Chapter 557: New Pagoda Cannon
It was a bustling day at the Spear of Heavy Cloud’s encampment
The two gigantic God-subduing Peaks were absolutely eye-grabbing. The people on it were like little ants. Everybody was familiarizing themselves with the God-subduing Peaks. After all, the God-subduing Peaks were big fellows that weren’t easy to operate properly.
The Spear of Heavy Cloud breaking into the God-subduing Peaks was rather smooth since Shi Xueman and Sang Zhijun had been stationed in them before and were very clear about the procedures. In comparison, the Infantry and the Sky Edge Division were in a much worse state. They had never been in direct contact with the God-subduing Peaks, so they had to send people over to the Spear of Heavy Cloud to learn.
With Sang Zhijun leading the team, Shi Xueman had more time to recuperate from her injuries.
Her internal injuries were due to an over-absorption of impure water elemental energy. These impurities, upon entering the body, would settle within and become very difficult to eliminate. The longer time dragged on, the more harmful it became to the body. Furthermore, this type of injury was permanent and incurable, so elementalists wouldn’t do what she did unless they absolutely had no choice.
Shi Xueman composed herself and with rapt attention she held onto the Cirrus, her legs slightly apart and her gaze seemingly fixed on the spear tip.
Time passed and she remained motionless, just like a statue.
Gradually, a grey, hairlike mist rose from the spear tip. It was very peculiar and did not disperse.
Hu!
Shi Xueman slowly kept her spear.
There still weren’t any good solutions to heal an injury like this. However, Shi family was rich and powerful after all and had collected all kinds of strange things. By influence, Shi Xueman naturally knew much more than average people.
She had just executed a move from a remnant piece of writing, "Dirtless Sheet". She had been flipping through her family’s ancient books, so this was very helpful to her.
"Dirtless Sheet" was just a piece that survived time and had no beginning or end. Remnant pieces like this could be found in every family. They were basically items passed down from the Cultivation Era. Some contained exquisite knowledge, some were interesting, while others could be used as references even when it came to elemental energy.
While every family had its own collection, only a few specialized in studying these remnant sheets. A remnant sheet of writing was usually cryptic and difficult to comprehend. Also, these pieces weren’t systematic; everything was broken and in disorder. Some were even preposterous and unimaginable. A lot of energy had to be invested, but not much benefit could be reaped, so naturally, families wouldn’t waste time on these remnant writings.
If not for the fact that Shi Xueman had been diligent since young and had a solid foundation, she would have forgotten the contents.
"Dirtless Sheet" talked not only about refining the body but also about the state of mind, so it was somewhat marvelous. Shi Xueman had tried it since there was nothing to lose, but she realized that it actually worked.
She extended her palm, and her skin felt as though there was an additional layer of moisture.
A significant amount of impurity had been eliminated, but according to this speed she would need a lot of time. Unfortunately, her schedule was extremely tight at the moment since there were a lot of things to do at the Spear of Heavy Cloud and there was going to be another fierce battle soon. Where was she going to find the time to recuperate? It would be good enough if she could just prevent her injuries from worsening.
Her abilities had deteriorated by ten percent.
It was extremely difficult for newly promoted Masters to see any slight improvement.
She walked out from the room and quickly noticed that people were gathered and were making noise.
She walked over silently and saw them watching the mirage bean pod. Its contents had her stunned.
"Aye, they didn’t capture my face, what a loss. I’ve lost the chance to become famous."
"At least I can see your rear view. I got blocked by a d*mn tree."
"Master Fatty’s last shot was really amazing!"
"Yeah, if he hadn’t undergone a breakthrough at that critical moment, we would’ve all been in big trouble."
...
Everyone was having a lively discussion, and unlike outsiders who viewed the clip, they weren’t shaken up. They had already broken free from the battle trauma and were better able to face that cruel battle calmly.
Sang Zhijun and Jiang Wei noticed Shi Xueman’s entrance and walked to her side.
Shi Xueman retracted her gaze and asked, somewhat puzzled, "From where?"
Sang Zhijun smiled. "We went to the nearest city to buy some things and found a lot of mirage bean pods involving us. We then realized that we have all become a hot topic, so we bought one of each clip. There are still many others, but they are all Masters’ analyses. This is the only one that recorded us."
Jiang Wei added, "I wonder who recorded it. We didn’t detect any ambusher."
Ai Hui had more information, so she answered, "It’s Surveillance Division."
Sang Zhijun was stunned. "Why would Surveillance’s clip be on the market?"
"Yeah, why would Surveillance’s clip circulate? Logically speaking, it’s strictly confidential content."
Fatty asked, "Could it be that they are thinking of giving us yet another God-subduing Peak?"
The mention of a God-subduing Peak had everyone excited. They had thrown themselves on it the moment it arrived and finally experienced its might for themselves.
Jiang Wei laughed. "You really think it’s that easy? These four God-subduing Peaks are probably Skyheart City’s whole fortune. If not for the fact that we were moving together with the Sky Edge and the Infantry, our merit would simply be too huge. Skyheart City wants to lure the talented ones, so it won’t be our turn."
Fatty chimed in, "Who cares. The God-subduing Peaks are now in our tummies, and no one’s going to seize them."
There was no joy on Shi Xueman’s face. She asked Sang Zhijun, "What about other bean pods?"
Sang Zhijun hurriedly took out a bag of bean pods. "They’re all in here. We haven’t had time to view them yet."
Shi Xueman crushed one of them, and in the clip the Master kept on going on about how powerful the pagoda cannon was and how it was the number one weapon to deal with blood elementalists.
Following that, Shi Xueman kept crushing more bean pods, and the smiles on everybody’s faces vanished.
Practically all of the clips talked about how the "pagoda cannon was the key to tackle blood elementalists".
Even those who weren’t as sharp sensed an unusual atmosphere rising.
Just then, a scout rushed over. He cried out, "Boss! The front line has been defeated. Blood of God broke in and got in deep, and our combat divisions have suffered heavy losses. Six combat divisions have already been scattered."
Everyone’s faces changed. Thinking back to the sentence that the "pagoda cannon was the key to tackle blood elementalists", they felt a chill spreading all over their bodies.
Fatty burst into a rage. "Skyheart City! It must be them!"
Sang Zhijun looked at Shi Xueman anxiously. "What now?"
"Continue familiarizing yourselves with the God-subduing Peaks. There’s not much time." Shi Xueman remained calm as her gaze swept across the room. "We’re dead if we lose, so let’s not care so much. Focus on battling. We’ll leave these things to Ai Hui. He’ll handle them well."
She then added, "No one can do it better than he will."
Her words calmed everyone down slightly.
Fatty nodded continuously. "That’s right, that’s right, don’t worry. I know him. He has a pretty black heart too, it doesn’t lose to anyone else."
After some thought, Shi Xueman instructed, "Zhijun, Get Master Yang to bring these mirage bean pods and this report to Ai Hui as soon as possible."
At that, Sang Zhijun hurriedly left to look for Yang Xiaodong.
Shi Xueman turned around to face Fatty. "How’s the modification coming along?"
Fatty’s eyes lit up. "The prototype is more or less completed. Old Li is forging it now. He should be almost done."
Old Li was a decently skilled craftsman that they had recruited.
His words caught everyone’s interest. "Let’s go take a look."
Fatty behaved like a pagoda cannon expert now, but as the first ever Pagoda Cannon Master, he did have that right. No one, including Ai Hui, could say with certainty that they knew more about it than Fatty.
Old Li had a coal-like face. When he spotted Shi Xueman and gang, he instantly became overcautious.
Fatty cleared his throat. "Old Li, is it done?"
"Yes, I was about to look for you."
With a wave, Fatty called out, "Quick, let me have a look."
"Aye, have a look," he said as he carried a box that was bigger than him.
Without a word, Fatty opened it, and the rest gathered around quickly.
Upon hearing that Fatty’s new pagoda cannon was done, the people who had been watching the clips threw them aside and rushed over. Even Zu Yan was there. Everyone was very curious to see how Fatty’s modified pagoda cannon would look like. He had, after all, made a single-person pagoda cannon by himself.
No one cared much when he took out his single-person pagoda cannon. They thought that Fatty was just having fun and hadn’t expected him get rid of a remarkable blood elementalist with it.
It wasn’t wrong to say that Fatty was the Ardent Flower Blood Division’s greatest jinx. Two outstanding blood elementalists had died by his hands, and his last shot was the final fatal blow.
Fatty took strangely-shaped components from the box and started assembling them. Although it was his first time installing them, Fatty didn’t seem the least bit unfamiliar. His hands worked nimbly, as if he’d practiced it many times before.
Shi Xueman couldn’t help but feel moved. Each Master had his own talent, and even such a lazy person like Fatty had extraordinary passion when it came to pagoda cannons. She could still remember the time in Central Pine City when Lou Lan had to supervise Fatty’s training. No one had expected him to successfully become a Pagoda Cannon Master one day.
Fatty was completely focused, his plump fingers moving quickly.
In his hands, a whole new pagoda cannon emerged before everyone’s eyes.
It was much more bulky, but the trestle had been simplified. The position of the fire reservoir had also undergone a major change and its volume had increased significantly as well. The most eye-catching part would be the thick and solid red cannon tube. The modified tube was about three times thicker and twice as long. Its entire body was now bright red in color, appearing like an enormous city-attacking hammer. There were two small, wing-like structures at the tail of the tube, formed from stacked layers of black metal.
"This is the new pagoda cannon. I call it the ‘Beehive Heavy Cannon’!"
Pride was evident on Fatty’s face.