Old Feng watched over the so-called factory as his students worked like clockwork, following their instructions perfectly.

The Factory was a concept that Da Wei had come up with during their discussions on how to increase the rate of production for the trains since they were starting to receive orders from nearby forces, such as Starfall City and the wealthier villages closer to the main cities.

The concept was simple. Instead of having a single inscription master like Da Wei or his disciples work on creating the trains from the beginning to the end, the work would be distributed across multiple groups of people who only had to do one thing each.

A good concept but one that had a glaring issue of leaking the designs to outside forces should someone feel like making some money secretly.

That was why, Old Feng proposed to separate these groups in such a way that one group would only know how to produce their part of the train and would no nothing about how the other parts are produced or assembled.

For example, the group that Old Feng was watching over right now was responsible for forging the main shell of the train from Ironwood bark. They were all trained by Old Feng to be good Spiritual Blacksmiths, but they would only know how to forge the shells, nothing more.

Similarly, three other groups overseen by Li Qiang were responsible for creating the base inscriptions of the train’s body. One group worked on the inscriptions that produced the repelling magnetic field compared to the one generated by the path. Another group worked on making the restrictive inscriptions that kept the train from going off the path. The final group worked on the gravity inscription that propelled the train on the path.

Aside from these four groups, the final and most important inscription, the control inscriptions, are produced by a group of people handpicked by Da Wei and Li Qiang in a separate factory. They are also responsible for assembling the trains using the separate parts produced by the different groups.

By using such a method, the secrets of producing the trains are kept relatively safe from those who would want to steal its designs.

“…..I don’t know how Master comes up with ideas like these, but this is amazing.”

Old Feng grinned at Jin Tianrui’s words and patted his back forcefully, causing the young man to stumble a little bit despite his cultivation.

“I’ve long since gotten used to Da Wei’s insanity-induced genius. But, despite the insanity inherent in his ideas, they are always very effective in their purpose, so your thoughts are understandable. Putting that aside, don’t sell yourself short, brat. That idea that you came up with was something pretty insane as well.”

Jin Tianrui looked embarrassed at the praise as he looked away.

“It was just an idea born out of selfishness, there is no need to praise it so much.”

“Nonsense! Your idea has directly contributed to safeguarding our trains, and potentially other things, from being harmed by malicious people.”

Once again, Jin Tianrui looked abashed but took the praise.

When Da Wei left the village to go on his journey, he entrusted the village's safety and operation to his Disciples, giving them full autonomy to do as they felt to ensure their survival.

It was this freedom that allowed Jin Tianrui to implement a plan that had been growing in his mind ever since he first saw the train that his Master created.

It was inevitable that such a genius creation would attract the attention of unsavory individuals who would wish to either steal it or destroy it to deny others having such an advantage. Given the large amount of materials and spirit stones involved in creating just one of the trains, it would be a nightmare for anyone who is not his master to replace a destroyed or stolen train.

That was why, he came up with an idea after discussing things with the other village chiefs to safeguard their trains.

He contacted his uncle, Bai Zhanye, in the Dark Guild, and had them open a small branch in their village, a task that his uncle was eager to do thanks to the fame of his master.

Once that was done, Jin Tianrui cooperated with the Dark Guild to establish a small firm that worked similarly to the protection services provided by the Dark Guild but only dealt with money instead of mercenaries.

The concept he came up with was simple. The villages and any other force that purchased the trains would pay an annual fee of a small amount of spirit stones or materials of similar value to this firm which would store the funds in their personal vault located in the Village. This fee would be paid for as long as the trains exist.

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If or when the trains are damaged, destroyed, or stolen, the force that was the victim can make a claim at the firm with the required proof of such a loss to gain the appropriate spirit stones or resources needed to buy another train for themselves.

Jin Tianrui called this concept an Assurance Firm.

When the village chiefs, Grandma Xu and Sun Hao heard this idea, they were astonished at the simplicity and effectiveness of this idea, however, they were also quick to point out the flaws in such a plan, such as the ease with which someone can fool the Assurance Firm by either destroying their own train or having it's stolen by mercenaries to gain money and pocket it for themselves.

To such worries, Jin Tianrui gave a simple response that solved their worries.

The Dark Guild.

Since a part of the firm would be owned by the Dark Guild according to the agreement for establishing a branch in their village, they would never allow anyone to fool them and get their money. Even in the case where someone did manage to fool them, such a person would soon find that they had made the biggest mistake of their lives by crossing the Dark Guild.

“By the way, where is the girl?”

“Senior Sister is with Ruiying. They are exploring the path with her Dao Familiar.”

“The Scorching Stallion, huh? I never imagined something so rare was lurking in the wilderness so nearby. What about you? Do you plan to get a Dao Familiar of your own?”

Jin Tianrui looked embarrassed at that question and spoke out his answer.

“Yes. I already have the beast that I want as my Dao Familiar. I am only waiting for news on its whereabouts and for Master to return before setting off.”

“Just be careful, especially if you plan to head south. Those Barbarian Clans and the Demonic Path have been acting really wildly lately.”

Jin Tianrui nodded at those words.

“I have already taken precautions against the demonic path with my senior sister’s help. As for the Barbarian Clans, and the Phoenix clan in particular?”

His face morphed into a sneer filled with hatred.

“Those abominations are nothing in my eyes. If they dare attack me, I’ll just have to use Master’s artifacts to wipe them out of existence.”

Old Feng suddenly gained a serious look at those words and fully turned to the young man.

“Jin Tianrui. Are you planning on searching for vengeance during this journey of yours?”

“….Maybe a little bit.”

“What is the point of vengeance if it is done through borrowed power? Why not get it when you are stronger?”

“That bastard must be becoming stronger by the day! I can’t just sit back and let this chance slip by!”

Jin Tianrui immediately became aware of his raised voice and composed himself.

“Sorry. I did not mean to shout.”

“…..I understand your thirst for vengeance more than you think, but take it from someone more experienced than you on this path. Vengeance leads to nothing but bitterness and emptiness in the end. I will not ask you to forget about your vengeance, but think clearly whether you live for yourself and your loved ones, or for the sake of vengeance alone.”

Jin Tianrui fell silent at those words before speaking in a much softer tone.

“Why should I think so much about mere beasts in humanoid form? The beasts who relish ending the lives of humans? Who loves destroying and breaking people?”

Old Feng got a faraway look in his eyes before speaking again.

“Tianrui, I will ask you a question that I was once asked by a very wise man a long, long time ago during my youth.”

“Why do we hate the Demonic Path with such zeal? Why do we kill and destroy the souls of those that are even suspected of following the Demonic Path?”

“Isn’t it because they are a threat to the lives of all humans? Because their cultivation depends on stealing the lives and souls of their fellow humans and cultivators? Because they are monsters that treat our people as nothing more than resources for their cultivation?”

“Correct. We kill the demonic cultivators because they view other humans as nothing more than cattle, animals that are nothing more than cultivation resources to them. But, tell me something, Jin Tianrui. What do you think the Demonic Beast, and by extension, the Barbarian Clans that you hate so much, think of humans?”

“Why would I-“

Suddenly, things fell into place within Jin Tianrui’s mind as he pondered the previous question asked by the old spiritual blacksmith and truly looked at things from an objective perspective.

Immediately, the haze of hatred that had always shrouded his vision dissipated just a little, allowing him to gain a bit of understanding of himself and the world around him.

His cultivation which had been stuck for some time suddenly rose and broke through.

Qi rushed into his body as he directly broke through to the Foundation Establishment realm after being stuck in the Qi Condensation realm for many months now.

And yet, his thoughts were still formulating the answer to Old Feng’s words.

“…..They would view us in the same way we view the Demonic Path.”

Old Feng broke into a happy smile and motioned Jin Tianrui to continue speaking.

“We hunt Demonic Beasts to obtain their cores, their body parts, and their elemental Qi-rich parts for the sake of our cultivation and for forging our artifacts and weapons. If the Demonic Beast in question has high enough cultivation to properly think, it would view us as monsters that hunt its kind for the sake of our cultivation, viewing us in the same way that we do the Demonic Path.”

“Correct! In fact, it is exactly this sentiment that is one of the many reasons why the Barbarian Clans are always at odds with our Human forces and are even willing to join hands with the Demonic Path occasionally to fight us. They hate us just as much as we hate the Demonic Path. As such, do you think we have any right to claim that they are in the wrong for their actions?”

“…No. I guess not. However, I will never accept that the actions of that bastard from the Phoenix Clan are carried out due to the same sentiment. He is pure evil and I will not give up my vengeance against him.”

“I am not asking you to. I am only asking you to not drown in your vengeance and forget about what is truly important.”

“….Thank you.’

“Think nothing of it.”

The two fell into a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts while watching Old Feng’s students continue working on the train below them.

Unaware of the fact that their entire conversation was overheard by Little Xing who had a complicated look in her eyes before leaving the factory and heading back to her home.