"There's nothing particularly special about the knife. It's just made from a fairly rare material, cold heart iron essence." Lin Changgeng waved a hand. "I'm planning to play around with it as a weapon."
"Cold heart iron essence?" Ning Fengzhi sucked in a breath. That was a top-grade forging material, worth an enormous sum. This entire knife was made of cold iron essence gold-how much must it be worth?
He had truly snatched up an incredible bargain.
But Ning Fengzhi had no regrets. Cold heart iron essence was certainly precious, but all anyone knew about this knife was that it could conduct soul power. Its other uses were a complete mystery. Even if he had bought it, it would merely have become a useless addition to his collection.
After the engraving knife was sold, the Heaven Dou City Auction brought out several more valuable items.
Apart from a few items whose sellers specifically required barter, practically nothing escaped. Everything ended up in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's pockets.
Those familiar with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could only gaze at that vast ocean of wealth and sigh.
Once the auction ended, everyone filed out in an orderly fashion, while the purchased items were delivered to the private room. Notably, Ning Fengzhi settled Lin Changgeng and his companions' bill as well.
According to Ning Fengzhi, it was his way of thanking Lin Changgeng for having Wang Qiu'er tell him about whale rubber's true effects. He considered the expenditure a way to make a friend. After all, money was the one thing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect never lacked.
After settling the bill, Ning Fengzhi told Lin Changgeng to come to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect whenever he needed anything. Whatever his request, Ning Fengzhi would do his best to meet it.
Lin Changgeng was naturally delighted. They had spent quite a lot this time, and with someone else paying, he could hardly be happier. As for Ning Fengzhi's intentions, they were obvious: he wanted to tie their interests together. But that could wait until later.
The group then left the private room, preparing to leave the auction house.
Ning Fengzhi watched their departing figures thoughtfully.
After so many years as sect master, he increasingly felt that Lin Changgeng was unfathomable. Whether it was the Super Douluo accompanying him or his knowledge of whale rubber's true effects, neither was something an ordinary person could explain. Befriending someone like him could only bring benefits, not harm.
As for Dugu Bo's increased strength and restored youth, he suspected that those, too, were most likely connected to Lin Changgeng. After all, Dugu Bo had gone so long without advancing, yet after meeting Lin Changgeng, not only had his strength soared, but he had also become younger. Ning Fengzhi would never believe there was nothing fishy going on, so he planned to investigate Lin Changgeng and Wang Qiu'er once he returned.
After leaving the auction house, Lin Changgeng took out the engraving knife made of cold heart iron essence and fiddled with it.
It was palm-length and dark silver, with black silk thread wrapped around its handle. Its blade was slender, its tip exceptionally sharp, and its edge as thin as a cicada's wing. It felt icy cool to the touch.
He tentatively fed a thread of soul power into the handle.
Buzz-
The blade trembled slightly and gave off a faint, cold gleam. Its edge flashed, becoming sharper than before.
Lin Changgeng took out a claw from the Golden-Patterned Ironback Wolf from earlier and casually drew the knife across it.
Shhk-
A fine groove appeared in the claw, roughly half an inch deep, exposing its internal grain.
This was part of a soul beast's body, after all. Although it had only been a hundred-year beast, ordinary metal still could not pierce it.
"Good knife," Lin Changgeng could not help saying as he put the engraving knife into the Ruyi Treasure Pouch.
With this knife, he would have a handy tool for forging soul tools in the future.
Before long, they returned to the Sunset Forest.
"Changgeng, what did you buy that knife for?" Dugu Bo asked curiously after they landed. He did not believe what Lin Changgeng had told Ning Fengzhi at the auction about using it as a weapon. Lin Changgeng did not seem like the sort to do that.
"To make soul tools." Lin Changgeng did not even look up.
"Soul tools?" Dugu Bo was utterly bewildered. "But wasn't the technology for making soul tools lost? Besides, what does making soul tools have to do with that knife?"
"Of course they're related," Lin Changgeng said calmly. "The most important thing in crafting soul tools is a Soul Guidance Engraving Knife."
"Besides," Lin Changgeng shifted the subject, "who said soul tool technology was lost? Sister Qiu'er, do you have any books on soul tools?"
Wang Qiu'er glanced at him without speaking. With a wave of her right hand, she pulled a pile of books out of her Storage Soul Tool and dumped them in front of Lin Changgeng with a clatter.
"Read them yourself."
There were at least twenty or thirty books in the pile, of varying thicknesses, with all sorts of titles printed on their covers.
"Soul Tool Basics," "Detailed Explanation of Core Arrays," "Metal Forging and Soul Power Fusion," "Guide to Using Soul Guidance Engraving Knives," "Soul Tool Compendium," "Principles of Space Soul Tools."
Every single book was about soul tools.
Watching from the side, Dugu Bo felt as though his entire understanding of the world had taken a blow.
As a Titled Douluo, he had read plenty of ancient texts. They did contain information about soul tools, but only scattered records, without any complete manufacturing methods.
Yet Wang Qiu'er had casually pulled out a whole stack, and they did not even look like ancient texts.
Dugu Bo could not make sense of it, no matter how hard he tried. Wasn't the art of making soul tools supposed to be lost? Then what was this pile of books in front of me?
Lin Changgeng paid no attention to what Dugu Bo was thinking. He picked up the topmost book, Soul Tool Basics, opened it, and began reading.
After reading two pages, Lin Changgeng gained some understanding of the principles behind soul tools.
Simply put, soul tools worked by using metal to give soul power more applications: attack, defense, storage, and recovery. The key to achieving these effects lay in soul guidance arrays.
A soul tool's main body consisted of three parts: the outer casing, the inner casing, and the core. Soul tools with different functions required different materials. For instance, offensive soul tools needed outer casings made of hard, heat-resistant metals to make them more durable.
The inner casing's primary functions were amplifying and conducting soul power, so it had to be made from metals with better conductivity. Excellent soul power conductivity could effectively reduce soul power consumption.
The core was the most important part of the entire soul tool. Arrays had to be engraved onto it, so its materials were precious as well. Soul tools with different functions required different arrays, and soul guidance arrays were divided into grades. The higher the grade, the higher the cultivation required. Likewise, higher-grade soul tools required more precious materials, and the materials for their outer and inner casings had to improve along with the soul guidance arrays.
Soul tools were divided into nine grades, with the soul guidance arrays growing more intricate at each successive grade. Thus, the first thing an aspiring qualified soul engineer had to do was memorize every array, then practice constantly with metal. Only after understanding the principles behind the various core arrays could they create designs of their own. At that point, making any soul tool would be as easy as reaching out and seizing it.
Of course, imperfections were permitted when engraving soul guidance formations. The only difference was whether the resulting tool would be durable.
As Lin Changgeng read, he absorbed the knowledge contained in Soul Tool Basics.
Beside him, Wang Qiu'er watched him study, while Dugu Bo pretended to cultivate. In truth, he kept stealing glances at Lin Changgeng out of the corner of his eye.
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