Eight Chapter Plowing Test

That afternoon, the delicate little vegetable patch in the courtyard of Lu Mingyuan's home was trampled once again, though it had barely had a few days to rest.

This time, at least, it was plowed neatly, over and over.

And as if plowing it several times weren't enough, he went on to dig and shovel the soil. The weeds that had only just come back to life were thoroughly incensed.

If they could talk, they would probably have jumped up and demanded to know: "Have you got nothing better to do? You're turning the soil all day long. Can't you leave us weeds a way to live, brother? Weeds have rights too!"

Unfortunately, Lu Mingyuan couldn't hear a word of it. He continued with his tests.

After a while.

"This hand-pulled plow works pretty well. The pick and the iron shovel are about the same."

That was right. After testing the hand-pulled plow, Lu Mingyuan had brought out and tested all the other small tools too, such as the pick, the hoe, and the iron shovel.

The results were all pretty good.

At least, that was how Lu Mingyuan felt.

Suddenly, a dull "crack" sounded.

What was that?

Lu Mingyuan glanced around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Then he shook his head, muttered something under his breath, and went back to work, pulling hard on the hand-pulled plow to cultivate the soil.

But this time, something went wrong.

"Huh? Why won't it budge?"

"Is the ground too hard?"

"But that doesn't make sense. It was working fine just now."

He had tested the softer ground in the middle of the vegetable patch again and again, and it had all gone well. This time, Lu Mingyuan was cultivating the edge of the patch, where the earth was harder.

But now, all of a sudden, he couldn't pull the plow at all.

Suddenly, Lu Mingyuan's expression hardened. He threw all his strength into a fierce pull, and this time, the plowshare came up along with a huge clod of earth that had been pressing down on it.

"Ah, it came off again."

Seeing that, Lu Mingyuan stepped forward, picked up the hand-pulled plow, and prepared to set the plowshare back into the soil.

Only then did he notice that the triangular, cone-shaped tip of the plowshare was missing.

"Huh? How'd it break? Wasn't it fine just now..."

"Could that sound have been it?"

"Hmm... I remember I just..."

Convinced that the tip had broken when the sound rang out, Lu Mingyuan tried to recall what had happened. He wanted to figure out why it had snapped so suddenly when it had been fine at first.

"I think I suddenly pulled upward. Could that be why?"

With that question in mind, Lu Mingyuan carefully thought it over.

Judging by what he knew about physics and engineering, when plowing particularly hard ground, you really couldn't yank the plow upward, or it would break. Could that really have been the cause?

"Hmm, the ground being too hard probably played a part too."

Once he'd figured it out, Lu Mingyuan gave a relieved laugh. "Good thing this hand-pulled plow was summoned. Otherwise, I'd have lost five hundred silver coins."

Then, with a thought, the plow in his hands dissolved into specks of starlight and vanished into the air. Even the broken part of the plow tip still lying in the furrow turned into starlight and disappeared.

And so, once again, a plow was born.

Our hand-pulled plow was back yet again.

Lu Mingyuan glanced at the plow tip, which was still as good as new, and smiled. "Looks like every one I summon is brand-new."

"That means I can mess around and test them as much as I want from now on. I don't have to be so careful anymore."

"Wait. The plow tip can break, which means it's about as strong as ordinary steel. But is it really steel?"

Thinking of this, Lu Mingyuan decided he ought to look into it.

He wanted to satisfy his curiosity, after all!

Since he wanted to investigate the material, he decided to start by testing the wooden parts. They should be easier to test.

With that in mind, he soon went to the kitchen and came back with a candle and a fire starter.

As Lu Mingyuan saw it, if he wanted to figure out whether the wood he summoned was really wood, burning it would be a simple and practical test.

He lit the candle and summoned a sickle.

Then he slowly moved the wooden handle of the sickle toward the flame.

When the handle first touched the outer flame, nothing happened.

One second later, still nothing.

Suddenly, a few specks of light began to flicker on the part of the handle above the candle.

It was reacting?

Realizing this, Lu Mingyuan quickly pulled the handle away and examined it closely.

Only then did he notice that the part of the wooden handle that had touched the flame had turned a large patch of ashen black.

In the middle of the gray-black patch, an irregular brown circle had appeared out of nowhere.

The circle was different not only in color from the surrounding area, but also in how smooth it was. Looking closely, it was actually a very shallow little pit, less than a millimeter deep.

As for its size, it was about a centimeter across, exactly as wide as the part that had touched the candle's outer flame.

"It didn't catch fire, but it turned black, and part of it disappeared?"

Muttering to himself, Lu Mingyuan lightly rubbed the blackened part of the handle.

Well, it turned back to its original wood color—brown.

"It didn't scorch or catch fire, but part of it suddenly went missing?"

"In other words, it really isn't wood. It's a material that's similar to wood."

"Then those specks of light that flashed when I burned it must have been a sign that it was disappearing."

To confirm his guess further, Lu Mingyuan scraped a very thin strip of wood off the handle, as thin as paper.

Then he used it for another burning test.

This time it reacted much faster. The moment the strip touched the flame, specks of light began flickering across it nonstop. Lu Mingyuan pulled it away and looked. The strip was already full of bumps and hollows, riddled with irregular little holes.

But there wasn't a trace of ash.

Seeing this, Lu Mingyuan came to a conclusion.

"It looks like it really is just a material that resembles wood. And its heat resistance must be awful."

As he spoke, Lu Mingyuan tore the strip in half and examined the torn edges. There really were many broken bundles of tiny fibers there.

"That part is a lot like wood too. Both are made up of those very fine fibers."

At that point, Lu Mingyuan suddenly realized something. He turned the sickle around and held the other side, the metal blade, over the candle flame.

A moment later, he stared at the little round hole in the sickle's blade, utterly astounded.

"Now, I can understand the wooden handle burning away. But this is steel, man! Since when can a candle melt steel—or even burn it away completely?"

"That's just ridiculous."

A moment later.

"So the materials of these summoned objects aren't actually real. They must be something purely designed and simulated."

At least, that was what Lu Mingyuan could make of it with the knowledge he had now.

"Since they're designed and simulated, their properties might not be the same as those of real materials."

"For instance, this material that resembles steel probably has the same strength, stiffness, and even toughness as ordinary steel, but its heat resistance is a little too poor."

"By that logic, the materials used in the weapons summoned by combat abilities must have every property pushed to the limit, even surpassing ordinary materials by a huge margin. That's how they can withstand impacts from forces of hundreds—or even tens or hundreds of thousands—of pounds."

In any case, the materials in Lu Mingyuan's hands were definitely unsuitable for use as weapons.

For one thing, if your opponent threw a fireball at you and you blocked it, only for a huge hole to appear in your weapon, who could stand that?

That was enough testing for the materials' properties for now.

As for their other physical and chemical properties, Lu Mingyuan didn't have the tools. He had neither acid nor alkali, and no electricity either. He would have to leave those tests for another time.

At dawn the next day, just as the sun came up, an ox cart slowly rolled out of Guihua Lane.

Two men, one middle-aged and one young, were sitting toward the front of the cart, chatting.

Just then, a man carrying an oilcloth bundle came toward them. He glanced at the curved-beam plow leaning against the cart.

"Lu the Second, are you taking your nephew out to plant the fields?"

"Just planting some bok choy and cucumbers. Liu the Third, are you on your way to work?"

"Yeah. Someone over in Taohua Lane is fixing up their house, so I'm going to build them a wall."

"Got it. Off you go, then."

The ox cart continued on its way.

Before long, it had left the city and reached a vast green plain.

"Mingyuan, we're here."

Hearing that, Lu Mingyuan looked over the fields, now lush with greenery, then jumped down from the cart with his second uncle and helped unhitch the ox.

But the two of them didn't remove the curved-beam plow from the cart.

This time, Lu Mingyuan planned to turn over the soil with the plow he had summoned.

In fact, that was why he and his second uncle had come out to the fields: to further test his farm tools.

To find out whether the tools were any good, they needed his second uncle, an old hand at farming, to give them his opinion.

If anything was wrong, Lu Mingyuan could make changes right away.

As for Lu Mingyuan himself, he had no land, no ox, and no experience. He couldn't even tell whether his plowing was good or bad.

So the previous evening, he'd gone to his second uncle's home and asked Lu Yi to come help him.

When his second uncle heard that his nephew wanted to test his ability, he readily agreed.

At the edge of the field.

Lu Yi was staring blankly at the brand-new curved-beam plow placed at his nephew's feet.

So his nephew Lu Mingyuan had really created this ability?

With this, could they save money from now on?

The curved-beam plow his family owned had cost nearly thirty taels to buy in the first place. They'd also had to pay another ten or so taels for repairs several times.

This new one needed no repairs and could be carried around. It really was much more convenient.

One investment, and a lifetime of use.

And his nephew had said the ability came with many different types of curved-beam plows, large and small, to choose from. There were even picks, iron shovels, sickles, and other tools—not to mention a hand-pulled plow.

Thinking of that, Lu Yi could already see a bright future for this ability.

Their Lu family was finally going to have a famous person.

"Mingyuan, when the time comes, your second uncle will be the first to buy this ability."

"Second Uncle, let's test it first. I'll upload it after I've made the improvements."

"Good, good, good! Then let's get started!"

The uncle and nephew worked together from then on, testing and making adjustments as they went.

"Mingyuan, if you adjust it like this, the plowing will go more smoothly."

"And change the angle of this hoe. Bend it a little more. That'll take less effort."

"And this sickle..."

After that, the two of them tested every tool in the ability, and Lu Mingyuan made suitable adjustments based on his second uncle's suggestions.

Of course, they also wrecked countless tools along the way.

In fact, if the tools hadn't been summoned by an ability, you'd have needed at least a thousand taels of silver to cover the cost.

They worked until the middle of the day, with the sun high overhead. Only then did they finish, pack up, and prepare to head home.

Carried by the warm spring breeze, the ox cart began its journey back to the city.

"Mingyuan, that hand-pulled plow you designed works pretty well. From now on, when I plant vegetables or garlic, I won't have to slowly dig everything with a hoe. And there's our kiwi field..."

"I'm glad you find it useful, Second Uncle."

Getting approval from his second uncle, an expert farmer, made Lu Mingyuan overjoyed. A happy smile lit up his face. It looked like he wouldn't have any trouble selling this ability now.

"By the way, Mingyuan, you had that plowshare made at Tiezhu's place, didn't you?"

"Mm, that's right. I had Brother Tiezhu make it. What's wrong, Second Uncle?"

Lu Mingyuan was puzzled by his second uncle's question. Why had he suddenly brought that up? And why didn't he seem happy?

There was nothing wrong with having an acquaintance make the plow, was there?

Lu Yi sighed. His nephew was good in every way: smart from childhood, well-read, courteous, and gentle. It was just that he was always a little lacking when it came to the ways of the world.

"Mingyuan, once this ability comes out, won't fewer people go to the blacksmith's shop to have ironwork done?"

Lu Mingyuan was taken aback. Then, after a moment of silence, he said, "Probably."

Most people went to blacksmiths to have farm tools made. His ability had already taken care of that, and the tools wouldn't need repairs either.

Beyond that, people needed other everyday tools, like scissors, kitchen knives, hammers, and pliers.

Once his ability was uploaded and became popular, someone would probably create abilities to summon those tools too.

So business at the blacksmith shops would likely plummet—or dry up altogether.

Unless they changed course and started making weapons.

But there were abilities for summoning weapons too, so this really wasn't easy to solve.

Lu Yi said gravely, "If people stop getting ironwork done, the blacksmiths' business will suffer. That won't affect you much, though.

"But if people find out that Li Fuhong made your plowshare, and that's how this ability came about, do you think Li Fuhong will have an easy time of it?"

"Uh, well..."

Lu Mingyuan was at a loss for words. That really could happen, so all he could do was fall silent. He wasn't in the blacksmithing trade, so it didn't matter much to him. But what about Li Fuhong and Li Tiezhu?

They depended on blacksmithing to make a living.

Business was going to get worse anyway. If their fellow blacksmiths ostracized them on top of that, things would be even more miserable.

"Second Uncle, I really didn't think that far ahead. I never thought it would bring trouble to Uncle Fuhong. What should I..."

Just as Lu Mingyuan was about to ask what they should do, he suddenly remembered what his father-in-law had told him the day before.

"Oh, right, Second Uncle. Yesterday, my father-in-law saw my ability and said he wanted to make one that could summon kitchen tools. He also said he'd bring Uncle Fuhong along to make one for blacksmithing tools. I agreed at the time."

After he finished speaking, Lu Mingyuan turned his gaze to his second uncle, wanting to see what he thought of the matter.

"Your father-in-law? Jing Zhi's father?

Wait... Let me think...

Your father-in-law and Li Fuhong both served in the military back then, so they know how to create divine abilities. And he probably hasn't used that Divine Ability Stone yet. This time, we can certainly give it a try."

After pondering for a while, Lu Yi patted his nephew on the back and said with a smile, "All right, don't worry. You've found yourself a good father-in-law. He's already taken care of all this for you. You don't need to worry about it."

Hearing that, Lu Mingyuan fell silent for a moment, then smiled faintly as well.

His father-in-law had taken care of it for him?

But why hadn't his father-in-law explained things clearly to him?

Was he supposed to figure it out himself?

No matter how he speculated, Lu Mingyuan was still somewhat relieved. He was lucky to have such a good father-in-law.