Douluo Continent: Not enough bloodline? Make up for it with brains!

"It's a pity. Your father chose the path that best suited him, but at the same time he offended the ancient family."

"An ancient family?" Xu Yuan asked, puzzled.

Mu Ye snorted coldly from the side. He often stayed at Zhenhua and had naturally met Xu Yuan's father, so he knew some details.

"It's hard to say how effective your father's soul cultivation method is on other martial souls, or whether it can be applied to beast martial souls. However, it is almost universally applicable to soul masters with weapon martial souls. The Panlong Staff, a martial soul inherited by the ancient family, is itself a top-tier weapon martial soul."

"Shouldn't they be the beneficiaries?"

"Hmph, with martial spirits evolving to this point, the Panlong Staff of the Qiangu Family is already the most advanced martial spirit. How can they possibly benefit from it? Once this technology is applied, there will likely be more and more geniuses with weapon-type martial spirits, and the impact on the Qiangu Family will be significant."

Really? The Qian Gu family is so petty?

Although Xu Yuan knew that Qian Gu Dong Feng wasn't much of a threat, surely a large family wouldn't be afraid to face such a challenge?

“Xiao Yuan, you’re thinking too simply. Your uncle actually hinted that the development of forging techniques is what your father values ​​most. Otherwise, even if he can cultivate at the age of thirty, his future won’t be very bright. But with the cooperation of Zhenhua, and by using the most suitable metal raw materials to forge his companion soul, and by using the Heavenly Forging technique, he will definitely be endowed with the most outstanding talent. He will still have a chance to become a Title Douluo.”

Xu Yuan took a deep breath and finally intuitively understood where the problem lay.

This is a truly man-made monster.

Moreover, the key point is not the technology, but the master craftsman Zhenhua!

"My relationship with Qian Gu Dong Feng isn't just bad, it's extremely bad," Zhenhua added.

If it weren't for the Spirit Pagoda's immense power and monopoly on spirit technology, and the presence of too many spirit masters in the Forging Masters Association, Zhenhua wouldn't have been able to refuse forging despite the exorbitant price, lest it give Qian Gu Dongfeng an excuse to break its agreement to supply high-quality spirits to the Forging Masters Association.

Yes, the Spirit Pagoda monopolizes souls but cannot refuse to provide them, as this would provoke public outrage. However, it can sever the partnership.

The Blacksmith Association, such a behemoth, has intricate cooperation with the Spirit Pagoda. The excellent blacksmiths within the association are also excellent soul masters, and their demand for soul spirits is extremely high. Naturally, they have a cooperation agreement with the Spirit Pagoda, enabling them to obtain high-quality soul spirits from the Spirit Pagoda at low prices and with priority.

Blocking a single Soul Master's soul is not feasible, as it would provoke resistance from the entire Soul Master community. However, a cooperation agreement that benefits the entire association only involves the Blacksmith Association.

It can only be said that, while the master craftsman may seem glamorous and theoretically no one dares to offend him, that is only in theory.

Once someone has truly reached the pinnacle of strength and power, offending a master craftsman is no big deal.

While Qian Gu Dongfeng could obtain Heavenly Forged Metal through such powerful means with his own four-word battle armor, it didn't mean he could truly obtain Heavenly Forged Metal from Zhen Hua at will.

A companion spirit crafted from a piece of Heavenly Forged Metal is theoretically sufficient to provide a Soul Master with a useless Martial Soul with cultivation potential equivalent to innate full Soul Power. Moreover, if the Soul Spirit is configured according to optimal theory, that is, if subsequent Soul Spirits are continued to be paired with metal Soul Spirits, its growth will be...

"Actually, that's fine. The Panlong Staff of the Qiangu Family is already top-notch, and with their control over the Spirit Transmission Tower, even if it's impacted, the effects can be controlled."

"However, there is no doubt that your father's research made his relationship with Qian Gu Dong Feng very tense."

"A year ago, for some unknown reason, Qian Gu Dong Feng acted without regard for any consequences."

Xu Yuan remained silent after listening.

Mu Ye glared at Zhen Hua, seemingly blaming him for telling Xu Yuan, a child, so much heavy news.

"Thank you for telling me all this, Uncle. I will help my father complete the work he couldn't finish back then," Xu Yuan said softly.

"Ok?"

Upon hearing Xu Yuan's words, Zhenhua was immediately taken aback.

"You mean you want to cultivate the Heavenly Origin Brush Martial Soul using your father's theories?"

“That’s right.” Xu Yuan nodded. “Actually, my uncle decided on my first soul spirit yesterday, which is the spear soul spirit that my father made.”

Zhenhua fell silent.

After a long while, he sighed and stepped forward to pat Xu Yuan on the shoulder.

"Xiao Yuan, do you know how difficult this decision was?"

Chapter 12 Xu Yuan's Doubts (Please read on!!!)

"I know." Xu Yuan's expression was calm, yet firm.

"First of all, this path cannot be separated from one thing: my own self-cultivation."

The spear spirit is a true artificial spirit, without any existing spirit beast genes as a template. Even if it can be born with some abilities, thus giving the spirit master spirit skills, it is still a new 'race' and too immature. If you don't want to get a useless spirit skill, you have to cultivate yourself to drive the spirit to evolve time and time again, growing in sync with your own martial spirit.

This means that a Soul Master's Soul Rings and Soul Skills are no longer obtained from external sources, but rather sought from within.

If one seeks internally, the resulting soul skill will be the ability of one's own martial soul, and at most, its manifestation may be influenced by the spear's soul spirit.

Not only the spear spirit, but Xu Yuan will continue to strengthen his Heavenly Origin Pen Spear in the future, combining it with different metal spirits to enhance the pen spear form of this weapon spirit to its extreme.

This is the road that Xu Yuan was referring to.

Zhenhua said this was difficult primarily because no Soul Master had ever walked this path before, and there were no precedents to follow, making it extremely challenging.

"If you insist on taking this path, then you may still need to add learning about blacksmithing to your side job."

The spear spirit's base is excellent, but it hasn't been forged yet. It can be improved through forging in the future. However, if it becomes Xu Yuan's spirit, it's obviously the best choice to let Xu Yuan forge and improve it himself.

"There are also ways to pair metal spirits, which require a deep understanding of various rare metals and forging techniques."

Xu Yuan listened to what Zhenhua said and nodded silently.

After a while, he said, "Uncle-Master, blacksmithing consumes too much energy. I have too many cultivation tasks, so I may not be able to devote myself to becoming a blacksmith."

Zhenhua stared at Xu Yuan for a long time before sighing.

"Sigh, fine. In the future, you can follow your master uncle to learn the theoretical knowledge of forging in your spare time. Your master uncle will also teach you some auxiliary forging methods."

The method of auxiliary forging, as the name suggests, is a method that assists in forging.

This is also a common forging method on the mainland, but it is not for pure blacksmiths to practice. Instead, it is prepared for those battle armor masters who pursue the ultimate. It assists the blacksmith in the forging process and seizes the opportunity at the moment when the metal is finally formed to take over from the real blacksmith and complete the final hammer forging.

In other words, it's about finishing off the opponent—cough cough, finishing off the opponent's weakness.

However, this requires finding a skilled blacksmith with whom you can work well, and also obtaining their consent. It's important to know that most blacksmiths will not allow others to watch them forge, let alone join in the forging process.

“Xiao Yuan, although it is an auxiliary forging method, you still need to participate in the entire forging process. Because when you enter the true spirit forging and soul forging, the whole process is integrated. The process of awakening the spirit of the metal and giving it life needs to be uninterrupted throughout. The auxiliary forging master must also participate in the whole process. The two masters communicate with the metal in sync.”

This is the hardest part.

With Zhenhua's master craftsmanship, he could guide Xu Yuan into the rhythm. As for spirit forging and soul forging, as long as Xu Yuan's foundation is solid enough, it is possible to achieve synchronous forging. However, heavenly forging is far too difficult.

“Uncle-Master, this is more than enough,” Xu Yuan said to Zhenhua.

"Ah."

"Stop talking nonsense and eat first," came Makino's voice, accompanied by a rich aroma.

Xu Yuanzhen and Hua stopped their discussion and went to the kitchen, where they saw a large, gelatinous, jelly-like substance on a plate, emitting a rich aroma.

This is?

Makino explained from the side.

"This is whale glue. Taking it can enhance a Soul Master's physique. In the era before Soul Spirits appeared, it was an essential natural treasure for Soul Masters to absorb power beyond their level."

Of course, even now, whale glue is still of great significance for bearing the spirit rings bestowed by spirits of higher levels. After all, although the bearing of a spirit depends on spiritual power, the spirit rings bestowed by it still have to be borne by the spirit master himself, so improving the spirit master's physical fitness is still important.

This whale glue was prepared using my own secret method, which removed some of its side effects and incorporated many other rare and precious ingredients, making it even more effective.

Upon hearing Mu Ye's introduction, Xu Yuan swallowed hard, inwardly marveling that becoming Mu Ye's apprentice was definitely the right choice.

He really gives out good stuff.

Of course, Xu Yuan also knew that Mu Ye could be truly ruthless when it came to the time for cultivation.

"Luckily, I'm still small and weak, so I can enjoy this for a few more years."

Xu Yuan disregarded the potential for future abuse and began to devour the food.

......

The fifth day since arriving at the headquarters of the Blacksmiths' Association.

Xu Yuan sat cross-legged, having just finished his medicinal meal. He was refining the medicinal power within his body, and his soul power was like waves, washing over his meridians again and again.

Rumble!

Suddenly, Xu Yuan's soul power surged, coursing through his meridians and unleashing a booming sound.

Level 9!

Before arriving in Tiandou City, Xu Yuan had just broken through to level eight.

Going back a little further, he had only awakened his martial soul for about ten days, yet he had already leveled up twice.

Last time, he was already close to breaking through, and his breakthrough occurred naturally after his soul power completed its cycle. This time, however, Xu Yuan consumed too many rare and precious herbs, causing his soul power to accumulate far beyond level eight, which allowed him to break through the shackles.

"Breaking through level ten within a month seems to be no problem at all. In that case, what's the difference between my starting point and that of someone with innate full soul power?"

"You've improved a bit too fast, kid. Once this month is over, you won't be able to use rare and precious materials to improve your soul power for the next five years," Mu Ye said, stroking his chin as he observed Xu Yuan.

Using rare and precious materials to enhance soul power is not wrong.

The mistake lies in neglecting cultivation that leads to the enhancement of one's soul power.

The concept of "foundation" rarely appears in Douluo Continent. This concept only appeared before the unification of the Federation. Soul Masters of the Sun Moon Empire were so engrossed in making Soul Tools that they needed Soul Power to support them but had no energy to cultivate Soul Power. So they used rare and precious materials to accumulate their own Soul Power without cultivating it themselves. Over time, this caused their Soul Power to become weak and unstable.

Soul power is a power that one must cultivate to feel secure and to gain deeper control over.

At the level of Super Douluo and above, even the slightest bit of control makes a world of difference.

Mu Ye did not force Xu Yuan to lower his level, but only restricted Xu Yuan from using rare and precious materials to enhance his soul power for five years.

"Teacher, I just had a sudden idea." Xu Yuan didn't object to the restriction on the use of rare and precious materials. Instead, he shared some insights he had gained during his breakthrough.