Chapter 280: Supernatural Craftsmanship
Shen Wanyun’s face immediately fell. Going out on a training journey with Qin Mu was definitely a hard task.
Last time, when their group followed Qin Mu to the Southern Wastelands for training, they first encountered the Nine Nether Gate, the Corpse Immortal Sect, and the Hongshan Sect awakening the dead to slaughter a city. Then they ran into the Heavenly Demon King of Tianbo City wreaking havoc everywhere. Later came the battle to pacify the rebellion in Daxiang City. In his entire life, he had never experienced so many deadly crises!
After returning to the capital, it took Shen Wanyun a long time to recover. He had previously gone to Qingmen Pass for training, fighting on the battlefield against soldiers of the Man Di Kingdom. But that was at least a proper battle of soldiers against soldiers and generals against generals. How could it compare to training with Qin Mu?
When training with Qin Mu, it was always sect wars and massacres at the drop of a hat, even summoning demon gods. In Daxiang City, there were sect master-level experts everywhere, and hundreds of cultivators at the Heavenly Man and Life-and-Death realms!
Even now, thinking back on his training journey with Qin Mu, Shen Wanyun still shuddered.
He had also heard about some of Qin Mu’s experiences after this training trip. Returning to the Great Wasteland for the New Year, he was hunted by countless experts. Then he caused a huge commotion at the Great Thunderclap Monastery. After coming back, he even participated in the case of the Dao Sect and the Great Thunderclap Monastery besieging the Emperor, rescuing the Emperor and the National Teacher, and then returning to the capital to kill Ling Yuxia, the Crown Prince of Xia!
If he had to go through those things himself, he would have died over a hundred times by now.
He had made up his mind not to go out with Qin Mu again. Unexpectedly, this time he was named by the Crown Prince, which felt like being sentenced to death by execution in autumn.
He wondered if this Sacred Sect Master was a jinx, bringing disaster wherever he went.
Seeing his grim expression, Qin Mu comforted him, “This trip isn’t dangerous. Crown Prince Ling Yushu was originally from our Imperial Academy. We’re old acquaintances and have a good relationship. He said he’s leaving the capital for disaster relief, but he’s brought experts from the Ministry of Works. In my opinion, this isn’t about quelling rebellions or anything like that. It’s about inspecting various supervisory factories, clearing snow mountains formed by the heavy snow disaster, or building bridges and dams. There’s no danger.”
Shen Wanyun said gloomily, “Let’s hope so.”
Si Yunxiang, however, was a bit deflated and said disappointedly, “No danger…”
The three of them followed the steward to their respective rooms in the Divine Ability Residence. The steward arranged for them to stay close together, with the three houses right next to each other.
Qin Mu said to Shen Wanyun and Si Yunxiang, “We don’t know when we’ll be back this time. Each of you should find some divine abilities to cultivate.”
Shen Wanyun’s eyes flickered, and he suggested, “Yue Qinghong and Yun Que are about to break through and become Divine Ability users. Sect Master, we should share both blessings and hardships. Since this trip is about enjoying blessings, why not bring them along?”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “You have a point. Before the Crown Prince sets off, bring everyone who has cultivated divine abilities.”
Shen Wanyun’s spirits lifted, and he hurried off, thinking, “If we’re going to die, of course we should all go together, neatly and completely!”
Si Yunxiang blinked, extending a fair hand in front of Qin Mu. Qin Mu took out his book token and placed it in her hand. Si Yunxiang cheered and immediately left.
The book token for the Divine Ability Residence could only enter the second floor of the Heavenly Records Tower, but Qin Mu’s token could access the third floor to browse the scriptures. Every time she went to the Heavenly Records Tower, she had to borrow Qin Mu’s token.
The Imperial Academy had a Heavenly Works Hall, somewhat similar to the Heavenly Demon Sect’s Artisan Hall and Heavenly Works Hall. The Heavenly Works Hall mainly studied mechanical manufacturing, spirit weapon forging, ship and bridge building, road paving, and vehicle construction. These were all the works of the scholars from the Heavenly Works Hall.
The Imperial Academy was jointly built by the National Teacher and the Heavenly Demon Ancestor, so the teaching in the various halls of the Imperial Academy often copied the various halls of the Heavenly Demon Sect. This was also one of the reasons why the Great Thunderclap Monastery, the Dao Sect, and other orthodox sects looked down on the Yan Kang Kingdom.
After graduating from the Heavenly Works Hall, scholars often went to work in the Ministry of Works of the imperial court. Most of the scholars Crown Prince Ling Yushu brought this time were from the Heavenly Works Hall, while the others were officials from the Ministry of Works.
Many officials in the Ministry of Works came from the Heavenly Works Hall, so they were also classmates with Qin Mu and the others.
In the Ministry of Works, the highest-ranking official was the Minister of Works, followed by the Vice Minister of Works.
The Vice Minister of Works of the imperial court was Shan Youxin, the head of the Heavenly Demon Sect’s Heavenly Works Hall.
The Ministry of Works was further divided into four departments: the Works Department, in charge of city and civil engineering; the Farmland Department, in charge of land measurement and allocation; the Forestry and Gardens Department, in charge of fruits, vegetables, and grain; and the Water Resources Department, in charge of water conservancy projects.
More than half of the directors and assistant directors of these four departments were hall masters or incense masters of the Heavenly Demon Sect. Many other officials in the four departments were also disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect, while the remaining small portion were graduates of the Imperial Academy.
The Heavenly Demon Sect and the Imperial Academy occupied almost all the official positions in the Ministry of Works.
Applying what they learned, the Heavenly Demon Sect’s Heavenly Works Hall, Artisan Hall, Vegetable Hall, Rain Hall, and Agriculture Hall all produced talents needed by the Ministry of Works, and they could all enter the imperial court’s Ministry of Works.
Therefore, when Qin Mu saw the officials Ling Yushu brought, he couldn’t help but look a bit strange. More than half of them were from his Heavenly Demon Sect.
Shen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, Yun Que, Wei Yong, Si Yunxiang, and the others also arrived. Shen Wanyun was bruised and swollen from being beaten by them, but he looked very pleased with himself.
Seeing the Ministry of Works officials Ling Yushu brought, Si Yunxiang also showed a surprised expression and whispered to Qin Mu, “Sect Master, is the Crown Prince one of our people?”
Qin Mu was a bit tempted and said to Ling Yushu, “Your Highness, have you heard of the Heavenly Sacred Sect?”
Ling Yushu didn’t take the bait and quickly said, “Everyone is here. Let’s set off as soon as possible. Father’s order to me is to inspect the geography of all the prefectures and counties in the country, check the water conservancy and city defenses after the natural disasters, measure the land, and inspect the grain, fruits, and vegetables. At each place, I will question the local officials, and you will inspect the local hydrology, city defenses, land, and grain. Then we’ll cross-check.”
The many officials acknowledged the order.
Ling Yushu added, “No matter which prefecture or county we go to, if there are water conservancy or city defense issues that need adjustment, or if officials or powerful families are annexing land, or if grain supplies are insufficient, everything must be reported truthfully.”
The Minister of Works quickly said, “Your Highness, the country is so vast with so many prefectures and counties. It will take us two or three years just to inspect everything once!”
Ling Yushu smiled and said, “So I found a fast ship. It should be arriving soon. This ship is the fastest in our country, called the Cloud Chaser. I’m told this ship was built with supernatural craftsmanship. When it arrives, you can see its furnace—it’s quite marvelous. And it’s an iron-hulled ship!”
Many officials from the Ministry of Works looked at each other with strange expressions, coughing repeatedly. Some were looking at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu also had a strange expression. The Crown Prince seemed to be talking about Fan Yunxiao’s Cloud Chaser pirate ship. Back then, Qin Mu had forged five such treasure ships. Three large ships belonged to the Heavenly Demon Sect, and two smaller ones—one belonged to Qin Mu, and the other was given to Fan Yunxiao.
Many of the officials present had been there when the treasure ships were forged!
“Maybe the next emperor of this dynasty will be a Heavenly King or a Dharma Protector of my Heavenly Sacred Sect.”
Qin Mu thought leisurely, “Crown Prince Yushu has too much affinity with my Heavenly Sacred Sect.”
The head of the Heavenly Works Hall whispered to Qin Mu, “Sect Master, a few days ago, Incense Master Fan came to me, saying he wanted to trade for a larger ship. I was wondering why. It turns out Incense Master Fan was doing business with the Crown Prince.”
Qin Mu found it both amusing and exasperating.
Ling Yushu and the others waited for a while. In midair, a wooden-patterned multi-story ship flew slowly, descending gently and docking at the mountain gate of the Imperial Academy.
Fan Yunxiao and a group of pirates, all dressed neatly, stood on the bow and bowed in unison, saying, “Greetings to the Crown Prince, greetings to the Sect Master and Sacred Teacher.”
Ling Yushu quickly turned to Qin Mu and said, “Sect Master Qin, is this ship property of your Heavenly Sacred Sect? You charge a lot—how unscrupulous!”
Qin Mu comforted him, “Your Highness, you may not know, but they used to be bandits, so their hearts are a bit black.”
Ling Yushu was stunned.
Everyone boarded the ship one after another. Just then, another Imperial Academy scholar ran over, climbed aboard, and said, “I’m late.” It was a very handsome young man.
Ling Yushu quickly stepped forward and whispered, “Little sister, why are you here?”
The handsome young man was Ling Yuxiu, dressed in men’s clothing. She laughed and said, “You didn’t want me to come, but I asked Father, and he allowed me to. Hey, cowherd!”
She left Ling Yushu aside, ran to Qin Mu’s side, and her eyes curved into crescents. “Do you recognize me?”
Qin Mu hesitated and said, “Fat… Sister Yuxiu!”
Ling Yuxiu’s anger turned to joy. She punched him in the chest and laughed, “If you dare say it, I’ll throw you off the ship.”
Seeing her punch Qin Mu in the chest—it looked heavy but was actually very light—Ling Yushu snorted inwardly. His little sister seemed to be listening to him less and less.
Si Yunxiang came to Qin Mu’s side, glanced at Ling Yuxiu, smiled without saying anything, then lowered her head to tease the Dragon Qilin.
Ling Yuxiu looked at her back, her eyes flickering. She chuckled softly, “Cowherd, I’m going to change clothes.”
Ling Yushu quickly walked over and said, “Little sister, men’s clothes are fine. Men’s clothes are very good. You look especially good in them!”
“Really?”
Ling Yushu nodded emphatically.
The multi-story ship rose into the air and headed for Jiazhou, three hundred li away. Jiazhou was located downstream of the river. Another two thousand li east was the East Sea. The Ministry of Works had once built a cross-river bridge here, spanning twenty li across the Tu River.
The hundred or so people on the ship looked down and saw that the middle of the bridge had broken, missing about a li of deck and piers. It was probably due to the severe cold during the snow disaster. The river had frozen over, forming icebergs that slid down from upstream and smashed the bridge.
Now the river was surging and extremely turbulent, making it no easy task to repair the bridge.
The treasure ship descended to Jiazhou City. The prefect of Jiazhou quickly came to greet them. Ling Yushu said, “Prefect, dispatch Divine Ability users and hand them over to the Vice Minister of Works to repair the bridge.”
The Jiazhou prefect quickly mobilized the Divine Ability users in the city. Several hundred Divine Ability users followed the head of the Heavenly Works Hall to the river. Qin Mu and the others also followed, wondering how to repair the bridge with such a swift current. They saw the head of the Heavenly Works Hall leading the group of Divine Ability users with a loud shout. Their magical power surged, and the water of the Tu River immediately rose into the air, arcing through the sky for five or six li before falling back into the river.
Within a range of five or six li, the riverbed was empty, with no trace of water. Even the water in the mud was drained by the several hundred Divine Ability users.
“Everyone, melt the stone and connect the bridge!”
At the head of the Heavenly Works Hall’s command, many Divine Ability users with Vermilion Bird spirit bodies stepped forward. Large furnaces were set up on the riverbed, and stone materials were thrown into them. Those Divine Ability users each displayed their divine abilities. Firebirds circled around the furnaces, burning the stones inside into molten lava. Another group of Ministry of Works officials stepped forward, using their magical power to control the shape of the lava, pouring it to form stone pillars.
After a while, stone pillars rose from the riverbed. Many other Ministry of Works officials flew over from a nearby mountain, carrying cut stone slabs, and methodically laid them down.
An hour later, the bridge was connected.
Qin Mu’s heart was shaken, and he couldn’t help but marvel, “This is a miracle! Supernatural craftsmanship!”