"Pay attention." A metal box appeared on Joander's arm, with three slender metal tubes mounted on it.
Once he aimed at the royal guard, all three tubes erupted with white light.
The Mighty Dog Battle Soul Ancestor dared not embarrass himself again. He released his Martial Soul and took the attack head-on.
"Ugh!"
The royal guard let out a muffled grunt.
Joander explained at just the right moment, "A Level 2 Soul Light Ray works by compressing the user's Soul Power through the Soul Tool's Core Array, then firing it. This place is too cramped, so it still limits what the Soul Tool can do."
"How so?" Xue Ye asked.
"A Level 2 Soul Light Ray has an effective attack range of a hundred meters. Its destructive power is roughly equivalent to an ordinary Soul Grandmaster's ranged offensive Soul Skill," Joander answered.
"A hundred meters!"
Xue Ye's expression changed in shock.
A Soul Grandmaster's Soul Skill might not be very powerful, but a range of a hundred meters neatly made up for that.
Even some Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings could not claim that their Soul Skills could travel a hundred meters in a straight line.
"There's also the Soul Guidance Paralysis Ray, a Level 3 Soul Tool."
Sima Lanxiao signaled Joander again. The Soul Tools he had introduced were all flagship products that the Divine Realm Empire would sell to the Heaven Dou Empire in the future.
If the Divine Realm Empire wanted to maintain its technological lead, it could not possibly hand resources to potential enemies.
Thus, "high-end" technology such as Fixed Soul Cannon Shells and Soul Guidance Mecha could never be given to the people of the Douluo Continent.
However, Soul Tools below Level 3 could be traded with the Douluo Continent without any restrictions whatsoever.
After all, if the Heaven Dou Empire bought them and the Star Luo Empire did not, wouldn't the latter's military strength fall behind? What if it suffered defeats on the battlefield?
So,
they had to buy them!
That way, the nations of the Douluo Continent would be dragged into an arms race.
The Divine Realm Empire lay far across the sea. No matter how they fought, its homeland would never be endangered, leaving it free to sleep soundly while making a fortune from war.
"Are you all right?" Joander looked sympathetically at the royal guard whose Martial Soul was the Mighty Dog.
What a pitiful working man. Not only had he become a target for testing the power of Soul Tools, but he had to keep enduring test after test.
And his Martial Soul just had to be the agility-type Mighty Dog. If it had been a defensive Martial Soul, such as a plate-armored giant rhinoceros or a diamond mammoth, he probably would have had an easier time.
"N-no problem."
The royal guard stole a glance at Xue Ye's expression. Seeing that his emperor had no intention of replacing him, he could only grit his teeth and carry on.
"Sigh. Be careful."
Joander equipped another Soul Tool on his arm, a cylinder about a foot long with intricate patterns engraved on it.
Pew~
The Mighty Dog Battle Soul Ancestor was struck by the Level 3 Soul Guidance Paralysis Ray. His body stiffened, and he toppled rigidly to the floor.
Only after two seconds, when he recovered, did the royal guard slowly rise.
Joander's damned explanatory voice started up again. "Anyone struck by the Soul Guidance Paralysis Ray whose Cultivation Level is at or below Soul King will be affected, including Soul Kings themselves."
Even Soul Kings would be affected?
Not only could Xue Ye no longer sit still, but Xue Qinghe could not either.
On the Douluo Continent, Soul Kings were unquestionably pillars of the ruling class.
The regular elite troops among Spirit Hall's armed forces were probably around the Soul King level.
If the Divine Realm Empire equipped its forces with large numbers of these Soul Guidance Paralysis Rays, wouldn't that mean it could directly rout the backbone of Spirit Hall's forces on the battlefield?
As for experts at Soul Saint and above, Xue Qinghe believed the Divine Realm Empire would only have more of them.
Xue Ye was dumbstruck. "Minister Sima, th-this... such a powerful Soul Guidance Paralysis Ray is only a Level 3 Soul Tool? Then what would Level 4 and Level 5 Soul Tools be like?"
"He didn't explain it clearly."
Sima Lanxiao spoke with a smile. Only after seeing that Xue Ye and the other nobles had formed the fixed impression that "Soul Tools are incredibly powerful" did he begin to clear up the misunderstanding.
"The extent of the paralysis ray's effect depends on the Soul Master's Cultivation Level. Against a Soul King, it can induce paralysis for about one second; against a Soul Ancestor, more than two seconds; against a three-ring Soul Master of the corresponding rank, about three to four seconds."
"Phew-"
Xue Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that once a Soul King was struck by a Level 3 Soul Guidance Paralysis Ray, they would be immobilized and left helpless to be slaughtered.
Now that he thought about it, that made sense. The royal guard, a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, had only been immobilized for two seconds.
"On a large-scale battlefield, this sort of Soul Guidance Ray might not be very useful. But if scouts clash at close quarters-in other words, in a one-on-one fight-it might produce remarkable results."
Prince Xue Xing offered his opinion, then considered it from another angle.
"If it were used to assassinate the enemy's mid- or high-ranking commanders... one second would be enough to decide life and death."
Xue Qinghe suddenly said, "But using a Soul Tool doesn't require a particularly high Cultivation Level. Even a rank thirty-one Soul Elder, an auxiliary-type Soul Elder, could use a Soul Guidance Paralysis Ray to immobilize a Soul King."
That was rather frightening.
Sima Lanxiao smiled. Without having seen a Soul Engineer Corps, the people of the Douluo Continent could not yet imagine how terrifying one was, let alone a Mecha Corps.
He might as well let them keep thinking that way. The Divine Realm Empire did not need a war to prove its strength.
"By the way," Xue Qinghe suddenly said, "since Level 3 Soul Tools correspond to three-ring Soul Elders, does your country have Level 10 Soul Tools... that is... god-level ones?"
At those words, intense fear appeared in the eyes of Xue Ye and the others.
Reaching rank one hundred and becoming a god was an ancient legend passed down across the Douluo Continent.
Spirit Hall's ancestor, the Angel God, had been the Douluo Continent's first god-level expert.
It had simply been so long since a human had reached rank one hundred that people had come to regard it as an inconceivable myth.
"Level 10 Soul Tools... hehe. Pure Soul Engineers are already quite difficult to find," Sima Lanxiao said.
A Level 10 Soul Engineer was almost equivalent to a Limit Douluo. Moreover, as the profession developed, Soul Engineers had branched into different specialties.
The Soul Engineer profession had evolved into secondary professions such as Mecha Designer, Mecha Repairer, and Mecha Manufacturer.
Knowing that this must involve confidential information, Xue Ye shifted the conversation to the two countries' younger generation of Soul Masters.
They had only just begun the welcoming banquet. Sima Lanxiao certainly would not divulge anything.
No matter. There's a long road ahead. Our Heaven Dou Empire can afford to wait.
Xue Ye was already considering buying Soul Tools. Although only Soul Masters could use them, their many ingenious applications would undoubtedly increase the army's combat strength.
Since the conversation had reached this point, Sima Lanxiao decided he might as well give the people of the Heaven Dou Empire another demonstration of their strength. "The Divine Realm Empire's young talents... hehe, as luck would have it, there happens to be a talented young man from Monster Academy here. Long Yue."
Long Yue had no stage fright either. He was the sort of social menace who would talk to anyone, and he stood up to wave at everyone.
"Yo, now you remember me? Hello, big shots! Thanks for all your hard work, gentlemen!"
"..." Sima Lanxiao was speechless.
Sigh... I knew Long Yue's style was nothing like anyone else's.
Joander was every bit as reassuring as Long Yue was a source of worry for Sima Lanxiao.
Now Sima Lanxiao was beginning to wonder whether calling Long Yue forward had been the right choice.
Before you continue