Lin Jiayi returned once in the middle of it, but Jing Hongchen had him leave for the time being on the grounds that he had important matters to discuss.
When Lin Jiayi entered the office now, he asked curiously,
"Hall Master, what did you talk to him about?"
"We talked about a great many things."
Jing Hongchen answered with a cheerful smile, looking to be in an excellent mood.
"The future of soul masters and Soul Engineers, the advantages of Soul Tools, the future path for their sect... We discussed quite a few things."
"Hall Master, did you invite them to develop in our Sun-Moon Empire?"
"Yes."
Jing Hongchen readily admitted it in response to Lin Jiayi's question.
He scratched his head and sighed with some regret.
"Unfortunately, he never gave me a definite answer. He said he wanted to see the children's results after five years of study."
Lin Jiayi said hesitantly,
"Hall Master, it seems he doesn't intend to come over to our side."
"Mm, at least not for now."
Jing Hongchen said unhurriedly,
"But there's no need to be too impatient. We still have five years. If we can draw the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect into our camp, our country's strength will be further enhanced. Even if we can't, a transaction worth one hundred million Gold Soul Coins is still an enormous profit for us."
Lin Jiayi asked tentatively,
"Then, Hall Master, should we find a way to trip them up?"
Seeing how cautious he was acting, Jing Hongchen could not help but laugh. He waved his hand.
"There's no need. We just need to refrain from teaching them the core knowledge. What does it matter if they learn some basic knowledge? The technological gap between our Sun-Moon Empire and the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms cannot be bridged by just two children."
From the very beginning, Jing Hongchen had not taken Bai Chen and Ning Tian, two mere children, seriously.
The technological generation gap between the Sun-Moon Empire and the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms spanned more than a thousand years. Even if the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms pursued them with all their strength, catching up would be absolutely impossible.
The most important reason the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms had been able to narrow the gap in the latter part of the original novel was that Huo Yuhao had directly copied all of Mingde Hall's blueprints. He duplicated nearly every Soul Tool he saw and brought the copies back to Shrek Academy. Combined with the fact that both Huo Yuhao and Xuan Ziwen were Soul Tool geniuses beyond common sense, they had managed to make up a little of the difference.
But even so, by the end of the Douluo II Era, there was still a chasm between the technology of the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms and that of the Sun-Moon Empire.
According to Jing Hongchen's intelligence, the Sun-Moon Empire would begin its war in thirty years at most. What could be accomplished in thirty years? Even the most gifted soul master could at most reach the realm of a Title Douluo in that time, right? A single Title Douluo could not significantly affect the outcome of a war at all.
Rather than petty-mindedly tripping up Bai Chen and Ning Tian, it would be better to open the teaching resources to them. If they could leave the pair with a good impression, perhaps it would even increase the chance of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect submitting to the Sun-Moon Empire.
Those who accomplished great things did not sweat the small stuff. Exchanging a minor cost for immense returns was what a qualified businessman ought to do.
Unfortunately, Jing Hongchen had no idea what kind of monster he had brought in.
There was a saying: inviting a wolf into one's home. And Bai Chen, the wolf invited inside, was undoubtedly a wolf king.
Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy
In the freshmen dormitory, Bai Chen and Ning Tian had already made their beds.
Yet the atmosphere between them was somewhat awkward.
Because Lin Jiayi had actually assigned them to the same dorm room.
Clearly, this was not a decision Lin Jiayi had made on his own. What Ning Jingchen had specifically instructed him to do earlier was precisely this.
Bai Chen and Ning Tian were only six years old, after all. It was normal for children to live together, and it would make it easier for Bai Chen to take better care of Ning Tian.
More importantly, Ning Jingchen already regarded Bai Chen as his future son-in-law. Such an unprecedented genius—if Bai Chen and Ning Tian had both been eighteen already, Ning Jingchen would still have thrown them into the same dormitory given the chance.
Bai Chen himself did not mind. He saw the current Ning Tian as a little sister and had no such thoughts at all.
But Ning Tian seemed embarrassed. She kept unconsciously avoiding his gaze.
Bai Chen felt rather helpless at the sight.
He had long heard that people on Douluo Continent matured early, but he had not expected them to mature this early.
Generally speaking, wouldn't six-year-old children still be hazy about the distinction between boys and girls?
There was no point in continuing to stare wide-eyed at Ning Tian in the dormitory. He might as well take her out for a walk.
With that thought, Bai Chen stood and asked,
"Young Mistress, how about we take a look around the academy first and familiarize ourselves with the surroundings?"
"Ah... mm."
Ning Tian froze for a moment before reacting. She nodded lightly and said in a low voice,
"You don't need to call me Young Mistress anymore. Just call me by my name."
"Alright. Then, Ning Tian, let's go."
Bai Chen smiled gently and took the lead in walking outside.
Ning Tian watched his retreating figure and lightly bit her lower lip.
What Bai Chen did not know was that, strictly speaking, she was not embarrassed because of any distinction between boys and girls. Rather, she had guessed why her father had arranged things this way.
As the heir of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect, she had received an extremely strict education from a young age and had long understood her mission.
Her task was to learn the methods of business, find ways to expand the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect's influence, and marry a gifted soul master so they could lead the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect toward a better future together.
Thinking back on everything that had happened over the past few days, she could already roughly guess Ning Jingchen's intentions.
Strangely enough, although she felt embarrassed, she was not repulsed.
If it were him, it didn't seem too bad?
Thinking this, Ning Tian followed Bai Chen out of the dormitory area.
It had to be said that, as the continent's second-ranked academy, the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy occupied an extraordinarily vast area.
The architectural style here was also clearly different from that of the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms, carrying an especially strong mechanical flavor.
Dormitories, teaching buildings, laboratories... The two wandered until the sky had darkened, yet they still had not fully taken in the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy's entirety.
Fortunately, there was still some time before classes began, so there was no need to rush.
More importantly, Bai Chen had also gathered some information while wandering around.
Perhaps because he looked rather cute, most of the senior students treated him kindly.
According to them, the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy's admission age was the same as Shrek Academy's—eleven years old. But unlike Shrek Academy, it also had a junior academy for children under eleven.
Those who entered these classes were generally either children of high-ranking officials and nobles or core members of major powers. Thus, some students had given these classes a nickname: the Young Masters' Class.
The class Bai Chen and Ning Tian were entering was one of these Young Masters' Classes.
Although the Young Masters' Class students were only junior students, they enjoyed conditions even better than ordinary official students.
For example, every two of them could share a laboratory. If they were willing to pay extra, they could even have a laboratory all to themselves.
In the original novel, several students in Xuan Ziwen's class only shared one laboratory among them. This showed just how lavish the Young Masters' Class treatment was.
But that was only natural. After all, these children had paid enormous sums to enter. Bai Chen and the others had directly settled a transaction worth over one hundred million with Jing Hongchen. Compared with such expensive tuition, this little preferential treatment was hardly worth mentioning.
After learning this, Bai Chen immediately took Ning Tian back toward the office building they had just visited to ask Lin Jiayi for the laboratory keys.
Lin Jiayi did not think much of it. He had originally planned to arrange it for them the next day anyway. Since Bai Chen had come to ask in advance, he simply completed the task early.
Bai Chen used the key he had received from Lin Jiayi to open the laboratory door. After entering both his and Ning Tian's information, he let out a long breath.
Compared to the workshop within the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect, this laboratory was not as large, but it was extremely neat. Every piece of experimental equipment carried an air of high quality, clearly valuable Soul Tool apparatuses.
Ning Tian looked around curiously. She did not yet know much about Soul Tools, and this was a field she had rarely set foot in.
Bai Chen walked to the experimental table. After inspecting it briefly, he smiled with some excitement.
The table was actually equipped with several types of basic metals.
There was also a small card beside the metals, stating the amount of metal that could be collected free of charge from this laboratory each month.
It was not much, nor was it expensive, but for Bai Chen, having metal was enough for now. The quality of the metal itself was unimportant.
He checked the drawers beneath the experimental table and, as expected, soon found all sorts of basic tools for making Soul Tools.
Naturally, there were the most commonly used carving knives. More importantly, even forging hammers were included.
With that, all the necessary conditions were in place.
Ning Tian noticed the excited smile on Bai Chen's face and asked curiously,
"Bai Chen, what are you smiling about?"
"Nothing."
Bai Chen composed his expression, drew a deep breath, and said seriously to Ning Tian,
"Ning Tian, you must keep everything you see next a secret. Don't tell anyone else, alright?"
"Mm, I can do that..."
Ning Tian was somewhat baffled, having no idea why Bai Chen was acting so seriously.
Of course, she did not know that Bai Chen was about to demonstrate technology from ten thousand years in the future before her.
According to Duan Xuan, Bai Chen of the Douluo III Era was actually the least suited to forging among the three versions of himself. In terms of attributes, he could not compare to his Douluo I Era self; in terms of strength, he could not compare to his Douluo II Era self.
Yet the versions of himself from those two eras had not had access to metal or forging hammers for the past few days, leaving him with no choice but to endure.
As a result, Bai Chen's hands had long been itching beyond belief.
He wanted to see what his current self could accomplish in this era.
Practicing Forging
Bai Chen picked up the forging hammer, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
The forging hammer was marked with its material and weight. Judging by the numbers, it was certainly not light. At the very least, Ning Tian would find it extremely difficult even to lift it.
Yet in Bai Chen's hand, the forging hammer felt as light as nothing.
It seemed awakening different Martial Souls in different times and spaces came with a problem: he needed to adjust his habits when exerting strength.
Otherwise, he feared that one full-force swing might smash the experimental table apart.
Bai Chen casually picked up a piece of metal and gently pressed the forging hammer against its surface.
Forging had appeared in all of the first three Douluo novels, but its importance differed in each one.
Forging was undoubtedly most important in the Douluo III Era. Since the protagonist Tang Wulin's secondary profession was forging, this profession was given the loftiest status among all secondary professions.
By comparison, forging in the Douluo II Era had the least presence. Other than being occasionally mentioned during the creation of Soul Tools, this technique was almost entirely absent.
Could the forging techniques of the Douluo III Era be realized in the Douluo II Era? Bai Chen believed they could.
The reason was simple. The Douluo II Era had seen naturally occurring Spirit-Bearing Metal: the Ice Extreme Divine Crystal.
As the companion metal of the Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice Marrow, the Ice Extreme Divine Crystal was naturally intelligent and an absolutely top-tier material.
Since metal could possess intelligence, it should likewise be possible to grant intelligence to metal.
Of course, whether this conjecture could truly be realized would have to be tested personally.
A crisp sound rang out as Bai Chen began gently striking the metal.
He struck with great care. There was an enormous difference in strength between his Douluo III Era self and his Douluo II Era self, and he could only adapt to it through practice.
With every hammer strike, he used slightly more force. The tapping that had initially resembled a gentle drizzle gradually transformed toward a raging storm as time passed.
In the previous lesson, Duan Xuan had not taught him how to use elements to alter metal's properties. Instead, he had carefully taught Bai Chen how to wield a forging hammer more effectively.
As Bai Chen gradually adapted to the strength of his self in this era, the results of that teaching slowly began to show.
Before long, he once again reproduced the forging hammer technique he had imitated from Duan Xuan.
The clanging echoes continuously rang through the laboratory, yet Bai Chen did not feel fatigued in the slightest.
Unlike last time, when he had ignored exhaustion due to excessive concentration, he was genuinely nowhere near his limit this time.
As the forging hammer descended once more, Bai Chen suddenly drew a deep breath. A black-gold halo rose beneath his feet and slowly merged into his body.
At the same time, his purple first Soul Ring lit up. A dark-golden radiance burst forth and enveloped his entire body, causing his aura to surge dramatically.
Domination Domain! Steel Bone Shaking Gold!
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