Chapter Fifty-Six: Firing Bricks and Smelting Steel

Li Zihong and Chao Xiong, upon hearing this, grew anxious as well. With Qiuchi City in such a state, it was clearly beyond saving, and it seemed likely that their new faction would soon disband.

“It’s over, our new faction is about to dissolve,” Li Zihong lamented. “Dao Sansheng, when you return to your sect, you’d better treat me and Chao Xiong to a meal. After all, we’ve been running around with you for over half a year—that should count for something.”

Dao Sansheng shot Li Zihong a glance. “Who said we’re leaving? I believe this place holds great potential.”

“You must be out of your mind, you fool!” Li Zihong was so exasperated she lifted her teacup, intending to pour it over Dao Sansheng’s face.

Chao Xiong stood and pressed down on Li Zihong’s cup. “Even if you’re going back, can you not hurt him? Hurting him is hurting me. I have faith in Senior Brother Dao. After listening to his words, I too believe Qiuchi City holds promise.” With that, he drained his tea.

“It’s over! Another one’s gone mad. Madness must be contagious—so fast, too.”

Chao Xiong reflected on how, when he first met Dao Sansheng, he never dreamed he’d become an inner disciple. Recalling all they’d been through, he too felt full of confidence in Dao Sansheng.

“I, Chao Xiong, also believe Qiuchi City has great potential.”

Staring at the three in the room, Li Zihong, beside herself with anger, stormed downstairs, unable to fathom their thinking.

None of the three paid her any mind. Dao Sansheng turned to Zhao Jinqian. “What’s the current price of shops on the main street of the central district—are you aware?”

Zhao Jinqian, hearing Dao Sansheng ask about shop prices, felt a pang. He’d planned to shut down his store, but had been too reluctant to leave. The sect had ordered him to liquidate assets, so he’d asked around. Even for his prime location on the main street, buyers were only willing to offer a hundred top-grade spirit stones, and even then they said they’d use it as a residence instead. With no courtyard in front, most thought the price was generous.

“For a shop like ours, people were offering a hundred top-grade spirit stones, which is already quite high. Now, nearly ninety percent of the shops on the street are up for sale.”

As he spoke, Zhao Jinqian felt that at such prices, it was almost like giving them away for free.

Dao Sansheng listened, unsurprised, and nodded. “When you have time, help me buy up all the neighboring shops—do it as soon as possible, ideally connecting them. Any shopkeepers or staff who wish to stay, keep them—I’ll have use for them.”

Dao Sansheng drew out a storage pouch and tossed it to Zhao Jinqian. “There are five thousand top-grade spirit stones inside. Let me know if you need more.” With that, he lapsed into silence, staring into his tea, deep in thought.

The money was spent, but now he had to figure out how to earn it back—a difficult task, but not one that would defeat someone who had witnessed the splendors of the world.

Suddenly, inspiration struck Dao Sansheng. Across the entire Windwalker Continent, palaces were made of wood, buildings of stone. Why not construct a high-rise from reinforced concrete? That would surely make waves and attract customers from Zixian City.

No sooner thought than acted. Since concrete and rebar didn’t exist in this world, he’d have to invent them himself. He’d also need to make bricks—another first. The world’s first concrete high-rise was about to rise.

He sketched out his vision: a twenty-story building taking shape on paper. Construction here should be quick, as they could all fly and use their spiritual power to lift heavy materials.

Thankfully, he’d paid attention in school and remembered the essential ingredients: cement raw materials made from limestone, clay, and steel slag (iron powder)—all easily found outside the city, as were the ingredients for rebar: iron ore, coking coal, coke...

Windwalker Continent had those in abundance. Bricks were even simpler—just fire clay, as he’d seen in his childhood. Dao Sansheng could make them himself. Once the plan was clear, it was time to act.

But the day was already waning. Shopkeeper Zhao would be out negotiating business that night, leaving the three of them to rest and gather strength to help with work tomorrow.

At dawn the next day, Dao Sansheng waited downstairs for the other two, having already briefed them the night before.

The three left the city together and searched the outskirts, quickly finding all the raw materials they needed. Dao Sansheng decided to start by producing bricks.

They flew to a plain, and Dao Sansheng selected a piece of land. After careful observation, he judged the soil perfect for firing bricks.

He took out his materials and assembled a brick-molding machine. With spiritual energy and magical tools, the other two gathered earth, loaded it into the machine, and produced the first brick. Dao Sansheng ignited a fire in a dug-out pit, placed the brick mold inside, sealed the entrance, and before long, a sturdy brick emerged, which he handed to Chao Xiong, who pronounced himself ready to take over.

“I’ve shown you how. Go gather some people to help, and make sure they use spiritual power—it’ll speed things up. The kilns are already lit; you just need to keep feeding them spiritual energy.”

“Then again, it’s hard to find people. You start for now—I’ll go buy materials and make a few thousand basic puppets to help you.”

Dao Sansheng and Li Zihong flew around the area, finally gathering enough iron ore, coking coal, coke, and other materials. They filled their storage pouches and brought everything to a site outside the city. Dao Sansheng, following methods he’d seen in online videos, began teaching Li Zihong how to make rebar.

Temperature control and other production conditions could all be maintained with spiritual power. With those settled, Dao Sansheng could move on to making cement, and soon the building would be ready to rise.

Both were busy with their respective tasks. Returning to the city, Dao Sansheng bought a mountain of materials. Instead of heading upstairs upon entering the shop, he went straight to the back courtyard and began to work.

Several times, Zhao Jinqian wanted to report on the progress, but seeing Dao Sansheng working so meticulously, day and night for a week without rest, he didn’t dare disturb him. He just stood quietly outside the courtyard, watching Dao Sansheng at work.

The creation of the puppets went smoothly. They were all basic, early-stage Qi Condensation puppets—Dao Sansheng had inherited the skills, backed by centuries of experience from predecessors. Once the materials were in hand, the steps flowed naturally through his mind.

After two months of work, Dao Sansheng finally set down his tools. The courtyard was spotless save for a bit of wood shavings and dust—the heaps of materials long since used up. With the trade fair approaching, Dao Sansheng, exhausted, needed a break.

He handed two storage pouches to Zhao Jinqian, instructing him to deliver them to two designated locations, then allowed himself to rest. He had no idea how long he slept, but thanks to working on the puppets and continuously using spiritual energy, he had unknowingly broken through to the eighth level of Qi Condensation, overcoming a long-standing barrier.

As Dao Sansheng slept, his meridians ran dry of spiritual power, and his body naturally absorbed the surrounding aura. In his dantian, the yin-yang fish began to stir, spinning faster and faster, until a small funnel appeared in the sky above the city, visible to all.

The spiritual energy gathered, soaking into his parched meridians, replenishing him as his cultivation method ran automatically. At last, unable to bear the mounting pressure, his meridians sought a breakthrough, pierced the barrier, and Dao Sansheng successfully reached the eighth level of Qi Condensation.