Meng Hongchen's Boldness

As a newcomer, Li Qingming was very serious about making soul tools.

Starting with the materials, he first selected the metal best suited for a Power-Gathering Ring, then proceeded with the standard fitting process.

Once the fitting was complete, he began cutting the metal.

Li Qingming's movements were gentle, and every action was carried out with extreme care.

Yet as he worked—or rather, bolstered by his powerful spiritual power—the metal was cut at an astonishing speed.

In less than five minutes, he had cut all the metal needed for the Power-Gathering Ring. Next came the proper design and quality control.

Following the blueprint, Li Qingming first assembled the ring's six components.

Once the assembly was complete, he needed to inscribe the soul tool formation onto it.

Though this soul tool formation was somewhat complex, Li Qingming only studied it briefly before easily memorizing its patterns.

Relying on his spiritual perception, he used a special pen to draw the basic soul tool formation onto it.

After finishing the drawing, he took a special carving knife and engraved the soul tool formation until he finally activated it with soul power.

The entire process took only fifteen minutes.

Meng Hongchen had been staring blankly the whole time, her hands braced against the table as she gazed at the young man's somewhat handsome profile.

Only when the young man stood up and looked excitedly at the ring in his hand did Meng Hongchen snap back to her senses. She lightly wiped at her mouth, then coughed.

"Cough, cough. Sorry, I got a little distracted."

"Sigh, how is yours coming along? It's perfectly normal for research in soul tool technology not to work out. This thing needs—"

Meng Hongchen abruptly stopped halfway through.

She had just been about to take the young man's hand and guide him through it systematically when she saw the completed Power-Gathering Ring in his hand.

Seeing this, Meng Hongchen swallowed. Her eyes were filled with surprise as she looked at the young man before her.

"That's impressive, Li Qingming. This can't be your first attempt, can it? You actually made a Power-Gathering Ring so quickly."

"You should know that even as a second-rank soul engineer, it takes me more than half an hour to make one."

Although Meng Hongchen said this, her eyes remained full of astonishment.

With the discernment of a second-rank soul engineer, she could naturally tell that this truly was a first-rank Power-Gathering Ring—and an exceptionally well-made one at that.

When Li Qingming put it on, he could clearly feel his strength increase.

Although the increase was extremely subtle—almost negligible—it had indeed succeeded.

Li Qingming did not feel much about completing a first-rank soul tool in two days.

His current soul power and spiritual power stats were both at least one thousand points. With such terrifying spiritual power, those supposedly complicated or difficult-to-study soul tool formations were something he could grasp at a glance.

If they spoke only of talent, he might far surpass Huo Yuhao.

After all, for people like Huo Yuhao, Meng Hongchen, and Xiao Hongchen, their so-called talent merely meant that their spiritual power far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Perhaps Xiao Hongchen also had metal control added to that.

But for everyone else, it all came down to spiritual power. The greater one's spiritual power, the greater one's potential in this field.

Very few people at the same stage possessed greater spiritual power than Li Qingming. After all, Li Qingming's original body had around two thousand points of spiritual power.

Although he had split his soul twice and his own spiritual power was now at five hundred points, this clone possessed one thousand points of spiritual power.

Spiritual power so far beyond ordinary imagination gave him a tremendous advantage in crafting first-rank, second-rank, and even low-rank soul tools.

Especially for patterns that were not too complicated, he could memorize them perfectly after one look without even needing to study them carefully.

Looking at the soul tool in his hand with satisfaction, Li Qingming turned his gaze toward the equipment.

Though talent had been the most crucial reason for his success, this equipment was equally important.

Without it, simply cutting and analyzing the metal, then submitting the design blueprints for proper automatic cutting, would have taken Li Qingming a great deal of time.

Thus, as he looked at the equipment, Li Qingming's eyes flickered.

These were definitely the most advanced devices. Unless he went to Kong Deming, obtaining them would be extremely difficult.

Furthermore, this body of his currently had no money. He had neither money nor ability, so acquiring this equipment under such circumstances became twice as difficult.

Thinking of this, Li Qingming felt somewhat helpless.

If he wanted to quickly raise his soul engineer rank, equipment was naturally a crucial factor.

But obtaining this equipment seemed to be a very difficult matter as well.

Just as Li Qingming was lost in thought, Meng Hongchen coughed.

She had naturally noticed that Li Qingming's gaze was fixed on the equipment, and she naturally knew just how useful it was.

Normally, the design of a single component had to be crafted by hand.

First, the metal had to be refined, then designed step by step, before the metal components were manually cut.

If there was a significant discrepancy during the process, or if the cuts were not precise enough, problems could easily arise.

But these latest devices could perform automatic cutting, with a margin of error of only 0.1 millimeters. No one would dislike such technology.

Seeing the intense longing in the young man's eyes, Meng Hongchen hesitated for only two seconds before making a decision that betrayed her ancestors.

"Li, do you like this equipment? Well, if you do, then I'll give this set to you."

"My family has more of it. It wouldn't be difficult for me to get another set."

Meng Hongchen hesitated a little as she spoke, her gaze flickering.

But after only two seconds of hesitation, she examined Li Qingming's handsome face, and the doubt in her eyes was replaced by resolve.

Hearing Meng Hongchen's words, Li Qingming was stunned.

He tilted his head slightly and looked at Meng Hongchen in confusion.

Although she was clearly someone who judged by appearances, this was a little too exaggerated.

This equipment was definitely extremely expensive. It might even be the Hall of Illustrious Virtue's latest research, something ordinary people could almost never obtain.

He had already been preparing to ask Kong Deming for it, yet Meng Hongchen was unexpectedly giving it to him outright.

"Are you sure you want to give it to me? This should be important to you too, shouldn't it?"

"And I've seen the research benches elsewhere. None of them have this."

Li Qingming hesitated as he spoke, not continuing further.

The equipment was not merely valuable. Acquiring its technology and the techniques contained within it would also be quite difficult.

So at this moment, Li Qingming still leaned toward asking Kong Deming for it. After all, Kong Deming was his teacher, so getting such things from him should not be difficult.

But upon hearing him, Meng Hongchen shook her head.

"I keep my word. Since I said I'd give it to you, then it's definitely yours."

"Uh, of course, I do have a condition."

Meng Hongchen's face reddened slightly as she said this.

She turned her head toward Li Qingming, finding it somewhat difficult to speak. Yet when she looked at the young man's pleasing face, she fell silent for a second before continuing.

"I've recently been researching some second-rank soul tools too, and I need a partner to research them with me."

"I think you're very talented, so I was wondering whether I could ask you to join me and research them together."

"When the time comes, I can provide you with a workshop—or find one for you. Then we can study and improve together."