Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

It must be said that having a hotel on a plane was truly a strange feeling. He took a shower, completely sobering himself up, then brushed his teeth and washed his face, freshening up his spirits before changing into a clean school uniform.

Their school uniform has always been a narrow-legged garment—similar to the Romans. While both sides traditionally wore loose-legged garments, in modern times, they both adopted narrow-legged garments for certain occasions, much like how family cars are divided into sedans, station wagons, and SUVs. While sedans are the most respectable, displaying respectability depends on the occasion. Students' daily school uniforms are also narrow-legged garments, which appear more professional and are easier to change and wash. They only change into loose-legged garments for major festivals.

Chapter 206 Water Dragon

All the boys' uniforms in Yujing were essentially the same style: slim-fitting black, but adorned with school badges. Shangluo donned the Wutaishan Training School's enameled "Luban Bird" badge on his collar and tidied himself in front of the mirror before leaving his suite.

It was time to land. Thanks to its expansive wingspan, the Hercules had a very low takeoff and landing speed. While passengers had to be seated during takeoff, no additional preparation was required for landing.

The fuselage landed on the waterway within Changi Harbor, the turbulence barely greater than that of a turbulent current. There was no need to brake suddenly; the water itself served as a perfect speed bump. Standing in front of the mirror, Shangluo simply grasped the handrail and smoothly landed alongside the Hercules at the Changi Harbor seaplane terminal.

Like a ship, the Hercules slowly entered its berth. This massive aircraft, with a wingspan of nearly 100 meters, had a dedicated berth at its home port, allowing passengers to board and disembark without the need for a ferry. Also parked at the berth was the Hercules I, also embarking and disembarking passengers.

After the plane landed, Shangluo walked out of the suite.

"Good morning," the purser, who was walking between the cockpit and the galley, greeted him. "Where's breakfast? In the suite?"

"I'm going to eat in the restaurant downstairs." It's been almost a day since he got on the plane, and he hasn't been anywhere outside the suite. It feels like a waste of the plane ticket.

"Okay, breakfast will start shortly, and you can help yourself. If you'd like something off the menu, just let us know. You can order anytime in the port, and we'll deliver it from the kitchen in your terminal's departure lounge. Would you like a lemonade?"

sizzle

Shangluo sipped his soda through a straw as he descended from the second floor. The restaurant on the first floor was open, but many passengers were queuing to go sightseeing. The airport had a tour bus service that took him to Xingzhou City for shopping, but Shangluo found the plane comfortable enough.

He sat down at the dining area, the four seats facing each other occupied by the only one of them. Sunlight from the South China Sea streamed in through the portholes, illuminating the hibiscus flowers growing in fresh water on the table. Waves gently lapped against the dock, occasionally hitting the fuselage, making a "dong dong" sound like the sound of a wooden fish.

"Ah, a day off, perhaps also my last day as a normal person. Perhaps after becoming a celestial being, I won't be able to rest any longer."

Before he finished his lemonade, he started eating the curry chicken on his plate. For some reason, perhaps influenced by Zhu Xianxun, he had to eat some meat in the morning to feel "full".

He finished a small plate of curry chicken with some hummus and rice, then leaned back in his seat to continue gazing at the sea view. He had plenty of time today anyway, so he could still have another meal later. There was no need to rush to eat his fill now.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, he noticed what seemed to be a large cylinder docked at the nearby dock. The cylinder looked incredibly large, like a submarine. However, its draft was very shallow, and most of the huge cylinder floated on the water, as if it were hollow. The cylinder was pointed at one end and spread out like a trumpet at the other. It was wrapped in black cloth, and the edges of the cloth were decorated with tassels in the five colors of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, giving it a strange and gorgeous feeling. This five-color pattern was quite common, and was the color of the Taichang flag, commonly used by the imperial guards.

He tilted his head slightly towards the window, trying to see more clearly.

"Where are you looking?" Lu Huaiyang's voice suddenly appeared behind him - although it was a bit scary, he was no longer surprised.

"What's that cylinder over there? Is it a fuel tank?"

"Oh, that." To his surprise, Lu Huaiyang actually smiled. "You guessed most of it right. Indeed, most of them are fuel tanks. Want to take a closer look?"

"Is this something I can see?"

"There's nothing you can't see. In fact, a fleet was cruising the Indian Sea last night, and I guessed this 'thing' would be arriving soon. I didn't expect it to be docked in the harbor—how about going and taking a look? If things don't go well, this might be the last time you see it. Of course, if things go well, you'll be able to see it many times."

The "Big Cylinder" docked not far from the Hercules. The two walked over. Guards in golden armor stood guard in front of the berth. After showing their credentials, the guards announced and let them pass.

"It doesn't seem to be particularly confidential?" After passing the checkpoint, Shangluo found that there were not many people here.

"Ah, it was indeed classified in the beginning, but now after several failed experiments, information control has been gradually relaxed. Can you guess what it is?"

Shangluo looked up slightly. Up close, the cylinder looked even larger than it had appeared from afar. Like a skyscraper lying on the water, it was indeed 150 meters long and about the same width as a building.

"This is... Wait, this can't be..." He looked at the tail and confirmed that there was indeed an expanding trumpet-like structure at the tail. Although it was wrapped in a huge black cloth, it was clearly the structure of the nozzle, and it was a huge nozzle.

"You guessed it. It's a rocket. What you see before you is the finished product of the 'Water Dragon Project,' which was being pursued simultaneously with Lan Fang's 'Artillery Project.' It's the Water Dragon-class sea-based, super-heavy, round-trip space-to-earth carrier rocket, or Water Dragon Arrow for short. Forged entirely from stainless steel, it's powered by a single, massive compression-type rocket engine. Its total displacement is 18000 metric tons, equivalent to that of a heavy cruiser. It can propel over 450 metric tons into space in a single charge, and if all goes well, it can even return."

"This thing can come back??? How?"

"Hit it back. That's why we have to use a stainless steel rocket body and an extrusion rocket. This way, there's no need for a complex and sophisticated turbopump, multiple engines in parallel, or even any mechanical structure. An extrusion rocket simply uses a high-pressure gas tank to squeeze out the rocket fuel. With a simple deceleration, this hollow stainless steel cylinder can basically be directly 'hit back' and reused - the first consideration at the time was the same as Lan Fang's: If we rush into the sky just to take a look, then there's no point. After all, no one is competing with us, and there won't be any prizes for being the first to go up. Before we can actually use the resources of the universe, going up to take a look is not very meaningful. So we want to go to the sky in one step! It's just that there is still a little problem."

"Structure?"

"The structure isn't the problem. We've reinforced the structure with divine chromium, so it's generally sufficient. It was sufficient to begin with, and the reinforcement only makes it easier to recover when it's smashed back. The trouble now is that it's not very easy to drive, because there's no good way to do it except to have someone get on board and drive it. The first two times it exploded, it started tumbling in mid-air, and in the end, the Qigong practitioner parachuted down. But at least there's no need to stuff a celestial being into the barrel, so the Qigong practitioner can drive it. In this new experiment, we've added torch fuel injected by Yingtian Manufacturing, which should make it more stable. If all goes well, my brother will be able to land on the landing site cleared by the Lan Fang fleet yesterday after circling the earth for a few weeks. He will eject and parachute before landing. Well, good luck to Water Dragon Arrow No. 4. If all goes well, we'll be able to hear the Water Dragon's Roar in a few days."

Chapter 207 Our Longhua Dharma Assembly

"What do you think? Our plan is much more reliable than Lan Fang's, right?" Lu Huaiyang looked much more confident - although he was also very confident when he saw Captain Lin talking about the lunar cannon, his tone contained the expectation of "scare you", and it was obvious that he himself knew that the technology of the lunar cannon was outrageous.

When Lu Huaiyang showed the Water Dragon to Shangluo, he acted as if it was natural, because it was "quite reliable" for the imperial court.

"I have a small question." Shangluo raised his hand. "Have we launched any experimental payloads before?"

"Experimental? Yes, they did. A solid iron lump was launched into space over a decade ago, and it hasn't fallen back yet. But it's useless. You have to send a person up there to make it work. You can't just expect it to move on its own."

"Wait, that's it." Shangluo discovered a blind spot—his impression of space engineering began with unmanned payloads. The first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, had the ability to transmit radio waves. But in the Ming Dynasty, space engineering seemed to be based on the premise of "manned missions."

"So why don't we launch an 'autonomous' object into space? What is our aerospace engineering going to do?"

"Automatic?" Lu Huaiyang thought for a moment. "It's not that we haven't thought about this question. We have also proposed theories such as cybernetics. But the purpose of our development of aerospace engineering is to collect spirit stones on the moon, and we have to complete it within this generation. So the Water Dragon is the final product of a series of factors. First of all, it is too difficult for a turbopump rocket to travel back and forth between the earth and the sky. With current technology, it is still too early. So we use compression rockets. As the name suggests, the rocket fuel is squeezed out directly from high-pressure gas tanks. This makes it easy to make it large enough for large-scale space construction. However, this requires additional high-pressure gas tanks, and the rocket will be even larger, too large to be launched from land. So we just launch it directly from the water, and it happens to be built directly in the dock. As for smaller rockets that are more automated, it's not impossible, but we can't wait that long."

"Are we in a hurry?"

"Yes." Lu Huaiyang nodded. "Because we have always held this view: the Ming Dynasty is now on the verge of becoming a half-step immortal dynasty, and we must become the last generation before the ascension, and the first generation to ascend. As long as we can collect the spiritual stones on the moon, we will have the hope of achieving the vision of universal ascension. In the lifetime of our generation, we will elevate all the people in the capital into immortal celestial beings and establish a dynasty of celestial beings. This is also the cornerstone to the great way, because only by breaking through the suffering and weakness of the mortal body can we continue to improve as celestial beings, until we achieve eternal life. In other words-"

He looked at the behemoth before him. "In other words, this is the foundation of our entire civilization. What's before you is the 'medicine' of our entire civilization. Our foundation-building elixir is the moon that hangs eternally in the sky. As long as we can use the moon's spirit stones to break through the limits of our lifespan, we can, with our immortal bodies, continue to explore the more distant starry seas, until we can even try to refine the fixed stars."

“Do we have such technology?”

"Of course we can. Cutting-edge theories suggest that the sun is driven by a chain reaction of elements, but this hasn't been proven yet. But we already have a way to prove it. We just need to see if 'that bomb' can explode. If the sun is understandable, then after conquering the resources of the moon and other planets, it may not be impossible to further shape the sun into a spiritual energy well. This may take hundreds of years, but if we can complete the foundation building at hand, then we can afford the wait. We can use the lifespan of celestial beings to await the arrival of the second ascension. Although many people will be left behind, we will try to keep more people alive, to keep our parents, wives, children, relatives, neighbors, and other compatriots we don't know alive."

“Is that why there are radishes?”

"Yes, radishes are very important. We are trying our best to use radishes to help everyone maintain their innate Xiantian bodies. This way, after we dig up the spirit stones, more people will not be delayed by time and can use their Xiantian bodies to break through. We expect that the first batch of spirit stones will enable many of the prepared Qigong practitioners to successfully establish their foundations, including the 44800-man Imperial Guard. As long as we can transport this first batch back, we expect to immediately form a heavenly army composed entirely of Qigong practitioners. With the power of this divine army, it will be easy to suppress the entire earth."

"Including Lu Liang?"

"Yes, she also lacks the 'finishing touch'. Ultimately, it's not about quantity; we have as many radishes as we want. It all comes down to concentration. The bottled Qi Hai formula you brought is a good start, but I'm afraid it still won't allow her to successfully establish her foundation, because she's still a little short. But that's probably the limit of the Immortal Root radish. Only the pure spirit stones from the moon can transform these would-be Qi cultivators into true cultivators, and just a little bit is enough. Next up are the other people in Kinei who have consumed the Immortal Root. It will allow everyone to break through the Qi Training Stage and achieve a mortal lifespan of 120 to 150 years. Then, after everyone in the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Stages has achieved Golden Core, we can rest for a while."

“This is a truly great undertaking.”

"So we never need Maitreya to descend in 5.67 billion years. We can hold the Longhua Dharma Assembly on our own. Maybe we can even hold the Peach Festival in Xuanwu Lake in the future. So, you are very important."

He looked at Shangluo and said, "We are already quite familiar with the requirements for the Qi Training Stage, which is why we anticipate that after collecting the lunar spirit stones, we will be able to gradually promote all of our members to Qi Training Stages. However, the subsequent foundation building phase still requires further research and observation. Your foundation building is quite perfect and can pave a new path for us. While we cannot fully understand the requirements for foundation building, every celestial being who has successfully built a foundation can provide invaluable experience."

"From this point of view, Wen Yuan's father's passing is something that many of my colleagues and I will regret for the rest of our lives. He fell in the darkness before dawn. He didn't force himself to build his foundation, but he failed. I truly hope you don't fail. Even the uncle named Guoxing was gambling his life when he paid for the golden branch, and it wasn't just for himself. You're much more prepared than he was, and the golden branch you received is of a higher rank. Therefore, your foundation should be foolproof. So, I want to ask, what do you want to do after building your foundation and becoming a celestial being?"

"Well, Lu Liang, Wen Yuan, and I made an appointment to treat them to dinner after school on Friday. Then we have to prepare for the fall exams and the car race. Also, I still can't forget about that lightbulb."

"Ha." Lu Huaiyang smiled. "That's great, that's great. Your Dao Heart is more mature than anyone else. It seems that the Foundation Establishment Stage is far from your end. I'm already looking forward to your breakthrough to the Golden Core Stage."

Chapter 208 Merit

Shangluo looked up at the huge monster in front of him.

When he learned that this thing also needed someone to drive it, he couldn't help but respect the driver.

"Is this thing dangerous?" he asked Lu Huaiyang.

"This is much safer than the Lan Fang cannon. Even the rocket plane you're on isn't as safe as that, because once the solid rockets are launched, there's no way to extinguish them, and you can't just throw them away. If anything goes wrong, it'll explode immediately. Our Water Dragon uses a liquid rocket. The fuel and oxidizer are stored separately and then squeezed in with high-pressure gas. So it's quite accurate when it takes off."

"Can I ask what fuel our rockets use?"

"This... is a technical detail I'm not quite sure about. I remember using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which are very troublesome, especially liquid hydrogen. It can only be produced and used on-site, and it will explode if stored for too long. Therefore, the Sea Dragon also needs a special refueling ship, and the entire launch process takes about a week to prepare. You seem very interested? Are you interested in joining the Water Dragon project?"

"Can I join too?"

"I want to ask you what you think."

"I want to go to the moon and collect spirit stones as soon as possible. I'll have to continue cultivating after I establish my foundation, and relying on carrots will be completely useless by then. In order to cultivate faster, I have to lend a hand. It won't waste much time, after all, I don't have to participate in physical training. And after I establish my foundation as a celestial being, I want to join the Water Dragon Project as soon as possible, so that I won't be embarrassed to refuse when Lan Fang tries to persuade me to join the cannon barrel. Then I can say, 'We're busy here, and I'm very concerned about the country's space program. Everyone, work hard on your own, haha.'"

"Tsk, that's not very convincing."

"I'm just looking for an excuse, it's not a big deal. So, can I go to heaven?"

Lu Huaiyang nodded. "There's a huge shortage of astronauts over there right now. If you could establish your foundation as a celestial being, you'd be a huge help, and the entire plan could be greatly advanced. And you have experience, don't you? You've watched Captain Lin and his crew execute the rocket launch from the cockpit. You're a perfect fit. You might even be the first person to land on the moon and bring back the first handful of spirit stones, making you a great hero to all of humanity."

"Oh right." Shangluo suddenly thought, "Captain Lu, why don't you go and sign up?"

"I'm afraid of heights." Lu Huaiyang answered directly.

[He wasn't lying.] Apollonia helped him verify it.

"You might be wondering why I keep flying if I'm afraid of heights. I don't want to either, but my budget is limited. I'd definitely take the train if I could, but I've encouraged Wen Yuan to sign up. After he joins the Imperial Guards Aviation Corps, he should be able to join the ranks of astronauts soon. If you partner with him, you can just leave the complicated operations to him and keep the overall control."

"It seems... not bad." Apart from anything else, he still had great faith in Wen Yuan's professionalism. After all, he was a professional Qigong practitioner. He was about to establish his foundation, but he had yet to practice any techniques or magical powers. His first practice would probably require him to start directly from the Celestial Body stage.

He looked at Shangluo. If Wen Yuan could partner with Shangluo, Lu Huaiyang felt that he would be worthy of Wen Yuan's father.

"It's certainly a great experience for you. If that's okay with you, I'll ask for you."

"Okay." Shangluo nodded. Once they reached Xingzhou, they would be back home. They could use the spiritual network to communicate.

Lu Huaiyang took out the sign and clicked on it.

"Hmm?" He blinked.

"Is there a problem?"

"They said over there, let's stand still."

As soon as the words fell, a breeze swirled behind the two men, and a tall, thin old man fell silently from mid-air.

Shangluo looked back. The old man stood a full two meters tall, his white beard cascading down to his chest, giving him the air of a sage. However, he was wearing a narrow, easy-to-walk daytime suit, similar in style to Shangluo's school uniform, minus the school logo and gold buttons, simply a plain black. He also wore a pair of black sunglasses, obscuring his gaze. The old man lowered his head slightly, looking down at the two men, who were considerably shorter than him. Even through the sunglasses, Shangluo could sense two seemingly physical spiritual senses scanning them.

[Oh my god! Where did this old man come from?! He's so powerful!] Apollonia was frightened.

Lu Huaiyang next to him was also shocked: "Zhang Zhang. Zhang Tianshi!" But he immediately bowed his head.

"Yeah." The old man nodded as a return gesture.

"Please wait a moment, wait a moment." He took out the jade token and said a few words quickly to the inside.

"Greetings, Master!" Lu Liang, who had rushed over, bowed deeply.

"Girl, you've made a lot of progress recently. It's true that sincerity can move mountains and break rocks. It's just that your master didn't come, otherwise she would have hugged you."

Shangluo whispered to Lu Huaiyang beside him: "I remember Lu Liang's master was Taoist Jinghai of the Wudang Sect? Then who is this..."

"I am Zhang Sanfeng of Wudang." The old man told his name.

"Zhang Zhang. Zhang Tianshi?!" Shangluo now understood what "Tianshi" meant. "You actually..."

"Yes, I'm not dead yet, old man." Zhang Sanfeng said jokingly, "But you, I'm having a hard time finding you."

He was not dead and was actually maintaining a pretty good attitude. He spoke as casually as the old man in the park. Shangluo had not expected to see this person here.

His combat power is off the charts! At least Gold. No, no, no, at least Nascent Soul, or even higher, like Daozu. I can't fathom his strength at all. Even Phaethon couldn't reach this level of combat power the moment he took the elixir.

"Are you looking for me?"

"I'm here to bring you your scabbard. Here it is. Um. Let me look for it. I'm not used to the pockets on this shirt. Young people's tastes change so quickly these days."

"Ah, this." Lu Huaiyang bowed and said, "How can we trouble Master Zhang to deliver this personally? Please give the order and we will set up a ceremonial reception."

"That's all right. I just came to take a look and take a look at this rocket in front of you." He confirmed it before calling out the rocket's name. Even for the enigmatic old man, this was something new.

"I'm here to see off my disciples. The court has selected some Qigong practitioners to fly this rocket. This is a great merit and a good thing."

After saying that, he took it out from his arms.

"Here, this is your scabbard."

Zhang Sanfeng took out a cell phone case from his pocket.

Putting the phone case into Shangluo's hand, he touched his forehead and said, "The brow is shining, which means you are blessed. What kind of exercises have you practiced?"

“I haven’t practiced at all.”

"You've never practiced anything? That's good. It's better to forget everything than to remember everything, and it's better to know nothing than to forget everything. Well, if you have time after building your foundation, come to Wudang. Since you haven't practiced anything, how about practicing Tai Chi with me?"

Chapter 209 Kirin

Zhang Tianshi disappeared into thin air, leaving Shangluo, who was holding the phone case, disheveled in the breeze.

"That person is really..."

"Yes, it is the Pure Void Yuan Miao Zhang Zhenjun Sanfeng Tianshi himself."

"When did he attain enlightenment?"

"What is clear is that in the 26th year of the Hongwu reign, Zhang Tianshi achieved the Golden Elixir in Fuquan Mountain, Pingyue, Guizhou. However, it is unknown when he established his foundation, nor is it known what level of cultivation he achieved afterwards."

"Are there any other old gods? Can they..." Shangluo made a "push" gesture to the rocket.