novelraw Chapter 981: Ju Fan Branded Mirrors
Chapter 981: Ju Fan Branded Mirrors
Han Yu spent the next six months making mirrors.
When the idea had first appeared in his mind, he had thought it would take perhaps a month or two at most. He already possessed the example that Daoist Swamp Leech had gifted Lady Rot Rose. The mirror itself had displayed intelligence, personality, appraisal capabilities and enough charm to make everyone laugh.
Unfortunately, the moment Han Yu actually began analyzing the concept seriously, reality hit him.
The cost was absurd.
He had spent three entire days making calculations before finally leaning back in his chair with a dead expression.
"Absolutely impossible."
Meng Jueyan, who was organizing reports nearby, raised her head.
"What happened?"
Han Yu pointed at the notes.
"To make one mirror on that level would cost enough to create three mid tier Jiangshi."
Meng Jueyan paused.
"That expensive?"
Han Yu nodded.
"The spirit intelligence alone is outrageous. Then the appraisal formations, memory arrays, adaptive personality matrix array and all the communication components..." He rubbed his forehead. "This thing was basically made by throwing spirit stones into a furnace and hoping something intelligent came out."
The project almost died right there.
Almost.
Because Han Yu soon realized he did not need to replicate it.
He only needed the experience.
Thus the design changed.
The mirrors became mid tier spirit tools.
Several functions were removed entirely.
The actual intelligence vanished too.
Instead, Han Yu built something much larger.
Deep beneath his peak, several new halls were excavated. Hundreds of Jiangshi worked day and night carrying materials while puppets engraved formation lines across enormous stone platforms.
By the end of the second month, a giant processing formation occupied nearly half the underground workshop.
This became the brain.
Every mirror connected to it.
The mirrors themselves only gathered information.
Everything else happened here.
If a disciple asked the mirror for fortune telling, the data would be sent through communication arrays. The large formation would process it using preexisting divination arrays and return the answer.
Gossip worked similarly.
Observation.
Analysis.
Response.
The same went for praise.
The mirror observed the user, transmitted information, the formation analyzed it and then created suitable responses. The structure resembled communication jade slips enough that Han Yu adapted most of the systems directly.
That part became surprisingly easy.
The difficult section was personality.
That belonged entirely to Han Yu.
He shut himself away again.
Days passed.
Then weeks.
The Eight Emotions Jiangshi became his reference point.
Han Yu already understood emotional energies deeply after studying them for years. Joy, sadness, anger, fear, and more. He had handled them all repeatedly.
Thus every mirror gained a core.
Tiny.
Palm sized.
Within each core existed wisps of Eight Emotions energy.
The energies interacted.
Mixed.
Created patterns.
Personality emerged.
Han Yu discovered that by changing ratios he could alter temperament. More affection and joy created gentle personalities. Higher desire and confidence created seductive personalities.
Greater anger and pride created brash personalities.
The possibilities became endless.
One mirror became a mature older sister type.
Another behaved like a strict elder.
One accidentally became arrogant and kept insulting Han Yu.
He dismantled that one immediately.
Meng Jueyan entered the workshop one day and found Han Yu arguing with a mirror.
"You call that engraving straight?" the mirror said proudly.
Han Yu narrowed his eyes.
"I made you."
"And?"
"...I can unmake you too."
The mirror went silent.
Meng Jueyan quietly left.
She decided not to ask questions. Mass production eventually began and Han Yu outsourced most work. Other workshops within the sect produced mirror frames and engraved basic formations.
Finished shells arrived at his peak.
Then Jiangshi inserted prepared emotional cores.
The process became mechanical.
Efficient.
Han Yu simply prepared large boxes of cores in advance and imbued them with Eight Emotions energy.
Production exploded.
Then sales began... And immediately failed.
The first month ended with fewer than one hundred sales.
Han Yu sat looking at the report.
"...What?"
Meng Jueyan coughed lightly.
"The disciples are hesitant."
"Why?"
She handed him another report.
The answer irritated him.
Privacy.
The mirrors connected to the main formation under his peak.
Disciples became nervous.
Even after Han Yu publicly explained that users could filter information and control permissions, suspicion remained. Nobody wanted Legacy Disciple Ju Fan accidentally learning everything about them.
Especially because everyone already knew his intelligence network was terrifying enough though they didn’t know how he did it. Most people simply thought other disciples loyal to him were feeding him information and no one knew about the Jiangshis.
The second month improved slightly but was still poor. And by the third month the sales were still below five hundred.
Han Yu stared at the numbers.
He refused to believe it.
The mirrors worked.
He had tested them personally.
One praised users.
One discussed sect gossip.
Some even gave fortune readings.
Several disciples already using them loved them.
Yet the popularity remained sluggish.
Then Han Yu realized something.
Wrong target audience.
He immediately stood up.
Meng Jueyan blinked.
"Senior Brother?"
"Prepare gifts."
"...Gifts?"
"Yes."
"For whom?"
Han Yu smiled.
"Mistress Love Wine."
Meng Jueyan froze.
Three days later several beautifully wrapped boxes arrived at Love Wine Peak.
Each contained mirrors.
Dozens of them.
Han Yu even customized personalities.
Sultry women.
Flirtatious scholars.
Confident older sisters.
Playful younger brothers.
Elegant beauties.
Anything imaginable.
He understood Love Wine Peak perfectly.
The result... Was terrifying.
It began with one disciple.
Then ten.
Then the entire peak exploded.
The mirrors spread like wildfire.
The female disciples adored them.
Some used them for compliments.
Some treated them like companions.
One disciple apparently spent six hours speaking with her mirror. Another customized hers into a handsome rogue cultivator personality and became obsessed. Mistress Love Wine herself became the greatest promoter.
Han Yu regretted everything immediately.
Because she visited him the next day.
She kicked open his doors.
"JU FAN!" she shouted happily.
Han Yu nearly fled.
She rushed over holding three mirrors.
"THIS IS AMAZING!"
Han Yu immediately retreated fearing what the woman might do to him.