Without wasting much time, Ye Qiu left with a bag of saltpeter from the shop owner.
He went to his workplace, a carving workshop, entered his private studio, and ground the saltpeter with a pestle, then sifted it through a sieve.
"The raw materials are all ready."
Ye Qiu took out some charcoal and some sulfur he had prepared beforehand from a drawer, mixing the three together in different proportions.
Although the method of making gunpowder was relatively simple, Ye Qiu didn't know the proportions of these raw materials and would have to experiment a few more times.
He simply didn't feel safe entering the Soul Hunter Forest alone; his Sharingan currently lacked offensive capabilities, and he hadn't yet tried using genjutsu to control soul beasts.
In short, better to be prepared.
Leaving the bustling city, he arrived at a secluded grove and began his day's experiments.
"Pfft!"
"Pfft!"...
"Bang!"
After several duds, he finally heard a sound. Ye Qiu then sped up...
As dusk fell,
covered in dust, Ye Qiu finally began his journey home, walking with a lighter step.
Although the gunpowder wasn't as powerful as he'd imagined, quantity could lead to quality, even if it was troublesome.
It was more than enough to deal with thousand-year-old soul beasts.
Against soul masters, however, it was somewhat useless. In actual combat, soul masters were much smaller than soul beasts, and their mobility was too great; the explosives thrown out would be gone before they even detonated.
Currently, the gunpowder Ye Qiu had made was only suitable for large-scale battles and dealing with soul beasts.
"I'm back!"
Ye Qiu's voice rang out from Dormitory Seven.
"Xiao Qiu, you're finally back! I was so bored without you!"
Only Xiao Wu was in Dormitory Seven; Tang San had gone to study with Grandmaster, and the others had their own work. Almost every day at this time, Xiao Wu would wait for Ye Qiu to return to the dormitory.
Like a swallow returning to its nest, she threw herself into Ye Qiu's arms.
She sniffed, "Xiao Qiu, what's that smell on you? It's really strong."
"Your clothes and hair are all messy, cough cough!" She said, using her hands to comb Ye Qiu's hair and patting the dust off his clothes, which triggered a cough.
"Alright, alright!" Ye Qiu grabbed her hand. "I need to take a shower first. How about you go buy me some food?"
"No problem, but..." She initially agreed loudly, then suddenly became a little shy, blushing and looking at Ye Qiu expectantly.
"What's wrong?" Ye Qiu asked curiously.
"I'm out of money. Tang San paid for all our meals today."
Xiao Wu's resentful gaze made Ye Qiu a little embarrassed.
Although she received one gold soul coin from the Spirit Hall every month, most of that money ended up in Ye Qiu's pocket.
It was indeed his oversight. He took out his money pouch and put it in Xiao Wu's hand. "Here, take this and spend it. If you're still hungry, you can buy more." "
That's great, Xiao Qiu, you're so kind!" After hugging Ye Qiu again, she skipped away from the dormitory.
Ye Qiu stood there muttering to himself, "Am I really that kind? I'm such a silly rabbit. Hehe!"
...
After dinner, Xiao Wu tried to take Ye Qiu for a walk, but he refused.
"Come on~ Xiao Qiu, I'll show you something good!"
"What good thing?"
"Clang clang clang~" Xiao Wu's sleeve slid down, revealing her forearm, on which was a delicate thing that looked like a wrist guard, with several sharp and short arrows inlaid around it.
"This is... a hidden weapon!" Ye Qiu's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected Tang San to be sending hidden weapons already.
"Huh? Xiao Qiu, do you know what this is? Tang San said it's his secret!" Xiao Wu was also surprised that Ye Qiu knew about it; she had originally wanted to show off.
"It really is his secret. Only he knows how to make this kind of thing called a hidden weapon," Ye Qiu explained.
"Xiao Qiu, you know about hidden weapons?!" Xiao Wu had only heard the term today; she hadn't expected Ye Qiu to know it already.
However, she didn't think much of it and still wanted to pull Ye Qiu out for a walk. "Come on, I'll show you its power! Okay?"
"Alright then."
"Let's go then~ Hehe!" She pulled Ye Qiu and rushed out the door.
They strolled to the lakeside and sat side by side under a tree.
"Let's begin," Ye Qiu urged.
"Why are you in such a hurry? Humph, I'll shoot it right now." Xiao Wu rolled her eyes at him; he was such a blockhead.
"Watch closely." Before she finished speaking, Xiao Wu aimed her arm at the tree trunk beside her, and a whooshing sound rang out. "Whoosh!"
Thud! The arrow was embedded in the tree trunk, several inches deep.
Ye Qiu didn't need to go forward to check; his Sharingan, already activated, allowed him to see everything clearly.
"How was it? Impressive, right?" Xiao Wu raised an eyebrow, a hint of pride in her voice.
"Not bad." Ye Qiu nodded.
To be honest, he was a little disappointed, or rather, his expectations had been too high.
Mechanized hidden weapons did seem decent now, but their lethality was limited. In the later stages, only their 'poison' would be of any use.
However, hidden weapons, hidden weapons, the key is the word 'surprise,' it's all about disregarding martial ethics and striking unexpectedly.
It was only because the native Douluo Continent people didn't understand these things that Tang San didn't have so many glorious moments.
"Can I take it off and see it?" Although it wouldn't be useful later, it wouldn't stop Ye Qiu from learning; he had his own plans.
"Let you see?" Xiao Wu was taken aback, her eyes darting around.
"Is that not allowed?"
"Of course... of course not!" She quickly and excitedly responded; Xiao Wu didn't want to refuse Ye Qiu at all.
With a blushing face, she lowered her head and stretched out her arm, whispering, "Actually, you don't have to untie it."
"Uh (~_~;)" Ye Qiu sighed, speechless. This little rascal always liked to take advantage of him like this?
"Alright then!"
Ye Qiu was about to reach out when she beat him to it, their fingers intertwined.
Faced with his strange gaze, Xiao Wu stammered, "Just look at it like this, it's convenient!"
Ignoring the details, Ye Qiu unfastened the black stockings, his Sharingan appearing, the tiny pupil in the center glowing with purple light, dissecting the sleeve dart's structure.
'It really was tampered with; if anyone tries to remove it, it will automatically disintegrate. But I've seen it clearly!' Ye Qiu carefully examined the sleeve dart.
Xiao Wu also stared at Ye Qiu, her crimson eyes unblinking.
As if remembering something, he asked, "Xiao Qiu, do you not like Tang San?"
"What are you talking about? How could I like a man?" He released Xiao Wu's arm, his blood-red eyes, tinged with purple, looking at her.
Ye Qiu froze. Everything went blank.
Xiao Wu met his eyes, her heart pounding, her face flushed like a sunset. "I...I didn't mean that. I meant you don't seem to like him much."
...Seeing Ye Qiu's lack of reaction, Xiao Wu called again, "Ye Qiu?"
"Huh? Oh," Ye Qiu snapped out of his daze, shaking his head. His Sharingan was already closed. He silently chanted "Amitabha" three times, hoping Buddha would forgive him.
(End of Chapter)