"I can't not be impatient! I've been waiting for this moment far too long," Jing Hongchen urged, excitement flickering in his eyes. "Go ahead — try crafting a Soul Tool. I want to see just how far your ability can go."
The way he looked at Wei Xuan was like a man beholding a priceless treasure.
Three years ago, Wei Xuan already possessed the theoretical knowledge of a Level 4 Soul Engineer. After nearly three years at the Illustrious Virtue Hall, his grasp of Soul Tool knowledge now surpassed that of many Level 6 engineers. In Jing Hongchen's view, such a prodigy was even more valuable than a Level 9 Soul Engineer — perhaps even beyond measurable worth.
If given time, he might one day reach the legendary Level 10, a realm most thought unattainable. A genius like this could no longer be defined by value alone — he was truly priceless.
How could Jing Hongchen's gaze not burn with fervor?
Wei Xuan felt slightly uneasy under such intensity, but nodded. "Alright. I've been wanting to test my skills too — to see how theory compares to practice."
Looking over the neatly arranged tools, anticipation stirred within him.
He had long dreamed of crafting Soul Tools, but until now, his lack of Soul Power had prevented him from doing so. Now that his Soul Power had awakened, it was finally time to turn theory into reality — to create his first personal Soul Tool.
"Begin," Jing Hongchen said eagerly. "You know my lab well enough. Use whatever you like."
Wei Xuan smiled helplessly and began searching through the rows of metal racks. He already had a plan for what to make.
The lab had five racks, each twenty meters long and four meters wide, stacked with metals of every kind — from common wrought iron to rare Deep Sea Silver, even to high-grade alloys reserved for advanced crafting.
But Wei Xuan didn't go to the rack of rare metals. Those were for high-level Soul Tools — far beyond what he needed now.
He examined the first rack and finally selected a faint blue metal with streaks of dark gray.
"Ice Crystal Cold Iron," Jing Hongchen muttered.
The blue metal wasn't considered precious, but it wasn't easy to acquire either. It was mined near the Extreme North, around fifty miles from the frigid heartlands, where the land was covered in perpetual snow. The veins there were imbued with the power of ice itself.
Mining and transporting from such conditions was exceedingly difficult — the cold alone could kill unprepared workers, and secrecy from the Heavenly Soul Empire was essential. Thus, Ice Crystal Cold Iron, though not classified as rare, was scarce and highly valued.
Jing Hongchen hesitated. Using Ice Crystal Cold Iron was difficult.
Its icy nature meant conventional heating would destroy its properties. It could only be softened through Soul Power, which required immense control. Even many Soul Kings couldn't soften a piece the size of a human head. How could Wei Xuan, only Level 12, possibly manage it?
He opened his mouth to advise him to choose another material — but stopped. With Wei Xuan's knowledge, he had to understand these limitations. So why choose this metal anyway?
"I'm curious to see what you'll do," Jing Hongchen thought, deciding to observe quietly.
Wei Xuan placed the Ice Crystal Cold Iron on the worktable, then lit the furnace. Flames roared to life, crackling brightly.
"Your Highness," Jing Hongchen said quickly, "you can't heat Ice Crystal Cold Iron — it'll lose its frost property and become no different from ordinary steel."
But Wei Xuan didn't stop. He simply raised the furnace temperature higher and smiled calmly. "I know, Hall Master. Trust me — I have my reasons. Watch and see."
"This…" Jing Hongchen frowned, puzzled but intrigued. He folded his arms and stood aside, observing in silence.
The Watching Eye
In a sealed observation room above the lab, an elderly man stood with hands clasped behind his back, gazing through a one-way glass window.
He was tall and broad, his short silver-gray hair standing upright like iron needles. He wore a robe of royal yellow — the color of imperial privilege.
He was not a member of the royal family, but his status was higher.
His name was Kong Deming, the Hall Master of the Royal Soul Engineer Worship Hall, and the greatest Soul Engineer in all of the Sun and Moon Empire — indeed, on the entire continent.
He was revered as the Father of Soul Engineering — a title well earned.
Even someone as prominent as Jing Hongchen addressed him as "Teacher." The Emperor himself treated him with utmost respect. That was the measure of his power.
"What an interesting little fellow," Kong Deming murmured, eyes fixed on Wei Xuan.
As the furnace blazed, Wei Xuan took up a Soul-powered cutting device and began slicing the Ice Crystal Cold Iron.
The cutter's etched energy array glowed faintly — pre-charged, sparing him the need to infuse power manually.
The metal sphere, about the size of a human head, was cut into long strips — fifteen in total, each a different size and shape.
By the time he finished cutting, the furnace temperature had reached two thousand degrees.
When the temperature stabilized, Wei Xuan swiftly placed the largest strip into the flames, his eyes locked on it, silently counting.
The metal hissed violently. Blue smoke rose as if fire had met ice. The faint-blue hue faded, the chilling aura weakening rapidly.
At seventy counts, Wei Xuan used tongs to lift the metal from the furnace and laid it on the anvil. He took up a hammer and began to strike. Each impact burst sparks across the room.
At the same time, Soul Power flared from his body — and the Ancient Ice Dragon Martial Soul manifested behind him, a four-meter-long dragon that filled the lab with bitter cold.
His first Soul Ring shone, and the Ice Dragon exhaled a dense frost mist.
This time, however, the mist didn't spread wildly. Under Wei Xuan's precise control, it condensed into a thick, waist-wide stream that struck the heated metal directly.
Even without touching other surfaces, the temperature in the lab plummeted below freezing, frost crawling across the walls.
Jing Hongchen frowned deeper. Heating the metal only to chill it again? It made no sense. He began to doubt Wei Xuan's practical skill entirely.
But Kong Deming, watching unseen, narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. There was method in this madness.
Then — Jing Hongchen's eyes widened. The color drained from his face.
"What… impossible!" he gasped.
The metal's temperature wasn't dropping rapidly as it should. In fact, its cooling slowed to a crawl — slower even than immersion in water.
The Extreme Ice attribute of Wei Xuan's power should have frozen the newly heated metal instantly — yet it hadn't.
How was this possible? It defied every principle Jing Hongchen knew.
But Wei Xuan remained calm, hammering rhythmically. The dragon's breath poured continuously, its frost seeping into the metal.
He wasn't simply cooling it — he was infusing it. Under microscopic control, his icy essence re-entered the metal, replenishing the cold properties lost through heating.
With every strike, the fusion deepened — metal and ice intertwined until they became one.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The ringing of the hammer filled the chamber. After hundreds of strikes, the bar shrank visibly.
Half an hour later, Wei Xuan's complexion had turned pale from exhaustion. His breathing quickened, each swing slower than the last.
"Clang!" The final strike fell. He set the hammer down, staggering slightly from fatigue. His Soul Power was nearly drained.
On the anvil lay a curved piece of dark-blue metal, emitting a biting chill several times stronger than before — colder even than natural Ice Crystal Cold Iron.
Jing Hongchen approached, offering him a Soul Power recovery bottle. His eyes were locked on the metal, disbelief written across his face.
"If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed it," he murmured. "This… this is craftsmanship beyond comprehension — truly godlike!"
Wei Xuan accepted the bottle and drank deeply, his Soul Power quickly recovering. The weariness faded from his face.
"How's that?" he said with a faint smile. "Not bad for a first try, right?"
Unable to soften Ice Crystal Cold Iron through Soul Power alone, he had used heat to loosen it — then infused his Extreme Ice energy mid-forging to restore and enhance its properties.
In one stroke, he had achieved both shaping and refinement — a method no one else had conceived.
The technique wasn't improvised; it was something he had theorized long ago. He knew that when the cold energy of Ice Crystal Cold Iron dissipated, its inner structure became porous and flexible. If he re-infused it at the right moment, he could restore — even improve — its icy essence.
But such control required impossibly fine precision — the ability to channel energy through microscopic fissures to alter a metal's very structure.
No one on the continent, except Wei Xuan, could manage it.
"Not bad?" Jing Hongchen laughed aloud. "It's revolutionary! I never imagined such a method could exist. You've completely rewritten what I thought possible in forging Ice Crystal Cold Iron!"
He could barely contain his excitement. "Tell me — how did you even think of this?"
Wei Xuan chuckled softly. "It's simple, really…" He explained his reasoning step by step.
By the end, Jing Hongchen was laughing in pure admiration. "Brilliant! Truly brilliant! You're a genius, Your Highness — an absolute genius!"
He lifted the finished piece reverently, his eyes shining with pride and awe.
To forge while simultaneously channeling elemental energy to restore and reshape the metal — even high-ranking Soul Engineers couldn't do such a thing.
But Wei Xuan had done it — effortlessly, masterfully.
His talent for Soul Tools was nothing short of monstrous.
(End of Chapter)