Douluo Continent: I ushered in this era

"The soul you've nurtured, do you know what that means for the Spirit Pagoda?" Mu Chen looked at Chu Ci with a meaningful gaze.

"Of course I know," Chu Ci smiled slyly, "but I believe Senior Mu Chen would never go around gossiping."

"Hmph," Mu Chen, who had always been upright and honest, naturally wouldn't reveal this matter.

Taiyi summoned a screen, displaying the final plan for the Spirit Artifact Project. Chu Ci and Mu Chen focused their attention and began to discuss how to complete the plan.

The two were discussing Chu Ci's grand plan—the Spirit Weapon Project, whose main task was to create a special weapon called a Soul Weapon.

After learning about forging, Chu Ci had a persistent idea: since battle armor is a mecha worn by martial spirits, could soul spirits that share similarities with martial spirits also wear it and then be used by soul masters?

To this end, Chu Ci carefully studied the changes in a Soul Master's Martial Soul after putting on Battle Armor, and then matched them with Soul Spirit data.

After more than two years of tireless calculations, He Tu finally found a way to equip spirits with battle armor. From then on, the Spirit Weapon Project was officially launched.

The Soul Weapons in the Spirit Weapon Project are similar to the Natal Magic Weapons in novels from my previous life. They possess souls and special abilities, can become one with their owners, and grow together with them.

The vessel's body is forged using forging techniques, while its soul is embodied by a spirit specially nurtured by the Chu Ci (Songs of Chu).

After discussing it, the two decided to use Soul Forging to forge the vessel's body. Soul Forging can transform metal into a true living entity, with the soul then dominating this entity.

So, Chu Ci took out a ten-year-old soul, an experimental product cultivated from scraps.

Then, Mu Chen took out the forging table and started forging.

Chu Ci's goal for a soul weapon is a sword. Mu Chen forges the metal into a soul forging process while simultaneously shaping it into a sword form.

Chu Ci, meanwhile, used his self-created soul technique, Spirit Communication, to connect with the spirit's spirit.

When the Soul Forging reached the moment of Soul Awakening, Mu Chen stopped forging.

Chu Ci stepped forward and gradually fused the soul spirit into the soul forging process. This was the most crucial step in forging the soul weapon and also the most difficult part of the previous calculations using the River Diagram. Chu Ci called this process "soul spirit fusion forging".

"Not good!" Mu Chen exclaimed, hurriedly swinging his hammer, but it was too late. The Soul Forge trembled for a moment, and then its life force dissipated completely.

The two looked at each other, realizing they had failed.

"Continue the experiment. I've already asked the academy for leave." Chu Ci took out another ten-year-old soul spirit.

From then on, the underground laboratory was filled with the constant clanging of forging sounds. If it weren't for the excellent soundproofing of the underground laboratory, Chu Tiannan and the others upstairs would probably have been unable to sleep all night.

A day and a night later, Chu Ci and Mu Chen sat on the ground, leaning against the lab table, looking utterly hopeless.

The countless blueprints and notes scattered on the ground testify to the hardships the two endured.

"But, kid, are you even reliable? It's been a whole day and night," Mu Chen asked, annoyed.

"Can't you tell whether I'm reliable or not, Uncle Mu?" Chu Ci rolled his eyes. He was also quite annoyed. He had tried the scales, but he still couldn't get the final result right.

Hearing this, Mu Chen felt even more upset. It was precisely because the matter was promising but always just a little short that he became increasingly irritable.

Chu Ci picked up the final draft and said, "We've tried all the possibilities, and we were all just a little short. That can only mean one thing."

Chu Ci looked at Mu Chen and said, "We were going in the wrong direction from the beginning."

Chu Ci lightly tapped the blueprint with his finger, the scales behind him balanced, and he entered "wise man's time".

It was all done from the beginning, with Mu Chen forging the soul forging, and then the soul spirit controlling it, and so on. Chu Ci's eyes lit up.

"Uncle Mu, I've discovered a problem," Mu Chen stood up instantly, and Chu Ci said to Mu Chen seriously, "The soul spirit should not be fused when the soul forging is completed, but when the soul forging begins. Uncle Mu, you and the soul spirit will complete the soul forging together."

"Soul forging is actually the process by which a blacksmith uses soul power and spiritual power to give metal a soul, but for soul weapons, it should be the soul spirit and me who give the metal a soul."

“We previously had Soul Forging leave space for the Soul Spirit, but in fact, the Soul Spirit should be the one to discover the space so that they can fuse perfectly.”

After listening to Chu Ci's words, Mu Chen shook his head and offered his opinion, "However, during the forging process of Soul Forging, no one except the blacksmith can communicate with the metal. If I don't stop, your spiritual power will not be able to guide the soul."

“Then let me fully merge with the spirit of the soul from the very beginning,” Chu Ci said decisively.

“No,” Mu Chen refused without hesitation, “If something goes wrong, your mental strength will be severely damaged.”

“I am confident that I can withdraw my mental energy from the metal before any problems arise,” Chu Ci said, looking directly into Mu Chen’s eyes.

Looking into Chu Ci's determined eyes, Mu Chen gave in after a while and waved his hand helplessly, "Alright, I'm confident I can buy you some time to retreat."

Chapter 21 The Heavenly Candle Sword is Completed

Chu Ci took out the dragon soul she had carefully nurtured and the twin crystals of the sun and moon that she had acquired at the last auction, and placed them on the forging table.

Then, take out the blood of Tang Wulin and Gu Yue and connect it to the forging table through a delivery device.

Mu Chen quickly forged the Sun and Moon Twin Crystals into a spirit-forged form. He exchanged a glance with Chu Ci, and after Chu Ci's spiritual power was completely integrated with his soul, he began forging.

After Chu Ci sensed the forging process beginning, conveyed by Mu Chen's spiritual power, she smiled slightly at the dragon-like spirit in front of her and said, "Give me your spiritual power completely, Tianzhu."

Tianzhu was nurtured by Chu Ci from the moment it was born, so it naturally trusted Chu Ci wholeheartedly and immediately handed everything over to Chu Ci for control.

As Mu Chen swung his hammer and struck the metal, Chu Ci felt his mental energy being battered and swayed by the waves of the ocean.

But Chu Ci gritted her teeth and urged her mental energy to closely follow the rhythm of Mu Chen's forging.

Soon, Chu Ci's spiritual power detected a faint aura belonging to the soul emanating from within the metal being forged.

Chu Ci realized that the time was right and immediately had the soul merge into the metal according to the soul fusion method.

While forging metal outside, Mu Chen sensed the echo of the metal being filled with the aura of the soul, and immediately stopped communicating with the metal using his soul power and mental power.

Following the spiritual power of Chu Ci within the metal, the internal structure of the metal is solidified.

Chu Ci smoothly fused his soul into the metal until his spiritual power was blocked by a colorful thin film.

Looking at the colored film, Chu Ci had a premonition that as long as he broke through it, the Soul Weapon would be formed.

The Chu Ci (Songs of Chu) concentrated all its spiritual power to impact the colored film, but after several consecutive impacts, the colored film remained as solid as a rock.

At this moment, Mu Chen was extremely anxious outside. The solidification was complete, but the metal was slow to complete the final step, and the internal spiritual power was gradually weakening.

Just as Mu Chen gritted his teeth and was about to swing his hammer to force out Chu Ci's spiritual power, Chu Ci's physical body outside suddenly straightened up like a zombie, his soul power surged, the scales of the gods appeared, and all his soul power was placed on the scales. A mysterious energy flowed into the metal on the other side of the scales.

Suddenly, Chu Ci's spiritual power inside the metal seemed to be divinely aided, and he knew that the "backup plan" he had left outside had come into play.

Using this power, Chu Ci easily saw through the colored film, exposing its true nature. Chu Ci immediately understood how to break through it.

Chu Ci, integrating the Heavenly Candle with his own spiritual power, launched another attack, this time causing the colored film to shatter abruptly.

Suddenly, an imperceptible energy surged from the heavens and earth, transforming into thousands of strands. One strand entered the newly forged longsword, while the rest circled around the sword.

At the same time, Tang Hao, who was sleeping, was awakened. He keenly noticed that a power was emanating from the Douluo plane.

Upon realizing this, Tang Hao's expression grew even more somber. His position as the master of the Douluo Plane was hastily arranged, and coupled with the loss of the support of the God Realm, his control over the Douluo Plane was not high. That's why Tang Hao and Ah Yin deliberately went into a deep sleep to regulate the Douluo Plane and further control it, in preparation for their future plan to devour the Abyss Plane.

But now, the Douluo plane has spontaneously given a portion of energy to someone unknown. Tang Hao checked Tang Wulin and the Abyss plane and found nothing wrong. After thinking it over, he felt that this little episode would not affect Xiao San'er's long-term plan. The resourceful Xiao San'er must have already eliminated all hidden dangers. This amount of energy was not worth risking exposure to retrieve.

Tang Hao then returned to his slumber and continued to work with Ah Yin to manage the Douluo Continent.

Returning to Chu Ci, at this moment, the entire sword suddenly burst forth with black and white light, and the blood of Tang Wulin and Gu Yue below the forging platform emitted specks of light, which were absorbed by the sword.

To Mu Chen's astonishment, the longsword trembled even more violently. Then, the longsword suddenly transformed into a dragon, and Chu Ci's spiritual power returned to its original form, causing him to fall to the ground with a thud.

The longsword transformed into the shape of a celestial candle, its entire body covered in black dragon scales with pale gold patterns, and its eyes were heterochromatic, one red and one white, exuding majesty.

Tianzhu shrunk its body to about two meters, circled around Chu Ci affectionately, and then transformed into a long sword that fell into Chu Ci's hand.

As the candle fell into his hand, the man and the sword became one, and a surge of pure soul power flowed into his body, causing Chu Ci's soul power to rise steadily.

At level 25, 26, and 27, my soul power finally stabilized at level 27.

Chu Ci could not hide his joy; this was the soul power that the Heavenly Candle had given him after it was forged.

The longsword formed by the Heavenly Candle has a white blade, a black hilt, and two jade orbs, one red and one white, on the front and back of the guard, resembling eyeballs. At the pommel is a dragon head with its mouth open.

Chu Ci looked at the Heavenly Candle in his hand with slight surprise; he hadn't expected it to have a soul beast form.

Chu Ci and Tian Zhu are of one mind. Based on the memories of Tian Zhu's birth, they quickly pinpointed the cause to the blood of Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.

As the ancestor of all soul beasts, the Dragon God could help Chu Ci transform into a soul beast, which Chu Ci could understand. But could such a small tube of blood have such a great effect? ​​Chu Ci always felt that something in the dark was favoring him.

As Chu Ci was pondering, she suddenly felt herself in the shadows. Looking up, she saw Mu Chen's tall figure standing in front of her, his eyes burning as he looked at Tian Zhu.

As soon as Mu Chen reached out and touched the Heavenly Candle, a blazing flame erupted from its blade, burning Mu Chen so much that he cried out in pain.

Chu Ci sensed a slight dissatisfaction emanating from Tianzhu, smiled gently, and reached out to stroke the sword to soothe its emotions.

"Uncle Mu, Tianzhu doesn't like anyone other than me touching it," Chu Ci explained to Mu Chen.

"Hey, I also contributed to the forging process!" Mu Chen was so angry that he glared and puffed out his beard when he saw Tian Zhu looking down on him.

Mu Chen complained for a moment, then eagerly pressed on, "Kid, what powerful abilities does your Heavenly Candle have? Quick, show me."

In addition to inheriting the abilities of the soul spirit within him and being able to cultivate and level up together with the soul master, Tianzhu also developed another unexpected ability.

As Chu Ci's thoughts stirred, a stream of light appeared on the Heavenly Candle, spreading from his right hand holding the sword to his entire body, and then transforming into a set of armor full of mysterious and noble temperament.

When the armor was put on, Chu Ci's soul power instantly rose from the second ring to the fourth ring.

Upon seeing this, Mu Chen, who was drinking water, crushed the water glass in his hand as if he were out of control.

Mu Chen's expression turned extremely serious, and he said in a deep voice, "Boy, do you know what this soul weapon of yours means?"

It can amplify a Soul Master's Soul Power just like Battle Armor, possess the extraordinary abilities of a Soul Spirit, and continue to grow. In that instant, Mu Chen felt that the world of Soul Masters was about to change.

"Of course I know," Chu Ci said calmly, as if he had expected it. "I will discuss this with my aunt."

Chapter 22 Conversation with Mu Chen, Return to Class Zero

"Kid, who is your aunt?" Mu Chen asked with some concern. The Soul Weapon was of great importance, and if this kid's background wasn't strong enough, he really couldn't be protected.

"War God Su Mengjun of the War God Hall," Chu Ci said, enunciating each word clearly.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to be from the Temple of War," Mu Chen said, relieved.

"After I've contacted my aunt, I'll most likely need Uncle Mu and me to go to the headquarters of the War God Temple to discuss the Soul Weapon matter," Chu Ci said respectfully.

“Okay, I’ll contact you then…” Mu Chen’s words stopped abruptly. When he looked at Chu Ci again, he felt as if a fox tail was wagging behind the kid. Then he changed the subject, “…Contact my senior brother Zhenhua to discuss this together. Having the master craftsman present will be more effective in deterring those petty villains.”

"No, no, no, Senior Zhenhua doesn't know the forging techniques of Soul Weapons like you do, Uncle Mu. Besides, Soul Weapons don't have much influence on the forging world. It's not appropriate to ask Senior Zhenhua to come. Uncle Mu can come alone," Chu Ci quickly said.

Mu Chen sneered inwardly. "If I go alone, what will I be able to decide once I enter the headquarters of the War God Temple? After we finish discussing things, the War God Temple will probably have gained another Saint Craftsman."

Looking into Mu Chen's wise eyes, Chu Ci knew his little scheme had been exposed. However, he didn't care; anyone with a bit of experience could see through his little trick.

Furthermore, the true strength of the Chu Ci lies in its overt strategies, which involve enticing people with benefits.

……