Chapter 361 — A Change of Heart
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Xu Shenghua's suspicions stirred, and he said, "Brother Shen, apart from your identity as the Human Emperor, you are also the leader of the Tiansheng Cult — naturally I have heard of that. Why do you ask?
" Shen Mu said, eyes crinkling into a smile, "Brother Xu, if you join my Tiansheng Cult, you need not repay the money. Though I am the Human Emperor, I am also the leader of the Tiansheng Cult. The Hall of the Human Emperor and Shangcang harbor a hatred deep as blood, but the Tiansheng Cult bears Shangcang little enmity, does it not? For you to join the Tiansheng Cult would be a thing that benefits both sides.
" Yuliu and Jingyan wore strange expressions. This Human Emperor truly did things absurdly, yet with a soaring, unbridled imagination: Shangcang and the Hall of the Human Emperor were sworn enemies locked in a fight to the death, and yet he had gone out of his way to invite his sworn enemy to join his Tiansheng Cult! "Surely this Human Emperor does not imagine that nine bowls of noodles and a single house call will make Young Master Xu join his Tiansheng Cult?
I do not know whether to call him simple by nature or sinister by nature," Jingyan thought. Xu Shenghua was silent for a moment, then said, "Brother Shen, do not jest.
Rest assured, I will repay the money as soon as I can.
" Shen Mu had not expected him to agree to join the Tiansheng Cult. Though the Tiansheng Cult and Shangcang were not sworn enemies, the Woodcutter Sage of the Tiansheng Cult and the first Human Emperor of the Hall of the Human Emperor both came from the Kaihuang Era; they shared the same goal, and only in the means of attaining it had they diverged. The Hall of the Human Emperor achieved its goal through battle; the Tiansheng Cult advanced the mortal world through the philosophy of the common people's daily needs, and so reached the goal. The end both holy lands sought was the same: to overthrow the rule of the gods and build the world they envisioned.
And in this, they stood in natural enmity to Shangcang's creed. From the Directorate of Works poured many divine-power wielders, rousing their vital essence to lift huge components and parts one by one and float them in midair, while Shen Mu walked to and fro in the air, directing the placement of each component and part.
Though it was only the base of the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon, its array patterns were exceedingly complex — especially the fifty-six pill furnaces Shen Mu had designed himself.
Each furnace was immense, too great to be forged in one piece; more than a hundred components and parts had to be fitted together, and the array patterns where they joined had to align without the slightest error.
Shen Mu used mortise-and-tenon joinery: no rivets were needed in the assembly; the pieces had only to lock together, and the result was immensely solid, able to withstand tremendous impact. Moreover, even if the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon were struck by the enemy and partly damaged, the ruined section could be removed and swiftly replaced with intact components and parts; once replaced, the cannon could still be operated with no diminishment of its power. For this assembly of the cannon's base, many officials had come to the Directorate of Works and gathered outside; Emperor Yanfeng had come as well, plainly attaching great importance to the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon.
"This mortise-and-tenon structure of Director Shen's would seem applicable to the primal weapons and tower ships of the battlefield. " Emperor Yanfeng exclaimed in admiration again and again, and said to the Minister of Works, "I believe it should be promoted throughout the army. If flying swords were all of mortise-and-tenon construction, and tower ships too, losses in wartime could be greatly reduced. " The Minister of Works nodded.
"But they are very difficult to forge. " "With the Directorate of Works redesigned by Director Shen, forging the components of every flying sword is no difficult matter.