Silver Moon Divine Light Shield

The Sunset Forest looked nothing like the Star Dou Great Forest, and it naturally left Xu Tiance with a different impression.

The Star Dou Great Forest bordered the Three Great Empires and covered a vast area, while the Sunset Forest was much smaller. Its vegetation and ancient trees were sparser, too. Most of its trees were ordinary trees, not Plant-type Soul Beasts at all.

As for other Soul Beasts, there were even fewer.

After walking through the Sunset Forest for several hours, Xu Tiance had seen only a handful of Ten-Year Soul Beasts, and not a single Hundred-Year Soul Beast.

It showed just how many Soul Beasts humans had hunted over the past ten thousand years.

Setting aside the Sun Moon Continent, which had joined with it later, the Douluo Continent had only three major Soul Beast habitats left: the Far North, the Star Dou Great Forest, and the vast Great Sea. Plenty of Soul Beasts still lived in those three places, but they could not sustain them for much longer.

After all, Soul Masters appeared far faster than Soul Beasts could grow.

There were still many Soul Beasts now, but in ten thousand years, or perhaps several tens of thousands, they would inevitably become extinct. By then, even finding a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring would probably be a pipe dream for a Soul Master.

The fate of Soul Beasts and Soul Rings was proof enough that the development of Soul Tools was the tide of the times.

Du Busi listened silently as Kong Deming and Xu Tiance talked, but doubt had begun to stir within him.

The Body Sect had joined the Sun Moon Empire and begun working with that vast empire. Its number of disciples with Body Martial Souls would certainly grow in the future. But... if the sect kept shutting itself away, the times would indeed leave it behind.

Now that the Body Sect had joined the Sun Moon Empire—the empire with the most advanced Soul Tool technology—it had its best chance to move with the times.

Future disciples of the Body Sect... really did need to study Soul Tools. The sect also needed to develop Soul Tool technology.

Du Busi sighed inwardly, then raised his eyes toward the depths of the Sunset Forest. "We haven't felt the poisonous miasma yet. That means we're still some distance from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."

"The Poison Cloud around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well contains a terrifyingly corrosive poison, and it also affects the mind. That's why I still couldn't get through it and find the well even after becoming a Titled Douluo. So, Old Kong, can you handle it?"

Du Busi was already over two hundred years old, while Kong Deming was only around a hundred and fifty—a whole generation younger. But since they were both Xu Tiance's teachers now, Du Busi had decided to call him "Old Kong" anyway.

Kong Deming did not mind the nickname. He merely raised an eyebrow and took a silver-white Soul Tool from his Storage Soul Tool. It was a disk about a foot across, thin as a cicada's wing. Its edge had no clear boundary, as though a handful of frozen moonlight had been pressed into solid form. Its surface was no smooth mirror; shifting patterns of space flowed across it, surrounding a brighter Silver Moon core at its center.

As Soul Power poured in, the silver disk dissolved outward from its center into a curtain of light, raising a translucent Silver Moon Dome. Its walls looked no thicker than a film, yet they held a deep play of folded light and shadow. Looking in from outside, Du Busi could make out only warped, blurred shapes.

What kind of Soul Tool was that?

Du Busi frowned, confusion showing on his face.

He knew little about Soul Tools, but even he could sense that this one was far from ordinary.

Xu Tiance, however, had guessed what it was. His breathing quickened.

For now, it was only a Level 9 Soul Tool. Once Kong Deming reached the rank of Super Douluo, it would become a true Level 10 Soul Tool!

This was Kong Deming's life's work: the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield!

Kong Deming seemed to notice Xu Tiance's gaze. Even a man as steady as he was sounded faintly pleased with himself. "This is my life's work, the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield. At its core, it uses the power of space to confine, contain, and defend. I can use it to shield us from the poisonous miasma and Poison Cloud you mentioned."

Of course, Kong Deming had not told them everything.

The Silver Moon Divine Light Shield was not merely a defensive Soul Tool. It could also unleash the Silver Moon Divine Light Wave to deal a devastating blow. Even though Kong Deming had not yet truly reached the rank of Super Douluo, he could still unleash terrifying power comparable to that of a Limit Douluo.

Of course, Kong Deming could not sustain that level of power for long, unlike Ye Xishui or Long Xiaoyao. Reaching the rank of Super Douluo remained the key.

Xu Tiance's eyes filled with admiration.

In the era of the Peerless Tang Sect, the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tool technology was more than a generation ahead of the Douluo Continent's, but it had not yet reached its peak. Even so, Kong Deming could create a Soul Tool like the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield and become the only Level 10 Soul Engineer of his age. That alone showed why he was the foremost authority in his field.

Xu Tiance felt admiration, while Ye Guyi was more curious. Lately, aside from cultivating Soul Power with Xu Tiance, she had spent most of her time learning about Soul Tools.

Kong Deming's brief description alone was enough for Ye Guyi to grasp how fearsome this Soul Tool was.

Noticing Xu Tiance's and Ye Guyi's expressions, Kong Deming sighed softly to himself.

Xu Tiance and Ye Guyi remained focused primarily on their strength as Soul Masters. They were following the path of Practical-Control Soul Engineers. Such engineers could use Soul Tools skillfully, but they could never possess a Lifebound Soul Tool or become Level 10 Soul Engineers.

At best, they could become like Ye Xishui: half a Level 10 Soul Engineer, thanks to her formidable strength as a Soul Master and Level 9 Soul Tools far beyond the ordinary.

To become a Level 10 Soul Engineer, one had to craft a Soul Tool personally and complete Life-Bound Fusion.

Kong Deming felt only a little regret. Xu Tiance's talent as a Soul Master was plain to see. Making Tiance craft Soul Tools instead would be like throwing a treasure onto a dung heap.

On that point, that old monster Du had, for once, been right.

Just then, Du Busi abruptly raised his head. "It's here," he said steadily.