Even just the beginning was enough to leave Jade Cauldron stunned. Yet, this was only the start.
Monkey pointed at the unopened end of the diagram’s side wall with his Cloudwalker Staff and continued, "Here we need a formation that can store spiritual power. Only when enough power has been accumulated can it be used, and depending on the situation, the threshold for activation can be set to fluctuate."
"This way, as long as one is at the Spirit Channeling Stage or above, they can operate it. If enough spiritual power is stored, it wouldn’t be surprising at all for a Spirit Channeling cultivator to kill a Spirit-Refinement opponent in a single strike."
A gleam was already beginning to shine in Jade Cauldron’s eyes.
Monkey’s explanation rolled on: "If this experiment succeeds, we can push it even further. For example, we could inscribe this storage array directly onto the projectile itself. Then, as long as the loading talisman is prepared, we could fire off a series of powerful blasts in quick succession..."
"Considering the limits of black iron’s durability, the power of the artifact will certainly have its bounds. So we can get creative with the projectiles themselves: if we design them to trigger spiritual power disruption and explode upon impact, they could cause massive destruction to the surroundings..."
"The same principle can be applied to aerial combat. The Heavenly Court’s warships are tough to deal with from above, but there’s nothing stopping us from scaling these devices up and dropping them onto their heads from the sky..."
"As for warship formations, we can shrink the hulls and build small ships, even cut out the living quarters and cargo holds that take up so much space on Celestial Army warships. The freed-up space could be used to carry vast numbers of these hot weapons, shifting the old paradigm to jet propulsion arrays. That way, we’ll have guaranteed maneuverability when it counts most..."
"This might consume a great deal of spiritual power, but stockpiling energy during peacetime isn’t such a difficult task..."
"Using arrays to drive propeller blades and support the warship may mean poor maneuverability, maybe not even comparable to the Heavenly Court’s current fleet. But this would save huge resources, since we wouldn’t need high speed—the ships could be made of wood and mass-produced. Against truly powerful hot weapons, the difference between iron plating and wood boards isn’t all that great..."
Ordinary warships could still be used—they’d be built large, serving only as transport or logistics platforms, no longer fighting on the front lines...
These devices would be completely useless against Heavenly Generals above a certain rank, but compared to the current widespread artifact crafting, they’re far simpler to produce. As long as we have enough quantity... Actually, we can look at this from another angle: if we break down the manufacturing steps and use 'artifacts' to accomplish them—I mean, production-type 'artifacts'—then the process can be made incredibly simple...
It’s really the same principle: in battle, artifacts can empower the weak, and in production, artifacts can let even clueless cultivators acquire manufacturing skills—so long as we embed the complex parts inside the artifact itself...
In this way, if we have enough weapons, it wouldn’t be impossible to arm every Spirit Channeling cultivator to surpass the combat power of a Spirit-Refinement opponent...
These ideas need to be realized step by step. For now, our first priority is designing and handcrafting the basic weapons—once they’re finalized, we’ll move to mass production...
As Monkey spoke one point after another, Jade Cauldron was already utterly entranced.
Amid all the rough sketches scattered on the ground, every concept seemed easily achievable. Yet, he felt he was witnessing the dawn of a whole new era—old techniques, but an entirely fresh philosophy.
At the end, Monkey set down his Cloudwalker Staff and gazed at Jade Cauldron, speaking slowly, "There are so many more ideas like these—the whole plan is rather grand in scale. All these things are completely different from mainstream artifact production. Since they rely on the explosions caused by spiritual power disruption, they don’t require precious materials, but demand extremely precise array control. Of all those I know, only you, Brother Jade Cauldron, have the skill to design such arrays and master this craft. So, I beg your help with this enormous task. Wukong thanks you in advance."
With that, Monkey slowly rose and cupped his hands in salute to the utterly stunned Jade Cauldron Immortal.
For a long moment, Jade Cauldron said nothing; his mind was still lost among the sketches strewn across the ground.
In this world, such thinking was utterly inconceivable.
For demon cultivators, cultivation was all about fighting—if you lost, you died, and death meant nothingness. In truth, they’d always possessed brute strength, but against the Heavenly Court’s warships and the immortals’ artifacts, such force was meaningless.
But what about human cultivators?
For them, cultivation meant following the Sage’s Path: seeking longevity, pursuing benefit and avoiding harm, refining pills and taking medicines. Under the strict order maintained by the Heavenly Court, pouring one’s energy into combat was pointless.
For countless millennia, battle was nothing but hacking and slashing. True, a few great powers wielded ingenious treasures, and the Celestial Army had some novel artifact loadouts, but those were rare exceptions. In the end, the mainstream was still brute melee.
But this new way of thinking was entirely different.
It took the Sage’s Path to its extreme—using it for destruction, for killing, by any means necessary.
Jade Cauldron could already picture what would happen if these weapons became widespread.
Demon ranks, armed to the teeth, would unleash all manner of unimaginable weapons from afar, while the Celestial Army would be powerless to retaliate—they could only charge. By the time they reached the enemy, their numbers would be decimated—if they even got that far. Morale would be shattered, formations would collapse, and they’d be left at the enemy’s mercy.
A Sage’s Path devoted to slaughter—this was truly...
After a long pause, Jade Cauldron finally let out a deep breath and shook his head with a wry smile. "Who would’ve thought? I, Jade Cauldron, always tinkering and straying from proper cultivation—my senior brothers have always looked down on me for it. And yet, it’s exactly what you value. But this isn’t just artifact design, Wukong. What you’re proposing... you’re changing the entire way wars are fought. You’re ushering in a new era! The whole world will be turned upside down by you! With these weapons, even the weak could defeat the strong. Of course, against Spirit-Transformation cultivators it may not mean much, but that’s enough. When the time comes... hahaha, fascinating! Fascinating! If my disciple Erik Yang had your vision and had prepared early, the Heavenly Court’s million-strong army might have faced a very different outcome... Wait, you mean to fight the Heavenly Court?"
Suddenly, his eyes widened in alarm as he stared at Monkey. He’d been focused on the artifacts, but only now realized Monkey had always spoken of the Heavenly Court as the enemy.
"That’s right," Monkey replied lightly. "I’m now the Handsome Monkey King of Blossom Mountain, a true demon king—and the Heavenly Court is my mortal enemy."
Jade Cauldron and Monkey locked eyes for a long moment, both lost in thought.
In Monkey’s eyes, he saw only a hunger for power and unwavering resolve. Like Erik Yang... no, even more absolute, more pure. That gaze told Jade Cauldron plainly: this monkey held no illusions about the Heavenly Court, and had no room for compromise.
After a long while, Jade Cauldron sighed. "You’re Master Sage Subhuti’s personal disciple, not an ordinary cultivator. Why go to such lengths?"
"There’s no helping it. Born a demon, I’ll live as a demon for this lifetime. Besides, there are things between me and someone in the Heavenly Court that can never be reconciled. If there’s no compromise, then one day, men will have to settle it with their fists. When that day comes, I’ll need allies."
"Someone? Who? The Jade Emperor?"
Monkey didn’t answer—he simply gazed quietly at Jade Cauldron.