Chapter 333: The Divine Eye Reappears
Yankang National Teacher smiled faintly, saying, "Holy Lord, you really aren't being modest."
Qin Mu was a bit puzzled. He thought he had been very modest, and moreover, very realistic—only claiming second place, not daring to claim first, never boasting. How could that not be called modesty?
The Vice Minister of Public Works, Shan Youxin, was the Heavenly Artifact Hall Master of the Heavenly Demon Sect. His artifact-refining skills were already the best in the world. Even if other sects had talented individuals skilled in artifact refining, they couldn't surpass Shan Youxin by much.
And Shan Youxin was far inferior to Qin Mu. Qin Mu considered himself inferior to Mute, so claiming second place was both modesty and realism. Master Ma had taught him to be neither arrogant nor impatient, neither humble nor arrogant, and he was following that requirement.
But for others, a young boy being the world's second-greatest Heavenly Artificer was already shocking enough. And this same boy also claimed to be the world's second-greatest divine physician—that was simply terrifying.
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then wrote down a list of required materials and handed it to Yankang National Teacher. "To forge this kind of cannon platform, roughly these materials are needed. If they're insufficient, I'll ask you for more."
Yankang National Teacher took the list, looked it over for a moment, and said slowly, "Holy Lord, are you trying to empty the national treasury?"
Qin Mu asked in surprise, "National Teacher, why do you say that?"
"The mystic gold and mystic copper on your list are manageable. A few mines can provide that much gold and copper. But where am I supposed to get this divine gold and divine material?"
Yankang National Teacher flicked the list, showing a sincere expression. "Holy Lord, are you planning to embezzle treasures from the national treasury? If so, there's a spot reserved for you at the execution grounds."
"National Teacher, what you want to build is something to slay gods, not just kill a few sect leaders' town-suppressing treasures! Also, you almost made me forget—my Heavenly Saint Sect disciples are helping forge these artifacts, and they need to be paid."
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then listed the wages, as well as several supervisory factories he needed, and even the names of a few first-rank ministers in the court.
"To forge this divine cannon, I also need the best mathematical cultivators in the world. Ideally, I'd like to invite experts from the Dao Sect!"
Qin Mu wrote the words "Dao Sect" on the list. "Every component of this divine cannon requires extreme precision, and the calculations are enormous. Even the scholars of the Imperial Academy would need hundreds of years to finish the calculations, and there would still be errors. The experts of the Dao Sect are masters of mathematical calculation—they must be invited."
Yankang National Teacher's expression changed slightly. He felt the list was heavy, truly weighing him down.
It would take the full strength of the nation to build just one Great Sun Divine Cannon!
The hardest part was inviting the Dao Sect's experts. The old Dao Sect Leader had once attempted to assassinate Emperor Yanfeng and nearly succeeded. He had also abducted the former Crown Prince Ling Yuxia and led a rebellion, almost becoming emperor himself. After the rebellion was suppressed, Emperor Yanfeng and Crown Prince Ling Yushu had severely suppressed the Dao Sect. The two sides were at odds, like fire and water.
Inviting the Dao Sect's experts to help would be very difficult.
But this divine cannon had to be built, or else there would be no way to withstand the next heavenly calamity!
He hadn't yet recovered to his peak state, and who knew when the next calamity would come?
"The national treasury is empty. There isn't that much money."
Yankang National Teacher probed: "Holy Lord, can you give a discount?"
Qin Mu calculated for a moment and smiled. "After the Loulan Golden Palace was conquered, you allowed me to choose a hundred treasures. I can use my own funds to pay the disciples' wages."
Yankang National Teacher was about to bargain, but Qin Mu smiled and said, "Heavenly King, I'm putting in my own work and effort without asking for wages. Hiring the world's second-greatest Heavenly Artificer doesn't come cheap! Besides, I am the Heavenly Saint Sect Leader!"
Yankang National Teacher sighed. "I shouldn't have agreed to become the Heavenly Saint Sect's Heavenly King. Now I'm tied down and can't even bargain. This matter needs to be reported to the Emperor for his decision. Over the years, Yankang has annexed various countries and destroyed many sects, so the national treasury has accumulated some divine gold and divine materials, but it requires the Emperor's approval. Wait a dozen days, and the Emperor's decree will come down."
Qin Mu turned to help forge the Divine Thunder Rings. He wasn't worried about the divine gold and divine materials; he didn't think they were particularly precious. When forging his own sword pellet, he had used quite a bit of such materials, all obtained from the Heavenly Demon Sect's treasury. He had even turned over all his various town-suppressing treasures to the Heavenly Demon Sect's treasury.
He worked alongside the Ministry of Public Works and the Imperial Academy scholars to forge the Divine Thunder Rings. Speed was of the essence. Forging just the Divine Thunder Rings required over seventeen thousand of them, which was a massive project.
The Divine Thunder Rings connected the formation patterns of the True Yuan Cannons, binding the True Yuan beam to the center of the cannon barrel without touching the barrel walls. This concentrated the True Yuan beam to the thickness of a bowl's rim, preventing the barrel from overheating and eliminating mystic gold fatigue and thermal decay.
Originally, the cannon beam of a True Yuan Cannon was as thick as a water bucket. Now it was reduced to the thickness of a bowl's rim. Although the attack area was smaller, the range was greatly increased, and the cannon could be fired freely without fear of exploding, turning the tower ships into true aerial warships.
In fact, the Divine Thunder Ring wasn't the greatest improvement for the True Yuan Cannon. Among the Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Techniques, the Divine Thunder Heaven Eye was only the most basic eye technique. The other eight eye techniques were all much stronger.
The strongest was the ninth level, the Fire Thunder Heaven Eye.
But the formation patterns for the Divine Thunder Heaven Eye were the simplest, easiest to learn, easiest to forge, and required the least materials. That was why Qin Mu only taught everyone the formation patterns for the Divine Thunder Heaven Eye.
If he had used the Fire Thunder Heaven Eye, even Qin Mu couldn't forge a single Fire Thunder Ring in ten or fifteen days. The formation patterns for the Fire Thunder Ring were too complex. Using Fire Thunder Rings would compress the True Yuan beam into a thread thinner than a needle, greatly increasing the range. But the energy required to activate the True Yuan Cannon would also be enormous, and the national treasury probably couldn't afford it.
"If I could forge Fire Thunder Rings, concentrate the light into threads, and form a killing formation, it would be truly unstoppable. Used to guard a sacred land, it would be impossible for even a thousand armies to break through!"
Qin Mu calculated how much money it would take to build such a defensive formation, then slumped in defeat. The Heavenly Saint Sect could afford to build it, but not to use it. Maintaining the formation would require too many medicinal stones.
He started thinking again. Although the Fire Thunder Heaven Eye wasn't as strong as the Sun-Shooting Divine Eye, Blind's divine eye was the Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Technique. The divine eye contained the formation patterns of all nine heavens, equivalent to the combined power of all nine heavens. That was terrifying!
"When Grandpa Blind still had his eyes, was it really 'whoever he looked at would die'?"
Qin Mu was filled with longing. Blind was short, always muttering to himself, leaning on his bamboo staff and showing off. It was hard to imagine how terrifying his gaze must have been when he still had his eyes!
And who had taken Blind's divine eyes?
The Divine Spear of that era possessed such a terrifying divine eye. Who could have taken his eyes and reduced this god-like existence to such a state?
"The Dao Sect? The Great Thunderclap Monastery? Li Tianxing? Or Little Jade Capital?"
Qin Mu pondered, then suddenly remembered the young man named Xu Shenghua. His heart stirred. "Could it be from that place called the Upper Firmament where Xu Shenghua came from?"
Blind was known as the Divine Spear, but his strongest asset was his divine eye. His eyes had been gouged out.
Butcher was known as the Heavenly Blade. He had once charged into the sky, and it was said that gods appeared and cut him in half at the waist.
Village Chief was known as the Sword God, but his limbs had been severed by a sword.
Was there a connection between these events?
Cripple was a divine thief. His leg had been cut off by Yankang National Teacher when he was stealing from the imperial palace. That was different from Blind and Butcher. No one knew who had cut out Mute's tongue, and Mute never spoke of it. Doctor had cut off his own face to sever emotional entanglements. Deaf had stabbed his own ears because he hated not being able to ignore worldly affairs. Granny Si's heart demon was Li Tianxing, a conflict between master and disciple over god-like beauty. Master Ma had cut off his own arm to repay his teacher's kindness. None of these were connected.
Only Butcher and Village Chief—their disabilities seemed to be caused by the same reason.
Gods.
And the one who gouged out Blind's eyes was unknown.
"Where could Grandpa Blind's divine eyes be?"
Qin Mu was lost in thought. Then he shook his head and pushed the matter aside. "Based on the principle of the True Yuan Cannon, I can use the Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Technique to create eye-technique divine abilities. Grandpa Blind only taught me the eye techniques, not the divine abilities, but I can create them myself! Once I've cultivated my divine eye, I'll see who dares to gouge out my eyes!"
He acted on the thought, activating the Overlord Body Three-Dan Technique, channeling the Seven Chapters of Creation from the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra, and activating the Creation Human King Technique and Creation Earth Origin Technique. Instantly, his primal energy and blazing fire converged in his eyes.
Layer upon layer of formation patterns condensed in his pupils, revealing the Azure Thunder Heaven Eye. As he activated the technique, two beams of fire shot out.
Qin Mu's eyes blazed with fire, the light growing increasingly intense. His gaze fell on the cannon platform in front of him, cutting it into three pieces!
Everyone on the ship turned to look. Qin Mu quickly withdrew his gaze and dispersed the formation patterns in his eyes, smiling. "Everyone, don't panic. I think this cannon platform is useless. Let's melt it down and reforge it."
The surprise on everyone's faces didn't fade. Qin Mu's heart pounded wildly, and he clenched his fists. "The divine eye is amazing. Whoever I look at dies..."
Cripple and Village Chief sat together at the entrance of the city lord's mansion, basking in the sun. When they saw those two beams of light, Cripple shook his head. "That kid Mu is messing around again. He's not afraid of burning his own eyes. Blind's heart is too big, teaching him something so dangerous."
Village Chief squinted. "How strong Blind's divine eye is can be seen from Mu. The one who gouged out his eyes is no ordinary person. That person could take his eyes, so you need to be careful too. Someone might take a liking to your leg."
Cripple's body trembled slightly. He looked at Village Chief and lowered his voice. "You mean someone wants to gather everything that has reached the divine realm? What do they want with these things?"
"To piece together a god."
Village Chief sighed. "In my era, there are more people still alive than just me. You might encounter such a person."
Cripple shrank his neck. "I'm timid. Don't scare me. Can't I just run away?"
Village Chief looked at Qin Mu on the ship and said softly, "I hope I can cut down some obstacles for Mu, let him grow up. But I don't know if I'll live that long... Mu is still too naive. If only he could be a bit more cunning..."
In the Loulan Golden Palace, Ban Gongcuo sat surrounded by a circle of powerful physical bodies in divine niches, each using shamanic techniques and divine abilities to continuously bombard a floating ancient book, breaking the seals on it.
These ancient books were the ones he had looted from the Qin Han Treasure Ship.
Boom!
A loud noise rang out, and the seals on the ancient book finally broke. Ban Gongcuo could barely contain his excitement. He rushed forward and opened the book, then his face turned ashen, and he threw the book to the ground. "Another Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra! Was this god who came from Carefree Village a member of the Heavenly Demon Sect?"
Around him, a pile of ancient books lay scattered on the ground. Only one book remained unopened.
He steadied himself, doing his utmost to activate his past-life body, and opened the last scripture.
Ban Gongcuo flipped open the first page, and a burst of golden light erupted, illuminating the hall.
Ban Gongcuo was ecstatic.