Dad and I flew for some time before arriving outside a private house.
Dad shouted, "I've brought him with me, Pang Dahai."
The door opened slowly and Dad shoved me in. "I'll wait at home."
"You're not coming in with me?" I asked.
"No. Go home on your own later." He flew away without waiting for my agreement.
I walked in and was greeted by all kinds of mechanical equipment.
I saw a fatty sitting on the sofa as tools floated above his workstation. He seemed to be a.s.sembling something.
He looked over at me and waved.
I saw that his whole hand was silver in color.
"Mechanical arm?" I asked in shock.
"Heh heh. I developed it on my own to deal with daily work. You can make a custom order at 63 gold pieces an arm. 20% discount if you have a member's card from the federation."
I put my backpack down and pointed at his workstation. "What are you working on right now?"
"A fatal weapon that can shoot metal-type ammunition. It's a kind of concealed weapon and I intend to name it MT Pistol. Any time before a battle, when your opponent has his guard down, you can use this to attack. He won't have any time to dodge your bullet," Fatty told me with a proud smile.
With a wave, my backpack flew right into his hand.
He looked at it carefully. "This is good stuff. I'll be able to reduce the size by half after some a.n.a.lysis."
He waved again and the a.s.sembled MT pistol flew into my hand.
I grabbed it tightly and an ammunition clip floated in front of me.
"Put it in and undo the safety lock. There a small hook where you can rest your finger on. Aim it at the target and pull the trigger."
I followed his instructions.
Bang!
A hole appeared on the target right before my eyes.
I ran forward and noticed that the metal plate behind had an indentation.
"Isn't this too powerful? If it can shoot consecutively with such speed, no s.h.i.+eld can defend it," I cried out.
"You finally get the idea. I've been thinking about it recently," Fatty said.
"I'm Li Goudan. My father, Li Jing, called me over and said that you're the princ.i.p.al of Azure Flight Inst.i.tution?" I responded.
"Goudan? Good name, and yes, I'm Pang Dahai, the princ.i.p.al of Azure Flight. Your dad is managing the navy well but I'm still surprised that his son is such a genius," he said, grinning.
I shook my head. "No, no, no, I'm not even of Split Body standard when it comes to cultivation."
"So what? I wouldn't change your brain for anything, even over ten Ordealers."
"I'm not that great. I'm interested in Science and while I know this is not mainstream and is even considered as demonic, I'm doing it as a hobby..." I paused, not knowing how to continue.
"Do you know why I'm interested in you? I've seen what you wrote in your book. You're much better than most students and even teachers at the school! Wanna know why?" he asked.
"Why?" I repeated.
"Students and teachers at my school have bold and imaginative thoughts and unlimited pa.s.sion toward Science. Yet, they have all succ.u.mbed to a misconception that the basis of Science is imagination. In reality, practice is the foundation of Science. With careful calculations, you have turned your imagination into actual simulations. While these numbers may not be accurate, you've already exceeded the capability of everyone at my school," Fatty explained, sending a jade strip into my hand.
"So you're saying..." I grabbed the jade and read it. It contained all the steps to create and use a pistol. The length of the gun body, the angle of firing, the method to operate, and the way to stabilize the trajectory. I felt overwhelmed.
"If you came without your backpack, I might've just accepted you as a student. Since you showed up with it, that's enough proof that you have every right to join my inst.i.tution as a teacher," he told me laughingly.
"That jetpack?" I asked, smiling.
"I had thought that it was merely a concept. I did not expect you to have actualized it."
"I've made everything in that book," I stated.
Upon hearing that, he shuddered. "Is that true?"
I nodded.
"Bring in all of them tomorrow. No, no, no. I'll go over with you now. Let me see your stuff!" he exclaimed excitedly before bolting up.
News that Li Jing's son Li Goudan, with his Split Body qualification, had become the a.s.sistant princ.i.p.al in Azure Flight Inst.i.tution spread across the whole immortal world the next day.
Two groups of people emerged.
Cultivators were convinced that Dad had used his connections to secure my future.
There were also some who knew that Pang Dahai was a stubborn person and wouldn't be swayed like that, so the news got them interested in my abilities.
as such, the news got them interested in my abilities.
On that day, during the news conference, Pang Dahai only said that time will tell if his a.s.sistant was worthy of his position.
When it was time for me to speak, I simply put on my jetpack and made a live demonstration.
After landing back on the ground, I said to the audience, "No cultivation is needed at all. Azure Flight Inst.i.tution accepts custom orders. It won't cost more than 10 gold pieces."
The crowd surged and split into two groups once again.
One side deemed my jetpack useless while the other believed that my invention was a step into the future.
I bowed and left the stage.
Because Science was still considered demonic, news that oil lamps were being replaced by light bulbs could already be seen in the newspapers.
Times were changing and good things were hard to overlook.
Since then, orders came in continuously. I was surprised. Of course, many felt that it was cheap so they purchased one just for the fun of it.
Upon receiving the blueprint, students and teachers at school started ma.s.s producing the jetpack. Three gold pieces were needed to cover the material cost and two gold pieces to cover the a.s.sembling cost.
The remaining five gold pieces came to me and I made a windfall out of my invention.
I invented the fridge a year later.
Powers weren't needed to preserve fresh food. Five gold pieces a set. Custom orders accepted within Azure Flight Inst.i.tution.
I invented an air-conditioner three years after that.
No powers required to control the temperature in a room. Custom orders accepted within Azure Flight Inst.i.tution.
Five years later, our Science and Technology Inst.i.tution was officially established and more inventions came along: The airplane and three artificial satellites.
With our own unique way of doing things, our inst.i.tution became one of the best educational establishments.
I invented the mobile phone seven years later.
With data transmission from the satellites, it was like a portable television with many different types of channels. People no longer needed to stay at home to get information. Ma.s.s produced, it was being sold for fifty gold pieces a set.
Then came WiFi and computers...
Azure Flight Science and Technology Inst.i.tution became the best establishment within the whole world of immortals, with Pang Dahai and Li Goudan leading as the princ.i.p.al and vice princ.i.p.al.