311: Chapter 311 Haha, look! That foreign sect leader is playing with wood!

Soon, the first model—a simplified wooden model of the "poqi type i" rifle—gradually took shape in his hands.

The wooden bar, about two feet long, had a slightly thicker "barrel" section at the front, the conceptual "compression excitation chamber" and "grip" in the middle, and a crude "shoulder stock" at the rear.

Although it was just wood, it had sharp edges and a clear structure. He even used a carving knife to shallowly carve out grooves for what looked like a "trigger," "safety," and "sighting baseline."

Next was the wooden model for the "Chuan Yang Type I" sniper unit. It was longer and thinner, featuring a rudimentary support structure similar to a tripod. On the front wooden block, he embedded two polished, transparent crystal flakes to simulate a "scope."

The wooden model of the "Lei Hou Type I" support cannon was short, thick, and bulky, with a sturdier tripod.

Several oblate "Spirit Turtle Shield" shells and their complex internal layered structures were also carefully cut and glued together by him using wooden pieces of varying thicknesses.

Just as Xu Ruyu was intently fiddling with these wooden models, using thin string and glue to try to simulate the internal energy channel connections, and constantly recording modifications on animal hide paper, his originally quiet stone chamber gradually began to attract the attention of some passing Taihu Clan Artifact Refining Disciples and the occasional patrolling Artifact Refining Elder.

At first, everyone was just curious about what this "outsider guest," who had been specially looked after by Elder Qingli and arranged into an independent stone chamber, was refining.

But when they peeked through the gap in the not-quite-closed stone door, or glanced "inadvertently" while passing by, and saw the scene inside, the expressions on their faces immediately became extremely colorful.

There was no scorching furnace fire, no clanging of forging, no complex Formation light, and certainly no heart-palpitating energy fluctuations.

There was only one person, facing a pile of wooden lumps, carving and drawing with a small knife, tying things up with string, and animal hide paper covered in strange lines spread out on the table.

What... what is this? Playing house? Or a child playing with woodwork?

This is the Fire Cloud Cave!

The highest-Rank public Artifact Refining workshop of the Taihu Clan!

It is a place for refining Magic Treasures and forging divine weapons! Not a carpenter's workshop!

Soon, whispers and strange looks began to spread throughout the cave.

"Did you see Ding-Wei Room 7? That outsider Sect Master Xu is in there playing with wood!"

"Really? Coming to the Fire Cloud Cave to play with wood? Isn't that a waste of geothermal fire resources?"

"I heard it was specially approved by Elder Qingli, and she even allocated quite a few basic Materials to him!"

"Materials? Just that refined iron and red copper? I've seen them; they're all the lowest-Rank goods."

"Does he actually want to refine a Magic Treasure using this junk and wood? It's an absolute joke!"

"Shh, keep it down! He is a 'Saint Master' personally acknowledged by the Clan Chief, and he even received the approval of Ancestor Tianhu! Maybe... there is some profound meaning that we cannot understand?"

"Profound meaning? I think it's just posturing! The Dao of Artifact Refining is broad and profound; it emphasizes the unity of Materials, flames, Formation, and Divine Sense!"

"What is this? He doesn't even know the most basic melting and purification, just fiddling with wooden blocks there—what kind of thing can he refine?"

"I'm afraid he can't even produce the lowest-Rank first-grade Magical Artifact!"

"Exactly! I think he's just relying on some crooked, evil methods to deceive the Clan Chief and Elder Qingli, and he's just messing around here!"

"Just wait and see, it won't be long before he realizes that Artifact Refining is not child's play, and he'll leave with his tail between his legs."

The sounds of ridicule, questioning, and disdain, although lowered in volume, still intermittently reached Xu Ruyu's ears.

He raised his head, looked at the figures occasionally flashing outside the stone chamber and the gazes cast towards him, filled with obvious contempt and curiosity, but just smiled faintly and continued to lower his head to fiddle with his wooden models, secretly thinking:

"A bunch of bumpkins sitting in a well looking at the sky."

"What do you know about aerodynamics? What is an energy weapon? What is modular design?"

"Wait until I bring out the real thing, engrave it with my exclusive 'source energy rune array,' and then I'll shatter your test targets with one shot and blow up a small hill with one cannon blast. Let's see if you dare to laugh then!"

He knew that explanations were pale; only solid results could make these guys, immersed in traditional Artifact Refining concepts, shut up.

Two more days passed, and Xu Ruyu's wooden models were basically finished, and the structural verification was almost complete.

He began to proceed with actual Material processing and preliminary refining.

He first chose to start with the simplest component—a hollow, smooth-walled metal tube with a certain degree of spiritual conductivity and toughness.

This was the core component for the "poqi type i" barrel and the "Chuan Yang Type I" sniper barrel.

He took a section of "Wind Copper Pipe" that he had found in the clan's warehouse, which was of decent quality.

Wind copper had a relatively light texture and good ductility, and it had good conductivity for wind-attribute energy (which Xu Ruyu planned to use initially to replace aerodynamic kinetic energy).

However, the original pipe wall was thick and the inner diameter was uneven, so it needed to be remelted and drawn.

Xu Ruyu activated the fire control Formation of the geothermal fire vent, and a wisp of pure, scorching orange-red geothermal fire spewed out from the cave opening, the temperature extremely high.

He carefully clamped one end of the wind copper pipe with special high-temperature resistant pliers and extended it into the geothermal fire to burn it.

At this step, he immediately attracted more "onlookers."

It could be seen that his technique for controlling the geothermal fire was extremely unskilled; the flames fluctuated in size, the temperature control was clearly imprecise, and he looked nothing like an experienced Artifact Refiner.

Moreover, when he was burning the copper pipe, he surprisingly did not operate his spiritual power to penetrate the inside of the Material and guide its structural changes like other Artifact Refiners; he was just simply burning it with fire!

"Hahaha, did you see that? He doesn't even know the most basic 'Spirit Forging Method'!"

"Just dry burning it like that? The spirituality of the wind copper is going to be burned away by him!"

A shrill, mocking voice came from outside the door. It was a young fox clan Disciple wearing the attire of an Artifact Refining apprentice, accompanied by several companions, pointing and gesturing.