Speculations on Battle Armor

"Go get your hammer."

Tie Wuji said that nearly every blacksmith had a hammer specifically suited to them.

Unless they encountered a high-grade hammer, they would not replace it. Most were forged from metals compatible with their owner. Tang Wulin's twin hammers were made of Sinking Silver.

Hundred Refinement, Thousand Refinement, Spirit Refinement, Soul Refinement, Heavenly Refinement.

Having advanced all the way to Divine Craftsman, Mu Baobao had only just broken through six rings, so he could now learn fifth-rank Spirit Refinement. Since he also cultivated as a blacksmith, he was several levels below Ma Xiaotao, who had surpassed level sixty long ago.

Otherwise, how could she have forcibly taken him as a tool to vent her desires? Though... he had been quite willing.

Tie Wuji's martial soul was an iron hammer. Mu Baobao's hammer, however, was not made from a single metal, but an alloy formed through Fusion Refinement from several metals. As his rank rose, he could add certain metals to it, allowing it to adapt to different environments.

A Thousand Refinement forging hammer. Mu Baobao could not even be bothered to name it, since new metals could be added at any time. He could hardly change its name every single time.

A Heavenly Refinement forging hammer would absolutely be no weaker than certain top-tier martial souls. After all, Heavenly Refinement Battle Armor was comparable to a Super Douluo. Alchemy had the legendary art of refining pills without a cauldron... so did forging have the legendary art of forging without a hammer?

Tang Wulin could definitely do it. In Ultimate Douluo, no one knew where he had tossed his Soul Tool.

He had once demonstrated Heavenly Refinement with his fists as hammers.

"Watch carefully. This is Spirit Refinement."

Tie Wuji picked up a chunk of Black Iron from the furnace with tongs. His martial soul was the Black Iron Hammer.

Naturally, this metal was extremely compatible with him. He placed it on the workbench, raised the Black Iron Hammer, and in an instant, his gaze became incomparably focused. It was a special state during forging that could greatly increase the success rate.

In an instant, Tie Wuji entered a strange state. It was as though the Black Iron had been scanned through by a detector, and the entire Forging Department soon gathered around.

Qian Duoduo and Tie Wuji were both distinguished figures, so they naturally attracted plenty of attention. Still, no one had the nerve to eavesdrop on their conversation. Tie Wuji had demonstrated Spirit Refinement many times before. Whenever a student became capable of learning it,

Tie Wuji would demonstrate it once. He was one of the few teachers who truly taught without discrimination. So long as someone could understand and had the ability, he would teach them... without holding anything back.

"Senior Mu is already a level-sixty Soul Emperor. If he did not also cultivate forging, his level would only be higher."

"He already has the ability to learn Spirit Refinement."

They whispered among themselves. Some still quietly complained that Mu Baobao had inherited the talent and status of Limit Douluo Dragon God Mu En. Otherwise, why would Tie Wuji specifically give him extra lessons during summer break? No one else received such treatment.

"Hey!"

Tie Wuji shouted, and nine Soul Rings emerged alongside a fierce aura. Clearly, he had already examined the composition of the Black Iron. Unlike ordinary Hundred Refinement and Thousand Refinement,

he skipped those steps entirely. Using his spiritual power to mobilize his blood, qi, and Soul Power, he brought his hammer straight down.

The black impurities in the glowing-red Black Iron visibly diminished. Was this the strength of a sixth-rank blacksmith? One strike was enough to equal more than a dozen blows.

Hundred Refinement and Thousand Refinement involved successfully forging a piece of metal within its limits. High-rank Blacksmiths could scan and analyze its composition, saving themselves many strikes. The Black Iron rebounded into the air from the force.

Tie Wuji seized the opportunity and struck again before it hit the ground. Soul Power fluctuations shook the surrounding iron frames until they clanged loudly, while every strike was swift and flawless.

Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer?

Mu Baobao was naturally familiar with this hammer technique of borrowing force against force. Although Tang Hao had taught it to Tang San on Douluo Continent, it did not belong to the Clear Sky Sect.

They did not forge iron at all, and even looked down on the Strength Clan's forging. That was related to how little importance Blacksmiths received in that era. Tang Hao's original intention might simply have been that this hammer technique paired well with the Clear Sky Hammer.

After Tang Buddha Ancestor learned it, he shamelessly added it to the Tang Sect Secret Arts. It had originally belonged to the Blacksmith Association—or rather, it was merely a technique to begin with.

One strike, two strikes... Tie Wuji always struck the Black Iron's impurities with precision. His spiritual power controlled his Soul Power, which flowed through his martial soul and into the metal. After only around a hundred strikes, the impurities had already been removed, but the bombardment did not stop.

Rings of Soul Power fluctuations spread outward, making the objects in the Forging Department tremble slightly. When the final strike landed, the Black Iron had not even cooled.

When forging metal, even experienced master Blacksmiths needed to quench it multiple times. Yet Tie Wuji completed it in one go, and it even gave off a powerful radiance.

Spirit Refinement... was this it?

Legend of the Dragon King had described Tang Wulin's path to becoming a Divine Craftsman throughout the novel, but it was difficult for anyone to remember all of it for long. Mu Baobao had already been in Douluo Continent for eighteen years, and his memories had grown hazy.

Or perhaps the methods differed in every era.

During the forging process, Soul Power had to be threaded into the metal bit by bit. Soul Refinement and Heavenly Refinement followed the same principle, but combining two or three types of power was far more difficult.

It also required controlling their quantities and fusing them together. The difficulty increased geometrically... Tie Wuji's Spirit Refinement involved slowly injecting Soul Power while removing impurities. Tang Wulin's later forging methods were much more violent, relying on his overwhelming strength to directly fuse Soul Power, spiritual power, and life force.

At God King rank, Tang Wulin could probably directly grant a piece of metal life force and complete Heavenly Refinement.

"What do you think?"

Tie Wuji asked as he watched Mu Baobao sink into thought. Spirit Refinement did not consume much for a Title Douluo like him, after all, the difference between them was three whole ranks... but spiritual power and life force had not yet become an established system.

Soul Refinement and Heavenly Refinement could not be performed.

"I understand some of it, but not all. I think I've found a direction."

Mu Baobao replied. This also seemed related to brute strength. Huo Yuhao possessed the strongest spiritual power... so engraving Soul Tool formations came naturally to him.

Tang Wulin possessed abundant life force and feared no expenditure. As long as one was strong enough, brute force alone could accomplish it. The protagonists in later stages were all like that.

In the end, it simply meant... you were not strong enough.

After thinking for a long time, Mu Baobao took a block of iron emitting a cold aura from the shelf. Materials also had ranks... Cold Iron was extremely difficult to process.

Quenching would weaken its chill, which meant impurities could only be removed through hammering. Kyurem was an Ice Dragon from the Unova Region. On Douluo Continent, it had become his Ultimate Ice Dragon martial soul. Forging a metal with this attribute was naturally easiest for him.

Ultimate Ice covered the workbench, instantly turning the place into something like a cold-storage room. The sound of hammering rang out.

With the strength of a Soul Emperor, Mu Baobao naturally needed more time than Tie Wuji. He continued until dusk fell, not even eating lunch... and when the Forging Department students, who had not disturbed him, were preparing to leave,

"Spirit Refinement... succeeded."

They stared at Mu Baobao with wide eyes. It had done more than succeed... he had even forged the Cold Iron into a left gauntlet. But why was it so delicate?

Forging an item also took time. They had not expected Mu Baobao to be even more monstrous, actually completing the crafting during the Spirit Refinement process. Such talent was terrifying!

"Alas, what a pity there's no Battle Armor Master, nor any Soul Engineer capable of completing such fine work."

He murmured. Soul Engineers engraved Soul Tool formations onto weapons, while Battle Armor Masters directly condensed them onto armor. The difficulty was naturally immense.

Mu Baobao undoubtedly wanted to create a Battle Armor system, perhaps even a Mecha system. As for Warships... forget it. That was simply impossible in this era. Even Mechas might not be successfully developed.

In the era of Legend of the Dragon King, Soul Rings had been replaced by Soul Spirits, while Soul Bones... were exceedingly rare. Across Douluo Continent and Peerless Tang Sect, only the protagonists had ever gathered a full set.

Tang Wulin had not even gathered a complete set of Soul Bones before Battle Armor was developed. Like Soul Bones and Soul Rings, Battle Armor had ranks: white, yellow, purple, black, red, and gold.

From one-word to six-word Battle Armor, each rank added one more word to its name. One-Word Battle Armor required every component to be Thousand Refined, and the wearer needed at least five rings.

Two-Word Battle Armor required every component to undergo Spirit Refinement, and the wearer needed at least six rings.

Three-Word Battle Armor required every component to undergo Soul Refinement, and the wearer needed at least seven rings.

Four-Word Battle Armor required every component to undergo Heavenly Refinement, and the wearer needed at least nine rings.

Five-Word and Six-Word Battle Armor could not be forged. They could only be slowly enhanced through the nourishment of divine sense combined with divine power.

Any Battle Armor Master was twenty levels stronger than a Soul Master of the same rank. If a One-Word Battle Armor Master had five rings, wearing Battle Armor made them equivalent to seven rings. A Two-Word Battle Armor Master equaled eight rings, a Three-Word Battle Armor Master equaled nine rings, and a Four-Word Battle Armor Master... equaled a Limit Douluo.

Like those who possessed Soul Bones, Battle Armor was a substitute for them. It could even be upgraded to increase its power, whereas Soul Bones had to be gathered one by one... and only External Soul Bones could evolve. Their improvement was nowhere near the twenty-level boost of Battle Armor. Even a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, if used by someone with insufficient Soul Power, could drain them dry.

One-Word Battle Armor was mostly ten-year white-grade or hundred-year yellow-grade, with a small portion reaching thousand-year purple-grade. Soul Beasts of these three ranks almost never dropped Soul Bones, so One-Word Battle Armor even had to be donned manually. Would an opponent allow that?

It was only suitable for five-ring Soul Master armies that constantly wore armor. Such an army could likely contend against Spirit Hall's Angel Legion, which was composed of level-seventy Soul Saints.

Two-Word Battle Armor could completely fuse with its wearer and grant wings. It had a chance of advancing into thousand-year purple-grade Three-Word Battle Armor. Three-Word Battle Armor could even awaken a domain, and could likewise evolve into thousand-year black-grade.

Four-Word Battle Armor possessed an exclusive domain without exception. It could even hide beneath the skin and protect its master when danger arose, comparable to a complete set of Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.

Five-Word and Six-Word Battle Armor... were equivalent to the divine equipment of divine officials and third-class gods. Seven-Word, Eight-Word, and Nine-Word Battle Armor would presumably be the divine equipment of second-class gods, first-class gods, and God Kings... Would Douluo 6 ever reach that point? After all, nine installments had been planned.

Eleven components: helmet, breastplate, left shoulder armor and upper-arm armor, right shoulder armor and upper-arm armor, left gauntlet and forearm armor, right gauntlet and forearm armor, waist guard and battle skirt, left thigh armor, right thigh armor, left greave and battle boot, right greave and battle boot.

There were only six Soul Bones. All the rest belonged to the category of External Soul Bones, and obtaining them was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

The right gauntlet had been forged, but it lacked Soul Tool formations that would give it Soul Skills similar to those attached to Soul Bones and Soul Rings. Spirit Refinement-grade Two-Word Battle Armor required at least fifth- or sixth-rank Soul Tool formations.

"Looks like I need to visit my teacher. He's a ninth-rank Soul Engineer and should be able to engrave fifth- or sixth-rank micro-engraved Soul Tool formations," Mu Baobao said. In the era of Peerless Tang Sect... micro-engraving at the same rank

could probably only be accomplished by Huo Yuhao. Ideal Goodness and realistic Evil... White Kyurem and Black Kyurem. His spiritual power had also grown stronger alongside his cultivation.

Rong Nianbing had said that emotions resembling Evil and Goodness were what made advancement possible... it seemed he truly needed to study Soul Engineering more deeply.

However, when he raised his head, he saw that dusk had fallen, and his stomach growled with hunger.

Without realizing it, night had arrived.