Halfway up Qingyun Mountain, at the outer sect disciples' residence.
In the most remote wooden cabin, a light burned all night without extinguishing.
The floor was littered with scattered blueprints, rusty iron plates, and broken wooden gears.
The air was thick with the heavy smell of oil smoke and sawdust.
Zhang Hao squatted on the ground, staring unblinkingly at the half-man-tall iron lump in front of him.
It had been exactly three days.
He didn't eat or drink, didn't sleep or rest, just squatted there, staring intently at the dancing flames in the boiler, listening to the dull clank clank sound of the piston.
His eyes were bloodshot, his beard was scruffy, and his clothes were covered in oil stains. He looked incredibly haggard.
Not right... still not right...
He muttered to himself, his fingers unconsciously scratching the ground.
Why is the power of steam so small?
Why can it only push such a little bit of weight?
The Sect Master said this thing could replace hundreds or thousands of laborers, and could pull thousands of pounds of goods across the world.
But right now, it couldn't even push a stone mill.
Suddenly.
The steam in the boiler violently sprayed out, letting out a sharp hiss.
The piston lunged forward abruptly, driving the gear to turn half a circle.
That was it!
Zhang Hao's pupils suddenly contracted!
It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck through his mind!
All his chaotic thoughts instantly connected at this moment!
I understand! I finally understand!
He jumped up violently, trembling with excitement, his voice quivering.
Steam! It's the pressure of the steam!
It's not pushing directly with steam, it's boiling water in a sealed boiler to let the steam generate immense pressure!
External force! This is external force! A power that has never existed in heaven and earth!
Plus pulley blocks to save effort, gear sets to change speed, connecting rods to transmit power...
Yes! That's it!
He grabbed a charcoal pencil from the floor and began drawing frantically on the wall.
A new boiler structure, a new piston design, a new gear transmission system...
Lines of formulas and sheets of blueprints flowed from his pen like a spring.
His eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his body emitted an unprecedented radiance.
...
Meanwhile.
Tens of thousands of miles high in the sky.
In the unknowable depths of chaos.
This was the birthplace of the Great Daos, the source of the rules of heaven and earth.
For billions of years, countless ancient Great Daos slumbered here.
The Dao of Sword, Dao of Alchemy, Dao of Martial Arts, Dao of Talismans, Dao of Formations...
Each Great Dao was as thick as a pillar of heaven, exuding an eternal and unchanging coercion.
They had witnessed the rise and fall of countless eras and had long grown accustomed to the silence of this chaos.
But at this very moment.
All the slumbering Great Daos violently trembled at the same time!
An extremely faint, yet incredibly unfamiliar fluctuation suddenly exploded in the depths of the chaos!
Hmm?
What is that?
Such an unfamiliar aura... It's not any known Great Dao...
Ancient wills awakened one after another, looking towards the direction of the fluctuation with deep confusion.
Among the gaps between the countless thick Great Daos...
A thin, silvery-white Great Dao was born out of thin air!
It was as thin as a silk thread, its light as faint as a candle in the wind, looking as if it might extinguish at any moment.
Compared to the ancient Great Daos around it that resembled heaven-supporting pillars, it was as insignificant as dust.
Yet, it was exceptionally resilient.
Little by little, slowly but firmly, it took root in the chaos.
It held no aura of slaughter, no secret of immortality, only a cold, precise, and never-ending intent of operation.
All the ancient Great Daos fell silent.
They had lived for billions of years and had never seen such a Great Dao.
It did not pursue individual strength, nor did it explore the mysteries of heaven and earth.
What it pursued was efficiency, mass production, and leveraging the power of heaven and earth using mortal wisdom.
Hmph, just a heterodox path.
The Great Dao of Sword snorted coldly and closed its eyes again.
It will never amount to anything.
The Great Dao of Alchemy also shook its head disdainfully.
Not a single ancient Great Dao took this newborn little thing seriously.
At the peak of Qingyun Mountain, in the back garden.
Lin Yan was leaning on a recliner, enjoying the immortal-like days surrounded by three beauties.
Suddenly.
A rapid string of system notification sounds exploded in his mind!
[Ding! Detected that disciple Zhang Hao has comprehended a brand new rule of heaven and earth!]
[Ding! Congratulations Host! Disciple Zhang Hao has become the first comprehender of the Dao of Machinery in the myriad heavens and realms!]
[Ding! The Great Dao of Machinery is officially born!]
[Ding! Sect Points +10000!]
Lin Yan sat up abruptly!
The grapes in his hand fell to the ground.
Holy shit!
He couldn't help but curse out loud.
That kid Zhang Hao!
He actually caused such a huge commotion!
He directly created a new Great Dao!
The Great Dao of Machinery!
Damn it, he's not going to invent Transformers, is he?
Zhao Xiangru's jade-like hands paused, and she looked up, blinking her large eyes.
Um... Master, what's wrong?
Nothing! Lin Yan waved his hand.
Oh!
...
Meanwhile.
At the foot of Qingyun Mountain.
Incense curled around the Ant Tomb, with green smoke rising, as countless commoners spontaneously came to pay their respects and pray for the protection of the Tianyan Sect.
Not far away, a long queue had formed outside the Heart-Questioning Pavilion, stretching from the foot of the mountain all the way to the halfway point, filled with rogue cultivators and youths who had come out of admiration to join the sect.
Voices buzzed with excitement, making it incredibly lively.
But on the edge of this clamor, in a remote mountain hollow hidden by rubble and weeds, a completely opposite scene was unfolding.
Han Lie knelt on the ground, his hair disheveled, roaring like a madman.
Kill me! Kill me if you have the guts!
Hahaha! You can't kill me! You simply can't kill me!
Give me a quick death! I beg you, give me a quick death!
...
He cried one moment and laughed the next, alternating between hurling abuse and kneeling to beg for mercy.
The once high and mighty Nascent Soul True Lord of the Han family had his mindset completely shattered at this moment.
Stop wasting your effort!
Han Lie panted heavily, his face full of a ferocious smile.
Even if this old man kneels motionless and lets you stab, you still can't break my protective astral qi!
An ant at the third level of Qi Condensation wants to kill a Nascent Soul True Lord? Dream on!
Wait, wait, wait, little brother, don't stab there!
You mustn't, you mustn't!
Ahhh! Kill me! Kill me!
...
Mo Wentian ignored Han Lie.
He was expressionless, his eyes hollow, like an emotionless killing machine.
The iron sword in his hand was raised, then lowered, raised again, and lowered again.
The movements were mechanical and repetitive, terrifyingly precise.
Sword strike after sword strike...
Suddenly, his hand paused.
The sword stopped in mid-air and did not fall.
His brows furrowed slightly, as if he was thinking about something.
Then, he slowly thrust out the next sword strike.
This strike was very slow.
As slow as an old ox pulling a broken cart.
The tip of the sword advanced inch by inch, drawing a visible trajectory in the air.
Han Lie was still mocking.
What's wrong? Out of strength? I told you that you couldn't kill me, but you refused to believe it. Can a little ant at the third level of Qi Condensation pierce my skin? What a joke!
Suddenly, Han Lie's voice came to an abrupt halt.
A bone-piercing chill rushed towards his face from that slowly thrusting iron sword.
His Nascent Soul actually began to tremble uncontrollably at this very moment!
"What?!"
Han Lie's expression changed drastically, his pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks.
Impossible!
This is absolutely impossible!
How could a mere ant at the third level of Qi Condensation make him, a Nascent Soul True Lord, feel threatened?
He wanted to move, to circulate his spiritual energy for protection, to raise his hand and parry the strike.
But he was firmly pinned to the spot, unable to move even a single finger.
He could only watch helplessly as that impossibly slow sword inched its way toward his chest.
Squelch—
A soft sound rang out.
The tip of the sword pierced into Han Lie's chest by exactly half an inch, no more, no less.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
Han Lie lowered his head, staring blankly at the iron sword lodged in his chest.
Blood slowly dripped down the blade.
His Nascent Soul protective astral aura, the golden barrier of light that had once blocked the attacks of countless Golden Core cultivators, had been effortlessly pierced by this sword as if it were made of mere paper!
"Sword... Sword Intent?"
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
