Cheng Xu stomped around, fuming a torrent of complaints. Thirty-Two, standing nearby, grew increasingly uneasy.He thought to himself: Cheng Xu is new here and doesn’t know deities watch over Gaojia Village from no greater height than three feet overhead. Every vicious insult he spews is aimed squarely at the Deity. Were it not for the Deity’s boundless mercy, a celestial slap would have already struck him down.

He quickly stepped forward to explain, “Instructor He, please, take a breath. The way Gaojia Village prioritizes armor and weapons truly is…a matter with considerable justification behind it.”

Cheng Xu: “?”

Thirty-Two: “Our village enjoys the Deity’s protection. When eliminating bandits, the Deity provides divine weapons we can employ. The villagers need only protect themselves from harm. Hence, we forge armor first; weapons follow.”

Cheng Xu almost scoffed at this assertion. But then, images flashed through his mind: the garishly colored, utterly unconventional-looking catapults and giant crossbow vehicles he’d seen at Bai Family Fortress, and especially that inexplicably assembled…giant missile. Understanding dawned suddenly.

“Those bizarre weapons… they are all bestowed by the Deity?”

Thirty-Two nodded.

Cheng Xu lifted his head, gazing at the low cloud hanging in the sky. After pondering for several seconds, he suddenly clasped his fists respectfully and addressed the heavens, “Oh Deity! If You possess such celestial artifacts to bestow upon Gaojia Village, ensuring the villagers’ safety, then why did You require me to organize this militia? This humble general… cough… this insignificant person’s trivial skills seem utterly unremarkable compared to transcendent treasures.”

The low cloud parted. An immense sheet of paper materialized within the clouds, bearing a line of imposing characters: “GRASP BOTH HANDS! MAKE BOTH HARD!”

This statement left Cheng Xu utterly baffled. He stood frozen for a moment.

Thirty-Two, however, chuckled softly. “Instructor He, the Deity means this. You diligently teach the villagers the mortal ways of warfare, while the Deity imparts to us the transcendent ways of warfare. We must grasp both methods firmly. We must ensure both methods are strong. This is called achieving thoroughness on all fronts.”

Cheng Xu, a seasoned veteran of the official bureaucracy, instantly slipped into his habitual mode of “interpreting the superior’s intent.” Within half a second, he formulated a response. Addressing the sky respectfully, he declared, “Very well, since that is the case… This humble general… cough… This insignificant person shall proceed boldly with his own methods to train the militia.”

The paper in the sky instantly vanished, replaced by a new sheet bearing the words: “BE BOLD AND GO FOR IT!”

Cheng Xu’s spirits soared. A celestial being from the heavens had issued an edict to him via immense divine paper! What possible room was there for fear? This carried far more weight than any imperial decree! He bellowed loudly, “Listen up! By the Decree of the Deity, this instructor is ordered to teach you mortals the battle formations and tactics of warfare! You blockheads know absolutely nothing! We start from the very beginning! Today, we drill formation alignment!”

The forty-six young men began learning to form ranks under Cheng Xu’s direction. Initially, the lines were grotesquely skewed and painful to behold. Some couldn’t even distinguish left from right. When Cheng Xu ordered them to step forward with their left foot, several obediently stepped out with their right.

It took a considerable amount of effort to finally correct them.

Seeing they had achieved a passable semblance of formation, Cheng Xu instructed the group to stand in rank order while continuing the drill. He then beckoned to Thirty-Two and hurriedly set off towards the “artisans’ well,” intent on adjusting the village’s equipment priorities.

The atmosphere at the artisans’ well vibrated with intense fervor. As the “profession most favored by the Deity,” the artisans enjoyed the highest allotments of life’s necessities in Gaojia Village, living lives of contentment bordering on bliss and brimming with enthusiasm for working. The moment one stepped within, the clangorous din of metal striking metal filled the air, accompanied by the incessant rasping sound of saws biting into wood – “Urrrrrrrrr.”

Cheng Xu had expected to see a scene like the government workshops of Chengcheng County: impoverished, ragged craftsmen toiling listlessly, their faces sallow. Instead, he found every artisan here neatly clothed, high-spirited, and brimming with vitality.

They looked like a completely different species compared to the artisans in the Chengcheng official workshop.

Cheng Xu jolted in surprise: “What’s going on here?!”

Thirty-Two smiled. “The Deity favors artisans and rewards those with specialized skills handsomely. This is common knowledge in Gaojia Village. Nowadays, many villagers lacking specific skills are secretly trying to learn a trade. Especially those outsiders dwelling in Short-term Workers Village; they all hope to apprentice at the artisans’ well.”

Cheng Xu was bewildered, but this wasn’t a matter falling under his purview as a military man. Never one to sweat the details, he strode directly to the front of the blacksmiths. He glanced around, seeing them all diligently forging armor plate segments. Pointing at several of the smiths, he commanded, “You! You! And you! You few! Stop forging plate segments! Forge several dozen proper iron spearheads first! We need a batch of spears!”

He pointed at several others. “You lot! Forget the plate segments for now as well! Forge several dozen waist knives!”

The blacksmiths stole cautious looks at Thirty-Two. Thirty-Two gave a slight nod, confirming the Deity had sanctioned this. The smiths immediately assented, “Understood.”

Continuing his walk through the area, Cheng Xu suddenly spotted Li Da intensely studying a large blueprint. After scrutinizing it, he turned back, hammering and shaping a peculiar section of thin iron wire. He twisted, coiled, and wrapped the wire around an iron rod, carefully forming loop after coiled loop.

Cheng Xu was utterly perplexed, “What weapon are you crafting?”

Li Da: “A firearm of the new style. Like this. The Deity’s teaching.”

Cheng: “What possible connection does this coiled wire have with a firearm?”

Li Da: “To be honest, this humble one isn’t entirely sure either. But the firearm’s blueprint clearly depicts this thing, so I’m just rendering it based on the drawing.”

Cheng Xu glanced at the blueprint unfurled beside them. The coiled mechanism bore a name: Spring.

He thought to himself: Judging by the name… does it… bounce? Perhaps you press your hands together, compressing it, and when released, it springs back violently, launching sharp wires to pierce enemies’ eyes?

He took the spring from Li Da’s hands and squeezed it forcefully between his palms. The spring flattened instantly, showing no sign whatsoever of rebounding.

Cheng Xu laughed derisively, “What kind of useless contraption is this? Seems like you haven’t quite got it right?”

Li Da looked deeply troubled. “True. This humble one constantly struggles to get it right.”

Just as Cheng Xu was about to instruct him to focus on crafting more practical items, Thirty-Two gently tugged his sleeve and whispered, “This is the blueprint for a transcendent firearm. The Deity specifically tasked Li Da with researching transcendent firearms. He hasn’t imposed a deadline; Li Da is permitted to work on it slowly for years to come.”

Hearing this, Cheng Xu immediately abandoned his previous critique. “Fine, then. Take your time studying this contraption. Though I’m not an expert… I suspect the crucial element isn’t the shape, but the material… Ditch the iron. Find something pliant. Bamboo possesses more resilience than this rigid iron wire!”

Li Daoxuan, observing from outside the box, heard this declaration and couldn’t help but pause momentarily, subconsciously raising a thumb towards Cheng Xu. A blind cat stumbled upon a dead mouse! Spoken by sheer accident, this fellow managed to hit the nail squarely on the head.

The true soul of a spring lay not in how one coiled the wire, but in materials science.

It was precisely because the research into materials science in Europe had advanced sufficiently, yielding metals possessed of true elasticity, that springs eventually came into being.

Materials science belonged to the realm of foundational science – an area of distinct weakness back on Li Daoxuan’s home shores.

Without fundamental science as bedrock, any flight of fancy, any ingenious concept, could never escape the confines of a brainstorming session to become tangible reality. Just as humans could never build a truly successful airplane without first mastering aerodynamics.

With neither comprehension of materials science nor understanding of its principles, Li Da… would struggle futilely with that spring for a lifetime.