Yan Jingchuan's Spirit Forging technique was something Jing Hongchen had never heard of.
No normal person would believe in a technique that had yet to be proven in this era, much less when it was proposed by a child.
Yet precisely because Yan Jingchuan had proposed it, Jing Hongchen was certain it was real.
Just a few days ago, he too had regarded Yan Jingchuan as a child, but everything Yan Jingchuan had displayed had thoroughly stunned him.
Leaving aside everything else, Yan Jingchuan's knowledge of the exact location of the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave alone was enough for Jing Hongchen to believe him.
"Hundred Forging is easy enough to achieve. Thousand Forging is somewhat difficult, while Spirit Forging is best customized to the individual."
Xiao Hongchen suddenly voiced his understanding.
Yan Jingchuan and Jing Hongchen had not avoided speaking in front of the Hongchen siblings. They had heard every word.
Jing Hongchen said nothing. He knew his grandson too well. The boy called himself the number one genius of the Sun Moon Empire, but in truth, he was somewhat narrow-minded.
He was not even a blacksmith, had never forged metal before, so where did that confidence come from...
As Jing Hongchen silently mocked his grandson, he suddenly froze, then realized something. Metal!?
Xiao Hongchen's Three-Legged Golden Toad Martial Soul was renowned for controlling metal. With Xiao Hongchen around, what need was there for a blacksmith?
Having figured this out, Jing Hongchen looked at Yan Jingchuan. At that moment, Yan Jingchuan also caught on. The two met each other's eyes for a moment, then burst into laughter at the same time.
The way they looked at Xiao Hongchen immediately changed.
"Hey! Grandpa, why are you looking at me like that..."
Stared at by two people with wicked grins, their gazes clearly full of ill intent, Xiao Hongchen felt a chill run down his back.
Yan Jingchuan could not suppress the curl of his lips. Wasn't Xiao Hongchen a natural metal-production machine? He could control metal over a wide area, purify it, and essentially "forge" it. When his Soul Power ran low, he could feed on cheap metal to recover and keep going twenty-four hours a day.
A nuclear-powered mule had just been born!
Xiao Hongchen could more or less accomplish Hundred Forging and Thousand Forging already. It did not matter if he could not yet manage the later Spirit Forging, Soul Forging, or even Heaven Forging. They could take it slowly. They had plenty of time.
With that in mind, the chances of Battle Armor appearing in this era were quite high.
The exhilarated pair returned to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy of Mingdu with the chilled Xiao Hongchen and the gleeful Meng Hongchen.
The first thing they did upon returning was neither rest nor recover from their injuries. They hurried straight to the Mingde Hall.
Meng Hongchen was naturally the exception. It was not that her talent in Soul Tools was lacking, but that she had something more important to do.
The remaining half of the Ten-Thousand-Year Dark Ice Marrow in the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave had all been prepared for her. If she made proper use of it, then even if Meng Hongchen's Martial Soul could not reach Ultimate Ice, it would certainly come very close.
Once Meng Hongchen's cultivation gradually improved in the future, she might well gain the ability to absorb the Ice Empress's Soul Ring.
During this trip to the Extreme North, the Ice Empress had already made it onto Yan Jingchuan's must-kill list. He could not absorb the Ice Empress's Soul Ring, and Meng Hongchen was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.
After settling Meng Hongchen in, the remaining three entered the underground Mingde Hall.
As the Sun Moon Empire's most vital Soul Tool research institution, the Mingde Hall stood alongside Shrek's Sea God Pavilion and the Noumenon Sect as the three great powers of the current era.
There was a famous saying in the Soul Master world: Soul Tools produced by the Mingde Hall were guaranteed to be masterpieces!
This enormous underground institution was Yan Jingchuan's first time visiting.
Previously, there had been no need for him to come. Yan Jingchuan's talent in Soul Tools was not particularly outstanding, so there was little difference in where he studied.
On the other hand, Jing Hongchen had not trusted Yan Jingchuan at the time and had deliberately guarded against him. But things were different now.
Jing Hongchen found a laboratory for them alone and placed Xiao Hongchen at a workstation belonging to him. From now on, Xiao Hongchen would probably be forging metal here.
Yan Jingchuan's various ideas were still only theories and had not yet been put into practice. They needed Xiao Hongchen to first try completing Hundred Forging and Thousand Forging.
Forced to start work, Xiao Hongchen regretted ever opening his mouth.
Of course, it was too late for regrets now.
Xiao Hongchen possessed his Three-Legged Golden Toad Martial Soul, and three Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, and purple—appeared.
The surrounding metal slowly rose under his control, turning liquid in midair as it twisted and reshaped.
Jing Hongchen and Yan Jingchuan watched without blinking.
After a series of changes, the metal solidified again. All impurities had been removed and it was purified. As expected, Hundred Forging succeeded.
Next came Thousand Forging. After undergoing secondary processing, various metals emitted different resonances.
The sounds of those resonances could reveal the internal structure of the metal, allowing it to be classified from first to fifth grade.
Although Thousand Forging succeeded, the overall grades were generally low. It was obvious that Xiao Hongchen was unskilled at his first attempt.
Picking up a piece of Thousand Forged metal, Jing Hongchen could hardly contain the wild joy in his eyes.
"So this is Thousand Forging? If these unique properties were used to create Soul Tools, their power and special characteristics would increase tremendously."
"Dean, should we tell that person and have him join us as well?"
Yan Jingchuan was not as excited as Jing Hongchen. He spoke meaningfully.
The person he referred to was naturally Kong Deming, chief of the Sun Moon Empire's Worship Hall and a tenth-rank Soul Engineer.
Jing Hongchen understood Yan Jingchuan's meaning and naturally had no reason to refuse. If they wanted to quickly put Yan Jingchuan's fantastic ideas into practice, then having the father of Soul Tools, Kong Deming, help them would indeed yield twice the result with half the effort.
Jing Hongchen immediately went to the Worship Hall to meet Kong Deming.
He merely repeated the techniques and ideas Yan Jingchuan had described, and Kong Deming became interested. When Jing Hongchen produced the completed Hundred Forged and Thousand Forged pieces as proof, Kong Deming was already seventy percent convinced.
Without hesitation, Kong Deming summoned Ye Yulin and followed Jing Hongchen to the Mingde Hall.
Yan Jingchuan and Xiao Hongchen had not waited long before they saw the three arrive together.
Kong Deming looked ordinary. Tall and thin, he appeared no different from an ordinary old man. Without knowing his name, no one would connect him to the father of Soul Tools.
"You are Yan Jingchuan?"
Kong Deming stepped forward and studied Yan Jingchuan.
"Yes, Elder Kong."
Yan Jingchuan respectfully bowed. He remained calm, without the slightest hint of flustered fear.
"This old man is very interested in the things you mentioned. The creation and fusion of Lifebound Soul Tools will no longer be a problem, but you should still have things you haven't said, correct?"
Meeting Kong Deming's eyes, cloudy yet gleaming with sharp light, Yan Jingchuan did not care whether the old man was probing him. He would have to say it sooner or later anyway.
He simply laid out the mechas and Battle Armor from ten thousand years in the future in full.
As Kong Deming, Jing Hongchen, and Ye Yulin listened, their eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Good boy, this old man truly wants to crack open your head and see what exactly is inside, for you to have so many fantastic ideas."
Kong Deming looked at Yan Jingchuan, then turned toward Xiao Hongchen.
"It seems this old man will not be lonely in his later years! Are you two willing to take me as your master?"
No one around them was surprised. Instead, they all felt it was only natural.
Just by proposing so many era-spanning ideas, Yan Jingchuan was qualified to become Kong Deming's disciple, even if only as an experimental consultant.
There was even less need to mention Xiao Hongchen. In terms of metal-forging ability alone, he would become the core executor of Yan Jingchuan's theories.
Neither hesitated for long before decisively becoming his disciples.
A thigh comparable to a Limit Douluo was not something they would pass up.
After leaving the Mingde Hall, Yan Jingchuan first checked on Meng Hongchen. Once he confirmed that she had formally entered seclusion, he did not disturb her further.
Halfway back to his residence, at the same place where Wang Shaojie had blocked him before, a group of people suddenly appeared and surrounded him.
Yan Jingchuan had not expected to be surrounded again, at the same location and the same time. Jing Hongchen's management was practically useless.
His gaze swept across those surrounding him. Every one of them wore black robes that concealed their faces, yet Yan Jingchuan was not the least bit flustered. This time was different from the last.
Having backing and having none made a tremendous difference. Kong Deming had just given him a gift upon accepting him as a disciple. Unless they were Titled Douluo, no one could take him down in a single move.
"Who are you?"
Not one of the black-robed figures answered. A sinister, bloody aura rushed toward him.
Yan Jingchuan raised an eyebrow. Evil Soul Masters! And so many of them, on this scale.
Evil Soul Masters, black robes, hiding their faces, and gathering in such large numbers... Could these be people from the Holy Spirit Cult?
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