I run a casino in the immortal realm.

In his previous life on Earth, Zheng Yifei was not only a powerful gambling king, but also a true academic genius with exceptional memory and logical analysis skills.

Although he had not specifically studied military explosives, he still vividly remembered the basic knowledge he learned in high school chemistry class.

"One part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, and three parts charcoal."

The classic formula for black powder.

Charcoal is everywhere, as are saltpeter and sulfur, which are commonly used auxiliary materials by alchemists in this world. They are plentiful in major trading companies and pharmacies and are practically worthless.

If gunpowder could be manufactured, encased in an iron shell, and dropped from mid-air, as long as it bypassed the external defenses of the evil aura and exploded inside the aura or within the orcish formation, the pure physical shockwave and shrapnel damage would easily tear apart the orcish ranks.

Once the formation is disrupted, the malevolent aura will crumble on its own!

Thinking of this, Zheng Yifei suddenly stood up, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Xu Qian!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

Xu Qian quickly stepped forward.

"Immediately check whether there is any saltpeter or sulfur in the warehouses or pharmacies in Pengcheng. Gather as much as you can and bring it all to the General's Mansion. Also, have someone prepare a large quantity of high-quality, dry charcoal."

Zheng Yifei quickly issued the order.

Although Xu Qian didn't understand why Zheng Yifei wanted these alchemy materials, he immediately accepted the order and left.

Zheng Yifei then took out another jade slip for communication and directly contacted Murong Hao, who was far away in Liuhua County.

"Sect Leader Murong, put aside everything you are doing, take your most outstanding disciples, and come to Pengcheng immediately."

A somewhat puzzled voice came from the other end of the jade slip: "Yifei, what happened? My flying sword production line was just debugged..."

"Forget about flying swords. I have something brand new here, a weapon that can generate immense destructive power without relying on spiritual energy. Once it's created, it will absolutely revolutionize the way wars are fought in this world. Aren't you obsessed with weapon crafting? Come over here now."

Upon hearing "world-shattering" and "brand-new weapon," Murong Hao's breathing quickened instantly: "Wait a moment, I'll be right there!"

Zheng Yifei cut off the telepathic communication and turned to Night Owl, saying, "Notify Li Jianfeng to personally pilot the fastest airship from the Criminal Investigation Department to Liuhua County to pick up Murong Hao. He must be delivered to Pengcheng before sunset today!"

"yes!"

Sunset.

A streamlined airship landed directly in the backyard of the Pengcheng General's Mansion with a sharp whooshing sound.

The hatch opened, and Murong Hao, with his hair all messy, hurriedly jumped down, followed by eighteen apprentices who were also dressed in the robes of weapon refiners.

"Yifei! Where is that new weapon you mentioned?"

The moment Murong Hao saw Zheng Yifei, his eyes lit up like a lecherous old man who had just seen a stunning beauty.

"Come with me to the secret room."

Zheng Yifei led Murong Hao and his disciples into the deepest underground chamber of the General's Mansion.

The table in the secret room was piled high with saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal that Xu Qian had collected.

"My lord, do you wish to refine pills?"

Murong Hao stared blankly at the materials on the table.

He was a sixth-level weapon refiner. Although he knew a little about alchemy, these were all the lowest-grade materials. What good things could he possibly refine?

"Instead of refining elixirs, we'll make explosives."

Zheng Yifei walked to the table and picked up a piece of saltpeter: "Murong, when you forge weapons, you emphasize using spiritual fire to smelt materials and inscribe array patterns, right?"

Murong Hao nodded: "This is common knowledge in weapon crafting."

"What if I told you that you don't need spirit fire or array patterns, but only need to mix these three things together in a certain proportion, and then ignite them to produce an extremely violent explosion?"

Zheng Yifei picked up a pen and paper and wrote down the proportions: "75% saltpeter, 10% sulfur, and 15% charcoal".

"This is called gunpowder."

Zheng Yifei pointed to the formula on the paper: "Saltpeter provides oxygen, sulfur lowers the ignition point, and charcoal serves as fuel. When they are mixed together and ignited in a confined space, they will instantly produce a large amount of gas and extremely high temperatures. Because the space is confined, the gas cannot expand and will burst the outer shell, forming a violent explosive shock wave."

Murong Hao and his ten disciples looked at each other blankly, as if listening to gibberish. They had absolutely no concept of "oxygen," "ignition point," or "expansion."

"My lord, this...how is this possible?"

One of the disciples couldn't help but voice his doubts: "Without the activation of spiritual power, how could an ordinary object possibly generate such immense destructive force?"

"Whether it's possible or not, you'll know once you try."

Without wasting words, Zheng Yifei got straight to work, grinding the three materials into extremely fine powder, then carefully mixing them together using a scale, pouring the mixture into an empty teapot, and then using a cotton thread soaked in kerosene as a fuse to seal the mouth of the teapot tightly.

"Let's go to the backyard."

Zheng Yifei carried a teapot to the empty training ground in the backyard.

He placed the teapot on a stone lock in the center of the training ground, lit the fuse, and then pulled Murong Hao and the others back several dozen feet away.

The fuse burned rapidly, emitting blue smoke.

Murong Hao stared wide-eyed at the ordinary teapot.

"boom!"

A deafening explosion rang out in the backyard.

There was no fluctuation of spiritual energy, but the shockwave from the explosion was extremely violent. Teapot fragments flew everywhere like hidden weapons, hitting the walls in the distance and creating deep craters.

The strong smell of gunpowder permeated the air.

Murong Hao was stunned.

The dozen or so apprentices gaped open, their jaws nearly dropping to the ground.

They were weapon refiners, so they could naturally see the power of the explosion just now.

Although it cannot compare to the spells of high-level cultivators, it is definitely equivalent to a full-force attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

And this was produced from just a small amount of ordinary materials that can be found everywhere!

"My lord...this...this is simply a miracle!"

Murong Hao trembled with excitement. As a weapon refiner, he keenly sensed the terrifying potential hidden behind this thing called "gunpowder".

"This is just the most primitive form of gunpowder. You can improve it based on this principle to make it more powerful."

Zheng Yifei dusted off the powder on his hands and walked back to the secret room.

He picked up his pen again and drew several sketches on the paper.

"Sect Master, I need you to make three things."

Zheng Yifei pointed to the first picture, which was a round, lumpy iron object: "This is called a hand grenade. The outer shell is made of cast iron, and the inside is filled with gunpowder. Fragmentation grooves are carved into the outer shell so that the iron fragments scatter when it explodes. It is specifically designed to kill densely packed enemies. You are responsible for the fuse. It must be guaranteed to explode within three breaths after being thrown."

Then, he pointed to the second picture, which was a flat iron box: "This is called a landmine. It is buried underground and does not need a fuse. I want you to design a mechanism so that as long as an orc steps on it or is subjected to heavy pressure, the flint inside will ignite the gunpowder and explode directly under their feet."

Finally, Zheng Yifei pointed heavily to the third picture, which showed a thick, hollow iron pipe: "This is called a cannon. The principle is the same as a hand grenade, except that it uses the thrust generated by the explosion of gunpowder at the bottom of the tube to launch an iron projectile or a high-explosive shell filled with gunpowder. It has a longer range and greater power!"

Zheng Yifei looked at Murong Hao with an undeniable air of authority in his eyes: "The 100,000-strong army of orcs could attack at any moment. I don't have time for you to study them slowly."

All materials, blacksmiths, and furnaces will be supplied from the entire city of Pengcheng. No matter what method you use—even if it's a forging process—to cast these iron shells, I need to see the finished products within ten days, and I need to be able to mass-produce them!

Murong Hao stared intently at the sketch on the table, his mind racing with deductions.

As a sixth-tier weapon refiner, solving mechanical problems such as shell casting, sealing, and impact ignition is a piece of cake.

He had even considered engraving some low-level sturdiness and acceleration runes on the outer shell to double the power of these weapons.