At that moment, Zhen Len was lazily lying atop the crown of a tree. Four months had passed since he refined the flame-devouring metal using the skin of the iron-devouring rhinoceros. Refining the entire skin had taken him a full three months, resulting in a final material equivalent to just under a third of the original skin.
Although the soul refinement success rate was only 30%, Zhen Len knew that was due to his experiments to obtain different properties from the material. If he had wanted, he could have refined the entire skin using soul refinement. At least the other 70% turned into spiritual refinement and wasn't wasted, thanks to his smithing skills.
The reason Zhen Len didn't limit himself to just creating the flame-devouring metal was that the skin of the iron-devouring rhinoceros acted almost like a natural alloy composed of various minerals.
During the refinement process, Zhen Len noticed that the flame-devouring metal acquired fire and mental attributes, replacing its original earth attribute. This transformation occurred due to the constant use of the fire element to aid the process, as well as the influence of the Eye of Truth, which injected spiritual power during forging.
However, he knew that the flame-devouring metal alone wasn't enough to create a two-word battle armor. To make a more powerful one, he needed at least one other compatible metal to maximize the armor's capabilities. For that reason, he decided to experiment further with the same material to create other types of metals that would increase both defensive and spiritual amplification properties. Using advanced refinement techniques, he created two new metals: titanic iron and the spiritual metal of truth.
Titanic iron turned out to be much harder and more resistant than the flame-devouring metal. To achieve this variant, Zhen Len focused the process on compressing the metal from the rhinoceros skin, using much more soul power than spirit power, and avoiding the constant use of the fire element to keep it heated. This made it much harder to refine due to the physical effort and the high amount of soul power required.
On the other hand, the spiritual metal of truth, while less durable, had a significantly superior spiritual amplification capability. He obtained it by repeating the refinement process while using the Eye of Truth to launch two spiritual attacks, fully infusing it with spiritual power and achieving conductivity and amplification ten times higher though he could only refine a small piece this way each week, since he had to replenish the spirit power consumed by the Eye of Truth.
Once he had obtained all three types of metal, he began mentally designing the blueprint for the two-word battle armor. Although it was a bit complicated, he carefully planned each piece, balancing the material proportions based on their properties.
While it's common to use the same amounts for each part, with his smithing expertise, Zhen Len could maximize effectiveness by using different proportions. The helmet would include a greater amount of spiritual metal of truth and flame-devouring metal to enhance spiritual power and fire elemental power, also improving spirit power recovery.
The main plates covering the lower, upper, and side body parts would be reinforced with titanic iron to offer maximum protection while still retaining some qualities of the other metals. The leg and tail sections would use flame-devouring and titanic metals to boost fire control and increase leg strength as a whole.
Even so, once everything was planned, he faced a harsh reality.
Upon analyzing the design and engravings he intended to make, he realized that his current body, not yet having reached 1,000 years of cultivation, could not withstand the weight or power of a two-word armor. To use it properly, a soul master needs at least six soul rings, which would correspond to a 10,000 years soul beast. But he was no ordinary beast. He was confident that once he reached 1,000 years and possibly evolved into a Flame Spirit Fox Emperor, it would be enough.
Although frustrated by being unable to forge or wear the armor, he decided to postpone the project, allowing the soul-refined metals to remain in his body while he continued cultivating. This way, the materials would gradually adapt to his growing power, making the future armor even stronger than originally planned.
The rest of the spiritually refined metal, which included variants with different properties from the three main metals, as well as the soul-refined metals he could no longer dissolve in his body because he had already absorbed too much, were stored in a soul tool shaped like a necklace.
He crafted it himself using several spiritual metals with mental attributes and spatial engravings at its core. Creating this soul tool cost him greatly, as he lacked tools to aid in shaping and engraving.
But thanks to the technique Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, he only needed a few days to complete the necklace. He also spent several days crafting defensive necklaces for his siblings, which activated when they were hit by dangerous attacks.
Although they were single-use and had limited duration, the collars were effective thanks to the spiritual and soul power he personally infused into them, since his siblings were merely 10-year soul beasts without intelligence, no different from animals. He himself gave them names and engraved each one on their respective collars
While resting, he lazily pondered what other soul tools he could create. For a moment, he considered forging a purple-grade armor but remembered the vast amount of material required. Although he could cover the most important parts using the current materials, he would still need to obtain some lower-high grade materials.
He could probably find them if he traveled to the former habitat of the iron rhinoceros. However, the high humidity would complicate refinement, and the noise from the process would attract nearby 1,000 year soul beasts who would constantly interrupt him. Besides, his Eye of Truth had limited uses, and he didn't want to start a massacre without reason or benefit.
With a sigh, he began to scan the surroundings using the Purple Demon Eyes and the Eye of Truth. This was part of his daily routine, which he performed three times a day to ensure no dangerous soul beasts were approaching. But this time, he saw something different.
At a distance of nine kilometers, for the first time since his rebirth as a soul beast, he saw humans. For a moment, he felt joy. He wanted to approach and ask them many questions about how the Blacksmith Association and his master were doing. But he held back: he was a soul beast, and his species had a hostile relationship with humans.
So he limited himself to observing. He was curious to see how soul master cultivation appeared through the Eye of Truth. He noticed their color was similar to that of 10-year soul beasts, only with ring-shaped marks around a barely visible silhouette. He counted five humans: three middle-aged men, one middle-aged woman, and a young girl who, if she were human in his previous life, would have appeared to be about sixteen years old though she was probably only twelve.
One of the men had a white soul ring, and another had a yellow one. The rest had two white soul rings. The sight seemed odd to him. They were too weak for their age as soul masters and for venturing into a forest full of soul beasts.
The Federation only allowed entry to high-ranking soul masters or highly talented rookies to give them a more realistic experience than virtual environments. This made him doubt whether he was truly in Star Dou Forest, or even still on the same planet. Moreover, he had seen too many 10-, 100-, and 1,000-year soul beasts for that forest to be the cage under the direct command of Di Tian and Gu Yuena.
Not knowing how much time had passed since his death had disturbed him since his rebirth, and today he finally intended to find answers.
He ran toward the humans, and within minutes, he was close. He watched them from a tree at a safe distance. He could easily kill them given their weakness, but that wasn't his intent. He planned to kidnap the weakest one.
He began following them, and when he got close enough, he managed to listen to their conversation undetected.
"Mama, how much longer until I get my first soul ring?" asked the black-haired girl, who had no soul rings and seemed quite tired.
The mother, a little impatient but alert, responded while trying to reassure her:"Not much longer. We just need to quickly find a 100-year soul beast and get out of here."
"Listen to your mother," added the bearded man, the only one with a yellow soul ring, who seemed to be the group's leader. "Some of us were lucky enough to get a 100-year soul ring, but we've been stuck as Soul Grandmasters for a long time. Your mother has sacrificed a lot to give you this chance, so be patient until we find a suitable beast."
"Boss, can we rest a bit? It'll be dangerous to run into a soul beast if we're not in good condition," commented one of the other two men.
"Of course, but not for long. We'll leave before sunset, even if we don't find a 100-year soul beast," replied the bearded man as he pointed to some stones to sit on.
The woman didn't look pleased but resigned herself, saying, "Fine, let's rest a bit while we eat something."
Each of them pulled something from their pockets that looked like jerky and began to eat while sharing water from a canteen.
Zhen Len silently watched them as he quietly approached. Suddenly, he used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track technique along with Lightness Skill to rush in and, with his mouth, grabbed part of the clothing of the girl without soul rings. He then lifted her onto his back and used Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon with spiritual power to keep her attached to his body.