The King of Beast Trainers
Chapter 293 - 167: Slaying the Flesh with the Blade, Cutting the Soul with the Heart_1

Chapter 293: Chapter 167: Slaying the Flesh with the Blade, Cutting the Soul with the Heart_1

"This..."

Lord Gao Li really wanted to say at that moment, "You sure have a hell of a lot of issues."

One moment a Chef, the next a Forging Master...

However, although Lord Gao Li was grumbling inwardly, his expression was somewhat helpless in the face of Lu Ran’s demeanor of sharing the burdens of the Divine Sect.

If he didn’t offer support, and Lu Ran were to rise to prominence later, it would be irrefutable evidence of his "disloyalty to the Divine Sect."

In the end, Lord Gao Li’s mouth twitched as he said, "The Soul Suppressing Stone I lent you is a sort of soul-class mineral."

"I do indeed have some more."

They were used to test for Soul Talent during missionary work.

Before Lord Gao Li could finish speaking, Lu Ran said, "Thank you, Brother Gao Li, I always felt something was missing when researching ’Soul Cuisine.’"

"If I could forge a ’Soul Cooking Knife with an Artifact Spirit,’ maybe it could overcome the growth drawbacks of the necro system!"

Impossible, utterly impossible.

Lord Gao Li screamed inwardly, thinking this young man was dreaming too big.

Although he felt it was implausible, he still needed to offer support.

"Alright, I can give you another Soul Suppressing Stone to aid your research in forging, but that’s all I have," said Lord Gao Li.

He now wanted to smack himself for talking too much, why did he have to bring up Artifact Spirits with Lu Ran.

If he hadn’t mentioned it, maybe Lu Ran wouldn’t have asked for the soul mineral.

"Thank you," Lu Ran smiled, while on the side, Black Feather stayed silent, feeling that Lord Gao Li was totally under Lu Ran’s control.

Soul Cooking Equipment...

It wasn’t something Lu Ran had originally considered.

What he wanted to forge, the Soul-Slashing Knife, was intended purely to be a weapon "capable of inflicting stable damage to the soul."

Whether it had an Artifact Spirit didn’t matter.

But now that he thought about it, an Undead Blade seemed more suitable as Soul Cooking Utensils than a mere Soul-Slashing Knife.

Of course, Lu Ran could only dream about either at the moment.

Next, following Lord Gao Li’s instructions, Lu Ran and Black Feather returned to the City Lord’s Mansion.

Meanwhile, he himself began to send people to investigate the movements of the Imperial Army outside.

The stirrings of the Imperial Army were not good news for Midwood City.

"Let’s hope nothing goes wrong," sighed Lord Gao Li.

...

After Lu Ran returned, he chose not to have Black Feather taste-test anymore but instead focused on solitary cultivation.

First of all, although he had acquired another Soul Suppressing Stone for the forging of the Undead Blade and Soul-Slashing Knife, he was not in a hurry.

Just having the Soul-Slashing Knife wouldn’t be enough to sever spirit consciousness; otherwise, someone from the Divine Sect would have done it by now.

As for the Undead Blade, he couldn’t forge it just yet. Lu Ran could roughly understand the Forging Masters’ thought process of the Death Divine Sect.

It was about providing a suitable vessel to tempt and repair the wandering souls in the Land of Death.

If the weapon and soul fragments perfectly aligned during this process, then an undead weapon would be born.

Unfortunately, while Lu Ran understood the principle, he...

Lacked suitable conditions to nurture weapons within the Land of Death, and even if he did, the process wouldn’t be finished overnight, taking at least a few months, or even decades or centuries.

Most importantly, he didn’t know how to forge the vessel for an undead weapon.

Similarly, even if an undead kitchen knife were born, whether it could sever spirit consciousness remained an issue—most likely, it still couldn’t.

They were just "tools."

The key point might still lie in the tool user’s degree of understanding "spirit consciousness."

Perfect tools combined with the user’s perfect understanding could achieve "the pinnacle of cutting," perfectly severing the soul’s consciousness and energy.

So Lu Ran chose to focus on self-improvement first.

While Mr. Husky cultivated "Sword Intent of the Soul," Lu Ran also began his cultivation.

Luckily, he had the foresight to prepare hundreds of Clear Spirit Fruits; otherwise, it would be extremely difficult to acquire cultivation resources in a war-torn place like Fiji Province.

"King of Sudden Death!"

"Roar???" The King of Sudden Death emerged, looking bewildered.

"Train with me."

The King of Sudden Death pondered, then asked how exactly to accompany him.

"Simple," Lu Ran said. "Just stand there."

With that, Lu Ran took out a kitchen knife and said, "Next, I’m going to keep chopping you with this knife."

The King of Sudden Death was: ???

"Don’t worry, I won’t use force, and besides, even if I did, I couldn’t breach your defense," he reassured.

The King of Sudden Death paused, then nodded, as that made sense.

"In any case, you only have two tasks from here on."

Lu Ran found a piece of black cloth and blindfolded himself.

Holding the kitchen knife, he chopped on the King of Sudden Death’s sturdy Scale Armor.

"The first task: keep repeating one thought in your mind, and let me know when you feel pain."

"Remember, not physical pain, but the pain within your soul."

With his eyes closed and employing Psychic Sensing to its fullest, Lu Ran tried to capture the emotional waves of the King of Sudden Death, swinging the knife.

"[This grudge, I will remember it.]" The King of Sudden Death started repeating to himself.

And Lu Ran, using his Telepathic Superpower, captured its emotional waves, attempting to "slash off the grudge" for the King of Sudden Death.

"Knife slashes the body, intent slashes the soul."

Lu Ran’s Telepathic Superpower, though not a combat-type ability, was somewhat of an exploit, as the Space Hamster’s failure to conceal its emotional waves allowed Lu Ran to sense its hostility.

Now, Lu Ran was clearly using Psychic Sensing as a means to assist in cultivating his Sword Intent of the Soul.

By capturing the emotional waves of the enemy through Psychic Sensing, he then struck with his sword!

Even though he was uncertain if it would work, Lu Ran felt it made complete sense. If he could hurt the King of Sudden Death’s soul with just an extraordinary kitchen knife, wouldn’t that be achieving the Sword Intent of the Soul?