Before introducing them to it, the idea of a tank seemed absolutely ridiculous to cultivators. They used armor to protect themselves, and vehicles to move around faster. They had magic chariots and carriages that were covered with defensive formations, but that was merely to let them survive a few hits while running away. It was too ingrained among them that fighting was done by cultivators. When he described creating a device to do the fighting for them, they made the connection with the obscure Puppeteer and their reservations went away.

Just like with the airship, in this workshop they were experimenting with different materials, but he doubted they would want to try and create a full tank out of the expensive materials that were usually hard to find enough to make a few blades out of. The higher tiers of Blacksmith were mostly about the skill and knowledge of how to work with more and more materials, so the experts they had gathered were surely more skilled than him in this regard. On the other hand, there was plenty of mechanical knowledge he could share with them.

Back on Earth, he was not a mechanical engineer. His knowledge of the field was not deep, but after many years of experimenting on the Inner World he had figured out how to use many of the superficial observations he’d made in his previous life. With time and experimentation he could figure out how to build a bicycle, while the people in this world had no idea a bicycle even existed.

For a vehicle like a tank, there were many technical problems and in the past Sage had basically just built a heavily armored wagon. They didn’t have air cushioned rubber tires or advanced suspension so every ride was extremely bumpy. Without tracks, their off road traction was terrible, so his initial tank design was pretty lackluster. He’d only used the original design as an emergency shield before it was destroyed.

Surprisingly, the Steam Army had made impressive improvements on their own. Just like most of their other problems they defaulted to using more expensive materials and formations. The giant metal wheels were covered in spikes and enchanted with piercing arrays to stab into even solid stone so they could maintain traction. On the interior of the tank, they used another array to dampen the impact and give it the feel of a smooth ride.

So, they treat the wheels as tiny spears and the body like a suit of armor, not too shabby.

Even so, he shared the basic principles of some mechanical devices that he could remember. Leaf spring suspension, spring suspension, ball bearings, and a u-joint: the double cardan, though he couldn’t remember such a specific name. He also knew a gearbox was a pretty important piece to allow high torque in difficult conditions and high speed on easy roads, but he could only give them a vague idea of how that worked. The basic concept of a gear ratio was already used in some of the other devices he’d built, like the power hammer, but for a gearbox they needed to build highly precise metal gears and not just belts to different sized wheels.

“You seem to know many Puppeteer secrets.”

Sage was intrigued. Are Puppeteers actually mechanical specialists? He’d only heard they manipulated puppets in battle and assumed they were magical devices or summoned creatures. He was guessing they just used special techniques to control them that nobody else had, but it sounded like there was far more to it.

“These things use mechanical advantage, at the most basic level you trade motion for power.”

It was all an extrapolation of the humble lever, transforming it into different shapes and angles, or modifying the conversion from power to motion in differing degrees. Sage wasn’t going to spend years here joining them in their research and development, but it was certainly exciting to see how they incorporated the little bits of knowledge he’d given them with their own impressive skills. They could already do amazing things with the arrays and special materials they used to create magical devices.

In a few decades they will have to rename their creations to ‘magical machines’. I’m very curious to see what these geniuses come up with.

Next, they moved on to a far more interesting thing than the technical problems of tank locomotion. They passed through a doorway and into an array that dampened sound. Sage was curious what was going on and then they turned the corner and entered what he immediately recognized as a firing range. Here, they had dozens of workbenches with all sorts of different weapon systems upon them. At least half of them seemed to be modifications to the steam cannon, experimenting with different styles and projectiles. The others seemed to be variations on other siege weapons: onager, ballista, trebuchet, and even many devices that just looked like melee weapons attached to a mount.

That was when he realized he was overlooking the majority of magic devices. Crossbows were only a small portion of cultivator weapons. He’d been focusing on a ranged weapon for the weaker ranks, but those at higher levels could release sword beams and other devastating attacks. They would also have weapons constructed to maximize their capabilities. For example, the Black Saber art that Jiyao used. He had heard that powerful magical devices could contain techniques within them. There was quite an overlap between Blacksmiths, Talisman Masters, and Formation Masters. A talisman was a single use item, said to contain a single use of a technique. It was like storing one’s power in a battery in order to release it later. He’d been silly not to realize that high level magical devices could do a similar thing without being destroyed with a single use.

He’d constantly fallen into the trap of trying to mass produce weapons as cheaply as possible, but the Holy Flame Sect wouldn’t be wanting the same thing. They didn’t care about equipment that could make rank ones fight with rank threes or fours. On the other hand, they would love devices that could help rank fours fight with rank fives. It would also be miraculous if they could develop a way for rank fives to fight rank sixes, or for those rank sixes to boost their strength. Any way to boost a Nascent Soul’s power was welcome. The special materials required to make magic devices of that level were extremely expensive.

As Sage had found out in his recent battles, weaker equipment had limited effect, while someone who was willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money could gain quite a significant advantage. His weapons had become little more than distractions while the trouble Jinxi Po gave him was immense.

Sage spent a few hours in that firing range, sharing his thoughts on the weapons while also gaining insight into many highly destructive weapon options. They shared with him the arrays, and materials required for them, that they were using to the greatest effect. Considering that Sage had never been able to raise his profession levels for many years, he didn’t have access to these higher level arrays for Blacksmiths. There were many subtle differences between them and those used by Formation Masters.

He was actually tempted to stick around in the Holy Flame Sect for a while to study professions again, but he couldn’t give up on his current goals. His increase in strength had made him a much more difficult target than he was in the past. At the very least he didn’t see the other first rate powers in Shihu Kingdom chasing him away again, but he also didn’t want them to start pressuring the Sect because of him.

Oh well, I can always return in the future.