"Moon Shuttle" Design and Manufacturing

During this period, a major event occurred in Ming Capital: an Ultimate Douluo known as the Evil Emperor arrived in the Sun Moon Empire. This was a significant development for the capital, as while Kong Deming possessed combat power reaching the Ultimate Douluo level, the Evil Emperor was the first true, bona fide Ultimate Douluo to ever set foot in the Sun Moon Empire. Furthermore, a minor piece of news emerged: Kong Yi, a technical supervisor at the Offering Hall, had been transferred to the sales department of Mingde Hall.

These two matters were inherently linked. While the Evil Emperor joining the Sun Moon Empire was certainly a positive, he had been introduced by Kong Deming, effectively marking him as part of Kong Deming's faction. Kong Deming already held immense power, and with Kong Yi—Kong Bo's father—serving as a key technical supervisor at Mingde Hall and married to Ye Yulin's granddaughter, the arrival of the Evil Emperor threatened to upset the balance of the empire's power structure. To address this, Kong Deming had Kong Yi transferred to sales; by removing him from a key position, he was signaling his stance to Emperor Xu Cong.

Xu Cong and Xu Tianran were discussing matters in the study. "Old Kong is truly a man who understands the nuances of human relationships," Xu Cong remarked. "Transferring Kong Yi and Ye Fanghua from technical roles to sales is a gesture meant for me to see. It seems Old Kong intends to focus on grooming Kong Bo from here on out."

"Indeed, Father," Xu Tianran replied. "After all, Kong Bo is now the disciple of the Evil Emperor. With that connection in place, Old Kong likely hopes to avoid causing any major misunderstandings with you. He is being overly cautious, isn't he? Kong Yi and Ye Fanghua were performing excellently at Mingde Hall, after all."

Xu Tianran was a hypocrite; though he wore a look of regret, his eyes betrayed a sense of relief. Kong Deming held great power but was growing old. With the couple representing the Kong and Ye families in critical positions, the arrival of the Evil Emperor had naturally sparked suspicion in the Emperor and the Crown Prince. Now that Kong Deming had requested their removal from key posts, the only remaining representative of the Kong family was Kong Bo—a six-year-old child with innate full soul power and a powerful martial soul. The transfer of the couple put the father and son at ease. Xu Cong and Xu Tianran could read Kong Deming's intent clearly: I know Your Majesty is worried about our Kong family; see, Kong Yi and Ye Fanghua are no longer in key positions, so I shall devote myself entirely to nurturing my great-grandson.

"Keep an eye on that child, Kong Bo," Xu Cong said. "The Kong family is now outside our imperial family's five degrees of mourning, so a marriage alliance is possible."

"Father, Kong Bo is still young; there is no need to be so hasty. As for what this child will achieve in the future, his martial soul only determines his talent as a soul master; his character and capabilities remain to be seen," Xu Tianran said.

"That is true. I was being a bit impatient," Xu Cong admitted.

As for what Kong Bo was doing, he was busy preparing for school. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Oh, who is this handsome fellow? It's me. Kong Deming had short mint-colored hair and a pair of red pupils, and he was currently wearing simple cyan robes, looking exactly like Zandik during his explorations in the Sumeru Desert.

Kong Bo and Gu Long'er were, of course, headed to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. One was the great-grandson of Kong Deming, and the other was the niece of an Ultimate Douluo; naturally, their applications were approved instantly by the academy's dean, Hongchen. Take Gu Long'er, for example: she registered as twelve years old with a soul power of level 30 (which she had capped herself), and it was approved without a second thought.

As for the lessons, Kong Bo didn't bother listening. Instead, he would take out paper and pen to begin designing the soul tools he intended to craft. Electrolux watched from within Kong Bo's mind as he sketched. After Gu Long'er helped enhance his spiritual power, Kong Bo found drawing and calculating much faster, and his mental workload felt significantly lighter.

"Little one, is this the weapon you mentioned that Mr. Dottore uses most comfortably?" Electrolux asked.

"Yes," Kong Bo replied.

What Kong Bo was designing was the Spike Array used by Dottore (the same set of weapons Dottore used to pierce Sandrone). This Spike Array consisted of eight mechanical spikes compressed and stored within a triangular mechanical device. They possessed both physical and long-range strike capabilities; they could be controlled like flying swords or fire laser cannons from their tips, making them a highly practical weapon for both offense and defense. As for his own imitation, Kong Bo named his soul tool the "Moon Shuttle."

"So, little one, what are you researching now?" Electrolux continued. "I see the entire large design is finished, so why are you stuck here?"

"Elder Eli, the opponent I will face in the future will surely be a soul master with extremely powerful spiritual power, because the million-year Sky Dream Iceworm has been taken by someone else. Conventional long-range soul tools require spiritual power to control. If he uses spiritual interference against me, I won't be able to operate this soul tool. Therefore, I must choose another way to control it: I must use the power of my Three Moons Martial Soul itself to manipulate the soul tool."

For remote-controlled soul tools like this, traditional methods relied on spiritual power. Kong Bo realized that since Huo Yuhao already possessed the Sky Dream Iceworm, he would be at a disadvantage in terms of "spiritual power dominance." Huo Yuhao's spiritual pressure could easily render Kong Bo unable to control the Moon Shuttle using traditional methods, so Kong Bo had to find an alternative.

He had learned this method from Kong Deming, who was currently researching the "life-bound fusion" between his own martial soul and soul tools, hoping to use this technique to elevate his soul tools to the tenth level.

The prerequisite for life-bound fusion was to use the martial soul itself rather than spiritual power to control the soul tool. Kong Deming had already mapped out this research, and since he held Kong Bo in high regard, Kong Bo had access to these findings.

The most critical aspect was the alloy used for the soul tool's control array. Kong Deming had spent nearly five or six years researching, constantly testing and experimenting, before discovering which raw metal materials, what ratios, and what heat treatment were required to allow a soul tool to be controlled directly by the Moon Martial Soul.

Throughout history and across all worlds, material science is always the most difficult and costly category, Kong Bo lamented in his heart.

"Finished." Xu Tianran finished designing the control section and stretched. Electrolux also saw the "Moon Shuttle" design through Kong Bo's mind.

"Kong Bo, why did you design this soul tool so large, while the control array inside is so small?" Electrolux asked curiously. Electrolux was a mage, but he had never personally participated in the crafting of wands.

"Elder Eli, when designing a product, you must leave room for redundancy. I intend to use this Moon Shuttle until I reach the Title Douluo level or even become a god. If I need to modify it in the future, I must leave space for arrays with higher output frequencies."