Nuclear-powered Sword Immortal

Chapter 296: Chapter 293 Prospects

Tianhe.

A great river that cuts across the north and south of Qiantian.

In the era before divine weapons were born, the territory of the Daqian was not even a third of its current size.

With the advent of divine weapons, the previous Emperor Qian and the Imperial Advisor Tai A, with the power of the divine weapons’ radiance, swept clean the Eight Desolates and purified the Six Directions.

Once-surrounding regions like the Endless Mountains of Winter State, the Thirty-Six Tribes of Yan State, the Eighteen Islands of the Eastern Sea, and originally Rixiang Country, Nanyun Kingdom, and so on, became the Winter State, Yan State, Lizhou State, Island State, Mu State, and other parts of Daqian.

The territory of Daqian expanded by threefold.

It stretched north to the Endless Mountains, bordered the Vast East Sea to the east, extended into the deserts of Yan State to the west, and reached the Three Thousand Marshes to the south.

One could say that under the rule of the last Emperor Qian, Daqian had expanded to its extreme, fully encompassing the lands of Qiantian.

To expand further, they would either have to cross the Endless Mountains, home to countless fierce beasts, or traverse the vast East Sea, spanning thousands of miles, and additionally they would have to face the Tianyuan Dao, which at that time had a Saint stationed there. As for the western Yan State and the southern Mu State, there was the desolate desert even more vast than the Black and White Sand Sea on one side and the famous Three Thousand Marshes on the other, both being forbidden zones for life.

Top cultivators could easily cross, but if soldiers were to go, the cost would be unimaginable.

Because of this, after conquering this vast expanse of territory, the Daqian Dynasty didn’t continue to expand but chose to assimilate and develop, to recuperate and multiply.

This period of recuperating lasted until a hundred years ago when the Tianhe Demons descended upon the world, followed by the chaos brought about by Emperor Tianji.

In the uprising of Emperor Tianji, countless Saints and Devas fell. This Earthly True Immortal alone slaughtered the Daqian Royal Family, reducing their control over the Daqian Dynasty to an extreme low. Even after a hundred years of development, to this day, there is only Jiang Tianji, a single Deva, in the Royal Family.

It was because of the decay of the Royal Family that the internal situation of Daqian became increasingly chaotic, gradually evolving into the current state of the Ten Demonic Sects, the Six Great Immortal Sects, and the division of each state.

Similarly, it was due to every man for himself that, although some knew where the Demon Realm Rifts were, they couldn’t summon the Heavenly Master to seal the rifts and could only watch helplessly as the cracks in the Demon Realm widened.

The Tianhe and Mu State, including the rift in the Sun State that hasn’t been completely reclaimed by Daqian to this day, are the most obvious examples.

...

At this moment, in the lower reaches of the Tianhe, Gu Jinlai surveyed his surroundings on a patch of ground resembling a marshland composed of many lakes of varying sizes.

After a while, he finally said, "No wonder we haven’t been able to locate the Demon Realm Rift in the Tianhe for so long. Logically, the space ripples emanating from the opening of a Demon Realm Rift should have a significant impact on the surrounding landscape. The larger the space crack, the greater its influence. Like the Qiushan Rift, which is small enough to only allow mid-sized Demon Spirits to cross, yet it still created a space hundreds of meters in diameter in the mountains..."

He looked at the plains: "The Demon Realm Rift in the Tianhe can accommodate large, even special disaster-type Demon Spirits, and its impact on the landscape should reach at least several miles in radius. If we search carefully, it shouldn’t be hard to find. However, I didn’t expect that the Demon Realm Rift of the Tianhe would be beneath the riverbed, only to be revealed during the dry season, and the river flow during the flood season would naturally cover it up, greatly increasing our difficulty in searching."

Zhang Yukan nodded emphatically: "If it weren’t for the fact that a large number of Tianhe Demons were being slaughtered, allowing us to meticulously search one place at a time, we wouldn’t have been able to locate this crack."

"Now we just wait."

Gu Jinlai said.

"Patriarch, we are already building a city on the outskirts of the Tianhe, planning to establish a defensive line with six fortresses to fend off the invasion of the Tianhe Demons. The closest fortress is less than sixty miles away from here. We might as well go there to cultivate for now, and it won’t be too late to come back once the Demon Realm Rift opens," Gu Luochen suggested.

Now, he had replaced Gu Chifeng as the new leader of the Demon God Guards, managing six thousand Demon God Guards stationed in Yellow State.

Currently, he was constructing fortifications to defend against the Demons and leading the Demon God Guards in relentless hunts for each Demon emerging from the Tianhe.

During the more than two months that Gu Jinlai went to Lingxiao City, the number of Demons that had died at his and the Demon God Guards’ hands exceeded four digits.

"Let’s go take a look then. Leave a team here to watch; as soon as the Demon Realm Rift opens, notify us immediately," Gu Jinlai instructed, pausing slightly, "Leave a few more, in case the Demons try to regain control of the rift when it opens."

"Yes."

Gu Luochen replied solemnly, "I’ll assign three thousand Demon God Guards to establish a battery position here. If any Demons dare act rashly, we’ll ensure they can’t return."

Gu Jinlai nodded.

The group quickly arrived at a fortification being constructed sixty miles away.

The fortress had a diameter of about one mile, situated atop a mountain.

The choice to build it at the summit was due to a spring at the top, ensuring there would be no shortage of water.

In addition to this, the location was necessary to house several Sword Heavy Cannons; the geographical positioning had a significant impact on the range of the cannons, and the higher ground would better withstand the assaults of Demons.

Upon inspecting and finding no issues with the plan, Gu Jinlai didn’t concern himself further.

He, along with Zhang Lihuo and others, immediately proceeded to a temporary storage warehouse built outside the fortress.

The warehouse may have looked simple, but the items inside were of immense value.

Three modified Mystic Bird Fighting Machines.

Five models of modified Mystic Bird Fighting Machines.

And that incomplete Cheng Ying Mecha.

Not to mention the Cheng Ying Mecha, which alone required over six hundred portions of Immortal Essence Gold.

If one were to calculate the market value, six hundred portions of Immortal Essence Gold would be equivalent to six billion taels of silver.

And the Upper State Star State, with a population of nearly sixty million, could only generate about three billion taels in all kinds of taxes annually.

Jiangzhou State and Yellow State, both being part of the Central State, at their peak could only generate an estimated two billion.

With no expenses at all, a Central State would need thirty years to produce a single Cheng Ying Mecha.

But having no expenses is virtually impossible.

It’s like asking someone with a monthly salary of five thousand to save sixty thousand a year, six hundred thousand in ten years, and one point eight million in thirty years.

But in reality, with just a simple monthly income of five thousand, they can barely cover their own expenses, and saving ten to twenty thousand in a year would be the limit.

In thirty years, at most they could save three to four hundred thousand.

...

At this moment, Gu Jinlai, Zhang Lihuo, Si Tianyan, Zhang Yukan, Guan Xingyun, Xiang Fengyun and others were busily engaged, using the Co-spirit method to integrate portions of Immortal Essence Gold into the Cheng Ying Mecha, achieving a perfect fusion.

"A mecha entirely cast from Immortal Essence Gold! Plus, it has all sorts of energy layouts within, capable of accelerating through two sets of thrusters... Of course, the thrusters need further Co-spirit bonding to be realized, and the same is true for the Electromagnetic Cannon it carries..."

Guan Xingyun looked at the mecha, his eyes sparkling with brilliance: "I really don’t know what kind of power it can exhibit on the battlefield once all its equipment has undergone complete Co-spirit bonding."

"Once we have more Immortal Essence Gold in the future, each of us can own a Cheng Ying Mecha and charge into battle."

Gu Jinlai said with a smile.

"To propagate that, it’s difficult."

Zhang Lihuo shook his head: "This mecha has had its power-related components reduced, so it only took six hundred portions of Immortal Essence Gold. If we include power components, and use Immortal Essence Gold as engine material, the final consumption of Immortal Essence Gold will reach around eight hundred portions, and one portion of Immortal Essence Gold is worth over ten million..."

"Not necessarily."

Gu Jinlai said, "If there’s an adequate supply of gold mines and Heavenly Masters, the cost of Immortal Essence Gol could drop to around one million taels per portion. Mu State has the largest mines, and before it fell, the annual output was several dozen portions. This was due to the lack of Heavenly Masters. If there were hundreds of Heavenly Masters, we could produce over a hundred portions of Immortal Essence Gold a year. And if we can further improve the mining equipment or even make specialized collection instruments, obtaining two hundred, three hundred, or even four hundred portions of Immortal Essence Gold per year would not be an issue."

"Hundreds of portions of Immortal Essence Gold a year..."

"That’s just one gold mine in Mu State. There are several smaller mines within the Qiantian Territory. If we could control them all, complemented by a sufficient number of Heavenly Masters... the annual production of Immortal Essence Gold could reach thousands of portions,"

Gu Jinlai said with a smile, "By then, we might be able to produce several Cheng Ying Mechas a year."

The efficiency of Heavenly Masters in refining Immortal Essence Gold isn’t high.

But with the Ten Thousand Spirit Array and unlimited raw materials, it’s not difficult for a Heavenly Master to refine a portion of Immortal Essence Gold a year.

With the presence of the Chen Guangjiu Refinements Visualization Method, it becomes possible to quickly promote Hugging Pill Realm cultivators to the Heavenly Master Domain.

By then, with several dozen gold mines and thousands of Heavenly Masters engaging in Great Alchemy...

Zhang Lihuo, Zhang Yukan and others, at the thought of such a scene, couldn’t help but gasp.

Several Cheng Ying Mechas a year is far from a lofty dream.

And the combat power of the Cheng Ying Mecha, without comparing it to a Saint, is certainly not difficult to match that of the Devas.

In other words...

Every year, Lingxiao City would give birth to several Deva-level powers!?

"If we really can reach that level, not to mention the glory of the Heavenly Master Lineage a hundred years ago, even returning to the grandeur of the Holy Land a thousand years ago is far from wishful thinking,"

Zhang Lihuo said with a hint of excitement in his tone.

"The grandeur of the Holy Land a thousand years ago..."

Gu Jinlai also felt somewhat emotional.

That was the most glorious era of the Heavenly Masters, when the creators had even ventured deep into space, and established bases on other stars. Demons from the Demon Realm that are now causing great concern for the Human Clan were suppressed and struggled to breathe.

Regrettably...

At that time, the creators who opened All Gods Mountain, Sea God Temple, and the Netherworld were discontent with the Holy Land’s absolute control over the heavens and earth, leading to a massive internal war within the Heavenly Master system.

This civil war swept through the heavens and earth, directly leading to the decline of the Heavenly Master civilization.

Gu Jinlai had read many archives.

This civil war was almost no less significant than the nuclear war on Blue Star that was bound to happen but had not yet occurred.

In the end, the Holy Land, Netherworld, All Gods Mountain, and Sea God Temple all fell, and the civilization of the Heavenly Masters was destroyed in an instant. No one emerged as the ultimate victor.

If one must speak of victors...

It was probably the Cultivator System.

The great war at that time caused innumerable Floating Islands and Floating Cities above the Nine Heavens to fall to the Earth, while creators dragged down meteor stars from outer space, smashing into the continents, leading to an environment so hostile it was extreme.

The sky was shrouded in dust, and darkness persisted for decades, if not centuries.

It was because of this harsh environment that the rise of cultivators occurred.

Because cultivators, with their ability to strengthen themselves, had a survival advantage over Heavenly Masters in such a harsh environment.

Shaking his head, Gu Jinlai put aside these distracting thoughts: "Alright, let’s finish casting this mecha as soon as possible."

Zhang Lihuo nodded.

...

Time flew by, and another month passed.

During this period, the Demon Realm Rift did not open.

But...

The three-month ultimatum that Lingxiao City had given Lizhou State had arrived first.