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Listening to Ye Wen's indifferent reprimand, Jing Hongchen's face flushed red. He had forgotten to inform his grandchildren about the unique nature of Ye Wen's soul-guided knowledge beforehand.
"Forgive me, Lord Tianxing. It's my fault for not teaching them properly, causing this embarrassment. Please continue."
Ye Wen paid no heed to this minor incident and proceeded to explain other matters.
Those in the know were already aware of the entirely new system of soul-guided materials that Ye Wen had pioneered. Shrek Academy, on the other hand, was more than happy to see the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy humiliated.
However, it wasn't until Ye Wen elaborated on the classification of metal forging that they realized how naive and superficial their previous understanding had been.
The forging philosophy Ye Wen introduced divided metals into five levels after secondary processing.
At the most basic level was "Hundred Forging," which slightly increased the strength and functionality of soul-guided devices. Next was "Thousand Forging," the entry-level material required to craft the type of armor-based soul-guided devices worn by Huo Yuer and her peers.
But these weren't what shocked the audience the most. The three subsequent levels truly revealed why Huo Yuer and her group were so extraordinarily powerful.
Above Thousand Forging was "Ten Thousand Forging."
Unlike the earlier levels, which could be achieved purely through diligent practice, Ten Thousand Forging required the forger to possess a profound level of insight. They needed to sense the emotional characteristics of the metal and bring them to their peak, imbuing the metal with its own spirit—what was known as "Spiritual Metal."
Only metals at this stage could be used to create armor-based soul-guided devices capable of fusing directly into the human body.
At this point, Ye Wen made it clear: if anyone wanted to learn how to craft soul-guided armor that could instantly elevate a soul master's power to Level 70, they would first need to master this forging technique. Otherwise, everything else was out of the question.
However, Ye Wen wasn't a saint. Regarding the final two stages—Soul Forging and Heaven Forging—he claimed they were still in the conceptual phase. If anyone managed to grasp them in the future, they could come to him to exchange for a favor.
While the students were still digesting Ye Wen's revolutionary metal-forging hierarchy, the lead teachers from Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy exchanged knowing glances while looking at Ye Wen.
He had even come up with specific names for these concepts but still claimed they were merely ideas in his head. Such blatant lies were laughable!
But what could they do? After all, Ye Wen's fists spoke louder than words.
Even mastering the art of crafting Spiritual Metals at the Ten Thousand Forging level was more than enough to satisfy those present.
After all, these metals could fuse directly into a soul master's body, enhancing their combat power—essentially functioning like soul bones.
To put it simply, soul-guided devices forged from Spiritual Metals were practically equivalent to soul bones!
The strongest soul engineer present, Jing Hongchen, couldn't hide the fiery excitement in his eyes.
Wasn't the hallmark of a Level 10 soul engineer the ability to merge with their own Level 10 soul-guided device?
These Spiritual Metals were the ultimate key for Level 9 soul engineers to break through to Level 10!
Moreover, an impractical yet tantalizing thought flashed through Jing Hongchen's mind:
"If Great Elder Kong Deming could master the Soul Forging that Tianxing Douluo mentioned, does that mean our Sun Moon Empire might one day reach the realm of true gods—a Level 11 soul engineer?"
This thought made it hard for Jing Hongchen to suppress his excitement, his lips twitching uncontrollably. However, he knew better than to reveal his ambition and instead tried to minimize his presence.
Jing Hongchen wasn't the only one struggling to contain his emotions. Another person in the room shared the same struggle—Tang Wulin.
As the heir to the ancient hammer-wielding lineage, no sect dared claim superiority over the Hao Tian Sect in forging techniques.
After all, mastering the Hao Tian Sect's Disorderly Wind Splitting Hammer Technique granted one the title of Divine Smith upon reaching Soul Douluo or Title Douluo cultivation levels.
And Tang Wulin was no ordinary prodigy. The core of the Chaotic Gale Hammer Technique lay in the legs, which were likened to a second heart. With his Soft Boned Rabbit martial soul, Tang Wulin's legs were naturally stronger and more capable of unleashing the full potential of the technique.
Upon learning that the first two levels of metal forging could be achieved through accumulated practice, Tang Wulin felt confident that he would be the first among those present to master Thousand Forging.
It couldn't be helped—his dual martial souls gave him an overwhelming advantage in forging.
After leaving Ye Wen's residence and regaining his composure, Tang Wulin furrowed his brows slightly. He knew that Ye Wen had sabotaged his plans before, but survival of the fittest applied here. Ye Wen had paid a price, and even his father—the memory-sealed, morally upright God King—had nothing to say about it.
But still...
Darkness flickered in Tang Wulin's eyes.
Since learning about the future of forging from Ye Wen, Tang Wulin had no doubt that he could achieve Ten Thousand Forging and create Spiritual Metals.
"Tianxing Douluo, you truly deserve to die!
You possess the complete advanced technology for metal forging, yet you've hidden the two most crucial and profound stages, lying that you don't know them and forcing us to figure them out ourselves!
Hmph! A wolf in sheep's clothing! Once I grow stronger, I will make you pay!"
Tang Wulin cursed Ye Wen inwardly for withholding knowledge but knew he was no match for Ye Wen now—even if his two fathers joined forces.
But so what? He, Tang Wulin, was the chosen son of the Sea God, destined to ascend to the pinnacle of the Douluo Continent. He had plenty of time to settle the score later!
The current Douluo Continent was too corrupt. Even the once-loyal Tang Sect had fallen into decline, and it was up to him, Tang Wulin, to revive it and cleanse this filthy world, restoring justice to the people.
No one paid attention to Tang Wulin's scheming thoughts. Meanwhile, the Douluo Continent began experiencing a new wave of trends due to the metal-forging knowledge Ye Wen had disseminated.
Metals, already expensive, began to steadily rise in price across the board.
The Sun Moon Empire fared relatively well, given its abundant metal reserves. But the rest of the Douluo Continent suffered greatly.
After all, metal deposits were gifts from fate—if you had them, you did; if not, tough luck.
Although the untapped Far North Ice Plains held vast metal reserves, it remained a desolate wasteland that no one dared explore. To make matters worse, Ye Wen had already claimed it for himself.
With no other options, the Three Kingdoms of Douluo Continent gritted their teeth and scoured every inch of land, stockpiling rare metals. Without metals, even mastering Tianxing Douluo's soul-guided knowledge would be useless.
Ironically, the Sun Moon Empire might use the knowledge Ye Wen imparted to turn against the Douluo Three Kingdoms.
The Douluo Three Kingdoms were understandably frustrated. _-_-||_
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