Qian Yucheng returned to the library. Unusually, he didn't read, but instead spread a sheet of paper on the desk.
Ling Yuan entered at this moment, carrying high-precision measuring tools, a meticulous drawing pen (pencil), and a palette of coloring paints.
These products came from Gengxin City; similar tools were no less sophisticated than those from Blue Star!
"Second Young Master, everything you requested is ready!"
She gently placed the items on the shelf to Qian Yucheng's right, looking at him with some curiosity.
This Second Young Master wasn't reading today, but preparing to practice painting?
Such a waste of time; he should be thinking more about choosing a suitable soul beast.
Qian Yucheng didn't speak, glanced at Ling Yuan, and then picked up the drawing pen.
With the pen in hand, he became extremely focused, which startled Ling Yuan.
"Second Young Master, you have a special charm, I…"
She, a woman who spent all her time cultivating and didn't pay attention to matters of the heart, was instantly attracted to him!
It can only be said that a man is truly handsome when he is focused on something!
Moreover, Qian Yucheng was a handsome, ageless middle-aged man with striking good looks!
Qian Yucheng didn't pay attention to Ling Yuan's changes, but instead focused intently on sketching on the paper.
With just a few strokes, he created the basic outline of a woman's portrait.
Then, he began to add details: hairstyle, facial features, limbs, clothing…
In twenty minutes, he had completed a sketch of the woman.
After finishing, he looked at Ling Yuan and said, "Elder Ling Yuan, what do you think of my painting?"
Ling Yuan curiously walked to his side and looked at the portrait.
"This…this is me?!"
She hadn't expected the person he had drawn to be herself!
However, this painting style was truly unique; it was a style she had never seen before.
The figure on the paper was lifelike, truly amazing!
"Second Young Master, your painting skills are even better than the court painters of the two great empires!"
she couldn't help but praise.
Qian Yucheng chuckled, "Just a minor trick. It's been a while since I've painted, but I didn't expect my skills haven't deteriorated much!"
He added, "Take this painting; consider it a souvenir."
This portrait was merely for practice. Since his painting skills hadn't declined, he could begin designing.
Ling Yuan picked up the portrait and stored it in her storage soul tool.
Qian Yucheng laid out another sheet of paper and took out a ruler and a drawing tool from the shelf.
The rough shape he drew was a bow, but it looked different from the bows used in the army!
At both ends of this bow were wheel-like objects!
Looking at this preliminary structure, Ling Yuan was even more puzzled. This was a bow?
How could it be different from what she had seen?!
Even Elder Guangling, the Fifth Elder, had bows and arrows with a different design!
And the soul masters with bow and arrow spirits she had seen were either recurve bows or composite bows.
She had never seen one with wheels before! What
Qian Yucheng had drawn was a composite bow!
Such a thing was a deadly weapon in the era of cold weapons!
Of course, there's an even more powerful weapon—the composite crossbow!
This weapon, of course, will have to wait until the composite bow is developed before it can be researched.
Releasing such a weapon all at once would easily lead to speculation.
Common ranged weapons in the Douluo World are recurve bows, crossbows, and javelins.
Each time soul beasts launch a beast tide attack on human cities, the first two waves consist of low-level soul beasts less than 200 years old, sent to their deaths.
The purpose is to deplete the human archer force, making it easier for the third attack to reach the city.
The objective achieved by both sides is quite interesting: if the human side doesn't deploy soul masters above the Soul Venerable level, the soul beasts won't participate in the battle with soul beasts over 1000 years old!
Therefore, this is undoubtedly very painful for the common people.
The nobles of the two great empires certainly won't care about the lives of ordinary people; as long as their rule is stable, sacrificing a few commoners is no big loss!
After all, it's a polygamous system, plus a monthly compensation of two gold soul coins for each additional child, so they aren't worried about population issues at all!
Furthermore, soldiers who died defending against the beast tide were awarded medals of honor by the empire, and their descendants with awakened martial souls could enter junior soul master academies with a two-thirds tuition reduction.
This policy kept the populations of both empires at a healthy level.
But no one knew the pain of losing loved ones; the sorrow only fell upon ordinary families!
For ordinary people, defending against the beast tide meant certain death!
The Spirit Hall also had its own defensive army, composed of civilians from all over the country.
He wasn't some kind of saint; he simply wanted to lessen the grief of these ordinary families.
Other weapons didn't need to be shared.
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If human weapons become too powerful, soul beasts will suffer great damage.
Before artificial soul rings are developed, a balance must be maintained between humans and soul masters!
Moreover, no one knows if the gods of the upper realm will interfere with this development.
The hidden weapons recorded in the Xuan Tian Bao Lu all fall under the category of cold weapons, which, given the civilization of the Douluo Continent, the gods certainly wouldn't interfere.
However, the gods' own selfish motives cannot be ruled out, after all, the original story evolved into a battle between faiths, a war between two gods that raged fiercely.
Qian Yucheng wants this weapon to spread from the Spirit Hall, further enhancing its reputation!
Every year, the Spirit Hall helps soul masters across the continent awaken their souls; as long as they are certified, Soul Masters can receive soul coins as a subsidy, which makes the Spirit Hall have an excellent reputation among commoner soul masters!
The two great empires and other sects also have their own systems, but those are only for their own people.
Commoner soul awakening has nothing to do with them.
The Spirit Hall's promotion of this weapon will garner even more support from the common people!
Even the two great empires cannot win such popular support!
This might allow the Spirit Hall to recruit more promising talents, ensuring its enduring legacy!
With the people's will aligned, Qian Yucheng was curious to see how those guys planned to overthrow the Spirit Hall!
In fifteen minutes, he had completed the final design of the compound bow.
A bow without arrows was obviously useless, so he continued drawing matching arrows.
Armor-piercing arrows!
Compound bow!
After he finished, Ling Yuan couldn't help but ask, "Second Young Master, what kind of bow did you draw?"
"This is called a compound bow. Even someone with little strength can draw it!"
"At a distance of fifty meters, it's almost always accurate!"
Qian Yucheng put down his pen and said slowly.
Compound bow?
This name sounded unfamiliar to Ling Yuan; she had never heard of this type of bow before.
"If someone with little strength can draw it, is it because of the wheels at both ends?"
Although she didn't understand the reason for this effect, she was certain it had a lot to do with the two extra wheels!
"Yes, these are gears. They increase the ease of shooting arrows and greatly reduce the strength required to draw the bow."
After explaining, Qian Yucheng briefly described the principle and structure of the compound bow to her.
Ling Yuan looked at the blueprints, surprised by the weapon's power.
An ordinary person equipped with this weapon could probably kill a Grand Soul Master through a sneak attack!
A hundred-year-old Soul Beast, if its weakness is found, should be easily killed by an ordinary person using these armor-piercing arrows.
Ling Yuan looked at him and asked, "Second Young Master, if these arrows could be imbued with Soul Power, wouldn't they be even more powerful?!"
"If it's a Soul Master below the Soul Sect level, then this weapon shouldn't be a problem against Soul Beasts less than a thousand years old."
"With Soul Power imbued in the arrows, the armor-piercing effect should be better, and the penetration power will be stronger!"
"However, the specific effects will only be known after the finished product is made."
Qian Yucheng wasn't sure what would happen if the compound bow were used with a Soul Master.
After all, he designed it from the perspective of an ordinary person.
Imbuing the arrows with Soul Power is equivalent to enchanting the arrowheads; the extent of its power will only be known after the finished product is tested!
Ling Yuan asked again, "Second Young Master, you only have a drawing, do you have any specific parts?"
"Look, you're in such a hurry, aren't you? I haven't even drawn it yet!"
"I'll design the specific parts right now!"
Qian Yucheng said, taking out a new sheet of paper and beginning to design the specific parts of the compound bow!
Seeing how serious he was, Ling Yuan stood at a distance, quietly watching him create.
An hour later, Qian Yucheng stretched his sore neck and rubbed his eyes.
Looking at the parts on the drawing, he took a deep breath.
"It's finished. Next, I'll find craftsmen to forge the parts!"
He was very satisfied with this design; it could be said to have been completed in one go.
Ling Yuan asked, "Second Young Master, shall we take this to the Grand Elder now?"
Qian Yucheng shook his head: "No, assemble the finished product first, then show it to Father!"
A drawing doesn't prove anything; only the finished product can truly convince others.
...