Tick... Tick...
In the deep underground palace passage, cold water droplets continuously fell onto the stone floor.
Li Yan followed Yuan Feng forward, his gaze occasionally sweeping around.
The further they went, the more the damp cold moisture seeped from the gaps in the floor bricks.
Although Yuan Feng carried a bit of drunkenness, he was extraordinarily cautious, allowing only himself to delve deeper.
The path was heavily guarded, and only after multiple verifications did they finally arrive.
This massive do-shaped cavern was clearly a remodeling of a natural mountain cave.
The gigantic bell-shaped steam engine prototype had been completely dismantled, with its gear components ticulously sorted and neatly arranged on a nearby ten-ter-long old elm table.
In the center of the cavern, the scene was even more astonishing:
Twelve bare-chested Mo Sect craftsn stood at the Eight Trigrams positions, using levers to suspend a massive bronze cylinder.
Several elderly gentlen wielded steel cones, carefully inscribing runes on its surface, then ticulously applying paint mixed with vermillion... Li Yan suddenly halted, his face full of disbelief.
The steam engine had clearly been dismantled, yet this enormous cylinder seed to be functioning independently!
Water vapor condensed on its thick tal surface, forming droplets that rolled off.
Sizzle—sizzle—
As the droplets hit the ground, they released trails of pungent white smoke, and thin frost ford on the floor.
This is...
Li Yan frowned, pinched a seal technique with his fingers, and focused to sniff.
"Senior! This... is actually the Innate Astra Bane Qi?!"
He suddenly turned his head, shockingly looking at Yuan Feng.
An indescribable sensation ca—it was as if within the cylinder, Yin and Yang were intertwined as the Astra Bane Qi flowed endlessly, a naturally ford vortex like a living Taiji.
This was clearly the spiritual acupoint aura found only in Cave Heaven Blessed Land!
His arm guard "Thousand Thoughts" had also been woven to simulate a spiritual acupoint using ridians, driven by the Three Talents Demon Suppression Coin as the core, but it only produced ordinary, mixed Astra Bane Qi and could never nurture spiritual charm.
Is this... still that bulky steam engine?
During assembly, not a hint of such mystery was detected!
"Hahaha..." Yuan Feng stroked his beard and laughed, unable to hide his pride and admiration, "Back then, Matrix Wang Su was truly a prodigious talent! Had we not dismantled it for study upon bringing this treasure back, we would have never glimpsed this mystery."
"What is the purpose of this artifact?" Li Yan's curiosity grew stronger.
"The force carries a thousand pounds, transforming the mundane into the mystical!" Yuan Feng did not hesitate to reveal.
No wonder... Li Yan suddenly understood.
This has already transcended the realm of ordinary machinery! A world apart, like clouds and mud.
A steam engine... driving Astra Bane Qi... what kind of spectacle will it present?
If this skill were widely spread...
What direction would worldly civilization then take?
With this thought, Li Yan felt the path ahead beco shrouded in mist, impossible to predict.
"How exactly is this thod achieved?" He quickly asked Yuan Feng.
Yuan Feng shook his head, his eyes full of admiration but also regret: "This artifact is cast as an integral whole, seamless. Once forcibly dismantled, its intricate mysteries crumble... Although we have so conjectures, but—"
He changed his tack, "Common restriction arrays certainly don't possess this power; it must have consud exceedingly rare Heaven and Earth Spiritual Materials."
"So... the core secret... remains unsolved?" Li Yan furrowed his brow.
Yuan Feng seed so certain in his words that Li Yan thought they had completely grasped it, only to realize they hadn't understood the principle at all.
To hastily promote it before understanding the foundation seems reckless.
"Haha, no need to worry."
Yuan Feng laughed heartily, seemingly unhurried, leading Li Yan closer to the massive cylinder, "Young Brother Li, are you aware of the barbarian State Preceptor Matteo Ricci from years past?"
Li Yan nodded, "I've heard a bit; it's said that he was buried in the suburban area of the Capital after passing away."
The man was indeed famous; according to the court, he was from the Western country, Italy.
"Indeed," Yuan Feng walked to the cylinder, pointing to the runes on its surface being carefully carved by elderly gentlen, "Though State Preceptor Matteo Ricci was a priest from a barbarian land, he was adaptive, and not entirely opposed to our Divine State Xuann. His drawing of the Map of All Nations greatly aided the venture of opening the seas."
"However, he was inherently curious, often invited for observation but ignorant of our sect's taboos," Yuan Feng's words carried a hint of helplessness and ridicule, "and he actually depicted what he saw in secret techniques onto paper and published the Ten Chapters of the Peculiar Man to the outside world..."
Li Yan was puzzled, "This... what does it have to do with this treasure?"
Yuan Feng gently stroked the surface of the cylinder filled with densely packed, vermillion-filled gilded runes, his expression turning extrely solemn: "That day, you once said to this old man, 'Those lofty and unpredictable orthodox sect Divine spirits are rely gods of others. This artifact is the True God of our Mo Sect's domain in the Human World!'"
"When the old man first heard these words, it was like hearing celestial harmony!"
Yuan Feng's voice trembled, recalling his excitent at the ti, "Ever since, I've wholeheartedly adhered to our sect's ancient rituals, esteeming this treasure as divine. During the transportation to the Capital, amid all weather, every morning and evening without fail, incense was burnt as tribute, never allowing the slightest negligence."
"I initially thought it was rely a devout rule... yet, unexpectedly..."
He beca montarily too emotional, his words choked.
Li Yan's pupils contracted, "Succeeded?"
"Succeeded!"
Yuan Feng nodded heavily, his emotions slightly eased before continuing, "Perhaps sensing sothing in the unseen, even during palace research, incense tribute never ceased—and like divine assistance from the heavens, I unraveled the steam engine's structural principle before the year ended! Several other disciples... also attained this profound knowledge."
"With such a world-shattering matter, how could the Mo Sect dare to hide it?"
Yuan Feng solemnly stated, "We imdiately reported it to the Holy Emperor, leading to today's grand opening ceremony. That day, the Qintian Bureau reported: 'A guest star with red rays like a wheel appears in the Taiwei Constellation'! Heavenly signs confird, Your Majesty joyfully granted the divine title: 'True Monarch of Fire and Water'!"
"True Monarch... of Fire and Water?" Li Yan's throat swelled, montarily speechless.
He looked again at the bronze cylinder still circulating Astra Bane Qi: "Then this artifact...?"
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