The Azure Crystal

Whenever they encountered Soul Beasts, Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan handled them directly.

With their strength, they could put up a fight even against Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, let alone these mere century-old ones.

Whenever they encountered weaker Ten-Year Soul Beasts, they would stop and let Bai Chen and the others deal with them.

Bai Chen controlled his strength, disguising himself as a One-Ring Soul Master who was merely a little better than average. His sluggish movements and limp attacks made the others, who knew his true abilities, feel thoroughly disgusted.

But what they thought did not matter. Clearly, the other three genuinely believed the strength he displayed.

"Mm... Bai Chen, you're so young, yet you already possess such strength. It seems you'll become an outstanding Soul Engineer in the future."

Watching Bai Chen swing his claws and pierce a Ten-Year Soul Beast's throat, Old Ma spoke thoughtfully.

Bai Chen blinked and asked with feigned curiosity,

"Old Ma, what necessary connection is there between being strong and becoming a good Soul Engineer? Aren't Soul Engineers' main methods of attack Soul Tools?"

"Hehe, that's true."

Old Ma smiled warmly and patiently explained,

"But greater strength means you can equip more Soul Tools at the same time. For example, with the same Soul Guidance Cannon Platform Tactic, your strength can only support ten Soul Guide Cannons, while your opponent's can support a hundred. Who do you think would be stronger?"

"I see. I've learned something. Thank you, Old Ma!"

"Haha, don't mention it. I used to be an academy teacher myself. Teaching children like you is the duty of my profession."

Old Ma laughed happily.

He found himself growing increasingly fond of this polite and talented child.

Seeing this, Xiao Hongchen said somewhat unhappily,

"Hmph, Old Ma, stop wasting time. What's the point of explaining such basic knowledge to him? He can ask his teachers once he gets back to the academy."

"Brother!"

Meng Hongchen pouted unhappily.

Old Ma shook his head helplessly and turned around.

"Alright, alright. We'll head deeper in now."

"Old Ma." Bai Chen stopped him and asked curiously, "Why do we need to keep going deeper? Before coming here, I heard my teacher say that the deeper one went into this mine cave, the higher the cultivation of the Soul Beasts. We shouldn't need Soul Rings with such high years, right?"

They only needed a first Soul Ring and a second Soul Ring in total, both within the hundred-year range. Logically, there was no need to go any farther; they could simply search nearby.

"Mm... Forget it. There's no harm in telling you."

Old Ma hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"Actually, the academy heard that there's a special rare metal in the deepest part of this mine cave. So, while we're here helping Xiao Hongchen obtain his Soul Ring, we plan to pick up that rare metal as well."

"So that's how it is."

Bai Chen nodded in realization.

He glanced at Xiao Hongchen without drawing attention to it.

If he remembered correctly, Xiao Hongchen's Three-Legged Golden Toad had a talent that allowed it to absorb the energy within metals to level up, didn't it?

Unlike Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen truly cultivated both as a Soul Master and a Soul Engineer. Yet even so, Meng Hongchen had not left him behind in cultivation, and one of the reasons was this talent of his.

With this special ability, his cultivation speed was far faster than that of his peers.

If that was the case, was this rare metal prepared for him?

Bai Chen narrowed his eyes and buried the speculation in his heart.

Whether the guess was right or wrong, it had little to do with him.

Running into the Hongchen Siblings on this trip had been purely accidental. He had not expected it, and for the time being, he had no intention of becoming too deeply involved with them.

After learning the answer from Old Ma, they set off once again.

As they went deeper, the strength of the Soul Beasts they encountered gradually increased noticeably.

During this process, Xiao Hongchen and Ning Tian each found a suitable Soul Beast.

Xiao Hongchen's second Soul Skill was the same as in the original work: Golden Surge.

This Soul Skill greatly increased the activity of his Soul Power, temporarily enhanced his control over metal, and absorbed large amounts of metal elements from the air for his use. It was a simple yet useful stat-enhancing Soul Skill.

Ning Tian's first Soul Skill was Strength Amplification.

The inherent characteristics of the Seven-Treasure Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul meant that the order of her Soul Skills was not particularly important. At the same cultivation level, every Soul Skill provided the same degree of amplification.

Still, obtaining Strength Amplification this early was good news for Bai Chen. After all, his Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff excelled most at strength, and Strength Amplification would help him the most.

At the same time, after successfully obtaining her first Soul Skill, Ning Tian's Soul Power clearly surged significantly.

The pill she had taken previously had definitely raised her cultivation by more than one level. It had merely been held back by her Soul Ring requirement, which was why the increase had not been obvious. If Bai Chen's guess was correct, she was probably already level thirteen.

After successfully hunting Soul Rings for the two of them, their travel speed rose another level as they hurried toward the deepest part of the mine cave.

Ten-Year Soul Beasts slowly disappeared, while Millennium Soul Beasts gradually began to appear. The danger within the mine cave increased without them realizing it.

Finally, as a huge roar reached their ears, they arrived at the deepest part of the mine cave.

A massive creature covered in dark-blue crystals opened its gaping maw at them. Judging from its aura, it was clearly a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!

So Qiling Mine Cave was not entirely devoid of Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. It was simply that this one had hidden exceptionally deep, where ordinary people could never encounter it.

Not far behind it, they could clearly see a patch of dark-blue crystals giving off an enticing glow.

"Mm..."

Bai Chen observed them curiously for a while before finally shaking his head.

As a blacksmith, he believed his understanding of metals far surpassed that of ordinary people, and Zhen Hua had taught him plenty of theoretical knowledge in this area.

Yet even in Zhen Hua's lessons, this strange ore had never appeared.

It seemed highly likely that this was another resource that had gone extinct ten thousand years later.

At the same time, this was clearly Xiao Hongchen's target for this trip.

He said excitedly to Old Ma,

"Old Ma, hurry up and take it down. Collect those crystals!"

"Understood."

Old Ma nodded steadily, stepped forward, and eight Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath his feet.

As a Level-Eight Soul Engineer, he was finally about to make his move.

Battle was on the verge of breaking out.

Dark-Blue Crystals

This Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast seemed to sense that its opponent was no ordinary foe. Rather than rushing forward, it took several steps back to the side and retreated against the wall.

Old Ma snorted coldly and extended his hand. A massive warhammer appeared in his grasp.

His Martial Soul was the Iron-Armed Giant Ape. Although both his and Ma Rulong's Martial Souls were monkeys, unlike Ma Rulong's auxiliary-type Martial Soul, his was an assault-type Martial Soul.

Thus, what he excelled at most was close-quarters combat.

This massive hammer was his proudest weapon. Even among Level-Eight Soul Guide Devices, it could be considered outstanding. Combined with his tremendous brute strength, there were few people in the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy who could defeat him in close combat.

He leaped into the air, cutting through the wind as he smashed toward the Soul Beast like a meteor.

Without a doubt, given his strength, if he struck it head-on, this Soul Beast would die beneath his hammer in an instant—

Provided that he hit it head-on.

Facing the menacing Soul Douluo, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast made a choice none of those present had expected.

It actually burrowed into the wall.

"Huh?"

Boom!

The massive hammer crashed down, kicking up a great cloud of dust, but the Soul Beast had vanished.

Old Ma rose to his feet and warily looked around, trying to locate the Soul Beast.

At that moment, a flash of purple light passed through Bai Chen's eyes. He suddenly kicked Xiao Hongchen away, then hugged Meng Hongchen and Ning Tian as he rolled to the side.

"Fuck, what are you—"

Caught completely off guard, Xiao Hongchen was kicked into rolling across the ground twice. He had just been about to curse when the words stuck in his throat.

Several long crystal spikes covered the spot where they had just been standing. If Bai Chen had not kicked him away in time, he would have been seriously injured.

That being said...

"Why was I the only one you kicked?!"

Hearing Xiao Hongchen's somewhat noisy voice, Bai Chen rolled his eyes impatiently and called out,

"Senior Sister, Senior Brother, I'll leave this to you."

"Hmph, leave it to us!"

A bright voice rang out. Purple mist rose around Bai Chen, and as the long whip danced, every crystal attempting to approach them was shattered.

Ji Juechen stood in front of Xiao Hongchen. Without saying a word, he raised his longsword, and with every swing and slash, all danger was resolved.

"Nicely done."

Seeing the two outstanding students protect Bai Chen and the others, Old Ma breathed a sigh of relief. He pulled out a disc-shaped Soul Tool and shouted,

"Please hold on a little longer. I'll find that beast immediately!"

All signs indicated that this Soul Beast possessed the ability to assimilate with its surroundings.

In an environment like this mine cave, which was both complex and enclosed, such an ability was truly troublesome.

The Soul Beast's attack power was not particularly strong. Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen could block its attacks with ease, but the problem was that its strikes were impossible to guard against. If they did not eliminate it here, leaving the mine cave without injury would not be easy.

"Beep... beep..."

"Found you!"

As the disc-shaped Soul Tool emitted faint sounds, Old Ma immediately turned around and, without hesitation, slammed his hammer into a nearby wall.

Boom—

Awooo—

A pained howl rang out, and a black Soul Ring slowly rose into the air. The attacks that had continuously targeted Bai Chen and the others also came to a stop.

"It's dealt with...?"

Bai Chen sighed in relief. He instinctively looked down at the two girls in his arms, only for his heart to leap back into his throat.

To ensure he could react in time if another attack came close, he had not put Meng Hongchen and Ning Tian down. He had also lacked the time to pay attention to their condition.

Now that he looked down, he realized Meng Hongchen was staring at him with a face full of emotion, while Ning Tian was looking at Meng Hongchen with obvious displeasure.

He coughed awkwardly and hurriedly released them.

"Sorry, it happened so suddenly..."

"It's okay, it's okay!"

Meng Hongchen immediately said,

"I should be thanking you. If it hadn't been for you, I really wouldn't have been able to dodge that attack just now. How did you notice it?"

"Just luck."

"Oh, luck? So it was fate, then?"

"Huh?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing, nothing."

Watching Meng Hongchen remain excited by herself, a sudden guess arose in Bai Chen's heart.

No way, was it really that serious?

He had no idea how devastating his actions just now had been to Meng Hongchen.

She had already had a very good impression of him, and what he had done perfectly matched the image of a "prince" in Meng Hongchen's heart.