The State Preceptor of Yankang smiled faintly and said, "The Holy Cult Master is indeed not humble."
Qin Mu was a bit puzzled. He was clearly very humble and pragmatic, only admitting to being second, not daring to claim first, never boasting. Could that not be called humble?
Shan Youxin, the Vice Minister of Works, was the Heavenly Craft Hall Master of the Heavenly Demon Cult. His skill in forging treasures was already the best in the world. Even if other sects had talented individuals skilled in forging, they could not surpass Shan Youxin by much.
However, Shan Youxin was far inferior to Qin Mu. Qin Mu considered himself not as good as the Mute, so admitting to being second was both humble and pragmatic. Old Ma taught him not to be arrogant or impatient, not to be humble or overbearing, and he followed this requirement.
However, for others, a young boy being the second-best Heavenly Craftsman in the world was truly shocking. Moreover, this young boy also considered himself the second-best divine doctor, which was too terrifying.
Qin Mu pondered for a moment, made a list of the required materials, and handed it to the State Preceptor of Yankang, saying, "To forge such a turret, these materials are roughly needed. If they are insufficient, I will ask the State Preceptor for more."
The State Preceptor of Yankang took the list, looked at it for a moment, and slowly said, "Is the Holy Cult Master trying to empty the national treasury?"
Qin Mu was surprised and said, "Why does the State Preceptor say that?"
"The mystic gold and mystic copper on your list are fine. Using a bit more, a few mines can provide so much gold and copper. But where can I get this divine gold and divine material?"
The State Preceptor of Yankang flicked the list and showed a sincere look: "Does the Cult Master intend to embezzle national treasury treasures? If so, there is a place for the Cult Master at the vegetable market execution ground."
"State Preceptor, what you want to build is a god-slaying gadget, not a sect-protecting treasure that kills a few Cult Masters! Also, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten. My Heavenly Holy Cult disciples will help forge the treasures, and wages must be paid."
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then listed the wages, a few supervisory workshops he needed, and the names of several first-rank officials in the court.
"To forge this divine cannon, I also need the best mathematicians in the world, preferably able to invite experts from the Dao Sect!"
Qin Mu wrote the two characters "Dao Sect" on the list and said, "Every component of this divine cannon must be perfect. The calculation volume is huge. With only the scholars from the Imperial Academy, it would take hundreds of years to calculate, and there would be errors. The experts from the Dao Sect are strong in mathematics, and we must invite them."
The State Preceptor of Yankang's expression changed slightly. He felt the list was heavy and truly burdensome.
With the entire nation's strength, it was estimated that only one Sun-Slaying Divine Cannon could be built!
The most difficult to invite were the experts from the Dao Sect. The old Dao Sect Master once attempted to assassinate Emperor Yanfeng and almost succeeded. He also coerced the former Crown Prince Ling Yuxia to rebel, nearly proclaiming himself emperor. After the rebellion was quelled, Emperor Yanfeng and Crown Prince Ling Yushu ruthlessly suppressed the Dao Sect, and both sides were quite unhappy, as hostile as fire and water.
It was very difficult to invite experts from the Dao Sect to help.
But this divine cannon must be built, otherwise, there would be no resistance at all against the next natural disaster!
Now he had not yet recovered to his peak state. Who knew when the next natural disaster would come?
"The national treasury is empty. There is not so much money."
The State Preceptor of Yankang probed, "Can the Holy Cult Master give a discount?"
Qin Mu calculated and smiled, "After the Loulan Golden Palace was conquered, the State Preceptor allowed me to choose a hundred treasures. I can use my own funds to advance the wages of the sect members."
The State Preceptor of Yankang intended to bargain. Qin Mu smiled, "Heavenly King, I myself worked without asking for wages. Inviting the second-best Heavenly Craftsman in the world comes at a high price! Moreover, I am the Heavenly Holy Cult Master!"
The State Preceptor of Yankang sighed, "I should not have agreed to be the Heavenly King of the Heavenly Holy Cult. Now I am constrained and cannot bargain. I need to report this matter to the Emperor and ask him to decide. Over the years, the State of Yankang has annexed many countries and destroyed many sects. The national treasury has stored some divine gold and divine material, but it needs the Emperor's approval. Wait for ten days or so, and the Emperor's decree will come."
Qin Mu turned to help forge the Divine Sky Rings. He was not worried about the divine gold and divine material, as he did not find them precious. When he forged his own sword pellet, he used a lot of this material, all obtained from the treasure vault of the Heavenly Demon Cult. He even handed over all the sect-protecting treasures on him to the Heavenly Demon Cult's treasure vault.
He worked with a group of scholars from the Ministry of Works and the Imperial Academy to forge the Divine Sky Rings. The speed was extremely fast. In war, speed is precious. If only forging the Divine Sky Rings, more than 17,000 pieces needed to be forged, which was also a massive project.
The Divine Sky Rings connected the array patterns of the True Essence Cannon, capable of binding the True Essence beam in the center of the cannon barrel without touching the bore. It concentrated the True Essence beam to the thickness of a bowl's mouth, so the bore would not heat up. Mystic metal fatigue and thermal decay would no longer exist.
Originally, the beam of the True Essence Cannon was as thick as a bucket. Now it became as thick as a bowl's mouth. Although the attack area became smaller, the range was greatly improved. Moreover, one could fire at will without worrying about the barrel exploding, turning the towered boat into a true aerial warship.
In fact, the improvement of the Divine Sky Rings on the True Essence Cannon was not the greatest. Among the Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Technique, the Divine Sky Eye was only the most basic eye technique. The other eight eye techniques were much stronger than the Divine Sky Eye.
The strongest was the ninth-level Fire Sky Eye.
However, the array patterns of the Divine Sky Eye were the simplest, easiest to learn, easiest to forge, and required the fewest materials. Therefore, Qin Mu only taught everyone the array patterns of the Divine Sky Eye.
If it were the Fire Sky Eye, even Qin Mu could not forge a single Fire Sky Ring in ten days or half a month. The array patterns of the Fire Sky Ring were too complex. If the Fire Sky Ring were used, the True Essence beam would be reduced to a ray thinner than a needle, and the range would be greatly improved. However, the energy required to activate the True Essence Cannon was enormous. I'm afraid the national treasury could not bear it.
"If the Fire Sky Ring could be forged, concentrating light into threads to form a killing array, it would truly be invincible. Used to protect the holy land, absolutely no army could break through!"
Qin Mu calculated how much it would cost to build such a protective array, then felt dejected. The Heavenly Holy Cult could afford to build it, but not to use it. The medicinal stones required to activate and maintain the array were too many.
He had another thought. Although the Fire Sky Eye was not as good as the Sun-Slaying Divine Eye, the Blind One's divine eye was the Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Technique. The divine eye contained the array patterns of the Nine Heavens, equivalent to the power of the Nine Heavens accumulated together. This was truly terrifying!
"When Grandpa Blind's eyes were still there, I'm afraid anyone he stared at would die, right?"
Qin Mu couldn't help but admire. The Blind One was short and always muttering, leaning on a bamboo cane and showing off. It was hard to imagine how terrifying his gaze was when his eyes were still there!
And who had dug out the Blind One's divine eye?
The God of the Spear back then possessed such a terrifying divine eye. Who could take his eyes and make this godlike existence fall to such a state?
"The Dao Sect? The Great Thunderclap Monastery? Li Tianxing? Or Small Jade Capital?"
Qin Mu pondered and suddenly remembered the young man named Xu Shenghua. His heart stirred: "Could it be the place called Heaven that Xu Shenghua came from?"
The Blind One was known as the God of the Spear, but his strongest asset was his divine eye. His eyes were dug out.
The Butcher was known as the Heaven Blade. Once he杀上天空, it was said that gods appeared and cut the Butcher in half.
The Village Chief was known as the Sword God, but his limbs were cut off by a sword.
Was there any connection between these?
The Cripple was a divine thief. His leg was cut off by the State Preceptor of Yankang when he went to the palace to steal. He was different from the Blind One and the Butcher. The Mute's tongue was cut off by someone unknown. Since the Mute did not speak, no one knew the reason.
The Herbalist cut off his own face to sever emotional entanglements. The Deaf poked his own ears deaf, hating that he did not hear matters outside the window. Grandma Si's inner demon was Li Tianxing. Master and disciple fought because of godlike beauty. Old Ma cut off his own arm to repay his master's kindness. These were all unrelated.
Only the Butcher and the Village Chief, their disabilities were probably due to the same reason.
Gods.
And the person who dug out the Blind One's eyes was unknown.
"Where could Grandpa Blind's divine eye be?"
Qin Mu was lost in thought. Suddenly he shook his head and pushed the matter aside, thinking: "Based on the principle of the True Essence Cannon, I can use the Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Technique to create eye technique divine abilities. Grandpa Blind only taught eye technique, not divine abilities. But I can create them myself! When I forge my divine eye, I'll see who dares to dig out my eyes!"
He did as he thought. He activated the Tyrant Body Three Elixirs Technique, mobilized the Seven Creation Chapters from the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra, and activated the Creation Human King Technique and Creation Earth Origin Technique. Immediately, raging qi and fire gathered in his eyes.
Layer by layer, array patterns condensed in his pupils, revealing the Azure Sky Eye. As the technique activated, two beams of fire shot out.
Fire raged in Qin Mu's eyes. The light grew more intense. His gaze focused on the turret before him, cutting it into three pieces!
Everyone on the boat looked over. Qin Mu quickly withdrew his gaze and dispersed the array patterns in his eyes, smiling, "Don't be alarmed. I think this turret is useless. Better melt it down and reforged."
The surprise on everyone's faces had not yet faded. Qin Mu's heart pounded wildly. He clenched his fist: "The divine eye is so powerful. Anyone he stares at dies..."
The Cripple and the Village Chief sat together at the entrance of the City Lord's Mansion, basking in the sun. Seeing these two beams of light, they couldn't help but shake their heads: "This kid Mu is messing around blindly again. He's not afraid of burning his own eyes. The Blind One is too careless, teaching him such dangerous things."
The Village Chief squinted and said, "How strong the Blind One's divine eye was can be seen from Mu. The person who dug out his eyes was no ordinary person. That person could dig out his eyes, so you also need to be careful. Perhaps someone will take a fancy to your leg."
The Cripple's body trembled slightly. He looked at him and whispered, "You mean someone wants to gather all things that have reached the divine realm? What does he want these things for?"
"To piece together a god."
The Village Chief sighed and said, "People from my era who are still alive are not just me. You might encounter such a person."
The Cripple shrank his head: "I'm timid. Don't scare me. Can't I just run away?"
The Village Chief looked at Qin Mu on the boat and whispered, "I hope I can cut off some obstacles for Mu to help him grow. But I don't know if I can live that long... Mu is still too naive. If only he could be more cunning..."
In the Loulan Golden Palace, around Bangong Cuo, powerful physical bodies sat in individual shrines, each using shamanic divine abilities to continuously bombard an ancient book floating in the center, breaking the seals on it.
These ancient books were exactly the books he had looted from the Qin-Han Treasure Ship.
Boom!
A loud noise came. The seals on the ancient book were finally broken. Bangong Cuo could not hide his excitement. He hurried forward to open the ancient book, then turned pale and threw the book on the ground: "It's the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra again! Is this god who came from the Land of Carefree a member of the Heavenly Demon Cult?"
Around him, ancient books were already scattered on the ground. Now only one book remained unopened.
He calmed himself and tried his best to activate his past life body to open the last scripture.
Bangong Cuo turned the first page. Immediately, a golden light burst out, illuminating the sanctuary.
Bangong Cuo was ecstatic.