Chapter 361: Testing the Cannon
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
When Qin Mu came to the smithy, he saw Xu Shenghua with an apron. This was to prevent sparks from burning his clothes. However, his originally bright robe had long become similar to a rag cloth.
He was forging a hairpin and had hammered the black gold a thousand times. He hammered it into the thinnest gold paper before folding it to finally forge the shape of the hairpin. An accessory forged with this method would have the finest vein lines and be what the upper-class women loved the most.
As a matter of fact, Xu Shenghua had made himself quite a reputation in the blacksmith circle of the capital. There were quite a number of divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm who had come to find him to forge spirit weapons. There were also quite a number of nobles who wanted strange weapons like hairpins and bracelets.
Divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm required a forging expert to forge the spirit weapon they had given birth to in their divine treasure, thus the ability of the forging master was very important. Xu Shenghua was very clever and could forge all kinds of spirit weapons well. His technique and divine arts had myriad changes, and he could forge spirit weapons which were compatible with the divine arts practitioners.
"Human Emperor Qin, take a seat in the shop first, I'll come over once I'm done with the hairpin." Xu Shenghua saw him coming and shouted into the shop, "Yan'zi, Human Emperor is here, help me attend to him first!"
Qin Mu walked into the ship and smiled. "It's fine just calling me Cult Master. When you call me Human Emperor, it just keeps reminding me that you and I are enemies."
Jing Yan wore the clothes of a village girl, having replaced the gorgeous and elegant clothes she had come with from High Heavens. She carried a pot of tea and invited Qin Mu to take a seat.
The tea was plain. When Xu Shenghua and Qin Mu had met for the first time, he had served him with the best tea in High Heavens, and it had been the best tea Qin Mu had drunk; it was called Green Destiny. Yet what he was served at that moment was the most ordinary tea.
"There's no more good tea. Cult Master Qin, please forgive us." Jing Yan blushed with shame and poured the tea for him. "We have finished Green Destiny Tea last month," she said in a low voice.
Qin Mu took a sip and said, "I'm also used to plain tea. How did you buy this shop?"
"Young Master had originally bought a house in the capital, so we sold it to buy this shop." Jing Yan then added, "Sister Yu Liu couldn't get used to this kind of hardship so she found an excuse to leave and return to High Heavens, only I'm left to stay with young master."
Qin Mu invited her to take a seat as well. He smiled and said, "You're a good maiden."
Xu Shenghua lifted the curtain and walked in with a towel in his hands, having just washed his hands. He hung the towel behind the curtain and came to the table to sit down, pouring a cup of tea for himself. He drank it in one gulp and poured another cup for himself.
Jing Yan wanted to stand up, but Xu Shenghua waved his hand and said, "There are no rules here. You are the mistress of our smithy so just take a seat."
Jing Yan could only remain seated after such words.
Qin Mu's gaze flickered and he smiled. "Brother Xu, how's your daily life?"
Xu Shenghua sighed and shook his head. "It's not too good, but it's very fulfilling. I never knew it was so hard to earn money, since I had never had to worry about money in High Heavens. But now, I actually know how great is the worth of a great abundance coin! Brother Qin, you paid a great abundance coin for ten bowls of noodles, truly a waste, it's more than enough to buy a hundred bowls of noodles!"
Qin Mu looked at him blankly and said, "I'm also not sure about how much a great abundance coin is worth. I rarely lacked money, so I usually pay with a great abundance coin when I go out to eat."
"You have never been poor before." Xu Shenghua drank a few more cups of tea and let out a shaky breath. He said, "The money I've earned during these days is still not enough, give me some more time. I should be able to pay you in about two years' time."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "It's small money, so I'm not in a hurry. Ling'er will keep it in mind better than me. I'm here to invite you to observe the ceremony; Sunshot Divine Cannon is already done."
Xu Shenghua was stunned for a moment, then sighed. "You used two months to design and build a divine cannon yet I could only forge spirit weapons in this smithy. Fifteen days ago, I had felt you starting the furnace twice, you should have been testing the cannon's frame, right?"
"That's right." Qin Mu drank the tea in his cup in one gulp and said, "I used the power of the entire empire to forge that Sunshot Divine Cannon and didn't charge for it as I had no lack of money. If I charged, even the emperor wouldn't have been able to pay me. Let's go and take a look."
Xu Shenghua stood up and removed the apron. He said to Jing Yan, "Follow me as well."
Jing Yan agreed and the three of them walked out of the smithy and headed for the outskirts.
When they reached their goal, they saw a large spirit weapon that covered an area of sixty-six hectares. The eyeball in the center of the huge cannon battery had been forged and floated between the light gathering forks. Hundreds of divine arts practitioners were on the cannon battery measuring something busily.
The three of them walked to the front. Xu Shenghua and Jing Yan were full of astonishment as they raised their heads to look at the humongous object. It was very hard to imagine how Qin Mu had only used two months and more to forge that kind of terrifying spirit weapon!
Of course, it wasn't the work of Qin Mu alone. Instead, it was the fruit of all the algebra experts and forging masters of all Eternal Peace Empire putting their wisdom together. Even if among them, Qin Mu's contribution was the greatest.
If it wasn't for his design and him improving the craft of forging, it would have been impossible for the forging standard of Eternal Peace Empire to create such a heaven-defying treasure!
Qin Mu had pushed the Eternal Peace Empire's craft of forging forward by a hundred years!
The emperor and the civil and military officials had all arrived. There were also high officials and nobles from the capital as well as the commoners gathered around to look at the Sunshot Divine Cannon starting up. Even Village Chief, Hermit Qing You, and the rest of the people hurried over to see the divine cannon fire.
"Pill furnace inspection normal! No cracks found!" an official from Ministry of Works shouted out loudly.
"Formation markings inspection normal! No break in connection found!"
"Runes inspection normal!"
"Cannon's frame inspection normal!"
"Light gathering forks inspection normal!"
"Divine eye inspection normal!"
…
Voices rang one after another, and Shan Youxin looked at Qin Mu who kept nodding his head. Shan Youxin said loudly, "Number one pill furnace ignited, strength test, maximum firepower!"
After a moment, an apothecary beside the pill furnace shouted, "Number one pill furnace at maximum firepower, results are normal!"
"Number two pill furnace ignite for test!"
"Number two pill furnace at maximum firepower, results are normal!"
...
Xu Shenghua looked at this kind of test method and was instantly stunned. He muttered, "Cult Master Qin, when will I ever reach your standard in the craft of forging? My smithy is simply too shabby…"
Qin Mu swiftly consoled him. "Don't worry, everyone comes to the top step by step. I also had my bad days."
"Really?" Xu Shenghua asked suspiciously.
Qin Mu thought and shook his head, "No. Not long after I left the village, I had already become renowned in the world."
Xu Shenghua was silent for a moment, then said, "Cult Master Qin, you will be beaten to death sooner or later if you keep consoling people like this."
"However, when I was at the village, I picked up the iron hammer when I was five and I learned painting from Grandpa Deaf." Qin Mu had an indifferent expression. "You only picked up the iron hammer and do not know how much hard work I put in it over the ten years."
Xu Shenghua nodded and said, "Overlord Body is not something that can achieve success without hard work. I've benefited from your advice."
Finally, the fifty-six furnaces were at maximum firepower. Instantly, all the runes on the base of Sunshot Divine Cannon lit up, and all of the formations were activated. The huge cannon battery gradually rose into the sky, and waves of terrifying power bloomed, shaking the space around continuously.
The energy in fifty-six pill furnaces flooded frantically toward the light gathering forks and through them they transformed into four thick beams that tunneled into the center of the huge divine eye.
Sounds of gears rotating came from the inside of the divine eye, their speed becoming faster and faster. Suddenly, the sound vanished, and the two hundred and forty yards divine eye seemed to turn into void. All kinds of formations in it were activated one after another, and the black gold, black iron, divine gold, and other divine materials used to form it all vanished. They were all replaced by a divine eye bathed in divine light.
The eye was closed
Grrrrk.
The huge eye rotated on top of the cannon battery, and the sound of wind that it brought with it was scary. But the throbbing from the eye was even more terrifying. Even the strong practitioners of the cult master level felt fear in their hearts.
"Cult Master Qin!" Shan Youxin bowed toward Qin Mu while standing on the cannon battery. "The preparations for Sunshot Divine Cannon are done!"
Qin Mu rose and said to Emperor Yanfeng, "Your Majesty, please!"
Emperor Yanfeng took in a deep breath and led all the civil and military officials to fly up onto the cannon battery. He said solemnly, "Supervisor Qin, you have been busy for the past two months, so you should be the one to fire this shot!"
Qin Mu acknowledged his words, and Shan Youxin brought over a jade plate. Qin Mu executed his vital qi, and the jade plate burst forth with dazzling lights. The rays shone and transformed into a light screen that was three feet wide. It showed the sight of the surroundings.
Qin Mu gently touched the screen shown by the jade plate, and the divine eye of Sunshot Divine Cannon rotated with this move. Qin Mu adjusted the direction of the divine eye to aim at the sky.
He tapped on the jade plate, and the eye opened suddenly, ripping the world above apart. The sky trembled violently as a tear was opened up. Everyone instantly saw a black mark spread above, which tore the sky open. In the meantime, the beam of light vanished without a trace.
After a moment, a rumbling came from beyond the sky. It sounded like ten thousand thunders booming at once!
A huge tear appeared in the sky, a void within it. Sometime later, it started to slowly heal.
Xu Shenghua's heart became heavier and heavier. No one in High Heavens could be able to hold against such a cannon. Even if it was his master Jade Sovereign or the other three sovereigns, none of them would be able to survive the attack from Sunshot Divine Cannon.
This kind of weapon was no longer a weapon of the mortal world!
It was a weapon to slaughter gods!
"My money is not wasted…" Emperor Yanfeng looked at the sky that was slowly healing and muttered, "Imperial Preceptor, it's a pity you are not here to see this sight."
In the prairie, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was bringing the army back to Eternal Peace when he suddenly raised his head to see a tear in the sky. His heart trembled violently. 'Cult Master Qin, you have finally completed the weapon to slaughter gods…'
On the cannon battery, Qin Mu dispersed his vital qi, and the light screen from the jade plate vanished. The pill furnaces were also extinguished one by one, which caused the formations to stop operating. The huge Sunshot Divine Cannon gradually descended from the sky.
Qin Mu raised his head to look above and muttered to himself, "Since it's called Sunshot Divine Cannon, should I shoot at the sun once?"
Everyone around him shuddered, and Emperor Yanfeng hurriedly snatched the jade plate from his hands while shouting, "Supervisor Qin, if the sun was destroyed by your shot, how would the people survive? Your idea is too dangerous, off with your head!"
A contrarian among the civil and military officials immediately said, "Your Majesty, a ruler doesn't go back on his words!"
Emperor Yanfeng turned his head to look at him before waving a hand and saying, "I will certainly go back on my words. But since you can't see the need for it, why should I keep you? Retire and return home. Dear Minister Qin, how do I use this jade plate?"