Let's start by analyzing the sun

Tian Gong Hall.

Just as its name "Tian Gong" (Heavenly Craftsmanship) suggests, this institution is equivalent to a large factory, responsible for manufacturing various kinds of Xuan tools, Dharma tools, and gray crystal machinery.

Of course.

Since gray crystal machinery belongs to civilian machinery, Tian Gong Hall only manufactures the core component, the "Spirit Crystal Disk," while other parts are handled by private factories.

At this moment.

A white-haired grand craftsman put down the letter in his hand and muttered to himself:

"'Including Xuan techniques, the essence of all changes in everything is energy conversion.' Although Envoy Cheng's statement is strange, it is not without reason when you think about it carefully…"

Right next to him.

A middle-aged craftsman was carving a Spirit Crystal Disk.

He held a delicate carving knife, displaying a flexibility far exceeding that of ordinary people, drawing a spirit pattern, then testing it with a Dharma tool before continuing to carve the next one.

The middle-aged craftsman seemed to be concentrating, but from the occasional flickering in his eyes, it could be judged that he was distracted, listening to the grand craftsman's words.

The grand craftsman read the letter's content in a low voice again.

"The essence of the Xuan Warrior path is to enhance one's own energy, transforming oneself into a human-shaped 'Source Xuan Crystal.' Xuan techniques are the conversion of one's own power into other forms of power, such as the thermal energy of fire-type Xuan techniques.

"The core essence of an internal combustion engine is the conversion of thermal energy from fuel combustion into kinetic energy, which, in a sense, can also be seen as a kind of Xuan technique…"

Hearing this, the middle-aged craftsman chuckled, "Isn't this just nonsense?"

The guy couldn't help but grin, "So, if I light a barrel of brown oil, wouldn't that be equivalent to performing a fire-type Xuan technique?"

The middle-aged craftsman seemed to think this was a hilarious joke, so he simply stopped carving and burst out laughing, "This is too funny!"

The grand craftsman looked annoyed, "Liang Ming, if you keep spouting nonsense, when I make the prototype of the internal combustion engine, I'll make you use your little bird to start the machine!"

The middle-aged craftsman's smile instantly froze.

The beautiful image of "little bird turning the machine" popped into his head, and he immediately shuddered, hurriedly admitting his mistake, "Master, I was wrong!"

The grand craftsman scolded without politeness, "What Envoy Cheng said is clearly insightful, you have no brains to understand it, and you even have the nerve to laugh at Envoy Cheng."

The middle-aged craftsman didn't dare to retort, "Master, I'm brain-dead!"

The grand craftsman "hmph"ed and began to read the letter again.

The middle-aged craftsman glanced at his master and started working honestly.

After a while.

The grand craftsman suddenly sighed, "Envoy Cheng is absolutely right, besides being bulky, another major problem with gray crystal machinery is the high cost.

"Xuan crystals do contain a relatively large amount of source energy, but this thing has always been in tight supply in the Xuan Palace, and 90% of Xuan Warriors don't even have a Xuan Boat.

"Even the lowest-grade, cheapest gray crystals are priced beyond the reach of ordinary people, which greatly limits their range of applications.

The middle-aged craftsman agreed with this view, "Even the cheapest gray crystal lamp is only affordable for wealthy families; most commoners can only use oil lamps."

The grand craftsman shook the letter in his hand and said again, "The internal combustion engine envisioned by Envoy Cheng uses refined brown oil as fuel, and brown oil is extracted from stone fruit.

"The Xuan Palace has over a hundred small spirit realms, all filled with uninhabited wilderness, and we can plant as many stone fruit trees as we want, harvesting them every year, keeping the cost very low."

The middle-aged craftsman echoed, "That is indeed an advantage."

The guy then raised a question, "Envoy Cheng's prototype doesn't output much power, but it's also very large, not much better than gray crystal machinery."

The grand craftsman replied, "It can be improved!"

The middle-aged craftsman didn't dare to agree, "Gray crystal machinery has been improved for tens of thousands of years, and it's still so bulky."

The grand craftsman shook his head, "Envoy Cheng proposed the concept of 'heating value' and also derived a formula for 'thermal energy conversion to kinetic energy.'"

He immediately threw over a letter, "Those formulas are inside; your arithmetic skills are decent enough, you should be able to understand them."

The middle-aged craftsman took the letter and read it carefully.

A full half hour passed.

The middle-aged craftsman nodded slightly, "There is indeed something to it."

The grand craftsman glared at his apprentice, "Not just something to it! These formulas contain the principles of the Great Dao; you only understood half of it."

The middle-aged craftsman felt that his master was going crazy and couldn't help but nag, "Envoy Cheng is a true genius, condensing a Xuan Seal can trigger a spiritual tide.

"Even if Envoy Cheng is just messing around and accidentally blows up the living quarters, the Palace Lord will only laugh and say it was a good blast.

"But you've been ostracized like this in Tian Gong Hall; a dignified grand craftsman, you're actually making gray crystal machinery every day. Envoy Cheng can afford to play around, but you really can't."

This was the truth.

And it was heartbreaking.

The grand craftsman was silent for a few seconds before slowly saying, "In a letter, Envoy Cheng wrote such a sentence…"

He paused and said, "Anyway, I've already become a complete failure, what else can I lose?"

The middle-aged craftsman asked curiously, "What does 'complete failure' mean?"

The grand craftsman glanced at his apprentice and explained, "It means someone like me."

The middle-aged craftsman opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.

He thought to himself, this sentence is so true!

For his master, even if this gamble is lost, the worst that can happen is that he returns to his hometown to retire, which is better than staying in Tian Gong Hall feeling depressed.

But if his master wins the gamble, there's a high probability that he can turn his life around.

The grand craftsman suddenly changed the topic, "In the letter that was just sent over, Envoy Cheng envisioned a rather powerful flying weapon called a 'bomber.'"

The middle-aged craftsman sat up straighter, revealing a listening expression.

The grand craftsman began to speak eloquently, "Envoy Cheng said that this was an inspiration that arose from playing paper airplanes in his childhood.

"His Excellency believes that if a metal airplane is manufactured and an internal combustion engine is installed to drive a propeller, it can be made to fly."

The middle-aged craftsman nodded slightly, "If we can really manufacture an internal combustion engine, this is indeed a viable plan."

The grand craftsman's tone became excited, "His Excellency proposed an astonishing plan in the letter: if thousands of metal airplanes are manufactured,

"Each airplane carrying two 'Spirit Flame Xuan Weapons,' a huge fleet flying from the sky to the enemy's position, and finally dropping all the Xuan Weapons.

"His Excellency calls these airplanes 'bombers,' and this method of warfare is his envisioned 'carpet bombing.'"

The middle-aged craftsman listened in stunned silence.

The grand craftsman's tone could be described as亢奋(kàngfèn): highly excited, worked up.

"All along, due to the output of Xuan crystals, the number of Xuan Boats has also been limited.

"If we can really manufacture bombers, without Xuan Warriors piloting Xuan Boats, ordinary people can also play a huge role in the war.

"In this way, the strength of our Wan Hao race will definitely be greatly enhanced."

The middle-aged craftsman was finally moved, his eyes revealing a burning desire, "Master, this is indeed a genius-like idea; we can try it with Envoy Cheng."

If it succeeds.

This is more than just turning one's life around; becoming the Hall Master of Tian Gong Hall is not a problem, and even leaving a name in history is highly likely.

It's worth a gamble!