After losing to You Jie, Bei Bei had also become diligent again. He worked harder at cultivation and even completely abandoned his original plan to study in the Soul Tool Department to revitalize the Tang Sect, all to make sure he had enough time to cultivate and be with Tang Ya.
You Jie didn't think much of it. If his nominal older brother really wanted to fall in love, he couldn't exactly stop him.
After taking a Scrap Iron Fist and still managing to pursue romance, maybe Bei Bei had grown even stronger after You Jie had punched a Right Red Scar into him. (No, wait—with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, it would be a Right Blue Scar.)
Speaking of the Soul Tool Department, You Jie was also preparing to put another plan of his into action.
As everyone knew, the theme of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5DS was Turbo Duels. Racing while dueling was just too cool.
Although holding Turbo Duels on Douluo Continent wasn't very realistic, who could easily turn down a chance to make them possible?
As for whether learning to make Soul Tools would interfere with cultivation...
For Bei Bei, it certainly would take up time.
But for someone like You Jie, who had mastered all the knowledge required to become a Level 5 Soul Engineer at Shrek Academy after reading the textbooks once, it didn't count as a waste of time at all.
(Except for learning to make Soul Tools from scratch by starting with blacksmithing, like Prisoner Huo!)
Besides, You Jie had a clear goal when it came to Soul Tools. He focused most of his efforts on Soul Propulsion Devices, followed by Defensive Soul Tools.
Soul Propulsion Devices could be used not only on Flying Soul Tools and D-Runners, but also to provide You Jie himself with extra mobility in the most direct way. Defensive Soul Tools, naturally, were for keeping him alive.
Though for duelists, Life Points were basically the most useless thing in the world, as everyone knew, only those who survived could deal damage.
Besides, You Jie already had no shortage of ways to attack, and he wasn't particularly impressed by the offensive Soul Tools at Shrek Academy.
So You Jie went to the small dock in the inner courtyard, took out several Soul Propulsion Devices, and attached them to a boat. He then drove it with his Soul Power, speeding toward the outer courtyard several times faster than Bei Bei could row—even when he was rowing hard enough to throw sparks.
After reaching the outer courtyard, You Jie removed the Soul Propulsion Devices, put them back in his Storage Soul Tool, and sprinted toward the Soul Tool Department.
A short while later, the imposing gray building that housed the Soul Tool Department appeared before him.
You Jie entered without hesitation and went straight to Experimental Zone 12 at the end of the building. He took a token from his Storage Soul Tool and easily opened the heavy door.
"Old Qian, I'm here again! What happened to that suitable rare metal you promised me?"
"You Jie, why are you in such a hurry? It's not like I'm going to treat you the way I treat Yan Shaozhe."
At You Jie's call, a particularly tall, burly middle-aged man with white hair like steel needles set down the tools in his hands with a grin and waved to him.
This was Qian Duoduo, vice dean of the Soul Tool Department. The two of them both despised Yan Shaozhe, that little bastard, and You Jie's intense interest in Soul Propulsion Devices and Defensive Soul Tools had made them unlikely friends despite their age difference.
Their relationship had grown even closer after You Jie summoned Stardust Dragon in the inner courtyard that day.
"You little rascal. You're always coming up with something new.
"You've given me a difficult problem this time, though luckily it won't be too hard to solve.
"I've got two options right now: one will cost money, and one will cost time. Which do you want?"
You Jie understood Qian Duoduo's answer almost instantly. One option involved using some particularly expensive rare metal; the other probably meant repeatedly swinging a big hammer.
That immediately brought the forging system from Douluo 3 to mind. Still, the forging system in Douluo 3 became hard to understand once it reached Spirit Forging.
But if he brought over concepts like Hundred-Refinement and Thousand-Refinement and let the strongmen of Shrek's Soul Tool Department study them, perhaps they really could make something of it. After all, it was right up their alley.
As for using even rarer metals, that wasn't out of the question. But from a cost perspective, those metals would be better used in other Soul Tools—especially Defensive Soul Tools—rather than just the D-Runner's core frame.
You Jie thought for a moment, then spoke again.
"Then let's spend some time on it. If we can purify the metal through high-intensity forging, then increase its strength and even give it entirely new properties, wouldn't Soul Tools made from it be capable of much more?"
"High intensity... Do you mean that the Soul Tool Department isn't forging metals hard enough right now?"
Hearing that You Jie had another new idea, Qian Duoduo's eyes lit up again.
"Not nearly enough. We're only purifying the metal; we're not unlocking any more of its potential.
"Brother Bei Bei told me that some of the Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons require additional forging to make their metals suitable for constructing mechanical components.
"Since the Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons have already proven this works, why can't we do the same with Soul Tools?"
You Jie promptly used Bei Bei and the Tang Sect as a shield, then explained his idea to Qian Duoduo.
"Hmm, sounds feasible. I'll take some people to try it right away.
"But that D-Runner of yours..."
"We can set that aside for now. My next goal is to raise my Soul Power Level. I want to become a Soul Ancestor at least by the next tournament, so I'll have to put Soul Tools on the back burner for a while."
You Jie shook his head. The D-Runner was a good thing, but since the Soul Tool Department had decided to devote some of its efforts to forging, they could wait until the department had made progress and then build the D-Runner out of better-forged metal.
As for raising his cultivation, You Jie's cultivation speed had increased after he became a Soul Elder. On top of that, he wanted to find a suitable way to give Mu En a little more time.
Shrek Academy wasn't exactly a good place, but if You Jie had to pick someone to lead the Sea God Pavilion, he certainly wouldn't choose the Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult.
When it came to disappointing people, the Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult never let anyone down. If he became the Sea God Pavilion's leader, You Jie would probably have no choice but to flee through the night with Zhang Lexuan.
At the very least, if Mu En could live a little longer, You Jie could develop more comfortably at Shrek Academy.
And the target You Jie had set his sights on was the Spirit-Devouring Evil Blade, forged from Life Gold.
Of course, the Spirit-Devouring Evil Blade had to be purified before it could be used. And since You Jie couldn't yet be certain he could steal Electrolux's chance outright, he had no way to purify the blade with his current strength.
Perhaps trying to summon a monster that could "permanently negate effects" was a good idea. But as far as You Jie knew, the only monster capable of doing that was the Cosmic Quasar Dragon.
But that was a twelve-star monster. In this world, it could crash into the Divine Realm—including Tang San—and kill them all like speed bumps. The difficulty of summoning it was obvious.
Besides, if the effect of the Life Gold itself was negated too, the whole thing would be pointless.
As for using Spell Cards and Trap Cards to purify the Spirit-Devouring Evil Blade...
As everyone knew, powerful cards came with a cost. For You Jie, the most direct price was Soul Power.
If he didn't have enough Soul Power to pay for completely negating the Spirit-Devouring Evil Blade's negative effects, it would be pointless.
And You Jie was sure that even though he was already a Soul Elder, he still couldn't afford the cost of purifying the Spirit-Devouring Evil Blade.
Without pinning his hopes on stealing Electrolux's chance, You Jie could only find a way to raise his Soul Power Level.
Before you continue