After being transmigrated for so many days, Cheng Ying still hadn't shown any signs of awakening a golden finger. Helplessly, he could only face reality he would have to rely entirely on his own strength to achieve anything in this world.
Having read Douluo Dalu twice, he was well aware that Tianmeng was a complete weakling—thoroughly powerless in battle. Even after cultivating for a million years, he still couldn't beat a hundred-thousand-year soul beast. If he were counting on cultivating to become strong, it would be a dead end.
However, Cheng Ying had already thought it through. He might not have anything else, but what he had in abundance was time. Given ten thousand years, a soul beast might become stronger—but if he had that kind of time, he wouldn't just be building Gundams or starships; he could easily produce a few aircraft carriers.
With a carrier fleet at his back, even if a hundred-thousand-year soul beast came to cause trouble, he could beat them so bad their own mother wouldn't recognize them.
So, Cheng Ying rented a small shop in Heaven Dou City and started with the simplest items. While a full industrial system couldn't be supported by a single person, a foundational framework of scientific enlightenment could be drafted by one.
But before that, he needed people to experience the charm of science. And to do that, he needed a few clever little tricks.
At some point, a small shop named "Tech Trinket Town" appeared on the main street of Heaven Dou City. The shopkeeper didn't hand out flyers, didn't call out to attract customers, and there were barely any items on the shelves.
The only thing eye-catching was a large crystal glass display window. Such a massive piece of crystal—even the royal palace didn't have anything like it—and yet, here it was, installed in this quiet, nearly empty shop. Passersby could only shake their heads and sigh at the waste of such luxury.
But people are inherently curious. After several days, the shop finally welcomed its first customer.
The visitor wore a silk robe—plain, without any family insignia—yet his bearing clearly marked him as a noble from a prominent clan. Only someone from such a background would step into a strange shop purely out of curiosity.
Upon entering, he immediately felt a refreshing coolness. And just as he stepped in, he heard a young male voice:
"Human blood cells can generally be divided into three types: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. These three cell types are respectively responsible for…"
He understood every word, but once they were strung together, he was completely lost. Though he prided himself on being as knowledgeable as any renowned scholar, he couldn't make sense of the shopkeeper's lecture. Instantly, he grew more intrigued and lightly coughed to announce his presence.
Cheng Ying, who had been explaining the properties of human blood to Dugu Bo, paused in surprise before realizing they had a visitor. He turned to Dugu Bo and said, "That's enough for today. Organize everything we've covered these past few days." Then, turning to the guest, he noted the visitor's noble garb and lack of family crest, raising an eyebrow.
"May I ask your name, esteemed guest?"
"Just call me Ye." The youth's refined smile made Cheng Ying think. A noble youth from Heaven Dou City calling himself Ye at that age—could this be the future Emperor Xue Ye?
Cheng Ying only speculated but said nothing. Whether this was the future emperor or not wouldn't change much for him.
"So? Not going to tell me what you're selling in this shop?"
"As you can see, everything on the shelves is for sale," Cheng Ying said, pointing at the glass display case.
Ye smiled. "I'd say that crystal display case of yours is worth more than anything else here."
"If you're set on buying the case instead of the pearls inside, I suppose I could sell it." Cheng Ying chuckled.
Ye found Cheng Ying quite interesting—and so were his words. Though he had never heard the idiom "buying the case and discarding the pearl," its meaning was easy to grasp.
"Then I must ask the shopkeeper to introduce these 'pearls' of yours."
He picked up a shiny silver-colored metal box. As he lifted the lid, expecting some sort of rare gem, a flame suddenly leapt out, startling him.
"As you saw, it's a lighter. For now, it's mostly a novelty. But once the southern tribes' tobacco spreads here, it'll become quite useful."
Ye understood. Such a finely crafted lighter must be expensive. The poor couldn't afford it, and the rich had servants to light fires for them—its only real function would be for nobles to show off during hunts.
He returned the lighter and picked up a small paper box, shaking it slightly. It seemed to contain some wooden sticks. "And what's this?"
"Similar to the last one—also used to make fire. These are called matches." Cheng Ying struck one and lit it. The sudden bright flame made Ye nod approvingly. If cheap enough, this could be a useful item.
But Cheng Ying quickly crushed that thought. "Right now, I'm making these by hand, so the cost is high. Plus, there's no widespread need for fire-lighting. At best, it's still just a novelty. However, this white phosphorus match does have one unique feature that others don't."
He snapped off the match head. "White phosphorus—an entirely new kind of deadly poison. What I've got here is roughly the lethal dose."
Ye involuntarily stepped back, now viewing the match not as a toy, but a weapon.
"No need to be so alarmed. If someone accidentally swallows it, induced vomiting and gastric lavage might still save them." Though Cheng Ying said this casually, Ye's face remained serious.
He'd seen poisons before, but those worked through blood contact. This was the first he'd heard of one so deadly that ingesting a tiny amount could be fatal.
"Forget it. If you don't like the matches, try this." Cheng Ying produced something resembling a crystal teapot. The bottom was a metal canister with a gear on it.
"And this is?"
Cheng Ying removed the glass cover and struck another match, lighting the wick inside. A bright light burst forth—visible even in daylight—and far brighter than candlelight.
"Kerosene lamp. If it's too bright, you can adjust it using this gear." He turned it, and the light dimmed to a candle-like glow.
"Now this is interesting. No need to trim candle wicks, and it's much brighter. If you mass-produce these, noble families would definitely buy them." Ye was clearly impressed. "But what fuels it? It can't just burn out of thin air."
"Naturally it burns kerosene. One gold soul coin per barrel. Not expensive, right? I sell it right here. And if you want the manufacturing process for the lamp, I can sell that too." Cheng Ying smiled slyly.
"You do know how to do business. Selling lamps is a one-off, but kerosene—that's a long-term market. One gold soul coin per barrel isn't too bad."
A gold soul coin could sustain a small family for a month, but to noble families, it was nothing. While Ye wasn't too excited about selling the lamps, the method for refining kerosene caught his interest.