Leon was devastated!
He had initially believed that, with his luck, even if he didn't get a high-quality blueprint, it would at least be a normal one. But to his dismay...
His heart felt as shattered as the blueprint in his hands.
"I need to keep my cool!"
"If I've gotten a broken blueprint now, that just means my luck can only get better from here. After all, what could be worse than this?"
Leon swallowed hard, trying to comfort himself with some self-reassuring logic.
But reality soon taught him a harsh truth—there was something worse.
After standing outside the mystical space for half an hour and receiving nothing more, Leon came to a terrifying realization.
The game system wasn't going to provide him with parts!
In other words, while he had a blueprint, he would have to make all the basic components—gears, hinges, bearings—himself!
And all he had was this universal wrench…
Start with a wrench, and craft everything from scratch?
Handmade robots?
What's the point of this system?
Leon glared at the wrench in his hand, tempted to use it to bash his own head in.
But after some hesitation, he resisted the urge.
This wrench looked painful enough to kill, and with no chance of revival, that would be the end of him...
Of course, it's not like I am afraid of death—I'm just cherishing this hard-earned second chance!
Weighing the wrench in his hand, Leon successfully convinced himself to abandon the suicidal thought.
"I've already been in these mountains for half a month, which means I only have another half-month left to melt, mold, polish, and assemble... Time is tight!"
If someone in his previous life had asked Leon to build a robot from scratch without any modern tools in just half a month, he would've smacked them across the face with a flip-flop.
But in Lingzhou, this mission didn't seem entirely impossible.
Leon stood up, looked around, and followed the direction he remembered, plunging further into the mountains.
The body's original owner had scoured the mountain range, searching tirelessly for spirit beasts to form a contract with, only to be rejected countless times.
Many of those beasts could now prove useful to Leon.
...
"Is it done?"
In a dark cave somewhere in Tianqiong Mountain, a shadowy figure stood, towering over a young man in beast-taming prison garb.
"Rest assured, sir, it's done," the young man replied nervously, kneeling on the ground. "I didn't leave until I made sure that kid was dead."
"Good. Well done."
The young man's face lit up. "About the pardon you promised…"
"Don't worry. With the master's status, a promise is a promise. Just wait for the news."
"Thank you, sir! Thank you!"
Overjoyed, the young man kowtowed several times before heading toward the cave exit, his steps lighter than ever.
But he hadn't gone far when a sharp pain struck his chest. Looking down, he saw a blade piercing through his heart.
Struggling to breathe, he turned back weakly. "W-why?"
"First, dead men tell no tales. Second... a few more corpses make things less suspicious, don't they?"
The shadow replied coldly, withdrawing the blade as the young man's body crumpled to the ground.
...
"Let's see..."
High up in a tree somewhere in the Tianqiong Mountains, Leon parted the leaves, revealing his camouflaged face.
He peered cautiously at a clearing below, where a large lizard with reddish-brown scales lay motionless in the grass, waiting patiently for prey.
This was Leon's first target: a fire-type spirit beast, the Groundfire Lizard.
Leon sifted through his memories, recalling details about the Groundfire Lizard.
It was a relatively common fire-type beast, classified as lower-grade spirit level.
Its talent was the ability to continuously spew high-temperature flames. While its speed was average and its reactions slow, its strength was formidable—a single tail swipe could severely injure a group of adults.
Of course, that was true only for adults.
To ensure the safety of disciples and prisoners, the Beast Taming Bureau regularly culled the spirit beasts in the Tianqiong Mountains, removing fully grown or overly dangerous ones and leaving only juveniles. These juveniles often had less combat power than an ordinary person.
The Groundfire Lizard Leon was eyeing was just such a juvenile.
To forge metal parts, Leon needed a high-temperature furnace. Relying on a wood fire alone wouldn't do—it'd probably take a lifetime to melt the metal, and Leon would die of exhaustion first.
Thus, his first thought was to capture the very beast that had once rejected him.
"This isn't safe enough. Even though it's a juvenile, I need to ensure success on the first try!"
Leon lay on the branch, watching as the lizard devoured a toad. He calmly calculated his chances.
Time was running out, and if his first attack failed, the lizard would be on guard, and he might lose his chance entirely. He needed a guaranteed win.
"Add 10 points to Strength! Add 5 points to Endurance."
Gritting his teeth, Leon distributed the 5 initial attribute points and the 10 points awarded for selecting a profession.
A surge of energy coursed through his body, making his muscles feel significantly firmer.
He felt a surge of power!
Clenching his fists... Yes!
I can take on ten of them!
He opened his status panel:
[Name: Leon (Human)]
[Profession: Mechanic]
[Sub-profession: Not unlocked]
[Endurance: 13]
[Strength: 17]
[Agility: 4]
[Spirit: 9]
[Charm: Max]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
[Skills: None]
[Profession Skill Tree: Click to view details]
[Items: Ancient Medieval Robot Blueprint (Broken)]
Leon nodded.
His Strength had more than doubled, and his Endurance had greatly improved.
It was time to act!
Glancing down at the unsuspecting young lizard, Leon smirked and let out a roar as he leapt down.
"Ride the lightning!"
The poor lizard, thinking it was just another ordinary afternoon snack time, was startled by a sudden battle cry.
Looking up, it saw only a rapidly approaching shoe sole.
And then… nothing.
Leon successfully stomped the Groundfire Lizard and hoisted it onto his shoulder.
With the high-temperature furnace secured, the next step was to find more resources. Crafting a robot without modern tools was no easy task—one helper beast wouldn't be enough.
What? You expect me to do it myself?
I spent my last life being exploited by the system. In this life, if I can't exploit people, at least let me exploit some beasts!
In that moment, Leon's dynamic with the spirit beasts shifted entirely.
From being a rejected contract seeker, he transformed into a spirit beast hunter.
In two days, Leon had visited seven or eight locations, capturing four or five spirit beasts he needed. To prevent them from escaping, he even found a special vine and strung them together like a chain gang.
Whenever Leon moved, a line of tethered spirit beasts trailed behind him.
Other people in the mountains gave him a wide berth, and soon a rumor spread among the prisoners:
"They say Leon was rejected by so many spirit beasts that he lost all hope of clearing his charges and went completely mad. Now, any beast that refuses to contract with him gets beaten to death. If you run into Leon, stay far away—he might start thinking about killing people next!"
Rumors spread faster than wildfire, and within two days, the entire Tianqiong Mountains had heard the tale.
But Leon couldn't care less.
While others gossiped about him murdering beasts, he was already preparing to craft his robot.