The new city featured an unconventional design: every main gate stood only several zhang high, and the city walls rose a mere three zhang, unlike the towering ramparts of ten or twenty zhang typical of other fortified strongholds.
Wei Yuan mobilized one hundred thousand Body Casting cultivators, quarrying stone on-site to construct the city at remarkable speed.
The city lord's manor was built atop the highest ground within the city, resembling a miniature town unto itself. Before farmland could even be cleared around the settlement, work had already begun on digging trenches and defensive earthworks.
Bao Yun and Wei Yuan stood atop the northwest main gate, holding the architectural schematics and discussing details. The northwest bore the brunt of the city's defense, so protruding platforms were erected on either side of the main gate, each standing just three zhang tall.
Bao Yun had been away from Qingming for nearly a year. Vast changes had swept through the territory during that time, so at first she had not understood why this city was being built so low, assuming it was meant for subterranean warfare against the Shamans. Only after studying the defensive deployment map Wei Yuan presented did she realize that the entire defensive doctrine had transformed.
The core of the defense consisted of two colossal ballistas installed at the city lord's manor. These were the ballistas Wei Yuan had seized from Hanyang Pass, and both mobile units had been placed in Ding'an City.
Meanwhile, the mainstay of the wall defenses was the newly developed short-barrel antipersonnel cannon from the All Beings Are Equal War Implement Research Institute.
Designed primarily to inflict massive casualties upon rank-and-file enemy troops, this cannon had a range of only several li, but its destructive power was immense. It fired shells weighing a full hundred jin, each detonating into over a thousand shrapnel shards capable of virtually wiping out anyone in the first two stages of the Body Casting realm within a ten-zhang radius.
In addition, there were various flying-sword launchers and fire guns. Directional flying-sword landmines could also be temporarily laid atop and beneath the ramparts.
With such a defensive network, towering city walls were indeed unnecessary.
Looking at the deployment map, Wei Yuan simulated the assault of a Shaman army in his mind. Within his Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World dharma idol, defensive firing points sprang to life one after another, continuously repelling and decimating the enemy.
Based on these deductions, Wei Yuan constantly made fine adjustments to the defenses—such as nudging a flying-sword launcher position forward by ten zhang.
At first, Bao Yun admired Wei Yuan's meticulous optimizations, but soon grew puzzled. "You're even adjusting the placement of a single flying-sword gun? Isn't that a waste of time? Once battle begins, the frontline commanders will make adjustments themselves."
Wei Yuan replied that it was no trouble at all. Such an adjustment merely burned up the mental energy of a dozen mortals for the span of a cup of tea.
Bao Yun countered, "That is a terrible habit. Those who achieve great things do not sweat the small stuff. Even if you've formed a dharma idol, your time and energy are finite. You can't do everything yourself; you have to focus on what matters most."
Wei Yuan found her words quite reasonable and humbly accepted them—though he had no intention of changing.
The mortals within the Smoke and Fire grew more perceptive the more they were utilized. Several dozen among the earliest batch had already formed their Dao Foundations. With thoughts as swift as lightning, a single one of them was worth dozens of ordinary mortals.
Furthermore, through constant iteration and updates, the operational model of the Smoke and Fire had gradually shifted into something even Wei Yuan struggled to comprehend. When large tasks were broken down by the immortal plant nodes, they were fragmented into hundreds or even thousands of subtasks.
The stronger the immortal plants became, the more subtasks they could split off, and the more abstract each individual subtask grew—to the point where it was impossible to fathom their purpose. As a result, the mortals felt only that they were thinking with all their might, yet their minds wrestled with bizarre questions, like how to fit an elephant into a jewelry box.
And that was the better scenario. Most of the time, they did not even know what they were pondering; they only knew they were thinking.
Only after the mortals completed their respective subtasks would the immortal plants reassemble the pieces into meaningful results.
Meanwhile, Maiden Yin-Yang could split tens of thousands of subtasks in an instant and aggregate them just as quickly.
Compared to this task-driven system, the various research institutes still operated on models comprehensible to ordinary humans, though they too were gradually being influenced by the immortal plants. The Dao Foundation cultivators in the institutes thought far faster than ordinary mortals; they typically handled breaking down major research projects before distributing the subtasks downward.
Beyond research, the mortals were also busy growing vegetables, harvesting crops, building walls, worshiping gods, cultivating, forming factions, slandering rival institutes, secretly lodging complaints with Wei Yuan, and more.
After finalizing the city defenses, Wei Yuan accompanied Bao Yun to the city lord's manor to help furnish her new home.
Unlike Wei Yuan, Bao Yun's current cultivation required an environment dense with spiritual qi. Her residence thus required a powerful Spirit Gathering Array, along with at least two types of immortal plants. She had already prepared all the necessary materials, so Wei Yuan was simply there to help set everything up.
After an entire afternoon of bustling about, the arrangements were largely complete. Bao Yun collapsed onto the daybed and stretched languidly, her lithe figure extending in a way that made Wei Yuan instantly look away—and yet not look away entirely.
Bao Yun had brought all the room's furniture with her. Even Wei Yuan had to marvel at how much her spatial bracelets could hold. Yet a question also surfaced in his mind: why had she packed so much furniture in her bracelets in the first place?
Shifting on the daybed, Bao Yun freed up a small space and gestured for Wei Yuan to sit.
Wei Yuan walked over and sat down cautiously, taking great care not to touch her body.
Propping herself up on her arms, Bao Yun said, "I really like this place. You built such a city for me—do you want me to stay here forever?"
"Stay as long as you like. If you ever grow tired of it, you can leave whenever you wish."
Bao Yun gently bit her lower lip. "Playing hard to get, are we? Fine, I like it very much right now, so..."
She rested a hand behind Wei Yuan's neck and pulled him down toward her, drawing their faces closer and closer.
Once again, they reached a distance where each could feel the other's warmth. Bao Yun closed her eyes and tilted her head up slightly.
Wei Yuan did not move a muscle.
The two remained frozen like that, separated by no more than a sheet of paper. A cup of tea's time slipped by, yet the distance between them neither grew nor shrank.
Bao Yun exhaled a soft breath. The gentle draft brushed across Wei Yuan's lips, almost making him think she had made contact, though he immediately knew she had not.
Bao Yun sat up and asked, "Why are you being so well-behaved?"
Wei Yuan had no idea how to answer and could only offer a wry smile. He could hardly admit that he had sensed the tension coiled within her body—that if he leaned forward even a fraction of an inch, she would send him flying with a kick.
Yet Bao Yun clearly did not intend to let him off so easily. Leaning close once more, she asked, "Why don't you have any reaction at all? Am I not pretty?"
That question was easy enough to answer, but whatever followed was guaranteed to be a lethal trap. Wei Yuan feigned deep contemplation to buy some time.
At that exact moment, the heavens and earth within Qingming suddenly trembled. Visible currents of origin qi of heaven and earth surged forth, pouring down toward the secluded cultivation grounds as dark clouds gathered overhead, gradually forming two distinct heavenly tribulations.
Wei Yuan's expression changed. "Martial Uncle Yu and Martial Uncle Sun are both breaking through to the Dharma Idol realm! I have to go keep watch!"
This was an event of grave importance. Bao Yun put aside her playful mood and rushed over alongside Wei Yuan.
From a distance, the two heavenly tribulations hung exceptionally close to each other, yet remained sharply defined and free from interference.
Yu Zhizhuo cultivated a Metal-phase Dao Foundation, so his lightning tribulation leaned toward a fiery red, lightning laced with flames. Sun Yu, on the other hand, cultivated mutual generation of Water and Wood, giving his tribulation a blue hue flecked with glints of gold.
Wei Yuan assessed the intensity of the lightning tribulations, feeling deeply reassured. Though both carried elements of five-element suppression and were far stronger than ordinary heavenly tribulations, they still consisted primarily of lightning. With Sun Yu's and Yu Zhizhuo's capabilities, combined with the lightning-diversion equipment installed at the tribulation grounds, passing through would pose no problem. Even so, to be safe, Wei Yuan flew closer so he could intervene immediately should an accident occur.
Sure enough, an accident occurred.
The moment Wei Yuan drew near, the flames within Yu Zhizhuo's tribulation flared violently, transforming into a thunder-fire heavenly tribulation. Over by Sun Yu, the golden light solidified directly into materialized golden blades, each radiating peerless sharpness!
Chapter 436