334: Chapter 334 was shocking; these were things the Taihao clan had never seen before.

"This..."

A hint of doubt flashed through the Taihao Clan's eyes.

Xu Ruyu, however, remained immersed in his own world.

After finishing a round of forging, he set aside the initially shaped black iron tube and picked up another piece of black iron to begin forging the outer casing of the compression chamber.

This time, his technique was even more "bizarre."

Instead of forging the black iron into the desired shape as a single piece in the traditional way, he first forged it into several plates of varying thickness. Then, using a specialized tool—a simple mold he had ground from fine steel the night before—he bent, joined, and welded these plates into the prototype of a polyhedron.

"What are you doing?" the Taihao Clan couldn't help but speak up. "Who creates an artifact embryo like this? Only by forging it as a whole can you ensure structural integrity. With your method of joining pieces, the seams will be weak points; they'll crack as soon as the energy surges!"

Xu Ruyu looked up and explained seriously, "Senior, the structure of this compression chamber is quite complex. It has several independent energy chambers and return channels inside, making it very difficult to shape through monolithic forging."

"Although joining them will leave seams, as long as the welding is done well and reinforced with Array Pattern, the strength won't be inferior to monolithic forging."

"Furthermore, this design allows for more precise control over the shape and size of each energy chamber."

The Taihao Clan opened her mouth to retort, but found herself at a loss for words.

This young man's train of thought... was unlike any Artifact Refining method she knew.

He wasn't "forging" a Magical Artifact; he was "assembling" a device.

Xu Ruyu continued to bury himself in his work.

Using a self-made welding torch—which was actually a small metal tube connected to a miniature "source energy compression device" that could emit high-temperature plasma flames—he welded the gaps of the joints one by one.

The temperature and precision of those flames made the Taihao Clan's eyelids twitch.

"This fire... is not Earth Fire, nor is it Pill Fire. What is it?"

She couldn't help but ask.

"I call it 'Plasma Welding Flame'," Xu Ruyu explained. "It's a high-temperature plasma stream ejected after compressing source energy. Its temperature is much higher than ordinary Earth Fire, and its size and direction can be precisely controlled, making it ideal for fine welding."

The Taihao Clan fell silent.

She had lived for ten thousand years and believed her understanding of fire was second to none.

But she had never seen, nor even heard of, this "Plasma Welding Flame" before her.

Next, Xu Ruyu began to process the barrel.

He clamped the initially shaped black iron tube onto a simple self-made lathe—actually just two notched supports—then took a long, thin metal rod tipped with hard "Diamond" and inserted it into one end of the tube, beginning to slowly rotate and advance it.

"What are you doing now?" the Taihao Clan finally reached her limit.

"Boring," Xu Ruyu said without looking up. "To make the inner wall smoother and the inner diameter more uniform."

"When the bullets... cough, the energy clusters pass through the barrel at high speed, any slight unevenness on the inner wall will increase resistance, affecting speed and accuracy."

"It must be as smooth as possible."

"How... how do you know all this?"

The Taihao Clan was in disbelief.

Xu Ruyu thought for a moment and said, "Calculated it. Using some... uh, formulas."

"Formulas?" The Taihao Clan was completely bewildered.

Xu Ruyu didn't explain further and continued to focus on the work in his hands. After boring the hole, he used sandpaper—self-made by gluing fine sand onto cloth—to repeatedly polish it until the inner wall was as smooth as a mirror.

Then came the most critical step—inscribing the Array Pattern.

He picked up the engraving needle, took a deep breath, and began to inscribe his improved "Spiral Acceleration Patterns" on the polished inner wall of the barrel.

This time, his hand was terrifyingly steady; every stroke was incredibly precise.

Those spiral patterns started from the base of the tube and extended upward in coils, with uniform spacing and consistent depth, as if carved by a machine.

The Taihao Clan stood up, walked behind him, and watched intently.

Those patterns were different from any runes she knew.

They weren't traditional runes like "Gale," "Sharp Metal," or "Armor Piercing," but a completely foreign structure that nonetheless faintly contained a certain underlying logic.

"What... what kind of formation is this?" Her voice trembled slightly.

"I call it the 'Kinetic Acceleration Array'," Xu Ruyu explained while engraving. "Its function is that when the compressed source energy is released from the base of the tube, it will be further accelerated as it passes through these spiral patterns, while simultaneously generating rotation to increase stability."

"The angle, spacing, and depth of every coil have been calculated to allow the source energy to gain maximum acceleration while passing through, all while maintaining stability."

The Taihao Clan was left in a daze by his words, but her gaze was completely captivated by those exquisite patterns.

She could feel that as Xu Ruyu carved stroke by stroke, that originally ordinary black iron tube was undergoing a subtle transformation.

Those patterns seemed to come alive, beginning to emit an obscure yet orderly energy fluctuation.

After finishing the barrel, Xu Ruyu began to inscribe even more complex "Compression Feedback Arrays" and "Trigger Synchronization Arrays" on the inner wall of the compression chamber's outer casing.

This time, the Taihao Clan offered no more mockery or doubt; she simply stood silently behind him, watching in fascination.

In her eyes, the initial disdain and hostility were gradually fading, replaced by a growing sense of... curiosity, and a faint, almost imperceptible... shock.

After engraving the final node, Xu Ruyu set down the engraving needle and let out a long, deep breath.