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Zhen Hua waited anxiously, his confidence beginning to waver.
Since when had Mu Chen become so patient?
The soul-guided communicator finally rang. Zhen Hua excitedly glanced at the incoming number.
It's you, Mu Chen!
No, no, I'm the one who's supposed to stay calm.
Zhen Hua took a deep breath, composed himself, and answered the call with a calm expression.
"Hello? Junior Brother, what is it?"
Mu Chen remained silent on the other end for a long while.
"A talent like that, and you taught him auxiliary forging? Zhen Hua, have you lost your mind as a Divine Craftsman?"
As expected, Mu Chen's roar came through the line. Although the content of his scolding deviated slightly from what Zhen Hua had anticipated, the tone was unmistakably one of exasperation. Zhen Hua found it rather amusing.
"There's nothing I could do about it. Little Yuan wasn't originally a blacksmith. His secondary professions are mecha design, mecha manufacturing, and mecha repair. The only reason he even dabbles in auxiliary forging is because I, a Divine Craftsman, happen to be his uncle. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have touched forging at all." Zhen Hua sighed in mock resignation, though pride was evident in his tone.
With four professions being practiced simultaneously, the fact that Xu Yuan had reached fourth-grade blacksmithing at the age of ten was undoubtedly a testament to Zhen Hua's skill as a Divine Craftsman.
"Four professions at once?" Mu Chen fell into silence after hearing this.
He had guessed that since Xu Yuan practiced auxiliary forging, he must have other secondary professions—but not this many.
Zhen Hua sensed something was off.
After waiting for so long, why hadn't Mu Chen shown any emotional fluctuations?
"Hmph! Such incredible forging talent, and you've wasted it. You should have forced him to specialize in forging," Mu Chen huffed before boasting, "Thankfully, my disciple is fully dedicated. He's barely managed to reach Thousand Refinements, First Grade at the age of ten."
?
???
!!!
Zhen Hua shot upright in shock.
"Senior Brother, I should thank you. My disciples, Wulin and Little Yuan, could learn forging together and complement each other. By the way, they both achieved Thousand Refinements, First Grade after working on a forging project together—it was during that process that they gained enlightenment."
"I ****"
Xu Yuan picked up the soul-guided communicator.
"Hello?"
"Little Yuan, are you still in Donghai City? Come home." The voice of Xu Shengqun came through the line, serious and stern.
"What is it, Uncle?" Xu Yuan asked, puzzled.
"I've found some leads regarding your parents' affairs from years ago."
"What?" Xu Yuan exclaimed in shock.
He took a deep breath, steadied his emotions, and replied through the communicator, "Uncle, I'm coming home right away."
For the first five years after arriving in this world, Xu Yuan had initially viewed his new parents with cold indifference. But after five years of living together, how could anyone remain emotionless?
Xu Yuan's current achievements were largely due to his father's contributions. Whether it was the Five-Element Spear Spirit or the path of cultivating a bloodline martial soul that Xu Yuan was currently pursuing, none of it would have been possible without the foundation laid by his father.
At times, Xu Yuan even thought that much of his research was indirectly preparing for himself.
Xu Yuan didn't linger any longer at Donghai Academy.
Over the past period of time, Xu Yuan had been using the Dream Realm Space to store Tang Wulin's blood energy. He now had enough stored to last him a while for research.
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Tianhai City
Xu Yuan rushed back home without stopping.
"Uncle."
Xu Shengqun was still in the study.
"Little Yuan, you're back."
"Mm. What did you mean in your message?"
Xu Yuan looked at Xu Shengqun, waiting for an explanation.
Xu Shengqun set down the book in his hand and paused for a moment, seemingly organizing his thoughts.
"Do you remember the matter of your paper spirit soul?"
Xu Yuan hadn't expected it to be related to his paper spirit soul but nodded anyway.
"I asked the Paper Saint Douluo to help create the spatial scroll for your paper spirit soul. We've already discussed some basics. She departed from Tian Dou Continent half a month ago, intending to come here."
"She hadn't even left when she discovered traces of evil soul masters on Tian Dou Continent."
Evil soul masters?
The involvement of evil soul masters again?
Xu Yuan's heart sank slightly.
Could my father's death be connected to evil soul masters?
"It seems the evil soul masters on Tian Dou Continent are organizing something. She stumbled upon their activities and seized part of their materials. Among them were your father's research findings." Though Xu Shengqun's tone remained calm, Xu Yuan could sense the suppressed anger beneath the surface.
Xu Shengqun knew exactly who Xu Zhi was and understood the implications of his research findings falling into the hands of evil soul masters.
"The group of people sent to Tian Dou Continent by headquarters four years ago—so they really were connected to the evil soul masters?" Xu Shengqun felt a murderous intent rise within him.
At the time, he had uncovered evidence of the evil soul masters but only used it as leverage against those dispatched personnel, attempting to obstruct their mission out of spite toward Qian Gu Dongfeng.
Because Xu Yuan needed the Five-Element Spear Spirit, Xu Shengqun had made concessions and stopped interfering with that group.
"What exactly is this Qiangu Dongfeng planning?" After receiving the Paper Saint Douluo's message, Xu Shengqun had been unable to focus on reading. Now, recounting everything to Xu Yuan, he couldn't help but feel suspicion creep in once more.
"So, Uncle, you suspect that the Spirit Pagoda Master is colluding with the evil soul masters? Did my father discover this and get silenced because of it?"
"Mm, there's reason to suspect that. I called you back to inform you of this matter. From now on, I'll handle the investigation—you focus on your cultivation."
Seeing that Xu Yuan had no intention of directly reporting Qiangu Dongfeng, Xu Shengqun was pleased. His nephew clearly understood the stakes involved.
Attempting to report him now would only invite retaliation.
Thus, even with suspicions and fairly clear leads, they could only wait.
"Our strength is still too weak. Even if we have leads, presenting evidence won't necessarily bring him down. Little Yuan, if you truly want to seek revenge and uncover the truth from back then, you must cultivate to the level of a Limit Douluo."
Xu Yuan nodded.
"I'll expedite the progress of creating your paper spirit soul. I'll personally head to Tian Dou Continent to resolve this issue and lay the groundwork for your paper spirit soul's spatial scroll."
"Alright, Uncle. Be careful."
"By the way, this is the permit I applied for you to challenge the Spirit Pagoda. After you break through to the 40th rank, you can attempt to ascend the tower to find a spirit soul suitable for your second brain-type martial soul." Xu Shengqun produced a document.
The Spirit Pagoda was a special structure built by the Spirit Pagoda organization to store spirit souls. It housed the finest spirit souls collected over the years, spanning a total of 108 floors. Upon successfully clearing a floor, one could choose a spirit soul from that level and receive a 50% discount.
The first eighteen floors contained thousand-year spirit souls.
Floors nineteen to thirty-six housed ten-thousand-year spirit souls.
Above the thirty-sixth floor were spirit souls older than ten thousand years, and it was rumored that the top nine floors held beast-level spirit souls.
Of course, only soul masters under the age of thirty were eligible to challenge the tower. Very few made it past the thirty-sixth floor, let alone the highest nine floors. Thus, whether the rumors about beast-level spirit souls on the top floors were true remained unknown.
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