Ah, Guanyin! The two streaks of scarlet light from Di Shitian. His slender, long eyebrows twitched incessantly.

As the chief of the Holy Martial Hall, the intelligence and data he could obtain were far greater than those available to ordinary powerhouses, especially concerning the factions vying for Divine Beast martial artists—their profiles were extensively collected.

Guanyin, the third strongest figure within the Heavenly Gate, ranked just below Tathagata and the Jade Emperor. His mystery was akin to that of Yanluo Tianzi in the Underworld. Almost no one had seen him, nor did anyone know his identity, but absolutely no one doubted his martial prowess.

Back on Jupiter, Guanyin's fearsome reputation was already established. Had it not been for the sudden rise of Jupiter's Azure Dragon, Guanyin would have left an even darker legacy there.

Xue Tian could exchange blows with Guanyin and still walk away alive to greet people here. Ferrero couldn't help but look at him twice more, trying to gauge the actual depth of this young man's power.

"Let's go, let's go! The carriage is ready for both masters," Xue Tian was quick on his feet, leading the way, giving the two Holy Martial Hall chiefs no chance to test him.

Ferrero smiled at Xue Tian's clever evasion. Since the young man clearly didn't want others to know his strength, there was no need to press the issue of his true capabilities.

Di Shitian also refrained from forcing Xue Tian to demonstrate his power. In this world, some individuals conceal their strength for their own reasons. Xue Tian was obviously no fool; his desire to hide his power must have a rationale, not merely the foolish pretense of showing off.

Upon returning to the base, several metal research personnel rushed towards Xue Tian, looking as ecstatic as if they were about to get married, surrounding the highly regarded young martial artist of the Saturn military in the center.

"Major General Xue Tian, we have excellent news for you."

Major General? Qin Fen smiled as he recalled Xue Tian's military rank. After the battle in the stadium, the younger generation of soldiers in the Saturn military experienced a continuous surge in strength, shaking the entire Federation, and the military headquarters was inevitably impacted by this tremendous shock.

Whether according to military regulations or public petitions, these young people who shone brilliantly during the Flying Heart Women's Band assembly were now presented before the eyes of all Federation citizens.

The promotion of military rank became not a question of whether the military wanted to do it or should do it, but something they absolutely had to do.

The rank of Major General was the lowest rank assigned to that group of young people according to regulations after they displayed their capabilities. Snake King knew that all high-ranking generals in the East Asia Military Region, and indeed the entire Earth Military Region, were aware that Qin Fen cared little for the seniority of rank. The only reason he still wore the uniform was to honor a promise made that day, nothing more.

If Qin Fen didn't care about rank, then his friends—Xue Tian, Du Peng, Yang Lie, and the others—would naturally stand on the same front, equally unconcerned with the level of their commissions.

This wasn't entirely due to Qin Fen's personal charisma; it was because the bond among them, forged through shared life and death, was profound. Even Du Peng saying, "I don't care about the rank," meant that Qin Fen, Xue Tian, and the others would echo, "Du Peng's attitude is our attitude."

The depth of friendship built through repeated brushes with death was clearly understood by Snake King Du Hen, a fellow soldier.

Major General—because of this, a whole batch of them emerged overnight, from Qin Fen to Du Peng, all receiving the rank of Major General in a single night.

The actions of Qin Fen and his group on Saturn had, without them realizing it, won over the complacent personnel within the Saturn military. When they saw Qin Fen and the others promoted to Major General, they displayed no excessive surprise, joy, or celebration.

In their eyes, whether Qin Fen was a Major General, Lieutenant Colonel, or Second Lieutenant, this group of youths was the true leadership of the Saturn Military Region! They were the soul of the Saturn Military! Even if the Federation sent someone with the rank insignia of a General to oversee them, they would only choose to follow the orders of Qin Fen and his peers, rather than those of a higher-ranking General.

"We succeeded! Major General Xue, we succeeded!"

Several Dragon Hall researchers specializing in metal studies were beaming with excitement, happier and more thrilled than if they had won the biggest lottery jackpot.

"Succeeded? You mean... the metal hardness I requested has been achieved?" Xue Tian immediately became interested. Having reached his current level of martial power, ordinary sword metals were becoming insufficient. To forge a stronger weapon would likely require resources only accessible to Divine Beast martial artists.

The Vermilion Bird had her Vermilion Bird Spear; the Qilin had his Qilin Blade! Xue Tian also yearned for an 'Angry Slashing Blade' of his own. While channeling True Qi into a battle blade could enhance its strength, once Xue Tian reached his current level, relying solely on blade energy and the blade itself to compensate for structural weakness was far from enough.

It must! It absolutely must have a weapon forged from better material!

This new metal showed Xue Tian a path—one that was cost-effective yet capable of meeting his requirements. It no longer required the resource allocation privileges of a Divine Beast martial artist to create such a weapon.

"It's not just the hardness of the metal."

"It's also the elasticity you requested."

"Neither presents any problems!"

"Even the elasticity?" Xue Tian laughed. "I only mentioned that offhandedly. Didn't you say increasing elasticity would make the task much harder?"

"It is significantly harder. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been researching it until now."

The researchers wore expressions of excitement and pride. In such a short time, they had achieved the first layer of basic metrics Xue Tian had provided. Although they were still far from the ultimate data points he required, the current properties of the metal were already sufficient to forge a blade for Xue Tian.

"This time, we mixed one hundred and seventy-three types of metal in the alloy, along with several specialized chemical agents."

Xue Tian let go of Qin Fen and hurried towards the laboratory with the group of metal-obsessed researchers, listening to their explanations: "Major General Xue, we just don't understand why you insisted that you must forge this blade yourself! We could use the most scientific methods to craft a perfectly proportioned battle blade! And why did you insist on including your own blood? Just because we had to incorporate your blood, we tried numerous methods just to achieve the hardness and elasticity you required."

Xue Tian turned back, waved a hand at Qin Fen, and then looked at the inquiring science fanatics beside him, unsure how to explain. Martial arts also possess a soul; this wasn't some mythological spirit, but rather an aura! This aura, accumulated over years and years, integrates into a person's blood, sinking deep into the marrow.

It is precisely because of this soul, fused into a weapon, that the user achieves a sensation of being connected to the weapon through a shared lineage. (To be continued)