The continent would fall into complete panic and chaos!
The existing balance of power would be utterly shattered.
The lofty status of Soul Masters would face a fatal threat, inevitably provoking the most crazy and violent backlash.
The Blacksmith Association would be the first to bear the brunt!
As the source of these weapons, the Association would become a thorn in the eye and a splinter in the flesh of every Soul Master faction!
They would spare no cost to completely erase this source of calamity from existence!
From Lou Gao down to the lowest apprentice, no one in the Association would be spared!
They would become public enemies of the entire continent!
Not only Soul Masters, forces that depended on them, and even certain ordinary factions fearful of power spiraling out of control, might also view the Association as the culprit that had "opened the gates of hell."
Lou Gao thought of the ordinary craftsmen and their families who relied on the Association to survive. Their fate… His face instantly turned deathly pale, fine beads of cold sweat seeping from his forehead.
That earlier thought was not merely naïve—it was outright… foolish!
It was pushing the entire Association, pushing the thousands of people who trusted him and depended on him, straight into a bottomless abyss!
"Huff…"
Lou Gao let out a heavy breath, as if expelling all those reckless thoughts along with it.
The fanaticism and confusion in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by deep gravity and lingering fear.
He slapped his forehead hard, his voice carrying both regret and relief.
"Foolish! Truly foolish of me! I was so blinded by the power of this thing that I nearly… nearly caused a catastrophe! Xiao Xia, you're right! Absolutely right!"
Lou Gao's gaze became razor-sharp and crystal clear as he stared intently at Lin Xia, his tone incomparably serious.
"Xiao Xia, whatever that method you mentioned earlier is, let it rot in your stomach! Never bring it up again, and never attempt it! Treat it as though… the thought never existed!"
His eyes swept over the blueprints scattered on the ground and the handgun, his voice low and grave.
"This thing is far too powerful, far too dangerous. We will only craft a very small number, solely for use by us master and disciple, as a final trump card to save our lives at critical moments! And unless we are facing a life-or-death situation with no other choice, it must never—never—be revealed in front of others!"
Lou Gao paused, his voice sinking even lower.
"Even if… even if we truly succeed in joining the Martial Soul Hall and gain its protection, this item must remain strictly confidential!"
"It must not be exposed to anyone in the Martial Soul Hall! Not even the Pope! This is not merely a weapon, this is a taboo capable of overturning the continent's balance and inviting annihilation!"
"It can only be yours, and ours as master and disciple, the very last trump card!"
Lou Gao's gaze fell upon Lin Xia, filled with expectation and the weight of a solemn entrustment.
"Before you possess absolute strength—strength sufficient to intimidate all others and disregard the rules, this thing must never see the light of day! A towering tree catches the wind; a man bearing treasure invites disaster! This truth, we blacksmiths… understand better than anyone!"
Lin Xia met Lou Gao's grave and resolute gaze and nodded solemnly, without the slightest hesitation.
"Teacher, I understand! I know full well what's at stake! Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought it up in the first place. Please rest assured!"
Master and disciple exchanged a look, each seeing the same gravity and determination in the other's eyes.
The ecstasy from the successful test had long since been replaced by a heavy sense of responsibility and looming danger.
Lou Gao bent down and carefully wrapped the handgun in a thick piece of velvet cloth, his movements extremely deliberate.
"Keep it safe. This gun… you'll hold onto it for now. Remember—be cautious, exceedingly cautious!"
Lin Xia accepted it and solemnly stored it inside his spatial Soul Tool.
Watching the complex, indescribable emotions in his teacher's eyes, Lin Xia's own thoughts began to grow wildly like untamed weeds.
In his memories from his previous life, the outlines of even more powerful weapons—rifles, sniper rifles, and even more terrifying existences, surged uncontrollably through his mind.
What made his heart itch even more was that concept combining mechanical structures with soul power—a design that could grant its wearer boundless strength: a Soul Tool Mecha!
'No… I can't just stop here.'
Lin Xia thought to himself.
'Teacher's passion was hard-won. It can't be completely extinguished by caution alone. We just need to be more careful, more discreet!'
With that thought, Lin Xia took a deep breath and broke the heavy silence hanging over the training ground. His voice carried deliberately restrained excitement, yet was filled with persuasive force.
"Teacher!"
Lin Xia looked at Lou Gao, his eyes blazing.
"Actually… I still have many ideas about weapons in my mind. The handgun is only the most basic type. There are others with greater power, longer range, stronger penetration… and even—"
Lin Xia paused, lowering his voice further, a hint of mysterious allure seeping in.
"I even have some concepts about moving armor! A special kind of equipment that can envelop the entire body, be driven by soul power, and greatly enhance defense or even offensive capability!"
Lou Gao had still been immersed in thoughts about the weapon's power and its potential risks. Upon hearing this, he suddenly looked up, and the nearly extinguished flame in his eyes whooshed back to life, burning even hotter than before!
He had been frightened stiff by the terrifying consequences of mass production, his thinking momentarily frozen, and had actually forgotten the most crucial point!
I can make it in secret—what do I have to be afraid of?!
Lou Gao slapped his thigh, his voice booming. The regret on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by ecstatic realization.
"A good idea that isn't researched is the real waste! Do it! We must do it! Whatever ideas you have, pour them all out!"
Master and disciple instantly found common ground once more. The heavy gloom was temporarily swept aside by their fervent thirst for technological exploration.
Over the next ten-plus days, the most heavily guarded core forging chamber in the Blacksmith Association's rear courtyard—personally sealed by Lou Gao with strict orders that no one was allowed to approach—became the pair's secret workshop.
Lin Xia's mind functioned like a high-efficiency drafting machine, running day and night without pause.
One complex and precise blueprint after another was swiftly drawn.
Rifle structural diagrams, scope principles, sniper rifle rifling requirements…
And, most importantly, the preliminary framework of the Soul Tool Mecha he envisioned—a prototype armor combining precision mechanical joints, energy transmission circuits, and a core soul-power driving unit.
Lou Gao, meanwhile, completely transformed into a "humanoid precision machine tool," pushing his Thousand-Layer Vibrating Metal Hands to their absolute limit.
With the handgun's success as experience, he adapted to Lin Xia's rifle and sniper rifle blueprints with astonishing speed.
The adamantine Molding Pen guided vibrating soul power, carving intricate rifling deep inside rare metals.
Heavy black hammers struck, folded, and fused the materials, transforming blueprint components into tangible entities that gleamed with cold, hardened luster.
The long barrel of a sniper rifle, rifle magazines, increasingly complex firing mechanisms… One after another, these era-defying weapon components were born in the hands of the Divine Craftsman, piled neatly in the finished section of the room, radiating chilling lethality and exquisite mechanical beauty.
However, when their research focus shifted to the Soul Tool Mecha, progress suddenly slowed to a crawl—one could even say it became painfully difficult.
This was no longer within the realm of pure mechanical structures; it had stepped into the true domain of Soul Tools.
Though Lin Xia possessed advanced concepts and a limited understanding drawn from the original lore, when it came to how to stably and efficiently convert soul power into energy to drive armor, how to inscribe and solidify soul tool arrays, or how to make cold metal "understand" a Soul Master's commands…
Both he and Lou Gao could only grasp at vague ideas.
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