Old Master Wang Chunfeng had high expectations for Ling Tian, and Ling Tian did not disappoint. He practiced diligently every day without any slack.
On a scorching noon, when the temperature was soaring towards 40 degrees Celsius, Ling Tian arrived at the greenhouse on the third floor during the hottest part of the day.
In a corner of the greenhouse, a section of the ceiling had been modified. In this area, the sunlight shining down from the roof converged into a circle with a diameter of half a meter.
If paper were placed in this focal point of sunlight, it would likely ignite within a few minutes.
Ling Tian, however, used this concentrated sunlight for his cultivation.
The sunlight shone upon his body, and the true essence within him surged, moving at high speed inside his body. As the true essence was heated, it also carried away the heat from the surface of his body through its high-speed movement, preventing Ling Tian from being injured by such intense exposure.
This cultivation method consumed a great deal of true essence. In just over an hour, Ling Tian's true essence was almost depleted, and he stopped cultivating.
After resting for a while and recovering some true essence, Ling Tian entered the Spirit Realm space.
Entering the Spirit Realm space had become a daily ritual for Ling Tian.
He visited every day to check on the growth of the medicinal herbs in the Spirit Herb Garden and the progress of the remaining animals' evolution in the Beast Taming Garden.
Especially before going to sleep at night, he often secretly collected Xiong Da, Xiong Er, Pang Hu, and Ban Deng into the Beast Taming Garden, allowing the spiritual energy of this place to transform them.
These were all part of Ling Tian's efforts to increase his strength.
However, today, when Ling Tian entered the Beast Taming space, he suddenly felt that it was somehow different from usual.
He looked up and observed carefully, a look of joy appearing on his face. It turned out that two more buildings had been unlocked in the Spirit Realm space.
More accurately, one new building had been unlocked, and a previously unlocked building had undergone a change.
This building was the Beast Taming Garden. Ling Tian was surprised to find that one of the walls of the Beast Taming Garden had transformed into a honeycomb-like structure.
This wall was composed of honeycomb structures of various sizes, each larger than a soccer ball.
As Ling Tian was wondering, a flood of knowledge entered his mind.
It turned out that the newly unlocked building, or rather this part of the building, was called the Insectary.
As the name suggested, this was a place for raising various insects.
Insects, although small in size and limited in strength, had an upper limit to how much they could evolve.
However, while one or two insects might not be much, their power could be terrifying if they swarmed.
This Insectary was such a building. As long as an insect was placed within the honeycomb structure of the Insectary, it could grow, multiply, and evolve.
This meant that Ling Tian could release an insect army at any time if he wished.
Of course, Ling Tian had to find and catch these insects himself.
Ling Tian had learned a great deal from the inherited knowledge and had not expected the Insectary to be so powerful.
For example, when fighting an opponent, a swarm of hornets could suddenly appear.
Hornets, also known as wasps, were formidable creatures. Even a sting from a common hornet could cause shock and severe allergic reactions in humans.
Tens of thousands of people worldwide died from hornet stings each year, and the hornets modified by this Insectary in the Spirit Realm space possessed even more potent venom.
Furthermore, if a building was in the way, Ling Tian could summon a swarm of termites from the Insectary in the Spirit Realm space.
These modified termites could not only eat wood but could also gnaw through glass and concrete.
Even when encountering steel, these modified termites could spray acid to rust and soften the steel.
In addition to these ferocious insects, there were also some that appeared less terrifying but were still formidable.
Take the common green-bottle fly, for instance. Ling Tian could even share vision with the green-bottle flies through a secret technique.
After studying the Insectary, Ling Tian moved to another building in the Spirit Realm space.
The function of this building was clear at a glance. Ling Tian saw that it was a blacksmith's workshop.
A large, ancient-looking furnace stood there.
Beside the furnace were an anvil, hammers, and other equipment and tools.
In a daze, another large influx of information entered Ling Tian's mind, and he immediately understood.
The most important function of this blacksmith's workshop and its furnace was artifact refining. In other words, Ling Tian could forge himself a suitable weapon through this blacksmith's workshop and its furnace.
Ling Tian was overjoyed at this thought. He had always wanted a suitable weapon, but it was very difficult to achieve.
In China today, traditional handcrafted weapons had almost disappeared, replaced by mass-produced items from factories.
A good weapon was truly a rare find.
Ling Tian had originally planned to find a suitable weapon through the channels of the Misty Rain Pavilion or the Wang family.
However, the problem was that Ling Tian's strength was improving at an astonishing rate.
By the time he obtained a weapon he had painstakingly searched for, it would likely no longer be suitable for him.
Now, with this blacksmith's workshop, he could forge his own weapons.
Ling Tian saw that on a shelf next to the blacksmith's workshop, various materials were displayed. These were all very precious minerals and materials.
As for the furnace for smelting metal, it was no ordinary item. It was like Taishang Laojun's alchemical furnace. As long as fire-attribute true essence was injected into the alchemical furnace, it would release thermal energy, which could reach four to five thousand degrees Celsius, enough to melt all metals!
With this in mind, Ling Tian decided to test the furnace's capabilities.
He had a thought, and a steel pipe appeared in his hand. Ling Tian directly threw the steel pipe into the furnace.
Then, Ling Tian extended his hands and grasped the handle-like devices protruding from both sides of the furnace.
True essence surged within him, and a large amount of fire-attribute internal energy flowed into the furnace through the handles.
To Ling Tian's immense surprise, although the furnace door was closed, it was as if he could see all the changes happening to the steel pipe inside, projected into his mind.
In less than two minutes, the steel pipe was completely melted into molten iron!
This efficiency was comparable to the most advanced steel smelting furnaces of today!
Ling Tian had another thought, and a hollow mold, over a foot long, appeared before him!