A Hundred Years Ahead

When Ling Yi demonstrated his Martial Soul- based surgical technique/ Mystical Palm Technique on the spot, Dugu Bo felt that half of his worldview, which he had cultivated over decades, had collapsed.

So, Martial Soul and Soul Skill can be used in this way?

"So, Ling's Martial Soul is really a useless Martial Soul called ' Blue Silver Grass '?" Dugu Bo asked.

Long Yin nodded. "That's right!"

"So, Ling's Innate Soul Power is really only half a level?" Dugu Bo asked again.

Zhang Mufeng nodded in agreement. "Of course!"

"So, Ling's family background is really just that of ordinary villagers, with no Soul Master in his ancestors? He's the first one?!" Dugu Bo's eyes widened, and his breathing became heavy involuntarily.

Qingqiu Xin, Li Zhishu, and Jiang Yuan nodded in unison. "Yes! That's exactly it!"

Dugu Bo: "Braise—!"

The above conversation took place more than half an hour after the meal ended, and the location changed from a hotel private room to a blacksmith shop run by a master blacksmith in "Shabak City".

Dugu Bo looked at Ling Yi, who was standing more than ten meters away by the furnace, observing the metal ingots being licked and softened by the intense flames. His eyes were filled with undisguised astonishment.

For a moment, Dugu Bo suddenly wanted to go home and bring his thirteen-year-old son over so that he could see what a true hero was!

Yes, an outstanding person, not a genius!

There can be many geniuses, and Dugu Bo is one of them. He became Soul Emperor at the age of forty-one, and Jiang Yuan, who is sitting next to him, is also Soul King at the age of thirty-four!

People like Dugu Bo and Jiang Yuan are geniuses with the potential to become Soul Douluo. They are admired wherever they go in the Douluo Continent.

But outstanding individuals are different. Outstanding individuals are those who can stir up the Storm Riders of a time and place, and those whose deeds are still worth mentioning many years later.

Ling Yi, at this moment, seemed to be such an existence in Dugu Bo's eyes.

Although his Martial Soul was inferior, a notorious useless Martial Soul, and although his aptitude was low, with only half a level of Innate Soul Power, he should theoretically not be able to go very far on the path of Soul Master.

Even now, unexpectedly, he has become a Two-Ring Grand Soul Master. It seems that it is only a matter of time before he reaches level 30 and becomes Soul Elder.

But almost no one believed that Ling Yi was a genius on the path of Martial Soul and Soul Master.

The combination of "Blue Silver Grass" and half a level of Innate Soul Power almost completely capped Ling Yi's future potential!

Even so, Ling Yi remains the Storm Riders in the [Water Wood Duchy]!

From the highest-ranking officials like Grand Duke Mu Feng and Marquis of Cedar to ordinary people, everyone who mentions Ling Yi praises him.

Ling Yi's background and experiences, as well as the achievements he has made, are truly inspiring!

Even the Grand Duke Mu Feng, in the past two years, when educating his heir, the young Duke of Mu Feng, often said, "Look at how Ling Yi is..."

Let me give you the simplest and most intuitive data.

Since the establishment of the Blacksmith Association's branch in the Water Wood Duchy, the overall GDP of the Water Wood Duchy has increased by nearly 20%!

At first, everyone was puzzled. It was clear that only the blacksmiths' income had increased, and only the Duchy's military had received real benefits, but the overall wealth of the entire Duchy seemed to have increased!

It wasn't until Ling Yi spoke up and told Grand Duke Mu Feng and other high-ranking officials of the duchy that, because the blacksmiths had become wealthy, they were buying other items in addition to raw mineral materials, which in turn caused the money to flow to ordinary people and professionals in other industries.

With their pockets full, these people would buy the supplies they needed, and wealth would flow like water.

At this moment, the entire Water Wood Duchy finally awoke as if from a dream, like a fledgling bird opening its eyes for the first time and seeing the world clearly.

It turns out that for a nation's power, wealth is not about how much money the nobles at the top have, but about the value created in all aspects of life by the circulation of wealth among the people of the country!

It can be said that in the [Water Wood Duchy], although Ling Yi is still a minor baron and his strength is only that of an ordinary Grand Soul Master among the Soul Master, he enjoys a level of courtesy that is half a rank higher than that of Earl!

All of this was achieved by a sixteen-year-old boy from a rural background, Martial Soul was the Martial Soul "Blue Silver Grass" and Innate Soul Power was only half a level. He achieved it step by step through his own wisdom and hard work.

"Clang--!"

A crisp, resounding crack pulled Dugu Bo back to reality from his wandering thoughts.

Focusing their gaze, they watched as the large metal ingot, which had somehow melted into a single piece and then reformed due to the drop in temperature, began to deform under the weight of Black Iron Hammer the size of a human head.

The next moment, Ling Yi, who was holding a forging hammer, transformed into a human-shaped spinning top and began to dance like a whirlwind.

About three or four meters away, the blacksmith shop owner was watching Ling Yi's movements intently, as well as the forging hammer in Ling Yi's hand that originally belonged to him.

In everyone's eyes, Ling Yi's body, as he danced, gradually began to exude an aura, an aura as intense as flames!

Unlike the real flames in a furnace that only make people feel hot, the intense heat emanating from Ling Yi's body was purer, giving people the urge to have their hearts pound uncontrollably.

It's like... excitement!

"What... kind of power is this?"

Before anyone knew it, Dugu Bo had walked up to the blacksmith shop owner and asked Long Yin and the others who had walked up with him.

"That's Qi and Blood!" Zhang Mufeng replied. "Brother Yi said that this power originates from our bodies and is not limited by Martial Soul, Soul Power, or Soul Ring; it's one of the purest forms of power!"

"Clang clang clang—!!"

The beating was like a storm, yet the rhythm was full of cadence, like a dynamic percussion performance.

As he listened and watched, Dugu Bo's eyes grew brighter and brighter. "This power... has already surpassed my level when I was Soul Elder!"

Thinking of this, Dugu Bo suddenly frowned, and took a moment to turn his head and glance at the blacksmith shop owner, whose expression was fanatical, as if he were on a pilgrimage.

"..." Dugu Bo opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't say anything. He just focused on watching Ling Yi's dancing figure and waited silently.

As a product that has already been launched to the market, Ling Yi was already very familiar with everything from the smelting and forging of the raw materials for the "Sunken Silver Inner Armor" to the subsequent drawing and weaving process.

As the moon rose high in the sky, the deserted streets outside were covered in a blanket of silver frost. Inside the blacksmith's shop, a silver-gray inner armor was prominently displayed on the workbench, and the faint scent of the scorching furnace still lingered.

Silently storing the "Sunken Silver Inner Armor" into his Storage Soul Tool, Dugu Bo patiently explained his forging experience to Zhang Mufeng, Long Yin, Qingqiu Xin, and the blacksmith shop owner. When the group encountered something they didn't understand, they would ask questions.

Among these, the blacksmith shop owner asked the most questions.

At first, the boss was a little reserved, but under Ling Yi and patient smile, he became more and more open and asked more and more questions, almost pouring out all the doubts that had plagued him for years as a master blacksmith.

Another half hour later, Ling Yi and the others bid farewell and left, as the blacksmith shop owner refused to charge for the use of tools and materials and was reluctant to part with them.

On the way back to the hotel, Dugu Bo couldn't help but speak to Ling Yi:

"Young Ling, your ' Blue Sea Sunken Silver Alloy ' formula, and the ' Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique ' they were just discussing, should all be things you can rely on to make a living as a blacksmith..."

He turned to look at Zhang Mufeng and the other two before continuing, "These three little guys are your followers, so teaching them is fine. But why did you also...?"

Looking at Dugu Bo's thin face, which carried a hint of coldness, Ling Yi suddenly felt a bit of Orochimaru from the Naruto World.

Perhaps it's because Dugu Bo's image when he first appeared in the original work was too deeply ingrained in people's minds, or perhaps it's because Dugu Bo's Martial Soul is both snake and poisonous, that people subconsciously label him with a series of negative tags such as cold, cruel, and vicious.

But think about it: in front of his granddaughter Dugu Yan, he was just an ordinary old man; after being impressed by Tang San's knowledge of poison, he, Titled Douluo, treated Tang San, who was then Three-Ring Soul Elder, as an equal; after the Heaven Dou Empire did him a favor, he became one of the few Titled Douluo on the Douluo Continent who stood up for the nation and contributed his strength...

Even so, this was after Dugu Bo had experienced the loss of his son in middle age and suffered from the pain of toxin backlash for many years.

So, what kind of personality did the young Dugu Bo have, before he reached the top of the Douluo Continent in terms of strength, Dugu Bo who had a wife Dugu Bo at home?

Suppressing the surging thoughts in his mind, Ling Yi smiled at Dugu Bo. Although the bright moon was hanging high in the sky, Dugu Bo seemed to see the Sun in a daze.

"Senior Dugu, I have always believed that knowledge and skills are priceless."

"This 'priceless' can mean both incredibly valuable and utterly worthless."

"In my view, the value that knowledge can create when it is spread is limitless, but if it is only in the hands of a very few people, or even if it may be lost one day, then in the end it becomes worthless."

"You think the knowledge I taught that boss is what sustains him, but that knowledge remains in my mind and will only grow stronger and better as I continue to learn!"

"Don't you think it would be a wonderful thing if, one day, the boss I taught today, or his successor, developed an even better technique, and the finished product created from that technique appeared on the mainland?"

"I have sown the seeds, and in the future, there is hope to see a new continent full of flowers!"

This bowl of chicken soup is five hundred years ahead of the Douluo Continent!

Thank you to the readers [Ice Seal Valley, Feathered Lamp Wind, Xu11, Star Sky-Roaring the Earth, Earth Still—Instant, Cangtian Wangyi Gu, Book Cries to Death, Reader 20230123318475, On the Importance of Last Hitting, Fat Dragon Rides the Face, Reader 20230503504__Be, Northwest Wind Chieftain, Black Iron Tip, Primordial Demon Lord] for their monthly tickets, and thank you to the readers [Feathered Lamp Wind, I Want to Drink Soup, Three-Grid Master's Gaze, Taiyi Weiyi] for their rewards. Xie Da your recommendation tickets and continued reading! Xie Da! (*^▽^*)

I've figured it out. I'm not living off the royalties from writing novels; it's just a little extra income. Why make myself unhappy? So, I'm going to do things at my own pace. Results and subscriptions are up to fate. But thank you all for your support and recognition! (ω)