Just as Ye Luochen relaxed his mind, withdrew his Soul Power, and prepared to leave,
a sudden mutation occurred.
The Dark Iron Blade, which should have retreated into his body along with his withdrawn Soul Power, suddenly burst into light.
"Hmm?"
Sensing something wrong with his martial soul, Ye Luochen froze, his brows immediately knitting together.
He once again mobilized his Soul Power, trying to suppress this inexplicable abnormality and draw the Dark Iron Blade back into his body.
Yet no matter how hard he tried, the Dark Iron Blade remained utterly unmoved.
Not only that, but a series of buzzing sounds gradually began to rise from the blade, which had initially only been glowing.
The entire blade began to tremble as well.
Naturally, Xuan Ziwen saw this scene. He hurried forward and asked,
"What's wrong?"
As Ye Luochen continued trying to retrieve his martial soul, he replied,
"I'm not sure. My martial soul is acting very strangely right now. It's actually becoming somewhat disobedient, as though it's resisting being recalled into my body."
"Resisting? Has this ever happened before?"
Xuan Ziwen continued asking.
Ye Luochen shook his head.
Although the quality of his martial soul was not particularly good, it was precisely because of that that he had poured countless drops of sweat and effort into catching up with others.
Through those efforts, Ye Luochen's control over his martial soul had long since reached the point where he could wield it as easily as his own limbs.
How could such a strange situation occur now?
Seeing Ye Luochen shake his head, Xuan Ziwen's brows furrowed as well.
Although he was an eighth-rank Soul Engineer and possessed the cultivation of a Soul Douluo, with an impressive Soul Power Level,
his level had basically been built up through various medicinal herbs and secret techniques rather than painstaking cultivation of his own.
His only goal had been to obtain enough Soul Power to operate Soul Tools of the corresponding rank.
Under normal circumstances, he rarely even used his martial soul or soul skills.
Thus, faced with the strange changes in Ye Luochen's martial soul, Xuan Ziwen had no clue what was happening.
"I'll get the hall master!"
Xuan Ziwen shouted, then lifted his leg to head outside.
Hall Master Jing Hongchen was a powerhouse at the level of a Titled Douluo.
That realm was far beyond what could be attained through unorthodox means. His understanding of martial souls was undoubtedly among the very best.
But before he could take a step, the Dark Iron Blade in Ye Luochen's palm displayed another new anomaly.
As the Dark Iron Blade continued trembling, a faint but distinct force of attraction began to radiate from its blade.
At first, it was extremely weak.
But in only a few moments, it had become strong enough to draw the lighter metal scraps nearby toward the blade.
A strained expression also appeared on Ye Luochen's face, as though he were enduring some sort of pressure.
Seeing this, Xuan Ziwen's brows furrowed even more tightly.
This bizarre scene left him completely unsure of what he should do.
If he stayed, he did not know how to help.
If he went for assistance, he feared something might happen to Ye Luochen in the meantime.
"Forget it. I'll take a gamble."
After hesitating for a moment, Xuan Ziwen gritted his teeth, turned back around, and walked toward Ye Luochen.
"Luochen, I'll try using my Soul Power to isolate your martial soul from the outside world. Hopefully, it'll help."
As he spoke, Xuan Ziwen raised a hand. Milky-white Soul Power gathered in his palm and drifted uncertainly toward Ye Luochen.
But before Xuan Ziwen's Soul Power could touch him, Ye Luochen spoke.
A strained look still remained on his face, as though he were struggling against some kind of force.
"Wait, Teacher Xuan. I'm starting to slowly sense my martial soul's emotions."
At those words, Xuan Ziwen's hand paused.
"My martial soul's emotions? What emotions?"
In truth, he wanted to ask how a martial soul could possibly have "emotions." Wasn't a martial soul merely a tool wielded by its owner?
But clearly, now was not the time to ask such questions.
Besides, when it came to research on martial souls, he was probably not even as knowledgeable as Ye Luochen before him.
Since Ye Luochen said so, there was likely a reason.
"Desire."
Ye Luochen frowned.
"My Dark Iron Blade is continuously conveying an emotion of desire to me."
Xuan Ziwen asked in confusion,
"Desire? What does it desire?"
Ye Luochen closed his eyes, blocking out all outside distractions. After concentrating for a while, he slowly opened them again.
His gaze fell on the Soul Tool testing bench not far in front of him.
More precisely, on the Stamping Machine Tool that had only recently been made on the Soul Tool testing bench.
"The Dark Iron Blade desires it."
Looking where Ye Luochen was staring, then hearing those words, Xuan Ziwen only became more confused and bewildered.
What did it mean for the Dark Iron Blade to desire this Stamping Machine Tool?
Before he could ask, Ye Luochen made another move.
He stepped forward, steadily approaching the Soul Tool testing bench.
"I don't know what will happen either, but judging from the emotions and sensations my martial soul is giving me, this is what it wants to do."
"Teacher Xuan, please stand guard for me."
As he spoke, Ye Luochen directly gripped the Dark Iron Blade in his hand, which was still buzzing and trembling while radiating that strange pulling force, and extended it toward the Stamping Machine Tool on the testing bench.
At this sight, Xuan Ziwen was completely dumbfounded.
What the hell was this?
Stand guard? How was he supposed to stand guard?
But the arrow was already on the bowstring, and there was no choice but to fire. With things having reached this point, there was no point considering all that nonsense anymore.
He could only force himself to go along with it.
Xuan Ziwen gritted his teeth and hurried forward, then...
stood a little closer to Ye Luochen.
He had no idea, brother. No idea at all.
He truly did not know how to stand guard. He could only move closer so that, if something happened, he could pull Ye Luochen out more quickly.
As Ye Luochen continued extending his arm, the Dark Iron Blade's trembling grew increasingly violent.
Perhaps because the distance had shortened, Xuan Ziwen actually seemed to faintly sense that this small black dagger was continuously radiating desire—and even joy and excitement.
Finally, the blade touched the Stamping Machine Tool.
The instant they made contact, the light on the blade became dazzling.
A pulling force countless times stronger than before suddenly erupted from the blade.
A gap instantly appeared where the Stamping Machine Tool came into contact with the blade.
Strangely, although this force was immense, it seemed to have found its target. It no longer pulled equally at everything around it as it had before.
Instead, it appeared to act only upon this Stamping Machine Tool.
Even stranger, the portion drawn away from that gap actually flowed directly along the tip of the blade and merged into the blade itself.
The next moment, more and more metal was drawn by the force, forcibly tearing free from the Stamping Machine Tool.
It continuously flowed along the blade's tip and merged into its body.
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