Wei Yuan did not disturb Xu Wenwu's creative work any further. He merely reminded him not to forget exercising the horses and tending the herbs before stepping out of the stone hut.
Ever since the death of his scarlet demon steed, Wei Yuan had not yet considered getting a replacement mount for the time being. The young azure colt, on the other hand, was growing day by day.
When Wei Yuan arrived at the medicinal herb garden, he saw that the plot where the two Celestial Star Nightshades were planted was now completely transformed.
The Celestial Star Nightshade with white-gold grain had already grown to the height of a hand, sprouting two fresh leaves. The density of vital qi in the garden was the greatest in Qingming, and enhanced by the Jia Wood Life-Mystic power, this Celestial Star Nightshade grew at twenty times the speed of one in the natural world outside. Its vigor was exceptionally gratifying.
Yet the plot holding the other unsprouted Celestial Star Nightshade was currently shrouded in black mist. Drawing near it gave rise to a faint feeling of unease. This nightshade was growing extraordinarily slowly, having failed to sprout even now.
Wei Yuan had long sensed that this plant contained the power of extinction. Inspired by Sun Yu, he prepared to scatter a little Nether Soil over it as a test. A small handful of Nether Soil appeared in his palm—scarcely a liang or so—and he cast it onto the ground. The moment the Nether Soil manifested, the surrounding temperature plummeted at once, making it feel like deep autumn.
Wei Yuan could perceive, however, that the nascent Celestial Star Nightshade deep within the soil had begun absorbing the power of Everlasting Silence, and its growth was slowly picking up pace.
Next came the waiting. Originally, this Celestial Star Nightshade required otherworldly fortune to nourish, but Wei Yuan had recently exhausted his store of otherworldly fortune and had no idea how to replenish it. Looking at the full moon in the sky, Wei Yuan could not help but wonder occasionally: should he bring out the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart and cultivate it again?
On the side of the herb garden closer to the main peak, the dozen or so Wood Spirit Ginseng stalks were thriving quite nicely. A subtle, lingering azure mist hovered over them, bringing instant refreshment to anyone who inhaled its scent. Each stalk was worth around several hundred liang of immortal silver, and during the short period they had been planted, their value had grown by roughly ten liang. However, because these Wood Spirit Ginseng plants could steadily supply Wei Yuan with cultivation progress, he had no intention of harvesting them for money for now.
The Wood Spirit Ginseng teemed with life, clashing directly with Nether Soil. Wei Yuan guessed that sprinkling Nether Soil over them would surely kill them, so he refrained from reckless experimentation. Testing medicinal herbs was an endeavor best left to Sun Yu.
After completing a patrol around the domain, Wei Yuan flew out in the northwest direction. Flying for several dozen li, a vast encampment of the Shaman army came into view before him.
Following their retreat, the Shaman forces had not departed entirely. Instead, they had constructed an encampment roughly a hundred li outside the domain, seemingly preparing for a prolonged garrison. Even from dozens of li away, Wei Yuan could see a dark-green plume of qi surging straight into the sky, connecting earth and heaven.
That was the martial qi of the Shaman army. Wei Yuan was now thoroughly adept in the Qi-Gazing Technique; with just a glance from afar, he could tell there were at least forty to fifty thousand troops within the camp. It appeared reinforcements had arrived after their last defeat.
In just a single day, the Shamans had already built an encampment on an impressive scale. The outer ramparts stood one zhang high and were still being raised. This grand camp looked capable of housing over a hundred thousand soldiers, and it was continuously expanding and reinforcing. Rather than a temporary camp, it resembled a permanent military redoubt.
Beyond the camp, a convoy of hundreds of large carts could be seen rolling slowly forward, each cart laden to capacity. A small river ran straight through the site where the Shamans had established their camp, and cargo boats also sailed into the compound from time to time.
It seemed the Shamans were sparing no expense on this encampment, endlessly bringing in building materials and supplies. Could they be aiming to build a full-fledged city?
With the current strength of the Qingming army, fighting within the domain was manageable, but venturing outside was absolutely out of the question.
Yet having no way right now did not mean having no way in the future. As long as Wei Yuan was given a bit of time, he had plenty of methods to deal with this camp.
Judging by the current distance between the camp and the domain, the Shaman commander was clearly unaware of Qingming's true capabilities, still treating it as an ordinary boundary stone.
An ordinary boundary stone required a century of nurturing to expand its domain by a hundred li, but Qingming needed only a few years. If there were a large number of Shaman corpses available for conversion, that timeframe could even be shortened to a single year.
A year from now, when the domain expanded over it, no matter how formidable a fortress the Shamans built, it would not last long.
Therefore, seeing the Shamans continuously mobilizing materials from their rear to construct their camp and build their fortress, Wei Yuan felt it did no harm to let them build away—the grander the scale, the better. By letting the Shamans pour most of their energy and resources into city-building, the pressure on the domain would be far lighter.
Even if the Shamans truly erected a magnificent fortress, Wei Yuan had other means besides domain expansion. For instance, in the materials Xu Wenwu had written, cannons had been mentioned more than once—though the cannons Xu Wenwu described seemed somewhat delicate.
Now, with the establishment of the Weaponsmith Workshop, the quality of newly produced steel tubes had risen dramatically, capable of withstanding far more gunpowder force. Thus, the latest batch of firearms had adopted revised standards. The version for ordinary mortals used one jin of powder, capable of wounding a Shaman captain. The version for the Blood Merging realm used two jin of powder, with bullets as large as a fist.
The most powerful guns were reserved for Bone Tempering cultivators, whose prowess under Ephemeral Multitude approached that of the Dao Foundation realm. Their guns used three jin of powder, with bullets the size of large apples. By the standards of Xu Wenwu's world, that would qualify as an eighty-eight-caliber handgun.
For now, Wei Yuan needed to finish equipping the troops for when Ephemeral Multitude was active before considering weapons for daily combat. Still, looking at the distant Shaman encampment, Wei Yuan felt that siege cannons ought to be put on the agenda as well.
Returning to the main peak, Wei Yuan stood before the map. After careful deliberation, he decided to build another fortress-city directly opposite the Shaman encampment. Together with the original northwest and southwest cities, it would form an arc-shaped defensive line, with its interior still centered primarily on underground fortifications.
If the Shamans attacked again, they would have to bypass this fortress, vastly lengthening their march. It went without saying that the longer they spent within the domain, the greater their martial qi would be drained. When the time came, Wei Yuan would deploy his formation in the center of the domain. If the Shamans failed to breach it, three fortress-cities would still bar their retreat; escaping without paying a heavy price would be entirely impossible.
Having selected the site, Wei Yuan was just about to notify Cui Yu to mobilize manpower for city construction and relocation when Yun Feifei strode in excitedly, saying, "One of the craftsmen under me made an improvement to the ammunition. I think the results are extraordinary. Want to go take a look?"
Naturally intrigued, Wei Yuan followed Yun Feifei to the Weaponsmith Workshop.
In the open ground outside the Weaponsmith Workshop, several wooden humanoid targets had been erected. The texture and hardness of each target were comparable to a human Bone Tempering cultivator, equivalent to an elite Shaman warrior.
Yun Feifei brought forward a somewhat timid youth. Wei Yuan swept him with divine sense and saw at once that his talent was mediocre and his cultivation shallow, currently reaching only the Blood Merging realm. However, his Qi-Gazing Technique revealed a faint haze of white qi rising from the boy; it seemed he carried a touch of karmic luck.
Possessing otherworldly fortune himself, Wei Yuan was exceptionally sensitive to luck, so he could not be mistaken. Feeling all the more curious, he said to the luck-blessed youth, "You have new ideas for the bullets? Have you made them? Fire a couple of shots so we can see."
"Reporting to the Domain Lord, physical prototypes have already been made."
The youth presented two trays. On one lay a sphere sealed in oil and wax, inside of which were several small iron balls linked by fine chains. On the other tray lay a cylindrical projectile, flat on one end and pointed on the other. It was already remarkably similar to the bullets Xu Wenwu had described.
Wei Yuan was inwardly astonished, yet maintained a composed facade. "Fire a couple of shots and let us see."
The youth took up several steel-tube guns preloaded with gunpowder, loaded two with each type of projectile, and then set up the wooden targets.
After two resounding booms, countless deep gouges appeared across the two wooden targets ten zhang away, and one of the chain shots was embedded completely into the target!
As a veteran of many battlefields, Wei Yuan was visibly moved. At ten zhang, this projectile had a lethal spread five chi across. For a cultivator, there was no need to aim at all; one only needed to sweep divine sense in the general direction and blast away. Any contact with the chain shot would leave a deep, long trench of blood. Even a captain struck by it would find it unbearable and lose the ability to keep fighting.
This projectile was an absolute killing weapon in close combat. Inside subterranean tunnels, it would be utterly unavoidable; a single blast could clear an entire passageway.
Wei Yuan kept his composure and continued watching the second type.
This time, the wooden targets were fitted with heavy Shaman armor, and a slightly angled pavise was set up resting on the ground. When elite Shamans held shields and crouched to defend against bows and crossbows, they angled their shields in just such a way.
The youth placed two targets, loaded two guns, and handed them to Yun Feifei. The new guns required vastly more powder; without the boost of Ephemeral Multitude, the youth's meager cultivation could not handle them, leaving Yun Feifei to do the honors.
Yun Feifei stood before the targets, her posture graceful and her stance holding the firearm remarkably striking—she had clearly practiced.
With a booming report, a round iron shot slammed into the heavy shield, punching a dent into it. The ball deflected upward, skimming over the top of the wooden target, leaving the target itself completely unharmed.
This was the iron shot currently in use; it simply could not overcome heavy Shaman shields.
In truth, the power of firearms made in the domain was still inferior to the armor-piercing heavy arrows of Northern Liao, let alone magical artifacts, so failing to punch through a heavy shield was entirely normal. Wei Yuan's reasoning was that with every soldier equipped with a firearm—eventually even multiple firearms—if one shot could not penetrate, multiple shots would. Even if they failed to pierce the shield, the shock alone would injure the wielder.
Trading mortal lives for elite heavy-armored Shamans, even at a fifty-to-one ratio, was a tremendous profit.
Yun Feifei switched to the second gun. With another booming blast, a large hole suddenly appeared in the center of the heavy shield. Following that, the heavy armor on the wooden target was pierced through, leaving a gaping hole in the target's abdomen.
Wei Yuan shot to his feet. The power of this shot far exceeded expectations!
"Fire another one."
Yun Feifei ordered the target and heavy shield reset, then fired once more. This time, the shield was still penetrated, but only a small tear was torn in the heavy armor, the projectile embedding itself inside.
This time Wei Yuan saw clearly. The bullet had been crafted with ingenious precision: the front exterior featured a soft metal cap, while the rear had a hardened casing. Embedded inside was a thin steel core inscribed with a minute formation containing a trace of Dao power that could continue driving the core forward.
Upon striking the sloped shield, the soft cap deformed and automatically turned, aligning itself perpendicularly against the surface. Then the inner steel core punched clean through the heavy shield in one stroke. Even after breaching the shield, enough remaining force was left to inflict damage on the shield-bearer.
Such a simple alteration could yield such a dramatic effect? It was simply incredible!
Although the production cost of this bullet was visibly dozens of times higher than an ordinary iron ball, it was entirely worth it.
Seeing the youth standing timidly to the side with eyes full of anticipation, Wei Yuan was moved. On the spot, he bestowed a hundred liang of immortal silver and several cultivation pills, while promising that the youth could choose a new Body Casting manual suited to him.
The boy's severed path of cultivation was hereby reconnected.
Overjoyed, the youth bowed down to the ground in gratitude! An additional strand of advanced azure qi entered Wei Yuan's grasp.
The surrounding craftsmen looking on were consumed by envy and jealousy, and several more strands of ordinary azure qi flowed into Wei Yuan.
Having rewarded the youth, Wei Yuan turned to Yun Feifei. "You deserve credit as well. What do you want?"
Wei Yuan was already prepared to use one redemption from the Hall of Merits. Whether Yun Feifei wanted pills, cultivation techniques, or artifacts, he would do his utmost to satisfy her. After all, during this period, she had risked life and limb and made great contributions to the domain. Wei Yuan had never properly rewarded her, so this was the perfect opportunity to reward her all at once.
Yun Feifei asked, "Can I ask for anything?"
Wei Yuan nodded. "As long as it isn't a secret art of the Palace of Grand Beginning, anything goes."
Yun Feifei replied, "I suffered heavy injuries during the last major battle. I must trouble the Domain Lord to heal me."
Wei Yuan swept her with his divine sense. She was hale and hearty from head to toe—where was any injury? With healing pills redeemed from the Hall of Merits paired with the Jia Wood Life-Mystic power, no matter how severe an injury was, it could be cured.
Yun Feifei bit her lower lip, her eyes bright as she said, "Hidden injuries remain unhealed, and the trauma runs deep; it really cannot be put off any longer! How about... tonight?"
Within Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness, a droplet of grand azure fortune emerged. It seemed both to exist and not exist, and whether it truly came into being hung entirely on a single thought of Wei Yuan's.
Chapter 205