Golden Ancient Tree, the Initial Concept for Four-word Battle Armor Without a Divine Craftsman

Before long.

Yun Ming returned to the small courtyard.

"What happened? Why are you smiling so happily?"

Seeing the Illusionary Big and Small Foxes siblings, Yun Ming asked in confusion.

He noticed the emerald dragon horns on Ling Luo's head and was even more astonished.

"External Soul Bone?"

"Xiao Luo, what's going on with this External Soul Bone of yours?"

"You have Yaozhu to thank for that." Ya Li softly explained what she had learned from Ling Luo.

After hearing her account, Yun Ming's expression turned somewhat strange.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly as he understood the full story of how the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo had lost both the lady and the army.

Yun Ming, whose heart was entirely devoted to Ya Li, felt no sympathy whatsoever for a woman like Leng Yaozhu, who had been in love alone. He patted Ling Luo on the shoulder.

"Good job."

Of course, Yun Ming was not happy simply because Leng Yaozhu had suffered a setback. He was gloating over the Spirit Pagoda's losses.

The two major factions often clashed. Though they maintained a surface-level peace, seeing the Spirit Pagoda suffer losses—while the beneficiary was his own brother-in-law—naturally delighted Yun Ming.

He did not say much more about the matter.

Ya Li asked with concern, "Brother Ming, how did things go at the Blacksmith Association?"

"Nothing much. They merely proposed several new terms of cooperation."

"I only got involved because Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua was leading it."

As the Sea God Pavilion Master, Yun Ming naturally did not need to personally handle ordinary matters.

Shrek Academy had no shortage of partnerships with the Blacksmith Association.

However, most of them were led by people such as Feng Wu Yu, Shrek Academy's representative in the Blacksmith Association, and Silver Moon Douluo Cai Yue'er.

If Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua had not come, Yun Ming would not have shown himself.

The respect due to a Divine Craftsman still had to be given.

As the continent's only Divine Craftsman-level Forging Master, Zhen Hua's strength was far inferior to top experts like Yun Ming and Qian Gu Dongfeng, but his status remained extraordinarily prestigious.

He was an honored guest of every major faction.

After all, the creation of most Four-word Battle Armor required this Divine Craftsman's help.

There were other methods that could allow one's Battle Armor to advance to the Four-word level.

But those methods had an abysmally low success rate and were far too complicated.

The resources and effort required were both terrifying.

Thus, whether it was Shrek Academy, the War God Hall, or the Spirit Pagoda, all maintained friendly relations with this Divine Craftsman.

The Blacksmith Association's rapid rise in status over the years was also inseparable from this Divine Craftsman.

It was not that Zhen Hua became a Divine Craftsman because he was in the Blacksmith Association. Rather, it was because the Blacksmith Association had a Divine Craftsman like Zhen Hua that it was the Blacksmith Association.

"Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua's friendship is exceedingly valuable. The academy can give up a little profit in exchange for some goodwill."

"This is a business deal with nothing to lose and everything to gain."

Yun Ming already possessed a set of Four-word Battle Armor of his own.

But many people in Shrek Academy might also need to forge Four-word Battle Armor in the future.

Leaving aside anything else, Yun Ming had always considered it certain that Ling Luo and Na'er would one day grow to the level where they needed Four-word Battle Armor.

For their current Battle Armor, there were still many Forging Masters in the academy who could forge the rare metals they required.

But once they reached the Four-word level, Shrek Academy's Forging Masters would be helpless.

At that time, a Divine Craftsman would have to act.

As both brother-in-law and teacher, Yun Ming felt it necessary to make preparations in advance.

Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua had always held Shrek Academy in high regard.

In the future, paying some compensation to have him forge the rare metals required for the two of them to make Four-word Battle Armor would not be difficult.

It was precisely because Ling Luo understood this that he had not considered becoming a Forging Master when choosing his Second Profession.

Moreover, after years of studying mecha design, Ling Luo had gained a deeper understanding of Battle Armor. In truth, another preliminary idea for creating Battle Armor had already begun to take shape in his mind.

Though it was still only an initial concept, Ling Luo believed his conjecture was highly feasible and was fairly confident that he could achieve it.

And if that conjecture was ultimately realized, Ling Luo's Battle Armor would become the most compatible Battle Armor in the world for its wearer, without question!

It was just a pity that even if that method succeeded, it could only be used by him alone. There was no way to replicate it for another person's Battle Armor.

Otherwise, Ling Luo truly had the confidence to become an anomaly who could forge the metals needed for Four-word Battle Armor without requiring forging techniques.

"Brother-in-law, sister, I want to communicate with the Golden Ancient Tree once more."

Ling Luo suddenly spoke softly.

Obtaining the Emerald Shadow Dragon Snake External Soul Bone had further increased his strength.

Ling Luo wanted to test his conjecture again.

"Is it because of what you gained in the Spirit Ascension Platform?"

As Ling Luo's closest elders, Ya Li and Yun Ming knew something about his unusual traits.

For instance, there were certain extremely special matters between Ling Luo and the Golden Ancient Tree.

It seemed that because of Ling Luo's exceptionally special Life Angel Martial Soul, he could establish some sort of connection with the Golden Ancient Tree.

Some of Ling Luo's terrifying soul ring configuration had indeed been the work of the Spirit Ascension Platform.

But why had the Spirit Pagoda never been able to match the results of his soul rings and Spiritual Power assessments, with the discrepancy even being enormous, leaving the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo deeply suspicious?

It was because more of Ling Luo's terrifying soul rings came from the Golden Ancient Tree!

Only Na'er, Yun Ming, and Ya Li knew this.

Even the other elders of the Sea God Pavilion knew nothing of it.

To keep the special nature of Ling Luo's Martial Soul secret, every communication between him and the Golden Ancient Tree was conducted with Yun Ming's assistance.

Moreover, Ling Luo was not merely taking the Golden Ancient Tree's power without giving anything in return. During the process, the Golden Ancient Tree also received a certain degree of feedback.

Thus, the Golden Ancient Tree's power had not diminished. It had even increased somewhat.

Otherwise, Yun Ming would never have allowed Ling Luo to come into contact with the Golden Ancient Tree so freely.

After all, though he doted on Ling Luo, he was still the Sea God Pavilion Master.

Yun Ming was not that sort of person. If something harmed the academy's interests, he would not act arbitrarily.

"Mm." Ling Luo nodded slightly.

"Alright."

The two went up to the attic and entered a secret chamber.

With a wave of Yun Ming's hand, immense Soul Power condensed in a strange manner, forming something like a passageway.

"You can begin. No one will notice the connection between you and the Golden Ancient Tree."

Ling Luo nodded.

He sat cross-legged on a cushion.

His eyes, now jade-green, closed as white Wings spread from behind him.

In a place where no one could see.

A fine golden thread extended from the Golden Ancient Tree, falling onto Ling Luo's finger and slowly winding around it several times.

Two different yet pure life forces underwent a strange transformation.

Within Ling Luo's Sea of Spirit, the scenery began to shift rapidly.

Brilliant golden light filled everything.

A figure slowly approached against that radiant golden backdrop.