Preparations

'My goal be to one day use the my knowledge to create new technologies, increase my power, and uplift civilization in this world,' Mo Hu decided, 'The last objective will be difficult since the world is ruled by strength, and people aren't willing to work together to benefit others.'

He feel fortunate that days were 35 hours long and years were 627 days because it allowed him memorize much more than his days on Earth. He started his days memorizing runes, then practiced martial and spiritual techniques finding that each element exhibited different qualities. Fire was offensive, water changed seamlessly, earth displayed defense, wood enhanced vitality, metal was sharpness, wind was speed, ice slowed everything down, lightning was destruction, light was hope, and darkness was fear. He would train single elements at times and other times weave all the elements together in an unpredictable manner. He would cultivate afterwards to clear his mind and fill his dantian, then finish the day organizing the information in his mind and recording it also on paper.

When Mo Hu memorized the last rune he could find among the documents in the library, weapons, talismans, and arrays in the cave, it occurred to him, 'Even runes aren't equal, it seems that I need to classify runes by three criteria: amount of Qi required to create, the rune's power, and complexity.'

He created a chart based on these premises that stated: Class three runes were the easiest to created, didn't require much Qi to make, and had the least power. Class two runes were more complicated to create, had a higher cost for creation, and could affect a larger area or increase the power of the intended effect. Class one runes could only be created by a handful of engravers in the world, required highly volatile materials, and could cover large areas or miraculous effects.

Mo Hu was ready to move towards apprentice level arrays and talismans. While he did have enough supplies to allow him to practice without worry in the short term. He thought to himself, 'I have the ability to simulate runes and array combinations and construction. It would be better to practice this way instead of wasting materials blindly.'

Mo Hu ability to simulate quickly allowed him to achieve the rank of apprentice engraver as the constant trial and error allowed him not only to create the arrays recorded in the library, but test and modify those arrays to be more efficient or stronger. He also created a few new arrays for his own purposes later. As Mo Hu's knowledge base grew in both runes and combat systems, he found time to start new projects.

Mo Hu had many facilities that needed to be built, which included a farm, forge, kiln, lab, water desalination plant, and a material processing facility. His first priority was was to design each project so he strolled around the cliff where his cave was located until he located a boulder made of what he recognized as granite. He brought it back to the cave and using Earth arts and techniques, carved the rock into a drafting table. He regularly searched the forest for a location to set up a farm and after comparing several, he decided, 'This area is perfect for the farm. Since I need to clear the trees and brush, let's use the metal techniques I learned recently to clear the space.'

Mo Hu cleared a large area of forest, storing everything that could be used later in the ring and everything else was plowed or mulched. He retrieved all the seeds he had gathered over the years and planted three fields, one for food, one for paper, and one for juice and alcohol. He set up illusion and protective arrays around the perimeter of the farm to keep birds and small animals away. He created pipes using bamboo native to the island and engraved arrays on them to act as water pumps to transport water from the stream to a reservoir he made. Finally, he set up a series of arrays that would detect moisture levels and activate gentle rain arrays when necessary. If the reservoir supply was low other arrays would then pump water from the stream to the reservoir. Since all the arrays used were class three, he only had to use a simple spirit gathering array to power the system. With everything in place he would only need to visit occasionally to check the health of the plants and to remove weeds or pests.

Since more room was required for his plans, Mo Hu decided it was time to mine. His only had four rooms with the main room, drafting room, cultivation room, and the empty room. Entering the empty room, he began the process of digging and break rock. Mo Hu had learned that it was normal for cultivators to become proficient in carving out caves for protection. Using the methods he read about alongside knowledge from his previous life, Mo Hu tunneled down. He used arrays to stabilize the tunnels, light arrays to illuminate them, and wind arrays to supply fresh air. Debris from mining was stored in his ring awaiting his artifact to deal with it. On the first day he was able to dig out one basement floor and the amount of work was staggering and Mo Hu started considering hiring some help. Unfortunately he didn't have a way to transport them through the protection array that the sect disciples had mentioned so he considered taking time to finding and studying this array soon.

After his first day of mining, Mo Hu was getting ready to bathe when the hassle of having a hot bath annoyed him.

'Tomorrow instead of mining I will take the time to build the desalination system and provide plumbing to the cave, ' he told himself.

The next morning, after accomplishing his morning routine, Mo Hu walked towards the water with bundles of engraved bamboo. Slightly different than the farm, he ran pipes underground from the beach to his cave. He made sure that the beach pipes were unobstructed and physical filters were placed on the ends to keep fish and debris from clogging the pipe. The other end of the pipes went to the first basement floor where it connected to a series of tanks. The first tank collected the water, the second boiled the water and collected the salt, the third tank further purified the water, the fourth tank purified the salt and allowed for collection, and the last tank stored the now fresh purified water. Using stone he crafted a sink, toilet, and a bathtub with a shower. Just like the farm water system, this system had arrays for the process of drawing in water. But this new system included arrays for heating, desalinating, and purifying water. The waste water from the system would get directed to the mulch pile at the farm. He ran a quick test to make sure everything worked as advertised and once he was satisfied, he used his new bathroom to clean himself. 'Luckily I know some wind arts, or I would stuck with no towel, ' he mused, 'tomorrow I should learn about artifact refinement so I can effectively and efficiently handle the debris from mining.'