Chapter 10: Choosing a Secondary Profession

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"You were able to develop your Tianyuan Brush martial soul's ability to fuse your soul power with the origin energy of heaven and earth into ink—and control its explosive secondary damage—all within just five days. This shows that your Tianyuan Brush has an incredibly strong mechanism for fusing these two forces!"

"To control the explosion of the ink, you need to regulate the soul power during the fusion process. That you managed this in five days is partly due to the strength of your martial soul's mechanism, but you must also have a natural talent for it. With both factors combined, if you truly gain elemental control abilities, you'll undoubtedly make rapid progress in areas like elemental fusion."

Although Zhen Hua didn't specialize in elemental power himself, he was very familiar with elements.

This was understandable—when someone had been struck by lightning tribulations countless times, they naturally became well-acquainted with elemental forces.

"I've gained some insights in this area. If you acquire similar spirit skills in the future and encounter difficulties while developing them, feel free to ask me."

Mu Ye glanced at Zhen Hua in surprise.

Zhen Hua crossed his arms over his chest and snorted.

"What? Am I not allowed to teach the younger generation?"

Zhen Hua turned to Xu Yuan and asked, "Xiao Yuan, since you're from the Spirit Pagoda, you should be familiar with the requirements for becoming a Battle Armor Master. Have you decided on a secondary profession yet?"

Seeing the expectant look in Zhen Hua's eyes, Xu Yuan could only sigh inwardly.

Although a godly blacksmith stood before him, Xu Yuan was well aware that his strengths didn't lie in forging.

"Senior, I've already made my decision. I have an advantage in spiritual power, so I believe studying mech design will come easily to me. Mech design primarily involves theoretical knowledge, so I plan to also pursue mech manufacturing. Additionally, the basics of mech repair are covered in these two fields, so if I have the energy, I'll study mech repair as well."

Xu Yuan's response surprised Zhen Hua so much that he momentarily forgot to feel disappointed about being rejected.

You want to master three professions?

Just how greedy are you?

"There's no need to call me 'Senior.' From now on, just call me 'Uncle.'" Zhen Hua waved his hand dismissively, not explaining why Xu Yuan could address him as such. "Don't get too greedy, boy. There's a reason the skills required for Battle Armor Masters are divided into three parts. Each field is vast and profound, and mastering even one of them is enough to stump the majority of soul masters."

Mu Ye frowned and added his own advice.

"Xiao Yuan, don't tell me you're basing your decision on the fact that soul engineers from ten thousand years ago could single-handedly complete the creation of soul-guiding tools. The difficulty level isn't comparable. Although it may seem like the skills have been split into three parts, the amount of content and the difficulty of learning each field today far exceed those of soul engineers of the same level from ten thousand years ago."

Mu Ye himself was a mech designer, so he knew the true extent of the difficulty.

Although mech designers were classified up to level nine, the gap between level nine and level nine was astronomical. Just like the nine ranks of Title Douluo, there was a world of difference between a Limit Douluo at the peak and a newly minted Title Douluo at level ninety-one. Even among Limit Douluos, there were three basic tiers, with differences measured in multiples. The highest tier, known as quasi-gods, also varied in strength.

If you choose a secondary profession, you must take it seriously rather than merely chasing after levels. As a mech designer, aim for the pinnacle, and don't settle for reaching level nine.

"Teacher, please rest assured. I've researched these three major professions. I was actually hesitating about this choice earlier, and if it proves too difficult, I'll abandon the other options and focus solely on mech design. However, after awakening my martial soul, I gained the confidence to pursue all three professions simultaneously."

"Oh?" Both Mu Ye and Zhen Hua looked at Xu Yuan curiously, wondering what gave him such confidence.

"Teacher, Uncle, didn't I mention earlier? My martial soul also has a spear form."

As he spoke, Xu Yuan activated his soul power, transforming the Tianyuan Brush in his hand. It quickly grew larger, longer, and harder, its tip gleaming with a metallic luster and turning into a spearhead marked with black ink-like patterns.

With the Tianyuan Brush-spear in hand, Xu Yuan's aura shifted.

Zhen Hua felt this change clearly.

It was similar to when the Tianyuan Brush first appeared.

"In this form, you can also harness the forces of heaven and earth. This feeling seems to emanate from a kind of momentum."

Xu Yuan nodded and explained, "Uncle is correct. In my Tianyuan Brush's spear form, it naturally carries a spear-like momentum. In my future cultivation, I'll primarily focus on developing the spear form. If I have spare energy, I'll also explore the brush form."

With an uncle who held the position of Spirit Emissary and whose martial soul was also a spear, it only made sense for Xu Yuan to concentrate on developing the spear form. Of course, if he had extra energy, he wouldn't neglect the brush form either.

"I'm definitely going to practice spear techniques. While practicing, I can directly use the spear in place of a carving tool for mech manufacturing, allowing me to hone both skills simultaneously."

Xu Yuan's reasoning was sound, but until they saw actual results, neither Mu Ye nor Zhen Hua would fully believe his claims.

Similarly, before he truly began studying, they couldn't determine his aptitude in these fields. Perhaps he really did have the potential to master all three professions without them interfering with one another—and might even complement each other.

After all, unless someone became a true soul engineer capable of handling every aspect of the process, no one wanted to only participate in part of the work. Everyone preferred to be involved in the entire design and creation of Battle Armor.

"What a pity that Xiao Yuan's ambition is a bit small. Otherwise, if he took on forging as well…" Zhen Hua muttered inwardly.

If Xu Yuan had been more ambitious and initially taken on all four professions, Zhen Hua, as a Divine Blacksmith, would have had many ways to guide him into eventually abandoning the others and focusing solely on forging.

Regarding Xu Yuan's choice of secondary profession, although Mu Ye wanted to persuade him otherwise, he could sense Xu Yuan's determination and could only reluctantly accept it for now. He decided to wait until Xu Yuan himself felt overwhelmed before offering further guidance.

Even soul masters had limited energy, and overextending oneself could lead to setbacks.

Mu Ye himself was the best example of this.

He silently set a baseline for Xu Yuan in his mind: if Xu Yuan couldn't produce satisfactory results in all three professions by the age of ten, he would force him to abandon the other two and focus solely on mech design.

"Does maintaining this spear form require soul power?" Mu Ye began to inquire about the specifics of Xu Yuan's martial soul.

If paired with the Body Sect's secret techniques and a spear-type martial soul, it would indeed be a perfect match.

"Transforming it requires soul power, but once transformed, maintaining it is similar to sustaining a regular martial soul," Xu Yuan replied.

Mu Ye nodded, satisfied with the answer.

"This month, I'll also teach you spear techniques."

As the sect leader of the Body Sect, he could claim familiarity with all eighteen traditional weapons, albeit only superficially. However, his knowledge was more than sufficient to teach a beginner like Xu Yuan.

Meanwhile, Zhen Hua observed Xu Yuan's Tianyuan Brush-spear and suddenly made a connection.

"Your father—is Xu Zhi?"

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