Afterward, Xia Haoxuan took Gu Yuena downstairs to find his wife; he had been entirely serious about finding her a teacher.
His wife was a rank-7 Designer, more than qualified to instruct the present Gu Yuena.
Although Gu Yuena had been tempted to decline, considering her current circumstances, she agreed.
Studying design under a high-ranking designer here was not a bad idea either. After all, it was not as if she could actually pick up a forging hammer... well, at least she would not consider it for now.
Once the others had left, Li Yucheng watched Huo Yuhao examining the soul tool he had given him, smiling as he asked, "Can you tell what it does?"
He was already prepared to explain it to Huo Yuhao. This was one of his research projects. Following the immense consumption of rare metals by the three God-Slaying Soul Tool Shells, that kind of soul tool had become extinct nowadays. Anyone who had not specialized in researching it could not possibly recognize it.
Huo Yuhao studied the soul tool's structure for a moment, even activating his Spiritual Detection, before saying, "This is a Soul Power Amplifier crafted with reference to the internal structure of Diamond Essence Gold! The material is Thousand Refined Blue Gestational Copper."
Li Yucheng: "..."
Will someone please take this soul tool monster away!
His gaze turned complicated in an instant. "Your breadth of knowledge is certainly vast enough. But soul power amplifiers vanished completely thousands of years ago. What do you study them for..."
Speaking up to this point, Li Yucheng suddenly remembered the Silver Moon Douluo whom Huo Yuhao had once mentioned, musing, "Do you intend to incorporate a soul power amplifier into your Life Soul Tool?"
"How could that be?" Huo Yuhao smiled and shook his head. "The function of a soul power amplifier is to be installed onto soul tools below rank nine, raising the tool by one rank. If a Life Soul Tool stops at only rank eight, one might as well just use a rank-9 soul tool. I've only read relevant materials and have a modest understanding of it."
The earliest soul power amplifiers had no rank, but because they could elevate a soul tool's grade, they were also called "rank-9 soul tools that weren't rank nine."
Its core material was Diamond Essence Gold, extracted from the rare metal Essence Gold. This material possessed exceptional soul power conductivity and could amplify soul power fluctuations through its tightly packed internal refractive structure.
However, its tolerance as a core was limited; when it came to amplifying the power of rank-9 and higher soul tools, even this metal fell short.
Thinking it over, Li Yucheng also felt it unlikely that Huo Yuhao was setting his sights on this kind of soul tool.
Diamond Essence Gold could not have its grade elevated through forging, because its greatest strength lay in its internal structure that amplified soul power fluctuations, and forging would only destroy that structure.
This was also why the "Soul Power Amplifier" had fallen into obsolescence in the modern era. Not only was its core material, Diamond Essence Gold, comparable in value to a rank-8 soul tool, but it also could not improve its quality through forging, naturally leaving it with no advantage.
If Huo Yuhao had previously wanted to target this kind of soul tool, it would only be possible if he had already understood the internal structure of Diamond Essence Gold and, like him, used other materials to manufacture it. But even Li Yucheng could not fully pull that off, so it was obviously impossible.
"Still, it's not a bad approach. As you've seen, this soul tool I gave you is a soul power amplifier developed by replicating the internal structure of Diamond Essence Gold using Blue Gestational Copper—a metal that possesses equally potent soul power conductivity and can also be improved in quality through forging."
Li Yucheng looked at Huo Yuhao with a wry smile. "It's just that because the replication of Diamond Essence Gold's structure isn't perfect, at present it can only amplify soul tools up to rank six at most. But my hope is that it can eventually enhance the performance of rank-9 soul tools, surpassing the soul power amplifiers of the past!
"Unfortunately, my realm of spiritual power is insufficient, falling short of a rank-9 Mecha Crafter. But Yuhao, you can do it. Are you interested in taking over this line of research?
"If your future Life Soul Tool can reach rank nine, paired with the enhancement of this soul power amplifier, it could immediately rival a rank-10 soul tool! With your talent, it might not even be impossible to develop an amplifier that enhances rank-10 soul tools."
Li Yucheng stared intently at Huo Yuhao, as though gazing upon an invaluable treasure.
After so many days, he had come to understand why Huo Yuhao progressed so rapidly in his secondary profession.
That supreme focus and state of total harmony between mind and body were feats only rank-9 Makers could achieve. Yet for Huo Yuhao, it seemed innate—he was a natural-born talent for crafting!
Huo Yuhao lowered his head in thought for a moment, then looked up and said solemnly, "President Li, thank you. I will do my best to see it through."
He had indeed set his sights on soul power amplifiers in the past, and at his peak, he had even dismantled plenty of Diamond Essence Gold, thoroughly searing its structure into his mind with his Divine Origin Realm spiritual power.
After all, a soul power amplifier could elevate a soul tool by an entire grade. Had it not been limited to rank-8 soul tools at most, this thing would have been an all-purpose amplifier. If it could be thoroughly deciphered, numerous soul tool technologies could make breakthroughs.
It was just that ten thousand years ago, Thousand Refining did not exist, and for Blue Gestational Copper to unlock its efficacy, Thousand Refining was the foundation. Today was different: the proper materials were available, along with the prototype Li Yucheng had made. Once he returned to an adequate cultivation realm, he would be able to complete this soul tool, perhaps even innovating beyond it.
*Technology marches forward after all. President Li's research project has given me a pleasant surprise; soul tools that once required Diamond Essence Gold can now be crafted through alternative means. I wonder what surprises the association headquarters, the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, and Mingde Hall might hold for me?*
With that in mind, Huo Yuhao looked at Li Yucheng as three spirit rings suddenly manifested around him, smiling. "Actually, I think you could give it a try yourself first. After all, this is your research project."
Just as Li Yucheng was about to shake his head, he felt a spiritual fluctuation. Frowning slightly, he accepted Huo Yuhao's mental signal.
Instantly, everything in Li Yucheng's sight became crystal clear. When Huo Yuhao focused his gaze onto the soul power amplifier, its internal structures and subtle disharmonies were all laid bare before his eyes.
Li Yucheng's eyes flew wide, and he could not help crying out, "Th-this is..."
"This is my first soul skill," Huo Yuhao said. "Spiritual Detection Sharing."
Hearing this, the shock on Li Yucheng's face did not diminish in the slightest as he murmured, "This is practically the most perfect soul skill for a Mecha Crafter!"
At this moment, he truly wanted to blurt out: *Yuhao, when you get old in the future, could you pass your first soul spirit down to our family? Just have my descendants burn paper offerings to tell me the news in the afterlife, and I could die with no regrets!*
Then he realized that Huo Yuhao's soul spirit had surely been acquired from the Spirit Pagoda, and perhaps the Spirit Pagoda still had some in stock. Li Yucheng simply asked, "Yuhao, name your price. As long as you tell me what kind of soul beast produces this soul skill, I can offer you a price that will satisfy you."
He was not a spiritual attribute Soul Master and likely could not use such a soul spirit, but that did not matter. What if one of his descendants mutated a spiritual martial soul? He could just keep the soul spirit and pass it down to them.
Huo Yuhao fell silent for a brief moment, then said, "An Ice Silkworm. A mutated one, though."
*Tianmeng counts as mutated, right?*
Li Yucheng's face froze. "Huh? That Ice Silkworm clan, the one that gives a negative boost to any Soul Master who isn't a spiritual attribute user?"
In the Sea of Spirit, Tianmeng and the Little Ice Silkworm erupted in collective fury!
Chapter 34