The Pitiful Seventh-Level Soul Guidance Device Master

After obtaining the Soraka Martial Soul, Lin Wan'er's intuition had become exceptionally sharp. Seeing Jiang Bai filled with fear, sweat pouring uncontrollably down his forehead, the kind-hearted girl gripped the shrunken Star Guardian Staff in her hand.

She cast Wish at Jiang Bai, successfully easing the middle-aged man's negative emotions and stopping his sweating.

Coming back to his senses, Jiang Bai looked at Lin Wan'er, who was as noble as a princess, with a face full of gratitude. He explained to the three distinguished guests who had arrived in such haste, "This is the dedicated laboratory building of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. It is normally used to assess students' talent and comprehension in Soul Tools."

"Then you don't value the strength of Soul Masters? I haven't seen any combat grounds along the way."

As Gu Yuena listened to Jiang Bai's explanation and sensed the constant Soul Tool fluctuations emanating from all around, the tactless Silver Dragon King silently labeled the Sun Moon Empire's academy as weak and fragile.

Having only recently transformed into human form, the Silver Dragon King found it difficult to deal tactfully with adult humans. Lin Wan'er had considered this on the way here, but she truly had not expected the Silver Dragon King to lack even the slightest hint of subtlety when speaking...

"Ahem, esteemed guest, our Outer Courtyard assessments do not place excessive importance on students' combat ability. The focus is on Soul Tool research and study. Only the Inner Courtyard's teaching follows a model that emphasizes both."

Jiang Bai wiped at the cold sweat that did not exist on his forehead and explained with a smile that the Outer Courtyard and Inner Courtyard were fundamentally different.

"I understand. However, I quite enjoy the thrill that battle brings. I hope I'll have a chance to experience the facilities the academy has prepared later."

"Of course. You are guests who have traveled from afar. As a teacher of this academy, no matter what, I must make sure you leave happily."

Leading Lin Wan'er and the others more quickly to the Soul Tool workshop, Jiang Bai seemed to have found his backbone again and became radiant with confidence. When introducing the Outer Courtyard's offerings, he no longer stammered and instead resembled a Seventh-Level Soul Guidance Device Master.

Under Jiang Bai's patient guidance, Lin Wan'er and Gu Yuena soon began examining the precious materials piled beside the workbench together, learning the operating steps for simple Soul Tools.

Watching two little girls too young even to qualify for admission to the Outer Courtyard play with parts and materials, Jiang Bai remained on edge despite knowing that even an error in operating a First-Level Soul Guidance Array would not cause an explosion.

He feared that the two little princesses might be injured, causing the Beast God to destroy the Outer Courtyard in a fit of rage.

"Lord Beast God, might I ask who these two are...?"

Considering that Jiang Bai's performance along the way had been commendable and had greatly increased the Co-Lord's interest in Soul Tools, Di Tian saw no need to conceal anything. He condensed his voice with soul power and sent it into the middle-aged man's ear.

"The one on the left is Lin Wan'er, Holy Maiden of the Soul Beast clan of the Douluo Continent. The one on the right is the master of all Soul Beasts—Her Excellency the proud Silver Dragon King."

What? Jiang Bai nearly lost his breath in one gulp. His feet stumbled, and he almost performed a flat-ground fall.

He had considered that the two little princesses under the Beast God's protection must have been extraordinarily important, but he had never imagined that one was a Holy Maiden while the other was the Beast God's master!

What kind of luck was this? Why did every damned misfortune have to happen to him?!

"Human, why do you look even more excited than I am?"

Di Tian did not understand why humans were so fragile. He had merely transmitted his voice with soul power, yet Jiang Bai, a Soul King, had nearly lost his footing and fallen to the ground.

"It's nothing, it's nothing."

Bracing himself against the lectern, Jiang Bai could not help letting out a sigh of relief after confirming that the two ancestors below had not noticed anything unusual about him.

To ease the bitterness in his heart, Jiang Bai could only put his specialty to use again, chatting intermittently with Beast God Di Tian about the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's current understanding of arrays.

As its name implied, a Soul Guidance Array was a complex pattern formed from soul power or substances capable of conducting soul power. It came in two types: planar arrays and spherical three-dimensional arrays.

It could convert soul power into various special effects and was the true core of a Soul Tool.

Using a Soul Tool was, in essence, the process of injecting soul power into an array and then having the array output it.

Its internal structure consisted of the following: Array Core/Array Hub: the center of the array, supporting the operation of the entire array. External soul power entered every part of the array through it.

Soul Lines: the pathways responsible for transporting the flow of soul power. The wider a Soul Line's radius, the more soul power it could output within a standard period of time; the narrower it was, the less it could output.

Node Arrays: transfer stations placed along Soul Lines or at the junctions of multiple Soul Lines. The points that formed a Node Array were divided into "mass points" and "nodes." Mass points accelerated soul power transmission, while nodes impeded or even severed soul power transmission.

Runes: varied in type and function. They were equivalent to a computer's "programs," using soul power as energy to produce different effects. Some mid- to high-level Soul Tools linked several runes together into a "rune assembly," treating the rune assembly as a single rune.

Array Boundary: the boundary of a Soul Guidance Array, used to prevent energy leakage. It determined the specifications and shape of the array.

The current Outer Courtyard assessment required students to construct a First-Level Soul Guidance Array. As long as they completed it before the age of ten and possessed a Soul Power Level of around fifteen, they could pass the test and officially become prospective second-year students.

As for Lin Wan'er and Gu Yuena, who had listened for less than half an hour, no matter how noble their identities or how formidable their strength, they could not possibly grasp a First-Level Soul Guidance Array in such a short time.

This was the confidence of Jiang Bai, a Seventh-Level Soul Guidance Device Master!

"The only reason you're saying this is because you're afraid I'll blame you for teaching poorly."

With just one glance from Di Tian, Jiang Bai's body involuntarily dropped to his knees with a crisp crack.

Jiang Bai clenched his teeth under the immense pressure bearing down on his entire body. Even when he had been severely wounded while hunting Soul Beasts in the forest, he had never felt pain so unbearable that death seemed preferable.

"Lord Beast God, that isn't what I meant. I only..."

Before Jiang Bai could finish speaking, Lin Wan'er, who was moving so fast at the workbench that she left afterimages, wiped dust that did not exist from her face and unwittingly came to his rescue.

"Di Tian, what are you doing! I finally finished my array and am still waiting for Jiang Bai to evaluate it. Can you stop fooling around!"

"Indeed. My array is finished as well."

Lin Wan'er and Gu Yuena's voices, like heavenly music, saved Jiang Bai as he stood at death's door.

Di Tian withdrew his pressure, thinking that in the future, he still needed to have Fox Consort and Pink Lady properly use the imperial family's authority to keep Jiang Bai in line. Otherwise, the Soul Guidance Device Master the Soul Beast clan had taken a liking to might ultimately still choose to betray the Soul Beasts and stand with the Sun Moon Empire.

The reason Di Tian had previously chosen Jiang Bai as the representative between the two continents was simply that Fox Consort had just arrived, and the White Fox she had recently tamed had saved Jiang Bai in the Soul Beast Forest.

Furthermore, Jiang Bai had lost his parents at a young age and had no attachments in the human world. Instead, he had developed improper feelings for the White Fox that had saved his life.

If not for the combination of these factors, Di Tian would have considered replacing him long ago.

After all, within the Sun Moon Continent today, quite a few capable candidates were eagerly lining up to serve the Soul Beast clan and enjoy the power and wealth brought by mutual benefit.