Void-Breaking Crossbow

After Guo Ran finished speaking, he wiped his spatial ring, and a giant crossbow appeared. Unlike ordinary crossbows, the front limbs of this crossbow were actually straight.

On the limbs was a golden bowstring, and at both ends of the limbs were round pulleys. The bowstring was wrapped around the limbs in a chaotic crisscross pattern, making it confusing to look at.

The entire giant crossbow was seven feet long, about the height of an average person. The body was forged entirely from tempered steel; just by looking at its stance, one could tell its weight was astonishing.

Guo Ran took out the giant crossbow with a look of pride. He originally wanted to strike a few badass poses, but unfortunately, the giant crossbow was too heavy, so he could only place it on the ground.

"Ahem, um, Boss, this new crossbow I designed is called the Void-Breaking Crossbow. Can you help me fire an arrow?" Guo Ran said with some embarrassment.

Long Chen was left speechless and said, "No way, you can't even lift the crossbow you made? How are you going to face enemies? Can't you design it to be a bit lighter?"

Guo Ran made a bitter face and said, "I want to design it lighter too, but to increase its power, the strength of the crossbow body must reach a certain level, otherwise it simply won't achieve the expected effect."

"Fine, let me try your crossbow."

Long Chen reached out and lifted the giant crossbow. It felt heavy in his hand. No wonder Guo Ran, who was already at the Tendon Transformation Realm, couldn't lift it; this giant crossbow weighed seventy to eighty thousand catties.

"Good grief, it's indeed heavy. Don't let me down with its power." Long Chen bounced it a bit. Although it wasn't much to him, for an average expert at the Tendon Transformation Realm, it was impossible to lift.

"Don't worry, Boss. Even Senior Cang Ming couldn't stop praising my invention," Guo Ran said proudly.

"Senior Cang Ming has seen this crossbow?" Long Chen was stunned.

"Of course, he even complimented me," Guo Ran said with a smug look.

"What did he say?"

"The old man said that my bullshitting was not bad. Hey, Boss, don't despise me! Senior Cang Ming is the number one weapon forging Great Master of the branch academy. It's not easy to gain his praise." Seeing Long Chen's look of disdain, Guo Ran said somewhat unconvinced.

"That's true. Senior Cang Ming is aloof and doesn't easily praise people. Being able to say you're bullshitting can be considered a form of recognition," Long Chen nodded and said.

"Of course. When I first showed it to Senior Cang Ming, after he praised me, he said the bowstring was no good and gave me a few. Hehe, that made my Void-Breaking Crossbow even more powerful," Guo Ran said excitedly.

The bowstrings Cang Ming gave him were crafted by himself using secret silver threads. Secret silver is a very soft metal, but its toughness is astonishing, making it the best material for bowstrings.

However, secret silver is an extremely precious metal. Guo Ran didn't have the qualifications to obtain it, and even if he did, with his half-baked skills, he couldn't process it.

Therefore, receiving the bowstrings bestowed by Cang Ming was not only a sign of care but also a form of affirmation.

Unexpectedly, Cang Ming thought so highly of this crossbow. Long Chen was curious to see what was so special about it.

He reached out and pulled the crossbow string. As Long Chen applied force, the two pulleys on the crossbow limbs rotated slightly, and the originally chaotic bowstring began to slowly tighten.

"Good guy, your principle is very clever."

Long Chen could see that Guo Ran used an extremely clever method to convert the force through the pulleys, making it much easier to pull.

This allowed the bowstring to be pulled easily. When the bowstring was released, the pulleys would instantly snap back, making the power of the bowstring even greater. This design was very ingenious.

"Hehe, Boss, when you were exiled to the Chaotic Stone Wasteland last time, you told me that my talent was average, and if I didn't find another path, I would only live a mediocre life.

I thought about it later, and Boss, you were definitely right. A person shouldn't always think about hanging themselves on one crooked tree; they have to look for a few more to try.

Because of that, I became obsessed with mechanism arts. Although what I learned is only Entry-Level, I genuinely like this stuff. Sometimes I even dream about tinkering with these things.

This great battle gave me a taste of success, so I swore that in the future, I will become a great craftsman!" Guo Ran said with a face full of confidence.

Unexpectedly, Guo Ran had such big ambitions. Thinking of his previous teasing, Long Chen felt a bit embarrassed.

"Brother, I apologize. I shouldn't have mocked you."

Guo Ran laughed and said, "Boss, what are you talking about? I know you were joking with me."

Long Chen: "No, I was serious."

Guo Ran: "…"

Long Chen stopped joking around and pulled the bowstring backward with force. What shocked Long Chen was that even with the help of the pulleys, it still required a lot of strength to pull it all the way back.

"Click."

The bowstring locked into the slot, and the limbs were now like a full moon. Looking at the taut bowstring and limbs, Long Chen himself felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

How terrifying would an arrow shot with such power be? It would simply cost someone their life.

"Guo Ran, you can't use this giant crossbow for now. Without two hundred thousand catties of strength, don't even think about pulling the string to full draw," Long Chen said with some worry.

Guo Ran made a bitter face, "This is also what troubles me the most. My Spiritual Root is average, my Physical Body is also average, and my Soul is also average. Added together, it's just very average.

Now that I've made a super badass Void-Breaking Crossbow, I originally thought I could kill one or two Dao-derived experts and achieve a king's hegemony, but… I, damn it, can't even lift it. It's truly a great life lived in frustration!"

"Can kill Dao-derived experts?" Long Chen was taken aback.

Guo Ran said with extreme confidence, "It's just a prototype right now, in the experimental stage, but I believe that once I perfect it day by day, it will definitely be able to kill Dao-derived experts."

"Boss, let me get you the bolt."

After saying that, Guo Ran went into the Immortal Cave and carried out a bolt. Long Chen took a close look; this wasn't a bolt at all, it was clearly a short spear.

The short spear was six feet long and as thick as a duck egg. Seeing Guo Ran carrying it out, he knew this thing was also a heavy item.

Sure enough, when he weighed it in his hand, good grief, it definitely weighed over ten thousand catties. The bolt was covered with dense little dents.

Looking at these dents, Long Chen couldn't help but exclaim, "Guo Ran, you are indeed a Genius."

"Boss, do you know what these dents are for?" Guo Ran was also surprised.

"If I'm not mistaken, these dents are used to reduce air resistance and cancel out the sound left by air friction," Long Chen said.

You have to know that after an object moves at high speed, it will cause space to compress, producing a sonic boom. This is a physical principle.

And the bolt, being covered with dents, can both cancel out the sound and reduce friction with the air.

Imagine such a powerful bolt flying silently; by the time one realizes it, the bolt has already struck.

"Boss is Boss. I pondered for a long time and experimented for a long time to reach this conclusion, and Boss, you saw through it at a glance," Guo Ran couldn't help but say with a look of admiration.

"Alright, let's stop shamelessly bragging. Let's go out and test its power," Long Chen said.

After speaking, the two left the branch academy and found a small hill. The hill was about a dozen zhang high and was a stone mountain.

"This is it."

Long Chen held the giant crossbow, aimed at the small hill ten miles away, and hooked the trigger with his right hand.

The bolt flew forward like a bolt of lightning. The moment the bolt flew out, Long Chen felt a great force come from the giant crossbow, and he was involuntarily forced to retreat a dozen steps.

"Boom."

The distant hill let out a loud explosion, and the entire hill was collapsed by the terrifying force, with dust and smoke filling the sky.

"Good grief."

Long Chen and Guo Ran both stared at everything in a daze. Guo Ran was also shocked beyond words.

Although it was designed by Guo Ran himself, he had never had the ability to fire it alone, so today was the first time he saw the effect.

There were no explosive devices on the bolt; it relied entirely on the inertia of the bolt to flatten an entire stone mountain. This power was simply too terrifying.

The most terrifying part was that when the bolt flew out, there wasn't a single sound.

"Sneak attack."

Long Chen and Guo Ran looked at each other, a trace of lewdness flashing in their eyes. They chuckled and actually said these four words at the same time.

After they finished speaking, they couldn't help but laugh out loud. With this great killing weapon, Guo Ran's lethality would be terrifyingly high.

However, as he laughed, Guo Ran couldn't continue. No matter how badass something was, if it couldn't be used, it had no meaning.

Although Long Chen could use it, Long Chen always faced enemies head-on and charged at the front line, so he had no chance to use this thing.

Long Chen patted Guo Ran's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, leave this matter to me. I'll help you handle it."

"Really?" Guo Ran was overjoyed.

"Isn't that nonsense? When have I ever fooled you?" Long Chen said crossly.

"However, there is one thing I need to make clear to you. As long as you keep your Dao Heart firm, I can guarantee that you will have no Bottleneck in your advancement for the rest of your life."

"How is this possible?" Guo Ran said with a look of disbelief.

Having no Bottleneck for a lifetime, even a god might not be able to do it!

"As long as you can ensure your Dao Heart is firm, I can do it," Long Chen said very seriously.

"Boss, what is a Dao Heart?" Guo Ran asked.

"The so-called Dao Heart is a kind of faith. You firmly believe in a truth and never change.

But everyone's faith is different. For example, your current faith is your invention and creation. You believe that with your wisdom, you can overcome any difficulty and become a Craftsman God admired by outsiders.

This is your Dao Heart. As long as your Dao Heart remains firm and never wavers, I can continuously help you improve your Realm through Medicinal Pills.

But once your Dao Heart has a problem, when you feel lost or confused about your own choices, your cultivation will stop forever," Long Chen said very seriously.

Everyone's Dao Heart is different. Some believe in their Legacy, some believe in their Cultivation Technique, some believe in their Bloodline, and some believe they are the favored children of heaven.

No matter what kind of Dao Heart it is, it must go through endless tempering. Many people become less and less confident during this tempering, and eventually, they don't know what they should believe in, and thus lose their Dao faith.

Even those with a solid Dao Heart, after suffering a huge blow, if their Dao Heart cannot remain flawless and pure, they still lose the opportunity to advance to become a supreme expert.

And Guo Ran's Dao Heart is very dangerous because his self-confidence comes from himself. Once his wisdom is exhausted and his ideas dry up, he will fall into confusion. Once he is confused, he is finished.

Because his Foundation is built up by Medicinal Pills, he has no chance to re-choose his Dao Heart. To put it bluntly, it's either success or death.

"Boss, I will definitely become a Craftsman God," Guo Ran said, taking a deep breath.

Long Chen nodded. Since Guo Ran had chosen, Long Chen would do his best to help him. As for how far he could go, it would depend on himself.

After looking at Guo Ran's new invention at his place, Long Chen had to sigh that Guo Ran was a strange talent, having all kinds of eccentric things.

The next day, just as Long Chen was preparing to find something to do, Elder Sun returned.