Forced to become a top influencer, I rely on my tu cao to ruin the cultivation world.

At the summit of Liehuo Peak, smoke and fire filled the air.

The once solemn and majestic weapon-refining hall is now a ruin. Amidst the broken walls and rubble, several twisted bronze pillars emit black smoke, resembling giant, charred sausages. The air is filled with a pungent smell of sulfur, mixed with the acrid odor of burning spiritual energy, making one's eyes water.

"Jia Zang!"

A loud shout, like a thunderclap, caused several pieces of rubble to fall from the surrounding beams that had not yet collapsed.

Li Changfeng, the sect leader of Qingyun Sect, stood in mid-air, his snow-white Daoist robe fluttering even without wind, his beard and hair standing on end. His usually ethereal face was now filled with pain and rage. He pointed at the dusty, disheveled young man standing in the center of the ruins below, his fingers trembling.

"I sent you to Fiery Peak to assist in weapon forging because you... have some ingenious ideas! But what have you done? You actually blew up the sect's treasured 'Mysterious Iron Furnace' that had been kept for three hundred years?! You even destroyed three side halls of the weapon forging hall! Do you know how many spirit stones that Mysterious Iron Furnace was worth?! Do you know how much manpower and resources those three side halls cost?!"

With each question Li Changfeng posed, the oppressive aura emanating from him intensified. The surrounding disciples of the Blazing Fire Peak were already kneeling on the ground, trembling and not daring to even breathe.

But Jia Zang, at the center of the storm, appeared remarkably calm.

He patted the long robe he was wearing, which had been blown to shreds, and pushed up the sunglasses on his nose, which he had picked up from somewhere and only had half a lens. Instead of showing any remorse, he revealed a... eerie smile.

"Master, please calm down." Jia Zhuang cleared his throat. Although his voice was a little hoarse, it carried an inexplicable confidence. "You only see the surface, but not the essence."

"The essence?" Li Changfeng laughed angrily. "Bombing the sect's most important location into ruins, is that what you call the essence?"

"No, no." Jia Zhuang shook his head, held up a finger, and waved it in the air. "Master, what you see is loss, but what I see is the hope for the rise of the Qingyun Sect! The dawn of the future of the cultivation world!"

Li Changfeng was stunned.

The disciples kneeling on the ground around them were also stunned.

This... this guy must have been blown senseless by the explosion.

Ignoring the stares of the crowd, Jia Zang turned around, pointed to the equally dusty but still sturdy "psychic heavy tractor" behind him, and began his performance.

"Master, do you know that the explosion just now was not an accident, but a...great experiment!"

Jia Zhuang's voice suddenly rose, filled with inflammatory rhetoric, "Traditional weapon forging emphasizes slow, gentle processing. But this method is far too inefficient! Far too inefficient! If our Qingyun Sect wants to dominate the cultivation world, if we want every disciple to have a flying sword, if we want even outer disciples to be able to use top-grade spiritual weapons, how long will it take to achieve this with this inefficient method?"

Li Changfeng frowned. Although he felt that Jia Zhuang was talking nonsense, for some reason, he didn't interrupt him.

"That's why I introduced the concept of 'industrialization'!" Jia Zhuang pointed at the tractor, spittle flying from his mouth. "This 'psychic heavy-duty tractor' is the 'industrialization mother machine' I built for you! That explosion just now was me testing its maximum output power! You see—"

Jia Zhuang suddenly pulled the tractor's start lever.

"boom--!!!"

The "Nine-Turn Golden Elixir Engine," modified by Jia Zang, roared, its exhaust pipe spewing out a dark blue spiritual flame that shot straight into the sky! The flame was pure and violent, carrying a heart-palpitating sense of oppression, even hotter than the earth fire of Blazing Fire Peak!

"Did you see that?!" Jia Zhuang pointed at the blue trail of flame and shouted hoarsely, "That's 'nuclear power'! That's the beauty of industry! The explosion just now was a small release of this power! Although we lost a furnace, we have verified the feasibility of this technological route! Master, we only lost a few pieces of scrap iron, but what we will gain is a brand new era!"

Li Changfeng stared blankly at the blue tail flame. As a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, he could sense the terrifying energy contained within it. If… if only this energy could be used in the mountain-protecting formation, or in his flying sword…

"This...this really happened to you?" Li Changfeng's tone softened.

"Absolutely true!" Jia Zhuang patted his chest. "Master, just imagine! If our Qingyun Sect's protective array no longer relies on rigid spirit stones for power, but instead uses this kind of 'nuclear-powered tractor' as its core power source, its defensive strength will increase tenfold! No, a hundredfold! At that time, let alone a demonic invasion, even if people from the Immortal Realm came, they would have to suffer a crushing defeat before our 'industrial barrier'!"

Li Changfeng's eyes lit up.

He seemed to see the scene of the Qingyun Sect's myriad immortals paying homage and its power shaking the world.

"Then... what should we do next?" Li Changfeng asked subconsciously.

Jia Zang chuckled to himself: The fish has taken the bait!

"Master, to realize this grand plan, my strength alone is not enough." Jia Zhuang sighed, his face bearing the expression of someone "dedicating themselves to the sect." "I need resources! A large amount of black iron, refined gold, and... spirit stones! As start-up capital!"

Li Changfeng hesitated for a moment. The losses just now were already significant enough. What if giving this kid more resources caused him to blow it up again?

Just then, Jia Zang's system interface popped up in front of him:

[Detection indicates the target "Li Changfeng" is wavering. It is recommended that the host guide the conversation towards "angel round financing."]

[Mission Reward: 2000 Honkai Points, unlock the "Spirit Power Amplifier" blueprint.]

Jia Zang understood immediately and used his trump card.

"Master! What are you still hesitating about? Su Meier from the Hehuan Sect next door sent someone to inquire about our weapon-forging progress yesterday! If we don't hurry up and work on our research and development now, what will happen if they beat us to it? Where will the Qingyun Sect's reputation be? Where will your reputation be?"

"The Joyous Union Sect?!" Upon hearing these two words, Li Changfeng flew into a rage. "Those vixens dare to covet my Azure Cloud Sect's weapon-refining techniques?!"

"Yes!" Jia Zhuang added fuel to the fire, "I heard they're researching some kind of 'dual cultivation accelerator,' intending to quickly improve the sect's overall strength through... that method! If we're still standing still, won't our Qingyun Sect's male disciples be outmatched by those vixens in the sect competition later... hehe!"

Jia Zang didn't finish his sentence, but that "hehe" contained too many indescribable meanings.

Li Changfeng's face turned ashen. As the leader of the righteous path, he despised the Hehuan Sect's "heretical" methods. If the Hehuan Sect were to surpass the Qingyun Sect in "technology," it would be an utter disgrace!

"Fine!" Li Changfeng gritted his teeth, took out a gleaming golden token from his storage bag, and tossed it to Jia Zhuang. "This is my 'special approval order'! With this token, you can go to the sect's treasury and withdraw 30,000 low-grade spirit stones and 500 catties of black iron! But—"

Li Changfeng abruptly changed the subject, staring intently at Jia Zhuang: "If you can't produce results that satisfy me within three months, don't blame me for enforcing family rules! Then I'll throw you into the back mountains to feed the spirit beasts!"

"Don't worry, Master!" Jia Zhuang accepted the token, his smile as bright as a blooming chrysanthemum. "Three months from now, I will definitely let you witness the Qingyun Sect's 'Industrial Revolution'!"

Li Changfeng snorted coldly and left with a flick of his sleeve.

Watching Li Changfeng's figure disappear into the horizon, Jia Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on the tractor's hood.

"Phew...that was close. I almost got chopped off by that old man."

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have successfully persuaded the sect leader to secure "angel round funding"!]

[Gained 2000 Honkai Points!]

[Unlock new blueprint: "Spirit Amplifier" (converts tractor power output into standardized spirit energy for various industrial applications).]

Jia Zhuang looked at the "special approval order" in his hand, then at the "spiritual power amplifier" blueprint that was flashing with golden light in the system store, and a wicked smile appeared on his lips.

"Thirty thousand spirit stones? Five hundred catties of black iron? Heh heh, old man, did you think I was going to build some kind of mountain-protecting formation? You're too naive!"

Jia Zhuang stood up, dusted himself off, and shouted to the Blazing Fire Peak disciples who were still standing there in a daze amidst the ruins, "What are you all standing there for? Didn't you hear the sect leader's order? Hurry up and collect all this scrap metal! This is the raw material for the 'mother machine of industry'!"

"Huh? Instructor Jia, aren't these... these just trash?" a disciple asked cautiously.

"Trash?!" Jia Zhuang glared at him, adopting the air of a specially appointed tutor. "In a scientist's eyes, there is no trash, only resources in the wrong place! Get to work! If you do a good job, I'll treat you to...spiritual tea!"

"Yes, Professor Jia!"

Upon hearing that there was spiritual tea to drink, the disciples immediately perked up and began clearing away the ruins.

Jia Zang then jumped onto the tractor, started the engine, and sped away amidst the eerie blue exhaust flames.

His next destination was not the sect's treasury, but... Sunset Peak.

The tractor roared and disappeared into the winding mountain road of Qingyun Sect.

All that remained was the still-smoking ruins behind them, and a cultivation world about to be overturned by "industrial civilization".