Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Letting the Heavenly Master push a rocket? Not quite. Zhang Tianshi himself said, 'The Daoists conceal their ways to save people.' As an immortal, he has his own agenda for what he does and doesn't do, and it's beyond my comprehension. Even if mountains and rivers were to crumble, the immortals wouldn't necessarily intervene. A rare example is Quanzhen Tianshi Qiu, who once persuaded Emperor Genghis Khan, the Heavenly Mandate Zhenren, to issue a cease-killing order, though he consulted the heavens beforehand. As for others, success and failure are determined by fate, and even immortals wouldn't interfere. So the title 'Tianshi' isn't just given randomly. However, we honor him as Tianshi with his personal consent. He agreed to serve as Tianshi of this dynasty, so he'll lend us a helping hand at crucial moments."

"What about the rocket? Isn't that crucial enough?"

"It's hard to say." Lu Huaiyang shook his head. "But he personally sent our disciples down the mountain to answer the call, which shows that what we are doing must be right and virtuous. Immortals are like Qilin. They appreciate our virtue and come to the world to save people."

"Oh right." Shangluo thought for a moment, "What about Master Qiu? Is Master Qiu's Taoist school also helping the imperial court?"

"Of course, although not all the immortals who have been reclusive have come to the mortal world, the celestial masters will all help the imperial court. Celestial Master Qiu's Longmen Sect is helping with another plan. So we are not only cooperating with Rome, but also with the imperial court and the opposition. But you..."

Lu Huaiyang looked at him: "Master Zhang wants to teach you Tai Chi? This..."

"Is it great?"

"You have to understand that before Zhang Tianshi realized his profound skills, he had never learned anything before. That's why he said, 'It's better to forget everything than to remember everything, and it's better to know nothing than to forget everything.' When he said 'practicing Tai Chi,' he meant that he probably hoped you could realize your own method from it. It seems that Tianshi has good vision. He probably saw at a glance that you have no idea what our current skills are, otherwise you wouldn't have learned anything until now. He hopes that you can realize your own profound skills and supernatural powers, which are most suitable for you. This is like teaching a man to fish. An old immortal is an old immortal, he sees the long term. Of course, even if I could see it, I couldn't teach you. I haven't even established my foundation yet."

"Oh, right. I have a question." He suddenly thought, "What about Daozu? Daozu is... You know who Daozu is, right?"

Lu Huaiyang nodded: "We all know something vaguely. There is no other old emperor who practices Taoism except that one. The Taoist is called Daozu. I can use the words of Zhang Tianshi: Taoists hide the Tao to save people, and Confucianists practice Taoism to save the world. The immortal foundation of Daozu is different from that of all immortals. It is said that it is related to the elixir. So Daozu is the Taoist ancestor who practices Taoism to save the world. Our current famous schools of thought, including immortal roots and so on, were all created by Daozu. If there were no Daozu, I am afraid that the immortals would only stay away from the world, and we would not have such a peaceful and prosperous era, nor would we be grateful to the immortals for accepting the imperial edict to become the Heavenly Master. If there were no Daozu, I am afraid that the heaven would not let Qilin appear in the world."

"Kirin?"

"It's you, Shangluo. After you arrived, we all wondered if the peace and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty had moved the heavens, sending down such a great auspicious sign that the Qilin child appeared. The Daozu asked us, the Jinyiwei, to take care of you, which seems to confirm our suspicion. The Qilin in the past—ah, not you, but the giraffe, that is, those tribute Qilin, white elephants, and other Lingzhi, Jiahe, etc., were all taken care of by the Jinyiwei. And, you can do a thing... I think Wen Yuan mentioned what you can do? Can you use your Qi to wield a sword?"

"Oh, yes."

"I observed it the other day and realized it was simply a naturally auspicious sword technique. The Book of Songs says, 'Those with horns should be touched, but only the horn of a unicorn can be touched without being touched.' You clearly possess unparalleled sword skills, yet you never use them to actively attack others. This is the supreme virtue and benevolence of Confucius, who said, 'In the Tang and Yu dynasties, unicorns and phoenixes roamed, but now is not the time for them to come, what are they seeking? Unicorn, unicorn, my heart worries.' It is precisely because our peaceful and prosperous times are about practicing virtue to save the world, not hiding virtue to save people, that the unicorn has appeared, rather than a dragon that can only be seen from head to tail. I wonder if when Zhang Tianshi touches your head, he also wants to touch the unicorn's forehead."

[Oh~~~ So you're so important! Thank God, thank God for sending Qilin to me, saving me from the suffering of being deaf and blind. Ah, Linmen. If I had Wangzai milk, I'd also like to give you a bottle, oh no, three bottles.]

"Ah, this. Do many people know about this?"

"It's just speculation, actually." Lu Huaiyang looked up at the sky. "But what's that saying? If something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck. You're as auspicious as the Qilin, as benevolent and righteous as the Qilin, and you've arrived at the right time. So the Qilin Son must be you, and no one else. Sima Qian said, 'Since the Tao and Tang dynasties, the Qilin has ceased to exist.' Now that the Qilin has reappeared, it means our rule is comparable to that of the ancient sage kings. Ah, I think we can do it."

Apollonia also said this with gratitude.

"So what do you think?" he asked Shangluo.

"Well, I'd better study this phone case." Zhang Tianshi handed him the phone case, which he had just put in his pocket.

[Yes, yes, that phone case. Let me see it.]

Shangluo pulled the phone case out of his pocket. Like a flip phone, this one also had a flip-top design. The surface was a silvery metal plate, seemingly bare, yet surprisingly possessing a geeky air.

"What's the use of this thing?" Lu Huaiyang hadn't understood it from the beginning. "Is this Kuaiban? Master Zhang wants to teach you Kuaiban? He's not from Tianjin either."

He watched Shangluo take out his cell phone and insert it skillfully.

"Eh??? How do you know how to use it? Don't all the gods' treasures need to be figured out before they can be used?"

"Uh" Shangluo didn't know how to answer. He couldn't say that he used it often before.

"I understand. This is the wisdom of the Qilin."

Ah, Linmen.

"Don't be so mean, what is the use of this thing?"

[I think I feel it. Eh? Try pulling it out. There's a small raised button on the right side. Pull it out.]

"Like this?" Shangluo stretched out his hand and pulled out a piece of antenna.

Now, we're bringing you our midday news. Today's main topics include:

Lu Huaiyang looked at the antenna and said, "It's actually a handheld radio. The immortal's magic weapon is really advanced."

Chapter 210 Scabbard

"This antenna is so long." Shangluo pulled the antenna all the way, and the radio signal became clearer and clearer. However, the antenna kept getting longer and longer, until it was three feet long and still kept getting longer.

"Wait, that's not an antenna."

"Huh?" Shangluo also realized that this thing was the same thickness from beginning to end. It wasn't a layered antenna folded together, it just happened to function as an antenna. And the fact that such a long section of it stretched out from the tiny phone case made him wonder what the antenna looked like inside.

Lu Huaiyang came forward with his hands behind his back to take a look: "Don't move for now."

He circulated his true energy, stretched out his hand and "tapped" the three-foot-long antenna he had pulled out. In an instant, the entire metal strip twisted like a silver snake, making a terrifying "buzzing" sound in the air.

[What the hell is this?!] Apollonia was startled. [Is this thing made of metal?!]

"Why is it that steel, tempered a hundred times, becomes so soft as to bend like a thread?" Lu Huaiyang chanted a line of poetry. "This is the Soft Sword, a divine weapon used to perform Tai Chi sword techniques. I've only heard of it, but I never thought it would actually be used."

“Is this a sword???”

"Yes, this is a sword. It's made of 'Light Silver', a divine metal similar to divine chromium. It's said that the Wudang Sect extracted the raw material from meteorite gold, then placed it in the Golden Palace of Tianzhu Peak, built during the Yongle period, and tempered it with thunder and fire. The tempering process lasted for decades, and the forging took decades more. The sword you hold in your hand required the efforts of at least two generations. There are no more than four such swords in the entire Wudang Mountains, and one of them is probably in the hands of Zhang Tianshi himself. No wonder Zhang Tianshi handed it to you personally. I thought it was just an ordinary token of love."

Shangluo sensed the terrifying power of this thing, needing no introduction. As a metal, it possessed inherent hardness, but its rigidity was about the same as a rope, barely holding it upright when pulled out. Shangluo no longer dared to use it, fearing a careless swing would slice off his finger.

"But why did it twist just now?" he asked Lu Huaiyang.

"Because if you just want a soft sword, you don't need light silver to achieve this effect; special steel will do. But as long as you inject true Qi into the light silver, it will transform from being as soft as a finger-wrap to becoming a hundred-fold steel. Its shape, sword power, and direction all depend on how you input the true Qi. I just injected some flowing true Qi into it, and the light silver twisted with the flow of the true Qi. This move is called 'Golden Snake Dance', a move of the soft sword. Why don't you try it? Just inject true Qi and it will work."

"How about giving it a try?" he asked Apollonia.

[Cough, it seems to be something very powerful, and it seems to be the opposite of divine chrome. Let me try.] Apollonia tried to inject phlogiston into it -

【ah! 】

With a loud bang, the entire phone case exploded. The light silver that was rolled up in the phone case recovered to three meters long in mid-air and fell straight to the ground, but it was so light that not even dust was splashed.

"Ahhh!" Shangluo was shocked. "So there's such a big one inside! How can such a big one fit into the phone case? And I don't even feel it's heavy? Oh, right, where's the phone case? Where's the phone case?"

Lu Huaiyang lowered his raised hand—just when it was blown away, he had caught half of the phone case with his hand. The phone case seemed to be made of ordinary resin, with a "foolproof" function to prevent the light silver from exploding wildly inside and cutting Shangluo's hand.

[I was so scared! It was like frozen hairtail fish suddenly came alive. It was so scary.]

Lu Huaiyang leaned over and gently touched Qingyin with his fingers.

"It seems that Master Zhang realized you were a beginner and didn't sharpen the blade for you. Just roll it back up."

"How do I roll this?"

"Use your hands to roll it up. When it's not filled with Qi, it's about as stiff as a rope, so just roll it back up. By the way, how did you manage to fill it up with Qi all at once?"

"Ah this."

"Forget it, I won't ask you anymore. This is Qilin's magical power. I won't ask any more questions."

Lu Huaiyang helped Shangluo wind the silver on the ground into a circle like yarn, without a speck of dust on it. He then handed the phone case back.

Shangluo put it together again and put it together again.

"If you want to sharpen it later, you can do it yourself. Light silver can be molded at will."

“How to shape it?”

"Actually, after you inject your true qi, it explodes into a long strip. This is because it's a single strip at the end of forging, and it will return to its original shape as soon as you inject your true qi. So, you can just forge it yourself with a hammer while you have true qi. This is why shaping light silver is so labor-intensive, because it can only be shaped when it's full of true qi."

"So it's malleable when filled with Qi, and resilient when released?"

"Yes, that's actually what makes Light Silver so interesting. When it's not infused with true Qi, external forces can't penetrate its shape at all. It's tougher than the strongest steel cable. Even if two rockets were tied to its ends, they wouldn't be able to pull apart this thin Light Silver cable in the middle. It's a shame that its production is even lower than that of Divine Chrome, so it can only be used as a weapon. And while it's called a weapon, it's actually more suitable as a teaching aid. The soft sword can be used to practice exerting force, using sword momentum and sword energy to maintain the shape of the blade. So, what do you say, Zhang Tianshi gave you? A set of teaching materials? You could say it's a teaching material. You should be able to comprehend a lot of natural principles from it. This is the innate practice of learning from nature, and it's what Zhang Tianshi wants to teach you to comprehend."

Somehow, Shangluo felt a surge of emotion. This old immortal, whom he had only met once, had actually prepared everything before their meeting. And it wasn't just Shangluo's. When he had met Lu Liang before, he also remembered her cultivation progress and noticed she had made considerable progress.

"Once I succeed in building my foundation, I will definitely go to Wudang Mountain to pay him a visit."

"You can stop by and visit the space training program. After deciding to use Torch Element fuel to power the Water Dragon, Qi cultivation became very important. The Imperial Palace specializes in thunder cultivation, and the Qi cultivation part must be learned at Wudang. Even for thunder cultivation, it is necessary to go to Wudang for further training, because the essence of immortal cultivation is to nourish and refine Qi, and Qi Sect is the master of all methods. When it comes to controlling Torch Element and circulating true Qi, you still have to go to Wudang Mountain. Wudang Qi Sect practices the method of dual cultivation of body and mind, refining both the body and the spirit. Since you have learned nothing, you should learn the fastest there."

"Ah? Then I have to live in the mountains? I still have things to do."

"Oh." Lu Huaiyang pointed at his phone. "Why are you staying in the mountains permanently? You're not a Taoist priest. Of course we'll contact you by phone. Just go up and get the textbooks. If you can't photocopy them, just copy them yourself. Cultivation mainly involves reading. Everyone is very busy, so you can arrange your own study schedule. However, your master will help you answer any questions. I'm guessing that Master Zhang is teaching you personally. Check Fetion. Master Zhang or another Taoist priest should have added you. They asked me for your Fetion ID before."

Chapter 211 Radio

By evening, the tourists who had been to the city had returned, and the passenger boarding and disembarking process was largely complete. After dinner at the pier, the Hercules took off from the waterways of Changi Harbor. The next morning, it would land at the Pukou Water Airport in Yujing. From there, it would take the Jiangpu Line, crossing the Yangtze River Bridge, directly from Pukou Station to Jiangning Station in Nanjing.

The passage from here to the capital was uneventful, with no military exercises or other arrangements. Tonight's restful sleep was included in their "day of leisure," and after an early dinner, the passengers could enjoy a good night's sleep before embracing a new day. This was also a major selling point of the Hercules: excellent wine. Tonight's dinner itself was a cocktail reception. However, Shangluo and the others were minors and could not drink, so they were unable to sample the wine list personally selected by Guoxing.

But their student tickets are only 20% off, so it’s not a big loss if you don’t drink.

Shangluo patted his pillow, which had been scented with calming sandalwood and fluffed with goose feathers. He changed from his school uniform into pajamas and covered himself with the quilt.

Glancing to the side - Lu Huaiyang was sitting there looking at the stars, but his eyes still glanced towards Wen Yuan from time to time. There was a large bump visible to the naked eye on Wen Yuan's forehead, which was caused by the injury when he woke up. In fact, he should have been beaten in the morning. It was unbelievable that he stayed up all night playing games. Lu Huaiyang specially waited until he woke up to beat him, so as not to disturb the child's rest. Shangluo felt that this was really a pity, because when he was beaten, he was eating ice cream in the restaurant downstairs and did not see it. He saw Lu Huaiyang flicking the sword with his fingers in the morning, and the power was quite great. Only with that kind of skill could one accurately and powerfully flick out a large round bump on the head of a Qigong practitioner.

"Ah!" He could faintly hear Wen Yuan muttering "Ah," and could even vaguely see the residual power of the true energy emanating from his head. Across from him, Han Xingzhi was shivering in his quilt. They had both made the same mistake, but he wasn't Lu Huaiyang's apprentice, so he didn't get beaten—but after returning home, it was hard to say.

Lu Liang read by the bedside lamp, saying nothing, but with an unstoppable smile on his face, as if something delightful had been written in the Latin Comprehensive Course in his hand.

"Shangluo?" Wen Yuan sat up, covering her head. "I can't sleep."

"Nonsense, you slept all afternoon, of course you can't sleep now."

"Is there anything you can do?"

"Put the sign down and fall asleep immediately."

"No, no, no, I didn't play, not now. I'm not addicted, really." He looked towards Lu Huaiyang, who was still looking at the stars, not at him.

"That's it." He asked quietly, "Your brand."

"You still want to play my cards?"

"No, no, no, what I mean is, did Master Zhang Tianshi drop down from the sky and give you a radio?"

“It has radio functionality.”

"How about you play it? Ah, I don't have any signs to read right now. I'm dying, so maybe give me a radio to listen to."

"Isn't there one on the plane?"

"The plane only receives medium and long wave stations, which is boring. Let me tell you, go to Yujing and connect to the local shortwave radio station. There are radio dramas of the Invincible Wang Lingguan."

"What's the point of listening to radio dramas about superheroes fighting villains?"

"Please! Please! Can I call you Big Brother too?"

"Tsk." Shangluo shook his head and asked Han Xingzhi across from him, "Did you see that?"

The outline of a head appeared from under the quilt. It nodded vigorously but didn't dare to speak.

"Ok."

He pulled out his phone. "Apollonia, please come to work. They want to listen to a radio play."

"Ah, I'm a little sleepy. You can only listen for an hour. I'll connect to the switcher first. Okay, tune in. Now you can receive Yujing's local shortwave station."

Shangluo pulled out the antenna, and the sound of the news broadcast came from the phone:

Welcome to the evening news. The main content of this program is: The dredging project of the old Yellow River course will be completed this month, which is expected to change the Yellow River's centuries-old pattern of diverting water from the Huai River to the sea.

The Ministry of Works' Water Conservancy and Reclamation Office also announced that exploration work on the Jiaolai Canal has been completed, and subsequent work is proceeding as planned. Construction is expected to begin this year, with completion expected in the 9th year of Shaoping. This will provide heavy-loaded grain transport vessels with a second alternative route besides the Grand Canal. Technical specifications for river-sea combined transport vessels were released earlier this month.

North Korean industry has achieved a major new victory. The 5000th 'Hwang Eun' tractor rolled off the production line at the 5000th Cheorwon Manufacturing Plant. Wu Qinghai, First Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry, accompanied the King of Korea on a tour of the Hwang Eun tractor production line. The inspection concluded with a melodious rendition of "Remembering Hwang Eun's Grace." The th tractor will be acquired by the Nanjing Palace Museum and will be exhibited in the Modern Industry Exhibition Area this year.

"Why is it still the news?" Shangluo switched a few channels.

[Look up to the divine power of General Huoluo, the great spiritual officer who supervises the heavens!] The powerful brass music and the spiritual officer's incantation burst out from the radio.

"Yes, yes, that's it!" Wen Yuan sat up wrapped in the quilt, "That's it, I want to hear this."

The outline of a head also appeared in Han Xingzhi's quilt opposite.

"Only one hour."

"It's okay, it's over in 40 minutes. I gave up after hearing that."

After the opening song, there was a commercial. But then there were the programs I wanted to listen to, and now even the commercials were becoming interesting. Wen Yuan pricked up his ears, as if he could see something with his ears.

"By the way," Shangluo suddenly thought, "Is North Korea really that powerful?"

For so long, he seemed to have heard very little news from the tributary states. However, as Zhu Xianxun said: "Nothing is the best thing, which means everything is proceeding in an orderly manner."

"I think so." Wen Yuan answered him enthusiastically as they were about to listen to the program. "North Korea is able to meet the industrial targets set by the imperial court in terms of quality and quantity. It is the world's number one vassal state. Don't underestimate those technologically advanced barbarians. I'm afraid they may not be strong enough for North Korea to fight. North Korea can just send out an airborne division or a mountain division and crush them."

"Is North Korea so powerful?"

"North Korea is an industrial nation that we personally nurtured. It's certainly different from the barbarians, and different from other tributary states. Most importantly, North Korea is loyal. Loyalty is paramount. North Korea's industrialization is a reward for their loyalty. Many industrial targets of the imperial court were delegated to North Korea for production, and the Koreans are doing a really good job. Although there is a close relationship between the monarch and his subjects, a business deal can only last if both sides don't lose money. Oh, right."

Wen Yuan suggested, "When you treat us to dinner, besides Nanyang Department Store, you can also go to Korea Department Store. They're both in the Jinjikou business district, so they're very close to each other."