Soul Liquid

After stretching and sitting back down, Jiang Dongjun glanced at Jiang Ming and launched into a string of complaints.

"Isn't it because your skills aren't up to scratch, Dad? In theory, a Yin Spirit controlling a Soul Puppet can unleash combat power on par with a Soul King. In practice, it's nothing but problems.

Having my Yin Spirit lodge inside felt like being locked in a tiny dark cell. It was awful, and transmission was severely restricted.

Worse still, there's a huge delay when controlling the Soul Puppet's limbs. It's fine for launching ranged attacks that lock onto a target, but in close combat, even the slightest delay would give an opponent enough of an opening to smash me to pieces."

Jiang Ming laughed.

The Soul Puppet was his own creation. How could he not know its flaws?

"At least you've got a brain, kid. I originally wanted you to take a beating while controlling the Soul Puppet in close combat against Li Qing, so you wouldn't get too full of yourself because of your extraordinary innate gift-the Yin Spirit-and end up falling flat on your face someday."

"As for my skills not being up to scratch? Even if we shared this father-and-son technology of ours with Fan Yu and Qian Duoduo, they probably wouldn't make any major breakthroughs after eight or ten years of research. At most, they'd make the Soul Puppet more powerful. The restrictive sensation, the delays, and all the other flaws would still be there... Without the inspiration you gave me, and materials of the highest quality, I'd say Soul Puppet technology simply doesn't belong in this era."

Jiang Dongjun clicked his tongue in amazement.

His dad had hit the nail on the head. It really didn't belong in this era.

In fact, Soul Engineers ten thousand years later had only just begun exploring it.

To put it plainly.

Wasn't Soul Puppet technology just that whole "the flesh is weak, ascend through machinery" business?

The Yin Spirit was the mind, the consciousness. Upload it into a soul-guided puppet, replace the host body whenever it broke, and achieve immortality.

It was a step beyond even mechas and Battle Armor.

Several NPCs in Douluo IV who had lived for ten thousand years used similar methods.

Jiang Dongjun couldn't help grumbling, "You really don't mind putting me on the line, Dad. Weren't you afraid something would go wrong and Li Qing would kill me on the spot?"

"No."

Jiang Ming remained perfectly unruffled as he continued:

"Li Qing was only a measly three-ring Soul Elder. Even if he'd refined blood energy multiple times and boosted his cultivation all the way to the level-forty bottleneck, he wouldn't have had time to obtain a fourth Soul Ring and undergo a qualitative leap in strength.

I made that Soul Puppet. Wouldn't I know how tough it is?

With ordinary brute-force attacks, even a Soul Emperor would need some time to smash it apart. Your Yin Spirit was perfectly safe tucked inside.

As for spiritual attacks that could penetrate the Soul Puppet and hurt your Yin Spirit, setting aside whether Li Qing even possessed such a rare ability, did you think the Tiger-Emblem Pendant you were wearing was just for show? It can block one spiritual attack from anyone below Soul Saint.

You're carrying nearly half our family's assets on your back. Why would I worry about you?"

Jiang Ming added, "Right, I suspected that kid had a Soul Bone. Did he? Making this finished Soul Puppet for you burned through Gold Soul Coins like paper. Even a hundred-year Soul Bone would help us recover some of the cost."

Still complaining, Jiang Ming picked up the storage bracelet on the table and forcibly drove his soul power into it.

His eyes lit up when he saw its contents.

"Well now, a thousand-year left arm bone? Did he activate it during the fight?"

Jiang Dongjun nodded. "He did. Before we even met, I pushed the Fantastical Fox to full power and wove a terrifying illusion to give him a scare. It frightened him straight into using his Soul Bone Skill."

Jiang Ming asked, "Was it a survival skill or a burst-power skill?"

Jiang Dongjun answered honestly, "A survival skill. He burst into several streaks of blood-colored light and fled in different directions. It was a lot like his third Soul Skill, Blood Shadow Blast, from the intelligence we had. Most likely, he got it while hunting for his third ring."

He was also somewhat puzzled.

"But judging by that intelligence, why would the Iron Dragon Duke, with his overwhelming need for control, let him absorb it?"

Jiang Ming speculated, "It probably dropped again when he killed a member of the Iron Dragon Lineage. You could call that returning it to its original owner."

Jiang Dongjun nodded slightly, accepting his father's theory.

Still, he didn't care about the Soul Bone's origins or how many hands it had passed through.

He was more curious about what his dad planned to do with it.

"Dad, are you or Mom going to use this Soul Bone?"

Jiang Ming shook his head again. "None of us-you, me, or your mother-are suited to this Soul Bone. Luckily, its survival ability is rare and valuable. We can take it to Shrek Academy and exchange it for a suitable Soul Bone."

"Once we're home, we'll awaken your Martial Soul first and decide based on the results.

If your aptitude is poor, we'll trade it for a Soul Bone that matches your attribute. Then, once you reach level ten, we'll hunt a Soul Beast of the same origin as that Soul Bone for your first soul ring, and see whether that can make up for some of your shortcomings.

If your cultivation aptitude is outstanding, however, either this bone or one we trade it for would only hold you back.

In that case, I plan to exchange it for an arm bone from a firebird-type Soul Beast for your mother. It should raise her upper limit a little."

Jiang Dongjun nodded without saying anything more.

He was anxious about his own talent, too.

Hooves clattered like crisp drumbeats as the horses pulled the carriage swiftly along the main road.

They headed west, as though chasing the setting sun.

They traveled day and night.

The following afternoon, the carriage entered Shrek City and stopped in front of a three-courtyard compound laid out like the Chinese character "目."

A sign reading "Fireplume Soul Guidance Workshop" hung above the compound's main entrance.

This was the Jiang family home.

The couple had named the Soul Guidance Rays, Soul Cannons, Fixed Soul Cannon Shells, and other Soul Tools they developed the "Fireplume" series.

That was how the Soul Tool Workshop had gotten its name.

The front courtyard was used to receive customers buying or commissioning Soul Tools, while the two courtyards behind it housed the family's private residence and the actual Soul Tool Workshop, respectively.

Hearing the commotion, the workshop's mistress came out to greet them.

She was a graceful, beautiful woman with golden, wavy hair and a dark red dress. Seeing the Jiang Family father and son return unharmed, her eyes curved with a gentle smile.

Diwu Ying, Jiang Dongjun's mother.

Like other fire-attribute beast Soul Masters, she had been fiercely spirited in her youth. After marrying and having a child, she had mellowed considerably, but whenever she glared at home, both Jiangs became mice faced with a cat.

She was the daughter of a concubine in a viscount's family from the Heaven Dou Empire. After graduating from an advanced Soul Master Academy, she had eloped with Jiang Ming to escape an arranged marriage.

Later, after the couple settled in Shrek City and built a business, she had compensated her birth family.

Twenty percent of the Fireplume Soul Guidance Workshop's annual earnings went to the viscount's estate.

That hefty sum of Gold Soul Coins far exceeded the taxes the viscount's estate collected from its territory each year.

And that was every year.

As long as the old viscount lived, this "compensation" would continue.

"Judging by how you two came rushing back, you had dry rations for lunch again, didn't you?"

Diwu Ying rolled her eyes at father and son.

"I'll have the kitchen make some noodles. Eat a little to fill your stomachs first. Tonight, we'll have a proper feast to celebrate your return."

Jiang Ming hurriedly waved his hands, eager to dodge the blame and clear his name:

"You can't blame me! Your son was in a hurry to get home and awaken his Martial Soul. When we passed through Vanilla Town earlier, I wanted to take him to a restaurant there, but he refused."

As he spoke, he shoved Jiang Dongjun out in front of him like a ball.

Jiang Dongjun: ...

Diwu Ying scooped Jiang Dongjun into her arms and vigorously ruffled his hair.

"Little Dongjun, you have to eat properly, or you won't become a powerful Soul Master. Mommy still needs your protection. Otherwise, if your wicked grandfather carries me off one day, you won't get to see Mommy anymore."

Jiang Dongjun said nothing and simply kept rolling his eyes.

That old viscount was over ninety, and only a Soul King. If you two went and pounded him for three minutes, he could die seven times over.

"Tch, you get less cute the older you grow. You were much more fun when you were little."

Diwu Ying messed up Jiang Dongjun's hair a couple more times before finally releasing him.

The workshop's cook worked efficiently, and before long, bowls of noodles topped with meat gravy were brought out.

The meat came from bovine Soul Beasts several decades old, simmered constantly over low heat with plenty of medicinal ingredients of ordinary maturity. It was rich in nutrients.

The Jiang family couldn't regularly afford meals made with hundred-year ingredients like those Huo Yuhao ate.

Even setting aside where to obtain the ingredients, preparing them alone was a great deal of trouble. Only Shrek Academy, with its comprehensive infrastructure and nutritionists dedicated to meals, could supply them every day.

With something weighing on his mind, Jiang Dongjun hastily shoveled down two bowls of noodles and ran off.

"You little... Remember to come to the workshop in the back courtyard in an hour. Mom will awaken your Martial Soul for you. It's guaranteed to be handsome and powerful!"

Across the table, Jiang Ming tilted his head over his bowl and gave her a questioning look.

"What the heck? Does he have a third option besides a fireball and a Golden Feather Crow?"

Diwu Ying glared. "Is the Golden Feather Crow not powerful enough? Not handsome enough?"

Jiang Ming ducked his head and shoveled up noodles without answering.

The Golden Feather Crow was, after all, a hereditary Martial Soul of the nobility and an advanced Martial Soul. Overall, it was indeed stronger than his fireball.

Diwu Ying gave a light huff, then changed her tone to give her husband a warning in advance.

"Ming, Dongjun's circumstances are unusual. You've seen his innate gift. I suspect it's the outward manifestation of an exceptionally gifted spiritual-type body martial soul. Dongjun really might not inherit either of our Martial Souls."

"Don't worry, Yingying. I trust you."

Jiang Ming patted his chest, wearing a cryptic smile.

"We grew up together. I know you've never even met a male creature with a body martial soul, Yingying."

"Jiang Ming! Do you have a death wish? You can sleep in the back workshop tonight!"

"Really?"

"Really? Jiang Ming, I think you really do have a death wish!"

Jiang Dongjun ran back to his room and drew the curtains, shutting out every bit of light.

He took an exquisite, palm-sized metal bottle from his storage ring, carefully removed its stopper, and set it on the bedside table.

Then Jiang Dongjun sat cross-legged on the bed.

His Yin Spirit left his body.

The Yin Spirit floated in midair, a hazy radiance glowing where its head was. A wisp of clear light, like smoke and flowing water, emerged from its brain.

It twisted through the air like a swimming snake, its luster slightly dim.

Under Jiang Dongjun's guidance, it approached the mouth of the exquisite metal bottle on the bedside table.

Drip, drip, drip...

Drops of an unknown liquid fell from the clear light into the metal bottle.

Colorless and odorless, it produced no unusual phenomena. It was as ordinary and unremarkable as pure water.

Jiang Dongjun called it-"soul liquid"!

The dim, clear light was the Light of Time and Space that had brought him across worlds.

He regarded it as one of his two greatest supports, a cheat made tangible.

The merit gained from killing Li Qing, and the fortune seized by slaying someone with the potential to become a powerhouse, had been brewed into soul liquid by the Light of Time and Space.

Drip, drip... drip!

Once it had poured out all the soul liquid gained from this journey, the snake-like, writhing light slipped back into his Yin Spirit.

His Yin Spirit returned to his physical body as well.