Shrek had brought disaster upon itself and earned the loathing of many factions. Its destruction was only to be expected.
What Jiang Xia lamented was the fate of the ordinary people in that area when the Godslayer missiles fell.
Qiangu Dongfeng had agreed to such cooperation, while someone on the Federation's side had allowed the Godslayer missiles to be stolen. Neither side had clean hands.
"In this era, none of the major powers have clean hands."
"Since I've become his disciple, the Spirit Pagoda is where I stand. But siding with Qiangu Dongfeng's faction is impossible. On the contrary, I'll inevitably have to stab him in the back someday..."
This was Jiang Xia's first visit to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.
He followed Han Tianyi all the way to the floor reserved for his personal use.
"This thirtieth floor is exclusively mine, set aside for my cultivation. From now on, you'll cultivate in that room over there."
Jiang Xia looked in the direction Han Tianyi pointed and memorized the location of his room.
The entire floor, covering at least ten thousand square meters, was reserved for him alone.
This was the treatment a four-word battle armor master received.
Han Tianyi's spiritual power surpassed that of most Limit Douluos, and he was also a four-word battle armor master. In truth, his treatment was entirely equivalent to a Limit Douluo's.
"This is the mecha design room, and that's the mecha manufacturing room. Oh, the forging room is over there."
"These three rooms hold common, precious, and special rare metals, respectively."
"..."
Han Tianyi took his disciple around his private floor to familiarize him with the layout.
Jiang Xia kept nodding, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Teacher, do you practice all three secondary professions?"
There were actually rooms for all three secondary professions.
"Back then, I was a mecha designer. Since I kept failing to break through to the Limit rank, I had time on my hands and studied some mecha manufacturing skills as well. As for forging, I practice that too, but I'm only a sixth-rank master blacksmith."
Sixth-rank?
For a Limit Douluo, a sixth-rank secondary profession was indeed of little use.
But sixth-rank blacksmiths were already exceedingly rare on the continent.
Seventh-rank blacksmiths were Saint Craftsmen, and there were only a dozen or so in total. As for eighth-rank Saint Craftsmen, there were only four.
In fact, the Blood God Legion did not have even a single Saint Craftsman!
That fact alone highlighted how precious Saint Craftsmen were.
Counting carefully, there might not even be as many people above sixth-rank blacksmith as there were people with Limit-level combat strength...
Jiang Xia's expression turned peculiar.
Put that way, this teacher of his really was impressive.
"Teacher, would there be any problem if I wanted to practice all three secondary professions together too?"
Han Tianyi had not expected his disciple to say such a thing.
Only after careful consideration did he give a relatively balanced answer. "If your Broken Dream can connect with the spirituality within rare metals, then practicing all three professions together would be barely feasible. But if you do that, the pressure of cultivation will be greater than ever."
Only after hearing Han Tianyi's words did Jiang Xia realize.
That was right!
Broken Dream could connect with mental wills, so what about spirituality?
The forging system of this era was built on the spirituality of rare metals.
Once their spirituality was awakened, they became spirit-bearing metals, gradually transforming into entirely new life as their spirituality grew.
So if his martial soul could connect with spirituality, the threshold for guiding its growth would be greatly lowered.
Why had Tang Wulin's path in forging been so smooth?
Strength was important, but in Jiang Xia's view, the more crucial factor was that he had received the God of Life's blessing.
In the process of creating life, how could the God of Life's blessing possibly play a minor role?
"With Broken Dream as your martial soul, mecha design can be easier for you than for ordinary people. You can design directly within dreams," Han Tianyi said. "As for mecha manufacturing, you can also practice it in dreams beforehand."
"So, strictly speaking, your martial soul is very powerful. It can support you in practicing all three professions together."
"And since I can also be considered proficient in all three professions, I can guide you personally."
Han Tianyi's eyes grew brighter as well.
Jiang Xia, on the other hand, was a little worried. "Teacher, won't that slow down my overall cultivation?"
Han Tianyi waved a hand. "No. You only need to spend as much time learning secondary professions as an ordinary battle armor master. You won't have any less time than they do to cultivate soul power."
"As for your secondary professions, your progress might lag behind your peers early on, but when you reach five or six rings, I can have someone help design and make your one-word and two-word battle armor."
"Once you reach the Soul Sage and Soul Douluo stages, when a soul master's overall cultivation slows down, you can devote more time to your secondary professions. That will be enough for you to catch up."
So that was what he meant by not slowing me down?
Jiang Xia grumbled inwardly a little.
Han Tianyi said solemnly, "Practicing all three professions together naturally has its benefits too. The Star Luo Empire's Imperial Preceptor nurtured a set of four-word battle armor without relying on metals made through Heavenly Forging by a Divine Craftsman. I suspect it had something to do with practicing all three professions together."
Hearing this, Jiang Xia could not help asking, "So, Teacher, don't tell me you studied mecha manufacturing and forging because you wanted to recreate the path taken by that Imperial Preceptor of Star Luo?"
"That's right."
Han Tianyi nodded frankly.
"But our Federation does have a Divine Craftsman, after all. While studying forging, I became acquainted with Zhen Hua before his breakthrough, and we exchanged insights. Then, after he became a Divine Craftsman, he forged a set of metals made through Heavenly Forging for me."
The corners of Jiang Xia's mouth twitched.
Was that actually how his teacher had obtained his four-word battle armor?
It actually had not been because of Mu Ye?
"Little Jiang, if you have the potential to become an eighth-rank Saint Craftsman, you'll have a chance to recreate the Star Luo Imperial Preceptor's path."
"Even if you can't, I'll swallow my pride and do my best to ask Zhen Hua for metals made through Heavenly Forging for your four-word battle armor."
"And if you can become a Divine Craftsman, you'll be able to meet the requirements for four-word battle armor yourself, leaving even less reason to worry."
"Of course, that's assuming you truly have a talent for forging."
Han Tianyi had very high expectations for Jiang Xia. He was working toward raising him into both a Limit Douluo and a four-word battle armor master.
He had never taken a disciple before. Now that he had, he naturally intended to cultivate quality.
Jiang Xia nodded firmly too.
"I won't let you down, Teacher!"
"Good. We'll discuss secondary professions in a couple of days. For now, let's choose a spirit soul for you. Before that, I need to understand your martial soul's abilities better."
Han Tianyi asked Jiang Xia to connect with his mental will.
He wanted to experience Jiang Xia's Broken Dream martial soul.
Jiang Xia nodded.
Han Tianyi closed his eyes and vaguely felt as though tendrils were connecting to his spiritual world.
Then, a blank dreamscape appeared in the depths of his consciousness.
"This is only a blank dream. If you fill it in and optimize the means of connection, you'll have a chance to cast illusions without anyone being the wiser."
A born master of illusions.
Han Tianyi was very satisfied with this ability of his disciple's.
He voluntarily entered Jiang Xia's dream, probing it with his spiritual power.
After gaining an understanding of it, he signaled that Jiang Xia could sever the connection.
"You're simply a born master of illusions."
An eager gleam flashed through Han Tianyi's eyes.
Noticing Han Tianyi's eager gaze, Jiang Xia thought of his plans for his martial soul and could only sigh inwardly.
He knew he had to tell the truth now.
He could not let his teacher remain immersed in fantasies.
So he braced himself and said, "Teacher, I'm not planning to take the path of illusions."