Shuttling

As Gongsun Hong said, 'Jiuyu' was indeed a mirror-shaped object, one and a half feet tall and one foot wide, and it looked extremely large.

Without thoroughly reading the contents of those bamboo slips, it could easily be mistaken for a giant mirror that makes it difficult to clearly see human figures.

However, after thoroughly reading the bamboo slips and receiving interpretations from great scholars, the meaning of this life-sized mirror took on a different significance.

Zhang Xuezhou touched the rather unusual-looking mirror.

He genuinely meant he wasn't greedy, but given that his abilities overlapped with the treasure, and there was a possibility of having to pay a price to use it, Zhang Xuezhou wasn't particularly interested.

Zhang Xuezhou thought it would be a good idea to leave the Mohists's Mechanized City through this mirror.

Zhang Xuezhou glanced at the massive underground hall, which was eight zhang long and eight zhang wide, and hung with many long portraits of the Mohists masters.

They had previously speculated that 'Jiuyu' was in the secret chamber of the Mohists's founder, a speculation that was neither entirely reliable nor entirely far-fetched.

The main hall where he was located was likely a memorial site for Mohists deceased leader of the Mohist school, and it also housed many of the leader's most celebrated works.

Besides the 'Jiuyu' mirror, there are many other mechanisms in this hall that look rough or even clumsy.

For example, there were giant crossbows ten feet long, catapults twenty feet high, pulleys for hoisting heavy objects, waterwheels for turning and transporting water, retractable ladders placed on carts, mechanical figures dressed in human skin dancing and spinning, and wooden bird mechanisms swinging back and forth on ropes...

This was the initial prototype of many of the School of Mohists's mechanisms, which gradually became more ferocious and even ruthless through generations of changes.

Some mechanisms can be continuously evolved and improved, but others are original designs that are difficult to modify.

'Jiuyu' was one of them. Zhang Xuezhou couldn't figure out the mirror for a while, so he could only shout for Gongsun Hong and Li Shaojun to come quickly.

Even without this mirror, which might be 'Jiuyu', Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't have lingered here; he would have searched for an exit again.

The massive mechanical city needs to be operational, and even capable of flight and navigation, which requires an enormous amount of energy, and energy is likely related to combustion, explosion, and the like.

Zhang Xuezhou could only wait for the fire to pass. If it went out on its own, that would be best, and he could come back to search again.

If the fire continues to spread and even causes an explosion, it would be a disaster that Zhang Xuezhou would have no way to avoid.

Rather than risk his own life, he preferred to escape to a secret place that had withstood the collision with the mechanical city and wait until things had completely stabilized.

"Mr. Gongsun, Mr. Li, did you hear that?"

Zhang Xuezhou exclaimed again, reaching out to touch his surroundings, only to find that there was nothing of particular value in the area he touched.

However, if they escape to the sea in the future, they can collect some wood and build a simple wooden boat.

After thoroughly surveying the area around the main hall, Zhang Xuezhou had no immediate ideas.

He called out repeatedly, only to hear hurried footsteps behind him.

"'Jiuyu'!"

Gongsun Hong appeared first at the entrance of the hall. He was panting and coughing as he ran. When he saw the crystal mirror that Zhang Xuezhou pointed to, he was overjoyed and exclaimed.

"If 'Jiuyu' truly possesses the ability to traverse space, Mr. Gongsun, activate it quickly so we can escape more easily," Zhang Xuezhou said. "If this thing is unusable, we'll have to abandon it and search for other passages!"

"Can this 'Jiuyu' thing really transfer people?"

Li Shaojun also rushed over from behind. His eyes swept over the mirror, which was two people tall, and he found it hard to believe how such a treasure could enable people to travel through time.

"The treasures of the Mohists either only require the activation of a switch, or they need to be fueled like 'fire,' or they rely on Law Power to fill them with energy," Gongsun Hongdao said.

"The Mohists?" Li Shaojun retorted, "Isn't every school of thought like that?"

"You think the magical Law Treasure of the past looked like this!"

Gongsun Hong quickly replied, then ignored Li Shaojun and continued to examine the object that was extremely similar to the picture on the bamboo slip.

'Jiuyu' is enormous, and it is difficult for an ordinary person to move such a device.

If Gongsun Hong hadn't figured out how to use it in a short time, he would have had to give up on this treasure.

Even with his treasure right beside him, and forced to flee empty-handed, Rao Gongsun Hong, a man of considerable refinement, felt a sense of resentment.

He quickly explored and examined the massive mirror, even using an old, mechanical object as a stepping stone to inspect its entirety.

"'Jiuyu' has no switch," Gongsun Hong said gravely, "And it doesn't rely on fuel to operate!"

"After all this talk, we still need to test our Law Power," Li Shaojun said.

"But I don't know where to infuse this Law Power," Gongsun Hong muttered. "Our Law Power is hardly enough to refine such a large object!"

"You mean you're leaving?"

Zhang Xuezhou asked a question, and for a moment seemed to be preparing to flee.

This prompted Gongsun Hong to let out a soft shout, and a burst of pale purple Law Power erupted from his body.

He wrapped his arms around the giant crystal and pressed his entire body against it.

Normal refining relies on continuously pushing and condensing Law Power with one hand, thus spreading it from a point to a surface, and then completing the refining of the Law Treasure. However, this magic weapon is too big. Even if Gongsun Hong lay on it, he would only be like a hand of a clock.

"Pointer?"

Looking at Gongsun Hong's anxious yet somewhat comical appearance, Zhang Xuezhou suddenly thought of the hands on a clock and the timekeeping instrument with 108 markings, and he couldn't help but take a closer look at it as well.

"It's lit up! It really needs Law Power infusion!"

Gongsun Hong had no choice but to attempt to refine it. Although the possibility of refining such a huge object was extremely slim, the effort was not in vain.

The Law Power was indeed the driving force required to support it. As Li Shaojun exclaimed in surprise, a faint purple light appeared on the huge mirror, and countless crystal facets shone with brilliance, reflecting the images of the three people into the mirror.

"There are 129,600 versions of myself in this mirror!" Li Shaojun exclaimed. "Is there any risk involved?"

"How do you know there are 129,600 facets on this?" Zhang Xuezhou asked curiously.

"You finally have one skill that I can't match!"

Li Shaojun didn't explain, but just stood there with a happy expression, pretending to be profound.

"It's clearly 138,423," Zhang Xuezhou, blinking.

"That's impossible. There are clearly only 129,600 versions of myself in this mirror. I can sense the presence of every single one of them, not even one more. This is the judgment I made using my Life-Sustaining Technique," Li Shaojun said. "There can't possibly be 138,423!"

"I can sense it too!"

Zhang Xuezhou replied sullenly, thus understanding Li Shaojun's calculation method.

Even with his immense mental strength, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't calculate it clearly in a single thought, and he certainly didn't have any life-sustaining techniques to count.

It's like entering a corridor of mirrors and having to count how many mirrors there are and how many versions of yourself are reflected in them in a short time; it's practically impossible to count them all in a short time.

Gazing at the countless reflections of himself within the crystal's cross-section, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but feel a slight sense of dizziness.

He blinked hard and glanced again at the collapsed area in the distance.

The smell of smoke in the area began to intensify.

The thick smoke was struggling to rise and was clearly flowing downwards; they didn't have much time left to escape their predicament.

Fortunately, 'Jiuyu' seems to be real.

Gongsun Hong poured Law Power into it, and the two-person-high mirror crystal began to slowly melt. A faint force pulled people from the crystal, as if it wanted to transport everyone to another place.