Without a word along the way, with the speed of Zhao Ya and Jing Rou’s body techniques, they returned safely to the Mechanical Sect after a few days of full-speed travel.
Upon stepping inside the mountain gate, Jing Rou didn’t even take a sip of water before promptly calling over the disciples from the Thunder and Fire Department who had come to greet them.
"Quick, prepare the test platform for me!"
The eyes of the Thunder and Fire Department members lit up at this.
"Senior Brother, have you discovered something?"
Jing Rou laughed heartily, patting the bag on his back, "Of course, and it’s a very significant discovery!"
The test platforms were ready-made and needed only slight preparation.
Soon, the members of the Thunder and Fire Department followed Jing Rou to conduct the experiment.
Before leaving, Jing Rou didn’t forget to invite Zhao Ya, but Zhao Ya refused without hesitation.
Joking aside, he had witnessed with his own eyes the crazy enthusiasm the Thunder and Fire Department had when conducting experiments.
Although Zhao Ya’s Lightweight Body Techniques are unparalleled, he didn’t intend to race gunpowder explosions in terms of speed.
Jing Rou could only express great regret, then left excitedly.
Seeing him like this, Zhao Ya couldn’t help but admire him a little.
After all, during these past days they hadn’t rested at all except for three or four hours of sleep each night. The rest of the time was spent on the road.
Zhao Ya naturally didn’t mind; his exceptional stamina would allow him to keep running like this for another ten days without any problem.
But Jing Rou was different.
He didn’t possess Zhao Ya’s formidable talents.
Running like this purely on flesh and blood, one can imagine the pressure he was under.
At least, it was visibly apparent that he had lost a noticeable amount of weight.
Yet when they returned to the Mechanical Sect, without even taking a break, he immediately threw himself into the experiment.
Not to mention anything else, just by this level of enthusiasm, he was without a doubt worthy of being hailed as the senior brother of the Thunder and Fire Department.
"What did you bring back for Senior Brother Jing this time to get him so excited?" Unnoticed when he appeared, Liang Xin’an surfaced beside Zhao Ya and asked softly.
"Nothing much, just some Miracle Creations."
Zhao Ya didn’t mention the mold-like thing they had scavenged from the Free-Loading Bird’s nest, as he wasn’t even sure if it was useful yet.
"Some Miracle Creations?" Liang Xin’an glanced at Zhao Ya, then said curiously, "Looks like you had quite a bit of harvest this time."
Zhao Ya laughed, "Not too bad. Although we encountered some troubles, fortunately, the outcome was still pretty good."
With that, Zhao Ya yawned long and loud, "After rushing for so many days, I’m a bit tired. Going to sleep!"
Having said this, he walked away.
Liang Xin’an watched his back, feeling there was something suspicious.
This guy seemed to be hiding something.
Zhao Ya had planned to take a nice long sleep, but that plan quickly fell through.
Just as he lay down, a loud noise suddenly erupted from outside.
Zhao Ya sprang up, instantly wide awake.
An explosion?
Then Zhao Ya jumped out, intending to head to the Thunder and Fire Department, but he heard laughter coming from afar.
"Ha ha ha ha, I knew it! It finally worked!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Ya relaxed because it was clearly Jing Rou’s voice.
At the same time, the entire Mechanical Sect was also alarmed.
Liang Xin’an dashed past Zhao Ya like a ghost and, moments later, returned, saying softly, "Let’s go have a look together!"
Zhao Ya felt Liang Xin’an’s tone was a bit odd but didn’t think much of it, simply nodded, and followed.
When they reached the Thunder and Fire Department’s grounds, much to the surprise of Zhao Ya and Liang Xin’an, the building hadn’t collapsed.
Only the doors and windows were shattered, with thick smoke billowing out from inside.
In front of the building, the disciples of the Thunder and Fire Department gathered, faces dusty yet extremely excitedly discussing something.
At this time, the senior brother of the Celestial Craft Department, Huang Liang, also arrived. Upon seeing the building still standing, he seemed slightly disappointed.
"Alas, why didn’t it collapse!"
Zhao Ya couldn’t help but laugh and cry hearing this.
What kind of people are in this Mechanical Sect!
There are even people hoping their own sect’s building would explode?
Meanwhile, Cui Guangyue rushed over, supported by others.
He squinted, trying to see the scene in front of him, but his poor eyesight at night made it impossible for him to discern things from afar.
He could only shout angrily, "Jing Rou, what are you up to again? Can’t people at least have a peaceful sleep in the middle of the night?"
Now, Jing Rou finally recovered from the euphoria and came dashing over excitedly, gesturing wildly as he spoke.
"Senior Brother Cui, please don’t rush to scold me. I have a major discovery!"
"What major discovery?"
"Hehe, take a look at this!"
With that, Jing Rou raised what was in his hand.
Cui Guangyue couldn’t see clearly at all, didn’t even know where Jing Rou was standing, so he could only curse angrily.
"You brat, don’t you know my eyesight is bad? What is it? Don’t keep us in suspense, just tell us."
"Yes!"
Jing Rou replied merrily, then said.
"This time, Ya and I went to the Wuyang Sea and collected a batch of Miracle Creations, some of which were remarkable. But I’m not speaking about them; I’m talking about another object."
"Our Mechanical Sect previously had a Miracle Creation level hand cannon, but the bullets were used up, and the subsequent ammunition produced couldn’t achieve its intended power, reducing it to just a collectible item."
"But guess what? This time, we unexpectedly found a mold-like Miracle Creation by the Wuyang Beach."
"The engravings inside resemble those on the hand cannon. I suspected at the time that it might be a mold specifically for creating bullets for the Miracle Creation, so as soon as I came back, I wasted no time in starting experiments." Jing Rou said, grinning from ear to ear.
"And the result?" Liang Xin’an asked quickly.
"The result is the loud explosion you just heard. Well, it was not actually an explosion, but just the sound made when I tested the hand cannon’s power!"
Upon hearing this, everyone could hardly believe their ears.
Such an enormous explosive sound, from a hand cannon?
Luckily, the smoke has cleared, so they all moved into the house.
Indeed.
Right in the middle of the room, there was a large pit with many smoldering fragments scattered around.
"This is the special target we normally use to test the power of firearms, entirely made of steel, incredibly sturdy, yet it was blown to this state with one shot!" Jing Rou introduced with a self-satisfied expression.
"Is it really that powerful?"
Zhao Ya, who had personally used Miracle Creation level firearms, was somewhat surprised even himself after hearing this.
Jing Rou nodded, then bashfully said, "Ahem, this is also partly because I didn’t control the amount of gunpowder well this time, but that hand cannon truly lives up to being a Miracle Creation, withstanding such great power without any damage or chamber explosion!"
Saying this, he placed the blackened object he was holding in front of everyone.
Only then did everyone see that this soot-covered thing was a hand cannon.
The crowd: "..."
Zhao Ya’s interest was piqued.
"Are there any more bullets? Let me give it a try!"
Jing Rou immediately got excited again, "No more. I made only one at the time, but don’t worry, now that we’ve mastered the method, just wait a moment, I’ll have another ready soon."
Saying this, Jing Rou promptly began preparing and didn’t forget to ask Zhao Ya.
"What amount of gunpowder do you want?"
"This thing can be customized?"
"Of course!"
"Just make it the same as your last shot!"
"Got it!"
Despite having traveled continuously for several days, despite having worked through most of the night once back, and despite being covered in dust and smoke from the blasts,
Jing Rou was still full of spirit, personally handcrafting the bullet.
Everyone stayed, waiting from a distance.
If everything Jing Rou said turns out to be true, it would indeed be a major event for the Mechanical Sect, as it means that the power of the Thunder and Fire Department will reach new heights.
Soon, the bullet was ready.
After it was loaded, Jing Rou handed the hand cannon to Zhao Ya.
Zhao Ya surveyed the area but couldn’t find a suitable target, so he simply walked out of the house, aimed at a large boulder on a distant hillside, and pulled the trigger.
Boom!
After the sound of the gunshot, the immense recoil made it hard for Zhao Ya to control his arm, which jerked upwards.
Following this, the huge boulder on the distant hillside shattered into pieces.