Word Count: 3,247
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"Not bad."
Leng Yaozhu looked at the two of them with unconcealed satisfaction. "Your spirit power cultivation already places you among the best of your generation, and your Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power has reached the minimum threshold for a Titled Douluo. You're both still very young. Your future achievements will be immeasurable."
Her gaze shifted to Na Er. "Illusory Brain sent a message over the Spirit Communication Device and asked you to go see him. Something about a mecha repair test paper?"
The moment those words left her mouth, the upward curve at the corner of Na Er's lips collapsed. She shot Zhao Xuanzhen an aggrieved glare. "You're inhuman. Even I get dragged into your grind!"
Illusory Brain Douluo had held a mecha repair assessment the night before. In keeping with his philosophy of combining theory with practice, the exam had been split into two parts: a written test and a hands-on practical.
The final major question on the paper had gone wildly beyond the expected scope and involved Three-Word Battle Armor repair knowledge. The day before the exam, Han Tianyi had given the two of them a book of real mecha repair cases, and that book happened to contain the exact answer, word for word.
Zhao Xuanzhen had felt Han Tianyi would never do something without reason and advised Na Er to at least skim it. Na Er had obviously not taken it seriously. The result was her current fate: being tormented in the True Illusory Realm, chased all over the place by Snake Queen Medusa.
"Sigh..."
Na Er let out a long breath, suddenly tasting the bitterness of growing old while still so young.
"Go on. Medusa's been waiting long enough." Zhao Xuanzhen patted her on the shoulder and very openly rubbed salt into the wound. "Next time, remember to memorize the answers."
Na Er flared up at once. "What's the difference between stuffing the answers into your head and cheating? If you've got the nerve, then let's have a proper, fair competition!"
With that, she wore a miserable little expression and marched off with tragic determination to meet Medusa's Gaze.
Once Na Er left, Leng Yaozhu turned her head toward Zhao Xuanzhen. "Since Illusory Brain is testing mecha repair, I should examine your mecha design and mecha manufacturing as well."
"No problem, Teacher." Zhao Xuanzhen agreed at once.
Master and disciple went to the Vice Pagoda Master's private Battle Armor Room. Leng Yaozhu lightly tapped the metal table, and glowing numbers appeared as the countdown began.
"Xuanzhen, within two hours, make a Spirit Guidance Device at the absolute limit of your ability."
Zhao Xuanzhen nodded. After four years of study and training, this was far from his first timed assessment. His gaze swept across the dozens of metals laid out on the worktable, and he quickly made his decision, picking up a block of silvery-white metal.
Heavy Silver. A rare metal.
Spirit Guidance Devices were different from Battle Armor and Mechas. They did not require especially strict forging. This was particularly true for low- and mid-grade Spirit Guidance Devices below rank seven, where refinement alone was sufficient.
He swiftly completed the preliminary preparations. The cubical block of Heavy Silver was divided into smaller pieces. Zhao Xuanzhen pinched a piece of Heavy Silver in his left hand and held a blue carving knife in his right.
A carving knife was the key tool a Spirit Guidance Master used to inscribe core formations. This particular knife was crystalline and translucent from end to end. Its handle was deep blue, the color gradually fading as it extended along the blade until the sharp tip turned completely transparent.
After giving the Heavy Silver a brief examination, Zhao Xuanzhen began. His carving movements were astonishingly fast. Every stroke flowed into the next without the slightest pause. In Leng Yaozhu's eyes, the knife kept turning between his fingers like a dancing ice blossom.
'The embryonic form of a style...' Leng Yaozhu noted inwardly.
Spirit Guidance Masters inscribed core formations into rare metals. Mecha Manufacturers likewise inscribed core formations into forged metals to amplify Martial Spirits. The two professions differed in form, yet at their heart they shared striking similarities.
To advance to 7-star rank and beyond, a Mecha Manufacturer had to comprehend a style uniquely their own. As an 8-star Rank Mecha Manufacturer, Leng Yaozhu could clearly tell that Zhao Xuanzhen was still in the process of exploring his style, yet an embryonic outline had already begun to take shape. He had stepped onto the path every high-level Mecha Manufacturer had to walk.
Time passed little by little. Dense, intricate patterns spread across the surface of the Heavy Silver. Leng Yaozhu's lovely brows gradually drew together. "Energy storage, energy storage, energy storage, energy storage... blast, blast...
Heavy Silver may have outstanding spirit power conductivity, and it may be tougher than ordinary rare metals, but no matter what, it can't endure the load of four rounds of spirit power storage. Are you making a disposable Spirit Guidance Device?"
She had not deliberately lowered her voice, yet Zhao Xuanzhen had no intention of clearing up his teacher's confusion. He shut out everything around him and focused solely on the Spirit Guidance Device. Fine grains of Heavy Silver powder drifted and scattered around his hands.
"And now you're engraving an acceleration formation. So it is a single-use explosive type." Leng Yaozhu's eyes lit with understanding.
"Teacher, you're not doing this on purpose to interfere with me, are you?" Zhao Xuanzhen finally could not help saying.
The soul of a Spirit Guidance Device was its core formation, and the crafting process could not tolerate the slightest mistake. A hair's breadth of error could lead to catastrophic failure. Leng Yaozhu's voice kept drifting in every so often, and he seriously suspected she was doing it deliberately!
"An ability test ought to contain challenges."
Leng Yaozhu smiled with a trace of slyness and admitted it without the least embarrassment. "I happen to be one of the challenges you're facing. A warm reminder: pass the test, and there will be a reward."
"Could you be a little more specific?"
Leng Yaozhu smiled. "The two of you have spent the last four years cultivating in the Spirit Pagoda. You've lived a secluded life and almost never go out, and you only get half a day off each week. Tomorrow, I'll take you both out traveling. We can enjoy some beautiful natural scenery and have a bit of fun to relax."
"That does sound tempting."
Zhao Xuanzhen's hands remained as steady as ever. "Where does Teacher plan to go? Heaven Dou City, Star Luo City, Dou Spirit City, or Dragon City?"
Leng Yaozhu smiled faintly. "Wrong on every count.
One of the cities where the Spirit Pagoda's Eighteen Pillars of Heaven are located: Eastsea City.
Eastsea City is a coastal city with abundant tourism resources and the place of origin for much of the Federation's seafood. You two can sun yourselves and eat seafood while I take the opportunity to examine a young genius. After that, we'll enjoy a short vacation together."
"Examine a genius?"
A strange glint passed through Zhao Xuanzhen's eyes, though his expression remained unchanged. "What kind of genius is important enough for Teacher to go in person?"
Leng Yaozhu's tone carried clear interest. "A first-year student at Eastsea Academy. A very talented little girl around your age. Gu Yue."
Just as Zhao Xuanzhen had expected, the genius who had drawn Leng Yaozhu to Eastsea City was indeed Gu Yue.
Gu Yue's appearance in Eastsea City meant she had found Tang Wulin and had set her sights on the Golden Dragon King's divine core inside him.
Unaware of what Zhao Xuanzhen was thinking, Leng Yaozhu continued, "Gu Yue's Martial Spirit is called Elementalist. Like your True Self and Na Er's Silver Dragon Spear, it is unique.
Elements are a formidable power. Even a Martial Spirit aligned with a single element is enough to make the major factions fight to extend an olive branch. Elementalist, however, not only controls multiple elements but can also combine them!
The Pagoda Master of Eastsea City's Spirit Pagoda is an old subordinate of mine. According to him, Gu Yue displayed six major elements inside the Elementary Spirit Ascension Platform: earth, water, wind, fire, light, and space. He strongly urged me to bring her into our fold, and she herself has expressed willingness to join the Spirit Pagoda."
"So I'm about to get a junior sister?"
"No. Never."
Leng Yaozhu's tone turned unusually serious. "If you did not exist, I might have taken Gu Yue as my disciple. But now, you are Teacher's one and only disciple.
This trip to Eastsea City is indeed to recruit Gu Yue into the Spirit Pagoda and grant her core disciple status, but more importantly, it is to bring her into the Phoenix Clan's camp and have her stand on our side. The Spirit Pagoda is filled with competing clans internally. It is far from united.
The descendants of the main Leng Clan line have grown sparse. Xiao Ling came from the branch Spirit Phoenix line, and you are her son as well as my direct disciple. In time, you must take over my position.
Na Er, Gu Yue, and even Da Bai and Xiao Bai will all be indispensable helpers to you."
She paused, then added, "Oh, right. There is also a hidden force behind Gu Yue. Her mother once personally discussed Gu Yue joining the Spirit Pagoda with the Eastsea Pagoda Master. She hoped Gu Yue could skip the branch-level tempering and go directly to the headquarters for an appointment.
That woman called herself Purple Dragon Douluo. The Eastsea Pagoda Master believes she is at least a Super Douluo. That alone shows Gu Yue's background is anything but simple."
Gu Yue has a mother? Purple Dragon Douluo?
Zhao Xuanzhen didn't buy it for a second. A name immediately surfaced in his mind.
The continent's ninth Great Beast, the Abyss Demon Dragon Empress Zi Ji!
A true dragon spirit beast with dragon bloodline. Who could be more suitable to play the role of Gu Yue's mother?
It seemed Gu Yue had still chosen that path: seize the Golden Dragon King's divine core, join the Spirit Pagoda, display her talent and background to gain the upper echelon's attention, then establish the Ten Thousand Beast Platform to control human Spirit Masters and complete the spirit beasts' revenge against humanity.
"Why do you keep chatting with me? Focus on engraving the core formation. Your speed has already dropped!" Leng Yaozhu rapped the tabletop.
"Teacher, that topic was your doing..."
"I am the difficulty you need to overcome, not an excuse for you to ride along with."
Leng Yaozhu looked at Zhao Xuanzhen in an unhurried fashion, vividly demonstrating what it meant to be right no matter which side she took.
The Spirit Guidance Device had reached a critical stage. If Leng Yaozhu kept interfering, he really might fail. After a brief moment of thought, Zhao Xuanzhen caused a blueprint to float out of his storage device and land in front of her.
"Teacher, could you take a look at this blueprint for me?"
"Of course."
Leng Yaozhu took the bait at once and lowered her gaze to the drawing. A moment later, her delicate body trembled slightly on instinct, and light flashed through her phoenix eyes.
The blueprint depicted a One-Word Battle Armor design, and it was already close to complete. Even with her eye as a 9-star Rank Mecha Designer, she could not find any major flaws.
Normally, once a secondary profession reached 3-star, one could begin attempting to research One-Word Battle Armor, but perfecting such a design required 4-star ability. Based on this blueprint alone, Zhao Xuanzhen was already a 4-star Rank Mecha Designer!
'Genius...' Leng Yaozhu was deeply shaken and began analyzing Zhao Xuanzhen's design philosophy piece by piece.
With his teacher's extra interference neatly dealt with, Zhao Xuanzhen raised his speed again. The carving knife moved like a wisp of nimble wind, touching and retreating at once, never lingering. His movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, as though the knife were merely brushing lightly across the surface of the Heavy Silver.
One of them quietly studied while the other focused on engraving. Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened. The Battle Armor Room's soft lights turned on by themselves, keeping the room bright, yet neither Zhao Xuanzhen nor Leng Yaozhu spared that change even a glance. Both were wholly immersed in their own worlds.
When the countdown ended, the Heavy Silver had become a hollow, tapered Spirit Guidance Device covered in carved patterns. The lines on its outer shell twisted and coiled with striking depth and texture.
An alloy wall rose from the ground. Zhao Xuanzhen injected spirit power into the device and flung it out. A string of ear-piercing detonations followed, and metal dust exploded into the air.
"A modified charge-storing high-explosive bomb that incorporates techniques from Stationary Spirit Guidance weapons," Leng Yaozhu said with certainty. "Its power is slightly inferior to that of an ordinary rank-four stationary shell, but its production cost is far lower. Economical and practical.
Congratulations. At ten years old, you are a 4-star Rank Mecha Manufacturer and a 4-star Rank Mecha Designer."
"Not just that," Zhao Xuanzhen said. "Elder Han has already certified that both Na Er and I are 4-star Rank Mecha Mechanics as well."
Leng Yaozhu recalled that nearly impossible agreement: within five years, all three secondary professions had to reach 4-star. Zhao Xuanzhen had done it in only four.
"One generation really does overtake the last..." she said with emotion. "From now on, I won't stop you from cultivating all three professions at once."
"Thank you, Teacher."
"There's no need for thanks between master and disciple..."
Her jade-like hand lightly cupped the side of Zhao Xuanzhen's face. The crimson pupils of Leng Yaozhu's eyes seemed to gather into a surging, undercurrent storm as she murmured softly, "Xuanzhen, don't blame Teacher for being strict with you these past few years. You are everything my spirit rests upon. Teacher wants to watch you rise above everyone and become that person who stands invincible among your peers..."
The heat from her palm seeped into him. Ripples spread across Zhao Xuanzhen's eyes, black and still as a quiet lake. "Invincible among my peers. Is that all?"
Leng Yaozhu smiled, as though some burden had eased from her heart. "If you can go one step further, that would be even better. Teacher harbors a selfish wish: to raise you, watch you grow, until you uphold the heavens above and explore the netherworld below!
For that, Teacher can give... everything!"
"I will." Zhao Xuanzhen's expression was unexpectedly cool and distant. "Teacher, I'm going back to cultivate."
He bid Leng Yaozhu farewell and stepped into the high-grade elevator leading to the 99th floor.
No one saw that his eyes were no longer their natural black, nor the deep blue they assumed when he used Earth Plate Daoist Arts. They had become a dazzling gold, brimming with awe-inspiring majesty.
Na Er had not yet finished her training. The 99th floor belonged to Zhao Xuanzhen alone.
"Four Plates in Harmony."
The Eight Trigrams Qimen instantly sealed the entire floor. Not the slightest wisp of aura leaked outward.
Within Leng Yaozhu's eyes, Zhao Xuanzhen had seen his own reflection. Her gaze had clearly fallen on him, and yet it felt as though she had not truly been looking at him at all.
A shadow mistaken for the beloved, an orchid-rooted bond ending in scattered catkins...
"Uphold the heavens above and explore the netherworld below... Teacher, I will not become a second Atlas Douluo. I will replace him at the summit of the continent, and... in your heart.
Eight Trigrams Qimen, Divine Plate!"
The Eight Trigrams Qimen possessed four plates: Heaven, Earth, Human, and Divine, corresponding respectively to heavenly timing, earthly advantage, human harmony, and divine assistance.
Zhao Xuanzhen most often used the Earth Plate Daoist Arts that represented earthly advantage, but among the four, the strongest was without question the Divine Plate Daoist Art, which housed eight of the world's great powers!
His brilliant golden eyes burned in silence as he observed the celestial signs. Two nights from now, the heavenly secret would align in a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. The stars would blaze in dazzling splendor.
If he wished to fulfill his long-cherished desire, he would need a world free from the interference of Gods. That was the sole chance for human power to triumph over divinity.
However, Zhao Xuanzhen was only a two-ringed Spirit Grand Master. He did not possess the capacity to bear that heavenly secret directly. He needed a medium.
Divine Plate, Eight Deities!
The Eight Trigrams Qimen cast a golden shadow across the floor, and the Qimen formation slowly revolved in accordance with the laws of heaven and earth.
The Eight Deities of the Divine Plate were incarnations of the power of heaven and earth; eight mysterious forces whose properties corresponded to all things in the world. From the moment of their birth, they stood at the very limit of what a world could sustain. Their gestation required an enormous amount of heaven and earth qi, but the Qimen Master could accelerate their growth by harnessing heavenly timing, earthly advantage, and human harmony!
Whoever possessed heavenly timing, earthly advantage, and human harmony would occupy an immensely important position on the Douluo Continent. The great superpowers standing at the continent's summit were living proof: the Spirit Pagoda, Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the War God Temple...
Yet the stronger the light, the deeper the shadow.
The Holy Spirit Cult, the Abyssal Plane, the Demonic Plane... evil forces, too, possessed weighty heavenly timing, earthly advantage, and human harmony.
If the Eight Deities were placed within such domains, they could grow at the fastest possible speed and become the pinnacle of living beings in this era of the Douluo Continent: Quasi Gods.
But spirits born of heaven and earth were themselves constrained by the world. If the Eight Deities wished to become true Gods, only two paths lay before them: the world's plane had to ascend, or the Qimen Master had to transcend the world!
"Fire of the South, return to your position."
An absolute silence, one that devoured everything, descended. The center of the Eight Trigrams Qimen split open into a pitch-black abyss, a shadow so deep it seemed to swallow even light. After absorbing the heaven and earth qi of the Spirit Pagoda for many long years, the first of the Eight Deities slowly awakened.
The rasp of scales grinding together rang out like two iron mountains colliding. A scarlet vertical pupil emerged from the abyss. An enormous head rose after it, followed by a towering, iron-pillar body sheathed in black scales. Crimson patterns glowed through the gaps in its armor like molten lava that had yet to cool.
It was a giant serpent of absurd proportions. The ceiling of the 99th floor was far too small for it; only its head and a length of its body could emerge. Its breath was scorching beyond measure, and every exhalation tore spiderweb-like red cracks through the air.
The serpent looked down at Zhao Xuanzhen. In the depths of its scarlet pupil, dark clouds revolved like the heart of an erupting volcano. Then, slowly, it lowered its great head and spoke in human tongue:
"Eight Deities' Teng She greets the Qimen Master."
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Translator's Note — The Eight Deities (八诈神, Bā Zhà Shén)
The Eight Deities are not gods in the religious or mythological sense. Within the Eight Trigrams Qimen system, they are the supreme manifestation of the Divine Plate: incarnations of heaven and earth's power, each embodying a fundamental force of the natural world.
The complete roster of the Eight Deities:
Leader – 值符 (Zhi Fu)
Partner – 六合 (Liu He)
Nine Heaven – 九天 (Jiu Tian)
Nine Earth – 九地 (Jiu Di)
Serpent – 螣蛇 (Teng She)
Darkness – 太阴 (Tai Yin)
Black Tortoise – 玄武 (Xuan Wu)
White Tiger – 白虎 (Bai Hu)