First Arrival in Ming Capital, Dazzling Technology
The mountain breeze of Moonwatch Ridge rustled through the bushes on the ridge.
Dai Huabin stood at the highest point of the mountain ridge, looking down at the enormous city that stretched as far as the eye could see.
The buildings of the entire Ming Capital are arranged in a staggered and orderly manner, with towering metal towers shimmering with various colors in the night.
The outer ring consists of densely packed civilian streets and freight workshops, the middle ring is home to the Soul Engineer Academy and noble mansions, and the Core Area of the inner ring is completely shrouded by a huge defensive light curtain.
"This place is more than three times the size of Star Luo City."
Zhu Lu stood beside Dai Huabin and took out a set of dark gray robes that she had prepared in advance for a traveling Soul Master.
Di Lingxi reached out and poked at the fabric of her robe, her face full of disgust.
"This fabric is so stiff, it's not comfortable at all."
"Don't be picky when you're out doing business."
Dai Huabin casually put on the robe and tied his hair into a bun common among Soul Master of the Sun Moon Empire.
The Snow Empress raised her hand and placed it on the Ice Empress's shoulder, both of them completely concealing the extreme cold energy within them.
Under the seal of Ultimate Ice, the Soul Power fluctuations of the six people were suppressed to the level of two to three rings.
A moment later, six ordinary-looking visiting Soul Master walked down the mountain ridge along the winding stone path.
The metal security gates at the city gate gleamed white.
Dai Huabin handed over six iron passes engraved with fake identities. The city guards scanned the group with their detectors, and the readings stopped steadily in the safe zone.
"Go inside, don't wander around on the main road, and be careful to avoid patrol cars."
The guards waved them through.
The moment you step onto the outer ring road of Ming Capital, you are greeted by a noisy and bustling atmosphere.
Every ten meters along both sides of the street stands a metal lamppost, its top emitting a soft white light from the energy-storing crystal, illuminating the entire bluestone street as if it were daytime.
There are public water purification stations set up by the roadside. Just press the brass knob below and clear drinking water will flow out automatically.
Several civilians dressed in coarse cloth shirts rode on soul-guided flying chairs equipped with small pulleys, quickly passing through the streets and alleys close to the ground.
A metal display screen several meters wide was hanging on the exterior wall of the shop facing the street, scrolling through the announcements for the preliminary rounds of the Imperial Soul Engineer Tournament.
Di Lingxi was immediately drawn to a soul-guided toy shop on the street corner.
On the wooden shelf are wind-up mechanical birds that can flap their wings autonomously, and self-propelled metal carts powered by miniature batteries.
"Huabin, I want that iron frog that blows bubbles."
Di Lingxi grabbed Dai Huabin's sleeve, unable to move her feet.
"What do you need this tin frog that kids play with?"
Dai Huabin looked at her with amusement.
"I don't care, it's moving, and it won't bite."
Di Lingxi extended her hand with a self-righteous air.
Dai Huabin took out two silver coins from his Storage Soul Tool and handed them to the stall owner, then stuffed the wind-up frog in the iron box into her arms.
Steam was rising from the noodle stall next door.
The stall owner was a middle-aged woman with no Soul Power. She skillfully turned the metal valve at the bottom of the stove.
The secondary energy storage soul guide core embedded in the furnace immediately glowed with a dark red light, bringing the soup in the large pot to a boil without the need for charcoal.
Zhu Lu stood in front of the stall for a long time before speaking softly to Dai Huabin.
"In Star Luo City, even in the commoner streets Duke Mansion, the lower classes have to gather firewood and start fires before dawn, and people freeze to death every year in winter."
"Even ordinary vendors here can use Soul Tool; their lives are much easier than those of ordinary people in the Star Luo Empire."
Dai Huabin nodded.
"This is the generational disparity in power between industrial and agrarian civilizations."
"Commoners of the Sun Moon Empire can enter workshops to learn how to process soul-guided components as long as they pass a basic assessment, thus escaping their lowly status through their skills."
"In contrast, the vast majority of commoners in the Three Kingdoms, which originally belonged to the Douluo Continent, who lacked Soul Power, could only spend their entire lives facing the yellow earth."
The group continued walking along the main street and passed a large forging workshop covering several acres.
Through the tall, open iron gate, you can see dozens of Soul-Guided Stamping Machines neatly arranged inside.
The craftsmen, wearing protective leather gloves, are engraving core array patterns on metal plates using special engraving tools.
Various rare metals are smelted into alloys in specific proportions in a high-temperature furnace, and the entire production process is rigorous and efficient.
Ice Empress crossed his arms, looked at the shimmering array patterns, and let out a soft hum.
"Although they look quite exquisite, in a real fight, these iron lumps simply cannot withstand the freezing power of Ultimate Ice."
"Things built purely by external forces will never reach the threshold of the true path."
Snow Empress stood to the side, calmly watching the huge energy transmission pipe in the center of the workshop.
"Individual strength is indeed no match for high-level Soul Master, but this kind of thing can be mass-produced."
"If a legion of ten thousand soldiers wielding high-level Soul Tool were to open fire simultaneously, even Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast would be instantly and severely injured."
Bi Ji closed her eyes, carefully sensing the energy channels beneath the entire city.
A moment later, she opened her eyes, her expression shifting slightly.
"Deep beneath the city lies an extremely large Energy-Gathering Formation, which is continuously drawing earth vein Soul Power from the surrounding mineral veins and distributing it to various facilities within the city."
"This forced plundering and distribution of the power of heaven and earth is far more domineering than the natural flow of the Star Dou Great Forest, but it has indeed made the entire city extremely vibrant."
Dai Huabin did not participate in the Ferocious Beast's discussion; his gaze remained fixed on the shadows in the corners of the streets.
The Mingde Hall and the Core Area of the royal family were filled with high-level Soul Tool, making it impossible for them to force their way in given their current status.
If you want to quickly understand the Sun Moon Empire's basic combat strength and the distribution channels for high-grade rare metals, the best place to go is the city's Underground Black Market.
It is a gathering place for outlaws, exiled Soul Master, and shady smugglers from all over the continent, and it is also an important stronghold for the Holy Spirit Cult to absorb new blood.
"Let's find a place to stay first."
Dai Huabin checked the signs on both sides of the street and led the group into a relatively quiet and secluded alley.
"Let's go check out the Underground Black Market thing tomorrow morning."
Deep within Mossy Alley, on the West Outer Ring of Ming Capital.
A two-story old inn with a wooden sign that reads "Welcome Rest Inn" stands quietly in the night.
This inn is located in a remote area, surrounded by abandoned warehouses and treasuries, and is rarely visited by the city's garrison's patrol airships.
Dai Huabin rented two connected detached wooden houses in the backyard and paid a week's rent.
After settling everyone in, he returned to the innermost room and set up a faint light barrier around the doors and windows to prevent outsiders from probing.
On the bed, Dai Huabin sat cross-legged.
Inside the dantian, the level 67 Ultimate Ice Soul Core was rotating at an extremely slow frequency.
As the Soul Core circulated, the Soul Power surging in the meridians was repeatedly compressed and condensed, faintly carrying a golden-white and ice-blue radiance.