Douluo: Children of the Versions Gather, but the Eras Are Misaligned

He let out a helpless sigh.

"Child, this isn't the time for jokes."

Ning Jingchen could not be blamed for doubting Bai Chen. From his perspective, Bai Chen had only awakened his Martial Soul yesterday. How could he have become a Level-One Soul Engineer immediately after awakening?

Faced with the doubt, Bai Chen's response was simple and direct.

"If Sect Master doesn't believe me, I can make a Soul Guide Device for you right now."

"...Are you serious?"

Hearing that, Ning Jingchen's expression changed.

Bai Chen said without hesitation,

"You won't know unless you try."

"Fine."

Ning Jingchen rose to his feet.

"Then let me see where your confidence comes from."

Just as Bai Chen had said, they would not know unless they tried.

Bai Chen was already so confident. Giving him a chance would not hurt Ning Jingchen, so naturally, he wanted to see what Bai Chen was relying on.

The source of Bai Chen's confidence was, in fact, himself from the Douluo III Era.

The future Bai Chen had possessed incomparably abundant resources and had been able to study knowledge related to Soul Guide Devices.

Before the age of six, he had already spent a long time teaching himself about Soul Guide Devices.

After all, physically demanding work like forging had strict requirements for physical strength and soul power. Before awakening his Martial Soul, he could only study things that required brainpower.

This had also been a way of leaving himself a backup plan. After all, Soul Engineers in the Douluo III Era did not have high requirements for soul power; one could even say they had none. Tang Ziran and Ling Zichen had both been ordinary people without soul power, yet they had attained extraordinary mastery in the field of Soul Guide Devices.

If he had failed to awaken soul power, he would have relied on this craft to make a living.

Fortunately, not only had he awakened soul power, but the Martial Souls he awakened were all absurdly powerful. Naturally, he had to make good use of the knowledge he had learned.

At his current level, let alone Level-One Soul Guide Devices, he could even make Level-Three Soul Guide Devices.

Led by Ning Jingchen and Hua Tianyu, Bai Chen arrived at the Soul Guide Device workshop within the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect.

Dozens of Soul Engineers were making Soul Guide Devices here. Judging from the badges on their shoulders or chests, most were Level-Two Soul Engineers, while the highest-ranked among them was only Level Four.

As far as Bai Chen knew, the strongest Soul Engineer in the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect was only Level Seven. Even so, they were already considered one of the sects with the highest Soul Guide Device standards among the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms.

Ning Jingchen brought Bai Chen to an empty Soul Guide Device workbench and said,

"Come on. The metal on this table is yours to use as you please. Make a Level-One Soul Guide Device and let me see what you can do."

As the sect master of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect, Ning Jingchen was actually a Soul Engineer as well.

After all, once his cultivation had reached rank seventy-nine, he could no longer continue cultivating. Other than handling sect affairs, the only thing he could do was study Soul Guide Devices.

He was now a Level-Five Soul Engineer. He was not particularly powerful, but he was more than capable of evaluating Bai Chen's Soul Guide Device skills.

Bai Chen sat before the workbench and picked up a carving knife.

"...!"

The moment Ning Jingchen saw how Bai Chen held the carving knife, his eyes narrowed.

He had originally thought Bai Chen was just a child boasting, but after seeing such a standard grip, that belief immediately wavered.

Someone who had merely learned a little about Soul Guide Devices could not possibly perform such a textbook movement.

Could this child be telling the truth?

Waves surged through Ning Jingchen's heart, but Bai Chen's world no longer contained him.

More precisely, other than the workbench before him, everything else had temporarily vanished from Bai Chen's mind.

On Douluo Continent, no matter what skill one practiced, the most important thing was the ability to focus.

The greater one's focus, the better the results.

The same was naturally true for making Soul Guide Devices. To display his abilities more effectively, Bai Chen instantly entered the zone this time.

He picked up a piece of metal and began carving rapidly.

The production of a Soul Guide Device was mainly divided into three steps.

The first step was carving the outer shell of the Soul Guide Device. This step did not demand excessive precision in one's movements; what it valued was the Soul Master's physical strength.

And coincidentally, Bai Chen of this era possessed the greatest strength among the three eras.

Thus, under Ning Jingchen's somewhat shocked gaze, Bai Chen's hands did not pause in the slightest. The incomparably hard metals that gave many Soul Engineers headaches were carved into shape by him in smooth, flowing motions.

In barely two minutes, a Soul Guide Device shell had been completed.

"..."

Ning Jingchen was speechless.

Even if he were the one carving it, it would take him at least five minutes to make such a shell.

What this required was not merely strength, but proficiency as well.

Bai Chen had never had the chance to personally make a Soul Guide Device before. At most, he had only used the books commonly available within the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect to gain a superficial understanding of Soul Guide Device knowledge. Logically, it should have been impossible for him to be so skilled.

Yet the facts lay before Ning Jingchen, and he had no choice but to believe them.

So this was what a genius was...

While Ning Jingchen marveled inwardly, Bai Chen began the second step of making the Soul Guide Device.

This second step was actually the most important part of the entire process: carving the Core Magic Arrays.

If the outer shell of a Soul Guide Device was the external structure that prevented it from being damaged, then the Core Magic Array was the power source that allowed it to unleash its might.

Creating Core Magic Arrays was also the stage with the highest demands on a Soul Engineer's control. Thus, once he entered this stage, Bai Chen's focus visibly intensified.

Yet astonishingly, Bai Chen still did not slow down his carving speed. He continued carving the Core Magic Arrays at that unbelievably fast pace.

After all, he was only making a Level-One Soul Guide Device, so it did not require many Core Magic Arrays. Before long, all three Core Magic Arrays had been completed.

All that remained was the final step of making the Soul Guide Device: assembly.

This step placed the greatest emphasis on soul power. In the original work, when Huo Yuhao had eight Soul Rings, he used the Ghost Carving Divine Blade to complete most of the steps for a level-nine alchemy furnace. Yet for the final assembly stage alone, he still needed the nine-ring Xuan Ziwen.

Of the three steps in making a Soul Guide Device—the shell, the Core Magic Arrays, and assembly—the requirements were strength, spiritual power, and soul power respectively.

Only when all three aspects met the standard could one make a Soul Guide Device of that level.

Although Bai Chen had yet to become a true One-Ring Soul Master, his immense strength meant he had barely expended any soul power during the earlier stages. Thus, even this final step was completed with extreme speed.

As he infused soul power into the Soul Guide Device, a faint red glow lit up, declaring that he had become a Level-One Soul Engineer.

At the same time, he was likely the youngest Level-One Soul Engineer of the Douluo II Era.

Ning Jingchen hurriedly picked up the Level-One Soul Guide Device Bai Chen had made. Only after examining it repeatedly in his hand did he set it down and let out a long breath.

Hua Tianyu asked somewhat nervously,

"Sect Master, how is it?"

Although he was a Title Douluo, he belonged to the traditional school and knew practically nothing about Soul Guide Devices.

At most, he could tell that Bai Chen's technique was exceptionally practiced and looked impressive. Other than that, he knew nothing.

Ning Jingchen glanced at him and said in a trembling voice,

"Elder Hua, our sect may have produced a peerless genius no less extraordinary than the Sea God Tang San from ten thousand years ago!"

"You mean...!"

Hua Tianyu immediately grew excited as well.

Ning Jingchen did not answer him directly. Instead, he said solemnly,

"Elder Hua, please notify the other higher-ups. We need to properly discuss our future development path!"

"Yes!"

Both of them understood what a six-year-old Level-One Soul Engineer represented.

Even in the Sun-Moon Empire, talent of this caliber was likely unprecedented. His monstrous aptitude as both a Soul Master and Soul Engineer was already enough for Ning Jingchen to alter the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect's development path specifically for Bai Chen.

Bai Chen did not know what happened afterward. After all, no matter what, he was only a six-year-old child and had no right to attend the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect's high-level meetings.

But what he did know was that Ning Jingchen came to find him the next day and told him that the sect was willing to meet his request. He and Ning Tian would be allowed to study in the Sun-Moon Empire for five years, after which their future destination would be decided based on his achievements.

The Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect's requirement was that he become at least a Level-Three Soul Engineer within five years. If he failed to meet that requirement, he would have to return to the Three Kingdoms with Ning Tian.

But if he could truly become a Level-Three Soul Engineer at the age of eleven, the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect would let him do as he pleased.

Becoming a Level-Three Soul Engineer at eleven would be pure fantasy to anyone else, but it was by no means impossible for Bai Chen.

As a transmigrator, he had possessed a higher starting point than others from the very beginning. Awakening powerful Martial Souls had given him a learning speed beyond that of ordinary people. If he still could not meet this condition, he might as well kill himself on the spot.

Half a day later, a carriage left Heaven Dou City and headed toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

Other than the driver, only four people sat in the carriage: Bai Chen, Hua Tianyu, Ning Jingchen, and Ning Tian.

They had decided that after helping Bai Chen obtain his first Soul Ring, they would immediately send Bai Chen and Ning Tian to study at the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.

The Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy did not reject people from other nations who came to study. In fact, as long as the price was right, they would be more than happy to recruit more top talents from the Three Kingdoms.

They had specifically established a junior academy for children between the ages of six and twelve. That was the kind of academy Bai Chen and Ning Tian planned to enter.

Perhaps because it was her first time traveling so far from home, Ning Tian looked somewhat nervous. Still, she forced herself to appear calm, sitting upright in her seat with a serious expression.

However, her slightly rigid body had already revealed the unease in her heart.

Seeing this, Bai Chen felt a little helpless.

No matter how strong her personality was, she was still only a six-year-old girl.

Rather, for someone her age to act like this already showed just how mature she was.

He took the initiative to ask,

"Young Mistress, are you scared?"

"I'm not scared!"

Ning Tian immediately denied it.

Yet judging by her intense reaction and raised tone, she was obviously scared.

Bai Chen said with a chuckle,

"Then shall I perform a magic trick for you?"

"A magic trick?"

At his words, not only Ning Tian, but Ning Jingchen and Hua Tianyu also looked over curiously.

"That's right, a magic trick."

In his previous life, for certain special reasons, Bai Chen had often interacted with children.

To amuse those children, he had taught himself a few simple magic tricks.

So-called magic mainly relied on misdirection and an understanding of human psychology. He might not be able to fool someone as powerful as Hua Tianyu, but handling a child like Ning Tian would be easy.

He took a Copper Soul Coin from his pocket and asked Ning Tian,

"Look, how many Copper Soul Coins are there here?"

"One. Why?"

Ning Tian furrowed her brows in confusion, unable to understand why Bai Chen was asking such an obvious question.

Bai Chen chuckled, suddenly tossing the Copper Soul Coin into the air before swiftly catching it.

"And now? How many are there?"

"...Isn't it still one?"

"Wrong." Bai Chen smiled as he spread open his palm. Three Copper Soul Coins lay quietly in it. "The answer is three."

"H-how... how did you do that?"