Soul Tools

"In the Heaven Dou Empire, there was only so much I could learn. Whether I delved into the field of Soul Engineers to catch up to the Sun Moon Empire in areas like Soul Tool Cannons, or took another path and researched Soul Tool technology similar to the Battle Armor of later generations, it was more or less the same."

Both meant starting from nothing.

Both were difficult.

Yet Mu Yuan wanted to choose the latter.

Rather than chase after them down the road, it would be better to forge a new path and build an entirely new system.

Otherwise, they would forever be held back by the Sun Moon Empire's technological bottleneck. Soul Tool technology might appear to be advancing, but in truth, they would always be controlled by others from afar.

Only by developing technology that the Sun Moon Empire did not possess could they possibly use it as leverage against them. Whether for exchanging technology or learning from one another, they might gain at least a little initiative.

Mu Yuan had no confidence that he could develop the Battle Armor technology of later generations.

Even given several decades, he would not dare guarantee that he could forge a One-Word Battle Armor.

How could such an entire system possibly be developed just because one person decided to do so?

Mu Yuan's idea was simple. If he could not create Battle Armor, then he would create Battle Armor weapons—only the parts that fused with a Soul Master. For example, he could prepare weapons for himself that enhanced both of his arms.

The most crucial trait was the Battle Armor's characteristic—fusion.

It had to merge with the Soul Master. More essentially, it had to merge into the Soul Master's martial soul, enhancing the Soul Master at the most fundamental level.

Strictly speaking, the key to achieving this should lie in a breakthrough in forging. Of course, although it came down to forging, Soul Engineers of this era developed in all directions. Even forging and shaping were required courses for Soul Engineers, so calling this a breakthrough in the Soul Tool field would not be wrong.

"Forging... Thousand Refinement. There should be considerable potential for a breakthrough in this direction."

At that moment, Mu Yuan held a piece of Deep Silver and emerged from his thoughts.

He tossed the Deep Silver into the furnace before him.

After heating it until it glowed red, he removed it and placed it on the forging table, then swung his hammer one-handed and began hammering it repeatedly.

Ten strikes, a hundred strikes, a thousand strikes.

Thousand Refinement did not mean it could be completed with merely a thousand hammer blows.

At least, Mu Yuan had yet to grasp the knack of it. For now, he could only pile up the numbers.

With every strike, he adjusted the angle as much as possible, trying to sense the metal's changes.

He recorded, one by one, what effect the hammer produced when it landed on every spot.

"Failed."

In the end, Mu Yuan looked at the Deep Silver before him, which had been hammered down by an entire size and split by a crack in the middle, and could not help but smile bitterly.

"I can try using Blood Qi. Perhaps Blood Qi can help awaken the spirituality within Rare Metal, but only after I've honed my forging techniques to perfection."

Mu Yuan's Blood Qi was not bottomless either. If he used it for forging, he would inevitably have to reduce the time he spent cultivating his Blood Qi each day.

He could try it, but not now.

He reheated the Deep Silver and attempted several more rounds of forging. Then light flashed around his wrist. Out of habit, he turned over his hand, but nothing appeared in it.

He looked at his left hand and smiled bitterly.

He had run out of Deep Silver.

In this era, Rare Metal was a genuine strategic resource and extremely valuable.

Things were better in the Sun Moon Empire. There were quite a few channels for purchasing Rare Metal because the Sun Moon Empire possessed the technology to mine it.

The Douluo Three Kingdoms had neither discovered Rare Metal veins nor possessed the capability to mine them.

Therefore, nearly all Rare Metal in the Douluo Three Kingdoms was smuggled in from the Sun Moon Empire. Even at twice the price, a piece would still be considered cheap.

Leaving his room, Mu Yuan arrived outside Wei Na's door.

He knocked.

"Senior Sister, are you there?"

"Little Yuan? Do you need something?"

A gentle voice came from inside. As the door opened, a fragrant breeze swept over Mu Yuan.

Wei Na wore a goose-yellow long dress. She had only dressed up slightly, yet a trace of confusion still crossed her stunningly beautiful face.

"Senior Sister, I have to trouble you again. I'd like to purchase some more Rare Metal." Mu Yuan scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed.

Ever since he began studying Soul Tools, he had relied on Wei Na for everything, whether it was Rare Metal, Soul Tool blueprints, or even gathering information about the Spirit-Eating Engraving Knife.

Having come to her again, he felt somewhat embarrassed as well.

But he could not let his cultivation fall behind, so he could only brace himself and ask Wei Na for help.

Wei Na showed no reluctance. On the contrary, she looked quite willing to help.

"You're willing to learn Soul Tools, Junior Brother. I'm happy about it already, so how could I find it troublesome?" Wei Na said softly. "In this era, accepting Soul Tools is the inevitable trend. The sect needs Soul Engineers eventually. Since you're willing to learn, I'll naturally do my utmost to help you."

As the princess of the Heaven Dou Empire, she had been deeply influenced since childhood by the idea of devoting herself to the imperial family and the empire. Yet after so many years in the Body Sect, she had sincerely come to recognize the sect as well. She did not want the sect to be eliminated by the times in the future because it rejected Soul Tools now.

That was why she was willing to use the imperial family's channels to help Mu Yuan acquire Rare Metal at low prices.

"Purchasing Rare Metal isn't a problem, but Junior Brother, why are you consuming Rare Metal so quickly?" Wei Na changed the subject and asked with some confusion.

Mu Yuan's Rare Metal all came from her, so she naturally knew just how astonishing his consumption was.

It was already five times the expenditure of a Soul Engineer nurtured by the imperial family.

Mu Yuan said helplessly, "I'm trying to make a breakthrough in forging, using better materials to enhance the effects of Soul Tools."

He did not hide it.

Wei Na frowned upon hearing this.

Still, she did not deny Mu Yuan's approach.

In the Douluo Three Kingdoms, many Soul Engineers cultivated in a similar fashion.

They relied on the advantages of Soul Master cultivation here to refine themselves in the physically demanding work of forging, hoping to use material quality to compensate for their shortcomings in Core Arrays and manufacturing techniques.

It was just that Mu Yuan's consumption was still far too high.

"So all that Deep Silver you had was ruined during forging?"

"About half of it."

"Only half? Then what happened to the Deep Silver that wasn't ruined?"

"Of course, I used it to inscribe Core Arrays," Mu Yuan said.

"Do you still have enough Gold Soul Coins? Let me help you dispose of the Soul Tools you made." Wei Na extended her hand.

Mu Yuan did not stand on ceremony. He handed over the Storage Bracelet containing the dozen or so Level 2 Soul Tools he had made.

Wei Na poured her Soul Power into it and inspected its contents, looking quite satisfied.

"Looking at it this way, the overall success rate isn't low, and the quality is quite good too."

Wei Na nodded in satisfaction.

After thinking for a moment, she said to Mu Yuan, "The empire has limited Rare Metal. If you insist on practicing forging, Senior Sister can ask the imperial family's forgers whether they can let you forge the blanks for the Soul Tools they make."

Mu Yuan was pleasantly surprised when he heard that.

"Really?"

"Of course. In fact, many forgers do not particularly enjoy forging. They only want to spend more time researching and inscribing Soul Tool Arrays," Wei Na said. "After all, Soul Tool Arrays are the foundation of Soul Engineers."