In the backyard, Huo Yuhao kept his Spiritual Power fixed on the shell after firing it, closely watching what happened to it.
When the shell was stopped in front of Li Zhengzhi, Huo Yuhao was not very surprised. After all, that was Li Zhengzhi, the master of the Magic Temple.
What surprised him was that his Spiritual Power had detected no sign of Li Zhengzhi using Spiritual Energy. He had not even raised a hand.
Under his Spiritual Power's observation, the space in front of Li Zhengzhi was filled with wind, exceedingly fine and dense, so close to solidifying that it had woven an invisible net before him.
The net did not resist the projectile head-on. Instead, it followed the direction of its spin, dissipating the impact in circles.
The projectile spun more and more slowly until, three breaths later, it stopped completely. It fell from the air, and Li Zhengzhi reached out and caught it.
"Interesting."
Li Zhengzhi turned the projectile over and examined it. The smile on his face faded a little, replaced by a hint of seriousness.
"With this kind of power, even a Fourth Tier demon would have a hard time taking a direct hit. If the shell were improved further, it could even threaten Fifth Tier demons."
Hearing Li Zhengzhi's words, Huo Yuhao picked up the conversation and laid out his plan.
"Senior, I already have a detailed plan for improvements. First is the projectile. I intend to change its material so that it explodes on impact, and I can add a few things inside it.
"Besides modifying it, the projectile can also be made into a magic shell with various magic arrays inscribed inside, which would increase its power considerably.
"As for the material of this piece of equipment, there is also plenty of room for improvement. Its firing range would increase considerably as well.
"Besides that, there are several options for powering this equipment..."
"Once the modifications are complete, it will not only be able to deal with Fifth Tier demons, but also threaten Sixth Tier demons."
After hearing Huo Yuhao out, Li Zhengzhi and Deacon Li both looked shocked.
They had not expected the young man before them to have already devised such a comprehensive plan for upgrading it.
Take the explosive shell, for example. If the projectile fired earlier had been one of those, dealing with it would not have been so simple for Li Zhengzhi. He would have had to guard against the explosive spray.
As for the method of powering it, Li Zhengzhi liked that very much too. If it really was that simple to operate, it would be much more convenient than the magic crystal cannons used by the Six Great Temples.
Although magic crystal cannons were quite powerful, every use consumed high-grade magic crystals, and they also required high-tier professionals to operate and charge them. They were troublesome and expensive.
If the power of Huo Yuhao's cannon could be increased further, placing them on the city walls would greatly strengthen the city's defenses.
Afterward, Li Zhengzhi and Deacon Li began familiarizing themselves with the Godly Zhuge Crossbow Cannon under Huo Yuhao's guidance.
Only after operating it himself did Li Zhengzhi discover to his surprise that the equipment was extremely simple to use. One or two soldiers could quickly adjust the gun platform and barrel.
The platform and barrel were connected in a special way, allowing the barrel to rotate while the platform remained stationary.
If they wanted to move the platform, there were also several wheels beneath it, making it convenient to move.
As for firing it, they each fired it once themselves, which left them a little more convinced.
"Little Brother Huo, with its current power, this equipment could already be issued to the army. But if it can be improved further, that would be even better."
At this point, Li Zhengzhi hesitated for a moment before continuing:
"To tell you the truth, Little Brother Huo, even if you can continue upgrading this cannon, with only a few pieces of equipment like these, I'm afraid it would be rather difficult to get the Six Great Temples to join forces and produce them together."
Li Zhengzhi was not trying to drive down the price. Rather, for all Six Great Temples to cooperate, it had to be a very large project; two or three pieces of equipment were not enough.
Hearing Li Zhengzhi's words, Huo Yuhao frowned slightly and continued:
"Temple Master Li, I wouldn't be satisfied with just two or three pieces of equipment myself. I've thought of quite a few other good things.
"For example, a piece of equipment resembling a Milk Bottle. It has no defensive or offensive capabilities, but like a magic crystal, it can replenish the Spiritual Energy of magic equipment.
"With this, we could save quite a few magic crystals, and it would be very convenient as well."
Huo Yuhao knew that among the Six Great Temples, quite a few support professionals could not go to the battlefield, such as priests and those in secondary professions like alchemists and potion makers.
Professionals like these were difficult to train. Although they had some combat ability, it would be a great loss if they died on the front lines.
So, when they had spare time during a war, they could devote themselves to replenishing the Spiritual Energy of Milk Bottles, contributing their share to the war effort.
Besides them, there were also many young professionals who were too young to go to the front lines but could do support work in the rear. They were a considerable source of help as well.
Huo Yuhao believed that all Six Great Temples would like something like this.
Not to mention that Huo Yuhao had many other good things.
After hearing Huo Yuhao's words, Li Zhengzhi looked straight at him, his eyes filled with both shock and regret.
"What a pity, Little Brother Huo. If only you were a member of our Magic Temple!"
Li Zhengzhi exclaimed.
"You flatter me, Senior. No matter which temple I belong to, my goal is to resist the Demon Clan and make humanity stronger, so it makes no difference which temple I'm in.
"If I were in the Magic Temple, I would still want to bring together everyone connected to humanity to produce this equipment together. Only then would everyone's hearts be united."
"Hahaha! Good, good, good!"
"A Sealed Milk Bottle? That's an excellent name!"
Hearing this, Li Zhengzhi burst out laughing. He then looked at Huo Yuhao with great satisfaction and said "good" several times.
The more he looked at Huo Yuhao, the more pleased he became, as if Huo Yuhao had been his disciple in a previous life.
It was just a pity that he could no longer become Huo Yuhao's master.
After briefly calming his emotions, Li Zhengzhi put on an uncharacteristically serious expression and said:
"I'm also very interested in the equipment you just mentioned, Little Brother Huo. If you can successfully make it, I will give my full support to uniting the Six Great Temples, establishing a large-scale magic equipment factory, and assigning a grandmaster alchemist to oversee it.
"Of course, all of this comes with a condition. In five months, a meeting of the upper ranks of the Six Great Temples will be held in the Holy City. As long as you produce a Sealed Milk Bottle by then, you will have my full support."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao showed no concern. Instead, an excited smile appeared on his face.
"Thank you for your support, Temple Master Li. I will not disappoint you, Senior."
"Good, good, good! That's the spirit!"
Seeing Huo Yuhao's reaction, Li Zhengzhi nodded in satisfaction. He then took out some rare materials, set them before Huo Yuhao, and said:
"Just from the name, a Sealed Milk Bottle sounds as though it requires extremely fine materials. Haoyue City may not have the materials you need, and these are all I have. Little Brother Huo, you may choose a few."
Huo Yuhao was greatly surprised by Li Zhengzhi's generosity, but he did not stand on ceremony and chose several fine materials.
After the three chatted briefly for a while longer, Li Zhengzhi and Deacon Li left.