Douluo Continent: Martial Soul Young Gilas, Sandstorm King!

Chapter 42 Blueprints, the transition to Soul Tools!
Lin Xia wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at Lou Gao's excited, flushed face, knowing that this was the perfect time to bring up that idea.

Lin Xia took a deep breath, her eyes gleaming with eager anticipation, and said:

"Teacher, please don't praise me yet. Looking at this forging hammer and refined iron, I suddenly thought of... well, a completely new idea for weapon manufacturing."

Lin Xia paused, her tone carrying a barely perceptible hint of excitement.

"I would like to try to build it, but I'm afraid I'll need your strong support."

Lou Gao raised his thick eyebrows upon hearing that Lin Xia had just learned forging and had already come up with the idea of ​​a new weapon. His interest was instantly ignited, even more so than the furnace fire. He waved his hand and spoke in a loud voice.

"Oh? A new weapon? Haha, good lad, you've got plenty of ideas! Tell me quickly, what do you want to make? Is it an improvement on swords, spears, and halberds? Or some unusual weapon? Axes, halberds, hooks, and forks? As long as you can draw it, I'll make it for you!"

Lin Xia shook her head, a mysterious smile playing on her lips.

"Neither, teacher. It's a... well, a weapon unlike any we've ever seen before."

As she spoke, Lin Xia had a thought and took out paper and pen from the dark silver spatial soul tool on the ring finger of her left hand.

Under the curious yet awe-inspiring gazes of the blacksmith apprentices and several intermediate blacksmiths around him, Lin Xia sat down directly on the ground, spread the paper on the relatively flat floor, and began to draw.

Lin Xia moved extremely fast, her brushstrokes flowing like dragons and snakes, without the slightest hesitation, as if those complex patterns were already deeply imprinted in her mind.

Lou Gao immediately moved closer, his huge body almost engulfing Lin Xia. He squatted down, his burning gaze fixed on the lines Lin Xia was drawing.

At first, Lou Gao had an expectant smile on his face, but as he completed one drawing after another, his expression gradually froze, his brows furrowed more and more, and even his thick beard stood on end.

The first drawing depicts a cylindrical structure with a handle, its lines sharp and cold, and its interior appears to contain complex grooves and holes.

The second image is a metal cube (sleeve/gun bolt) with strange protrusions and notches.

The third image shows some small springs, latches, and needle-like objects (firing pins)...

The fourth image shows several metal tubes (gun barrels) of different thicknesses and a small trigger mechanism...

One blueprint after another was laid out, and the sheer height of the building left everyone increasingly bewildered. What on earth was this?

They were oddly shaped and fragmented, bearing no resemblance to any weapon parts he was familiar with!

It's neither a knife nor a sword; it doesn't even have a decent blade.

It looks like a bunch of sophisticated... toy parts?
Or perhaps an internal component of some complex mechanical instrument?

A feeling of being amused welled up in Lou Gao's heart.

This kid, I just praised him, and now he's trying to fool me with this incomprehensible stuff?

The surrounding craftsmen only dared to look at the strange blueprints on the ground from afar, whispering among themselves, their faces also filled with confusion.

However, as Lin Xia continued to refine his drawings, more and more components were revealed, from the slide, barrel, recoil spring, trigger linkage to the magazine prototype.

Lou Gao's keen eye and spatial imagination, as a master craftsman, began to come into play.

He no longer looked at individual parts in isolation, but subconsciously tried to combine and assemble these fragmented parts in his mind.

The puzzle pieces spun and assembled rapidly in Lou Gao's powerful mind!
Gradually, the prototype of a unique creation—unprecedented, compact, and composed of numerous intricately nested components—began to clearly emerge in his mind!
Although he had no idea how to use it, the exquisite, complex, and interconnected mechanical beauty of it made Lou Gao's scalp tingle!

The doubt and anger in Lou Gao's eyes had long since vanished, replaced by an increasingly bright light. He stared intently at the last drawing Lin Xia had drawn, his Adam's apple bobbing, and his breathing becoming somewhat heavy.

When Lin Xia finally put down her pen and placed the last drawing, which depicted a small cylinder and was labeled with the proportions of saltpeter 75, sulfur 10, and charcoal 15 (gunpowder ratio), Lou Gao's gaze locked onto it like that of a hawk.

"Teacher, I'm done drawing." Lin Xia looked up at the building.

Lou Gao didn't respond immediately. His gaze swept back and forth between the pile of blueprints and Lin Xia's face, finally pointing sharply at the peculiar cylinder and proportion diagram, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement and urgency.

"Xia! These... these parts, I think they can be assembled into... a peculiar contraption!"

"But! How do you use this thing?! How can it be a weapon? No matter how I look at it, it's more like... an extremely intricate mechanical contraption! It can be used as a weapon? How do you use it? It wouldn't even be convenient to use it to smash people!"

Lou Gao's tone was full of curiosity; his previous doubts had long been replaced by a fervent desire to explore.

Lin Xia smiled slightly, picked up the bullet blueprint and gunpowder ratio diagram, and began to explain calmly and clearly, her voice full of logic.

"Teacher, this thing is called a pistol. You were right just now; its core lies in the two words 'mechanism' and 'explosiveness'."

Lin Xia picked up the bullet blueprint.

"First, we need to make this special projectile. This small metal tube is filled with the gunpowder I specified—a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal—in this proportion."

"When this mixture is exposed to high temperatures or violent impacts, it will instantly generate an extremely large amount of gas! Then, this small metal cone is pressed in on top of the gunpowder."

Next, Lin Xia pointed to the main structural drawings.

(Omitted, I'm afraid my brothers will say I'm teaching you how to build guns!)
"The sparks from the impact instantly ignited the gunpowder inside the cartridge case! The gunpowder exploded violently within the sealed cartridge case and chamber, generating unimaginable pressure! This violent force had nowhere to go but to propel the small metal bullet out of the barrel at supersonic speeds!"

Lin Xia made a gesture of shooting forward.

"Although the bullet is small, with its terrifying initial velocity, it can easily pierce through metal and stone and tear through flesh!"

"Its power far surpasses that of ordinary bows and crossbows, and its firing is concealed with controlled recoil. With a little training, it can be fired continuously! This is... a pistol!"

Lin Xia's explanation was like a thunderclap, exploding in Lou Gao's ears!

gunpowder!

explosion!

Closed-loop propulsion!

Ultra-high-speed metal projectiles!

Lou Gao's eyes widened like copper bells, his pupils contracting violently from the immense shock!
Lou Gao stared intently at the gunpowder formula diagram, then glanced sharply at the small bullet blueprint, and finally his gaze swept over all the intricate parts diagrams on the ground!
As a top-tier master craftsman who has spent his entire life dealing with fire and iron, he has a profound understanding of energy, explosions, and the deformation and impact of metals!
The principles Lin Xia described, every step of which brutally and precisely hit the pinnacle of his understanding, and ruthlessly overturned it!

"Explosion... Explosion-propelled?! Gunpowder?! Saltpeter and sulfur... How could it be like this?! Sealed... Projectile... Spraying..."

Lou Gao muttered to himself, his voice trembling with excitement.

In an instant, he imagined the terrifying scene of gunpowder exploding in a confined space, high-pressure gas propelling the hard bullet through friction and acceleration in the sturdy barrel, and finally bursting out of the barrel!
That kind of explosive, precise power completely transcends the scope of chopping with knives and axes, smashing with hammers and thrusting with spears!

"Sometimes I really don't know what your brain is made of, how can you come up with such a genius idea? If it really is as you described, then this weapon could be something that changes the landscape of the continent!"

Lou Gao exclaimed in surprise, then grabbed all the blueprints and put them away as if they were treasures.

"Ingenious! Unbelievable! This idea... this mechanism... this method of utilizing explosive power! I've lived my whole life and never imagined that weapons could be crafted like this!"

Lou Gao's voice was like a booming bell, filled with the ecstasy of discovering a new continent and an insatiable desire to forge. His eyes were bloodshot, the kind of flame that only a top craftsman would ignite when facing an unparalleled challenge.

"Xia! I'll get to work right now! I'll forge it myself! I'll test it batch by batch! I want to see if this weapon can truly be created in my hands! Hahaha!!"

Lin Xia smiled slightly at this. This is not the end. Firearms are just a transition. Now that he has become Lou Gao's apprentice, Lin Xia definitely wants to think about soul tools.
　Brothers, if we created the soul tool ten thousand years ahead of schedule, what do you think Tang San would think?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)