the woman's work badge.
It was absurd, but according to the manager, she regularly used that very badge to drive away overly enthusiastic fans.
Because she had dispelled so many people, it naturally developed the Entry.
So, Chen Li had deliberately used the Miracle Fire to scorch the work badge first, extracting the [Dispel] Entry to help Robin recover.
This was because once the Entry was forged into a Curio, it was hard to say whether the "dispel" would be physical or conceptual.
"Thank you, Chen Li. You're very thoughtful," Robin said with a smile.
"You should smile more now. You won't be able to in a little while."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Nothing, just that the Curio you want might be slightly different from what you imagine. Oh, right, is there a spacious place we can use? All the Entries are ready, we can begin forging." Chen Li said.
"Does it need to be a completely remote and deserted place?"
"No need. It won't cause much of a commotion anyway."
"That's a relief," Robin sighed.
Because she was holding a concert here, there were simply no truly remote and deserted places for dozens of miles around.
The best she could find was a large, enclosed space.
---o---
"So you're saying you want me to do the forging on stage?" Chen Li stood on the magnificent stage, completely bewildered.
The stage was extremely empty late at night. Thankfully, there was no audience below, otherwise Chen Li's social anxiety would have flared up.
"Mhm. During the concert, this is the most crowded place, but after the concert ends, it becomes the quietest. How does it feel to stand in the spotlight?" Robin asked with a smile, looking at Chen Li standing in the center of the stage lights.
Chen Li wanted a spacious area, and the only place Robin could think of was the stage right after her concert had concluded.
It was an open-air stage, as the planet's largest grand theater couldn't possibly accommodate all of Robin's fervent fans.
At the same time, to maximize ticket revenue, the organizers had set up an open-air stage.
Of course, basic partitions were still in place.
The organizers would not allow anyone to sneak in without a ticket.
However, where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure; "scalpers" were everywhere.
Robin had even heard of a type of "tank" scalper.
You just cut in line, and the scalper would take the beating for you.
Compared to the grand and boisterous concert scene, all Robin needed to do now was ask her manager to find a few security guards to temporarily clear out irrelevant staff, as well as the cleaners and volunteers who were tidying up the venue.
This was because Chen Li said he would handle the cleaning of the concert venue.
Although she didn't understand why Chen Li was interested in a janitor's job, Robin chose to respect his wishes.
"It feels pretty good, just a little too empty."
"Yes, just an hour ago, this place was a sea of people," Robin nodded.
"Then I'll begin forging. While I'm working, unless something major happens, please don't disturb me," Chen Li said.
"If you're disturbed... will it all be for nothing?"
"Not necessarily, but the Curio's effects might have some slight, subtle differences," Chen Li replied.
In the past, it wouldn't have mattered if Chen Li was interrupted. After all, once the Entries were added, his only remaining job was to hammer the Curio's embryo.
The rest was up to fate.
But things were different now that he had the professional skill [Allocation].
If forging a Curio was originally like adding pearls and toppings to milk tea—where the amount didn't matter much—it was now like creating a refined chemical compound.
If he made a mistake in allocation... well, he could just reallocate.
It wasn't a huge problem, but it was very annoying.
Bang! The Miracle Forging Hammer was slammed down onto the summoned anvil by Chen Li. The Miracle Fire instantly ignited, swallowing the [Dispel] Entry.
Next came the microphone and its stand, which held the [Resonance] and [Inspiration] Entries, followed by Robin's choker, which possessed the [Idol] Entry.
Aside from her halo, Robin's most iconic item was the choker she wore at every public appearance.
Although she didn't always wear the same one, the choker that had just accompanied her through a mega-concert was still "warm," so to speak.
If you insisted that the small wings behind Robin's ears also counted, you wouldn't be wrong. But... a chicken-wing girl can't be without her wings.
And last, but most importantly, was the microphone Relic Chen Li possessed.
The one that, when you shouted "I'm an idiot," would draw everyone's attention and hatred.
The Miracle Fire burned brighter and brighter, and countless Entries, both bright and dim, slowly emerged from the items Chen Li had carefully selected.
[Resonance], [Inspiration], [Dispel], [Idol], [Broadcast], [Attention]...
Extracting Entries, measuring their ratios, combining them, and hammering them into the medium in sequence—Chen Li's workflow had gained another step.
However, as he was concentrating on allocating the Entry ratios, Chen Li felt that the noise around him was a bit distracting.
Or rather... far too distracting.
"Please continue, Mr. Chen Li." Robin's gentle voice sounded, helping to dispel the noise in Chen Li's ears.
"Thanks for the trouble," Chen Li replied casually before lowering his head to continue forging the Curio.
---o---
"Phew, it's almost done. Just one last step and this Curio will be finished. Let me see what's going on, who the hell is making all that noise?" With just one final hammer strike needed to fix the microphone to its stand, Chen Li finally allowed his gaze to leave the anvil. He looked up, only to be met with a scene that triggered his social anxiety.
"Where did all these people come from?" Seeing the sea of people below the stage staring at him in silence, Chen Li felt a little scared. With a slight movement of his hands, he moved Robin in front of him.
"Eh?" Robin was stunned for a moment.
"I have social anxiety," Chen Li explained nonchalantly.
"So what exactly is happening?"
"Please look up," Robin's tone had unconsciously shifted to use honorifics.
Hearing this, Chen Li looked up.
And saw a massive, mechanical head.
"???"
"A Gaze from Nous, the Aeon of Erudition? How long has he been watching?" Chen Li asked Robin.
"Ever since you entered your forging state, that projection has appeared in the sky. But it's only a projection," Robin whispered.
She didn't dare speak loudly, for fear of disturbing the one in the heavens.
It was precisely because she had the blessing of Harmony that Robin could better understand the terror of an Aeon.
Thankfully, it was only a projection. Otherwise, to put it bluntly, everyone present, including Robin herself, would have instantly exploded.
And it was because of this divine manifestation that the once-empty stage was now filled with countless people who wanted to witness the spectacle.
"So the noise from before was?"
"It was the sound of people coming and going. I helped you dispel those sounds, but I'm not the one who made these people stare at you, Mr. Chen Li," Robin quickly explained.
"...Tsk."
Chen Li didn't know why the Gaze of Nous, the Aeon of Erudition, was being maintained for so long, but he knew he was about to become famous.
Fame was a good thing, but he still had two other identities on the Xianzhou.
He wanted both a bad reputation and a good one. The former could get him into trouble, and the latter could also get him into trouble.
Coincidentally, Chen Li was lacking a Curio that could disguise him.
Thinking of this, Chen Li pushed aside the nearly assembled Curio and tossed the sunglasses he had obtained from Robin, the ones with the disguise Entry, into the Miracle Fire.
It seemed this forging session wasn't going to end so simply.
So, Chen Li decided to forge another single-Entry Curio.
Forging a single-Entry Curio was not complicated—in fact, it was extremely simple. A short while later, a pair of non-prescription glasses appeared before Chen Li.
[Disguise Glasses]: Let's all just play along and pretend we don't recognize the wearer.
Effect: Disguise — After putting on the Disguise Glasses, others will subconsciously perceive you as a different individual and will attempt to rationalize any similarities between you and your true identity. The more famous you are, the better the effect.
PS: The glasses are the true body!
(Miracle: As expected, the Curio's creation likely attracted the attention of Nous, the Aeon of Erudition. However, due to the Miracle Fire, he cannot interrupt your current state and will maintain his gaze until you move away from it. Do not be concerned about the audience below. They will regain normalcy once Nous withdraws his gaze. They will retain no memory of your appearance, as they were assimilated by the Gaze before they could truly see you.)
"What is this, Clark Kent's glasses?" Chen Li muttered as he put on the pair of glasses.
"Hm?" Robin was stunned, seeing Chen Li seemingly transform into a different person the moment he put on the glasses.
Then, Chen Li raised the Miracle Hammer and struck the microphone and its stand.
The Curio was complete.
"You take this Curio for now, I'll explain the effects later. Before that... I'm going to meet him," Chen Li said, pointing at the projection of the Aeon of Erudition in the sky.
"Eh?" Chen Li's words shocked Robin even more.
An audience with an Aeon?
As Chen Li spoke, the red light from the projection of Nous in the sky grew even brighter.
But in the next moment, Chen Li summoned an Imaginary portal, stepped through it, and vanished. The projection of Nous also disappeared.
Robin wasn't clear on the current situation, but she remembered one thing.
Among all audiences with the Aeons, an audience with Nous was particularly special.
"I wonder what kind of question Chen Li will ask?" Filled with such curiosity, Robin looked down at the audience, who had returned to normal after the projection of Nous vanished.
They had only been assimilated by Nous's Gaze at the moment they tried to look at Chen Li, causing them to lose that sliver of sight, and thus, the corresponding memory.
But that didn't mean they had forgotten the appearance of the Aeon's projection.
Seeing the growing chaos in the venue, Robin picked up the microphone in her hand, attempting to calm everyone's emotions.
"Everyone, please calm down."
And then... the sea of people instantly fell dead silent.
"Eh, is this Curio's effect that good?" Seeing the scene transform from extreme clamor to chilling silence in an instant, Robin was at a loss, afraid that one wrong word would trigger some effect of the Curio in her hand and cause irreversible damage to the audience before her.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Chen Li, who had used 10 Stellar Jades to teleport himself as far as possible from his current location, had, with the help of a Merit Coin, accidentally arrived in an extremely barren, boundless desert.
Chen Li didn't know if this was the work of the Merit Coin or a lingering effect of his restraint bracelet, but in any case... the Aeon of Erudition had followed him.
This time, Nous was no longer a projection.
Chen Li stepped into the void and looked at the Aeon of Erudition before him, understanding that he now had the opportunity to ask one question.
"You're definitely here because my brilliant intellect shows the potential for true genius, and not because I can forge Curios that might interfere with some cosmic constant, so you came to see me personally and take notes on me... right?" Chen Li asked, filled with expectation.
"..." by Nous.
"Right?" by Chen Li.
"..." by Nous.
As everyone knew, Nous would not answer a question, but would only use a question to provide an answer.
"Then I ask you, what is a miracle?" A silent thought flooded into Chen Li's mind.
"Looks like I won't be getting an answer from you... so forget all that nonsense. Let me ask you one more thing. When you leave, can you help me take out the trash from that big stage?"
Just looking at that huge venue gave Chen Li a headache, but he wanted the reward for cleaning up the filth.
So, before he invented a Curio like a super-sweeping robot, Chen Li chose to ask an Aeon for help.
A cleaning robot is a machine, and a machine head is also a machine. The logic was sound!
"..." by Nous.