NOVPUBEndless Spirit Workshop.
This is a strange world interwoven in black and white, where the white is pure stone, and the black is grindstone.
Both pure stone and grindstone have varying qualities and grades. Everything here, including mountain ranges, palaces, docks, and the Sin Extinguishing Giant Mills, is made up of these stones.
Atop a certain black mountain peak stands a solitary white palace.
"Phew, I’ve finally become an Ancient King."
"Compared to the leader and Jenny, I’m still the slowest of the three—how embarrassing, how utterly embarrassing."
Inside the palace, the space was no longer as desolate as when he first arrived. It had been partitioned into various rooms with distinct purposes, such as a meditation room, training chamber, and reception hall.
At this moment, Locke, the workshop master, was sitting cross-legged in the center of the meditation room.
A powerful aura emanated from him, surging and retracting rapidly over time, until only a trace of sharpness lingered, hard to hide completely. This was an inevitable situation—he had only recently advanced to Level 5 and had yet to adapt to his surging power.
Locke was not overly joyful about this promotion.
Thinking carefully, he realized that the leader was already preparing to ascend the Level 6 throne, while he had only just reached Level 5. It was truly shameful.
"The leader has always been far-sighted, incomparable to me. Jenny, with the legacy support of the Mother of Earth Core, is progressing even more smoothly than the leader. Sigh!"
"As the workshop master, I must work harder!"
"No, wait—I’m now a Level 5 Ancient King. According to the rules of the Endless Spirit Workshop, my corresponding identity should be the Great Workshop Master. The Great Workshop Master is essentially the highest authority in the Endless Spirit Workshop, capable of overseeing an independent region. Tsk, tsk."
As Locke carefully pondered, his thoughts drifted to another matter, and his eyes grew increasingly bright. He couldn’t help but chuckle gleefully.
At that moment, he heard a noise from outside, so loud that even the palace’s barriers couldn’t block it.
"Someone, come!"
"Workshop Master, what are your orders?"
The doors opened automatically as two individuals hurried in upon hearing the summons.
The two who entered were mismatched in height—one tall, one short—and in build—one burly, one thin. Their facial features bore a striking resemblance, about 80%. They were Locke’s most capable subordinates: Martin Kaspa and Dante Casper.
"Workshop Master, have you successfully advanced?"
The taller, thinner one—Martin Kaspa—spoke excitedly upon noticing the changes in his superior.
Meanwhile, Dante Casper stood silently in the back, his demeanor slightly sluggish.
"What a dumb question—of course I succeeded! Who do you think I am? How could I possibly fail?" Locke declared smugly.
"No, that’s not what I meant. Your speed is just so fast—I didn’t expect it."
"What’s that commotion outside?"
"What commotion?"
"Did you not hear it?"
Seeing Martin’s completely baffled expression, Locke froze. He didn’t think Martin would deceive him—the man’s reaction was clearly genuine. So, the rumbling noise in his own ears… what was it?
"And you?" He turned to the other person in the room. "Did you hear anything?"
"No," Dante answered, shaking his head forcefully.
"Alright, alright. I won’t trouble you two. I’ll go check it out myself," Locke said, unimpressed by their cluelessness, as he simply walked out of the palace.
The two hastily followed behind him.
In truth, both Martin and Dante hailed from the Danaila Plane and were closely linked to a sorcerer of great significance—none other than Caspar Winton, the former Number One in the sorcerer world, known as the King of Green Thunder.
The King of Green Thunder had perished while protecting the sorcerer world, betrayed amidst the schemes of the Extreme Beast Plane.
Over the long years that followed, the remnants of the King of Green Thunder’s power and will transformed into a Spiritual Body. By a twist of fate, this Spiritual Body underwent an unexpected change, splitting into two beings: one becoming a giant demonic monster, and the other Martin.
The existence of these two entities caught the attention of the Supreme Court, which dispatched several Arcane Wizards to investigate.
With Locke’s assistance, the ferocious giant demonic monster was eventually outmaneuvered and exiled to the Endless Spirit Workshop.
Later, when Locke arrived at the Endless Spirit Workshop and truly secured his position as workshop master, he discovered by chance that the giant demonic monster was still alive. Through a series of maneuvers, he recruited it as one of his subordinates and named it Dante Casper.
Both Dante and Martin were at the peak of Level 3, only a step away from becoming lords.
They were likewise members of the Black Star Legion. According to Locke’s estimation, now that he had become an Ancient King, it was practically guaranteed that both of them would soon advance to lordship.
"Locke, your prowess—"
"Wu Lei, Great Workshop Master, I was fortunate enough to take another step forward." 𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑝𝘶𝘣.𝑐𝘰𝘮
"Impressive, truly impressive."
The three walked to a dock below—a space resembling a small plaza. Just as they prepared to peer down the mountainside from the edge of the dock, Wu Lei, the Great Workshop Master overseeing this region, appeared.
Wu Lei immediately noticed the change in Locke. His expression turned a bit unnatural, and the words he spoke lacked sincerity.
He had not anticipated that Locke would advance to Ancient King status as soon as he announced it, with such extraordinary speed.
"I heard something strange and decided to come take a look—to see if anyone is targeting our Endless Spirit Workshop," Locke explained as he brushed aside a barrier at the dock’s edge, revealing the scenery beyond.
Massive, heavy grindstones towered like mountains, and beneath these giant grindstones, the anguished cries of Sinful Spirits being crushed rose and fell incessantly.
Each Sin Extinguishing Giant Mill represented a separate independent region, corresponding to a Great Workshop Master.
At this very moment, a brand-new Sin Extinguishing Giant Mill was forming, emitting a remarkable sound.
"Ha, as if anyone would dare target the Endless Spirit Workshop. They’d have to be courting death," Wu Lei said with a laugh, his expression hard to read as he composed himself and offered an explanation:
