Overbearing Armory, Dimensional Strike

Underground workshop of the Heaven Dou Empire imperial palace.

Soul-guide lamps shone as bright as day, dozens of furnaces spat out raging flames, and the rhythmic clanging of forging echoed incessantly.

Over a thousand craftsmen performed their duties on the assembly line—polishing gears, casting crossbow limbs, and assembling springs. Each person knew only their specific link, unaware of the full design.

"Your Majesty, the first batch of finished products has been assembled. Please, move to the testing grounds."

The black-clad foreman knelt on one knee.

This man was originally a servant of a count's household. After his entire family was stripped of their status, his memories were wiped and replaced with loyalty commands. He was now the workshop's most capable puppet.

Yan Lingji followed him through the palace gates to the imperial martial arts arena on the west side of the palace.

War machines such as the Earth-Breaking Three, the Hundred-Battle Siege Crossbow, and the Godly Zhuge Crossbow were neatly arranged across the plaza.

Dozens of steel pillars, each as thick as a man could embrace and glowing with a deep blue hue, stood along the edge.

These were test targets smelted by Jiang Ce using a new formula, possessing terrifying hardness.

Even a full-strength strike from a Soul Douluo would barely leave a mark on them.

With the Heaven Dou Empire's thousands of years of accumulation, combined with the rare ores seized from the treasuries of dozens of noble houses—Board Crystal, Hair Crystal, Mysterious Iron, Black-Veined Iron, and Cold-Heart Iron Essence—everything had now been forged into war machines.

Yan Lingji walked up to the Earth-Breaking Three.

This mechanical beast stood three zhang tall and over five zhang long, resembling a giant pangolin.

Once a siege was required, its torso would curl into a giant drilling wheel ten meters in diameter, pulverizing city walls with unstoppable force.

Yan Lingji touched the scales, a smile curling her lips.

From the occasional words Jiang Ce let slip, she knew that a fellow from a second-rate sect could walk sideways across the continent just by relying on a few mechanical hidden weapons.

As for her side, having raided dozens of noble estates, they had enough rare ore to forge for years to come.

However, Jiang Ce was not satisfied with raw ores.

He utilized the Tyrannical Mechanism Art combined with modern concepts to reform the smelting process.

High-furnace temperature control, layered forging, and alloy ratios were all realized by the craftsmen under the influence of memory infusion.

After being folded and forged multiple times, the iron's hardness and toughness far exceeded ordinary steel. With the addition of rare metals, the final alloy shimmered with a deep blue hue amidst its pitch-black surface; merely sharpening it allowed it to slice through cold iron with ease.

"These alloys alone are already more than a grade higher than the Tang Sect hidden weapons."

Jiang Ce said proudly.

The puppet foreman activated the Earth-Breaking Three.

It leaped violently, curling into a sphere in mid-air.

Immediately after, it began to rotate at high speed.

--Boom!

Stone fragments flew everywhere.

The granite was like tofu, and within a few short breaths, a bottomless pit was left behind.

"What kind of city wall could withstand this?"

Yan Lingji gasped.

"Theoretically, none," Jiang Ce said. "It can burrow in from underground and dismantle the city's defenses from the inside."

Yan Lingji nodded, her gaze falling upon a massive, crimson-red sword scabbard.

The scabbard was about as tall as a person, with a pitch-black longsword leaning against it.

"A peerless divine weapon, something I once saw, slightly modified," Jiang Ce said.

"Even a Soul Douluo would be extremely covetous of this sword."

Yan Lingji picked up the longsword; the blade was incredibly light yet sturdy.

This was forged from the new alloy.

It could certainly be counted as a divine weapon.

"Insert the sword into the scabbard and twist the hilt to test it."

Click.

The armor on both sides of the scabbard spread open like the wings of an insect, revealing dense rows of firing apertures.

It transformed into a cross-shaped firing device, aimed directly at the steel pillars.

"First stage—Pear Blossom Rain."

Thousands of silver needles, as thin as ox hair, shot out, filling the sky.

The steel pillars were instantly riddled with holes, the silver needles piercing several inches deep into the steel.

One must remember that these steel pillars were specially cast by Jiang Ce and were extremely hard; even a Soul Douluo would struggle to leave a mark on them.

"This is only the first stage," Jiang Ce said. "Watch the second stage closely."

The Pear Blossom Needle in Rainstorm finished firing.

The armor plates on both sides of the scabbard began to rotate at high speed, transforming into two giant blades that detached from the main body, flying toward the steel pillar like boomerangs.

Within a few breaths, the steel pillar was shredded beyond recognition.

It continued to slice rapidly into the depths of the steel pillar.

"Next is the third stage."

BOOM!!

The explosion tore the steel pillar to shreds, sending fragments flying everywhere.

Yan Lingji's eyes narrowed, and the sword qi from Sword One of the Holy Spirit Sword Technique expanded, pulverizing all the incoming fragments.

"Three stages of attack; even a Titled Douluo couldn't withstand this," Yan Lingji exclaimed in awe.

"The Pear Blossom Needle in Rainstorm is specifically designed to break through internal energy barriers.

It's a pity I didn't use Deep Sea Heavy Silver Mother; otherwise, it would have directly crippled a Super Douluo.

The explosion in the third stage uses Super TNT Explosive that I created by combining local materials.

Its power is several times that of the original TNT explosive."

Jiang Ce chuckled, "A Little Bastard from some second-rate sect was able to kill dozens of Soul Saints and 30 Soul Douluos just by using Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus made from compressed black powder. This custom-made creation of mine is capable of killing a Titled Douluo."

Yan Lingji's eyes sparkled.

"Master, the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus and Pear Blossom Needle in Rainstorm that you mentioned earlier are peerless, one-of-a-kind treasures.

Crafting even one is an arduous task; the materials must be sought across the world, the blueprints are unique, and it takes a group of people working together to barely produce a few pieces. Over here—"

Yan Lingji looked at the war machines filling the entire plaza.

"Assembly line division of labor, mountains of materials, and thousands of craftsmen.

In this peerless divine weapon alone, the first stage fires over a thousand Pear Blossom Needle in Rainstorm, and the rare ores used could last for at least several decades.

The accumulation of the empire over thousands of years is truly magnificent.

If that second-rate sect you mentioned had this production capacity, they would have swept across the continent long ago."

"Exactly. They are manual workshops, while we are an assembly line.

For the same item, they make one, and we make a hundred.

They can only equip their core disciples, while we can outfit the entire army.

Moreover, their top-tier hidden weapons are not even worth mentioning in the face of the Tyrannical Mechanism Art from the level of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

The Tang Sect is merely a second-rate sect, but the Gongshu Family is the orthodox lineage passed down by the grandmaster Lu Ban.

War machines meant for sieging cities and conquering territories are simply not on the same level as their tools for sneak attacks and assassinations."

Just as Yan Lingji was about to say something, her gaze fell upon another display table in the corner of the plaza.

There, piles of precision metal tubes, polished gun actions, rifled barrels, brass casings, metal warheads, and several wooden crates filled with black granular gunpowder were laid out.

"Master, what are those?"

Jiang Ce took control of her body, manipulating her hands to walk to the table.

A casing was picked up, filled with custom high-energy granular gunpowder, compressed, and fitted with a warhead.

The outer layer of the warhead was made of high-strength alloy, with a Cold-Heart Iron Essence armor-piercing core in the center.

The tip was infused with Board Crystal and Hair Crystal powder, specifically designed to shatter soul power shields.

Immediately after, he picked up the parts on the table and began to assemble them rapidly.

Soon, a pitch-black, rugged long rifle appeared.

Forged entirely from Cold-Heart Iron Essence and high-strength alloy, deep blue patterns flowed across its surface.

This was naturally the Bullet.

Only, the materials used were all special alloys, making its range longer and its power even more terrifying.

Jiang Ce chambered a round.

He aimed at a mountain peak ten thousand meters away.

BOOM!

A deafening roar echoed, and the warhead shot out at several times the speed of sound.

On the hill ten thousand meters away, the warhead drilled into the granite, creating a bottomless hole while shattering the surrounding rock.

Only a puff of dust rose from the surface of the hill.

"If I had used a high-explosive warhead, that hill would have ceased to exist."

Jiang Ce said indifferently.

Yan Lingji fell silent.

In a world dominated by cold weapons, a tool capable of a precise kill from ten thousand meters away is an existence that shatters every rule.

"And this is only the first generation." Jiang Ce disengaged from the controls.

Yan Lingji flexed her fingers, looking down at the pitch-black behemoth, the firelight reflecting in her peach-blossom eyes.

"Master, if the Peerless Douluo found out about this thing, they would probably go insane, wouldn't they? This power is definitely enough to harm them."

"Isn't that even better? Let them go mad; even the Peerless Douluo will have no choice but to crawl at our feet."