"The metal plate is the Core Array of this Soul Tool."
As he explained, Le Bai continued dismantling it. "If a Soul Tool were compared to a Soul Master, the Core Array would be its Martial Soul and Soul Power, while the outer shell would be more like a Soul Master's body."
Dai Mubai looked thoughtful. "Are you saying the Core Array is the most important part?"
"No. Have you ever seen a Soul Master without a body, Boss Dai?"
Le Bai looked up at Dai Mubai. "What I mean is, no matter how outstanding a Core Array is, it cannot form a Soul Tool without a shell. Only when a Soul Tool is complete does it make sense to discuss whether its Core Array is good or bad."
By the time he finished speaking, Le Bai had smoothly dismantled the outermost layer of the spherical Soul Tool.
Yet two or three tightly connected layers still remained, protecting the metal plate engraved with the Core Array in the sphere's center.
It took Dai Mubai quite a while to understand what Le Bai meant. Looking at the dismantled spherical Soul Tool, he could not help asking, "Le Bai, have you figured anything out? Like what this Soul Tool is for?"
"When the Dean gave this thing to you, didn't he tell you what it did?"
Le Bai asked in return, "That should be impossible. Given the Dean's personality, if this Soul Tool happened to be valuable, he'd be taking a huge loss."
"The Dean said he didn't know this Soul Tool's exact effect either."
Dai Mubai recalled what Flender had said when he handed him the sphere:
"Mu Bai, I found this Soul Tool in an extremely dangerous ruin back then. There were quite a few other items discovered with it, and they were all valuable. Only this Soul Tool was strange. It could clearly operate, but no matter how much Soul Power we poured into it, it never produced any external effect or change."
"Ha, so that's how it was."
Le Bai lightly tapped the Soul Tool with a tool. "I'm guessing the Dean tested this thing's functions plenty of times, but gave up in frustration after never finding any actual effect."
Because the methods for crafting Soul Tools had been lost, much of the information related to them had vanished as well. Among the Soul Tools discovered so far, most were like this spherical one: they could be activated, but nobody had any idea what they did.
Most Soul Tools with unknown functions were burdensome treasures—keeping them was pointless when no one knew their use, but throwing them away was too much of a waste. If their purpose was discovered someday and they turned out to be useful, that would be a huge loss.
Flender had kept the Soul Tool he gave Dai Mubai for nearly twenty years. If Dai Mubai had not said he wanted any complete Soul Tool regardless of its function, Flender would have nearly forgotten he even had it.
"I still don't know this Soul Tool's exact effect."
Le Bai sped up his dismantling. "Once I study its Core Array, I might find the answer."
Dai Mubai trusted Le Bai, but he could not understand how Le Bai intended to master Soul Tool Crafting through dismantling. "A lot of people have studied Soul Tools before, but they don't seem to have reached any useful conclusions. Although you have that incredibly convenient talent, based on how you described its effects, it doesn't seem to help restore the methods of Soul Tool Crafting, does it?"
"Actually, it helps a great deal."
Le Bai pointed at the half-removed Core Array. "Core Arrays are usually obvious within Soul Tools, and they've probably been mentioned in many books about Soul Tools. But why has no organization or individual ever come forward claiming to have made progress with Core Arrays?"
"..." Dai Mubai rested his chin on his hand and fell into thought.
"Don't think about it, Boss Dai."
Le Bai directly revealed the answer. "The reason lies in the 'composition' of Core Arrays. You should be able to clearly see what's engraved on that metal plate now. Take a look and tell me what you think."
Dai Mubai examined it closely. "Hm? These marks on the metal plate look like... writing? Symbols? They seem to follow some sort of pattern. This is an array?"
"That's right."
Le Bai pulled out a sheet of paper from somewhere and wrote down three points. "There are two difficulties in restoring an array. One is the meaning of the symbols and writing that make up the array itself. The other is the meaning behind how those symbols and writing are arranged. In addition, the relationship between the shell's structure and the array is another point that needs to be clarified. If we cannot thoroughly understand all three, we cannot even replicate existing Soul Tools, much less customize Soul Tools with specific functions."
Dai Mubai folded his arms and nodded repeatedly. "So that's how it is. I understand absolutely nothing."
"Well then, Le Bai, I can't help with restoring Soul Tool Crafting methods. Do your best on your own."
Dai Mubai smiled as he took his leave. "If you need me to provide any materials, just come find me. That's it, I'm going to cultivate first!"
"Alright."
Le Bai answered casually, his attention entirely focused on the work in his hands.
After Le Bai began dismantling the Soul Tool, he did not train for forty consecutive days.
Every day, aside from completing the tasks assigned by the academy teachers and doing what was necessary for daily life, he devoted all his remaining time and energy to dismantling Soul Tools—not only their shells, but also their Core Arrays.
The method Le Bai had devised to analyze Core Arrays was to use the real-time changes in skill progress provided by the Panel to judge whether his guesses about the meaning of a particular array rune were correct.
Whether he was right or wrong, Le Bai recorded it all. He did not guess blindly, either. After analyzing the possibilities, he chose several of the most likely answers, listed them one by one, then "asked" the Panel about each in turn.
The first one was the most difficult.
Le Bai had even prepared himself to spend up to an entire year on it.
Fortunately, his luck during the process was not bad. Things went far better than his worst expectations, and the dismantling progressed much faster than he had anticipated.
After forty days, combined with the increased efficiency of Parallel Thinking, Le Bai had successfully grasped the purpose of the Soul Tool Flender had given him.
At the same time, the skill levels of [Array Crafting] and [Soul Guidance Device Crafting] on his Panel both rose to Lv5.
"I've finally mastered it all."
Le Bai gently massaged his temples.
For forty consecutive days, he had concentrated completely on figuring out the Core Array every day. Even though the process had gone smoothly, he still felt as if he had overused his brain cells.
In short, he was exhausted. Completely exhausted...
Fortunately, he had also achieved tremendous results worthy of that exhaustion.
The Core Array and structure of the spherical Soul Tool had been fully analyzed;
The meanings of the twenty-three [runes] that formed the array had been determined;
The meanings of the nine [rune combinations] that formed the array had been determined;
And one entirely new rune combination had been created by expanding upon the nine known rune combinations.
Once he understood all this, Le Bai naturally learned the function of the spherical Soul Tool Flender had given away: it could make recordings, including sound, and the Soul Tool itself could hover in midair.
Flender had failed to discover its recording function because he lacked the matching information-export device. As for why the hovering function had disappeared, that was due to poor contact caused by the aging shell.
After completing the Soul Tool's dismantling, Le Bai asked Dai Mubai for a batch of materials and spent another three days creating his first self-made Soul Tool, one capable of assisting in improving training efficiency.
With the guidance effect of the Panel, Le Bai was certain that the Soul Tool he had made could be activated and would function properly.
However, its exact effects and safety still required further testing.
So, for the time being, Le Bai did not make any for the other three.
"Anyway, I need to test it first."
Le Bai took his self-made Soul Tool with him, ended his forty-three days of "seclusion," and began training while testing the effects of the Soul Tool he had created...
Before you continue