Chapter 5: The Zhuge Divine Crossbow? Heh!
Days passed swiftly, and soon it was holiday time. As Ye Wen's newly recognized "sworn sister," how could Ah Yin not be taken home to meet Ye Buyi? After all, this sister had upgraded from just a "sister" to a "special sister."
During his downtime, Ye Wen often found himself musing. How could Ah Yin, with her innate full soul power, be discarded to a remote place like Notting City just because her martial spirit was Blue Silver Grass? Even if they couldn't judge the quality of her martial spirit, she could still be trained as a support type Soul Master. A Soul Master with innate full soul power could potentially reach the rank of Soul Douluo, at the very least. And yet, the Spirit Hall officials had overlooked her entirely. Clearly, these so called officials were unworthy of their positions.
A mutated martial spirit and they couldn't recognize it? Unaware that martial spirit quality often links to innate soul power? Such an adorable little girl, and they just let her slip by cough.
Back to the matter at hand. While training at Notting Elementary Academy, Ye Wen didn't just rely on his knowledge of the original story. There were so many contradictions within its setting that he knew he couldn't take it all at face value. Tang San's character in the original story practically cheated his way through everything. To survive in this world, Ye Wen needed his own understanding of how it worked, so he also devoted time to gathering resources to expand his worldview.
Well, mainly because his "occupational hazard" kicked in.
Ye Wen planned to take the route of a scholar. The general intelligence level in this "land of love" was disturbingly low. In a civilization with thousands of years of soul cultivation, people still didn't fully understand the mechanics behind spirit ring absorption. Later on, Yu Xiaogang would introduce his so called "Limit Soul Ring Absorption Theory." And this is groundbreaking?
Wouldn't plagiarism be easy if the world's standards were this low?
A scholar's identity also offered a chance to avoid constant fighting. The deeper Ye Wen delved into this world, the more he saw its flaws. Those at the lowest ranks of Soul Masters had to fight to scrape together a living, an unsustainable lifestyle for many.
Wounds sustained in battles, even with healing skills, only temporarily fixed the problem. Soul pathways would remain damaged, wounds untreated, and potential for future growth would further decline.
Medicine in this world was shockingly stagnant. After thousands of years, it was still the same old methods. Soul techniques ruled everything. Meanwhile, forests teemed with valuable herbs, yet Soul Masters ignored them. The common folk, unable to afford Soul Masters' services, suffered from disease with no hope of treatment, leading to a dismal average life expectancy of less than 30 years. Calling this a "supernatural world" was a stretch it was practically a fantasy dead end.
The Soul Master clans who did study medicines weren't going to waste their efforts on remedies for ordinary people, much less provide them at an affordable price.
So Ye Wen envisioned a hidden identity: a researcher, potion maker, and a Soul Master mentor. He'd develop himself in secret, bestow knowledge upon the lower level Soul Masters, and ensure a buffer from the meddling of powerful Douluo. Did they even understand the value of true intelligence?
Ye Wen chuckled to himself. o(￣▽￣)o
For now, it was all just a plan. This idea had stemmed from realizing that the top powers in this world frequently assassinated young prodigies from rival clans. Without any significant background, the safest bet was to grow in obscurity and only make an impact when truly powerful. Random adventures like Tang San's in the original story could only work for him because of his father's protection; otherwise, he'd have died countless times.
A commoner with peak level talent would do well to avoid the powerful sects. If he joined one, there'd always be a chance an opposing sect would have him assassinated. After a year of schooling, Ye Wen was now preparing for his first soul ring, though his and Ah Yin's martial spirits weren't offensive types.
Ye Wen suggested to Ah Yin that they develop a personal soul skill, something like "shooting leaves and flowers" to injure opponents. By strengthening Blue Silver Grass with soul power, they could throw it to create a basic attack. But their young bodies made this plan impractical, so he set it aside and took inspiration from his past life's technology.
A pulley compound crossbow.
This design, based on a pulley system, required minimal strength to draw yet amplified the power of an ordinary crossbow many times over. Once drawn, it could be stored in his soul guide ring, ready to deliver a lethal blow whenever needed.
In the original story, Tang San's Zhuge Divine Crossbow could kill a Soul Elder if they didn't fully defend themselves. This showed the defense of ordinary Soul Masters was limited unless they specialized in defense. Tang San's mechanical crossbow was powered by springs and triggers, but its small size limited its power. Yet, even then, it could kill Soul Elders. With a modern composite crossbow, even a Soul King might struggle against its deadly penetration.
So, Zhuge Divine Crossbow? What trash (╬▔皿▔)!
As he crafted this composite crossbow, Ye Wen couldn't help thinking of how pointlessly Tang San had added anti replication mechanisms. While the original Douluo didn't specifically mention mental type Soul Masters, it would be naive to assume they didn't exist especially among scheming sects. What good was anti tampering when a quick scan or spirit based scan could reveal the structure? Overcomplicating things seemed like self defeat.
But it was a weapon capable of killing a Soul King, so Ye Wen exercised caution, designing it in parts, with different blacksmiths crafting each piece, which he later assembled himself.
As he beheld the sleek, metal colored masterpiece, Ye Wen couldn't help feeling thrilled. A test shot instantly pierced through a tree as thick as a child's waist, then drove several meters into the ground this from a distance of 30 meters.
Ah Yin witnessed this terrifying power firsthand and looked at Ye Wen with wide, eager eyes.
Her adorable look left Ye Wen unable to resist, so he gave her the family's soul guide ring.
It wasn't that he was entranced by her, but the ring was becoming redundant for him. After a year of study, he discovered that his "Containment Cloth" martial spirit had a built in cubic meter of storage, though it could only hold non living items. Now, he could skillfully store and retrieve things, although the downside was that it consumed his soul power as long as items were inside.
Still, this minor soul power drain even benefited his cultivation speed, so Ye Wen kept the storage full to maximize his training gains.
(End of Chapter)
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