"What?!"
Jiang Ming was utterly stunned, but he knew his son would never joke carelessly about something like this. He hurriedly took the square metal block from his son's arms, examined it with a Soul Engineer's professional eye, and soon began testing it.
"What strange metal. It seems to be origin spirit iron, but these properties...
Heavens! Such precise workmanship. Why does this feel like something produced by that 'assembly line' you once envisioned, Dongjun?
A streamlined yet still profoundly intricate Soul Guidance Array. How many times did they improve the current 'energy storage' array to get this? It's changed beyond recognition!
And this string of magic runes represents a sealing effect, right? So simple!
I get it! I understand how to make a Sealed Milk Bottle now!"
"Let me see. Activating it like this should release soul power-huh?"
Feeling the energy released by the Soul Guidance Battery, Jiang Ming looked as though he had encountered something utterly inconceivable, his face filled with shock.
"How can this be? What's inside isn't soul power?"
Something suddenly occurred to Jiang Ming. He immediately set to work, oblivious to everything around him, pulling a Flashlight Soul Tool from his storage bracelet. After a flurry of modifications with his carving knife, he connected the Flashlight to the Soul Guidance Battery.
He pressed the switch. The magic runes connected, energy flowed, and the Flashlight lit up.
"Just as I thought. This completely different energy can be used as soul power, but Soul Masters can't absorb it and turn it into reserve soul power in their dantian."
Jiang Ming shifted his approach and fed his own Soul King soul power into the Soul Guidance Battery.
It absorbed it?!
After sensing its workings for a while, the admiration on Jiang Ming's face deepened.
"It can even absorb a Soul Master's soul power to recharge... This is far too perfect. It doesn't look like technology that should exist in this era!"
But he left the subject there, without digging into its origins.
"Dongjun, if I'm not mistaken, its main method of charging shouldn't rely on Soul Masters, should it?"
Jiang Dongjun nodded. "That's right, Dad. Whether it's wind power, water power, or sunlight, many forces in nature can be converted into that energy resembling soul power and stored in the Soul Guidance Battery."
"So it's called a 'Soul Guidance Battery'... Dongjun, can you get hold of that technology? And do you understand that this is an epoch-making technology? Nearly all those immature ideas of ours depend on it. It's the foundation. It will bring unimaginable changes to the entire Douluo Continent!"
Excitement and worry mingled in Jiang Ming's eyes, countless emotions making his expression complicated.
"Dad, I understand all of that. I've even thought further ahead than you have. Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought this back first."
"Dad, I have the ambition to govern all under heaven. I hate this chaotic era. I want to change the Douluo Continent!"
"Dad, you have to help me!"
Jiang Dongjun stared at his father with blazing eyes.
He knew his father had never been able to resist that look, ever since he was little.
After a brief, deathly silence, this time proved no different.
"I'll help you, I'll help you. Since you were little, when haven't I cleaned up your messes? I'm taking the battery next door. I'll master the soul tool technology inside it as soon as possible. If you need anything, just ring the bell."
Jiang Ming turned and left with the Soul Guidance Battery in his arms, leaving only his retreating figure and two softly spoken reminders.
"Remember! Become the master of Shrek Academy and find a way to become a god before talking about your ambitions. Otherwise, you'll merely repeat Spirit Hall's old story from ten thousand years ago."
"It doesn't matter what happens to your mother and me. But you can't let your name rot. You need a good reputation. I hope the Jiang Family becomes a great clan with a legacy lasting over ten thousand years, like the White Tiger Dai Family."
Left alone in the room, Jiang Dongjun clenched his fists tightly.
"An enemy from the heavens-a threat to the heart!"
The Destruction God King? No, he wouldn't do.
After the Good and Evil God Kings left, control of the Divine Realm's central pivot had remained in Tang San's hands. He was the lord of the Divine Realm.
"Fortunately, I have the Light of Time and Space."
"Right now, it can take my yin spirit across worlds. In the future, it'll even be able to take my physical body... I suspect that raising this so-called world-anchoring progress, or simply grinding it all the way to completion and fully anchoring a parallel world, will reduce the restrictions on crossing worlds. Couldn't I bring my parents over with me then? We could escape disaster when that anticipated deus ex machina arrives!"[Note 1]
"In short, I can't put all my eggs in one basket. I need to work harder in the other parallel world."
Bear in mind, the Light of Time and Space took him to a parallel world, not another timeline.
A little over six hours? Time flowed at roughly the same rate on both sides.
Actually, thinking it over carefully...
Douluo II was pretty good, too. It had no main storyline. As long as he kept an eye on the development of the child of fortune and Princess Tang, he could buy himself enough time to grow.
If one insisted on giving Douluo II a main storyline, it was "Third Son trains a dog." Once the dog was trained and Rong Nianbing's divine seat had been swindled away, Douluo II was over.
There was nothing that absolutely had to be defeated.
How many of Douluo II's villains really had any presence?
Xu Tianran, Ye Xishui, Long Xiaoyao? Put them in any of the other installments, and they wouldn't measure up.
Only Di Tian did, but he was a "homebody dragon." If you didn't set your sights on the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, he couldn't be bothered with you.
As for Douluo I, Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King, and Douluo IV, what kind of boss lineups did they have?
First-Level God · Mad Empress · Bibi Dong and First-Level God · Qian Renxue!
First-Level God/Half-Step God King · Abyssal Sage King and Half-Step God King · Silver Dragon King!
Supergod-Level · Jiang Family Mother and Son and God King · Mother of the Crimson!
In those three installments, the main storyline pushed you forward. Many events had predetermined deadlines, leaving very little time to grow.
Jiang Dongjun turned these thoughts over, took out paper and a pen, and began leaving a note.
-Find some foods rich in both energy and nutrients. At the very least, they must keep me from getting hungry for twelve hours after eating and supply everything my body needs. The academy must have something like that. Even if it doesn't, ask the academy teachers who research medicines to develop it. They could probably make it in three to five days.
-Find a secret method for cultivating Heart Separation Control, something like the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's "Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart" mentioned in ancient texts. That secret method already existed ten thousand years ago. Over those ten thousand years, the academy must have created similar or even stronger secret methods for Heart Separation Control.
-Find some valuable rare metals of suitable density, in one-foot cubes, each weighing no more than I do. Start collecting them first. Later, I'll find a way to put together a list, and we can stockpile according to it.
When traveling through another world, money would not be the most important thing, but it would absolutely be indispensable.
After eating enough to fill his stomach and taking care of his personal hygiene...
Light of Time and Space, activate!
His yin spirit returned to the world of Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King.
He returned to the place he had left, still in an inn near the beach on the outskirts of Aolai City.
Na'er was sleeping soundly on the soft, large bed, no different from when he had left.
The Silver Dragon King hadn't awakened?
Hadn't Tang Hao and Ah Yin made any corrections either?
Perhaps, but until he left Aolai City, Jiang Dongjun dared not relax the taut string in his heart.
After some thought, Jiang Dongjun went downstairs to retrieve the square gold block from the proprietress. He would have to exchange it for money himself, and he already had a few ideas.
Dawn had yet to break. It was around two or three in the morning.
Jiang Dongjun returned to his room, sat down to meditate in a corner, visualized the great sun, and rested his mind.
His Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power was not enough to support working around the clock without rest. From now on, he would have to coordinate his activity and rest times between the two worlds.
Before you continue