Is It Reasonable for Me to Start a Sect at 12?

Ever since Lin Xiao saw the grand yet somewhat slow spirit boat of the Shangyang Sect in Cuifeng Town, he had been longing to create something similar. However, as this was his first attempt at crafting, and he was still a novice, he decided not to immediately try crafting a spirit boat. Instead, he aimed to create a smaller spirit vessel.

He retrieved ten pounds of black iron from his personal storage, a reward from a previous mission, and brought it to the central purple-gold cauldron in the crafting hall. After placing the black iron inside, he added five spirit stones and infused the cauldron with spiritual energy to ignite the fire source and begin the refining process.

After about fifteen minutes, the black iron had melted into a glowing red liquid. Lin Xiao used his spiritual energy to envelop the liquid and transferred it to the forging platform nearby.

Staring at the molten iron on the platform, Lin Xiao rolled up his sleeves, grabbed the nearby Star-Moon Hammer, and began to hammer the liquid into shape. He worked meticulously, flipping and turning the mass repeatedly. After some time, the liquid began to solidify, and Lin Xiao started shaping it with a combination of hammering and spiritual energy control.

Two hours later, he finally crafted a spirit vessel, although its appearance was far from aesthetically pleasing. The vessel was essentially just a metal shell. However, given that black iron was the only material he had, Lin Xiao wasn't too concerned with its looks—functionality was what mattered most.

With the shaping complete, he moved on to engraving spiritual patterns onto the vessel. This step was crucial because, without the spiritual patterns, the spirit vessel would be functional but lack many essential features.

The pattern he was currently engraving was the most basic one for size adjustment. With this pattern, the black iron vessel could freely expand and contract in size. Without it, the half-meter-long and fifteen-centimeter-wide vessel he had just crafted wouldn't be able to hold a single person.

Spiritual patterns are vital in crafting, as they add functionalities to the crafted item. The more patterns engraved, the more features the item will have. However, the balance of spiritual patterns is essential. Overloading a crafted item with patterns can lead to its collapse if the materials or structure can't handle the strain.

As Lin Xiao engraved the patterns, he realized that the process was somewhat similar to inscribing formations. His previous practice with formation carving had improved his control over spiritual energy, making the engraving process smoother.

It became clear to him that these various techniques were interconnected. This realization only strengthened his determination to master all four skills: formation, alchemy, crafting, and talisman-making.

By the time he finished engraving the spiritual patterns, it was nearly noon. Lin Xiao had just completed his first spirit vessel when he noticed Mo Yuanjiao peeking in from the doorway with eager eyes.

"Do you need something?" Lin Xiao asked as Mo Yuanjiao excitedly approached.

"Master! I came to ask if we could continue practicing formation carving, but then I saw you crafting this," Mo Yuanjiao pointed to the spirit vessel on the forging platform, "and I really want to learn this too! Can I learn crafting, Master?"

Seeing his disciple's enthusiasm for learning, Lin Xiao felt gratified. He nodded, "Of course you can. If there's anything you want to learn, just let me know." He then looked around and asked, "Where's your guard, Mo Que?"

"Oh, Old Que went to cut grass for the horses. We're running low on feed, so he went to gather and dry some grass," Mo Yuanjiao replied.

Satisfied, Lin Xiao handed him the "Basic Tool Crafting Techniques" manual. Mo Yuanjiao eagerly took the book and found a spot to sit and study it diligently.

Lin Xiao, meanwhile, stepped outside to test his newly crafted spirit vessel. At this point, the vessel had shrunk to a palm-sized form, thanks to the engraved spiritual patterns. Holding the small vessel, he first imprinted his spiritual mark on it and began infusing it with spiritual energy.

After channeling about a fifth of his spiritual energy into the vessel, he tossed it onto the ground. The moment it touched the ground, the vessel expanded rapidly, growing to five meters in length and two and a half meters in width.

Lin Xiao inspected it and concluded that the vessel could comfortably seat about ten people. He was pleased with the size, considering the initial materials were just ten pounds of black iron and five spirit stones.

Now, it was time to test its flying capabilities. With a light leap, Lin Xiao jumped onto the spirit vessel. Using his spiritual connection to the control patterns, he found he could easily maneuver the vessel.

It seemed that, for now, he was the only one in the sect who could operate this spirit vessel, as controlling it required the use of spiritual sense. Since those in the Qi Refining stage couldn't extend their spiritual sense outside their bodies, they wouldn't be able to control the vessel.

Excited, Lin Xiao began controlling the vessel to take off. At first, it wobbled a bit as he got used to the controls, but soon enough, he was flying it smoothly like a seasoned pilot.

Although he had the "Soaring Cloud Technique," which allowed him to walk on air, the sensation of flying in a spirit vessel was entirely different.