Chapter 532: Furnace (4K)

Due to the sheer scale of large guilds, most resources are consumed internally, so it's certain these four consecutive epics were listed by mid-sized guilds or lone wolves.

Several hours later, fifteen perfect items and four epics were all sold. As expected, 【Sacred Body Transformation】 fetched the highest price, soaring to 210,000 game coins—double that of a typical epic item.

【Child of Weather Identity Card】 came second, selling for 190,000. What surprised Li Cheng slightly was that the frustratingly restrictive item 【Eternal Pursuit Snail】 also sold for 180,000.

Probably meant to be used in tandem with other gear—like using strong control skills (stun, time stop, slow, push/pull) to pin the target in place before unleashing the snail for an instant kill.

After deducting purchase costs and the public funds siphoned from Zhu Xing Zhen Tai, the profit from the four epics and fifteen perfect items allowed Li Cheng to pay in full for the 【Eight Trigrams Alchemical Cannon】, leaving nearly 100,000 game coins in his personal account.

"Hohoho, one card gave me a legendary item, plus a net profit of 100,000 game coins—insane."

Sitting in the recliner of Zhu Xing Zhen Tai's office, Li Cheng sighed in genuine awe: this Shangcheng VIP card could refresh high-quality items, offered discounts, and let him profit handsomely from price gaps—it was simply too satisfying.

Heart pounding, hands trembling, as he opened his inventory, *thud*—a cauldron landed before him.

It stood about two meters tall, gourd-shaped, with a dark gold hue. Three legs supported its base; the lower body bore an inscription of a poem, and around its widest middle section, three sets of perforated copper rings were embedded.

The copper rings interlocked, rotating alternately clockwise and counterclockwise without pause, continuously forming the Eight Trigrams patterns of Qian, Kan, Gen, and Zhen.

Every three seconds, the perforated rings would form an opening, just large enough to insert materials into the furnace.

As for how to use it—

Li Cheng activated his Half-Caterpillar Form, enhanced his strength, wrapped both arms around the narrow middle of the furnace, and slowly lifted it.

Clang.

The lid atop the furnace automatically popped open, revealing a black, cannon-like mouth.

A legendary offensive item worth 310,000 game coins—firing it might just blow Zhu Xing Zhen Tai or the 3D warehouse sky-high.

Li Cheng promptly stowed the furnace, walked out of Zhu Xing Zhen Tai as if nothing had happened, and teleported to the Toy Factory via a teleport booth.

He also called along Gui Yu—such a fun, explosive activity wouldn't be complete without her; if he didn't bring her, she'd nag him for days.

Instead of testing near the Toy Factory, they boarded a Marginal Fighter, flew several hundred kilometers out, then retrieved the Alchemical Cannon.

They set up high-definition high-speed cameras around the area and installed a metal-fiber concrete target wall at a distance, beginning the cannon's power test.

"Test Log 001, Test Item: Determining the boundary of the Eight Trigrams Alchemical Cannon. Input: a 10cm diameter ordinary wooden ball."

Gui Yu rummaged out a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses, put them on with solemn seriousness, dressed as a researcher, and took notes with pen and paper: "D-Class Personnel, place the wooden ball into the copper furnace, rotate the cannon's direction, and fire at the target wall."

"You're giving orders now?"

Li Cheng's eye twitched as he tossed the ball into the furnace. The high-speed camera clearly showed the ball disintegrating into particles the instant it entered, transforming into an amorphous flame.

Simultaneously, his player panel deducted five Spirit Points; the furnace shuddered violently and fired a fireball at 3 Mach, striking the distant concrete target wall dead center.

Boom—

A small layer of concrete peeled off the target wall. Gui Yu tapped a few keys on her laptop, pulling up the camera data from the target wall side.

Based on the explosion's fireball diameter, flame velocity, and depth of the crater, she assessed the blast power: "Equivalent to 1.3 kilograms of TNT?"

"1.3 kilograms? That's reasonable."

Li Cheng rubbed his chin. The wooden ball was pine wood; multiplying its mass by its calorific value yielded roughly 5.5 megajoules—just over one kilogram of TNT.

Not a single impurity remained inside the furnace, confirming this point.

"Try a coal ball."

He pulled out another coal ball, 10cm in diameter, tossed it into the furnace, and fired again. The result was nearly identical: equivalent to 4.4 kilograms of TNT, still consuming five Spirit Points.

"Explosive power equals half a 155mm artillery shell."

Gui Yu scratched her head with her pen, slightly disappointed: "Kind of underwhelming."

At his current level as a Mechanist, Li Cheng could summon dozens or even hundreds of tanks with a wave of his hand—he'd grown accustomed to far greater firepower.

"Don't judge it that way. The wooden ball and coal ball are both ordinary items with no transcendent elements; both consumed five Spirit Points—the lowest tier."

They continued testing and found that liquids like gasoline, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas could also be refined into cannon rounds by the Eight Trigrams Alchemical Cannon, with power proportional to their calorific value.

But if the mundane object was too large—like a gas tank or electric vehicle—the cannon rejected it, refusing to accept it.

"Test Log 025, Input: lowest-tier battlefield item."

Li Cheng had specifically bought many cheap, low-quality, unsellable junk items from the black market. The first was a broken-quality 【Stinking Frozen Salted Fish】.

Literally, it was a frozen, rotten salted fish, pitch-black, likely older than Li Cheng. Extremely durable, its hardness rivaled steel.

When tossed into the Eight Trigrams Alchemical Cannon, it was instantly refined—but instead of a fireball, it fired several cut pieces of salted fish meat.

Thud!

All the fish blocks embedded themselves deep into the concrete wall and erupted with intensely cold yellow smoke—composed of hydrogen sulfide and various carcinogens.

"Holy shit, biochemical weapon."

Gui Yu's expression was priceless. Broken-quality items were so shoddy that even new players rarely got them from crates; they were usually just picked up casually from script worlds and existed in massive quantities.

"This time it consumed seven Spirit Points—slightly higher than mundane items. Continue testing."

Li Cheng pulled out a common-quality skill scroll: 【Undead Overrun】, which summoned five zombies to attack a target.

According to the description, these zombies weren't the sprinting, leaping undead from works like 【World War Z】 or 【Train to Busan】, but true-to-origin animated corpses—slow, sluggish, hence the common quality.

The scroll was tossed into the Eight Trigrams Furnace, turning into a wisp of black smoke, then violently fired. Upon hitting the concrete wall, it split into five Lickers—mutated zombies that clawed furiously around the wall.

"From regular zombies to Lickers—big upgrade."

Gui Yu's eyes widened. The Lickers lasted over two minutes before vanishing, leaving deep craters in the wall—a massive buff compared to the original scroll.

"Not just an upgrade—it bypassed usage conditions, reduced cost, and eliminated cooldown."

Li Cheng pondered, then pulled out two rare-quality identical consumable scrolls: 【Magic Missiles】, and fed them one by one into the Eight Trigrams Alchemical Cannon.

Normally, each scroll released seven magical missiles. But when fed into the cannon, the fired projectile took two forms: one large missile capable of flipping the concrete wall, and twenty-one smaller missiles that chipped away large chunks of concrete.

Both scrolls were from the Monutong Alliance, yet their final effects differed. The reason might lie in the Eight Trigrams pattern formed when the item was inserted?

Two consumable spell scrolls, both from the Monutong Alliance, produced different final effects. The reason may be related to the Bagua trigram formed by the rotation when tossed into the cauldron?

Test Log 035, Input: rare item 【Dead Language Translator】—insert coin to instantly translate dead languages like Gothic and Hunnic. Trigram pattern: Zhen Thunder, Li Fire—Feng.

Test Record 035, Input: Rare Item 【Dead Language Translator】—after coin insertion, it provides real-time translation of dead languages such as Gothic and Hunnic. Hexagram: Zhen Thunder, Li Fire—Feng of Thunder and Fire.

Output: transparent, intangible projectile that, upon impact, triggers a 172-decibel high-frequency sonic wave, far exceeding human tolerance thresholds.

Analysis reveals the sonic wave contains extensive dialogue spoken in dead languages.

Grey Rain's notes: According to research, the dialogue appears to consist mostly of profanities?

Test Record 036: Input — Exotic Material 【Tai Sui Flesh】, a mycelial composite with nutritional content similar to mushrooms, commonly used in alchemical potion crafting, valued at 20 game coins. Hexagram: Gen Mountain, Kan Water — Mountain over Water, Meng.

Output: yellow-green viscous projectile that, upon impact, forms a viscous swamp thirty meters in diameter.

Grey Rain's notes: Clean and hygienic. During the New Year, you've got to eat viscous sludge for dinner.

Test Record 037: Input — Exotic Material 【Buddha's Bone】, a Buddhist relic relic from a temple in the Southern Dynasties era of the script world, valued at 450 game coins. Hexagram: Zhen Thunder, Kan Water — Thunder over Water, Jie.

Output: swastika-shaped projectile that, upon impact, manifests a colossal Buddha silhouette, delivering a palm strike to the target wall and shattering it.

Grey Rain's notes: Thank goodness it's not the reversed swastika shape.

Test Record 037: Input — Another Buddha's Bone from the same batch of procurement, mixed with three modern-made Buddha's Bones (ash mixed with quartz sand).

Output: same Buddha silhouette projectile as the previous test; the three modern Buddha's Bones remain directly inside the furnace, unrefined.

Grey Rain's notes: Only one material can be accepted per firing, and the Eight Trigrams Furnace possesses some level of perception — capable of detecting counterfeit or substandard materials? Requires further testing.

Test Record 050: Input — 【Night Pearl】, a radioactive gemstone taken from the Qing Dynasty imperial palace, whose contact caused multiple nobles to develop cancer and die; marked as exotic material due to residual resentment, valued at 190 game coins. Hexagram: Dui Marsh, Kun Earth — Marsh over Earth, Cui.

Output: solid spherical projectile with slightly greater power than depleted uranium penetrators, causing 4000 millisieverts of radiation contamination at the target location.

Grey Rain's notes: Uranium, you're my radiation. Also, the Eight Trigrams Magic Cannon's evaluation criteria differ from the Battlefield System: item value correlates with projectile power, but isn't decisive.

Test Record 067: Input — Battlefield Item 【Monster Truck】, originally a perfect-quality item resembling a toy, with an effect that summons a self-driving pickup truck capable of spewing fire and launching micro-missiles. Severely damaged during a script mission, its effects lost.

It has been reduced from a toy to a pile of two-meter-diameter scrap iron blocks, now selling for only 388 game coins. Hexagram: Kun Earth, Xun Wind — Earth over Wind, Sheng.

Output: a two-meter-diameter 【Monster Truck】 scrap, directly shrunk and refined by the Eight Trigrams Furnace into a palm-sized toy car. Upon launch, the toy rapidly expands mid-air, becoming a Li Auto i8 electric vehicle that smashes through the concrete target wall.

It then smashed three more walls before dissipating.

Grey Rain's notes: Discovered another hidden mechanic — the Eight Trigrams Furnace can absorb exotic materials larger than itself. But why a Li Auto i8? Could the furnace be connected to the internet?

After round after round of tests, half a full day had passed — this was unquestionably Li Cheng's third most complex item. Its rules rivaled only those of the Toy Factory and the Glove of Compassionate Soul Infusion.

With his spiritual energy depleted, Li Cheng rubbed his throbbing temples and murmured: "It's clear the Eight Trigrams Alchemical Cannon's upper limit rivals that of the Glove of Compassionate Soul Infusion — it maximizes offensive potential, turning discarded junk into projectiles."

The more mysterious the input material, the greater the power.

Among all test items, the most powerful projectile was the exotic material 【Poseidon Statue】, literally a marble statue stolen by a player from a temple in an ancient Greek script world, valued at 10,000 game coins.

Upon firing, it generated water pressure equivalent to depths of tens of thousands of meters beneath the ocean, crushing all target walls into powder.

It also left behind deep-sea creatures such as Sun Jellyfish and Abyssal Lionfish at the site.

The power of this top-tier projectile equals a light-speed elbow strike. But the cost is staggering — one shot costs 10,000 game coins. When the cannon fires, gold flows like water. This isn't artillery — it's burning cash.

"The good news is, the Eight Trigrams Furnace isn't just for offense — it can also be used for defense."

Grey Rain, biting her pen cap thoughtfully, tapped her notebook with her finger: "Input healing potions, and it produces a mist projectile that spreads healing effects over a wide area for allied units."

"Input shield skill scrolls, and it produces a light-shield projectile that envelops allied positions."

Dressed in a lab coat, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, Grey Rain's intelligence seemed to have risen significantly as she spoke confidently: "The Eight Trigrams Magic Cannon is inherently a strategic battlefield weapon."

With only a three-second cooldown, it can either exploit our wealth by continuously firing garbage made of junk — or invest high-mystery materials to launch devastating projectiles — both achieving decisive results.

She suddenly paused, staring intently at the Eight Trigrams Furnace, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"No."

After so long together, Li Cheng knew exactly what she was planning the moment she shifted her hips. He rolled his eyes and flicked her forehead: "You cannot use yourself as a test subject."

"I'll just use some nail clippings!"

Grey Rain clung to Li Cheng like a koala: "Just half a gram, or even 0.1 gram."

"Still no."

Li Cheng hardened his expression. For years, aside from installing graphics cards and chips into stitched dolls, Grey Rain's weight had remained unchanged. Nanometal cannot regenerate — it cannot afford to be consumed.

Once you have a hydraulic press at home, you only have a hydraulic press. To prevent Grey Rain from dismantling the house, Li Cheng promptly stowed away the Eight Trigrams Furnace and strictly forbade her from conducting experiments in his absence.

"Nothing's allowed, nothing's allowed — I just want to test what substance would produce a nuclear mushroom cloud!"

On the way back to the Toy Factory, sitting in the rear seat of the Edge Fighter, Grey Rain pouted out the window: "Li Cheng, you big dummy. Fine then — Li Cheng stays happy every day."

??

So it's "There's a Big Li Cheng by the Clouds," is it?

Li Cheng's face darkened. After returning to the Toy Factory, he assigned Grey Rain to supervise the intelligent machines, while he examined the remaining rewards from the 【Reset to Zero】 quest.

(End of Chapter)