Douluo 2: Way of Fake God With Soul Tools

However, at that moment, a gentle voice came from behind.

"Engrave an inscription with the main blade at the back, guiding all the soul power to the first circuit inscription, then channel it all out."

"Teacher?"

Su Luoheng was slightly stunned, glancing at the core formation that was on the verge of collapsing.

He thought to himself, 'Is there really still hope for this?'

At that moment, Ran Yuming's voice rang out again, "If you don't hurry up and start now, the core formation will truly collapse."

Hearing this, Su Luoheng's spirit was jolted awake.

Without hesitation, he swiftly wielded his carving knife, quickly engraving the pattern as his teacher had instructed. Under his control, the excess soul power was indeed redirected, flowing back into the first circuit and being absorbed back into his body, stopping the core formation from imminent collapse.

But that was the extent of it.

Although the soul power was no longer battering the connection points, the damage that had been caused was irreversible.

The entire core formation was still on the brink of breaking apart.

Even if he wanted to repair it, there was no place to start.

However, just because he couldn't do it didn't mean others couldn't. As expected, as soon as this step was completed, Ran Yuming spoke up again.

"Clear the broken inscriptions."

"Widen the third and fourth circuits a bit."

"Scrape off the broken inscriptions and draw new ones underneath."

"Adjust the drainage inscription."

"..."

"Widen the connection point of the last circuit by one millimeter with a slanted blade, and make the final inscription slightly larger."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Su Luoheng was already reacting.

He swiftly moved his carving knife, following his teacher's instructions step by step, modifying the inscriptions.

Although he couldn't understand his teacher's reasoning, he held onto a sliver of hope and decided to give it a try. After all, things couldn't get worse than they were now.

His hands danced like butterflies weaving through flowers.

Gradually, the core formation, which had been on the verge of collapse, began to stabilize.

On the other side, Ran Yuming remained intensely focused on observing the process.

Time passed, second by second.

Moments later, Su Luoheng put down his carving knife.

As the last stroke fell, Su Luoheng finally let out a long breath, casually wiping the sweat from his forehead.

With the overall circuit inscriptions now adjusted, the core formation in his hands looked vastly different, like a piece of cloth patched with numerous mends, completely lacking the elegance and beauty it once had. However, there was still a faint, strange aura, and occasional flashes of silver light.

Could it really be fixed?

But… can this thing even function?

Looking at the core formation before him, Su Luoheng still had his doubts. After all, so many of the patterns had been drastically altered.

Uneasy, he turned his head. "Teacher, can this really work?"

Noticing his disciple's concern, Ran Yuming smiled calmly and said, "Why don't you inject some soul power and find out?"

Upon hearing this, Su Luoheng nodded.

He was definitely going to give it a try. After all, he had spent so much effort on this; if he didn't test it out, he wouldn't be satisfied.

But before that, he needed to take some precautions.

After all, no one could guarantee that this thing wouldn't suddenly explode.

Su Luoheng silently glanced at the ice crystal bracelet on his right wrist, finally finding a sense of security. Seeing this, Ran Yuming couldn't help but laugh.

"You're testing a soul guidance formation, not heading into battle. Is it really necessary to be this cautious?"

"Alright, be serious now. With me here, nothing will go wrong!"

"Mm."

Hearing this, Su Luoheng chuckled sheepishly.

Without any more jokes, he began cautiously injecting soul power into the core formation, carefully monitoring its condition throughout the process.

He was genuinely worried that the formation might explode.

But his concern wasn't about getting caught in the blast; it was that the formation wouldn't hold up long enough for the soul power to circulate completely.

At the very least, he wanted it to last until the test was finished.

Though the chances of success were slim, he still harbored a bit of hope.

Slowly, the soul power was injected into the core formation.

The soul guidance circuits lit up again, and although the metal block looked rather unsightly, the entire process was unexpectedly smooth. The first circuit activated and continued flowing without interruption, all the way through the final circuit. A soft glow transformed into a pillar of light rising straight into the air. The light was steady and unwavering. The entire metal block radiated a silver-white brilliance.

This scene marked the complete success of the soul guidance device!

"Suc... succeeded?!"

Su Luoheng was momentarily stunned, then widened his eyes in disbelief.

'Did that really just work?'

'Does this mean I actually succeeded?'

'If that's the case, then… am I now a second-level Soul Engineer?'

Still somewhat dazed, Su Luoheng scratched his head in confusion, his face lighting up with a joyful smile.

...

...

After a while, Su Luoheng finally snapped back to his senses.

He knew that his success in completing the core formation of the second-level soul guidance device was largely thanks to his teacher. Without Ran Yuming's guidance, the core formation would have been ruined long ago.

However, he still couldn't understand one thing: why did changing the inscriptions still result in a successful second-level formation?

The earlier test had already proven that it was indeed the core formation for a shortsword, something Su Luoheng could confirm.

With that thought, he looked toward Ran Yuming.

Curious, Su Luoheng couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, how did you do it?"

Ran Yuming asked in return, "Do you know why you failed earlier?"

"I don't know."

Su Luoheng thought for a moment but still shook his head. Even now, he couldn't understand why his original engraving had failed when there seemed to be no issues. Meanwhile, his teacher made many adjustments and still succeeded.

"Your engravings were fine, but you overlooked the properties of the metal material."

"The properties of the metal?" Su Luoheng furrowed his brow, still puzzled.

Ran Yuming continued, "Luoheng, your first soul skill is indeed well-suited for a Soul Engineer. It allows you to easily analyze and engrave core formations with the convenience it provides. But because of that, you've fallen into a mental trap."

"The core formation was correct, but the actual engraving requires subtle adjustments based on the situation."

"What you analyzed was the engraving method for a core formation on one specific metal. The same core formation can be inscribed on different materials. For example, the core formation in your hand uses mithril, but if you tried engraving it using the method meant for heavy iron, would it work?"

Hearing this, Su Luoheng fell into deep thought.

"Luoheng…"

Ran Yuming paused for a moment, stepping forward to pat his shoulder, speaking earnestly, "Your first soul skill allows you to analyze the core formation correctly, but you can't blindly replicate it. Core formations aren't rigid or unchangeable. You need to learn to adapt them based on the material you're working with, incorporating your own understanding of soul guidance devices. Like how I adjusted the inscriptions earlier, wasn't I able to make it work?"