Chapter 7: Engine Machine Tool

A few mornings later, Li Xian opened his eyes and was stunned. Last night, he had a dream where all the fundamental knowledge of formations intertwined and confused him. Upon waking up, he suddenly realized that he had mastered the basics of formations!

“Here it is again!” Li Xian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The last time, he had been learning how to carve jade lamps with Sun Ming and somehow ended up mastering the knowledge of formations for jade lamps; now, after a good night’s sleep and a pleasant dream, he had comprehended the foundational teachings that Tang Rong had arranged for an entire year.

Moreover, after mastering the formations, Li Xian finally advanced to the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage. The Li family’s inherited immortal technique, “Qingyun,” was indeed excellent, guiding practitioners from the Qi Refining stage all the way to Tribulation Transcendence and ascension.

“Progress is, of course, gratifying, but progressing too quickly doesn’t seem to be a good thing. So, I’ve decided… to hide my skills for now.”

After freshening up, Li Xian stepped into the “Research Lab.”

The Research Lab, this “peculiar” institution, had now become the absolute core of the workshop. Here, the formations for the colored lamps had been improved several times, and the lamps produced were becoming increasingly beautiful and dazzling.

However, there was one thing that made the elderly Sun Ming so furious that his beard trembled. They had clearly developed a more durable formation that could extend the lifespan of the lamps to two years, but Li Xian respectfully shelved this formation without using it.

This infuriated the old man so much that he pointed at Li Xian’s nose and cursed him as a crafty merchant.

The atmosphere in the Research Lab was lively. When everyone saw Li Xian enter, they continued working on their tasks.

Song Gang was laughing the loudest. After several attempts, they had successfully produced stainless steel. The emergence of stainless steel even caught the attention of Li Yulong, who, for the first time, began to take the “lowly trade” seriously.

The weapons used by soldiers could last no more than three years, with rust being the main issue. Even many of the magical tools used by Foundation Establishment cultivators were crafted primarily from ordinary steel, and these tools would still rust over time.

However, the crafty Li Yulong did the same thing as Li Xian regarding the stainless steel — he respectfully shelved it, solemnly and ceremoniously. But he did forge a small batch of weapons and took them away for unknown purposes.

Additionally, He Lin was also in a great mood. The construction made from stainless steel made the loom larger and much easier to operate, increasing weaving speed by more than 30%.

The former carpenter Liu Bin seemed to be gradually advancing toward becoming a mechanical engineer, although this “engineer” was currently focused only on studying the loom.

Tang Rong sat in the center, as the person with the highest cultivation level, he had the qualifications to do so.

Li Xian casually walked to the blackboard. “Starting today, we will study two things: one is called a bearing, and the other is called an engine. Only with these two things can our workshop truly transform.”

Then, Li Xian explained the basic structure of a ball bearing.

Tang Rong, upon seeing the bearing structure, laughed. “This is simple, we just never thought of it before. With spells, we can condense very smooth balls.”

The balls formed by the spell were indeed very smooth and round, quite adorable. With a wave of the spell, the ground was covered in rolling iron balls. However, after half an hour of busy work, no one could find two that were the same size. This result left Tang Rong embarrassed, his face flushed with redness.

Li Xian proposed a solution: “Let’s make molds and use them to cast. With one mold, we can make countless identical parts. Let’s carve the molds out of jade, and Teacher Tang Rong can inscribe the reinforcement formations on them.”

The jade molds were quickly carved, with the skilled jade workers completing three qualified molds within just an hour—the inner and outer bearing sleeves and a mold for the ball.

Tang Rong took them, used earth-based spells to optimize, adjust, and reinforce them, and then inscribed reinforcement and high-temperature resistance formations, completing the set of molds.

Afterward, Song Gang took the molds and went out to cast. Liu Bin also went along, ready to improve the loom first once the bearings were done.

Seeing that the problem of the bearings was solved in just one morning, Li Xian felt a bit emotional. The world of spells is truly amazing, and the progress is unbelievably fast. However, deep inside, there was a slight worry—does this mean that others could easily copy this too? How could they prevent counterfeiting in a world with no patents?

It was just a fleeting concern, and Li Xian quickly thought it through. The best way to prevent imitation is to become stronger quickly and widen the gap. A backward country might be able to copy a car, but they would never be able to replicate a space shuttle! Even if the plans for the shuttle were laid out in front of them, they would be helpless.

Next was the real focus: the engine. Without an engine, everything else would be in vain.

“Make something rotate automatically? That’s easy, a whirlwind spell would be enough,” Tang Rong continued, thinking simplistically.

As he spoke, Tang Rong really cast a small whirlwind spell. To make up for his earlier embarrassment, he put a lot of effort into this one, creating a stable little tornado about seven feet high.

“Not enough, the power is too weak, and the size is too large. An engine must have enough torque—uh… I mean, it needs to have enough rotational force, something immense, like the explosion of thunder magic, but it also needs to be stable and continuous. Most importantly, it must be controllable.”

The group began to discuss; primarily Tang Rong and several elites from the magical artifact workshop, with Sun Ming occasionally chiming in.

“The engine requires a casing, which will act as the stator, and an internal rotating core, known as the rotor.”

“This is truly challenging. How did you come up with such an idea, young master?”

Li Xian looked up and smiled. “I promise, in the future, each of you will always receive 5% of the profits from the engines. Don’t underestimate the engine—every loom will need one, every carriage will need one. Engine sales will be as widespread as jade lanterns now, with every household needing one.

“Even 0.5% of the profits will make you all wealthier than the entire Great Xia Kingdom.”

“Ah…” The group immediately began racking their brains to study it further. In the past, if Li Xian had said something like this, everyone would have just laughed it off. But now, things were different. The group already revered Li Xian as a “wise man.”

Seeing everyone engrossed in their research, reviewing the fundamentals of formations, Li Xian smiled with satisfaction.

In fact, after suddenly grasping the principles of formations, Li Xian had already come up with over a dozen engine designs. By using formation knowledge, all of these engines were genuine perpetual motion machines—thanks to the Spirit Gathering Array. The greatest difference between scientific research and cultivation is that cultivation is an individual effort, while research is a team endeavor. Therefore, Li Xian was consciously nurturing his first team.

During the research process, Li Xian continued to give occasional hints, but just a little was enough.

To make the engine move, there needed to be ‘repulsion.’ The mutual generation and overcoming of the five elements, as well as the opposing forces of yin and yang, could all be used to create corresponding engines.

By evening, Song Gang came rushing back excitedly, “It worked, it worked, young master, we succeeded! We created 10 identical bearings, even the main shaft is finished.”

Liu Bin also started shouting excitedly, “This is unbelievable! The loom is now more than twice as efficient. With this, I can build a much larger loom, one that can be operated by over a dozen people at the same time.”

After inspecting the bearings, Li Xian was very satisfied. The quality of the bearings was already comparable to standard industrial products. However, he still offered some advice—”I know you’re all excited, but don’t let it get to your head.”

“Senior Song Gang, you can try adding different metal elements to forge various alloys. Some alloys are wear-resistant, some are hard, and others are oxidation-resistant. This will require you all to research bit by bit.

“Also, don’t just make bearings in one size; you should create multiple sets in different sizes.

“Senior Liu Bin, aside from looms, I have your next task, which shares some similarities with the loom. I’m confident you’ll figure it out quickly. This machine is called a lathe.

“A lathe is a machine used to produce other machines, and there are many types. First, research a type of lathe that can forge weapons and grind blades.

“The simplest lathe only needs a main spindle slider, a crank, a few connecting rods, some bearings, a few belts, and pulleys. The belts can be woven from hemp thread and coated with animal glue to prevent slipping.

“When the technology matures, you can add scales, a lifting screw, gears, and other components.”

Looking at the blueprint Li Xian had provided and listening to his explanation, Liu Bin immediately pounded his chest and shouted, “Easy! It’s even simpler than the loom!”

Time quietly passed, and soon it had been 100 days since Li Xian had arrived here.

On this day, Tang Rong finally produced the first engine—still a perpetual motion machine!

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