Douluo: Sons of Different Versions Gathered, but the Era Was Misaligned

"Buzz—"

The clash ended in an instant. Their figures crossed paths before silence returned.

Bai Chen dropped to one knee, cold sweat streaming from his forehead. He panted heavily as he turned to look at Ji Juechen.

Ji Juechen still wore that expression as if nothing had crossed his mind. He closed his eyes, remained silent for a moment, then said:

"You won."

After saying that, he raised his hand and looked at the "sword" he was holding.

The Heavenly Meteoric Iron Sword that had accompanied him for years was now reduced to a short fragment. Five shards that had once been part of it lay quietly on the ground, declaring its end.

He had not actually lost to Bai Chen in that last attack. He had lost because of his weapon.

The quality of this Heavenly Meteoric Iron Sword had been utterly outclassed by the Darkgolden Terrorclaw. That was the result: he had lost his weapon.

For a Sword Maniac, losing his sword was no different from losing his limbs. Thus, although he still had considerably more soul power left than Bai Chen, he could no longer continue fighting.

"What are you talking about... Don't think I didn't notice."

Bai Chen shook his head with a bitter smile.

"You held back just now, didn't you?"

He did not say this because Ji Juechen had failed to use his full strength. Rather, during the final collision, Ji Juechen had deliberately chosen not to attack Bai Chen himself and had only targeted the Darkgolden Terrorclaw.

Otherwise, Ji Juechen's sword would have broken while Bai Chen suffered severe injuries. Even after losing the sword as a medium, a Sword Maniac's Sword Intent could still continue attacking the enemy along the path of its slash.

Ji Juechen said flatly:

"There's no need to say more. A loss is a loss. My soul power was already above yours, and for the battle to end like this only means that I still need to improve."

"Haha..."

Bai Chen gave a weak laugh.

What was this? Whether it was Xuan Ziwen or Ji Juechen, was their first reaction after taking a blow really that they still needed to improve?

That was what true geniuses were like. Sure enough, he could not afford to relax. Otherwise, before he knew it, these monsters would leave him far behind.

"Juechen, Bai Chen!"

Only then did Jing Ziyan hurriedly run onto the arena.

She asked nervously:

"Are you two all right? Neither of you got hurt badly, right?"

"Don't worry, Senior Sister. I'm fine."

Bai Chen shook his head at her.

"That's good." Jing Ziyan let out a huge sigh of relief. "If you got injured here, I really wouldn't know how to explain it to Senior Brother."

"Haha, Senior Sister, you don't need to worry. I know my own strength."

"Oh? Is that so? So that's how it is."

Jing Ziyan suddenly revealed a somewhat dangerous smile.

"So you really were putting on an act from the very beginning, huh?"

"Uh..."

Bai Chen suddenly felt that things were going badly. Without drawing attention to it, he took two steps back, attempting to quietly widen the distance between himself and Jing Ziyan.

"Senior Sister, I had my reasons. If I had told you from the start that I was this strong, you wouldn't have believed me anyway... Wait, Senior Sister, I was wrong! Stop, stop, stop!"

Before he could finish, Jing Ziyan had already pounced on him, vigorously drilling her fists into his head.

"Senior Brother, save me!"

"..."

Hearing Bai Chen's cry for help, Ji Juechen considered it for two seconds before silently looking away.

After all, his beloved sword had just been broken by Bai Chen.

Of course, he would not blame Bai Chen for it, but there was no harm in standing by and watching at a time like this.

The three of them messed around for quite a while before Jing Ziyan finally pulled Bai Chen up from the ground.

She coughed twice and asked:

"Bai Chen, how did you become so strong? You aren't even ten yet, are you?"

Bai Chen dusted himself off and smiled.

"Didn't Teacher Xuan tell you? I'm from the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect."

Jing Ziyan's eyes widened in astonishment.

"The Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect is that amazing? It can make a child like you this strong?"

Bai Chen only smiled without answering.

He wanted to find a way to recruit Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen, so naturally, he had to exaggerate the role of the force behind him.

Seeing that Bai Chen did not want to say more, Jing Ziyan pouted and stopped pressing him. She held out her hand to Bai Chen.

"If you don't want to say it, forget it. We won't tell anyone about you either. But since you're this strong, we'll be coming to spar with you often from now on. In exchange, we'll look after you in the academy. What do you think?"

"Then I'll be in your care, Senior Sister."

Bai Chen smiled and took Jing Ziyan's outstretched hand.

With that, he had successfully taken the first step.

It was impossible to pull these two battle fanatics over to his side all at once, but he had plenty of time to wear them down.

Besides, sparring with them was not without benefits for him.

As an all-round Soul Engineer, Jing Ziyan was familiar with the fighting methods of nearly every type of low-level Soul Engineer. Fighting her would effectively familiarize him with the situations he might encounter when battling various kinds of Soul Engineers.

There was even less need to mention fighting Ji Juechen. He could gain insights from his battle with Bai Chen, and Bai Chen could do the same.

An odd opponent like him might not have a second match anywhere on Douluo Continent. Sparring with him would definitely bring endless benefits.

"Little Brother Bai Chen, watching your battle with Juechen has made my hands itch. How about we spar after you've rested up?"

"...Let's skip it for today. I still have things to take care of."

Still, being overly obsessed with sparring really was a headache.

Bai Chen sighed helplessly.

Sword of Blood Sacrifice

One week later, Xuan Ziwen's laboratory.

Xuan Ziwen looked at Bai Chen, Ning Tian, Jing Ziyan, and Ji Juechen standing before him, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"What are you all doing here?"

There had never been so many people in his laboratory. As a rather unconventional researcher, Xuan Ziwen did not have many companions. A situation like this, with five people crammed into his laboratory, was unprecedented.

At his question, Ning Tian's eyes were filled with confusion. Ji Juechen expressionlessly turned his face to the side, Jing Ziyan gestured at Bai Chen with her chin, and Bai Chen sighed before saying:

"When I sparred with Senior Ji last weekend, I couldn't hold back my strength and accidentally broke his sword. So I want to make him a new one."

"You can do that too?"

Xuan Ziwen was somewhat surprised.

"Of course."

A blacksmith's work involved more than just refining the quality of metal. Forging metal into components and weapons was also part of a blacksmith's job.

Thanks to the unique nature of the Douluo III Era's Soul Battle Hall Space, Bai Chen had far more time than his peers. During this period, his forging skills had risen rapidly. Not only had his success rate for First-Grade Thousand Forging increased considerably, but his skill at forging metal into weapons had also improved greatly.

Xuan Ziwen frowned and pondered for a moment before suddenly saying:

"How about you provide the metal, and I'll make it into a Soul Guide Device? With my skill and your Thousand-Forged Metal, the close-combat Soul Guide Device we create definitely won't be inferior to any Level-Eight Soul Guide Device on the market."

"..."

Bai Chen glanced at Xuan Ziwen in surprise, then looked at Ji Juechen with an amused smile.

Ji Juechen could no longer keep acting aloof at a time like this. He said calmly:

"There's no need. I asked him to make it for a reason. A Soul Guide Device made by someone else might not suit me."

At that, he paused and gave Xuan Ziwen a slight nod.

"Thank you."

In truth, he had not expected Xuan Ziwen to be so warmhearted. He had thought that providing the venue was already the limit.

He had underestimated the relationship between Xuan Ziwen and Bai Chen. Though he would never say it aloud, Bai Chen would always be Xuan Ziwen's most satisfactory and important student.

If Bai Chen caused trouble outside, then as his teacher, Xuan Ziwen naturally had to help deal with it.

What he did not know was that Bai Chen had already discussed the matter with Ji Juechen, and they had reached an agreement: they did not need a Soul Guide Device for now.

Ji Juechen walked over to the worktable. With a flash from the bracelet on his wrist, an enormous black iron block appeared on the table.

This was the material he had found, called Heavenly Meteoric Iron. It was the same material as his previous sword.

Bai Chen took out two forging hammers, drew a deep breath, and adjusted his entire state to its peak.

When he had said he would forge Ji Juechen a new sword, Ji Juechen had actually refused.

But Bai Chen would never let such a good opportunity to strengthen their relationship pass by. After constant persuasion, Ji Juechen had finally agreed.

This forging session could not fail.

A black-gold halo silently rose and merged into Bai Chen's body. The Overlord Domain spread out as Bai Chen abruptly raised his forging hammers and began his work.

Heavenly Meteoric Iron was an extremely rare metal. At least, in the era ten thousand years later, he had never seen such a material.

To ensure that this forging would go flawlessly, Bai Chen had specifically used fragments of Ji Juechen's broken sword to conduct many trials over the past week. Only then had he finally put his mind at ease.

Under his full-force hammering, the originally enormous piece of Heavenly Meteoric Iron rapidly shrank, while a strange radiance faintly emerged from its surface.

Bai Chen did not dare pause even for a moment. He exhausted every bit of experience and knowledge he possessed, continuously elevating the quality of the metal before him.

It was the first time Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan had watched him forge, and both of them were left staring in a daze.

Finally, as a jet-black beam of light shot into the sky, Bai Chen let out a long breath and revealed a relaxed smile.

First-Grade Thousand Forging. Successful.

"..."

At that moment, Ji Juechen silently stepped forward. With a slice of his hand, bright red blood fell onto the piece of Heavenly Meteoric Iron.

"Juechen!"

Jing Ziyan was greatly alarmed and was just about to say something when she saw the glow of the Heavenly Meteoric Iron brighten several degrees. Her words immediately caught in her throat.

Bai Chen blinked in astonishment.

"How did you know to do that?"

He was far too familiar with Ji Juechen's action. Wasn't that Blood Sacrifice?

Blacksmiths could greatly increase their forging success rate through Blood Sacrifice, while non-blacksmiths used Blood Sacrifice to improve their compatibility with metal.

It could be said that from this moment onward, this piece of Heavenly Meteoric Iron was completely linked to Ji Juechen. No matter what weapon was forged from it, only Ji Juechen would be able to bring out its effects to the fullest.

As Ji Juechen's strength grew, the power of the weapon forged from it would also slowly rise.

Ji Juechen still wore that cool expression.

"Instinct."

"..."

Bai Chen no longer wanted to say anything to this kind of talent monster.

He waved at Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen.

"All right, you two can leave now. I can finish the remaining forging steps without your involvement."

He had specifically called the two of them here to witness the Blood Sacrifice. Since that step was already complete, there was naturally no need for them to stay.

Ji Juechen, however, shook his head and sat down against the wall.