bookpower Chapter 243: Ship Construction
Chapter 243: Ship Construction
As a third-grade alchemist walked in, everyone inside was startled. Not daring to be negligent, they quickly called the manager from within.
The manager, upon hearing that a third-grade alchemist had arrived, showed a look of surprise and immediately rushed out to greet him.
"Sir, are you planning to have a large ship built? Rest assured, the Mo clan's shipbuilding techniques are the best in Starsea City. I guarantee you'll be satisfied with the ship we build!"
The elderly manager, who possessed the aura of a Spiritual Sea Peak expert, bowed respectfully to the third-grade alchemist in front of him.
"I have some blueprints here. How long will it take your Mo clan to build what's on them?" Long Xuan handed four blueprints to the elderly manager.
The manager quickly received them with both hands and scanned the four blueprints rapidly. Soon, a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
One of the blueprints depicted a strange flower, with its petals curved. Another blueprint showed a massive chimney, but they weren’t in the business of building houses.
What are all these strange things on the blueprints? Are you sure you're building a ship? Are you playing a joke on me?
However, these thoughts remained in his heart. He dared not voice them, as he couldn't afford to offend a third-grade alchemist.
He didn't dare ask the alchemist what these strange items were for, fearing he might anger the man by being too nosy. He knew what questions were appropriate to ask and which ones were not.
"Everything on the blueprints can be made by our Mo clan. If we rush the work, it can be completed within two months," the manager said. "But, sir, what materials do you want to use? This flower seems quite large. If you use too precious a material, it might be too extravagant for a decoration."
The manager pointed to the propeller on the blueprint.
Hearing this, Long Xuan realized that the man had mistaken the propeller he had drawn for a flower. He couldn’t help but find it amusing.
"Hmm! I need three of these flowers. As for the material, use pure Black Iron. Everything is in this storage bag. Don’t worry about saving costs," Long Xuan said, tossing a storage bag to the manager.
The propeller's maximum speed in this world was incredibly fast, requiring the strongest materials. In the Gu world, the most durable material was Geng Metal.
Unfortunately, even with the large amount of Geng Metal he possessed, it was still not enough to create three massive propellers. He had no choice but to settle for Black Iron, which was much less durable. There was no other way.
The large amount of Black Iron had been acquired through a trade, where he exchanged a vast number of Sea Converging Pills for it.
His actions left the elderly manager utterly dumbfounded.
Did he hear correctly? Such large flowers, and this man wanted to make them entirely out of precious Black Iron?
Was he crazy? Even if he had an abundance of Black Iron, this was not how you used it! This was way too extravagant. The manager was thoroughly shocked.
Is this the wealth of a third-grade alchemist? He had finally witnessed it today. To use Black Iron as mere decoration—this was pure wastage, truly a disgrace to such rare materials.
With trembling fingers, the manager opened the storage bag. When he saw what was inside, his legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.
Inside, not only was there an enormous amount of Black Iron, but also a vast amount of mithril and other rare materials. The sight of all these precious resources from the Gu world left him in awe. This man possessed so much of it!
At this moment, the manager no longer doubted the man’s identity as a third-grade alchemist. Only someone of that caliber could have such terrifying financial resources.
"You want the chimney made out of Mithril?" the manager asked cautiously.
Long Xuan immediately understood that the manager had mistaken the cannon barrel for a chimney. Whether in his previous life or this one, the materials required for cannon barrels had always been extremely demanding.
Fortunately, he had ten times more of Mithril than Geng Metal, more than enough to meet the consumption needs of building a giant cannon barrel. He had acquired the Mithril for free, so he didn’t mind using it at all.
Since the manager had misunderstood, Long Xuan didn’t bother to explain and casually replied, "Yes, I want the chimney made of Mithril. Now, tell me the cost."
Hearing this, the manager and the shipbuilders inside the room couldn't stop their mouths from twitching.
A mere chimney, made from precious Mithril? Everyone was stunned. They had seen wasteful people before, but never like this.
Using Black Iron for decorations and Mithril for a chimney—this was a tale for the ages, something unheard of before!
Even the rich merchants of the Qian clan couldn’t match his extravagance. The manager was utterly at a loss.
But no matter how strange this third-grade alchemist's requests were, he had no choice but to fulfill them.
Taking a deep breath, the manager calmed his startled heart and finally said, "Sir, if you want this rushed, the cost will be one million spirit stones, with half as a deposit. If not rushed, it will be—"
"Rush it!" Long Xuan immediately interrupted him and poured out a pile of spirit stones onto the ground.
Simultaneously, he sighed inwardly, thinking, ‘The price is really expensive.’
After all, they were only responsible for producing a small portion of the components. If just a fraction of the parts cost this much, what would the final price be for all the parts? It would probably be astronomical.
However, any problem that could be solved with spirit stones wasn’t a real problem for him.
He had just received a large order for Sea Converging Pills, so the spirit stones were nothing more than a drop in the ocean for him.
He only hoped that the parts could be made as quickly as possible so that his voyage wouldn't be delayed.
"Take the spirit stones. I'll come back in two months to collect these things. I trust you wouldn’t dare to embezzle my belongings, would you?" Long Xuan’s tone suddenly changed, his gaze sharp as he stared at the elderly manager.
At the same time, he secretly opened a small slit in his Insect bag, allowing the Integrity Gu inside to get some air.
"Of course not! Sir, rest assured, the Mo clan's reputation is guaranteed. You can ask anyone in the city about us. We've never cheated a customer," the manager hurriedly pounded his chest, guaranteeing their honesty.
"Even if we had the intention, we wouldn't dare to embezzle anything from a third-grade alchemist," the manager quickly added.
Seeing no reaction from the Integrity Gu inside the Insect bag, Long Xuan nodded and finally walked toward the door.
Finally, one day, a magnificent Shenlong ship was completed inside the seed of the World Tree.
The Shenlong ship had three sails: a large central mainsail and smaller fore and aft sails.
At the rear of the ship were three enormous propellers, completely out of place in this world.
There was a three-story cabin on the deck, not occupying much space. Combined with the various rooms below deck, the ship could comfortably house a hundred people.
The bow featured a dragon head made of metal, and just behind the dragon head was a massive cannon of astonishing size, whose power had yet to be tested.
Long Xuan named this cannon the Five Elements Cannon, which required spirit stones of the five elements. By harnessing the mutual generation and suppression principles of the five elements, it produced a destructive force far greater than the sum of its parts.
Long Xuan's cultivation techniques were based on the five elements cycle, so he was incredibly familiar with such attack methods. Thus, the Five Elements Cannon, which utilized the fusion of the five elements to create explosive force, was naturally born in his hands.
The Five Elements Cannon had four power levels:
- 10,000 low-grade spirit stones of each of the five elements made up the first level.
- 1,000 middle-grade spirit stones of each of the five elements made up the second level.
- 100 high-grade spirit stones of each of the five elements made up the third level.
- One peak-grade spirit stone of each of the five elements made up the final level.
The low-grade spirit stone level had the weakest power, requiring 50,000 low-grade spirit stones for a single shot.
The peak-grade spirit stone level had the greatest power, requiring five peak-grade spirit stones for a single shot.
This was essentially burning money. Even a common rogue cultivator would go bankrupt firing just one shot.
Finally, Long Xuan personally designed a ship flag embroidered with a five-clawed divine dragon, hoisting it at the highest point, marking the completion of the Shenlong ship.
Long Xuan crossed his arms and, with satisfaction, looked at the masterpiece he had toiled over for an entire year. A sense of accomplishment welled up inside him.
This ship was by no means the largest in the world, but it incorporated the most advanced technology of this world, leaving others far behind.
In terms of speed alone, his Shenlong ship was undoubtedly the fastest in the world.
The ship had no fewer than twenty propulsion systems, including all known forms of power in this world, aside from biological towing.
No other ship in the world dared to utilize such a combination of propulsion systems.
While larger ships could inscribe more formation patterns, they also required more power due to their weight, and bigger ships didn't necessarily mean faster speeds.
Long Xuan wandered around the Shenlong ship for a long time, admiring it, before finally leaving the seed of the World Tree and heading toward Starsea City.
Initially, he planned to recruit crew members at the port and immediately embark on his journey to Sky Island.
However, a message from the pill shop informed him that a customer had materials critical for refining the Three-Legged Golden Toad, but insisted that Long Xuan's true body personally meet with him. Clearly, this person had already seen through the fact that the Long Xuan at the pill shop was merely a clone.
Long Xuan's expression turned serious. Anyone who could see through his clone was no ordinary person. He was proud of his skill, and there weren’t many in the Gu world who could detect his clone.
When he arrived at the pill shop, Long Xuan immediately spotted a burly man dressed in somewhat ragged clothing, with a scar on his face, sitting on a chair with his eyes closed, resting. When the man sensed someone entering, he immediately opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing within them.
Without hesitation, the man said, "You're the real one, aren't you? I need a third-grade pill refined. You can't do it; even most fourth-grade alchemists can't."
"Go call your master or tell me where he is, and I'll visit him myself."
Hearing such arrogant words, Long Xuan’s expression shifted slightly. This man wanted a third-grade pill, and he was actually a Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator.
Long Xuan couldn't help but groan internally. For the sake of safety, he had boasted about having an incredibly powerful master, and thanks to a Integrity Gu nearby, everyone believed him.
Now look at the trouble he had gotten himself into, attracting a Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator!
While having a powerful master kept him safe, it also drew higher-level experts to seek his help with alchemy. What a headache.
Where could he possibly get a third-grade pill for this guy?
However, there was no need to panic. After all, Long Xuan no longer feared any Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator.
With the Heaven Mending Pill and Soul Restoration Pill in his possession, the side effects of the Gate of Life and Death technique were now minimal for him.
He could now kill a Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator at a low cost; the only concern was that it would take him years to restore his vitality and mental strength.
Additionally, he had to worry about developing resistance to the pills, so this tactic couldn't be used often, but he should be fine using it two or three more times.
With this realization, Long Xuan completely disregarded the Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator in front of him. If the guy acted out of line, Long Xuan wouldn’t mind killing him on the spot.
So, Long Xuan casually said, "My master is in seclusion and won't refine pills for anyone for the next ten years. You should leave."
However, seeing Long Xuan's nonchalant attitude toward a high-level cultivator only made the man more certain that Long Xuan had a mysterious and powerful master behind him. Otherwise, there was no way he would be this confident.
The more unfathomable his master seemed, the more likely it was that he could refine the pill the man needed. Having traveled so far in search of an alchemist capable of refining this pill, the man wasn't about to give up easily.
In his urgency, the burly man quickly stood up and said eagerly, "It's fine! I can wait! Isn't it just Ten years? I'll wait!"
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