Jing Hongchen: Great Aunt, I'm Begging You, Don't Go! Let Me Watch!
Hearing Qian Renxue's words, Tang San from twenty thousand years ago and Jing Hongchen from ten thousand years later both felt a flicker of disdain.
What kind of garbage were Soul Tools (Hidden Weapons), anyway?!
In Tang San's view, things like Battle Armor and Soul Tool vehicles might have looked useful and powerful, but they were nowhere near as discreet or swift as his Hidden Weapons.
In a real fight, by the time they brought out their Soul Tools, his Hidden Weapons would already have pierced their hearts.
Inside the Sky Screen.
Hearing Qian Renxue's words, Wang Hongchen, who had been striding proudly ahead, stopped in his tracks, his aged face darkening.
He said to Su Tianxuan:
"Can you throw her out?"
Qian Renxue's words were practically an insult to him!
What were Hidden Weapons but garbage discarded by the times? How could anyone mention them in the same breath as Soul Tools?
Su Tianxuan's mouth twitched. He glanced at Qian Renxue, signaling her not to talk nonsense:
"She's a child who doesn't know any better. She was only joking. The two of them are the subject of today's contest, so let's let them in."
After Su Tianxuan became famous, Wang Hongchen often invited him over to discuss Soul Tool Technology.
But both men were fiercely competitive, and their discussions eventually turned into Soul Tool-making contests like this one, thick with the smell of gunpowder.
"Hmph. What are we competing in?"
"Fully Automated Level 10 Soul Tools. Those two aren't very good with Soul Tools, so let's see whose is easier to use."
Ye Guyi knew a little about Soul Tools, but Level 10 Soul Tools from ten thousand years in the future were still far beyond her. She might as well sit at the same table as Qian Renxue.
"A Level 10 Soul Tool for a Soul Emperor? Interesting."
Wang Hongchen murmured to himself.
Making top-tier Soul Tools accessible to ordinary people was his lifelong pursuit.
Su Tianxuan's proposal was just what he wanted.
"Have them show me their Martial Souls. I'll see what would work best."
"Heh, don't get scared now."
Qian Renxue and Ye Guyi both summoned their Angel Martial Souls.
"People from the Yue Family?"
Wang Hongchen was a little puzzled.
What was there to be scared of?
But the very next second, when the two women revealed their Soul Rings, the worldly-wise Soul Tool master suddenly fell silent.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, red.
Seriously, bro?
Was that a configuration a normal person could have?
Answer me!
"Are you fucking sick in the head?"
Wang Hongchen laughed, driven to laughter by sheer anger.
Only Time Douluo could give someone such a bizarre Soul Ring Configuration.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Sixth Soul Ring was astounding, but it wasn't impossible.
But what the hell was with those first four Soul Rings?
Hundred-year, thousand-year?
You'd already given them a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit, so couldn't you have upgraded those hundred-year and Thousand-Year Soul Spirits while you were at it?
What was the point? Did he just think all those colors looked pretty?
Wait.
Wang Hongchen narrowed his eyes, and a possibility suddenly occurred to him.
Could it be that those Soul Rings hadn't come from Soul Spirits, but from hunting Soul Beasts?
Otherwise, it was hard to explain why Su Tianxuan would do such a thing.
Then why had these two from the Yue Family been reduced to hunting Soul Beasts instead of using Soul Spirits to advance?
He glanced thoughtfully at Su Tianxuan, considered certain possibilities, and a trace of sympathy appeared in his eyes.
Wang Hongchen's gaze made Su Tianxuan's skin crawl. With no idea what he was thinking, he brought the conversation back on track:
"Hey, have you decided what to make? How about one person each?"
Wang Hongchen nodded:
"I've decided. I've got everything ready. Do you need anything special?"
That morning, when Su Tianxuan sent him the challenge, he had already sent people to prepare the tools and materials he commonly used. He had also notified the academy's students and teachers to come and observe.
Su Tianxuan shook his head. An elegant carving knife danced between his fingertips as he followed Wang Hongchen toward the Sun Moon Royal Academy's grand hall.
But then he suddenly remembered something and turned back to Qian Renxue and Ye Guyi:
"The Soul Tools we're about to make will be fairly complicated. If you come along, you'll be bored.
"Why don't you look around on your own? We'll call you when we're done."
Making a Level 10 Soul Tool was extraordinarily complex. Even among Level 9 Soul Engineers, few could understand it.
Rather than have Qian Renxue and Ye Guyi sit there staring blankly, they might as well explore the academy themselves.
Beyond the Sky Screen.
The Douluo II era.
"No!"
Hearing those words, Jing Hongchen, whose face had been full of anticipation, felt as though he had fallen into an abyss.
When he had heard Su Tianxuan describe his and Wang Hongchen's Soul Tool Technology earlier, Jing Hongchen had already longed to see it.
Neither man's level was something their Sun Moon Empire could hope to reach.
If any Soul Engineer had the chance to learn even the barest rudiments from Su Tianxuan and Wang Hongchen, it would be an enormous improvement.
But now, Su Tianxuan was kindly telling Qian Renxue and Ye Guyi not to come along?
How could that be allowed?!
The Sky Screen's broadcast followed the travelers from the future, not their host, Su Tianxuan.
If you don't broadcast it, what are we supposed to watch?
Jing Hongchen was just short of dropping to his knees and begging Ye Guyi and Qian Renxue not to wander off, begging them to follow Su Tianxuan and watch:
"I'm begging you, please go and watch! Our Hongchen family will remember your great kindness forever!"
At that moment, every high-level Soul Engineer in the Douluo II era had the same thought.
On the Douluo Continent of the Douluo I era, however, it was a different story.
They depended entirely on archaeology for Soul Tools, and there wasn't so much as a shadow of a Soul Engineer.
Su Tianxuan and Wang Hongchen talked a big game, but who the hell could understand what they were actually doing?
They might as well look around the Sun Moon Royal Academy instead. They might even get to hear some of the future's Soul Master lessons.
"Soul Tools are nothing but frivolous tricks. Soul Masters are the true path. If they do not go, it will be a loss for the entire continent, and they will be sinners of the entire continent."
Yu Xiaogang spoke with ringing conviction.
For once, the two women weren't studying online. He had finally been given a chance to hear lessons from the future, revise his theories, and prove himself. If he missed even this...
Then he would destroy Spirit Hall at any cost!
Inside the Sky Screen.
Ye Guyi hesitated for a moment, then shook her head:
"Your Excellency, I'll go with you."
This might be the only chance on the entire journey to the future to see Soul Engineers of this caliber make Soul Tools in person.
She didn't want to miss it.
Even if she couldn't understand anything now, she could wait until she became a high-level Soul Engineer herself, then slowly recall it and puzzle it out.
As soon as she said that, the Soul Engineers of the Douluo II era all breathed a sigh of relief.
Well done. As expected of someone from the Sun Moon Empire.
Meanwhile, a certain fellow in the Douluo I era was about to start cursing.
Fortunately, there was still another person.
Unlike Ye Guyi, Qian Renxue had no intention of becoming a Soul Engineer.
Although Soul Tools were formidable enough to change the balance of power on the Douluo Continent, she only planned to take them back to the past and leave them to others to research.
At most, she would learn how to use and guard against them. Her main focus would remain on cultivation and becoming a god.
So she nodded to Su Tianxuan, indicating that she intended to look around the Sun Moon Royal Academy.
"No problem. Wang Hongchen, could you send someone to show her around?
"She'd probably rather attend one of your Soul Master lessons. Do us a favor, will you?"
Su Tianxuan understood what she meant and spoke to Wang Hongchen.
Naturally, Wang Hongchen didn't mind such a small request.
He called over two female students with fairly pleasant temperaments and asked them to show Qian Renxue around.
After the two women had moved far enough apart, the Sky Screen split in two as well, one half showing Qian Renxue and the other showing Ye Guyi.
There, everyone was satisfied now.
Those who wanted to hear about Soul Tools could hear about Soul Tools, and those who wanted to hear about Soul Masters could hear about Soul Masters.
Everyone had a bright future.
It was just that this might not be what certain people wanted to hear.