Crossroads

The moonlight quietly streamed into the room along the window sill, reflecting on Xu Xinyao's bright, watery eyes.

Staring at her, for a fleeting moment, Xu Yuan felt that he was truly moved.

Trying every possible way to reduce volume and increase capacity is what energy has always been about.

He understood what Xu Xinyao meant by mentioning the Soul Ring at this moment. If the Soul Ring could hold Old Man Luo's Will Soul, then it could naturally also hold strange beings like demons and ghosts that were constructed from soul power.

However, Xu Yuan's initial excitement quickly cooled down.

Putting aside the feasibility, Xu Yuan felt that Xu Xinyao really had a great idea.

As an entity capable of containing Saint-level Will Soul, its ability to store demons, compared to a Source Crystal Source Crystal of the same volume, would likely allow it to hold at least a thousand times more energy.

In the Underground Palace, a box of specially processed Source Crystal bombs was enough to nearly kill a Mortal Shedding Strange Ghost at the blast's epicenter. If it were replaced by a box of Soul Ring of equal volume...

A weapon that slays immortals.

Okay, that's enough daydreaming.

This is only in theory.

Leaving aside the extremely exquisite array pattern technique of Old Man Luo's Soul Ring, it's likely that even the materials are hard to find now. Moreover, even if they could be found, the cost would be far beyond what the Prime Minister's Mansion can afford at this stage.

not to mention.

"Is Third Brother worried about the materials?"

Seeing Xu Yuan's gaze, which had been filled with initial excitement but was now cooling, Xu Xinyao quickly whispered:

"Although I haven't asked Senior Luo yet, the materials used to make the Soul Ring must be extremely precious. However, we don't actually need to replicate the Soul Ring one-to-one. There are countless rare and precious heavenly materials and earthly treasures in the world. Even if the materials used to make the Soul Ring are extinct, we can always find inferior substitutes. Even if the Soul Nourishing Ring we make only has one-tenth or even one-hundredth of the original's effectiveness, it will be enough."

Listening to Xu Xinyao's sales pitch, Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, then shook his head with a light laugh.

By the moonlight and the Inscription Lamp inside the house, looking at the girl's fair and flawless face, Xu Yuan smiled and said:

"You should say that to your father."

Xu Xinyao pursed her lips and fell silent.

Seeing his Fourth Sister's expression, Xu Yuan instantly understood.

It was obvious that she had already told her father about it.

"You were rejected?" Xu Yuan said softly, then shook his head. "Oh no, Father won't reject you directly; he'll probably say he'll think about it."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xinyao lowered her eyelids and said softly, "Mmm."

Upon making this discovery, she immediately went to her father, but he only said he would think about it and told her to get some rest.

Xu Yuan tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, and said ambiguously:

"Actually, if this matter had happened ten years earlier or ten years later, Father would definitely have agreed, since he has always valued the principles of investigating things."

At this point, Xu Yuan sighed softly:

"But at this critical juncture, there's no way my father would agree."

Xu Xinyao suddenly raised her eyes, her voice tinged with resentment:

"The Institute of Investigation has many, many expensive projects, but the value of this Soul Nourishing Ring is definitely far greater than all of those!"

"You're right."

Xu Yuan nodded, echoing Xu Xinyao's words with a hint of comfort, "If it succeeds, it will be an unprecedented revolution for the Great Yan Dynasty."

"Then why?"

"Because of the investment and effort, and because it was too late."

"..." Xu Xinyao looked at her stubbornly.

She firmly believed that her idea was correct.

If successful, various array patterns, civilian facilities, agricultural products, and even travel implements that were previously impossible due to their enormous energy consumption will undergo earth-shattering changes.

After a brief moment of eye contact, Xu Yuan spoke softly and gently:

"The number of array masters and weapon refiners in the Institute of Investigation who can participate in your research is very limited. If we transfer them to you, it will inevitably affect the progress of your existing projects."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xinyao's expression changed somewhat, and she gently bit the corner of her lip.

Xu Yuan snorted softly upon seeing this:

"Yes, your project will influence research on war equipment and array patterns."

However, at this point, Xu Yuan's lips curled slightly, and his eyes carried a hint of teasing:

"Having ideals is not shameful, but at least you have to be grounded in reality."

"Even if that wasn't the original intention of the developers, no one should know better than you that all new technologies are first used in the military field."

"Elder brother!"

Xu Xinyao gritted her teeth, a hint of anger flashing in her watery eyes as she stared at Xu Yuan.

"Xin Yao."

Xu Yuan ignored the other person, leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and continued speaking unhurriedly:

"Imagine what would happen if the Soul Nourishing Ring you're trying to make were used for military purposes."

"."

After staring at each other for two seconds, Xu Xinyao angrily looked away.

"No matter what it is, you can use it to kill people."

Xu Yuan chuckled softly and continued:

"This is just stating the facts. If you succeed in this matter, many new weapons will be developed. On a smaller scale, the military repeating crossbow with array patterns will become more powerful with the addition of a charging device like the Soul Nourishing Ring, making it more efficient at killing people. On a larger scale..."

At this point, Xu Yuan gently tapped the mahogany table above him and smiled slightly:

"If we could produce Soul Nourishing Ring the size of this table, just one would be enough to reduce the entire Di'an City to ashes."

Silence fell over the room after he finished speaking.

Xu Yuan stared at the girl opposite him and chuckled.

Even so, are you still determined to continue researching this project?

Xu Xinyao's bright eyes became unpredictable.

After a long silence, Xu Xinyao's voice finally broke the stillness:

"If that's the case, why did Father refuse me?"

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised:

Even so, are you still willing to continue?

"Anyway, whatever I do, you'll all use it for military purposes."

After speaking, Xu Xinyao was quiet for a moment, then said in a low voice:

"Moreover, if it truly possessed that kind of power, perhaps far fewer people would die on the battlefield."

"."

Xu Yuan was taken aback upon hearing this.

He hadn't expected Xu Xinyao to say such a thing, nor had he expected her to realize the potential consequences of such a weapon in an instant.

But then he sighed inwardly.

Unfortunately, this isn't my past life.

Every saint is a human-shaped nuclear weapon, and Xu Yuan has never seen war stop its approaching pace because of the existence of saints.

Even if Soul Nourishing Ring could be mass-produced, the war would not stop because of this weapon called "Soul Nourishing Ring".

The reason why that box of Source Crystal bombs was able to nearly kill the Mortal Shedding Strange Ghost in the Underground Palace was entirely because it lacked intelligence.

Other normal Mortal Shedding experts would have a hundred ways to avoid it.

I was only talking about the most ideal scenario.

Xu Yuan shook his head and said in a low voice, "This kind of thing can effectively kill high-level cultivators."

"But it can be used on the battlefield," Xu Xinyao suddenly said.

Xu Yuan blinked.

"We might not be able to break through a super-large military formation, but we should be able to achieve a scale of 10,000 people. We can then use it to open up strategic nodes." Xu Xinyao's voice was somewhat hurried.

"It's too expensive, I simply can't afford it."

Xu Yuan immediately refuted this, saying, "If such a method were effective, the dominant forces on the battlefield would have long since become Source Crystal bombs, not the current military formations."

"Elder brother!"

Xu Xinyao straightened up slightly, her voice rising as she interrupted Xu Yuan: "There will always be military applications!"

"."

Xu Yuan remained silent, staring at the other person with a strange look in his eyes.

military?

He never imagined that one day he would hear such words from the mouth of the Fourth Sister of the Holy Mother.

Realizing the danger of her words, Xu Xinyao suddenly fell silent.

After a long while, Xu Xinyao's soft voice finally rang out in the quiet room:

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

Xu Yuan's eyes were unreadable. He stroked his chin and, instead of answering, asked:

"Have you come to terms with reality?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Xinyao trembled slightly, her hands gripping the hem of her skirt tightly on her lap, revealing a smile that looked like a cry:

"When I told my father about this, I saw the contents of the memorial in his hand."

"Because of the war with the sects, the North was awash in blood, with tens of millions dead and hundreds of millions of refugees."

"The situation is already like this."

"Elder brother

"Don't you think everything I did before was ridiculous in the face of Father's grand plan?"

The room was silent, with only the gentle fragrance of incense wafting through the air.

Xu Yuan rubbed his temples.

He felt that the father had done it on purpose, and that he had clearly achieved his goal.

In the silence,

Xu Yuan slowly stood up, walked to the girl's side, and gently placed his hand on her trembling shoulder.

"This wasn't your fault, so why be upset?"

"Why not?!"

Xu Xinyao lowered her eyes, her fingertips digging into the flesh of her thighs through her skirt, her voice sounding as if she had been suppressing it for a long time:

"Our Prime Minister's Mansion is one of the instigators, and also a beneficiary!!"

"."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan instantly recalled the scene of Xu Xinyao betraying the Prime Minister's Mansion in the novel "Cangyuan," because it was so similar.

[So, our Prime Minister's Mansion is the instigator of all this?]

This is the question she asked in Cangyuan.

In "Cangyuan", Xu Xinyao's betrayal is a very long process.

From initially learning that his own father was the instigator of the war, to witnessing the refugees firsthand, and then seeing the Black Scale Army massacre the city and the desperate cries of countless people, he was deeply moved.

After going through more than ten storylines, she finally sided with the sect.

The thought vanished in an instant, but Xu Yuan suppressed it.

He knew very well that Xu Xinyao was confused and needed someone to guide her.

The order and timing of a character's appearance are very important.

In the novel "Cangyuan", when the Fourth Sister received this information, she was accompanied by the protagonist Qin Mo and a group of people from various sects.

With all the guidance she received, she successfully went astray.