Chapter 202: Idea Collision, Technological Dharma Treasure

Ji Ci had been studying formations, but by now he had worked out most of them. Without something new to explore, he found little to hold his interest.

Just today, he had finished studying the restrictions and formations obtained from Clear Wind Ancestor. With nothing else to do, he decided to stroll around headquarters and see whether any new formations had come in.

He had not been there long when Ling Wushuang approached him. Qin Xiao was looking for him, he said, and had many ideas that only Master Ji Ci could bring to life. He hoped the master would help.

Bored as he was, Ji Ci agreed at once. He wanted to devise formations of his own, and Qin Xiao had plenty of clever ideas. Perhaps some could be put to use.

Once he learned where Qin Xiao was, he hurried over, arriving just in time to hear him scolding someone.

“Master Ji Ci, I didn’t expect you to come so quickly. I failed to welcome you properly.”

Qin Xiao hurried forward to greet Master Ji Ci.

“I never expected to meet Master Ji Ci here. Luo Kaijie pays his respects, Master.”

Luo Kaijie, the Luo Family Ancestor, had just arrived with his people. He too hurried forward to greet Ji Ci.

He might call himself an old man in front of Qin Xiao, but to Ji Ci he was a junior and had to pay his respects.

Seeing Ji Ci finally put Luo Kaijie’s worries to rest. If even Master Ji Ci had come, Qin Xiao must have the Immortal Dao Merchant Association firmly behind him.

“Master Ji Ci, hello.”

The onlookers also all paid respects to Ji Ci.

“You are too kind. I am just an old man who enjoys formations. Thank you for your interest.”

Ji Ci politely replied.

“Young Friend Qin, the young master tells me you have many ideas that only I can bring to life. What are they?”

Ji Ci now only wanted to discuss ideas with Qin Xiao; nothing else mattered.

“Master, please wait a moment. I will arrange some work first, and then we can discuss in detail.”

Qin Xiao was eager to share his ideas too, but he still had other work to arrange.

“Yes, yes. Take care of that first. We have plenty of time.” This chapter was copied from novеlping.com without permission.

Ji Ci knew he was being a little impatient, but unusual ideas and formations always excited him.

“Senior Luo, I can only ask for your help with this. My requirement is simple: this land of more than three thousand mu must be compressed downward by two zhang, and then filled completely with the finest stone materials to serve as a foundation. We are not digging it out, but pressing the entire land downward through external force.”

Qin Xiao could not be in two places at once, so he entrusted the foundation work to Luo Kaijie. As one of Qingzhou City’s prominent families, the Luo family was sure to have more ways to get it done than he did.

“So that is why you insisted on hiring cultivators! Ordinary people really could not handle work like this.”

After hearing Qin Xiao’s requirement, Luo Kaijie finally understood why Qin Xiao wanted to hire cultivators.

“Rest assured. This matter is indeed difficult for ordinary people, but in the hands of us cultivators, it is not much of a burden. You and the Master have matters to discuss, so go ahead and talk.”

Luo Kaijie agreed. With his Soul Formation peak cultivation and many Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators at hand, a mere three thousand mu of land was nothing.

“Then thank you, Senior. Calculate the wages afterward, and I will pay you the full amount.”

Seeing that Luo Kaijie had agreed, Qin Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. With the Luo family helping, many trivial matters were swept away.

Qin Xiao and Ji Ci went over to a patch of grass. Others wanted to listen, but no one dared approach.

Qin Xiao was unpredictable enough; even without him, no one dared offend a man of Ji Ci’s standing.

“Can you tell me now, Qin Xiao? I am curious about these ideas that only I can make work. If I am not mistaken, they all involve formations?”

Seeing that no one was disturbing them, Ji Ci asked directly.

He had guessed that Qin Xiao’s ideas must be related to formations, which was why he had hurried over so quickly. After all, ideas requiring his specific expertise, apart from formations, were limited to artifact refining.

“Correct. My first idea is: is there a formation capable of instantly releasing all the Spiritual Qi within a Spirit Stone and projecting it outward to injure enemies?”

Qin Xiao asked about his first idea directly.

“There are formations like that. But even releasing a Low Grade Spirit Stone all at once gives limited power. It would probably struggle to injure a Foundation Establishment cultivator. To someone at Golden Core, it is just a toy.”

Ji Ci was naturally familiar with such formations, but cultivators were so formidable that such techniques held little practical use.

“What about a Middle Grade Spirit Stone?” Get faster updates on novelрing.com.

Hearing that such a formation existed, Qin Xiao pressed on.

“A Middle Grade Spirit Stone has decent power. Releasing all its Spiritual Qi at once is enough to injure a Golden Core cultivator. It could even hurt someone at Nascent Soul if it caught them off guard. But the object holding the formation has to withstand that force first. The materials are expensive, and every attack consumes Spirit Stones. No one would bother doing it.”

Ji Ci had conducted similar experiments before, but after tallying the expenses, the materials alone to sustain the formation required millions of Spirit Stones, not to mention consuming a Middle Grade Spirit Stone every time it fired.

Unless one’s family owned a spirit mine, who would spend millions of Spirit Stones on such a venture when they could buy anything else? And that was merely the manufacturing cost; unless it was sold for tens of millions, how could one ever recoup the investment?

With tens of millions of Spirit Stones, there were plenty of choices. Why buy a toy that could only injure Golden Core cultivators when that much could buy a good Dharma Treasure? Surely the treasure was a better choice.

“What about a High Grade Spirit Stone?”

Qin Xiao grew more excited as he heard that it was possible. A Spirit Stone gun—there was a good chance he could actually build one!

“I have only worked that out in theory. It would cost far too much for what it could do, so I have never tested it. The materials are hard to find too, and even if you could get them, they would not be cheap.”

Ji Ci could roughly guess what Qin Xiao wanted from his excitement, but the device really would not be worth its cost.

“That is fine, Master. Are you sure you can build it? And what about a Top Grade Spirit Stone? Are there materials that could withstand that?”

Qin Xiao grew even bolder. If the device could release all the energy of a Top Grade Spirit Stone, so much the better.

“You really want to build one of these? Materials that could withstand the full release of a High Grade Spirit Stone are already the theoretical limit. No one has tested a Top Grade Spirit Stone, and there probably is no material that could withstand it.”

Ji Ci had not expected Qin Xiao to be bold enough to consider Top Grade Spirit Stones.

“I see. That will do, then. Master, I will give you a blueprint. Please use it to make a Dharma Treasure that can release all the Spiritual Qi in a High Grade Spirit Stone. The cost does not matter, as long as you can build it.”

With that, Qin Xiao took out a blueprint he had long since conceived.

The blueprint showed where to insert the Spirit Stone, how to channel its released Spiritual Qi out through conduits, and how to replace it.

Qin Xiao had drawn a heavy sniper rifle. A High Grade Spirit Stone was so large that a handheld model would be too bulky and awkward to grip. He had therefore made it a heavy sniper rifle, which could provide more power and had better proportions.

He marked a few more points on the drawing: where to add formations to reduce recoil; where to put a release port to reduce damage to the weapon; and where an acceleration formation could help the released Spiritual Qi reach its target faster. Perhaps they could add a targeting mechanism to track enemies, or a gathering formation to keep the Spiritual Qi from dispersing in flight and wasting its power.

Qin Xiao and Ji Ci discussed the idea at length. The more they talked about feasibility and materials, the more excited they became.

Ji Ci would do the research, and Qin Xiao would provide the funding—a perfect team.