Chapter 234: Rebirth

Above the Wucheng, which had only just begun to take shape, several Great Shamans stood in the air, silently watching as squads of soldiers marched into the city.

Boats continuously sailed into the several river channels; although the cargo ships were not large, every single one was fully loaded, and one could not see the end of them at a glance.

In the distance on the other side of the Wucheng, one could faintly see a curtain of light connecting the earth to the sky. Inside the light curtain, it was clear and bright; the several Great Shamans all felt this light was somewhat blinding, far less comfortable to look at than the deep green of the Shaman Domain.

From the perspective of the Wucheng, looking at Azure Void was like a piece of heaven and earth having been forcibly gouged out from the middle.

On the Shaman tribe's city walls, countless slaves were laboring hard, moving cut stone blocks onto the walls, continuously making them higher and thicker. Every time a layer of bricks was laid, a Shaman practitioner would step forward to sprinkle fresh blood and chant incantations, and the blood would seep into the bricks and stones, turning them a faint dark red. This blood was primarily human blood, mixed with the filthy and poisonous blood of other species, specifically to break the clear Qi of the Human Domain.

However, the several Great Shamans were still somewhat troubled. One said, "The city defenses are far from enough; this won't be able to block a single strike from General Yue Jinshan."

"The old thing's first blade is too fierce and vicious; whoever of us blocks it dies. It would be better to let him attack the city."

"Lord Hongye is urging us very urgently on her side; should we attack one more time?"

"No, what if that old thief Yue attacks at this time? That old thing is extremely cunning."

Just as the several Great Shamans were discussing, a gust of wild wind suddenly rose in the surroundings, and a figure as sturdy as a mountain appeared before the group of Shamans.

He was bare-chested, with long bristles growing on his head and back, and two huge fangs protruding from his mouth. He was twice as tall as all the Great Shamans, and in his hand, he carried an extremely heavy six-sided giant club.

He stopped before the group of Shamans, and the terrifying pressure made the group of Shamans subconsciously retreat.

The several Great Shamans bowed in unison: "Great Shaman Yanxin."

Yanxin's six eyes swept coldly over the group of Shamans and said, "Lord Shengxin has an order: attack Azure Void immediately!"

The several Great Shamans looked at each other, and surprisingly, none of them answered.

"What, is there a problem?"

A Great Shaman bit the bullet and said, "The human race has prepared methods inside that can easily exterminate us. As long as we get close, our hearts pound and our spiritual senses sound warnings. This subordinate feels it is best to use ordinary armies to consume their strength. As long as we wipe out their armies or trick them into revealing their hidden methods, we will naturally be able to win then."

"But at present, the troops must also guard against a sneak attack from Western Jin, and the troops are far from enough. Lord Hongye has already promised to replenish three hundred thousand soldiers within three months. Attacking then would be foolproof."

Another Great Shaman also said, "This region is barren to begin with, and there is nothing useful here; the most valuable things are the human livestock offerings. But after fighting for several years, there is not one in ten human livestock left, and most of those alive aren't even fit to be offerings. It would be better to let Azure Void raise them for us first."

Yanxin immediately became impatient and said angrily, "You lot are all making excuses; do you think this tiny realm, which has only been established for a little over a month, cannot be taken down, or do you think Lord Shengxin's orders can be ignored?"

The group of Shamans remained silent.

Yanxin suddenly spat a mouthful of saliva onto the face of the Great Shaman in front and said, "Master Shu Li and Hongye are trash, and their subordinates are all a bunch of trash too!"

A Great Shaman's aura surged, and he roared, "You dare to insult Lord Master Shu Li and Lord Hongye?"

Yanxin's long bristles exploded outward, and a giant claw gripped that Great Shaman's neck, lifting him in his hand like a chick, and roared at his face: "They are also two pieces of trash! Well, are you unconvinced?"

That Great Shaman's face turned blue and purple, and he struggled desperately, but in front of Yanxin's terrifying magic power, he was as fragile as a larva. Yanxin's roar made him dizzy, and the saliva sprayed all over his face.

Yanxin laughed loudly: "You still think Master Shu Li can protect you? I have already called his name several times; is there any reaction?"

The several Great Shamans were all silent.

Yanxin threw the Great Shaman in his hand to the side and sneered: "A few pieces of trash still think they are quite important? Actually, Lord Shengxin never counted on you to do anything."

"This time, what you need to do is lure that human out so I can place the Shaman curse specially made by Lord Shengxin on him. As for the extermination method in the realm, you don't need to carry it; I will block it!"

The several Great Shamans all breathed a sigh of relief. Yanxin hummed and said, "Hongye will value you highly; no wonder you are getting worse and worse."

At this time, a Great Shaman standing at the very back said, "Lord Yanxin, I have a better understanding of the human race side, and I have also planted a few secret pieces. How about I make a trip to Western Jin; perhaps I can stop them from aiding Azure Void."

Yanxin looked at that Great Shaman, searched his memory, and said, "You are Meiying? Fine, go and try it; anyway, you are of no use on the battlefield."

Meiying bowed and left immediately, surprisingly not willing to stay for even a moment longer. Yanxin also shook his head after watching, and said to the remaining several Great Shamans: "You are also from large tribes; how do you end up hanging out with her every day?"

A Great Shaman said, "Lord Yanxin, how about we wait another three days? Three days later, another ten thousand warriors will arrive, and at the same time, Meiying should have already played her part. If she can indeed stop General Yue Jinshan from coming to aid, your mission will also be easier to complete."

Hearing the three words General Yue Jinshan, Yanxin rarely did not get angry, and after a moment, he nodded slowly.

In the Azure Void weapon forging field, Yu Zhizhuo was assembling a strange mechanical device, and Wei Yuan and all the cultivators from the Primordial Palace were present, watching from the sidelines.

The mechanical device had a suspension frame, hanging a large iron hammer weighing over a thousand catties, and there was a rocker arm on each side of the suspension frame. Yu Zhizhuo was assembling it while manufacturing parts on the spot, and parts with unsuitable dimensions were also adjusted on the spot. Faint golden sword Qi shot from his fingertips, continuously cutting and shaving, and slices as thin as cicada wings drifted down from the parts, with the dimensions gradually approaching the predetermined range.

Although these slices were steel, they were already so thin that they could drift in the air, and dozens of them added together were no thicker than a strand of hair. Just this one move showed that Yu Zhizhuo's sword technique was profound.

Fortunately, what he wanted to install was not some precision mechanical device, and the work to be done was also rough work; actually, there was no need to be as perfectionist as he was right now, so from beginning to end, there was no opportunity for Zhang Sheng to make a move.

Zhang Sheng breathed a sigh of relief.

The mechanical device was quickly assembled, and two cultivators carried over a huge, specially made iron anvil and placed it underneath. Yu Zhizhuo took an iron ingot, held it with his hand for a few breaths, and the iron ingot turned red-hot, then placed it on the anvil.

Afterward, Yu Zhizhuo rocked the handle, lifted the iron hammer through various transmission mechanisms, and after lifting it to the predetermined height, the mechanism opened automatically, and the iron hammer fell, heavily striking the iron block.

Yu Zhizhuo adjusted the height to which the iron hammer was lifted, and after dropping the hammer a few more times, the iron block was hammered into an extension, having the prototype of a steel plate. Yu Zhizhuo picked up the still red-hot steel plate with his bare hands to check the quality, and only then was he satisfied.

Yu Zhizhuo turned back and said, "With this mechanical device, there is no need to swing a hammer to forge steel billets anymore; just rock the mechanism, lift the iron hammer up, and let it fall naturally. The hammerhead I just made weighs over a thousand catties, lifted to a height of over a zhang, and the falling force is roughly equivalent to you cultivators at the early stage of Dao Foundation, and the force of every hammer strike is the same. The rocker arm only needs a little strength, and it doesn't matter if it's faster or slower, so let the Body Forging cultivators do it."

Seeing this machine, Wei Yuan was already shocked beyond measure. Yu Zhizhuo used no magic arrays, nor did he use rare materials; he only used the most common steel and wood, and as long as a Body Forging cultivator operated it, it could achieve the same effect as a Dao Foundation cultivator swinging a hammer.

Wei Yuan thought deeper, and actually, the efficiency of this mechanical device was much higher than a Dao Foundation cultivator swinging a hammer. A Dao Foundation cultivator is a human after all, and there are always times of fatigue and negligence; even if fully focused, the force of the hammer strike would have slight differences. But this mechanical device had every strike exactly the same, without deviation, and would not get tired.

There were dozens of times more Body Forging cultivators than Dao Foundation ones, so even if hundreds of these mechanical devices were built, Wei Yuan had plenty of people to operate them, ensuring it could run day and night without stopping, with the people resting but the hammers not.

!.

Although there had been no precise calculation, Wei Yuan estimated that the efficiency of this one mechanical device was roughly equivalent to three Dao Foundation cultivators swinging hammers. After all, a Dao Foundation cultivator could only work for eight hours a day.

Wei Yuan immediately ordered Cui Yu to organize manpower to manufacture this kind of mechanical device on a large scale. Yu Zhizhuo then said, "You are probably not good at manufacturing utensils; let these few junior brothers of mine lend a hand, and it can be built faster."

Wei Yuan naturally had no reason to refuse. Cui Yu then took the four junior uncles from the Heavenly Craft Hall and summoned over a hundred Dao Foundation cultivators to go cut wood and melt iron to manufacture the mechanical devices.

After everyone left in a flurry, Wei Yuan came before Yu Zhizhuo, bowed deeply, and said, "Junior Uncle has great talent! We also look at these materials every day, and I don't know how many times we have looked at them, but we never thought of these. Junior Uncle's design is truly like waves rising on a calm lake, hearing thunder in a silent place; to be so simple yet so efficient truly makes this junior admire you!"

Yu Zhizhuo's dark face had long since blossomed with joy from hearing this, and he chuckled: "It's just a little gadget made on a whim. Since you like it, I'll give it to you."

"This... wouldn't that be bad?"

Yu Zhizhuo said with a smile: "There's nothing bad about it, it's just courtesy demands reciprocity."

Zhang Sheng was expressionless.

At this time, in the material yard in the distance, Cui Yu swung his sword, and in an instant, he shaved ten large logs in front of him into square pieces one foot wide and two zhang long. Every single piece of wood was without the slightest error. The remaining Dao Foundation cultivators were either shaving wood or forging iron, and under the guidance of the Heavenly Craft Hall cultivators, they were manufacturing parts one by one.

Newly promoted Dao Foundation cultivators could all swing iron hammers for eight consecutive hours with consistent force, so processing these parts was even more of a breeze, not to mention there were Heavenly Foundation cultivators like Cui Yu, Wang Yu, and Xu Yi.

At this moment, the Dao Foundation cultivators all brought out their magic tools, with various Dao techniques assisting, processing parts in full swing. The numerous Body Forging cultivators were moving materials back and forth and moving the processed parts to the weapon forging workshop.

After discussion among the cultivators, they gave this mechanical device a name with quite an otherworldly style: Iron Forging Machine.

At this time, the weapon forging workshop was also in a state of chaos; Wei Yuan had re-planned the layout, with the first batch reserving space for three hundred Iron Forging Machines, and whether the second batch would be eight hundred or a thousand would be decided later.

The Iron Forging Machine had a simple structure and was sturdy and durable; it was estimated that the assembly of one hundred units could be completed in one night. Although the steel plates produced by the Iron Forging Machine were only rough materials and still required cultivators to do the final finishing, this also saved ninety percent of the effort.

Each Iron Forging Machine could produce ten steel plates per hour, and one hundred units would produce over ten thousand steel plates per day. By tomorrow when all three hundred units were in place, it would only take three or four days to equip everyone in the realm with a steel pipe gun.

Body Forging cultivators could be equipped with three!

Now Wei Yuan wished he could have every cultivator biting on a gun.

The Heavenly Craft Hall was indeed well-deserved of its reputation; as soon as Yu Zhizhuo arrived, he instantly opened up the situation. After seeing this Iron Forging Machine, one felt it was unremarkable and not difficult at all, but before seeing it, everyone could never have thought of it.

Wei Yuan's thoughts turned rapidly, knowing that he was about to face new troubles. High-quality steel plates were enough now, but iron materials and gunpowder were falling behind again.

Wei Yuan felt it was necessary to have a good talk with Sun Yu, let him put aside that immortal medicine Amoxicillin for now, and think carefully about how to produce more gunpowder.

Having established Azure Void for so long, this was the first time Wei Yuan felt that everything was developing in a good direction, and there was finally light ahead. It was just that the phrase "courtesy demands reciprocity" that Yu Zhizhuo had just said seemed to have another meaning, and he didn't know what it meant.

Wei Yuan's heart suddenly stirred; spiritual energy suddenly surged somewhere in the vast mountains and rivers, and then several strands of green Qi slowly generated.

He felt something in his heart and looked toward the distance.

In a shanty in Yong'an City, a loud cry suddenly rang out, and a baby was born. This was the first child born in Azure Void.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 235 =====