Chapter 21: Wires

After returning to the factory, Li Xian was grinning non-stop, occasionally laughing so hard that he rolled on the ground, almost unable to walk. It was exhilarating! Truly exhilarating!

Meeting the Dragon Princess had solved multiple issues, including spiritual materials, the market, and raw materials, all in one go. Most importantly, the port! 

Thinking about how the Dragon Princess even offered to send sea monsters to protect the port, Li Xian felt like doing thirty-six somersaults in joy! For industry, a port is like a treasure trove! Haha, now that he had built a relationship with the sea tribe, the ocean would become his backyard!

They say the beginning is the hardest part, but everything had gone smoothly, even beyond his wildest expectations! Li Xian could only see a bright future ahead!

Look, the technology had already taken off, the market was unprecedentedly vast, and the trade routes were already established. From now on, all he needed to do was focus on development.

Now Li Xian had also figured something out—no wonder the Li Xian of this world had been beaten so badly his soul was scattered. It turned out the Dragon Princess was merely pretending to be a low-level Foundation Establishment cultivator. Who knows how powerful she really was?

But one thing still puzzled him. If the Li Xian of this world had his soul scattered, how did he end up here? Never mind, it didn’t matter anymore.

Li Xian was thrilled, and so were the fifty-plus people who had followed him! Initially, they thought it would be a dangerous journey, but unexpectedly, they encountered the Dragon Princess midway, returned safely, and even accomplished their goal. Every day, they boasted to others, saying, “We saw the Dragon Princess! She’s way more beautiful than our country’s princess, like a celestial being from the heavens.”

Those who didn’t apply to go immediately regretted it, beating their chests in frustration—not just because they missed seeing the Dragon Princess, but more importantly, they lost the chance to make a good impression! This was Li Xian’s first action, and its significance was immense—it laid the foundation for the future core team! Those fifty people would undoubtedly become important figures in the future.

They celebrated for three days. Afterward, Li Xian’s first move was to reward everyone—and the rewards were generous! Each of the fifty people who followed him received ten taels of gold, plus an additional five taels as a “hardship bonus.” For those who had applied earlier but were rejected by Li Xian, he personally gave them ten taels of gold as well. As Li Xian explained, “Since you applied, you deserve this reward.”

Li Xian wasn’t handing out rewards carelessly; through this gesture, he further strengthened morale.

Next, the lab personnel gathered to study the Sea Soul Silk.

Sea Soul Silk is a unique material found in the ocean. According to the Dragon Princess, some sea monsters, after dying, sink to the ocean floor. In the harsh and complex environment of the seabed, their bodies slowly decompose, but their main meridians gradually crystallize, forming the Sea Soul Silk—a thread formed from the condensed meridians of deceased sea creatures. The conditions for its formation are very harsh.

Despite the harsh conditions, the sheer number of sea creatures made sea soul threads virtually endless and a renewable resource, enough to satisfy Li Xian’s industrial development in the short term. With stainless steel weapons, Li Xian was confident that he could continuously source sea soul threads from the sea creatures—though at a high cost.

However, what Li Xian needed was not just this. He hoped to artificially produce a “wire” similar to sea soul threads to achieve industrial standardization.

Since the sea soul threads were formed from the deceased sea creatures, naturally, the threads varied in thickness, attributes, length, and even had branches. The efficiency of spiritual energy conduction (resistance) also varied.

Fortunately, sea soul threads were very light. The thinnest was slightly thicker than a strand of hair, while the thickest was about as thick as rice noodles. One and a half pounds of sea soul threads could stretch for two miles, which could temporarily satisfy research and production needs.

After a few days of research, Li Xian and the research department concluded: sea soul threads could indeed be used, but they needed to be carefully selected, cut, and spliced together. With this method, they could piece together an array directly from sea soul threads. Additionally, because sea soul threads were formed from the changing meridians of beast monsters, the array’s efficiency was several times stronger than one carved into jade.

However, there was another problem—the sea creatures! These were aquatic creatures! As a result, none of the sea soul threads were fire-attributed. Ninety percent were water-attributed, two were yin-cold attributed, three were wood-attributed, and one was earth-attributed.

Looking at the collapsed array in front of him, Li Xian sighed, “Using water-attributed sea soul threads to set up a fire-attributed array can barely work, but the efficiency is only thirty percent. Worse, it severely shortens the lifespan of the sea soul threads, leaving them with only half a day’s life. This situation is absolutely unacceptable!”

Tang Rong furrowed his brow in deep thought for a long time before suddenly speaking, “Master, the principle behind the formation of sea soul threads should be the essence of beast monsters, or one could say demon essence, sealed within their meridians and formed through the compression and soaking of seawater. Could we use the same principle to create wires?”

“But what material would we use?” Li Xian was at a loss. Although he had muddled through understanding the basic principles of arrays and such, he was at a dead end when it came to materials. Without materials, how could he develop technology?

Develop electrical technology? Li Xian immediately rejected that idea! It’s not that electrical technology was bad, but it had a huge problem—this world had no foundation for it! Trying to methodically develop electrical technology and build a team would take decades, and he would have to slowly cultivate talent, write textbooks, and so on. Just thinking about it gave Li Xian a headache.

Not to mention, getting cultivators to learn such “lowly work” was absolutely impossible. This barrier alone blocked Li Xian’s path to directly developing electrical technology.

Thus, the method Li Xian adopted was to start directly with arrays and cultivation. Once there was a solid foundation, he would then develop electrical technology. The prospects of electrical technology were bright, but for now, array technology needed to be developed.

But these wires, oh wires, why are you so difficult!

After another long discussion, Li Xian finally sighed reluctantly, “For now, let’s just use sea soul threads. We’ll make do for now. Teacher Tang Rong, set up a department specifically for selecting, cutting, and splicing sea soul threads. Choose people from those who used to carve arrays. No matter what, we’ve at least made a start. As for the future, we’ll deal with that gradually.”

“Alright, I’ll make the arrangements. Let He Wenlong take charge of the research on wires.”

The next day, the first engine made using sea soul threads debuted. For this engine, everyone had stayed up all night without rest.

Looking at the engine before him, Sun Ming’s aged face bloomed with a bright smile. “Based on previous experience, it’s expected to reach 10 horsepower, with 1000 revolutions per minute. Using earth-attributed sea soul threads to support a fire-attributed array, it should have a lifespan of about one year.”

“Try it, quickly give it a try.”

Li Xian was also excited. The engine in front of him was still only one foot tall and three feet long, but inside it had eight chambers. The appearance of conductors allowed arrays to be arranged more densely.

Moreover, the new engine had four switches. Each switch activated the arrays in two chambers. This simple design was a significant breakthrough—it was called variable control, even though it was extremely rudimentary.

Under the eager gazes of everyone, Li Xian personally pressed the first switch.

The engine immediately began to rotate, powering a loom that started to roar to life.

After running for a quarter of an hour, everything was normal. Li Xian pressed the second switch, and immediately, the engine’s speed increased by 30%, while its power doubled. Watching the rapidly spinning engine, the crowd was delighted, with some already starting to cheer.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and Li Xian pressed the third switch. The engine’s speed increased by another 20%, and its power continued to rise by half.

However, in the next moment, the engine’s spirit-gathering array suddenly shattered. The spiritual energy within the array exploded like a small spell, sending Li Xian flying five or six feet away like a rag doll. The room was left in utter chaos!

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