Chapter 3679: Moving To Better Materials

Within less than half an hour, the array was complete.

A faint shimmer passed over the area as the isolating barrier activated. The space within felt immediately different. External disturbances were dampened, stray energies were filtered out, and the entire region became stable and contained.

Most of the elders departed once their work was done, leaving only one behind to oversee the process and assist if needed.

Lin Mu returned to the center of the cleared junkyard.

This time, there was no mountain of debris awaiting him.

Instead, there were chests.

Large, heavy, and numerous.

He approached them and opened the first one.

The moment the lid lifted, a wave of dense elemental energy washed over him. Inside were carefully sorted materials, each categorized by type and quality. Ores of varying purity, refined ingots, rare elemental stones, crystallized essences, and fragments of exotic alloys filled the container.

He opened another.

And another.

Each chest revealed a similar treasure trove, though the composition varied. Some were rich in fire-aligned materials, glowing faintly with internal heat. Others contained metal so refined it seemed to hum with sharpness. There were also earth-aligned materials, dense and heavy, radiating invulnerability.

Lin Mu stood there for a moment, silently taking it all in.

"This..." he muttered.

Even with all his experiences, the sheer wealth before him was staggering.

These materials could rival the accumulated resources of multiple sects across entire worlds. It was not simply the quantity that impressed him, but the diversity. There were materials here that he had never encountered before, each carrying unique properties and potential uses.

He could not help but wonder how long it would take him to gather such a collection on his own.

The answer was not encouraging.

Without the network and history of the dwarves, it would likely take him centuries.

Lin Mu exhaled slowly.

Then he reached into his own storage.

Additional materials appeared beside the chests, forming smaller piles. These were the resources he had gathered during his own journey, items he had saved for future use. Compared to what the dwarves had provided, they seemed modest, but he had no intention of leaving them unused.

"If I am going to do this," he said quietly, "I might as well go all the way."

He began sorting.

He did not limit himself to just earth, fire, and metal. Instead, he separated everything according to elemental alignment, creating distinct groups for each core. Even the materials that contributed only minor traces were included.

Every bit mattered.

Once the sorting was complete, he reviewed the arrangement one final time.

He decided to begin with the weakest materials first.

There was no reason to rush into the highest quality resources immediately. Building a stable foundation would allow him to handle stronger energies later without imbalance.

Lin Mu stepped back to the center.

He closed his eyes once more.

The Omnicore Ascendancy Technique activated again.

The air shifted.

A familiar pull emerged, though this time it was more controlled, more deliberate. The materials closest to him began to tremble, then rise, forming the beginnings of another vortex.

This time, however, there was no hesitation in his movements.

He guided the process with precision.

The weaker materials were drawn in first, breaking down quickly into streams of elemental energy that flowed into him. Each core responded in turn, absorbing what it needed, stabilizing, refining, and growing.

The vortex expanded gradually, pulling in more as the process continued.

Lin Mu remained calm at the center, fully immersed in the cultivation and did not rush the process.

Even though the earlier phase with the junk materials had been intense, this stage demanded something far more precise. The weaker materials were gathered first, arranged around him in careful layers, and then drawn in through the steady pull of the Omnicore Ascendancy Technique.

Their energy was faint compared to what he had already experienced, but that did not make them insignificant. Each fragment, each shard, each sliver of ore carried a trace of elemental essence that added to the slow, consistent rise of his cores.

And within five days, he had completely absorbed all of the weakest materials.

The process had been smooth and stable, with barely any resistance. These materials dissolved almost as soon as they entered his field, turning into fine streams of energy that were quickly refined and directed to their respective cores. It was efficient work, the kind that required attention but not strain.

Once those were gone, Lin Mu moved on to the next tier.

The slightly better materials were noticeably denser, their elemental signatures more defined. They did not yield as easily as the previous batch. Each piece required a bit more effort to break down, and the energy released from them carried a stronger presence that needed to be guided properly.

Lin Mu adjusted his control accordingly, refining his technique as he continued.

This phase took him another week.

By the end of it, the ground around him had already begun to clear again. What had once been piles of sorted materials was steadily shrinking, replaced by a faint layer of inert dust that no longer held any usable energy.

Lin Mu did not pause.

He continued advancing through the materials step by step, gradually increasing the quality with each stage.

The scale of what he was working with was immense. Even though the materials had originally been stored within chests, once taken out and arranged, they formed mounds large enough to resemble small hills.

Each hill represented a wealth that could support entire factions, and yet here they were being consumed in a matter of days.

The difference between these materials and the junk he had absorbed earlier was significant. The junk had only contained faint traces of energy, diluted and scattered after years of use and discard.

These refined materials, however, were rich and concentrated. Each piece held a strong, cohesive elemental signature, making them far more potent and far more difficult to process.

As such Lin Mu had to be careful.

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