Douluo: What the hell is the academic master development system?

Chapter 558 Cannon Technology Lights Up
There are many benefits to absorbing a 100,000-year soul ring that is higher than your level, such as leveling up several levels at once, or obtaining a soul skill that is far more powerful than an ordinary 10,000-year soul ring.

If it weren't for the unique characteristics of Chen Ping's martial soul that meant he could only acquire one soul skill per staff after reaching each major realm, Chen Ping would have acquired far more soul skills than ordinary people.

Of course, having discussed the advantages, what remains are the disadvantages of absorbing a 100,000-year soul ring from a higher level.

In order to truly subdue the immense power brought by this spirit ring, Chen Ping sat there cross-legged without moving, as if he had become an old tree rooted there.

Neither Xuanzi nor Mu En was surprised by this.

When Zhang Lexuan obtained her 100,000-year soul ring at the eighth level, it took her a full six months to fully recover after returning to the academy.

At this moment, the two of them had even prepared for the possibility that Chen Ping might miss the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament because he had to subdue the enormous power within the 100,000-year-old soul ring.

One day, ten days, thirty days, sixty days, ninety days
Chen Ping sat there calmly. The power that the ancient golden tree was constantly radiating outwards allowed him to maintain this meditative state in its best condition without needing to eat or drink.

During this period, Ning Tian and Wu Feng visited Chen Ping many times, as did Qian Duoduo, Xian Lin'er, and others. However, apart from breaking through one level in meditation and reaching level fifty-four, Chen Ping did not undergo any other changes.

If one didn't pay close attention, one would notice that Chen Ping's chest was still rising and falling rhythmically, inhaling a breath of fresh air and exhaling a long, drawn-out breath of stale air. Perhaps some people would really think that time had stopped for Chen Ping.

However, regardless of whether time had stopped for Chen Ping, the instructions he had prepared in advance were running smoothly like a machine on a fully automated assembly line.

On one side of the Yitiaolong Bath Center, a small shop called Dange has quietly opened, and has begun to sell level 4 fixed-load shells, matching launching equipment, and various kinds of stimulants to deceive people.

In the original novel, the reason why the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon, which was improved and made by Huo Yuhao for the Tang Sect, sold so well was not only because the equipment could fire single shots or eighteen shells at once, creating a massive firepower coverage, but also because of its powerful firepower coverage range, which allowed ordinary level four fixed-load shells to fly out of the hitting range of level six fixed-load shells.

Ordinary soul-guided cannons have very limited firing range because their projectile power is purely derived from soul power.

However, the fixed-mount soul-guided cannon can use a fixed-mount soul-guided device to provide propulsion, and its power is generated by the shell.

A level 4 fixed-mount soul-guided cannon has a firing range of approximately two kilometers. A level 5 fixed-mount soul-guided device can reach five kilometers. And a level 6 fixed-mount soul-guided device can have an attack range of over eight kilometers.

These figures sound alarming, but upon closer examination, something seems amiss.

This means that the level 4 fixed-mount cannon shells in Douluo Continent can only reach a distance of 2,000 meters, which is only a quarter more than the effective range limit of the red-coated cannons of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

In fact, this thing's range is even shorter than that of the heavy red-coated cannons before the Opium War, since those can reach a distance of up to four kilometers.

It was precisely for this reason that the Zhuge Divine Crossbow, which incorporated the 'Tang Clan Hidden Weapon Secret Techniques' and could increase its range to eight kilometers, directly opened up arms sales opportunities for the Star Luo and Heavenly Soul Empires, and indeed played a certain role in resisting the invasion of the Sun Moon Army.

Considering the questionable level of soul tools possessed by Bei Bei and others in this timeline, it was simply impossible for the Tang Sect to create the Zhuge Divine Crossbow. To prevent the two great empires from being overthrown too quickly by the Sun Moon Empire, Chen Ping made arrangements well in advance, filling this gap before absorbing the 100,000-year soul ring.

The low-to-medium level fixed-mount artillery shell launching equipment in Douluo Continent is basically still at the level of primitive and medieval artillery on Earth.

Only a few artillery vehicles equipped with high-level fixed-load shells can be considered as modern artillery; they are far inferior to any modern artillery that came after them.

The reason for this situation is largely due to materials science.

Adding a more effective propulsion device to the cannonballs would certainly be a good way to make them travel further, but the cost of doing so would be something that no empire other than the Sun and Moon Empire could afford.

Even the Sun Moon Empire wouldn't be so extravagant as to use the cost of producing two or three fixed-mount shells to mass-produce one low-level fixed-mount shell with a significantly increased range.

Therefore, the simplest way to make shells travel farther is to make the cannon barrel longer and stronger, so that it can generate higher pressure instantly without exploding, and fire these damned shells straight into the very center of the enemy's position.

To achieve this, the rare metals commonly found in the Douluo Continent, such as refined iron and hundred-fold steel, are completely insufficient.

Rare metals like glacial iron and crystal steel, which are military-grade or even restricted, can barely be used to make cannon barrels, and even then, the range is only at a normal level.

Unless you're willing to use top-grade rare metals of classified or even covert level to cast the cannon barrel, you can't guarantee that the cannon's shells will be able to hit targets far and accurately, easily flying tens of kilometers.

However, this level of rare metal is extremely expensive. It's fine to use it in the barrels of one or two cannons, but can it be widely used in thousands of low- to mid-level fixed-mount soul-guided cannons?
The thousand-forging metal manufacturing technology brought by Chen Ping just made up for the lack of materials science. Even if the shape of the cannon barrel could be developed in a better way, it would still lead to the embarrassing situation of barrel explosion due to insufficient strength.

The longest gun barrels made from these two rare metals, pyrometallurgical iron and crystal steel, can probably only be two meters long under standard caliber; otherwise, the barrel thickness must be increased at any cost.

After being forged thousands of times, the cannon barrels made of these rare metals can reach a standard caliber of six meters or more, which is taller than a two-story building!
With a sufficiently long barrel, there is more time for the projectile to propel itself. Naturally, the higher the initial velocity of a fixed-load projectile, the greater its kinetic energy, and the farther its strike range.

That's why Chen Ping naturally chose the cannon, the ultimate weapon of war that requires a breakthrough in gun barrel materials science as a prerequisite skill.

Still using traditional artillery?
Try out the fixed-mount Soul-Guided Cannon with a starting range of 15 kilometers!

Higher muzzle velocity, stronger kinetic energy, more robust barrel, greater chamber pressure, and spiral groove rifling on the inner wall of the barrel to stabilize the projectile's rotation, improve accuracy and range.
After Chen Ping sent one of these things out in the name of Dan Pavilion, Xu Jiujiu and Dai Yueheng, who had already joined the army in the border region, flew over on the spot. The Heavenly Soul Empire sent a princess named Vina.

These are nothing compared to what's truly outrageous: even the Douling Empire, which in the original story was completely insensitive to war and was still embroiled in internal strife when the Sun Moon Empire was at its doorstep, actually sent a prince to discuss business after seeing the sample!
No one can refuse a level 4 soul-guided fixed-mount cannon that can fire at a range of 15 kilometers, especially when it is equipped with a range extender that can fire at a range of 20 or 30 kilometers.

(End of this chapter)