"Absolutely not!"
Bei Mingxue hurried to her feet. "I'll select a few powerful subordinates to accompany you to the Douluo Continent right away!"
"There's no need."
Xi Zhao shook his head. "Don't you know how strong I am? Extra hands won't help. I alone am enough."
"Well... all right."
Bei Mingxue nodded, then her eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, I have just the person in mind. I imagine he'd be interested in this journey."
West of the Douluo Continent, several thousand nautical miles off the Heaven Dou Empire's coastline.
A nearly transparent small vessel slowly sailed toward the coast. Not only was the little ship almost invisible to the naked eye, but its engine was also exceptionally quiet, as though it had been born for surprise attacks.
And indeed it had. This vessel belonged to the Northern Underworld Empire's Night Raid Fleet, and aboard it were Xi Zhao and the others, who were preparing to travel to the Douluo Continent.
"Feng, I'm so curious! What exactly is the Douluo Continent like?"
Inside one of the ship's rooms, a girl in a red-and-white dress followed beside a young man.
The girl looked eighteen or nineteen, with fair skin and lively eyes. Her glossy black hair was tied into twin ponytails, giving her a fresh, lovely appearance.
Curiosity filled her expression as she looked at the young man, then at the seascape outside, as though everything in the world could pique her interest.
Her name was Qiu Ling'er, and she was the granddaughter of Qiu Beiling, the director of the Soul Tool Institute. Despite her youth, she was already a powerful Level 6 Soul Engineer.
Her Martial Soul was Spirit Eyes, the same as Huo Yuhao's. Unlike his, however, her Spirit Eyes possessed spatial abilities. Although they also enhanced her mental power, that was not their primary benefit.
Her spatial Spirit Eyes granted her the power to see through space, allowing her to develop all sorts of Storage Soul Tools at such a young age.
Large Storage Soul Tools, in particular, were Qiu Ling'er's proudest creations.
She could already make Storage Soul Tools with enormous capacities, even incorporating more powerful functions such as sorting items and storing living creatures.
One could say that possessing a Soul Tool she had personally made was proof of a Soul Master's elite standing.
She had gone to sea this time because of Bei Ming Feng. Bei Mingxue had ordered him to travel to the Douluo Continent and assist Xi Zhao, one of the Five Elders.
Qiu Ling'er, meanwhile, had tagged along of her own accord.
At that moment, Bei Ming Feng fiddled with the Soul Tool components in his hands as he patiently answered, "According to Her Majesty, the Douluo Continent is an extremely primitive continent."
"They have no Soul Tool craftsmanship, don't know how to condense Soul Cores, and have no techniques for compressing soul power. You could call them outright primitives."
Bei Ming Feng lightly pressed a switch on his glasses, and the image before his eyes immediately sharpened.
Behind him, six incredibly precise mechanical hands began moving, assisting him with the delicate work of making Soul Tools.
"We'll only be watching from the sidelines this time. After all, with our abilities, we won't be much help in a battle like that."
"How can you say that?"
Qiu Ling'er waved her arms and pouted. "Feng, isn't your Battle Armor almost finished? Once it's done, you'll be able to fight!"
"As for me!"
Qiu Ling'er held out her hand, and a tiny object resembling an eye appeared in her palm. "I've successfully developed my Eye of Space. This is the perfect chance to test the results!"
"I think Her Majesty and Lord Xi Zhao have the same idea."
Bei Ming Feng adjusted his glasses. "We'll leave the main battlefield to Lord Xi Zhao and face off against the younger generation ourselves. After all, we've spent so long in the Northern Underworld that we've barely had any opportunities for actual combat."
"Hehe!"
Qiu Ling'er bounced excitedly. "I'm going to have plenty of fun!"
"Sigh..."
Watching the lively, spirited Qiu Ling'er, Bei Ming Feng's eyes dimmed a little. He still wasn't worthy of her, so he had to work hard to grow stronger-strong enough to protect her.
Bei Ming Feng was the very same useless Soul Master with level-one innate soul power mentioned in that final piece of intelligence back then. On the Northern Underworld Continent, however, low innate soul power didn't matter. There were still many paths open to such people.
Besides, Bei Ming Feng had imperial blood and received ample resources, so it wasn't a major problem.
Even so, his meager innate soul power had always weighed on his heart. Fortunately, these days would eventually come to an end.
Bei Ming Feng rallied his spirits and stared intently at the objects in his hands: a Soul Tool blueprint and a crystal shimmering emerald-blue, with boundless wind power hidden within it.
Some components glimmering with spiritual light also lay on the workbench, though he had yet to finish assembling them.
His father, Bei Ming Ge, had given him this gem.
Bei Ming Ge's father-the previous North Nether Great Emperor-had bestowed this crystal on Bei Ming Ge when he rendered meritorious service.
The blueprint, meanwhile, came from the Northern Underworld Empire's treasury. Qiu Ling'er had helped him redeem it using the merit she had earned by making Storage Soul Tools.
The blueprint was said to be linked to the Northern Underworld Continent's Progenitor by countless threads, though the empire's people all treated that as a legend.
After all, almost no one who had handled the blueprint had sensed anything unusual about it.
An object belonging to the Progenitor ought to brim with divine intent and possess boundless power, rather than looking as ordinary as this sheet of parchment.
Yet, by coincidence, ever since Bei Ming Feng first saw this blueprint, he had felt an inexplicable premonition, as though it had been tailor-made for him.
Although Qiu Ling'er hadn't understood, she had still respected his wishes and used that precious opportunity to redeem this useless object.
Ever since obtaining the blueprint, Bei Ming Feng had neglected sleep and meals, scouring almost every corner of the Western Mountain Range and the Eastern Forest to gather all kinds of rare ores.
Those places were fraught with danger. Although the high-ranking Soul Beasts obeyed the Northern Underworld Empire's commands, the low-ranking ones lacked intelligence and acted only on instinct.
Without the Shang Family's protection, Bei Ming Feng would have died who knew how many times.
Fortunately, it had all been worth it. Not only had he obtained a great many metals, but he had also unexpectedly acquired a feather brimming with the wind attribute.
That feather had been hidden in Gengjin Valley, where he stumbled upon it.
With these materials, he could finally forge and assemble the object depicted in the blueprint.
"Feng, you can do it!"
By now, Qiu Ling'er also understood that he had reached the most critical moment. Success or failure hinged on this final step.
"Phew..."
All Bei Ming Feng could do now was try his best to steady his breathing. The soul power carving knife in his hand worked alongside the carving knives on his six mechanical arms, engraving incredibly intricate runes onto the components.
Then, with utmost care, he embedded the Wind Stone into the center of the silvery-white Feather Blade made from that feather.
"Finally, it's finished!"
Bei Ming Feng let out a long breath. "The final component of Windchaser Bird No. 1 is finally complete!"
Before you continue