90: Chapter 90: The Technological Fusion Begins, the Prototype of the Acetylene Array

After dealing with his Revered Master, who appeared cold but was actually embarrassed, and delivering the roasted grouse outside the Main Hall, Xu Ruyu returned to his Side Hall room and gently closed the door.

The room was silent, with only the hazy moonlight filtering through the window, casting a clear radiance across the floor.

The testing and counterattacks from Meixiang Court during the day, and the superficial maneuvering with Xiao Nianyin, had all transformed into a deeper sense of urgency settling in his heart.

Power—he needed a faster way to grow his power.

The classics in the Hall of Power Transmission were the Foundation, but simple imitation and learning were not enough to make him stand out in the peril-filled Hehuan Sect, or even the broader Cultivation World he might face in the future. They were even less sufficient for dealing with the potential greatest threat, Xiao Nianyin.

He needed his own 'Dao.' He needed to integrate the core knowledge from his past life with the cultivation Laws of this world on a deeper level.

Formations were undoubtedly an excellent entry point.

In essence, they were technologies that utilized specific rules and energy to achieve a certain goal, which shared a subtle similarity with the application of engineering technology, physics, and chemistry from his past life.

The key lay in how to use the 'language' of the Cultivation World to write a 'scientific' chapter belonging to him, Xu Ruyu.

He sat cross-legged on the couch, not rushing to Cultivate. Instead, he closed his eyes to concentrate, beginning to organize the accumulation of this period in his mind:

First was the Foundation—the Taixu Qi Refining Art was balanced and inclusive, serving as his basis for converting all types of foreign energy.

The accompanying Spirit Refining method also made his Divine Sense condensed and his thinking agile, enough to support complex deductions.

Next was the key—the modified version of the Qi Induction and Return to Origin Art.

In his hands, this basic Cultivation Technique was no longer just about simply drawing in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi; it had been endowed with the preliminary concepts of 'molecular screening' and 'specific component enrichment.'

By adjusting the frequency and patterns of spiritual power fluctuations, he could attempt to create a stronger 'affinity' or 'repulsion' with certain specific components in the air, thereby achieving preliminary separation and purification.

Although the efficiency was extremely low and the range was tiny, it proved the preliminary feasibility of the 'Air Cultivation' theory.

Finally, there were the tools and inspiration—the vast knowledge of Formations in the Hall of Power Transmission, especially the recently successful practice of the Blazing Fire Illusion Array, gave him a more intuitive understanding of how to use Formation patterns to guide, constrain, and transform energy. The treasure trove of knowledge from his past life regarding chemical energy, combustion, and explosions was an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

"Acetylene..."

Xu Ruyu silently recited this term in his heart.

Acetylene, chemical formula C₂H₂, a simple hydrocarbon, can produce a high-temperature flame of over 3000°C when burned in oxygen, making it an important energy source for industrial cutting and welding.

Its preparation principle was common knowledge in basic chemistry before he transmigrated: Calcium Carbide reacts with water to produce acetylene gas and calcium hydroxide.

In this Cultivation World, there was no ready-made Calcium Carbide, nor was there a standard chemistry lab.

However, he had Spiritual Qi, Formation patterns, and a unique understanding of the material essence of this world.

"Calcium Carbide... the core is the combination of calcium and carbon elements under specific conditions."

Xu Ruyu's Divine Sense sank into his Dantian, and a wisp of Taixu True Qi was carefully mobilized, swirling around his fingertips.

He tried to recall and simulate certain electron shell characteristics of carbon and calcium atoms from his past life memories, and with extremely weak Mental Energy, he attempted to give the True Qi at his fingertips a tendency to 'mimic' or 'catalyze' this combination.

At the same time, his other hand traced in the air. The circulation route of the Qi Induction and Return to Origin Art in his mind was dismantled and reorganized, combined with some Formation pattern fragments of basic Spirit Gathering Arrays and Transformation Arrays, as he began to try sketching a tiny, unstable 'spiritual field' in the air before him.

The goal of this 'field' was no longer simply to gather Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, but to attempt to 'capture' and 'enrich' the free carbon-element Spiritual Qi and calcium-element Spiritual Qi in the air through specific frequency fluctuations, guiding them toward that 'programmed' wisp of Taixu True Qi at his fingertips.

The process was difficult and obscure.

His cognition of 'elemental Spiritual Qi' in this world was almost zero. The so-called 'capturing' and 'enriching' were more like a blind man feeling an elephant, relying entirely on intuition and a deep pondering of the principles of the Qi Induction and Return to Origin Art.

The True Qi fluctuations at his fingertips were also extremely hard to control, and simulating characteristics at the atomic level was utterly abstract.

As time passed minute by minute, fine sweat broke out on Xu Ruyu's forehead again, and his Divine Sense was heavily consumed.

Just as he was about to give up on this attempt—

Sizzle!

A sound so faint it was almost inaudible rang out.

With the help of that crude and unstable 'spiritual field' in front of him, the wisp of Taixu True Qi at his fingertips suddenly brightened slightly, its color seeming to deepen a fraction. Furthermore, at the core of the True Qi, a 'dot' billions of times smaller than a speck of dust appeared out of thin air.

Almost at the same moment this 'dot' appeared, Xu Ruyu felt an extremely subtle change in the affinity between the True Qi at his fingertips and the surrounding 'spiritual field' toward 'water vapor.'

"Did it work? No, it's not even a prototype..."

Yet, a light of pleasant surprise erupted in Xu Ruyu's eyes.

Although that 'dot' was so tiny it could be ignored, although the efficiency of the entire process was appallingly low with consumption far outweighing output, and although it was a hundred and eight thousand miles away from actual 'Calcium Carbide'... it verified the most crucial possibility!

In this world, by utilizing Spiritual Qi, Formation patterns, unique technique circulation, and Mental Energy guidance, it was possible to simulate processes similar to 'chemical reactions' and thus 'synthesize' specific substances!

Even if it was just the most primitive form of 'synthesis'!

So, the following line of thought was relatively clear:

Step one: deeply study and improve this crude 'elemental enrichment and synthesis spiritual field.'

This required him to further study classics in the Hall of Power Transmission regarding Five Elements Spiritual Qi, Earth Vein Mineral Qi, and even more obscure topics like the 'Theory of the Essence of Primordial Spirits' to enhance his understanding of the world's basic material composition.

Simultaneously, he needed to optimize the 'screening' mode of the Qi Induction and Return to Origin Art to improve the enrichment efficiency of specific components.

Step two: design a stable and controllable 'reaction Formation pattern.'

Optimize the 'synthesis spiritual field' into a repeatable, triggerable Formation.

This Formation would need several core modules: a stable enrichment zone for specific elemental Spiritual Qi, a precisely controlled spiritual power catalysis and bonding zone, and a collection and stabilization zone for the product.

Step three: solve the 'water' problem.

In this scheme, 'water' was the key reactant for triggering acetylene generation.

How to safely and controllably introduce water into the 'reaction Formation' and have it react as expected with the 'synthesized product' to generate usable acetylene gas—while avoiding the destruction of the Formation or the creation of uncontrollable side reactions—was another technical hurdle.

Step four: energy source and amplification.

Currently, it relied entirely on his own True Qi and Divine Sense, and the scale was pitifully small.

In the future, he needed to consider how to use Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, Spirit Stones, or even other potentially discovered energy sources to power this 'Acetylene Synthesis Formation,' achieving large-scale and sustainable production.

Step five: application modules.

How would the generated acetylene be stored and transported? How could it be efficiently mixed with oxygen and ignited?

How could the energy released by combustion be controlled and converted into controllable flame jets, explosive impacts, or used to drive other Formations and Magical Artifacts? This required designing supporting 'Combustion Formations,' 'Energy Transformation Formations,' 'Directional Release Formations,' and so on.

This was a massive project. With Xu Ruyu's current knowledge reserves and cultivation, he had only completed the crudest 'proof of concept,' which wasn't even one ten-thousandth of a true 'Acetylene Array.'

But he was not discouraged; instead, he was exceptionally excited.

Because the direction had been found!

This path of transforming scientific principles into Cultivation Techniques seemed fantastical, but he had truly pried open a sliver of opportunity!

He picked up a blank Jade Slip and, using his Divine Sense, meticulously carved into it the process of tonight's significant attempt, the subtle phenomena observed, and the vast conceptual framework extended from it.

In particular, the spiritual power fluctuation frequency of that crude 'elemental enrichment and synthesis field,' the combination of Formation pattern fragments, and the special simulated state of the Taixu True Qi were all recorded in as much detail as possible.

This would be the starting point and Foundation for the 'Acetylene Array' and even more 'Scientific Cultivation Formations' in the future.

By the time he finished all this, the sky outside was nearing dawn.

Xu Ruyu exhaled a long breath of turbid air. Though there was fatigue in his eyes, they sparkled even more with a light called 'creativity' and 'hope.'

He carefully put away the Jade Slip, swallowed a common Medicinal Pill to help recover his Divine Sense, and began his routine Cultivation, refining that new wisp of holy realm warm current in his Dantian from last night.

The road ahead was long and full of danger. But with the seeds of his own 'black tech' in hand, Xu Ruyu felt that this seemingly hopeless Cultivation World might not be an impenetrable monolith after all.

At the very least, he had found a way to potentially smash through this iron plate... a prototype design for an 'Acetylene Cutting Torch.'

What remained was to constantly learn, constantly practice, and turn it into reality bit by bit.

When the first ray of morning light shone into the Side Hall, Xu Ruyu had already recovered his spirits. He changed into his moon-white Disciple robes, pushed open the door, and calmly cast his gaze toward the Hall of Power Transmission.

New 'learning' goals were already listed in his heart.

For survival, and also for... that ambition hidden beneath scientific rationality, the desire to change the operating rules of this world.