At that moment, Lin Yuan's keen sixth sense suddenly kicked in. He turned around and looked behind him.
A small red shoe sole appeared before his eyes, just half a finger's breadth from his face.
"Tsk, how boring." Wu Feng lowered the foot she had aimed at Lin Yuan's face.
She naturally wouldn't really sneak up on Lin Yuan and kick him. Ning Tian would be upset if she did.
It was fine to take out a little of her frustration on this annoying pest who had suddenly barged into her and Ning Tian's lives, right?
It wasn't like she was actually hitting him.
"Wu Feng, you look pretty today too," Ning Tian praised her.
Wu Feng had indeed dressed beautifully that day. She wore a cool, white long dress and a straw hat.
At Ning Tian's praise, Wu Feng's cheeks flushed slightly. "Ning Tian, you look lovely today too."
Girls' love was wonderful. Lin Yuan loved watching it most—usually in 1080p.
"But I don't really like this outfit." Wu Feng looked a little annoyed.
"But my family says that after my Martial Soul Awakening, I might become more hot-tempered, so they're making me undergo noble training to balance out my temper."
Ning Tian nodded in agreement. She had met the women in Wu Feng's family, and their tempers were indeed more explosive than the last.
This ladylike education didn't seem to do much. After all, once Wu Feng awakened her Red Dragon Martial Soul, her temper would definitely grow fiery.
So what was the point of it? Lin Yuan wondered.
"But at least you'll be able to fight in the future. A little hardship now is nothing." Ning Tian looked a little dejected. She waved her wooden sword, absently tracing lines in the grass.
Every support-type Soul Master had a warrior's heart. You could tell from how hard Ning Tian trained.
Ever since her Martial Soul Awakening, seeing Lin Yuan improve by so much had only made that feeling grow stronger.
Unfortunately, she was a support-type Soul Master, and might never reach level eighty in her entire life.
She really envied Battle Soul Masters like Lin Yuan, but she was destined to be a support type.
She needed some time to accept all this. At least for now, while the gap in their combat strength wasn't too great, she could just barely keep up with Lin Yuan.
Even though the truth was that she was already far weaker than Lin Yuan in combat, even without a Soul Ring.
"It's okay. I'll protect you from now on, Ning Tian." Wu Feng grinned and flexed her arm, showing off her "muscles."
Lin Yuan watched the scene, speechless. No wonder she'd been the one to pursue Ning Tian in the beginning, with social skills like that.
"Is that so? Then I'll be counting on you, Wu Feng." Ning Tian rubbed Wu Feng's head as she sat down beside her.
"Hehe." Wu Feng proudly folded her arms and stuck out her chest, then shot Lin Yuan a challenging look.
"You two girls get along so well. Maybe you'll be good friends for the rest of your lives." Cao Xin stroked his beard with a smile, then noticed Lin Yuan staring at him with a strange expression.
"What?"
Lin Yuan shook his head. "Nothing."
The old man still wasn't seeing things clearly. It was obvious that feelings beyond friendship had blossomed between them.
"By the way, Ning Tian, would you like to study Soul Tools?" Lin Yuan turned and asked.
"Soul Tools?" Ning Tian asked, puzzled.
"Right, Soul Tools." Lin Yuan picked up his wooden sword and began sketching in the grass.
"Look, if it's difficult for you to improve your combat ability through normal cultivation, right?"
Everyone gathered around and looked curiously at the drawing Lin Yuan had made on the ground.
He had sketched a Chainsword and annotated how it moved and generated force.
"Then why not focus on your weapon? Have someone build a sword-shaped Soul Tool using this design. That way, even if your personal combat ability isn't high, you can use the Soul Tool to unleash attacks on par with a Soul Elder."
Ning Tian furrowed her brows and pondered the Chainsword concept Lin Yuan had described.
It should be easy to attach a chain to a Soul Tool, right?
It should be easy to make the chain move with Soul Power, right?
And then it should be easy to stick that moving, toothed chain onto an enemy, right?
"Right!" Ning Tian suddenly felt as if her mind had opened. The fog clouding her thoughts seemed to lift.
"But this is ultimately not the Great Dao," Cao Xin said with a frown.
"Teacher, how far do you think someone with Ning Tian's physique could go on the path of sword cultivation?" Lin Yuan asked Cao Xin in return.
Cao Xin glanced at Ning Tian. "Uh... You're right."
"Actually, I have another question. Why has the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect never developed Soul Tools?"
"Historically, we've always been very receptive to Hidden Weapons. So why are we so conservative when it comes to Soul Tools?"
"Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Soul Masters have spiritual power, and most of them are smart enough. Not to mention their wealth—maybe they aren't first on the continent, but they're at least second. With such natural advantages, why don't they develop Soul Tools?"
Lin Yuan's words left Cao Xin and Ning Tian deep in thought.
Right. Why not develop Soul Tools?
Cao Xin suddenly wondered if another intelligence-suppressing aura had been hanging over the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect.
It had made them follow the same old path for ten thousand years, and only today had the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect begun to examine itself.
And it had all started with the boy standing before them.
"I... I'll go talk to Father." Ning Tian jumped to her feet, excited, and headed for the place where Ning Zhiyuan was.
Watching the girl run off, Lin Yuan couldn't help complaining inwardly that Buddha Ancestor Tang's intelligence-suppressing aura had been far too oppressive.
To keep his Hidden Weapons from becoming obsolete, he had kept suppressing the people of the Douluo Continent.
After ten thousand years, if things had developed normally, Soul Guidance Technology would have gone through dozens of generations of upgrades.
It was clear that without the collision with the Sun Moon Continent, the Douluo Continent would have stayed asleep in the Tang Sect's dream of invincibility for who knew how long.
There would have been no Battle Armor era or spacefaring era to come later. Those who already benefited from the status quo had no incentive to overthrow it themselves.
"All right, let's keep practicing our swords," Cao Xin said.
Lin Yuan nodded and stood up from the grass, ready to swing his sword again.
"Can I practice with you too?" Wu Feng asked, holding the wooden sword Ning Tian had left behind. Her gaze was resolute as she looked at the two of them.
"Of course. But if you get your clothes dirty, won't your family say something, Xiaofeng?" Cao Xin asked with a smile.
"I want the strength to protect Ning Tian!" Wu Feng declared.
Then she put on a smug expression and pointed her thumb at herself. "Besides, I'm their own daughter. They can't beat me to death, can they?"
"If you've got the guts to say that, it proves you really are their own daughter," Lin Yuan said with a muffled laugh.
Cao Xin scratched his head helplessly. "All right, you can join us too."
Three days later, in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Lin Yuan had already settled on the primary direction for cultivating his Martial Souls: the Destruction Demon Dragon Martial Soul.