Kays Translations

Chapter 210: Formation Arrays Can Also Be Printed Now

The first technological breakthrough was the printing technology

After completing the computer, Li Xian issued several research directives, initially advancing them simultaneously. However, printing technology emerged as the first breakthrough.

This printing technology, however, is not related to book printing. Due to the existence of magic, block printing technology has long been mature in the Immortal Realm. Minor mistakes, such as typographical errors, could easily be corrected with spells.

The breakthrough this time is… formation printing!

In the past, all formations were manually engraved.

For example, creating a jade stone formation required sensing the spiritual veins within the jade, then engraving the formation along the direction of those veins according to specific patterns. After the engraving was completed, the formation maker had to infuse a bit of true essence into the formation to activate it. This process required extensive experience and knowledge. Even the same formation would have different stroke orders when engraved on different jade stones, depending on the unique spiritual vein structure of each stone.

But now, after continuous research, Brilliant Star Group has finally standardized the engraving of formations—this is the “formation printing technology.”

Using standardized mystic iron wires to lay out formations, embedding them into molten iron plates. In the past, the final step of activating the formation still required manually infusing true essence, which itself involved many intricate techniques.

But now, this is no longer necessary. The computer has replaced the workers! By inputting these techniques into the computer, it can complete this tedious work automatically. Of course, the current computer is still very basic and single-functional—a machine the size of a desk can only handle this one task.

Even so, countless people still find it utterly astonishing. Even Xiao Yuquan, who led the computer research, was amazed at how much the computer was capable of.

The spiritual energy gathered by the Spirit Gathering Formation is compressed to its limit by a compressor made of pure mystic iron, transforming into a rather impure “mist-like” spiritual energy.

However, spiritual energy is not true essence. Only after being refined through complex transformations—including the incorporation of spiritual consciousness—does it form true essence. This was the first major challenge in printing formations.

Yet, with the computer problem solved, researchers were able to control electric discharge, temperature, and pressure via the computer. After numerous experiments and adjustments, they finally achieved a breakthrough. Under high-voltage currents, high temperatures, and prolonged heating, a type of pseudo-true essence spiritual energy was created. Though its quality was low, it was sufficient to activate formations.

At this moment, while the entire Great Xia Kingdom was mourning in sorrow, the small Qingyun Valley was celebrating. This crucial technological breakthrough would provide powerful support for An Yang’s future battles.

With a production line, a computer, and just a few workers, the newly established production line could produce over 5,000 small formations per hour.

Currently, only small formations—such as illumination-based Spirit Gathering Formations and Fluorescent Formations—were being produced, but this was still a major technological breakthrough!

“In just ten days, we will be able to produce battlefield talismans with the power of the seventh level of the Qi Refining stage. In a month, we can manufacture talismans with the power of the Foundation Establishment stage!”

Xiao Yuquan spoke with pride. Whether due to his Nascent Soul cultivation level or his identity as the inventor of the computer, he had every reason to be proud. Now that the formation printing problem was solved, he was even more so.

Li Xian smirked and asked, “Senior, in three months, can we produce talismans with the power of the Golden Core stage? I can guarantee full support for essential materials like refined gold and mystic iron, and any necessary technology will be fully backed.”

Xiao Yuquan gave an awkward smile. “That’s impossible. The Golden Core stage requires profound comprehension. The formations become significantly more complex. Young Master, now that you’ve reached the Golden Core stage, you should have noticed these issues.

Foundation Establishment formations are flat, but Golden Core formations are three-dimensional.

Moreover, many Golden Core formations involve profound artistic conception—mere technological layering won’t be enough to produce talismans of this level.”

“No, there is a way!” Li Xian’s eyes sparkled. “If we can shrink the computer core to the size of a fingernail, we can program it to simulate artistic conception, allowing us to manufacture talismans with the power of Golden Core or even Nascent Soul stages!

And this isn’t difficult. As long as we miniaturize the computer core, we can achieve it.

Essentially, every small talisman would function as a tiny, specialized computer.”

“That’s impossible!”

Xiao Yuquan’s entire expression screamed disbelief. He pointed at the desk-sized computer next to him, then at his fingernail, immediately drawing a conclusion—

“Young Master, you must have slapped your own head too hard… to the point that you’ve flattened it.”

It wasn’t just Xiao Yuquan—even Xu Ren, who had witnessed countless miracles under Li Xian’s leadership, found this idea completely unbelievable.

Li Xian, however, remained calm and unbothered. “Gentlemen, in the past, did you know about the existence of microorganisms? Could you have imagined that there are living creatures smaller than a strand of hair? No, right?”

“So let me ask you—if life can be that microscopic, why can’t machines?”

Everyone was stunned: That’s right—if biological entities can be so small, why can’t technology become even smaller? Li Xian’s analogy and vision provided everyone with a new developmental perspective and a fresh outlook on progress.

After a brief pause, Li Xian looked at Xiao Yuquan and said, “Senior Xiao, we’ve successfully built a computer using the armillary sphere. Can we use the Taiji Eight Trigrams Diagram as a template to construct a simpler computer core? If this core could be printed like an array formation, then…”

Before Li Xian could finish, Xiao Yuquan’s eyes lit up—literally. As a Nascent Soul stage expert, his eyes actually glowed.

Indeed, after achieving the first breakthrough in computer technology, everyone had accumulated enough knowledge, experience, and foundational understanding. Perhaps it was time to explore new methods.

The computer based on the armillary sphere’s design was highly complex, with countless new functions being discovered every moment and an endless number of programs needing to be written. Such a sophisticated computer wasn’t necessary for the time being. Therefore, creating a new, simpler computer based on the planar Taiji Eight Trigrams Diagram became imperative.

As soon as this idea emerged, Xiao Yuquan fell into deep contemplation. No, it was more like he entered a state of internal construction. Drawing upon his past experience, his formidable Nascent Soul-level abilities, and his understanding of array formations, he stood in place for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Suddenly, he shouted, “I got it! Give me three days! I’ll build this simple computer in three days!”

Before his voice had even faded, he had vanished. However, one could immediately see the newly constructed computer research center bustling with activity, as Xiao Yuquan’s commands sent the researchers into chaos.

Li Xian smiled slightly, but within his smile was boundless anticipation. The armillary sphere-based computer was powerful and seemingly full of potential, yet Anyang didn’t need such an advanced system at the moment.

It was interesting—because of the armillary sphere’s structure, it served as a great entry point for studying computer technology. But for the same reason, it was incredibly complex. The armillary sphere itself was designed to model the cosmos, naturally granting it limitless potential.

In contrast, the planar Taiji Eight Trigrams Diagram was too abstract to serve as a breakthrough point for computer technology. However, once computing technology matured, the Taiji diagram would become the best carrier for lower-level applications.

But today, it seemed more surprises awaited Li Xian.

At that moment, Ling Zhifeng suddenly shouted, “Young Master! I’ve figured it out! I’ve discovered a method to purify and separate the liquid spiritual energy from petroleum!”

Whoosh…

Everyone turned to look at him.

The presence of liquid spiritual energy in petroleum had brought both joy and frustration to Anyang’s leadership.

At first, they discovered that petroleum contained 3% to 5% liquid spiritual energy, along with traces of celestial energy and remnants of ancient divine and demonic beasts, as well as herbal residues. The use of microbial technology to process these remnants had already yielded initial success—the first result being “mycelium.” However, celestial energy was too ethereal and sparse to be extracted.

Liquid spiritual energy, on the other hand, proved to be a significant headache—it contained not only spiritual energy but also chaotic elements such as demonic energy, monster energy, death energy, and yin-yang fluctuations. It was, in essence, a highly potent and chaotic soup. Such energy was useless for cultivation and even unusable for industrial applications. The only practical use was as a fuel additive, but even then, adding too much would turn it into an extinguisher.

Worse still, demonic energy and other impurities shared similar physical properties with spiritual energy, making them impossible to separate through conventional means such as distillation, centrifugation, compression, or temperature extremes. Even spiritual materials used for filtering had no effect.

Not even cultivators could distinguish these energies; they could only absorb them blindly—playing a dangerous game that often led to cultivation deviation.

It was easy to imagine the frustration of Anyang’s leadership. They had initially hoped to use liquid spiritual energy as a substitute for spirit stones to enhance cultivation within Anyang. Instead, it had become a burden. Every day, just looking at the massive stockpiles of liquid spiritual energy made everyone frown.

In just three months, Anyang had accumulated tens of thousands of tons of liquid spiritual energy—completely useless. Not only was it useless, but it also had to be stored with extreme care. If it evaporated, the demonic energy and other impurities would disperse into Anyang’s atmosphere, contaminating the city’s environment. Thus, sealing and storing it properly was of utmost importance.

Originally, the chaotic mixture within crude oil maintained a natural balance, preventing the liquid spiritual energy from volatilizing. But once petroleum was refined, that balance was disrupted.

A small amount of demonic energy leaking into the air was negligible. However, if they continued refining petroleum unchecked—releasing tens of thousands of tons of demonic energy into Anyang—the city would be doomed, turning into a barren wasteland for cultivation.

Thus, the only option was to store it in sealed containers at all costs.

In such dire circumstances, Anyang desperately needed a technology to purify this liquid spiritual energy, making it suitable for cultivation while separately processing the demonic energy, monster energy, and other impurities.

Now, Ling Zhifeng had suddenly shouted that he had found a method to purify and separate the liquid spiritual energy.

One could only imagine everyone’s expressions—hope tinged with skepticism, excitement laced with disbelief.

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