Yi Tianxing felt a chill rise in his heart.
The enthusiastic enlistment of the people was a good thing, but it also made him acutely aware that deep down, the people harbored a primal fear and unease toward the outside world. They yearned to gain the strength to survive.
Of course, within their hearts was also the belief in defending Xuanhuang Town.
This was a good thing. It also made Yi Tianxing feel a heavy sense of responsibility.
He had built Xuanhuang Town to shelter the human race. Now that the people were voluntarily enlisting, it was also a way for them to protect their new home.
However, the greater the number of recruits, the greater the benefit to Xuanhuang Town in its current state. The higher the number of troops, the greater the combat power it would yield. Even if the majority of people joined the army, the rest could still support them.
The food harvested from the fields had already piled up like mountains. There was no worry about sustaining a large army.
Not to mention, once someone became a soldier, they wouldn't just train—they would go out and hunt fierce beasts. The beasts they hunted could fully cover their daily needs.
In short, Xuanhuang Town's military wasn't just trained—it was forged in blood.
"Fifty thousand troops, well-trained, all cultivators. In the surrounding ten-thousand-mile radius, this is surely one of the top forces. You've done well," Yi Tianxing nodded in praise to General Yang Ye and the others.
"It's not solely because of us," Yang Ye said firmly. "The soldiers who've enlisted are driven by a will to become stronger. When training and fighting, they give it their all. The bold spirit of the people naturally leads to a powerful army."
"Master Lu, the blueprints I gave you earlier for the Goblin War Chariot—have you figured them out? Is it possible to manufacture them?"
He had secretly handed the blueprints to Master Lu after returning, hoping his unparalleled mechanical expertise could bring the devastating weapon to life.
If completed, it would become a fearsome weapon of war.
"The Goblin War Chariot is incredibly intricate. It involves numerous components and requires the engraving of runes. The materials needed are exceptionally rare. To engrave the runes, one must possess extremely advanced techniques. According to the blueprints, after crafting the parts, Rune Engravers are needed to inscribe the symbols. While different from Talisman Masters, they are similar enough that a Talisman Master could take their place, or even a Micro-Carver for the finer parts."
Master Lu's eyes lit up as he spoke with enthusiasm. "Crafting the Goblin War Chariot requires a large number of precision parts. More importantly, the materials are not simple—bone crystals aren't suitable for the main structure. At the very least, we need Redgold Copper, which we don't have in the town. Even the fallback material, Millennium Ironwood, is extremely rare. Without materials, crafting will be very difficult."
He had thoroughly studied the design and confirmed it was a formidable war machine. As a master of mechanisms, he believed that once the parts were produced, he could assemble them. The true difficulty lay in engraving the runes, nearly every part needed one.
Larger parts could be inscribed using talismanic methods, but the smaller ones required micro-engraving—a form of micro-rune carving—a task only someone who understood both inscription and mechanics could complete. Without the runes, the war chariot would be no different from a lifeless shell.
But with the runes—it would become a weapon of annihilation.
It was a true crystallization of cultivation civilization.
"I'll issue orders to search for Millennium Ironwood and Redgold Copper Ore. We must build the first Goblin War Chariot. Once we do, I can mass-produce them using the Universal Printing Machine. As long as we have materials, we'll have an endless supply," Yi Tianxing nodded with determination.
The Goblin War Chariot must be built. It was a weapon of war. The materials would eventually be found—the priority was building the first one. With that, mass production would follow.
"Although the Goblin War Chariot can't be built just yet, I've developed a new type of crossbow," Master Lu said with confidence. "It uses beast bones for the stock and beast tendons for the string. The internal cartridge holds ten bolts. It's an improvement on the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow."
"The original Zhuge crossbow was large and heavy, ideal for defense on city walls. It could fire ten bolts in succession with great power, but wasn't suitable for mobile combat. I improved the materials and incorporated rune talismans. It's now compact, more powerful, and ideal for battlefield use. My lord, please take a look."
As he spoke, he presented the weapon.
Cao Zhengchun stepped forward, took the crossbow, and handed it to Yi Tianxing.
Yi Tianxing examined it carefully.
The crossbow resembled the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow but had been miniaturized. It was lighter than even a standard bow, and the structure included a handle, a bolt track, and a trigger. The bolt magazine rested atop the weapon.
Its design was very much like a modern rifle.
It could fire in succession and had no essential difference from modern firearms. Firearms shot bullets; this crossbow shot rune-engraved bolts. Both could achieve burst fire.
"Amazing—compact and lightweight. These bolts are shorter than ordinary arrows and are etched with rune inscriptions. This one's inscribed with a Gale Rune, meaning it will gain speed when fired."
Yi Tianxing's eyes gleamed with excitement.
A crossbow like this, in large numbers, would be far more terrifying than traditional bows. It required no great strength to use and could unleash devastating power. Most importantly, it was light enough for any cultivator to wield effortlessly.
"Let me test its power."
With interest, Yi Tianxing prepared to test it himself.
Cao Zhengchun quickly arranged the setup.
Soon, a thick iron plate was erected a hundred meters away.
Whoosh!
Without aiming, Yi Tianxing raised the crossbow and pulled the trigger. A golden bolt shot out like a streak of lightning, its speed nearly impossible to follow, leaving behind only a sharp whistle in the air.
Clang!!
In the next moment, a crisp metallic sound rang out—the iron plate now had a gaping hole. The bolt had not only pierced through but had buried itself deep into the earth behind it.
Its speed and penetrating power were astonishing.
The rune inscription had made the bolt nearly unstoppable.
"This crossbow has an effective range of over five hundred meters thanks to the rune inscriptions. With more improvements, it might reach a thousand meters. Within range, it's lethally effective. Its strength lies in its explosive power. The Gale Rune boosts its speed to the extreme. With specialized Gale Bolts, its range and speed would be even greater."
"And its operation is so simple that even an ordinary person can master it quickly. As long as we have enough of these crossbows, we can instantly field tens of thousands of crossbow troops."
"The real genius lies in this: cultivators can channel true qi into the crossbow. I even included a slot for inserting spirit crystals. With crystals, the weapon's power reaches its peak, requiring only a small amount of qi to fire. Without crystals, the qi cost increases significantly."
Master Lu's confidence was unmistakable.
This was a weapon suited to Xuanhuang Town. Any citizen could pick it up and use it. In emergencies, with enough units on hand, tens of thousands of citizens could become an army overnight.
Its destructive power would be devastating.
"Excellent. Master Lu, this battle crossbow is a great contribution to Xuanhuang Town—especially with the coming war. You'll be awarded a generous amount of merit points. Does this crossbow have a name? Since you designed it, the naming rights are yours."
It had been long established that any invention from the Heavenly Works Pavilion would earn merit points. Master Lu's creation certainly qualified.
No one in the room objected to the reward.
In fact, the military officials were already gazing at the crossbow with fiery intensity.
"This was developed from the Zhuge Crossbow. But now that it's fused with runes, it has transformed—it is no longer a mundane weapon. Let it be named the Divine Mechanism Crossbow (神机弩). One day, I hope it may even slay gods and demons," Master Lu declared after a moment of thought.
Clearly, he had high hopes for its future evolution.