"There are three core arrays in total. Two are forged from Ice-Ultimate Divine Crystal, and the other is forged from Ultimate Wind Crystal. The first two are for weight (increasing attack damage), while the latter is auxiliary (increasing speed). In addition, the shell metal—after being forged—will qualitatively enhance the two attributes of Ultimate Wind and Ultimate Ice. That's why its power skyrockets…"
Su Wen explained.
The power of this thing far exceeded what either of them had imagined.
Of course, Ultimate Wind was also a perfect match for firearms. Compared to heavy cannons, firearms placed more emphasis on energy concentration, rate of fire, and killing with a single shot.
As for the operator threshold, it was also quite low: any level-eight Soul Master could use it. Naturally, if the user had an ice- or wind-related martial soul, the damage would rise accordingly. And if the user possessed both extreme-attribute martial souls, they could push its potential to the limit.
Just like Su Wen just did.
He had forced an eighth-rank soul tool to unleash power that could be called top-tier even among ninth-rank weapons.
"Even Hongchen's Blessing can't block it." Xuan Ziwen shook his head. "Even some mid-tier ninth-rank soul tools would have trouble stopping it—especially given how far the damage coverage reaches. It's probably beyond our imagination. Perfect for assassination."
"All right, the speed test results are out." Suddenly, the machine beside them beeped. Xuan Ziwen looked over with interest—then froze. "According to the reading, muzzle velocity: twenty kilometers per second? Effective range… twenty-one kilometers?!!"
Couldn't this thing shoot straight through Mingdu?
Even the Sun-Moon Divine Needle—famous across the Sun Moon Empire for its huge strike radius—only had a strike diameter of a bit over thirty kilometers, right? And that was the empire's most powerful soul tool, Ye Yulin's pinnacle masterpiece—one of the top three soul engineering grandmasters of the empire.
"Disgusting," Xuan Ziwen muttered.
Su Wen shook his head.
"It loses energy gradually over distance. Within a hundred meters, it can easily shatter Hongchen's Blessing—even some low- to mid-grade invincible shields. At around three thousand meters, it can barely break Hongchen's Blessing. But beyond ten thousand meters… its power drops sharply."
"Drop sharply?!" Xuan Ziwen's mouth twitched. "You can still deal ordinary ninth-rank damage from ten thousand meters away and you're not satisfied? That's ten thousand meters! Not one or two hundred! It's enough to snipe a Titled Douluo and still have plenty of time to leave."
Nowadays, soul tools prioritized raw power. Rate of fire and range were more like "good enough is enough." After all, a soul cannon's power was already fairly dispersed; if you also demanded extreme range, the damage would dissipate before it even arrived.
So even the longest-range soul cannons kept their range within a kilometer. And so-called soul-guided beams were the same: maintaining the beam consumed soul power, and the longer the distance, the more soul power the user had to expend—completely not worth it.
"This is basically a BUG!"
"Aren't you going to name it?" Xuan Ziwen looked excited—because he knew he was witnessing a new milestone in soul tool history.
"Enchanted Ice-Wind Sniper," Su Wen said after thinking a moment.
"Mm."
Xuan Ziwen took a deep breath. He felt itchy to write a report, but held himself back. This weapon was Su Wen's invention; in the future it would most likely only be promoted within Shrek Academy.
What a pity.
Su Wen wasn't a student of the Sun Moon Empire…
Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to betray Mingde Hall.
"Actually, Mingde Hall once did research into various attributes too—especially for melee soul tools. But in reality it was just superficial. They grabbed some metals they thought matched certain attributes and forced them in. The result was predictable… they didn't even bring out one-thousandth of the attribute's power, and the project got shelved." Xuan Ziwen stroked the long sniper in his hands, a trace of regret flashing in his eyes.
"There's no way around it. Their forging techniques couldn't keep up. Everything they did was constrained." Su Wen pointed straight to the core issue.
"True…" Xuan Ziwen nodded.
"Once you completely master ninth-rank core arrays, you can apply the same principles and upgrade this rifle—add more core arrays. Its power will double again."
"Leave it with me. I'll optimize it for you."
Xuan Ziwen didn't stand on ceremony and directly took the soul-guided sniper.
"Muzzle velocity, range, and power are basically fixed. I won't change the array core itself—I'll pursue precision. At one kilometer, you might still be accurate. But at three kilometers, five kilometers… and especially after upgrading this rifle into a ninth-rank soul tool and pushing the precision range into dozens of kilometers, the accuracy will inevitably nosedive…"
"I'll prepare a mental-control type core array and inlay it into the fusion. It'll help you increase long-range shooting precision and adjust the compatibility of the two extreme attributes. You didn't do enough on that point. Oh right—your martial soul is Ultimate Wind and Ultimate Ice?"
Su Wen shook his head.
After thinking, he said, "There's also Ultimate Metal and Ultimate Fire. And strictly speaking… there's also a life attribute."
Xuan Ziwen: "…"
"Set aside the life attribute. For metal and fire, forge me two pieces of soul-forged metal with corresponding attributes. I'll carve the core arrays for you. Leave the rest of the optimization to me."
"Mm." Su Wen nodded.
This Enchanted Ice-Wind Sniper had been made to test the "sniper" concept's strength, so it was naturally rather rough. But after Xuan Ziwen optimized it, it would probably rise another tier. When that happened, he couldn't say he'd be able to kill a Super Douluo—but against a Titled powerhouse at the level of that Crow guy, he could achieve a one-shot kill from a kilometer away.
And Xuan Ziwen truly lived up to his reputation as a genius.
He remembered that in the original story, the hardest step of Huo Yuhao's Ice-Ultimate War God Armor—something even Mingde Hall couldn't figure out—was the mental control system. Xuan Ziwen spent two years and forced it into existence…
He just hadn't expected that now it already had a prototype.
…
Heaven Dou City.
Tang Ya struggled to lift her head. She stared at an old, simple plaque that had once been carved with the words "Tang Sect," but had now been altered into "Iron-Blood Sect." Her expression was desolate.
Around her lay a circle of corpses—flesh and bone dried out, as if all their essence and blood had been drained.
This horrifying scene didn't make the girl afraid at all. Instead, she looked as if a great hatred had finally been repaid—relieved.
Hearing distant hoofbeats and the clamor of people, she clenched her teeth.
A calm voice came from beside her: "Come. I'll help you take revenge. You join the Holy Spirit Church. A very fair trade…"
"The Holy Spirit Church!" Tang Ya was shocked.
In this life, the Holy Spirit Church had invaded Shrek Academy early. The whole school knew there was such an evil soul master organization—especially since she was Bei Bei's girlfriend, there was no way she wouldn't know.
Her eyes flickered slightly.
A cold glint flashed in her hand—not aimed at the black-robed man, but at her own neck.
"Goodbye, Bei Bei. Yuhao, Nannan… goodbye, everyone at Shrek…"
A trace of release flashed in the girl's eyes.
But the short dagger halted firmly before reaching her throat, unable to advance even a fraction. Terror appeared on her face, while the black-robed man burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Since I've taken action, this contract is already established. Whether you want to join the Holy Spirit Church or not, you no longer have the right to refuse…"
The old man spoke leisurely.
He struck Tang Ya's neck with a knife-hand. Carrying her, the two figures vanished from the courtyard.
…
"Buzz…"
On the bed.
Su Wen sat with eyes closed, focusing his mind.
A black-hole-type soul core rotated inside his body, continuously absorbing the abundant heaven-and-earth essence around him and strengthening itself. Compared to his former golden core, this speed was practically flying. Of course, this was Mingde Hall—Mingdu's core district—where energy was indeed plentiful…
Half a month passed.
He was already at the peak of level sixty-four. Breaking through to sixty-five was only a step away—probably within a day or two.
However, after becoming a Soul Emperor, every time he raised one level, the strength of each of his soul beasts increased multiplicatively.
Snow Empress, Big Eye, and Little Gold were already enough to rival the might of ferocious beasts. Combined with their inherently powerful attributes, they could contend with a Super Douluo. Gale and Ice Emperor were somewhat weaker, but still comparable to a 150–160k-year soul beast—roughly around level ninety-three.
With this lineup, even if he ran into level ninety-seven… even Xuanzi himself, he would have the power to fight.
As for his second martial soul…
Under the terrifying speed of the soul core, in only half a month it advanced two more levels.
It reached level fourteen.
He was only two to three months away from capturing his second soul beast.
"For a hundred-year soul beast…" Su Wen murmured. "What should I choose?"
"Thunder Hell Prison Vine? Does something like that even have a hundred-year version? Even nine hundred and ninety-nine years would do. Or do I pick another immortal herb?" Su Wen felt conflicted.
…