High Martial: I Use Everything as Swords

「Core Area, No. 3 Research Institute.」

A massive, silver-white machine, ten meters tall, stood in the center of the laboratory.

This was the High-Energy Particle Melting Furnace, a pinnacle of industrial machinery of which only three existed in all of East Sea City.

It didn’t use traditional electric arcs or flames for heating. Instead, it utilized a stream of high-energy particles, accelerated within the furnace, to directly impact a material’s atomic nuclei on a microscopic level, generating instantaneous high temperatures and a powerful reshaping force.

The cost of running it for a single second was enough to feed a family of three in the Outer City for ten years.

Han Feng stood before the control console, watching the constantly fluctuating readouts. He was grinning from ear to ear.

’Back in school, I had to scrounge time on my senior’s crappy little furnace, and even then, I had to meticulously calculate the cost of electricity and material loss.’

But now?

"Push the power to eighty percent," Han Feng said into the microphone.

The operator in the control room’s hand trembled.

"Consultant, eighty percent?

That’s the power level used for smelting the bones of a Tier Four Demon Emperor. The material we’re using is just a Tier Three Alloy..."

"Just do as I say. Why all the chatter?"

Han Feng crossed his legs, holding a long list of materials.

"If it blows up, it’s on me. The Council can pay the electricity bill."

The operator gulped and, with a trembling hand, pushed the lever forward.

VWOOM—!

A low hum instantly penetrated the soundproof glass.

In the center of the furnace, a dazzling ball of blue-white light flared to life, as if a miniature sun were trapped inside.

Han Feng was very satisfied.

He waved a hand, clearing the room. "Alright, everyone out. And close the door behind you.

No one comes in without my permission. Even if the sky falls, you stay out there and hold it up."

The operators scrambled out as if they’d been granted a pardon, fleeing for their lives.

The pressure of being in the same room with this god of slaughter was immense. They were terrified one wrong word would land them in the orthopedic ward.

As the heavy blast door sealed shut, only Han Feng remained in the laboratory.

"System, engage Spiritual Vision support."

A silver light swirled deep in Han Feng’s eyes.

From a specialized metal case nearby, he took out a fist-sized, pale blue-green ore.

A Wind Grinding Stone.

It was an essential core material for manufacturing high-mobility Flying Devices, and it was also the power source for his "Escapee" Armor.

’What was this thing called on the procurement list again?’

Han Feng glanced at the list and ticked an item with his pen.

’Hmm, "X-01 Prototype Vector Nozzle Abrasion-Resistant Coating Test Sample." Consumption: 5 kilograms.’

’Such a reasonable justification.’

Han Feng chuckled. He enveloped the Wind Grinding Stone with his Divine Sense and tossed it directly into the center of the particle stream.

SZZZT!

The incredibly hard Tier Three Spiritual Material instantly liquefied under the torrent of the particle stream.

Han Feng’s Divine Sense, like the most precise of tentacles, probed into the mass of blue-green liquid.

Removing impurities, aligning the crystal structure, and engraving micro Spiritual Energy Circuits.

In the past, he would have needed to hammer it into shape with external force.

But now, with this Particle Furnace, he could perform "micro-sculpting" directly at the atomic level.

This was the beauty of combining technology with Cultivation.

For the entire following week, Han Feng lived in the laboratory.

He ate, drank, and took care of all his needs inside. When he got tired, he would meditate to restore his Sword Essence. When he awoke, he would go right back to burning through money.

The project team members outside only knew that their consultant was engaged in a secret, intensive effort to develop a "core component." They were all deeply moved and worked even harder as a result.

Only the logistics supervisor, watching the High Tier Materials being consumed like water, was so pained by the expense that he couldn’t stop trembling.

"Consultant, Engineer Wei has run into a problem!"

At noon on the third day, the lab’s internal communicator rang.

Wei Chen’s anxious voice came through: "The engine’s heat dissipation array is conflicting with the Spirit Gathering Array! The Energy Circuits are getting tangled up. The moment we channel Spiritual Qi, it explodes. We’ve already burned through three test benches!"

"Calm down. Send me the parameters."

While simultaneously manipulating a Heart-Protecting Mirror as it formed in the furnace, Han Feng split off a wisp of his Divine Sense to scan the screen.

’Idiots,’

Han Feng cursed after a single glance. "Who told you to connect the two arrays in parallel? It’s a three-phase power supply. All you have to do is add a buffer Rune in the middle with a ’Spiritual Energy Diode’ structure."

"A diode?" Wei Chen was stunned. "Runes can be used like that?"

"Use your brain. Spiritual Qi is a form of Energy, and so is electric current. The laws of physics are universal on a microscopic level. Now hurry up and fix it. Don’t waste my time."

After disconnecting the call, Han Feng went back to focusing on his "personal project."

「On the evening of the fifth day.」

Lin Xue was banging on the door, shouting from outside, "Han Feng! Get out here! There’s a problem with the aerodynamic layout of the wing. Wind tunnel tests show uncontrollable flutter at Mach 3!"

Han Feng sighed, opened the door a crack, and tossed out a sketch.

"Clip the wingtips by fifteen degrees and add a set of reverse micro-actuated control surfaces. Also, inscribe a set of ’Stabilize the Storm’ Runes under the skin. Don’t try to brute-force the problem with technology; learn to leverage the forces at play."

Lin Xue studied the sketch for a moment, her eyes growing brighter and brighter, before she ran off without another word.

...

「Late on the night of the seventh day.」

The laboratory’s Spirit Gathering Array was operating at full power, and the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the air had reached five times that of the outside world.

Han Feng was bare-chested and drenched in sweat.

On the workbench before him lay a set of... "parts" that emanated a faint, cold light.

Without looking closely, no one would have associated these items with a suit of Armor.

They looked more like the outer casing of some precision machine.

The breastplate consisted of three curved Obsidian Gold Plates. Its surface had a matte finish, and to the touch, it lacked the coldness of metal, possessing instead a smooth warmth, like jade.