Far North Land

Kong Deming had already been gone for some time.

Su Yu actually missed him quite a bit.

The technique for simplifying the Core Array patterns in Class 4 soul tools was not hard to understand.

But many of the tricks involved were still troublesome to figure out.

Su Yu could solve a higher mathematics problem, but the process wasted a lot of time. It was much faster to simply have a teacher walk him through it.

Moreover, many of the problems Su Yu was running into now could not be explained by Class 4-level Soul Tool Theory.

Because of this, the refinement of the Condensation and Gathering Rune had also hit a bottleneck. This was also one of the reasons he had begun constructing new runes.

"Old Kong should be back soon."

Jing Hongchen had not seen Kong Deming in a long time either. If the other man had not sent messages from time to time, telling him to keep an eye on Su Yu's cultivation progress, he would have suspected something had happened to Kong Deming.

Su Yu nodded, feeling somewhat worried as well.

Kong Deming's safety was one matter.

After all, he was the Sun Moon Empire's Pillar of the Sea. If something really happened to him, the entire situation on the Douluo Continent might change.

Aside from that, there was the Soul Fighting Tournament.

Shrek's team leader was that Grand Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, and Su Yu was honestly rather afraid of him.

If he struck too heavily in the arena, that shameless thing really would make a move.

No, it was not just a matter of striking too heavily.

Perhaps because of you, Shrek would lose, its ten thousand years of glory destroyed in one blow, and he would also attack in fury.

So having someone who could give him a sense of security lead the team to the competition was a preparation Su Yu needed to make.

His own teacher was naturally the first choice.

Though he was not a Limit Douluo, not even a Super Douluo, he was still someone with half a foot in the realm of a Class 10 Soul Engineer.

His overall level of threat was no less than a Limit Douluo's.

If Kong Deming could not return, then when the time came, Su Yu could only explain the pros and cons to Jing Hongchen and ask him to hold the fort.

"Old Kong told me that if there's anything about soul tools you don't understand, you can ask me."

Jing Hongchen thought Su Yu had run into a bottleneck in his soul tool research, so he spoke up.

"As it happens, we're going to the Far North Land this time. The journey is long, and there'll be plenty of time on the road. I'll answer your questions for you."

Su Yu did not stand on ceremony either, and nodded.

The refinement of his cultivation method and the outlining of runes were things that brought benefits the earlier they were completed.

"We don't know how much time we'll spend on this trip either."

The last time Su Yu and Xiao Hongchen had searched for soul beasts, it had taken nearly two months.

And that had only been in the Sunny River Mountain Range.

Just making a round trip to the Far North Land might take more than half a month.

Moreover, soul beasts in the Far North Land were even harder to find.

Perhaps this trip would take even longer than last time.

"There are still three months until the Soul Fighting Tournament. The academy just started classes two days ago, and in a few more days, the selection of the contestants will begin.

"I've already given Su Yu and Meng their spots, so there's no need to worry about that.

"What we need to pay attention to is that if we're delayed this time, we'll head straight to Star Luo City when the time comes."

Jing Hongchen said this to Xiao Hongchen.

After giving all his instructions, Jing Hongchen, Su Yu, and Meng Hongchen left the academy.

With Flying Soul Tools, they reached the small town on the edge of the Far North Land in only Five Days.

"Any farther in, and we won't be able to use Flying Soul Tools."

The environment of the Far North Land was too harsh, making it impossible to travel with Flying Soul Tools.

The three of them removed their Flying Soul Tools, put on the warming soul tools they had prepared, and continued deeper in.

Another three days passed.

"We can now be considered to be in the Outer Area of the Far North Land."

"Meng's Vermillion-Eyed Ice Toad has both ice and fire attributes. Soul beasts with corresponding attributes are hard to find, so our tentative target is still the Vermillion-Eyed Ice Toad."

"Vermillion-Eyed Ice Toads live in the Outer Area of the Far North Land. Through the intelligence from Illustrious Virtue Hall, I've also locked onto several regions where ten-thousand-year Vermillion-Eyed Ice Toads have appeared."

Jing Hongchen took out a map, pointed at places on it, and circled several of their destinations.

"There isn't much information on the Far North Land. I only know this much about the Vermillion-Eyed Ice Toad because it survives in the outer area, and because I deliberately collected information on it.

"From here on, the two of you must not leave my field of vision.

"It would be best if you were ready to release your martial souls and fight at any moment."

The biting wind of the Far North Land carried snowflakes with it, and everything beneath the sky was a vast expanse of white. Wait in place for a single minute, and you would be covered in snow.

In an environment like this, a soul beast could be hiding almost anywhere.

The deadliest part was that this was the Far North Land.

Many soul beasts kept their vital signs at an extremely low level. Some were even almost like they were hibernating when they rested, and even their Soul Power aura was hard to sense.

So even if there was a soul beast sleeping right under your feet, you might not necessarily be able to feel it.

"My Mental Power is covering everything within a hundred meters at all times, so such an extreme situation shouldn't happen, but there's no harm in being careful."

Jing Hongchen was a Titled Douluo, so he could withstand the weather here.

Meng Hongchen's martial soul was the Vermillion-Eyed Ice Toad, so she was relatively at ease as well.

As for Su Yu, he had taken the Nine Petal Snow Lotus before, so he could still move normally at the moment.

Xiao Hongchen was completely different. If he came here, he would probably just be dead weight, so they had not brought him along this time.

"Grandfather, are you two really talking about Soul Tools?"

Meng Hongchen could not understand the theories Su Yu and Jing Hongchen were discussing.

What on earth were they talking about?

Su Yu was asking questions in the name of Soul Tools, but the true core of his questions had always been the construction of runes.

His Rune Method was similar to Void Engraving. It did not need to consider engraving on Rare Metal, which made it more complex and unrestricted.

Instead, that touched on Meng Hongchen's blind spot.

So although many of the pattern names were basic Soul Tool terminology, their combination methods and underlying concepts were beyond her understanding.

Moreover, Su Yu's Rune Method was still different from a Soul Tool's Core Array.

The foundation of the Rune Method lay in the wholeness and stability of the final rune.

Every line drawn in the void was interconnected as well, maintaining stability so that it could steadily exist while Mental Power flowed through it.

This was the foundation of Su Yu's Rune Method.

In the process of answering Su Yu's questions, Jing Hongchen gradually gained a vague concept of what Su Yu was researching.

Coupled with the fact that Su Yu's questions were all about constructing array patterns involving Mental Power, he could basically confirm that Su Yu was trying to use the Core Array of Soul Tools to assist in Mental Power cultivation.

After all, even Jing Hongchen's line of thought for researching Fusion Soul Tool Technology had been provided by Su Yu.

Su Yu did not shy away from it either.

After Jing Hongchen had roughly guessed it, he did not hide it.

"A genius's idea."

Jing Hongchen was shocked by Su Yu's level of Mental Power on one hand, and full of admiration for Su Yu's Rune Method on the other.

"Your Rune Method may have a high threshold, but it can almost be cultivated indefinitely."

"Can other people cultivate this Rune Method of yours?"

After thinking it over, Jing Hongchen still asked.

This Rune Method was simply too significant, especially for Soul Engineers.

"When everyone gathers firewood, the flames rise high, but I don't think it's suitable to spread it on a large scale for the time being."