The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 681 Yun Kun, I am your restorer, not your wish-granting machine!
"The lungs store the vital energy of Taibai, which condenses into the edge of a sword..."

"The fire in the furnace of the Bingwu year transforms the black iron into flowing essence; the Big Dipper pours in the spirit of the heavens, and the Southern Dipper tempers the cold essence..."

Shen Le read it aloud, word by word. Two little ones followed beside him, one on his left and one on his right, silently reading in unison:

"The lungs store the vital energy of Taibai, which condenses into the edge of a sword..."

Shen Le placed one hand on Li Xingtang's armored back and the other on the Yun Kun tabletop, trying to sense the flow of power within them.

After repeating it to them several times, I finally gave up and waved goodbye.

"Yun Kun, stop for a moment. You're too big. I can't penetrate all parts of your body with my power while also taking care of Li Xingtang."

"You listen to us recite it, but don't use your internal energy yet. I need to teach him first! He at least has some basic swordsmanship!"

Yes, after evaluation by experts from various aspects, three solutions were proposed to meet the high-speed maneuverability requirements of Yunkun.

The best course of action is to reforge the Cloud Kun and add a flight array to the hull, which is essentially upgrading the magical artifact to add a flight function so that it can take off on its own.
The middle strategy is to forge a flying sword or a set of flying swords for Yun Kun, allowing Yun Kun to control the flying swords and fly on them.

The worst-case scenario is to modify the Yunkun by installing components such as hydrofoils and ground effect vehicles to help it break through the water and fly.

The difficulty with the best option is that the Special Affairs Bureau does not have any ready-made magic arrays suitable for such a large spiritual artifact, let alone the possibility of reforging Yun Kun.

Due to the decline of spiritual energy, many flying magical artifacts have become dusty, or were taken away by their ancestors, or although they can still be used, the formations within them cannot be deciphered.

The Special Affairs Bureau reviewed a lot of information and inquired with numerous sects they could contact, but to no avail; they couldn't come up with a refining plan...

The difficulty with this less desirable approach is that these components cannot meet the high speed and range required by Yunkun.

Furthermore, to achieve flight, unless the modified parts are crafted from spirit metal, the effect will be proportionally reduced when the ship is scaled down...

And use spirit metal?

Using so much spirit gold is not as good as forging a sword for Yun Kun!

Therefore, Shen Le could only prioritize the middle strategy. He led Li Xingtang to recite the sword incantation more than a dozen times, while reciting it and channeling heat into his body, allowing him to feel the flow of the five metal essences within his body;
After being instructed more than a dozen times, the immortal sword held by Li Xingtang's hands suddenly flickered slightly, transforming into a long rainbow that shot into the air with a whoosh. In an instant, alarms blared throughout the base:

"Unidentified flying object spotted!"

"Be careful!"

"Alert level raised!"

"Air defense system ready..."

When Shen Le, covered in sweat, finally called the fleet commander and explained that the immortal sword carried on Yun Kun suddenly wanted to fly away, and the entire base was already on high alert:

All soldiers were in position, radars were rapidly calculating and locking onto targets, and close-in weapon systems, missiles, and anti-aircraft machine guns were all ready to fire...

Commander: "..."

What can he do?
What could he do?
Can he criticize Yun Kun or Shen Le? Shen Le is the expert they invited. Although Yun Kun is considered a veteran, he has only been in independent consciousness for a few years.

He's still a child; you can't scold him, you can only coax him!

"Um... Mr. Shen, as you know, we've been under a lot of defensive pressure lately. Every now and then, foreign fighter jets come over to peek around. How about we find a safer place?"

For example, the Great Whirlpool Secret Realm in the East China Sea!
Aside from being relatively remote and inconvenient to get in and out of, requiring a long interval between visits, the place is actually quite spacious!
Flying swords can fly freely, and a 400-ton ship like the Cloud Kun can circle in the sky all day long without any problem!
Shen Le: "..."

Are they going to kick us out?
Does this mean we've been banished to some remote, desolate place?
Just two days ago, they were all the rage, inviting experts from all over the country to come and hold meetings to study the matter. Now they're going to throw them into some secret place?

"Hey, please make this trip. Yun Kun is stealthy and has a large carrying capacity, so it can deliver more supplies to them—the soldiers stationed in the secret realm are having a tough time..."

The commander reasoned with him, appealed to his emotions, and even played the victim card. Before Shen Le could even think of a retort, Yun Kun had already started slapping the mast with the cable and readily agreed.
【No problem! Leave it to me! Have them load the goods onto the ship, load as much as possible, and I'll deliver it to them! Don't worry, with me here, it'll be delivered perfectly!】

Shen Le and the group of children arrived at the Great Vortex Secret Realm. Upon entering, Shen Le took a few deep breaths, and his brows furrowed.
"It feels like... the spiritual energy here is even more abundant..."

"Your intuition is quite sharp!" The Special Affairs Bureau officer escorting the supplies on board approached and immediately began by flattering him:

"Yes, according to our measurements, the spiritual energy level here has been slowly and gently rising. Such spiritual energy is extremely beneficial to the human body."

It can greatly accelerate the healing speed of injuries and illnesses. Currently, we are trying to move some elderly, seriously ill experts and severely wounded soldiers to the shallow secret realm for recuperation..."

Shen Le's brow remained furrowed. A small amount of spiritual energy was indeed beneficial to the human body, but what worried him was where this spiritual energy came from—

He has repaired the rift between heaven and earth deep within this secret realm. If there is still spiritual energy leaking out, it means that he did not notice some of the cracks back then.

Or does it mean that he made some oversights in his work?

Or perhaps, the place opposite us, with its extremely high spiritual energy index, capable of nurturing spirit beasts and firebirds, is getting closer and closer, and the spiritual pressure is increasing.
He couldn't share these thoughts with the other person, so he kept them to himself and released his spiritual energy to sense the changes around him.

A moment later, deep within the secret realm, inside the altar of the Taoist temple, a strange fluctuation was sensed:

It sounded like crashing waves, or like something roaring and howling, each sound shaking the soul.

Delving deeper, on the other side of the rift in the heavens and earth that Shen Le had repaired, something seemed to be slowly churning, about to erupt and burst forth...

No way?
Could there be a volcano behind that?
Shen Le's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. He remembered finding a crack near Ryukyu last time, and the copper plate urged him to repair it immediately.

Could it be that once the other side is repaired, the energy has nowhere to go, so it's being channeled onto this side?

His spiritual power stretched further and further, becoming more and more refined, until it finally touched the spot he had repaired. He went through each of the "threads" one by one, and thankfully, none were broken;
He then traced the area outwards, feeling every inch he could sense, and patched up two smaller holes. Once he confirmed everything was alright, he breathed a sigh of relief and looked back to check:
Yun Kun had already reached the shore, and he himself opened the deck, moving the long deck horizontally to create a gangplank, essentially exposing himself to make it easier for the loading and unloading team to work. Various machines were busily operating, continuously unloading supplies from the hold. On the docks and roads, vehicles and people moved in a constant stream, everyone's face beaming with joy.

supply!

The supplies have arrived again!
This time, there's an unplanned, improved supply! For example, fresh vegetables and fruits, fresh pork, beef and lamb, and even newly released popular movies and new games!
For warriors like them who immerse themselves in secret realms and don't emerge for six months to a year, completely cutting off contact with the rest of the army, this was incredibly timely!
With so many supplies available, people simply ignored the things flying around in the sky and didn't object at all.

When Shen Le finished repairing and turned around, the loading and unloading work was basically completed. Yun Kun was impatiently instructing Li Xingtang to release the flying sword and make it spin around:

Up! Up! Up some more! Ah, can't we go any higher... then go left! Go as far left as possible! And then right at the limit! Let's explore the edge of this secret realm to find out how to fly without crashing into the wall!

"Alright, stop flying for now, come back and learn swordsmanship first." Shen Le had to interrupt:

"Li Xingtang, I will teach you all the sword techniques first, and then teach Yun Kun. After you have learned them, practice them slowly in the secret realm. When you leave, make sure you have achieved perfect control!"

【clear! 】

Li Xingtang pounded his fist against the iron armor on his chest, answering with a resounding and powerful voice.

As expected of a member of the Tang Dynasty's border army and a former disciple of a sword immortal, even without his internal organs, and without knowing how the five metal energies circulate within his body, Li Xingtang still learns swordsmanship very quickly.

In just two days, he was able to command the immortal sword to rise and fall rapidly, to collide back and forth, and to turn left and right, weaving a dense net of swords.

Aside from being unable to withstand close-in weapon systems, he could use his sword to slash at rockets from the side, shattering them and then disengaging before the most violent explosion.

After two more days of practice, he had mastered the skill of flying on a sword. He could wrap himself in sword light and fly high into the sky, reaching speeds of up to 100 meters per second.

The only problem is that, unfortunately, he has repeatedly failed in his attempts to "fly with Yun Kun".

As long as Yun Kun's boat is longer than two meters and weighs more than 200 kilograms, the Immortal Sword will not be able to move it. It will either fall into the water together or its speed will drop to an unbearable level.

More importantly, Yun Kun was still shouting:
[I want to fly on my own! I want to fly on my own! I don't want to be carried along by him! Li Xingtang can just focus on fighting; he can stay safely on my ship and throw out the flying swords. I'll handle the flying myself!]

Shen Le couldn't even say that Yun Kun's idea was unreasonable. However, teaching Li Xingtang was easy; teaching Yun Kun and equipping it with a suitable flying sword was far too difficult.

"Come, follow me to circulate your Qi. The Qi of Taibai resides in the lungs, condensing into the edge of a sword..."

Where are my lungs? I don't have any lungs!

Li Xingtang doesn't have lungs, and he's just wearing an empty shell of iron armor. How did he manage to control the flying sword so successfully?!

Shen Le's head was throbbing with pain. Finally, having no other choice, he could only grip the copper plate, sit cross-legged, and try to resonate with Yun Kun as much as possible.
Then, he circulated his inner energy around his body, making the flying sword in his hand seem ready to leap out, maintaining a state of being about to be released.
Finally, let Yun Kun sense his state and try his best to imitate him through resonance...

After meditating for one day and then another, one of the six porcelain flying swords that Shen Le had placed on the deck finally hummed and rose slightly, about two feet off the ground.

Before Yun Kun could express his joy, the porcelain sword fell to the ground with a thud, landing on the soft cushion that had been laid out beforehand...

"It's okay, once you get the hang of it, it'll be easier. Let's try again," Shen Le quickly reassured it.

"Come, follow me, enter a meditative state, regulate your breathing, pay attention to the flow of your internal energy—three, two, one, begin!"

This time, the success was faster than the last. About an hour after the resonance, Yun Kun successfully levitated a porcelain sword again, moving it three feet before it fell back onto the cushion.

The next time, it succeeded within fifteen minutes, circled halfway around the bow of the boat, and fell into the sea, forcing them to extend a rope to retrieve it;
Next time...

I got it! I really learned it!

Yun Kun was overjoyed, twirling the porcelain sword into a ball of silver light, showing it off above Shen Le's head. After playing for a while, he controlled the porcelain sword to plunge into the sea, creating whirlpools on the surface of the water.

Seeing Shen Le peering into the whirlpool, it controlled its flying sword to probe downwards, and in a moment, it pierced up several fish:

This is for dinner!

"Well, thank you for your hospitality. Could you help me scrape off the fish scales...?" Shen Le rolled her eyes, her hands folded in her sleeves.

He has never killed a fish with his own hands in his entire life!
From childhood to adulthood, he ate his grandfather's cooking, ate in the canteen, and ate in restaurants. Even when he was stationed in a remote area with his mentor, where there were no canteens or restaurants, he had never gutted a fish himself!
Yun Kun happily slammed the fish onto the deck, his sword flashing as he scraped its scales, leaving them flying everywhere – a truly gruesome sight. Shen Le was still pointing and commenting nearby.
"Don't rush, pay attention to your breathing, maintain the rhythm, and control the flying sword—oh dear, it's cut into the flesh again! Don't worry, we're not in a hurry, raise the flying sword and try again! Inhale—exhale—"

Naval officers and soldiers remaining on deck:

"We'll do it, we'll do it! No need to trouble Mr. Yun Kun! -- What, you want to use it for sword practice? Then we'll be the ones cleaning the deck! Can't we just contribute a few radishes to exchange for fish...?"

After much back and forth, from one sword to two swords, and then from two swords to six swords.

Yun Kun finally mastered control of the flying swords, dispersing them in several directions and positioning them along the sides of the ship, bow and stern. Overjoyed, he gave a soft shout:
"rise--"

The sword light from the six porcelain swords surged simultaneously, intertwining in multiple directions. The entire ship shrank, then shrank again, swaying precariously, and was somehow lifted up, propelled forward a short distance, and then crashed into the water with a thud.

With a series of cracking sounds, three of the six porcelain swords shattered on the spot, and a large crack appeared between the hilt and the blade of the remaining three swords...

Shen Le! The sword you gave me is no good! I need a bigger and stronger one!

Shen Le: "..."

Do you think I'm a wish-granting machine?

Even if these porcelain swords are fired in kilns and not machine-made, I still have to fire them kiln by kiln!

(End of this chapter)