New Metal: Pure Iron

New Metal: Pure Iron

The three of them sped along the official road, stopping now and then to rest their feet. Lin You remained rather silent along the way, his mind constantly at work. He had already mapped out Huo Yuhao's future path, but what about his own?

Over the years, aside from training his physical fitness and improving his cultivation, Lin You had devoted most of his energy to researching his Martial Soul.

At first, he could only use rudimentary methods to draw in hydrogen atoms within a certain range and have them aid him.

The process was rather lengthy and required intense concentration. In combat, it was full of openings. In a real one-on-one fight, he probably could not defeat any Soul Master capable of fighting back.

After all, while he was still foolishly gathering Hydrogen, his opponent could have killed him more than ten times over.

But now, after years of continuous research, Lin You had developed several unique combat techniques. The Hydrogen Atom Barrier he had used against those pursuers last night was one of them. The barrier looked fragile and could indeed be broken with a single poke, but it contained vast quantities of neatly arranged hydrogen atoms. As long as any entity passed through the barrier, its powerful penetrative ability allowed it to easily pass through the skin and enter the bloodstream.

Once inside the body, it disrupted the body's redox balance, triggering stress responses. It penetrated cell membranes, attacked cellular structures and functions, and damaged proteins and DNA. Although it took some time to take effect after activation, Lin You could cast several layers of Hydrogen Atom Barriers in succession!

His Martial Soul could freely control hydrogen atoms within a certain range. When it first awakened, that range had only been a radius of around ten meters.

Now, as his Soul Power Level had risen, it had expanded to a radius of thirty meters. In other words, within that range, as long as he dragged things out, the enemy would collapse and die on their own.

Commonly known as the turtle-style fighting method.

That was also why he wanted to pursue research and development in the direction of Soul Tools.

There was really no helping it. His body was too weak, and this Martial Soul simply had no direct combat ability or means of escape and protection. Pure Element Attribute control could hardly accomplish much without reacting with other elements. At present, the only way to increase his combat power was through Soul Tools.

At most, his future path would be that of a Support System Soul Master.

When a real fight broke out, it would depend on whether his turtle shell was harder and could wear his opponent down, or whether his opponent shattered that shell first.

Still, Lin You knew himself well. Since he had awakened this Martial Soul, doing scientific research was practically effortless for him.

Over the years, he had commissioned others to purchase a small-scale smelting setup. Through research, he had developed a process in which Hydrogen and iron ore underwent a certain degree of reduction, producing pure iron.

In the end, Lin You obtained a small piece of metal that gave off a silvery-white metallic sheen, with good toughness and ductility. It was called pure iron.

Though he did not know the difference between this small amount of pure iron and commonly used metals such as Tough Gold, it was still a major step forward for him. It meant he had created the only new type of metal on the Douluo Continent!

He had specifically gone to a blacksmith's shop to learn about it. Iron ore did not become pure iron directly after smelting. Instead, it became Pig Iron, which contained many impurities.

Pig Iron then had to be hammered and forged into Iron Matrix. Even in Soul Tools, the higher a metal's purity, the better its performance.

His piece of pure iron, however, had been extracted by directly reducing solid iron ore through a Hydrogen-Based Reduction Reaction. It did not need to be hammered at all—high temperature alone was enough.

Its purity was remarkably high, with impurities amounting to almost no more than 0.02%. It was composed entirely of Ferrite. By comparison, Pig Iron contained between 2.12% and 4.3% carbon. The enormous difference between them was plain to see.

What Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, hammering out impurities? Time-consuming and exhausting. He suggested reading more books.

Master physics and chemistry, and fear nothing anywhere in the world.

And with a Soul Master's stamina, traveling the world was quite easy. At the very least, after just over an hour of travel, Lin You had arrived at Thousand Reaches City within the territory of the Star Luo Empire.

"It's my first time traveling far from home. I didn't expect the city to look this nice." Lin You sighed, and the mother and daughter in the carriage behind him also wore looks of amazement.

Thousand Reaches City was an ancient city. Its walls were built from enormous blocks of bluestone, and it was famous for its majestic ramparts and orderly clusters of buildings. From within the city gate, one could see the bustling markets and streets.

But Lin You knew time was pressing and that they could not linger here. He quickly collected his thoughts, with no time to stop and admire the rare scenery. He took a Silver Soul Coin from his robes and handed it to the soldiers guarding the gate as the City Entry Tax, then hurriedly asked a passerby for the location of a Carriage Agency.

After asking around, they quickly found a reputable Carriage Agency in the city center.

Inside the Carriage Agency, Huo Yun'er and Lin You carefully selected a brand-new, finely crafted carriage. Its body was made of high-quality wood, with smooth lines and polished paintwork. It was quite practical.

Next, they chose two sturdy, swift horses with clearly defined muscles. Once everything was ready, Lin You, Huo Yuhao, and Huo Yun'er set out once more. They left the magnificent Thousand Reaches City and headed north toward Star Brilliance City, located near the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, nearly two thousand li away.

As they set off, Huo Yun'er looked pained as she stared at the purse in her hand, still muttering, "The carriage cost two Gold Soul Coins, and the two fast horses cost three Gold Soul Coins and four Silver Soul Coins. If you'd let me bargain some more, I think we could've gotten the price down. That shopkeeper saw that we were in a hurry and deliberately raised the price."

"Alright, Mom, you've said that three times already. It's not like our family is poor. You-ge and I defeated so many experts. Now that we've earned money, we should spend it properly, hehe~"

Huo Yuhao had shed her usual frugality. She stroked the soft seat cushion, hugged the pillow in her arms more tightly, and broke into a silly grin.

"You don't know how expensive life is until you run a household. It isn't easy for You'er to earn money. You silly girl, sigh~ You've really been spoiled by You'er."

Seeing that her daughter's condition had improved greatly after buying Baicao Cream specially used to treat external injuries in the city, Huo Yun'er could not help but smile as well.

For the first half of her life, she had never been able to give her daughter a good living environment. Her daughter had suffered alongside her, enduring so much hardship.

But now, Lin You had brought the two of them out from beneath the shroud of darkness. Their future days would surely grow better and better, and her greatest worry could finally be laid to rest.

"It's fine, Mom. Aren't we going to Shrek Academy? It's the number one academy on the entire continent! Once I graduate, I'll let you live a good life. We'll never go back to the White Tiger Duke Residence again. We'll buy a house, plant a vegetable garden, and live happily ever after! And then, with You-ge..."

As Huo Yuhao fantasized, her gaze drifted to Lin You's back. Watching the boy drive the carriage with such focus, she rested her chin on one hand and became lost in a daze.