Douluo: Children of the Version Gather, but the Era Is Misaligned

The best Soul Ring types for the Seven-Treasure Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul were metal-element and gemstone types, and most Soul Beasts of those kinds lived in areas rich in minerals.

The Sun-Moon Empire had far more mines than the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms. Other elemental Soul Beasts were hard to compare, but when it came to metal-element-related Soul Beasts, the Sun-Moon Empire surpassed the Douluo Original Three Kingdoms in both numbers and variety.

"Then let's go with this place."

Bai Chen looked it over. Since people from the Sun-Moon Empire frequently came to mine rare metals from the outer layers of this cave, the Soul Beasts here were not particularly strong. Most were ten-year or century Soul Beasts; millennium Soul Beasts were already extremely rare, while ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts were completely absent.

A place like this was perfect for a small team like theirs.

"Mm, in that case..."

Hearing that, Xuan Ziwen muttered something under his breath. Then he took out four long, rod-shaped Soul Guide cannons from his Storage Soul Guidance Device and tossed them to Bai Chen and the others.

Bai Chen caught one on instinct and asked,

"Teacher Xuan, what are these?"

"Seventh-Level Disintegration Cannons."

"Pfft—"

At Xuan Ziwen's casual answer, Jing Ziyan spat first before Bai Chen could respond.

She wiped the corner of her mouth and asked in disbelief,

"Wait, wait, wait. Senior, what did you say these were?"

Xuan Ziwen repeated calmly,

"Seventh-Level Disintegration Cannons. Don't worry, I made special modifications. Even you can use one once, provided you expend all your soul power."

"Huh?!"

Jing Ziyan stared at the long rod in her hand, too stunned to speak.

Ning Tian and Ji Juechen, who did not understand Soul Guide Devices deeply, could not understand why she had reacted that way. Only Bai Chen understood her.

Disintegration Cannons were a special branch of Soul Guide Devices, classified as single-target long-range offensive Soul Guide Devices. Even the lowest-level Disintegration Cannon was a Level-Six Soul Guide Device.

The crafting process for a Disintegration Cannon was extraordinarily complicated and involved many incomprehensible principles. It even touched upon spatial theory. It could be said to be one of the most difficult Soul Guide Devices to manufacture at the same level.

Yet what it gained in exchange was extreme offensive power. The single-target attack power of a Disintegration Cannon even surpassed Fixed-Installed Soul Guide Shells of the same level. It was the Soul Guide Device type with the strongest single-target attack power at its level, and it was incredibly precious. For example, the commander of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Corps possessed more than ten Ninth-Level Fixed Soul Cannon Shells, yet not a single Level-Nine Disintegration Cannon.

The Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Corps had the royal family backing it and was the wealthiest of the Beast King Soul Engineer Corps. Even its commander was not equipped with a Level-Nine Disintegration Cannon, which showed just how costly these things were.

Though a Seventh-Level Disintegration Cannon was not worth as much as a Level-Nine Disintegration Cannon, it was still more valuable than most Level-Eight Soul Guide Devices. The combined value of four Seventh-Level Disintegration Cannons was not even inferior to a Level-Nine Soul Guide Device.

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Xuan Ziwen's mouth.

"Scared now? If you know how precious these things are, then come back safe and sound and return them to me. Understood?"

"U-Understood..."

Jing Ziyan carefully put the Disintegration Cannon in her hand away.

As a Level-Four Soul Engineer, she was not poor, but this Seventh-Level Disintegration Cannon truly could empty out her entire fortune.

In truth, the reason Xuan Ziwen could take out so many Seventh-Level Disintegration Cannons was also because of Bai Chen.

When he had first come into contact with Thousand-Forged Metal, he had specifically made many high-difficulty Soul Guide Devices in order to study their properties.

Seventh-Level Disintegration Cannons were one such type. He only had five of them in total, and after giving four to them, he had only one left.

As for the special modifications he had made, they had also been inspired by Bai Chen.

Bai Chen would deliberately or inadvertently reveal certain concepts from the future to him in daily life. Xuan Ziwen absorbed those ideas at an astonishing speed, and the modifications he had made this time could, in a sense, be considered the prototype of a Sealed Milk Bottle.

Xuan Ziwen walked over to Bai Chen. His expression softened as he patted Bai Chen on the shoulder and said quietly,

"Be careful. Don't force yourself, understand?"

"Don't worry, Teacher."

Bai Chen returned his confident smile.

"We'll be fine."

The Hongchen Siblings

Early the next morning, Bai Chen and his group left the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy and hurried toward the mine cave marked on the map.

At noon, they arrived at the entrance to Qiling Mine Cave.

Although Soul Guide lamps illuminated the entrance, the deep cave mouth still gave off an unsettling feeling.

Everyone took out the searchlights they had prepared beforehand and entered.

None of them expected to encounter another team hunting Soul Beasts so soon after entering the mine cave.

"Ah..."

Seeing an old man with two eight- or nine-year-old children, both of whom wore the uniforms of the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, Bai Chen took the initiative to greet them.

"Are you from the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy?"

Upon hearing him, the boy turned his face away and gave a smug snort.

The girl, on the other hand, replied with a smile,

"Yes. What's your name?"

"Bai Chen."

"Oh..."

The girl blinked.

For some reason, she felt as though she had heard that name somewhere before.

Jing Ziyan tugged on Bai Chen's clothes from behind and whispered,

"Hey, Bai Chen, don't tell me you don't know who they are?"

"...Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen?"

"So you do know!"

"..."

No, he did not actually know them. He had merely guessed.

For one thing, their white hair was far too distinctive. For another, eight-year-old children being led by an old man who clearly looked powerful could not possibly be ordinary.

Bai Chen coughed twice and asked,

"Um... since we're classmates, could we travel together with you? We won't cause trouble."

Hearing that, the old man looked at the two children beside him.

Xiao Hongchen curled his lips in displeasure and was just about to say something when Meng Hongchen cheerfully said,

"Sure! Let's get along well."

"Hey, Meng, you..."

"Come on, Brother. Classmates should help each other."

Meng Hongchen's smiling face immediately choked off everything Xiao Hongchen had wanted to say.

"Hmph. Fine, do whatever you want."

After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Hongchen ultimately chose not to argue with his sister. He fell silent with a dark expression.

Only after gaining the two little ancestors' agreement did the old man speak.

"Then you may come with us. But let me make this clear first: we're going all the way to the deepest part of this cave. It's very dangerous there, so I hope you won't cause trouble."

"Yes, we'll listen obediently and definitely won't get in the way."

Bai Chen nodded obediently. Seeing him like this, the old man revealed a kind smile as well.

"My surname is Ma. You can call me Old Ma."

He seemed to understand a little why Meng Hongchen had been willing to let Bai Chen follow them. The boy's attitude and appearance both made people naturally like him.

Compared to the other little ancestor on his side...

Old Ma discreetly glanced at Xiao Hongchen and let out a long sigh inwardly.

Honestly, this kid's temper really was a little rotten.

He was undoubtedly a genius, but he still had to learn how to conduct himself.

However, that was not something a mere employee like Old Ma had any right to comment on. All he needed to do was complete his job properly.

Old Ma said to everyone,

"Before we continue deeper, let's exchange our names, Martial Souls, and Soul Ring requirements. If we encounter Soul Beasts suitable for you along the way, I'll deal with them for you."

Thus, everyone exchanged some basic information.

As expected, Old Ma was a Level-Eight Soul Engineer affiliated with Mingde Hall. Although high-level Soul Engineers were generally weaker than Soul Masters of the same rank, he was still far stronger than an ordinary Soul Saint. At the very least, having someone as strong as him in a place like this was immensely reassuring.

If Bai Chen had guessed correctly, he was most likely Ma Rulong's grandfather.

When he heard Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen's names, Old Ma revealed obvious surprise.

Jing Ziyan had once been a genius as renowned as Xuan Ziwen, while Ji Juechen was a problem child among problem children. Both of them were well-known, so Old Ma had naturally heard their names before.

He had not expected those two unusual students to be traveling with freshmen like Bai Chen and Ning Tian.

How had they gotten mixed up with each other?

Meanwhile, Xiao Hongchen's group also revealed their purpose for coming here.

Just as Bai Chen had guessed beforehand, they had also come to obtain Soul Rings.

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were eight years old this year, more than two years older than Bai Chen and Ning Tian. Under Jing Hongchen's tireless training, they had already reached the threshold of level twenty. As long as they acquired suitable Soul Rings, they could officially advance to Great Soul Masters.

They had naturally not come to this Soul Beast gathering ground, where metal-element Soul Beasts were everywhere, to obtain a Soul Ring for Meng Hongchen. The purpose of their trip was to hunt a Soul Ring for Xiao Hongchen.

Bai Chen focused on the purpose of their visit, while Old Ma focused on Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen's identities. Only Miss Meng's attention was fixed on something slightly different.

She was focused on Bai Chen.

When Ning Tian introduced herself as well, a flash of realization suddenly appeared in Meng Hongchen's eyes.

She remembered where she had heard Bai Chen's name before.

During one of Jing Hongchen's casual chats with the siblings, he had once mentioned this young man from the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect.

According to Jing Hongchen, Ning Tian, the young sect mistress, was not particularly worth paying attention to. Bai Chen, who had come with her, was actually the more gifted one.

If she remembered correctly, he had seemed to already be level sixteen at the time?

She wondered whether he had reached level seventeen yet.

Meng Hongchen glanced at Xiao Hongchen and found him still wearing that same smug expression. She immediately understood that her brother had completely forgotten about it.

But even if she remembered, Meng Hongchen did not feel any hostility toward Bai Chen.

First, when Jing Hongchen had told them about it, he had said that they could try to recruit him if they encountered him.

Second...

Meng Hongchen looked at Bai Chen's face, and a beautiful curve formed at the corner of her lips.

He was really, really handsome!

Jing Hongchen naturally had not mentioned Bai Chen's appearance when speaking to them about this, so Meng Hongchen had never expected him to look like this.

Even Jing Ziyan believed that once Bai Chen grew up, he would likely be on the same level as Ji Juechen. That showed just how devastating his face was.

Up until now, he had often used that face to act cute and obtain information from senior female students. Yet now, he had finally encountered a true face-lover.

Meng Hongchen had a particular trait: she had an especially high initial favorability toward beautiful people, and this trait was even more pronounced when dealing with those her own age.

She had not actually cared about some genius youth from the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect and had nearly forgotten the matter entirely.

But now, she suddenly changed her mind.

I have to use this opportunity to pull him into my camp! Meng Hongchen secretly made up her mind.

After gaining a general understanding of one another, the group set off again.

Just as Old Ma had said, they were headed for the deepest part of Qiling Mine Cave. They did not stop at all along the way, continuously heading deeper inside.