Chapter 140

Dusk arrived once again.

Xu Wenwu walked out of the stone room to continue walking the horse, and the several immortals of the Grand Beginning Palace had also returned, beginning to process today's thirty thousand words.

With yesterday's experience, Xiang Xiaoyu had learned the trick of screening and filtering before memorizing, finally avoiding the fate of needing to clear his Primordial Spirit.

Xiang Xiaoyu complained continuously while reading: "Useless, wordy, full of nonsense! What is all this? I've been reading for a long time and there are hardly any useful sentences!"

Wei Yuan had the same feeling; of today's thirty thousand words, there were nine hundred useful ones, and the rest were all sealed away as trash. Then, everyone briefly exchanged their gains from the day.

Wei Yuan explored three hundred li in the direction of Quliu Town, basically surveying the terrain and landscape, as well as the small groups of humans or Shaman tribes scattered throughout this region.

During this exploration, Wei Yuan once again confirmed the limitations imposed on his Dao foundation. Now that the Ten Thousand Li Heshan and the Azure Void have become one, the effectiveness of the Ten Thousand Li Heshan will gradually weaken after leaving the realm.

During this scouting trip, Wei Yuan repeatedly tested the degree of weakening of his Dao foundation, then calculated that when he was about fifteen hundred li away from the Azure Void, the Ten Thousand Li Heshan would be weakened to below normal levels, and at three thousand li, the Ten Thousand Li Heshan would be almost impossible to manifest. At that time, Wei Yuan would only have his physical body and Dharma form, unable to use his Dao foundation.

This range will also continue to expand as the realm expands. The Azure Void Realm is now thirty li, which means Wei Yuan can operate within a hundred times the range of the realm at his limit; any further, and the Dao foundation cannot manifest, and his combat power will only be two or three tenths of its potential.

Fifty times the realm is another boundary line; within this, the Ten Thousand Li Heshan can receive the bonus of the Azure Void, making it stronger than usual, while outside of this, it will be weaker than normal.

Upon obtaining this result, Wei Yuan had mixed feelings. He was happy that there was still some room for activity, so he wouldn't be trapped to death in the realm. He was worried that he couldn't go anywhere else for the time being, and if he wanted to go further, he would have to manage the territory in front of him well. For every li the realm grows, Wei Yuan has a hundred li of new territory to explore.

There wasn't actually much to scout in Wei Yuan's direction; the main purpose was to test the degree of decay of the Dao foundation. Bao Yun and Seeing Ji Liuli, however, scouted much further.

Seeing Ji Liuli scouted nine hundred li in one breath, basically figuring out the distribution of Shaman strongholds along this route. This direction is not a priority for the Shaman tribe, so eight strongholds of various sizes and two small tribes were identified along the way. The strongholds had a total of five thousand troops, and the two tribes each had over four thousand people.

Bao Yun, on the other hand, was amazingly efficient, scouting fifteen hundred li in one breath. About a thousand li from the Azure Void Realm, there was already a tribe of fifty thousand people and four small tribes of several thousand people.

This area was originally the territory of Ningxi Prefecture, and after the human defeat, the Shaman tribe gradually began to infiltrate, looking as if they were preparing to take back the lost territory.

At the edge of the area Bao Yun explored, she also discovered a Shaman military camp with ten thousand soldiers stationed inside. Bao Yun also detected traces of some Great Shaman activity near the camp, and since it was getting late, she did not continue to take risks and returned before nightfall.

Many Shaman abilities are greatly enhanced at night, and the daylight in the Shaman Domain is much shorter than in other regions, at least one hour less every day. Although Bao Yun's concealment level is not inferior to a Dharma Form True Person, there was no need to put herself in danger. Therefore, she prepared to wait until the next day to explore deeper.

Fifteen hundred li is exactly the watershed for Wei Yuan's Dao foundation performance. However, by tomorrow, as the realm expands to forty li, the watershed will also push forward to two thousand li. If he waits another day, Wei Yuan's combat power can be further improved.

However, time is tight right now; after killing the Great Shaman, the Shaman tribe has a temporary window of opportunity, and the chance is fleeting, so naturally, he cannot wait for Wei Yuan to slowly improve his abilities.

After discussing, the group decided that Bao Yun would continue to scout tomorrow morning, and then Wei Yuan and Seeing Ji Liuli would follow up. Once it was confirmed that the camp had no Great Shaman in command, they would launch a surprise attack on the spot, striving to take out the camp in one go.

Xiang Xiaoyu will stay behind to guard the realm, and Zhang Sheng will also follow the three west. However, he does not need to take action on this trip, just in case. Although Zhang Sheng's immortal sword is sealed and its power halved, if he exerts his full strength, he can still injure a Dharma Form.

After nightfall, all human cultivators who were outside the realm withdrew back into the realm. Once a Shaman enters the realm, Wei Yuan will sense it, but outside the realm, it is very easy to be ambushed by the Shaman tribe.

After discussing the next day's actions, the group went about their own business.

Wei Yuan needs to patrol the entire territory, check the growth of the two Heavenly Star Dragon Kui, and the progress of the horse's training. In addition, he needs to check on the seriously wounded; if their condition worsens, Wei Yuan can still save their lives with the power of the realm.

It was just that when Wei Yuan patrolled to the stone room, he unexpectedly saw that there was still light inside, and Xu Wenwu was writing furiously at his desk.

Wei Yuan found it a bit strange; hadn't this guy already finished today's quota? Why was he still writing? He walked into the room to ask, and Xu Wenwu said that thirty thousand words a day was truly too difficult, so he might as well stay up late to write a bit more while he was in a good state, so that tomorrow could be more relaxed and not so tense.

Wei Yuan also felt that it made sense. He didn't originally want to push Xu Wenwu to this point, but since Bao Yun is responsible for this matter now, Wei Yuan shouldn't interfere. As for whether the effect is good or bad, he would observe for a few days first.

Wei Yuan left the stone room, thought for a moment, and went to the cultivator camp to get a bowl of meat porridge cooked with Liang rice to send to Xu Wenwu. This guy's body forging is limited, and burning the midnight oil, he must be hungry.

When Xu Wenwu saw Wei Yuan, he was startled, and the pen in his hand almost fell to the ground.

Wei Yuan didn't say much, just placed the porridge on the desk and added a touch of Dao power, which could keep the porridge warm and prevent it from cooling all night.

After Wei Yuan left, Xu Wenwu suddenly wiped his eyes a few times, then picked up the bowl and drank it in a few large gulps. With the hot meat porridge in his stomach, Xu Wenwu's spirits were immediately lifted, and his cultivation base increased slightly.

Xu Wenwu put the bowl down heavily and then burned the midnight oil, deciding not to rest until he was exhausted. Wei Yuan returned to the main peak, picked up a piece of mountain rock, and used his immortal sword to cut it into neat stone bricks, then refined them with Dao power; the volume of the stone bricks would shrink a little, becoming exceptionally sturdy. Now Wei Yuan doesn't need to cultivate himself, so he simply prepared to build something with his own hands. Everyone can't always meditate in the ruins.

In less than half an hour, Wei Yuan had cut more than a thousand bricks, far from enough to build a house. At this moment, Seeing Ji Liuli's voice suddenly sounded in his ear, asking everyone to go north of the main peak.

Thirty li north of the main peak, outside the realm, there is a stone valley about ten li long. In an open space in the valley, utensils such as medicine bowls and pestles were placed, and on a newly refined stone table, more than a dozen piles of black powder were arranged.

When Wei Yuan and the others arrived, Seeing Ji Liuli pointed to the black powder on the stone table and said, "Gunpowder."

Wei Yuan was startled; did she really make it?

Everyone's spirits were lifted, wanting to see how powerful the legendary gunpowder was. They saw Seeing Ji Liuli shoot a spark from her fingertip, igniting a small pinch of black powder, and then with a bang, a huge cluster of flames appeared, finally turning into black smoke.

"I tested different proportions, and the power is still somewhat different, so they cannot be mixed at will."

Seeing Ji Liuli ignited the piles of black powder behind, and the flames were indeed high and low, large and small. The largest cluster was more than twice the size of the smallest.

The first row of gunpowder had been tested, and Seeing Ji Liuli pointed to the row behind on the stone table and said, "These are the best proportions; why don't you try the power?"

Wei Yuan cautiously scooped a handful of gunpowder into his hand, feeling very novel, and then kneaded it in his palm a few times. As a result, a burst of scorching heat suddenly erupted in his palm, his fingers were forced slightly open, and smoke and fire sprayed out from between his fingers.

Wei Yuan opened his hand and felt a bit embarrassed; why was this thing so sensitive to kneading? Wasn't it supposed to burn only when ignited? He brushed off the black ash, but his palm remained as crystalline as jade, not even leaving a scorch mark.

!.

When Xiang Xiaoyu saw this, he also tried to knead it in his hand, but the result was an explosion in his hand, his palm went numb, and a few faint yellow marks were left on his palm. Xiang Xiaoyu remained calm and, under the guise of brushing off the black ash, quietly rubbed away the scorched skin.

Only then did Xiang Xiaoyu remember that Wei Yuan's physical body was abnormal; the fact that he was fine holding the gunpowder didn't mean he was fine, and he still had a thin layer of scorched skin.

Zhang Sheng and Bao Yun naturally wouldn't do such a stupid thing; the two of them wrapped a handful of gunpowder with Dao power and ignited it, naturally knowing the power.

Seeing Ji Liuli took out three more raw materials, threw them into the medicine bowl, and pounded them with the pestle. All the materials were crushed into fine powder, then blown out of the medicine bowl by Dao power, mixed evenly in the air. Seeing Ji Liuli blew on them, and the powder turned into sand-sized particles.

This time, Seeing Ji Liuli made enough gunpowder to fill a soup jar, finally condensing it into a round ball, holding it in her palm.

Seeing Ji Liuli ignited the gunpowder ball in her palm with Dao power, and with a loud bang, the medicine ball exploded violently, and then the flames were restrained by Seeing Ji Liuli within a square foot. They saw the Dao power ball expand and then settle, the ball full of rolling thick smoke. Seeing Ji Liuli released her Dao power, and the thick smoke immediately gushed upward. A hot wind brushed past everyone.

"The power is just like this," Seeing Ji Liuli said.

Wei Yuan recalled his feelings just now and said, "The smaller the range is restrained, the greater the power, right?"

"Indeed."

Zhang Sheng said, "If it's just like this, then there are many alternatives. For example, dripping Profound Water into the Earth Fire Heart, the water and fire clash, and the power is a hundred times greater than this; it could even blow open the star shell of an extraterrestrial meteorite."

Seeing Ji Liuli was a bit surprised: "You also understand artifact refining?"

Zhang Sheng's face turned slightly red, and he said vaguely, "I know a little."

Bao Yun was thoughtful and said, "The power right now is just our initial test; the formula must have many areas that can be optimized. If some things are added, perhaps the power can be increased exponentially. As for what to add, we can test it one by one."

Zhang Sheng nodded and said, "This matter can be handed over to the Heavenly Craft Hall; they have many cultivators specifically responsible for adjusting formulas, and they can test over ten thousand new formulas in a month."

"The power of this thing is mediocre, why bother?" Xiang Xiaoyu was puzzled.

Wei Yuan, however, said, "There is one advantage: it's cheap. A drop of Profound Water plus a drop of Earth Fire Heart is enough to make thousands of stones of gunpowder. If that much gunpowder explodes, the power is much greater than two drops of Water-Fire Essence."

"No matter how much there is, it's useless; no matter how much ordinary fire there is, can it burn a Dharma Form to death? Even I can't be burned to death," Xiang Xiaoyu said. He has the immortal sword Great Sun, and his physical body is not strong, but he is exceptionally resistant to fire, and his resistance in this regard is only slightly inferior to Wei Yuan's.

At this moment, Bao Yun said, "Since we have gunpowder, why don't we try guns and cannons?"

(End of this chapter)