Early the next morning, the sunlight was already dazzling.
Li Daoxuan had just climbed out of bed when he noticed San Shier standing outside Gao Yiyi's house, loudly scolding someone.
"Li Da! Gao Yiyi! You useless freeloaders who do nothing but eat!"
San Shier stood with his hands on his hips, pointing directly at their faces.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun ordered you to forge armor. More than half a month has passed, yet when bandits attacked, you only had two sets of two-panel armor ready. What use are you to Dao Xuan Tianzun? Do you feel no shame eating the grain bestowed by him?"
The rebuke left both blacksmiths flushed red.
Behind them stood several other blacksmiths who had fled from Wangjia Village, Zhengjia Village, Zhuangjia Village, and elsewhere. They, too, lowered their heads in embarrassment, their faces burning with shame.
After a moment of tense silence, Gao Yiyi finally stepped forward.
"This... this is not Master Li Da's fault," he said quietly. "Dao Xuan Tianzun ordered him to focus on forging that strange new firearm. I was responsible for the armor. I never expected the bandits to attack so suddenly, or in such numbers. I only managed to complete two finished sets. After that, I devoted my time to studying armor construction."
He hesitated briefly, then added,
"We have already forged many armor plates. They simply haven't been assembled yet."
The other blacksmiths quickly nodded in agreement.
"We've been learning armor-making under Master Li Da. We forged many plates, but assembling them takes additional materials."
San Shier frowned.
"Enough excuses. If you have so many plates, bring them out. Let me see them."
Gao Yiyi immediately hurried back inside. Moments later, he returned carrying a large bamboo basket.
Inside lay dozens of iron plates in different shapes and sizes. Some were clearly shaped for shoulders, others for arms, chest, and waist.
San Shier stared at them in surprise.
"You already made this many. Why aren't they assembled?"
Gao Yiyi scratched his head awkwardly, unsure how to explain.
Li Da stepped forward to answer.
"Steward San Shier, this is indeed our fault. We underestimated the urgency. We thought Gao Family Village would remain safe for some time and became careless. But more importantly, we lack the materials needed to assemble the armor."
By now, the Village Chief had also wandered over.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun gave you so much iron," he said. "How can you still lack materials?"
Li Da shook his head.
"Iron alone is not enough. Armor cannot be made entirely of metal. If it were, it would be far too heavy. Before even fighting, the wearer would collapse under its weight."
The Village Chief blinked in confusion.
"Then what material do you need?"
Li Da answered simply.
"Cotton."
Outside the box, Li Daoxuan immediately understood.
Not raw cotton alone, but cotton cloth.
He vaguely remembered reading that Ming Dynasty armor was rarely composed entirely of iron. Instead, iron plates were attached to layers of cotton cloth using fabric bindings. Some armor even relied more on cotton than metal, which was why it was often called cotton armor.
Cotton armor offered many advantages. It was lighter, more affordable, easier to repair, and provided excellent insulation during cold weather. It also absorbed impact effectively and offered decent protection against early firearms.
After hearing this explanation, San Shier's anger faded.
"If cotton cloth is all you need, why didn't you say so earlier?" he demanded. "We could have traded flour in the county town and obtained it."
Li Da and Gao Yiyi exchanged embarrassed glances.
"We truly didn't expect the bandits to arrive so quickly," Gao Yiyi admitted. "So we did not consider it urgent."
San Shier sighed heavily.
"You fools."
Li Daoxuan chuckled quietly to himself.
He did, in fact, have an old cotton jacket he no longer wore. He could simply remove the cotton filling and give it to them.
But then another thought surfaced.
When objects entered the box, they enlarged by two hundred times. Would cotton fibers also enlarge?
If they did, the structure might become unusable.
He paused.
No. That did not seem correct.
He recalled the cabbage, rice, and water he had placed inside. If their microscopic structures had enlarged proportionally, the villagers would never have been able to eat or drink them normally.
This suggested an important rule.
Microscopic structures did not enlarge.
Instead, their quantity increased while their individual size remained unchanged.
There was only one way to confirm it.
He walked to his wardrobe and pulled out his old cotton jacket. Reaching inside, he grabbed a handful of cotton filling and tore it free.
Then he carefully placed it into the diorama.
From the villagers' perspective, a massive white mass descended from the heavens and landed gently on the ground before Gao Yiyi.
It was enormous.
Nearly the size of a house.
Everyone immediately fell to their knees.
"Thank you, Dao Xuan Tianzun, for your divine blessing!"
After kowtowing, San Shier rose and approached the cotton mass. He reached forward and carefully plucked a small portion.
He rubbed it between his fingers.
His eyes widened.
"This cotton..." he murmured. "It is unbelievably fine. Soft. Long. Pure white."
He trembled with excitement.
"This is celestial cotton."
Li Daoxuan smiled faintly.
Of course it was.
It was high-quality Xinjiang long-staple cotton, far superior to anything available in the Ming Dynasty.
More importantly, he confirmed his hypothesis.
The fibers themselves had not enlarged.
Only their total quantity had increased.
This discovery resolved many questions that had been troubling him.
Meanwhile, San Shier turned to the Village Chief, unable to hide his excitement.
"Quickly gather all the women in the village. Anyone who knows how to spin thread or weave cloth must begin immediately."
The Village Chief stared at the mountain of cotton, overwhelmed with joy.
"With this much cotton," he said, voice trembling, "everyone in Gao Family Village will finally have proper clothing."