With the help from Tao Ba, Sage had a perfected version of the spear ready. He immediately rounded up all the Hoplites that had been refining bricks and started training them to form different array symbols. While he had wanted the concept to remain a secret of the Holy Flame Sect, Sage stretched the rules and put into use some mass production techniques. The Hoplites were quite simple creatures and if he wanted to make them into Refiners there was no telling how long it would take, if it was even possible. On the other hand, if he used an assembly line system, each individual would only need to learn a single array symbol.

It would certainly take some time to teach them how to form their single symbols perfectly, and probably a lot of wasted materials before they could carve it into the product successfully. Even with the drawbacks, it would eventually mean producing magical equipment with Hoplites. He might even get some humans involved and start training some apprentice refiners. A refiner was the more generic term they used in the Dou Kingdom. From what Sage had heard, the star system for professions was a set of standards laid out from a power above the Kingdom level. A refiner referred to any of the professions that used array symbols and formations to create magical items. The Holy Flame Sect liked to refer to them with unique titles, but they could also be broken down into types of refiners. Alchemists are Pill Refiners, Blacksmiths are Tool Refiners, Weaponsmiths are weapon refiner, Armorsmiths are armor refiner, Tailors are clothing refiners, and so on. They all had their own star ranking system and unique badges, it was just a matter of naming conventions.

It would be pretty useful to have some assistants to help with creating items, so Sage put out a recruiting notice to the nearby towns. He put prospective apprentices through the same tests as the Hoplites. They were split into groups, training to create individual symbols. He had them work for a few days on each symbol and then move to try and create the next one. For the Hoplites they weren’t expected to become actual refiners, so all he had to do was find a dozen Hoplites that were the best at drawing each of the symbols needed for the manufacture of their weapons. For the prospective apprentices, it was an aptitude test. If they could at least crudely carve each of the different symbols in a few days, it would speak of their talent and they would be worth training. They would be far from the level of the apprentices in the Holy Flame Sect, but it would be enough to be an assistant for the Jade Horde.

With that underway, Sage turned his attention back to research. Tao Ba’s changes to the Storage Bag had given him some insight into how to modify them. Previously, he’d only been able to remove symbols or add additional supporting arrays to the finished products. Tao Ba’s work had included an array that didn’t just support the initial array, it changed it. Not many could repair magical equipment, and even fewer could modify them. The technique that Tao Ba used was something Sage had never seen before and so he happily put it to the test. Sage looted two auto-crossbows from the Fierce Tigers and he took some time to decipher how they handled things. He was impressed. It was an exquisite bit of magical design. They incorporated their own internal storage space to hold bolts and used a complicated array to draw back the string for firing. In essence, they converted Qi from the user into physical force to load the crossbow.

Sage found a different method. With experimentation, he found a way to rupture a Storage Bag without causing it to collapse. It was a modification that essentially held the bag open at all times. He wanted to add a Qi gathering array to power it, but that would be very expensive for mass production. Instead, he added a Spirit Stone slot to the weapon. It was necessary for the other mechanisms, and the bag doesn't require much energy. This weapon would be much less effective than the ones he took from the Fierce Tigers, but it would be far cheaper to produce. Instead of using the Storage Bag to store bolts, he built it into the stock of the crossbow. Initially, he thought of using a Steam Engine, but those were supposed to be the unique devices produced by the Holy Flame Sect. If he used them here, even in a hidden space, there was a chance that someone would find out about it.

Instead, he used the new technique of modifying Storage Bags. Inside the bag he placed a stone counter weight with a simple lever system. The always open hole into the Storage Bag was inside the crossbow stock. The Storage Bag was rigged to switch between no weight and full weight. When the full weight mode was activated, because of the hole to the outside world, the counterweight would drop and draw the bow. Then when it was deactivated, firing the crossbow would push the counterweights back to their start position. The bolts were loaded into a simple box style magazine and mounted on top. It was definitely not a pleasant weapon to use, but it was still capable of a high firing rate. Since it was meant for public sale, he didn’t want to make it too powerful. Additionally, he tested and found a method to combine a Storage Bag with the magazine. Those who were willing to pay more, could have the more expensive magazines that could hold a few hundred bolts instead of a basic one that only held a dozen.

It wasn’t a very pleasant weapon to use, having to hold steady and hold up the heavy counterweight every time it loaded. That said, by placing it on the ground or leaning it against something it could drastically reduce the weight. Sage made a list of the new array symbols he used and added them to the training program for the apprentices. After that he moved on to the most difficult research topic.

He wanted to find a way to use Troop Formations with his Formation Machine. Troop Formations were a way to have the individual cultivators form array symbols with their own bodies and Qi. By maintaining exact energy levels and positioning, they could form Array Formations. The very best could even move and fight while holding the array, but the requirements on precision and focus were extreme. Worse yet, if one of the members of the array was disrupted, the whole array could easily collapse. If they didn’t have the exact number of people, it couldn’t even be formed. All it took was one lucky or focused attack to remove one person in a formation and all that training and practice would be useless. Only the most rich and powerful would take the time and effort to train Troop Formations for specific uses.

Sage’s idea was to take out half of the effort required. The Hoplites were not the most intelligent or adaptive beings after all. If he could figure out a device that formed the array symbols for the soldiers, then all they would have to do is worry about positioning. The Hoplites were most skilled at maintaining their positions, he had created them to stand tall and hold a shield wall, so maintaining spacing should be right up their alley. Inside the Universe Ring, Sage had a large group of Hoplites testing different ideas out for him. He tried giving them Formation Plates, but they broke too easily. He tried making them stand in weird poses, using their physical bodies to form the symbols instead of just their energy flows. That was of course a disaster. More drastically, he attempted to carve array symbols onto them in various methods. Tattooing them with Spirit Stone laced ink, carving symbols directly into their carapace, and most extreme of all rerouting their cultivation. Using their internal meridians as a canvas, he had a few Hoplites try to form array symbols with their internal Qi.

Surprisingly, this method worked pretty well, but it had unusual side effects. They somewhat embodied the meaning of the symbol they had inside them and couldn’t use their Qi normally for other purposes. For example, the one with the ‘heat’ symbol radiated warmth constantly, like a living heater. Sage gave them some techniques as a test and the Hoplite seemed to still be capable of using flame related techniques, but nothing else. It was an interesting discovery, but Sage moved on to a different method. Thankfully, the last option he’d thought of had promising results. Sadly, it was the most expensive and hence the last on his list of options. He’d put out the request for more Tailors to plan for this eventuality.

The Array Symbols were refined into armor. Instead of having a full array formation, each soldier would have only a single symbol. They merely had to pour in their Qi and the armor would handle making each portion the perfect concentration and forming the lines with exact accuracy. While it was much simpler to create a single large array symbol then a full array formation in a suit of armor, it was still something that took a Cultivator Tailor to perform and on top of that, they would need tons of them.

Once a unit was equipped with them, they merely had to arrange themselves in the correct positioning and an array could be formed. Just like the Formation Machine, Sage planned to have them train for many different formations. By shifting around, changing places and swapping out soldiers, they could create different Array Formations and surprise the enemy. When soldiers were lost, they could bring over others with the correct symbol as a replacement, or just switch to a different Array Formation entirely. He could already imagine the infinite possibilities.

Ah… but the expense!