Chapter 114: Lighting the Flicker, the Miracle of Controlling Lightning

Current surged along the red copper wire at the speed of light, forcing its way into the base of the miniature glass bulb and cramming through the tungsten filament thinner than a hair.

The densely packed electrons collided, generating immense heat.

A faint yellow glow suddenly flared within the glass cover no larger than a fingernail.

This light was exceptionally stable—neither flickering like a candle flame nor emitting black smoke like burning oil.

Pure and bright, it instantly pierced through the shadows surrounding the carpet.

Xiao Sizi gasped sharply.

Her pupils contracted instinctively under the light's stimulation.

She forgot to blink, her eyes locked onto the glowing little sphere.

It required no rubbing wood to make fire, no firestarter to ignite.

Only a few cool metal wires and a dull-looking sheet of plastic-coated iron.

With her own two hands, she had conjured a light that would never go out.

Xiao Sizi reached out and gently touched the surface of the glass bulb.

It was only slightly warm, radiating real, tangible heat.

"Lit—" Xiao Sizi's throat was dry and rough, squeezing out two words.

Lin Xuan stepped forward and bent down.

He slid his hands under Xiao Sizi's armpits and lifted her up in one motion.

Holding her in his arms, he walked step by step toward the floor-to-ceiling window at the far end of the living room.

Swish—

One hand tore open the heavy blackout curtains.

Outside the window stretched an endless modern metropolis at night.

Countless lights illuminated every direction.

Neon strips glowed in various colors along the exteriors of skyscrapers; traffic on the elevated highways flowed in endless, connected streams.

Car headlights formed rivers of luminous arteries in constant motion.

The entire city shone as brightly as day.

Xiao Sizi pressed her cheek against the cool glass, looking down at this sea of light.

Lin Xuan raised his hand and gently rubbed the top of her head.

"That thing you just pressed is called electricity."

Lin Xuan pointed to the red anti-aircraft light flashing atop the distant TV tower. "Above Jiutian, lightning and thunder crash. In ancient times, people feared lightning would strike and destroy trees, feared heavenly fire would burn down homes."

"But modern people have tamed it."

"We captured the wild lightning from the sky, imposed physical laws upon it, and made it obediently flow through metal wires beneath this city and inside its walls."

Lin Xuan turned with her in his arms.

He pointed to the ceiling lamp in the living room, to the television, to the refrigerator in the kitchen.

"The glowing little sphere you just made—magnify it ten thousand times, a hundred million times—that's this city."

"Modern people have mastered lightning, using it to replace torches, driving away the night."

Xiao Sizi rested against Lin Xuan's shoulder, her heartbeat pounding fiercely.

She had understood the meaning of his words.

In the Tang Dynasty, people held rituals to honor Heaven—seeking favorable rains and bountiful harvests.

They also begged the Thunder God and Lightning Mother not to unleash their wrath and bring disaster.

In modern times, people pulled down the power once ruled by gods, trapping it inside copper wires.

Turning it into a tool they could command at will.

A massive Sky Screen stretched across the sky.

The location: the Tang Dynasty, the square before Taiji Hall.

Li Chunfeng, Director of the Bureau of Celestial Observations, looked up at the heavens, his Jinxian Crown askew from the wind.

——

He himself had not noticed; his dry lips hung slightly open.

His Adam's apple struggled to rise and fall.

According to Tang Dynasty law, whenever spring thunder roared and rain poured down.

The emperor and ministers must fast and bathe, refrain from executions, and avoid launching wars.

Lightning and thunder were the most sacred taboos of heaven and earth, the divine radiance belonging solely to the gods.

Yet right now, above this Sky Screen,

That five-year-old girl, with nothing but stripped copper wires, pressed a red switch.

She had imprisoned the power of the gods inside a tiny Glazed Ware sphere, making the sphere glow and radiate heat on its own.

His once-proud celestial divination and Yin-Yang trigrams now appeared absurd and foolish beside this tiny glowing bulb.

At the very back of the military formation,

Duan Lun, Minister of Works, trembled violently from sheer exhilaration.

He understood nothing of celestial patterns, believed nothing in gods—he was the highest-ranking craftsman in the Tang Dynasty.

He saw only tangible phenomena.

That light was conducted through metal wires; that power could be mastered by ordinary people.

"Tamed lightning—running through metal wires—"

Duan Lun repeated Lin Xuan's words over and over under his breath.

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh so hard that the hem of his official robe flew up.

"There are traces to be found! The Ancestors wrote it down long ago!" Duan Lun suddenly shouted.

The officials around him were all startled by his outburst and turned their faces to look at him.

Duan Lun paid no heed to the others; he strode rapidly toward the Danbi steps, then threw himself down with a thud, kneeling heavily on the ground.

"Your Majesty!" Duan Lun lifted his head, staring straight at Li Shimin above the steps. "This subject remembers! In the 'Discourses Weighed' previously written by the Prince of Han, there is a record: 'Amber attracts mustard seeds; lodestone draws needles'!"

Duan Lun was so excited that his words stumbled over each other, his hands flailing wildly in mid-air.

"Dunmu refers to tortoiseshell and amber!"

"If you rub amber with coarse cloth or animal hide, it can pick up stray bits of grass and debris from the ground; that is an extremely faint essence of lightning!"

Li Shimin stood atop the high platform.

He too had been unsettled by the lights of that sleepless city within the Sky Screen, but upon hearing Duan Lun's shout, a sharp brilliance suddenly ignited in Li Shimin's eyes.

"Minister Duan, what are you trying to say!"

"The lightning in the heavens possesses too much power; ordinary people die upon touching it, but the lightning generated by rubbing amber is exceedingly small!"

Duan Lun raised his head, his eyes filled with a frantic drive to understand.

"This humble subject begs Your Majesty to open the vaults of the Inner Palace Treasury!"

"Conscript the finest amber and tortoiseshell from across the realm, and gather the best fox furs and sable hairs from among the common people."

Duan Lun extended a finger, pointing at the miniature light bulb within the Sky Screen that had already gone dark.

"People of later generations could tame lightning; the Ministry of Works of our Great Tang must also give it a try."

"This subject will personally lead people to grind! To rub!"

"This subject will gather this faint lightning produced by friction together, to see if, like in later generations, it can flow along copper wires."

Before Taiji Hall, the multitude of ministers held their breath.

Li Shimin looked down at the Minister of Works, who was now in a state of high agitation.

Turning his head, he glanced once more at the modern city within the Sky Screen, so bright it dazzled the eye.

Standing at the very pinnacle of power requires looking not only at whether one's territory is vast enough.

It requires seeing whether one can firmly grasp all things in hand; if the Great Tang could also grasp lightning—

"Granted!" Li Shimin declared with decisive finality.

"Open the National Treasury."

"No matter what materials are needed, the Ministry of Revenue shall allocate them with full effort."

"From today onward, the Ministry of Works shall establish a dedicated department; even if it takes ten years or a hundred, they must ascertain the rules of lightning for Us!"