Li Yucheng took his leave.
He had not managed to persuade Huo Yuhao, but at least he had made an impression, and Huo Yuhao had agreed to visit the Mecha Master Association often to exchange ideas. For now, that was enough.
Anything else could wait.
Huo Yuhao watched Li Yucheng depart, said goodbye to Hua Yichen, and returned home.
Standing inside his room, Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment, then traced a stroke through empty air with his hand, opening the Undead Half-Plane and retrieving a storage ring from within.
His gaze swept swiftly past the Rank 9 and Rank 10 Soul Tools, Life Gold, and other treasures, coming to rest upon a design blueprint.
Rank 12 Life Soul Tool—Spirit Pagoda!
The blueprint was only a semi-finished product.
It had been deduced over a long period based on the knowledge system of ten thousand years ago. Now that ten millennia had passed, soul arrays had continuously evolved, weeding out the old to bring forth the new, including many aspects Huo Yuhao had never conceived back then.
Even more crucially... Heavenly Refined Metal!
Ten thousand years ago, Elder Kong's Life Soul Tool could boost his cultivation from Rank 95 to the Limit rank, and could even combine the strength of numerous Soul Engineers to unleash an offensive rivaling the peak of a Quasi-God, scarcely inferior to a four-word Battle Armor. Yet no matter how precious the metals used to forge that Life Soul Tool had been, they could never compare to Heavenly Refined Metal!
And now?
The soul tool blueprints, concepts, and experience amassed by the Mecha Master Headquarters, the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, and even Mingde Hall, combined with Heavenly Refined Metal, plus... the power of faith accumulated by the Spirit Pagoda over ten thousand years!
Bringing all of these together under his own craftsmanship—only that would be the true ultimate masterpiece!
"I haven't broken our promise, Elder Kong."
...
Soul airplanes, military soul tools—theories first proposed by the first Pagoda Master ten thousand years ago, completed by the Federation a century ago.
(Never mind how in the original story they were supposedly the latest soul tools ten thousand years later. I already handed over the underlying principles this time around—did you really need nearly ten thousand years to figure everything out? Is Godking Tang's hex really that potent? In any ordinary world, ten thousand years would've seen civilization advance straight into outer space! — The above was a complaint from Huo Yuhao upon reading the relevant news.)
Initially, the Federal Government had considered the first Pagoda Master's design proposals and contemplated modifying soul airplanes for civilian use.
Yet before discussions reached a conclusion, Soul Masters began running off to military corps to "borrow" planes. The Northern Legion in particular had people "borrowing" aircraft every so often to fly out to sea toward the so-called Devil Island.
The Federation had no idea what made that godforsaken place so appealing; they only knew the planes weren't even safe in the army's hands, making civilian deployment all the more precarious.
Certain officials worried about technology leaks immediately seized the opportunity to fan the flames, prompting the Federation to shelve civilian use for the time being.
As for who those plane-"borrowers" were, the Federation dared not ask and dared not say, merely recording another silent grievance in their ledger.
However, while civilian use was prohibited, the Spirit Pagoda was an exception.
The planes were built upon the design philosophy proposed by their first Pagoda Master in the first place—could anyone really forbid them from using them?
Thus, after developing a civilian model, the Spirit Pagoda constructed large airports near its headquarters and eighteen major branch pagodas to facilitate travel.
At this moment, Gu Yuena sat aboard a soul airplane, resting her chin in her hand. Her amethyst-like eyes gazed out the window at the blue sky and white clouds receding into the distance as she murmured softly to herself,
"Even without soul power, soul tools like this can operate on other energy sources. Humanity has already conquered the oceans, and now they conquer the skies. What terrifying creativity."
"Little sister, what are you talking about?" Beside Gu Yuena, a black-haired girl looked at her curiously. "Did you buy a ticket to come aboard too? Are you all by yourself?"
*What a pretty little girl. Are her parents really fine letting her travel alone?*
Gu Yuena withdrew her gaze and shook her head gently. "I'm with the Spirit Pagoda."
Since the planes had already been developed, using them solely for internal travel felt too wasteful. Before each flight, the Spirit Pagoda would sell tickets on the soul tool network, allowing lucky buyers to hitch a ride—treated as a way of commemorating the first Pagoda Master.
Though in Gu Yuena's eyes, commemoration seemed rather unnecessary, given that he was still alive.
"Eh?" The black-haired girl's eyes widened. She scrutinized Gu Yuena up and down for a moment before something suddenly clicked. "Are you the Element Controller ranked thirteenth on the Junior Genius Ranking—Gu Yuena?"
Gu Yuena: "..."
Honestly, the title sounded terrible, but who told her to invent and register an "Elementalist" Martial Soul?
She could only endure it.
Over the past three years, her performance in the Spirit Pagoda had been far too dazzling. Some busybody had coined the moniker and placed her on that list at a fairly high ranking.
Thirteenth might not sound like the very top, but her apparent age was only nine. Achieving such a rank at nine years old meant that in the eyes of many Spirit Pagoda Masters, she was bound to reach the pinnacle sooner or later...
Oh, recently, with Huo Yuhao making the ranking as well, there was now another person poised to climb to the very top, which naturally brought joy to some and gloom to others.
Because of her talent, the Qiangu Clan had continuously tried to recruit her. Gu Yuena had ignored them, however; given the current situation within the Spirit Pagoda, she had no need for their backing, and accepting support from the Qiangu Clan might actually work against her.
With these thoughts in mind, Gu Yuena gave a faint nod, keeping her words sparse.
"Yes."
The black-haired girl asked with keen interest, "What is your Martial Soul? Is it an elemental type?"
For those on the Junior Genius Ranking, the Spirit Pagoda would disclose basic information such as age, soul power rank, and sub-profession rank after obtaining the person's consent, enough to convince the public. However, they would not expose details regarding the rankers' Martial Soul abilities.
Still, such concealment rarely lasted. Once someone appeared on the ranking, others would inevitably dig up the details and upload them to the soul tool network to fill in the blanks, so well-informed circles found out eventually.
It was just that Gu Yuena belonged to the Spirit Pagoda and rarely appeared in public, so her Martial Soul's specific abilities had yet to be revealed. People only knew the title given to her by Spirit Pagoda insiders.
Element Controller? Why give her a title like that?
The black-haired girl was exceedingly curious.
Gu Yuena's expression remained aloof. Just as she was about to speak, her soul communicator rang, making her pause. She stated candidly,
"A Martial Soul's abilities are a Soul Master's foundation; I will not disclose them. Excuse me, but our conversation will have to end here for now. I need to take this call."
"Uh, sorry." Seeing Gu Yuena draw a soul communicator from her garments, the girl sheepishly retracted her gaze.
For a first meeting, she truly had been somewhat intrusive.
Meanwhile, after listening to the call, Gu Yuena fell silent.
The call was from Zi Ji. It wasn't about any serious business, but simply... concern and greetings.
Zi Ji's gentle, lively voice came through the receiver.
"Please don't overwork yourself for the plan; you still have us. Since you're going to experience life at a Soul Master academy, just relax. The world today changes with each passing day. If you move too fast, you'll miss a great deal of scenery, so there's no need to rush.
"Also, your appearance will likely be quite popular in the human world. If you only wish to lead an ordinary academy life, it's best to tone it down a bit, or you'll attract troublesome fellows..."
Gu Yuena listened patiently, pressed her lips together, gave a quiet acknowledgment, and hung up.
Di Tian had said something similar before.
*"My Lord, the current situation is excellent. You need not push yourself too hard."*
Ever since she stepped out of the Star Dou Great Forest, she had seen soul beasts and soul spirits integrating into human society in their own ways, allowing soul beasts to survive in an era that was imperfect, yet not bad either.
No one treated her as their desperate last hope. Instead, she was the one being looked after by her own subjects. Back when she had first struggled to blend into human society, she had needed the assistance of soul beasts who were already acclimated, allowing quite a few Fierce Beasts to see an entirely different side of her.
Was that why she seemed so devoid of majesty?
Miss Gu Yuena sank into deep thought.
Chapter 22