Chapter 253: You Really Want a Full Set of Battle Armor Made of Spirit Gold!?
Jiang Chen's days lately were far from pleasant.
Even with Yuanen Yehui's public clarification, the gazes of the three girls around him still carried that odd, suspicious glint.
Fortunately, Na'er didn't outright throw him out—she still let him stay. Otherwise, wouldn't he be sleeping on the streets by now?
Wait a minute—
Why did he even need her to not "dislike" him in the first place?
"Old Ancestor, what kind of battle armor do you want?"
It was the Battle Armor Planning and Design class.
Although this course didn't mean students could immediately create their own suits afterward, it was still a fundamental step in the process.
Currently, to prevent soul masters from scattering their focus too thin and thus ending their cultivation path prematurely, the Federation had carefully categorized the disciplines of Soul Tool engineering. Gone were the days of the Sun Moon Empire when soul masters grew weak due to over-dependence on technology. Now, only a few chose to walk the path of pure Soul Engineers.
Building battle armor was an enormous and intricate project, rarely something any soul master could complete alone. Normally, people would specialize in one craft, delegating other parts to trusted allies.
Battle armor creation involved four core fields.
The foundation lay in the metal—forged by skilled blacksmiths using Thousand Refinements or rare metals. Next came fusion—merging those metals at extreme temperatures to form a high-strength alloy.
Finally, there was the inscription of the core formation array.
And after that, one could still apply soul tool technologies to further upgrade and enhance the armor.
In short, the first two steps were handled by blacksmiths, while the core array required the expertise of trained Soul Engineers.
Among all these steps, armor design itself was considered the simplest.
Forging, designing, manufacturing, and maintenance—these applied not only to mechas but to battle armor as well.
Typically, both disciplines were studied together, since the principles overlapped.
He figured he could just learn a bit of the design part and then let Huo Yuner handle the actual crafting.
Confident as always, Yuner patted her chest proudly. "Don't worry, Old Ancestor! Leave it to me!"
Her eyes swirled with curiosity as she asked cautiously, "Um… Old Ancestor, about you and Yuanen—"
Jiang Chen's face instantly darkened.
With one big hand, he patted her head hard. "You dare doubt me?"
"N-no, of course not~ Yuner wouldn't dare~ I was just asking~"
She instantly relaxed. Yes—her Old Ancestor wouldn't lie to her!
She still had a chance!
Come on, Yuner! Don't give up!
Battle armor itself traced its origins ten thousand years back to the predecessor of the Douluo Federation—the Sun Moon Empire.
Back then, Soul Engineers were divided into various sects—those who sought to replace soul masters entirely using technology, those who made personal soul tools that grew alongside their users, and those who dreamed of merging the two paths to empower soul masters to new heights.
It all began with the Hongchen Family. The clan leader of that generation, Jing Hongchen, devoted his life to creating a powerful soul tool that humans could directly control—to protect his descendants.
Thus, the humanoid soul tool was born.
Unfortunately, it was stolen midway through development by an unknown thief, dooming the Hongchen Family's grand vision to failure.
Originally, Jiang Chen never planned to build any battle armor of his own.
After all, with his complete set of God-King–level Dragon King soul bones, how could armor even compare?
However, he suddenly realized—it would take time before he ascended to godhood. Not to mention, he hadn't even gathered the full set of divine bones yet. Meanwhile, the armor could still provide a clear boost in strength.
So, like it or not… he needed one.
Otherwise, what if everyone else had one and he didn't?
Wouldn't he just get beaten up then?
"So, Old Ancestor, what kind of metal should we use for your armor?"
Since crafting was now inevitable, Huo Yuner decided to take it seriously. Any rare metal could do—her clan could definitely provide whatever was required.
If the Old Ancestor wanted it, how could they refuse?
Spirit Gold.
Jiang Chen almost said it aloud—but swallowed the words back just in time.
Without a doubt, Spirit Gold was the most supreme metal in the entire world.
No matter where you were, it was considered a miracle material.
In his own spatial realm, he still had a weapon forged from Spirit Gold—the Soul-Eating Engraver, created over ten thousand years ago.
At the time, he didn't mind sparing it from Huo Yuhao's story. After all, with Tang Shenwang backing him, Huo Yuhao wouldn't lack divine-tier treasures. Jiang Chen made sure the best remained in his own hands—especially those outside Tang Shenwang's control.
But Spirit Gold was far too rare.
Besides that small portion embedded in his Soul-Eating Engraver, only the one located deep within the Star Dou Forest—the piece about the size of a jade plate—was known to exist.
That wouldn't even be enough for one full helmet, let alone a complete set of armor. And Gu Yue? She definitely wouldn't give him any.
When Bi Ji had her own armor forged, Di Tian had already risked much to scrape off a tiny fragment of Spirit Gold for her alloy.
Who in their right mind would use Spirit Gold for a full battle armor set?
Even the entire Douluo realm didn't have enough to spare!
"What a pity~"
He could only consider mixing Spirit Gold powder as trace material.
As for the main body, he'd have to switch to something else.
Beginner armor usually used Blue Nurture Copper or Heavy Silver.
The former enhanced basic soul power output; the latter had excellent ductility and conductivity.
But neither appealed to Jiang Chen. Even high-tier materials like Heavy Silver felt unworthy of him.
If not Spirit Gold, then at least Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold—that caliber of cosmic-grade metal matched his status.
Otherwise, his armor would be less useful than the divine-tier mechas he kept in his spatial realm.
"Forget it, Yuner, no need. Focus on your studies. I'll have to find a divine craftsman for mine."
Huo Yuner: ???
Wait—what!? He wasn't going to let her craft it anymore!?
When in doubt, call Di Tian.
Di Tian: ?
When Jiang Chen's message came through, Di Tian immediately felt a deep sense of foreboding.
This guy never contacted him without a reason. Every time, trouble followed.
Sure enough—
"Brother Di Tian! Lend me a bit of Spirit Gold. I'm making battle armor."
As expected.
Di Tian's face darkened instantly—he nearly hung up then and there.
Spirit Gold? The sheer audacity!
That precious metal had been gathered drop by drop over hundreds of thousands of years by the Golden Tree at the Lake of Life in the Star Dou Forest.
Now the Golden Tree was gone, and what little Spirit Gold remained barely replenished itself. Even back then, when Bi Ji forged her armor, it had taken immense courage to scrape away a mere sliver.
And now Jiang Chen wanted to borrow some?
Dream on!
"What, after all these years, our friendship means nothing to you?"
Without a word, Di Tian simply ended the call.
Jiang Chen: …
Alright then. Maybe he should've stolen a piece back in the day.
"Don't the dragon clans have any rare metals? You guys are rich, right?"
Thinking back, he regretted not hauling out the remains of the Mountain Dragon King from the tomb.
He had already taken the soul bones, but the skeleton itself was still divine-grade—far more valuable than most metals on the continent.
Even his rare ice-element resources had all gone into forging the Snow God Flute for Xue Di.
For the first time, Jiang Chen truly didn't know what metal to use.
(END CHAPTER)
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