Zhao Ya sat cross-legged, diligently controlling the Azure Dragon True Power and Star-devouring True Power within him, attempting to slowly fuse them into one.
But soon, this attempt ended in failure again.
With no other choice, Zhao Ya could only open his eyes.
The situation was far more difficult than he had anticipated. Just now, he had tried no less than dozens of times, and without exception, all ended in failure.
Although the two powers were inseparable, at critical moments, an invisible repulsive force would always push them apart.
It’s like an onion; although closely connected, there is an invisible membrane separating each layer.
It seems Guo Luming was right; Azure Dragon True Power and Star-devouring True Power are fundamentally different kinds of true power. Trying to fuse them is extremely difficult.
Zhao Ya sighed, just about to rise when he heard the sound of chaotic footsteps from outside the hall, and soon Gui Xuanqing rushed in, full of excitement.
"Senior Brother, it worked, it worked!"
"What worked?" Zhao Ya asked, still somewhat puzzled.
Gui Xuanqing excitedly pulled an arrow out from his robe, "Our crossbow arrow replication succeeded."
"Oh?" Zhao Ya was stunned upon hearing this, then reached out to take the arrow from Gui Xuanqing’s hand and examined it carefully.
Previously, Azure Dragon Temple had confiscated many mechanical crossbows from the assassins of Separation Tower.
These things not only had long range and immense lethality, but their key feature was their silence, making them essential for ambushes and home defense.
The only shortcoming was that the confiscated crossbow arrows were too few and far from sufficient for use.
Coupled with the consumption from the previous battle, although most of the crossbow arrows were recovered, many were damaged beyond use.
This left Azure Dragon Temple with a powerful artifact, yet unable to use it freely.
For this, Zhao Ya was at a loss.
Because these mechanical crossbows and crossbow arrows were made by the Mechanical Sect, buying arrows meant seeking them out.
But in recent years, the Mechanical Sect had become increasingly secretive, and their heirs seldom ventured into the world, making it very difficult to find them.
Even if one got incredibly lucky and found them, there was no guarantee of getting matching crossbow arrows.
With no options, Zhao Ya had to let Gui Xuanqing and the others find a way to replicate them.
But all efforts resulted in failure.
Because the crossbow arrows used by the mechanical crossbows were specially made and of high processing quality.
This ensured that during long-range attacks, there would be no deviation, ensuring accuracy.
But this also made replication extremely difficult.
With the current resources of Azure Dragon Temple, achieving minimal error during processing was almost impossible.
So, later on, Zhao Ya gave up.
Unexpectedly, Gui Xuanqing suddenly brought him a surprise today.
Looking at the sleek arrow in his hand, with a tip exuding a cold glint, Zhao Ya couldn’t help but feel moved.
He reached out and gently stroked the arrow’s body, feeling the smoothness, especially the perfectly formed triangular arrowhead.
At least with his eyes, Zhao Ya couldn’t see any error.
"Has it been tested?"
"It has been tested. At a distance of a hundred paces, there’s hardly any difference from the original crossbow arrows. Only beyond two hundred paces does it show slight deviations," Gui Xuanqing said excitedly.
Zhao Ya was even more amazed at this.
Because this result could no longer be described as excellent — it was astonishing.
But clearly, they couldn’t even replicate the basic form before.
"How did you manage to do it?"
"Hehe, it’s a long story, Senior Brother, you better come with me, you’ll see for yourself." Gui Xuanqing said with a smile.
Indeed curious, Zhao Ya followed Gui Xuanqing to the archery range at the back mountain.
Upon arrival, he saw many gathered already.
Most were the ones previously assigned to use the mechanical crossbows during the battle.
Currently, their faces were also full of excitement, continuously talking around someone.
When Zhao Ya arrived, the crowd naturally parted.
Then Zhao Ya saw a strange machine.
This contraption resembled an oversized spinning wheel, only far more complex.
And in front of the machine, someone was operating it skillfully.
"Jin Fu?" Zhao Ya exclaimed in surprise.
Indeed.
The one operating the machinery and crafting arrows was none other than Jin Fu, an Outer Disciple personally brought up by Zhao Ya.
Due to the imminent battle and the closure of the mountains, the outer sect at the foot of the mountain had been temporarily abandoned, with its disciples moved to the temple.
Presently, Zhao Ya naturally had no time or energy to teach them.
Fortunately, Azure Dragon Temple had been revitalized, with the Instructor Elders reforming themselves.
So Zhao Ya placed them into the Transmission Hall, which included Jin Fu.
Due to various complexities, Zhao Ya hadn’t paid much attention to them, and thus didn’t expect Jin Fu to be working at the back mountain range, engaging in arrow crafting.
"How about it, Senior Brother? Isn’t it astounding?" Gui Xuanqing asked proudly.
"This thing... who created it?" Zhao Ya, shocked, asked as he looked at the cumbersome yet principle-efficient machine resembling a crafting lathe.
"Of course it was made through the collective effort of all of us," Gui Xuanqing said.
"Of course, the ones who contributed the most were myself and Jin Fu here."