The Spirit Department's Scumbag Dean

The prototype of Battle Armor,

the humanoid Soul Tools of the Peerless Tang Sect era,

By that time, Soul Tools had already spread throughout human society. Humanoid Soul Tools were absolutely groundbreaking. After obtaining one, Huo Yuhao continuously researched it and eventually created the Ice Extreme Battle Armor.

For Soul Masters equipped with Soul Tools, many gaps in rank could be bridged. After humanoid Soul Tools appeared, those gaps grew increasingly smaller,

but they required spiritual power and Soul Power. If one was not qualified, lives could be lost. Later, they gradually evolved into two branches: Mecha and Battle Armor.

Huo Yuhao's Ice Extreme Battle Armor was equivalent to a Soul Refinement-grade Three-Word Battle Armor. Its main feature was the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow material, though its craftsmanship was extremely crude... Once he later possessed divine equipment, he barely used it anymore.

"I also have a set of armor made from Thousand Refinement-grade metal. You can use it to practice. Just carve third- or fourth-grade Soul Tool formations." Mu Baobao poured out another pile of armor from a Soul Tool. The workmanship was not particularly exquisite, but it was not too rough either.

Armor used as standard equipment was almost all Hundred Refinement-grade. Only generals could wear Thousand Refinement armor.

Lou Gao had once used Thousand Refinement Fusion Refinement to create a special Bright Silver Armor. It could defend against most attacks below the Soul Emperor rank, but without inscribed formations, its effects were merely average. Qian Duoduo was still standing there in a daze.

"What a waste! Thousand Refinement can be used to make seventh- or eighth-grade Soul Tools too. But if your theory succeeds, it will absolutely be epoch-making. It's just that the requirements for using it..."

Mu Baobao replied, "Armor generally has eleven parts. After excluding the six major Soul Bones, the remaining five are equivalent to External Soul Bones. If there are wings, a tail, or the like, then there are even more. A full set of armor provides an enhancement equivalent to a full set of Soul Bones of the same level."

"Thousand Refinement is equivalent to a hundred years, and Spirit Refinement is equivalent to a thousand years. There is currently no metal forging equivalent to ten thousand or a hundred thousand years, but Teacher Tie said that forging has even higher levels. They will eventually be forged. Soul Bones almost never drop from hundred- or thousand-year Soul Beasts. Their rarity is nearly comparable to hundred-thousand-year ones, while armor can be forged at any time."

"The only difficulty is carving the formations. Wouldn't it be unreasonable if there were no usage requirements? Thousand Refinement armor can raise a five-ring Soul King's abilities to those of a seventieth-level Soul Saint. Spirit Forged Armor is a bit lower—at around ten-odd levels, it can raise a sixtieth-level Soul Emperor to roughly an eightieth-level Soul Douluo. If armor of even higher rank can be achieved, it could even raise a Soul Douluo to a Title Douluo, or a Title Douluo to a Super Douluo."

"But spiritual power is difficult to improve, so the Soul Power requirements naturally have to rise. For example, if someone at the sixtieth-level Soul Emperor rank uses Thousand Refinement armor, they can still reach Soul Saint-level strength, but the boost is only around ten-odd levels. The drawback is that if you can use it, others can too. Soul Masters who possess Soul Bones and armor would receive a double enhancement, which would be even more terrifying!" Mu Baobao explained.

After all, there were currently no Soul Spirits to help Soul Masters increase their spiritual power, so the requirements naturally had to be higher.

"I call it Battle Armor!"

He had wanted to call it Soul Armor, which suited Soul Bones, Soul Rings, Soul Masters, Soul Beasts, and martial souls better. But that seemed to be the name from another world, and he had to follow the original work no matter what, so he could only leave it unchanged.

"That is already astonishing. Cultivation only gets harder the further one goes. Many people spend their entire lives stuck at a certain stage. Those who obtain Soul Bones are the favored children of heaven. The hardest part is still forging the metal... Spiritual power is not easy to increase, but Soul Power can compensate for it."

"This can be said to be something that does not belong to our era. No wonder your martial soul is the mutated Mechanical Ice Dragon. You were born for this, weren't you?" Qian Duoduo's eyes shone like stars.

"Heh heh!"

Mu Baobao gave a bitter smile. It was not just the Battle Armor system that did not belong to this era—he himself was not even from this world. The two carefully discussed certain details.

"Then, Teacher, use this Thousand Refinement armor to practice carving. If it is not enough, I will bring you another set. I will strive to forge a full set of Spirit Forged Armor before summer vacation ends!" Mu Baobao said. He then returned to the Forging Department to begin forging, while Qian Duoduo excitedly started carving Soul Tool formations. If this succeeded, his reputation would absolutely crush that bastard Yan Shaozhe's.

"Xian Lin'er, I will let you know that I, Qian Duoduo, am stronger than Yan Shaozhe. I can lead the Soul Guidance Department beyond the Spirit Department. You did not choose wrong back then."

Qian Duoduo clenched his fists. If Mu Baobao heard that, he would definitely be speechless. At a time like this, he was still simping for her.

A tiger, sheep, cat, and turtle combined were still no match for him.

Time slipped away in the blink of an eye,

Time spent playing felt like mere days, while time spent in school became years. Many people lamented this.

"Mu Baobao, what is going on with you? What the hell is this shoulder-and-chest armor? Or do you have some kind of costume-changing fetish?" Qian Duoduo asked irritably.

Having entered Spirit Refinement, Mu Baobao had only forged four parts over the summer: the left hand armor, left arm armor, left shoulder armor, and chest armor... What now lay before Qian Duoduo was a large, semicircular right shoulder-and-chest plate.

"Don't be mad, Teacher. You have a top-grade ice-attribute gemstone that you have treasured for years, right? Could you embed it for me? To avoid making it too small... Ma Xiaotao has forced herself on me several times already. Wuwuwu..." Mu Baobao cried aggrievedly. As his strength increased, suppressing the Evil Fire became increasingly difficult... It probably would not be long before she forced herself on him outright.

"What did you say? The inscriptions are not enough, and now you want gemstones embedded? What's next, enchantment?"

Qian Duoduo roared, then quickly changed his tone in bewilderment. "This is for Xiaotao? It's not that I want to say anything, but..." He wanted to continue, but remembered how Mu Baobao had shut him down last time and could only keep quiet.

"Fine, then. Ma Xiaotao may become my disciple's wife someday. Consider this an early gift from your teacher. I had originally prepared it for you anyway!" Qian Duoduo sighed. There was no need for the grudges of the previous generation to continue into the next.

At Shrek's Inner Court, they dearly cared for many of the children, since they were orphans gathered from all over.

They were all pitiable children. Ma Xiaotao, especially, suffered from the Evil Fire. It was said that her ancestor, Ma Hongjun of the First Generation Shrek Seven Devils and the Phoenix God,

had begun frequenting brothels after his martial soul awakened. Ma Xiaotao only sought ice-attribute Soul Masters to suppress her Evil Fire. Her willpower could be said to be absurdly strong... Perhaps more than anything, it was because she was a girl!

She still wanted to have her own love.

"Huh? Teacher, don't talk nonsense. Wouldn't I be worked to death if I got together with her? I'm not a plowhorse!" Mu Baobao stared wide-eyed. Dragon-type martial souls and Soul Beasts were powerful in that regard, but who could withstand a phoenix controlled by Evil Fire? If Ma Hongjun had not consumed immortal herbs and had focused purely on cultivating Evil Fire... he might not have inherited the Fire God's position, but he might have had a chance at becoming the God of Desire.

In the side story Legend of the God Realm, the God of Desire had failed to tempt Ma Hongjun in every way, showing just how terrifying his willpower was. Though it was more because he felt guilty for not bringing Bai Chenxiang with him, the God of Desire had been drawn to him from that point onward. Clearly, she herself did not want things to be this way.

Tang Buddha Ancestor had even wanted to pull off a bizarre move to make up for regrets. The request to revive Bai Chenxiang occupied the top spot... The method was for Ma Hongjun to one day discover that the God of Desire was Bai Chenxiang after losing her memories.

If Ma Xiaotao ended up like that, she would have a very high chance of becoming the God of Desire, but that was not what she wanted.

"Don't be angry, Teacher. I'll ask Teacher Tie Wuji to forge several sets of Spirit Forged Armor. Then, if you use them for promotion, the Soul Guidance Department can start taking off. Wouldn't Mingde Hall be crushed in minutes?"

"Once I have fully mastered Spirit Refinement, how about I custom-make Battle Armor for you and Mistress first?"

He had only just learned Spirit Refinement, and his skill was merely at the threshold. After forging one piece, he needed several days of rest. Qian Duoduo was a ninth-grade Soul Engineer... Carving miniature Soul Tool formations was not easy, but it was not difficult for him either.

Tie Wuji forging Spirit Forged Armor as a nine-ring Title Douluo was not quite as easy as drinking water, but forging several pieces a day was no problem. He was more focused on pursuing even higher levels of forging.

"When the Battle Armor takes shape, we'll ride into Sun Moon and admire cherry blossoms!" Mu Baobao declared heroically. Those two countries were very alike. Their standards of living were not even one-tenth of Huaxia's, and Sun Moon's were not even one-fourth of Douluo's.

Those flowers happened to exist there too, and their royal family's inherited martial soul was even the sun. It all lined up perfectly.

"Well said. You get a damn good one."

Qian Duoduo was also stirred into high spirits. The genes in his slumbering blood awakened. The Soul Guidance Department was weak and inferior to Mingde Hall, while the Spirit Department was recognized as the continent's number one. Shrek and Sun Moon even had an exchange-student arrangement, where students studied for two years.

How much they learned depended on themselves, but the core secrets were certainly out of reach. This time, he would turn the tables and become the master.

He would interrogate Mingde Hall and the Spirit Department!

"Teacher, what do you think?"

Mu Baobao repeated everything to Tie Wuji, who was likewise stunned for a long time and unable to calm down.

"I agree. I have a feeling this is the key to whether I can advance even further in forging!" Tie Wuji said. Mu Baobao had thought it would take some effort. "There is nothing surprising about it. Qian Duoduo and I were already friends. If I truly did not get along with him, who would I forge metal for?"

That statement cut straight to the heart of it. There were only three reasons to work under someone.

Being an undercover agent, being friends, or making a living.

"Although he simps hard for Xian Lin'er, I actually respect him. At least he dislikes Yan Shaozhe. Isn't that bastard only handsome, with a powerful Bright Phoenix martial soul? Back then, all the female students liked him, and he was extremely promiscuous. He had more or less been involved with almost all of them. Qian Duoduo only simps for Xian Lin'er."

"Being willing to take her on proves that bastard is indeed devoted, and broad-minded too... What irritates me more is Xian Lin'er. Why does she love harming honest men so much? Even now, she still thinks about that scumbag Yan Shaozhe. She's over eighty and has not even left Qian Duoduo any descendants. To this day, they have not even consummated their marriage."

"Huh?!" Mu Baobao was slightly stunned. There was nothing wrong with Teacher Tie Wuji's words. Both Qian Duoduo and Xian Lin'er had their problems—one had simped until his brain short-circuited.

The other harmed honest men, though that was not quite right to say... Qian Duoduo was happy enough, and Xian Lin'er had also managed the Soul Guidance Department in perfect order. She simply could not let go of that scumbag Yan Shaozhe. She herself was stubborn and refused to admit defeat, determined to make Yan Shaozhe regret it. In the end, he never even took it to heart.

When Qian Duoduo protected Xian Lin'er at the cost of his life and confessed his feelings, Yan Shaozhe had been utterly bewildered as to why they still remembered it. He had nearly forgotten all about it.

Only then did Xian Lin'er finally resolve to cut ties with him... It could only be said that in every world created by Tang Buddha Ancestor, women were brainless creatures obsessed with love, endlessly pulling one absurd stunt after another.

Mu Baobao was devoted too, but once he knew there would be no outcome, he would never go around simping for anyone.

It would only make himself miserable.