First Soul Skill: Mysterious Underworld Canglang Domain

"This was the Soul Tool workshop my grandfather built for us."

"Not only were there individual workbenches inside, but also a whole series of Soul Tools we made ourselves."

Meng Hongchen pointed at the two-story building in the distance.

It covered a full four hundred square meters.

Xu Tinglan looked at the villa before him without much surprise.

After all, Jing Hongchen was among the foremost Level 9 Soul Masters.

Whether in power or wealth, he was beyond anything ordinary people could imagine.

Building two separate Soul Tool villas for his granddaughter and grandson was naturally no challenge for him.

The only drawback

was that they were rather far from the teaching buildings, making it inconvenient to get to class.

"Come to mine. Meng's Soul Tool crafting skills aren't as good as mine."

Meng Hongchen did not refute her brother's words.

The silver-haired youth led them into the villa. The entire building was pale gold, reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun and gleaming with metallic light.

He used his Soul Tool identity card to verify his identity.

The metal doors opened at once.

The group arrived at the Soul Tool display stands.

More than a hundred Soul Tools were arranged along three walls, radiating metallic glimmers in every color.

Xiao Hongchen looked at it all with a proud expression.

He had just turned twelve this year and had never become lax simply because his grandfather was the master of Mingde Hall.

"Pick whatever you want. Consider them gifts from me." He waved a hand grandly.

"This is a gift from the God of Metal."

"You should introduce them first." Meng Hongchen spoke irritably.

"Oh, right."

Everything displayed here was at least a Class 2 Soul Tool.

There were Propulsion Soul Tools shaped like backpacks, speed-changing and direction-shifting Soul Tools in the form of boots,

as well as Soul Guidance Rays, Soul Guidance Protective Barriers...

There were too many to count.

"I won't take your Soul Tools for free. How about this? I have some forged metal that I can give you."

Xu Tinglan took rare metals from his storage Soul Tool.

In the Dou Ling Empire, rare metals were very cheap. They simply contained many impurities, but that was not a problem for Xu Tinglan.

These metals, which he had forged and purified to the utmost limit, had a more familiar name in later generations.

They were called Hundred-Refined Metal!

"Hey, no need." Xiao Hongchen waved his hand. "It's nothing."

When he saw the metal in the youth's hand, his eyes immediately lit up.

Xiao Hongchen's martial soul was the Three-Legged Golden Toad. How could he fail to sense that this metal was of the highest quality?

That translucent beauty seemed to stretch endlessly through his senses. It was like a peerless beauty with icy skin and jade-like bones, without the slightest flaw.

It was beautiful beyond words.

"Alright, it's a deal!" Xiao Hongchen's face was full of eagerness.

"I won't take advantage of you either. I'll trade two Soul Tools for one piece of flawless metal. How about it?"

"Alright." Xu Tinglan nodded.

The silver-haired youth took the piece of Sky Water Blue Stone from his hand and carefully stroked its patterns, delight appearing on his face.

Xiao Hongchen had always been weak at controlling Soul Power, so he was not particularly skilled at forging and purification either.

After all, one's energy was limited. It was impossible to excel at everything.

This transaction was undoubtedly a win-win for both of them.

Meng Hongchen fell into thought. She snatched the flawless metal from her brother's hand, her beautiful eyes gleaming.

A flash of silver light.

The flawless metal vanished, swiftly stored in her storage Soul Tool before anyone could react.

The girl feigned dismay.

"Brother, I accidentally lost the flawless metal you just traded for. What should we do?"

Xiao Hongchen's eyes widened, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Meng, I've noticed you're getting more and more outrageous. You're practically a bandit."

In the end,

Xu Tinglan traded three pieces of flawless metal for six Class 3 Soul Tools.

The Soul Tools he chose

were a close-combat Soul Tool shaped like a longsword, a ray-type Soul Tool as thick as an arm, and a Propulsion Soul Tool.

They made up for his shortcomings in attack and speed.

The Soul Guidance Ray, Soul Guidance Beam Cannon, and Soul Propulsion Tool

were the three he selected for Jiang Nannan.

After all, she could not make Soul Tools yet.

A Class 3 Soul Tool cost around eighteen hundred Gold Soul Coins, while the ones Xiao Hongchen made were probably worth around two thousand.

Lin Jiayi had previously given each of them three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Xu Tinglan could use that money to buy rarer metals and forge higher-quality Hundred-Refined Metal.

Giving Xiao Hongchen three pieces from that earlier batch of metal was no issue.

In the Experimental Zone,

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen each taught Xu Tinglan and Jiang Nannan how to use these Soul Tools.

Operating a Soul Guidance Ray was not difficult.

One only needed to inject one's Soul Power into the Soul Tool

to activate it.

It was like activating a soul ring skill.

However, the difficulty in wielding long-range Soul Tools lay in accuracy after aiming.

Meng Hongchen's gaze fell on the youth's face.

"If you practice aiming diligently in the future, you'll definitely be able to hit every shot."

"Is aiming really a problem?"

Xu Tinglan's handsome face shone with confidence. "For me, perhaps it isn't."

The Soul Beasts he and Xu Sanshi had hunted were both Black-Backed Canglang Turtles that were more than four hundred years old.

Yet the soul skills they gained were different.

The skill he obtained was [Mysterious Underworld Canglang Domain].

The black waters could forcibly make opponents move against the current, reducing their mobility and momentum.

Meanwhile, he could move with the current, protected by the black waters.

It could also stack with Jiang Nannan's Second Soul Skill, [Gravity Control].

Just imagine it:

under the interference of two area-of-effect soul skills, the difficulty for opponents trying to evade their Soul Guidance Rays would greatly increase.

"So confident?"

Xiao Hongchen rubbed his chin. He did not know where the youth's confidence came from.

"Want to try it?" Xu Tinglan asked with a smile.

"Sure."

Martial Soul Possession.

Ink Soul Power surged from Xu Tinglan's body, his aura as heavy as a mountain.

A shield appeared beside him, ancient and imposing in design, engraved with profound patterns.

A powerful force could be felt rising from his body.

Three soul rings in the optimal configuration slowly revolved around him.

The Mysterious Underworld Turtle possessed the unique dual traits of beast and weapon.

Not only could it greatly strengthen the body like a beast martial soul, it could also manifest a Mysterious Armor Shield, vastly enhancing defensive ability.

The first soul ring lit up with a bright yellow glow.

[Mysterious Underworld Canglang Domain]

Ink-colored Soul Power surged from his body like a tidal wave, sweeping across a hundred meters around him.

Wherever it passed, the air seemed to freeze and the light dimmed.

The ground trembled faintly, pressed low beneath the tide's momentum.

Xiao Hongchen also completed his Martial Soul Possession.

A crimson-gold sheen emerged across his skin, making him look as though he were covered in liquid metal.

Like a metal statue that had come to life.

The youth's legs displayed even more powerful muscle definition.

Xiao Hongchen discovered in shock

that within this strange black water, the circulation speed of his Soul Power had dropped by at least thirty percent, and it was still corroding inward through his body!

Xu Tinglan raised the Soul Guidance Ray in his hand and aimed it at the silver-haired youth.

Shrek Academy.

Xu Sanshi returned to his rust-covered dormitory.

He recalled how, with no tables or chairs earlier, he had been forced to stand in the Freshman Cafeteria and eat from his lunchbox.

A pained expression appeared on the youth's face.

He roared, "What the hell kind of Number One Academy of the Continent is this?"