Three months passed in a blur at Shrek Academy.
In the time since Xiao Tian had helped purify Ma Xiaotao's berserk flames, the academy remained abuzz with whispers of the mysterious prodigy. Yet the boy himself had disappeared from the public eye, retreating deep into the halls of the Soul Tool Department, immersed in an unending cycle of research, failure, and breakthroughs. His days were grueling, his nights longer still, filled with glowing diagrams, molten metals, and the endless pursuit of perfection.
Training Under Xian Lin'er
Dean Xian Lin'er took a personal interest in his development. Unlike her typical aloof persona, she became a focused mentor to Xiao Tian, seeing the value in his unique fusion of beastmaster combat, martial spirit cultivation, soul tool crafting, and his otherworldly ideas. Her guidance was sharp and unforgiving. The lessons were harsh, the expectations brutal, and the margin for error nonexistent.
But Xiao Tian rose to the challenge.
Each day began before sunrise with rigorous mental exercises—soul perception refinement, spirit control, and theory revision. Hours of rune inscription drills followed, where even a hairline fracture in a rune matrix would force him to start anew. By noon, he shifted to metalwork, learning to refine and smelt alloys infused with elemental soul energies, mastering techniques even some of Shrek's senior students struggled with.
Afternoons were reserved for construction—assembling, testing, failing, and improving soul tools with relentless focus. Evenings were devoted to simulation battles, pitting prototype soul tools against conjured threats. Only after midnight would he return to his room, hands raw, eyes heavy, mind still racing with possibilities.
His persistence and tenacity impressed even the most stoic instructors. Within weeks, Xiao Tian's reputation within the Soul Tool Department grew, though he remained largely a ghost to the general student body.
A Legacy from Another World
In his previous life, Xiao Tian had studied computer programming, electrical engineering, and modular robotics. Memories long dormant now awakened with purpose. He no longer saw runes as static symbols. He saw them as living code, logic woven into reality.
Where others copied ancient arrays, he wrote his own—programming soul energy like an engineer would program a machine. He began constructing arrays using conditional branching logic, dynamic feedback loops, real-time error correction, and layered encryption matrices.
By the end of the second month, his designs were so advanced that even Dean Xian Lin'er confessed she could only comprehend fragments.
"These inscriptions... they're not just sealed circuits. They're alive. They think. They learn. This isn't soul engineering as we know it. It's evolution," she murmured, awestruck.
Xiao Tian only smiled, exhausted but exhilarated. "In my world, we called it recursive code. Here, it's adaptive soul logic."
His lab station became a fortress of innovation—hovering arrays, levitating fabrication arms, self-adjusting forges, and dynamically evolving blueprints. A sanctuary where past knowledge and present spirit merged.
The Forge of Progress
Through hundreds of hours of relentless work, Xiao Tian earned his official certification as a Level 3 Soul Tool Engineer, a record-breaking feat previously thought impossible for someone so young.
Each soul tool he crafted carried his signature style—sleek minimalism concealing devastating functionality. Weapons of elegant lethality, each forged with a mind attuned to both battle and beauty.
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Soul Tools Developed:
Light Saber
A single-hilt energy blade generating a pure cutting-edge soul energy beam.
Modeled after sci-fi epics from his previous world.
Uses compressed lightning-type soul crystals for unparalleled beam stability.
Blade vibrancy and cutting density adjustable mid-combat.
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Twin Energy Handguns
Designed for dual-wielding combat.
Fitted with advanced heat-sink arrays and spirit compression barrels.
Fires condensed soul energy shots with zero recoil and pinpoint accuracy.
Capable of burst-fire and charged shot modes.
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Soul Rifle Mk-I
Long-range precision rifle equipped with adaptive targeting systems.
Integrated scope analyzes environmental variables—wind speed, soul power fluctuations, and thermal signatures.
Three firing modes: single shot, triple burst, and high-energy beam.
Modular slots for custom attachments.
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Mecha-Beast Vehicles (Slugterra Inspired)
Modular soul tool mounts capable of dynamic transformation:
Beast Form: Quadruped combat frame with enhanced terrain navigation.
Land Bike Mode: High-speed pursuit vehicle armed with forward assault cannons.
Water Bike Mode: Amphibious transformation enabling aquatic operations.
Each form boasts reinforced armor plating, hardpoint weapon systems, and soul power synchronization cores.
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Every soul tool incorporated encrypted, self-obscuring code arrays. Any attempt at reverse engineering would trigger fragmentation protocols, scrambling the designs into unreadable chaos.
His security systems became as legendary as his weapons themselves.
[EVE System Notification]
Soul Engineering Path Unlocked: Unique Subclass - Code Array Soul Engineer.
You are now the sole possessor of this engineering framework in this world.
Bonus: Enhanced Soul Array Construction Speed +30%, Adaptive Learning Capacity Boost.
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A Glimpse Toward the Future
By the end of the third month, whispers about Xiao Tian had reached even the highest echelons of Shrek Academy. The Sea God Pavilion Elders noted his meteoric rise with keen interest. The Soul Tool Department hailed him as their secret weapon against the advancing technologies of the Sun Moon Empire.
But Xiao Tian sought no titles, no fame. His drive was simple, yet unshakable.
He envisioned a world where the boundary between spirit and science no longer existed. A world where soul masters and soul engineers walked side by side, hand in hand, forging a future bright enough to outshine the tragedies of the past.
The first sparks of that future had already been struck—in the roar of the forge, in the silent hum of circuits, and in the quiet resolve of a boy who refused to stop creating.