A cold aura?
Ordinary blacksmiths are full of vitality and exude a strong, masculine energy. Even female blacksmiths like Lin Yuhan wouldn't possess an overly feminine or soft presence.
Yet, the Saint-level blacksmith who called himself Ning Fengzhi emitted a chilling, eerie aura while forging.
Clearly, there was a high probability that he was an evil soul master.
"Wait for your delegation to negotiate with the Federation. Until then, you'll stay here at the Blacksmith Association," Zhen Hua said to Chang Gong Yan.
After Chang Gong Yan's matter was settled, Xu Yuan and Mu Ye went to the rooftop alone.
"Teacher, I might be heading to the Star Luo Continent in the near future."
"The Star Luo Continent?" Mu Ye frowned upon hearing Xu Yuan's words.
"What are you going there for?"
"As part of an exchange program. I've already looked into it—I'll likely stay there for about a year."
Mu Ye narrowed his eyes slightly.
Going to the Star Luo Continent for a year…
"I understand."
"Teacher, while I'm there, I also plan to make contact with one of our sect's senior members."
"A senior member?" Mu Ye fell silent.
He naturally knew which elder Xu Yuan was referring to.
"He left the Body Sect to join the Tang Sect years ago. It will be difficult for him to leave the Tang Sect and return to the Body Sect now. Don't get your hopes up too high."
"Don't worry, Teacher. I'll convince him."
The Laughing Face Douluo, known as the "Golden Belly Silver Buttocks," held a very high position in terms of seniority. He was Mu Ye's senior uncle, making him Xu Yuan's grandmaster elder.
His strength was unfathomable. Even though he originally belonged to the Body Sect, he was highly valued after joining the Tang Sect and eventually gained immense authority within the Tang Sect's Star Luo Continent branch.
However, no matter what, Xu Yuan wasn't about to give up on bringing this elder back to the sect.
The Body Sect couldn't remain weak forever.
Xu Yuan had developed the Blood Essence Fusion Technique specifically to make it easier for the Body Sect's legacy to be passed down. Now that there was hope for recruiting the younger generation, the sect couldn't fall behind in terms of powerful members either.
Mu Ye was one, and the Laughing Face Douluo was another.
With these two, the Body Sect would have the confidence to reemerge as a top-tier force.
"Since you're going to the Star Luo Continent, you'll need to prepare. Coincidentally, I'm also planning to initiate your second-stage awakening," Mu Ye said after some thought.
"Teacher, I already understand the principle behind the second-stage awakening of Body Sect martial souls—it's essentially about pushing past limits. But given that I'm already aware of this, will this method still work?" Xu Yuan asked a question that had been troubling him for a long time.
If he'd known earlier that Mu Ye throwing him into the deep sea was all part of preparing for his second-stage awakening…
"The hardest part of a second-stage awakening is the transformation of willpower—the dual breakthrough of mind and body—that triggers the secondary mutation of the martial soul. Since Body Sect martial souls are directly connected to the soul master's body, they are more susceptible to stimulation during this process. That's why Body Sect martial souls can undergo a second-stage awakening relatively easily, with an 80% success rate."
Mu Ye explained the principle.
"In theory, even other types of martial souls could undergo a second-stage awakening by challenging their limits. However, in most cases, the soul master's body would collapse first, leaving the martial soul unable to undergo beneficial mutations."
"Unless the soul master has a close connection between their martial soul and their body—like Mu Chen's disciple, Tang Wulin. His martial soul is Blue Silver Grass, but it has likely been influenced by bloodline power."
"…"
Xu Yuan nodded.
This explanation clarified the key points of his second-stage awakening.
A dual breakthrough of willpower and body.
"My Brain Martial Soul undoubtedly qualifies for a second-stage awakening, and the Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear should also be feasible. However, the Heavenly Origin Brush is a bit tricky." Xu Yuan fell into deep thought.
How could he bring the strength of the Heavenly Origin Brush's martial soul up to par with his other two martial souls?
The more he cultivated, the more Xu Yuan valued balancing the cultivation of his three martial souls. He understood that the unification of essence, energy, and spirit was his path. If he couldn't balance the relationship between his three martial souls, the fusion of essence, energy, and spirit would face obstacles in the future.
Two of his martial souls had opportunities for a second-stage awakening, but the third—Heavenly Origin Brush—also needed strengthening; otherwise, it would become a weak link.
Xu Yuan stayed in Tiandou City for two days before returning to Shrek City.
"Class President, how should I go about enhancing my Metal Spirit?" Xie Xie approached Xu Yuan again to ask this important question.
He let out a bitter smile.
"I'm not a blacksmith, so I can't perform Spirit Forging or Fusion Forging on Little Gold."
Xu Yuan waved his hand dismissively.
"You're missing the point. The enhancement of a Metal Spirit lies in its mutual growth with the host soul master, not in mere forging."
The bond between Xu Yuan and Jue was indispensable—it wasn't possible to elevate Jue purely through the materials used in Spirit Forging.
"Metal Spirits are artificially created and don't possess the same kind of inheritance as soul beasts. Enhancing a Metal Spirit is meant to strengthen your martial soul and improve its soul skill effects. Simply increasing the spirit's age or quality to indirectly boost soul rings and skills would be counterproductive and inefficient."
Xie Xie pondered deeply.
"I see!"
"You're a mecha engineer. Use mecha engineering techniques to elevate Little Gold into the finest metal possible."
Since it had become a spirit, it wouldn't lack spirituality or intelligence. Moreover, with Xie Xie's martial soul, it wouldn't lack inheritance either.
The two would complement each other, forming the optimal path for enhancement.
The Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger would compensate for the Metal Spirit's lack of inheritance, while the Metal Spirit would use this to improve itself and feed back into the daggers.
A continuous cycle.
In this process, Xie Xie's role would be to inscribe core enchantments onto his Metal Spirit and carefully regulate the absorption of spirit energy to allow the Metal Spirit to evolve step by step.
Xie Xie's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
So that's how it works!
"Class President, thank you so much!"
He turned around and bowed deeply to Xu Yuan.
His eyes were filled with gratitude.
Xu Yuan waved his hand dismissively.
"Just document your cultivation process and share it with me once you succeed."
After seeing Xie Xie off, Xu Yuan didn't feel particularly burdened.
It was just a simple matter of offering guidance.
He didn't need to do anything for Xie Xie himself.
"Postnatal fusion of martial souls is also a good reference. In the future, my own Three Martial Soul Fusion Technique might benefit from insights gained here."
The transformations of martial souls were among the most wondrous phenomena of this world. Xu Yuan wasn't a deity—if he wanted to achieve more, he had to learn more. With the idea of developing a fusion technique for his own martial souls, he needed to study relevant examples.
Wu Siduo was an excellent subject for research. Xu Yuan had even used his Paper Spirit to enter her body and replicate her martial souls, attempting to recreate her two martial souls on himself. However, he couldn't replicate Wu Siduo's self-fusion technique.
Thus, he could only inquire about her cultivation insights and observe the changes when she activated her self-fusion technique.
But this research method was clearly inefficient.
That's why Xu Yuan paid close attention to Xie Xie's project involving the fusion of two martial souls.
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