571: Chapter 571 Xu Ruyu's Ideas: How to Build a Modern Army

The afternoon sun slanted in from the west, making the bluestone ground of the Martial Arts Arena scorching hot.

Xu Ruyu sat on the steps of the high platform, holding a piece of beast skin and drawing something on it with a charcoal pencil.

Before him, the light screen was still flowing slowly. The Righteous Path Alliance Cultivators inside had settled down, no longer running or crashing about. They huddled together like a group of quails in a cage, looking listless.

This morning's range practice had yielded good results.

Zhou Daniu's hit rate with the qi-breaking gun had increased from thirty percent to fifty percent, and Li Ergou could already hit eight out of ten shots at a distance of four hundred zhang with his Chuanyang Gun.

Although Zhao Tiezhu's Thunder Roar Cannon still lacked precision, that thing wasn't meant for point-targets anyway; it was for area-of-effect. One blast would leave nothing growing within a ten-zhang radius.

Sun Xiaohua and Zhou Xiaolian were also becoming more proficient with their Source Energy Armor. Once the speed Array Pattern were activated, they ran like two gusts of wind, leaving ordinary people unable to even see their shadows.

Xu Ruyu finished the final stroke on the beast skin, put down the charcoal pencil, and examined his masterpiece.

A strange-looking object was drawn on the skin—it had wings, a fuselage, and several round iron lumps hanging beneath its belly.

This was a bomber he had drawn from memory.

It wasn't the kind of flying vessel powered by Spirit Stones found in the Cultivation World, but a true strategic bomber propelled by engines and capable of carrying tons of bombs.

He stared at the drawing for a long time, sighed, flipped the beast skin over, and drew a tank on the back.

Caterpillar tracks, a turret, a long gun barrel, and a stout hull.

Then came long-range artillery, self-propelled howitzers, and multiple rocket launchers.

Then a Satellite. A sphere with solar panels, floating in space, overlooking the entire Cultivation World.

Every move on the ground would be unable to escape its eyes.

As Xu Ruyu drew, he couldn't help but smile.

Before his Transmigration, he was an engineering guy who worked at an arms factory, specializing in weapons and equipment design.

He had drawn blueprints, built prototypes, and conducted tests.

That was the technology of another world, using oil, electricity, gunpowder, and nuclear energy—completely unrelated to the Spirit Stones, Array Pattern, and Spiritual Qi of this world.

But the principles were universal.

Conservation of energy, indestructibility of matter, aerodynamics, ballistics, Materials science—these things wouldn't change just because he was in a different world.

He hadn't drawn all this for fun; an idea was truly taking root and growing wildly in his mind.

He was thinking, what if he could combine the things from both worlds? Use the Dao of Artifact Refining from the Cultivation World to replace the precision machining of modern industry.

Use Spirit Stones and True Qi to replace oil and electricity.

Use Array Pattern and runes to replace chips and circuits.

Use spiritual Materials and alloys to replace steel and titanium alloys.

Could it be built? He didn't know. But it was worth a try.

After finishing his target practice, Zhou Daniu walked over holding his qi-breaking gun, sat down on the step next to Xu Ruyu, and poked his head over to look at the beast skin.

"Sect Master, what are you drawing? Why is this bird so fat?"

Xu Ruyu flipped the skin over to show him.

"This isn't a bird, it's a bomber."

"Bombing chicken? What kind of chicken? Is it edible?"

"It's not a chicken you eat, it's a plane. It can fly in the sky."

Zhou Daniu scratched his head.

"Flying in the sky? Isn't that just a flying Magical Artifact? Why are you drawing this thing? Don't we already have flying vessels?"

Xu Ruyu thought for a moment, not knowing how to explain the difference between a bomber and a flying vessel to him.

A flying vessel was a means of transportation, like a bus, capable of moving people from Point A to Point B.

A bomber was a weapons platform, capable of dropping bombs from the sky to level everything on the ground.

A flying vessel could also drop bombs, but that involved people throwing them by hand—it wasn't far, and it wasn't accurate.

A bomber was professional, systemic, organized, and planned.

"Never mind, you wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Xu Ruyu put the beast skin away.

"Sect Master, are you thinking of building something new again?" Li Ergou walked over holding his Chuanyang Gun and squatted below the steps, looking up at him. "You had this same expression last time when you built the qi-breaking gun. Your brows

were furrowed, your eyes were glazed, and you were muttering to yourself."

"I was?"

"Yes."

Zhou Daniu and Li Ergou said in unison.

Xu Ruyu chuckled and didn't deny it.

The afternoon tactics class began.

Xu Ruyu had the Disciples line up on the Martial Arts Arena. Over three hundred people stood in a square Formation. The front row held qi-breaking guns, the back row wore Source Energy Armor, the sides carried Thunder Roar Cannons, and at the very edges were the main close-combatants like Leng Ningshuang, Zhao Yan, and Ning Caihe.

Qingyan stood in the center of the Formation. Her Butterfly Short Blades were polished to a shine, but she still hadn't received a new weapon today.

Xu Ruyu had promised her that once they had enough Spirit Stones, he would forge a new pair for her.

Xu Ruyu stood before the Formation, holding a branch he had picked up from the ground to use as a pointer.

"Today, I will teach you two things.

First, what is fire suppression. Second, what are coordinated operations."

He turned around and pointed at the Righteous Path Alliance Cultivators inside the light screen.

"They are your hypothetical enemies. fire suppression means that regardless of whether you hit them, you first pin their heads down.

Make them afraid to look up, afraid to move, and afraid to even think.

When they can't lift their heads, our close-combat units can charge."

Zhao Yan's eyes lit up.

"Sect Master, so I'm the one who charges?"

"Correct. While they are firing their guns and cannons, you wait on the side.

Wait until their firepower has completely drawn the enemy's attention, then you charge.

Charge in and hit anyone you see. Just knock them out; don't kill them."

Zhao Yan grinned.

"I'm good at that."

Xu Ruyu then used the branch to point at Sun Xiaohua and Zhou Xiaolian, who were wearing battle armor.

"You two are fast. Circle the battlefield and specifically target those who try to run.

If you see someone slipping out from the flank, chase them down and use a kinetic impact to knock them back."

Zhou Xiaolian was still a bit nervous and asked softly, "What if I injure them?"

"If they're injured, it counts as a workplace injury. Their own Sects will treat them."

Zhou Xiaolian stopped asking.

Over the past few days, she had figured out the Sect Master's pattern—whenever there was a question he couldn't answer directly, he would brush it off in this undeniable way. But she didn't dislike him for it.

On the contrary, she thought the Sect Master was quite cute like this.

Next was the lesson on rangefinding with scopes.

Xu Ruyu had Chen Ping set up several wooden stakes on the Martial Arts Arena at varying distances; the furthest was over three hundred zhang away, while the closest was only fifty zhang.

Li Ergou and two other Disciples with Chuanyang Guns squatted on the steps, using their scopes to measure the distance.

"Look at that furthest stake. There are scale lines in the scope, do you see them?"

Xu Ruyu squatted behind them, pointing at the scope on the Chuanyang Gun.

"Those lines are for rangefinding. Based on how wide the target's shoulders appear on the scale, you can calculate the distance."

"Why do we need to calculate the distance?"

A Disciple asked.

"Because bullets will drop." Xu Ruyu gestured. "The path from the muzzle is a parabola, not a straight line. The further it goes, the more it drops.

If you don't calculate the distance, you won't know if you're aiming too high or too low."