"Ahem." Lin Changgeng gave two dry coughs, looking a little embarrassed. "It's fine. If you never learned about it, you never learned about it. I'll explain."
"This is called a pistol. It's a handheld Long-Range Attack Soul Tool. Pull the trigger, and it fires a Soul Power Bullet."
"Oh, okay." Dugu Yan nodded, unbothered by his earlier teasing, and continued staring at the pistol. "So, is this thing powerful?"
"You'll know once we test it."
Watching Lin Changgeng get caught out, Dugu Bo couldn't help smiling. He hadn't expected Lin Changgeng to have an embarrassed side; he'd thought the boy always kept everything strictly business.
After reassuring Dugu Yan, Lin Changgeng began inscribing the arrays.
The arrays for an Attack-Type Soul Tool were far more difficult than those for a Storage Soul Tool. They required not only a Soul Power Compression Array, but also an array for storing soul power. Special effects required additional special arrays.
As a Level Two Soul Tool, however, the soul tool pistol only needed a Soul Power Compression Array inscribed.
As he thought, Lin Changgeng controlled his martial soul and spiritual power to inscribe the array.
Deep-sea sinking silver had a dense structure, making it harder to inscribe than iron essence. He had to forcefully "carve" the soul power into it.
Still, after spending an hour getting acquainted with it while shaping it earlier, Lin Changgeng had more or less grasped the properties of deep-sea sinking silver. Inscribing it was slow, but he could manage it with some care.
Before long, the Soul Guidance Array was complete.
When he opened his eyes, a fine sheen of sweat had formed on his forehead.
High-grade material certainly lived up to its name. Working with it really did take a mental toll.
But the results should be better, too.
Lin Changgeng poured soul power into the grip.
Humm-
The pistol trembled slightly. The Storage Array inside the grip began operating, absorbing his soul power and storing it within.
Attack-type arrays really were different. Its capacity was more than twice that of a storage array, and it absorbed nearly half his soul power before the Storage Array was full.
"Done." Lin Changgeng picked up the pistol, held it in his hand, and hefted it. The weight was right, and it felt good.
"That's it?" Dugu Yan looked curious. "How much damage can it do?"
"Let's test it."
Lin Changgeng raised his hand, aimed at a boulder across the valley, and pulled the trigger.
Click.
The trigger activated the array, the Firing Array began operating, and the compression array inside the barrel instantly compressed a Soul Power Bullet.
Bang-!
With a sharp crack, a silvery-white Soul Power Bullet shot from the muzzle at tremendous speed, whistling through the air before striking the boulder opposite them.
Boom-!
The boulder exploded into pieces, scattering fragments and leaving a basin-sized crater in the ground.
Dugu Yan shrank back in fright.
Th-this thing was that powerful?
It looked so unremarkable, yet one shot had blown a boulder apart?
"Not bad." Wang Qiu'er walked over, picked up the pistol to examine it, then flicked the barrel with a finger.
Humm-
A clear ringing hum lingered in the air.
"The material is a bit wasted on this, but it's tougher than ordinary metal, and more powerful, too." Wang Qiu'er paused. "That shot was about the limit of a Soul Grandmaster's power. Of course, that's because your soul power is insufficient. If Dugu Yan used it, it would reach the Soul Elder level, but its upper limit is only the Soul Ancestor level."
At this point, Wang Qiu'er felt it was a pity. That was how low-level soul tools worked. The array's level determined their upper limit. No matter how good the material was, they couldn't handle a higher level unless they were reforged and reinscribed.
"This thing is great." Dugu Yan leaned closer, eager to try it. "Changgeng, could you give me a pistol?"
"You want one?" Lin Changgeng asked.
"Yes!" Dugu Yan nodded.
"All right, I'll make you one in a bit," Lin Changgeng said. "But there isn't much deep-sea sinking silver left, so I'll have to use iron essence. It'll be a little weaker, but still enough."
"No problem!" Dugu Yan said happily. "Iron is fine, too!"
Dugu Bo stroked his chin thoughtfully beside them.
He had roughly figured out what Lin Changgeng was aiming for: bringing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect into his fold. If he'd still been uncertain when Lin Changgeng told Ning Fengzhi the secret of whale rubber at the auction house, it was now obvious which faction would benefit most from these Attack-Type Soul Tools.
First, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was a purely support-type sect. Its support abilities were unrivaled across the continent, but its members had little combat power of their own. They had to find Battle Soul Masters to accompany them whenever they went out, and even their spouses had to be Battle Soul Masters. Ning Fengzhi, for instance, always had either Sword Douluo or Bone Douluo at his side to ensure his safety.
But Ning Fengzhi was the sect master. The sect's direct-line disciples didn't enjoy such favorable conditions. Whenever they went out to gain experience or carry out missions, they had to hire Battle Soul Masters to accompany them. Not only did it cost money, but those escorts weren't necessarily reliable.
It was a common ailment of support-type sects. There was no helping it; it was an inborn weakness.
But what would happen once soul tools appeared?
Dugu Bo looked at the pistol in his hand, then at the shattered boulder across from them, and narrowed his eyes.
This pistol could unleash power equivalent to a Soul Ancestor's all-out strike.
A support-type disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect might have the cultivation of a Soul Elder or Soul Ancestor, yet possess almost no combat power.
But if each of them carried a pistol like this, they could unleash a Soul Ancestor-level attack with a raise of the hand.
Even if they used ordinary metals such as iron essence instead of this material, they could still produce power at least equal to a Soul Grandmaster's.
Would they still need to hire Battle Soul Masters, then?
Or rather, would their dependence on Battle Soul Masters still be so great?
The support-type disciples would have combat power of their own. Their ability to protect themselves would improve tremendously, and they would no longer need to take a crowd of bodyguards whenever they went out.
To the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, this mattered more than wealth. As long as you stayed alive, you could earn money. Once you were dead, was the money you'd earned still yours?
Moreover, soul tools required rare metals. This was only a Level Two Soul Tool; there were Level Nine Soul Tools beyond it. The higher a soul tool's level, the more rare metals it required, and the more expensive it became.
But money was the last thing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect lacked. Perhaps the only faction wealthier than it was Spirit Hall. Yet Spirit Hall controlled seventy percent of the continent's Soul Masters. Would it care about soul tools?
The answer was clearly no. In that case, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, this fat sheep ripe for fleecing, would be Lin Changgeng's first target.
Ning Fengzhi was an exceptionally shrewd man. Once he learned about soul tools, he would certainly invest heavily.
What did rare metals matter? As long as it could strengthen his sect, he would willingly spend any amount.
Even if Spirit Hall took notice of soul tools, Lin Changgeng could simply offer them through a trade. After all, there were no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.
The more Dugu Bo thought about it, the more sense it made. He could already imagine Ning Fengzhi's reaction upon seeing the soul tools. Once they were mass-produced, they could make money through them. After all, the sect's businesses spanned the world, allowing soul tools to spread quickly through its network.
And when the time came, their side could take the leading position and claim the lion's share in negotiations. After all, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had a real need for them. If the sect wanted to train its own soul engineers, they could make another sum from that, too.
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