After a brief silence, an uncontrollable gasp of astonishment erupted from the second-floor observation platform.
"To defeat an Advanced Spirit Master with a Spirit seven levels higher, relying solely on his Physical Body..."
A ninth-rank Soul Engineer murmured under his breath. Fighting above one's rank at the same level was not uncommon, but a challenge like this, with a complete disadvantage and relying only on the power of the Physical Body... he had truly never seen it!
"Five months! In just five short months! This Body Tempering Method can truly turn decay into divinity! Young Master Kong is indeed a prodigy, comprehending the profound principles of Energy and the human body!"
Another middle-aged man from the Hall of Worship said excitedly, his eyes filled with a burning desire for improvement.
"If this were applied to our Sun and Moon Soul Engineer Legion, not to mention anything else, just the basic spirit tools and the load capacity of many individual weapons would be enough to change the dynamics of the lower-level battlefields..."
Ye Yulin, standing nearby, offered his assessment, unable to resist clapping in admiration.
Prince Xu Tianran remained silent, his gaze fixed on Kong Ming'an below, his eyes swirling with shock, assessment, and a hint of deep-seated apprehension and... fanaticism.
Undoubtedly, this was... a King's Advisor.
Facing these mostly heartfelt praises, Kong Deming, standing at the front of the platform, maintained his usual placid expression, though a fleeting, almost imperceptible trace of satisfaction and pride flickered deep within his eyes.
This is my grandson!
He nodded slightly, his voice steady: "You all praise him too highly. Ming'an is still young and requires further refinement and guidance."
Though his words were humble, the protective sentiment was evident.
Everyone hastily agreed, their tones respectful.
Just then, the elevator door behind them slid open silently, and Kong Ming'an slowly walked out.
Hot, scrutinizing, and even a hint of awe—
Eyes with various emotions refocused on him.
Yet, Kong Ming'an's expression remained largely unchanged.
Ignoring the burning gazes, he calmly met the eyes of his grandfather and the core figures, his tone even:
"There's no need for such praise. This is merely the Early Stage result of the Body Tempering Method. After all, it's only been five months. More results will require more time, and... more resources."
Jing Hongchen reacted the fastest, his eyes gleaming with a businessman's shrewdness, and he immediately interjected:
"Mingde Hall is willing to fully support the continued research and development of this project! The required resources, manpower, and facilities are absolutely no problem!"
His words were decisive, representing Mingde Hall's stance.
Xu Tianran also slowly spoke, his voice carrying an undeniable authority:
"The Imperial Treasury can also be opened for this project."
Huge benefits and support surged like a tide towards this six-and-a-half-year-old child.
Kong Ming'an nodded slightly, but for some reason, he felt this scene was a bit like when he finished a presentation in his previous life, and a bunch of company CEOs were ready to invest in his patent.
Without answering, he looked directly at Kong Deming.
"Grandpa, I'm not familiar with these matters. You can talk to them."
After speaking, he walked directly to an empty metal chair in the corner of the platform and sat down deftly, removing himself from the investment storm.
A helpless smile flashed in Kong Deming's eyes, then he regained his dignified composure and calmly took over the lead in the negotiations:
"Alright, regarding future cooperation and resource allocation, let's discuss in detail."
In the corner, Kong Ming'an seemed to have blocked out all the external noise, leaning against the cold metal chair back, his eyes slightly lowered, lost in his own thoughts.
The content, of course, was about the Body Tempering Method.
Is the Body Tempering Method effective?
Undoubtedly, it can systematically and significantly enhance a Spirit Master's physical foundation, compensate for Spirit quality differences, increase the upper limit of spirit ring endurance, and even demonstrate the potential to fight above one's rank in the Early Stage.
However, its drawbacks are equally obvious.
Namely... its upper limit.
This method, which relies on spirit power and mental force to stimulate Acupoints and draw in external elemental Energy to temper muscles and bones, is ultimately too basic.
It's akin to using wood to strike iron; in the Early Stage, it can shape the iron, but in the Late Stage, it will gradually become ineffective.
It has a clear Bottleneck. The flesh, blood, muscles, and bones of the human body have their limits of endurance. Simple spirit power Body Tempering cannot endlessly improve.
When the physical strength reaches a certain critical point, any further improvement will see a cliff-like drop in efficiency, or even stagnation.
Moreover... a precise number flashed in Kong Ming'an's mind: 21.32%.
Yes, the average cultivation effect for ordinary cultivators using the simplified Body Tempering Method he deduced was only 21.32% of his own cultivation effect with the Body Tempering Method.
The huge disparity stemmed from the vast difference in the precision of spirit power control and utilization efficiency.
After all, not everyone can absolutely control their own spirit power as he can.
Kong Ming'an silently felt a small regret in his heart. After all, it was just a method he had initially created over six months with thousands of samples. It was acceptable for it to have flaws.
On the path of a Body Cultivator, the Body Tempering Method is merely a starting point. Subsequently, there must be more Advanced methods.
This method must be able to break the shackles of this mortal Physical Body, draw upon deeper, more fundamental Energy, or develop more exquisite, more efficient tempering methods.
And this is what could truly allow the Body Cultivator System to differ from the traditional Spirit Master System and potentially be stronger than it.
However... Kong Ming'an's thoughts shifted, but he wasn't particularly anxious.
An effect approaching one-fifth of his own Body Tempering is already a world-changing qualitative leap for low-to-mid-level Spirit Masters, especially for soldiers at the bottom of the army. It's enough to support a massive foundational group of Body Cultivators.
And this massive foundational group of Body Cultivators will become his sample library, a source of data for future Body Cultivator Cultivation Techniques.
The current Body Tempering Method and its subsequent fine-tuning and optimization can already meet the current stage's needs.
He now needs to wait, wait for this sample library to mature, and then, after it matures, collect data and continue deducing. And for now, there's nothing more for him to do.
This is the business of the other Sun and Moon higher-ups. Otherwise, why would he be so kind as to let them see his experimental results?
It's merely mutual benefit.
However... what he needs to consider more currently is his own cultivation problem.
Under the Xuan Water Pill and various other Medicinal Pills that could, to some extent, enhance Innate spirit power, his spirit power had risen from the original level 0.5 to level 5 in just half a year.
Of course, his Innate spirit power was roughly at level 4.
This is probably the limit of external material enhancement... at least for the external materials Kong Ming'an could get his hands on currently.
Calculating based on his current cultivation efficiency with full resources, and excluding the time for his upcoming research projects and daily Body Tempering Method cultivation,
He estimated that he would reach level 10 between the ages of eight and nine.
Time was exceptionally ample.
"Pure Body Cultivation is still a bit too restrictive, and not cool enough..." I need to find a time to poach Ji Juechen, and also the Sun and Moon's own 'Lifespan spirit tool' technology... 'Tool Cultivator' or rather... 'Sword Cultivator'?
Kong Ming'an's thoughts wandered, but he suddenly felt two gazes fall upon him.
These gazes were different from the eyes on the platform filled with profit, astonishment, or scrutiny. They carried pure curiosity and a kind of... burning Battle Intent?
Kong Ming'an felt a surge of curiosity and looked up.
He saw, not far behind Jing Hongchen, the silver-haired, blue-eyed little girl, as delicate as a porcelain doll, blinking her big eyes, staring at him unblinkingly, her small face filled with undisguised astonishment, and... a pure appreciation of "so handsome."
Beside her, the equally silver-haired boy with different colored eyes was now staring at him with intense seriousness.
Kong Ming'an's gaze calmly swept past Meng Hongchen, staying on her for less than half a second, then briefly met Xiao Hongchen's burning gaze in the air.
He showed no expression, merely giving a perfunctory slight nod in their direction.
Then, he lowered his eyes again, once more immersing himself in thoughts about his first spirit ring.
Meng Hongchen blinked, unable to resist muttering softly to Xiao Hongchen beside her: "Big brother, he's really, really handsome..."
Xiao Hongchen, however, was completely oblivious. After Kong Ming'an's perfunctory slight nod, the fire in his eyes burned even more fiercely.
Without responding to Meng Hongchen's words, he just turned his head to look at Meng Hongchen, his tone a bit more serious,
"Little sister, you're right. He... is my true opponent!"
Meng Hongchen slowly let out a "¿"... Did I say something?
No... Big brother, are you trying to steal my handsome young man?!
Little Meng Hongchen felt a strong sense of vigilance towards her big brother!
"