Dawn was just beginning to break when Gao Yiye opened her eyes.
In the past, she would rise without hesitation, grab her bamboo basket, and head straight into the wilderness to forage for wild vegetables, tree bark, and edible roots. Every day was consumed by the desperate struggle to survive, leaving no room for thought beyond finding the next meal.
But now, things were different.
With the food bestowed by Tianzun, the village no longer lived on the brink of starvation. For the first time in her life, Gao Yiye woke up without the crushing pressure of hunger. Instead, her first thought was simple and unfamiliar: what should she do today?
Water was no longer scarce, so she decided to wash her face first.
She had been born beautiful, but years of starvation had buried that beauty beneath dirt, weakness, and a sickly pallor. Now, after days of proper nourishment, her body had begun to recover. Her cheeks had filled out, her complexion regained warmth, and the lifeless dullness in her appearance had gradually faded away.
Only her clothes remained the same.
No matter how carefully she washed them, their worn and tattered state could not be hidden.
After finishing, she stood there for a moment, unsure what to do next.
Slowly, she pushed open her door and stepped outside.
She had barely taken two steps when a colossal hand descended from the clouds and lowered itself before her.
Gao Yiye immediately understood.
Tianzun was bestowing something upon them again.
Her heart filled with anticipation.
Would it be rice?
Flour?
Meat?
Salt?
Vegetables?
None of the above.
What Tianzun placed before her was a massive slab of iron.
From Li Daoxuan's perspective outside the box, it was nothing more than a small scrap of iron sheet peeled from a wooden clothes rack. The piece measured only ten centimeters long, five centimeters wide, and one millimeter thick.
But inside the diorama world, it transformed into something monumental.
Before Gao Yiye stood an iron plate over twenty meters long, ten meters wide, and twenty centimeters thick.
She stared at it, completely bewildered.
"Tianzun…" she said hesitantly. "Are we supposed to eat this iron today? I fear I cannot bite through it."
Li Daoxuan nearly laughed out loud.
Your first thought is eating again?
He spoke calmly, though there was faint amusement in his voice.
"This iron is not for eating. It is for forging armor."
Gao Yiye's eyes widened.
"Armor?"
"Gather the villagers," Li Daoxuan instructed. "Have them examine this iron. I remember there is a blacksmith in the village. His name is…"
"Gao Yiyi," Gao Yiye answered immediately.
"Yes," Li Daoxuan said. "Under Gao Yiyi's guidance, have every able-bodied young man in the village forge a simple set of armor."
Gao Yiye nodded respectfully and hurried to relay Tianzun's command.
Before long, the villagers gathered around the enormous iron plate.
They stared at it in stunned silence.
Gao Chuwu was the first to speak.
"This iron plate is incredibly thick," he said, grinning. "Is Tianzun giving this to us as food? I doubt my teeth could handle it."
Gao Yiye immediately scolded him in the tone she imagined Tianzun would use.
"Stop thinking about food all the time. Tianzun gave us this iron so we can forge armor."
Gao Chuwu froze.
"Armor?"
At that moment, a middle-aged man pushed his way forward.
It was Gao Yiyi, the village blacksmith.
He had spent his entire life forging farming tools, kitchen knives, and simple metal implements. But armor was something he had never attempted before.
He circled the iron plate slowly, his expression filled with disbelief.
"This much iron…" he murmured. "It is worth a fortune."
He gestured toward the massive slab.
"If we want to forge anything, we must melt it first. But this piece is far too large. My furnace cannot possibly melt something of this size."
Before anyone else could speak, an enormous invisible hand descended from the sky.
Li Daoxuan reached into the diorama box.
From his perspective, the thin iron sheet was as flexible as paper.
He bent it.
Twisted it.
Then snapped it.
Snap.
Snap.
Snap.
Snap.
He broke it repeatedly until the single sheet became dozens of smaller fragments.
Inside the diorama world, the villagers witnessed an entirely different scene.
The colossal iron plate twisted violently in midair, as if grasped by an unseen divine force. It bent, warped, and shattered with thunderous cracks.
In mere moments, the enormous iron plate had been reduced to dozens of manageable pieces.
The villagers were completely stunned.
In their eyes, this had been an iron plate twenty centimeters thick.
Yet Tianzun had broken it apart as effortlessly as snapping a twig.
Overwhelmed by awe, they instinctively began to kneel.
But Gao Yiye immediately shouted, "Tianzun commands you not to waste time kneeling. Stand up and work."
The villagers froze.
Then they scrambled to their feet.
"Quickly!"
"Carry the iron to Gao Yiyi's furnace!"
"Bring firewood!"
"And charcoal!"
As they worked, some began to whisper among themselves.
"Why does Tianzun suddenly want us to forge armor?"
Li Daoxuan listened silently.
Not a single person mentioned rebellion.
Not one villager spoke of laws forbidding civilians from possessing armor.
They were completely ignorant of such matters.
These villagers knew nothing of the outside world.
Li Daoxuan spoke again.
"Gao Yiye, tell them the armor is for their protection. Do they remember the bandits who attacked before?"
Gao Yiye's expression darkened immediately.
She would never forget.
Her mother had died beneath a bandit's blade.
She relayed Tianzun's words to the villagers without omission.
The Village Chief was the first to understand.
"Tianzun is warning us," he said gravely. "More bandits will come."
The women grew anxious.
"What should we do?"
But the men understood immediately.
"Tianzun has already told us what to do," one said firmly. "Forge armor."
"We already have the bandits' weapons."
"With armor, weapons, and full stomachs, we have nothing to fear."
The village quickly erupted into action.
Some gathered firewood.
Others brought charcoal.
Soon, Gao Yiyi's furnace burned brighter than ever before.
Several young men assisted him, carrying iron fragments into the fire.
As the metal heated, Gao Yiyi began hammering.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
"Uncle Yiyi," one young man asked, "how do you forge armor?"
Gao Yiyi hesitated.
"I cannot make complex armor," he admitted. "But I can forge Two-Plate Armor."
"What is that?"
"One iron plate protects the chest. Another protects the back. The two plates are tied together with rope and worn over the body."
"Wouldn't it be better to make a full iron shell?"
Gao Yiyi snorted.
"If your entire body is encased in iron, how will you swing a weapon?"
The villagers laughed.
Li Daoxuan watched silently.
Their technical skill was far too primitive.
Even with materials, they could only produce crude armor.
Improving their skills would take too long.
He needed skilled craftsmen.
Suddenly, he remembered someone.
San Shier.
The magistrate's strategist.
That man might prove useful.