"Yes! The patterns!"
Lin Xia's voice carried a trace of excitement.
"Think about it, Teacher. They're all soul tools, yet a storage ring relies on them to stabilize space, flying soul tools rely on them to generate lift, and attack-type soul tools rely on them to condense energy… Could these patterns be the true 'language' of soul tools?"
"Are they the 'soul power circuits' that allow soul power to communicate with metal and realize specific functions?!"
Lou Gao's eyes suddenly widened, like blazing white flames erupting from a furnace!
His breathing hitched sharply, then became incomparably rapid, his chest heaving violently.
Almost fumbling in his haste, he rummaged around in the inconspicuous leather storage soul tool at his waist and pulled out several items.
A palm-sized sound-transmission soul tool used for short-distance communication.
An illumination soul-guided orb capable of emitting a faint glow.
There was even a protective talisman engraved with a defensive formation, able to withstand low-level soul skills.
Lou Gao carefully cradled these soul tools together with Lin Xia's ring in his rough hands, as if holding priceless treasures.
His bloodshot eyes acted like the most precise scanners, staring intently at every soul power pattern—simple or complex, varied in form—etched on the surface or hidden within each soul tool.
Time slowly passed. The backyard fell silent, leaving only Lou Gao's heavy breathing and Lin Xia's calm gaze.
Larvitar seemed to sense the gravity of the atmosphere as well. It stopped chewing on the ore, tilted its little head, and looked at the two of them.
"Hiss—"
Lou Gao suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, his fingers trembling slightly with excitement.
He repeatedly compared the resonance circuits on the sound-transmission soul tool, the light-energy conversion patterns of the illumination orb, the defensive array of the talisman, and the spatial stabilization formation of the storage ring…
"They're different… truly different!"
Lou Gao's voice trembled with disbelief and wild joy.
"Within the same type take these two most basic illumination orbs, for example the core pattern structures differ slightly in fine details, but the overall framework and the way energy flows through them… they're largely the same. The skeleton is identical!"
"But between different types—like storage and sound transmission—these patterns are completely different! Worlds apart! They're two entirely different 'languages'!"
Lou Gao suddenly raised his head. An unprecedented brilliance burst forth from his murky old eyes, so intense it seemed it might ignite Lin Xia on the spot.
"A revelation! A true revelation! Xiao Xia!!"
His voice shot up, filled with ecstatic enlightenment.
"The breakthrough point! This is the breakthrough we've been desperately searching for! I knew it! There was nothing wrong with my Thousand-Layer Vibrating Metal Hands! Nothing wrong with the fusion of those rare metals either!"
"The problem lies here! We were missing the soul-guided formations that make soul power 'obedient' and bring metal 'to life'! These patterns, these patterns are the very 'soul' of soul tools!"
The overwhelming excitement surged through Lou Gao like a volcanic eruption.
He slapped his thigh hard.
Pa! The crisp sound echoed clearly through the quiet backyard, and he was so excited he nearly jumped up.
"Quick! Xiao Xia! What are you waiting for?! Let's go! To the forging room!"
Without another word, Lou Gao grabbed Lin Xia's arm, his grip astonishingly strong, and turned to rush toward the forging room.
That impatient posture made it seem as though, if they were even a second late, this flash of insight would slip away.
"Larvitar! Larvitar!!!"
At that moment, the long-ignored Larvitar finally erupted in fierce protest!
Dropping the half-chewed piece of Purple Lightning Iron Ore, it trotted over on its short little legs and rammed its round, rock-armored head hard against Lin Xia's calf, letting out aggrieved cries full of protest.
Its large crimson eyes glared accusingly at Lou Gao, one tiny claw even pointing toward the unfinished food on the table and then at Lin Xia.
The meaning couldn't have been clearer.
It's you again, you lousy old man!
Always hogging my master!
Won't even let me finish eating!
You promised to take me out to play!
I'm sick of chewing ore!
I protest! Strongly protest!
Lin Xia staggered from the impact, looking at the little fellow puffed up with anger, then at the arm Lou Gao was gripping so tightly it hurt. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Only then did Lou Gao notice Larvitar. The frenzy on his face subsided slightly, only slightly.
Lou Gao waved his hand impatiently at Larvitar, speaking in a hurried tone.
"Ah, little ancestor! Be good and endure it a bit longer! Just for a while! Xiao Xia and I are going to do something big—something earth-shattering! Once we figure out these soul-guided formations, forget taking you out to play—finding you an entire mountain to chew on won't be a problem!"
"Sidi! Sidi! Quickly—bring your junior brother's precious soul beast two more pieces… no, three pieces of the finest Great Sun Refined Gold Ore! Pick the ones with the strongest energy!"
As he shouted to Sidi, who hurried over upon hearing him, Lou Gao did not loosen his grip in the slightest, almost dragging and pulling the helpless Lin Xia toward the forging room's entrance.
Larvitar looked at the Great Sun Refined Gold Ore Sidi brought over, then at its master's disappearing figure at the forging room doorway.
In the end, it let out an indignant "Larvitar!" hugged the newly acquired ore, and turned its grief into appetite, gnawing away fiercely—though its small eyes were filled with deep resentment toward Lou Gao's shameless behavior.
Lou Gao truly lived up to his reputation as a divine craftsman renowned across the continent for his skillful hands. After glimpsing the core secret of soul tools, the soul power patterns that contained special governing laws, his entire vitality seemed to ignite.
His eyes blazed with unprecedented fervor, like an explorer who had discovered a new continent, impatient to put theory into practice.
"I get it! I completely get it now!"
Lou Gao hesitated for not even a moment before moving, precise as the most sophisticated instrument.
Those rough, calloused hands—capable of performing the divine technique Thousand-Layer Vibrating Metal Hands, now picked up the finest engraving needle, yet were extraordinarily steady.
Lin Xia held his breath, standing to the side, his own emotions surging.
He watched as Lou Gao selected a piece of fine iron plate with uniform texture and easy malleability, one of the most common practice materials in the forging room.
Lou Gao took a deep breath, his gaze sharp as a hawk's. His mental focus tightened to the extreme as soul power, like the finest silk threads, wrapped around the tip of the engraving needle.
Buzz!
The engraving needle made its first stroke on the iron plate.
A faint glow of soul power lit up where the needle met the metal, accompanied by the subtle sound of metal being carved.
Lou Gao's movements were exceedingly slow. Every stroke carried his full concentration, striving to perfectly replicate the core formation patterns he remembered from the storage soul tool.
Those intricate, profound lines spread across the iron plate like living things.
Time slipped by quietly amid absolute focus.
Lin Xia could clearly sense the fluctuations of soul power radiating from Lou Gao.
A quarter of an hour later
At last, the final stroke was completed!
A miniature formation—complex in structure, emitting faint soul power fluctuations, and strikingly similar to the internal formation of a storage soul tool appeared vividly on the iron plate!
"It worked!"
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