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Chapter 291: Chapter 288: Seeking Refuge
"Patriarch, three months ago, Han Guang’s eldest son was born, the first of the fifth generation in our Gu family, and also, the Family Head’s eighty-fourth birthday is approaching, You see, should we organize a family annual meeting? It would be a good opportunity for the younger members of the family to come and pay their respects to you, the Patriarch?"
"A descendant of the fifth generation?"
Gu Jinlai listened, his expression a bit odd.
Had the Gu family really reached the fifth generation?
But upon reflection, it seemed quite normal.
Gu Changfeng always had been fond of expanding the family, and his way of thinking also influenced his offspring and their descendants.
So, individuals such as Gu Haoran, Gu Xingyun, and Gu Hanhai also had children, each one stronger than the last.
As father, so son; Gu Chaoyang’s generation equally revered the belief in the fortune of having many children.
"Speaking of which, Chaoyang, you’re already thirty-four, do you have a woman in mind?"
Gu Jinlai asked with a smile.
"With various affairs in Star State, Jiangzhou State, and Yellow State keeping me so busy, I dare not let my attention wander,"
Gu Chaoyang replied.
"Marriage is a major life event that still needs to be prioritized. If there is any woman you fancy, just tell me, and I will personally make the proposal on your behalf,"
Gu Jinlai said with a smile.
"This..."
Gu Chaoyang’s expression was somewhat embarrassed.
In order to ensure stability in areas like Star State and Jiangzhou State, many clans had chosen to enter into marriage alliances with the Gu family.
And Gu Chaoyang, as the most valued by Gu Jinlai, his mainstay, had a status by no means inferior to that of his eldest disciple, Su Nanxing.
Even...
Owing to his excellent administrative skills, his importance exceeded even that of Su Nanxing.
The number of families who wished to form marriage alliances with him was innumerable, making him wary of taking a stand.
"Hmm?"
Gu Jinlai looked at Gu Chaoyang: "From the look of you, is there indeed someone you fancy? Which family’s daughter is it? Tell me about her."
"She...is not from any clan,"
Gu Chaoyang hesitated for a moment before saying, "She is just the daughter of an ordinary family."
"An ordinary family?"
Gu Jinlai was a bit surprised: "Is there anything obstructing the two of you?"
Gu Chaoyang paused, then spoke again: "She is merely the daughter of an ordinary family; her father is a scholar who runs a bookstore."
Seeing this, Gu Jinlai quickly guessed something: "Are you worried?"
Gu Chaoyang hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Many families have sent their children to my side, including descendants of Divinity Transformation Cultivators like Lu Zhanfeng. Just... because I have not yet decided and have been fending them off with the excuse of being busy with work, if I were to marry a woman from an ordinary family now, those powers might harbor some ill thoughts..."
"Ill thoughts? Think you are insulting them?"
Gu Jinlai clearly understood Gu Chaoyang’s concerns and couldn’t help but laugh silently.
He shook his head: "It seems you’ve got something wrong. It is they who want to seek relations with you and ally through marriage, not the other way around."
"My current position... As for the matters of marriage, the Family Head and you, Patriarch, may also have related arrangements... Previously, you even mentioned this matter to me..."
Gu Chaoyang fell silent for a moment before speaking.
Gu Jinlai remembered this point.
He hadn’t expected his words to have such a profound impact on Gu Chaoyang.
So much so that...
"Alright, when I said that, it was on the assumption of mutual consent,"
Gu Jinlai waved his hand: "Our Gu family has not yet reached the point where we need to sacrifice our children’s marriages to maintain control over Star State, Jiangzhou State, and Yellow State. You don’t need to worry about this approach causing dissatisfaction among other powers. If they dare to make an issue of this matter, it would only prove that they have no respect for us."
After speaking, he pondered for a moment: "It seems I need to have a good talk with Changfeng."
"Patriarch..."
"The eighty-fourth birthday... lets set it for that date,"
Gu Jinlai said: "It’s indeed been a long time since the several generations of the Gu family gathered together."
After saying this, he gave Gu Chaoyang another look: "If you are truly set on that woman, feel free to bring her along at that time. We have already endured the hardest times, and nobody will point fingers at your major life decisions."
"Yes."
"Go on then."
Gu Jinlai waved his hand.
Gu Chaoyang bowed and retreated.
Shortly after Gu Chaoyang left, Gu Jinlai stood up and headed toward the Military Workshop that was located next door.
During this time, he had almost entirely been focused on purifying the demonic nature out of the Demon Blood Essence and assisting the reserve Demon God Guards in condensing their Demon God Bodies, so much so that he had somewhat neglected the Military Workshop.
Now that he had some time, he naturally wanted to tour the casting progress of the various departments in the Military Workshop.
Compared to the production of the Xuansteel Sword and Mystic Steel Armor overseen by Gu Junlei, the objects produced in this Military Workshop, managed by Zhang Lihuo, were much more intricate.
Furthermore, as Gu Jinlai encouraged cultivators in the Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Hugging Pill Realms to modify the Heavenly Master, the personnel of the Great Sun Heavenly Sect seemed to have grown once more, which in turn increased the staff of the Military Workshop.
With more people, the work efficiency naturally rose substantially.
"The Sword Heavy Cannons have already reached industrial and assembly-line production,"
Gu Jinlai observed the artillery barrels being produced in the distance, then being moved to other areas for assembly, and he nodded slightly.
At that moment, Zhang Lihuo, having learned of Gu Jinlai’s arrival, came out: "Venerable Daoist."
He seemed to notice Gu Jinlai’s gaze and said with a smile: "The Sword Heavy Cannons? Our current maximum output has reached one hundred and twenty-six units per month..."
Gu Jinlai nodded in response.
The number of Sword Heavy Cannons currently deployed has already reached more than 260.
This is still due to the loss of sixty heavy cannons in Jiangzhou State, otherwise, the number would have reached 320.
"In recent times, we’ve been researching the Electromagnetic Railgun, and without considering the energy issue, the power of the Electromagnetic Railgun vastly surpasses the practicality and power of the Sword Heavy Cannon. So, I think, do we need to continue developing the Sword Heavy Cannon?"
Zhang Lihuo said.
"For quite a long time to come, we still need to focus on the Sword Heavy Cannon."
Gu Jinlai said, "You also mentioned that it is without considering the energy that the Electromagnetic Railgun can possess astonishing power. However, for a considerable time ahead, we need to rely on Co-spirit to obtain the Nuclear Fusion Reactor, and moreover, only I alone can Co-spirit out a Nuclear Fusion Reactor."
Gu Jinlai’s words caused Zhang Lihuo some embarrassment.
He had reviewed quite a few relevant materials on nuclear fusion reactors, but...
The materials were too profound and difficult to understand.
Without fully grasping these materials, and only relying on forcefully Co-spirit to shape the Nuclear Fusion Reactor, the difficulty would increase geometrically.
Take the spiritual power obtained by refining Demon Spirits as an example.
Gu Jinlai could co-spirit out a Nuclear Fusion Reactor with the spiritual power from refining a hundred ordinary Demon Spirits or a few dozen medium-sized Demon Spirits.
But due to Zhang Lihuo’s lack of understanding of the principles of Nuclear Fusion Reactors, the number of Demon Spirits he needed to consume was tens or hundreds of times more than this number.
Moreover, Zhang Lihuo’s Great Sun Core was slightly inferior to that of Gu Jinlai, and the Spiritual Power gained from refining Demon Spirits was also a shade less than Gu Jinlai’s. In this scenario, even the spiritual power from tens of thousands of ordinary Demon Spirits, refined by him, might not be enough to Co-spirit out a Nuclear Fusion Reactor.
"I will comprehend the Design Diagrams of the Nuclear Fusion Reactor as quickly as possible."
Zhang Lihuo said.
"I believe in you all, but this technology... is a bit difficult, even if you just need to learn it step by step... It’s probably going to take two or three years. So, until our Nuclear Fusion Reactors are widely available, the Sword Heavy Cannon remains our main battle equipment, and we cannot be slack in production,"
Gu Jinlai said.
Zhang Lihuo nodded his head.
He glanced at Gu Jinlai, seemingly thinking of something, "Supreme Elder, because it’s Immortal Essence Gold that’s used to cast the Cheng Ying Mecha, the process may be quite slow, even if it’s just the armor parts, the time needed to complete will still be longer than we anticipated..."
"How long?"
"Unless we slow down the retrofitting of Electromagnetic Cannons and Mystic Bird Fighting Machines, it will still take half a year."
Zhang Lihuo said.
That number...
Was not too slow.
Becoming a Saint for the Devas was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
Although Gu Jinlai couldn’t wait to pilot the Cheng Ying Mecha into battle, the importance of the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine was also self-evident.
After all, both types of weapons were designed to deal with different environments.
The Mystic Bird Fighting Machine for air combat.
The Cheng Ying Mecha for ground combat.
"Then half a year it is," 𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝒐𝙢
Gu Jinlai said, "No rush."
"As long as it doesn’t hinder the Supreme Elder’s grand plan."
Zhang Lihuo let out a slight breath of relief.
"How are the disciples of the Great Sun Heavenly Sect progressing with their Chen Guangjiu Refinements Visualization Method?"
Gu Jinlai asked.
"Very well."
Zhang Lihuo brightened, "The Chen Guangjiu Refinements Visualization Method is adapted from the Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method, so everyone found it easy to switch over to and grasp it. If all goes well... within two to three months at the fastest, or half a year at the slowest, we will have six hundred Heavenly Masters."
As he spoke, he glanced over at the Sword Heavy Cannon production line not far away: "By then, if the Supreme Elder needs, with full production capacity, we can produce over eight hundred Sword Heavy Cannons a month."
"Eight hundred Sword Heavy Cannons."
This number, translated into a year, was nearly ten thousand cannons.
It almost reached the annual production of a main warring nation during World War II.
Certainly, that was only referring to cannons.
The figure, while not small, wasn’t exactly large either.
Consider that during World War II on Blue Star, the warring countries deployed over a million cannons.
And the number of cannonballs produced each year exceeded a hundred million.
Compared to that period on Blue Star, Lingxiao City still had a long way to go.
"I am waiting for that moment to arrive."
Gu Jinlai offered encouragement.
Next, he once again provided guidance to Zhang Lihuo and others regarding the various challenges of producing Electromagnetic Railguns.
Days later, a visit by Sect Master Fang Linghai of the Cold Moon Sect forced him to temporarily leave the Military Workshop.
...
In the drawing room.
Gu Jinlai greeted Sect Master Fang with a smile, "What wind has brought Sect Master Fang here?"
"My intrusion is uninvited. I hope Governor Gu will forgive me,"
Fang Linghai appeared a bit restrained.
After exchanging pleasantries briefly, he cut to the chase: "I have come unceremoniously to disturb you because I want to deepen the cooperation between Cold Moon Sect and Lingxiao City further."
"Oh? How would you like to deepen it?"
Gu Jinlai asked.
Fang Linghai looked at Gu Jinlai and spoke solemnly, "What if I said the Cold Moon Sect is willing to merge into Lingxiao City entirely, what does Governor Gu think?"
