Chapter 196: 196. Chapter 194: Fourth Order Shock Heaven Hand Cannon

196. Chapter 194: Fourth Order Shock Heaven Hand Cannon

A month has passed in the blink of an eye.

After bringing Lou Gao back, Li Xuan went to the Yellow Turban Warrior and wrote all the materials needed for the upcoming construction of Ladi Canyon onto a list.

Li Xuan went to Star Luo City and directly purchased all those materials, so he no longer needs to continue procuring supplies.

Additionally, Li Xuan also purchased two thousand slaves in the small towns along the way.

Thus, Ladi Canyon now has nearly six thousand robust laborers.

In the future Li Xuan will need to purchase some female slaves; otherwise Li Xuan fears these robust laborers might cause the camp to blow up.

After procuring all the materials and slaves, Li Xuan began another seclusion.

After going out to relax, Li Xuan's soul power level smoothly broke through to Level 38.

Cultivation, cultivation—just practicing without progress is also no good.

After breaking through the soul power level, Li Xuan's days returned to a mundane state; each day he either alchemizes pills or cultivates.

……

That day, Li Xuan was alchemizing pills in his simple Xiao Mu Wu when he heard someone approaching his hut nearby.

Ladi Canyon is sparsely populated; those who come here are basically one's own people. Nevertheless, Li Xuan became even more cautious, quietly stowed away the Alchemy Pill, stood up, and pressed his body against the wall.

Bang—bang—bang…

The main door was knocked, and Li Xuan let out a sigh of relief, thinking it must be his own people.

It seems it's also time to have the Yellow Turban Warrior build a quiet room for alchemy and seclusion, as the temporary camp at the entrance of Ladi Canyon is far too crude.

Whether alchemizing pills or secluding for cultivation, a quiet place is needed, free from disturbance.

"Who is it?" Li Xuan shouted toward the outside.

"Xuan Ge'er, it's me. My teacher needs you, let's go," Si Yu's voice came from outside.

Upon hearing Si Yu's voice, Li Xuan finally relaxed completely, patted the plant ash off his body, then pushed open the door and stepped out.

During this period Li Xuan had been in seclusion, his body covered in the plant ash left from alchemy.

"Brother Si Yu, what does Lou Lao want from me?" Li Xuan asked, looking at Si Yu arriving by carriage, scratching his head in puzzlement.

"Hehe, you'll know once you go," Si Yu said, then led Li Xuan onto the carriage.

Li Xuan suddenly recalled that it had already been a month since Lou Gao arrived at Ladi Canyon.

"Could it be that the Heaven-Shaking Cannon has been successfully made?" Li Xuan, startled, asked Si Yu.

"Hahaha, indeed Xuan Ge is clever, that's right. After a month of effort, the teacher has crafted a Fourth Order Shock Heaven Hand Cannon for you, for self‑defense," Si Yu said, flashing a brilliant smile at Li Xuan, then nodded in agreement.

Upon hearing Si Yu, Li Xuan excitedly slapped the carriage box, his palm tingling from the shock, proving he was truly overexcited.

"Brother Si Yu, the Fourth Order Shock Heaven Cannon has already emerged; how long will it take to produce the Fifth Order Shock Heaven Cannon?" Li Xuan blinked, his eyes full of anticipation.

Since the Fourth Order Shock Heaven Cannon already exists, the Fifth Order one shouldn't be far off; once the Fifth Order Shock Heaven Cannon is made, Li Xuan can accomplish many things.

"The Fourth Order Shock Heaven Cannon and the Fifth Order differ vastly; we've also tried making the Fifth Order Shock Heaven Cannon, and without exception, all attempts failed. There are many techniques we don't know; we need time to become familiar," Si Yu sighed, speaking helplessly.

The complexity of the Fifth Order Shock Heaven Cannon is said to be dozens of times that of the Fourth Order, and its difficulty is far from ordinary.

But that makes sense, after all Title Douluo are among the top tier on Douluo Continent, completely different from Soul Saints and Soul Emperors; creating something that can contend with Title Douluo‑level entities is not easy.

"Brother Si Yu, no rush; let's take this slowly. Are the ores over at Lou Lao sufficient? Do you need me to procure more ore supplies?" Li Xuan reassured Si Yu, then asked whether more materials were needed.

Li Xuan doesn't understand forging; the only thing he can do is handle logistics, ensuring they have enough material for forging.

"We may need to procure some ore supplies; the Fifth Rank forging materials consume a lot. I'll have the teacher write a list later; please, Xuan Ge, deliver it to the Blacksmith Guild," Si Yu mused, then said to Li Xuan.

Acquiring suitable ore still requires the power of the Blacksmith Guild; after all, the Guild is an established force, and they have plenty of channels.

"No problem!" Li Xuan replied without hesitation, nodding.

After all, the Heaven-Shaking Cannon is for their own use, and they can't have Lou Gao and his disciple cut down their own materials.

"Haha, that's great!" Si Yu laughed, nodding.

Now that the three of them cannot leave, Li Xuan going to procure ore is the most suitable.

……

Half an hour later, Si Yu led Li Xuan to the outside of Fentian Ge.

Upon arriving at the gate of Fentian Ge, they heard clanging sounds from inside; they hadn't expected the soundproofing to be so good—such a loud forging could only be heard up close.

Si Yu stepped ahead of Li Xuan, pushed open the main door, and led Li Xuan inside Fentian Ge.

Lou Gao was forging components for the Heaven-Shaking Cannon; after the final hammer strike, he casually tossed the parts into the heavy water pool of Mysterious Pool.

The heavy water of Mysterious Pool has average thermal conductivity; although the parts were extremely hot, they didn't cause any splashes in the water.

Lou Gao heard the door opening, turned his head, and saw Si Yu and Li Xuan.

"Xuan Ge'er, you're here!" Lou Gao approached Li Xuan with a warm smile, saying cheerfully.

"Greetings, Lou Lao. Has the Hand Cannon been completed?" Li Xuan first bowed to Lou Gao, then asked excitedly.

"Of course. See, right there," Lou Gao gestured toward a large box in the corner, smiling at Li Xuan.

Li Xuan, without hesitation, turned, took three steps in two strides, arrived at the box, carefully reached out and opened it.

Inside the box were piles of sawdust, and among them a completely black, bowl‑mouth‑wide, half‑meter‑long cylindrical cannon barrel.

The barrel had two handholds, allowing the Heaven-Shaking Cannon to be fired by hand. Li Xuan carefully lifted the barrel from the box, placed it before him, and examined it closely.

The barrel was uniformly black, extremely heavy to the touch, weighing about twenty jin. Though young, Li Xuan's cultivation at over Level 30 gave him great strength, so holding the Heaven-Shaking Hand Cannon was not too burdensome.

Li Xuan glanced inside the Heaven-Shaking Cannon; it was equally pitch black, nothing visible even as the light shifted. To his amazement, the dark surface bore a delicate, intricate dark‑gold pattern, mysterious yet brimming with power.

"This is the Fourth Order Shock Heaven Hand Cannon. My craftsmanship only reaches this level, but Xuan Ge'er, rest assured, this item works fine; we've already tested it," Lou Gao said to Li Xuan with a smile.

Li Xuan nodded. As one of the Three Great Blacksmiths of Douluo Continent, Lou Gao's forging skill is already excellent, so crafting a Fourth Order Shock Heaven Cannon poses no problem.

However, the Fifth Order Shock Heaven Cannon's manufacturing difficulty is too high; Lou Gao needs to study it further before he can make it.

"Let's go, Xuan Ge'er, let's go out and test this cannon. To gauge its power, we've asked the Yellow Turban Warrior to build a firing range," Sidi said to Li Xuan with a smile.

"There's a shooting range? Great, let's go try it right now!" Li Xuan's eyes lit up, and he nodded at Sidi and said.

"Let's go, we're leaving right now!" Lou Gao laughed, patted Li Xuan's shoulder, then led Li Xuan away from Fentian Ge.

After leaving Fentian Ge they got on a carriage, and half an hour later arrived at an open area.

The open area was extremely spacious, and the ground, after being compacted, was very flat.

"The Fourth Rank Heaven-Shaking Hand Cannon has an effective attack range of about a thousand meters, an effective blast radius of thirty meters, and an actual lethal radius of eighty to a hundred meters. Here, Xuan Ge'er, this is a cannonball; give it a try!" Lou Gao pointed to the Heaven-Shaking Hand Cannon that Li Xuan was holding and explained.

Then Lou Gao took another box from his Soul Guide Device; when he opened it, there were a dozen or so Heaven-Shaking cannonballs, similar to modern artillery shells.

However, these Heaven-Shaking cannonballs are not exactly the same as ordinary ones; their surfaces also bear a layer of intricate patterns.

It seems these cannonballs are also magical artifacts.

In other words, both the launcher and the cannonballs are artifacts, so their destructive power is indeed considerable.

"Because the cannonballs are extremely dangerous, they can't be carelessly placed indoors. Here, take one yourself and try it, but be careful," Lou Gao said with a smile, explaining to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan nodded, then held the Soul‑Quelling Hand Cannon in one hand, and with the other hand carefully picked up a cannonball and placed it into the barrel.

"Clang!"

The cannonball slid to the bottom of the barrel and engaged with the mechanism; the mechanism's click caught the cannonball.

Then Li Xuan poured his soul power into the Heaven-Shaking Cannon, and as the soul power entered, a layer of dark golden light suddenly appeared on the cannon's surface.

Suddenly the soul power triggered the mechanism, and a massive force traveled through the Heaven-Shaking Hand Cannon to Li Xuan; as the cannonball fired, Li Xuan was also thrown backward.

"Swoosh…"

A sound of a cannonball slicing through the air rang out, and the Soul Guide cannonball appeared a kilometer away in the blink of an eye, before Li Xuan could react.

Li Xuan quickly adjusted his body in the air, then landed steadily on the ground.

"Boom!"

At the same moment, the cannonball exploded, causing the earth to quake, rocks to spray, and a cloud of dust to rise! "Whoa, this power!" Li Xuan widened his eyes and said with delight.

Though the cannonball's power is massive, Li Xuan's soul power consumption is minimal, making it extremely suitable.

However, with the dust now swirling, Li Xuan doesn't know how great the lethal effect is.

"We've tested it; a single cannonball's power is roughly equivalent to a full‑force strike from a Level 75 Soul Saint, but… this one is pricey—one hundred thousand gold Soul Coins per shot," Lou Gao shrugged, saying indifferently to Li Xuan.

"One hundred thousand gold Soul Coins?" Li Xuan's eyes widened at Lou Gao's words; this isn't a fight, it's just burning money! "We need to cut costs; this can't continue. Even though I have money, I can't spend it like this…" Li Xuan frowned and muttered hesitantly.

Li Xuan obtained a large sum of gold Soul Coins from the City of Slaughter, but he can't keep spending like this; even now Ladi Canyon has no real revenue source, and most of the construction has been funded by Li Xuan's own money.

Li Xuan's plan for Ladi Canyon is to cultivate Dragon Tooth Rice and medicinal herbs, and make money by brewing wine, but the canyon is not fully built yet, and even when it is, it will take time before it generates income.

"What's wrong, Xuan Ge'er short on money? How about selling this to me?" Lou Gao, hearing Li Xuan's mutter, smiled and came up to his side, whispering.

"I won't sell; this can be given to Old Lou." Li Xuan, after hearing Lou Gao's words, shook his head; he doesn't intend to sell the Heaven‑Shaking Cannon, after all it's too extraordinary.

The territory yields nothing, but Li Xuan himself does have quite a few good things.

However, the Alchemy Pill in his hand cannot be sold; though its effect is great, the risk is too high—if he's careless, Li Xuan would appear in the Spirit Hall's sight, and that would be dangerous for him.

Moreover, the medicinal wine cannot be sold either; the wine appeared once in Tian Dou City, and the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect likely has records. If he sells it, it would be discovered immediately, so for his safety, he can't profit from it.

Apart from these two items, Li Xuan actually has nothing else he can bring to sell.

"Maybe we could cooperate with the Po Clan, turn the Alchemy Pill into a potion and sell it…" Li Xuan stroked his chin, frowned, and muttered.

The profit from Alchemy Pills is huge! Even if he gives some to the Po Clan, Li Xuan could still make a fortune, and more importantly, his cost of refining Alchemy Pills is extremely low and the output is massive!

The Po Clan itself is a good shield, and it also has its own distribution channels.

After thinking for a long time, Li Xuan ultimately decided not to take that step.

For now, the gold Soul Coins he has are sufficient to get by day by day; only after the Fifth Rank Heaven‑Shaking Cannon is completed will Li Xuan have the confidence to sell Alchemy Pills.

As long as he has enough cannonballs, Li Xuan could even forcefully confront the Spirit Hall!

However, even selling Alchemy Pills wouldn't reach the level of the Spirit Hall launching a full army.

After all, the Spirit Hall's goal is the entire Douluo Continent; its main enemies are the two great empires and the Upper Three Sects, so it won't expose all its power early just because of Li Xuan.

As the dust cleared, Li Xuan saw a large crater left on the ground.

"Whoa, this power! One hundred thousand gold Soul Coins is not a loss at all!" Li Xuan, looking at the damage the Heaven‑Shaking Cannon inflicted on the ground, widened his eyes, his gaze full of excitement.

With this thing, his future travels across the Douluo Continent will be much safer.

(End of Chapter)