"What a bizarre ability."
Gu Tianchen flicked his fingers, and the spatial gate snapped shut behind him. He chuckled lightly. "It's merely spatial manipulation—nothing worth mentioning."
Xuan Ziwen's pupils contracted slightly as his gaze briefly locked onto Gu Tianchen. But after just a glance, he shifted his attention to Chen Junting, who stood at the front with a calm, welcoming smile.
"Apologies, Teacher Xuan," Chen Junting said, extending his hand. "To avoid drawing attention from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, we had no choice but to use this rather… unconventional method to pay you a visit."
He stepped forward. "Allow me to introduce myself—I'm Chen Junting, from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect of the Tianhun Empire. I've come today specifically to invite you to join our sect."
Out of courtesy, Xuan Ziwen briefly clasped Chen Junting's hand before letting go. He made no move to accept the offered opportunity—and didn't mince words.
"If you came prepared, you've surely heard from Yuhao already. I'm utterly obsessed with soul engineering research. Unless you can offer me richer soil—better resources, deeper support—I won't agree to leave."
"Naturally," Chen Junting nodded, then gestured for Huo Yuhao to present their first offering.
Huo Yuhao immediately stepped forward, laying out five newly developed soul-engineered devices before Xuan Ziwen.
Xuan Ziwen's eyes lit up instantly. He sat up straight, eagerly reaching for them one by one, his passion for soul engineering momentarily erasing all else from his mind.
After a long while, he reluctantly set them down, still brimming with fascination.
"Excellent… truly excellent, Yuhao. You really are remarkable."
But then he turned to Chen Junting—and slowly shook his head.
"But you know… this is far from enough."
"This is merely an appetizer," Chen Junting replied smoothly.
Under Xuan Ziwen's puzzled gaze, Chen Junting gently placed a hand on one of the devices. His fingertip traced slowly across its surface, leaving behind faint trails of golden light—array inscriptions forming one after another, etching themselves permanently into the device.
The moment the final rune was complete—
Swish! Swish! Swish—!
The modified hidden weapon—"Sand Concealing Arrows"—erupted in a storm of countless venomous energy rays, each packed with devastating penetration power capable of shredding metal and pulverizing stone, leaving nothing but corrosive ruin behind.
Fortunately, Gu Tianchen reacted instantly—bone spikes shot up like shields, intercepting the barrage before Xuan Ziwen's office could be reduced to rubble.
"This soul-engineered device…" Xuan Ziwen's shock was unmistakable.
But it wasn't the weapon's destructive power that stunned him.
It was the fact that—after the initial array inscription using soul power—the device required no further soul power input whatsoever to activate.
"It's the array you just inscribed!"
"Correct, Teacher Xuan," Chen Junting explained. "It's called the Energy-Gathering Array. It draws ambient elemental energy from heaven and earth for power—so no soul power from the user is needed."
Xuan Ziwen was speechless.
He'd thought his own invention—the sealed milk bottle, capable of storing soul power without leakage—was already a groundbreaking achievement.
Yet here they were… operating soul-engineered devices without using any soul power at all!
If this were truly scalable… wouldn't that mean the original Three Great Empires of Douluo could arm every single citizen as a combatant—so long as production kept up?
Though such total war remained an idealistic fantasy, the mere image sent a chill down Xuan Ziwen's spine.
But then—his eyes suddenly gleamed with excitement.
Because if ambient energy could be harnessed directly… that meant near-limitless power supply!
And if power wasn't a constraint, countless theoretical soul-engineered designs—long abandoned due to soul power limitations—could finally become reality.
The temptation was overwhelming!
But Chen Junting, reading Xuan Ziwen's thoughts in an instant, promptly poured cold water over his enthusiasm.
"I'm afraid I must disappoint you, Teacher Xuan. The Energy-Gathering Array doesn't draw infinite energy—and it's certainly not without consequence. Step back a few paces, and you'll understand."
Xuan Ziwen obeyed immediately. As he focused his perception, he clearly sensed the drastic thinning of ambient elemental energy in the surrounding area—compared to the dense concentration near the device, the difference was like heaven and earth.
"I see…" A flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes.
Still, even with this limitation, the array could be immensely valuable in experimental and iterative soul engineering work.
Yet this… was still just Chen Junting's appetizer.
Now came the main course.
Chen Junting's fingers brushed over his Starlight Sapphire Ring—and with a soft shimmer, an ancient-looking suit of armor materialized before Xuan Ziwen.
"This is…?"
Xuan Ziwen frowned slightly. A single glance revealed that every component of the armor was forged from top-tier metals—materials so rare, each piece could qualify for inclusion in a Grade-9 soul-engineered device.
As he infused a thread of soul power into it, intricate patterns glowed faintly across the surface. He recognized them instantly—they were the same type of arrays used on the "Sand Concealing Arrows."
But their exact function? He couldn't be sure.
"Teacher Xuan," Chen Junting suggested, "why not try it on yourself?"
In truth, this armor had been retrieved from the deepest vault of the Nine Treasures Pavilion in Mingdu. Chen Junting had then spent half a day frantically inscribing formations onto it—"completing" it through sheer will and effort.
And thus… Battle Armor was born.
As for proper technique?
None. Absolutely none!
It was pure brute-force array stacking—"big strength, flying bricks" engineering at its finest.
But hey—if it boosted combat power, who cared?
"Alright!" Xuan Ziwen didn't hesitate. He quickly disassembled the armor and began donning it.
The moment it sealed around him—he felt it.
Not long after—"Hissss—!"
"Teacher Xuan! Teacher Xuan!"
Huo Yuhao and Chen Junting both lunged forward in panic, hastily stripping the armor off Xuan Ziwen, who now looked like he'd suffered a grievous internal injury.
"Are you alright, Teacher Xuan?"
Xuan Ziwen waved them off weakly. "I'm fine…"
But the words had barely left his lips—"Pfft—!"
A mouthful of blood sprayed out. Clearly, he'd sustained serious internal trauma.
Yet even then—his trembling finger still pointed stubbornly at the armor, refusing to drop.
This man's dedication was unbelievable!
The thought flashed through Chen Junting's mind—and without drawing attention, he subtly placed a hand on Xuan Ziwen's meridian, channeling life energy to silently heal his internal injuries.
Still, Chen Junting couldn't help but wonder: 'Was the reaction really this extreme?'
Once recovered, Xuan Ziwen pointed at the armor Huo Yuhao had just removed. "You've probably never worn this yourself, have you?"
His tone was utterly certain.
But—
"No. I have," Chen Junting replied calmly, then shared his own experience.
"Yes, the arrays do boost combat power significantly—but the physical toll is immense. Even I felt tremendous pressure. I never imagined… that you, a Soul Douluo, would collapse after just a moment."
"Your constitution!" Xuan Ziwen suddenly looked at Chen Junting with awe—but quickly dismissed the thought as irrelevant. Instead, he launched into an excited analysis.
"This armor is meant to be worn in full. If each piece were used separately, it might be manageable. But assembled as one unit? Metal alone can't insulate the user from the arrays' backlash—so the entire burden falls on the wearer. As you said, it demands an extremely strong body. In my estimation, only someone with the physique of a Title Douluo could possibly endure it."
"But for a Title Douluo," he continued, "the armor's enhancement is nearly meaningless—because maintaining its function would require far more ambient energy than the Energy-Gathering Array can supply."
"Unless…"
Xuan Ziwen muttered to himself as he spoke, his eyes growing brighter by the second.
"If we apply principles from humanoid soul-engineered devices—and integrate the internal core array with the external formations to distribute the strain… then this type of armor might actually become viable!"
"Alas…" He sighed wistfully. "The humanoid soul-engineered prototype was stolen during the Body Sect's raid."
At that, Chen Junting let out a soft laugh.
And under Xuan Ziwen's baffled gaze, he said simply:
"Teacher Xuan—that humanoid soul-engineered device is currently in the possession of our Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect."
"…Huh?!"
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