But that raised another question: how should they be engraved? What techniques should be used? What tools?
He knew practically nothing about any of it.
Besides, although the core of a Soul Tool was the Soul Guidance Array, the materials used were just as important. You couldn't simply pick up a piece of metal or a gemstone and engrave it.
Metals, for instance, had to go through a series of forging steps: purification, shaping, quenching, and polishing. Gemstones needed to be cut. All of that was a blacksmith's work, yet on Douluo Continent, blacksmithing was considered a lowly profession and received no respect at all.
Finally, Douluo Continent placed great emphasis on the power of Martial Souls, focusing on training one's Martial Soul and Soul Power. Aside from Support Type Soul Masters with little combat ability, no one wanted to spend their time and energy on other pursuits, especially a massive undertaking with little foundation, such as Soul Tool research.
All these factors combined to create a vicious cycle, and Soul Tool research never made any progress.
Clearly, Xing Tian was still very interested in Soul Tools. Even after Ye Lingling had finished reading the book, he was still thinking about them.
"In my previous life, I saw plenty of divine weapons. If that senior hadn't had the Dharma-Protecting Buddha Weapon to empower him, I wouldn't have perished alongside him. Powerful divine weapons could even be refined into the body to empower oneself, and might even develop a spirit of their own."
"But the more powerful the divine weapon, the more difficult it was to forge. It wasn't something you could make just by relying on high-quality materials and flames."
"You also needed to infuse it with the three treasures of essence, energy, and spirit, then refine it over a long period. You might even need to incorporate the Dao you had comprehended, and the principles you had come to understand."
"That's why only a great master could forge a true divine weapon, and even then, they might only be able to refine a handful in their entire life."
"Judging by the descriptions, Soul Tools didn't even require a high level of cultivation. They seemed far simpler than the things from my previous life. They just lacked a systematic foundation of knowledge. Otherwise, if the two could be combined..."
When Xing Tian's thoughts returned to the present, he saw Ye Lingling and Osler both staring at him.
"What is it?"
Osler pointed around them. "What do you mean, 'what is it'? Look around!"
Xing Tian glanced around and saw that everyone else had left. Only the three of them remained.
Osler rolled his eyes and grumbled, "You were so absorbed in reading that you lost track of time. It's mealtime, and everyone else has left. Only Ye Lingling and I are still here. If she hadn't stopped me, I would've woken you up myself! Sigh, all the good food's probably been snapped up. I really don't understand what's so interesting about Soul Tools."
"You don't need to worry about that. Let's go."
Xing Tian and Ye Lingling stood up.
"Where to?"
"To eat, of course. If we don't hurry, we'll really be going hungry."
The Heaven Dou Royal Academy lived up to its name as a school founded by the royal family. Even its cafeteria was extravagantly luxurious: several stories tall, able to seat five hundred people at once without feeling crowded, and even equipped with private dining rooms.
Osler explained, "The cafeteria's biggest specialty is cooking Soul Beasts. Compared with ordinary food, dishes made from Soul Beasts can help Soul Masters recover Soul Power and subtly strengthen their bodies."
"Unfortunately, the Soul Master World has an explicit rule against hunting Soul Beasts on a large scale, even if it's to make food."
"So the Soul Beast dishes here are made from captive-bred Soul Beasts. There's not much variety, and they're all under a hundred years old. Occasionally, there'll be one that's over a hundred years old. Those are brought back by students or teachers returning from Soul Hunting and sold to the academy, but most of the time, they keep them for themselves."
Osler looked downcast. "We got here so late. We'll probably have to make do with whatever's left."
At that moment, Ye Lingling pointed in one direction. "Sister Yanyan's over there."
Xing Tian said, "Then let's hurry up, get our food, and go over."
A few minutes later...
Osler stared in shock, his jaw nearly dropping off. "Are you sure you want to eat that much?"
Xing Tian had filled his entire tray, piling the food up in layers until it formed a small mountain.
"Can't be helped. I just have a big appetite."
For Xing Tian, cultivation was seventy percent training and thirty percent eating. Without enough nourishment, how could his body withstand such enormous exertion or sustain the energy he expended?
The three of them sat down beside Dugu Yan. She looked up, delighted. "Xiao Tian, you're here! You finally enrolled. I've been waiting for you for two years! I'm Level 26 now. When are you free? I want to wipe away the shame of my past defeat!"
"Whenever. I'm fine with anything."
"Then let's do it during practical combat training, once you've reached Tianzhu Level!"
Osler was unusually quiet, but inside, he was astonished.
Dugu Yan's words made it clear that Xing Tian had beaten her before. Dugu Yan was famous throughout the academy for her skill. Poison had a terrifying grip over low-level Soul Masters, especially Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison.
Dugu Yan usually only needed to surround herself with poisonous mist to keep others from approaching. A little more mist was enough to take down a whole crowd. The sensation of one's entire body seeming to corrode, one's flesh rotting away until death, was more than most people could bear.
As it happened, Osler had once suffered exactly that fate.
And now he was being told that Xing Tian had once defeated Dugu Yan, apparently without much trouble—and two years ago, at that. How old had Xing Tian been then? He probably had only just obtained his Soul Ring.
The more Osler thought about it, the more frightening it seemed. He grew ever more curious about what sort of Martial Soul Xing Tian had. So far, he had only heard its name, never seen it for himself.
Far away, unnoticed by the others, a black-haired young man with a slender build watched them silently. He wasn't particularly handsome, and his facial muscles seemed stiff, but his eyes were razor-sharp, like lightning.
The next day, Xing Tian finally began attending classes in earnest. He belonged to Class One of the Tianwei Level.
The Tianwei Level was divided into several classes, and its students were broadly split into two tiers. Students with two rings but below Level 25 were in the first tier, while those with one ring were in the second. All the students in Class One belonged to the first tier.
Most of them had enrolled when they were one-ring Soul Masters and had been here for several years. It was rare for someone like Xing Tian to enroll with two rings already, so he was a transfer student.
As a transfer student, he naturally had to introduce himself first. Everyone's reaction was much the same as Osler's had been.
Some students immediately began plotting. The clever ones wanted to win him over; the more arrogant ones planned to use their greater age and rank to put him in his place before trying to recruit him. Others were simply jealous.
These young nobles were all just over ten years old, and they were the most snobbish of all: they bullied the weak and feared the strong.
They soon noticed that Xing Tian was close to Osler and Ye Lingling, and could even sit beside Ye Lingling. Those were two people they couldn't afford to offend—especially Ye Lingling.
Forget these nobles; even princes wouldn't dare lay a finger on her unless it was a Soul Fighting match.
Before you continue