Versions' Chosen Gather, but the Era Is Misaligned

Whenever they encountered Soul Beasts, Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan dealt with 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 came across weaker Ten-Year Soul Beasts, they would hold back and let Bai Chen and the others handle them.

Bai Chen controlled his strength, disguising himself as a One-Ring Soul Master who was only somewhat more talented than average. His sluggish movements and limp attacks made the others who knew his true capabilities feel thoroughly disgusted.

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

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

Watching Bai Chen swing his claws and pierce a Ten-Year Soul Beast through the 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 Guide Devices a Soul Engineer's main means of attack?"

"Hehe, that's true."

Old Ma smiled gently and patiently explained:

"But greater strength means you can equip more Soul Guide Devices at once. For example, using Soul Cannon Turret tactics, your strength might only support ten Soul 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 a teacher at the academy as well. Teaching children like you is the duty of my profession."

Old Ma laughed happily.

He was becoming increasingly fond of this polite and talented child.

Seeing this, Xiao Hongchen said with some displeasure:

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

"Brother!"

Meng Hongchen pouted unhappily.

Old Ma helplessly shook his head and turned around.

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

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

They only needed a first Soul Ring and a second Soul Ring, both within the century-old range. Logically, there was no need to venture any deeper; they could simply search nearby.

"Hmm... forget it. There's no harm in telling you."

Old Ma hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"Actually, the academy heard that a special rare metal exists in the deepest part of this mine cave. So, while helping Xiao Hongchen obtain his Soul Ring this time, we planned to take that rare metal as well."

"So that's how it is."

Bai Chen nodded in sudden realization.

He discreetly glanced at Xiao Hongchen.

If he remembered correctly, Xiao Hongchen's Three-Legged Golden Toad possessed a talent ability that absorbed energy from metal to evolve, didn't it?

Unlike Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen truly cultivated as both a Soul Master and a Soul Engineer. Yet even so, Meng Hongchen had not left his cultivation far behind. One reason was this talent ability of his.

Thanks to 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 that guess was right or wrong had nothing to do with him, really.

Running into the Hongchen siblings this time had been purely accidental. He had not expected it, and for now, he had no plans to form overly deep ties with them.

After getting his answer from Old Ma, they set off again.

As they went deeper, the Soul Beasts they encountered grew noticeably stronger.

During this process, Xiao Hongchen and Ning Tian each found a Soul Beast suited to them.

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 enhancing his control over metal while absorbing large amounts of metallic elements from the air for his own use. It was a simple and useful stat-boosting soul skill.

Ning Tian's first soul skill, meanwhile, was Strength Amplification.

The inherent traits of the Seven-Treasure Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul meant 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, gaining Strength Amplification so early was a good thing for Bai Chen. After all, his Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff specialized most in 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 rose by a large amount.

The pills she had taken earlier had definitely raised her by more than one level. It had simply remained inconspicuous because the Soul Ring Requirement Card had held her back. 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 gradually vanished, Millennium Soul Beasts began to appear, and the mine cave grew more dangerous without them even realizing it.

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

A massive creature covered in dark-blue crystals opened its bloody 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 especially deep, where ordinary people would never encounter it.

Not far behind it, a patch of dark-blue crystals could clearly be seen radiating an enticing glow.

"Hmm..."

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

As a blacksmith, he considered his understanding of metals far beyond that of ordinary people. Zhen Hua had also taught him plenty of theoretical knowledge in this field.

Yet even in Zhen Hua's lessons, he had never encountered such a strange ore.

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 the trip.

He excitedly said to Old Ma:

"Old Ma, hurry up! Deal with it and collect those crystals!"

"Understood."

Old Ma nodded steadily and stepped forward. 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 about to break out.

Dark-Blue Crystal

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

Old Ma snorted and extended his hand. A heavy hammer appeared in his grasp.

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

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

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

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

There was no doubt that with his strength, if he landed a frontal blow, the Soul Beast would instantly die beneath his hammer—

Provided he hit it head-on.

Facing the menacing Soul Douluo, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast chose a response no one present had expected.

It actually burrowed into the wall.

"Huh?"

Boom!

The giant hammer crashed down, kicking up thick clouds of dust, but the Soul Beast had vanished.

Old Ma rose to his feet and vigilantly scanned the surroundings, 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 grabbed Meng Hongchen and Ning Tian and rolled to the side.

"Fuck, what are you—"

Caught completely off guard, Xiao Hongchen was kicked into rolling twice across the ground. Just as he was about to curse, every word caught in his throat.

Several long crystal spikes covered the place 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 grating voice, Bai Chen impatiently rolled his eyes and called out:

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

"Hmph, leave it to us!"

A bright voice rang out. Purple mist rose around Bai Chen, and with the crack of a long whip, every crystal trying to approach them was shattered to pieces.

Ji Juechen stood guard before Xiao Hongchen. Without saying a word, he raised his longsword. With every swing and slash, all danger was resolved.

"Well done."

Seeing the two outstanding students protect Bai Chen and the others, Old Ma sighed in relief. He took out a disc-shaped Soul Guide Device and shouted:

"Please hold on a little longer. I'll find this beast soon enough!"

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

In a twisting, enclosed environment like this mine cave, such an ability was truly troublesome.

The Soul Beast's attack power was not particularly strong; Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen could easily block it. But its attacks were impossible to guard against. If they did not deal with it here, leaving the mine cave unscathed would not be easy.

"Beep... beep..."

"Found you!"

As the disc-shaped Soul Guide Device emitted faint sounds, Old Ma immediately turned around and swung his hammer at a nearby wall without hesitation.

Boom—

Awooo—

With a pained howl, a black Soul Ring slowly rose, and the attacks that had continuously targeted Bai Chen and the others came to a halt.

"It's... over...?"

Bai Chen sighed in relief. He instinctively looked at the two girls in his arms, only for his newly settled 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, nor had he had time to pay attention to their condition.

Now that he looked down, he realized Meng Hongchen was gazing at him with a face full of emotion, while Ning Tian was looking at Meng Hongchen with clear dissatisfaction.

He awkwardly coughed twice and hurriedly released them.

"Sorry, everything happened so suddenly..."

"It's alright, it's alright!"

Meng Hongchen immediately said:

"I should thank you. If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't have been able to dodge that attack. How did you notice it?"

"Just luck."

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

"Huh?"

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

Watching Meng Hongchen become excited on her own, a sudden suspicion arose in Bai Chen's heart.

No way, was that really enough?

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

She had already held a very favorable impression of him, and his actions had perfectly matched the image of a "prince" in Meng Hongchen's heart.