Longzang

Chapter 205 What need is there for machines if there are cultivators?
Wei Yuan set a goal for himself to explore the Netherworld for two hours each day. Originally, he would spend one hour exploring the Netherworld and the other hour cultivating the Moonlit Myriad Manifestations Chapter. However, now that he had dug up a lot of Netherworld soil, the cultivation he contributed had exceeded that of meditation, so digging soil was more effective than meditation.

Two hours have already passed, and the short blade engraving formation also needs time. Wei Yuan plans to explore the Netherworld Realm again tomorrow, as there are still a lot of miscellaneous matters to deal with in the realm.

Ji Liuli took the short blade and hurriedly left. Just as Zhang Sheng was about to leave, Wei Yuan called him back.

Wei Yuan carefully chose his words and asked cautiously, "Teacher, since the battle on our side is so fierce, doesn't the patriarch have any explanation?"

Zhang Sheng said, "Ancestor Xuan Yue has already come, and Master Fen Hai has also come. The Ancestor just fought with the two Netherworld Witches, what more explanation do you need?"

Wei Yuan was taken aback. He had been completely unaware of the battle in the sky and hurriedly asked, "Ancestral Master and Grandmaster are still fighting?"

No, they're gone.

Wei Yuan said, "Ah, then why don't you show yourself? Is there something I've done wrong?"

Zhang Sheng rolled his eyes at him and said, "This has nothing to do with you. It's purely because... well, for certain reasons. If I were to see you, wouldn't I, as an elder, have to give you some benefits?"

Wei Yuan was clever enough to understand immediately. It turned out that his grandmaster and patriarch were reluctant to give red envelopes when they met. Oh, or perhaps they really couldn't afford them.

The bigwigs of the Azure Palace are all extremely concerned with saving face. The best way to handle this situation is to pretend to be a hermit, leave after the deed is done, and save yourself the trouble of social obligations.

After bidding farewell to Zhang Sheng, Wei Yuan went to inspect the territory. At present, the most important thing for Wei Yuan in the territory is steel forging, so he went to the weapon forging workshop as soon as possible.

The weapon forging workshop had only been built for less than three days. At present, it had simply set up a simple array to gather spiritual energy on a plot of land in the core area. There was only one furnace in the workshop, but fifty anvils were set up all at once. Fifty newly promoted Dao Foundation cultivators were swinging iron hammers, forging the raw materials in an orderly manner.

Wang Yu held a small, ancient chime in his hand, patrolling back and forth while rhythmically striking it. Each chime carried an imbued Dao power, purifying the mind and focusing the spirit. With each chime's sound, the newly promoted Dao Foundation cultivators had to strike the chime with their hammers, neither too early nor too late, with neither too light nor too heavy force.

The slightest deviation would be detected by Wang Yu's Yin Eyes, resulting in a lash from the whip. The long whip is a superior magical artifact, striking directly at the primordial spirit; even the strongest physical body is useless against it.

Those who were whipped were all pale-faced and trembling with pain. But they had to maintain the rhythm of forging iron, and they couldn't lose their footing no matter how painful it was, or they would be whipped again.

As Wang Yu inspected the area, he said, “No pain, no gain! You were all originally incapable of forging your Dao foundation. It was only because the Realm Lord gave you the opportunity within the Realm that you were able to achieve it. Now that the opportunity has come, you must seize it! Forging iron is the best way to solidify your foundation! As long as you forge iron for eight hours every day, thirty days a month, you will make progress after a year and enter the next stage. So don’t tell me about the hardships. Being able to embark on the path of immortality is a blessing.”

The cultivators all agreed wholeheartedly and took it very seriously.

A moment later, fifty steel plates were forged. The cultivators simultaneously reached out and grabbed a new blank from mid-air, and then continued to repeat the process.

Wang Yu constantly inspected and checked the situation, repeating the same passage every so often, seemingly tireless.

Wei Yuan stood outside the forging ground for a while, never expecting such a scene. But he had to admit that the efficiency was extremely high; every quarter of an hour, fifty qualified steel plates would be produced.

At this moment, Cui Yu hurried over, intending to pick up some equipment. Seeing that Wei Yuan was also there, he walked over.

Wei Yuan pointed at Wang Yu and said, "How long has he been doing this? Isn't he tired?"

Cui Yu smiled and said, "It's been like this for a day now, and he hasn't rested since. I estimate he'll take a half-day break every three days, and Xu Yi will take over. After the break, he'll continue. These foundation cultivators take a half-day break every seven days, and there are still four days left. You don't need to worry about him; he says this is the best way to train the Yin Eyes."

With a Dao Foundation like Yin Eye, catching people slacking off and inspecting whether steel plates are up to standard would be incredibly easy. These cultivators, who had no hope of establishing a Dao Foundation, viewed the words of a Heavenly Foundation cultivator as no different from those of an immortal; and what an immortal said was always true.

Although there are many immortal foundations within the realm, these foundations are beyond their comprehension, which is why Zhang Sheng, Ji Liuli, and others are not well-known.

Dao Foundation cultivators possess abundant stamina and a rich spiritual energy, capable of working for seven days and seven nights without sleep. This group of people, newly embarking on the path of immortality, have experienced the wonderful feeling of being at the Dao Foundation stage. At this moment, everyone is determined to advance further, regardless of the consequences. Therefore, let alone being able to rest for half a day on the seventh day, they would grit their teeth and persevere even if they only had an hour's rest every ten days, treating it as a small test on their path of cultivation.

At the other end of the forging workshop was a newly built furnace.

The furnace was blazing, having just produced a batch of molten steel. A young master from a family of weapon refiners inspected the quality and nodded in approval. Two newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivators then carried the molten iron into molds, where it was poured into blanks. On the other side of the furnace, five newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivators sat cross-legged, heating the furnace with the aid of an array.

They are all fire-based foundational experts, and controlling the fire is their forte. Maintaining a constant furnace temperature for a long time is also part of solidifying their foundation.

The raw material for the furnace was not ore, but steel parts salvaged from the armor of the Wu tribe. This saved many steps, and a batch of molten steel could be produced in half an hour, just enough to supply the needs of fifty Dao Foundation cultivators who were forging iron.

On the other side of the forging workshop, ten Dao Foundation cultivators were responsible for rolling steel plates into round tubes, then using Dao power to eliminate the gaps, fusing the steel plates into one piece, and sealing one end. Needless to say, this kind of work of manipulating metal element is very beneficial to their foundation consolidation and requires years of continuous practice.

Yun Feifei was addressing the ten people: "To practice swordsmanship, you must thrust thousands of times every day. To practice sabers, you must slash hundreds of times every day using the same motion! Similarly, once you've rolled up ten thousand steel pipes, you'll naturally comprehend what the Golden Nature Dao Foundation is. If you can't comprehend it, then roll up another ten thousand!" The newly advanced Dao Foundation cultivators were filled with excitement, feeling that the Great Dao was right before their eyes. They believed that as long as they persevered day after day, their hardships would eventually be rewarded, and they would take another step forward on the path to immortality!
Wei Yuan remained silent after hearing this, then quietly asked Cui Yu, "Is it really okay to say it this way?"

Cui Yu quietly replied, "No problem! As long as one of these people can complete the foundation-building process, the others will only think that the reason for their failure is that they didn't work hard enough."

"But..." Wei Yuan had long seen that these cultivators' innate talents were quite ordinary; even reaching the Foundation stage was a matter of luck, and solidifying their foundations was extremely difficult. He was somewhat worried and asked, "What if no one can successfully solidify their foundations?"

Cui Yu said, "Don't worry, I've specifically included two talented individuals in each group, so there's no need to worry. Some of them will definitely make progress."

Wei Yuan was relieved. Cui Yu, a scion of a prominent family, was indeed capable.

Once the steel pipe is rolled up, it becomes the most basic gun barrel. The remaining process is to load it with gunpowder and bullets, which naturally cannot be done in this forging workshop where flames are everywhere, nor does it require Dao Foundation cultivators; just some meticulous and strong women will suffice.

Wei Yuan observed for a while longer and estimated that fifty gun barrels could be produced in a quarter of an hour, four hundred in an hour, and four thousand eight hundred in a day. The weapon forging workshop basically worked around the clock, with the tools never stopping even when the people rested, so the daily production of four thousand eight hundred steel pipes could basically be maximized.

After calculating the number, Wei Yuan fell silent.

With these human-level Dao Foundation cultivators who are determined to advance further on the path to immortality, what need is there for machines?

Leaving the weapon forging workshop, Wei Yuan circled the main peak, intending to visit the herb garden again. As he passed the small stone house, he suddenly noticed that there were lights still on inside.

Wei Yuan was somewhat surprised. This was the small house that Bao Yun had built for Xu Wenwu. After Xu Wenwu produced 30,000 words a day for more than ten consecutive days, and finally ran out of new ideas, the stone house was left unused. Why was someone in it now?

Wei Yuan arrived at the front of the house, pushed open the door, and saw Xu Wenwu sitting at the table, concentrating on drawing something on paper, completely unaware of Wei Yuan's arrival.

Xu Wenwu took a fine brush specially used for writing small regular script and drew two connected square boxes, one smaller than the other, on the paper. Then, a thin tube extended from the smaller box, and the character "炮" (cannon) was written next to the tube. Next to the larger box, he drew a row of wheels, but the wheels were connected by a band.

There was also a finished painting next to it.

Wei Yuan picked it up and looked at it. The painting seemed to depict a woman with several small dots on her face, which could be considered her facial features. The woman's clothing was very peculiar; it was not the robes commonly worn by cultivators, but rather a separate, tight-fitting garment that accentuated her figure.

Although Xu Wenwu's painting skills were practically nonexistent, and his brushstrokes resembled scribbles, he did paint with his heart. Thus, Wei Yuan discerned eight characters in the painting: "slender waist, long legs, and a curvaceous figure."

The woman was wearing a vest over her shirt, seemingly to show off some kind of personality. The vest had many pockets, which was understandable. She was carrying a crooked stick that looked somewhat like a laurel branch.

Xu Wenwu finally finished drawing the square box, looked at it with satisfaction, and put it aside. He then picked up another piece of paper. Suddenly, he felt the light was off, and when he turned his head, he saw Wei Yuan.

"What are you doing?" Wei Yuan asked gently.

Xu Wenwu was a little embarrassed and said, "Last time, Miss Bao asked me to write about my experiences and observations in that world, and I only understood what she meant later. But my writing skills are not good enough, and many times I write in a way that doesn't express my meaning clearly. I always feel that I haven't explained many things clearly."

I knew these battles were extremely dangerous, but I couldn't offer any help, which made me very anxious. Actually, there are many useful things in my world, but I'm not good at studying and don't know how to build them. These past two days I've been thinking, even though I can't explain it clearly, I can draw it! Drawing it might be a good reference for you.”

Wei Yuan pointed to the square box in the painting and asked, "What is this?"

Xu Wenwu perked up and said, "This thing is called a tank. In our world, this is what ended the era of cavalry..."

"Isn't it a machine gun?" Wei Yuan asked curiously.

"Oh, really? It seems so." Xu Wenwu was speechless.

"You wrote this."

"Oh, right, I think I did write that."

Wei Yuan picked up the photo of "Woman in a Vest" and asked, "What's this?"

"Individual soldier equipment".

(End of this chapter)