Yan Hong Min stared at him and finally raised a hand to point at his nose. “You know, you’re not half-bad. Any chance you still want to switch from cultivating to creating magical tools? You do have the right thought process for that.”

Mei Chao Bing smiled wryly. “I’m afraid not. I wouldn’t be able to come up with anything on my own but I can see the value in the things you do and I can imagine quite a few ways to apply them. The difference might just be in me having done more missions.”

Yan Hong Min gave a hum. Mei Chao Bing might not be wrong there. Personally, he had hardly done any missions. He’d only ever ask Zhi Guan whether he could go and get him some materials. Or if he did something, he’d do something that could be done in the sect or somewhere close by so he wouldn’t lose as much time. Thus, his practical knowledge might indeed be lacking.

He looked around at his tools and couldn’t help but wonder if he should try and go out more after the war was finished. Clearly, there was a certain advantage in gaining that kind of experience. Mei Chao Bing had just proven that.

Yes, come to think of it, maybe nobody else had been able to appreciate his inventions because they weren’t ready for being used outside even though the basic idea was brilliant. So, if he wanted to gain recognition for this, he needed to adjust all of them to the point where they could be used by the disciples who went on missions.

Actually, Yan Hong Min wouldn’t have needed to worry about this. After taking out the paper ducks, Sect Master Zhang had already realized that their sect had buried a gem. Even though that gem was sparkling in multi-color, sending out dazzling rays that made it difficult to look at, it was nonetheless a gem. In the worst case, you’d just have to close your eyes while holding onto it.

Either way, this was a consideration for after the war. Right now, Yan Hong Min first had to deal with what Mei Chao Bing was asking of him. After getting distracted for a moment, he pondered the issues, and finally scrunched up his face. “It’s not that it’s impossible. It’s just that it would be expensive material-wise.”

“How expensive?”

Yan Hong Min pursed his lips. “Depends. Do you want them to work completely without using spiritual energy or is it alright to use some?”

Mei Chao Bing thought about this for a moment. Of course, with the war going on, not having to use spiritual energy for anything at all would be incredible. But then, that likely wasn’t doable and especially not in a short amount of time. Anyway, as long as they could preserve some energy, that would already help them.

“I think just using less energy already makes this worthwhile. Say, does the design need to be like this?” He took off the sensor and motioned at what still looked very much like bunny ears.

Yan Hong Min only blinked his eyes at him though. “In which way?”

“I mean, could you make it more … stealthy?” Preserving energy was one thing but there were ways to fight that could force an enemy to waste more energy. If the demonic practitioners figured out that they had ways to not need to invest as much spiritual energy as they did, they might adopt one of those fighting styles.

The older disciples could certainly react appropriately but the younger ones wouldn’t, making the advantage they had gained useless. Thus, if this was supposed to bring them a lasting advantage, it had to stay a surprise for the other side, one that would only reveal itself at the very end when they thought that they had almost managed to defeat them and only needed a last effort.

Yan Hong Min stared at him blankly. “Stealthy?”

Mei Chao Bing nodded. “Yes. I mean, if we were to put that on, it would be rather obvious for the other side, right? I think it would be good if they could be smaller or … somehow hidden so they won’t catch on as soon or at all, if possible. I’m just not sure if the size is related to what it can sense?”

Yan Hong Min shook his head, feeling puzzled. “No, of course not. I just chose that design because it looked funny on Fen’er.”

Mei Chao Bing raised his brows but then just nodded. Yes, he could imagine how that would look. Actually, ‘funny’ wasn’t the word he’d go for. Instead, ‘cute’ seemed to be a better descriptor. In fact, he kind of wanted to take this sensor with him just so he could give it a try.

He awkwardly looked at the device in his hands. Was he supposed to think like that? Who knew if Yun Bei Fen wasn’t terribly annoyed at what his senior martial brother had done? He felt like he remembered him mentioning that Yan Hong Min would regularly prank him …

He sighed but then focused on the matter at hand. “So, if there is no deeper reason behind the design, you can make it more stealthy?”

Yan Hong Min gave a hum. “I guess I can. What do you want it to look like?”

“That …” Mei Chao Bing was at a loss. He had never needed to design anything. Even the adjustment to the other device with the crystal had only been made according to what would be practical instead of as a simple design choice. “I guess the smaller, the better? Or something that looks more natural and doesn’t draw much attention?”

Yan Hong Min pursed his lips and pondered. Looking at Mei Chao Bing … “How about including it in the crown?”

Mei Chao Bing raised his brows, his eyes widening. “You can do that?”

Yan Hong Min simply shrugged his shoulders. “Sure. It might become a bit heavier though. So the girls might complain.”

Mei Chao Bing shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll explain.” Anyway, if it could heighten their safety, he didn’t think that any of the female disciples would have anything against it.