"Very good." Ice Empress nodded with satisfaction. "Only an Ultimate Attribute can suppress another Ultimate Attribute. Martial Souls with an Ultimate Attribute are hard to come by, so at the same level, almost no one can break through your defenses. And considering that this Soul Skill is five thousand years old, even a Soul Elder would have a hard time piercing your defenses."
"But Ultimate Ice has one problem," Snow Empress said from the side. "Ultimate Ice has good defensive power and strong control abilities, but it isn't especially strong on offense. There is, however, a way to greatly increase Ultimate Ice's offensive power. Your attribute is Ultimate Ice, after all. If you absorb an Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone, you can learn a Soul Skill called Ice Explosion. It lets you manipulate cold-attribute Soul Power and make it explode, dealing tremendous damage."
"Ah, so it's Ice Explosion." Kong Bo said, "Then you just need to find a way to make cold Soul Power explode. Sister Ice Empress, can't you do it? If you can, you could demonstrate it for me and teach me afterward, couldn't you?"
"I? I can't." Ice Empress quickly shook her head when she heard Xu Tianran's question. "Ice Explosion comes naturally to our kind, but I... I really can't do it." Ice Empress gave an embarrassed smile.
"Soul skills are merely different forms of circulation." Kong Bo said, "How about this, Big Sister Ice Empress? I'll give you a few soul tools. Could you find an Ice Jade Scorpion and use these instruments to record its soul power circulation pathways, then bring it back? I can study it."
"Can that really be studied?" Ice Empress asked, surprised.
"Why not?" Kong Bo said. "It's something we have to try."
"All right, Kong Bo. You're always coming up with new ideas," Ice Empress said. "You get the Soul Tools ready, and I'll go record it."
Ice Empress went to the Far North. After reaching Soul Grandmaster, Kong Bo still had plenty to do. Upgrading the Moon Shuttle was one of those tasks. At the Soul Master level, he could only operate two Moon Shuttles, but now that he had advanced to Soul Grandmaster, he could control four. First, he needed to upgrade the original two, then make two more second-order Moon Shuttles.
After upgrading the Moon Shuttles, Kong Bo thought, Upgrading the Moon Shuttles to second order, then using them as my Soul Tool for the promotion test, would be far too boring. I need to come up with something more creative. I've got it—this will do!
The second-order Soul Tool Kong Bo wanted to make was called the "Air-Locking Cube." It was a control-type Soul Tool, one of the magic devices he had adapted from Dottore's. When Dottore ambushed Columbina, he had used this "Air-Locking Cube" to trap her.
Kong Bo spent another day mastering the principles behind the Air-Locking Cube, then drew up its schematic. After that, he was ready to take the second-order Soul Engineer certification exam. As before, he went to see Lin Jiayi.
"Good morning, Director Lin." One morning, Kong Bo knocked on the door to Lin Jiayi's office. "I'm here to take the second-order Soul Engineer certification exam. Do you have time?"
"Oh, Kong Bo, you're here to take the second-order Soul Engineer exam? I'll take you to it right away!" Lin Jiayi said. "Are you using the Moon Shuttle this time? Did you manage to upgrade it?"
"Director, you've said yourself that design is the most important thing for a Soul Engineer. I can't keep relying on the Moon Shuttle. I did successfully upgrade it, but I'm not planning to use it for this exam."
As he spoke, Kong Bo took the triangle-shaped object out of his Storage Bracelet. With a thought, it transformed into four Moon Shuttles, which began flying around him.
"Wow, you really did upgrade it to a second-order Soul Tool." Lin Jiayi sensed the Soul Power in each Moon Shuttle. "You're not planning to use this Soul Tool for the exam?"
"No, Director," Kong Bo said. "As a Soul Engineer, I have to come up with something new to live up to the title. A Soul Engineer is a person, not a machine that can only manufacture Soul Tools."
"Exactly. Well said." By then, the two had reached the testing area. Lin Jiayi swiped his card, and they entered. "Kong Bo, what kind of Soul Tool are you testing?"
"It's a control-type Soul Tool that can trap someone in one place. Director, my current abilities are mainly focused on offense and defense, so I lack control skills. I've decided to use a Soul Tool to make up for that weakness."
Although Kong Bo's second Soul Skill had the Ultimate Ice attribute, Frost Moon Protection was a defensive Soul Skill, so it naturally had no control abilities. Kong Bo felt he needed a Soul Tool to make up for that shortcoming.
"A control-type Soul Tool?" Lin Jiayi pressed a few buttons. A metal door opened, and a four-wheeled vehicle about the size of a person rolled out. A drill was mounted on it.
Lin Jiayi explained, "This is the device we use to test control-type Soul Tools. The drill on top can simulate attacks from Soul Masters of different levels. You just have to use your Soul Tool to restrain it. If it can't break through your Soul Tool within a set amount of time, you pass. I'll put Soul Power into this dummy, then adjust the strength of its attacks. Once you're ready, just cover it with your Soul Tool."
"Yes, Director."
Once Lin Jiayi had adjusted the Soul Tool dummy, Kong Bo took out a small silver sphere, charged it with Soul Power, then threw it at the dummy. The sphere unfolded in midair into a silvery-white barrier that enclosed the dummy.
"Director, I'm ready," Kong Bo said.
"Good." Lin Jiayi nodded and pressed the remote control. "This Soul Tool dummy is now equivalent in strength to a level-twenty-one Soul Master. Its drill will attack your Soul Tool with the full force of a level-twenty-one Soul Master. If it can hold out for two minutes, you pass."
The drill on the Soul Tool dummy began boring into the Soul Power barrier created by the Air-Locking Cube, but the barrier stood firm. After nearly two minutes of drilling, the prison wall remained completely intact.
Lin Jiayi nodded with satisfaction. "Congratulations, Kong Bo. Your Soul Tool has passed the test. It's a second-order Soul Tool, which means you've become a second-order Soul Engineer."
Kong Bo said, "Director, since you have some time, I'd like to test the limits of this Soul Tool. Would that be all right?"
"Of course," Lin Jiayi said. He pressed a few buttons on the remote control, increasing the Soul Tool dummy's attack strength. The barrier wasn't pierced until the dummy reached level twenty-six.
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