Chapter Twenty-One: The Dawn of Soul Devices

In the city of Sier, capital of the Kingdom of Sylvia, the Dragon Pole Sect, which had dominated for over a decade, was annihilated overnight—a seismic event for the entire city. While the populace speculated endlessly about the sudden emergence of the Nine Stars Hall, this new force sent envoys to distribute wealth and treasures to families previously harmed by the Dragon Pole Sect. They also stripped dozens of notorious disciples of their soul power and delivered them to the victims, granting them the right to mete out justice as they saw fit. This sparked another wave of upheaval among the people, who spontaneously began to advertise Nine Stars Hall as a righteous alliance, dedicated to eradicating evil and upholding justice.

As for the authorities, they had never managed to suppress the Dragon Pole Sect, much less contend with Nine Stars Hall, who had effortlessly destroyed it. Moreover, Nine Stars Hall operated in stark contrast to its predecessor: where the Dragon Pole Sect had once rampaged through the city, sowing chaos, now that it was gone, public order had markedly improved. Only a fool would provoke Nine Stars Hall.

After Nine Stars Hall claimed the prized grounds formerly belonging to the Dragon Pole Sect, they demolished and rebuilt the entrance, swiftly annihilating several sects notorious for inciting public resentment. This not only earned them an initial reputation among soul masters, but also amassed considerable wealth.

Yet such a means of acquiring wealth could not sustain the sect indefinitely. For the sake of lasting prosperity, Xiao Yu needed to establish a steady and reliable source of income for the sect.

In the original tale, Tang Sect’s greatest source of funds stemmed from the sale of hidden weapons. Even during his time at Shrek Academy, Tang San sold five hundred sets of hidden weapons to the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, earning five million gold soul coins.

However, hidden weapons originated with Tang San and were not native to the continent of Douluo. Thus, the system’s store offered no methods for crafting them. But Xiao Yu discovered something superior within the system: the art of soul tool manufacturing.

Soul tools became a central theme in the second era, ultimately causing the decline of Tang Sect’s hidden weapons. They only became widespread in Douluo after the collision between the Sun-Moon continent and Douluo, bringing advanced technology to the land.

Yet soul tools were not exclusive to the Sun-Moon continent. In truth, Douluo had its own soul tool heritage, long since lost for reasons unknown. Only a few storage soul tools survived, such as Tang San’s Twenty-Four Bridges in the Moonlight.

Fortunately, the system provided a comprehensive soul tool legacy—not only methods for crafting storage soul tools, but also technologies for creating powerful offensive soul tools.

Soul tools came in many varieties: melee soul tools, ranged soul tools, fixed-mounted soul tools, storage soul tools, auxiliary soul tools, flying soul tools, and defensive soul tools.

In Xiao Yu’s understanding, melee soul tools resembled Tang Sect’s hidden weapons, but were powered by soul force and generally deadlier. Of course, this comparison applied only to the most common hidden weapons; those capable of threatening Title Douluos or even harming gods—such as Goddess’s Tears, Buddha’s Fury Tang Lotus, and Rain of Pear Blossoms—still surpassed soul tools.

Xiao Yu suspected that Tang Sect’s rapid decline in the second era was due in no small part to the Tang God King, who, ever quick to declare others’ deaths, withheld the transmission of these top-tier hidden weapons.

Ranged and fixed-mounted soul tools also possessed offensive capabilities; ranged soul tools launched attacks by infusing soul force, though within a certain range, melee soul tools remained more potent.

Fixed-mounted soul tools, developed by Fan Yu in the second era, did not appear among the system’s exchangeable legacies. Their principle was simple: separating the soul tool and the weapon, with the soul tool serving only to launch and detonate. Their power was immense, their soul force consumption minimal, but their targeting was difficult.

Storage soul tools, as the name implied, allowed for the storage of items, and remained the only soul tools still in circulation on Douluo.

The most typical auxiliary soul tool was the milk bottle, used to restore soul masters’ soul force.

Defensive soul tools included shields, armor worn on the body, and light barriers covering tournament arenas—the most common being the protective shields of the second era.

Flying soul tools, worn on the body and infused with soul force, granted the ability to fly.

In Xiao Yu’s plan, the sect would initially focus on melee and defensive soul tools. These two types would be a boon for auxiliary soul masters; once word spread, sales would be assured. Especially for Ning Fengzhi, the only leader among the top three sects lacking offensive power—once he witnessed the capabilities of soul tools, he would surely come seeking them.

As for the soul masters of the three Douluo nations, who in the second era had shown strong aversion to soul tools, Xiao Yu believed their resistance was less to soul tools themselves, and more to the Sun-Moon continent. The original tale mentioned repeatedly that without soul tools, Sun-Moon Empire soul masters could not compete with those of Douluo.

Over time, this became an obsession among native Douluo soul masters: the more they understood the role of soul tools in bridging the gap between the continents, the more determined they became to prove themselves, defeating soul engineers of equal rank without relying on soul tools—seeking to subdue the Sun-Moon Empire.

Of course, such pride came at a heavy price. Had it not been for the intervention of a certain God King, the Sun-Moon Empire would have almost unified the original Douluo continent thanks to their technological edge.

But in the first era, the Sun-Moon continent had not yet collided with Douluo, and Xiao Yu’s Nine Stars Hall was still a native Douluo force. Introducing soul tool technology would not provoke the same intense rejection from soul masters as in the second era.

Otherwise, before Tang San appeared, Douluo never had the concept of hidden weapons—at most, Meng Yiran created oversized flying knives, which were far removed from true hidden weapons. Yet no one opposed the existence of hidden weapons.

When Ning Fengzhi purchased hidden weapons from Tang San to equip the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, or when the Heaven Dou Empire established the Tang Army centered on hidden weapons, there were no fierce objections.

After gaining a foothold in the Kingdom of Sylvia, Xiao Yu assumed the role of a hands-off leader. Having set the general direction, he secluded himself to study soul tools, leaving most sect affairs to Mu and Xuanwu.

Mu, disciple of Holy Domain Pope Shion, handled the majority of Holy Domain matters after the Saka Uprising was quelled, with Tonghu remotely orchestrating from Five Elders Mountain. Xuanwu, prominent in the Omega era, possessed excellent strategic vision; whether in the Mars or Pallas arcs, he had distinguished himself. With these two overseeing the sect, Xiao Yu could rest easy.