Chapter 80: Now Is Not the Time for Science (Yesterday’s Fifth Update)

The material of the fragments conducted true qi with exceptional efficiency. Aside from the known components of gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, tin, and mercury, the remaining metallic elements had to be named by Luo Zu himself.

Some of these metals might have been recorded in Luo Zu's past life, but he no longer remembered their composition or properties. Even if he encountered the same metals in this life, he would have to rename them—unless, of course, Luo Zu had once been a chemistry expert.

Unfortunately, he was not; he had merely been an ordinary office worker, a science major who worked with words, and, incidentally, had specialized in materials science...

Although he had once been ignorant about metallic materials, things were different now.

“We’re not talking about science anymore,” Luo Zu muttered, forming a hand seal. He used a seventh-rank Daoist art that he himself had named Vajra to separate the metallic elements, identifying and aligning them neatly before him.

He sampled forty-six different metallic elements, then scrutinized each one with his primordial spirit’s eye—there was no need for divine powers like clairvoyance to directly peer into the microcosm.

With his current cultivation, his primordial spirit’s eye truly lived up to the saying, “The Buddha sees forty-eight thousand creatures in a bowl of water.”

From this microscopic perspective, the differences among the extracted metallic elements from the fragments became apparent.

He recorded them one by one, categorizing them carefully. Most importantly, he needed to match these with the metallic elements present in the land and soil beneath his feet.

Luo Zu had already cataloged the metallic elements found throughout the forests and rivers of Luo Village long ago—a total of four hundred and eighty-one.

Yes, it was that outrageous—but this was only a rough classification. Some of those elements might be identical, or perhaps several finer metallic elements had combined to form one.

Therefore, Luo Zu needed to re-catalogue the metallic elements in the soil, making a clearer and more detailed record.

Otherwise, if he ever performed an advanced metallic Daoist art and, like the “Lost” shaman, created a grand spectacle but failed to extract several metallic elements, it would be laughable indeed.

So Luo Zu had to be meticulous in his work.

He had to understand all types of metallic elements. In a contest of magic, he could then drain his opponent’s body of all metallic elements, or manipulate them on a microscopic level, causing their form to collapse from within.

Of course, other spells and divine powers, when studied to such a level, could achieve similar effects; in the end, all roads lead to the same destination.

With a mere thought, Luo Zu began comparing the metallic elements from the fragments to those in the soil.

Thirty-six corresponded, but the remaining ten defied all attempts at matching, no matter how many times he checked.

“It seems the problem is considerable,” Luo Zu sighed helplessly.

If they couldn’t be matched, it would be difficult to reproduce the material in large quantities, and constructing such a massive ship would be nearly impossible.

But he didn’t necessarily have to build such enormous ships, and just because the metals weren’t found here didn’t mean they didn’t exist elsewhere—after all, the Vast Wilderness was boundless.

Moreover, he could search the former territory of the Qiu Zhi Demon Clan.

They had built the ship, so they must have had the necessary materials and methods.

Unfortunately, although Luo Zu knew the demon clan’s location, he dared not venture there; he would have to cross hundreds of thousands of miles, facing untold hardships and dangers—far more than the long journey to the West.

He began to wonder if the “eighty-one thousand miles” of the Journey to the West was too short, or if the monsters of the Western Continent were simply too densely packed—a true “land of virtue” as the Buddha once said, where none coveted or killed, and all lived long lives.

But that was a digression.

For now, neither Luo Zu nor the human tribe was in a hurry; they could proceed slowly.

The “Cave Dweller” tribe’s overall strength needed substantial improvement.

Otherwise, Luo Zu stood alone as the only “top-tier power” at the level of merging with the Dao.

So Luo Zu decided to let his people wait a little longer.

Although he had found only thirty-six “usable” metallic elements, Luo Zu could begin with a brainstorming session.

And his brainstorming was literal: thirty-six enormous Dharma-brain avatars working in unison.

Since breaking through to the Primordial Spirit, Luo Zu had condensed twenty-seven additional Dharma-brain avatars.

With his current realm and mental strength, he could support thirty-six functioning at once—perhaps even more.

He estimated his limit was forty avatars.

But those were the original versions. Luo Zu’s current avatars had already been upgraded, becoming more intricate and complete.

Their thinking speed had tripled, as had their memory capacity—more efficient, larger, and now with a new function he’d developed.

The Dharma Body!

This Dharma Body was more refined than that of the Savage Lord, akin to Luo Zu’s own Yang Spirit Primordial Spirit, forged of spells and Daoist arts.

Thus, his avatars could independently condense celestial energy.

In other words, Luo Zu now had celestial energy beyond the three hundred and sixty strands in his Primordial Spirit.

Unfortunately, each Dharma Body could only refine a single strand of celestial energy.

So Luo Zu gained thirty-six extra strands.

This surplus of celestial energy could accomplish much—a single Dharma Body self-destructing was equivalent to unleashing the combined force of one hundred and nine seventh-rank Daoist arts.

Of course, the avatars were not truly independent; they lacked autonomous thought and could not act on Luo Zu’s behalf.

After all, Luo Zu had only just merged with the Dao himself; he was not yet an immortal.

Now, Luo Zu set all thirty-six upgraded Dharma-brain avatars to brainstorming (though they hadn’t yet become full Dharma Bodies, as he lacked the energy).

Clang! Clang! Clang! The ringing of metal filled the air.

Luo Zu immediately began forging in his pocket universe.

The resounding clangor echoed through the lower realms of the human world, reverberating without end, though it never reached the earth itself—for Luo Zu had blocked it. Otherwise, the people below would surely have gone mad.

He hammered away—three thousand six hundred strikes, each accompanied by the arts of Fire Control and Vajra, repeatedly refining the iron and blending its metallic elements, using mythic power to alter its properties.

Clang! Clang! Again, three thousand six hundred blows, each one stronger than the last.

With every strike, runes were embedded into the metal.

This was Luo Zu’s newly devised refining method after achieving his Primordial Spirit.

No longer did he wait to mix the runes into the molten metal; instead, he fused runes into the metal during the forging and quenching, guiding them in with Fire Control and Vajra.

As the metal’s elements shifted and migrated under the hammer, the runes seeped in, so that the metal seemed born with them.

Such metal could truly be called—Celestial Gold of Innate Daoist Law.

“A fine name,” Luo Zu mused, stroking his chin as he admired the newly forged, golden-red metal before him.

The rest remains to be written.