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"So basically… I still don't understand what spirit forging is! Can you explain it in more detail?"
Inside Xuan Ziwen's laboratory at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, the lab's owner was loudly questioning Bai Chen.
Bai Chen looked unconcerned and waved his hand.
"Well, it's a new realm of forging. Once you reach it, you can give metal a spirit."
Not long after Bai Chen completed Spirit Forging, their vacation came to an end.
Bai Chen and Ning Tian set off again, returning to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
As soon as he arrived, Bai Chen went to find Xuan Ziwen in his lab and gave him the first piece of spirit metal he had forged.
It was his way of thanking his teacher. However, compared to the gratitude behind it, Xuan Ziwen seemed far more interested in the material itself.
Even after Bai Chen explained it, Xuan Ziwen still looked like he couldn't accept it.
"Why are you saying this so casually? Do you even know what this kind of technology represents? If this metal could be mass-produced, mass production of humanoid soul tools—even core soul tools—would become possible!"
"Mm, I know."
Bai Chen chuckled.
He already knew Xuan Ziwen would immediately think in that direction.
According to the original story, before Xuan Ziwen left, the academy's internal development of humanoid soul tools was divided into two schools of thought.
One advocated for large-scale designs—Bai Chen called it the "mecha faction." The other advocated for miniaturization—what Bai Chen called the "battle armor faction." Xuan Ziwen himself was a leading figure of the latter.
It's worth noting that although Huo Yuhao was Xuan Ziwen's disciple, his strength lay more in creating mechas. During the second tournament, he even created a humanoid soul tool that shocked even Jing Hongchen, the third-ranked soul engineer of the Sun Moon Empire.
In a sense, the humanoid soul tool Huo Yuhao created was one of the earliest prototypes of such devices—and also a precursor to future battle armor.
Even more astonishing was that he completed it in just three days while multitasking. The efficiency was terrifying.
As the creator of Ice War God Armor and one of the founders of the battle armor system, it was only natural for Xuan Ziwen to connect spirit metal with humanoid soul tools.
After all, battle armor itself is made from spirit metal.
However, as far as Bai Chen knew, Xuan Ziwen had only recently advanced to an eighth-level soul engineer. Even now, creating humanoid soul tools would still be quite difficult for him—but giving him some hints wouldn't hurt.
When Bai Chen of the Dou Three era later entered the field of battle armor, he could properly discuss insights about humanoid soul tools with Xuan Ziwen.
The humanoid soul tools of the Dou Two era were practically "black technology"—incredibly fast to produce and absurdly powerful.
Bai Chen was very curious what kind of sparks would fly when knowledge from two different eras collided.
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"
Seeing Bai Chen still looking absent-minded, Xuan Ziwen couldn't hold back anymore.
At that moment, the lab door suddenly burst open, and a figure dashed in.
"Senior! I came to see you!"
"Zi Yan, I heard Bai Chen came back, and you couldn't wait to drag him off to spar, huh!"
Xuan Ziwen was already in a bad mood, and he was even more blunt than usual, instantly exposing Zi Yan's intentions.
"Hehe… it's been a whole month, my hands are itching…"
Zi Yan didn't seem embarrassed at all. She chuckled and stepped closer to Bai Chen.
"Hey, Junior Bai Chen, you've gotten your second soul ring, right? How's your improvement? Confident you can beat me and Ji Juechen?"
Over the past year, not only had Bai Chen improved rapidly, but Ji Juechen and Zi Yan had also benefited greatly from sparring with him.
Especially Ji Juechen—after obtaining the longsword Bai Chen reforged for him, his strength had risen to a new level. Ordinary fifth-level soul engineers were no longer his match.
Zi Yan had also recently advanced to a fifth-level soul engineer. Once she reached this level, it basically meant all her abilities had hit that tier—she could confidently call herself one of the strongest fifth-level soul engineers.
Even so, Bai Chen had never been able to defeat them easily in their past battles. They were, after all, elite geniuses of the academy.
But that was all in the past.
This holiday had transformed Bai Chen completely.
So he smiled and replied:
"Senior Sister, if you want to know how strong I am now… how about fighting together with Senior?"
"Oh? Very confident." Zi Yan's eyes flashed with surprise as she turned and smiled at Ji Juechen. "Juechen, what do you think?"
At some point, Ji Juechen had also arrived at the lab. His reply was as simple as ever:
"Let's try."
"You guys…"
Watching the three genius soul engineers, Xuan Ziwen sighed helplessly and waved his hand.
"Alright, alright. Go do your sparring. Just don't disturb my research on this spirit metal!"
"Okay, Senior, thanks!"
Zi Yan grabbed Bai Chen's hand and dragged him out of the lab.
Ji Juechen silently picked up his Heaven Outside Meteor Sword and followed behind them. The three headed toward their usual sparring grounds.
As the lab door closed, the room suddenly felt much quieter.
Xuan Ziwen focused his gaze on the piece of spirit metal before him, lost in thought.
After a moment, he suddenly chuckled and muttered to himself:
"Prohibit handing over soul tools made from spirit metal to the Bright Virtue Hall… huh?"
That was the only request Bai Chen made after giving him the spirit metal.
It made sense. Bai Chen would definitely forge more spirit metal in the future. With such materials, even if Xuan Ziwen's personal strength wasn't enough, he could still develop inventions capable of shaking the Sun Moon Empire.
As a member of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Bai Chen had no reason to aid the enemy—so he deliberately placed this restriction on Xuan Ziwen.
Xuan Ziwen couldn't help recalling something he once said:
"Honestly, at least for now, your Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect doesn't attract me nearly as much as the Bright Virtue Hall. Here, I can enjoy the best research environment—and that's what matters most to me. I have no reason to leave."
"…Sigh…"
Remembering those words, Xuan Ziwen let out a long breath, picked up the spirit metal again, and resumed his research.