"It could be mass-produced, enlarged and thickened, even made into cannons."
Gao Fei said with a smile. He no longer cared about such matters now. As long as he taught Lu Xiaoliu and had him spread it around.
With every villager holding a Flintlock Gun, they would have the means to protect themselves. As for what came after, they could let it develop on its own.
Gao Fei had not come here to start an industrial revolution.
"Xiao Liu, remember to find some soft metal for ammunition. Using silver on a large scale won't do."
For the entire day, Gao Fei swept through the villages around the county seat, hunting monsters and gaining 54 Merit Points.
It was not that he had not worked hard. Even after going deeper in, he had not encountered any monsters.
By the time he returned to the county seat, it was already dinner.
Lu Xiaoliu and Gao Linyue each held a Flintlock Gun, testing them in the courtyard.
From far away, he could hear the gunshots.
Gao Yan and Qiu Mei were watching from the side as well, both showing great interest.
"At close range, this is easier to use than a bow. Fire it once and throw it away. At a distance, it can't hit anything accurately."
"Exactly. Reloading is far too slow. We should ask my lord..."
Hearing their complaints, Gao Fei snatched a gun from Lu Xiaoliu's hand.
"You need to improve it yourselves. If loading bullets is too slow, pack them in paper beforehand. If it shoots off target, cut rifling into the barrel. Gunpowder gets wet easily in the rain, so the bullets and powder need to be sealed. It can even be developed into repeating fire. If the barrel gets dirty easily, change the gunpowder formula and remove impurities. I don't know these things either. You can only rely on yourselves!"
Gao Fei laid out the future direction of firearms.
He had never handled them on Blue Star. Any data would have been sheer fantasy, and he did not even know the formula for smokeless powder. This was already the last of his "practical knowledge."
Lu Xiaoliu's eyes gleamed as he listened. He seized the Flintlock Gun from Gao Fei's hand and sprinted away.
Only after running several dozen feet did he realize how discourteous he had been. He hurriedly stopped. "Thank you for your guidance, my lord!"
Gao Linyue looked at the gun in his hand and spoke somewhat irritably.
"This sort of strange and depraved trick is completely putting the cart before the horse. With the power of this firelock, it cannot even kill a Bone Tempering Realm martial artist, yet you want to use it to kill monsters?"
Gao Fei did not argue. Whether it could succeed was still uncertain. In any case, the seed had already been sown.
If spiritual energy dried up again and even martial arts vanished, this would be the way out.
That night, when no one was around, Gao Fei looked at the more than one hundred Merit Points he had left, as well as the two cultivation techniques he had just obtained.
System, add fifty years to Savage Bull Force.
In the first year, you began absorbing spiritual energy and filling the Twelve Standard Meridians.
In the second year, the spiritual energy you absorbed filled one standard meridian.
In the twelfth year, the Twelve Standard Meridians were filled with spiritual energy. You began opening the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and spiritual power began connecting your limbs. Savage Bull Force reached mastery.
In the forty-eighth year, all six meridians were opened. Savage Bull Force reached minor attainment, and you entered the Middle Spirit-Absorption Realm.
Over the remaining two years, you developed a method of using spiritual power to protect your body, but it could not cover your entire body.
It could only be used temporarily and could not last long. Its defensive power was worrying. It could block only one attack from an opponent of the same level. Once it shattered, the surrounding acupoints would ache unbearably. You had to nourish them with spiritual power before using it again.
It seemed he still had to find Beast Cores. With his Four-Pillar Pure-Yang Body, it had taken fifty years just to reach the middle stage of the Spirit-Absorption Realm.
For others, directly absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth would probably leave them at this level for their entire lives!
He had not trained Air-Splitting Slash either. His stored power had not yet filled up.
The night passed without incident.
At dawn, he left the city to kill monsters and returned at dusk.
In the blink of an eye, five days passed.
Each day, he encountered one or two Minor Monsters with Awakened Intelligence. He had 355 Merit Points remaining, and their growth was slow.
All the villagers outside the city who were willing to enter the county seat had already moved in.
The Lin Family's courtyard was so large that using it to temporarily shelter villagers posed no problem. It could house several thousand people.
Outside the city, the ones left behind were mostly villages that worshipped Yellow Great Immortal and the Fox Demon.
Those people would have to wait until the two monsters were killed.
He was confident he could fight Yellow Great Immortal to a draw, but he could not catch up to it. As for the Fox Demon, he was no match for it.
It seemed he still needed to visit Li Qingyao and obtain a lightness technique.
The moment he decided, he turned and headed toward her residence.
Not long after entering, he passed through the waiter's guidance and entered the inner courtyard.
An embroidery needle flew from the distance, stabbing straight at his shoulder. The attacker did not intend to take his life, but the strike would still rob him of his ability to fight.
Gao Fei raised his hand slightly, and the flying needle landed steadily between two of his fingers.
Two figures appeared atop the courtyard wall.
One wore a black robe from head to toe. His face was cold and stern, revealing no emotion as he stood motionless on the wall.
The one who had attacked was a middle-aged man with a small mustache and worn clothes.
The middle-aged man held a sword in his right hand, while three steel needles were pinched between his fingers, ready to fly again at any moment.
"Did you kill the old master of the Lin Family?"
Gao Fei did not answer. He hurled the steel needle back with brute force and charged forward at high speed.
After charging straight ahead for a stretch, he saw the other man raise his hand.
He twisted aside and dodged the steel needles the man fired again.
An Air-Splitting Slash charged with the spiritual power of one meridian shot forth. It collided with the longsword, knocking the other man's attack off course.
They exchanged punches!
Gao Fei unleashed Dark Force, while the middle-aged man had a steel needle clamped against his fist.
Both sides retreated quickly.
Gao Fei felt a slight sting in his hand. He looked down and saw some redness and swelling, but the skin had not broken.
Fortunately, he had used less than half his strength. Otherwise, it would have been ridiculous if he had injured himself outright.
He watched the other man's left hand, the one that had exchanged blows with him, tremble without stopping.
Middle Spirit-Absorption Realm.
Having finished testing the man's strength, Gao Fei charged again.
This time, specks of golden light emerged from his body as his blood vitality and spiritual power surged to their limits.
Transforming Force erupted at full strength in his right hand, and his palm began to burn.
There was still someone behind him whose depth he did not know. This time, he intended to settle the man before him in a single move.
He directly unleashed brute force, using spiritual power to protect his left hand as he grabbed the incoming longsword.
He stepped in close. The distance was enough. After three seconds of Transforming Force in his right hand, his scorching palm brought forth a blazing gale of force.
"Clang...!"
The echo lingered.
Gao Fei had not struck his opponent. A three-foot-square shield suddenly appeared, hovering in the air to block that fatal palm strike.
The shield shook violently and fell to the ground. A black palm print was embedded in its surface.
"Stop. We are not enemies."
The black-robed young man hurriedly spoke to stop them. He pointed a finger at the shield, and after trembling faintly a few times, it swayed back into the young man's hand.
Gao Fei retreated several steps and returned to his original position. This was not a method that someone in the Spirit-Absorption Realm should possess.
He had killed quite a few Spirit-Absorption Realm monsters, yet he had never encountered such a method of remotely controlling a shield.
The moment the shield reached the black-robed young man's hand, it shrank instantly. With a pained expression, he tucked it back into his robe.
Seeing that the two still had no intention of speaking, Gao Fei asked, "Aren't you going to introduce yourselves?"
"Li Jie, disciple of the commander-in-chief of the Qing Province Martial Suppression Guard. He is Lin Ye. What is your relationship with Qingyao?"
The black-robed young man spoke, returning to his previous coldness.
Gao Fei glanced at him. His looks were decent, with the air of a pretty boy. But could a man who acted cool and icy like this really win over a woman?
The loud crash outside startled the owner of the courtyard.
Li Qingyao emerged from the room.
"Second Senior Brother, didn't Master come?"
Before you continue