Chapter 244: Destructive Killing Weapons, Whimsical Ideas

During the three years in the Lower Realm, Chen Zhantang and the maidservant Hanyu seemed to have developed mutual affection; when they began to harbor feelings for each other, Lu Yuan had already heard rumors from Su Lingyue, and seeing them both today, he understood this was not without foundation.

Thinking about it, Chen Zhantang was dashing and possessed outstanding talent, and the two were of similar age; being the only fellow practitioners in this Lower Realm with comparable cultivation levels, it was only natural for them to develop feelings for each other through their interactions.

Lu Yuan did not mind this; after all, among the four elements of cultivation—Law, Wealth, Companion, and Land—the "Companion" included Dao companions. If Chen Zhantang were to unite with Hanyu, it would also be beneficial to his cultivation.

However, the two seemed to only have mutual affection and had not yet reached the point of becoming Dao companions. He merely teased them with a sentence and said no more, only asking:

"Has the Director of the Weapon Bureau come here?"

Chen Zhantang hurriedly said:

"Following Master's instructions, this disciple has also invited him and several core engineers to Xiantai Mountain."

As his voice fell, behind Peng Yidao and the others, several elderly men in their fifties or sixties, dressed in engineer uniforms and having also received the news and rushed over at the first opportunity, immediately stepped forward, their tones extremely excited:

"Subjects of the New Nation, pay respects to the Supreme Heavenly Master!"

"Rise."

Lu Yuan waved his sleeve:

"Three years have passed, how is the Weapon Bureau's research and development of high-power strategic weapons coming along?"

The leading Director of the Weapon Bureau said shamefully:

"We have failed the Heavenly Master's expectations. The kind of world-destroying weapon you spoke of is still being explored by us; we have no leads yet and do not know how many years it will take to see the dawn of success.

However, the original high-power bomb, 'Zhurong', has been further optimized and improved over these three years. The power of a single one can now blast a 333-meter mountain peak, causing it to collapse; if used on flat ground, it can level an area of two or three 1.5-kilometer units in radius. Within several dozen 3.3-meter units of the explosion's core, even a True Martial Grandmaster cannot withstand it and would be reduced to charcoal on the spot. Since you gave the order back then, we have been continuously producing Zhurong bombs, and we now have nearly four hundred in storage."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan showed no disappointment and smiled:

"Not bad, not bad. As long as there is progress, it is good. As for the weapon I mentioned, you all need not be too anxious; let nature take its course."

The weapon he had once mentioned to the Weapon Bureau was naturally the nuclear bomb, the most powerful weapon of destruction that mortals could manufacture.

◆￠o

According to the level of scientific development in the Lower Realm's New Nation before he left, it was roughly approaching the level of Earth's Second World War in his previous life; inventing a nuclear bomb was not impossible.

Of course, while it was possible, Lu Yuan only had the conceptual direction and could not provide clear theories. Under the circumstances where the Weapon Bureau's engineers had to explore it themselves, it would be perfectly normal for it to take ten, twenty, or thirty years to invent.

This amount of time, in terms of the lifespan of a cultivator, was completely affordable and counted for nothing.

Seeing Lu Yuan so tolerant, the Weapon Bureau's engineers were even more at a loss, moved to tears, and nearly knelt in worship.

Lu Yuan raised his hand to stop them, then looked at the group of first-generation disciples waiting excitedly before him, and smiled:

"I had instructions before I left; you all should have been studying theory at the Weapon Bureau for the past three years. Today, I intend to take some quick-witted individuals to the Upper Realm, provided they can pass an assessment."

As he spoke, he arranged for the people from the Weapon Bureau to conduct a simple assessment of the thirty-plus first-generation disciples to select those qualified to follow him to the Upper Realm.

Yet the content of the assessment was not cultivation or temperament, but the theory of weapon research and development!

Although the Lower Realm was devoid of spirit and gods, scientific thought had long since sprouted, and various powerful weapons had been born based on gunpowder. Before Lu Yuan ascended to the Upper Realm, the high-power bombs developed by the New Nation's Weapon Bureau were enough to threaten Golden Core cultivators.

In another twenty or thirty years, it would be no surprise if they developed nuclear weapons capable of threatening or even killing a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

And in an Absolute Spirit Land without spiritual machine, the intelligence of the people of the Lower Realm could create such powerful weapons; if they reached the Upper Realm, which was rich in spiritual machine, combined with scientific cognition and research methods, what kind of changes could they bring?

This thought had long since occurred to Lu Yuan, which was why, before ascending to the Upper Realm, he had required Chen Zhantang, in addition to teaching the first-generation disciples cultivation, to have them all enter the New Nation's Weapon Bureau to study for future use.

And now, it was time to test whether these disciples had applied themselves to their studies.

Faced with the assessment arranged by Lu Yuan, most of the thirty-plus first-generation disciples were full of confidence, while only a small number were immediately crestfallen, evidently not adept at these things.

Lu Yuan did not wait on the spot, but took advantage of this time to go to several of the Weapon Bureau's factories outside the city, took away most of the stored Zhurong bombs, and loaded them into an ordinary Storage Bag.

The reason he valued the weapons of the Lower Realm so highly was simple.

The struggle between the Upper Realm's Yuanling Heaven and the Corpse Demon Catastrophe had already lasted two thousand years. In these two thousand years, two major continents had fallen, and the number of endless Corpse Demons was in the trillions. Cultivators had been retreating steadily under such a terrifying catastrophe, and so far, they had not seen the dawn of victory.

For orthodox cultivators in the Upper Realm to form a certain combat strength to resist Corpse Demons, it would take at least ten or twenty years; even using rapid-succession methods, it would take several years, and once on the battlefield, they could only become cannon fodder. It could be said that losses had always exceeded output.

As for the Corpse Demons, they were transformed from the corpses of countless living beings; every time a cultivator fell, it was virtually adding strength to the Corpse Demon Catastrophe. With the balance of power shifting, the remaining three continents could only barely hold on, trapped in a tug-of-war of mutual attrition, consuming countless Spirit Stones, Dharma Artifacts, Talismans, and even the lives of cultivators.

In Lu Yuan's view, to break this stalemate, the mass-produced weapons of the Lower Realm's civilization could definitely be considered a sharp tool, especially if nuclear bombs were truly developed and could be manufactured in batches, which would bring a huge advantage to the Upper Realm in resisting the Corpse Tide.

To take a step back, regardless of the entire Upper Realm, even Longshan Immortal City was now facing the hidden threat of the Century Impact; the help of Lower Realm weapons would undoubtedly alleviate quite a bit of pressure.

Just like that, he took away the vast majority of the Zhurong bombs and then returned to Xiantai Mountain; by this time, the assessment had just concluded.

The final result was that five people's theoretical assessments reached the "excellent" grade, thirteen reached the "good" grade, and the rest barely passed.

Without further ado, Lu Yuan immediately selected these eighteen disciples who reached the "good" and "excellent" grades to follow him to the Upper Realm.

Although their cultivation was low, they possessed the theories and logical thinking of the Lower Realm; once they reached the Upper Realm and engaged in weapon-oriented research, they might bloom in unexpected ways.

At this point, Lu Yuan's purpose for descending to the Lower Realm was fully achieved, and he then directly took these eighteen disciples into the Small Cave Heaven World he had opened up using a Storage Bag as a vessel.

There were only five Reception Talismans, so it was difficult to bring too many people to the Upper Realm regardless; thus, he had long considered trying to see if he could use the Pot Heaven Supernatural Power to carry more people to Yuanling Heaven.

Just like that, after the selection, the remaining disciples who were not chosen naturally could not hide their disappointment, but upon learning that they would continue to be received to the Upper Realm in the future, they were immediately filled with hope, making up their minds to re-study the Weapon Bureau's weapon theory and strive to be selected in the next batch. Subsequently, amidst the entreaties of Peng Yidao and the others to stay, Lu Yuan did not linger and immediately bid them farewell, taking Chen Zhantang and the others back to the Extreme North.

After returning beneath the Heavenly Ladder, he took out the thirteen Mending Heaven Array Flags and re-deployed the complete version of the Great Evolution Mending Heaven Array.

At the same time, to prevent this array from being artificially destroyed, he specifically deployed a simple Chaotic Star Array on the periphery of the Mending Heaven Array.

This array was driven by Spirit Stones and could also attract the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth to replenish itself, covering a radius of ten li. Although it possessed no lethality, it could cause those who trespassed to become muddled in mind and confused in direction, making it impossible for them to approach the core of the Heavenly Ladder.

With this, everything was ready, and Lu Yuan immediately communicated with the Upper Realm via a Communication Talisman to restart the Reception Array.

Of course, he cautiously made an attempt during the reception, and the result he obtained was that the Cave Heaven World he had opened up could indeed transport multiple people, without the need for Reception Talismans!

However, upon stepping into the passage, the Cave Heaven World inside the Storage Bag clearly had some influence on the fragmented two-world passage, indicating that there were limitations on the number of people and even the cultivation levels that could be transported.

Transporting some low-level disciples at the Refining Essence into Qi stage was fine, but if it were higher-level ones, such as Golden Core cultivators like Su Lingyue or his own true self, they could not "bug" the system in this way.

Thus, without a hitch, Lu Yuan's clone brought Chen Zhantang and the eighteen disciples to the Upper Realm.

When Chen Zhantang and the other disciples followed the clone out of the array, feeling uneasy, the first thing they saw was Lu Yuan's true self looking at them with a faint smile.

"Ma, Master?"

Chen Zhantang was immediately dumbfounded, looking at the clone in front of him:

"This, this is..."

With a sudden sound, the clone turned into dots of light rain and merged into the true self's body, and Lu Yuan smiled faintly:

"This is my Cloning; there is no need to panic. The situation in the Upper Realm is completely different from the Lower Realm; you must never reveal your origins upon first arriving."

Having said this, he flicked his finger, and various information regarding Longshan Immortal City transformed into a stream of messages, sinking into the minds of Chen Zhantang and the other disciples respectively.

Furthermore, just in case, he secretly applied a Thought Imprint using the Nightmare Prayer Technique, planting a seed deep within their consciousness to ensure they would not leak any secrets regardless of the situation they faced.

Just like that, having changed worlds in their ignorance, while Chen Zhantang and the others were still digesting the information in their minds, Lu Yuan had the Liuyun Cloning take them back to Liuyun Peak to settle down temporarily.

In the past, a group of unfamiliar cultivators entering an Immortal City would inevitably be discovered and interrogated, but now that even the Immortal City Lord had become a Cloning of Lu Yuan, arranging an identity for Chen Zhantang and the others was simple.

Therefore, under the arrangement of the Liuyun Cloning, a mysterious Extinguish Hall was swiftly established within the Immortal City, and Chen Zhantang and all the other Lower Realm disciples joined it, thus obtaining a legitimate identity.

This day.

Atop a newly opened, desolate mountain peak.

The Liuyun Cloning led Chen Zhantang and the group of disciples to land, then pointed a finger and said:

"Chen Zhantang, this is the place where the Extinguish Hall, opened for you by the Immortal City, shall be established. Most of the mountain peaks inside and outside the Immortal City already have owners; this place was originally a Lingzhi Garden that was later abandoned. Although the spiritual energy environment is a bit poor now, it is sufficient for your cultivation needs.

From now on, you may cultivate here while attempting to develop high-powered weapons adapted to the Upper Realm. This is a collection of materials your master asked me to provide you; it contains thousands of basic Spirit Materials, as well as a wealth of foundational knowledge on Talisman making, Array Formation, and artifact refining. Whether you can combine this with what you learned in the Lower Realm depends on yourselves."

Looking at this entire uninhabited mountain peak and the dense Spiritual Machine environment, Chen Zhantang took the Storage Bag given by the Liuyun Cloning with a dreamlike expression:

"This junior understands, many thanks, Senior."

As a personal disciple, Chen Zhantang naturally already knew that the number two figure of Longshan Immortal City before him, Daoist Liuyun, was actually another Cloning of Lu Yuan, though only he knew this, and there was no need for the other disciples to know for the time being.

The Liuyun Cloning said no more and immediately stepped on auspicious clouds to depart. After he left, the eighteen Dao Palace disciples gathered around in great excitement:

"Senior Brother, is this entire mountain peak ours?"

"This, this is simply too incredible!!"

These disciples did not know that the entire Immortal City was under Lu Yuan's control and were still shocked that they had obtained identities and even positions in this vast Immortal City upon their first arrival. Chen Zhantang, however, felt his mind settle slightly and smiled:

"Master is a figure like a god reborn; even in this Upper Realm, he holds a revered status. We are fortunate to follow Master and ascend to the heavens; we must exhaust our efforts to complete his entrustment."

The disciples responded with a roar of agreement, and immediately, under Chen Zhantang's arrangement, they began to busily clear out the entire mountain peak, including the abandoned caves, mountain paths, and gardens, officially moving in.

Subsequently, without a moment's rest, they began to hungrily study the various basic common knowledge and information about Yuanling Heaven provided by Lu Yuan, their horizons and cognition broadening and growing rapidly:

"Tracing spirit patterns on paper or animal hide capable of bearing spiritual power can trigger the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, thereby releasing various effects and powers; this is the Dao of Talismans."

"The effects of Talismans are myriad; some can make a cultivator as light as a swallow and as fast as a shooting star; some can form indestructible defensive shields to block various attacks; others can release flames that burn the heavens or destructive thunder, causing the heavens to tremble and the earth to quake. The consumption of Talismans by Yuanling Heaven cultivators in resisting the Corpse Tide is ranked first."

"However, the power of these first to third-tier Talismans seems just so-so; to a certain extent, they are not as good as the weapons displayed by the Weapon Bureau. After all, the higher the tier of the Talisman, the more exquisite the four arts of cultivation and high-grade Spirit Materials are required, but Lower Realm weapons are mass-produced, and an ordinary soldier can operate them to cause damage..."

"I've got it! Since spirit patterns can be carved on paper and animal hide, what if we carved Fire Element Spirit Patterns on the surface of Zhurong bombs? Could that multiply the power of the bombs?"

"Right! And look at this first-tier Light Wind Talisman; if it were carved onto the aircraft of the Lower Realm, wouldn't that also cause its flight speed to increase explosively?"

"And this..."

These Dao Palace disciples, who had grown up in the scientifically budding environment of the Lower Realm, had countless brilliant ideas emerge as they came into contact with the vast foundational knowledge of the Yuanling Heaven cultivation world.