"Boss, you're truly a genius. Every piece of metal has its unique texture. Once damaged, the spirit tool made from it will have its effectiveness greatly reduced. However, if its internal structure remains intact, a spirit tool made from hundred-forged metal will have its effectiveness greatly increased."
"This is simply a genius discovery, enough to trigger a revolution in the spirit tool world."
Zui Hongchen looked at Xu Tianyang excitedly, his chubby little face filled with emotion. He knew very well what impact this technology would have on the development of spirit tools.
Calling it a world-changing discovery would not be an exaggeration.
"Hmm, it's good that it's effective. But why haven't you broken through to Spirit Master yet? Your Spirit talent will grow as your strength increases. Cultivation is the foundation of everything."
Listening to Zui Hongchen's report, Xu Tianyang nodded. spirit tools were slowly developing. During this period, the development of spirit tools on the Sun Moon Continent did not pay much attention to the forging and purification of materials, which left a lot of room for improvement.
Hearing Xu Tianyang's somewhat 'disapproving' words, Zui Hongchen's face fell, and he said eagerly, "Boss, do you think everyone is like you? With innate full spirit power talent, I only awakened my Spirit two months ago, and now I'm already at rank nine spirit power. That's already very fast."
"spirit tool research can be put aside for now. Cultivation is the top priority. Currently, the Empire's high-ranking Soul Engineers don't have time, and there aren't enough people to form a dedicated research team for this area. It's most important to seize this time to rapidly improve your cultivation."
After a moment of contemplation, Xu Tianyang looked at the two of them and said seriously. Due to the impending decisive battle, all of the Sun Moon Empire's high-ranking Soul Engineers had been reassigned, and Xu Tianyang couldn't find many experts to delve into this area.
With Fatty's cultivation, hundred-forging was already his limit. He didn't have the cultivation to support thousand-forging yet. At this stage, cultivation was still the most important thing.
"Moreover, if you don't quickly advance to Spirit Master, how will you raise your Soul Engineer rank?"
The creation of spirit tools, each rank corresponds to a Spirit Master's rank. Without sufficient cultivation to support it, high-rank spirit tools cannot be produced. Even the most talented individuals can only remain in the theoretical realm.
As Xu Tianyang spoke, not only Zui Hongchen, but Huang Xiuwen's expression also stiffened. He was also at rank nine now, just a step away from rank ten. Although his talent in spirit tools wasn't as abnormal as Zui Hongchen's, it wasn't bad either.
It could be said that the top families of the Sun Moon Empire were all quite strong in the field of spirit tools.
He also wanted to become an official Soul Engineer as soon as possible.
"The same goes for Xiuwen!" After finishing with Zui Hongchen, Xu Tianyang didn't forget Huang Xiuwen.
"Understood, Boss!"
Half a year passed quietly.
After six months of academy life, Xu Tianyang had gradually grown accustomed to it. Watching the little brats play around in the academy every day was also a form of enjoyment.
During this time, Xu Yunxiao and Mu Mengyu became increasingly busy. For the past three months, Xu Tianyang hadn't seen either of them once. No one told him how the war between the two nations was progressing, but the imperial capital was peaceful, as if unaffected.
It seemed the Sun Moon Empire still had the advantage in the war, otherwise the imperial capital wouldn't be like this.
In the past six months, Xu Tianyang's cultivation had increased by two ranks, and Huang Xiuwen and Zui Hongchen had both become Spirit Masters, incidentally completing the assessment for a rank one Soul Engineer.
On this day, everyone was attending class as usual. With Teacher Lin's arrival, she didn't bring any textbooks today. She walked to the podium empty-handed, looked at everyone, and said softly, "Classmates have been studying at the school for half a year now, and many students in the class have broken through to Spirit Master. Today, we won't have a theory class. We'll have a practical combat class. Follow Teacher Lin."
Upon hearing this, everyone's faces filled with excitement. Spirit Masters were destined for conflict, and they had long anticipated the academy's practical combat classes. Now, hearing that they would have a practical combat class, they quickly and excitedly rose to follow Lin Ximeng's footsteps.
The Spirit Combat Zone, an essential and important area in a Spirit Master Academy. The Sun Moon Royal Academy's Spirit Combat Zone was located in a vast area in the northeast corner of the academy.
This was a place frequently visited by students. Various competitions could be held here, with dedicated teachers serving as referees. There was no threat to life, making it the best practical combat ground.
The Spirit Combat Zone was divided into six major areas according to rank, from Spirit Master all the way to Spirit Emperor, each with its corresponding zone.
Everyone followed Lin Ximeng to the Spirit Combat Zone designated for Spirit Master rank. The Spirit Combat Zone was enormous, capable of accommodating thousands of people, with a huge arena in the central open space.
At this moment, beside the arena, in addition to Teacher Lin, there were two other teachers: one was ordinary, smiling, and very amiable; the other exuded a faint aura of life, seemingly a healing-type Spirit Master, there to provide immediate treatment for any accidentally injured students.
After greeting the two teachers, Teacher Lin scanned the crowd and said with a smile, "Next, Spirit Masters in the class will be in one group, and those who haven't advanced to Spirit Master will be in another group. We'll draw lots for one-on-one matches."
Soon after watching the 'chicken pecking' battles of those below Spirit Master, it was time for the eight Spirit Masters from Class One to enter the arena.
Among the eight, besides Xu Tianyang, Xu Nianshuang, Zui Hongchen, and Huang Xiuwen, who had the highest innate spirit power, there were also four students whose innate spirit power had reached rank seven. Among them, Iron Armored Bear Wang Yan and Gale Sword Lu Yu were prominently listed.
The remaining two were Yang Ruoruo with the Ice Wolf Spirit and Yi Mingyu with the Celestial Star Chessboard Spirit.
After half a year of getting along, Xu Tianyang had also learned the backgrounds of these four. They were all descendants of powerful Spirit Master families within the Sun Moon Empire.
Only by leveraging family resources could they increase their spirit power by three ranks in half a year and break through to Spirit Master.
"It's over!!!"
A 'miserable' shout echoed through the Spirit Combat Arena just after the draw.
"...#" Xu Tianyang's face was covered in black lines as he looked at the terrified Zui Hongchen. They had just drawn lots, and the result was that they were to fight each other.
But, am I really that scary?
"Hehe, Fatty, you're finished!" Huang Xiuwen, seeing this, showed a gloating expression, while secretly sighing in relief. His opponent was that Gale Sword Lu Yu. Relying on his Spirit advantage, he was confident in this match.
"What are you so proud of? If you win, you'll meet the Boss sooner or later." Seeing his bad friend's smug expression, Zui Hongchen kindly reminded him.
Huang Xiuwen's mouth, which he hadn't yet managed to close, immediately stiffened.
"Hehe, Boss, please be gentle later, I have delicate arms and legs and can't take much roughhousing." Zui Hongchen cozied up to Xu Tianyang with a fawning expression.
"Boring!" Seeing the scene before her, Xu Nianshuang said coldly and walked directly towards the Spirit Combat Arena.
"Fatty, witness the power of the ancient divine beast, the Three-Legged Golden Toad. I won't hold back later."
Looking at the serious Xu Tianyang, Zui Hongchen also put away his fawning expression and became serious. As a genius, he naturally had his own pride; his previous actions were merely to show his attitude to His Royal Highness the Grandson.
On the Spirit Combat Stage, Huang Xiuwen and Lu Yu were the first to enter the arena to compete. As their Spirits attached to them, two yellow spirit rings rose. Huang Xiuwen immediately ascended into the air, adopting guerrilla tactics to attack Lu Yu.
Generally, Spirit Masters in the early stages had no way against flying Spirit Masters. Huang Xiuwen's Purple Lightning Winged Dragon Spirit, as a dragon-type Spirit, not only flew extremely fast but also had considerable attack power, virtually putting him in an unassailable position from the start.
Lu Yu on the field could only passively defend, fighting with extreme frustration.
Prolonged defense inevitably leads to a loss. After five minutes, Lu Yu was knocked to the ground by Huang Xiuwen and defeated.
The second match was a Spirit combat between Xu Nianshuang and Yang Ruoruo. Both were girls, and both possessed ice attributes, making it a rather evenly matched contest.
However, the battle ended even faster than the first one.
As both sides released their Spirits and spirit rings, Xu Nianshuang's spirit ring lit up, and frost immediately began to fall around her, causing the temperature to plummet. Then, Xu Nianshuang instantly crossed the distance between them, appearing in front of Yang Ruoruo. In the blink of an eye, an ice crystal longsword was pressed against the opponent's throat.
The battle ended instantly.
"Whoosh—"
The outcome of their battle immediately caused an uproar. Everyone looked at Xu Nianshuang in surprise, and a chill involuntarily rose in their hearts. How could they possibly fight her? They had no idea how she moved, and with their reaction speed, they wouldn't be able to block her at all.
"That's... Teleportation, right?" A hesitant voice came from Huang Xiuwen's mouth, tinged with disbelief.
Teleportation, a simple yet powerful Spirit Ability, was one of the most desired Spirit Abilities among Spirit Masters.
"How could Teleportation appear as a first Spirit Ability, and over such a long distance?" Zui Hongchen also exclaimed in surprise.
"No, it should be displacement."
As the battle began, Xu Tianyang paid close attention to the two in the arena. He noticed something different: at Xu Nianshuang's original position, there was an inconspicuous small ice crystal. Recalling the falling frost from earlier, he already had a guess in his mind.
Even so, such a first Spirit Ability was enough to be called top-tier, not inferior to his own first Spirit Ability.
The third Spirit combat also ended quickly. Yi Mingyu, with the Celestial Star Chessboard Spirit, defeated Iron Armored Bear Wang Yan and emerged victorious.
Soon, Xu Tianyang and Zui Hongchen stood on the Spirit Combat Arena.
"That must be His Royal Highness the Grandson!"
As Xu Tianyang entered the arena, he immediately drew everyone's attention. The three teachers not far away also fixed their gaze on Xu Tianyang.
His identity was no secret. Xu was the imperial surname of the Sun Moon Empire, and among the current generation of the imperial family, only he matched the age. Anyone with a discerning eye could easily guess his identity.
"As expected of His Royal Highness the Grandson. Teacher Lin is truly fortunate to have a master-disciple relationship with His Royal Highness the Grandson." Looking at Xu Tianyang, the other two teachers looked at Teacher Lin with envy.
Teacher Lin smiled without speaking, her beautiful eyes fixed only on Xu Tianyang in the arena. She was afraid of getting too carried away and not being able to walk out of the school gates.
In the arena, Xu Tianyang looked at Zui Hongchen with a focused gaze. A lion uses its full strength even against a rabbit. He would not underestimate any opponent.
Zui Hongchen was a little nervous, but his expression was also exceptionally serious. Until today, everyone had only heard during the opening ceremony that Xu Tianyang's Spirit was a mutation of the imperial family's Sun Spirit, the Sun Pupil.
Although some were surprised that Xu Tianyang didn't possess any of the imperial family's inherited Spirits, no one dared to underestimate his Spirit. Any mutated Spirit only had two outcomes: becoming stronger or becoming weaker.
With Xu Tianyang's innate full spirit power talent, it was definitely a mutation towards becoming stronger.
No one knew the specific effects of his Spirit until now.
"Spirit Combat begins."