Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 497 Underground Base

Inside the palace, Xu Jiujiu, who was handling affairs, was overjoyed to receive news of Ji Lin's return. Ji Lin's safe return was of course the best thing. Regardless of whether the matter was accomplished or not, his safe return was the best news.

At this moment, Xu Jiawei, who was also in the palace, heard the news brought by the guard and laughed, "That little guy is back. Jiu Mei, you should go back first. Leave things here to me. Compared to these trivial matters, that place is more important."

Xu Jiujiu nodded and said, "I understand, Your Majesty. I'll go back now."

Ji Lin didn't wait long before Xu Jiujiu returned to Zizai Gate. Before Xu Jiujiu could say anything, Ji Lin tossed her a snowflake token and a storage ring.

"Sister Jiu Jiu, I have fulfilled my mission. The storage soul tool contains rare metals that have already been tempered, and the token is the Snow Emperor's Token. In a while, I will have Granny Manyi take it to the far north. I have already entrusted the soul beasts in the far north to help mine the veins. As long as the Snow Emperor's Token is presented, they will hand over the mined ore to the holder of the Snow Emperor's Token."

After receiving the Snow Emperor's Token and the storage soul guide ring, Xu Jiujiu said happily, "I knew you were the best, Xiao Lin! Now I don't have to worry about the rare metals slowing down our progress. I'll go find Hall Master Xuan now and give him these rare metals."

"Perfect timing, let's go together and see what Master Xuan and the others have accomplished."

Ji Lin wasn't in a hurry to claim the reward. It was still daytime, so he figured he should wait until night.

According to Wang Qiu'er and the others, Xuan Ziwen was not in his private research room, but in the underground base. So Ji Lin and Xu Jiujiu headed directly to the underground base.

Zizai Gate, underground base.

Ji Lin and Xu Jiujiu walked in a spacious and open passageway. The soul-guided lights on both sides of the passageway emitted a bright light, providing sufficient illumination for this base deep underground.

After walking for a while, the two entered a passage on the left. A large black metal door appeared at the end of the passage. After a while, they took out an identification card and swiped it on the Soul Guidance Identifier. With a soft "beep", the red light on the Soul Guidance Identifier turned green, and then the black metal door opened slowly and silently.

The two entered and found themselves in a spacious laboratory. Dozens of Soul Masters in white coats were busy inside. They glanced at Xu Jiujiu and Ji Lin as they entered but then ignored them, engrossed in their research.

Ji Lin didn't care. These Soul Masters who loved research were just like that. Back in Mingde Hall, they stayed in their own laboratories doing research. If Ji Lin hadn't offered them an irresistible temptation, they wouldn't have traveled all the way from the Sun Moon Empire to the Star Luo Empire. Only Soul Masters who were obsessed with research and valued Soul Guidance Technology more than anything else would disregard their positions and not refuse to help Ji Lin with his research just because they belonged to different countries.

Ji Lin and Xu Jiujiu slowly walked into the laboratory. The laboratory was very large, with a diameter of more than 100 meters and a height of 30 meters. Ji Lin saw Xuan Ziwen standing in a workshop from afar.

He held Xu Jiujiu's jade hand and walked quickly toward Xuan Ziwen. However, when they arrived behind Xuan Ziwen, they were immediately drawn to the silver-white figure in front of Xuan Ziwen.

This is a tall, mechanical armor, predominantly silver-white in color. It features a full-coverage mask for the head, two protruding capes on the shoulders to protect them, two movable armor plates on each elbow, gauntlets and wrist guards for the hands, jet propulsion devices at the elbow joints, and full-body armor on the legs, also equipped with jet propulsion devices.

"This is... the Molten Knight Armor! Did you successfully create it, Master Xuan?"

Xu Jiujiu was overjoyed and stared in fascination at the handsome and gorgeous silver-white exoskeleton armor in front of her.

"No! It's impossible to create a complete Molten Knight Armor with current soul-guided technology. Without the active metal that can coexist with the host as described in the blueprints, the memory metal with self-repairing capabilities, the genes and materials for 'breeding' the insect swarm, and those unknown technologies that we completely don't understand, it's impossible to completely replicate the Fusion Knight Armor on the blueprints. Even the simplest Firefly-I cannot be replicated, let alone the more powerful and complex Firefly-IV and Firefly-V."

Xuan Ziwen sighed, his eyes filled with regret and resentment. He had a premonition that he would probably never have the chance to see the Firefly-IV and Firefly-V models on the blueprints come to life!

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar humanoid mecha in front of him, Ji Lin exclaimed, "Hall Master Xuan, there's no need for that. Even without those special materials, as long as the replica has one-tenth the power of the original, it would still be a feat that would shake the entire Douluo Continent."

Xuan Ziwen shook his head and said, "The ability to make replicas is also due to the blueprints provided by the sect leader. Without these blueprints, it would be impossible for us to research this kind of humanoid mecha. Even if we could research it, it would probably be many years later, and it might not be as strong as the Molten Knight Armor, nor would it have the growth potential of the Molten Knight Armor."

"Growth potential?"

Xu Jiujiu tilted her head, her face full of doubt. She didn't understand what kind of growth potential a soul-guided armor could have.

Xuan Ziwen's usually cold and hard face showed a stiff smile as he introduced, "We used the Ice Extreme Divine Crystal provided by the sect leader as the main material. This Ice Extreme Divine Crystal contains an Ice Spirit, which in a sense means it has life. Unfortunately, the number of Ice Extreme Divine Crystals with Ice Spirits is extremely small. Most Ice Extreme Divine Crystals do not have Ice Spirits and are still inanimate objects. The Molten Knight Armor made from Ice Extreme Divine Crystals with Ice Spirits also has life. At the same time, we also replicated the original Molten Knight Armor, using materials from the Soul Beast. We also implanted Soul Beast genes into the Molten Knight mech and engraved Holy Marks. Theoretically, using the body material of a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast and engraving 100,000-year-old Holy Marks, the fusion knight armor made can be given to a Soul Saint, and he can fully exert the strength of a Title Douluo."

At this point, Xuan Ziwen's voice trembled slightly. As the person in charge of the Molten Knight Armor Project, he knew very well what this meant. After all, the Molten Knight Armor could theoretically be mass-produced.

Xu Jiujiu's mouth gaped open, her pretty face filled with disbelief, looking incredibly cute. This made Ji Lin's mouth water. Although she knew the Molten Knight Armor would be strong, she hadn't expected it to be this strong. She knew very well what possessing the combat power of a Title Douluo meant. While this was the combat power only the top-tier Molten Knight Armor possessed, Xu Jiujiu, knowing Ji Lin's background, was well aware of it. Would the ferocious beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest lack materials from a 100,000-year-old soul beast? Would the Free Gate, as the founder and developer of 100,000-year-old holy marks, lack them? The Soul Beast Princess and the Soul Beast Lord were both currently with the Free Gate!

Rare metals with life, though scarce, are not nonexistent. As long as the Star Luo Empire is determined, it can still collect some. As for the Ice Extreme Divine Crystals with ice spirit, Ji Lin brought out a lot of them from the Earth Dragon Gate, which is enough for the time being.

Lowering the standards and not using top-grade soul-guiding metals, but instead using materials from ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts and ten-thousand-year-old holy marks, even if it can only unleash the strength of a Soul Saint, it is still a power beyond imagination.

Although Soul Saint level experts are rare, the Star Luo Empire could still muster a force of over a thousand Soul Saints if it wanted to. If there were a thousand Molten Knight Armor units, that would be over a thousand Title Douluos. Even if they were all ordinary Title Douluos, they would still be Title Douluos, enough to sweep across the continent.

Not to mention, the top-tier Molten Knight Armor, which possesses life and can grow alongside its host, can also evolve. If a hundred out of a thousand Molten Knights can evolve the Molten Knight Armor, that would be the strength of hundreds of Super Douluo.

Thinking about this, Xu Jiujiu's heart raced, her cheeks flushed, and her excitement was palpable.

Seeing that Xu Jiujiu was lost in her thoughts, Ji Lin couldn't help but jokingly say, "Wake up, Sister Jiujiu! We don't have that many rare materials. Even if we could assemble a Molten Knights order of over a hundred people, it would probably bankrupt the Star Luo Empire!"

Xu Jiujiu felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head, jolting her awake instantly. Yes, her idea was beautiful, but at this stage, they didn't have the ability or the conditions. Even if the Star Luo Empire mobilized the entire nation, they could probably only assemble a hundred-man knight order. Moreover, their Star Crown Sect would need to bring out the foundation accumulated over thousands of years. This was no easy task. Even if Xu Jiawei was the sect leader of the Star Crown Sect, trying to do such a thing would probably alarm those old relics who had already begun to retire and wait for death.

After a long pause, he gently bit his thumb, lost in thought. Hundreds of titled Douluo-level Molten Fire Knights sounded powerful and invincible, but they couldn't help Ji Lin suppress the entire Douluo Continent. You must remember that during the first Holy War between the Sun Moon Empire and the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, Shrek Academy gathered hundreds of titled Douluo, including many Super Douluo. The newly established Molten Fire Knights hadn't evolved and couldn't fight against Super Douluo alone.

Therefore, to help Ji Lin, more Molten Knights are needed. And to have more Molten Knights, a lot of resources are needed, including Soul Beast resources and Holy Mark resources. With Ji Lin's ally, the Silver Dragon King, as a safety net, Xu Jiujiu, who had contact with the Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena, saw very clearly that the Silver Dragon King was very curious about her little Ji Lin. And when a woman starts to be curious about a man, it means the beginning of her fall.

In fact, after such a long period of observation, she had already determined that Gu Yuena's attitude towards Ji Lin was completely different from her attitude towards others.

(End of this chapter)