Go For It

Seeing that Senior Liao still refused to take the bait, Lin Xiao secretly clicked his tongue.

After thinking for a moment, he realized that this approach was not going to work, so he simply changed tactics and continued, “Senior, have you ever heard the old saying, ‘If you want to get rich, build roads first’? Transportation is a crucial pillar of social development. Since we want to develop the mortal world, shouldn’t we bring ordinary people along and let them develop as well? Just think about it—what kind of lives do ordinary people in the cultivation world lead? If the common folk in our mortal world could live convenient and prosperous lives, wouldn’t that completely outshine the cultivation world?”

“Hmm… That does sound pretty good.” Lin Xiao’s suggestion made Liao Pantu somewhat interested.

“Exactly! And don’t underestimate the train just because it’s for ordinary people. It’s a highly technical project. A vehicle this large and long will definitely consume an enormous amount of energy once it starts moving. Since we’re building it for the common people, the cost can’t be too high, so spirit stones obviously can’t be its primary energy source. That means we’ll have to research an energy source that ordinary people can use conveniently and that’s both effective and inexpensive. We’ll also have to pursue a decent speed. We can’t spend all that effort only to end up with something that moves about as fast as a horse-drawn carriage. It has to demonstrate a clear advantage, don’t you agree?”

Having known Lin Xiao for so long, Liao Pantu had long since grown accustomed to the strange terms he used. After thinking about them briefly, he could usually figure out what they meant.

He picked up the stack of blueprints on the table and looked through them again.

Lin Xiao continued working on him from the side. “Besides, we’re just sitting around with nothing to do lately. Why don’t we conduct a little research for fun?”

“Fine. Let’s do it!” Liao Pantu was not the sort to agonize over decisions. Since Lin Xiao was so eager to try it, and he himself was somewhat interested, they might as well go ahead. Something of this level should not take him very long anyway.

Thus, through Lin Xiao’s efforts, the only two idlers in Lingxian Sect finally reached an agreement and embarked on their journey of researching trains.

With all the sect’s production departments already run off their feet, even the Artifact Refining Hall had no spare rooms for the two of them. As for Liao Pantu’s medicine garden minor world, people came and went there every day, busy planting, tending, harvesting, sorting, and packing the various medicinal fields. In the end, the two could only retreat to Lin Xiao’s small bamboo house on Spirit Accumulation Mountain, located on Yaoguang Floating Island, and devote themselves to their research.

Building a train was not difficult for the two of them.

Liao Pantu possessed refining skills honed through countless trials, while Lin Xiao had a smattering of theoretical knowledge. Based on Lin Xiao’s rough descriptions, Liao Pantu was able to grasp the general direction. Since Lin Xiao knew that this direction would inevitably succeed, their research progressed at an astonishing speed.

In just a few days, the two of them had not only built a steam train, but had also developed a generator in preparation for further optimizing the train’s power source and speed.

Relying on Lin Xiao’s vague descriptions, Liao Pantu even used the principles of array inscription to carve out something resembling an electric motor drive chip.

After that, the two of them began working on wind power generation.

Natural wind was uncontrollable, so they decided to create an array formation that could generate a steady flow of air. Since the formation had no function other than blowing wind continuously, it consumed very little in the way of spirit stones.

Once these crucial components had been solved, they began crafting the locomotive by hand.

It took them three full days to complete it.

When the first electric locomotive was finished, Liao Pantu happily admired their achievement alongside Lin Xiao before asking, “How many of these locomotives do we need to make?”

Lin Xiao froze. He blinked several times before finally saying, “I haven’t discussed it with the various countries yet.”

“?”

Liao Pantu was dumbfounded.

So after dragging him into all that strenuous work, Lin Xiao had been so focused on the technical side of things that he had not even discussed the matter with anyone?

Lin Xiao knew he was in the wrong and hurriedly placated him. “Don’t worry, I’ll go talk to them right away. I’ll make sure this is implemented as soon as possible. After that, we won’t need to handle the trains or the tracks ourselves. We’ll let them build those on their own. We’ll only be responsible for producing the chips and the stable wind-generating arrays.”

Liao Pantu was speechless. He muttered inwardly that young people really were unreliable when it came to getting things done.

But Lin Xiao was the sect master, so he could not exactly beat the boy like some naughty brat. In the end, he could only shake his head and comfort himself. Forget it. There was no point arguing with a twenty-year-old kid.

Several years had passed, and Lin Xiao’s height and features had fully matured. The handsome, refined face that had once carried the childishness of a boy barely over ten had now shed its innocence, revealing sharp and well-defined features.

Liao Pantu sighed inwardly. When this fellow kept his mouth shut or was dealing with outsiders, his appearance was still highly deceptive. Most people from the other sects and royal families refused to believe that he was truly young. They assumed that his former identity as a peasant boy had merely been a disguise, and that this sect master had in fact been cultivating for many years.

Only a very small number of people knew—or rather, believed—the truth about his background.

Now that the two of them had produced a working result, Lin Xiao hurriedly began arranging negotiations with the various countries.

It sounded as though there would be a great deal to do, but in reality, Lin Xiao merely told Lin Yun and Li Zhouxuan about the matter. He then had Li Zhouxuan represent Xiushui City in communicating with the royal court of the Pusi Kingdom, after which the Pusi royal family would negotiate cooperation with the other countries.

Essentially, none of the countries had any reason to oppose the project. However, Xiushui City required them to recruit their own workers to build the trains and lay the railways. It also imposed requirements on the workers’ treatment: their wages could not fall below a specified minimum, and they had to be provided with at least two meals a day. Each meal had to include at least one meat dish and one vegetable dish, and the workers themselves could eat as much as they wanted.

This represented an enormous expense.

Fortunately, the countries would not need to prepare the materials for producing the trains. Xiushui City promised to provide processed materials and simplify the production and manufacturing procedures to the point that ordinary people could handle them.

However, producing the finished materials required large quantities of metal and ore. Those raw materials would have to be supplied by the various countries.

Thus, by the end of the negotiations, the final arrangement was for Xiushui City to establish a central manufacturing plant where all production and assembly would be carried out. The various countries would be responsible for transporting raw materials, workers, food supplies, and other personnel and resources to the site.

As for railway construction, Xiushui City would also centrally arrange and coordinate the work. Each country would send imperial envoys to discuss the details with Xiushui City, including where stations should be established, how long each section of track ought to be, and which routes would be the most convenient and suitable.

To prevent problems during construction caused by unfamiliarity with the terrain, Xiushui City specifically required that each section’s construction crews recruit as many local people familiar with the area as possible.

However, the mortal world was vast, and there were always places between regions where few people had ever set foot. Some of those areas were plagued by miasma, others were home to ferocious beasts, and still others were blocked by rivers. In such places, building railways quickly was simply impossible with the current capabilities of mortals.