Chapter 34: Explosive Plan

Having magic really is convenient. Li Xian no longer needed anyone’s help and easily made several simplified versions of the electric lamp. Of course, these simplified versions had many problems.

For example, besides being quite ugly, the air inside the bulb wasn’t fully cleaned out.

“Luckily, using stainless steel as the filament allows it to last for a few hours. That’s enough for experiments or just to show these bumpkins something rare. With the jade lamp, the electric lamp won’t have much of a market for now.”

When Li Xian returned to the research room carrying a few electric lamps, he was stunned. What do you think Li Xian saw? He saw two cables as thick as a person’s arms! Yes, Li Xian could confirm that they were indeed cables, but instead of being wrapped in the cheapest burlap, they were encased in the finest silk.

These two thick “cables” extended from a “Four Symbols Generator” about a meter in size, stretching out to the north and south and buried into two large pits—or rather, mines.

The cables were even thicker than the “generator.” Li Xian was truly amazed! Despite this, the “researchers” stayed far away from the cables, not daring to come close.

I… I give up! Li Xian could only feel like a sky full of crows was flying around, blotting out the sun. When it came to fear of lightning, cultivators were absolutely at the top, but to be this scared—this was quite something.

“Come here, all of you, come here! Let me give you a basic lesson on electricity!”

Without further ado, Li Xian began explaining electricity-related knowledge and common sense: electromagnetic induction, eddy currents causing heat, voltage, safe voltage levels, current, resistance—and of course, the electric lamp.

However, Li Xian encountered a problem: What units should be used to represent voltage, current, and resistance? Clearly, the units couldn’t be directly copied from elsewhere, and the definitions of voltage and resistance were also somewhat different.

In the end, it was Xu Ren who offered a suggestion that was barely acceptable to everyone. Voltage would be represented by ‘雷’ (thunder), resistance by ‘闪’ (lightning), and current would, of course, be measured in “电” (electricity).

They decided that the voltage of the first successful Four Symbols Generator would be set at 100 units of voltage, the current output equivalent to the power of one horsepower would be 100 units of current, and the resistance would be 100 units of resistance. Everything else would follow this standard.

With electricity in hand, everyone immediately set to work creating a simple model of an electromagnetic eddy current heating furnace. They conducted an experiment by heating a small piece of iron through electromagnetic induction, and the results astonished everyone.

“Amazing! There’s absolutely no spiritual energy fluctuation, and yet the iron block melted!”

“So this is electromagnetic force? No wonder the young master made us swear to secrecy.”

“This electric lamp is also incredible. Electricity really is too wondrous. Young master, could electricity replace spiritual energy for cultivation? And if we cultivate using electricity, would we no longer need to fear heavenly tribulation?”

That’s a good question! Li Xian couldn’t help but admire the person’s ability to make such connections. Everyone once again looked at Li Xian, their eyes filled with hope: Yes, if we could cultivate directly using “electricity,” we wouldn’t have to worry about things like lightning tribulation; after all, lightning accounts for almost 70% of heavenly tribulations.

Li Xian smiled wryly, “Don’t look at me. I don’t know either, but I’m curious too. If you have time, feel free to research it, but be careful not to encounter ‘heavenly tribulation’ prematurely.”

This round of teaching from Li Xian lasted over five days. After understanding the basic concepts, everyone began preparing to study the first “ultra-high temperature furnace that mimics heavenly fire.” The enthusiasm for the work was exceptionally high, and the anticipation for the future was stronger than ever. The idea of cultivating directly using electricity was now planted in their minds!

For a time, the entire Qingyun Valley was filled with joy, like colorful clouds.

“Within 30 days, conquer the conduction problem!” This slogan hung on the research room’s wall.

While everyone was studying conduction, Li Xian finally managed to find some spare time to think about gunpowder—or rather, he had thought about it long ago, but had been too busy with the wire research to focus on it. Now, he finally had time and planned to prioritize gunpowder.

Even though the Immortal Realm has cultivation and magic, the power of gunpowder cannot be underestimated. At the very least, a sniper rifle is still deadly to Foundation Establishment cultivators and poses a significant threat to those in the Golden Core stage. Flying on swords and killing from a distance may be abilities of Golden Core cultivators, but even that is no match for artillery shells. So after repeated calculations, Li Xian felt that if he had a gunpowder army, he could almost dominate the Great Xia Kingdom, maybe even the eastern part of Yingzhou.

Gunpowder is simple, and Li Xian quickly completed it. The explosive power was impressive.

However, Li Xian still felt something wasn’t right but couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. After thinking for a while, he finally decided to consult Xu Ren, even bringing along some of his finished products.

“This gunpowder technology must not be developed!” Xu Ren immediately shut down Li Xian’s idea. “Think about it. How long ago did you create the colored lamps? And already, people are starting to imitate them. 

And the composition of this gunpowder is obvious. A Foundation Establishment cultivator could easily study it and understand the ingredients. Once they grasp the formula, your guns and cannons will soon be copied. After all, the ingredients for gunpowder are everywhere! 

What will you do then?”

“Ah!” Li Xian finally had a moment of clarity. Damn, I forgot about that! Indeed, gunpowder technology can be easily replicated, so it absolutely cannot be developed. Even in the world of cultivators, there are still some complications!

However, Li Xian didn’t give up on his idea of a sniper rifle; if gunpowder wouldn’t work, there were still other options like TNT, ******, or even chewing gum explosives. But that would have to wait a long time, until the current industrial system was complete, before he could freely develop things in the field of chemistry.

But Li Xian had so many things in his mind, aside from gunpowder, there was also…

“Sir, I have another material here, called concrete, which was developed from the dust at the earth’s lung outlet (volcano crater).”

As he spoke, Li Xian explained the details of concrete.

Finally, he asked, “Sir, I noticed everyone uses magic to build walls. Do you think concrete has potential for development?”

This time, Xu Ren’s face lit up with excitement. “This is a great thing! Young master, think about it. What are the characteristics of Wuyang City’s walls or the walls at An Yang’s border? And what are the characteristics of walls built using magic?”

“Characteristics? Hmm…” Li Xian thought hard, and after some effort, he finally realized the difference. The city walls and military fortresses were very “ancient,” made up of large blocks of stone stacked together. In contrast, the walls built with magic appeared smooth, unified, and much newer.

One was old, the other new—clearly, there was a difference, and likely an issue.

Seeing Li Xian’s look of realization, Xu Ren smiled slightly. “You’ve figured it out, haven’t you? Walls formed by magic have a short lifespan and are easily destroyed by other spells. Once the magical energy dissipates, the walls collapse.

“Magic construction is quick and cheap, which is why it’s widely used, but it’s only for low-level buildings. 

“For important structures, such as fortresses and palaces, they still use massive stone blocks. These stone walls can have defensive formations attached to them, while walls built with magic can’t support such formations.

“If you can really produce concrete, it will definitely be in high demand. Just think, concrete can be poured easily, and you can embed defensive formations directly inside the walls, making them even stronger.

“Moreover, concrete can reinforce steel, fill gaps, repair old walls, bond stones, and can be used anywhere at any time.

“I can guarantee you that concrete will sell extremely well. But be warned, it might bring you a lot of trouble!”

Li Xian’s eyes grew brighter as he added, “The ingredients for gunpowder are found in nature and easy to reverse-engineer, but concrete is fired and has a mixed composition, making it difficult to crack!”

“Exactly. So, hurry up and act.”

“Alright!”

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