Blade of Life

Qian Duoduo stared at the freshly forged metal in silence for a long while. At last, he managed to ask, "If I may be so bold, what exactly is this metal?"

Xu Xingyu had no intention of hiding it, so he explained, "This is spirit alloy, an alloy formed by fusing two metals through a special forging method. It not only combines the properties of both metals, but also possesses a degree of spirituality. So, in a sense, it can be considered a living thing, though it lacks the intelligence of a creature. At most, it's something like a plant."

After listening to Xu Xingyu, Qian Duoduo couldn't help drawing a sharp breath. Though he didn't know what effect this epoch-making rare metal would have when used to make a Soul Tool, its quality was bound to be extraordinary!

But according to the records, wasn't Xu Xingyu merely a Level 3 Soul Engineer? Wouldn't using this metal on a Level 3 Soul Tool be far too wasteful?

What Qian Duoduo didn't know was that although Xu Xingyu's cultivation was only at the Soul Elder level, the Origin Star Celestial Art he practiced allowed his Soul Power to flow endlessly, renewing itself without end, thanks to the Pseudo-Chaos Core in his heart.

In short, his Soul Power recovered extremely quickly. Even if he wanted to make a Level 5 or Level 6 Soul Tool, he would have no trouble at all.

What was more, his theoretical knowledge had long since surpassed Level 8, so making a Soul Tool worthy of spirit alloy was no great matter.

But Xu Xingyu had no intention of making an ordinary Soul Tool this time. He was going to begin making a suit of Battle Armor that belonged to him alone!

Battle Armor was a type of humanoid Soul Tool from ten thousand years in the future, similar to external armor. It greatly increased its wearer's strength, and as long as its quality and compatibility were high enough, it would at least allow a Soul Master to fight opponents two ranks above them.

In fact, the Spirit Contract Pagoda had already begun making Battle Armor and mecha, technologies that should originally only have appeared on the Douluo Continent many years later.

During the manufacturing process, however, the Spirit Contract Pagoda discovered that mass-produced Battle Armor yielded mediocre results. Although it did provide a boost, it could not allow a wearer to fight two levels above their own.

Thus, although Battle Armor was more powerful than mecha, that was only possible when it was perfectly compatible with the Soul Master. It could only be custom-made, not mass-produced.

Mass-producing mecha, on the other hand, was no great problem, because mecha did not need to be perfectly compatible with a Soul Master's Martial Soul. All one needed to do was inject Soul Power to use one, regardless of the Soul Master's Martial Soul.

Of course, if it could work in concert with a Martial Soul, its power would indeed increase greatly.

Just as Xu Xingyu was still considering which Battle Armor component to make, Qian Duoduo suddenly coughed and said, "Well, Xingyu, it's not that I'm rushing you, but take a look-there's only half a shichen left for the assessment. So if you want to finish your Soul Tool, I suggest you start now."

Qian Duoduo said this not merely to remind Xu Xingyu that there was little time left in the examination, but also because he was eager to see what kind of Soul Tool Xu Xingyu could make with this piece of spirit alloy.

Of course, in his heart, he had already decided that even if Xu Xingyu failed to complete his Soul Tool during the assessment, he would ask for more time.

After all, it was only an assessment. It didn't matter if Xu Xingyu failed. As vice dean of the Soul Tool Department, wasn't Qian Duoduo the one who had the final say?

With forging skills that defied common sense, even if Xu Xingyu's Soul Tool Technology was lacking, Qian Duoduo would do everything in his power to bring him into the Soul Tool Department.

After this assessment, though, he had to tell his wife, Xian Lin'er, first. That way, if that old fox Yan Shaozhe from the Sea God Pavilion tried to snatch him away, Qian Duoduo would have his wife backing him up, and his chances of winning would be quite high!

While Qian Duoduo was still dreaming of the Soul Tool Department's bright future, Xu Xingyu had already begun making the Soul Tool.

Xu Xingyu took a jade-green carving knife from his storage device and began carving and cutting the freshly forged star silver.

The instant the incomparably tough star silver met Xu Xingyu's carving knife, the blade sliced gently through it as though cutting tofu.

The sight before him left Qian Duoduo numb. This little fellow had given him so many surprises that he had actually grown used to them?!

But what exactly was that jade-green carving knife in his hand? Could it be one of the so-called ranked carving knives? Only one of the top thirty ranked carving knives could possibly cut rare metal so easily.

But as far as he remembered, there was no such carving knife on the ranking!

In fact, Qian Duoduo was right. The carving knife in Xu Xingyu's hand was indeed a ranked carving knife-or rather, it had once been one.

The knife had originally been called the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife. It had been created by a powerful Evil Soul Master and had ranked ninety-ninth.

In truth, given its power, the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife could easily have ranked among the top thirty, but the Evil Soul Master had fused a sliver of his own consciousness into it when he created it.

As a result, the knife carried a powerful force of resentment. Because of it, anyone who used the knife without a sufficiently strong spirit would suffer its backlash.

For that very reason, from ancient times to the present, everyone who had obtained the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife had died full of resentment under its curse.

This was also the carving knife that Huo Yuhao, the protagonist of the original story, had bought at an auction in the Star Luo Empire.

The reason Xu Xingyu possessed it went back to a year ago, when he helped the Star Luo army drive away a Sun Adamantine vein in the Mingdu Mountain Range.

At the time, Ye Yushuang, the Starry Sky Douluo, led the Sun Moon army, and he died full of resentment in that war.

Xu Xingyu was lucky enough to pick up Ye Yushuang's storage ring, and he used the vast amount of Soul Tool knowledge stored inside to trade with the Star Luo Empire for things of equivalent value.

The sole reason Xu Xingyu had not kept those things exclusively for his own Spirit Contract Pagoda was that he had first had his subordinates copy every Soul Tool blueprint and note in the storage ring, leaving nothing altered.

After the blueprints and notes had been copied, there was little use in keeping them, so he might as well trade them directly for necessities.

Among the items exchanged was a ranked carving knife called Morning Star.

This was the carving knife Ye Yushuang used, but he had put it in his storage device and carried it with him.

In the end, Xu Xingyu chose to trade this carving knife for the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife in the Star Luo Empire's possession.

Xu Xingyu wanted the knife because it was made from Gold of Life. In theory, as long as the curse on it was removed, it would be a superb carving knife.

Moreover, there would be no need to fear dying from the backlash of its curse.

As a child, Xu Xingyu had encountered a Golden Hat-Wearing that had eaten Gold of Life in the Star Dou Great Forest.

After helping the Golden Hawksbill separate the Gold of Life from its body, Xu Xingyu fused with the Gold of Life to strengthen his own body.

Thus, Xu Xingyu knew very well how to make the most of Gold of Life.

So after obtaining the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife, Xu Xingyu followed the original story's example and had Electrolux completely remove the curse from it, then named it the Blade of Life's Watch.

From then on, the Blade of Life's Watch became Xu Xingyu's personal carving knife.