Douluo Continent: I possess astonishing wisdom as I control energy!

She breathed softly, suppressing her pain, her eyes lowered, and spoke as normally as possible:

"I will, but for now, I may only be able to manage the outer courtyard."

Kong Ming'an's gaze remained calm in the darkness. He raised a hand, his fingertips gently stroking her slightly furrowed brows, and slowly said:

"It's alright, we can proceed step by step. I'm not in a hurry. Taking over the outer courtyard is enough for now. The rest is just a matter of time."

As he spoke, he naturally grasped Zhang Lexuan's wrists, which were clasped together in front of her, with his free hand, then raised them high above her head, locking them in a position that was impossible to break free of but wouldn't actually hurt her.

If Shrek Academy were to be divided into three main parts, it would be the Inner Courtyard, the Outer Courtyard, and Shrek City itself.

The inner and outer academies are the core of the academy, so we won't discuss them for now.

Before the Chamber of Commerce moved in, Shrek City, as a vassal state supporting the academy, had virtually all its industries and vital sectors controlled by the academy and its affiliated forces, making it a monolithic entity.

Of these industries, few are directly under the academy's control; most are controlled by deeply entrenched vassal families who simply pay a fixed tax to the academy and enjoy the fruits of its labor.

Even after the Chamber of Commerce intervened forcefully and seized a significant market share, many of Shrek City's core industries remained firmly in the hands of these families.

Behind these families often stands one or more elders of the Sea God Pavilion, and this is the source of their confidence to still outwardly comply while inwardly defying orders.

Of course, they are not a big problem, and they are not difficult to solve.

However, the power dynamics of these families are complex and intertwined, and eliminating them completely would require a significant amount of time.

At this moment, Zhang Lexuan lay down, a soft pillow behind her neck, giving her a hazy feeling of sinking into a ball of cotton.

She bit her lower lip, letting the slight pain gradually calm the dazed feeling, before speaking in as calm a voice as possible:

"Completely controlling the outer courtyard is the limit of my current strength."

"My prestige is already sufficient, and it will likely increase further after I completely control the outer courtyard. However, if I want to go further, I need to possess at least the strength of a Title Douluo to truly win over the people."

"Otherwise, Elder Mu probably wouldn't have agreed to let me have more power, because it would be too dangerous."

Chapter 143 Return to the Sun and Moon, Spirit Metal in the Day After Tomorrow

Zhang Lexuan's voice carried a hint of a sigh, a sound of disappointment.

The Mingmeng Chamber of Commerce's intelligence system possesses a wealth of information on the numerous families affiliated with Shrek Academy; a complete list would be enough to lead to the execution of several of them.

Unfortunately, she cannot do that for now, because she is not strong enough.

If she had reached the level of a Title Douluo before the plan was implemented, the number of people she eliminated would have at least tripled.

If she had been a Super Douluo before the plan was implemented, no one in Shrek Academy would have stopped her, not even Elder Mu; in fact, he might have even helped her.

After all, this is a world that values ​​strength.

Unconsciously, a hint of relief flashed through Zhang Lexuan's mind.

During this period, her cultivation did not stagnate despite handling a massive amount of official business.

Each time the person before her left, they would leave behind a large amount of precious cultivation resources for her to use.

Part of it was used to repair her body, which had been damaged by overwork. After all, she had fainted several times in one night, and even with the continuous nourishment of pure life force, her physical body had reached its limit.

The other part consists of the "Blue Silver Immortal Herb" series of products specially supplied by the Chamber of Commerce. These herbs are mild yet potent, making them ideal for Soul Masters in their cultivation.

Due to a combination of factors, her cultivation level improved even faster than she would normally achieve through rigorous training.

Kong Ming'an nodded, his voice remaining calm: "You have the authority to freely allocate resources within the Chamber of Commerce, in addition..."

He paused briefly and then offered a suggestion: "If you have people you trust enough, such as Wu Ming and Han Ruoruo, you can take them to the Chamber of Commerce headquarters and have them sign the 'Ling Shu Agreement'."

"After connecting them to the 'Ling Shu Network,' I will grant them access to some resources. This will allow them to improve their strength more quickly and make things a little easier for you."

"At least, let's avoid situations where we go two weeks without sleep again."

Zhang Lexuan's eyes flickered slightly, a hint of confusion in them, and she nodded to indicate that she had made a note of it.

At this moment, she had adapted again, regained her previous feeling, and even the pain had completely disappeared.

Fortunately, the minor matters have been settled, and it's time to focus on the important stuff.

She struggled to stay conscious and avoid babbling incoherently, her gaze meeting his eyes, looking at her reflection within them, a slight smile playing on her lips.

Habitually, with a hint of inexplicable piety, she murmured softly, as if praying to a deity for some kind of blessing:

"chain."

"..."

Kong Ming'an paused slightly, but did not reject the idea.

After using it more often, he became quite adept at using the chains, at least he wasn't as awkward as before.

All sounds ceased, and the next moment, the sound of chains being dragged echoed in the silent room.

At this moment, the rising and falling noise drowned out everything.

……

……

Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, several days had passed.

After spending several days playing in the room with Zhang Lexuan without leaving, and making up for the previously owed contract, Kong Ming'an chose to return to Mingdu.

Many internal matters at Shrek Academy have been resolved, and the situation has stabilized. What's needed now is time...

Under these circumstances, there was no need for him to stay at Shrek Academy any longer and wait. He could leave the rest to Ju Zi and Zhang Lexuan.

He only needs to check on it every two weeks; it's not a big deal.

Of course, before leaving, he also stopped by to "visit" Tang San.

This important subject is still stubbornly alive, but due to the damage to his meridians caused by his uncontrolled killing intent, he will have to lie in bed for another month or two. In any case, he won't die.

After observing that the Sea God's Trial was still functioning normally within Tang San's body, and confirming that the next test would likely be administered naturally after Tang San obtained his fourth spirit ring, Kong Ming'an stopped paying close attention.

Let's wait until Tang San passes the next divine trial before trying to seize the source of godhood. As for Tang San's life or death in the meantime, let's leave that to the will of the plane.

After all, the will of the plane cares more about Tang San's life and death than he does, so it will naturally "take good care of him" and he doesn't need to worry too much.

Through the spatial portal, Kong Ming'an returned directly to his laboratory in the Kong family home.

As soon as he took a step forward, Kong Ming'an sensed energy fluctuations emanating from the direction of the testing ground.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over, and saw a petite purple figure undergoing a high-intensity adaptability test of some kind of soul tool.

She is Xu Tianzhen, Kong Ming'an's nominal fiancée.

Kong Ming'an stopped and leaned against the doorframe, a look of keen interest in his eyes, as he quietly observed.

Of course, the focus wasn't on the soul tool Xu Tianzhen was testing, but rather on the metal used in the soul tool Xu Tianzhen was using.

A faint blue light appeared in his eyes, and Kong Ming'an quickly confirmed its material: "Acquired Spirit Metal".

As this concept arose in his mind, the "Spiritual Pivot" automatically retrieved information, and details about "acquired spiritual metals" naturally appeared before his eyes.

Before explaining "acquired spiritual metals," we must first clarify what "spiritual metals" are.

The so-called "spirited metal" is actually similar to the spirit-forged metal that appeared in Douluo Continent III. This type of metal possesses spirituality and can be integrated into the body to a certain extent.

This metal is also a unique technology of the Sun Moon Empire, and the foundation of the "Life-bound Soul Tool".

Among them, "spiritual metals" are divided into innate and acquired types.

"Innately Spiritual Metals" are exceptionally precious, possessing inherent spirituality from birth, making them extremely rare and highly sought after. According to Kong Ming'an's knowledge, his grandfather's Silver Moon Divine Light Shield uses a type of "Innately Spiritual Metal" called "Silver Moon Radiant Gold."

"Acquired spiritual metals," on the other hand, are nurtured through special methods.

Unlike forging, which emerged ten thousand years later and used forging methods to imbue metal with spirituality, the methods for creating "acquired spiritual metals" at this point in time are relatively "primitive."

To cultivate "acquired spirit metal," one must at least possess the cultivation level of a Title Douluo, have a soul core, and possess a powerful ability to sustain soul power.

Having established this prerequisite, one selects a metal with high compatibility with oneself, uses a special method to envelop it with soul power, and then nurtures it day and night until it naturally develops sentience.

The time required for the entire process depends on the type of metal being nurtured, as well as the quality and quantity of the Soul Master's Soul Power, but it generally takes one to five years, making it extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Now, Xu Tianzhen is actually using a soul tool made of spiritual metal. It seems that his grandfather produced some byproducts during the process of researching the fusion of natal soul tools and martial souls.

For example, the mass production of spirit metals?

Chapter 144 How long has it been since body cultivators have strengthened their abilities?

Kong Ming'an seemed to be deep in thought. Subconsciously, he retrieved a great deal of knowledge about "natal soul tools" and spirit metals from the "Spiritual Pivot" and examined it carefully.

Long ago, when choosing a vessel for the "Spiritual Pivot," besides special entities like the Golden Ancient Tree and the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, a "natal soul tool" was also one of his alternative options.

Carrying a scalable and upgradeable information processing core with you sounds really exciting.

However, at that time, he still chose the spirit ring that was most closely related to him and had more potential for development as his vessel.

Furthermore, after selecting his spirit ring, he realized more clearly that choosing a physical carrier might lead to information transmission "delays" and physical heat dissipation issues.

However, as a pure energy aggregate, the Soul Ring can largely avoid these drawbacks.

In particular, he sent the relevant knowledge about "divinely bestowed soul rings" to Elder Yi. After reviewing it, Elder Yi said that this method was very valuable and that perhaps a method for breaking through to "million-year soul rings" would be available soon.

At that time, the "Ling Shu" will be upgraded.

Because his attention was focused on the spirit rings, he didn't pay much attention to the "natal spirit tool" or knowledge about spirit metals.

Anyway, his grandfather was in charge of this research, so he could just sit back and wait for the results.

However, upon seeing spirit metal again and recalling his "natal soul tool," a rather interesting idea began to germinate in his mind.

Soul tools made of spirit metal possess a "spiritual" property, allowing them to integrate into the soul master's body after creation; this is the hallmark of a "natal soul tool."

What his grandfather sought was to go a step further than simply integrating into a Soul Master's body, to completely fuse with the Martial Soul, thereby becoming a Level 10 Soul Master.

According to information from the original work, his grandfather ultimately succeeded, and was the only level 10 Soul Master to achieve the fusion of his Martial Soul and Soul Tool, making his achievement extremely remarkable.

This also proves that the fusion of soul tools and martial souls is feasible.

So, do spirit rings, which are closely related to martial spirits, also have the potential to fuse with spirit tools?

It's worth noting that a long, long time ago, when he was trying to persuade Miss Meng to become his assistant, he had already used the idea of ​​creating a soul tool using soul rings.

At that time, it was just a wild idea of ​​his, but now, with the addition of spirit metal, it seems that it is indeed possible.

Especially given the inherent high degree of malleability of the spirit ring itself, there should be a high degree of compatibility between it and the spirit tool.

Kong Ming'an paused slightly, then directly retrieved the relevant knowledge about "divine positions" and "divine artifacts," placing these pieces of information side-by-side for comparison.

The possibility of fusing spirit rings and spirit tools, combined with his previous idea of ​​forging "godhood" and "divine artifacts" using spirit rings.

There seems to be something in common here?

By fusing spirit rings with spirit metals, the spirit rings acquire both energy and material properties.

Divine positions lean towards energy principles, while divine artifacts emphasize material entities. Energy shapes divine positions, while matter continuously refines and forges divine artifacts. If the two could be combined, it would perfectly align with his previous concept of a "natal magic weapon."

Constructing a divine artifact directly within a spirit ring is somewhat fanciful; he might be able to do it, but most others probably couldn't, as it lacks universal applicability.

However, if a spirit metal is incorporated to construct the prototype of a divine position, the two are fused from the very beginning, transforming into a "natal magic weapon."

At this stage, although the quality of the "natal magic weapon" is likely not high, it can still be improved step by step.

Thus, perhaps the true essence of the "vessel" can be revealed.

No, that's not all. Based on this, martial spirits can also participate, combined with the method of fusing martial spirits and soul tools that Grandpa researched.

This might be a completely new and unthinkable path?

Could it be called "tool repair"?

Sparks of inspiration kept flashing in Kong Ming'an's mind, outlining a hazy yet grand framework, but this was ultimately just a preliminary concept.

The theories related to both "divine positions" and "divine artifacts" are knowledge at the level of a god-king. He has not yet fully grasped them, and without theoretical support, any ideas he has are merely castles in the air.

It's too early to think about these things now. For now, it's better to focus on the "body cultivation" system.

The "Mage Cultivation" system has been greatly strengthened due to the birth of the "Star Ring," and has begun to explore paths to break through to the god-level, and even to achieve god-level combat power without breaking through to the god-level.

In addition, the ease of popularization of the imprinting sect makes "magic cultivation" far more popular than the arduous body tempering.

The "Body Cultivation" system remains stagnant, having received no buffs for several versions.

Currently, "body cultivation" only includes the initial "body forging method" and the intermediate "ring tempering method." After reaching the seventh ring and mastering "qi and blood transformation," one can continue to forge the body by relying on qi and blood.

It can only be said that, as expected of "body cultivation," the advancement path is quite clear. Continuously advancing along this path will result in an excessively solid foundation, but it must also be said that it is too "simple and unadorned."