To achieve a qualitative change, a Heavenly Bead must be refined for Guan Tusheng to first complete the Tianji Abacus.
Qian Duoduo took out the cauldron and put a piece of hao gold into it.
"You want to refine a Heavenly Bead?" Liu Boli asked from inside the Golden Toad.
Qian Duoduo nodded.
"Have you seen the Heavenly Bead of the Tianji Abacus?" Liu Boli asked again.
Qian Duoduo was stunned for a moment.
"If I just refine a bead with hao gold, following the appearance of the other beads, and put it in the Heavenly Bead position, wouldn't that be a Heavenly Bead?"
"That would be a false Heavenly Bead, merely an abacus bead occupying the Heavenly Bead position."
"Heavenly Beads also have true and false ones?"
"Of course. Guan Tusheng probably doesn't know this either."
Liu Boli took out a Jade Slip, drew on it for a long time, then handed it to Qian Duoduo. "I drew this from memory."
Taking the Jade Slip, Qian Duoduo saw that this bead was quite complex.
Fortunately, Liu Boli was an Artifact Refiner, which allowed him to draw it so precisely; otherwise, it would have been impossible to refine.
Liu Boli's Jade Slip stated that the Tianji Abacus corresponds to the Heavenly Machine Star, one of the Fourteen Main Stars of Ziwei Dou Shu, also known as the Benevolent Star and the Resourceful Star.
The rotation of the Heavenly Bead represents changes in the Heavenly Machine, forming different patterns with the other thirteen main stars, thus foretelling good or bad fortune.
Simply put, the Heavenly Bead is not just a bead; it represents the Heavenly Machine Star, pointing out a hidden sliver of Heavenly Machine.
On this Heavenly Bead, constellations and Formations were carved both inside and out.
"Don't ask me what those mean," Liu Boli said, seeing Qian Duoduo about to ask a question, "I only know what it is, not why it is."
Qian Duoduo pressed his right hand on the cauldron, igniting the furnace fire. Just as the hao gold began to melt, a question suddenly came to mind.
"If the Heavenly Bead is completed, what if Guan Tusheng uses his numerology and the Tianji Abacus to calculate my origin?"
If Guan Tusheng knew that Qian Duoduo came from the Refining Spirit Sect, or even that Qian Duoduo was originally a Mortal, would he keep the secret and continue to follow Qian Duoduo?
The human heart is subtle; the human heart often changes.
"What is Heavenly Machine?"
Liu Boli whispered, as if asking Qian Duoduo, and also as if asking himself.
Qian Duoduo's body trembled: Yes, what is Heavenly Machine?
Liu Boli slowly said, "In this old man's opinion, Heavenly Machine is not the past, but the present, and the future derived from the present."
He stroked his long, grizzled beard.
"I believe that even if Guan Tusheng peeks into the Heavenly Machine, he will know how to make a choice."
Hearing this, Qian Duoduo felt a weight lift off him.
Qian Duoduo was Guan Tusheng's Qian Gua, bringing him tremendous changes within just a few days.
He would not tear up this Qian Gua himself, nor would he actively stop this change.
His choice would inevitably be to protect the Qian Gua and let the changes come more fiercely and greatly!
"Heavenly Machine is also the human heart!"
Qian Duoduo expelled from his palm, and a scorching flame rose in the cauldron, enveloping the hao gold.
After more than three hours, an exquisitely beautiful hao gold abacus bead, overflowing with Spiritual Qi, was finally refined.
Qian Duoduo shouted excitedly, "Old Liu, it's done!"
Liu Boli glanced at it and replied to Qian Duoduo.
"Hmm. It's passable."
Qian Duoduo disassembled the Tianji Abacus, placed the newly refined Heavenly Bead into it, and the entire Tianji Abacus immediately ascended to a low-grade artisan artifact.
However, Qian Duoduo discovered a new problem.
The wooden frame and beams could not withstand the Heavenly Bead of hao gold.
Simple numerical calculations were fine, but once it came to calculating fate or engaging in a desperate fight, it would immediately collapse.
If the frame and beams were replaced with ordinary gold now, the Tianji Abacus would become a high-grade artisan artifact.
However, Guan Tusheng could not control a high-grade artisan artifact at present.
Qian Duoduo thought for a moment and carved three deep grooves into the frame and beams. Gold threads were embedded in the grooves to reinforce them.
This took another hour, and by the time Qian Duoduo pushed open the courtyard gate, it was already midday. Guan Tusheng was sitting cross-legged in front of the door, motionless.
Qian Duoduo knew he was waiting for the Tianji Abacus, but deliberately asked:
"Guan Tusheng, what are you doing sitting here?"