Lord: Starting with Summoning the Regular Army of Earth

Chapter 70 A New Source of Power

After a long while, she finally stopped, held the Rubik's Cube in her palm, looked at Matthew, and a rare smile of interest appeared on her face: "Interesting, truly an exquisite creation. This is not a simple decoration or key, if I'm not mistaken—"

She gently shook the Rubik's Cube, and the strange runes seemed to come alive under the candlelight, swirling slightly.

"It is a concrete interface for multiple laws, or a reconfigurable generator of complex spell sequences."

Matthew was a little confused: "Could you explain it in simpler terms?"

Night Song glanced at him with a haughty look, but still patiently explained: "Simply put, the person who created it solidified various basic magical laws or energy effects into these small rune cubes."

Each rune may represent a basic instruction or energy attribute, such as condensation, burning, tearing, protection, conduction, or even something more complex.

She pointed to several distinct runes on the Rubik's Cube: "By rotating and combining them in different ways, these runes are arranged in specific sequences and structures, much like piecing together different sentences or even chapters from these basic words."

Ultimately, when the correct sentence is formed, infusing it with magic will unleash a complete, complex magical effect.

"Different combinations can produce vastly different effects—it might create a protective barrier, fire a disintegrating ray, open a short-range portal, or even unleash a large-scale elemental summoning—the possibilities depend on how many basic vocabulary words the creator has incorporated," and how many correct sentences the user can spell.

Listening to Night Song's detailed explanation, Matthew felt a surge of excitement and couldn't help but ask expectantly, "Can you teach me how to use it?"

"Of course not, I don't recognize the runes on this either," Night Song said matter-of-factly. "But I'll try my best to remember where I've seen this kind of writing before."

"You're making it sound like a fact. I thought you knew how to use it," Matthew couldn't help but retort.

"Just because I don't know how to use it now doesn't mean I won't know how in the future. Give me some time, and I'll definitely figure it out." Ye Ge looked determined to succeed.

A sly glint flashed in Matthew's eyes. He hadn't expected his words to have such a provocative effect. It seemed this arrogant spirit was quite susceptible to such tactics.

"Don't blame me for not warning you, it's best not to try things randomly before you understand the rules. Incorrect combinations may result in no reaction and a waste of magic power, or even cause unpredictable energy backlash." Night Song tossed the Rubik's Cube to Matthew.

Matthew caught the Rubik's Cube and felt the little thing in his hand suddenly become incredibly heavy, yet filled with endless allure.

He just understood; it's a magic editor.

It's a pity that I don't know its code rules yet, otherwise I could use it to "write" different spell effects.

"By the way, could those animal hides be instruction manuals containing some 'grammar' or 'correct combinations'?" Matthew immediately thought of those cryptic animal hides.

"Perhaps," Night Song shrugged noncommittally, "but it could also just be the original owner's diary or shopping list. Who knows?"

"Alright, you can go back to sleep now. I should go back."

"Wait a minute," Matthew called out to Nightsong, "Have you ever heard of the elves?"

Matthew's words caused a barely perceptible glint to flash in Ye Ge's eyes, but she did not show any excessive surprise.

In fact, during the day, while she was in that underground cave, she heard Matthew utter the ancient yet taboo name "Elves".

She was indeed very surprised at the time, which made her even more curious about Matthew's identity and background.

"Remember, never mention the word 'elven race' again. It might bring you unnecessary trouble. At least given your current situation and abilities, don't mention it casually." Night Song's expression was serious, and her voice was full of warning.

Her words surprised Matthew even more. He had originally thought that elves simply did not exist in this world, or that elves had other names.

But unexpectedly, the elves really exist. However, in this world, the elves seem to have become something like a taboo.

Matthew nodded and said nothing more. After all, what world doesn't have some secrets? Even Earth still has many unsolved mysteries, let alone such a bizarre and wonderful world.

The surrounding light flashed and disappeared in an instant, and the room returned to darkness. Ye Ge's figure had vanished as if it had never existed.

Matthew looked at the animal skin scroll and Rubik's Cube in his hands, his mind filled with many questions, but clearly some things were beyond his current ability to explore.

But what we do know is that this Rubik's Cube is indeed a treasure, and I wish I could figure out how to use it.

After all, this magic system, which is clearly different from the mainstream magic system in this world, definitely contains huge opportunities and very valuable information.

It's important to understand that mainstream magical knowledge, much like the wealth of this world, is largely controlled by the upper-class nobles and powerful figures, making it very difficult for ordinary people to truly acquire that knowledge.

The books Will brought only contained a few first-level spells and basic rune content.

In the future, acquiring higher levels of magical knowledge will not be so easy.

After putting the Rubik's Cube and the animal skin scroll away, Matthew, unable to sleep, got up and continued his cultivation. After all, in order to better control the Mage's Hand and achieve the abilities he desired, he needed a strong enough mental force and a stable pool of magic power.

Two days later, all the work at Jinshiling entered a new phase.

The adventurer squad and the pioneer squad have been fully assembled.

The adventurer team heading to the Misty Mountains is mainly composed of the original reconnaissance team members led by Lei Hu, with the addition of Li Yuangang, Yang Guang, Chen Mo, and others.

It was assigned one geologist and one biologist, for a total of 18 people.

It's worth mentioning that Lei Hu has now acquired the body of a goblin, so the team now has two goblins.

All members had received systematic training and were familiar with information about the Misty Mountains, including the Geography and the Handbook of Dangerous Creatures.

Their main tasks include exploring the Misty Mountains, drawing maps, hunting goblins and other threatening creatures, studying ecology, and exploring for resources.

The pioneer squad heading to the Wind-Eroded Highlands was personally led by Wu Ronghui and included four goblins, four geological experts, and twenty soldiers of various types.

Carrying simple exploration tools and sample collection equipment, they went to the wind-eroded highlands to explore for resources.

Today, a major event is taking place along the banks of Teardrop Creek—the installation and erection of the territory's first waterwheel has begun.

Many locals gathered curiously at the creek, wanting to see what that huge "wheel" was.

Under Professor Zhang Hongjian's personal direction, the installation work is proceeding in an orderly manner.

The core force behind this attack consists of four large, muscular goblins.

They chanted deep, powerful slogans, working together to slowly lift the heavy waterwheel shaft, aligning it with the bearing supports that had already been sturdily constructed with stones and lime mortar.

"A little to the left, slow down, slow down! Okay! Hold on!" Zhang Hongjian's voice was loud and clear, his eyes piercing.

"Heave-ho!" The goblins shouted in unison, and the heavy shaft fell steadily into the mortar.

This scene elicited a murmur of surprise from the onlookers.

"So these huge wheels are placed on water? I was wondering how big a carriage would be built with such large wheels."

"What's the point of having that huge wheel on the water?"

"I don't know, but everything the lord does and every decision he makes has extraordinary significance."

The villagers discussed it, especially the young people who came to help, their eyes filled with curiosity and anticipation.

The next crucial step is to install the waterwheel entirely into the water flow.

Under Zhang Hongjian's command and with the help of ropes, the goblins exerted their strength again, working with Carl, Bob, and a group of other young and strong men to carefully push the waterwheel, allowing its lower blades to slowly immerse themselves in the stream.

"Loosen the rope!" Zhang Hongjian ordered.

As the rope loosened, the waterwheel swayed slightly due to its own weight and the buoyancy of the water. Then, under the continuous impact of the stream, it made a pleasant "creaking" sound and slowly but steadily began to turn.

"It's moving! It's moving! The wheels are spinning!" The children jumped up and down excitedly.

The clear stream water was scooped up by the leaves, carried to a high place, and then poured down with a splash, reflecting a small rainbow in the sunlight.

The rhythmic creaking and flowing water sounded like a powerful work chant.

"It's amazing! It doesn't need to be pushed or pulled by animals; it just keeps turning by itself!" An old woman stared intently at the waterwheel, as if she were seeing the most amazing object she had ever seen.

"Lord Will, what's the purpose of this big waterwheel? It looks fun, but is it just for show?" a villager asked curiously. They knew Will was knowledgeable and very patient, so they would ask him questions whenever they didn't understand something.

Will turned to the curious crowd, raised his voice, and explained with a hint of pride, "This isn't just for show. It's called a waterwheel. It can convert the power of flowing water into usable energy, and it can also draw water out to irrigate farmland."

In fact, Will was also full of curiosity when he saw this big wheel not long ago. It wasn't until the lord explained its purpose to him that he understood what wisdom was.

His thoughts at the time were not much different from those of his current subjects; in fact, he considered it almost like magic.

Seeing that some people still looked confused, Will continued to explain: "Look, the waterwheel turns, which drives these gears."

In the future, we can use this gear set to drive heavy stone mills to grind flour, power blacksmiths' hammers to forge iron, and perhaps even pull saws to cut wood. It will save us a great deal of effort, allowing us to do heavy work that one person cannot, and it will work day and night, as long as the stream flows. Moreover, it can carry the stream water to higher ground, and then, through constructed water troughs, deliver the water to the fields for irrigation, eliminating the need for us to fetch water bit by bit to water the land.

"Night and night? My God, that would be equivalent to working countless livestock!"

"It can also be used to irrigate fields, which is extremely useful."

"The lord is indeed exceptionally wise; he has managed to design such an ingenious thing."

The people chatted excitedly, their eyes filled with surprise and anticipation.

Meanwhile, the crucial ash processing system, designed under the leadership of Wang Qinian and with the cooperation of craftsmen such as Guo Shulin and Tang Yuanshan, is being assembled in full swing.