Recently, a major event had taken place in Ming Capital: the Sun Moon Empire had gained a Limit Douluo named Evil Emperor, who had taken Kong Bo, Kong Deming's great-grandson, as her disciple. This was a huge deal for Ming Capital. Kong Deming's combat strength could reach the level of a Limit Douluo, but he wasn't a true Limit Douluo. Evil Emperor was the first genuine Limit Douluo to come to the Sun Moon Empire. There was also a smaller piece of news: Kong Yi, a technical supervisor at the Offering Hall, had been transferred to the marketing department at Mingde Hall.
These two matters were connected at their core. Evil Emperor joining the Sun Moon Empire was certainly a good thing, but she had been introduced by Kong Deming, so she was considered part of his faction. Kong Deming already held a position of great power, and Kong Bo's father, Kong Yi, was the technical supervisor at Mingde Hall—a crucial position in his own right. His wife was also Ye Yulin's granddaughter. With Evil Emperor joining them now, the Sun Moon Empire's balance of power would be thrown off. So Kong Deming had Kong Yi go into sales, removing him from a key position and showing Emperor Xu Cong where he stood.
Xu Cong and Xu Tianran were discussing matters in the study. Xu Cong said, "Elder Kong is certainly a man who knows how to navigate human relationships. Transferring Kong Yi and Ye Fanghua from technical roles to sales was a message for me. It seems Elder Kong intends to groom Kong Bo from now on."
"Yes, Father," Xu Tianran said. "After all, Kong Bo is now His Excellency Evil Emperor's disciple. With that connection, Elder Kong naturally hopes to avoid causing too much misunderstanding with you. Isn't that right? He's being overly cautious. Why would Elder Kong need to go this far? Kong Yi and Ye Fanghua were both doing excellent work at Mingde Hall, weren't they?"
Xu Tianran was a hypocrite. Though his face was full of regret, relief gleamed in his eyes. Kong Deming held a position of great power, but he was growing old. The married couple Kong Yi and Ye Fanghua represented the Kong and Ye families, respectively, and both still held key positions. Now Evil Emperor had joined them as well. How could the emperor and the crown prince not become wary? Kong Deming had now requested that Kong Yi and his wife leave their key positions, leaving only Kong Bo in the Kong family's ranks. Kong Bo had Innate Full Soul Power and a powerful Martial Soul, but he was still only six years old. The couple's transfer from those key roles put Xu Cong and his son considerably at ease. Xu Cong and Xu Tianran could read Kong Deming's intentions clearly: I know Your Majesty is worried about the Kong family. See? Kong Yi and Ye Fanghua are no longer in key positions. I'll devote myself to raising my great-grandson.
"Keep an eye on that boy, Kong Bo," Xu Cong said. "The Kong family is now beyond the fifth degree of kinship from our imperial family, so marriage between them is permissible."
"Father, Kong Bo is still young. There's no need to rush into this. We'll have to see what he's like in the future. His Martial Soul only determines his talent as a Soul Master; his character and abilities will depend on how he develops."
"That's true. I was getting ahead of myself," Xu Cong said.
As for what Kong Bo was doing, he was naturally getting ready for school. Just then, he glanced at himself in the mirror. Oh, who's this handsome guy? Turns out it's me. Kong Deming had short, mint-green hair and a pair of red eyes. Now dressed in casual teal clothes, he looked just like Zandik, the adventurer who explored the Sumeru desert.
Kong Bo and Gu Long'er were naturally going to attend the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. One was Kong Deming's great-grandson, and the other was the niece of a Limit Douluo. The academy's dean, Hongchen, had approved their applications in the blink of an eye. Take Gu Long'er, for example: she applied as a twelve-year-old with thirty levels of Soul Power—numbers she'd chosen herself—and, of course, her application was approved instantly.
As for the lessons, Kong Bo wouldn't pay attention. He would take out paper and pen and start designing the Soul Tool he wanted to make. At that moment, Electrolux watched him draw from inside Kong Bo's mind. After Gu Long'er helped improve Kong Bo's mental power, he could draw and calculate much faster, and using his mind had become much easier too.
"Little fellow, is this the weapon you said that Mr. Dottore found easiest to use?" Electrolux asked.
"Yes," Kong Bo replied.
Kong Bo was designing the Spike Array used by Dottore—the weapon set Dottore had used to pierce Sandrone. The Spike Array consisted of eight mechanical spikes, compressed and stored inside a triangular mechanism. It combined physical and long-range attacks: the spikes could be controlled like flying swords, and laser cannons could also fire from their tips. It could attack and defend, making it an exceptionally practical weapon. Kong Bo had named his own imitation of the Spike Array the "Moon Shuttle."
"So, little fellow, what are you working on now?" Electrolux continued. "The whole design seems finished. Why have you gotten stuck here?"
"Elder Yi, the opponent I'll face in the future will definitely be a Soul Master with extremely powerful mental strength, because someone has taken the million-year-old Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. Ordinary long-range Soul Tools are controlled with mental power. If he uses Mental Interference against me, I won't be able to control this Soul Tool. So I have to choose another way to control it—I need to use the power of my Three Moons Martial Soul to operate it."
Traditionally, remote-controlled Soul Tools were operated using mental power. Kong Bo had considered that Huo Yuhao already had the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, which would put him at a disadvantage in the contest for control of mental power. Huo Yuhao's mental pressure alone could keep Kong Bo from operating the Moon Shuttle by conventional means. Kong Bo would have to use another method of remote control.
He had learned this method from Kong Deming. Kong Deming was currently researching a life-bound fusion between his Martial Soul and a Soul Tool, hoping to use it to raise his Soul Tool to level ten.
The prerequisite for a life-bound fusion was to use the Martial Soul itself, rather than mental power, to control the Soul Tool. Kong Deming had worked out the key principles of this research, and he now valued Kong Bo highly enough to let him see the results.
The most crucial question was what alloy to use for the Soul Tool's control array. Kong Deming had spent nearly five or six years researching it, making mistake after mistake and conducting experiment after experiment. Only then had he figured out which metal materials to use, what proportions to mix them in, and at what temperature to process them, so the Soul Tool could be controlled directly by the Moon Martial Soul.
Across all eras and worlds, materials science is always one of the hardest fields—and the most expensive, Kong Bo thought with a sigh.
"Finished," Xu Tianran said, completing the design for the control section before stretching. Through Kong Bo's mind, Electrolux had also seen Kong Bo's design for the Moon Shuttle.
"Kong Bo, why did you make this Soul Tool so large, while its control array is so small?" Electrolux asked curiously. Electrolux was a mage, but he had never personally been involved in making a wand.
"Elder Yi, when designing a product, you have to leave room for expansion. I intend to use this Moon Shuttle all the way to the Titled Douluo stage, or even godhood. If I modify it in the future, I'll definitely need space for various arrays with higher output frequencies."
Before you continue