In motion

Several more months passed. Huo Yuhao finished building the production lines and had already put them into operation. He had investigated the situation on Douluo Star. Its methods of warfare were extremely primitive, still stuck at the stage of close-quarters combat.

Wasn't this just Terra before the 2k era? Huo Yuhao badly wanted to make a sarcastic remark.

He knew the history of that period. After the Emperor found him, Huo Yuhao had spent some time searching for information about the Douluo Continent. Unfortunately, he had found none.

But during his research, the writing of a certain ancient civilization had looked somewhat like that of the Douluo Continent, so Huo Yuhao had developed an interest in that ancient civilization.

That meant there was no need to produce particularly powerful weapons. A few antiques would do. Purely mechanical firearms were enough to crush Douluo Star's low- and mid-tier combatants. The only problem was that Huo Yuhao had no troops. At least for now, large-scale recruitment was impossible.

There was also the most important point: without high-end combat power, he could not contend with the Divine Realm. Huo Yuhao knew perfectly well that the weapons he was currently producing would be completely useless against those gods. At the very least, he had to equip his people with Power Armour and Power Weapons.

Huo Yuhao had also handled divine artifacts-the two spears belonging to Gu Yuena and Gu Qiu'er. But they had greatly disappointed him. They were not even as good as weapons he had forged himself.

How should he put it? They were products made by simply piling on materials. They did have certain special properties, but in terms of damage alone, they were inferior to a Chainsword.

Huo Yuhao planned to reforge those two spears in the future and install Decomposition Fields and Gauss Weapons while he was at it. In terms of structural strength, the two spears were sufficient; he just needed to resolve a few minor issues. The Old Ones also possessed much of the Necrons' technology.

However, Huo Yuhao could not mass-produce that advanced equipment yet. That would take at least a few more years. He needed to smelt better metals, and he needed energy. Soul power was nowhere near enough. Yes, Huo Yuhao intended to develop nuclear energy.

Huo Yuhao had also seen it clearly: this world only knew how to pile up resources to strengthen oneself.

Still, there was no hurry. There were nearly nineteen years left before the great war would begin. Technological iteration could not happen in a single leap. Even with the extremely advanced technology Huo Yuhao possessed, he had to proceed one step at a time.

Huo Yuhao had also set up several production lines specifically for making Life-Type Soul Tools, incorporating Imperial technology. Mainly, Soul Guidance Arrays needed to be inscribed on the soul power drive components, so the vast majority of the steps could be left to the undead.

This served two purposes. First, Huo Yuhao also needed other resources and could trade what he had for what he lacked. Second, he hoped to guide the people of Douluo Star toward paying attention to commoners' living standards.

This world was far too primitive. Huo Yuhao hoped it could be as prosperous as Ultramar. Prosperous people would not believe in suffering and happiness bestowed by gods.

It was not that Huo Yuhao had never considered electricity, but laying power lines consumed too many resources, and he had no time to do it himself. Commoners could not afford it either. For now, he could only let the nobles use these things first and gradually spread them in the future.

There was no news from the Tang Sect for the time being, but that was also the best news.

There was one piece of good news: the White Tiger Duke's Mansion had become a place of death. The virus bullet had worked very well, tormenting Dai Huabin for a month before turning him into a puddle of bloody liquid.

The duchess had also loved her son dearly. Even after becoming infected herself, she had still visited Dai Huabin, and after his death, she had followed him to the grave.

When the others saw how the duchess, Dai Huabin, and their personal servants had died, they all fled. It took several days before anyone discovered what had happened.

People throughout Star Luo City discussed whether the White Tiger Duke's Mansion had committed some offense that heaven could not tolerate and had therefore been cursed. But the White Tiger Duke's prestige was too great, so no one discussed it openly.

The Nether Duke's Mansion fared somewhat better, but quite a few people had died there as well. If Zhu Lu had not looked after Dai Huabin at the time, she would have been fine, but Huo Yuhao had acted precisely because he had counted on that.

That day, Huo Yuhao prepared delicious food for his companions as usual, except that more and more people were coming.

Everyone was delighted. Their break was about to begin!

Only Wang Dong'er was dejected. "Yuhao, I don't want to go back."

Huo Yuhao knew what was on Wang Dong'er's mind. There were serious problems with the Clear Sky Sect.

"Then don't go back. Write them a letter and say you want to visit a friend."

"I'll do as you say!"

"Say, Teacher Huo," Tang Ya came over and teased, "don't go leading our little Dong'er astray."

After all this time, everyone knew that Huo Yuhao had gained another girlfriend. This had prompted Xu Sanshi to seek him out several times and ask Huo Yuhao to teach him a trick or two.

How would Huo Yuhao know anything about that? He could only brush him off. He did not understand matters of the heart.

Then Huo Yuhao looked at Ning Tian. "I'd like to do a deal with the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect."

"What kind of deal?"

"I have a batch of Life-Type Soul Tools that I'd like to sell to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect."

"Life-type?" Ning Tian was curious too. Most Soul Tools on the Douluo Continent were related to combat. Life-type ones did exist, but there were far too few. Still, those nobles would certainly like them.

"Yes. Is there a market for them?"

"There is! A pretty large one, too. Do you want our sect to act as your distributor?"

"I'll sell them directly to you, but I don't want money. Pay me the equivalent in resources instead."

As he spoke, Huo Yuhao handed Ning Tian a sheet of paper.

"Various iron ores, copper ores, carbon, saltpeter, sulfuric acid, and scrap iron and copper... What do you need all this for?" None of the materials were expensive, but the quantities were enormous.

"It's a secret. Can you do it?"

"No problem." Ning Tian did not ask any further questions. Given her experience, she knew nothing of the terrifying power of industrial production.

In truth, Ning Tian had a very favorable impression of Huo Yuhao. What he had taught her over the past few months had greatly increased her strength. She had even defeated Wu Feng in a recent fight.

But Feng... Ning Tian recalled Wu Feng's desolate expression after losing to her. Even this time, Wu Feng had not come despite her invitation.

I have to marry someone eventually. Ning Tian understood her own position very well. During this time, she had also observed members of the opposite sex in her age group, and Huo Yuhao was the most ideal person she had seen.

In Ning Tian's eyes, Huo Yuhao was not only talented and powerful, but also knowledgeable and gentle. Unfortunately-Ning Tian glanced over the girls around him-he was far too good at drawing bees and butterflies.

"Oh, right. Let me give you a gift." Huo Yuhao took out a box.

Ning Tian accepted the box and opened it to find something strange inside. "What's this?"

"A revolver. A lethal weapon."

Hearing this, the others also gathered around to look.

Huo Yuhao took out the gun and demonstrated it for everyone. He swung out the cylinder, loaded a bullet, then aimed at a nearby tree. Bang!

The bullet buried itself deep in the tree. Everyone was stunned for a moment at the sight.

"That power!"

"Anyone below Soul Saint who isn't a power attack system soul master won't be able to withstand it. Even a Soul Saint would be seriously wounded if hit without activating their Martial Soul Avatar," Huo Yuhao explained.

Tang Ya's eyes shone. "This revolver of yours isn't a Soul Tool. It's a hidden weapon, isn't it?"

Huo Yuhao had not used any soul power just now!

"That's right. Its construction is purely mechanical," Huo Yuhao said with a smile.

Then he told Ning Tian, "Consider it a gift to go with this deal. I'll give you another hundred bullets too."

"Thank you." Ning Tian finally recovered and accepted the gun with both hands. This is far too important to my sect!

Tang Ya looked envious. "If only our sect had had revolvers like this back then."

Huo Yuhao suddenly spoke. "I can fund the Tang Sect."

"Why?"

With a gentle expression, Huo Yuhao looked at Wang Dong'er and said, "Dong'er belongs to the Tang Sect, and she hopes it can flourish again. How could I not help?"

Huo Yuhao's manner was half pretense and half genuine feeling. His humanity had been recovering well lately. Love was the best nourishment.

Tang Ya's eyes immediately reddened. She stepped in front of Huo Yuhao and bowed deeply, saying hoarsely, "Thank you!"

Then Tang Ya hesitated for a while, gritted her teeth, and took out a small booklet, which she handed to Huo Yuhao. "These are our Tang Sect's supreme techniques. I have nothing to repay you with, so please take this."

Huo Yuhao was silent for a moment, then accepted it.