The cultured and refined white-haired, green-eyed young man adjusted the monocle on his face, a faint smile always playing on his lips.
"I am Duan Hongchen. Please guide me."
Qian Mo twitched his lips. This name, combined with his identity as a Soul Engineer, couldn't be from that family, could it?
To confirm the guess in his heart, Qian Mo tentatively asked, "What is your relationship with the Hongchen family?"
Duan Hongchen rubbed the teacup with his left hand, raised an eyebrow, and said in surprise, "Oh, I didn't expect anyone to remember my Hongchen family anymore."
Qian Mo leaned back in his chair, smiled calmly, and softly said, "A Soul Engineer family that once controlled the Mingdetang ten thousand years ago and was immensely popular, how could they be unknown?"
A hint of loneliness and unwillingness flashed in Duan Hongchen's eyes. He clenched his right fist, let out a bitter laugh, and said, "You also said it was ten thousand years ago. The current Hongchen family is just an unknown small family within Heaven Dou City."
Ten thousand years ago, during Huo Yuhao's time, the head of the Hongchen family, Jing Hongchen, founded the Soul Engineer holy land, the Mingdetang, in the Sun Moon Empire, greatly promoting the development of soul tools.
However, after Jing Hongchen successfully helped the Sun Moon imperial prince Xu Tianran ascend the throne, Xu Tianran turned his back on him, appointing Jing Hongchen as the City Lord of Heaven Dou City. This was in reality a promotion in name but a demotion in power, directly kicking him out of the center of authority.
It seems that after Jing Hongchen, the descendants of the Hongchen family did not escape their predicament. Instead, as eras changed, they gradually declined.
However, Qian Mo carefully observed Duan Hongchen for a moment and secretly estimated in his heart that seeing he was just in his early thirties and already a seventh-rank Soul Engineer, he wondered if his Soul Saint cultivation was genuinely cultivated or achieved through consuming medicine.
If it was genuinely cultivated, then this generation of the Hongchen family might truly be extraordinary!
A sharp glint flickered in Qian Mo's eyes. After a moment of contemplation, he steered away from the past memories of the Hongchen family and asked about the questions he was more concerned with.
"Mr. Hongchen, you are a seventh-rank Soul Engineer. Why would you condescend to be a teacher for a child like me, who has just entered the field of soul tools?"
Duan Hongchen gently crossed his fingers on the table, a polite smile still on his face, and replied, "The work is easy, the pay is high, and it's close to home, so I came."
"However, now I feel," Duan Hongchen smiled mysteriously, "this will likely be a very interesting experience."
Qian Mo snapped his fingers and said cheerfully, "Great minds think alike, and I think..."
Leaning forward, Qian Mo also said mysteriously, "This will be an opportunity for you."
Duan Hongchen gently pushed his monocle, a smile playing on his lips, and said faintly, "I'm looking forward to it."
"Then, Teacher Hongchen, please guide me a lot in the coming period."
Qian Mo and Duan Hongchen exchanged smiles. The atmosphere between the two was quite harmonious.
The next afternoon, after Qian Mo finished his lessons at the Blacksmith Association, ate lunch, and rested well, he returned to his large villa.
After greeting Chen Luo and Gu Yuena, who were training in the backyard, Qian Mo walked directly into the innermost room of the villa.
Opening the room, the space inside was spacious, with various sizes of equipment neatly arranged. It was clearly a soul tool laboratory. Duan Hongchen was sitting at the experimental bench, wearing a white coat and writing and drawing with a pen.
This soul tool laboratory was temporarily set up for Qian Mo's convenience in learning soul tools. The facilities were average but sufficient.
Qian Mo changed into a small white coat, sat down next to Duan Hongchen, and called out, "Teacher Hongchen!"
Duan Hongchen asked without lifting his head, "What do you think is the most important part of a soul tool?"
Qian Mo was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied, "The core array!"
Duan Hongchen nodded in satisfaction and continued, "That's right. Soul tools are essentially technology formed by engraving core arrays on rare metals and gemstones."
"Therefore, starting today, I will teach you the method of engraving core arrays."
"Watch carefully. I will now teach you how to engrave the basic first-rank core array."
After saying that, Duan Hongchen picked up a hexagonal metal block and, holding an engraving knife, slowly demonstrated the engraving process point by point, clearly showing it to Qian Mo.
When engraving core arrays, Soul Engineers need to possess a certain level of skill and focus, because core arrays are very complex, and the slightest mistake can lead to failure.
But these were not issues for Qian Mo. Qian Mo's extremely high spiritual power, coupled with the focus honed through brutal training, could help him notice the details of the complex core arrays, and his hand didn't even tremble throughout the entire array engraving process.
After Duan Hongchen finished demonstrating the process of engraving the first-rank core array once, Qian Mo closed his eyes, reviewed it in his mind, and was then able to pick up the engraving knife and perfectly replicate it one-to-one.
Seeing this scene, Duan Hongchen remained silent on the surface but was secretly astonished in his heart. Qian Mo's talent was terrifyingly high. It seemed this teaching journey would not be ordinary.
After sorting out his thoughts, Duan Hongchen began to explain the essence of soul tools to Qian Mo, going from the surface to the core, explaining why engraving in this way resulted in release, why engraving this shape resulted in absorption, and so on.
Qian Mo listened extremely seriously. This would all be his capital for creating soul tools in the future.
At the end of the soul tool lesson, Duan Hongchen handed Qian Mo a notebook and instructed, "This records some of my understanding of soul tools. Read it more often. Nowadays, the soul tool system is already close to complete. If you want to make a breakthrough, your research direction still needs to go towards mechas, battle armor, or large-scale soul tools."
Qian Mo nodded in deep agreement. Mechas on the Douluo Continent were divided into two types: large-scale mechas and battle armor. Among them, battle armor developed the best and was the favorite of soul masters.
But large-scale mechas were exactly the opposite, becoming perfect cannon fodder chosen by heaven. Even the god-level mechas hyped to the skies in the original work, giving people the feeling that wearing one made you a continental powerhouse, had a win rate of...
"0!"
Yun Ming took them down one by one with his spear, Tang Wulin one by one with his fist. Even Mu Ye, who was extremely fond of mechas, only turned the god-level mecha into a greatsword to swing around in his hand during battle.
Why didn't he wear the mecha? That god-level mecha might not actually be as tough as Mu Ye's body. What was the point of wearing it?
The protagonist of the original work, Tang Wulin, also liked mechas very much and engaged in many mecha battles. But when Qian Mo read the original work, the more he read, the more he felt that using mechas limited Tang Wulin's strength and reduced his combat power instead of increasing it.
Furthermore, large-scale mechas were divided from low to high into white, yellow, purple, black, and red. Starting from purple-level mechas, there were significant requirements for the operator's soul power and physical fitness.
This meant that experts disliked using these large-scale mechas, while weaker individuals couldn't even use them. Their development was truly a failure.