Chen Hong's Engraving Technology! Please Keep Reading! Please Vote!

At Baiyun Mining Area, Chen Hong had finally compensated Hu Liena with his Armored Soul-Powered Truck—and sold himself for a good price in the process.

The Soul Engine was still that First Generation Soul Engine. Though it had overturned the wooden cart a few days ago, it was metal after all, and Chen Lin had made a point of protecting it, so it had not suffered any damage.

Hu Liena decided to drive the Armored Soul-Powered Truck, equipped with the continent's first Soul Engine, back to Spirit City. She would also bring back some High-Quality Ore hastily mined from Baiyun Mining Area, putting a perfect end to her "gilding" journey.

What disappointed Hu Liena somewhat was that Chen Hong had refused to return to Spirit City with her.

As for the reason, that bastard had said:

His parents were still alive, so he could not travel far. His mother was still waiting at home for him to eat dinner.

As if I do not have a mother. I do. I do. I have a teacher!

"Are you sure you will not return with us?" On the main road outside Suotuo City, Hu Liena, seated in the Armored Soul-Powered Truck, asked Chen Hong beside her once again.

Several Spirit Hall Spirit Masters had been left behind at Baiyun Mining Area, and more would be sent there to guard it later. Hu Liena had now packed up and, under the escort of a Spirit Hall Elder, was preparing to return to Spirit City with the Spoils of War.

They had come quietly this time only to verify whether the news of the mineral vein was true. Now that it had been confirmed, Spirit Hall held the First-Mover Advantage. As the strongest Violent Organization in the world, Spirit Hall had left the Heaven Dou Empire with neither reason nor courage to cause them trouble. The empire could only cooperate as best it could, hoping to get a share of the profits.

Baiyun Mining Area was, after all, within Heaven Dou Empire territory. Spirit Hall had never intended to monopolize it completely. They merely wanted the largest share. When everyone made money together, things stayed more harmonious.

"No, no. I am still young; it is not suitable for me to show my face everywhere. If you insist on picking one lucky fellow, take my dad with you instead."

Chen Hong jumped down from the truck and turned around, ready to sell off his father.

Chen Lin: "..."

Hu Liena looked at Chen Hong and sighed softly. "All right. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, go to Bishop Suotuo. I have already spoken to him."

"As for the Soul Engine transaction, we will discuss it further with Vice President Chen Lin. Until we meet again, Chen Hong."

"Until we meet again, Holy Maiden."

Chen Hong and Chen Lin stood by the roadside, waving farewell to the departing Spirit Hall convoy.

Although Chen Hong had sold himself to Spirit Hall for a good price, he did not want to stir up too much trouble, so he refused Hu Liena's invitation to go to Spirit City with her.

Sometimes, standing out too much was not a good thing, especially at his age. There were too many violent people in Spirit City. The more freakishly talented Chen Hong appeared, the less safe he would be.

By positioning himself as a supplier of productive equipment, Chen Hong's personal influence would instead blend with that of Chen Lin and Ning Lu. Even if others knew that Chen Hong was a clever child, it would not be as shocking or intense as him going alone to Spirit City, stirring up the winds and clouds there, and becoming the very center of the storm.

There were many equipment suppliers in this world. Essentially, every Blacksmith Shop was an equipment production point. Chen Lin's Chen Family Ironworks had previously supplied Suotuo City with all kinds of metal equipment. Now, they merely had one additional novelty called the Soul Engine.

Moreover, the Technological Barrier for the First Generation Soul Engine was not particularly high. If the blacksmithing departments of certain major powers gathered together and explored it a few more times, with the support of Soul Guidance Materials, they could also produce counterfeit Soul Engines. It was just that the quality and Energy Conversion Efficiency of their counterfeit engines might not even reach one-tenth of the genuine version's. With enough effort to improve them, they should be able to reach fifty percent. As for completely catching up to the genuine version, Chen Hong believed that unless all the blacksmiths in the world united and pooled their wisdom, it would still be somewhat difficult within at least five years.

And even if they had a flash of inspiration and successfully grasped the basic principles of Chen Hong's Soul Engine five years later, Chen Hong would already have been leading them by another five years. The gap between them might have grown even wider by then.

Technological advancement could not be achieved overnight. It required gradual accumulation and constant trial and error. A slightly wrong direction might waste half a lifetime of effort.

Chen Hong's most terrifying advantage in this world was that he knew the future path of technological development for a qualified Technological Civilization. He might still need to constantly make mistakes and put things into practice, but his direction would basically never be wrong.

Chen Hong now possessed much Interstellar Civilization technological knowledge in his mind, but he lacked a kind of "computer language" to bring that knowledge in his head into reality within this world, a supercomputer.

Technological advancement required a certain degree of romantic imagination, but Chen Hong did not have that, because the things in his mind had all existed before. He did not need to imagine; he only needed to put a "brand-new programming language" into practice, then localize the knowledge in his head to this world. In the process, he would form an entirely new technological logic and surpass his former self from his previous life.

As for this language, Chen Hong decided to adapt to local customs and call it:

Soul Guidance Engraving Technology.

"Let's go, Dad. The days of lying down and counting money have arrived. Let's go home."

Standing on the lush grass by the roadside, Chen Hong watched the strangely shaped convoy gradually disappear at the end of the road. Then he turned and headed toward Suotuo City, with Chen Lin following behind him.

The Soul Engine was the first Soul Guidance Technology creation Chen Hong had produced after spending two or three years localizing it. There would be many more Soul Guidance Technology creations in the future. With a beginning, the subsequent development of Soul Tool technology would become much easier, especially since Chen Hong still had an unrevealed super project in hand—Engraving Technology.

Engraving meant marks on metal; patterns were the overall arrangement ultimately formed by those marks across the metal's surface. Soul Power, energy, flowed through a medium in a particular manner, then resonated with unknown rules between heaven and earth, producing powerful "soul skill" effects.

Chen Hong's Engraving Technology had only just begun. The Soul Guidance Engraving Knife in his hand was merely the simplest attempt. Only as his research deepened could Chen Hong lay a solid foundation for the era of Engraving Technology and truly open its doors.

For now, everything was still in the slow exploratory stage. Everything was unknown, everything was mysterious, yet everything was so interesting.

When Chen Hong and Chen Lin finally returned to Suotuo City more than a week later and arrived at the entrance of Suspended Pot Medical Center, it happened to be mealtime.

Ye Lingling happened to still be at the medical center, so the family of four finally gathered together for a proper meal.

At the dinner table, the two generations got along happily. The more Chen Lin looked at the quiet and gentle Ye Lingling, the more satisfied he became, marveling at his wife's "Noble Connections."

Thanks to Book Friend 6325, Worker Ant Tree, for the monthly vote!

I will move the release time up by an hour from now on. Posting at midnight is a little too late.