Douluo Continent: The Legend of the Gods

"The test is done." Xu Jiujiu took out a palm-sized metal tube from his sleeve. It was silver-white with fine patterns engraved on the surface and a light blue crystal embedded at the end.

"At 100 meters, the accuracy is 15 percent better than my previous one, but the soul power consumption is also 20 percent higher. Elder Gu said it needs to be adjusted and asked me to have you take a look."

Yun Qinglin took it, examined it from all angles, and used the spiritual probe of the Heavenly Pivot to scan the core array: "The width of the branching circuit is too large. When the soul power surges in, some of it goes directly through the branch and doesn't enter the main circuit. If you narrow it by 2 centimeters, the consumption will be reduced."

"How did you figure that out?" Xu Jiujiu leaned closer, her eyes wide open.

"You'll understand after seeing more of it."

She rolled her eyes at him after a long while, then put away the short pipe: "Alright, I know you're tough. Let's go eat. The cafeteria has silverfin fish today; I had someone reserve two."

Yun Qinglin glanced at her: "When did you learn how to 'make people stay'?"

"After being a princess for so long, I should learn some privileges." Xu Jiujiu smiled as she walked out, her long golden hair swaying gently behind her.

Yun Qinglin put away the tools on the table and followed.

They encountered several students on the way, who all greeted the two of them very respectfully. They were now prominent figures at the school.

Especially Yun Qinglin.

Yun Qinglin's reputation at the Star Luo Royal Academy goes far beyond his skill in making soul tools.

Three years ago, not long after he broke through to level 30, he fought against three opponents in the academy's practical assessment: a level 42 Soul Master and two level 35 Soul Venerables.

He didn't use any soul skills, but relied solely on a level four soul guide ray he made himself, an invincible shield, and a flying soul guide device to defeat the three people without any chance to fight back.

After that battle, his name spread throughout the Star Luo Royal Academy.

Many students from the Martial Soul Department fell into deep thought after watching the match, which led to a surge of new students joining the Soul Guidance Department.

The impact of that battle extended far beyond the academy.

After hearing about this, many nobles experienced a subtle change in their attitude towards soul tools.

They began to proactively increase funding for the Soul Guidance Department, and some people began to publicly state in the imperial court that Soul Guidance Devices were also the future development direction of the Star Luo Empire, encouraging students of the Martial Soul Department to take courses on the use of Soul Guidance Devices.

Xu Jiawei had wanted to do these things before, but the resistance was too great. The nobles didn't agree, and Shrek Academy didn't support him either.

Things are different now. There is a living example right in front of us—Yun Qinglin, with the Emerald Swan Martial Soul, innate full soul power, a level 43 Soul Master, and a level 5 Soul Master. He can win even without using soul skills.

This proves that soul tools are a real tool that can enhance combat effectiveness.

Of course, Yun Qinglin was only a catalyst. The most important reason was the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament four years ago, in which Star Luo Royal Academy came in fourth place and lost to the Heavenly Soul Empire.

After all, the Heavenly Soul Empire has many sects and a stronger pool of Soul Masters than the Star Luo Empire.

At that time, Yun Qinglin had not yet reached level 30 and was not qualified to participate in the competition; he simply went to watch the competition with the academy.

Yun Qinglin's most vivid memory of that competition was not the competition itself, but his experience observing the students of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Guidance Academy from the sidelines.

The soul tools used by the students of the Sun Moon Empire are far superior to those used by the Star Luo Empire in terms of both craftsmanship and design.

The outer shell is lighter and thinner, the core array has denser and finer patterns, and the soul power pathway suffers less loss.

On the stands near the Sun and Moon Empire, he quietly activated the spiritual detection of the Heavenly Pivot, capturing the core array information inside those soul tools from a short distance away.

At that time, technologies for detecting and shielding mental power had not yet been developed, and the students of the Sun Moon Empire had no idea that someone was spying on their soul tools.

The core array design concept of the Sun Moon Empire's soul tools is completely different from that of the Star Luo Empire.

The magic arrays of the Sun Moon Empire pursued extreme efficiency, with patterns so dense they resembled a spider web, and some even featuring sharp angles. This was forbidden in the Star Luo's soul tool theory because sharp angles would cause soul power turbulence and reduce stability.

However, the designers of the Sun and Moon Empire solved this problem in another way. They added a tiny diversion loop at the sharp-angle bend to guide the turbulence into the auxiliary path to dissipate it.

This design caught Yun Qinglin's eye. After returning, he spent a month repeatedly working through it, and finally applied this idea to the level 5 soul tool he made.

The term "stealing a teacher's knowledge" doesn't sound nice, but knowledge is knowledge, and whoever learns it owns it.

The Sun Moon Empire's soul tool technology was decades ahead of Star Luo's. If he didn't learn it and try to make it his own, he would always lag behind in the research of soul tools.

As the two stepped out of the cafeteria, a middle-aged man walked towards them. He was wearing a dark blue martial arts teacher's uniform with three silver stars embroidered on the cuffs, the insignia of a senior teacher.

He was in his early fifties, of medium build, with downturned lips, and looked rather unapproachable.

Yun Qinglin recognized him.

Zhou Zhengyuan, a senior teacher in the Martial Soul Department, a seven-ring Soul Saint, whose Martial Soul is the Rending Wind Spear, is responsible for the selection and training of the regular team members for the Star Luo Royal Academy Soul Master Competition.

He walked up to the two of them and his gaze fell on them.

"Teacher Zhou," they both called out at the same time.

Zhou Zhengyuan skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point: "Next year, the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament will be held in the Heavenly Soul Empire. The academy has decided to add the two of you to the reserve team, with Yun Qinglin as captain and Xu Jiujiu as vice-captain. You'll be going with the regular team members next year. Whether you'll actually get to play depends on the situation at the time."

Neither of them showed any surprise. Although it was technically a pre-arranged selection, there are always people with connections, and their abilities were indeed sufficient to qualify them for the competition.

Take Yun Qinglin for example, even some regular team members wouldn't dare say they could beat him with certainty.

A martial spirit that has been around for a long time can sometimes produce amazing effects.

When opponents study the lineup of Star Luo Royal Academy, they won't focus too much on a substitute, and that's exactly what the academy needs – a surprise attack.

"The starting players will be coming over for training this weekend, you'll get to meet them then."

Zhou Zhengyuan glanced at Yun Qinglin: "You can show off your strength when the time comes."

Yun Qinglin nodded without asking any further questions.

It's quite possible that some of the regular team members don't trust his reputation and are trying to test him out as the reserve captain.

Because the academy has told the regular players that they need to listen to his opinion as the reserve captain more in terms of tactical arrangements.

This will cause some dissatisfaction, after all, the main members of Star Luo are at least high-level Soul Masters, and there are also 5 Soul Kings.

A year from now, they will likely form a team of all Soul Kings.

Even if you, Yun Qinglin, have exceptional talent, you can't interfere with the competition's arrangements by being a reserve team member, can you?

However, Xu Jiujiu was very confident in Yun Qinglin. Even if he couldn't win, a draw wouldn't be difficult for Yun Qinglin.

"Okay, Teacher Zhou, we'll go to the training ground then," Xu Jiujiu replied with a smile.