In Douluo Continent, what is a martial soul? It's like Luckin Coffee.

Chapter 76 Why are these elemental crystals so brittle?

"Teacher, what are you eating? It smells delicious."

Orange, who was summoned by her mentor Xuan Ziwen with a communication talisman, had just pushed open the lab door when she saw her mentor eating a boxed lunch, while her junior Chen Fei was boiling water, seemingly preparing to make instant noodles.

Orange looked at the Americano she was holding and suddenly felt even more like a cow or a horse.

"Oh, it's Orange."

Compared to his attitude towards the traitor Chen Fei, Xuan Ziwen's attitude towards Ju Zi underwent a complete 180-degree turn.

Of course, this is also related to the background of the orange itself.

After all, it was sent by Crown Prince Xu Tianran. Although it is unclear what the relationship is between the orange and the Crown Prince, what if it is?
Let alone the fact that Xuan Ziwen is currently just a minor seventh-level Soul Master, even a ninth-level Soul Master wouldn't want to offend the future Crown Princess for no reason.

"Come quickly and help your teacher process the elemental crystals."

The creation of a high-level soul tool requires various precious materials.

Processing these materials often takes a lot of time. To save energy, Soul Masters of Level 6 and above in the academy often apply to open classes and lead several Soul Masters of Level 4 and below to do research together.

Compared to the high fees that need to be paid to outsiders to handle materials, what tutors need to give to students is merely things like academic credits.

Furthermore, if outsiders are passive and uncooperative, sometimes even increasing the amount of money may not solve the problem.

But if the students are slacking off, kid, I think you don't want to graduate.

"Good teacher."

Orange always completes the tasks assigned by her mentor very well and is always available whenever needed.

Although Orange's grades weren't the best, she was the professor's favorite student.

Who wouldn't like an obedient, hardworking laborer who doesn't have to work hard and doesn't even need to be paid?

……

Just as Orange was processing these elemental crystals.

She suddenly realized a problem.

These elemental crystals are nearly 40% more brittle than normal. In the past, it would have taken a lot of effort to polish a single layer of their surface, but now it can be done with just a little force.

"Teacher, did you buy a counterfeit product?"

Seeing the peculiar texture of this elemental crystal, Orange had no reason not to be suspicious.

"How could that be? These elemental crystals all come from the Jingyang Mountains, and I obtained them from the academy's logistics department. There's no way they could be fake."

"Then why do I find it so easy to handle?"

"Maybe it's because you've gained strength recently, Orange."

Xuan Ziwen didn't care about such a trivial matter.

When exchanging these elemental crystals, Xuan Ziwen had already inspected them one by one. Not to mention counterfeit goods, he couldn't find even a single flawed or defective product.

……

"Dang Dang Dang..."

Orange began to use tools to pound the polished elemental crystals. It was necessary to pound them forty-nine times to remove the impurities.

However, just as the orange finished its thirty-fifth and was about to strike its thirty-sixth blow, the elemental core within the elemental crystal suddenly shattered.

The entire elemental crystal was rendered unusable, resulting in a loss of 80 gold soul coins for Xuan Ziwen.

"Cough cough~"

Xuan Ziwen, who was eating, almost choked on his rice when he saw the broken elemental crystal.

"Ju Zi, this isn't the first time you've handled elemental crystals. How could you make such a basic mistake?"

Forty-nine hammer blows is the limit. Even if the impurities inside the elemental crystal are not removed, you must stop, otherwise the elemental core inside the crystal will be damaged because it cannot withstand the pressure.

Orange is an expert at handling materials, how could she make such a mistake that even a novice shouldn't make?

"Teacher, but I only hammered it thirty-six times! There must be something wrong with this elemental crystal." Orange counted every hammer blow; she wasn't some clumsy junior student who would hammer it a few extra times for no reason.

"There's nothing wrong with this elemental crystal."

"Ju Zi, are you carrying a power-amplifying soul tool?"

Upon hearing this, Orange began searching her body to indicate that she didn't have anything.

"Why don't you try processing another elemental crystal, Orange?"

Xuan Ziwen took another piece and stood next to Ju Zi, watching her process it herself.

……

Thirty-three blows, thirty-four blows, thirty-five blows.

The striking points were all correct, and the technique of exerting force was flawless.

Just as Xuan Ziwen thought there was no problem and was about to continue eating,

"Bang!"

It's the thirty-sixth hammer blow, and the elemental crystal is ruined once again.

"Could there really be something wrong with this batch of elemental crystals?"

The oranges were processed correctly, so the problem lies with this batch of elemental crystals.

Even when he tried to probe with his soul power, Xuan Ziwen still couldn't find anything wrong with the elemental crystal.

Feeling a bit confused, Xuan Ziwen decided to handle an elemental crystal himself.

After forty-nine hammer blows, the impurities completely disappeared, and there was no core breakage.

"Ju Zi, did you eat something weird?"

"No, if I had to say, it would be this orange-flavored drink."

Orange pointed to a half-full cup of Orange C Americano on the table next to her.

"There's really nothing strange about it. If I had to say, it's actually quite delicious."

Xuan Ziwen took a bite and commented.

"Ju Zi, how much is this drink? The teacher will give you the money later."

Xuan Ziwen did not want to take advantage of this disciple.

"9.9 Gold Soul Coins".

"Not oranges? You think your teacher is some kind of alien from the Star Luo world?"

No, that's the price at the coffee shop.

And the coffee shop owner said that drinking this stuff can refresh and invigorate you.

"It's refreshing and invigorating? It seems to actually have some effect, and it's not too expensive."

A regular orange-flavored drink isn't worth 9.9 gold soul coins, or even 9.9 copper soul coins.

But if you add the effect of restoring mental energy, then it's incredibly worthwhile; it's a rare find.

However, not long after drinking the Orange C Americano, Xuan Ziwen noticed something was wrong.

When processing materials, why did the scrap rate suddenly increase so much?

Does drinking this stuff mean you'll have bad luck?
Considering that Orange had just broken two elemental crystals, Xuan Ziwen thought it was very likely.

Looking at the dark part of this drink, oh no, could this be some kind of luck-transferring technique from an evil spirit master?

Evil Soul Master: If we all knew that stuff, we wouldn't be hiding like rats.

……

(End of this chapter)