Night Duke's Estate,
Under his father's guidance, Su Yunlin arrived at the soul tool laboratory. This was where Su Jinming conducted his research. Ever since he began studying soul tools, he had practically forgotten food and sleep.
Because of his obsession, Xu Yunyue would often complain, "Go live with your soul tools then!"
There was a noticeable age gap between the couple—Su Jinming was already over eighty, while Xu Yunyue had just turned sixty. It could be considered a May-December marriage. Of course, for Titled Douluo, such a gap was insignificant.
After all, a Titled Douluo could easily live for two hundred years, and a Super Douluo without illness or injury could reach two hundred and fifty.
Their relationship had been cemented during that "evil Spirit Master" incident years ago.
Back to the present—
After breaking through to Titled Douluo, Su Jinming found that each subsequent level became extremely difficult. His limit was likely only Rank 95 Super Douluo, so he shifted his focus to soul tools.
He had personally witnessed the power of a Class 9 soul tool from the Sun Moon Empire—its might was enough to threaten a Super Douluo. Su Tianxuan himself had been injured by such a weapon. If not for that treasure discovered later, his condition would have continued to deteriorate.
After eleven months, Su Yunlin stepped into the laboratory again—and was instantly stunned.
"Holy—Dad, you actually built it?!"
Before him stood a massive ten-meter-tall humanoid soul tool. It resembled a mech, with its arms, shoulders, and sides outfitted with various weapons—cannons, machine guns, and more.
A hint of pride finally flickered in Su Jinming's tired eyes. "You drew so many design blueprints back then. Even though the core soul tool arrays weren't included, with the structure alone, I could replicate it. Now this mech is complete… though it still has some issues."
"What issues?"
Su Jinming walked up to the towering machine and patted its body.
"First: the energy supply problem remains unsolved.
Second: it looks impressive, but any Spirit Sage or above can dismantle it, and a Titled Douluo could destroy it with ease.
Third: production efficiency is too low. If it could be mass-produced, it might play a key role in war—but building just this one took me two months. It's not practical."
Su Yunlin nodded. It looked intimidating, but it couldn't compete at higher levels. This wasn't the god-tier mecha of the future—at best, it was somewhere between yellow-grade and purple-grade.
With the current soul tool system on the Douluo Continent, mass production was unrealistic. Just processing the metals alone was a nightmare.
He even noticed Master Tai, the blacksmith who had served the estate for over a decade, asleep on a workbench, snoring thunderously—clearly exhausted.
"Dad, what about the battle armor?" Su Yunlin asked.
That was the key. If battle armor could be developed, they wouldn't have to fear the Sun Moon Empire's future invasions.
"Follow me."
Su Jinming led him to another section of the laboratory, filled with even more soul tools.
On one wall, Su Yunlin finally saw it—a disassembled suit of armor.
It consisted of a headband, chestplate, left and right shoulder and upper arm armor, forearm guards and gauntlets, a waist guard with battle skirt, thigh armor, and greaves with boots.
"Dad, this… this is battle armor forged from Thousand Refinements metal! But why are there no soul tool arrays on it?" Su Yunlin couldn't help but feel impressed.
Battle armor was something far ahead of its time.
The Sun Moon Empire had something similar—a humanoid soul tool worn on the body. But Su Jinming had already created true battle armor.
Su Jinming rubbed his son's head. "I still don't know what kind of dream you had as a child—mechs, battle armor, and all sorts of strange soul tools. I especially like that rocket launcher of yours—simple to build, cheap materials, perfect for the military.
"Thankfully, your memory is good enough to draw them all. I can follow your designs to build them. Only the mech and this battle armor are particularly troublesome—especially this."
He paused, then raised his right arm.
A piece of dark, obsidian-like armor suddenly manifested over it, merging seamlessly with his body.
"Holy—Dad, what the hell?! That's insane!"
Su Yunlin was completely dumbfounded.
Armor that could merge with the body and be summoned or retracted at will—this was at least the level of two-word battle armor, or a one-word battle armor made from Spirit-infused metal.
Dad… you're a genius.
Su Jinming clenched his fist. "Since I didn't know where to start, I experimented with materials and built a part for myself. This piece is forged from Spirit-infused metal.
"As a Titled Douluo, a single type of rare metal wasn't enough to enhance me. So I fused Nether Iron, Heavy Silver, and Magic Silver together. Old Tai said this falls under 'fusion forging.' Only a handful of blacksmiths on the continent can achieve this.
"The results are good. I wasted a lot of materials, but eventually created a prototype. Then I personally engraved soul tool arrays onto it, completing this piece of battle armor. It provides a modest enhancement.
"I estimate that just this arm piece alone requires at least Spirit Emperor-level strength to wear. If I can complete the full set, the boost might allow me to rival a Super Douluo!"
Su Yunlin stared at his father. "Dad… you really only started studying soul tools in the past twenty years?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Su Yunlin twitched. "Nothing… you're a true genius. I can't compare. Oh, I got something good—take a look?"
He handed over the stack of blueprints and drafts Mu En had given him.
"Hm?" As soon as Su Jinming saw them, his eyes lit up. "Where did you get these?"
"From Shrek. More precisely, from a powerhouse there—surname Mu. He said he took a stroll through the Sun Moon Empire and brought these back."
"Mu… Dragon God Douluo…" Su Jinming muttered. "As expected of him. So soul tools haven't yet reached the level of Limit Douluo—but they're getting close! With these, my expertise should advance significantly."
He waved his hand dismissively. "Get out. I need to study."
Just like that, Su Yunlin was kicked out of the lab.
"Wow. Three seconds to see a man's true nature," he muttered helplessly.
He then decided to find his mother and have her accompany him to obtain his fourth Spirit Ring.
Still, a weight had lifted from his heart. Why had he invested so much effort into learning soul tools? For battle armor.
Class 9? Class 10 soul tools?
In front of battle armor, they were nothing.
If Su Yunlin had his grandfather's cultivation plus a full four-word battle armor, he'd dare to go tease Di Tian himself.
Battle armor was the future meta.
In this era, how could he possibly let it slip by?
To put it simply—among the three known Limit Douluo on the continent, Mu En, old and frail, was the weakest. But if he had a three-word battle armor, he'd instantly rise back up.
Battle armor… when could he finally wear it?
As Su Yunlin wandered through the estate, he spotted his grandfather strolling leisurely in the garden, holding a teapot.
"Lin'er, looking for your mother? She's—hm? Who dares spy on us?!"
Su Tianxuan's expression instantly changed. He shot into the sky like a cannonball, clashing briefly with an unseen presence before returning to the ground.
His brows furrowed as his Martial Soul activated, Spirit Rings rising around him, and immense Spirit Power surged outward.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red!
A perfect Spirit Ring configuration—and he even possessed a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring!
"Who's there?!"
Another figure appeared, shielding Su Yunlin—it was Xu Yunyue.
In her hands was a massive scythe nearly three meters long, its blade alone measuring around 1.75 meters. The weapon was pitch black, etched with golden patterns, radiating a dense black-gold aura.
Her Spirit Rings emerged:
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, red, red!