Chapter 280: Divine Craftsmanship
Shen Wanyun's face immediately turned bitter. Going out on a journey with Qin Mu was definitely a hard task.
Last time, their group followed Qin Mu to the southern frontier for training. First, they encountered the Nine Nether Gate, the Corpse Immortal Sect, and the Hongshan Sect awakening the dead to massacre cities. Then they met the Heavenly Demon King of Tianbo City slaughtering in all directions. Later came the battle to suppress the rebellion in Daxiang City. He had never experienced so many death-defying killing tribulations in his entire life!
After returning to the capital, Shen Wanyun took a long time to recover. Shen Wanyun had also gone to Qingmen Pass for training before, fighting against the soldiers of the Man Di Kingdom on the battlefield, but that was at least soldier against soldier, general against general. How could it compare to following Qin Mu for training?
Following Qin Mu for training meant constantly dealing with sect wars and killings, even summoning demon gods. When they reached Daxiang City, there were sect master-level powerhouses everywhere, and hundreds of experts at the celestial being and life-death realms!
Even now, Shen Wanyun still felt a chill down his spine when he thought about his training experiences with Qin Mu.
He had also heard about what Qin Mu went through after that training trip. Returning to the Great Ruins for the New Year, he was hunted by countless experts. He caused a huge uproar at the Great Thunderclap Temple. After returning, he even participated in the case of the Dao Sect and the Great Thunderclap Temple besieging the Emperor, rescuing the Emperor and the National Preceptor, then returning to the capital to kill Prince Ling Yuxia!
If he had to go through those things himself, he would probably have died over a hundred times by now.
He had made up his mind not to go out with Qin Mu, but unexpectedly, this time he was still named by the Crown Prince. It was like being sentenced to death and awaiting execution in autumn.
He didn't know whether this Holy Sect Master was cursed with bad luck, but wherever he went, disaster followed.
Qin Mu saw that his expression wasn't good and comforted him, saying: "This trip isn't dangerous. Crown Prince Ling Yushu was originally from our Grand Academy. We're all old acquaintances, and our relationship is good. He said he's going out to provide disaster relief, but he's bringing experts from the Ministry of Works. In my opinion, this isn't about suppressing rebellions or anything like that. It's about inspecting the various supervision factories, clearing the snow mountains formed by the great blizzard, or building bridges and dams. There's no danger."
Shen Wanyun said with a mournful face: "I hope so."
Si Yunxiang, however, was somewhat deflated and said disappointedly: "No danger..."
The three followed the steward to their rooms in the Divine Ability Residence. The steward arranged for them to stay close together, with all three houses next to each other.
Qin Mu said to Shen Wanyun and Si Yunxiang: "We don't know when we'll return from this trip. Each of you should find some divine abilities you want to cultivate."
Shen Wanyun's eyes flickered, and he suggested: "Yue Qinghong and Yun Que are about to break through the wall and become divine ability users in the next two days. Sect Master, we should share fortune and misfortune together. Since this trip is about enjoying blessings, why not bring them along?"
Qin Mu smiled and said: "You make a good point. Before the Crown Prince departs, anyone who has cultivated divine abilities should be brought along."
Shen Wanyun's spirits lifted greatly, and he hurried off excitedly, thinking to himself: "If we're going to die, of course we should all die together, lively and complete!"
Si Yunxiang blinked her eyes and extended a fair hand in front of Qin Mu. Qin Mu took out his book token and placed it in her hand. Si Yunxiang cheered and immediately left.
The book token from the Divine Ability Residence could only enter the second floor of the Heavenly Records Tower, but Qin Mu's book token could enter the third floor to read all the scriptures. Every time she went to the Heavenly Records Tower, she had to borrow Qin Mu's book token.
The Grand Academy had a Heavenly Works Hall, somewhat similar to the Demon Sect's Crafts Hall and Heavenly Works Hall. The Heavenly Works Hall mostly researched mechanical manufacturing, spirit weapon forging, ship and bridge building, road paving, and vehicle construction—all works of the scholars from the Heavenly Works Hall.
The Grand Academy was jointly established by the National Preceptor and the Demon Sect's Founding Ancestor, so the teaching of the various halls in the Grand Academy often copied the various halls of the Demon Sect. This was also why the Yan Kang Kingdom was looked down upon by orthodox sects like the Great Thunderclap Temple and the Dao Sect.
After scholars from the Heavenly Works Hall graduated, they often went to serve in the Ministry of Works of the imperial court. The scholars that Crown Prince Ling Yushu brought this time were mostly from the Heavenly Works Hall, while the others were officials from the Ministry of Works.
Many officials in the Ministry of Works came from the Heavenly Works Hall, so they were also classmates with Qin Mu and the others.
In the Ministry of Works, the Minister of Works was the highest, followed by the Vice Minister of Works.
The Vice Minister of Works of the imperial court was Shan Youxin, the Hall Master of the Demon Sect's Heavenly Works Hall.
The Ministry of Works was divided into four departments: the Works Department managed city and earthwork construction, the Land Reclamation Department managed land surveying and distribution, the Yu Bu Department managed fruits, vegetables, and grain, and the Water Department managed water conservancy projects.
More than half of the directors and assistant directors of these four departments were hall masters and incense masters of the Demon Sect, and many other officials in the four departments were also disciples of the Demon Sect. The remaining small portion were scholars from the Grand Academy.
The Demon Sect and the Grand Academy occupied almost all the official positions in the Ministry of Works.
Learning for application—the Demon Sect's Heavenly Works, Crafts Hall, Vegetable Hall, Rain Hall, Agriculture Hall, and other halls all produced talents needed by the Ministry of Works, and they could all enter the imperial Ministry of Works.
Therefore, when Qin Mu saw the officials that Ling Yushu brought, he couldn't help but look somewhat strange—more than half of them were from his Demon Sect.
Shen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, Yun Que, Wei Yong, Si Yunxiang, and others also hurried over. Shen Wanyun had been beaten black and blue by them, but he looked very pleased with himself.
Si Yunxiang saw the Ministry of Works officials that Ling Yushu brought and also showed a surprised expression. She quietly asked Qin Mu: "Sect Master, is the Crown Prince also one of our people?"
Qin Mu was somewhat tempted and said to Ling Yushu: "Your Highness, have you heard of the Heavenly Sage Sect?"
Ling Yushu didn't take up that topic and quickly said: "Everyone is here. Let's set off as soon as possible. My father's order to me is to inspect the geography of all the prefectures and counties in the country, check the water conservancy and city defenses after the disasters, measure the land in various places, and inspect the grain, fodder, fruits, and vegetables. When we arrive at each place, I will question the local officials, and you will go inspect the local hydrology, city defenses, land, and grain. Then we'll cross-check the two."
The many officials acknowledged the order.
Ling Yushu continued: "No matter which prefecture or county we go to, if there are water conservancy or city defense issues that need adjustment, or if officials and powerful families are annexing land, or if grain and fodder are insufficient, all must be reported truthfully."
The Minister of Works quickly said: "Your Highness, the country is so vast, with so many prefectures and counties, I'm afraid it will take us two to three years to inspect everything!"
Ling Yushu smiled and said: "That's why I found a fast ship. It should be arriving soon. This ship is the fastest in our country, called Chasing Clouds. It's said that this ship was built with divine craftsmanship. When it arrives, you can look at its furnace—it's quite marvelous. And it's an iron-hulled ship!"
Many officials from the Ministry of Works looked at each other with strange expressions, coughing repeatedly. Some were looking at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu also had a strange expression. The Crown Prince seemed to be talking about Fan Yunxiao's Chasing Cloud pirate ship. Back then, Qin Mu had refined five such treasure ships—three large ones owned by the Demon Sect, and two smaller ones, one belonging to Qin Mu and one given to Fan Yunxiao.
When the treasure ships were being refined, many of the officials from the Ministry of Works present had been there!
"Perhaps the next dynasty's emperor will be one of my Heavenly Sage Sect's heavenly kings or protectors."
Qin Mu thought leisurely to himself: "Crown Prince Yushu has too much affinity with my Heavenly Sage Sect."
The Heavenly Works Hall Master quietly said to Qin Mu: "Sect Master, a few days ago, Incense Master Fan came to me saying she wanted to trade for a large ship. I was wondering why—turns out Incense Master Fan was doing business with the Crown Prince."
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Ling Yushu and the others waited for a moment. In mid-air, a wooden-patterned tower ship slowly flew over, gradually descending and docking at the mountain gate of the Grand Academy.
Fan Yunxiao and a group of bandits, all neatly dressed, stood at the bow and saluted in unison, saying: "Greetings to the Crown Prince, greetings to the Sect Master and Holy Teacher."
Ling Yushu quickly turned to Qin Mu and said: "Qin Sect Master, this ship is property of your Heavenly Sage Sect? You charge so much money—how unscrupulous!"
Qin Mu comforted him: "Your Highness, you may not know this, but they used to be bandits, so their hearts are a bit black."
Ling Yushu was stunned.
Everyone boarded the ship one after another. Just then, another Grand Academy scholar ran over and boarded the ship, saying: "I'm late." It was a very handsome young man.
Ling Yushu hurried forward and said in a low voice: "Sister, why are you here?"
That handsome young man was none other than Ling Yuxiu, dressed in men's clothing. She smiled and said: "You wouldn't let me come, but I asked Father, and he allowed me to go. Cowherd!"
She left Ling Yushu aside, ran to Qin Mu's side, and her eyes curved into crescents: "Do you recognize me?"
Qin Mu hesitated and said: "Fat... Yuxiu, little sister!"
Ling Yuxiu's anger turned to joy. She punched him in the chest and laughed: "If you dare say it, I'll knock you off the ship."
Ling Yushu saw her punch Qin Mu in the chest—it looked heavy but was actually very light—and couldn't help but snort. It seemed his little sister was becoming less and less obedient to her older brother.
Si Yunxiang came to Qin Mu's side, glanced at Ling Yuxiu, smiled without saying anything, and lowered her head to play with the Dragon Qilin.
Ling Yuxiu looked at her back, her eyes flickering, and said with a low laugh: "Cowherd, I'm going to change my clothes."
Ling Yushu quickly walked over and said: "Sister, men's clothing is good. Men's clothing is very good. You look especially good in it!"
"Really?"
Ling Yushu nodded heavily.
The tower ship rose into the air and sailed toward Jiazhou, three hundred li away. Jiazhou was located downstream of the river. Two thousand li further east was the Eastern Sea. The Ministry of Works had once built a river-crossing bridge here, spanning twenty li across the Tu River.
The hundred or so people on the ship looked down and saw that the center of the bridge was broken, missing about a li of bridge deck and piers. It should have been caused by the severe cold during the snow disaster. The river surface had frozen over, forming icebergs that slid down from upstream and smashed the bridge.
Now the river was surging and extremely turbulent, making it no easy task to repair the bridge.
The treasure ship descended to Jiazhou City. The prefect of Jiazhou hurriedly came to welcome them. Ling Yushu said: "Prefect, dispatch divine ability users and hand them over to the Vice Minister of Works to repair the bridge."
The prefect of Jiazhou quickly mobilized the divine ability users in the city. Several hundred divine ability users followed the Heavenly Works Hall Master to the river. Qin Mu and the others also followed, wondering how to repair the bridge with such turbulent water. They saw the Heavenly Works Hall Master lead the group of divine ability users in a great shout. Their magical power surged forth, and the great waters of the Tu River immediately flew upward, arcing through the air, flying five or six li through the sky before falling back into the river.
Within the range of five or six li, the river was empty, with not a trace of water on the riverbed. The water in the mud was also drained dry by the several hundred divine ability users.
"Everyone, melt the stones and connect the bridge!"
At the Heavenly Works Hall Master's command, many divine ability users with Vermilion Bird spirit bodies stepped forward. One furnace after another was set up on the riverbed. Stone materials were thrown into the furnaces. Those divine ability users each displayed their divine abilities. Fire birds circled around the furnaces, melting the stones inside into magma. Another group of Ministry of Works officials stepped forward, using their magical power to control the shape of the magma, pouring it to form stone pillars.
After a moment, stone pillars rose one by one from the riverbed. More Ministry of Works officials flew over from the nearby mountain, carrying cut stone materials. Stone slabs were laid down in an orderly manner.
An hour later, the bridge was connected.
Qin Mu's heart was shaken, and he couldn't help but admire: "This is true divine miracle—divine craftsmanship!"