Inside the toy store, rows upon rows of miniature weapons gleamed under the fluorescent lights. Li Dao Xuan scanned the shelves, his eyes darting from one row to the next, but he quickly realized that almost nothing here was actually functional for his purposes.
A child's toy gun was out of the question. Once placed inside the craft box, that thing would stretch to hundreds of meters in length. He did spot a rubber-band pistol, but even that measured ten centimeters. At a 200:1 scale, it would turn into a twenty-meter monstrosity, far beyond what his little people could ever hope to wield.
If I really can't find any modern hardware, he thought, I'll just have to whittle down some toothpicks into one-centimeter splinters and let them use those as pikes.
But the villagers had no martial training and no understanding of formations. Even with long pikes in hand, they would still be nothing more than "combat level five" weaklings. If they were going to survive the incoming bandit horde, they needed a force multiplier. Something that could strike from a distance.
A projectile weapon. A true engine of war.
Suddenly, Li Dao Xuan's eyes lit up.
Tucked away in the most inconspicuous corner of the shop, on a dusty bottom shelf, sat a box of micro plastic catapults. Each one was tiny, barely three centimeters long on each side. The craftsmanship was crude to the point of being laughable. The entire thing was plastic, and the mechanism was so simple it almost felt insulting. It relied purely on elasticity. A child would press the throwing arm down with a finger, and once released, the tension would snap it back upward.
Li Dao Xuan chuckled. Perfect. Why didn't I have toys like this when I was a kid?
He picked up the entire box and walked to the counter.
"Boss, how much for these catapults?"
The owner didn't even look up from his phone. "One yuan each."
Li Dao Xuan snorted. "For this little bit of plastic and a mold this sloppy, you're charging a whole yuan?"
The owner shrugged. "Take the whole box then. Fifty for twenty-five yuan."
That ended the discussion. Li Dao Xuan pulled out his phone, scanned the QR code, and paid.
---
When he returned home and sat before the craft box, he found the Gao Village Family in a state of tightly organized chaos. Every single person was moving with urgency, as if their lives depended on it.
Because they did.
The women had split into two groups. One group focused on cooking, preparing a final full meal for the men before battle. The other group handled defense. In tiny pots barely two millimeters across, rapeseed oil bubbled and spat over hot coals, ready to be used.
The men handled the heavy work. They dragged leftover stone and timber from the construction of the Dao Xuan Tianzun Cave toward the walls, preparing rolling logs and crushing stones. Up on the battlements, a cluster of villagers listened intently to Mr. Bai.
Li Dao Xuan leaned closer, his ear nearly touching the glass.
"Hold the spear like this. Keep your palm steady. When a rebel starts climbing, don't hesitate. Thrust downward like this."
Interesting, Li Dao Xuan thought, a grin spreading across his face.
Off to the side, another group caught his attention. Elderly villagers and children were gathered inside the shrine, kneeling before his statue with utmost sincerity. They prayed to Dao Xuan Tianzun, begging for protection, begging that no one would be harmed.
This lively, breathing world inside the box was exactly what Li Dao Xuan loved watching. For a brief moment, he felt relieved he hadn't simply crushed the bandits earlier. If he had, he would have missed all of this.
Alright, he decided. Time to give them a little divine assistance.
He cleared his throat and spoke into the box.
"Gao Yiye, tell everyone to prepare. I am sending down weapons."
---
Gao Yiye stiffened as the divine voice echoed in her mind. Her face immediately lit up with joy.
"Everyone, listen!" she shouted. "Dao Xuan Tianzun is about to grant us holy weapons!"
The original hundred villagers snapped to attention at once. The young men who had been half-listening to Mr. Bai instantly turned, their faces filled with pure devotion as they stared toward the sky.
Mr. Bai felt irritation surge in his chest.
I am teaching you how to survive a war, he fumed. And you ignore me to stare at clouds? Ridiculous.
He glanced at the Saintess with a scoff.
A divine weapon? Nonsense. She'll dance around, mutter some nonsense, then drag out a pile of rusted blades and call them blessed.
He had seen tricks like this countless times.
Just as he was about to voice his skepticism, Gao Chuwu suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.
"They're coming! Look up!"
"They're descending!"
"I bow to Dao Xuan Tianzun!"
The original villagers of the Gao Village Family dropped to their knees one after another, their foreheads striking the ground.
Mr. Bai's group remained standing, completely bewildered.
Mr. Bai narrowed his eyes and looked upward.
Then he saw it.
A patch of low-hanging clouds had appeared out of nowhere, hovering roughly seventy zhang above the ground. Within the mist, a colossal object slowly descended.
It was green.
Perfectly square.
And it had a massive spoon-shaped arm.
Mr. Bai's mind struggled to process it. But the question of what it was quickly gave way to a more terrifying one.
How was it floating?
Was this truly a gift from a god?
He stood there, stunned.
---
When the object finally touched down, the details became clear.
The main body measured two zhang by two zhang, a perfect square. The spoon-shaped arm extended outward, held in place by a simple but sturdy plastic catch.
"A... a catapult!" Mr. Bai gasped, his eyes nearly bulging. "A bizarrely shaped catapult!"
Thanks to his military background, he recognized it instantly. The others could not.
The villagers and tenant farmers from Bai Family Fort stared blankly at the strange green machine, unable to comprehend what Dao Xuan Tianzun had bestowed upon them.
Gao Yiye raised her voice, firm and commanding.
"Listen carefully! This sacred engine granted by Dao Xuan Tianzun is called a catapult. You place a stone into the spoon. Then you strike the catch on the side, and it will hurl the stone at our enemies!"
The crowd blinked in confusion.
"???"
Gao Yiye pointed decisively.
"Li Da! The Great Dao Xuan Tianzun commands you. Bring your iron hammer and stand by the mechanism. When I give the signal, strike the catch with all your strength!"
Li Da did not hesitate. He grabbed his massive sledgehammer and rushed to the machine.
---
High above, Li Dao Xuan picked up a tiny pebble from his desk. To him, it was no bigger than a pill.
To the villagers below, a massive boulder materialized from thin air, floated upward, and dropped neatly into the spoon.
A collective gasp swept through the crowd.
"Whoa!"
Mr. Bai's jaw nearly hit the ground. His mind, once filled with scorn, now spun wildly.
---
Gao Yiye raised her hand.
"Strike!"
Li Da roared and swung with all his might. The hammer smashed into the plastic catch with a heavy thud.
The mechanism released.
The throwing arm snapped upward with explosive force. The boulder shot into the sky, tracing a powerful arc before crashing down at the far end of the village.
Boom!
Dust and gravel exploded outward as a crater formed on impact.
For a heartbeat, silence.
Then the village erupted.
"It's incredible!"
"An Immortal's Treasure!"
"A treasure of the heavens!"
---
Mr. Bai stood frozen, his face stiff.
A bunch of ignorant fools, he thought, clinging to his pride. A normal military catapult can do this much.
But even as he tried to convince himself, his gaze drifted back to the clouds.
A chill crept into his chest.
There was an immortal in those clouds.
And this strange machine…
It might truly be a treasure from the heavens.