163: Chapter 163: Old Relic, Show Me What Technology Is

With Sect Leader Lu Yun bowing his head, the matter was settled.

Since he had conceded, what more was there for the remaining disciples to say?

Besides, who wouldn't be tempted by the grand vision Jiang Ning had painted?

"I'm in! I'm with Junior Uncle Jiang!"

"I'm staying too! I don't want any severance pay! I just want to see how awesome the sect can become in the future!"

"Junior Uncle Jiang, wherever you point, I'll strike!"

For a moment, the area in front of the sect gate was filled with voices expressing loyalty.

Especially the young ones, who had long since grown tired of living a life where they struggled to make ends meet; now that a god-like figure was leading them to prosperity, they would have to be crazy to leave.

Only Elder Sun and a few other old stubborn ones remained rooted to the spot, their faces turning shades of blue and white, clearly still locked in an internal struggle.

Jiang Ning glanced at them but didn't rush them.

She knew that changing the antiquated notions in people's heads wasn't something that could be done with just a few words.

She spoke into something on her wrist: "Commander Zhang, you may enter."

"Received, Chief Engineer," a man's voice came from the device.

The disciples of the Qingyun Sect were dumbfounded. Who was this Junior Uncle talking to?

Just as they were wondering, a dull, thunder-like roar suddenly came from the horizon, growing louder and closer, as if some massive object was flying toward them.

"What's that noise?"

"The sky! Look at the sky!"

Everyone looked up and was instantly stunned.

Over a dozen pitch-black iron lumps were flying in the sky. They had no wings, yet they hovered in mid-air, spewing blue fire from their rears, making a terrifying amount of noise.

"That... what kind of magic treasure is that?"

"A flying boat? I've never seen one look like that!"

"It's too fast!"

While everyone was stunned, those dozen or so iron lumps had already reached above the Qingyun Sect.

As the cabin doors opened, "mortals" wearing uniform outfits slid down ropes, their movements incredibly nimble.

Next, large iron crates were lowered down.

After landing, these people didn't say a word; they immediately split up to work, starting to assemble various machines whose names no one knew, their coordination seamless.

The disciples of the Qingyun Sect, from top to bottom, were completely dumbfounded.

They had never seen such a spectacle in their lives.

Where did these mortals come from? And what on earth were those things flying in the sky?

"Junior... Junior Sister..." Sect Leader Lu Yun's tongue was tied as he pointed at the busy soldiers and equipment. "This... this is..."

"My people," Jiang Ning answered simply.

"People?" Sect Leader Lu Yun didn't understand.

"You can think of them as... craftsmen I've hired to help our Qingyun Sect with construction," Jiang Ning said, finding a term he could understand.

Craftsmen?

Sect Leader Lu Yun and the surrounding disciples' faces twitched.

People who could fly in iron lumps and carried gear better than imperial soldiers were called craftsmen?

Then what did that make them, the cultivators? Bricklayers?

Elder Sun was so angry his beard stood on end. He pointed at the people and cursed: "Jiang Ning! You dare to bring mortals into the sect grounds! This is a great disrespect to the Founding Patriarch! You..."

Before he could finish, he was choked by what happened before his eyes.

A soldier took a square box half a person's height out of a crate and pulled a cord on it.

The machine let out a strange noise, and something connected to it suddenly lit up.

A burst of white light exploded, more blinding than the midday sun!

The entire Qingyun Sect gate instantly became as bright as day.

Everyone's eyes stung from the glare, and they reflexively closed them.

"What kind of magic is this?!"

"So bright! But I don't feel any spiritual power!"

"Could it be the legendary Great Illumination Technique?"

The disciples were completely stunned by this display.

Jiang Ning looked at the small generator and the large searchlight connected to it and smiled.

She clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"The first thing I'm doing after taking over the sect is this," she said, pointing at the glowing object. "I want to make the entire Qingyun Sect as bright at night as it is during the day."

"In the future, every corner of the sect will be equipped with these things, which I call 'electric lights'."

"From now on, everyone won't have to fumble in the dark, nor will you have to light those expensive and choking oil lamps."

Electric lights?

Another new term.

The disciples only half-understood, but they all felt this was a great thing.

Elder Sun, however, wasn't buying it. He caught his breath and snorted coldly: "Ingenious devices of little value! These are just things that emit light! We cultivators seek the Great Dao of immortality; how can we indulge in such external objects? If you have time for this, you'd be better off meditating for another hour!"

"Is that so?" Jiang Ning wasn't angry. "Elder Sun, do you think this is just a little trinket?"

She nodded at a person who looked like a technician nearby.

That person immediately performed some operations on a tablet in his hand, then took a metal rod over a meter long from another crate, with a strange mesh on the top.

He connected the rod to the noisy machine.

The iron mesh on top of the rod instantly filled with jumping blue-purple electric arcs, crackling and popping, which made people feel uneasy just looking at it.

"Elder Sun," Jiang Ning said, smiling at him, "do you think a cultivator's protective true essence can withstand this?"

Elder Sun looked at the rod flashing with electricity, and his heart skipped a beat for no reason.

He could feel a pure, deadly power coming from it.

But he still spoke toughly: "Hmph! Mere mortal creations, what can they do to me? My protective true essence, even a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator couldn't easily break it!"

"Very good," Jiang Ning nodded. "Then let's test it."

She called out to the crowd: "Senior Sister Lin, could you please come here?"

A tall woman carrying a heavy sword walked out; it was Senior Sister Lin, who used to love sparring with Jiang Ning back in the day.

A few years had passed, and she was now at the Mid Foundation Establishment Stage, but there was more weariness around her eyes.

"Junior Sister Jiang." She nodded, her eyes full of curiosity and excitement.

"Senior Sister Lin, use your strongest move to strike that boulder over there." Jiang Ning pointed to a large rock not far away.

"Alright!"

Senior Sister Lin didn't hesitate; she drew her heavy sword, her true essence surging.

"Mountain-Splitting Sword!"

She shouted, and a sword aura several zhang long slashed onto the giant rock!

"Boom!"

With a loud roar, gravel flew everywhere.

On the house-sized boulder, a sword mark half a foot deep appeared.

This power was considered top-tier among the disciples, and many cheered.

Jiang Ning, however, shook her head.

"Not bad, but not enough."

She gave a look to the soldier holding the electric rod.

The soldier understood and aimed the electric rod at another rock of similar size nearby, pressing the switch.

A thick blue current shot out from the tip of the rod and struck the rock.

There was no loud noise, and no flying rocks.

The current only stayed on the rock for less than a second.

Then, under everyone's wide-eyed gaze, that huge rock... "whoosh," from the inside out, quietly turned into a pile of fine powder.

As the wind blew, it scattered.