Version Prodigies Gather, but the Era Is Misaligned

Lin Jiayi returned once midway through, but Jing Hongchen asked him to leave for the time being, claiming that he had important matters to discuss.

When he entered the office now, he asked curiously,

"Hall Master, what did you and he talk about?"

"We talked about 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 Guide Devices, and the future path of their sect... We discussed quite a bit."

"Hall Master, did you invite them to develop here in the 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 it would depend on the two children's progress over the next five years."

Lin Jiayi said hesitantly,

"Hall Master, it seems like he doesn't intend to come over to our side."

"Yes, at least for now."

Jing Hongchen spoke unhurriedly.

"But there's no need to be too anxious. We still have five years. If we can bring the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect into our camp, our nation's strength will be enhanced even further. Even if we can't, a transaction worth one hundred million Gold Soul Coins is still an enormous profit for us."

Lin Jiayi probed cautiously,

"Then, Hall Master, should we find a way to make things difficult for them?"

Seeing how careful he was being, Jing Hongchen could not help but laugh and wave his hand.

"There's no need. We just need to avoid teaching them the core knowledge. What does it matter if they learn some basic knowledge? The technological gap between the Sun-Moon Empire and the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms cannot be bridged by just two children."

From the 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 far more than a thousand years. Even if the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms gave it their all, they would never be able to catch up.

The reason the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms had been able to narrow the gap in the later stages of the original story was mainly because Huo Yuhao had copied all of Mingde Hall's blueprints. Nearly every Soul Guide Device he saw was replicated and brought back to Shrek Academy. Coupled with the fact that both Huo Yuhao and Xuan Ziwen were Soul Guide Device geniuses beyond all reason, they had only managed to make up a small portion of the gap.

Even so, by the end of the Douluo II Era, a chasm still remained between the technologies of the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms and the Sun-Moon Empire.

According to Jing Hongchen's intelligence, the Sun-Moon Empire would go to war in thirty years at most. What could be done in thirty years? Even the most gifted Soul Master could only reach the realm of a Title Douluo at most in that time, right? A single Title Douluo could hardly affect the outcome of a war.

Rather than petty-mindedly sabotaging Bai Chen and Ning Tian, it would be better to open up teaching resources to them. If they could leave a good impression on them, perhaps it might even increase the chances of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect submitting to the Sun-Moon Empire.

Those who accomplished great things did not fuss over trifles. Exchanging a small price for enormous returns was what a qualified merchant should do.

Unfortunately, Jing Hongchen still did not know 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. Ning Jingchen had specifically instructed him to do exactly this.

Bai Chen and Ning Tian were only six years old, after all. It was perfectly normal for children to live together, and it would also make it easier for Bai Chen to take care of Ning Tian.

More importantly, Ning Jingchen had already regarded Bai Chen as his future son-in-law. Such a once-in-an-age genius—if he and Ning Tian had both been eighteen already, Ning Jingchen would still have found a chance to throw them into the same dormitory.

Bai Chen himself did not particularly care. He saw the current Ning Tian as a little sister and had no thoughts of that kind whatsoever.

But Ning Tian seemed rather embarrassed and kept subconsciously avoiding his gaze.

Bai Chen felt somewhat helpless at the sight.

He had long heard that people of 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 differences between boys and girls?

There was no point in continuing to stare at Ning Tian in the dormitory. He might as well take her outside for a walk.

With that thought, Bai Chen stood and asked,

"Young Mistress, shall we take a look around the academy first and familiarize ourselves with the surroundings?"

"Ah... Mm."

Ning Tian was stunned for a moment before reacting. She nodded lightly and said softly,

"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 headed outside first.

Ning Tian watched his back and lightly bit her lower lip.

What Bai Chen did not know was that, strictly speaking, she was not embarrassed because of the distinction between boys and girls. Rather, she had guessed why her father had made such an arrangement.

As the heir of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect, she had received an extremely strict education since childhood and had long understood her own mission.

Her task was to learn business methods, find ways to expand the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect's influence, and marry a talented Soul Master so that they could lead the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect toward a better future together.

And after considering everything that had happened over the past few days, she could roughly guess Ning Jingchen's intentions.

Strangely enough, although she felt embarrassed, she was not repulsed.

If it were him, it might actually be nice?

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 exceptionally vast area.

The architectural style here was also clearly different from that of the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms, with a particularly strong mechanical feel.

Dormitories, teaching buildings, laboratories... The two wandered around until night fell, yet they still had not fully taken in the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.

Fortunately, there was still some time before school began, so there was no need to rush.

More importantly, Bai Chen had also gathered some information while wandering around.

Perhaps because he looked adorable, most upperclassmen treated him with friendliness.

According to them, the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy had the same enrollment age as Shrek Academy: eleven. However, unlike Shrek Academy, it also had a junior academy for children under eleven.

Those who could enter 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.

Bai Chen and Ning Tian were about to enter one of those 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 story, even several students from Xuan Ziwen's class only shared one laboratory, which showed just how generous the treatment here was.

But this was only natural. After all, these children had paid enormous sums to enroll. Bai Chen and the others had directly finalized a transaction worth over one hundred million with Jing Hongchen. Compared to such expensive tuition, this bit of preferential treatment was hardly worth mentioning.

After learning this, Bai Chen immediately brought Ning Tian back to the office building they had just visited and asked Lin Jiayi for the laboratory key.

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 early, he simply completed the task ahead of time.

Bai Chen took the key from Lin Jiayi, opened the laboratory door, and entered both his and Ning Tian's information. Then he let out a long breath.

Compared to the workshop inside the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect, this laboratory was not as large, but it was extremely tidy. Every piece of experimental equipment carried an air of refinement. At a glance, they were clearly valuable Soul Guide facilities.

Ning Tian looked around curiously. She did not yet know much about Soul Guide Devices, and this was a field she had rarely set foot in.

Bai Chen walked to the experimental table, inspected it briefly, and smiled with some excitement.

The table was actually equipped with several of the most basic metals.

A small card sat beside the metals, listing the amount of metal that could be collected for free from the 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 not important.

He checked the drawer beneath the experimental table and, as expected, quickly found all kinds of basic tools for making Soul Guide Devices.

The most commonly used carving knives were naturally included. More importantly, there were also forging hammers.

That meant all the necessary conditions were in place.

Ning Tian noticed the excited smile on Bai Chen's face and could not help asking curiously,

"Bai Chen, what are you smiling about?"

"Nothing."

Bai Chen straightened his expression, took a deep breath, and said seriously to Ning Tian,

"Ning Tian, everything you see next must remain secret. Don't tell anyone else, no matter what. Can you do that?"

"Mm, I can, but..."

Ning Tian was somewhat baffled. She had no idea what Bai Chen intended to do that made him so serious.

Of course, she did not know that Bai Chen was about to show her technology from ten thousand years in the future.

According to Duan Xuan, Bai Chen of the Douluo III Era was actually the least suited for forging among the three versions of himself. In terms of attributes, he could not compare to his Douluo I Era self, while 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 been able to touch metal or forging hammers these past few days, so they could only keep suppressing the urge.

As a result, Bai Chen's hands had long been itching unbearably.

He wanted to see just what level his current self could achieve in this era.

Forging Practice

Bai Chen picked up the forging hammer, and the corner of his mouth could not help twitching.

The forging hammer was marked with its material and weight. Judging by the numbers, it was definitely not light. At the very least, Ning Tian would have great difficulty even lifting it.

Yet in Bai Chen's hand, the forging hammer felt as light as nothing.

It seemed that awakening different Martial Souls in different time periods came with a problem: he had to adjust his habits when exerting force.

Otherwise, he feared that a full-powered hammer strike might smash this experimental table apart.

Bai Chen casually picked up a piece of metal and gently pressed the forging hammer against its surface.

Forging had appeared throughout the first three parts of Douluo, 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 had been granted the highest status among all secondary professions.

In comparison, forging had the least presence in the Douluo II Era. Aside from being mentioned occasionally when making Soul Guide Devices, the technique was almost entirely nonexistent.

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 was likewise possible to bestow intelligence upon metal.

Of course, whether this conjecture could truly be realized still had to be tested personally.

A crisp sound rang out as Bai Chen began lightly striking the metal.

He struck very carefully. There was an enormous gap in strength between his Douluo III Era self and his Douluo II Era self, and he could only adapt to that difference through practice.

With each hammer strike, he used a little more force. The tapping sounds, initially like a gentle drizzle, gradually shifted toward a raging storm as time passed.

During the previous lesson, Duan Xuan had not taught him how to use elements to alter the properties of metal. Instead, he had carefully taught him how to wield a forging hammer more effectively.

As Bai Chen gradually adapted to the strength of his current self, the results of that instruction slowly began to show.

Before long, he once again reproduced the forging hammer technique he had imitated from Duan Xuan.

The clanging sounds echoed continuously through the laboratory, yet Bai Chen did not feel tired at all.

Unlike last time, when he had ignored his exhaustion because he was overly focused, he truly was nowhere near his limit this time.

As the forging hammer descended once more, Bai Chen suddenly drew in a deep breath. A black-gold ring rose beneath his feet and slowly merged into his body.

At the same time, his purple first Soul Ring lit up. A dark-gold radiance burst forth and enveloped his entire body, causing his aura to surge sharply.

Overlord Domain! Steel Bone Shaking Gold!