Federation Technology Relies on Archaeology...

"L-Level-9 Soul Engineer?" Mo Qingfeng's eyes widened at once. "Mo Yuan, w-when did you take the Level-9 exam?"

He was so shocked that he could barely get the words out. Lin Zhiwei, who was beside him, was equally stunned, her mouth hanging open.

That was a Level-9 Soul Engineer they were talking about!

The highest rank a Soul Engineer could achieve, an existence on par with a Titled Douluo within the Soul Engineer system!

"Am I not still one? Besides, the qualifications of Soul Engineers these days are nothing special. You basically only have to take exams on Soul Tool design and manufacture. It's nothing like before, when practical combat was tested too."

Mo Yuan shook his head and explained helplessly.

What he said wasn't entirely unreasonable. After all, ever since Mechas were invented, and the three auxiliary professions of Mecha designer, Mecha manufacturer, and Mecha repairer appeared, the scope of the Soul Engineer profession had been severely diluted.

It had gradually changed from a practical combat profession into a theoretical professional rating.

If Level-9 Soul Engineers of the past could truly match Titled Douluo in combat strength, then nowadays, a Level-9 Soul Engineer could have any level of cultivation.

Even so, Mo Yuan had recently seen someone propose in an academic journal that Mecha repair be included in the Soul Engineer rank assessment.

It was utterly absurd. If that really happened, wouldn't anyone who only knew how to repair Mechas be able to call themselves a Level-9 Soul Engineer?

Therefore, given the current situation where the Mecha Association dominated the field, only a Level-9 Soul Engineer specializing in design and manufacture combined with a Level-9 Mecha engineer could compare with a Level-9 Soul Engineer from ancient times.

The world was truly going downhill.

Obviously, Mo Qingfeng and Lin Zhiwei didn't understand the intricacies involved. They had never imagined that there could be so many complications.

"Then how confident are you about passing this assessment?"

"How confident?" Mo Yuan thought for a moment before answering casually. "Hmm... one hundred percent. After all, I really can't imagine how I could lose."

He wasn't boasting. Judging from the Federation's current standards, especially in the field of Fixed Soul Guidance Cannon Shells, apart from those three Level 12 Fixed Soul Tool Cannon Shells that had been produced through brute force and the piling up of resources, the Federation was actually not much more advanced than the Sun Moon Empire from ten thousand years ago!

Who would believe that?

He had even seen that one major research direction in the Federation's highest-level academic journals involved studying the large-scale Soul Tool combined formation systems of the Five Beast King Soul Engineer Legions that had protected the Sun Moon Empire ten thousand years ago.

It really did prove the saying: the older, the stronger.

Developing technology through archaeology...

Looking across the entire original Douluo Continent novel, the only thing that had ever sparked his interest was the Blood God Legion's Heavy Ion Ray Gun.

Its ability to ignore defenses and directly inflict damage inside an enemy was quite impressive and worth studying.

Aside from that, things like Soul Guidance Fighters and infrasonic weapons...

They were nothing special.

Seeing how confident Mo Yuan was, Mo Qingfeng also patted him firmly on the shoulder. "Good! Confidence is a good thing, but when you get to Mingdu to take the assessment, you absolutely mustn't let your guard down. Don't fall into a ditch because of carelessness."

"Mm-hmm, I understand."

"I knew Big Brother was the strongest!" Na'er suddenly said.

Mo Yuan glanced at the empty snack bowl in front of her and immediately burst out laughing. "Oh, I see. Na'er, you wouldn't praise your big brother even once until you'd finished eating, would you?"

"Hehe..." Na'er blushed, lowered her head, and bit down on her spoon.

Just then, the Soul Guidance Communicator in Mo Yuan's hand suddenly rang. He picked it up and saw that it was an unfamiliar number.

It's probably Tang Ziran and his wife calling, Mo Yuan guessed.

He answered immediately, and as expected, a man's voice came from the other end.

"Hello, I'm Tang Wulin's father, Tang Ziran. You're his friend, Mo Yuan, right?"

"Yes, that's me. Is something wrong? If this is about the money, there's no need to bring it up again. I really believe in his talent, so I'm simply making an investment. I believe he'll bring me even greater returns in the future."

The other end of the call fell silent. Mo Yuan's blunt words had left Tang Ziran completely at a loss for what to say.

After all, Mo Yuan had put his intentions right out in the open. What else was there to guess?

But they really did need the money. They had made this call largely just to put their minds at ease.

"In that case, thank you, Mo Yuan. We'll definitely repay you as soon as possible." Tang Ziran thanked him solemnly.

"Mm. Now that you have the money, go buy a Soul Spirit as soon as possible. The number available there is limited, after all."

"Alright, alright. Thank you for reminding us."

After exchanging a few more words, Mo Yuan ended the Soul Guidance call.

Meanwhile, at Tang Wulin's home, Tang Ziran ended the Soul Guidance call with a troubled look on his face.

Then he sighed as he looked at the silent Lang Yue and Tang Wulin.

"We really owe him a huge favor this time..."

Lang Yue looked at her husband with concern. "What do we do now? Should we return the money?"

A million was an enormous sum. How could anyone possibly lend it to them so casually?

Tang Ziran looked at the silent Tang Wulin and said seriously, "Linlin, tell Dad. What kind of person is this Mo Yuan, exactly? And what's your relationship with him?"

Tang Wulin thought for a moment before answering, "Brother Mo Yuan is a genius. All I know is that he's a very powerful Soul Engineer, and he's also the son of the president of Red Mountain Academy. The two of us... we get along pretty well. He's my only friend at the academy."

At the end, Tang Wulin told a small lie. He didn't actually know what his relationship with Mo Yuan was exactly, but Mo Yuan really was the only person at the academy he could talk to.

The others thought his Martial Soul was merely Blue Silver Grass and couldn't be bothered to speak with him.

Tang Ziran nodded. "In that case, keep the money."

"However..." His tone changed. He placed both hands heavily on Tang Wulin's shoulders and added solemnly, "Although you're friends, you should understand that lending you money is a favor, while not lending it to you is simply his right. So, Linlin, you must know how to be grateful and repay him as soon as possible. Understand?"

Tang Wulin nodded heavily.

"I understand!"

"Good. Now eat first. I'll take a day off tomorrow and bring you to the Spirit Pagoda to buy a Soul Spirit. A Century Soul Spirit will be enough for you to get far ahead of the others, Linlin."

After dinner, Tang Ziran sent Tang Wulin to bed. He then sat in the living room, staring blankly into space, no one knowing what he was thinking.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Lang Yue came out and saw that her husband was still lost in thought. She sat down beside him and asked softly, "Ziran, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm wondering if I'm useless as a father." He gave a self-mocking smile. "I couldn't even save enough money to buy my son a Soul Spirit. In the end, I had to rely on my son to borrow money from a classmate."

Lang Yue sighed and leaned her head against her husband's shoulder. "This isn't your fault. Who told those people—"

"Alright, let's not talk about this." Tang Ziran interrupted Lang Yue. "We can't let Linlin repay the money himself. I'll think of something later."

Lang Yue nodded lightly.

"No matter what happens, I'll support you."