Douluo: Brains Over Bloodline

The soul-forged metal fused with a soul spirit already represented a solid foundation for Heavenly Refinement.

Such metal might be an excellent material for Saint Craftsmen attempting to break through to Heavenly Refinement.

This wasn't about handing over half-completed Heavenly Refinement work to a Saint Craftsmen to continue, but rather reducing the difficulty of the forging process itself.

In this way, the threshold for Heavenly Refinement was significantly lowered.

The higher the fusion level between the soul spirit and the metal, the easier it would be to achieve Heavenly Refinement.

After all, during the forging process, the resistance of the metal was a crucial factor.

If the soul spirit controlled itself, not only refraining from resisting but actively cooperating with the blacksmith's hammering, the efficiency would naturally increase.

With so many buffs stacking together, Xu Yuan believed that a Saint Craftsmen's chances of successfully breaking through to Heavenly Refinement would at least triple or quintuple.

Under such conditions, there would undoubtedly be Saint Craftsmen willing to attempt it, especially someone like Feng Wu Yu.

Feng Wu Yu had sufficient soul power and other necessary conditions—he just lacked the right opportunity and insight.

Now, however, he had nearly overcome this hurdle thanks to his own accumulation and the triggering effects of the Demon Plane.

But in the past, if he had been given soul-forged metal fused with a soul spirit, perhaps he would have succeeded long ago.

Of course, a failed forging attempt would also severely affect the soul spirit, depending on how well the follow-up measures were handled.

If an entire industry were to develop around finding Saint Craftsmen to perform Heavenly Refinement on soul-forged metals infused with soul spirits, then comprehensive safeguards would need to be established. An entire industrial chain might even emerge to minimize losses, making this process routine.

This would represent a significant advancement for the entire blacksmithing profession.

Of course, there was still a long road ahead.

For now, attempting to integrate soul spirits into battle armor offered no immediate benefits for Xu Yuan or Mu Ye.

After all, Xu Yuan's battle armor was already completed, and Mu Ye already possessed four-character battle armor.

There was no need to pursue this path.

One could say that this idea stemmed from Mu Ye's reference to mech-soul spirit fusion as a derivative concept inspired by the transfer of spiritual essence in battle armor.

"Your grand-uncle has already resigned from his position over there, and he will return to the continent soon. When that happens, you may need to help him forge a full set of spirit-forged materials for his mech."

Spirit-forged?

"Mechs are different from battle armor. Based on our deductions, starting from the black-grade level, the impact won't be too significant."

Using spirit-forged metal to craft a black-grade mech?

How extravagant.

If Mu Ye knew what Xu Yuan was thinking, he would surely be speechless.

Xu Yuan's current purple-grade mech was already made entirely of spirit-forged metal.

"Well, I'll notify you when your grand-uncle arrives. There's one more thing."

Mu Ye paused, carefully choosing his words, and said to Xu Yuan: "After some thought, I've decided to revitalize the Body Sect. We plan to begin recruiting disciples again. If you encounter suitable candidates who haven't joined any other sects or factions, try to bring them into our Body Sect."

Thanks to Xu Yuan's efforts, the concept of body martial souls had become much more flexible.

As long as one possessed physical talent, the specific martial soul didn't matter much anymore—it could be converted into a blood essence martial soul using fusion techniques.

Of course, Xu Yuan's fusion technique had only succeeded for himself, and the current theory was limited to weapon-type martial souls with many conditions attached.

However, the principle remained the same. Since Xu Yuan had succeeded, it proved that the conversion of blood essence martial souls was feasible. With further refinement of his method, other types of martial souls could also potentially undergo this transformation.

Besides, if a spear could be transformed into a blood essence martial soul, why couldn't beast-type martial souls be integrated into blood essence as a form of bloodline power?

In fact, beast-type martial souls seemed even more suited for this purpose.

"Don't worry, Teacher. If I encounter someone with good potential, I'll definitely try to bring them into the Body Sect," Xu Yuan assured confidently.

Ultimately, the Body Sect still lacked depth. Even with revitalization efforts, it couldn't support too many disciples.

Thus, recruitment standards would remain high.

Xu Yuan hadn't introduced anyone to the Body Sect because he simply hadn't encountered suitable candidates yet.

"You don't need to go out of your way to find people—just keep this in mind. It's better if I handle the task of finding junior disciples myself. The main challenge right now is resources."

The Body Sect had no industries.

Even the rare herbs and treasures Xu Yuan had consumed over the years to enhance his blood essence were all provided by Mu Ye personally, not from any sect income.

Mu Ye, being a powerful figure, enjoyed hunting various mighty sea soul beasts in the deep ocean, extracting their essence to create medicinal dishes. Even the leftover ingredients he casually discarded were worth a fortune.

But after years of accumulation, raising Xu Yuan alone had exhausted his resources.

If he were to recruit more disciples, he wouldn't have enough resources to support their cultivation.

"Teacher, there's always a way forward. We haven't found new disciples yet, and maybe we'll resolve the resource issue before we do," Xu Yuan consoled.

"That's true. Before that, I need to first break through the Limit. Recruiting disciples will likely have to wait a few more years," Mu Ye shook his head, no longer worrying about these matters.

"What are your plans next?"

At Mu Ye's question, Xu Yuan hesitated for a moment.

After pondering for a while, he organized the current situation and outlined a rough plan.

"I originally wanted to start investigating the cause of my parents' deaths, but the recent attacks by evil soul masters might not be the end. For now, I'll focus on secluding myself in the Sea God Pavilion to cultivate for a while."

These two attacks by evil soul masters had already indicated that the Holy Spirit Sect was targeting him.

For Xu Yuan, this served as motivation.

He planned to seclude himself for a period to first raise his soul power.

Staying within Shrek Academy didn't mean he could only train in the inner court. He could also venture into the Demon Plane for training.

"Don't worry. Leave your father's case to me. Now that I've successfully broken through, and Qiangu Dongfeng has caused plenty of trouble, it's time for him to relinquish some power. I also plan to investigate the past during this time."

Xu Shengqun's eyes narrowed, a cold glint flashing through them.

Xu Zhi had laid a solid foundation for his cultivation, and Xu Yuan's starry visualization method had provided the breakthrough opportunity.

Now that he had the capability, he no longer intended to endure silently.

"Then I'll leave it to Uncle."

"Your master has been waiting for you for a long time. Since you're here, spend some time forging with him. Once you've mastered soul forging, you can return to Shrek."

"Alright."

---

Shrek Academy.

Sea God Pavilion.

Yun Ming repeatedly examined the nine files obtained from the Spirit Pagoda, growing increasingly perplexed.

It wasn't the unfamiliarity of the text but the unfamiliarity of the presentation.

At first glance, they weren't textual descriptions at all but special patterns, seemingly hinting at something.

What caught Yun Ming's attention most was Xu Yuan's signature.

Had someone used Xu Yuan's name to add this file to the Spirit Pagoda's internal database?

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