The tranquility of Long Island did not last long.
Despite being exhausted both physically and mentally, the precious materials gifted by Odin weighed heavily on Artoria's heart like invisible anchors.
Storing them casually, even in a home with the highest level of protection from little ai, made it difficult for her to feel completely at ease.
These gifts from Asgard were of immense value and carried significant potential risks.
She needed a storage method that was safer, more discreet, and preferably portable.
Naturally, she thought of Kamar-Taj and the Sorcerer Supreme who guarded the dimension of Earth, the Ancient One.
When it came to knowledge of space, dimensions, and mysticism, the Ancient One was undoubtedly the leading authority on Earth.
Perhaps she could offer some insights, or... more direct help.
After discussing it with Minerva, they decided to visit Kamar-Taj again.
This time, there was no need for a grand teleportation via the Bifrost; Artoria sent a mental request to visit the Ancient One directly through the secret magic seal left behind last time.
The seal soon returned a gentle and calm response, accompanied by a clear coordinate—not the main hall of Kamar-Taj, but the peak of a remote, snow-covered mountain in the Himalayas, a stone platform that the Ancient One occasionally used for meditation, offering an extremely expansive view.
A day later, Artoria and Minerva found themselves in this pure World of ice and snow.
Beneath their feet was ice that had not melted in ten thousand years, and above them was the azure sky within reach.
Even the gale seemed to show reverence here, leaving only a low howl.
The Ancient One was already waiting there. She was still wearing the same simple dark blue robe, her bald head glowing with a warm luster under the snowlight, and a peaceful smile that saw through the World's affairs on her face.
"Welcome back, Traveler."
The Ancient One's gaze lingered on Artoria for a moment, a trace of imperceptible approval flitting across her eyes.
"It seems your trip to Asgard has been beneficial. The radiance of your soul is more refined, and your perception of 'rules' has become much sharper."
"Master, you flatter me."
Artoria bowed slightly and got straight to the point.
"I am disturbing you this time because I have a request. I obtained some... rather special items during my journey. They are incredibly valuable and contain special energy. The current storage method does not put me at ease. I wonder, Master, in the knowledge of Kamar-Taj, are there any records or methods regarding a safer, more convenient storage technique, preferably one that can be carried around?"
"A storage technique?"
The Ancient One raised an eyebrow, looking intrigued.
"Ordinary space expansion spells or folding pockets should not be difficult for you to obtain or replicate. Since you came here specifically to ask, these items must not only be'special' but also have very high requirements for the storage environment, energy isolation, and even... 'concealment' at a conceptual level."
"Exactly."
Artoria nodded, not hiding anything.
"Some of the materials are related to Asgard's Uru metal and stardust. Others involve high-dimensional energy crystals. Their very existence could attract unnecessary attention."
"Uru metal... stardust..."
The Ancient One's gaze became deeper. She slowly paced to the edge of the stone platform, overlooking the vast sea of clouds and the continuous snow-capped mountains below.
"Storage involving Asgardian creations and high-dimensional essences... this indeed exceeds the scope of ordinary spatial spells. In Kamar-Taj's magic system, there is a technique that uses fragments of the Mirror Dimension to temporarily store dangerous items, but it is not a long-term solution and places a significant burden on the caster. There are also methods of crafting special magical artifacts as'spatial anchors,' but they are difficult to craft, and their capacity and stability are limited."
She turned around and looked at Artoria: "A superior method is to create or find an independent 'half-plane' or 'blessed land' and anchor it to a portable medium. In this way, not only is the storage space almost infinite, but it can also completely isolate internal and external energy and information exchange, offering the highest level of security. However, creating a stable half-plane requires touching upon extremely high-level spatial rules and energy control. Even for me, it would take a long time to open up a small piece, requiring the use of holy artifacts like the Eye of Agamotto. And anchoring it stably to a portable medium is even more difficult."
An independent half-plane? Anchored to a portable medium?
This description instantly struck a corner deep in Artoria's memory! A concept that had appeared in countless stories, games, and fantasies, something that almost perfectly met all her current needs and even far exceeded her expectations, suddenly leaped into her mind—the Serenitea Pot!
It was the adepti treasure gifted to the Traveler by Madame Ping from the Teyvat continent in "Genshin Impact"! Within the pot was a Small World of its own, which could be arranged at will, store everything, and even accommodate living beings! It was simply the ideal mobile home and super storage space!
Her heart began to beat faster involuntarily.
If she could have something like the Serenitea Pot... no, even if the functions were slightly inferior, as long as it could provide a stable, private, and portable storage space, it would be enough to solve all her current troubles and even be of immeasurable benefit to the future!
"Master, may I ask... have you ever heard of or do you know of any legends or records concerning... 'abode within a pot,' 'Buddha's kingdom in the palm,' or 'a Small World,' where an independent space is stably attached to a small object?"
Artoria's voice was slightly hurried due to excitement, but her eyes were full of anticipation.
Upon hearing this, the Ancient One pondered for a long time before slowly shaking her head: "Such legends have sporadic records in the myths of various civilizations, such as the 'World within a pot' of Eastern immortal Dao, the Buddhist 'containing Mount Sumeru in a mustard seed,' and it is even rumored that there are strange objects with similar functions in the Asgardian vault. But the specific crafting methods have long been lost or are held in the hands of a very few beings who have transcended the mortal realm. The spatial rules, energy circulation, and existential anchoring involved... the complexity is beyond imagination. With Earth's current level of mysticism, or even Asgard's forging skills, it is almost impossible to create such an object from scratch."
Seeing that the fire of hope in Artoria's eyes had not completely extinguished, she added: "Unless... you can find an existing treasure of this kind, or know its explicit crafting method and required materials, and possess the power and knowledge to complete the crafting yourself. The former requires opportunity, the latter..."
She shook her head gently, her unspoken words self-evident.
Artoria's heart sank, but she did not despair.
The Ancient One's words confirmed the existence and preciousness of such treasures and pointed out the difficulty of obtaining them.
But... she had the system! That mysterious system that allowed her to "play" the existence of various Worlds! Since the concept of the Serenitea Pot existed in the "stories" she knew, did the system have any relevant information? Or... even just a clue?
Bidding farewell to the Ancient One and promising to come back to discuss magic when she had time, Artoria and Minerva hurried back to their home in Long Island.
Along the way, she kept thinking about the possibility of the "Serenitea Pot."
As soon as she got home and closed the door, Artoria impatiently called the system in the depths of her consciousness.
The electronic voice with a unique rhythm responded quickly.
[System, detected Host's strong intent regarding the feasibility of acquiring the cross-worldview conceptual creation 'Serenitea Pot' (a portable spatial artifact of the 'abode' type). Retrieving relevant conceptual data and multi-dimensional Universe compatibility analysis...]
[Analysis complete.]
[Source of the concept 'Serenitea Pot' (portable stable abode artifact) locked: Teyvat continent (World ID T-7721, high-magic fantasy side, manifestation of elemental rules). Original holder/crafter: Adeptus "Madame Ping" (Ping), or has origins with the Geo Archon "Morax" (Zhongli).]
[Acquisition plan deduction:]
[1. Local replication (Marvel Universe MCU-199999): Difficulty coefficient: ∞ (theoretically unfeasible). Reason: Lack of core rule support (Teyvat's unique 'abode' concept and elemental circulation system), key crafting technology (Adepti talismans and mechanism arts), and necessary high-level materials (special materials containing the power of World rules, such as the 'Serenitea Pot' prototype). Even if the most advanced technology (such as Pym Particles, Space Stone theory) and mysticism (such as Kamar-Taj Mirror Dimension, Asgardian Runes) of this Universe were combined, it could only produce a low-quality space-folding device with a functional similarity of less than 30%, questionable stability, and inability to accommodate living beings, which is far from the essence of an 'abode'.]
[2. Cross-World acquisition (traveling to the Teyvat continent): Difficulty coefficient: High. But it is the current optimal solution, and there is a feasible path.]
[*Path details: The system can provide the precise coordinates of the Teyvat continent and establish a temporary, one-way, low-consumption cross-World mental communication channel. The Host can conduct preliminary communication with the designated target (suggestion: Zhongli or Madame Ping). However, the actual crossing of the World barrier needs to be solved by the Host. The system can provide some ideas: A. Find and use stable or temporary channels that exist in this Universe leading to other dimensions (such as Dark Dimension rifts, Quantum Realm anomaly points, etc., which are extremely high risk). B. Utilize powerful external forces (such as individuals with cross-dimensional capabilities: Ancient One, Odin, etc., or artifacts: Space Stone, etc.). C. The Host's own power reaches a level where they can briefly tear through the World barrier (currently not met).]
[*Note: Compatibility assessment of Teyvat creations in this Universe after crossing: According to the multiverse basic law compatibility database comparison, more than 80% of physical matter and non-core rule energy creations can basically maintain their original form and function between different Universes, with efficiency possibly fluctuating by ±15% due to environmental parameters (such as elemental concentration/magic density/subtle differences in physical constants). Less than 20% of creations that are highly dependent on the source World's unique rules (such as the core of Teyvat's elemental reaction system, certain specific artifacts bound to the World Tree) may fail or have their functions significantly reduced. The 'Serenitea Pot' has been preliminarily assessed as the former; its abode space forms its own cycle and has low dependence on the rules of the Host's Universe, with good compatibility expected, but it should be noted that initial activation and energy supply may need to be adapted and adjusted.]
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