Using the Spectral Demiplane as a transit point, Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan felt a momentary blur before their eyes. When their vision cleared, they found themselves standing before a spring that shimmered with distinct red and white hues.
"The heaven-and-earth primordial energy here is so dense..." Jiang Nannan murmured unconsciously.
The moment she stepped into the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, she felt the surrounding energy concentrated to an extreme degree.
She tentatively circulated the trial version of the Mysterious Heaven Skill—developed by a certain someone—to absorb the energy. However, she quickly discovered that although the energy was abundant, it was saturated with the dual elemental powers of Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Fire, making it entirely unsuitable for direct absorption.
Failing her attempt, Jiang Nannan began to observe the environment. She soon grasped the layout of the area.
With the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well at the center, the area was organized like a nine-square grid. Excluding the central spring, it was divided into eight distinct sectors.
Aside from the sector where she and Tang Ya stood, which was empty, the other seven sectors were lush with various types of Blue Silver Grass, each displaying slightly different colors.
Within each sector, the Blue Silver Grass was further subdivided into specific zones, creating an exceptionally harmonious overall layout. Jiang Nannan even spotted the variety labeled "41-2" that she had eaten yesterday.
Hesitating, Jiang Nannan looked toward Tang Ya, intending to speak, only to find her friend staring blankly at a spot ahead.
"Xiao Ya?"
Tang Ya didn't answer. She was staring fixedly at a towering, cyan-green figure in the distance that resembled an ancient tree. From that towering presence, Tang Ya felt a suppression originating from her own martial soul.
Simultaneously, her martial soul's innate talent for devouring life force was triggered uncontrollably, giving her an inexplicable urge to rush forward and consume it entirely! It felt as though if she devoured it, her martial soul would achieve some form of completion and subsequently evolve.
"Control your desires. Your martial soul's talent belongs to you; you should control it, not let it control you."
A calm voice sounded from behind. The power of emotions blended into the voice, seeping into her mind and gradually smoothing over the impulsive urge from Tang Ya's talent.
Tang Ya felt a wave of relief. Her vision blurred slightly, and her footing became unstable as she tilted to the side. Jiang Nannan quickly caught her, holding her in her arms.
"Mister... what... what happened to Xiao Ya?"
"Her martial soul is instinctively seeking evolution. She can't fully control it yet, so it went out of bounds," Huo Yuhao explained softly while still holding Ice Emperor.
Over the past few months, Huo Yuhao had been guiding Tang Ya to slowly master her innate abilities. He thought she was nearly there, but after bringing her to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well and encountering the Blue Silver Emperor, she had lost control after all.
Was it because the Blue Silver Grass martial soul was stimulated by the environment of the well, combined with meeting the Blue Silver Emperor—the current peak of its evolution—that triggered the devouring impulse? Huo Yuhao reached a probable hypothesis.
"Blue Silver Emperor?" Huo Yuhao looked toward the distance.
"I am here, Pagoda Master," a voice with a slightly low-pitched mental fluctuation resonated near their ears.
"This is Tang Ya. Moving forward, she will act as an assistant to help you cultivate Blue Silver Grass. This is Jiang Nannan; she will be cultivating here. Just provide her with a pure environment of heaven-and-earth primordial energy."
Huo Yuhao arranged the tasks. Tang Ya's soul power had already reached level 29. Once she hit level 30, he would have the Blue Silver Emperor help her condense a soul ring infused with its energy. This would likely evolve her martial soul to the Blue Silver King level.
Only by using Tang Ya as a blueprint could he mass-produce Blue Silver Kings with devouring talents, further realizing his concept for the "Blue Silver Soul Power Machine."
After all, Tang Ya's devouring talent was unique... Oh wait, it won't be for long. Huo Yuhao was preparing to give Tang San a "martial soul evolution."
Certain experiments weren't suitable for Tang Ya as they might "break" her, but for Tang San... as long as he didn't die, he could be pushed to the limit!
"...That is the general arrangement. Any questions?"
Jiang Nannan nodded. Tang Ya was still a bit dazed and hadn't fully grasped the situation. The Blue Silver Emperor was just a "tool plant."
Mm... no objections!
"Then it's settled. Blue Silver Emperor, show them around."
Huo Yuhao made the final call. After handing over authority to the Blue Silver Emperor, he carried Ice Emperor to the freezing side of the spring. He then possessed his Ultimate Ice martial soul, slowly absorbing the energy from the frigid water.
A portion was integrated into his martial soul as energy for the future construction of a soul ring pseudo-dantian and a soul core, while another portion flowed along with his and the spring's energy into Ice Emperor's body to accelerate her recovery.
Of course, Huo Yuhao didn't stay idle. His mind touched the Sea God Trident in his sea of consciousness. Utilizing the connection between the Sea God Divine Position and the Sea God Trials, he projected his vision to Tang San's location.
The rhythmic clink-clank of a smithing hammer echoed in his ears. Tang San was currently holding his Clear Sky Hammer martial soul, striking the metal before him blow after blow. To the side lay one "failure" after another.
Huo Yuhao's mental power, which had long reached the "Form with Substance" level, shifted slightly to manifest his form, yet Tang San remained entirely oblivious.
Simulation plus Mental Guidance.
Under the influence of these two soul skills, all of Tang San's attention was locked onto the metal in front of him. It could be said that other than forging metal, current Tang San had no perception of anything else—a perfect, heartless smithing machine.
Huo Yuhao walked to the side and picked up a piece of Deep Sea Silver labeled as a "failure." Activating Mental Detection, he peered into its internal structure.
The internal metallic structure had been completely deformed under the strikes infused with soul power. Its originally decent soul power conduction characteristics had become exceptionally chaotic. The only positive effect was that through the repeated hammering, this piece of silver had become harder and more resilient.
From a soul tool perspective, this silver could not be used to carve any arrays; it couldn't even serve as a metal casing. Its chaotic conduction might disrupt the normal operation of a soul tool array.
Looking down at the silver, Huo Yuhao pondered briefly before picking up another failure to inspect. Unsurprisingly, they were the same.
Huo Yuhao wasn't discouraged and continued his examination. Over the course of a day, Tang San forged more than a dozen so-called failures, and Huo Yuhao picked up every single one for repeated inspection.
However, the result was no harvest at all.
"If long-term nourishment with one's own soul power can cause metal to transform, then there's no reason this process can't be accelerated... In theory, it should be possible to forge soul power into the metal through smithing methods..."
Huo Yuhao fell into deep thought. Various ideas surfaced in his mind, yet none provided a feasible path forward.