"This time, in the clan's grand competition, all participating clan members must use soul tools personally crafted by themselves during the first round for the second round of matches."
"If anyone uses a soul tool outside the scope of the rules during the competition, they will be immediately disqualified."
In the center of the martial arena, a middle-aged man around fifty years old, with the cultivation of a Soul Sage, descended from the sky.
"This time, the clan's grand competition will be presided over by me, Wang Yuan!
Any attempt at cheating will not escape my eyes. So, youngsters, do not even think about cheating.
The first round is soul tool crafting. You are to complete the making of your soul tool within three hours using the rare metals and other materials provided by the clan.
The minimum requirement is to craft at least one Rank-2 soul tool. Failure to do so will result in immediate elimination."
Rows of silver-white crafting tables, each two meters long and one meter wide, were arranged across the arena.
On each table lay a large amount of rare metals, clearly provided for the Wang Family's younger generation to use as materials for soul tool crafting.
Though these soul tool crafting tables looked simple, they were extremely functional — capable of mold shaping, stamping, high-temperature molding, and a series of other manufacturing processes.
In fact, as long as there were enough materials, crafting a Rank-4 or even Rank-5 soul tool on one of these tables wouldn't be impossible.
With the announcement that the first round had officially begun,
All the participating members of the Wang Family rushed forward, and under the watchful eyes of countless clan spectators, began crafting their soul tools.
For a moment, the entire arena resounded with the metallic clanging of hammers, the grinding of metal, and the crisp sound of collisions — echoing endlessly.
Wang Teng stood before his crafting table, arms crossed and expression proud.
He was twelve years old this year — not only a three-ring Soul Elder but also a Rank-3 Soul Engineer.
The latter, without question, was even rarer than the former.
Wang Teng took out a blue carving knife from his soul tool and began thinking about what kind of soul tools he should craft within the next three hours, and how many he could complete.
Turning the carving knife in his hand, he thought to himself:
"Three hours is more than enough time. That's enough for me to make three Rank-3 soul tools.
My martial soul skills lack long-range attacks, so one of them must be a long-range offensive soul tool.
Hmm, a high-temperature soul-guided ray would be good — strong power, long range, and most importantly, low soul power consumption.
With an offensive soul tool, I'll also need a movement soul tool and a defensive one.
That way, attack, defense, and mobility will be perfectly integrated. I'll definitely be able to suppress all the other younger clan members."
Having made up his mind, Wang Teng picked up a piece of Rank-3 rare metal from the silver crafting table and began inscribing the most crucial part of a soul tool — its core array.
Once the core array was inscribed, more than half of the soul tool's construction would already be complete.
The remaining steps involved using the crafting table to make the outer and inner shells of the soul tool through molding, stamping, and high-temperature shaping, then assembling them with the core array — completing the process.
While Wang Teng began his work,
Wang Chen, on the other side, also started crafting.
As a Level 29 Great Soul Master, his cultivation was sufficient to create and use Rank-3 soul tools.
Thus, like Wang Teng, he was also a Rank-3 Soul Engineer.
However — even between Rank-3 Soul Engineers, there were differences in skill.
With the black book in his possession, Wang Chen's learning ability was extraordinarily strong. Though limited by his weaker cultivation and unable to inscribe high-level core arrays,
within his rank, his craftsmanship was absolutely unmatched.
To be specific, Wang Chen's skill as a Soul Engineer was at the peak of Rank-3, while Wang Teng's was only at the beginner stage of Rank-3.
Wang Chen planned to make only two soul tools — one movement-type and one offensive-type.
As for a defensive soul tool, he didn't plan to make one. He intended to save that time to enhance the other two.
There's a saying: It's better to master one move than to be mediocre at three.
Rather than spending the same time making three ordinary Rank-3 soul tools, it was better to craft two peak-quality ones.
Having decided, Wang Chen took out his carving knife from his storage soul tool and began inscribing the core array.
Of course, creating a peak Rank-3 soul tool was far from simple — it required much more effort than crafting an ordinary one.
Moreover, it involved an advanced technique Wang Chen had learned from a Rank-5 Soul Engineer: Core Array Linkage Amplification.
This technique was usually only mastered by Rank-4 or Rank-5 Soul Engineers.
A Rank-3 soul tool made with this method would have a core array entirely different from a normal Rank-3 array.
Wang Chen would use three Rank-2 core arrays to assist one Rank-3 core array.
Under the enhancement of these three Rank-2 arrays, the Rank-3 array would be able to unleash power close to that of a Rank-4 core array.
This not only improved the power output but — more importantly — drastically reduced soul power consumption.
For Wang Chen, whose cultivation was only that of a Great Soul Master, this was crucial.
Otherwise, no matter how powerful the soul tool, it would be useless if he lacked the soul power to use it.
Of course, the technique had a drawback — the core array's lifespan would be shorter than that of a normal one. But for the purpose of this family competition, it was more than sufficient.
Wang Chen's slender yet strong fingers held the carving knife, dancing over the rare metal with the grace of a butterfly weaving through flowers.
His movements were light, fluid, and filled with precision and beauty.
This instantly caught the attention of the clan elders.
As the saying goes — a true expert can tell at a glance.
From the force, control, and flow of a Soul Engineer's movements while inscribing a core array, one could roughly gauge their level of mastery.
The chief referee of the family competition, the Soul Sage-level expert Wang Yuan, looked at Wang Chen in astonishment.
"Core Array Linkage Amplification technique? Incredible.
This kid Wang Chen's talent as a Soul Engineer even surpasses his talent as a Soul Master. Remarkable, truly remarkable.
If that's the case, even though that boy Wang Teng surpasses Wang Chen slightly in cultivation, in this second round, he's going to have quite a headache trying to win."
As Wang Yuan stopped walking and stood beside Wang Chen, several other judges also turned their attention curiously.
Originally, they had been watching Wang Teng inscribe a Rank-3 core array — but when they turned to Wang Chen, they were just as shocked.
Though both were crafting Rank-3 soul tools, Wang Chen's technique was leagues ahead of Wang Teng's — the difference wasn't even close.
The gathered judges watching Wang Chen quickly drew the attention of other competing clan juniors.
Even Wang Teng, who had been completely focused on his own Rank-3 core array inscription, couldn't help but glance over.
That one glance nearly shattered his composure.
Damn it… is that kind of technique something a Rank-3 Soul Engineer should even know?!