Chapter 545: Steel and Will (Thanks to Patron Beichen Qishen)

"On Protracted War," a relatively short essay, Little Wei Yuan spent a full half-hour reading it, most of that time lost in careful, word-by-word contemplation.

This essay rises above all others, a pinnacle work synthesizing thirty thousand years of human historical wisdom and knowledge from the outside world. It clearly states that the war against the Rain Kingdom can be divided into three phases: strategic defense, strategic stalemate, and strategic offense.

Qingming has now gradually shifted from strategic defense to strategic stalemate; the Grandmaster Hongye's plan to swiftly annihilate Qingming has already failed.

Qingming possesses the Renjian Yanhuo of human life; as long as it upholds the principle that every person can become a dragon, fully unlocking the value of common folk and gathering the qi of human destiny to oppose the Witch Domain's heavens and earth, the two sides' military strengths will ebb and flow—Qingming will inevitably transition to strategic offense and ultimately annihilate the Rain Kingdom.

In the foreseeable future, Little Wei Yuan may well establish Qingzhou, reviving the golden age when the Three Immortals of Tai Chu Palace opened Yunzhou.

Annihilating the Rain Kingdom is merely the beginning of the war against the Witch Clan; the conflict between humanity and the Witch Clan has lasted over a hundred thousand years. To eradicate the Witch Clan entirely, even if Little Wei Yuan becomes an immortal and then dies of old age, it may still be unattainable.

But as long as Qingming endures, and ordinary people can each become dragons, and human destiny thrives without decline, other human nations will inevitably follow suit. As human destiny prospers, more Wei Yuans will emerge.

This process may last tens of thousands of years—hence the essay is titled "On Protracted War."

Besides the main text, it includes an appendix titled "Comparative Advantage Analysis of the War Against the Witch Clan."

The appendix is far more concrete, focusing specifically on the current war. Based on data from the past six major battles, it meticulously analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the Rain Kingdom and Qingming, proposing a series of specific countermeasures.

Many of these suggestions are wildly implausible—for instance, in the section on manpower, it urgently recommends finding ways to tie Su Su Xuejing to Qingming's war chariot: if he's male, pair him with a woman; if she's female, pair her with a man. Future departure is not forbidden—just leave the child behind.

Ji Ji Liuli, the Peacock Buddha Mother, the Red Lotus Monk, and countless others must not be overlooked either.

The report even suggests Little Wei Yuan inherit the Great Joyous Wang Fu.

The Longmen and Wolong Fengchu geniuses keenly realized that once Little Wei Yuan inherits the Great Joyous Wang Fu's Dharma Form, countless female cultivators and maternal cultivators will have no escape—they will be bound to Qingming's war chariot whether they wish it or not. If Little Wei Yuan lowers his standards further, male cultivators won't escape either.

Little Wei Yuan read it with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, crossing out all these implausible suggestions.

Yet the suggestion regarding Ji Ji Liuli caught his attention. Based on existing information, Ji Ji Liuli's Dao Heart has developed a flaw, but its exact nature remains unclear. The Longmen and Wolong Fengchu geniuses, analyzing Little Wei Yuan's own experiences, concluded that Dream-Eating might be the only viable solution to her Dao Heart problem.

Her Dream Realm can mimic reality so perfectly that her Dao Heart flaw may be exposed within it. Once the root is identified, a solution becomes possible.

Little Wei Yuan noted this suggestion, then carefully examined the rest.

Aside from the wild flights of fancy in the "Humanity" section, the rest of the document remained rigorous and logically airtight.

After finishing, Little Wei Yuan sat in deep thought for a long while, then went to find Xu Xu Wenwu and spoke with him for the entire afternoon. Little Wei Yuan mostly listened while Xu Xu Wenwu spoke; only when the latter strayed too far did he gently steer him back.

Xu Xu Wenwu had not spoken so freely in a long time. Moreover, Little Wei Yuan now understood the outside world well enough to respond with seasoned insight, even making jokes unique to that realm.

At times, Xu Xu Wenwu almost believed Little Wei Yuan, like himself, was a fat recluse from the outside world.

By dinnertime, a cultivator arrived with meals. Xu Xu Wenwu and Xu Xu Shiba resided here, yet the cultivator brought two large food boxes—six dishes, one soup, and a bucket of ten catties of rice.

Though the meal seemed ample, Xu Xu Shiba alone could finish it all. The girl grew rapidly, at the cost of eating five meals daily.

After his deep conversation with Xu Xu Wenwu, Little Wei Yuan finally rose. Before leaving, he embraced Xu Xu Wenwu and patted his noticeably fleshy back. "After the next battle, I'll arrange your Foundation Establishment."

Xu Xu Wenwu was stunned and delighted: "I can achieve Foundation Establishment? But you said last time I might face a Tribulation!"

Little Wei Yuan smiled: "It was only a possibility before. But after our talk, it's now certain you'll face a Tribulation. No matter—it'll come with destiny's blessing. You'll be in peril, but not danger. At worst, you'll suffer some skin-deep pain."

Xu Xu Wenwu's cheek muscles twitched—eager yet uneasy. He wouldn't sleep well tonight.

As Little Wei Yuan stepped out of the courtyard, he felt clearer about his path than ever before. Victory was no longer mere belief—it now had a concrete path and strategy to follow.

He flew directly to the Forge Workshop and entered Yu Yu Zhizhuo's residence.

Yu Yu Zhizhuo's hair was disheveled, sweat on his brow; eight jade tablets floated before him, each processing a separate calculation. Seeing Little Wei Yuan, he was startled, splitting off a strand of spiritual sense to ask: "Why are you back again?"

Little Wei Yuan smiled: "I've come to dig ore with you, Master."

"Dig ore?" Yu Yu Zhizhuo perked up instantly, his entire demeanor changing. Digging ore was the only activity capable of pulling him away from his desk at this moment.

"Wait a moment—I'll take a quick nap."

Yu Yu Zhizhuo didn't even return to his room. He simply lay down on his recliner and fell asleep. Then he appeared in the Institute of the Primordial Beginning, found a seat, and this time submitted a task—not received one.

Yu Yu Zhizhuo had already broken down all problems related to the spell templates into over four hundred specific calculations and derivations. He submitted them all at once; the Immortal Plants would then distribute these tasks to others.

All Yu Yu Zhizhuo needed to do was wait for results and compile them himself. This saved him ninety percent of his effort, greatly accelerating his research.

Yet as one naturally obsessed with cultivation and artifact forging, Yu Yu Zhizhuo preferred calculating each step himself. But time was pressing—he abandoned his stubbornness and chose to use human Renjian Yanhuo for assistance.

Little Wei Yuan stood nearby, finding the scene strangely odd.

Right before his eyes, Yu Yu Zhizhuo entered his own Dharma Form and worked earnestly inside—efficiently, productively. The problem was, everyone inside acted independently, never consulting Little Wei Yuan. Many newcomers didn't even know who he was.

At this moment, Little Wei Yuan felt that perhaps too much sentience in the Mind Realm wasn't such a good thing.

After roughly half a stick of incense, Yu Yu Zhizhuo awoke. "All arranged. If fortune favors us, the Molten Gold Technique will be revised by this time tomorrow."

Little Wei Yuan silently bestowed an additional layer of destiny upon Yu Yu Zhizhuo. "Don't worry—fortune will be excellent."

Yu Yu Zhizhuo opened the map. "Where do we dig? Four mines are available. The southern vein is largest, but mostly iron."

"That one."

Not a single word, not a single error, not a single flaw—every detail was perfect!

Yu Yu Zhizhuo asked no further, fearing Little Wei Yuan would change his mind. He immediately flew south with Little Wei Yuan. Little Wei Yuan simultaneously summoned five hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators to await them at the mine.

Upon arrival, they descended directly into the mine shaft, reaching the deepest working face. The tunnels here were barely tall enough for one person, barely wide enough for two to walk side by side.

Under Yu Yu Zhizhuo's guidance, Little Wei Yuan instantly deployed over thirty Open-Wisdom Foundation Establishment talismans, even releasing his Open-Wisdom Dharma Form.

All cultivators simultaneously cast Water Blade spells; the torrents struck the ore veins, instantly slicing off vast sheets of rock. Three Foundation Establishment cultivators worked in parallel, excavating one tunnel, while the Dharma Form moved alone—each slight shift of its Water Blade carved a passage over a man's height.

Once all cultivators were in position, Little Wei Yuan selected an ore vein and activated the Golden Light Water Blade Technique.

His first strike changed everything. The water, flecked with golden sparks, required no motion—massive layers of rock collapsed spontaneously. In moments, a vast workface, several feet across, appeared before him, advancing at a pace of one zhang every few seconds.

One Dharma Form equaled dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators. Combined with Little Wei Yuan himself, it was instantly equivalent to hundreds of cultivators mining simultaneously. The ground trembled violently; ore cascaded down like a mountain flood!

Such a spectacle stunned Yu Yu Zhizhuo, who had spent his entire life mining. He fumbled, barely managing to cast a spell to reinforce the tunnel walls. Only then did he realize Little Wei Yuan's foresight: the five hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators had been summoned solely to haul ore away.

Little Wei Yuan worked nonstop through the night until dawn. Yu Yu Zhizhuo left midway, entrusting his juniors to reinforce the tunnels and direct excavation. He himself went to the Forge Workshop to urgently construct new blast furnaces.

Little Wei Yuan had said: at least thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators would remain to mine underground using Water Blade spells. Whether one could use Water Blade or not meant a tenfold difference in efficiency. With this elite corps of Foundation Establishment miners, the iron mine's output surged several times over—there weren't enough blast furnaces.

Little Wei Yuan and Yu Yu Zhizhuo had already discussed increasing the number of blast furnaces by two hundred percent. To accelerate progress, Little Wei Yuan summoned another thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators to assist Yu Yu Zhizhuo in building them.

In labor, a Cultivation Body perfected cultivator equaled over a hundred ordinary mortals. A Foundation Establishment cultivator could fly about carrying over a thousand catties—efficiency equal to ten or more Cultivation Body perfected cultivators. With so many Foundation Establishment cultivators assisting, a furnace that would normally take three months to build now took only two days.

This expansion will raise Qingming's daily steel output to six hundred thousand catties—enough to forge ten thousand sets of full steel armor, or sixty thousand full-body shields.

In less than half a month, Little Wei Yuan can arm every common soldier to the teeth—not just with armor. With sufficient production as a base, he had full confidence and retrieved all stored iron, recasting it into thick steel plates.

These plates would be welded together to form the unbreakable roofs of small fortresses.

Such steel roofs could block even the heavy arrows fired by divine archers and withstand the Witch Clan's primitive gunpowder blasts. Only black water sealed inside leather balls could corrode them—but even then, it took time. With that delay, soldiers inside the fortress could inflict several times more casualties.

This black water, highly toxic and corrosive, was not mixed—it was secreted by a certain War Beast of the Witch Clan. Little Wei Yuan doubted such high-quality poison could be produced in large quantities.

Even if the Rain Kingdom possessed countless War Beasts, the price of this black water would far exceed that of steel—by value, likely hundreds of times higher.

Using steel fortresses to consume the Witch Clan's poison, Little Wei Yuan saw no way he could lose.

In the short term, gunpowder cannot be mass-produced—but steel can.

Little Wei Yuan plans to construct as many steel fortresses and fortifications as possible, arming even the most ordinary soldiers with steel. In the end, the Witch Clan and Grandmaster Hongye will face a nation entirely clad in steel, where every commoner becomes a monstrous armored warrior.

As Little Wei Yuan and Yu Yu Zhizhuo said: Qingming now has enough steel. The question is whether the Witch Clan possesses steel-like will.

(End of Chapter)