My portable grandfather refreshes every week

Chapter 303 Heading to the Starfleet
The next day, the family did not go to the already popular guesthouse, as it was too crowded.

For some reason, my house now has a lot of fancy musical instruments, including guitars, basses, drum kits, pianos, violins, cellos, and more...

Seeing a storage room transformed into a music room, complete with professional recording equipment, sound-absorbing cotton to prevent echoes, and soundproofing barriers covering the entire wall, Xue Dinglu was speechless.

He just wants to stay home and drink beer, but his daughters want to form a band. What should he do? I need help urgently!

The main reason is that the kids at home are idle. After all, they don't have to go to school, and at this age, they are the most disliked by everyone. The neighbor's big yellow dog and orange cat probably don't want to play with them anymore. In addition, they don't have to study as many other subjects as they do at school, so they have a lot more free time.

Little Dragon Girl basically only studies elementary school Chinese and math, while White Crow Siam only needs to study math and physics, since these are universally applicable throughout the universe. Everything else depends on whether they want to learn it or not. And it's possible that their increased strength also affects their brain development, as they can learn many things after seeing them only once.

The two are now at a level where they can complete the entire middle school entrance exam paper.

However, it seems the old Demon Emperor is looking for strategists and those skilled in internal affairs, but these women seem to have gone astray here, all turning into science-oriented individuals...

Forget it, it’s not a big problem.

As for their free time, they can't play games all day, so they naturally developed other hobbies, such as forming a band...

Fafnir is a little better off. She has to study for the adult college entrance examination, so she has a lot of material to learn. Xue Lude has already seen the five-year college entrance examination and three-year simulation materials for each subject in her room, so she doesn't actually have much time to play musical instruments.

However, after getting tired of the game, the remaining few immediately went to the music room to throw a tantrum. Sometimes when you went in, you could see instruments and snack crumbs scattered all over the floor.

Xue Law: "..."

Fine, if you like playing musical instruments, then go ahead and play.

……

"I'm going to take care of something today, I'll probably be back later," Xue Dinglu said.

His schedule for today has already been arranged: to build a furnace and then begin forging the Holy Sword of Salvation.

Xue's Law wanted to borrow a little bit of his mother's authority to forge the original Holy Sword of Salvation powder into a new version of the Holy Sword and upgrade it into a Noble Phantasm.

"Take that little girl with you," the old man's voice suddenly rang out.

"Hmm?" Xue asked, puzzled.

"Isn't the holy sword you're forging related to her? Then why not take her with you? The creation of a Noble Phantasm needs a historically significant achievement as a prefix for its upgrade." This time, the old man reminded Xue Dinglu.

Therefore, it seems that even if the Holy Sword is reforged, it is not the original Holy Sword, but simply a completely new weapon based on the original Holy Sword.

But never mind, I won't dwell on it. He's never been one to let things get to him.

Xue Dinglu immediately went to Fafnir's room and knocked on the door.

After Fafner opened the door, Xue Dinglu's lips twitched as he looked at the scene inside.

Her desk was covered with all sorts of study materials, test papers, and textbooks she had found somewhere. The walls were covered with her completed incorrect answers, along with explanations of difficult questions and answers to the corresponding test questions.

At the very top, there was a slogan written on an A4 sheet of paper: "Strive for fourteen days before the exam, and become classmates at USTC."

Xue Law: "..."

In fact, full-time and part-time students have staggered class schedules and class times...

Xue glanced at it, but Fafnir had chosen to study politics and history, which was completely different from the subjects Xue had previously studied. The only subject he could teach was mathematics.

However, I'm not here to teach math today. Xue Dinglu said, "I'm going to reforge the Holy Sword of the Hero Uncle. Want to come along?"

Fafnir paused, glanced at the calendar which read "13 days until the exam," then looked at Xue's Law and said, "Go!"

……

Inside Mount Fuji, in a cave entrance that no one could discover, lies the location of Xue's Law.

He planned to use magma for casting, and chose Mount Fuji simply because it was the nearest active volcano; other volcanoes were either dormant or not hot enough.

Mount Fuji is an active mountain with a lot of lava flowing out and a high temperature inside.

Xue immediately began his work, cutting the dagger that had pierced Zeus's brother into several pieces and putting them into an iron can, then filling the remaining gaps with the ashes of the holy sword.

"Let's start melting and forging. I'll teach you the specific techniques," the old man said with a smile.

"it is good!"

Lava and fire were born in this volcano, and the steel billet, perfectly fused inside the iron can, has already shown its extraordinary qualities after being removed from the can.

"First, extend the blade, then hammer out the shape of the sword, just extend it according to the style of the short sword I gave you." The old man kept instructing in the consciousness space.

Xue Luding held an enchanted hammer and kept striking it, the steel billet stretching in his hand, the metal with mysterious properties displaying perfect flexibility.

After each dozen or so strikes, the steel billet is placed back into the magma for further heating before the next round of strikes begins.

With each hammer blow, the steel billet gradually stretched out and is now over a meter long.

"Alright, start folding the steel billet and continue hammering," the old man said.

"No, folding uncleaned steel billets will allow impurities to get in," Xue Dinglu said. Although this was his first time forging, he was once a master forging expert.

"Do as I say. Magic swordsmiths and magical swordsmiths are two completely different schools of thought," the old man explained, though Xue Dinglu didn't understand either.

Upon his death, Xue's Law immediately folded the steel billet, and through repeated forging, he discovered the underlying principle: the impurities incorporated during folding were actually volcanic lava and energy.

In other words, with each strike, the holy sword gains an additional layer of volcanic lava protection.

Xue Lude thought of his first enemy, the Lich King, the undead who feared volcanoes.

If he had possessed this sword in the past, he would have definitely been able to rip out the Lich King's marrow and tear his skull to shreds.

"Keep folding and pounding!" the old man's voice continued.

Xue Lude folded and hammered the billet countless times, while Fafner watched from the side, using a clamp to help Xue Lude fix the position of the billet for easier hammering.

"Have the young girl prepare the quenching solution," the old man said.

Xue Dinglu immediately gave the order: "Fafna, take out the water that was prepared beforehand, and then drip it into the blood."

"Okay!" Without hesitation, she filled the hole she had dug with water and dripped her own liquid into it. The next moment, the red-hot steel billet was plunged into the water mixed with blood.

Crimson steam rose, and the moment the steel billet was lifted, the entire Mount Fuji erupted with an astonishingly intense light that shot straight into the sky.

This scene was naturally captured by the whole world, immediately causing a huge uproar and panic around Mount Fuji, but this was something Xue's Law could not have predicted.

"Very good, the steel billet is hard and straight, and the pattern is so beautiful, it can be enchanted now." The old man said happily.

Xue Dinglu picked up the sword blank in his hand; the patterns on it resembled neatly arranged feathers.

Most importantly, the patterns on those feathers incorporate the power of the hero and the power of the volcano, making them very similar to the Holy Sword of the past.

Unfortunately, the sword itself is not yet a Noble Phantasm; Xue's Law still needs further assembly and improvement.

He immediately began the enchanting work; these beautiful horse feather patterns were not only for decoration, but also the best enchanting circuits.

Under the old man's continued guidance, Xue began to enchant the Holy Sword with various affixes, including: Fortitude, Resilience, Life Steal and Auto-Repair, Sharpness, Piercing, Energy Concentration, Mana Conduction, Energy Convergence, Energy Affinity, Amplify Damage, and other buffs.

After the enchanting was finished, Xue Luding asked, "Uncle, what material did you use for this sword hilt before?"

"Hmm... It's made from a peculiar tree from outer space. I don't know if that kind of plant still exists in the universe now," the old man from the former interstellar column suddenly said, looking very troubled.

"What is your name?"

"In our time, we called it the World Tree. It was a tree planted on lifeless planets during interstellar pioneering," the old man began to explain.

"Legend has it that the World Tree is the tip of the King's hair. If a branch of the World Tree is planted on a lifeless planet, it can help that planet complete the condensation of water vapor, the reconstruction of the atmosphere, the transformation of the world, and give birth to new native life. It can be said that a World Tree can give birth to new native life on any planet with a suitable temperature."

"So back then we called it the World Tree. Many people would carry branches of the World Tree with them to plant on wild planets. Perhaps hundreds of millions of years later, life would emerge on that planet, and even planetary consciousness would arise." The old man recounted their story from the first era.

"Are there other plants like this in the universe? Then the name World Tree is really fitting." Xue Luding felt that the world was full of wonders. The entire universe could even give birth to a plant that could grow on a dead star, automatically condense water and atmosphere, and induce life and world consciousness to grow on the planet.

"Hmm, if I'm not mistaken, you've already made contact with the World Tree, haven't you?" the old man suddenly asked Xue Daolu in a questioning tone. Xue Daolu: "?"

If he really saw this amazing plant, he would definitely take some to collect. Who knows, he might even plant one on Mars and become the creator god of Mars hundreds of millions of years later.

Although he felt that by then he would have long since become trash.

The old man didn't dwell on Xue's laws any longer. He simply went to a distorted spot in Xue's consciousness space, found a tree branch there, and said, "Isn't this the World Tree?"

Xue Law: “???”

Xue Law: “!!!”

This branch was created when Xue Luding temporarily sealed the divine tree within his body after he resolved the control of the God King. This caused a distortion in the consciousness space, resulting in a portion of the divine tree invading the consciousness space, but he managed to suppress it.

But now, the old man is pointing at this branch of the sacred tree and saying that this is the "World Tree" that can provide for the growth of other life.
Xue Dinglu felt as if his brain had exploded in an instant. He stared blankly at the old man and said, "Old man, are you sure this is a branch of the World Tree?"

“Confirmed. You can check the hilt of my short sword; it’s made of the same material.” The old man handed the short sword to Xue Dinglu again.

Xue Lude cut open the anti-slip sleeve on the hilt of the short sword, and inside the deepest part of the hilt, there was indeed a smooth, polished dead branch of a divine tree serving as the hilt.

Xue's law fell silent for a moment.

He stared blankly at the old man. At that moment, he realized that the original purpose of the divine trees was to improve the environment of wild planets during interstellar pioneering and to protect all life. But now, they had become bizarre and distorted products that required the absorption of billions of lives to bear fruit.

Besides...

"You mean this is the tip of the King's hair...?" Xue Dinglu looked at the branch in his hand.

"It's just a legend, I don't know the specifics, but let's just assume it is." The old man smiled and handed the branch to Xue Dinglu, "Use this as the hilt of your sword."

Xue Dinglu let out a long breath, looking at the branch in his hand, and suddenly felt very uncomfortable for some reason.

Why has this sacred tree, originally meant to nurture life, become a monster that harvests life in this era?
They even transformed into greedy, insatiable monsters, becoming the most terrifying natural disasters on every planet.

How long has it been since the First Age? And what exactly happened that caused the Divine Tree to transform from the World Tree, which nurtured life, into the terrifying and bizarre man-eating tree it is today?
And when exactly was the Mist Council established? In the First Era? Or in a later period?
One question after another swept over Xue Dinglu in an instant. He seemed to have grasped something in the dark, but he was still shrouded in a fog of confusion.

The Divine Tree... The World Tree... The Mist Council... The Starship...

Xue Dinglu closed his eyes. The existing information was still too little, and he could not draw conclusions based solely on the available data.

In any case, he did realize that the divine tree itself was neither good nor evil. If someone used the divine tree in the right place, it would become the world tree that gathers water and atmosphere to nurture life.

However, if the sacred tree is used for evil, it will become a demon that devours billions of living beings and creates terrifying plant monsters.

The first era in which the old man lived seemed to be in the age of interstellar pioneering. Just as the old man did not know that the divine tree could eat people, he only thought that it was a good thing that could nurture life.

Without further thought, Xue Dinglu silently picked up the branch of the divine tree and began to gradually craft it into a hilt and guard suitable for the holy sword.

After some time, Xue Luding turned the forked branches into handguards and the entire branch into a sword hilt. After fixing it in place, he shaped it to fit the grip and finally wrapped it with fairytale-like silk threads for a non-slip finish.

The final step is infusion.

This is what the old man told Xue: the way to turn a magical weapon into a treasure is to infuse the weapon with "great achievements".

Normally, a weapon needs to be used to accomplish a corresponding great feat in order to form a Noble Phantasm. However, the old man and his group of veteran Starfleet members discovered this infusion method, which requires the infusion of past great feats into a brand-new weapon under the witness of a world consciousness, in order to upgrade the Noble Phantasm.

However, each great achievement can only be infused once, and the quality of the Noble Phantasm created by this infusion method is somewhat inferior to that of a proper Noble Phantasm.

In fact, the dagger that pierced Zeus's second brother was already very close to becoming a Noble Phantasm. It's just a pity that its raw material was only an ordinary dagger, so it was still one step short in the end. However, the traces of Zeus's blood and the mystery surrounding it made up for this.

But this time, Xue Luding didn't plan to do it himself. He handed the sword to Fafnir and said encouragingly, "Fafnir, follow the method I taught you and infuse it with the great deeds of the brave uncle and us in facing the Zerg together."

Fafnir looked at the longsword with feather patterns in her hand. Although it was completely different now, she could still faintly sense that it had a similar aura to her father's holy sword.

However, this sword is no longer the beloved holy sword it once was, but it will be a brand new weapon, forged by myself and my teacher together.

She gripped the sword hilt tightly, the spell unfolding beneath her. She recalled the time she met her teacher, the grand escape into the rain, everything that followed, and the final moment of recognizing her real father…

In that instant, the sword burst forth with unparalleled light, which shot out of the earth. The aura of lava and earth caused the surrounding magma and molten fire to boil and cheer.

At this moment, the holy sword is complete!

……

"According to our reporter, two unusual beams of light appeared at the crater of Mount Fuji this afternoon, followed by a large amount of thick smoke and a small amount of lava. Is this a sign of an impending eruption? Please watch our follow-up interview with a geology expert..."

In the living room, the television was playing the news.

Meanwhile, Xue Dinglu and Fafner, who were having dinner, looked at the news with guilty consciences, especially when they saw that the octogenarian geologist was preparing to personally explore Mount Fuji.

"Is the volcano about to erupt? How far away is it from us?" Aunt asked, watching TV.

"It's nearly two thousand kilometers away, so it might be affected, but I've already given the word that at least it won't erupt right now..." Xue Dinglu said.

"Oh."

After a hurried meal, Xue Dinglu took Fafnir and prepared to go to the headquarters of the Starfleet.

At this moment, he looked at the newly forged holy sword.

[Molten Holy Sword (Rank B): Enemies struck by this weapon who possess divinity will experience unbearable pain and will have their reproductive abilities stripped to a certain extent. It has additional lethality against insectoid enemies. Furthermore, this Noble Phantasm can store the expectations and hopes of others and transform them into an even more powerful attack, the maximum of which depends on the user.]

It's a little less impressive than the full version of the Beloved Holy Sword, but it's still hand-crafted and basically captures the essence of the Beloved Holy Sword. The only difference is that instead of the Beloved Holy Sword absorbing love and converting it into attack power, it now absorbs expectation and hope.

But actually, Xue was already quite satisfied. If the brave uncle were still alive, he would gladly accept and use the sword if it were given to him.

At that moment, Fafnir said, "Teacher, the portal is ready."

"Oh!" Xue Dinglu responded.

During the last mission, the young general invited Xue Lude to visit the Starfleet, but he was in a hurry to go home and attend the Mist Council, so he declined. This time, after repairing the Holy Sword, he also took the old man back to the Starfleet with him.

When Xue Lude and Fafnir entered the portal at the same time, they opened their eyes to find themselves inside a metal-covered base. Through the glass, they could see the desolate, crimson rock formations outside.

Is this not a life-bearing planet, but a dead one?
In the distance, three main towers with silver-gray alloy shells pierced the rust-colored sky in a triangular shape, and the compound eye-like thing on the top of the towers slowly rotated. Xue Luding was stunned for a moment.

Isn't that an evil eye?

Oh, the Evil Eye has become the world consciousness of the fairy tale world. This thing should just be the outer shell of the Evil Eye, that is, part of the King. Is that thing on the top of the tower used as radar?

Looking out the window, Xue Luding felt a sense of disbelief. He thought that the people of the interstellar column should be on a life-bearing planet, most likely a planet where no civilization had yet emerged, similar to the environment of Earth in the Permian period.

Seemingly noticing Xue's doubts, Fafnir said, "I was also shocked when I first came here. I never imagined that the place where my father lived would be like this."

Xue Dinglu recalled the memories of the brave uncle, and it seemed that the brave uncle really didn't show much in this regard; he completely ignored the outside environment at the time.

This wasn't Fafnir's first time here. After he left with Xue Lude, registered, and took back the invitation from Xue Lude's hand, the magic guard said, "Welcome, Second Great Sage."

Xue Dinglu was stunned for a moment.

“Your teacher is our lifelong partner. Your information was registered when we first made contact. By the way, the Starship also has a piece of your teacher’s belongings stored there. You can retrieve it.” The magic guard bowed respectfully.

"The second generation... the sage..." Xue Dinglu murmured the title, smiled and nodded, and stepped out of the light gate.

In an instant, he felt as if he had arrived in a completely unfamiliar place: a beach, the sea, strange plants and aquatic animals, and people buried in the sand not far away.

Xue Law: “???”

"Spatial simulation technology. No one can stand living on the Death Star all the time, so the theme here changes every now and then. Last week it was a mountain stream theme, and now it's a beach theme. Would you like an ice cream?" A familiar female voice rang in my ears.

Xue Dinglu turned around, and Olivia, wearing a jacket, handed him an ice cream, saying, "Little Fafnir, you have one too!"

“Okay, Grandma Olivia!” Fafnir took the ice cream.

Xue Law: “???”

No, Grandma?
“I took that boy, Lott, in as I was looking after him,” Olivia said, but then a hint of sadness crept in her voice. “It’s a shame he died before me.”

(End of this chapter)