“The formation plate is designed to accommodate any of the five elements, though its preferred element, wind, has a better conversion rate,” Cha Ming explained. He poured a predetermined amount of fire qi into the fan, which caused it to glow. “Through a series of conversion matrices, the qi is converted to wind qi.”
“Less talking and more doing,” Tian Zhi said, waving his hand.
“I would prefer to follow established testing procedures” Cha Ming said. “The spirits watch and remember. As you can see, the fan now contains a standard charge. The strength of the charge depends on the strength of the artifact.”
Cha Ming swung the fan, and twenty of the thirty or so mannequins toppled. “The initial burst is enough to topple ten to twenty early-foundation-establishment experts, stunning them for a half second in the process. The middle-grade artifact will do the same for middle-foundation-establishment cultivators, and so on. Naturally, using a larger fan on weaker opponents can do more than knock them over. I’m sure you can see the tactical advantage.”
“We’ll see,” Tian Zhi said uncertainly. “How many charges can it handle before collapsing?”
“Five,” Cha Ming said. “Conversion matrix aside, the strain on the artifact is too great.”
“Five,” Tian Zhi said, nodding. “That’s more than I expected. I thought it would be two or three.”
“At first, it was,” Cha Ming said. “But I had an epiphany and deepened some bottlenecked energy lines, reducing the strain on the fan’s material.”
“Good enough, I suppose,” Tian Zhi said. “I hope that’s not all you brought me here to see.”
“Of course not,” Cha Ming said, pulling out what looked like a small brown pyramid. “This one is much more useful.” He tossed it to Tian Zhi, who looked at it in puzzlement before finally realizing what it was.
“It’s a gravity well,” Tian Zhi said. “I’ve seen a few—even made some back in my day. They’re all right, but nearly useless. Our opponents adapt to them very quickly, so the effect on any battle is limited.”
“True,” Cha Ming said. “If it was a normal gravity well. I wouldn’t waste your time with it.”
“And what’s special about this one?” Tian Zhi said, manipulating the pyramid in his hands. “I see it’s an initial-core-grade item. Those will usually be able to exert a fifty-foot gravity field that will slow down an initial-core-formation cultivator’s speed by twenty percent, assuming he gets used to it.”
“Why don’t you try it?” Cha Ming said, sitting cross-legged on the floor. He also placed his hands on the durable concrete beneath him.
“Why not?” Tian Zhi said. He poured a wisp of qi into the artifact, which suddenly blazed with power. Tian Zhi fell face-first on the floor. He pushed himself up slowly, and for three seconds, all he could do was stand firm. The gravity let up after those three seconds and crumbled to dust.
“What the hell was that?” Tian Zhi said, breathing hard as he picked himself up off the floor. He wiped the dust off the tan apron he always wore atop his black cultivation robes.
Cha Ming grinned, red faced but otherwise fine, as he’d braced himself. “Well, I figured that since a sustained activation gravity well wasn’t very useful on the battlefield, at least given its cost, I decided to modify it. I call it an extreme gravity well. I’m not sure exactly how strong the field is, but it’s much stronger directly above where the pyramid lands compared to the outer edges. I tested it on myself. Outside the three-foot area near the center, but within fifty feet, it can almost completely immobilize me, a middle-bone-forging and middle-core-formation cultivator during its three-second activation. My techniques might not be outstanding, but that seems much more useful to me than a normal gravity well.”
“I think it has potential,” Tian Zhi said. “Though it’s regrettable that it’s single use.”
“It was the only way to bring out peak power,” Cha Ming said. “Besides, is it a bad thing that it’s single use? The user’s opponents can’t recycle the captured treasure if it’s broken.”
“I suppose,” Tian Zhi said. “I can also see how throwing heavy objects onto incapacitated enemy soldiers would be very effective.”
“Indeed,” Cha Ming said. “Though, this is only my second-best invention. For this third test, however, I need an unusual test medium. Test puppets or live subjects won’t do.”
“Oh?” Tian Zhi said. “Is it not an offensive item but a shield? You know full well that shields aren’t very popular in our battle arrangements.”
In Southern armies, lesser troops formed an expendable vanguard. Well-equipped elite cultivators and blood masters followed. The South pooled defensive items on those few, preferring a war of attrition that sacrificed many lesser lives.
“It isn’t a defensive item,” Cha Ming said. “It’s offensive, but the nature of its target is unusual. Would we happen to have any geomancers around? I need a solid, wall-like object. Preferably the product of an initial-grandmaster geomancer, at least for this iteration.”
“Interesting,” Tian Zhi said, twiddling with his short beard. “As a matter a fact, I do. We also have a few prototype walls in this building.”
“Oh?” Cha Ming said. “That’s surprising. I built this on a whim. With any luck, it’ll be useful.”
“Come with me,” Tian Zhi said, nodding. He led Cha Ming to the building’s central lift. Cha Ming’s workshop was on the third of eight floors. Tian Zhi led him to the top floor. They passed several empty workshops until they arrived at an unoccupied one. When they entered, however, Cha Ming noticed that it wasn’t that the other workshops were empty, but that they’d been merged into a single room. Three prototype walls had been erected. The first wall was an initial-core-grade structure, while the other two were early core grade and middle core grade respectively.
“To be honest, I’m not sure how well this will work,” Cha Ming said, embarrassed.
