Chapter 6582 One Man's Trash is Another Woman's Treasure The experiment yielded plenty of useful information to Ves. He learned that the Heavensword and the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown may have belonged to opposing parties in the past. This made sense as the creator of the Metal Scroll and its associated crown used to be an 'Immortal God' that sundered the extraordinary source of the Milky Way Galaxy in an attempt to ascend to a higher stage! If the wielder of the Heavensword lived during those ancient times, then he or she would definitely be a part of the huge cultivation community that had unanimously turned against the five Immortal Gods that sought to devour the heavens themselves! The outcome of this cataclysmic collision was mutual annihilation. The Milky Way became broken and degenerated into a low-energy environment. Cultivators died off en masse as they were no longer able to sustain themselves due to the disappearance of E energy radiation. The five Immortal Gods 'died, though how extensively they perished still remained unclear. The Heavensword had to enter into a power-saving mode in order to survive in the barren environment. The grand work also had to get accustomed to a new reality where the environment was unable to spawn a worthy heir to its precious legacy! Considering the sheer devastation that resulted from that ancient war, it was understandable that neither relics of the past felt eager to revisit past grievances. Too much time had passed since that cataclysm occurred. Ves previously thought that it happened several hundreds of thousands of years ago, but that was obviously far too implausible of a timeframe. It was much more likely that tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of years had passed since the ancient disaster took place. Ves was not an expert, so his assumptions may be false. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺 Whatever the case, after living through such a long period of ruination, the two relics of the past had already moved on from this ancient calamity for the most part. There was one possible reason why the Heavensword see reason to act against the symbol of authority despite the risks to Ves and Ketis' Divine Cores, but it had mercifully restrained its edge. Ves actually found it curious that the Heavensword did not treat the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown as an archenemy. This may have happened if the crown was actually a surviving remnant of an Immortal God that had managed to cling to life throughout the passage of time. Since that ultimately did not happen, the crown probably had a weaker relation to its creator. It was practically impossible to negotiate and subdue an Immortal God! The gap in status was simply too big even if the latter had turned into a remnant of its former self. If the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown possessed its own personality that was independent of the original Immortal God, then that was a lot more advantageous to Ves! He was already forming plans based on his observations and assumptions. He still had to maintain a certain degree of caution considering how it successfully managed to corrupt the Polymath, but he became a lot more confident about subverting it to his cause. After all, what else was it supposed to do? Unlike the Golden Laurel Wreath Crown which at least remained tied to a completely intact Sacred Scroll, the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown had lost its 'partner' after the shattering of the Metal Scroll! Ves speculated that the breaking of the Sacred Scroll had invalidated some of the programming of the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown and caused it to become less eager to follow its original directives. If this was the case, then Ves may be able to take advantage of this opening and convince it to accept a new purpose! As Ves continued to observe the crown with cautious interest, Ketis gazed suspiciously in his direction. "What are you thinking about doing now, Ves?" "Ideas. Some of them are dangerous. It's not important for the time being. I am not ready to break the status quo yet. Let's leave the crown alone since it isn't doing any apparent harm for the time being" The pair of mech designers exited the Sacred Hearth and left the temple building. Both of them admired the view of the idyllic clouds and mountain range for a time. However, they both needed to return and get back to work. "Make sure to be ready to enter the System Space four days later." Ves broke the silence. "We need a lot of AP if we want to raise our chances of surviving the ongoing war." "I know. I am eager to upgrade the Dimension Observatory further and begin this dimension breaching stuff. There is also other stuff that I want to exchange with AP. There is far too much of the former and not enough of the latter." Their biggest constraint right now was that the System offered increasingly more attractive benefits, but charged AP for almost all of them. This was also one of the reasons why Ves favored the second upgrade track. Five Element Mastery and Superdimensional Transformation were decent options as well, but Ves could clearly tell it would take a huge amount of Ascension Points to fully realize their benefits. That was way too much for Ves! His earning potential directly limited how extensively he could take advantage of the System. This was one of the reasons why he embraced an option that suggested that it would impose the least amount of drain on this scarce currency. The Demoncasting Forge did not disappoint his expectations. Sure, it cost AP to upgrade the facilities and unlock the ability to summon stronger demons and expand the capacity of the Demon Prison. That did not bother Ves too much because its current state already satisfied his demands. He could freely engage in Demoncasting without spending AP as long as he supplied the demons himself. Lucky's gems gave him a buffer which he could use to buy time to secure another supply of demons. When Ves finally bid farewell to Ketis and exited the System Space, he returned to his underground design lab as if nothing special happened. His eyes suddenly burned with greater purpose. He suddenly stood up and tried to track Lucky down. According to the monitoring system, the cat was currently lounging in Gloriana's company. "Meow" "Hihihi! You are so cute and close to perfect, Lucky." Gloriana playfully threw another chunk of high-grade exotic at the cat. Lucky lazily caught the ore with his mouth and chewed on it before swallowing his latest snack. "There you are, Lucky" Ves said as the gem cat began to glance vigilantly in his direction. "Why have you returned, Ves?" "I need to have a good word with my lazy pet here" He said as he moved closer and unceremoniously picked up the archemetal feline. "I will be taking him away." When he moved out, he suddenly gained an interesting idea and halted. He turned back towards Gloriana and extended an arm. A very strange and deadly pink knife suddenly materialized in his palm. Gloriana gazed at it with a puzzled expression. Her perplexment gradually made way weapon. "What... what is this? Where did you get this knife? Did you make it yourself?" "It's a test product that I have developed in secret." Ves succinctly answered. "I am trying out a new means of enhancing weapons and possibly mechs. It is a considerably more dangerous and risky means of metaphysical empowerment, but the initial result is already powerful enough for me to follow up on this radical new approach." Even if Ves couldn't explain where he obtained the knife or managed to produce it, he still wanted to leave behind a clear record that introduced his D-arms and D-mechs to red humanity. It would be much less dramatic for Ves to introduce his first fully fledged D-mech when there was no prior warning that such an outrageous product could even exist! By exposing a small trinket like the Maiden Knife first, Ves could forewarn the Red Association about the existence of demonized products. As Gloriana studied it more, she inexplicably felt attracted to it. She unconsciously drew closer, but Ves drew back the knife. "Hey!" "Careful, Gloriana. Did you forget that I said it was dangerous and risky? I am being serious. As long as you keep it in your possession, there is always a chance it will turn hostile towards you. This isn't a regular living knife. The intelligence inside the Maiden Knife is powerful and malevolent. You will get your arm pricked by these curved thorns if you let down your guard." His wife did not appear to take his warning seriously. "That is because the knife hates you. This is a woman's weapon. It is a travesty that it remains in your hand! You should transfer it to me right now!" She snatched the knife from Ves and held it with growing interest and admiration. "This knife! It is... more beautiful and perfect than I thought!" "Huh?" "At first, these thorns appear wasteful and inefficient, but there is a sense of elegant lethality in its design language. Ah, I can feel the woman that gives this weapon a soul. My suspicions are right. She much prefers to be held by me than you. I do not blame her at all. This is a woman's accessory!" One of the knife's inherent effects began to affect Gloriana's charm. Unlike the earlier enhancement applied to Ketis, the Maiden Knife had a much stronger effect on Gloriana! She was already beautiful from the onset and always groomed her appearance to perfection every morning. Now that she held the Maiden Knife, she had gained a metaphysical boost in attraction that complemented her physical attraction! The result was that she looked a lot more enchanting than before! It was as if his wife had turned into a graceful elf. Though Ves was strong-minded enough to keep his head clear, his fascination for his wife grew when he witnessed her beauty reaching an unprecedented peak. He tried his best to refrain from telling her how much more beautiful she had become. He did not want to feed her already overinflated ego. She was perfectly capable of doing that herself, in fact. She activated a mirror projection and admired the view of herself. She swayed her body around and noticed that she unconsciously made many subtle movements that directly amplified her attraction! "This knife is amazing! What an amazing effect! What is its name?" "I call it the Maiden Knife, because the soul trapped inside is derived from a long-dead maiden." "I see. Do you know how much money you can raise if you put it up for auction?" "Millions of MTA credits. No. Women are obsessed with beauty. Tens of millions of MTA credits." "Try billions of MTA credits." Gloriana smirked. "If this knife is able to improve the appearance and beauty of any woman, then this Maiden Knife is worth at least that much! In fact, if this new weapon is one-of-a-kind that cannot be replicated, then do not be surprised that its value can rise to over a trillion MTA credits if it is placed in a grand auction!" Ves genuinely looked shocked at his much more charming wife! He never thought that a failed experimental product could actually had the potential to raise so much money! "What?! Are people truly willing to spend money that is worth as much as a first-class fleet carrier on a knife that only makes you look more attractive? We are in the middle of a war!" "So? Beauty is a woman's weapon. Don't you know that, Ves? If this weapon's ability to amplify the charm and allure of a lady that already scores high in those criteria, then this is an accessory that defies reality. If you combine it with a curated cultivation method that increases a woman's attraction even further, then hardly any human will be able to prevent themselves from worshiping that goddess!" Woman's pursuit of beauty was limitless. It was not implausible for women to be willing to trade an actual first-class fleet carrier just to possess such an amazing artifact! "Then..." "Forget about auctioning it. I am keeping it. Just consider it my early birthday present." Gloriana said with determination as she gripped the Maiden Knife tighter in her slender hand. "Do you have any objections, Ves?" "No... you can keep it... dear."