Douluo: The Chosen of Each Version Gather, but the Eras Are Misaligned

"You don't need to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank the Hall Master. It was because he recognized your talent that he gave you such special treatment. Work hard from now on, and don't disappoint his expectations."

"Okay!"

Bai Chen nodded excitedly and watched Lin Jiayi leave the classroom with a beaming smile.

Only after Lin Jiayi had completely disappeared from view did he finally let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed his disguise had been fairly successful.

If he acted too weak, people might suspect he was faking it. But if he revealed too much, he would be seen as a threat.

He wanted to display abilities at the level of an ordinary genius. That way, Jing Hongchen would not only refrain from showing hostility toward him, but might even try to recruit him.

"But I really can't just keep learning from the teacher."

The Young Masters' Class was full of children only six or seven years old, so naturally, the teachers did not teach anything too advanced. It was all beginner-level knowledge.

That knowledge had long since become useless to Bai Chen.

Therefore, he had to find someone else to teach him.

"In that case..."

Bai Chen muttered to himself as a candidate came to mind.

That person was Xuan Ziwen, the future chief researcher of the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy and Huo Yuhao's Soul Guide Device teacher in the original story.

Xuan Ziwen

If Bai Chen had to rank the research talent of the Soul Engineers of the Douluo II Era, the top three would definitely be Kong Deming, Huo Yuhao, and Xuan Ziwen.

As the first Level-Ten Soul Engineer in the history of the Sun-Moon Empire, Kong Deming had not only developed mass-producible Humanoid Soul Guide Devices, but had also created the Life-bound Soul Guide Device, the Silvermoon Divine Light Barrier. As a Rank 95 Super Douluo, he could even contend with a Limit Douluo. He truly deserved the title of Father of Soul Guide Devices.

As the male protagonist of the Douluo II Era, Huo Yuhao had crossed four ranks in just over a year, advancing from a Level-Two Soul Engineer to a Level-Six Soul Engineer. When he became a Level-Six Soul Engineer, he had only Three Rings. After ascending to the Divine Realm, he even developed Soul Guide Devices like the Divine Transmission Tower, which could affect even God Kings.

As for Xuan Ziwen, there was naturally a reason Bai Chen placed him on the same level as those two.

Although this Soul Engineer's talent as a Soul Master was far inferior to theirs, he was an unquestionable research genius.

Throughout the entire Douluo II Era, the Soul Guide Devices he developed included, but were not limited to, the Soul Ring Storage Device, the Sealed Milk Bottle, and the Ice Extreme War God Armor. Every one of them was a groundbreaking invention. Even after joining the Tang Sect, he had forcefully developed Linked Soul Devices and shells capable of countering Linked Soul Devices within a few years, greatly narrowing the gap with the Sun-Moon Empire.

He had become the chief researcher of Mingde Hall, the Sun-Moon Empire's foremost Soul Guide Device workshop, when he was only in his thirties. If his cultivation talent had not been so terrible, he might have become the second Level-Ten Soul Engineer.

There were still about eight years before Huo Yuhao met him in the original story. He definitely had not reached such heights yet, but he was certainly qualified to teach Bai Chen.

Actions spoke louder than thoughts. After school that afternoon, Bai Chen immediately headed to the upper-year district. Relying on his adorable appearance, he gathered plenty of information about Xuan Ziwen from some senior girls by acting cute.

Xuan Ziwen was twenty-five this year, a research-oriented Level-Seven Soul Engineer. Two years ago, he had earned the qualifications to enter Mingde Hall with his exceptionally outstanding results. Over the past two years, his status within Mingde Hall had risen rapidly, drawing much attention.

Someone like him naturally had a few admirers. However, whenever faced with girls who liked him, he rejected them all on the grounds that he needed to devote himself fully to researching Soul Guide Devices.

Over time, people even joked that Soul Guide Devices were his girlfriends.

How to persuade someone so obsessed with research to become his teacher would be Bai Chen's most important task going forward.

In the original story, Huo Yuhao had attracted Xuan Ziwen's attention with the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon, a Soul Guide Device he had created himself. Bai Chen intended to do something similar.

"In that case..."

Bai Chen smiled. He had already come up with a plan.

Soon, half a month passed.

At dusk, Xuan Ziwen walked out of the cafeteria and headed toward his dormitory.

However, halfway there, a very cute-looking child blocked his path.

"Senior, could you help me take a look at this Soul Guide Device?"

"Whew..."

Xuan Ziwen sighed irritably. Just as he was about to refuse, he saw a hand holding an open wallet extend before him. Even with a rough estimate, there were more than a hundred Gold Soul Coins inside.

With a bright smile on his face, Bai Chen said, "Senior, as long as you help me inspect this Soul Guide Device, these three hundred Gold Soul Coins are yours."

"...Let me see it."

Xuan Ziwen immediately changed his mind.

Do not assume Soul Engineers never lacked money. In truth, research-oriented Soul Engineers like Xuan Ziwen had enormous research expenses.

Getting three hundred Gold Soul Coins just for spending two minutes inspecting a Soul Guide Device was definitely a profitable deal.

"Alright, here."

Bai Chen had been waiting for those words. He immediately stuffed a compact Soul Guide Device into Xuan Ziwen's hand.

"Mm, a Level-Two Soul Ray. As for its power..."

Xuan Ziwen fiddled with the Soul Guide Device. At first, his expression was dismissive, but it quickly began to change.

"Wait, this power... That's impossible... This casing material shouldn't be able to withstand it... Strange..."

His gaze turned serious as he muttered to himself, as though he had forgotten Bai Chen was even there.

Bai Chen smiled at the sight and waited for Xuan Ziwen's conclusion.

It was only natural that Xuan Ziwen could not understand it, because this Soul Ray had been made entirely from Thousand-Forged Metal.

Because the metal was far stronger than the materials used in ordinary Level-Two Soul Rays, Bai Chen had used a rather bold design when creating it. He had almost completely ignored the material's limits and simply stacked power upon power.

If the material had not been Thousand-Forged Metal, this Level-Two Soul Ray would have been nothing more than a defective product that would break after a single use.

Xuan Ziwen studied it for five minutes before finally raising his head again.

He let out a long breath and asked with some difficulty, "If I'm not mistaken, you used some special method to increase the strength of the crafting material, didn't you?"

"Impressive."

Bai Chen praised him sincerely.

In an era where forging techniques had yet to rise, reaching that conclusion so quickly was enough to demonstrate Xuan Ziwen's skill.

Xuan Ziwen hurriedly asked, "Can you teach me this special method? As long as you can..."

Click.

Bai Chen raised a hand in a stopping gesture, cutting Xuan Ziwen off.

He lowered his voice. "Senior, let's talk somewhere without anyone around."

There were people constantly passing by here. It would not be good if others overheard them.

"...Sorry, I understand."

Xuan Ziwen also realized he had lost his composure and took the initiative to suggest, "Then let's go to my laboratory. No one will disturb us there."

"Okay."

Seeing the barely restrained expression on his face, Bai Chen relaxed.

It looked like this was secure.

Under Xuan Ziwen's lead, Bai Chen arrived at his laboratory.

Along the way, Xuan Ziwen seemed distracted. The moment the laboratory door closed, he immediately asked Bai Chen excitedly, "Child, can you tell me how you achieved that special method?"

As a genius Soul Engineer, he understood the importance of materials science.

It could be said that the two most important factors determining a Soul Guide Device's strength were the Soul Engineer's skill and the strength of the materials.

If the materials were too weak, even the greatest Soul Engineer would find it difficult to use them to create powerful Soul Guide Devices.

Likewise, if the materials were strong enough, the Soul Guide Devices created from them would most likely not be weak either.

If he could master this technique, his path of research would become much broader.

Facing the excited Xuan Ziwen, Bai Chen did not immediately give him the answer he wanted. Instead, he tilted his head slightly.

"Senior, can you promise me that you absolutely won't tell anyone else about this?"

A Deal

"Uh... Sorry, I was being presumptuous."

Xuan Ziwen came back to his senses and coughed awkwardly.

Thinking about it, that made sense. The other party definitely would not hand over technology of this level so easily.

He raised a hand and swore, "I swear on my Martial Soul that if I reveal any secret related to this technique to anyone else without your permission, then I will never be allowed to research Soul Guide Devices again for the rest of my life."

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Bai Chen was relieved.

In the Douluo world, oaths were extremely important, especially poisonous oaths sworn upon one's Martial Soul. No Soul Master would dare break one.

For Xuan Ziwen to make such a poisonous oath was enough to prove his attitude.

That was another reason Bai Chen had chosen Xuan Ziwen.

Xuan Ziwen's talent with Soul Guide Devices was indeed terrifyingly high, but he had not fully matured yet. The Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy definitely had people more suitable than him to serve as a teacher at this point.

Bai Chen chose him because of one particular trait: he was exceptionally pure and would not harbor any malicious intentions.

In the original story, even though he was Huo Yuhao's teacher and was intensely curious about the structure of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon, he had not tried to use his status to pressure Huo Yuhao. Instead, he had spoken with him patiently and tried to exchange his proudest research for it. That showed he was not someone who liked using power to oppress others.

Later, Huo Yuhao moved him, and he prepared to leave the Sun-Moon Empire. Yet before leaving the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, he left behind the most important Sealed Milk Bottle technology for the Sun-Moon Empire, bringing a transformation to the empire's technology.

By then, he could already be considered a member of the Tang Sect. No one would have blamed him if he had not left behind the Sealed Milk Bottle technology, but he still did so. That was enough to show his character.

That combination of virtue and talent was the most important reason Bai Chen had chosen him.

Bai Chen took out a piece of metal and confirmed with Xuan Ziwen, "Senior, are you sure no one will come to your laboratory?"

"No." Xuan Ziwen immediately said with certainty, "Although a junior sister occasionally comes here to visit, she's busy sparring with someone today, so she definitely won't come."

"That's good."

Bai Chen placed the metal on the worktable and said calmly, "It would be too troublesome to explain it with words. I'll just demonstrate it for you directly."

With that, he swung his black-gold forging hammer and began forging with blazing intensity.

In less than ten minutes, a piece of Second-Grade Thousand-Forged Metal had been freshly forged.

As his forging skills improved, Bai Chen now had a chance of forging First-Grade Thousand Forging metal. His success rate for Second-Grade Thousand Forging was also above fifty percent, putting him at an exceptionally excellent level even among Level-Four Blacksmiths.

Bai Chen handed the piece of Second-Grade Thousand-Forged Metal to Xuan Ziwen and smiled. "Here. This is the finished product of my technique."

"..."

However, Xuan Ziwen, who had always considered Soul Guide Devices more important than anything else, did not immediately take the metal. Instead, he looked at Bai Chen as if he were a monster.

"Are you really a One-Ring Soul Master?"

It had to be said that Bai Chen's savage strength had truly frightened him.

Although Xuan Ziwen currently had Seven-Ring cultivation, he had forcefully raised it by swallowing pills regardless of the cost. It did not represent his true level.

On top of that, he had devoted almost all his time to Soul Guide Device research. His combat ability as a Soul Master was actually extremely poor. Without Soul Guide Devices, even a stronger Soul King could easily defeat him.

Bai Chen smiled and reminded him, "Senior, my own special traits are also one of the core factors of this technique."

"I know. I won't reveal your information, so don't worry."

Xuan Ziwen rolled his eyes irritably, but his hands did not hesitate in the slightest. He snatched the metal from Bai Chen's hand and began examining it closely.