Section Eighty-Eight: Soul Refinement

A vast mass of fire blazed in the sky.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One after another, flaming streaks wrapped around the mechanical beasts shot upward like a torrential storm, plunging toward the colossal fireball overhead in relentless succession. Each streak that vanished into the blaze only made the explosion more violent, the thunderous detonations rolling on without end.

From within the fireball, which kept surging and bursting apart, came Kong Youlin's unwilling roar.

Boom!

An unprecedented explosion erupted. A searing light flared like a sun breaking apart, and the world turned blinding white. Even the ground beneath Tang Tian's feet trembled. The shockwave swept outward like a hurricane, ravaging everything in its path; where it passed, houses collapsed as though made of paper.

When the light faded and the shockwave died away, the world fell silent. The sky was empty, clear as washed glass, as if nothing had ever happened. Kong Youlin, dressed in the elegant brilliance of Swan's Song and as princely as he was terrifyingly powerful, seemed to have been erased from the heavens, leaving not the faintest trace behind.

After a brief hush, the Lin family erupted into chaos. Such a horrifying scene had occurred within their own estate—what had just happened?

The higher ranks of the Lin family all changed color. Their faces filled with disbelief, for they knew exactly under what circumstances a mechanical beast would resort to a suicidal attack.

The family head was dead!

Frantic figures shot up from every corner of the Lin estate, racing over rooftops and rushing madly with light-footed speed toward the main residence.

No one noticed that among those panicked figures, an unremarkable young man quietly slipped out of the Lin family grounds.

The entire city of the Three Souls was thrown into upheaval. Countless experts leaped onto rooftops and other high places, gazing from afar. Those who were on good terms with the Lin family hurried over to lend assistance.

Amid the confusion, Tang Tian quietly withdrew from the Martial Soul Hall back to the legion encampment, and then returned to the energy rift.

Back at the rift, he saw energy spheres continuously surging up from its depths, and a gleam flashed in Tang Tian's eyes. From beginning to end, he had never truly exchanged blows with Kong Youlin; yet the other's strength had left an indelible mark on him.

If not for the sheer number of mechanical beasts and their suicidal assault, it would have been very difficult for them to pose a mortal threat to Kong Youlin. The aura of seventh-rank martial techniques and the concentrated true force they carried was something Tang Tian could clearly feel even from far away, a danger that seemed to bore straight into one's heart.

Even if he personally controlled the saber-toothed tiger, he still would not have been Kong Youlin's match.

"Hey, Uncle Soldier, soul refining device, soul refining device. Let's begin, let's begin." Having firmly set his goal, Tang Tian set the battle behind him and looked at him expectantly.

Soldier glanced at Tang Tian. The boy's eyes shone with anticipation and seriousness, and suddenly he remembered what Tang Tian had said before.

"Tomorrow. Rest for a day. When your condition recovers tomorrow, we'll begin then." Soldier did not agree.

"Why wait until tomorrow? Start now! A godlike youth, full of vigor and might—what need is there for rest?" Tang Tian muttered in dissatisfaction.

"You don't need rest, but I do." Soldier did not even look at Tang Tian as he drifted on his own to a corner and closed his eyes.

"Sure enough, stamina is the weak point of an old man..." Tang Tian muttered under his breath.

A twitch went through the corner of Soldier's eye. This vicious little brat... But when he thought of the suffering Tang Tian would face tomorrow, his mood balanced out again. Heh heh, youngster, tomorrow you'll learn what it means to wish for death and find none.

Seeing that no matter how he provoked him, Soldier remained unmoved, Tang Tian could only retreat in disappointment and begin cultivating his true force.

About an hour later, Tang Tian opened his eyes once more, the true force within him fully restored. Indeed, worthy of an energy rift, the efficiency of cultivating true force here was astonishing. Tang Tian could clearly feel the improvement inside his body. Perhaps because he had just experienced a battle, the progress this time seemed even more pronounced than usual.

Then Tang Tian remembered his spoils. He reached into his robe and pulled out the soul orb.

"Hey, Uncle Soldier, what is the soul orb for?" he asked curiously.

Soldier flicked it a glance. "Give it to Serei. She should be able to use it."

Tang Tian was somewhat disappointed. So it was something for an artificer. He casually tossed it into his water-bottle armory. His only spoil had turned out to be something he could not use, and he instantly felt a twinge of regret. He should have taken advantage of the chaos to loot the Lin family.

What a perfect opportunity, wasted just like that!

A glorious result like defeating a seventh-rank expert did not come around whenever one pleased. He had not managed to plunder the Lin family, and Kong Youlin had left not even ashes behind. Even that splendid suit of armor had been reduced to dust. What a pity.

The resentful Tang Tian could only continue cultivating.

The cafeteria buzzed with conversation.

"I wonder how Base Tang is doing now?" Amori muttered, shoveling rice into his mouth. His tray was three sizes larger than everyone else's, proportionate to his build.

Liang Qiu picked up a stalk of green vegetable with refined grace, put it into his mouth, and finished eating patiently before speaking at a leisurely pace. "Tang Tian's progress will definitely be fast. The outer camp won't put much pressure on him."

Han Bingning ate in silence, saying nothing.

Sima Xiangshan prodded at the food on his tray with a critical air. "The cafeteria food has been getting worse and worse lately. The beef isn't marinated properly, the vegetables are overcooked, the seasoning is too heavy, and the salt is too much..."

Amori stuffed rice into his mouth with all his might and mumbled indistinctly, "I think it tastes pretty good..."

"I've decided to go have a little talk with them tonight," Sima Xiangshan said with a frown, picking up a piece of leafy greens and dropping it into his mouth.

"The cooks have already been changed three times," Han Bingning said coldly. "Don't add trouble for logistics."

"Or I could just kill them?" Sima Xiangshan said softly.

"I don't want to go several days without eating," Han Bingning said as she set down her chopsticks and looked at him coldly.

Liang Qiu, who had just finished another stalk of greens, also glanced over. "Neither do I. Besides, I think their vegetarian dishes are pretty good."

Amori lifted his tray and poured the rest into his mouth with a clatter. His gaping maw was like a bottomless pit, and the mountain of food vanished in an instant. Still unsatisfied, he stood up. "I'm going for another serving. I like this batch of cooks. They serve a lot of meat, always enough for me to eat."

Sima Xiangshan shook his head and sighed, "Fine, what a pity. Looks like I'll have to go outside and kidnap a better cook."

Liang Qiu, who had always adhered to vegetarianism, was the first to finish. Han Bingning was soon done as well, while Amori was still wrestling with his fourth bowl of food.

"In a while, the director is going to White Rainbow Star," Liang Qiu said slowly, lifting a cup of green tea. "Apparently quite a few people from other branches will be coming too. The director has already decided to select the accompanying members through competition. There are eight slots for newcomers, chosen from all the newcomer camps in Perseus."

"White Rainbow Star!" Han Bingning's eyes brightened. "Miss Qianhui is on White Rainbow Star!"

"Oh? Will the outer camp take part? Base Tang will definitely come too, right?" Amori dropped his tray at once.

"He probably went already," Sima Xiangshan said softly.

"Very likely," Liang Qiu said. "The outer camp is said to be very loosely managed. Tang Tian probably won't be able to hold himself back; he'll surely go looking for Shangguan Qianhui."

"Ahhh! I want to join the competition! I want to go to White Rainbow Star!" Amori raised both arms. "Haha, I can fight Base Tang again. This time, I'll knock him flat and show him how much I've improved."

The others did not find this strange.

The progress of the four had all been astonishingly rapid, placing them among the very best of this batch of newcomers. It was precisely because of their presence that these newcomers were called the strongest cohort in the history of the Perseus branch. Yet among the four of them, the one improving fastest was neither Sima Xiangshan nor Han Bingning and Liang Qiu, but Amori.

This fellow's rise in strength was so swift it was startling. The instructor responsible for training the newcomers had even made exceptions for Amori, and the special treatment was enough to make even Sima Xiangshan and the others green with envy. With such focused attention, Amori's growth speed became even more astonishing. He was like a horse that had broken loose from its reins, impossible to rein in.

Although he had not yet formally sparred with Liang Qiu, Liang Qiu was no longer confident he could beat Amori for certain.

Among the four, Amori was regarded as the one most likely to defeat Tang Tian.

All the unusual, all the unreasonable things about Tang Tian were deeply familiar to them. Though their own progress had also been very obvious, given Tang Tian's earlier perverse abnormalities, none of them believed that fellow would improve less than they had. Even if Tang Tian was in the outer camp, with conditions far inferior to theirs, when had his conditions ever matched anyone else's?

That was precisely what made him so monstrously abnormal!

Thinking of meeting Tang Tian again on White Rainbow Star, everyone's spirits lifted, and they were filled with anticipation for the journey.

Everyone felt a little curious.

When they met the monstrous Tang again, just how strong would that fellow have become?

Tang Tian watched as Soldier busied himself with the soul refining device.

The soul refining device was a bronze disk about ten centimeters in diameter, covered with countless intricate patterns. Soldier first paced back and forth along the edge of the cliff, and at last found a place where energy spheres were relatively dense, then set the device down.

As soon as the soul refining device touched the ground, there came a series of dense, clacking bronze mechanism sounds. One bronze component after another sprang out of the disk and plunged into the earth.

Layer upon layer of bronze parts shot out in rapid succession. In the blink of an eye, the device had swelled several times over, the tiny soul refining device blooming at once like a bronze rose.

The enlarged soul refining device now resembled a small bronze platform.

The platform was covered with countless delicate patterns, and between those patterns, a faint luster seemed to flow.

"Stand on it," Soldier said to Tang Tian.

Tang Tian hurried onto the bronze platform.

"Are you ready?" Soldier looked at Tang Tian and said seriously, "The soul refining process will be extremely painful, but no matter how painful it gets, you must endure it!"

"I understand!" Tang Tian restrained the smile on his face and said in a low voice.

"Remember this," Soldier said word by word, "the greater the pain you can bear, the greater your achievements will be."

"Don't worry, old man. I'm a godlike youth!" Tang Tian blurted out without hesitation. "A man destined to become the strongest warrior in this world!"

"Then you must endure pain no one else can endure," Soldier said meaningfully.

Tang Tian grinned, baring a row of white teeth. "Bring it on!"

The soul refining device beneath his feet suddenly lit up.