Chapter 204: With Cultivators Around, Who Needs Machines?
Wei Yuan had set himself a goal of exploring the Coldbelow for four hours each day. Originally, he had planned to spend two hours exploring and another two hours practicing the Lunar Essence Myriad Faces Supreme Yin Chapter. However, after digging up a sizable amount of nether soil and discovering that mining was earning him more cultivation gains than just sitting in meditation, he made the obvious switch.
His four hours today were already up, not to mention that it was going to take some time for the necessary arrays were engraved on the dagger. Thus, Wei Yuan decided to resume his exploration of the Coldbelow tomorrow. At the moment, there was a mountain of miscellaneous tasks that he needed to handle within the realm of Qingming.
Ji Liuli took the dagger and hurried away. Zhang Sheng was also leaving when Wei Yuan called him back.
Wei Yuan chose his words carefully before asking, “Master, we just fought a great battle. Did the founder say anything about it?”
Zhang Sheng replied, “Founder Xuan Yue and Grandmaster Fen Hai had personally joined the battlefield. The founder even fought off two Shadow Warlocks. What else is there to say?”
Wei Yuan was taken aback. He had been completely unaware of the battle happening in the heavens. He hurriedly asked, “Are they still fighting?”
“No, they’ve already left.”
“Oh. But why didn’t they show themselves? Did this disciple do something wrong?”
Zhang Sheng rolled his eyes at him. “It has nothing to do with you. It’s purely because of... well, certain reasons. Let me put it this way. If an esteemed senior were to pay a junior a visit, they would have to afford the junior a gift, right?”
Wei Yuan was no fool; he caught onto Zhang Sheng’s meaning immediately. In other words, his founder and grandmaster couldn’t bear to part with the red envelopes. Or maybe it wasn’t because they were unwilling—maybe they genuinely couldn’t afford them.
The bigwigs of the Skyblue Hall were all incredibly concerned about saving face. In situations like this, the best approach was to simply walk away into the sunset after the matter was resolved, thereby escaping all financial and even social obligations.
After the conversation, Wei Yuan took his leave of Zhang Sheng and went to perform his routine inspection. At the moment, what he valued most in the realm was steel forging, so he went straight to the armament workshop.
The armament workshop had been completed less than three days ago. A section of the core region had been cordoned off, and a simple spirit gathering array had been set up to gather spirit energy. The workshop contained only a single furnace, though they had set up fifty anvils in one go. At the moment, fifty recently ascended Dao Foundation cultivators were swinging their hammers and striking the raw metal in perfect unison.
Wang Yu held a small, ancient stone chime in his hand, pacing back and forth while striking the chime rhythmically, one beat at a time. The chime’s tones were imbued with Dao energy, capable of purifying one’s thoughts and focusing one’s perception. The Dao Foundation cultivators were required to strike their anvils each time the chime sounded. Their timing and strength had to be just right as well. Otherwise, Wang Yu would detect it with his Yin Eye and strike them with his whip.
The long whip was a top-grade mystic artifact that struck directly at the primordial spirit. No matter how robust one’s physical body was, it was of no use. Those struck by the whip would turn pale and tremble all over from the pain, yet they still had to maintain the rhythm no matter what, lest they receive another lash.
As he made his rounds, Wang Yu said, “Only those who endure the greatest hardships can step on the topmost ones of the topmost people[1]! None of you would have been able to establish a Dao Foundation on your own; it was only because the realm lord granted you the opportunity that you were able to achieve it. When opportunity knocks, you must seize it with both hands, and right now you’ve been handed another one!
“Forging iron is the best way to solidify one’s Dao Foundation[2]! As long as you forge iron for sixteen hours a day, thirty days a month, you will see progress within a year and advance to the next stage. So don’t complain to me about hardship. You should understand that being able to walk the path of immortality is already a blessing in itself!”
The cultivators all agreed wholeheartedly and worked with the utmost seriousness.
Moments later, fifty steel plates were forged. The cultivators simultaneously reached out, snatched a new slab of raw material from midair, and repeated the process all over again.
Wang Yu continued to do his rounds, inspecting their work at every turn. Every so often, he would repeat his earlier speech word for word. Despite this, he showed no sign of fatigue whatsoever.
Wei Yuan stood outside the workshop and watched for a while. He never imagined he would see something like this prior to coming to the workshop. He had to admit that the efficiency was extremely high, though. Every one ke, fifty qualified steel plates were produced.
Just then, Cui Yu hurried over, intending to pick up some equipment. He walked over to Wei Yuan upon spotting his figure.
Wei Yuan pointed at Wang Yu and asked, “How long has he been doing this? Doesn’t he get tired?”
Cui Yu chuckled. “He’s been at this since yesterday without a single break. I reckon he’s planning to take half a day’s rest after three days, have Hsu Yi take over in the meantime, then resume his duty after the break. The Dao Foundation stage cultivators are resting half a day every seven days, so they are still four days left before their break.
“Anyway, don’t worry about him—he said that this is the best way for him to train his Yin Eye.”
It was all too easy for a Dao Foundation like the Yin Eye to catch someone slacking off or inspect a steel plate for defects. These cultivators originally had no hope of attaining a Dao Foundation, and Wang Yu, a Heaven-tier Dao Foundation stage cultivator, was no different from a true immortal in their eyes. Thus, whatever he said must be true.
Although there were many Immortal-tier Dao Foundation stage cultivators within the realm of Qingming, most cultivators could not even comprehend the existence of an immortal foundation. Thus, people like Zhang Sheng and Ji Liuli were, paradoxically, relatively unknown.
Possessing remarkable stamina and abundant primordial spirit, a Dao Foundation stage cultivator could work for seven days and nights straight without sleep. Having just embarked on the path to immortality and tasted the wonders of a Dao Foundation, every single one of them was desperate to advance further. Forget half-a-day of rest for every seven days of work, they would grit their teeth and persevere even if they only had two hours of rest for every ten days of work, treating it as a minor trial on their path to immortality.
On the other end of the armament workshop stood a newly constructed furnace. At the moment, it was blazing with intense flames.
The furnace had just produced a batch of molten steel. A young master from a renowned artifact-forging clan nodded in approval after inspecting its quality. Two newly ascended Dao Foundation stage cultivators then lifted the crucible and poured the molten metal into the molds so that it would solidify into raw material ingots.
Seated cross-legged on the other side of the furnace were another five newly ascended Dao Foundation stage cultivators. They were maintaining the furnace’s temperature with the help of an array. They all possessed Fire-attribute Dao Foundations, so manipulating fire was their specialty. Maintaining a constant furnace temperature over long periods was also part of their foundation solidifying training.
The raw materials in the furnace didn’t come from ores. They were steel components salvaged from the armor of the Shamans. This allowed them to eliminate many steps and produce a full crucible of molten steel in just half an hour—just enough to supply the needs of fifty Dao-Foundation cultivators engaging in iron-forging.
On another side of the armament workshop, ten Dao Foundation stage cultivators were tasked with rolling steel plates into cylindrical tubes. They then used their Dao energy to seal the seams, fuse the plates into a single piece, and cap the tube on one end. Needless to say, this kind of work involved extensive Metal control and was highly beneficial for those looking to solidify their Dao Foundation, even though it required years of continuous practice.
Yun Feifei was addressing these ten cultivators, “To master the sword, one must thrust with the sword ten thousand times a day. To master the saber, one must perform the same chopping motion a thousand times a day! By the same token, you will naturally grasp the essence of a Metal-attribute Dao Foundation after rolling ten thousand steel tubes! If you fail, then roll another ten thousand more!”
The speech greatly motivated the newly ascended Dao Foundation stage cultivators and made them feel that the Great Dao was right before their eyes. All they needed to do was work hard every day, and their efforts would eventually pay off. One day, they will advance further on the path to immortality!
Wei Yuan did not say anything for a moment. Then, he asked Cui Yu quietly, “Is this really okay?”
Cui Yu whispered back, “Of course it is! If even one person in this group manages to complete the foundation solidifying stage, the others will believe that their failure is simply because they aren't working hard enough.”
“But...” Wei Yuan had long since realized that these cultivators’ innate talent was truly mediocre. For them to establish a Dao Foundation was already a stroke of luck. Solidify their Dao Foundation? Frankly, it was nigh impossible. Feeling some concern, he asked, “And what if no one manages to solidify their Dao Foundation?”
Cui Yu assured him, “Relax, I’ve specifically assigned two talented individuals to each group. Some of them are bound to make progress.”
Wei Yuan finally felt at ease. As expected of a scion of an aristocratic family, he really knew his stuff.
When a steel plate was rolled into a cylindrical tube, the most basic component of a gun, the barrel, was formed. After that, all that was left to do after that was loading the gunpowder and bullets. But of course, the task couldn’t be performed in a place where fire was everywhere, nor was it so taxing that it required Dao Foundation stage cultivators to pull off. A few meticulous, healthy women were all that was needed.
Wei Yuan watched for a while longer and estimated that they could produce 50 gun barrels in one ke, 400 in two hours, and 4,800 in a day[3]. The armament workshop also virtually operated non-stop around the clock—the workers rested, but the tools never did—so a daily output of 4,800 steel tubes was practically achievable.
Wei Yuan fell silent after arriving at this figure.
Who needs machines when you have human-tier Dao Foundation stage cultivators, all of them eager to advance further on the path to immortality?
Leaving the workshop, Wei Yuan walked around the central peak, intending to check on the herb garden again. As he passed the small stone house, he suddenly noticed a light shining inside.
Wei Yuan was somewhat surprised. This was the small house Bao Yun had built for Xu Wenwu back in the day. It had stood idle after Xu Wenwu churned out 30,000 words a day for over ten consecutive days, and he simply could not produce any fresh ideas any longer. So why was there someone inside now?
Wei Yuan approached the door and pushed it open. He immediately saw Xu Wenwu sitting at the table and intently drawing something on a sheet of paper, completely oblivious to Wei Yuan’s arrival.
Xu Wenwu was using a fine brush specifically designed for writing small letters. First, he drew two connected square boxes on the paper. The top one was smaller, and the bottom one was larger. He then drew a thin tube extending out of the top box and wrote the word “cannon” next to it. He also drew a row of wheels around the bottom box, each connected by a band that linked them all together.
Next to the sheet of paper Xu Wenwu was working on was a finished drawing. Wei Yuan picked it up and gave it a look. The drawing appeared to depict a woman with a few small dots on her face serving as facial features. Her attire was quite unusual—not the robes commonly worn by cultivators, but rather a form-fitting two-piece outfit that accentuated her figure.
Although Xu Wenwu’s drawing skills were practically non-existent—his drawing looked little better than a child’s doodles—he had clearly put his heart into it. Because of this, Wei Yuan could clearly define the drawing with eight words: slim waist, long legs, big tits, huge ass.
On a related note, the woman was obviously wearing a vest over her top. It was unclear what kind of individuality she was trying to showcase. At least he could understand why the vest had numerous pockets. Finally, she was holding a twisted stick that bore a resemblance to the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree’s tree branch in her hand.
Finally, Xu Wenwu finished drawing his square box. Satisfied with the result, he set it aside and picked up another sheet of paper. It was at this moment he sensed something odd about the lighting and turned his head, spotting Wei Yuan.
“What are you doing?” Wei Yuan asked gently.
Xu Wenwu felt a bit embarrassed and replied, “Last time, Miss Bao asked me to write about my experiences and observations of my world. It took me a while to figure out what she meant. However, my writing skills aren’t good enough. More often than not, my words can’t convey my meaning, and I always feel like there’s a lot of things that I failed to explain clearly.
“I know that the recent battles have been extremely dangerous, but there wasn’t really anything I could do to help. I’ve been feeling really anxious because of it. There are really a lot of useful things in my world that could help, but I’m terrible at studying, and I have no idea how to build them. That’s why I’ve been thinking for the past few days until finally, I got it: I may not be able to explain the stuff I know with words, but I can draw it! At the very least, it’ll be an additional reference that you can use, right?”
Wei Yuan pointed to the square box in the drawing and asked, “What’s this?”
Xu Wenwu perked up and explained, “We call this a tank. In our world, it was the thing that put an end to all cavalry—”
“Huh? Wasn’t it machine guns that put an end to their era?” Wei Yuan asked, puzzled.
‘Huh? Is that so? I guess it is,” Xu Wenwu stammered.
“You wrote it yourself.”
“Oh. Yeah. I guess I did.”
Next, Wei Yuan picked up the drawing of the woman in the vest and asked, “And what’s this?”
“Oh, her? She’s a Metal Maiden[4].”
1. Or colloquially, no pain no gain. ☜
2. Foundation solidifying is a minor stage in the Dao Foundation stage btw. ☜
3. You guys will never understand the dread I feel as I performed the calculations PRAYING, that the author isn’t one of those who mixed up their 时辰 and 时. ☜
4. After much research—you won’t believe how long I got steered off course by Girl und Panzer—I believe it’s referencing the game Metal Waltz. ☜
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