Chapter 454
Watching the excitement on her senior sister's face, Yan Wushuang whispered, "The Nine Turns Golden Elixir method... is it really that powerful?"
"Of course it's powerful," Xie Qingxue replied, shaking her head. "But the basic Nine Turns Golden Elixir method alone isn't enough to contend with the Demon Ancestor."
"But... the Qingping Sword can!"
Xie Qingxue gently caressed the Qingping Sword resting on her lap, her eyes sparkling with affection. Noticing Yan Wushuang's puzzled expression, she added, "The Qingping Sword has a spirit of its own. It resonates with the secret techniques of our ancestors. Lately... I've felt it restless..."
"Restless?"
"It feels alive, sometimes emitting a soft chime, and at other times, it flies about on its own..."
Xie Qingxue's eyes reflected a hint of confusion; it seemed she had never seen the Qingping Sword behave this way before.
"I think it's because I've nearly grasped the Nine Turns Golden Elixir method. The immortal sword has a spirit..."
"It's cheering me on!"
Yan Wushuang silently lowered her head.
"By the way, what were you doing in the Jiushan Realm these past couple of days?"
"What was I doing? Oh..." Yan Wushuang pondered for a long time before finally coming up with an excuse. "Zheng Fa and the others have come up with some kind of flying boat and are preparing for a test flight."
"You went to watch the commotion?"
"A flying boat? Don't we already have flying artifacts?"
Yan Wushuang explained, "What Zheng Fa created is meant for mortals to use."
"Mortals?"
A look of confusion crossed Xie Qingxue's face.
...
In the Jiushan Realm, at the Half-Mountain City.
Zheng Fa stood in front of the temple with Senior Sister Zhang and Yan Wushuang, while Xiao Qing and the others stood around in awe, gazing at a long, metallic structure before them.
This structure, resembling a high-speed train carriage, had a peculiar arc to its roof, gleaming silver and radiating an intimidating aura.
To Zheng Fa, this was a segment of a high-speed train, or rather, a maglev carriage.
After refining a simple Golden Elixir in modern times, Zheng Fa handed it over to Team Leader Yang for research, with one main task—design a suitable mode of transportation for the mundane world of Jiushan.
The development of the mundane realm in Jiushan was crucial for how much spiritual material could be cultivated by the sun and moon, and whether they could be self-sufficient.
With the potential resurrection of the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor looming, this matter became even more pressing: if the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor truly returned, Jiushan could at least close its doors and live its own life, without lacking in resources for cultivation.
To get rich, one must first build roads. For the mortals of Jiushan, the biggest obstacle to development was the vast land with sparse population—thanks to the efforts of Jiushan disciples, the realm was now relatively stable, and the land was fertile.
However, the population in Jiushan was still too small, leading to inefficient use of resources and land.
Zheng Fa had observed the development of Half-Mountain City and found that their limited transportation options restricted their reach.
This made industrial growth nearly impossible.
Even commerce struggled to develop quickly.
Thus, Zheng Fa's first industrial product designed for the mundane realm of Jiushan was the Shenxiao Flying Boat.
This creation was a result of collaboration between the two realms—the design came from modern times, but the manufacturing was completed by the artifact-refining disciples of Jiushan.
"Master..." Xiao Qing timidly asked, "Does Half-Mountain City need to move down the mountain?"
Zheng Fa glanced at her, noticing her reluctance.
Xiao Qing stubbornly called him "Master," despite Zheng Fa's attempts to correct her. He understood that although he didn't want her to see him as some kind of deity, her upbringing and the changes he brought to her life made her more attached than others.
"The land on the mountainside is too limited..." Zheng Fa shook his head. "It's inconvenient for you to go up and down, even fetching water is a hassle."
Zheng Fa had already made plans. After discussing with Real Person Han and Senior Sister Zhang, he decided to divide Jiushan into twelve states, each with its own state city.
Half-Mountain City was one of them.
He continued, "In recent years, the city has seen a significant increase in newborns. The population has grown a lot. Have you thought about where future generations will live?"
Xiao Qing paused, realizing they had never considered this aspect. Hearing his reasoning, her expression shifted to understanding.
She glanced back at the temple.
With the deity's statue gone, she was no longer the temple keeper, and the Thunder God didn't need one anymore...
Thinking about how even Half-Mountain City might need to relocate, confusion washed over Xiao Qing's face.
"There’s no more space to build houses on the mountain. It’s better to move now than to face trouble later," Zheng Fa pointed at the carriage and said, "Not just houses; with the Shenxiao Flying Boat, Half-Mountain City will likely attract many merchants from outside, necessitating a commercial district."
"Perhaps even an industrial zone..."
With transportation, the population clustering effect would be stronger. Based on the current population of Jiushan, each state city would need to accommodate at least a million residents.
"Outsiders?" Xiao Qing looked puzzled. "What do you mean by outsiders?"
Due to the previous chaos caused by the thunder, the people of Half-Mountain City had completely forgotten that there were other cities.
"The nearest city is about five hundred miles away."
"Five hundred miles..." A glimmer of longing appeared in Xiao Qing's eyes as she softly said, "I've never traveled that far..."
Zheng Fa chuckled, pointing at the Shenxiao Flying Boat. "With this, it won't even take half an hour."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qing's confusion faded significantly, and she couldn't help but lean closer to the peculiar metallic structure.
The Shenxiao Flying Boat was quite simple; it utilized the electromagnetic force of the simple Shenxiao Golden Elixir to assist its operation.
In design, aside from the energy system, it was quite similar to modern maglev trains.
The shielding runes maintained a constant magnetic field strength—within the range of the runes, the Shenxiao Flying Boat didn't require additional energy, relying solely on the Shenxiao Golden Elixir for power.
Zheng Fa measured that the shielding runes on the Golden Elixir were related to its quality; a low-grade Golden Elixir had an effective range of about two hundred miles.
This meant that placing a low-grade Shenxiao Golden Elixir every two hundred miles would allow the Shenxiao Flying Boat to operate.
Of course, Zheng Fa and the others didn't have that many external elixirs available yet, which was why they needed to establish state cities.
The first priority was to create transportation between these state cities, akin to the transportation arteries of the mundane world.
Seeing the curious expressions on Xiao Qing and the others, Zheng Fa smiled and asked, "Want to give it a try?"
Xiao Qing nodded.
The residents of Half-Mountain City beside her all nodded in agreement.
Even Yan Wushuang was nodding...
"This flying boat is still a prototype and can only accommodate a hundred people..." Zheng Fa thought for a moment. "How about this: the top hundred from the last exam..."
"…"
Yan Wushuang sighed softly. Although he had only been in Jiushan for a few days, he had figured out Zheng Fa's preferences...
"Yan, do you want to give it a try?"
Yan Wushuang was taken aback. "Aren't there only a hundred seats?"
"There are standing tickets too..."
Not only Yan Wushuang was standing; Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang were also inside the carriage—after all, it was the first test flight, and Zheng Fa wanted to ensure safety for the mortals.
A Jiushan disciple was operating the flying boat.
He pressed a button, and a series of beeping sounds echoed inside the boat.
Xiao Qing, curious, turned her head to look around, just as the cabin door slowly closed.
"Sit tight," Zheng Fa said softly. "Buckle your seatbelts."
Xiao Qing obediently settled down, feeling a surge of thrust from beneath her.
"We're flying!" someone shouted.
"Wow, wow, wow..."
A few children, perhaps a bit afraid of heights, began to cry loudly.
Xiao Qing pressed her face against the glass window, watching as the ground receded further away, Half-Mountain City shrinking in size until the faces of the people below were indistinguishable.
Soon, even the mountain that Half-Mountain City sat upon appeared tiny.
Then, all they could see were seas of clouds, with the ground completely out of sight.
Her eyes reflected the ocean of clouds, and she felt as if she were soaring higher than any bird.
Crack!
Suddenly, a faint cracking sound came from the glass window in front of her.
Xiao Qing instinctively leaned back.
A golden light zipped past her ear and landed on the glass, and in the blink of an eye, the spiderweb-like cracks on the window restored themselves.
Turning her head, she saw the beautiful fairy beside the Thunder God looking at her.
"This window isn't strong enough..."
"True..." Zheng Fa nodded, pondering. "But it's alright; we can try using different materials next time. The purpose of a test flight is to identify issues, right?"
However, Yan Wushuang frowned, looking at the mortals in the carriage. He suddenly asked, "Does this flying boat need a cultivator to operate it?"
"It requires a cultivator for maintenance, but the operation can be handed over to mortals."
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