Great Gan Kingdom, Changfeng City, Qingshan Academy, library.
With the Virtual Heavenly Dao Network now available, and all kinds of books uploaded to it, far fewer people came to the library. It was quiet and serene at this hour, with only the occasional rustle of turning pages and the soft scratch of writing.
On the second floor, an unremarkable young man in a green robe sat by the window, savoring the book in his hands. He handled it so carefully, you'd think he was leafing through a priceless treasure.
Besides the book in his hands, several others of varying thickness lay scattered across the wooden table before him. Some were an inch thick, others nearly two. Many had been opened and turned face-down on the tabletop.
The young man would study a page, then lift his head and ponder.
That young man was Lu Mingyuan, who had come to research the subject.
Since he was about to create a divine ability related to the Agricultural School, Lu Mingyuan had thought it over and decided it would be best to start with the plow.
He had his reasons for choosing the plow.
First, there was the matter of his identity.
Lu Mingyuan's family were ordinary commoners. Apart from the Agricultural School, they had little connection to any of the other Hundred Schools. And, by rights, Lu Mingyuan didn't know much about those other fields, so he was unlikely to make a breakthrough by starting elsewhere.
The knowledge taught at the academy could indeed be used to create divine abilities. It wasn't impossible. But if you wanted to sell one, it had to be original. Without something new, no one would buy it.
After all, so many students graduated every year. They'd already explored every path there was, leaving few gaps to exploit.
Then there was the fact that Lu Mingyuan had transmigrated here, bringing with him a body of knowledge unlike anything in this world. By rights, he ought to be able to create plenty of unique divine abilities, like [Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage].
But Lu Mingyuan wanted to live a normal life. He had already decided to keep this identity of his as ordinary as possible and avoid standing out. He would leave all the other attention-grabbing business to "Anonymous."
Even if something happened in the future, it would have nothing to do with him, Lu Mingyuan.
Besides, who would ever guess that the illustrious "Anonymous" was an ordinary farmer from the Agricultural School?
Honestly, Lu Mingyuan believed that as long as he didn't expose himself, no one would be able to find him.
There was one more reason. From what Lu Mingyuan had found, no divine abilities related to farming tools had appeared yet.
The Mohist School had a Weapon Summoning divine ability, but the weapons were swords, hammers, spears, and the like.
As for farming tools, there were no winnowing baskets or sieves. Perhaps no one had thought of it, or they didn't see the point. After all, these tools were easy to make by hand and could be found everywhere. There really was no need to turn them into divine abilities.
And there was one final reason: the more land was cultivated, the more grain it yielded, and the more people it could feed. Only with a larger population could Lu Mingyuan realize his ideals.
Besides, no matter whether productivity in this world improved or not, more farmland and more grain would make things more stable.
At that moment, Lu Mingyuan was reading The Classic of the Plow, written by Lu Guimeng. It described the construction of the curved-beam plow in detail.
The curved-beam plow consisted of eleven parts: the plowshare, the moldboard, the plow bottom, the press chisel, the yoke, the plow standard, the plow beam, the plow handle, the plow regulator, the plow brace, and the plow disc.
As he studied the plow's construction, Lu Mingyuan also assembled each component inside his Soul Space. After putting it together, he tested and refined it, trying to make the design more practical.
Having grown up in a farming family in his previous life, Lu Mingyuan had seen modern plows. He wanted to make the curved-beam plow easier to use, too. That would make it easier to sell, wouldn't it?
And if he did a good enough job, perhaps he could even earn a reputation as a rising star of the Agricultural School.
"The curved-beam plow still needs an ox to pull it. I might as well try making a hand-pulled one."
Standing in his Soul Space, Lu Mingyuan murmured as he looked at the assembled plow before him.
"The curved-beam plow has its limits. Once saplings or wheat have been planted in a field, it's not very suitable for an ox to go in. That's when a hand-pulled plow could come in handy. And no one in this world has made one yet. That could be a real selling point."
Lu Mingyuan didn't expect to earn Qi Luck Points by manifesting a plow through his divine ability, but at least he had to recoup his costs.
"With the hand-pulled plow as an innovation, I should be able to sell a few more copies."
Lu Mingyuan wasn't sure.
It should work, he reassured himself.
The Qi Luck Points he earned from this divine ability would be all the assets he could openly claim in the future, as well as his means of marrying Jing Zhi. She might not care about it herself, but everyone hoped their other half could offer them a better life.
Besides, after marrying Jing Zhi, he couldn't have her eating chaff and vegetables every day. He needed to make sure they'd have something to live on.
Thinking of that, Lu Mingyuan felt all the more that he had to design this divine ability properly. He couldn't just phone it in.
Then Lu Mingyuan set down The Classic of the Plow and picked up another book, Wang Zhen's Book of Agriculture.
The other titles on his table were all agricultural texts: The Exploitation of the Works of Nature, Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People, The Book of Fan Shengzhi, The Complete Book of Agricultural Administration, Essentials of Agriculture and Sericulture, and Comprehensive Treatise on the Seasons...
The library had a remarkably complete collection. It saved Lu Mingyuan a lot of work.
And, for some reason, although these books had appeared in this world, all the parts concerning politics and dynasties had been changed to fit local history, while the technical content had remained mostly the same.
After a long while, Lu Mingyuan set down the classic he was reading and rubbed his temples.
"Finally, done!"
By then, he had recreated every farming tool from those books that he could make inside his Soul Space.
His Soul Space now looked like an exhibition hall of agricultural tools, except they were all ancient implements, with no trace of modern machinery.
Lu Mingyuan glanced around the cluttered Soul Space. With a thought, he swept everything aside except the tools related to plowing.
The priority now was to study the plow.
"If I want it to sell well, the plow needs more functions, and they have to be practical. No bells and whistles."
"Mm... It needs to be able to adjust the depth of the furrow."
"It'd be best if it could adjust the plowshare's angle, as well as the plow beam's length and angle."
"Mm... I'll also have to calculate which curve angle works best and takes the least effort."
At last, Lu Mingyuan remembered the approach he used when writing computer programs.
"Why not make every component adjustable? That would make things much easier."
"It'll be a bit of a hassle. I'll have to redesign it from scratch."
Once he had a direction for the improvements, Lu Mingyuan began burning Human Luck Points to speed up his thoughts and sharpen his mind, hoping to finish designing the divine ability he envisioned as soon as possible.
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