The fierce rivalries between the major factions didn't concern Ignaz. After catching up with Headmaster Shui, he returned to his village, only to find night had already fallen.
Back home, he fired up the forge and began dismantling some broken soul tools he had collected—especially those with intact core arrays.
Being his first serious attempt, Ignaz lacked experience, and even a single mistake could trigger the anti-tamper mechanism, causing the soul tool to fall apart or be permanently ruined.
"I refuse to believe I can't figure out how to take these apart!"
Determined to tackle the damaged soul tools, he worked through the night without sleep. When the rooster finally crowed and the sun crept up over the sea, he had just barely managed to fully dismantle the simplest soul tool in his collection.
He examined the individual parts one by one, murmuring to himself, "So this is the outer shell, the inner lining… and the most important part—the soul power core."
The most crucial piece—a blue crystal—caught his eye. Ignaz picked it up and studied the etched, fractured array on its surface. Then he grabbed a stone slab and began tracing the pattern.
Though the array was broken, it was the perfect practice material for a beginner like him. Intact cores in broken soul tools were rare, making this a golden opportunity.
He spent hours painstakingly carving, yet still couldn't replicate the array. It wasn't that his hand was unsteady—it was that his soul power was insufficient.
"Just as I thought… The array on this water-attribute crystal requires matching-level soul power to engrave it properly. No wonder it's so hard."
He'd learned a bit about soul array cores: they determine the level of a soul tool. The more advanced the array, the stronger the soul master needed to be to inscribe it. Otherwise, failure was almost guaranteed.
Shaking off the frustration, Ignaz straightened up, eyes filled with determination. "If this one's too advanced, I'll just keep dismantling more soul tools. Skill comes from practice, and with enough repetition, I'll master both disassembly and array carving."
From that point on, aside from his daily soul power training, he poured all his energy into taking apart soul tools and practicing on lower-grade arrays.
Two months later, Ignaz turned eleven. His research had made real progress. After successfully disassembling and reassembling two fully functional soul tools, he had gained enough confidence to take out a rare item he'd won at auction.
With great care, he followed every step of the disassembly process he'd refined through trial and error, not daring to make a single misstep that could destroy the valuable tool.
First, the outer casing.
Then, the inner conduction shell.
And finally, the core soul array.
"Outer shell's not too corroded… inner conduit's heavily damaged… and the array core…"
As he took notes, he picked up the array core and studied it closely. His eyes lit up. A rare smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"This core array is completely intact? What luck! The heavens are on my side."
For a blacksmith like Ignaz, cracked shells and damaged conduits—typically made from soul-conducting ore—weren't real problems. He could fix those.
CLANG—
Just then, a chunk of metal the size of two fingers clattered to the ground. Ignaz bent down, picked it up, and injected a bit of soul power into it—only to be shocked by the result.
Unlike other neutral components, this one emitted a strange energy fluctuation. He squinted at it and then froze, jaw slack.
"No way… this is a soul bone? And it looks like… a right leg bone?"
Eyes wide with disbelief, he burst into laughter.
"I can't believe it! Another soul bone? Am I living in a soul-bone hotspot or something? That's two already—and this one's a massive score!"
Then his smile faded into a puzzled frown.
"But how did the appraisers at Vast Sea Auction House miss this?"
In truth, the evaluators hadn't failed in their job—they'd simply been cautious. The soul tool seemed slightly valuable, so they didn't risk taking it apart. Plus, they didn't see soul tools as particularly noteworthy, which is why the soul bone hidden inside went undetected.
After the initial excitement wore off, Ignaz stared at the soul's bone, his expression turning serious.
"This soul bone can probably mask its energy. That's likely why it was made into a soul tool with stealth properties. And since it's embedded into a tool, the bone itself must be relatively young—definitely under a thousand years old."
He paused to think. In total, a person can only absorb six soul bones—barring external soul bones, which are extremely rare. Of those six, trunk bones rank highest in value, followed by the skull, arms, and finally the legs.
This right leg bone, while rare, ranked low in both position and age. Absorbing it now would be a waste of a precious slot.
With that in mind, Ignaz carefully stored it away and focused back on restoring the outer and inner shells of the soul tool.
Three days later, he had crafted a soul tool in the shape of a blue-gold necklace. The internal soul conduit used a premium ore called watergold, even better than crystal silver. It boosted soul energy flow by more than double.
"Let's see how this baby works."
As Ignaz funneled soul power into the necklace, the color of his second soul ring began to change—first from purple to yellow, then to red. With ease, he could completely conceal his aura.
"Nice. This solves my future soul ring visibility problem."
Packing up his tools and cleaning the workspace, he left the village and headed toward Vast Sea City.
After turning into a narrow alley, Ignaz changed into a black-and-white cloak and donned a matching face-concealing mask. Then he walked toward a dimly lit building about 300 meters away.
A guard at the entrance barked coldly, "Three silver soul coins if you want into the black market. That's the rule."
Ignaz handed over the coins without a word and followed a guide through a winding underground tunnel, nearly four to five miles long. At last, he arrived at the largest underground black market in Vast Sea City, a second-tier city.
In front of him stretched a brightly lit street that seemed to go on forever. Lining the sides were vendors and over a dozen large buildings—it looked like a version of Vast Sea City trapped in a moonless night.
"Enjoy your time in the black market, sir."
The guide bowed respectfully and retraced his steps without another word.