Dawn broke over Shuangqing City, pale light filtering through the curtains.
Inside the diorama box, morning had also arrived in Gaojia Village.
Gao Yiye opened her eyes. In the past, waking up meant immediate dread. Her first instinct was always to grab her bamboo basket and head out to search the wasteland for bark and roots, then keep going until sunset. But now, the crushing hunger that had once consumed her was gone.
For the first time, her first thought upon waking was not about survival. It was a choice.
What should I do today?
Water was no longer a concern thanks to Tianzun's gift. She decided to wash her face first.
Gao Yiye had always been naturally beautiful, but years of malnutrition and grime had hidden her features beneath sallow skin and hollow cheeks. After several days of eating properly, her appearance had already begun to change. As the grime rinsed away, the hollows in her cheeks began to fill, a healthy flush returned to her skin, and her eyes sparkled with life instead of despair.
The only thing that remained unchanged was her clothing. No matter how thoroughly she washed it, her tattered hemp clothes still hung loosely from her thin frame.
After finishing, she stood there uncertainly for a moment before pushing open the door and stepping outside.
She had barely taken two steps when the sky suddenly darkened.
A colossal hand descended from the clouds, slowly reaching toward her.
Gao Yiye froze. Then she smiled.
Tianzun is feeding us again.
Her heart raced with anticipation. Would it be rice? Flour? Meat? Salt?
None of those.
A massive slab of gray metal landed before her.
Outside the box, Li Daoxuan held a piece of rusted iron sheet that he had peeled off his wooden clothes rack. It was only ten centimeters long, five centimeters wide, and 0.3 millimeters thick. To him, it was nothing more than scrap metal.
But inside the miniature world, where everything was magnified two hundred times, it had become a monolith.
Twenty meters long. Ten meters wide. Six centimeters thick.
Gao Yiye stared at it in confusion.
"Tian... Tianzun..." she said hesitantly. "Are we supposed to eat this iron today? I'm afraid my teeth can't bite through it."
Li Daoxuan nearly choked with laughter.
Eat it? Again?
He spoke calmly, though there was a hint of amusement in his voice. "This iron is not for eating. It is for forging armor."
Gao Yiye's eyes widened. "Armor?"
"Yiye, Gather the villagers," Li Daoxuan instructed. "Have them examine the iron. I remember there's a blacksmith in the village. His name is..."
"Gao Yiyi," Gao Yiye answered immediately.
"Yes. Under Gao Yiyi's guidance, have every able-bodied young man forge a simple set of iron armor."
Gao Yiye nodded and hurried off to relay the divine command.
Within minutes, the entire village had gathered around the massive slab of metal. They stared at it in stunned disbelief, overwhelmed by its sheer size.
Gao Chuwu was the first to speak, grinning nervously.
"Such a thick piece of iron! Is Tianzun giving this to us as food? I doubt even Uncle Yiyi could chew through it."
Gao Yiye mimicked Li Daoxuan's tone and lightly scolded him.
"Brother Chuwu, stop thinking about food! Tianzun gave us this iron so we can forge armor."
Gao Chuwu blinked. "Armor?"
A sturdy man pushed through the crowd. It was Gao Yiyi, the village blacksmith. He was accustomed to repairing plowshares and sharpening kitchen knives. But armor? That was far beyond his usual work.
He walked around the giant slab twice, running a calloused hand over its cold surface.
"This much iron..." he murmured in awe. "It's worth a fortune."
He shook his head. "To shape it, we'd have to melt it down first. But this piece is far too large. My furnace can't possibly hold something this big."
Before anyone could suggest a solution, an invisible force descended from above.
Li Daoxuan reached into the box.
To him, the 0.3-millimeter sheet was as flexible as paper. He pinched the edge between his thumb and forefinger.
Twist. Creak. SNAP.
The sound echoed like thunder throughout the miniature world.
He twisted again. Snap. Again. Snap. Snap. Snap.
Within seconds, the twenty-meter-long slab had been reduced to dozens of manageable pieces. Each fragment still weighed several tons by human standards, but they were now small enough to fit into the blacksmith's furnace.
Inside the diorama, the villagers watched in horror and awe.
They saw the colossal iron slab rise into the air, held by nothing. It twisted violently, groaning under an unseen force, before breaking apart with a series of thunderous cracks.
Six centimeters of solid iron, broken like dry twigs.
Absolute divine power. Terrifyingly effortless.
Instinctively, the villagers dropped to their knees, trembling.
"Tianzun commands you not to waste time kneeling!" Gao Yiye shouted, channeling the voice from above. "Stand up and get to work!"
The villagers scrambled to their feet, their panic quickly giving way to urgency.
"Quickly! Carry the iron pieces to Gao Yiyi's forge!"
"Bring firewood! Charcoal!"
As they worked, whispers spread through the crowd.
"Why does Tianzun suddenly want us to make armor?"
Li Daoxuan listened closely.
Not a single person mentioned rebellion. Not one villager seemed worried about breaking the law.
In the Ming Dynasty, private ownership of armor was a capital offense, punishable by death as a sign of treason. But these peasants were so isolated and desperate that such laws might as well not have existed. They were legally blind.
Li Daoxuan's expression hardened.
"Gao Yiye," he said solemnly. "Tell them this armor is for protection. Do they remember the bandits who slaughtered their way into the village?"
Gao Yiye flinched. The memory of her mother's blood staining the sand was still fresh.
She relayed his words.
The Village Chief was the first to understand the implication.
"Tianzun is warning us... more enemies are coming."
The women grew anxious. "What should we do?"
But the men straightened their backs, fear giving way to determination.
"Tianzun has already told us what to do," one of them declared. "Forge armor! We still have the bandits' blades. With iron on our chests, steel in our hands, and our bellies full... why should we fear any bandit?"
Understanding rippled through the crowd.
Work began immediately.
Some villagers headed into the surrounding hills to gather dry brush and firewood. Others brought homemade charcoal. Before long, Gao Yiyi's humble forge was glowing white-hot, fueled by more resources than he had ever had at his disposal.
Young men hauled the heavy iron fragments to the forge. As the metal softened in the heat, Gao Yiyi raised his hammer.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Sparks scattered from the anvil.
"Uncle Yiyi," a young apprentice asked, wiping sweat from his brow, "how are we supposed to make armor? We don't know the designs."
Gao Yiyi paused and studied the glowing piece of iron.
"I can't make complicated lamellar or scale armor," he admitted. "But I can make Liang Dang Jia."
"What's that?"
"One plate for the chest. One for the back. Connected with leather straps at the shoulders and waist. It protects the front and back. Simple, but effective."
A villager grinned. "Uncle, why not just make an iron bucket and wear that? Full coverage!"
Gao Yiyi snorted. "An iron bucket? Swing a sword inside one of those, and you'll suffocate or collapse from exhaustion before the first blow lands."
Laughter broke out across the forge, easing some of the tension.
Above the box, Li Daoxuan frowned.
"Their craftsmanship is primitive. Even with enough material, they can only produce crude equipment. Improving their skills would take years, perhaps generations."
I don't have generations.
Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.
I need skilled craftsmen from outside.
His gaze drifted toward the northern edge of the box, where Wang Er had disappeared. Then another name came to mind.
Shan Shi'er.
The pompous, idiom-spouting Advisor.
He had been dismissed from his position, disgraced, and left to wander the county town. But he was educated. He understood logistics. More importantly, he owed his life, and his dignity, to Gaojia Village.
Maybe I can put him to use.
Li Daoxuan narrowed his eyes.
It was time to bring Shan Shi'er back into the game.