Star Dou Great Forest, Mixed Region.
Su Yunlin was in the midst of absorbing his Spirit Ring. Calling it "effort" was almost an exaggeration—the process was far from difficult. Faced with the soul shock of a forty-eight-thousand-year spirit beast, he remained completely unaffected.
Or rather, the soul shock left behind after the spirit beast's death was entirely nullified by the Evil God Head Bone. With that in play, as long as Su Yunlin's physical body could keep up, even a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring would be within reach by his sixth ring.
Huu—
Su Yunlin exhaled a breath of turbid air and slowly opened his eyes. His fourth Spirit Ring had been fully absorbed.
"Finished? How do you feel?" Xu Yunyue asked.
"I feel great. It's just a pity the forty-eight-thousand-year Shadow Lord didn't drop a Spirit Bone."
Su Yunlin sounded slightly regretful. The Shadow Lord was considered a top-tier dark-attribute spirit beast, and any Spirit Bone it dropped would have been exceptionally powerful.
Xu Yunyue smiled lightly. "Spirit Bones aren't that easy to obtain. In our family, only I have a full set. Your father and grandfather don't. Your father only has one."
Su Yunlin already knew this. Before he awakened his Martial Soul, his mother had been the most talented individual in the entire Night Duke's Mansion. Both his father and grandfather had poured the best resources into her.
She possessed three hundred-thousand-year Spirit Bones alone. Two had dropped while she hunted her eighth and ninth Spirit Rings, and the third had been compensation from Shrek Academy after Yan Shaozhe falsely accused her—personally delivered by Mu En.
What Su Yunlin didn't understand was how his grandfather and father had managed to force notoriously stingy Shrek Academy to hand over such a treasure.
But one thing he did know—during that incident, his father had fought desperately to protect his mother. That was what made her fall for him. It was said his father had even given up a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring for her.
His father's talent had never been particularly outstanding to begin with. Giving up that Spirit Ring meant giving up his ticket into the ranks of Titled Douluo elites.
Su Yunlin often heard his mother say, "If your father hadn't protected me back then, I wouldn't have fallen for any man. But luckily he did—I ended up meeting someone so good. He's a bit older, sure, but in every other aspect, he's excellent!"
His parents had a strong relationship, occasionally bickering in small ways. Sometimes Su Yunlin could just sit back and enjoy the show—though occasionally he'd get caught in a "joint beating."
Su Yunlin stood up and walked over to his mother. After absorbing two ten-thousand-year Spirit Rings, he had grown a bit taller. His jet-black hair draped over his shoulders, giving him a more mature appearance.
"Let's go home."
"Alright."
…
Heaven Dou City, Night Duke's Mansion.
Su Tianxuan rubbed his eyes and stared at his grandson. "Am I dreaming? Weren't you at level forty when you left? How are you level forty-eight now? Almost forty-nine? Don't tell me you ran into a spirit beast sacrifice."
Su Yunlin twitched at the corner of his mouth. "Grandpa… you just eliminated the correct answer right away."
"…It really was a sacrifice?!"
Su Tianxuan was stunned. Things like that actually happened?
Su Yunlin explained what had occurred. After hearing it, Su Tianxuan could only sigh—his grandson truly possessed immense fortune.
"Good! Excellent! Lin'er, with your talent and opportunities, you'll definitely surpass the Sea God Tang San of ten thousand years ago. I believe in you!" Su Tianxuan praised.
Su Yunlin's Spirit Power had now reached level forty-eight, nearing forty-nine. In truth, the Dark Devilgod Tiger's sacrifice had contained enough energy to push him up an entire rank tier. But too much was as bad as too little—the Dark Devilgod Tiger had no intention of ruining Su Yunlin's future, nor its own path to godhood.
Instead, it had used a large portion of its energy to temper Su Yunlin's body, expand his spiritual sea, and improve his innate constitution. This would greatly accelerate his future cultivation.
Su Jinming looked his son up and down, then nodded. "Come with me to the lab. You should be ready now."
Soul Tool Laboratory.
Su Jinming brought Su Yunlin to the prototype Battle Armor from before.
"This set of Battle Armor is forged from Thousand-Forged Grade One Nether Iron. I made it specifically for you. The core formation circuits haven't been engraved yet—you'll do that yourself."
He placed a carving knife on the table.
Su Yunlin nodded. A Battle Armor had to be personally involved in its creation; only then would it carry the user's aura and provide maximum enhancement.
With his greatly enhanced spiritual power, engraving the formation circuits felt effortless. His speed and precision even surprised Su Jinming.
"Lin'er's spiritual power is this strong now? Even ordinary Soul Douluo can't compare… He's probably on par with a Titled Douluo. The Dark Devilgod Tiger really is a unique top-tier spirit beast."
As time passed, Su Yunlin completed the engraving on every component. He could clearly feel the connection forming between himself and the armor.
When the final circuit was completed, the Battle Armor was finished.
"Put it on and try it."
Su Yunlin nodded and donned the black-purple armor. Instantly, it fused with his aura, and his presence surged several levels.
Su Jinming quickly jotted notes. "Battle Armor forged from Thousand-Forged Grade One metal—best suited for Spirit Kings. When worn by a Spirit King, it elevates combat strength to the level of a Soul Sage. First-level (word) Battle Armor complete!"
Su Yunlin clenched his fists, feeling the immense power coursing through him. Fully equipped, his Spirit Power, spiritual power, and attributes had all been comprehensively enhanced.
"Dad, our first-level Battle Armor is complete! This is a historic first step!" Su Jinming said excitedly.
"Yeah… I can't believe we actually did it. A complete first-level Battle Armor." Su Yunlin found it surreal. In this era, he was already wearing Battle Armor—equivalent to what would later be called One-Word Battle Armor.
Since this era didn't assign "words" to Battle Armor, they used levels instead. Alternatively, they could be categorized by Spirit Ring colors—his could even be called Yellow-grade Battle Armor.
"Alright, take it off. I'll compress it into specialized storage soul tools. That way, you can summon it instantly with your Spirit Power."
Su Yunlin removed the armor. At this stage, first-level Battle Armor still had to be worn manually. Only armor forged from Spirit-refined metal could be stored within the body—and that was already second-level territory.
Su Jinming fitted each component into ring-like storage soul tools.
Douluo Continent was strange—while soul tools lagged far behind the Sun Moon Empire, storage soul tools had advanced significantly and never fell out of use.
To "orthodox" Douluo natives, using offensive or defensive soul tools was an insult to Martial Souls… yet they conveniently ignored storage tools altogether.
Strange, to say the least.
Soon, everything was ready. Su Jinming handed over the storage tools, and Su Yunlin put on the ring-like devices. With a thought, the Battle Armor materialized over his body.
"Pretty convenient… though it'd be even better if it could be stored inside the body," Su Yunlin remarked.
Su Jinming shot him a look. "You're dreaming. You only gave me a finished design—no process, no steps. Do you know how exhausting it was to figure everything out? Look at my hair! I'm going bald!"
He pointed at his thinning scalp.
"Next time, we'll get Elder Mu to 'borrow' more soul tool research from the Sun Moon Empire."
Su Yunlin nodded. "No problem. I'll talk to him next time. Maybe he can take you along—your stealth abilities should come in handy."
Su Jinming sighed. "Too bad the Heaven Soul Empire rejects soul tools so strongly. If war breaks out again, we'll probably be the first target."
Su Yunlin raised a brow. "What do you mean?"
He remembered—the Sun Moon Empire had indeed attacked the Heaven Soul Empire first. Even the Body Sect had been crippled.
Su Jinming snorted. "I've led troops before—how else do you think I became a duke? The Sun Moon Empire borders the Star Luo Empire, but Star Luo has the Mingdou Mountain Range as a natural defense.
We, on the other hand, have nothing. And we're the most anti–soul tool nation. If I hadn't seen their power firsthand, I wouldn't have studied them at all.
But once I did, I realized just how powerful they are. And after you described Battle Armor from your 'dream,' I became certain—soul tools can change warfare."
Su Yunlin looked at him. "So if war breaks out and they invade… what happens to our Duke's Mansion?"
Su Jinming replied without hesitation, "We run."
"Our family doesn't owe the Heaven Soul Empire anything. They stripped me of my command back then—do you think your grandfather's near-fatal injuries and loss of vitality were an accident?
Bunch of bastards. If war really comes, the first thing I'll do is take the whole family and leave."
…
Meanwhile, at Tang Hao's blacksmith shop—
Wang Dong held a piece of highly spiritual metal, her eyes shining.
"Girl, your talent is incredible. You're even better than your father when it comes to forging!" Tang Hao exclaimed.
Whether it was due to the Kindness God's blessing, or simply because she was a divine descendant far beyond ordinary humans, Wang Dong had achieved Spirit Refinement in just over ten days of training.
Wang Dong giggled, staring at the metal in her hand. She could hardly wait to show it off in front of Su Yunlin.
..
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