Chapter 360: A Change of Heart
Xu Shenghua was puzzled and said, "Brother Qin, besides being the Human Sovereign, you also have another identity as the leader of the Heavenly Sage Sect. I have naturally heard of this. Why does Brother Qin ask this question?"
Qin Mu smiled warmly and said, "Brother Xu, if you join my Heavenly Sage Sect, you won't have to repay the debt. Although I am the Human Sovereign, I am also the leader of the Heavenly Sage Sect. The Human Sovereign Hall has a deep enmity with the Celestial Realm, but the Heavenly Sage Sect doesn't have much hatred toward the Celestial Realm, does it? Brother Xu joining the Heavenly Sage Sect would be a perfect solution for both sides."
Yu Liu and Jing Yan looked at each other with strange expressions. This Human Sovereign's actions were truly absurd yet wildly imaginative. Clearly, the Celestial Realm and the Human Sovereign Hall were mortal enemies, locked in an endless struggle, yet he still invited his mortal enemy to join his Heavenly Sage Sect!
"This Human Sovereign doesn't think that nine bowls of noodles plus one house call can make Young Master Xu join his Heavenly Sage Sect, does he? I don't know whether to call him naive or cunning," Jing Yan thought to herself.
Xu Shenghua was silent for a moment, then said, "Brother Qin, please don't joke. Rest assured, I will repay the money as soon as possible."
Qin Mu hadn't expected him to agree to join the Heavenly Sage Sect anyway. Although the Heavenly Sage Sect and the Celestial Realm weren't mortal enemies, the Woodcutter Saint of the Heavenly Sage Sect and the first generation Human Sovereign both came from the Kaihuang Era. They shared the same goal, but their methods differed in achieving it.
The Human Sovereign Hall relied on combat to achieve its goals, while the Heavenly Sage Sect relied on the concept of daily necessities for the people to drive secular progress and reach the goal.
The ultimate aim of both sacred lands was to overthrow the rule of the gods and establish the world of their ideals.
And this point was naturally hostile to the ideology of the Celestial Realm.
From within the Supervision and Construction Bureau, many cultivators surged out, channeling their primordial energy to lift enormous components and parts, floating them in midair. Qin Mu walked through the air, directing the position of each component.
Although it was only the base of the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon, the array patterns were extremely complex. Especially the fifty-six furnaces that Qin Mu had personally designed—each furnace was massive and couldn't be forged in one go. They required over a hundred parts to be assembled together, and the array patterns had to align perfectly without the slightest error.
Qin Mu used a mortise and tenon structure. When assembling, no rivets were needed; simply locking them together made them incredibly sturdy, capable of withstanding tremendous impact forces.
Moreover, even if the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon was damaged by enemy attacks, the broken parts could be removed and quickly replaced with intact components. After replacement, the cannon could still be activated without any loss of power.
During this assembly of the cannon's base, many officials gathered outside the Supervision and Construction Bureau. Emperor Yanfeng also came, clearly placing great importance on the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon.
"This mortise and tenon structure of Supervisor Qin seems usable on battlefield spirit weapons and tower ships," Emperor Yanfeng said with continuous admiration. He turned to the Minister of Works and said, "I believe it can be promoted throughout the military. If flying swords were made with mortise and tenon structures, and tower ships as well, losses during wartime could be greatly reduced."
The Minister of Works nodded. "But forging them is very difficult."
"With the Supervision and Construction Bureau redesigned by Supervisor Qin, forging the components for each flying sword is not difficult," Emperor Yanfeng mused. "Let each bureau produce large quantities of components, so that during war, broken parts of spirit weapons, tower ships, and cloud chariots can be replaced at any time. This way, even in large-scale battles, battlefield losses won't be too great! Your Ministry of Works should study this and promote this type of bureau as soon as possible."
As he spoke, Qin Mu gave the order to begin assembly. With hundreds of cultivators locking the central components together, a circular disk covering an area of about one acre was assembled.
Then, Banshan Jijiu, who had returned from the northern snowfield front, came forward. He raised both hands and, with his immense cultivation, lifted this huge and heavy circular disk.
Another hundred or so cultivators filed out of the bureau. Someone beside them kept calling out numbers, and with each number called, a cultivator stepped forward to attach a part or component to the disk.
The assembled parts grew more and more numerous, and the base disk became larger and thicker. By the time nearly ten thousand parts and components had been assembled, even the sturdy Banshan Jijiu was trembling in his legs, his waist nearly unable to straighten under the pressure.
Gu Linuan stepped forward, and the two of them supported the disk with their immense cultivation. The disk now covered an area of four hundred acres.
When the number count reached twenty-seven thousand, the base disk, covering a thousand acres, was finally assembled. Beneath the disk, four sect leader-level experts used their cultivation to hold this massive cannon base in the air.
On the disk, Qin Mu and many Ministry of Works officials swiftly moved about, inspecting the array patterns and runes at every joint. After confirming there were no issues, Qin Mu gave the order. Giant beasts pulled large carts over, and many alchemists jumped down, carrying medicinal stones onto the disk.
"Light the furnaces," Qin Mu commanded.
"Light the furnaces—"
The fifty-six furnaces were opened, and medicinal stones were thrown in. Each alchemist channeled their primordial energy to ignite the furnaces. Instantly, flames blazed within, shifting from red to white, from white to cyan, and from cyan to blue.
Terrifying energy surged rapidly through the array patterns and runes on this thousand-acre disk, fully activating the runic formations!
The four sect leader-level experts beneath the disk immediately felt the pressure lighten. This massive cannon platform no longer needed their support—it floated in the air on its own!
All the officials praised in admiration, "Divine craftsmanship! Truly divine craftsmanship!"
Emperor Yanfeng's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. This time, Qin Mu had mainly assembled the cannon's base to test the furnace and array operation. But just this test run had consumed enough medicinal stones to support a medium-scale battle!
"Anyway, it's not his money..." Emperor Yanfeng winced in pain.
Qin Mu finished his inspection, leaped down from the base, and announced loudly, "Extinguish the furnaces! Lower the base!"
The furnaces gradually went out, and the massive floating base slowly descended. Even so, it stirred up tremendous air currents. A fierce wind howled, rustling everyone's clothes and wrinkling their faces.
The airflow subsided.
Qin Mu called out, "All alchemists, prepare the medicinal stones. When the cannon carriage and light-gathering fork are forged, we will activate the furnaces once more."
The alchemists acknowledged the order.
Emperor Yanfeng's face turned pale. He sent for Qin Mu and said amiably, "Supervisor Qin, why do we need to activate the furnaces again?"
"Your Majesty, the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon has too many parts and components. It's hard to avoid errors. After the cannon carriage and light-gathering fork are forged, we must activate it again to check for mistakes," Qin Mu explained.
Emperor Yanfeng smiled and asked, "How many more times will it need to be activated?"
"If there are no mistakes, two or three times should be enough," Qin Mu calculated. "If there are mistakes and we need to find where the error lies, then I don't know how many times it will take. Especially the divine eye part, which uses a mortise and tenon structure and a three-dimensional gear suspension structure. Because it's so complex, the chance of errors is higher. Your Majesty, rest assured. With so many mathematical experts here, we will certainly find any errors as quickly as possible. I will try to keep it within ten times, so it won't cost too much. Your Majesty, the next furnace lighting will be in half a month. Please..."
"That's good, that's good. I won't come. You handle everything... Minister, help me back to the palace."
Qin Mu watched as the emperor was helped away by several officials, trembling slightly. He wondered to himself, "Could His Majesty's injury not be healed? That's not right. Little Poison King and I clearly cured him..."
Xu Shenghua's expression was grave as he looked at this massive disk.
Qin Mu walked over and said with a smile, "Brother Xu, what do you think of this cannon platform?"
"Divine craftsmanship, truly divine craftsmanship," Xu Shenghua replied. He glanced at Qin Mu and said, "Brother Qin puts his energy into such matters. I think Brother Qin will soon be defeated by me. You are both a divine physician and a master craftsman. You can't possibly devote all your energy to cultivation. Over time, my cultivation will surpass yours, and you will suffer a crushing defeat!"
"Brother Xu is learning to use strategy," Qin Mu said with a slight smile. "You don't want me to build this divine cannon, and you're trying to shake my confidence. But to me, both medicine and craftsmanship are forms of cultivation. I can apply them to my own strength. In fact, if I wanted to defeat you, poisoning you or forging a weapon to blast you to death would be very simple. That, too, is my strength."
Xu Shenghua's heart sank. "That's not true skill," he said.
Qin Mu laughed heartily and patted him on the shoulder. "We Overlords learn whatever we set our minds to. Don't just focus on cultivation. Do you know, the next time you challenge me, will I beat you to death with my bare hands, poison you, or blast you to death with treasures? My consultation fee is one thousand Dafeng coins. Pay me early. Don't owe me favors. Then we can duel again. I'll be waiting."
Xu Shenghua was stunned. Suddenly, a little girl bounced over, her three white tails wagging back and forth. She quickly wrote an IOU and said crisply, "Young Master Xu, please sign!"
Xu Shenghua signed the IOU in a daze. The little girl carefully put the IOU away and followed Qin Mu.
"I came down from the Celestial Realm, failed to kill the Human Sovereign, and ended up owing him a thousand Dafeng coins..." Xu Shenghua shook his head, his heart full of mixed emotions. "How can I go back like this? Yu Liu, Jing Yan, how can we make money?"
Yu Liu and Jing Yan were also at a loss. The fastest way to make money was to sell treasures. They had brought many treasures down from the Celestial Realm, and selling a few to repay the debt was feasible.
But when Xu Shenghua fell ill, everything that could be sold had already been sold, leaving only the jade bottle and the pipa.
However, the jade bottle and pipa were Qiao Xingjun's treasures and absolutely could not be sold.
"I am proficient in music. Can I exchange that for money?" Xu Shenghua asked.
"Young Master wants to go out and sing for money?" Jing Yan exclaimed. "How can that be? And singing doesn't make much money!"
Xu Shenghua pondered. "I also know something about forging spirit weapons. Perhaps I can forge a few spirit weapons to exchange for money..."
"Young Master wants to be a blacksmith?"
Xu Shenghua smiled. "I am an Overlord. If I don't learn something, fine. But if I do, I will definitely do it to the best of my ability! Rest assured, even as a blacksmith, I will be the best. I will not be inferior to this Overlord, Qin the Human Sovereign!"
Jing Yan and Yu Liu exchanged worried glances. "Young Master Xu probably can't return to the Celestial Realm anymore. His heart is no longer the heart he had in the Celestial Realm..."
A month later, when Qin Mu encountered Xu Shenghua again, it was in a blacksmith's shop. The most outstanding disciple of the Celestial Realm was no longer the flawless, dust-free image he once was. He was now lifting a heavy hammer to forge mystic gold.