The key characteristic of Qimen Battle Armor lay in its ability to harness the power of heaven and earth, enabling it to unleash overwhelming combat strength. It offered a tremendous boost to its user. If one could craft top-tier Qimen Battle Armor, even an ordinary cultivator could wield power on par with a supreme expert. The main challenge was how to endow the armor with a unique energy core, or even more critically, how to incorporate a powerful Qimen Formation.
Perhaps such armor could rival the legendary Supreme Mechas, becoming a foundational national treasure.
As long as the armor could be activated, it could soar through the skies, tunnel through the earth, and sweep through all opposition, shaking the sun, moon, and stars.
That was the kind of armor Yi Tianxing longed to see.
"It's difficult, but not necessarily impossible. We can integrate mechanical techniques, rune formations, and Qimen arrays. The key is that the armor must develop spirituality, even a weapon spirit, to produce miraculous abilities," said Gongshu Lin after a moment of contemplation.
"In the Phantom Beast Hall, the beasts can fuse to become Phantom Armors or Phantom Weapons. If we use them as the armor's weapon spirits, perhaps we really could forge a world-class battle armor," Yi Tianxing proposed.
The main goal of acquiring the Phantom Beast Hall was to strengthen the Great Yi Dynasty through the power of phantom beasts. If successful, such armor could potentially share the growth traits of phantom beasts, evolving alongside its user, and ultimately becoming a legacy power comparable to top-tier experts.
"It might be possible," Master Lu agreed after some thought.
The Gongshu Clan's mechanical arts were renowned across the world—they could build mechanical war beasts that dominated battlefields. If they fused these with runes and phantom beasts, there might be unexpected synergies.
"There's another matter. We've successfully created a replica of the Void Train, but it's still far from the original. The new version can travel in the void, but currently only reaches speeds of thirty li per minute. It's equipped with defensive enchantments capable of withstanding attacks from second- and third-tier fierce beasts or birds. But honestly, this can't be considered a true replication—more like a shadow of the original," said Master Lu.
"Oh? Tell me more," Yi Tianxing's curiosity was piqued.
The Void Train was a heavenly treasure. Even at Black Iron level, it could float and travel through the void. Each carriage could hold fifty passengers. Its normal speed reached a hundred li per minute—six thousand li per hour. Currently, it roamed the Great Yi Dynasty, transporting human citizens and bounty hunters from the wilderness.
Thanks to the Void Train, no foreign tribes dared provoke Great Yi, even in the wilderness. In minutes, waves of bounty hunters could be dispatched.
However, there was only one Void Train, far from enough to serve the entire Great Yi territory. Yi Tianxing also had other plans for it. Using it merely for transport was a waste.
"The train's core is the Void Furnace, which swallows void energy to power its traversal. We haven't figured out how to replicate this Void Furnace. Without that, our version lacks a continuous power source—essentially an empty shell. So we took a different path, using Floating Stones as the core, inscribing levitation rune arrays onto the train to grant it the ability to float, but not teleport through the void," Gongshu Lin explained.
"Floating Stones?" Yi Tianxing raised an eyebrow.
"They came from the Golden City, once the royal capital of the Myriad Beast Court. A floating stone dozens of zhang in size enabled it to levitate and drift across the skies. After it fell and the city became a part of Great Yi, the Floating Stone was extracted and brought to the Heavenly Works Pavilion," he continued.
"With no breakthrough on replicating the Void Furnace, we used the Floating Stone as the core. The result is a fundamentally different vehicle from the Void Train. It lacks the same abilities but can still float. With enough resources and refined materials, we can eventually craft Bronze-grade or even Silver-grade trains."
"How big a Floating Stone is needed for a single train?" Yi Tianxing asked.
"A piece the size of a baby's fist is enough to levitate one train. In the future, if we integrate the Geomagnetic Rune Formation, the floating power will multiply, drastically boosting speed," Gongshu Lin answered.
A piece that size was negligible compared to the massive one already acquired. It could be split to forge many floating trains.
"Hmm. If we're to mass-produce these trains, what materials and obstacles remain? Can they be produced at scale?" Yi Tianxing pressed.
Mass deployment was the real goal.
"It's not hard to forge. The core is the Floating Stone. The rest uses durable, stable materials. Great Yi's reserves are ample enough to support mass production. The only bottleneck is manpower. Even at full capacity, the Heavenly Works Pavilion can only produce three trains a month, and that takes their full effort," Master Lu said after calculating.
"Three per month is too few. The Pavilion must expand. Recruit more craftsmen, especially from the Mohist disciples in the Immortal Academy. We must raise output as soon as possible. The goal is to cover the entire Great Yi territory. Each train should serve a ten-thousand-li radius. The Void Train will be repurposed for other tasks," Yi Tianxing declared.
"Yes!" Gongshu Lin nodded.
With the Floating Train's speed of 30 li per minute—that's 1,800 li per hour, 3,600 li in two hours—it could easily cover a ten-thousand-li region.
"Your Majesty, the head of the Hall of Calamities, the Tong Emperor, requests an audience!" came the eunuch's voice from outside the hall.
"Let her in," Yi Tianxing ordered.
If she had come in person, it surely meant something important.
Soon, a small figure entered the throne hall. Neither Master Lu nor Gongshu Lin showed the slightest disdain—everyone knew the Hall of Calamities was no trivial division. It housed countless eccentrics and experts and provided Great Yi with a constant stream of intelligence during wartime.
Over the years, the Hall had rapidly expanded, developing deep intelligence networks among the people and in the wilderness. Many agents disguised themselves as bounty hunters or wilderness drifters. Reports flowed into the Hall like a river—so many that some were archived into the Scripture Pavilion, sealed away from ordinary cultivators. By now, the Hall had become a giant in its own right.
"Greetings, Your Majesty," the Tong Emperor bowed.
"Rise. Speak freely. Both Master Lu and Sir Gongshu are trusted," Yi Tianxing nodded.
The two bowed respectfully.
"Your Majesty, the Hall's agents have discovered a new continent to the east of Yizhou. It is no smaller than Yizhou—in fact, it may even be larger. A whole new landmass," the Tong Emperor reported swiftly.
"A new landmass… even bigger than Yizhou. That's a continent-level discovery." Yi Tianxing's eyes sparkled with excitement.
This was excellent news.
This wasn't just an island like Python Island, but a vast new continental territory—suitable to become Great Yi's new domain and battlefield. A perfect target for expansion.
"Has the Hall gathered any preliminary intelligence about it?" he asked.
Master Lu and Gongshu Lin also leaned in with anticipation.
This new land was crucial. With nearly a billion people in the Cloud Realm still unsettled, they needed more territory—more immortal cities.
New land meant new opportunities. It meant battles, strategy, alliances, betrayals. It meant training and transformation.
This applied to both soldiers and ministers. Soldiers would evolve in war, while officials would be forged through governance.
"The new land has no confirmed name yet, but it is primarily a land of snow and ice. The climate is extreme—cold dominates, and nine out of twelve months are under snow. At its heart is a massive snow-covered mountain, shrouded in cold so intense that even cultivators can't approach it. Those who do risk being frozen into statues, never to wake again," Tong Emperor said solemnly.
This land was unique, a realm of extreme weather—harsh and merciless. Only the strong could survive there.