A year had passed since this realization.
Ever since the Holy Spirit Sect began collaborating with the two major underground forces in Mingdu, the Common Alliance and the Alto Chamber of Commerce., their "business" had expanded significantly. With the three factions working together, certain tasks no longer required the direct involvement of the Holy Spirit Sect. The Common Alliance and the Alto Chamber of Commerce. Commerce had more suitable personnel to handle them.
This allowed disciples like Lin Xiao from the Holy Spirit Sect to have much more free time. Over the past year, he rarely visited the branch altar, instead focusing on cultivating and studying like other ordinary students.
In the Soul Tool Testing Area of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Academy, Lin Xiao, for once, wasn't learning how to use other soul tools. Instead, he was in a testing room, fine-tuning a soul tool on the table.
Lin Jiayi stood nearby, quietly observing Lin Xiao's movements. Only when Lin Xiao's hands began to slow down did he softly ask, "Ready?"
"Yeah." Lin Xiao let out a gentle breath and nodded.
Lin Jiayi said nothing more. He walked to the side and pressed a button. A metal target slowly rose fifty meters away.
"Go ahead, give it a try."
"Yes, Teacher." Lin Xiao picked up the soul tool from the table and gently placed it on the ground. Instead of channeling soul power into it, he stepped back two paces, raised his hand, and tapped lightly on the table twice.
The next moment, the soul tool Lin Xiao had placed on the ground began to transform. Wheels under its base started to turn, adjusting the tool's position. Then, a cannon barrel extended straight up from the top.
Lin Xiao glanced at the distant target, his eyes flickering. The soul tool in front of him seemed to receive a signal. Light gathered at the cannon's muzzle, and in the blink of an eye, a soul beam shot across dozens of meters, striking the metal target and knocking it down.
Lin Jiayi's eyes lit up. "Not bad. It's already reached the power of a Level 3 soul cannon."
He lowered his head to look at the soul tool on the ground, which was now readjusting its position, and clicked his tongue in amazement. "I never would've thought you'd actually manage to create this soul tool."
Lin Xiao's gaze also fell on the result of his year-long efforts, but he shook his head slightly. "It's still a bit short of what I envisioned. Right now, it still needs a soul engineer to select the attack target. It won't be truly satisfactory until it can combine with a detection soul tool to independently choose its targets."
"Haha, don't be too greedy," Lin Jiayi said, stepping forward to pat Lin Xiao's shoulder. "For a Level 3 soul engineer to create something like this is already impressive. To achieve what you're describing—having the soul tool attack on its own—would likely require a Level 8 or even Level 9 soul tool."
"By the way, this is the first soul tool you've fully designed and created since becoming a soul engineer. Give it a name."
Lin Xiao hesitated for a moment. "Let's call it… the Self-Propelled Soul Cannon."
Back in the Jingyang Mountain Range, he had casually mentioned the idea, but after returning, he wanted to see if he could actually make it a reality through a soul tool.
Over the past year, aside from studying soul tools and cultivating, he had also delved into the records of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Academy, which had yielded some results.
Based on the principles of existing communication soul tools, he made improvements and equipped the self-propelled soul cannon with a component that could receive remote commands, allowing it to launch attacks without direct operation by a soul engineer. The soul power source was a rechargeable soul tool installed within it.
Unfortunately, despite being called "self-propelled," it still required a soul engineer's control, leaving it far from the ideal he had in mind.
Sensing Lin Xiao's dissatisfaction, Lin Jiayi picked up the self-propelled soul cannon. "Soul tools improve through constant experimentation. No soul engineer creates a tool they're completely satisfied with from the start."
"Ever since the rechargeable soul tool appeared, many in the academy have been researching how to use it to reduce the burden on soul engineers. But no one has gone as far as you, making a soul tool completely independent of a soul engineer. This is a path no one has ever taken, so of course, you'll encounter many challenges."
"As your strength continues to grow, you'll naturally get closer to your goal," Lin Jiayi said with a smile. "Besides, this soul tool isn't as bad as you think."
Lin Xiao looked up at Lin Jiayi.
"The use of soul tools isn't limited to battles between soul engineers; they're also used on battlefields and in wars. Previously, due to the limited number of high-level soul engineers, the number of soul cannons that could be deployed simultaneously was restricted. But have you considered what would happen if your idea was applied to higher-level soul cannons?"
Lin Jiayi's speech slowed.
"Even at its current stage, it would allow a single high-level soul engineer to control multiple high-level soul cannons at once. While the cost of soul cannons would increase significantly, if you could use overwhelming firepower to suppress the enemy in the first moments of a battle, it could be enough to decide the outcome of a war."
"Alright, I'm just giving an example. You probably understand better than I do how to make use of this idea." Seeing Lin Xiao's thoughtful expression, Lin Jiayi's face suddenly grew serious. "Now, I have one more thing to ask you, as your teacher."
"Teacher, just say it."
"Would you be willing to sell this idea to the academy?"
"Huh? Teacher, how would that work?"
Lin Jiayi chuckled. "You probably don't know yet, but every soul engineer's soul tool has their unique ingenuity. Your self-propelled soul cannon—no one before you has ever proposed the idea of completely separating the soul engineer from the soul cannon."
"The academy is willing to offer compensation to share your idea with other students. If other soul masters make improvements to your idea, the academy will inform you as well."
"Of course, I'm fine with that."
Lin Xiao understood. Sometimes, a soul tool's creation stemmed from a single spark of inspiration. While this world didn't have the concept of "patents," soul engineers had established certain unwritten rules among themselves.
Though it was framed as the academy buying his "idea," the compensation was essentially an opportunity for students to exchange ideas with one another. One person's intelligence is limited, but collective wisdom is vast, so he had no reason to refuse.
"Good. I'll register your self-propelled soul cannon in a bit."
As Lin Xiao and Lin Jiayi were talking, there was a sudden knock at the door.
"I'll check," Lin Xiao said, quickly stepping over to open the door. He found a familiar face standing there.
"Who is it?" Lin Jiayi asked.
"Teacher, it's one of Teacher Xuan's students."
"Oh," Lin Jiayi replied with a hint of exasperation. "Here to ask the academy for rare metals again, I suppose?"