Chapter 7: The Path of Perfection

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A spirit soul crafted entirely using a spear as its template.

At this point, Xu Yuan could already guess the purpose behind the creation of this spirit soul.

Unfortunately, it had failed.

Fortunately, many of the technologies developed were still useful. Xu Zhi had leveraged these research findings to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform project, securing his position as deputy director.

"Looks like you're quite satisfied with this spirit soul." Seeing the gleam in Xu Yuan's eyes, Xu Shengqun chuckled.

Xu Yuan nodded.

He was more than satisfied—it was an overwhelming sense of delight.

In fact, the very existence of this spirit soul gave him a significant realization.

If neither animal nor plant spirit souls were viable options, then why not choose a purely artificial spirit soul?

Although the technology for artificial spirit souls was still immature, and the strength of their spirit skills was somewhat lacking, in this era, spirit souls were primarily valued for their compatibility.

If a spirit soul was compatible with a martial soul, even if the spirit soul's inherent quality wasn't high, it could still provide tremendous amplification to the soul master.

The existence of the Spirit Ascension Platform also allowed spirit souls below the ten-thousand-year mark to continuously grow, giving artificial spirit souls numerous opportunities.

The notion that they weren't strong enough only applied to the ten-year or hundred-year-level artificial spirit souls.

Because they were artificially created and formed under induced conditions, unless they were exceptionally rare cases, the Spirit Pagoda wouldn't invest significant resources into them. They would only maintain their viability as first spirit souls, capping their lifespan at four hundred years.

The artificial aspect of these spirit souls might be weak, but if they were highly compatible with a soul master, as the soul master ascended through the Spirit Ascension Platform, the spirit soul would absorb the essence of the soul master's martial soul and cultivation insights. The resulting growth would be nonlinear.

This type of spirit soul's advancement could essentially be viewed as tapping into the soul master's own martial soul potential.

However, only a small number of soul masters could take advantage of this, as access to the Spirit Ascension Platform was highly valuable. Those who could enter it as casually as eating or drinking were no ordinary individuals.

And Xu Yuan clearly had this privilege.

With the support of his uncle, a Spirit Emissary, he didn't need to worry about accessing even the intermediate-level Spirit Ascension Platform, let alone the basic one—he wouldn't have to spend a single coin.

"This spirit soul is still at headquarters. I'll arrange to have it transferred here, but it'll take some time. Fortunately, you're only at level eight right now, so there's no rush," Xu Shengqun said.

As he spoke, his gaze turned cold, evidently recalling some unpleasant memories.

Due to Xu Zhi's involvement, Xu Shengqun had clashed with Qiangu Dongfeng multiple times.

"Departure is set for tomorrow morning. Go rest for now."

After Xu Yuan left, Xu Shengqun stood alone in the hall, gazing out at the sky.

"Must I really compromise?"

Xu Shengqun knew that transferring the spear spirit soul would inevitably face resistance from Qiangu Dongfeng. However, the latter would eventually relent—but the condition would undoubtedly be that Xu Shengqun stop obstructing the operations of personnel dispatched by headquarters to Tiandou Continent.

Coincidentally, six months ago, when the personnel sent by headquarters arrived, Xu Shengqun's subordinates captured an evil soul master. Following this, he intensified his scrutiny of the headquarters' personnel.

As a Spirit Emissary, Xu Shengqun ranked just below the Pagoda Master and the two vice masters. Unless one of those three personally intervened, even special envoys from headquarters had to submit to Xu Shengqun's authority if they wished to pass through the Tianhai Alliance to reach Tiandou Continent.

Consequently, due to Xu Shengqun's interference, the Spirit Pagoda's special plans for Tiandou Continent had been delayed.

"Qiangu Dongfeng, what exactly are you planning?" Xu Shengqun had consistently used the capture of the evil soul master as a pretext to obstruct the special envoys. In truth, he genuinely believed there was a connection between the two.

Unfortunately, after six months, no useful information had surfaced.

Now, by lifting his obstruction as part of the compromise, he could conveniently investigate further.

Xu Shengqun narrowed his eyes, contemplating the possible scenarios.

Back in his room, Xu Yuan meditated while summarizing the information he had gained today.

"The biggest takeaway is the choice of spirit soul."

If he wanted to avoid being constrained by bloodline power, pursuing an extreme weapon martial soul seemed to be the most suitable path for him. And with the existence of metal spirit soul technology, he could completely bypass the need to choose from animal or plant spirit souls.

To walk the true path of an extreme weapon martial soul.

The spear spirit soul—a metal spirit soul—might even allow for the incorporation of elemental spirit souls.

Of course, achieving this wouldn't be simple.

"For now, focus on cultivating soul power."

With the issue of the first spirit soul resolved, Xu Yuan no longer needed to worry about the first two soul rings. Cultivating soul power once again became his top priority.

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The Next Day

Xu Yuan accompanied Xu Shengqun aboard a soul-guided train to Tiandou City.

To his relief, he didn't share Tang Wulin's misfortune of encountering evil soul masters every time he boarded a train. He was able to ride safely.

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Tiandou City

Blacksmiths Association

"Xiao Yuan, this is the president of the Blacksmiths Association, the only person on the continent capable of performing heavenly forging—the Divine Blacksmith, Zhen Hua!" Xu Shengqun had made an appointment in advance. After entering the association, they were led to Zhen Hua's office by one of the association's blacksmiths.

"Greetings, Your Excellency." Xu Yuan bowed calmly, his tone respectful yet composed.

Zhen Hua glanced at Xu Yuan standing beside Xu Shengqun and couldn't help but inwardly commend him: 'What a poised young man.'

His gaze returned to Xu Shengqun as he spoke, "Spirit Emissary Xu, Mu Ye hasn't arrived yet. You might as well wait here for a moment."

"Old man, who says I'm not here yet!"

A booming voice interrupted Zhen Hua.

Behind Zhen Hua appeared a middle-aged man clad in a plain gray robe.

Vigorous and brimming with vitality.

Compared to Zhen Hua, Mu Ye exuded an overwhelming sense of vitality.

Achieving mastery in forging typically required exceptional physical strength and abundant life force. This was especially true for someone like Zhen Hua, a Divine Blacksmith. However, due to the backlash from performing heavenly forging, although Zhen Hua's physique was strong, it also carried a subtle frailty.

Even though Xu Yuan's perception couldn't detect this frailty directly, when comparing Zhen Hua and Mu Ye side by side, he could clearly sense the difference between the two.

"So you're Xu Yuan?" Mu Ye's gaze fixed on Xu Yuan.

"That's me," Xu Yuan replied confidently, stepping forward without hesitation.

"Not bad." Mu Ye's eyes lit up as he reached out and grabbed Xu Yuan's arm. A surge of soul power coursed through Xu Yuan's body, beginning an examination.

Xu Shengqun frowned, slightly displeased with Mu Ye's actions, but having hesitated for a moment, he decided not to intervene.

After all, they had brought Xu Yuan here to become Mu Ye's disciple—it was only natural for Mu Ye to inspect his prospective student's condition.

"I thought you said he had a Body martial soul?" Mu Ye looked at Zhen Hua, his tone questioning.

Zhen Hua shifted his gaze to Xu Shengqun.

Xu Shengqun stepped forward and finally revealed Xu Yuan's martial soul.

"The brain?" Mu Ye exclaimed, his eyes immediately locking onto Xu Yuan's head with intense interest.

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