Equipment Secured!

"First, use this Dragon Crystal to make me a knuckle duster—a single-pointed, spike-shaped one. Use Dragon Bone for the base and support structure, and the Dragon Crystal for the tip. It needs to be hard enough, sharp enough, and able to work with my lightning-attributed soul skills."

"Second, use the remaining Dragon Bone to make me a close-fitting soft armor. Keep it lightweight and protect the vital areas of my torso."

Lou Gao did not answer immediately after listening. He glanced back and forth between the Dragon Bone and Dragon Crystal a few times, tapping his fingers against the table. "They're fine materials, but I don't have much experience with Dragon Crystal. I've never worked with it before. I can make the knuckle duster, but shaping the Dragon Crystal will require special methods. I'll need a few extra days to experiment."

"How long?"

"Half a month. Dragon Crystal is too hard, so polishing it will be slow. And I have to make sure none of the material goes to waste. This stuff is too rare—it'd be a shame to ruin it." Lou Gao looked up at him. "Besides, it won't be cheap."

"How much?"

Lou Gao held up five fingers. "Two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins."

Without another word, Huang Yun poured two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins from his storage ring onto the table. Golden light spilled everywhere, covering the tabletop in a small mountain of coins.

Lou Gao froze for a moment, then broke into a grin. "Straightforward! Deal!"

For the next three days, Huang Yun stayed at an inn near Lou Gao Forge.

During the day, he wandered around Gengjin City. At night, he returned to cultivate and nourish his two Spirit Bones, occasionally stopping by the forge to check on the progress.

Lou Gao truly deserved his reputation as a master craftsman of the age. His efficiency was extraordinary.

On the first day, he cut and polished all six Dragon Bones into suitable thin plates and framework pieces. After tempering, the Dragon Bone became even tougher, its surface taking on a beautiful dark-gold sheen.

On the second day, he began working on the Dragon Crystal.

The Dragon Crystal was incredibly hard. Ordinary polishing tools could not make a dent in it, so Lou Gao specifically mixed several special ores into an abrasive before he could barely grind it down.

He spent an entire day just roughly shaping the Dragon Crystal into a sharp cone.

By the third day, Lou Gao had already begun fitting the Dragon Bone and Dragon Crystal together.

Huang Yun went to take a look.

The knuckle duster had already taken shape. The Dragon Bone base tightly encased the root of the Dragon Crystal, leaving only the tip exposed. It was dark gold with faint golden streams of light, while the semi-translucent tip revealed the Dragon Crystal's glow slowly circulating within.

Beside Lou Gao lay a completed set of Dragon Bone Soft Armor. It was as thin as cicada wings, every piece of Dragon Bone polished to the utmost thinness and linked together with special metal threads. The entire armor could be folded in half like cloth, light and breathable.

"It should be finished in around ten more days," Lou Gao said without lifting his head.

Huang Yun stood in the doorway for a while before nodding. "No rush. Take your time. I'll come collect it when it's done. Good things need careful polishing."

Lou Gao did not respond, completely immersed in his work.

Huang Yun turned and left the forge.

Ten days later, he would have a Dragon Fang Knuckle Duster capable of piercing a Soul Saint's defenses, along with a lightweight Dragon Bone Soft Armor with formidable protection.

By then, his combat strength would rise another level.

Over the following days, Huang Yun continued with his usual routine.

He wandered around Gengjin City during the day and returned to the inn to cultivate at night.

He deliberately visited several larger medicinal shops in the city and bought some ordinary herbs that nourished the meridians and aided Soul Power circulation. They were not expensive, but they were practical.

Every night before bed, he brewed a dose and drank it, then meditated. His Soul Power did not advance at a breakneck pace, but it rose steadily.

Once one reached the Soul King realm, progress only became slower. But Huang Yun was not worried, because he had plenty of time.

After all, he was only twelve years old.

A twelve-year-old level fifty-five Soul King!

There should not have been anyone in this world capable of surpassing him.

Not even Qian Renxue, the Six-Winged Angel with innate level twenty Soul Power.

If she had focused solely on cultivation and completing her Divine Test without bothering with other trivial matters, she might have been able to reach that level. But most likely, she was currently an infiltrator, distracted by other matters and cultivating more slowly.

On the fifth day, he passed through an alley in the western part of the city and saw a crowd gathered around its entrance.

When he drew closer, he saw an old man selling several dull gray ores from a roadside stall. The old man claimed they had been dug out of ruins and even had appraisal certificates.

The onlookers took a few looks, shook their heads, and left. Huang Yun crouched down and swept his gaze over them. Lightning Falcon Eyes activated for an instant, and he saw a faint metallic gleam flowing within one inconspicuous black ore.

"How much for this one?" He pointed at the black ore.

The old man held up three fingers. "Thirty Gold Soul Coins."

Huang Yun did not haggle. He paid, picked up the ore, and left.

Back at the inn, he examined it carefully and used Raikiri to cut away one corner. Inside was a small piece of exceptionally pure Thunder-Pattern Iron. There was not much of it, but it was more than enough for making auxiliary parts for Soul Tools.

He casually stored it in his ring, considering it an unexpected gain.

On the evening of the seventh day, he went to the forge to check on the progress.

Lou Gao was giving the Dragon Fang Knuckle Duster its final shaping. The Dragon Crystal tip had been polished smooth and sharp, glowing with a translucent pale-gold light under the lamps. Faint lightning flickered within it.

The connection between the Dragon Bone base and the Dragon Crystal was seamless, without the slightest visible gap.

"The Dragon Bone Soft Armor is already finished." Lou Gao set down his tools and pointed toward a table nearby.

Huang Yun walked over and picked up the soft armor. It was extremely light, barely heavier than a set of ordinary cloth clothes.

The entire armor was assembled from hundreds of Dragon Bone scales polished until they were paper-thin. Every piece was smooth and flat, its edges treated without the slightest burr.

He shook the armor open and draped it over his chest to test it. It fit well. He moved his shoulders and arms, and it did not restrict his range of motion at all.

"How's the defense?" he asked.

Lou Gao snorted. "It can take anything below Soul Saint level with ease. Even a Soul Saint's full-force frontal strike will have most of its power dispersed, but don't try to take one head-on."

Huang Yun nodded and folded the soft armor before placing it back on the table.

After all, it was only bone—and from a Hundred-Twenty-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that had been dead for a long time. Reaching this level was already impressive.

If it had been brought to him for forging immediately after the beast died, it might even have been able to withstand a Titled Douluo's attack.

On the eighth day, the Dragon Fang Knuckle Duster was finished as well.

When Lou Gao handed it to Huang Yun, Huang Yun's first impression was that it was heavy.

The knuckle duster was not large. It fit perfectly over the middle and ring fingers of his right hand, yet it weighed far more than its size suggested, heavy in his palm like a piece of metal compressed a thousandfold.

A dragon-fang-shaped spike about two inches long extended from the front. Its tip was translucent pale gold, with the Dragon Crystal's energy flowing slowly within.

Several shallow grooves were carved into the surface of the Dragon Bone base. Lou Gao explained that they were meant to guide Soul Power, allowing energy to gather more smoothly at the Dragon Crystal tip whenever Raikiri was activated.

Huang Yun put on the knuckle duster to test it. The moment he clenched his fist, Soul Power automatically flowed toward the Dragon Crystal tip. A ring of dark-gold light lit up around it, and an extremely faint hum sounded in the air.

He lightly jabbed at an abandoned sword-testing iron ingot nearby. The Dragon Crystal tip pierced into the ingot without the slightest resistance, penetrating a full inch deep.

A smooth round hole was left in the iron ingot, with no cracks around its edges.

Huang Yun grinned.

"Good stuff."

"From now on, you'll be called Dragon Sting."

Seeing his satisfied expression, Lou Gao rarely showed a trace of pride. "Anything produced by me, Lou Gao, is never inferior. I've already treated the Dragon Crystal tip of the knuckle duster for Soul Power conduction. Whenever you activate Soul Power or a soul skill, it'll automatically amplify it. You won't need to control it separately. Just wear the soft armor close to your body—it won't affect your movements."

Huang Yun put away the knuckle duster and soft armor, then took out the remaining portion of the Dragon Crystal and several unused Dragon Bone scraps, handing them to Lou Gao. "Keep these. Consider them extra payment for keeping this confidential. I don't want anyone to know I have these."

Lou Gao froze for a moment, then burst into laughter and slapped his thigh. "Good lad, you're generous! If you've got work like this in the future, come find me anytime! Don't worry—there won't be a third person who knows about this!"

Huang Yun bid Lou Gao farewell. By the time he left the forge, it was already late at night. There were few pedestrians on Gengjin City's streets, and the dim Soul Tool lamps swayed gently in the wind.

As he walked back to the inn, he felt the weight of the two new pieces of equipment in his storage ring.

Dragon Fang Knuckle Duster, Dragon Bone Soft Armor.

Both offense and defense were secured.

He looked up at the stars overhead, his steps light.