Turning the Sea into an Abyss

"Xiao Qiang, are you really going to make a Rank 5 Milk Bottle?" Tian Meng asked within Xiao Qiang's sea of consciousness.

"Of course, Brother Sky Dream."

"A Rank 5 Milk Bottle isn't a problem for me. Although I can basically only use your spiritual power, your spiritual power already far exceeds that of an ordinary Rank 6 Soul Engineer, so there's absolutely no issue on that front. But your Soul Power won't hold up." Tian Meng sounded worried.

"It's fine, Brother Sky Dream. I can hold on, and we have to hold on."

"What do you mean?"

"Mingde Hall Master Jing Hongchen has a grandson. He's considered a genius when it comes to Soul Tools. My Sharingan tells me that he'll become a Rank 5 Soul Engineer within a year or two. If I'm only a Rank 5 Soul Engineer, then in Jing Hongchen's eyes, my talent will be impressive, but only slightly better than Xiao Hongchen's."

"I'll receive decent treatment, but only decent. It'll probably be far from the resources Brother Sky Dream planned for us to obtain."

"Cultivation has always been like this—fall one step behind, and you'll fall behind at every step. If we don't get enough resources this time, no one knows what might happen if things drag on. Brother Sky Dream, we have no way back."

Thinking of what might happen to Snow Empress in the future, Xiao Qiang's words were utterly sincere. Especially those final few sentences—there wasn't the slightest hint of falsehood in them.

Feeling Xiao Qiang's emotions and thinking of how Ice Empress was drawing ever closer to her Heavenly Tribulation, what if Ice Empress were to encounter some accident...

"Xiao Qiang, I'll make the Soul Tool. You'll be responsible for guiding the Soul Power from the Milk Bottle. Today, I'm going all out with you!"

"Alright."

After discussing it with Tian Meng, Xiao Qiang put a Milk Bottle into his mouth, preparing to immediately guide the Soul Power stored within it into his body once Tian Meng ran short of Soul Power.

Then Tian Meng took control of every part of Xiao Qiang's body except his mouth and digestive system. Controlling Xiao Qiang, he released his martial soul. A pair of Two-Tomoe Sharingan appeared, while three soul rings—two yellow and one purple—circled Xiao Qiang's body. Immediately afterward, the purple soul ring lit up. It was Mental Probe, activated by Tian Meng with spiritual power.

"Hm?" Releasing a soul skill while absorbing Soul Power from a Milk Bottle at the same time—how exactly was that possible?

Wang Heng stared in utter confusion. It was not just him; even Jing Hongchen had never seen anyone release a soul skill while absorbing Soul Power at the same time.

But Jing Hongchen was not only interested in Xiao Qiang's method of crafting a Soul Tool. What interested him even more were Xiao Qiang's eyes.

Those eyes...

The Body Sect? No. With a martial soul as precious as eyes, if he belonged to the Body Sect, he would definitely be one of their top geniuses. If he truly were a spy, no sect or faction would send one of its finest geniuses to infiltrate another side.

Besides, the Body Sect had always looked down on Soul Tools. The possibility of sending a top genius to infiltrate Mingde Hall for the sake of Soul Tools was practically nonexistent.

Then there was only one possibility. Xiao Qiang had awakened a Body Spirit, but the Body Sect had never discovered him. A Body Spirit Soul Master with extraordinary talent in Soul Tools—and with eyes, one of the most important Body Spirits at that. They had truly struck gold this time. Combined with his talent in Soul Tools, he looked suitable to become a final disciple. They would just have to keep an eye on the Body Sect afterward.

Besides that, he would also need to find a way to obtain the method for a second awakening of Body Spirits. Otherwise, such a fine genius would be wasted.

Jing Hongchen could not bring himself to commit something as ruinous as withholding resources from a genius with an excellent martial soul, waiting for him to research a second awakening on his own, and only then raising him as a genius.

At this moment, Xiao Qiang still had no idea what Jing Hongchen was thinking. He continued working with Sky Dream Ice Silkworm to craft the Rank 5 Milk Bottle.

Sweat had gradually begun to bead on Xiao Qiang's forehead. Activating his soul ring with spiritual power while also expending a huge amount of spiritual power to craft a Rank 5 Soul Tool like a Milk Bottle was no easy task.

Although Tian Meng possessed an enormous amount of spiritual power, Xiao Qiang's body was ultimately still Xiao Qiang's. The spiritual power they could use was almost entirely Xiao Qiang's.

Tian Meng could use some of his own spiritual power to make up for it, but unless Tian Meng released one of his seals, the amount he could replenish for Xiao Qiang was ultimately limited.

Under such circumstances, where consumption was great and replenishment was small, Xiao Qiang's spiritual power was being drained at an alarming rate.

And they were crafting a genuine Rank 5 Soul Tool. Xiao Qiang's Soul Power had already been somewhat insufficient to begin with. The only reason he could maintain his current expenditure was because he was using the Rank 4 Milk Bottles he had made earlier to replenish himself.

Using Soul Power to activate a soul skill was almost out of the question. He still had a little spiritual power left, but his Soul Power was truly being squeezed dry.

Before the Rank 5 Milk Bottle was even halfway complete, both Xiao Qiang's Soul Power and the Soul Power stored in the Milk Bottle had begun to run dry. Although Xiao Qiang had other Milk Bottles to supply him, by the time the Soul Guide Array for the Rank 5 Milk Bottle was halfway finished, his spiritual power was nearly depleted as well.

Maintaining a soul skill while engraving the core array of a Rank 5 Soul Tool—either task alone would not have put much pressure on Xiao Qiang. But together, it was no longer a simple case of one plus one equaling two.

With both tasks draining his spiritual power at once, the pressure on Xiao Qiang's mind multiplied exponentially.

"No, we can't continue. Your spiritual power won't be able to withstand it. Once it's drained dry, your mind will collapse outright." Within the sea of consciousness, an awareness projection of Tian Meng appeared before Xiao Qiang. Tian Meng was already considering retreat.

Feeling the pain coming from his brain, Xiao Qiang, as the one bearing it, understood his condition even more clearly. But he had to obtain enough resources. He had to reach Rank 40 in less than a year. Otherwise, after Snow Empress reincarnated as a human, no one would be able to protect him from Mu En.

Hoping that Mu En's mobility would decline enough that he would not come strolling through Mingde Hall was the same as handing his life entirely over to someone else's whims. Unless he had no other choice, Xiao Qiang would never do that.

"Brother Sky Dream, release one seal."

"But your body..."

"Brother Sky Dream, I can feel that my martial soul hasn't reached its limit yet. It hasn't even reached the limit of its unawakened state. If the Two Tomoe state can't do it, then I'll evolve the Sharingan into Three Tomoe. The Sharingan's evolution will also nourish my body in return. Believe me, Brother Sky Dream."

"Alright." Tian Meng nodded. Having controlled Xiao Qiang's body before, he understood Xiao Qiang's physical condition to some extent.

Thanks to the Heaven Swallowing Divine Art he had created earlier, although not much time had passed, Xiao Qiang's body had already grown much stronger than when they had first met. Furthermore, those spiritual origins belonged to Tian Meng, so there would be no problem controlling them. Thus, Tian Meng released one of his seals.

In an instant, immense spiritual power surged into Xiao Qiang's sea of consciousness. At that moment, the sea turned into an abyss.