Chapter 362: The Thickness of the Sky

To activate the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon, the jade disk in Qin Mu's hand was essential. The cannon was too massive to maneuver easily, so Qin Mu had crafted an additional jade disk to interface with it. This jade disk allowed for precise control of the enormous cannon, enabling it to hit any target.

The jade disk served as the central control for the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon.

Qin Mu taught Emperor Yanfeng how to operate the jade disk. Learning and using it were both remarkably simple. As a master craftsman, Qin Mu excelled at simplifying complex processes, a skill that surpassed countless other forge masters.

Emperor Yanfeng put the disk away, then took it out a moment later to fiddle with it before putting it away again. A little while later, he retrieved it once more to play with.

"Your Majesty could try firing a shot," Qin Mu suggested kindly.

Emperor Yanfeng glared at him, retorting irritably, "One shot from that cannon and the national treasury will be empty! I'm not like you, so wasteful with money."

"Didn't the Crown Prince return from the snowy plains?" Qin Mu asked. "He should have brought back a lot of wealth."

"Even so, we can't just fire it at will! The money in the national treasury can't be touched casually. The country is in ruins and needs rebuilding everywhere; we're short on funds no matter where you look!"

Emperor Yanfeng put the jade disk away again. A moment later, Qin Mu saw the emperor secretly take it out once more and couldn't help but shake his head. Not having fired the cannon himself, Emperor Yanfeng was surely unable to eat or sleep well, his mind and dreams likely consumed by the desire to fire it for his own satisfaction.

However, his rationality would tell him not to use the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon casually, leaving the emperor in a state of constant internal conflict.

"Let him be," Qin Mu thought to himself.

Suddenly, several officials from the Bureau of Celestial Observation approached, carrying thick scrolls. The leader, Commander Huoshan, bowed to Qin Mu and said, "Overseer Qin, after your cannon shot into the sky just now, our observatory noted some anomalies in the celestial phenomena. Since you have many master arithmeticians here, we'd like to ask for your assistance with some calculations."

"What anomalies?" Qin Mu asked, surprised.

"When the sky was torn open, the celestial phenomena changed."

Commander Huojing of the Bureau of Celestial Observation added, "When the sky split open, the celestial alignments shifted, only returning to normal after the rift closed. We've recorded the angles of deviation, but our arithmetical skills aren't advanced enough to determine what exactly happened. Master Qin, please look at these historical star charts."

He opened the star charts, flipping through them page by page. Qin Mu observed that the Bureau of Celestial Observation's records showed very regular and subtle changes in the sky's constellations year after year.

"This is the star chart after Master Qin's cannon shot."

Commander Huojing turned to the last page and pointed to the star chart. "After that shot, the sky went dark for an instant. Our armillary sphere recorded the celestial positions. The sun shifted one inch and seven fen, only returning to its original position after the rift healed. Other stars that appeared during the darkness also showed varying degrees of deviation. What's absolutely abnormal is that there wasn't a single star at the location of the rift, where there should have been one hundred and seven stars!"

Still puzzled, Qin Mu asked, "Could it be that the cannon's immense power tore space, causing a distortion of vision that led to these shifts?"

"That's a possibility," Commander Huojing admitted.

Commander Huojing continued, "However, our Bureau of Celestial Observation uses an armillary sphere to monitor celestial phenomena. This spiritual weapon is also a heavy-duty spiritual treasure. While our vision as divine arts practitioners might be distorted, the armillary sphere's isn't. The celestial patterns on the armillary sphere move in sync with the stars in the sky. If the armillary sphere's celestial patterns moved, it means the stars in the sky genuinely shifted. The most crucial point is: why were there no stars at the rift's location?"

Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. He probed, "Are you implying...?"

The officials from the Bureau of Celestial Observation exchanged glances. Commander Huoshan cleared his throat and stated, "Until the calculations are complete, our Bureau makes no conjectures and is not responsible for anyone else's speculations. We ask for Master Qin's understanding."

"These guys are so mysterious," Qin Mu muttered.

Qin Mu frowned. "Most of the experts on my side are arithmeticians from the Dao Sect and Little Jade Capital. They are planning to leave and return to their respective places. I can't guarantee I can persuade them to stay."

Xu Shenghua stepped forward, eager to help. "I also have some proficiency in arithmetic," he offered.

Qin Mu smiled. "It would certainly be good if Brother Xu could help. I'll go invite Dao Master Lin Xuan and Wang Muran."

Jing Yan quickly interjected, "If my young master helps, then the thousand coins owed..."

Without turning his head, Qin Mu retorted, "If you don't help, I still have plenty of arithmetical experts here!"

Jing Yan's face instantly darkened. "Stingy!"

Xu Shenghua said, "Don't be angry, Yanzi. I actually want to know what happened in the sky after Cult Master Qin fired that cannon. And he wasn't wrong; whether we help or not doesn't really matter to him, it's just a matter of time."

Qin Mu gathered Dao Master Lin Xuan, Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and other young experts. Once they were all assembled, Wang Muran asked, "Cult Master Qin, what do you want us to calculate?"

Qin Mu looked at Commander Huojing of the Bureau of Celestial Observation, whose eyes flickered. "Calculate celestial phenomena," he said.

Dao Master Lin Xuan chuckled. "Celestial phenomena? Cult Master Qin cultivates my Dao Sect's Dao Sword, and the fourth chapter of the Dao Sword deals with celestial phenomena. With him here, do you still need us?"

Qin Mu shook his head. "The fourth chapter of the Dao Sword calculates normal celestial phenomena. What the Bureau of Celestial Observation wants us to calculate are abnormal celestial phenomena."

Dao Master Lin Xuan and the other Daoist priests were puzzled. Was there a distinction between normal and abnormal celestial phenomena?

Commander Huojing explained the celestial phenomena observed by the Bureau of Celestial Observation. "The stars moved, and the stars within the rift disappeared. This kind of celestial phenomenon is absolutely abnormal. It's like, it's like..."

Mu Qingdai blurted out, "It's like the stars are hung on a curtain!"

Commander Huojing clapped his hands. "Exactly! It's like they're hung on a curtain, and Master Qin's cannon light tore open the curtain, causing the stars, sun, and moon to separate to both sides!"

The many young people exchanged serious glances.

Were the celestial phenomena just hung in the sky?

Xu Shenghua looked up at the sky, composed himself, and asked, "Cult Master Qin, what exactly do you want us to calculate?"

"Based on the star shifts caused by that cannon shot, calculate the height and thickness of the sky!"

Qin Mu glanced at the various celestial officers of the Bureau of Celestial Observation. "Is this what you all mean?"

The celestial officers from the Bureau of Celestial Observation exchanged glances and slowly nodded.

"Master Qin is astute," Commander Huojing said, his voice hoarse. "Before, we believed the sky was infinitely high and infinitely thick. But Master Qin's cannon shot made our Bureau of Celestial Observation consider that the sky might have a finite height and thickness. The stars in the sky might not be as large or as distant as we imagined, and the sun also seems to... also..."

He dared not continue.

Qin Mu looked at everyone. "What do you all think?"

They were all young, from different backgrounds and traditions, with varying factions and beliefs, yet they were all intensely curious, each looking up at the sky.

Dao Master Lin Xuan withdrew his gaze and said, "Since Cult Master Qin's cannon shot has shown us that the sky has thickness and height, why don't we calculate it?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Wang Muran said, "We need the specific deviation data for each star to calculate it accurately."

Commander Huojing replied, "Our Bureau of Celestial Observation has records for every star, including the sun."

"That makes things much easier!"

Everyone immediately set to work, beginning their measurements and calculations. After a long while, they compiled the computed numbers, and everyone's expression became solemn and bewildered.

"I don't believe it!"

A Daoist priest from the Dao Sect suddenly stood up, smashing the Eight Trigrams diagram in his hand to pieces on the ground with a loud crack. "I don't believe it!" he declared furiously, then stormed away.

The other arithmetical experts remained silent. Long Yu mumbled, "This is impossible; we must have calculated wrong. This absolutely cannot be..."

Several Dao Sect experts, their composure shattered, chuckled hollowly, "It must be wrong. The sky can't be this thin..."

"It's definitely wrong!" Commander Huojing asserted quickly and firmly.

"Yes, it must be wrong!" many others echoed.

Xu Shenghua shook his head. "It's impossible for all of us to have calculated incorrectly, is it? If everyone arrived at the same numbers, then the result must be correct. The sky truly is this high and this thick."

"This is impossible! Impossible..." Long Yu, disoriented and staggering, walked away, as if losing his mind.

Mu Qingdai felt dizzy and quickly crouched down, sitting on the ground.

Qin Mu gazed at the numbers they had calculated and fell into deep thought: the sky was a hundred thousand li high, yet its thickness was a mere three hundred zhang. This meant that within a thickness of three hundred zhang, there were the sun, the moon, the Milky Way, and countless stars!

How could this be possible?

"Hehehehe..."

His own composure suddenly broke. He kept chuckling, tears streaming down his face, laughing so hard that he sat down, repeatedly slapping his knees.

"Cult Master Qin, what are you laughing at?" Dao Master Lin Xuan glared at him and demanded.

"Outcasts..."

Qin Mu burst into laughter, pointing at Lin Xuan's nose, nearly crying from mirth. "You're an outcast! You're an outcast too! And you, you, you! All of you are outcasts!"

Everyone watched him coldly. Qin Mu's finger tapped each of their faces in turn, finally pointing at Xu Shenghua. His laughter subsided, and his expression became terrifyingly cold. "You are an outcast too!"

Xu Shenghua frowned. The sky was only this high and this thick. Never mind placing the sun, moon, and Milky Way within it; even a single large mountain couldn't fit.

Yet, the sun, moon, and Milky Way were all in the sky. This left only one possibility: the brilliant stars, the scorching sun, the radiant moon, and the countless stars of the river-like Milky Way were all fake, merely pasted onto something!

This sky was like a seal, enveloping this world, and the sun, moon, stars, constellations, and galaxies presented to them were all illusions.

In the Great Ruins, surrounded by the Divine Cliff Mountains, the sky was never seen. At night, darkness encroached, and one could never see stars or the moon by looking up.

The people of the Great Ruins were outcasts of the gods.

But perhaps the beings of this world were also outcasts, just like the people of the Great Ruins!

Dao Master Lin Xuan suddenly shook his sleeve and said coldly, "I am no outcast! Dao Sect disciples, let's go, return to the mountain!" As he walked, tears suddenly streamed down his face.

"Dao follows nature... it's a damn fake nature!"

The young Dao Master, tearing at his throat, cursed at the sky, "All my life's efforts have been wasted on this damn fake natural order!"