Ye Ju decided not to repair the nuclear boat for now. After Master Chaoyang finished his inspection, she put the nuclear boat away.
The nuclear boat shrank to the size of a walnut, appearing as nothing more than a walnut. Without spiritual power or divine sense, no one would know its hidden wonders.
"Zi Zhu Boat, I'll carve a superposition formation for you. This will enlarge the cabin space. We'll remove the bamboo canopy and build two floors. The first floor can be a dining room, kitchen, reception room, and lounge. The second floor will have rooms, and we can set up three bedrooms." Master Chaoyang was reluctant to dismantle the Zi Zhu Boat to repair the nuclear boat, especially with the boat spirit now appearing. Therefore, he re-planned the layout of the Zi Zhu Boat.
Ye Ju agreed with Master Chaoyang's suggestion. However, she wondered if she should communicate with the miniature Zi Zhu Boat spirit.
"Fellow Daoist Chao, about the boat soul you mentioned earlier, will modifying the Zi Zhu Boat harm it?"
Master Chaoyang had no experience with this. He pondered in silence.
"Shall I see if I can try to communicate with it?"
With no other options, Master Chaoyang nodded.
Ye Ju sat down and calmed her mind. The御守 (yu shou) in her sea of consciousness was still asleep. Ye Ju called out to it, but the golden-red stick paid no attention. Xiaobai and Xiaomo's souls were also slumbering in a corner. With her companions asleep, she couldn't get any help.
Ye Ju's mind stirred, and the formations carved on the Zi Zhu Boat appeared in her sea of consciousness. The miniature Zi Zhu Boat was in the center of the formations. It was here!
"Zi Zhu Boat, I want to add two small floors to the boat. Can you bear it? Will it hurt?" Ye Ju tentatively communicated with it in her sea of consciousness.
"No, Master. I'm very powerful. You can help me make it look prettier, but please don't dismantle Little Zi," a childish voice echoed in Ye Ju's mind.
Ye Ju was speechless, unsure how to describe her feelings in this fantastical cultivation world!
"Little Zi, what are you? You're very small now, will you grow?"
"Master, I am the boat spirit. Master created me with your own hands and acknowledged me as your companion. If Master feeds me spirit stones, I will grow."
Ye Ju readily agreed. A growing boat spirit, how rare! Well, that was another bottomless pit.
"Master, you have something fragrant in your hand. Little Zi really wants to eat it, but I'm too small now. Can you give it to me when I grow up?" The childish voice sounded just like a child begging for candy.
"What do you want to eat? Xiaobai and Xiaomo can't eat it?" Ye Ju quickly stated.
*Giggle giggle*—a burst of childish laughter followed.
"Master, I won't eat my sister and brother. I want to eat that round, black, and broken thing in your hand," Little Zi tried to describe.
Ye Ju's eyes lit up. Could it be the nuclear boat?
"This?" Ye Ju conjured an image of the nuclear boat in her sea of consciousness.
"Yes, yes, Master," Little Zi's body shook violently, indicating its desire to eat. It even made a slurping sound.
Ye Ju was stunned. The little fellow was truly greedy, with a huge appetite!
After Ye Ju promised to give it the nuclear boat later, Little Zi disappeared.
Opening her eyes, Ye Ju saw Master Chaoyang meditating opposite her. After a short while, he also opened his eyes.
"Fellow Daoist Ye, how did it go?"
"It's possible to add floors, but the main body of the boat must not be damaged," Ye Ju said instinctively.
"Fellow Daoist Chao, I still have some unused purple bamboo. See if it's useful." Saying that, she took out the excess purple bamboo from the storage room.
Master Chaoyang was delighted. He was an artifact refiner, and this was a common trait among them.
"Fellow Daoist Ye, after I dismantle the bamboo canopy and refine it, it will be enough!"
"It's fine, just add more materials!" Ye Ju looked at Master Chaoyang's eager expression.
"Fellow Daoist Chao, if you refine the small building for me, I promise to give you a piece of purple bamboo this big." Ye Ju pointed to a purple bamboo with a diameter of one meter on the boat's hull.
"Really?"
"Really!"
Master Chaoyang was overjoyed. This little lass had finally spoken.
"How will you give it to me when you return?"
"This..." Ye Ju was also stumped. She wouldn't be coming out anytime soon, as she needed to develop her island.
"How about I come to Pearl City to give it to you in a year?"
Master Chaoyang...
Master Chaoyang nodded. Fellow Daoist Ye had her secrets, and she never mentioned her origins. He couldn't pry too deeply.
This place was Master Chaoyang's private domain. The two of them busied themselves with refining. Ye Ju offered many of her suggestions. As a modern person, she could draw upon many design styles of modern houses for convenience and practicality. Because of the special nature of the boat, a boat spirit had already formed, requiring Ye Ju, the master, to be present to communicate with the boat spirit at all times. Therefore, Ye Ju did not leave.
Ye Ju stayed for a few days and ate a few辟谷丹 (bi gu dan) but couldn't stand it anymore. She decided to use her stone stove to cook. When she took out the purple bamboo pot, Master Chaoyang's veins throbbed on his forehead. This woman was truly wasting precious resources!
Ye Ju cooked a pot of blue scale fish soup, grilled cumin beef, and braised a pot of rice. She was ready to eat.
She took out the stone table. A simple meal with one soup and one dish, enough for two people. Xiaobai had fallen asleep in the spirit beast pouch, so no portion was made for him. Xiaomo was still in a deep slumber, which was one of the reasons Ye Ju wanted to return to the island as soon as possible.
After Master Chaoyang sat down, he looked at the two dishes, both full basins. He didn't say anything. When he took a sip of the blue scale fish soup, a surge of ice spiritual energy rushed directly to his dantian. What a treasure! His speed of drinking the soup increased significantly. He was beyond words; this woman had many peculiar aspects. Her open and generous display of them showed trust in him.
Ye Ju didn't care what Master Chaoyang was thinking and focused on her meal. After a few days, Master Chaoyang got used to the three meals a day and then called a servant to bring ingredients. In the evening, he returned to the side room of Master Chaoyang's courtyard to rest.
A month later, they reached the final step of artifact refinement. Master Chaoyang needed to go into seclusion for seven days. Ye Ju sat beside him to guard him. During this time, Little Zi could absorb spirit stones and gained considerable strength, allowing it to appear as a faint presence before Master Chaoyang.
Master Chaoyang's spiritual fire for artifact refinement was the Heart of the Earth fire. Little Zi was immune to all fires. The tempering by fire was like a bath in the flames for the boat spirit Little Zi. Its illusory form became more solid, and slowly, the shape of the two small floors appeared on Little Zi's illusory form. It looked as if they were slowly growing. In reality, the small building on the Zi Zhu Boat had already been constructed and added. Now, they were setting up the superposition formation.
Master Chaoyang closed his eyes and performed the spell. The spiritual fire continuously tempered the entire hull of the boat. Fine sweat beaded on his forehead, and his body swayed. Ye Ju sensed something was wrong and used her divine sense to check. Master Chaoyang showed signs of spiritual power depletion. All his spiritual power was being absorbed by Little Zi, while its illusory form became increasingly solid...
Ye Ju couldn't care about anything else. She took out a purple bamboo pot of spiritual spring water and poured it into Master Chaoyang's mouth. Master Chaoyang sensed a surge of abundant spiritual power entering his body and obediently opened his mouth to swallow...
He hadn't expected to encounter such a situation. Artifacts with spirits indeed contained variables. The first taboo for an artifact refiner was to avoid touching precious artifacts with spirits. If they encountered an evil one, they could be drained of all their spiritual power by the spiritual artifact, which was extremely dangerous.
Ye Ju poured two more pots of spiritual spring water into Master Chaoyang and stuffed several spirit fruits into him. He finally stabilized. There were no signs of his spiritual power leaking out.