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The nurturing process for the Undead Sacred Soul Grass was not something that could be completed in a short time. After transforming the Sacred Soul Grass into an undead lifeform and creating a soul tool planter to nurture its spirit, Su Yu began focusing on advancing to the level of a Rank 9 soul engineer.
Each day, Su Yu would inspect the state of the Undead Sacred Soul Grass. The rest of his time was primarily spent crafting Rank 9 soul tools.
Creating a Rank 9 soul tool was nothing like crafting a lower-level one; it couldn't be done quickly.
For a Rank 9 soul tool, the core was no longer a single formation—it required engraving dozens of core formation areas.
This was why many Rank 9 soul tools were presented in the form of soul cannons. The larger size and numerous components of a soul cannon provided plenty of space for engraving core formations.
Only after mastering the crafting of a Rank 9 soul cannon would soul engineers turn their focus to minimizing the size of soul tools.
Ye Yulin, one of the three greatest soul engineers of the Sun Moon Empire, was renowned precisely because he managed to reduce the size of a Rank 9 soul tool to that of a needle.
For beginners attempting to craft a Rank 9 soul tool, every component of a Rank 9 soul cannon could take an entire day to complete.
Producing one Rank 9 soul cannon in a month would already be considered a significant success.
If a failure occurred, it was entirely normal for two or three months to pass without success.
Given the sheer size of a Rank 9 soul cannon, each component often required multiple attempts, sometimes even ten or dozens of tries.
The consumption of rare metals during this process was nothing short of astronomical.
Even for someone as talented as Su Yu, mistakes were inevitable.
Su Yu's true strength lay in his comprehension. He had an exceptional ability to quickly identify problems, understand the challenges of engraving formations, and master the techniques involved. However, this didn't mean he could flawlessly execute everything just as he envisioned.
Many times, while his mind understood the process perfectly, his hands didn't cooperate.
This was especially true in the crafting of soul tools.
Engraving different core formations often introduced overlapping elements, requiring extensions to the circuits and perfectly matched soul power flows.
While Su Yu could mentally map out a flawless process, execution was a different story, and mistakes were easy to make. Though his error rate was already extremely low, the intricate and precise nature of the process made even minor mistakes impactful.
In the blink of an eye, two months had passed.
"Whew, I finally succeeded."
Su Yu placed the completed components of the Rank 9 soul cannon on the crafting table.
He began assembling all the parts.
First, he connected the core components. There were a total of 30 core pieces that needed to be assembled and their respective core formations aligned.
Next came the external shell, which was a relatively simple step. Unlike the internal assembly, the shell didn't require overly complicated procedures. Anyone familiar with the structure of a soul cannon could easily handle this stage.
Before long, a massive cannon, three meters in length, was completed and stood before Su Yu.
The cannon exuded a sense of weight and solidity.
Su Yu didn't charge the soul cannon with soul power just yet.
The distinction between a soul cannon and a fixed-installed soul cannon was significant. The most notable difference was that a soul cannon required the soul master's own soul power to operate, whereas a fixed-installed soul cannon relied on pre-charged energy. The latter was designed with a framework that housed the ammunition and sufficient energy for use, requiring minimal input from the soul master.
Most soul cannons also functioned as energy cannons, converting energy to generate concentrated energy projectiles.
Of course, some specialized soul cannons were designed to fire custom-made soul tool ammunition to enhance their power and specific effects.
Su Yu's Rank 9 soul cannon was an energy cannon, and for now, it remained uncharged.
A small amount of soul power was injected into the soul cannon, circulating through the core formation within.
The charging mechanism utilized the latest sealed milk bottle technology developed by Xuan Ziwen. Each core component and section of the core formation was equipped with two or three devices designed to store soul power.
During operation, a soul master could control the soul power flow to either charge the device or bypass the charging areas entirely, directly activating the soul cannon with their own soul power.
As the soul power flowed through the core formation, a faint glow gathered at the cannon's muzzle before fading away.
Su Yu nodded and smiled.
"It's a success."
The core formations were perfectly integrated.
"Though there's a slight flaw—the soul power flows smoothly, but it's not as seamless as it could be. There's room for improvement."
Crafting a Rank 9 soul tool came with numerous challenges. Beyond mastering the core technology, even the foundational skills alone proved insurmountable for many soul engineers. The linkage of soul formations between components was similar to the interconnectedness required when assembling the parts of battle armor.
Su Yu's experience was the key to his success in achieving seamless integration on his first try. Without it, he might have only discovered inconsistencies in the core formations during the final assembly phase, which would have prevented the soul power from circulating properly.
"Two months already?"
Su Yu calculated the time—it had taken him two full months to complete this Rank 9 soul tool.
The number of failed attempts along the way was excessive, and the time spent remaking components had added up quickly.
"With just three months left, it's not enough to finish crafting my super battle armor. But that's okay. I'll aim to create two more Rank 9 soul tools in the remaining time, then move on to designing and constructing the formations for my super battle armor."
Su Yu's body was robust, his vitality abundant, and his energy practically overflowing. Even after dedicating himself fully to crafting for two months, his condition showed no signs of significant decline. After a single day of rest, he was ready to dive back into work.
Most soul engineers couldn't achieve this level of endurance.
In fact, not even Rank 4 soul engineers could maintain their energy after crafting a Rank 4 soul tool. They would typically become mentally drained, their state deteriorating noticeably. If they pushed themselves to craft a Rank 5 soul tool, the toll would be even greater.
This was one of the main reasons why soul tool production rates were so low.
However, Su Yu was free of such concerns.
This demonstrated how a soul master's personal strength and physical constitution played an unseen yet vital role in their performance. Soul masters and soul engineers had never been entirely separate professions. Even from a traditional perspective, soul masters couldn't entirely avoid using soul tools for convenience, while the very creation of soul tools revolved around enhancing a soul master's abilities.
"Xiao Feng's assessment should be coming up. Let's check on his progress."
Rather than starting the next phase of his work immediately, Su Yu left the crafting room and returned to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
*Martial Soul Department.*
The vice-dean of the Martial Soul Department was still Xu Kun, a loyal member of the crown prince's faction. This connection remained the most troubling factor for Su Yu when it came to leaving Bai Feng in the Martial Soul Department.
Fortunately, Jing Hongchen's influence in the Martial Soul Department was no weaker than Xu Kun's faction. Even the head instructor and several key faculty members were soul engineers from Sun-Moon Hall.
"Teacher, you're here?"
Bai Feng was cultivating his soul power in his dormitory. Unlike Su Yu's experience, Bai Feng's dorm was a single-occupancy room without any roommates.
The dormitory also came equipped with a dedicated soul tool crafting room, providing great convenience.
"Your soul power has already reached Rank 14? Not bad."
While Bai Feng was cultivating, the fluctuations in his soul power were unmistakable. Su Yu could roughly gauge his soul power level just by sensing it.
Normally, a 490-year first soul ring wouldn't provide excessive soul power. Rank 12 would be considered typical, even for a soul beast like the Heavenly Star Swordscale Dragon.
However, Bai Feng had reached Rank 13 immediately after absorbing his soul ring.
Su Yu had taken note of this anomaly at the time, though he hadn't found any specific reason for it.
Bai Feng's soul power had inexplicably increased by one rank.
Still, since Rank 13 was ultimately a good thing, Su Yu chose not to dwell on it.
Now, less than three months after obtaining his first soul ring, Bai Feng had broken through again, reaching Rank 14.
"That's all thanks to your support, Teacher."
Bai Feng's soul power breakthrough had occurred two weeks earlier, but he had yet to receive the academy's core benefits. The resources consumed during his cultivation had come entirely from Su Yu's support.
Once Bai Feng passed the freshman assessment in the coming days, he would gain access to advanced resources like medicinal baths and pills from the academy.
"How about the Rank 1 soul tool assessment? Do you feel confident?"
"Don't worry, Teacher. Even before my soul power breakthrough, I had already mastered the crafting of Rank 1 soul tools. Right now, I'm even practicing crafting the various types of Rank 1 soul tools you gave me."
Much like how Kong Deming trained him, Su Yu had provided Bai Feng with a large number of blueprints for Rank 1 soul tools.
He had explained the theories behind them to Bai Feng and set a task for him: to fully master the core formations of all these Rank 1 soul tools.
Experience had shown that mastering these foundational core formations early on paid dividends at higher levels. While the benefits might not be apparent at the Rank 2, 3, or 4 levels, they became increasingly significant at the Rank 5 and 6 levels.
There was no need to rush Bai Feng's advancement as a soul engineer. As long as his rank wasn't lagging behind his soul power level, that was enough. Su Yu, on the other hand, had been a Soul Elder before he began studying soul tools, so he had been pressed for time at the start.
Bai Feng faced no such pressure.
After all, he was only six years old.
Becoming a Rank 3 soul engineer by age 12 was well within reach, and even reaching Rank 4 wasn't out of the question.
While Bai Feng's talent in soul tool crafting wasn't particularly remarkable, that was only in comparison to his exceptional talent in martial soul cultivation.
Furthermore, as his martial soul cultivation improved, his abundant soul power would make soul tool crafting significantly easier.
Not to mention, the soul power control training regimen Su Yu had designed for Bai Feng—based on martial soul cultivation principles—was laying a solid foundation for his future soul tool crafting.
"Not bad. Your progress isn't far behind Xiao Hongchen's pace," Su Yu remarked with a nod of approval.
Xiao Hongchen's lack of sufficient soul power hindered his soul tool crafting. In contrast, Bai Feng's martial soul cultivation enhanced his slightly weaker talent for soul tool crafting, allowing him to catch up to Xiao Hongchen in terms of performance.
It could be said that when a person's talent reaches a certain threshold, the relationship between a Soul Master and Soul Engineer's cultivation ceases to be obstructive and instead becomes mutually reinforcing.
Su Yu brought Bai Feng to Sun-Moon Hall.
"Xiao Feng already has the skill to craft Rank 1 soul tools?"
Since Bai Feng had been crafting soul tools alone in his dormitory, no one outside knew about his capabilities.
On Su Yu's account, Jing Hongchen personally oversaw this assessment.
Looking at Bai Feng, he couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder.
Just like Su Yu, he was another prodigy.
Although Bai Feng's pace couldn't match Su Yu's, their circumstances were different. Comparatively, Bai Feng was on par with Xiao Hongchen.
Both achieved the rank of a Level 1 Soul Engineer at roughly the same speed.
This alone was proof of Bai Feng's talent.
As Bai Feng began forging rare metals, both Jing Hongchen and Su Yu turned their attention to him.
"Not bad. His foundation is solid—very similar to how you were back then," Jing Hongchen remarked.
Both Su Yu and Bai Feng were Soul Engineers rooted in martial soul cultivation. Their grounding in the fundamentals of soul tool crafting was exceptionally solid.
Two hours later, Bai Feng completed crafting the Rank 1 soul tool in front of him.
Jing Hongchen picked up the soul tool propulsion device and inspected the engraved formations within.
"The core formation engraving is steady, but some of the lines are slightly imprecise. However, the core formation is quite complex, making this a decent Rank 1 soul tool."
Rank 1 soul tools rarely had practical applications due to their simplistic core formations.
This propulsion device, for instance, could only eject a stream of air strong enough to push a 10-pound stone. While functional, it wasn't suitable for combat purposes. Only through continuous optimization of the core formation, raising it to Rank 3 or 4, could it yield significant results.
After evaluating Bai Feng's propulsion device, Jing Hongchen personally awarded him a Level 1 Soul Engineer badge.
This symbolized Bai Feng's official recognition as a Level 1 Soul Engineer certified by Sun-Moon Hall.
Holding the badge, Bai Feng couldn't hide his excitement.
After all, his upbringing had instilled a strong sense of honor and achievement.
Although following Su Yu had broadened his horizons and shifted his values, exposing him to greater ambitions and a wider world, he still couldn't suppress his joy.
"Grandpa Village Chief, I've become a Sun-Moon Hall-certified Soul Engineer!"
The village chief's greatest dream had always been to gain recognition from Sun-Moon Hall. Unfortunately, despite his ability to craft higher-level soul tools, he had never passed the Level 1 Soul Engineer certification.
The gap between self-taught Soul Engineers and those educated within a systematic framework was significant. Excessive, unnecessary engravings in the core formation—despite reducing crafting difficulty—resulted in bad habits that made future advancements increasingly difficult.
With his certification, Bai Feng continued cultivating in the Martial Soul Department while officially receiving top-tier resources.
His resource allocation came directly from Sun-Moon Hall, as he had also joined their ranks, gaining access to their benefits as well.
Following Su Yu's suggestion, Jing Hongchen planned to restructure Sun-Moon Hall's personnel composition.
Battle Armor Masters—this might very well become Sun-Moon Hall's future elite force.
Having completed matters related to his apprentice, Su Yu was about to return to his seclusion when Jing Hongchen stopped him.
"Xiao Yu, don't leave just yet. Xuan Ziwen seems to have made some new progress in his research. He mentioned that you should visit him when you have time."
Every time Su Yu heard this kind of news from the Hall Master, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. Xuan Ziwen's research advancements were always beneficial to him. Su Yu recalled that Xuan Ziwen was currently working on a particularly meaningful project.
(End of Chapter)