When Xiao Qiang mentioned that powerful strength would attract the affection of female Soul Beasts, Brother Tianmeng involuntarily thought of Bi Ji's attitude toward Di Tian among the Fierce Beasts.
Although Bi Ji and Di Tian had never explicitly stated anything, some things did not need to be said aloud; anyone with even a slight bit of intelligence could see right through it.
Tianmeng had stayed in the Star Dou Great Forest for so long that many things were naturally clear to him. Back then, he simply hadn't had the energy to care, but now, with Xiao Qiang pointing it out, it all clicked for him.
Coupled with the fact that Ice Empress's disdain for him stemmed precisely from his lack of strength, Tianmeng's train of thought after Xiao Qiang's remark became glaringly obvious.
The Ice Empress looked down on him because of his strength. Then, what if his strength grew stronger—so strong that even Di Tian of the Star Dou Great Forest...
No, perhaps he wouldn't even need to reach the level of Di Tian of the Star Dou Great Forest; as long as his strength surpassed that of the Ice Empress, would she stop looking down on him?
With this thought taking root, Tianmeng's resistance to becoming a Soul Engineer vanished entirely. In fact, because this was a continent driven by romance, he desperately wanted to become a Soul Engineer and win the Ice Empress's heart.
Laziness was his nature, an instinct cultivated over countless years, but on a continent of romance, whenever love was involved, both nature and instinct were things that could be changed.
"Don't worry, Xiao Qiang. Just leave this Soul Tool business to your big brother. I will definitely make you the most brilliant genius in Soul Tool engineering across the entire continent!"
"The most brilliant genius in Soul Tool engineering across the entire continent? That's right, Brother Tianmeng! Why didn't I think of that? You are so brilliant!"
"Huh?" Tianmeng was left completely bewildered by Xiao Qiang's words.
Yet Xiao Qiang seemed oblivious to Tianmeng's stunned state and pressed on. "If I become the greatest genius in the history of Soul Tool engineering, then all the resources of the entire Sun Moon Empire will inevitably be tilted massively in my favor. With a nation's resources backing a single individual, my cultivation speed will undoubtedly skyrocket."
"Reaching Titled Douluo as a baseline will be an absolute breeze, and I reckon I can attain the level of Limit Douluo within thirty to forty years. Combined with the Sun Moon Empire's advanced Soul Tool technology and the fortuitous opportunities I occasionally catch glimpses of with my eyes, Brother Tianmeng, the success rate of your God-Creation Project will increase exponentially!"
"I merely dropped a hint about you becoming a Soul Engineer, yet Brother Tianmeng, you were able to look three steps ahead and deduce all of this! You truly are amazing, Brother Tianmeng. As expected of a million-year-level Soul Beast!"
*Is that really what I was thinking?* That was the very first thought that flashed through Tianmeng's mind, but immediately afterward, he caught sight of the undisguised adoration shining in Xiao Qiang's eyes.
"Ahem, well, your big brother has lived for a million years after all, and the God-Creation Project was painstakingly conceived by me. Naturally, I have to think far ahead. Still, there's no need for you to feel discouraged; after all, you're the one your big brother chose, and all your conditions are quite good. Look at that—before I could even spell everything out, you had already grasped my intentions. To be able to do this, your big brother is deeply gratified."
"Alright, just leave the matter of Soul Tools entirely to Brother Tianmeng. If you're interested, you can study them slowly after you become a Titled Douluo; for now, don't let it delay your cultivation," Tianmeng said within Xiao Qiang's Spiritual Sea, putting on an air of profound foresight.
"Understood, Brother Tianmeng!"
Seeing that Tianmeng had taken over control of his body and started frantically flipping through books on Soul Tools, recording the contents within, while simultaneously earnest in running various simulations of Soul Tool fabrication inside his Spiritual Sea, Xiao Qiang confirmed that this phase of his plan had succeeded and finally set his mind at ease. At the same time, it reinforced his conviction in the correctness of his approach to dealing with Tianmeng.
Whether it was the digestion method used the first time or the current study of Soul Tool craftsmanship, both were fundamentally ways of utilizing clever rhetoric to amplify Tianmeng's inner desires.
The digestion method stemmed from Tianmeng's craving for delicious food, supplemented by the flattery Xiao Qiang bestowed upon him. Meanwhile, crafting Soul Tools stemmed from Tianmeng's yearning for the Ice Empress, combined with the praise Xiao Qiang lavished on him this time.
Desires rooted in one's own will would thoroughly unlock Tianmeng's potential, driving him to pour his utmost effort into Soul Tool fabrication and drastically increasing the likelihood of Xiao Qiang becoming an advanced Soul Engineer in a short period.
Although Xiao Qiang knew that because this involved Tianmeng's God-Creation Project, Tianmeng would likely help out even if asked directly, Xiao Qiang was all too aware of the gulf between merely trying hard and giving one's absolute all.
As for "trying hard," so long as someone gritted their teeth—leaving aside whether everyone could manage it—at least three out of ten people could pull it off. After all, trying hard, when stripped down to the basics, meant gritting your teeth and pushing through blindly. The moment you ran into an unexpected problem, that kind of effort hit a hard ceiling.
But if you were giving your absolute all, whenever a problem arose, you would rack your brains to find every conceivable way to resolve it. Heart, mind, and every available resource would be mobilized together, and you would eliminate that obstacle at any cost. That was what it meant to give your all.
It was difficult to succeed through ordinary effort, but giving your all was different.
Endeavors driven by one's own deepest desires where one gave their absolute all were virtually destined to succeed.
Translated to Tianmeng's situation, if Xiao Qiang had simply stated his request directly, Tianmeng would likely have set a piece of Soul Tool research aside the moment he hit a roadblock, intending to sleep on it and think about it later, or simply dumped the task back onto Xiao Qiang to handle.
Yet now, whenever he ran into a Soul Tool he couldn't quite figure out, the thought of the Ice Empress's admiring gaze in the future, the need to ensure the lies he told Xiao Qiang wouldn't be exposed, and—whether for the sake of a bright future or simply to save face—he would have to grit his teeth and conquer every single hurdle.
Only when Tianmeng pushed his own potential to the absolute limit would the success rate of Xiao Qiang's subsequent plans reach its maximum.
Xiao Qiang was currently fourteen years old. Although the original work stated that reaching a Tier 2 Soul Engineer at age twelve made one a rare genius even within the Sun Moon Empire, that claim came from Shrek.
After that, Shrek also claimed that the Sun Moon Empire had only three Class 9 Soul Engineers in total. But what were the facts? Coming from a bunch of arrogant snobs like Shrek, their intelligence reports were utterly unreliable.
A twelve-year-old Tier 2 Soul Engineer was a genius, but at best, only a genius in a backwater region. In any major city, a twelve-year-old Tier 2 Soul Engineer could only be considered above average; only a twelve-year-old Tier 3 Soul Engineer truly deserved the title of genius.
As for a place like the imperial capital, a twelve-year-old Tier 3 Soul Engineer could be considered exceptionally talented, though they still fell just a tiny bit short of true genius.
Yet Xiao Qiang was now fourteen. If he wanted to acquire resources massive enough to elevate his Soul Power by seven ranks in a short span of time, he could not simply be a genius.
Only by reaching the level of a peerless genius would Xiao Qiang earn the qualification to speak with the higher-ups of the Sun Moon Empire, and only they could provide him with the kind of medicine that could rapidly boost his Soul Power by seven ranks without causing severe physical damage or leaving his cultivation stagnating at a single tier for a prolonged period.
*Time is truly tight and the task is heavy,* he thought.