Chapter 361 — A Change of Heart

Xu Shenghua's suspicions stirred, and he said, "Brother Shen, apart from your identity as the Human Emperor, you are also the leader of the Tiansheng Cult — naturally I have heard of that. Why do you ask?

" Shen Mu said, eyes crinkling into a smile, "Brother Xu, if you join my Tiansheng Cult, you need not repay the money. Though I am the Human Emperor, I am also the leader of the Tiansheng Cult. The Hall of the Human Emperor and Shangcang harbor a hatred deep as blood, but the Tiansheng Cult bears Shangcang little enmity, does it not? For you to join the Tiansheng Cult would be a thing that benefits both sides.

" Yuliu and Jingyan wore strange expressions. This Human Emperor truly did things absurdly, yet with a soaring, unbridled imagination: Shangcang and the Hall of the Human Emperor were sworn enemies locked in a fight to the death, and yet he had gone out of his way to invite his sworn enemy to join his Tiansheng Cult! "Surely this Human Emperor does not imagine that nine bowls of noodles and a single house call will make Young Master Xu join his Tiansheng Cult?

I do not know whether to call him simple by nature or sinister by nature," Jingyan thought. Xu Shenghua was silent for a moment, then said, "Brother Shen, do not jest.

Rest assured, I will repay the money as soon as I can.

" Shen Mu had not expected him to agree to join the Tiansheng Cult. Though the Tiansheng Cult and Shangcang were not sworn enemies, the Woodcutter Sage of the Tiansheng Cult and the first Human Emperor of the Hall of the Human Emperor both came from the Kaihuang Era; they shared the same goal, and only in the means of attaining it had they diverged. The Hall of the Human Emperor achieved its goal through battle; the Tiansheng Cult advanced the mortal world through the philosophy of the common people's daily needs, and so reached the goal. The end both holy lands sought was the same: to overthrow the rule of the gods and build the world they envisioned.

And in this, they stood in natural enmity to Shangcang's creed. From the Directorate of Works poured many divine-power wielders, rousing their vital essence to lift huge components and parts one by one and float them in midair, while Shen Mu walked to and fro in the air, directing the placement of each component and part.

Though it was only the base of the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon, its array patterns were exceedingly complex — especially the fifty-six pill furnaces Shen Mu had designed himself.

Each furnace was immense, too great to be forged in one piece; more than a hundred components and parts had to be fitted together, and the array patterns where they joined had to align without the slightest error.

Shen Mu used mortise-and-tenon joinery: no rivets were needed in the assembly; the pieces had only to lock together, and the result was immensely solid, able to withstand tremendous impact. Moreover, even if the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon were struck by the enemy and partly damaged, the ruined section could be removed and swiftly replaced with intact components and parts; once replaced, the cannon could still be operated with no diminishment of its power. For this assembly of the cannon's base, many officials had come to the Directorate of Works and gathered outside; Emperor Yanfeng had come as well, plainly attaching great importance to the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon.

"This mortise-and-tenon structure of Director Shen's would seem applicable to the primal weapons and tower ships of the battlefield. " Emperor Yanfeng exclaimed in admiration again and again, and said to the Minister of Works, "I believe it should be promoted throughout the army. If flying swords were all of mortise-and-tenon construction, and tower ships too, losses in wartime could be greatly reduced. " The Minister of Works nodded.

"But they are very difficult to forge. " "With the Directorate of Works redesigned by Director Shen, forging the components of every flying sword is no difficult matter.

" Emperor Yanfeng mused, "Let every directorate produce components in great quantity, so that in war the broken parts of primal weapons, tower ships, and cloud chariots may be replaced at any time. Then even in large-scale campaigns, battlefield losses will not be great! Your Ministry of Works should go and study this, and spread this kind of directorate as quickly as possible.

" Even as he spoke, Shen Mu had already ordered the assembly begun. As hundreds of divine-power wielders locked central components together one after another, a disc about a mu across took shape.

Then Libationer Bashan, returned from the front on the northern snow plains, came below it, raising both hands to hold up this vast, heavy disc with his mighty dharma power.

Hundreds more divine-power wielders filed out of the directorate; beside them a man kept calling out numbers, and at each number a wielder stepped forward and fitted a component or part onto the disc. More and more pieces were joined; the disc base grew larger and more solid. By the time nearly ten thousand components and parts had been fitted, even Bashan the Libationer, a man of mighty build, had legs trembling beneath him, his waist bent so low he could scarcely straighten.

Pei Wujiu stepped forward, and the two of them held the disc up with their mighty dharma power.

The disc now measured four hundred mu across.

When the count reached twenty-seven thousand, the disc base, covering a thousand mu, was at last complete; beneath it stood four cultivators of cult-leader rank, holding this enormous cannon base aloft with their dharma power. Upon the disc, Shen Mu and many officials of the Ministry of Works moved swiftly about, inspecting the array patterns and runes at every seam. Once he had confirmed there were no problems, Shen Mu gave an order, and great beasts came drawing carts; many pill masters leaped down from them and carried their loads onto the disc. "Light the furnaces," Shen Mu ordered.

"Light the furnaces—" The fifty-six pill furnaces were opened, elixir stones cast in; each pill master roused his vital essence and kindled his furnace. At once flames blazed within, the fire shifting from red to white, from white to azure, and from azure to blue.

Terrifying energy coursed swiftly through the array patterns and runes upon the thousand-mu disc, fully activating the runic arrays upon it! The four cult-leader-rank cultivators beneath the disc immediately felt the weight lift: this enormous cannon platform, astonishingly, no longer needed their support — it floated in the air on its own!

The assembled officials marveled one after another, "Work of the gods, truly work of the gods! " Emperor Yanfeng's expression was somewhat sour. This time Shen Mu had chiefly assembled the cannon's base and tested the operation of the furnaces and arrays — yet merely testing the furnaces had consumed elixir stones enough to sustain a medium-scale campaign!

"In any case, it is not his money being spent. . .

" Emperor Yanfeng ached to the marrow.

His inspection finished, Shen Mu leaped down from the base and called out loudly, "Extinguish the furnaces, lower the base. " The furnaces died down one by one, and the vast base floating in the air descended slowly and smoothly; even so it stirred up a mighty current of air, a howling gale that set everyone's clothes flapping and rattling and rippled the skin of their faces into folds.

The wind subsided. Shen Mu called out, "Pill masters, prepare the elixir stones. Once the carriage and the light-gathering prongs are forged, we will fire the furnaces once more.

" The many pill masters acknowledged the order.

Emperor Yanfeng, pale of face, had Shen Mu summoned and said with a genial countenance, "Director Shen, why must the furnaces be fired again?