N-A-A Chapter 122 The Possibility of Forging the Badge of Courage
Chapter 122 The Possibility of Forging the Badge of Courage
On the way back from Sunset Forest, Xiao Yan remained silent, while the old monster and Tang San talked enthusiastically about the immortal herbs and poison techniques at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
After all, he had already scavenged immortal herbs for his mistress. This time, apart from being unable to take his eyes off the fragrant Qiluo Immortal Herb and the snow-white swan kiss left there, everything else was alright.
However, since Xiao Yan had said that these were meant for the old poison master, he naturally wouldn't go against his elder brother's wishes, at least not on the surface.
The necessary immortal herbs had indeed been gathered, but besides the immortal herbs, there were countless other materials in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye. Tang San then asked to stay a little longer. Xiao Yan naturally knew that he intended to use the materials here to make the Yama's Decree.
Dugu Bo, on the other hand, left Sunset Forest alone. After all, he had witnessed Xiao Yan's strength. As long as the two of them stayed within his poison circle and didn't provoke any ferocious beasts that were tens of thousands of years old, they would hardly encounter any danger in Sunset Forest. He would come back to pick them up in a few days.
Xiao Yan sat cross-legged and began cultivating his soul power in a meditative state, reminding Xiao San to keep the natural treasures of this place plentiful and not to take too much.
So the group cultivated at the Yin-Yang Eye for several days, and only today, under the leadership of Dugu Bo, did they prepare to return to the Heavenly Dou Academy.
Right now, Tang San was beaming with excitement. It was clear that he was in a great mood after successfully creating the Tang Clan's hidden weapon, the Yama's Decree. He no longer disliked Dugu Bo's poison and even started discussing the Poison Scripture with him.
As for why Xiao Yan remained silent, it was because he was contemplating his future path as a Soul Master.
Although I am currently only a four-ring Soul Master, dealing with ordinary Soul Emperors is definitely no problem. Moreover, in a typical battle, the opponent will inevitably underestimate me. Under such circumstances, Agumon's fire attack at thousands of degrees will be foolproof. I am already a level 44 Soul Master, and I believe that I should be able to cultivate to the level 50 Soul King within a year. By then, the National Tournament will be in its final stages. If the Heaven Dou Academy insists on my intervention, then there will be no time to go to the far north to find the Mirror Beast.
Although Xiao Yan now possesses the ability to scan, he still can't forget Mirrormon. If he can achieve a synergy with a Soul Master and unleash a Martial Soul Fusion Technique to evolve into various Digimon, then in his view, the existence of Mirrormon is to allow Agumon to evolve into different branches by relying on Mirrormon.
But what path should they take next? After successfully absorbing the fourth spirit ring, Xiao Yan specifically asked Agumon if he felt any changes, or if there was any power surging out of his body. Of course, Agumon's reply was no.
As for strength, he always felt that he had inexhaustible energy, but this did not seem to be the same as the strength that Xiao Yan wanted. Unlike the natural evolution after obtaining the first and third spirit rings, the current Agumon seemed to be restricted by a lock.
Without the Crest of Courage, Greymon should be able to evolve to Ultimate level, but the path it takes is hard to say. It could evolve into Zombiemon, BlackWarmon, or Machinedramon. From a power system perspective, these evolutions shouldn't be considered weak, but from a rational perspective, it's hard to say whether the evolved Agumon will still be under its control.
After all, back in the far north, Xiao Yan had mistakenly absorbed an incompatible soul ring, causing the Agumon to evolve incorrectly. At that time, his frenzied state clearly indicated that he had lost his ability to think, which is obviously not a good thing for intelligent soul beasts and soul masters.
Aside from initially shocking the opponent, those attacks with a relatively low hit rate are unlikely to harm them.
So after hearing Agumon's answer, Xiao Yan was somewhat discouraged. He wasn't some chosen child. Being able to have a divine plan accompany his martial soul awakening was already the greatest mercy from heaven. But without the Badge of Courage, the path to the ultimate form would be quite bumpy. Although his fourth soul skill could evolve into Agnimon, he couldn't scan Agumon for the Beast Warrior Soul.
Xiao Yan concluded that either Agumon, fundamentally speaking, is not a beast, and he needs to scan a soul beast with extreme fire attributes; or Agumon's form is insufficient to support the soul of a beast-type warrior. Simply put, the current Agumon is not in its complete form.
Fortunately, there was some good news: Agumon told Xiao Yan that whenever he fought alongside him without fear of the enemy, Agumon felt a warm feeling deep inside.
To Xiao Yan, this was incredible. Wasn't this the embodiment of the Badge of Courage? If so, what he and Agumon lacked might not be the power of courage at all, but rather an evolution key that could store the power of courage. Could he create such a thing in Douluo Continent using his memories?
Thinking of this, Xiao Yan raised his right hand, and circles of orange light, like data, appeared on his hand. In fact, he had sensed the change in his soul power after absorbing the first soul ring. Unlike the color of a normal soul master's soul power, his soul power was more like a digital soul, hovering in his hand.
As his level increased, the power of this Digimon Soul became more and more apparent. When he fought against the third one, he evolved into Agnimon and attached the Digimon Soul to his feet.
Dugu Bo, who was chatting enthusiastically with Tang San, noticed Xiao Yan, who had been silent the whole way, staring at the rings of soul power in his hand.
"Little monster, the external form of your soul power is quite different from ours."
"That's natural, after all, my elder brother's martial soul is mutated." Tang San echoed from Dugu Bo's left, and then displayed his soul power, which was a pale green-blue fluorescent light.
"Old monster, do you think there are any metals or minerals on the continent that can store soul power?"
If such a material existed, Xiao Yan wanted to know if he could first create an empty shell of an evolution key. That way, when Agumon's so-called power of courage appeared, he could store it inside and try to see if he could achieve evolution with it.
"Minerals and such? Never heard of them. But perhaps there are some soul tools on the mainland with such capabilities," Dugu Bo replied casually.
Right, after Dugu Bo pointed it out, Xiao Yan thought of the existence of soul tools. In the world of Douluo Continent II, soul tools that can store soul power are actually quite common. But since we are now in the timeline of Douluo Continent I, let alone storing soul power, soul tools under normal circumstances are hard to find.
The only one that was used most often was a storage-type soul tool. The reason why he was able to replicate the storage soul tool was because he was able to see the pattern of one of the twenty-four grotto heavens under the Purple Demon Eye, and thus successfully carve it. However, on the way to success, Xiao Yan wasted a lot of materials.
This thing can store soul power, or rather, even Xiao Yan wasn't sure if it could be considered a soul tool related to soul power. If he really wanted to find such a soul tool, he couldn't very well travel across the ocean to find the Sun Moon Continent, which hadn't yet merged with the Douluo Continent.
The brainstorming session had to be abruptly ended, but it was still a valid approach. The immediate goal was simply to find similar soul tools or inquire about minerals and metals with similar functions.
"Brother, why don't you go ask the blacksmiths' association? I usually help them forge iron in Tiandou City, and we have a pretty good relationship."
Tang San initially wanted to answer Xiao Yan directly, but seeing that the other party was asking about Dugu Bo, he didn't interrupt immediately. After a moment of thought, he expressed his thoughts.
"That's right, little monster. Instead of asking me, you'd be better off asking the blacksmiths. I'm an expert on poisons, of course, but I know absolutely nothing about these metals and minerals."
Xiao Yan nodded. It was just dawn, and he planned to go to the Blacksmith Association in Tiandou City.
……
Tang San led Xiao Yan to the entrance of the Blacksmith Association in Tiandou City. He specially pinned his blacksmith badge to his left chest. It seems that although Tang San has been rich all these years, he still always feels that he is the son of a blacksmith and cannot let the skills that Tang Dachui taught him go to waste.
The first floor of the Blacksmiths' Guild was no different from an ordinary blacksmith shop, except that it was a bit more spacious. This reminded Xiao Yan of Uncle Norton's little shop, where every blacksmith, sweating profusely, frantically struck the metal in the pliers.
Apart from the somewhat relaxed receptionist at the front desk, none of the other blacksmiths had a moment to spare for their work.
Tang San naturally led Xiao Yan to the second floor. The person guarding the stairwell on the first floor glanced at the insignia on Tang San's left chest and let him pass.
"Brother, this first floor is the usual blacksmith workshop. Ordinary people who need blacksmithing or those who have weapons orders from the empire all have their weapons made here by the blacksmith uncles. The second floor is relatively more upscale, catering to nobles or people who need to have weapons made."
Xiao Yan nodded and followed the two of them up the stairs. The exhibition hall on the second floor was clearly visible. In the rows of display cases, there were luxurious jewelry, and on the human-shaped shelves, there were various kinds of armor that looked very majestic and tough. On the weapon rack, there were weapons that gleamed with a cold light.
"Little San, what brings you here today?" There was only one person in charge on the second floor, a short, stubble-faced rough man. Xiao Yan didn't need to look at his palms to guess that they were covered in calluses, obviously a blacksmith. However, in the Blacksmith Association, the one thing that was most abundant was blacksmiths.
"Uncle Shi, this is my elder brother. He's here today to discuss a business deal with you." Tang San naturally introduced Xiao Yan to the other party. After hearing Tang San's description, Xiao Yan learned that this person was the president of the Tian Dou City Blacksmith Association branch.
After parting ways with Dugu Bo in Tiandou City, Xiao Yan directly expressed his thoughts: he wanted to find a skilled blacksmith to help him forge an object. Tang San naturally thought of the president of the Tiandou City Blacksmith Association immediately.
Upon hearing this, the blacksmith extended his hand to shake hands with Xiao Yan. Out of politeness, Xiao Yan bent down to be at the same height as the other man and extended his hand. Unexpectedly, the other man suddenly increased the strength of his grip the moment he grasped it.
Upon seeing this, Tang San hurriedly called out Chairman Shi's name. Although he had been tricked by this person when they first met, Xiao Yan was his elder brother after all, and he hadn't come here to be a blacksmith.
Caught off guard, Xiao Yan immediately felt a sharp pain. He then exhaled and actually attached his third soul ring. Although there was no visible change in Xiao Yan, President Shi, who was holding his hand, naturally stared wide-eyed.
According to the blacksmiths' rules, showing grip strength when greeting someone is the most basic thing. This kid in front of him has a martial soul on his head, so when the other party showed his purple soul ring, President Shi was not surprised. After all, he had already seen Tang San with the same soul ring configuration.
He just didn't expect that this seemingly frail boy would increase his grip strength by almost three times after activating his soul skill, and President Shi could see that the other party was deliberately holding back his strength.
"Hahaha, don't be shy. We roughnecks have spent our lives forging iron, so we're used to greeting the younger generation like this. Consider it a way of giving them a warning. But in my life, there are only two people I can't shake hands with: you and Tang San." Seeing that he could no longer hurt Xiao Yan, Chairman Shi patted the other's shoulder with his free left hand, signaling a truce.
Xiao Yan understood his implication, so he withdrew his third soul skill and returned a smile.
Chairman Shi invited the two to sit down in his office. Although the layout was grand, the furniture was a bit low. Although Chairman Shi, who was not tall, felt comfortable here, Xiao Yan and Tang San were, after all, exceptionally tall with long arms and legs.
"Xiao San is usually quiet and reserved around here. Although he's a skilled hammerer, I rarely see him bringing people to my blacksmiths' association. So, what do you want from me?"