The Divine Instrument of Change

Li Yan's eye twitched faintly at the corner, and he held back a laugh.

To be honest, he had thought of many possibilities.

For the Imperial Court to unveil the Steam Engine on this day, it must have made considerable progress.

Perhaps it was a steam-powered automobile, or a steam-driven millstone—something that demonstrated practical value, in any case.

But he had never expected that the first thing they would produce would be a steam-powered dragon carriage.

The entire carriage frame was covered in gilded dragon ornaments. Coiling-dragon reliefs crouched along the shafts, their golden scales glittering, while the dragon's head rose proudly at the front. It was thoroughly royal in bearing, yet embedded in the carriage's belly was a massive cast-iron boiler. Steam pipes and knotted connecting rods were exposed outside, and brass gear assemblies and cast-iron flywheels were plainly visible on both sides.

As the dragon carriage moved forward, it erupted with booming "bang bang" sounds, while billowing black smoke poured from the rear.

That was not all. This steam dragon carriage clearly had no suspension system.

Emperor Xiao Qixuan sat atop it, relying entirely on his rock-solid lower-body kung fu to keep himself steady.

In Li Yan's eyes, the sight possessed an inexplicable absurdity.

So this emperor is a show-off too...

He forcibly suppressed his laughter, but the others could not laugh at all.

The appearance of such an unprecedented thing left some people dumbfounded, others staring foolishly, and still others swallowing nervously. Several hundred people had gathered at the scene, yet it fell utterly silent. The only sound was the roar of the steam dragon carriage.

When Li Yan saw this, his expression also turned solemn.

He thought of something.

He had witnessed many things in his previous life, but the others were different.

The roar of