Jing Hongchen Senses Danger

As the highest-level research and manufacturing center for Soul Tools on the entire continent, Mingde Hall naturally produces Soul Tools of a standard far superior to anywhere else.

Even Shrek Academy, relying on its deeper financial resources and more powerful Soul Masters, only manages to be slightly better than the three empires of the Douluo Continent in the field of Soul Tools.

The gap between them and the Sun Moon Empire remains vast, and it is a gap in their very foundations that is difficult to bridge through the efforts of a few individual geniuses alone.

Besides, what right does Shrek Academy have to claim all the geniuses? Does Mingde Hall not have geniuses of its own?

However, because both Mingde Hall and the Sun Moon Empire are constrained by the strength of their Soul Masters—having not produced a single native Super Douluo in four thousand years—the Soul Masters of Mingde Hall face considerable difficulties when attempting to further research Level 9 Soul Tools, or even the legendary Level 10 Soul Tools.

Therefore, they have never ceased their efforts to spy on Shrek Academy, focusing their attention on the academy that humiliated the Sun Moon Empire four thousand years ago, attempting to discover methods to elevate the strength of their Soul Masters.

As for the Soul Tool Department of Shrek Academy, Mingde Hall had never taken it seriously from the start.

But the Soul Tool that appeared on his desk today has completely altered Jing Hongchen's perception.

Although this is merely a general-purpose Soul Barrier, both the materials used to manufacture it, the inscription technique of the Core Array, and the layout of the Core Array itself are far superior to Mingde Hall's own Level 3 Soul Barriers.

This signifies the emergence of a variable, meaning that Shrek Academy has achieved a situation of overtaking on a curve.

Ever since the war four thousand years ago, the Sun Moon Empire has remained at a disadvantage against the three empires of the Douluo Continent, yet by relying on their unique advantages in Soul Tools, they have maintained a considerable scale. They have even remained on equal footing when facing conflicts with the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire; even when an incompetent commander led them to a defeat, the losses were limited, preventing brilliant commanders like the White Tiger Duke from expanding their gains.

If even their Soul Tool technology were to be surpassed by the three empires of the Douluo Continent, then the Sun Moon Empire would likely be not far from national collapse.

"...The layout of this Core Array is certainly interesting, but where on earth did these materials come from?!"

"The Douluo Continent lacks rare metals; where did they manage to acquire metal of this quality?"

Jing Hongchen is well-versed in the Sun Moon Empire's policy of technological blockade against the three empires of the Douluo Continent: they do not block Soul Tools themselves, but they do block the raw materials.

The rare metals in the Douluo Continent are pitifully scarce, failing to support their research into Soul Tools, and even manufacturing Soul Tools according to existing processes incurs terrifying costs.

Thus, as long as they control the export of rare metals, the Sun Moon Empire does not need to worry about the three empires of the Douluo Continent producing any formidable Soul Tools.

Perhaps those Soul Tools might achieve some success in certain areas, but if they were to collide head-on with the Soul Tools of the Sun Moon Empire, they would shatter at the first touch.

As for high-level Soul Tools, the Sun Moon Empire does not specifically regulate them.

High-level Soul Tools are already extremely expensive, and the technology within them is highly complex; even Shrek Academy, which possesses the strongest research capabilities on the Douluo Continent, cannot decipher the secrets within, let alone the other nations.

Moreover, if specific high-level Soul Tools are sold to the three empires of the Douluo Continent and Shrek Academy, they can utilize the non-mainstream techniques employed by these tools to lead the research direction of the Douluo Continent's people completely astray.

Furthermore, the Sun Moon Empire does not worry about Level 9 Soul Tools flowing into the three empires of the Douluo Continent; the Level 9 Soul Masters capable of crafting them each have their own temperaments and would never sell the Level 9 Soul Tools they treasure as their own lives to the people of the Douluo Continent.

Logically speaking, this method is indeed very effective; even if there are people of vision on the Douluo Continent who wish to break through this situation, they remain trapped by technological barriers and are unable to achieve anything.

But...

"It is a pity that there are still too few of these. According to the reports from our spies, Shrek Academy places great importance on this new type of Soul Tool, and even if they are sold, they are only traded with a very limited number of specific parties..."

Jing Hongchen shook his head, repeatedly standing up and sitting back down, seemingly hesitating over something.

But in the end, he made up his mind, stood up, opened another secret passage in the room, and vanished into it.

"Old Qian, can the Soul Tool Department now perform batch processing for Hundred-Refinement or even Thousand-Refinement?"

After returning to Shrek Academy, You Jie rested for a day or two before resuming his leisurely academy life.

After class that day, You Jie came to the Soul Tool Department once again, and seeing the various Hundred-Refinement and Thousand-Refinement metals arranged on the shelves, his eyes brightened even further.

"Indeed. Currently, students in the Soul Tool Department who are Soul Ancestors or higher can basically perform Thousand-Refinement. Furthermore, the current storage of Thousand-Refinement rare metals is sufficient for you to attempt crafting the Soul Tool you have in mind."

"Because everyone's physical constitution and comprehension differ, I am still trying to find ways to improve the quality control for Thousand-Refinement."

"As for Hundred-Refinement, we can already perform it in batches."

"By the way, that Huo Yuhao you recommended to me is excellent. Not only is his comprehension strong, but he is also very hardworking; he is now capable of performing Hundred-Refinement as well."

As he spoke, Qian Duoduo proudly patted his sturdy chest muscles, showing off the current forging achievements of Shrek Academy to You Jie, while simultaneously calling Huo Yuhao over.

You Jie looked at Huo Yuhao with some surprise, not expecting that he would already be able to complete stable Hundred-Refinement.

Moreover, his entire spirit and demeanor had changed, giving off a sunny and energetic impression.

At the very least, this version of Huo Yuhao no longer resembled the dog of Tang San from the original work, capable of doing things that would make one feel baffled.

For instance, if the White Tiger Duke and Dai Huabin were to truly kneel before him begging for mercy, and attempted to use the repair of Huo Yun'er's grave and the fact that the Duchess was already dead as excuses to absolve themselves of their crimes, Huo Yuhao's likely response would be:

"Reconciliation? At this moment? Are you two joking?"

"...Fine, then I'll pick out a few more pieces of metal to take back for testing. By the way, Old Qian, this time you can try using this method to improve the Milk Bottle and see how much the leakage issue can be improved in the upgraded version."

You Jie skillfully took several pieces of rare metal from the shelf, placed them into his portable storage Soul Tool, and then took out a few blueprints and handed them to Qian Duoduo.