Longzang

Chapter 142 Articles of Association
Xu Wenwu had mentioned guns and cannons countless times, and Wei Yuan was already tired of hearing it. Although the others were meeting Xu Wenwu for the first time, thanks to Bao Yun's pressure of writing 30,000 words a day, Xu Wenwu had already revealed enough information, and they knew almost as much as Wei Yuan.

In Wei Yuan's understanding, the principle of guns and cannons was very simple. So he found a stone in his Dao Foundation, casually shaped it into a long tube, sealed one end, and then materialized it.

Looking at the stone pipe, which was at least eight inches thick, with a palm-sized, dark opening and a barrel over five feet long, Xiaoyu asked, "Is this a gun?"

"It's a gun!" Wei Yuan was absolutely certain.

"Fine, whatever you say goes!" Xiaoyu shrugged, not arguing with Wei Yuan.

For the sake of saving him, Wei Yuan would call this thing, which was almost a foot thick and half a foot long, a gun. Even if it were several times larger, it could still be called a gun.

In truth, Wei Yuan had no choice. He had just tested the power of gunpowder, and his current Dao Foundation was merely a simple stone tube, lacking Daoist essence, so its strength wouldn't be high. If he were to fill it with a ball of gunpowder the size of his palm, Wei Yuan feared the stone tube wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Zhang Sheng asked, "What is saltpeter, and how did you find it?"

Ji Liuli made another batch of gunpowder, saying as he worked, "Saltpeter doesn't have a corresponding name in our world. So I added a lucky charm to my name, and then I suddenly remembered a medicinal herb called Flame Ice, which might work. So I tried it, and it worked! Flame Ice comes from ice stone ore, which is everywhere. This batch I made only cost a few taels of silver."

Wei Yuan then truly understood the power of the Heavenly Mystery Hall. Even if you knew nothing, as long as you had a bit of luck, you could guess correctly.

However, Wei Yuan suddenly had a new idea. If he could get a lucky boost before participating in the Immortal Sect's unified examination, wouldn't his written test score be guaranteed? Wei Yuan was just getting excited when he realized that those powerful clans might have already done that.

As he spoke, Ji Liuli had already prepared the gunpowder, selected a portion of it, poured it into the stone tube, and directly compacted it with his Dao power.

Then Zhang Sheng handed over a stone ball, perfectly round and flawless, with a surface so smooth it could reflect a person's image. Although it was just an ordinary stone, its surface was so smooth that it had a jade-like quality.

This stone ball was casually carved by Zhang Sheng using his finger as a sword.

Ji Liuli filled the stone ball into the stone tube, and then Wei Yuan held the stone tube with both hands, aimed it at a large tree several feet away, and used his Dao power to ignite the gunpowder.

With a deafening roar, a ball of fire spewed from the stone pipe, and the stone sphere flew out with a whoosh, embedding itself in the large tree that would take two people to encircle!

Everyone was pondering, assessing the power of the first spear in this world based on their own experience.

Zhang Shengxian said, "It is comparable in power to the heavy arrows of the Northern Liao captain, stronger than ordinary Liao cavalry, but not as powerful as those of a centurion. This is in terms of power; in terms of divine skill, it is far inferior."

Ji Liuli said, "The Wu Clan has a complex mix of species. If we don't consider the Wu warriors, this shot can kill a Blood Fusion Warrior, but it won't pose a fatal threat to a Body Forging Master."

Zhang Sheng and Ji Liuli have far more experience than others, so their assessment is the most accurate.

Wei Yuan was recalling the feeling of firing the gun. In that instant, his whole body trembled, and his body moved slightly. Although the movement was so small as to be almost imperceptible, Wei Yuan had already realized that without using Dao power, he could not completely eliminate the backlash with his physical body alone. The smaller the movement, the greater the power required.

However, using Dao power, one can remain motionless. For the sake of testing, Wei Yuan only used his physical strength.

"Senior Sister, make some more gunpowder, not too much," Wei Yuan suddenly said.

Ji Liuli then made some more gunpowder, about the amount needed for a teacup. Wei Yuan found two pieces of heavy armor, made a slight indentation in the middle, sandwiched the gunpowder between them, pressed it down, and then sealed the edges.

Wei Yuan mobilized the power of his domain to suppress the armor plate, then used his Dao power to ignite the gunpowder inside. With a muffled bang, a noticeable bulge appeared in the center of the armor plate, which even the power of his domain could not completely suppress.

These two armor plates were from the secret vault of the Lan Shen Palace, originally intended for use on the armor of Dao Foundation cultivators. They were made of refined steel and further forged with Dao power. Each plate was half a finger thick and exceptionally sturdy, yet they were still deformed by the explosion.

After reviewing the results of this experiment, Wei Yuan said, "It seems that the power of gunpowder increases significantly when it is completely sealed. Perhaps we can start from this point and think of more applications."

The group studied the material for most of the night before dispersing.

It was not far from dawn. Wei Yuan went to the stone house to take a look and saw that Xu Wenwu had already gone to rest. There was only paper, pen and an empty bowl on the table.

Seeing the empty bowl, Wei Yuan remembered that he seemed to have imbued it with some kind of power. But the bowl was now cold, and the power had vanished.

Wei Yuan picked up the jade paper on the table and scanned it with his divine sense. He discovered that Xu Wenwu had actually written more than ten thousand words in just half an evening. This guy has become quite diligent.

Wei Yuan put down the jade paper, put away the bowl, and returned to the summit. He then began to re-examine what Xu Wenwu had written over the past two days, including the parts that had already been marked as garbage.

After seeing the example of gunpowder, Wei Yuan saw a completely different world and gained a new understanding of the value of Xu Wenwu's writings.

The summit of the main peak was far from quiet. A clanging and banging sound filled the air as Xiaoyu, having built a furnace, began smelting iron and gold, forging something. A moment later, Xiaoyu held an iron pipe in her hand, poured in some gunpowder, and habitually enhanced it with the power of her immortal sword, the Great Sun. The gunpowder inside the pipe ignited instantly, and a burst of flame shot from the nozzle.

The nozzle was pointed directly at his face, and Xiao Yu was caught off guard, his hair singed by the flames. His cultivation was still shallow; he hadn't yet reached the point where he could singe his hair.

There was also a faint light coming from Zhang Sheng's side, but there was no sound.

Ji Liuli has disappeared without a trace; perhaps he has made some new discovery.

Wei Yuan calmed himself down, and it seemed as if Xu Wenwu's world appeared in his sea of ​​consciousness. He quietly...
Observing, watching how ordinary people live, and pondering the meaning behind it.

With one hour left until dawn, Wei Yuan was awakened from his immersion in another world.

Bao Yun appeared before Wei Yuan and said, "I'll set off first, and you can follow me in a moment. I'll leave marks along the way, and I'll explain any unusual occurrences in the marks."

Wei Yuan nodded and checked the preparations in his Dao Foundation. A moment later, Ji Liuli also set off, following Bao Yun. Wei Yuan's departure would be later.

The three kept their distance from each other, mainly so as not to interfere with the person in front. If Bao Yun were alone, she could come and go right under the Great Shaman's nose. Ji Liuli couldn't, and Wei Yuan even less so.

Wei Yuan sat upright on the main peak, waiting for his departure time. While waiting, he suddenly thought that Dao Foundation cultivators have powerful primordial spirits. For example, if he was to depart in a quarter of an hour, his primordial spirit would naturally remind him at that time, without the slightest discrepancy.

However, the timekeeping of ordinary people is very vague. Not to mention ordinary people, even body-forging cultivators, as long as they have not reached the spirit-refining stage, are about the same as ordinary people in this respect.

In daily life, timekeeping shorter than half a quarter of an hour is very vague. Even among cultivators, they often use incense sticks, cups of tea, or breaths as substitutes. In terms of precise and detailed timekeeping, it is far inferior to Xu Wenwu's world.

The mortals in that world seemed to live very meticulously, leaving home at fixed times every day to go to their workplaces to work. Even if they were only a cup of tea's time late, they would have half a day's wages deducted.

Thinking about it this way, it seems that the mortals in that world aren't living very happily either.

As he pondered, his primordial spirit reminded him that it was time to depart, and Wei Yuan rose and flew southwest. At this moment, the realm was completely silent; everyone except the cultivators on night watch was resting and preparing for the day's work.

Once outside the boundary, Wei Yuan stopped flying and began running on the ground. In the distance, a faint green light could be seen flickering, guiding his way.

This is a mark left by Bao Yun, which can only be seen by those who possess the seeds of her precious tree. She planted seeds for Ji Liuli and Zhang Sheng before setting off, but Wei Yuan, who already possesses a wondrous precious tree, doesn't need to plant any more seeds.

Wei Yuan continued his journey, feeling himself growing further and further away from Qingming, and the enhancement from the vast lands and rivers gradually diminishing. Every few dozen miles, Bao Yun would leave a marker. These markers not only indicated direction but also contained information about the surrounding environment.

Along the way, Wei Yuan bypassed several groups of Wu Clan members or patrol teams, encountering them quite frequently, indicating that the Wu Clan had accelerated their pace of occupation.

The more Wu tribes live in a place, the more the world will transform into a Wu domain. The Wu tribes don't have boundary stones, nor do they need them; they only need to multiply and live in one place, performing daily sacrifices, to slowly change the world. The larger the population, the faster and more thorough the transformation.

As dawn broke, Wei Yuan spotted the final marker and followed it to the summit of a small hill. Bao Yun and Ji Liuli were already there, gazing into the distance.

Wei Yuan followed their gaze and saw a rather large camp on the flat land dozens of miles away. Judging from its size, it could probably hold at least 50,000 people. However, the domed barracks inside were only about 30% of the total, indicating that the main force was still behind.

The camp was built with walls of wood and earth, each wall ten feet high. In the center was a natural platform with an altar on it, surrounded by a circle of blood-red symbols, each about ten feet in diameter.

Comparing his knowledge to what he had learned, Wei Yuan immediately recognized the altar as the most central sacrificial altar in the Wu Clan's military camp. At this moment, the runes around the altar were flashing with blood-red light, indicating that a sacrifice had been completed and the altar now contained sacrificial power.

The power of sacrifice has a wide range of uses. It can be transformed into a blood curse that corrodes heaven and earth, or it can be used to curse and kill a powerful cultivator—Wei Yuan has experienced both. In addition, it can be used to empower a shaman, or to protect an entire camp.

At this moment, Bao Yun said, "There are 12,000 people in the camp, 1,500 more than when I came to see it yesterday. They must have arrived last night. I have checked carefully, and the traces of the great shaman nearby are those of the lizard we killed. So far, there is no sign of a second great shaman's activity."

Ji Liuli glanced at the sky and said, "They'll be sending troops out of camp for patrol in half an hour. We need to hurry."

Bao Yun asked Wei Yuan, "What are the rules?"

Looking at the Wu tribe camp, Wei Yuan suddenly thought of the people in the northern district of Quliu Town who lived worse than pigs and dogs, the Jingguan in Shayang Village, and Fang Hetong's headless corpse.

Wei Yuan calmly said, "Slay them all, leave no one alive."

(End of this chapter)