Tilted Resources and Soul Ring Planning

After a brief silence, suppressed exclamations erupted from the Second Floor Observation Platform.

"Defeating an Advanced Martial Soul Master seven ranks above him with nothing but his body..."

A Rank 9 Soul Engineer murmured under his breath. Fighting opponents above one's rank was not uncommon among those of the same level, but a challenge like this—facing disadvantages across the board and relying solely on physical strength...

He had truly never seen anything like it!

"Five months! Only five short months! This 'Body Forging Method' can turn decay into wonder! Young Master Kong is truly a heaven-sent genius, with a profound understanding of the principles of energy and the human body!"

A middle-aged man from the Hall of Worship spoke excitedly, his eyes burning with a desire to improve.

"If it were applied to our Sun Moon Soul Engineer Corps, never mind anything else—even the load capacity of basic Soul Tools and many Individual Weapons would be enough to change the situation on the lower battlefield..."

Ye Yulin, standing nearby, offered his assessment and could not help applauding in admiration.

Prince Xu Tianran said nothing. He merely stared intently at Kong Ming'an below, his eyes churning with shock, evaluation, and a trace of deeply buried wariness and... fervor.

Without a doubt, this was... a Minister of State.

Faced with the praise, most of it heartfelt, Kong Deming stood at the front of the platform with the same calm, unreadable expression. Yet a faint, almost imperceptible trace of gratification and pride flashed deep within his eyes.

That's my grandson!

He gave a slight nod, his voice steady. "You flatter him. Ming'an is still young and requires further guidance and refinement."

Though his words were modest, his protectiveness was obvious.

Everyone hurriedly agreed, their tones respectful.

At that moment, the elevator doors behind them slid open soundlessly, and Kong Ming'an slowly stepped out.

Burning, inquisitive, and even faintly reverent—

Gazes carrying all kinds of emotions focused on him once more.

Yet Kong Ming'an's expression barely changed.

Ignoring those scorching looks, he calmly met his grandfather's gaze and those of the core figures, speaking evenly.

"There is no need for such reactions. This is merely the initial result of the 'Body Forging Method.' It has only been five months, after all. Greater results will require more time, and... more resources."

Jing Hongchen reacted the fastest. A merchant's shrewdness glimmered in his eyes as he immediately said, "Mingde Hall is willing to fully support the project's continued development! Whatever resources, manpower, or facilities are needed, we will provide without hesitation!"

His words were firm and decisive, representing Mingde Hall's stance.

Xu Tianran also spoke slowly, his voice carrying unquestionable authority.

"The Imperial Treasury may also be opened for this project."

Enormous benefits and support surged toward this child of merely six and a half years old like a rising tide.

Kong Ming'an nodded slightly, but for some reason, the scene reminded him of his previous life, when he had finished speaking onstage and a group of company executives below had prepared to invest in his patents.

Without replying, he looked directly at Kong Deming.

"Grandfather, I'm not familiar with these matters. Discuss them with them."

After saying that, he walked straight to an empty Metal Chair in the corner of the platform, sat down neatly, and removed himself from the storm of investment.

A helpless smile flashed through Kong Deming's eyes before his dignity returned. He calmly took control of the negotiations.

"Very well. We will discuss the subsequent cooperation and allocation of resources in detail."

In the corner, Kong Ming'an seemed to shut out all the noise around him. Leaning against the cold metal backrest, he lowered his eyes slightly and sank into thought.

And his thoughts concerned the "Body Forging Method."

Was the "Body Forging Method" effective?

Without question, it could systematically and substantially improve a Soul Master's physical foundation, make up for disparities in Martial Soul quality, raise the upper limit of Soul Ring endurance, and even demonstrate the potential to fight above one's rank in its early stages.

However, its shortcomings were equally obvious.

Namely... its upper limit.

This method, which relied on Soul Power and Spiritual Power to stimulate Acupoints and draw in external Origin Power to temper the tendons and bones, was ultimately too basic.

It was like using wood to hammer iron. It could shape the iron in the beginning, but would gradually become powerless later on.

It had an obvious bottleneck. The body's flesh and blood, tendons and bones had limits to what they could endure. Simple Soul Power-based body forging could not continue improving without end.

Once Physical Strength reached a certain critical point, any further improvement would suffer a cliff-like drop in efficiency, or even stagnate entirely.

Not to mention...

A precise number flashed through Kong Ming'an's mind: 21.32%.

Yes, the average cultivation effect when ordinary Practitioners used the simplified "Body Forging Method" he had derived was only 21.32% of the effect he achieved from cultivating it himself.

The vast gap came from the enormous difference in the precision of Soul Power control and efficiency of utilization.

After all, not everyone could possess absolute control over their own Soul Power like he did.

Kong Ming'an silently felt a small pang of regret. After all, it was only a rudimentary method he had created over six months using several thousand samples. Its flaws were acceptable.

The path of a Body Cultivator—the "Body Forging Method" was ultimately only the beginning. Later, there had to be more advanced methods.

Such a method needed to break through the shackles of this mortal body, draw upon deeper and more fundamental energies, or develop more exquisite and efficient tempering techniques.

Only then could the Body Cultivator system truly differ from the Traditional Soul Master System—and possibly surpass it.

However... Kong Ming'an's thoughts shifted, and he was not particularly anxious.

An effect approaching one-fifth of his own body forging results was already a world-shaking qualitative transformation for Mid to Low-Rank Soul Masters, especially Low-Level Soldiers in the military. It was enough to support a vast foundational group of Body Cultivators.

And that enormous foundational group of Body Cultivators would become his sample database and the source of data for future Body Cultivator Cultivation Methods.

The current "Body Forging Method," along with its subsequent minor adjustments and optimizations, could already meet the needs of the present stage.

What he needed now was to wait—for this database to mature. Once it had matured, he would harvest the data and continue his deductions. For the time being, there was not much left for him to do.

That was the Sun Moon High Officials' job. Otherwise, why would he have been kind enough to let them see the results of his experiment?

It was merely mutually beneficial.

However...

What he needed to consider more urgently was his own cultivation.

With the help of Mysterious Water Pills and various other medicinal pills capable of increasing Innate Soul Power to some extent, his Soul Power had risen from its original level of 0.5 to level 5 in only half a year.

Of course, his Innate Soul Power was roughly at level 4.

That was likely the limit of what external aids—or at least the external aids Kong Ming'an could currently obtain—could achieve.

Based on his current cultivation efficiency with resources fully supplied, and excluding the time he would soon spend on research projects and daily cultivation of the "Body Forging Method"...

He estimated that he would reach level 10 between the ages of eight and nine.

He had an abundance of time.

"Pure Body Cultivation is still too restrictive, and it isn't cool enough...

"I need to find time to recruit Ji Juechen. There's also Sun Moon's Lifebound Soul Tool technology... Artifact Cultivation, or perhaps... Sword Cultivation?"

Kong Ming'an's thoughts wandered when he suddenly felt two gazes fall upon him.

Unlike the looks on the platform that were filled with interests, amazement, or curiosity, these carried pure curiosity and a kind of... burning fighting spirit?

Kong Ming'an grew somewhat curious and lifted his eyes.

Not far behind Jing Hongchen, the delicate little girl with Silver Hair Blue Eyes, as exquisite as a Porcelain Doll, was blinking her large eyes and staring at him without blinking. Her little face was full of undisguised astonishment, as well as the pure appreciation of... He's so pretty.

Beside her, the silver-haired boy with heterochromatic eyes was staring at him with utmost seriousness.

Kong Ming'an's gaze calmly swept past Meng Hongchen, lingering on her for less than half a second before briefly meeting Xiao Hongchen's burning stare in midair.

He gave no response, merely nodding slightly in the direction of the two of them as a courtesy.

Then, he lowered his eyes once more and returned to his thoughts regarding his First Soul Ring.

Meng Hongchen blinked and could not help muttering softly to Xiao Hongchen beside her, "Brother, he really is so handsome..."

Xiao Hongchen paid no attention to her words. After Kong Ming'an's slight courteous nod, the flames in his eyes instead burned even brighter.

Without responding to Meng Hongchen, he merely turned to look at her, his tone becoming more serious.

"Sister, you're right. He... is my true opponent!"

Meng Hongchen slowly produced a "¿".

...Did I say anything?

No... Brother, are you trying to steal my pretty boy?!

Little Meng Hongchen immediately became deeply wary of her own brother!