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Chapter 70: The Prototype of the Decomposition Cannon and Sealed Milk Bottle
"Hm? You're going to hunt a soul ring?"
That day, while Jing Ziyan happened to be visiting Xuan Ziwen's laboratory again, Bai Chen told everyone about Ning Tian needing to obtain her first soul ring.
Jing Ziyan immediately raised her hand excitedly.
"Then I'm coming too! I've been stuck in the academy for a while—I need some fresh air!"
Ji Juechen crossed his arms over his chest and said simply,
"Take me along."
"Hold it."
Seeing the two of them already eager to drag Bai Chen out immediately, Xuan Ziwen hurriedly stopped them.
"Do you even know where you're supposed to hunt soul beasts?"
Jing Ziyan waved her hand dismissively.
"What are you saying, Senior Brother? It's not like I've never gone hunting soul beasts with our teacher before. Of course I know the gathering grounds near Mingdu."
"That's exactly why you're an idiot."
Xuan Ziwen pushed his glasses up and replied irritably.
"Different soul masters require different types of soul rings. If you're a soul engineer, maybe it doesn't matter much—but they're soul masters from the original Douluo Continent. Do you think they can just absorb any random soul ring?"
Only then did Jing Ziyan realize her mistake.
"Uh… then what should we do?"
"Wait here."
Xuan Ziwen quickly left the lab.
Fifteen minutes later he returned carrying a map.
"This is an internal map from the academy," he said.
"It marks the different soul beast gathering areas and the types of soul beasts found there. Choose your hunting location based on this."
"Hmm…"
Bai Chen glanced at the map with admiration.
He really had chosen the right person.
Compared to Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen, Xuan Ziwen was far more reliable.
Although he was only two years older than Jing Ziyan, the way they interacted made it seem like he was practically her teacher.
After examining the map briefly, Bai Chen quickly found a suitable location.
"Qiling Mine Cave, fifty li from Mingdu."
He read the description aloud.
"Various rare metals exist in abundance near the surface, making it suitable for mining. The deeper regions contain metal-element and gemstone-type soul beasts, suitable for soul masters with corresponding attributes."
Bai Chen looked toward Ning Tian.
"What do you think?"
As far as he knew, gem-type soul beasts were the most suitable for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
Ning Tian nodded softly.
"I think it's perfect."
Before coming to the academy, Ning Jingchen had already explained to her which soul beast attributes suited her martial soul.
In fact, hunting soul beasts in the Sun Moon Empire was easier for Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda users than in the Douluo Continent's three traditional kingdoms.
The most suitable soul rings for this martial soul were metal and gemstone types, which typically lived in mineral-rich regions.
The Sun Moon Empire had far more mines than the original Douluo territories.
Therefore, while other types of soul beasts might be harder to find—
Metal-type soul beasts were far more plentiful here.
"Then it's settled," Bai Chen said.
Because the upper layers of the mine were frequently used by Sun Moon Empire miners extracting rare metals, the soul beasts there were relatively weak.
Most were ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts.
Thousand-year ones were extremely rare.
Ten-thousand-year beasts were nonexistent.
It was the perfect place for a team like theirs.
"If that's the case…"
Xuan Ziwen muttered to himself.
Then he reached into his storage soul tool and took out four long cylindrical cannons, tossing one to each of them.
Bai Chen caught his instinctively.
"Teacher Xuan, what is this?"
"A Level 7 Decomposition Cannon."
"Pff—!"
Before Bai Chen could react, Jing Ziyan nearly choked.
She wiped her mouth and stared at him in disbelief.
"Wait—wait—what did you just say?"
Xuan Ziwen repeated calmly,
"A Level 7 Decomposition Cannon."
"Don't worry. I modified them specially."
"Even you can fire one shot—if you're willing to expend all your soul power."
"WHAT?!"
Jing Ziyan stared at the cannon in her hands, completely speechless.
Ning Tian and Ji Juechen didn't fully understand her reaction.
But Bai Chen did.
Decomposition Cannons were a special category of soul tool.
They were single-target long-range weapons.
Even the lowest-grade ones were Level 6 soul tools.
Their construction was extremely complicated, involving numerous complex principles—some even touching upon spatial theory.
They were among the most difficult soul tools of their level to manufacture.
But the reward was terrifying attack power.
The single-target damage of a decomposition cannon could exceed that of a same-level fixed soul cannon shell.
They represented the strongest single-target attack soul tools of their tier.
They were also incredibly rare.
For example:
The commander of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion possessed more than ten Level 9 fixed soul cannon shells.
Yet he didn't even have one Level 9 decomposition cannon.
And that legion was supported directly by the imperial family—making it the richest of the Beast King soul engineer legions.
If even they lacked such weapons, the value of a decomposition cannon was obvious.
A Level 7 decomposition cannon might not match a Level 9 one—
But it still surpassed the value of most Level 8 soul tools.
Four of them together were worth almost as much as a Level 9 soul tool.
Xuan Ziwen smirked coldly.
"Scared?"
"If you understand how valuable those are, then come back alive and return them to me."
"Understood?"
"I—I understand…"
Jing Ziyan carefully stored the cannon away.
As a Level 4 soul engineer she wasn't poor—
But a Level 7 decomposition cannon could still bankrupt her instantly.
The reason Xuan Ziwen possessed so many was actually related to Bai Chen.
When he first began studying Thousand-Refined metal, he created numerous high-level experimental soul tools to test the material's properties.
The decomposition cannon was one of those experiments.
Even so, he only had five total.
After giving four away, he only had one left.
As for the "special modification" he mentioned—
That idea had also come from Bai Chen.
Bai Chen often casually mentioned concepts from the future era.
Xuan Ziwen absorbed these ideas at astonishing speed.
The modification he made to these cannons was, in a sense,
The prototype of the Sealed Milk Bottle.
Xuan Ziwen stepped closer to Bai Chen.
His expression softened as he patted the boy's shoulder.
"Be careful."
"Don't push yourself too hard, understand?"
Bai Chen smiled confidently.
"Don't worry, Teacher."
"We'll be fine."