However, a mere verbal promise...
Jing Hongchen seemed to have seen through Lin Xiao's thoughts. He suddenly raised his hand and took out a small soul tool. It looked somewhat similar to the Illustrious Virtue Hall identity token, but it was much more exquisite.
Just from its appearance, Lin Xiao could already see several soul guide arrays that surpassed his understanding. Though small in size, this was undeniably a genuine level-9 soul tool.
"The authority to mobilize all of Illustrious Virtue Hall's resources is held by only two people in the entire Illustrious Virtue Hall. One is me, and the other..."
Jing Hongchen paused and did not continue, but Lin Xiao had already guessed who it was. Besides Kong Deming, there could be no one else.
"This was originally intended for my grandson, but now I am giving it to you. With it, you can bypass all restrictions in Illustrious Virtue Hall, and when you take resources, others will naturally understand."
"However, if you take too much at once, you will still need my approval."
Lin Xiao did not pay too much attention to Jing Hongchen's final sentence.
He understood Jing Hongchen's meaning. Illustrious Virtue Hall was providing resources to him alone, not to others. Perhaps taking a small amount of rare metals for others would not be questioned by Jing Hongchen, but if it went too far, the value of this promise would be greatly discounted.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Xiao glanced at Lin Jiayi beside him, then reached out and accepted the soul tool from Jing Hongchen.
Promises always required mutual trust from both sides. If Illustrious Virtue Hall truly shamelessly denied this promise, before Lin Xiao possessed the strength to fall out with Illustrious Virtue Hall, he would have no good solution.
Similarly, if Lin Xiao truly used this promise to excessively squander Illustrious Virtue Hall's resources, Jing Hongchen would have no way to monitor his every action.
However, his time at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy had been quite good, and with the master-disciple relationship with Lin Jiayi, it should not come to that.
Lin Xiao put away the credentials, sighed softly, and looked at Jing Hongchen. "Hall Master, this metal is not naturally formed; it is produced using a technique."
Lin Xiao was not sure whether this deal was a profit or a loss, but in any case, he would treat it as gratitude for the relatively good life the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy had given him.
However, as soon as his words fell, he saw Jing Hongchen suddenly stand up. "You mean you have mastered a technique to create an entirely new metal?"
"Actually, the technique is not difficult." Lin Xiao shook his head. "The principle is extremely simple, it is merely mixing different materials in certain proportions and smelting them to produce a metal that possesses the advantages of all the materials or entirely new properties."
"The metal that the Hall Master saw was something I obtained by chance through smelting. It has excellent compatibility with mental power, which is why it can enhance the controllability of all soul tools."
"Based on its appearance and properties, I named it Star Soul Ingot."
As a level-9 soul engineer, Jing Hongchen understood a great deal just from Lin Xiao's description. He had not expected that what he exchanged for Illustrious Virtue Hall's resources was merely these few light words.
But he did not feel that Illustrious Virtue Hall had lost out; on the contrary, it had profited immensely.
After all, Lin Xiao was only one person. The metals and materials he could obtain were limited, and his time was limited; he could not attempt too many combinations.
Illustrious Virtue Hall was different. With the resources and manpower Illustrious Virtue Hall possessed, operating at full capacity, countless experiments could be conducted every day. As long as even one proved useful, it would be enough to influence the development of the entire soul engineering world.
Moreover, soul tool technology was cumulative. A new metal smelted today could still be used thousands or even tens of thousands of years later.
A simple statement, yet it was a revolution for the entire soul engineering world.
Jing Hongchen could already foresee that in the future, all soul engineer training would include a new course called "Materials," and Lin Xiao would be remembered by all future soul engineers as the "Father of Soul Tool Materials."
He also somewhat understood why, despite possessing such a technique, Lin Xiao had never mentioned it until his created soul tools were discovered by Illustrious Virtue Hall.
A technique like this, no matter where it was placed, represented immeasurable benefit. Anyone who learned of it would desperately want to claim it for themselves.
Looking at Lin Xiao a few more times and breathing heavily several times, Jing Hongchen finally calmed his emotions. "So the other metals you mentioned earlier are from different smelting methods?"
Lin Xiao nodded and took out a stack of papers. "However, apart from two of them, the others are only rough guesses; I have not actually tested them yet."
The papers Lin Xiao produced were actually Feng Shen's speculations. After learning the origin of the Star Soul Ingot in Lin Xiao's hands, Feng Shen immediately thought of how some metals had shown excellent compatibility during previous soul tool creation, guessing they could fuse with each other.
However, some of the materials were not common, and Lin Xiao did not have much time to test their ratios one by one. He had only managed to produce two in his spare time, but they were not particularly useful to him, so he had never used them.
Jing Hongchen practically snatched the papers from Lin Xiao's hand. Even as mere guesses, they already held considerable value to him.
After flipping through them a few times, Jing Hongchen reluctantly set them down. "I really thought before that you only knew the locations of a few metal veins..."
Saying this, Jing Hongchen's expression suddenly became more serious. "Lin Xiao, are you willing to stay in Illustrious Virtue Hall as a researcher?"
"The academy will not force you to teach students, nor will it require you to do anything. We only hope you will remain in Illustrious Virtue Hall."
If Lin Xiao had only known the locations of some veins, that might have been mere luck. But this idea of smelting metals allowed Jing Hongchen to see Lin Xiao's other value.
In Lin Xiao, he saw greater potential. Even if Lin Xiao never created another valuable soul tool from now on, to Jing Hongchen, it was still a guaranteed profit.
For soul engineers, inspiration was sometimes more important than strength, especially inspiration that could advance the entire field of soul tools.
Even if Lin Xiao had other identities, Jing Hongchen was willing to keep him in Illustrious Virtue Hall.
Before Lin Xiao could respond, Lin Jiayi beside him showed a change in expression. "Lin Xiao, you may not know this, but those who can stay in the academy as researchers can apply for a noble title from the imperial family."
"And you are so young. The last person to receive such treatment was Teacher Xuan Ziwen."
Lin Xiao glanced at Lin Jiayi, thought for a moment, and gently nodded.
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