As the highest-level Soul Tool research and manufacturing center on the continent, Mingde Hall naturally produced Soul Tools of a much higher standard than anywhere else.
Even Shrek Academy only managed to surpass the three kingdoms of the Douluo Continent in Soul Tools by relying on its deeper financial resources and more powerful Soul Masters.
The gap between them and the Sun Moon Empire was still enormous. It was a gap at the very foundation, and no handful of geniuses could easily make up for it.
Besides, what made Shrek Academy think it was the only place with geniuses? Mingde Hall had geniuses too.
However, both Mingde Hall and the Sun Moon Empire were held back by the strength of their Soul Masters. In the four thousand years since, not a single native Super Douluo had emerged. As a result, Mingde Hall's Soul Engineers faced considerable difficulties in further researching Level 9 Soul Tools, let alone the legendary Level 10 Soul Tools.
So they had never given up on spying out Shrek Academy's intelligence. They paid particular attention to the academy that had humiliated the Sun Moon Empire four thousand years ago, hoping to find a way to raise the strength of their Soul Masters.
As for Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department, Mingde Hall had never taken it seriously.
But the Soul Tool on the desk before him today had completely changed Jing Hongchen's understanding.
It was only a general-purpose Soul Guiding Shield, yet the materials used to make it, the method of inscribing its Core Array, and the arrangement of that Core Array were all far superior to Mingde Hall's own Level 3 Soul Guiding Shield.
That meant an unexpected shift had occurred. Shrek Academy had found a way to overtake them on the bend.
Ever since the war four thousand years ago, the Sun Moon Empire had remained at a disadvantage against the three kingdoms of the Douluo Continent. But thanks to its unrivaled advantage in Soul Tools, it had still maintained considerable strength. It could even hold its own in conflicts with the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire. Even when an incompetent commander led it to defeat, the loss had been limited; a renowned commander like the White Tiger Duke had been unable to press his advantage.
If the three kingdoms of the Douluo Continent surpassed the Sun Moon Empire even in Soul Tool technology, then the empire would likely be not far from falling.
"...There's something to this Core Array arrangement, but where on earth did these materials come from?!
"The Douluo Continent is short on rare metals. Where did they get metal with properties like this?"
Jing Hongchen understood the Sun Moon Empire's policy of restricting technology to the three kingdoms of the Douluo Continent. They did not restrict Soul Tools themselves, only the raw materials.
The Douluo Continent had pitifully few rare metals, nowhere near enough to support Soul Tool research. Even making Soul Tools according to established methods came at a terrifying cost.
So, as long as the Sun Moon Empire controlled rare-metal exports, it had no reason to worry that the three kingdoms of the Douluo Continent would create any particularly powerful Soul Tools.
Perhaps those Soul Tools could excel in certain areas, but if they were pitted against the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tools across the board, they would shatter at the first impact.
As for high-level Soul Tools, the Sun Moon Empire had not imposed any special restrictions on them.
High-level Soul Tools were already extraordinarily expensive, and their technology was extremely complex. Even Shrek Academy, the strongest research institution on the Douluo Continent, could not unravel their secrets, let alone the other kingdoms.
What's more, if they sold specific high-level Soul Tools to the three kingdoms of the Douluo Continent and Shrek Academy, they could use the unorthodox technology behind those Soul Tools to lead their research completely astray.
Besides, the Sun Moon Empire did not worry that Level 9 Soul Tools might fall into the hands of the three kingdoms of the Douluo Continent. The Level 9 Soul Engineers capable of making them each had their own temperaments, and none would sell their treasured creations to people from the Douluo Continent.
In theory, this method was indeed highly effective. Even if some far-sighted people on the Douluo Continent wanted to break through this predicament, they were still trapped by technical barriers and unable to achieve anything.
But...
"Unfortunately, there are still too few of these. According to the spies' reports, Shrek Academy places great importance on these new-style Soul Tools. Even when they sell them, they only trade with a very limited number of specific buyers..."
Jing Hongchen shook his head, repeatedly standing up and sitting back down, as though he were hesitating over something.
But in the end, he made up his mind. He got to his feet and opened another secret passage in the room, then disappeared into it.
"Old Qian, can the Soul Tool Department now produce Hundred-Refinement and even Thousand-Refinement metal in batches?"
After returning to Shrek Academy, You Jie rested for a day or two before resuming his leisurely school life.
After class that day, You Jie returned to the Soul Tool Department. Seeing all kinds of Hundred-Refinement and Thousand-Refinement metal on the racks, his eyes lit up.
"Yeah. Right now, most of the students in the Soul Tool Department who are Soul Ancestors or above can do Thousand-Refinement, and we've got enough Thousand-Refined rare metals stored up for you to try making that Soul Tool you had in mind.
"Everyone's different in physical fitness and aptitude, so I'm still working on improving quality control for Thousand-Refinement.
"As for Hundred-Refinement, we can already produce it in batches.
"By the way, Huo Yuhao, the student you recommended, is excellent. He's not only very perceptive but also incredibly hardworking. He can do Hundred-Refinement now, too."
As he spoke, Qian Duoduo proudly patted his muscular chest, showing You Jie the results of Shrek Academy's forging work. He also called Huo Yuhao over.
You Jie looked at Huo Yuhao in surprise. He hadn't expected him to already be able to complete Hundred-Refinement reliably.
And his whole bearing had changed as well. He seemed sunny and full of energy.
At least this version of Huo Yuhao no longer seemed like Tang San's dog from the original story, someone who could do things that left people baffled.
For example, if the White Tiger Duke and Dai Huabin really knelt before him and begged for mercy, even trying to excuse themselves by offering to repair Huo Yun'er's grave and pointing out that the Duchess was dead, Huo Yuhao might well have answered:
"Make peace? At a time like this? Are you joking?"
"...All right, I'll take a few more pieces of metal back to test. By the way, Old Qian, this time you can try using this method to improve the Milk Bottles and see how much it reduces the leakage."
You Jie expertly took a few pieces of rare metal from the rack and put them into his Storage Soul Tool. Then he took out several sheets of blueprints and handed them to Qian Duoduo.
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