Encountering Hongchen and his Sister Again

Lin Jiayi led Kong Bo out of the director's office, where two third-year students were waiting to apply for their soul master examinations. These two were the Hongchen siblings. They were quite surprised to see Kong Bo trailing behind Lin Jiayi.

"Brother Xiao, Sister Meng, good morning." Kong Bo greeted them.

"Good morning, little brother Kong Bo." Meng Hongchen smiled at him and reached out to pat his mint-colored hair; Kong Bo's appearance was very much to her liking. "Why are you here to see Director Lin so early? Did you get into trouble?"

"No, Kong Bo is here to take the first-rank soul master examination," Lin Jiayi said.

"What? He's taking the first-rank exam? Did he build a soul tool himself?" Xiao Hongchen looked at Kong Bo in astonishment. "You... how long have you even been in school? This... how is this possible?"

"Brother, don't look down on little brother Kong Bo. He loved looking at blueprints even when he was small. Little brother Kong Bo, Sister Meng is very curious—what kind of soul tool did you make?" Meng Hongchen asked.

"Sister Meng, Brother Xiao, you'll see soon enough," Kong Bo replied.

"Director Lin, since little brother Kong Bo arrived first, let him take his assessment first," Xiao Hongchen suggested. He was genuinely curious about what kind of soul tool Kong Bo had managed to create.

The four of them walked toward the soul tool testing grounds. Soon, they reached the entrance, where Lin Jiayi swiped the pass hanging from his waist. The doors opened, and they entered the testing arena.

"Kong Bo, since you arrived first, you go ahead and test your soul tool," Lin Jiayi said.

"Yes, Director." Kong Bo took out the folded Moon Shuttle. He summoned his Three Moons Martial Soul and channeled his soul power into the rotating tetrahedron, causing the small object to spin rapidly in his palm.

Lin Jiayi observed the spinning tetrahedron, sensing the flow of Kong Bo's soul power. "Very good. The soul power radiating from your martial soul is being channeled into this soul tool, causing it to rotate. But what exactly is this small pyramid meant to do?"

"Director, watch closely." At a thought from Kong Bo, the tetrahedron transformed into two Moon Shuttles that began to orbit his body. They moved exactly as Kong Bo willed them to.

"Oh, flying swords?" Lin Jiayi remarked. "The materials are rare metal alloys. This seems to follow the research direction proposed by Elder Kong regarding the 'life-bound fusion' of martial souls and soul tools. While this isn't quite a life-bound soul tool yet, it already shows the initial prototype."

"Director Lin, what is 'life-bound fusion'?" Xiao Hongchen asked curiously. "Is little brother Kong Bo's soul tool really that agile?"

"It is," Lin Jiayi said. "This is Elder Kong's area of research. According to the findings he has published, the highest stage of such a soul tool is life-bound fusion, where the martial soul and the soul tool become one. Kong Bo's creation hasn't reached that stage, but it is already very close."

"Yes, Director," Kong Bo added. "Great-grandfather taught me the theory, but I built the components myself. I have the recording from the Soul Guidance Video Recorder in my pocket. Aside from the choice of metal alloys, which is based on Great-grandfather's research, I made everything else myself."

"Of course, I trust your great-grandfather," Lin Jiayi said. "Our soul tool examination doesn't require you to build everything from scratch; designing and assembling it is enough to pass. Kong Bo, let's test the power of this soul tool now."

"Yes, Director." Kong Bo extended his right hand toward a target. He channeled his soul power through the Red Moon into the Moon Shuttles. The two shuttles turned a dark red, their temperature rising significantly. They pierced the target simultaneously, leaving two clean holes, confirming they were indeed first-rank soul tools.

"Well done, you pass," Lin Jiayi said.

"Director, it's not over yet," Kong Bo said. With another thought, the two Moon Shuttles fired off two beams of Soul Guidance Laser, leaving two pin-sized holes in the target.

"It can even function as a soul cannon!" Xiao Hongchen exclaimed in surprise. "If this were used in combat, it would be incredibly powerful."

"What an amazing soul tool!" Meng Hongchen added. "It can be a flying sword and a soul cannon at the same time. Our previous soul tools didn't have designs like this. Kong Bo, did you really make this?"

Kong Bo put the Moon Shuttles away, looking slightly displeased as he turned to Meng Hongchen. "Sister Meng, how could you look down on me like that? I spent an entire week just designing these blueprints!" He pulled a small booklet from his storage bracelet. "Brother Xiao, Sister Meng, you both knew, didn't you? I spent all of last week at school drawing. Even when you and Sister Long'er asked me to go play, I didn't go."

"That's true," Meng Hongchen said, sticking her tongue out sheepishly. "I thought you were just doodling."

"Kong Bo, this is an excellent habit, and the Director must commend you for it!" Lin Jiayi said. "Taking a week to repeatedly review your design and refine it is a trait only found in truly outstanding soul masters. Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, you should listen well: building a soul tool only proves one is a soul master, but whether the tool is actually good depends on the quality of the design. Your great-grandfather, Kong Bo's great-grandfather, spends a great deal of time modifying blueprints and creating prototypes to verify his work before producing his masterpieces."

Lin Jiayi's words emphasized the importance of "industrial design," a concept Kong Bo naturally understood.

Lin Jiayi then said with sincerity, "The three of you are children of ninth-rank soul masters. Building a soul tool to pass an exam is just the bare minimum. To become an outstanding soul master, you must put more effort into your design blueprints."

Lin Jiayi then examined Kong Bo's design. "Hmm? Kong Bo, your control array core isn't fully engraved; you only used a small portion, and the same goes for the power supply array. Can you tell the Director why?"

"Director, the materials used for these two Moon Shuttles are very expensive. As my soul master rank increases, the rank of this soul tool will need to increase as well. This way, I only need to engrave the subsequent upgrade arrays later," Kong Bo explained. "With such rare materials, I couldn't just make a first-rank soul tool and then discard it later, could I?"