317: Chapter 252: Building the Forge, the Divine Kingdom Gains Mobility

In the secluded cultivation chamber of the independent courtyard, isolated from the outside world, only time drifted by in the focus of his Divine Thought.

Lin Zhou sat cross-legged, three light-shadow blueprints floating before him, each emitting a different flavor of rules.

On the left was the [General-purpose Micro Power Of Faith Furnace Blueprint (Standard Edition)] issued by the academy. Its structure was rigorous and steady, with every rune and energy circuit following the basic energy-rule conversion principles verified countless times across the Universe. It was safe and reliable, but this also meant mediocrity and high homogeneity. A furnace built according to this blueprint would have predictable efficiency, energy consumption, and stability, with almost no surprises and difficulty in fully fitting the unique rule characteristics of a specific Divine Kingdom.

In the middle was an optimized plan Lin Zhou had deduced himself, fusing the Mohist The Exploitation of the Works of Nature with the Taoist Tao Follows Nature philosophy. While retaining the core energy conversion matrix of the standard edition, he utilized the Mohist deep understanding of material structure and energy flow to redesign the path and node connection method of some Divine Power channels, making them more in line with the shortest path and least resistance principles of energy transmission, estimated to increase overall energy transmission efficiency by about 3-5%. At the same time, he introduced the Taoist Yin and Yang balance philosophy, adding a small Yin and Yang Harmonizing Array around the furnace core to actively suppress rule ripples generated during the furnace's intense operation, reducing disturbances to the Divine Kingdom's environment and enhancing stability.

On the right was the boldest and most uncertain concept—the Civilization Furnace.

The core of this concept was no longer just the physical process of burning Power Of Faith, converting Divine Power, and driving the Divine Kingdom. What Lin Zhou wanted to build was a special furnace that used the Fire of Civilization as the core catalyst, the Hundred Schools philosophy rules as a stable framework, and massive Power Of Faith as the base fuel; it would not only provide power but also resonate with the entire Divine Kingdom civilization system, and even nourish the civilization in return!

He envisioned its appearance as nine ancient nine cauldrons surrounding the central Fire of Civilization. The nine cauldrons symbolized the Order and weight of the Chinese setting the nine cauldrons in the nine provinces, and could also correspond to the stability of the eight directions and the central core of the Divine Kingdom. On the cauldrons, simplified classic maxims of the Hundred Schools and scenes of civilization development would be engraved. The Fire of Civilization would float above the center of the nine cauldrons as the Soul and highest rule regulator of the furnace.

Its working principle was not simply burning Power Of Faith, but:

Power Of Faith flows into the furnace base (the area surrounded by the nine cauldrons), first passing through a layer of Power Of Faith purification and Order organization based on the Legalist Net of Law concept, removing distracting thoughts, making the Power Of Faith purer, more orderly, and easier to convert, while reducing residue (negative emotions and chaotic rule residues) after combustion.

Pure Power Of Faith flows into the Elementary conversion matrix inside the nine cauldrons, performing basic energy release and converting into a primitive Divine Power flow.

The primitive Divine Power flow converges to the center, undergoing baptism and catalysis by the Fire of Civilization. The civilization principles (Order, Legacy, creation, resilience, etc.) contained in the Fire of Civilization resonate with the primitive Divine Power flow, causing its properties to undergo subtle changes, becoming more tame, resilient, and bearing the mark of civilization. Lin Zhou calls this Divine Power that has been permeated by the Fire of Civilization Civilization Divine Power.

Civilization Divine Power is then sent to various drive nodes of the Divine Kingdom through optimized Divine Power channels (Mohist structure + Taoist harmony). Its driving efficiency is expected to be higher than standard Divine Power, and its affinity and adaptability to the Divine Kingdom's rule environment are also stronger.

At the same time, during the furnace's operation, the Hundred Schools maxims and civilization scenes engraved on the nine cauldrons will continuously emit weak civilization information fluctuations, resonating with existing buildings in the Divine Kingdom such as the Jixia Academy, Temple of Law, and Tiangong Workshop, slightly improving the overall civilization atmosphere and the Comprehension Ability of the clans.

The furnace itself can also serve as a super-large Divine Power reserve pool. When not operating at full power, excess Civilization Divine Power can be stored within the nine cauldrons and released instantly when urgently needed.

Of course, the concept is beautiful, but realization is extremely difficult. The biggest challenge lies in: how to stably and controllably integrate the Fire of Civilization—an Origin-level existence that leans towards the spiritual and rule levels—into a physical-rule device that requires high-intensity, continuous energy output? This requires extraordinary understanding and control over the Fire of Civilization itself, the furnace structure, and the rule interface between the two. If one is not careful, either the Fire of Civilization will be scattered or polluted by the violent energy of the furnace, or the furnace will collapse because it cannot bear the special rules of the Fire of Civilization.

Lin Zhou closed his eyes and pondered, his Divine Thought communicating with that eternally burning flame in the Temple of Civilization, feeling its rhythm and parsing its essence. At the same time, the profound meanings of Mohism, Taoism, Legalism, Confucianism, and many other schools flowed and collided in his mind, attempting to find a solid theoretical fulcrum and feasible technical path for this grand concept.

Days passed. Except for necessary courses (he still listened carefully to the Divine Kingdom War Studies theory class, absorbing nutrients) and basic Cultivate recovery, Lin Zhou devoted almost all his energy to perfecting the Civilization Furnace blueprint. He frequently communicated with Li Mo about engineering structure and energy circuit issues, discussed the application of the power of Order in energy purification with Qin Qing, and even communicated via distance with Grom Benevolence and several scholar-type heroes (such as the newly promoted Elf Grand Scholar) far away in the Divine Kingdom, thinking about the impact of furnace operation on the Divine Kingdom's environment from the perspective of the most basic civilized life needs.

After learning of his concept, Su Yueyao also used the Family's research on ancient civilizations to provide some incomplete records about ancient sacrificial vessels (such as cauldrons) and energy convergence and civilization Luck. Although vague, it gave Lin Zhou much inspiration.

On the seventh day, when Dean Lei Gang announced the first practical guidance class, the Civilization Furnace blueprint unique to Lin Zhou had already completed over 80% of its theoretical deduction and core rule modeling. The rest needed to be fine-tuned during actual construction based on material characteristics and real-time feedback.

During the guidance class, Dean Lei Gang answered many questions from students about the standard blueprint and severely warned those who tried to modify the blueprint without authorization and were ambitious but lacked talent. But when his gaze swept over Lin Zhou, he seemed to have sensed something, but said nothing, only nodding imperceptibly.

After class, construction officially began.

Lin Zhou's consciousness returned to the core of the Divine Kingdom. The current Divine Kingdom has an area of 150 square kilometers (after Fusion with the ancient cave), with diverse landscapes and increasingly perfect rules. In the core area, miracle buildings such as Jixia Academy, Temple of Law, Tiangong Workshop, and Altar of Shennong shine brightly. Civilization Elves, Creation Dwarves, Celestial Constitution Fishmen, and other clans are performing their duties, orderly, and the Power Of Faith network is stable and prosperous.

The furnace construction site he selected is located in the center of the Divine Kingdom, inside a huge natural rock cave slightly below the surface. The underground veins here are stable, the space is open, and it is at a moderate distance from all major miracle buildings and the main roads of the Power Of Faith network.

Let's start.

With a movement of Lin Zhou's Divine Thought, massive resources were continuously transmitted from his temporary warehouse at the base and previous reserves through the Divine Kingdom channel.

First is the material for the base and the nine cauldrons. He did not choose the general Blazing Energy Alloy recommended by the academy, but used the Titan skeleton he had exchanged before. Except for the core part reserved for extracting divinity, the rest of the bones were initially smelted and rule-harmonized by the Tiangong Dwarf Engineers, mixed with Astral Alloy Ingots, Dao-spreading Copper (a part of the exchange), and the Divine Kingdom's own Civilization Iron (iron ore long permeated by the aura of civilization), forming a unique grayish-gold, heavy, and tough composite metal—Civilization Town-Mountain Gold—which faintly exudes ancient power and the aura of civilization.

Hundreds of Creation Dwarves and Tiangong Dwarf Engineers, under the remote guidance of Li Mo (via Divine Thought connection), began to forge the nine giant cauldrons according to the drawings provided by Lin Zhou, which fused the ancient cauldron shape with optimized energy structures. Each cauldron was ten meters high and six meters in diameter, with three legs and two ears. The cauldron body was thick, engraved with civilization scenes and maxim runes such as mountains and rivers, farming, hunting, rituals, music, conquest, and the Hundred Schools of Thought. The forging process was not only physical tempering but also required Lin Zhou to personally use Divine Power and the power of rules to imprint the corresponding civilization connotation and energy circuits bit by bit, a project that was vast and meticulous.

At the same time, other clans were also busy. Wenxin Elf Scholars cooperated with Lin Zhou to carve large composite magic arrays on the cave floor and surrounding rock walls, fusing Legalist Order purification and Taoist Yin and Yang harmony principles, serving as the purification layer and stability layer for the furnace base. Law Murloc Inquisitors were responsible for maintaining absolute Order in the construction area to prevent energy leakage or rule conflicts. Even the newly naturalized Orcs, led by Grom, were responsible for some basic physical handling and site cleaning work, allowing them to participate in the great construction of the Divine Kingdom personally, further deepening their sense of belonging.

The construction process was not smooth sailing. The rule imprints and energy circuit docking of the nine cauldrons had subtle deviations many times, causing local energy disorder; the energy interface between the base array and the cauldron feet required extremely precise matching; most importantly, when the nine cauldrons were initially formed and began to try to guide the Power Of Faith to flow in for initial testing, the chaotic thoughts contained in the Power Of Faith flow clashed violently with the civilization Order engraved on the cauldron body, almost causing the runes inside one of the cauldrons to crack.

At the critical moment, Lin Zhou decisively mobilized the power of the Temple of Law to strengthen the effect of the base purification layer, while personally guiding a trace of the Fire of Civilization's aura with his Divine Thought and injecting it into the problematic cauldron. The pale golden Fire of Civilization was like the most precise welding torch, smoothing out the cracked rules of the conflict, and with its higher civilization status, persuaded those chaotic Power Of Faith thoughts to obey Order. The crisis was resolved, but it also made Lin Zhou realize that the full participation and fine control of the Fire of Civilization were indispensable.

For ten full days, the core rock cave of the Divine Kingdom roared continuously, and the brilliance flowed. When the last core rune of the ninth giant cauldron was perfectly imprinted with the assistance of the Fire of Civilization, and the nine cauldrons settled steadily on the huge array base according to the nine palaces orientation, the entire rock cave shook violently!

The nine cauldrons emitted a low hum simultaneously, and the scenes and maxims on the cauldron bodies seemed to come alive, flowing with faint golden light. The base array lit up, forming a misty, orderly energy field. Above the center of the nine cauldrons, a pure and warm pale golden flame—about one-tenth of the Fire of Civilization Origin that Lin Zhou had separated—floated quietly, creating a clear resonance link with the nine cauldrons, the base array, and even the entire Divine Kingdom's civilization rule network!

[Civilization Furnace (Micro · Customized Edition) main body construction complete!]

Status: Awaiting activation.

Core: Separated Fire of Civilization Origin (1/10 strand), stable status, deeply bound to the furnace.

Structure: nine cauldrons Town-Mountain (Civilization Town-Mountain Gold forged, engraved with Hundred Schools civilization connotations) + composite base array (Order purification + Yin and Yang harmony).

Energy pathway: Optimized Divine Power channels (Mohist efficiency + Taoist stability), initially connected to the Divine Kingdom's main drive nodes and rule network.

Estimated performance (theoretical):

Power Of Faith conversion efficiency: 1 unit of standard faith crystal → 0.92 - 0.95 units of Civilization Divine Power (due to purification and catalysis, loss is reduced).

Basic drive power: At full power, it can drive the Divine Kingdom (currently 150 square kilometers) to move in the Void Realm at a speed of about 1.1 standard astral units/day. (Slightly higher than the standard micro furnace limit.)

Rule disturbance: Extremely low (Yin and Yang harmony array + Fire of Civilization stability effect).

Divine Power reserve capacity: The nine cauldrons can additionally store Civilization Divine Power equivalent to about 50,000 units of Divine Power (requires pre-charging).

Daily basic Power Of Faith consumption (maintaining minimum standby power and weak civilization resonance): about 100,000 units.

Full power operation daily consumption: about 1,000,000 units of Power Of Faith (drive + reserve charging + Fire of Civilization maintenance).

Special effects:

Civilization Resonance: Weakly improves the wisdom growth, skill comprehension speed, and civilization identification of the clans in the Divine Kingdom (full range + 1%).

Rule Affinity: The output Civilization Divine Power has extra adaptability to the Divine Kingdom's existing rule buildings (such as Academy, Temple), reducing energy consumption by 5% when driving related facilities.

Potential: The furnace core (Fire of Civilization) grows synchronously with the development of the Divine Kingdom's civilization, and can be upgraded in the future by adding more civilization principles or enhancing the flame Origin.

Now, activate!

Lin Zhou's Divine Thought connected to the furnace control center, guiding a torrent of pure Power Of Faith from the Divine Kingdom's Power Of Faith network into the base array.

The array shone brightly, and the Power Of Faith flow became clear and orderly after purification and organization, splitting into nine streams and flowing into the nine giant cauldrons. The Elementary conversion matrix inside the cauldrons started, and the primitive Divine Power flow surged out, circling inside the cauldrons, and was then attracted and wrapped by the halo emitted by the Fire of Civilization floating in the center...

The pale golden Fire of Civilization swayed slightly, like a skilled chef processing ingredients. The violent and untamed parts of the primitive Divine Power flow were quietly smoothed out, and its essence was imprinted with a trace of the unique Order, resilience, and creative aura of civilization, and the color also took on a trace of pale gold from the scorching white.

Civilization Divine Power generated! They rushed out along the optimized Divine Power channels and poured into the pre-connected underlying rule drive nodes of the Divine Kingdom!

Boom!!!

The entire Divine Kingdom, for the first time, clearly moved! It was not an internal earthquake or storm, but the entire plane, in the background of the Void Realm, produced a clear and unmistakable displacement trend! Although the speed was still very low, the feeling of controlling oneself, breaking free from the shackles of coordinates, and striding towards the stars and the sea made Lin Zhou's heart surge! All clans in the Divine Kingdom, no matter where they were, felt it, looked up at the sky (or perceived the Void Realm), and felt an unprecedented vitality and direction belonging to the entire homeland!

Inside the rock cave, the nine cauldrons roared, the Fire of Civilization burned steadily, and an endless stream of Civilization Divine Power was output through the channels, maintaining this initial, yet significant, movement of the Divine Kingdom.

Civilization Furnace, built! The Divine Kingdom, from now on, has wings to soar in the sea of stars!