I, the leader of the esoteric sect, am doing great things in the infinite world!

Ah, New Year.

Li Lin said, almost with a sigh, "Isn't this exactly the perfect candidate?"

She possesses the power of forging like a white-day furnace, and she creates weapons and monsters like a lion craftsman, but her demands are not as demanding as Xindan's, nor as ambiguous as Huyue's.

More importantly, she is right here on this land of Terra.

The instant Li Lin made up his mind, an invisible dark green tabletop rose and unfolded before him, and cards flew out from the void, arranging themselves below his cards.

It's like a game waiting for players.

"The game is very interesting."

A smile gradually appeared on Li Lin's face. He flicked his fingers, and the temporary cult card symbolizing the "Mutual Aid Society" floated up and fell into the countdown icon with an outer circle and an inner square.

Then, the object of faith is determined.

"Year."

The countdown icon, with its outer circle and inner square, suddenly emitted a white light, then burned and cracked.

Li Lin's left hand, wrapped in gloves, looked as if it were buried in burning coals.

On the dark green tabletop, the new "Mutual Aid Society" card silently flew back to its original position, while a new card appeared where the countdown icon used to be.

Smoke billowed down like a curtain on the card, and an orange-red halo swirled and rose, just like a real object.

Looking at the entire desktop, only one card exhibits this unusual state. Even Li Lin himself only has a cool and imposing card design; he doesn't have any such special effects.

When Li Lin, filled with jealousy, transferred his spiritual energy to the card, the orange-red halo that had been swirling around the card's surface rippled outwards like waves.

The card shone brightly.

It flipped over.

A graceful silhouette was sketched on the blank card with a single stroke, and then orange-red light filled her emptiness. The light and lines diverged and refined in the swirling smoke—until they transformed into thousands of rivers of long hair, quietly cascading down from behind the silhouette.

On the blank silhouette, the smoke began to glow, forming abstract facial features.

Li Lin poured his spirit and soul into it like a flame.

He heard the chanting of steel and ore, the dark green table in front of him rapidly expanded, and the card standing in front of him rushed towards Li Lin, brushing past him.

The system interface suddenly refreshed with text, like a waterfall.

Someone has arrived!

【Heavenly Craftsmanship - Year】

[Forged for those who live forever.]

The signs were clear enough—the furnace fires flickered, the ore rolled, smoke billowed, the temperature rose, and the earth cracked. All signs pointed to an immortal being near.

Heaven has its furnace, and earth produces its five metals. The year favors those who strive in life and praises those who work diligently, but sometimes views those who awaken her differently—try to be her anvil, not to be crushed by her.

Then came the noise and chaos from the outside, with continuous shouts like a tidal wave, and the earth seemed to be shaking.

Coming so quickly?

Li Lin rushed out and saw a bright red burst forth from the edge of the earth, and a coffin made entirely of metal was flying toward him at an extremely fast speed.

"Junjun!"

At this point, the regicide had no time to correct Li Lin's address.

A sudden wisp of grayish-brown smoke fell from the void before Li Lin's eyes, and the figure of the King Killer leaped out of the thick smoke, rising upwards amidst a dense gray mist.

—Originium Arts: Swallowing the Suffering of the Dead.

The gray mist was like a murky, lightless sea, billowing in the air and spreading outwards from the Kingslayer in all directions. Countless whirlpools and undercurrents flowed within it, swallowing, enveloping, and then twisting the rapidly approaching scorching air currents into dust.

However, the face beneath the hood of the regicide involuntarily tightened.

Her Originium Arts allow her to move quickly using smoke, and also to sense and attack through smoke. However, just touching the edge of the smoke was enough to make her feel the intense heat, as if she were being burned by flames.

"No, it's not just burns..."

Lyudmila thought, "My smoke has been altered; it's out of my control!"

How could Originium Arts be altered? What an absurd and ridiculous situation!

It's like an enemy in battle seizing your weapon, taking it from its original owner, and then reforging and altering it with violence and fire... Just imagining it sends chills down the spine of the kingslayer.

As the metal coffin rapidly approached, the cold air began to distort and heat up quickly, the snow around the house melted away in an instant, and even the dry grass on the ground began to burn.

[Impact: The trembling heat]

[The influence of second-order casting phases!]

The possibility of sparks flying is clear.

"Li Lin, run! I can't stop it!"

The Kingslayer wanted to turn around and shout to warn Li Lin, but when she opened her mouth, countless streams of scorching air rushed into her mouth through her hood and mask, causing the smoking Originium organ inside to overheat rapidly to the brink of danger.

The Kingslayer, whose airway had been severely damaged in an instant, fell onto the roof and began to cough violently. One blister after another burst in her throat, and she had to arch her body completely like a hyena in order to cough up blood and prevent it from flowing into her trachea.

In that instant, something vast and scorching filled all her thoughts; a spark swirled in her mind, burning everything it touched.

But what about Li Lin? she wondered.

Then she heard the sound of stones being struck.

How could someone still calmly knock on a stone?

Then she saw an even thicker fog than herself rising from Li Lin. The grayish-white fog quickly obscured everything, making the outlines of the surrounding buildings blurry.

The approaching scorching heat was pushed aside by the thick fog, leaving only the coffin, which looked like it was cast in metal, flying rapidly towards them.

Why is Li Lin so skilled? A look of confusion flashed across the King Killer's eyes, but more doubts were rising.

Li Lin did not take out a staff, nor did he use any other spellcasting units, which means—

Just as that title was about to be uttered, the metal coffin plunged into the sky-covering gray fog, and the king-killer completely lost all five senses.

18. I doubt any people from Sichuan will be reading this book (feeling guilty).

On the system desktop, there are two uses left for the secret technique [Smoke Ashes].

The instant the all-metal coffin plunged into the gray fog, it transformed into endless molten iron that fell from the sky. Not a single drop of this molten metal, which was at a high temperature, landed on Li Lin.

They were held in one hand, shaped, transformed from flowing to solidified, and finally became the shape of a short stick.

"Holy crap!" Li Lin exclaimed sincerely.

He had seen Nian before. The first time was in the game Arknights. She was a limited six-star card with white hair, red horns, and vertical pupils. Her eyes were like a vast blue sea, and she had a cute tail. She wore a loose coat and hot pants, and her face had a half-smile, aloofness and ambiguity.

The second time was in the system, where the silhouette of the year was outlined by flames and smoke and engraved on the card, appearing abstract yet full of charm.

The third time is now. She is neither a card in the game nor an abstract face on the table, but a living person standing in front of me, with the warmth of smoke and flames.

Her attire was not a Rhodes Island uniform, but a garment that gave off a sense of both antiquity and modernity. It featured wide sleeves characteristic of Yan, but was subtly shortened at the elbows to reveal crimson floral sleeves. The lower half of the garment combined Western and Eastern features, with the skirt, decorated with dark red totems, shortened to about knee height, revealing straight, long legs and snow-white feet.

After noticing Li Lin's gaze, Nian tilted her head, pulled a dark-colored thread from the air, and raised her hand to tie her long white hair into a ponytail.

"Hey you, what's wrong with you? What, you've got your eye on me? Want to touch me?"

Through the seamless translation module, Miss Nian's Sichuan-accented Mandarin reached Li Lin's ears.

Li Lin rushed forward in ecstasy, like a mad dog that had spotted a bone.

He reached out and grasped the short stick, rubbing it up and down.

"It cooled down so quickly, that's amazing," Li Lin said, unusually speaking in a human way.

Nian's face showed a different expression: "Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it... But is this what you, you silly kid, want to touch?"

"What else?" Li Lin stared at the short stick in front of him. "Women will only slow down my speed of getting freebies."

Before him, the properties of this short stick were truly fascinating.

[Nameless Short Stick]

[Level 2 Casting Strange Object. 】

[Characteristic: Constant temperature. It always carries a peculiar warmth; proper use of this temperature will bring about remarkable changes to the object.]

[Characteristic: Unmovable. It is unaffected by any power system from the "Arknights" world unless its owner reforges it!]

[Characteristic: Taiyue. Its weight far exceeds imagination, constantly eroding the bones and blood of its wielder.]

[Description: Reshaped by flames, grown in heat, and died in collisions. This has always been the history of metal, and it continues to grow now, carrying an unsettling afterglow. It yearns to be changed, or to change everything else.]

Two positive characteristics, one negative effect.

Rare objects are different from secret teachings.

The complete secret system is divided into seven levels, while rare items and influences are only in the fourth level.

Even a short stick that Nian casually forged could become a second-level casting artifact... The strength of an immortal far exceeded Li Lin's imagination.

Unfortunately, no matter how Li changed the angle, he couldn't pluck a single hair from this stick.

Is it because it is being held in the hands of its owner?

Li Lin straightened up and carefully examined the man in front of him: "Try letting go?"