Elder Xiao was another vice president of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Research Institute. Unlike Vice President Qin, whose research into Soul Tools focused more on new Soul Guidance Technology for civilian use, Vice President Xiao's field leaned more toward military Soul Tools.
Of course, Institute President Kong Dehan was a true all-rounder. He was highly proficient in both civilian and military Soul Tools—a rare and remarkable exception.
Elder Xiao had a rather irascible temperament. In the past, he had even dared to disregard the late emperor of the Sun Moon Empire, yet the emperor had treated him with the utmost respect.
Since the Sun Moon Empire valued the development of Soul Tools, their designers held high status throughout the empire. This was especially true of a top-tier Soul Guidance Weapon researcher and designer like Elder Xiao, who was also a powerhouse above level eighty. His position was naturally beyond measure.
Yet now they were seeing Elder Xiao show such respect and support for a Crown Prince who was only six years old. They couldn't help but be secretly astonished by Xu Mochen's abilities.
With Elder Xiao leading the way, the group soon arrived at the weapons testing ground. They quickly spotted several finely crafted guns of different sizes on a table, both long and short. Beside the table stood a "metal tube" mounted on a tripod and base.
"Next, allow me to introduce these weapons." Elder Xiao first pointed to three pistols on the table, all similar in design and fitted with an odd revolving cylinder. "The three pistols before you are three different grades of cartridge-firing pistols designed and manufactured by our institute. They are called the 'Vanguard-152 Revolver,' the 'Vanguard-252 Revolver,' and the 'Vanguard-352 Revolver.'"
"Their Soul Guidance Weapon grades range from one to three. First, the 'Vanguard-152 Revolver.' This is a first-grade Soul Guidance Weapon. Its cylinder can hold a total of six Soul Guidance bullets. Its greatest advantages are its low cost and the fact that it can be used without Soul Power."
When he mentioned that it required no Soul Power, all the high-ranking officers had to take notice. Even now, with the Sun Moon Empire's military still so small, Soul Masters made up less than twenty percent of its forces. In other words, more than eighty percent of its soldiers were not Soul Masters. Equipping them with weapons that required no Soul Power had thus become an urgent priority.
Though primitive Soul Gunpowder weapons packed a decent punch, with the development of Soul Tools that required Soul Power, the role of primitive Soul Gunpowder weapons on the battlefield would likely grow smaller and smaller. The gap between Soul Masters and ordinary people would only keep widening.
"Vice President Xiao, why does this pistol's bullet look so strange? It seems completely different from the spherical lead balls used in flintlock guns." One of the officers voiced his question.
Elder Xiao smiled. "That brings me to the new type of ammunition I wanted to introduce: the self-contained cartridge. Compared to traditional ammunition, these cartridges not only use the latest Soul Gunpowder we've developed, but also contain the powder inside the bullet instead of requiring it to be loaded separately into the firearm. This greatly reduces loading time and ensures the bullet fires reliably."
"Moreover, this conical-nosed Soul Guidance alloy bullet has greater range and stopping power." As he spoke, Elder Xiao picked up the Vanguard-152 Revolver and aimed it at a tungsten-steel plate in front of him. He squeezed the trigger. With a bang, a pistol bullet shot from the barrel, tore through the air at tremendous speed, and slammed into the steel plate. A sharp clang rang out, and the bullet punched through it with ease.
The officers' faces showed their surprise. They knew the tungsten-steel plate's defensive strength fairly well. It wasn't especially strong—a Soul Guidance Ray rifle could pierce it easily—but it could at least stop bullets from a flintlock.
Yet this unassuming-looking gun in Elder Xiao's hand had such formidable power! More importantly, it could be used without Soul Power! If the military could equip its forces with these on a large scale, its combat strength would undoubtedly rise by a whole level!
Elder Xiao went on to demonstrate the other firearms they had recently developed. There were all kinds of pistols, as well as breech-loading rifles and a Soul Guidance Mortar. Their immense power left the officers marveling, and they all said they would jointly submit a request to the National Congress for funds to purchase the weapons for the military.
But getting those tightfisted members of the Sun Moon Empire's National Congress to willingly pay for a complete overhaul of the military was no easy task, especially when the empire appeared to enjoy peace and face no foreign threats. That didn't mean Xu Mochen had no other way to convince them. The existence of Douluo Continent alone was a perfectly reasonable argument!
Getting the National Congress to believe that Douluo Continent existed would still be difficult. Fortunately, the Shadow Guard could provide intelligence to support the case. Add the assurances of Kong Dehan, Xu Yuanding, and other high-ranking military officers and top Soul Guidance researchers, and then use his own power and influence—the vote would undoubtedly be much easier to win.
Of course, this wouldn't ensure that more than half of the National Congress would believe Douluo Continent existed. Rather, the influence of these people, himself included, would persuade quite a few members to support his proposal. With the Shadow Guard working behind the scenes, passing it would be all but certain.
In the days that followed, Xu Mochen accelerated the development of various new Soul Tools and pushed forward the Sun Moon Empire's industrialization, while also training diligently to prepare for the Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King's First Trial. Before long, a year had passed since he had crossed over to the Sun Moon Continent. The day he and Kong Dehan had agreed upon—the day he would meet that mysterious Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast—had finally arrived.
At the outskirts of Ming Capital:
"Your Highness, I must remind you that the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast has an eccentric temperament and is unfriendly toward humans. He only agreed to meet you after I pleaded with him." Kong Dehan carefully considered his words, then added, still a little worried, "Your Highness, please don't take offense. That fellow is a Soul Beast who underwent Soul Beast Transformation. His knowledge of Soul Masters and Soul Beasts is undoubtedly among the finest on the Sun Moon Continent, but spending most of his time isolated from the world has left him rather unsociable. I hope Your Highness won't hold it against him."
"Don't worry. I'm not that bad-tempered. If he's truly capable, then a little arrogance is only to be expected." Xu Mochen's reply carried a pointed meaning. Kong Dehan naturally understood the implication: the Crown Prince didn't mind this, provided the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was truly talented.
After all, Xu Mochen was the Sun Moon Empire's Crown Prince, and its Hidden Emperor. Though the imperial family's power had waned from what it once was, even the heads of the Ten Great Families wouldn't dare presume so much before Xu Mochen—to make him wait a whole year and then come in person. A transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, of all things, certainly shouldn't expect to get away with it.
Xu Mochen trusted Kong Dehan's judgment, but it was always best to be cautious. If this Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast turned out like some "Grandmaster" from a novel—all airs and no ability, and somehow managed to hoodwink Kong Dehan—then even if Xu Mochen didn't blame Kong Dehan, the creature's fate would be anything but pleasant.
One needn't forget that even Soul Masters on the Sun Moon Continent cultivated by hunting Soul Beasts. The relationship between Soul Masters and Soul Beasts was no better than on Douluo Continent. The value of a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone...went without saying.
Kong Dehan didn't object. He nodded, then swept out his right hand. A pair of metal wings glimmering with a silvery-gray light appeared behind him at once.
Xu Mochen immediately recognized them as a high-grade Flying Soul Tool that Kong Dehan had custom-built. Its extraordinary quality was evident from the faint energy fluctuations it gave off.
What a shame that these Soul Tools were so complicated to make, with such high costs and usage requirements. They were completely unsuited to mass production. Xu Mochen lamented inwardly.
From the end of the God-Emperor War until just before his transmigration, the Sun Moon Empire's mass-produced Soul Guidance Weapons had advanced at a pace slower than a turtle's crawl. In stark contrast, its custom-built Soul Guidance Weapons had continued to flourish.
After all, without external enemies, internal struggles within the Sun Moon Empire were inevitable. In a world where cultivators lived by the rule that might made right, the empire's Soul Masters had Martial Souls that were mediocre in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, yet still craved overwhelming personal combat strength. The only solution was powerful custom-built Soul Tools, which kept custom Soul Guidance Weapons and equipment in constant demand.
However, the Sun Moon Empire's custom-built Soul Tools had many clear disadvantages. Compared to mass-produced Soul Tools of the same grade and type, they generally required far more expensive materials, and the demands they placed on those materials were often much more stringent. The materials needed to craft the cores of many high-grade Soul Tools were the sort of things one could only hope to encounter by chance.
Moreover, custom-built Soul Tools almost always had to be handcrafted by specialized Soul Tool makers. Unlike mass-produced Soul Tools, most of their manufacturing processes couldn't be handled on an assembly line. As a result, they took a long time to make. Even level eight or nine Soul Engineers could need months or even years to finish many high-grade Soul Tools.
On top of that, many custom-built Soul Guidance Weapons required Soul Masters of a similar grade to use them. Most grade-eight custom single-soldier Soul Guidance Weapons, for example, required at least a level-seventy Soul Master just to use them with difficulty. To truly master one, a Soul Master needed to be above level eighty.
Compared to the mass-produced individual Flying Soul Tools he was developing, Kong Dehan's metal wings probably offered little more than indirect inspiration. The same went for many other custom-built Soul Tools. Sometimes, the information the Smart Brain had brought from Blue Star inspired his development of mass-produced Soul Guidance Weapons more than they did.
Kong Dehan naturally had no idea that his custom-built high-grade Flying Soul Tool had sent Xu Mochen's thoughts racing in so many directions. He simply explained, "Your Highness, this is the grade-eight Flying Soul Tool I crafted, the 'Storm Wings.' It gives its user powerful flight capabilities and can also attack and defend. Its wings are made of two thousand Soul Guidance alloy feathers. Each one is razor-sharp and has a measure of wind-manipulating power."
"In battle, a Soul Engineer can use Soul Power to control the metal feathers and detach them from the Soul Tool, turning them into two thousand sharp blades that can be unleashed to inflict widespread casualties on the enemy. Their innate wind-elemental power also lets me control them to unleash various wind-based attacks. If an enemy attacks me, the Storm Wings can fold around my body, then rapidly gather wind energy into a barrier around me to ward off the attack."
Kong Dehan then added, "Of course, with Your Highness's current cultivation, even if I crafted the lowest-grade custom Flying Soul Tool for you, you would probably have a hard time using it. So please forgive my impertinence, but take hold of my hand. I can carry you to our destination."
Xu Mochen nodded without fuss and firmly gripped Kong Dehan's left arm with both hands. After making sure he had a secure hold, Kong Dehan swept his wings. The two of them rose into the air, and he carried Xu Mochen toward their destination at tremendous speed.
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