Why not summon a Heroic Spirit who "knows everything about Soul Masters"?
The reason was simple. Heroic Spirit Summoning had to follow the historical and legendary trajectory of the Douluo Continent. While it could draw counterparts from parallel timelines, that person absolutely could not be fabricated out of thin air.
If he truly followed the legends of Douluo history and summoned someone who "knew everything about Soul Masters," and that person also held quite a grudge against Tang San for not being brought to the God Realm...
"This is a Ten-Year Lonely Bamboo. Its defining trait is toughness..."
Ye Chenxing hurriedly shook his head, clearing away all those messy thoughts. If he really summoned that flat-headed "theoretically invincible" fellow, he feared he would suffer a cerebral hemorrhage and pass out from rage on the spot.
After steadying himself, he took a deep breath. The secret chamber returned to utter silence.
Then, Ye Chenxing once more recited the ancient incantation he had used when summoning Qian Renxue.
As Soul Power poured in frantically, the summoning array on the ground suddenly erupted with blinding light. Its intricate runes flowed and intertwined like living creatures. The immense energy fluctuations made the entire underground chamber hum and shake, while a pillar of light shot skyward and wild winds whipped Ye Chenxing's clothes about him.
Ye Chenxing stared fixedly at the center of the pillar of light, his eyes full of anticipation.
Would it be Caster? As long as he had a skill like "Item Construction" or "Territory Creation," this summon would be an absolute jackpot!
The light slowly faded, revealing a tall, upright figure in the center of the array.
The newcomer was a middle-aged man. He was tall and powerfully built, with handsome features and a high nose bridge. His sharp eyes seemed capable of seeing through people's hearts, and he exuded overwhelming authority. Every gesture carried the commanding bearing of one long accustomed to holding power.
Ye Chenxing could not help feeling uneasy. In his imagination, even if the summoned Soul Engineer was not a fanatical scholar wearing thick glasses, he should not have had an aura like this, right? This temperament did not look like someone doing logistical research at all. He was clearly a magnate who held great power.
The middle-aged man lowered his head and looked at his hands, curling and unclenching his fingers as though testing the strength of this body. Then he raised his eyes and surveyed his surroundings before finally fixing his sharp gaze on Ye Chenxing.
He stepped forward and dropped to one knee.
"Servant, Archer, greets Master."
Hmm, not bad. He looked quite loyal, not like some thorny troublemaker who would rebel.
Ye Chenxing nodded to himself, but in the next second, his smile froze completely.
Wait?
"What class did you just say you were?"
"In reply to Master, I am a Heroic Spirit manifested under the Archer class."
Ye Chenxing sucked in a sharp breath.
How could this be? How could he be Archer?
I wanted support. Why did you give me another damage dealer?
But the deed was done, and he could not exactly request a refund on a summoned Heroic Spirit. Ye Chenxing could only desperately comfort himself inwardly.
Forget it, forget it. The Archer class at least came with the passive skill "Independent Action." He could recover some Soul Power on his own, which counted as an advantage.
Ye Chenxing cleared his throat and forcefully suppressed the complaints in his heart. "Rise, Archer. Then tell me your identity."
The man rose as instructed, his manner still respectful. "Master, I do not possess a specific historical identity. I am an existence derived from the very concept of a 'Soul Engineer.'"
?!
Oh!
Ye Chenxing was greatly shaken. There was light at the end of the tunnel. He had thought his idea had failed because he had not summoned a Caster, yet it had succeeded with Archer instead! It seemed his idea of using the entire Sun Moon Empire as a medium had been completely correct.
But... since he was the incarnation of the Soul Tool concept, why was he specifically an Archer?
He looked the man up and down, then continued asking, "So you are a purely fictional figure? Yet your appearance does not resemble that of a pure Soul Engineer, scholar, or researcher at all. Instead, you look more like someone in a high position."
Archer nodded and replied with great respect, "Master, you truly have keen eyes. Though I have no name and am merely a concept, the body I rely upon when summoned possesses its own identity."
"Oh?" Ye Chenxing raised an eyebrow. During his little lessons at Einzbern, he seemed to remember there truly was a summoning method called "possession."
He could not help becoming even more curious about the other man's identity.
"Let's hear it."
Archer spoke calmly. "The body I am using is named... Qiangu Dongfeng."
?
Who?
Qiangu Dongfeng?!
Ye Chenxing's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
How could it be him?! Why him?!
Wasn't he the master of the Spirit Pagoda ten thousand years in the future?
Since when could Heroic Spirits summon people from the future? Hadn't it been agreed that only heroes who left their mark on history could be summoned?
Ye Chenxing frowned tightly and began carefully searching through the magecraft lessons he had heard in the Einzbern household during his previous life.
Had the teacher mentioned it? It seemed he had indeed said something about it. The Throne of Heroes transcended the timeline, so people from the future could also...
Forget it, that was not important at all! The problem was that this guy's Martial Soul was clearly a Coiling Dragon Staff! What did a close-combat, power-type Battle Soul Master who fought with a staff have to do with Soul Tools?!
As a Coiling Dragon Staff Soul Master, if he descended under the Lancer class, Ye Chenxing could accept it. As the future supreme ruler of the Spirit Pagoda, if he were summoned as a Rider, Ye Chenxing would also find that understandable.
But he had to be an Archer!
What gave him the right to be Archer? It could not possibly be because his name had Dongfeng in it, could it?
Ye Chenxing took a deep breath and forced down the absurdity in his heart before asking, "Then, Archer, what exactly is your 'bow'? And by what legend were you chosen as an archer?"
"In reply to Master, I do not possess a bow in the strict sense." Archer answered respectfully. "But I descended under the Archer class because, in the field of 'shooting,' I left behind a name that would endure for ages across the continent."
"...Shooting?"
Archer nodded and calmly recounted that horrifying history—or rather, the future that had originally been meant to occur.
"I once... or rather, in the future, used countless Level Seven to Level Nine Fixed Soul Guidance Shells, along with two Godslayer-Class Fixed Soul Guidance Shells, to completely raze Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters to the ground."
"..."
Ye Chenxing stood dumbfounded. So it really was because his name had Dongfeng in it?
Well damn, so this was what had been waiting for him!
Thinking about it carefully, that feat... really did make him more like a qualified Archer than anyone else who used bows or shells.
In terms of launching attacks, Lightfeather Douluo? A Super Douluo's output compared to a Level Twelve Fixed Soul Guidance Shell? What kind of joke was that?
In terms of opposing Tang San, wiping out Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect in one strike made him a true pioneer of anti-Tang forces!
If he was not Archer, who else qualified?
Ye Chenxing swallowed, his eyes shining. "So, if you were given the title Archer because of that legend..."
"Then your ability is... to reproduce Godslayer-Class Fixed Soul Guidance Shells?"
Before you continue