At that moment,
Elder Du was in his workshop, wholly absorbed in crafting a hidden weapon.
This hidden weapon was called the "Sky-Shaking Thunder"!
The art of mechanisms and the way of hidden weapons were closely linked to begin with. He was proficient in mechanisms, so he was naturally an expert in this field as well!
The Sky-Shaking Thunder was about the size of a fist, with an outer shell forged from some special metal.
Once infused with true qi, it could be activated!
With a soft click, the mechanism locked into place, and he completed another one.
Yet Elder Du showed no delight. Instead, he looked somewhat helpless:
"Its power is indeed extraordinary, but unfortunately, the crafting process is far too cumbersome and complicated."
"After a whole month, I can only make these few pitiful pieces."
He stopped working,
picked up the two Secret Manuals of guidance arts placed beside him, and began flipping through them repeatedly.
Elder Du had always held on to a glimmer of hope:
"If I can deduce a more advanced guidance art, I'll be able to lessen the suffering caused by the conflicts."
Unfortunately,
he had devoted himself to research for many years,
yet had only accumulated plenty of notes, insights, and experience. He had never managed to achieve any breakthrough progress.
Elder Du let out a helpless sigh. "Alas... I feel that these two guidance arts are already quite perfect."
"After all, they were created by predecessors of astonishing talent, and subsequently refined many times."
"To improve them further is difficult—truly as hard as ascending to heaven!"
Just as Elder Du was feeling somewhat dejected, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.
Outside the courtyard gate,
Fang Chen and Cui Lin had arrived.
Elder Du opened the door. Upon seeing who it was,