Kong Bo: Hasn't Spirit Hall conducted related experiments?

"This... such an ordinary iron cage can actually block the Lightning Tribulation, and seven strikes at that!" Qian Renxue was astonished. "It's just a common cage; how could it possibly withstand a soul beast's Lightning Tribulation, let alone seven full strikes? Even a Limit Douluo would be lucky to survive being hit by these seven bolts. How can such a mundane iron cage block the tribulation?"

Kong Bo explained the principle of the Faraday Cage to Qian Renxue, then countered with a question: "Did your Spirit Hall never think of creating such cages to shield against lightning?"

"Why would Spirit Hall think of that?" Qian Renxue asked, puzzled.

"That is your own problem," Kong Bo replied. "I recall that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan existed during your time in Spirit Hall, and they were a very powerful force, were they not?"

Qian Renxue answered, "That is correct. At the time, aside from Spirit Hall, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect was one of the three most powerful sects. Their primary method of attack was lightning-based. Does that pose a problem?"

"Since you had to face a hypothetical enemy that relied on lightning, shouldn't Spirit Hall have conducted extensive research into lightning-type martial souls? Why was there no research into the principles of lightning itself? The climate on the Douluo Continent is no different from my Sun Moon Empire; you have thunderstorms there too, don't you?"

Hearing Kong Bo's question, Qian Renxue replied, "We do. Sometimes lightning strikes and destroys our Spirit Hall branches, and the main headquarters naturally has to allocate funds for repairs."

Kong Bo snorted dismissively. "Then here is the issue: you have thunderstorms, and you had a hypothetical enemy like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, so why didn't you study the principles of lightning? Research yields results. You might have developed various devices to defend against lightning, and then Spirit Hall could have firmly suppressed the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, couldn't you?"

Hearing Kong Bo's reasoning, Qian Renxue expressed her lack of understanding. "Spirit Hall had more powerful soul masters; we could still suppress the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, couldn't we? Your Sun Moon Empire's soul masters are weaker, which is why you resort to research."

"Fine, fine." Kong Bo spread his hands. "Our Sun Moon Empire's soul masters are not as strong as Spirit Hall's, so we have to research these issues more deeply." This was the best explanation Kong Bo could come up with.

"You are right. Today's Sun Moon Empire is not Spirit Hall. If you are willing to start from the perspective of lightning itself, you should be able to provide a better solution to lightning attacks than we ever could..." Qian Renxue sighed at this point. "Perhaps it is true that Spirit Hall has always relied too heavily on powerful soul masters to resolve every problem. With the gods sparing no effort to support that scoundrel Tang San, we were ill-equipped to handle it. Perhaps your approach is truly better; maybe it was the environment of the Sun Moon Empire that shaped your way of thinking."

Up until this point, Qian Renxue's assessment of Kong Bo remained extremely high. Kong Bo's mind was agile, and he kept his promises. In their dealings, Kong Bo was clearly the dominant party, yet he remained willing to honor the terms of their agreement and even helped Qian Renxue and Ye Guyi refine their plans.

But later... Qian Renxue resided within Kong Bo's mind; she could see everything he did, and Kong Bo made no effort to hide his actions or his thoughts. Thus, Qian Renxue saw clearly as Kong Bo had the Evil Emperor capture evil soul masters and then personally operated on them to modify them. This included how Kong Bo dissected the evil soul masters and the corresponding soul beasts, and how he stitched them together—a sight that left Qian Renxue horrified.

When she was in Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago, it wasn't as if she hadn't seen evil soul masters. Back then, if Spirit Hall captured them, they were essentially used as training fodder for young soul masters to gain combat experience, and those scenes were also bloody and cruel.

But what Kong Bo was doing? It simply defied Qian Renxue's understanding. He stitched evil soul masters and soul beasts together, then used that Spirit Condenser to extract their mental energy to power calculations, turning the evil soul master into a mindless puppet. Then, Kong Bo would insert a control core designed by Electrolux, creating a puppet that he would take to the Underground Soul Fighting Arena for experiments.

Beyond these experiments, Kong Bo was also researching a serum to enhance muscle mass, also using evil soul masters as test subjects. According to Kong Bo, for beast-type soul masters who focused on melee combat, their soul power was not only provided by their muscles but also carried by them. Therefore, the muscles of a beast-type soul master could be considered an engine and a container for soul power.

Kong Bo then made a hypothesis: if one used a serum to increase the muscle strength of a beast-type soul master, they could achieve greater combat power. He then began this research, proposing several plans and using evil soul masters as raw material for his trials.

These experiments terrified Qian Renxue. Evil soul masters were indeed universally reviled, but what Kong Bo was doing to them? It transcended the boundaries of humanity. Kong Bo referred to these evil soul masters as "samples," a term that essentially stripped them of their humanity.

Furthermore, the more Qian Renxue learned about Kong Bo, the more she became familiar with his character. While Kong Bo was incredibly intelligent and possessed a powerful ability to learn, he acted without any scruples or boundaries. The various experiments he conducted were the best example of this. In Kong Bo's eyes, no moral taboos existed; experimentation, analysis, and reflection—and the knowledge gained through this process, along with how to use that knowledge to become stronger—were the only things Kong Bo cared about.

This mindset was extremely "evil soul master" in nature, as it was, after all, a way of improving one's strength by any means necessary. Yet, Kong Bo offered a self-righteous explanation: "Did your Spirit Hall never use evil soul masters this way? That is your own failure. Only by doing this can one truly explore the essence of soul masters and the operation of soul power. My inventions and my theories are definitely superior to that idiot Yu Xiaogang!"

What made Qian Renxue even more dissatisfied was that Kong Bo was unprecedentedly arrogant. He looked down upon all human soul masters and gods with equal disdain. In Kong Bo's eyes, the fundamental difference between humans—as the most intelligent of all creatures—and other beings lay in their ability to think. Soul masters who relied on powerful martial souls to fight without using their brains, including the gods who fought using powerful divine power, were no different from beasts; their combat was no different from beasts tearing at their prey.