Chapter 48
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Chapter 48: The Giant Cannon
While Xu Fan was enjoying the view of the Endless Sea, he suddenly heard an excited shout.
"I got it! I got it!" Sha Diao yelled enthusiastically, running towards Xu Fan.
His eager demeanor was like a young student who had just solved a tough problem and couldn’t wait to show it off to the teacher.
"Junior Brother Xu, the outermost rune structure you created acts as a relay for transmitting information. In theory, with enough relay devices, we can communicate over vast distances!" Sha Diao said excitedly, feeling as though he had stumbled upon something extraordinary.
"Impressive! It took me a long time to figure out that rune structure," Xu Fan complimented, acknowledging Sha Diao’s brilliance.
"Not as impressive as you, Junior Brother Xu! I can’t believe you cracked such a complex combination of rune formations," Sha Diao replied.
By now, the Floating Sky Ship had moved far from the mainland, and the coastline was no longer in sight.
Suddenly, the entire fleet descended toward the sea, with the Floating Sky Ship and the nine warships landing on the water, creating massive waves.
At that moment, one of the warships emitted a strange sound, and one of its secondary cannons lit up with a green light.
‘Boom!’
With a loud bang, a green beam, about one meter wide, shot straight toward the distant sea. Soon, the Golden Flame Guards, riding Golden Flame Birds, flew toward the spot where the green light had struck the water.
In no time, a team of Golden Flame Guards dragged a giant whale measuring 500 meters long.
"Great start! It looks like this resource-gathering trip will be very fruitful," Sha Diao said, gazing at the whale being towed.
"This is a shallow sea giant whale. Given its size, it must be at the Void Refinement stage."
"We’re in for a treat tonight! Too bad we can only enjoy the soup from a Void Refinement stage beast until we reach the Golden Core stage," Sha Diao said regretfully, knowing they couldn’t indulge too much before achieving Golden Core.
At that moment, Xu Fan wasn’t thinking about eating whale soup; he was amazed by the power of the giant cannon, marveling at how a single shot had taken down a Void Refinement stage beast.
Seeing Xu Fan’s stunned expression, Sha Diao laughed; his reaction was just like his own when he first saw the cannon fire, both captivated by its might.
"Junior Brother Xu, the first time seeing the cannon fire is always shocking, but you’ll get used to it!"
"This is just a secondary cannon! When we face beasts at the Overcoming Tribulations or Great Ascension stage, that’s when things get really spectacular."
"With all nine warships firing their main cannons, they could even shatter space itself," Sha Diao exaggerated, fueling Xu Fan’s curiosity and awe.
"Senior Brother Sha, how many spirit stones does it cost to fire that secondary cannon?" Xu Fan asked curiously.
"It’s not just spirit stones, but if you convert it, that shot uses about 100,000 spirit stones."
"That’s nothing compared to the profit. The parts from that shallow sea giant whale could easily sell for 500,000 spirit stones," Sha Diao replied, mentioning he had asked his master the same question.
Xu Fan gasped; that single shot would keep him busy for over a month.
"That’s nothing! The main cannon is the real deal—one shot costs 500,000 spirit stones and can injure Overcoming Tribulations or Great Ascension stage beasts," Sha Diao continued, before pulling Xu Fan back into a discussion about the earlier rune formation idea.
Three days later, through Ye Xiaoyao’s connections, Xu Fan boarded one of the warships. He had come primarily to study the rune formations of the spiritual energy cannons.
Once aboard the Floating Sky Ship, Xu Fan noticed that the Que Tian Gate had a strong preference for artifact masters, investing heavily in their training.
During his time there, because he had boarded the ship as an artifact master, Xu Fan received a large amount of leftover materials just from gathering resources.
Xu Fan estimated that these scraps could be worth over 30,000 spirit stones. Meanwhile, the ship welcomed artifact masters to study the runes engraved on its hull, hoping that in the future, Que Tian Gate could build giant ships capable of sailing across the Endless Sea.
Looking at the Nascent Soul Guards nearby, Xu Fan sighed. The downside of the Floating Sky Ship fleet was that aside from dedicated artifact masters and alchemists, the rest were at least at the Golden Core stage, and even Golden Cores were rare.
As Xu Fan put it, if you randomly grabbed a cultivator in battle armor on the ship, they’d at least be at the Nascent Soul stage, and on a lucky day, you might even catch a Powerful Master.
“Senior, I just need to take a look at the rune formations on the giant cannon. I don’t need a guide,” Xu Fan said, surprised by how much attention he was getting.
“No problem! Go ahead and observe. I just wanted to pick your brain a bit. I’ve been learning artifact crafting myself lately,” said a young man in battle armor. Once you reach the Nascent Soul Stage, you can change your appearance.
Xu Fan didn’t hesitate. He put on his eye artifact and started examining the runes on the giant cannon.
As he studied the runes, he chatted with the Nascent Soul youth, who was just starting to learn artifact crafting.
“Hey, little brother, find anything interesting?” the Nascent Soul youth asked, noticing Xu Fan’s amazed expression.
“Not really. I’m just blown away by the craftsmanship on this warship, especially the runes on this Thunderfire Giant Cannon. They’re incredible! Combined with the unique way the cannon was crafted, it’s just… wow.”
Xu Fan felt like a country bumpkin seeing advanced tech for the first time. The more he learned, the more he realized how far behind he was.
“What’s the big deal? I’ve looked at these runes too. They don’t seem that special. If we find a good artifact master, we could make something like this,” the Nascent Soul youth said casually, confident that after a few decades of studying, he could build a warship like this.
Xu Fan almost fired back with a sarcastic remark, but he held his tongue, remembering the youth’s cultivation level.
Stay low-key and calm. Being a know-it-all doesn’t get you far in the cultivation world.
“You’re right, senior,” Xu Fan said simply.
After finishing his observation, Xu Fan returned to the Floating Sky Ship.
As soon as he stepped on board, Sha Diao grabbed him.
“Junior Brother Xu, sorry about this, but I mentioned your idea to my master. He’s really interested and wants to talk to you,” Sha Diao said, looking a bit guilty.
Seriously? I thought we were friends, and now you’re throwing me under the bus.
Xu Fan had no choice but to follow Sha Diao to the artifact crafting department.
When he entered, Xu Fan was stunned again. The spatial expansion technique alone—without the right runes, he’d need a hundred years just to figure it out.
From the outside, it looked like a regular room, but inside, it was as big as a small town.
Sha Diao led Xu Fan to a kind-looking old man.
“Are you the one Sha mentioned, the one with ideas about communication artifacts?” the elder asked warmly.
“Yes, that’s me,” Xu Fan said, bowing.
“Your idea is quite interesting. I’ve been thinking—if we set up 36,000 large precious artifacts across Xiangzhou to act as relays, combined with your rune formations, then…
“Eventually, every cultivator in Xiangzhou could use our communication artifacts.”
“If we improve the artifacts further, we could even enable long-distance visual conversations,” the elder said slowly.
At that moment, Xu Fan realized he shouldn’t underestimate anyone’s intelligence. This was basically video calling, though still just a virtual projection.
