At this moment, Mu Ye no longer had the fearless arrogance he had displayed earlier. His entire demeanor deflated.
It was because of three simple words spoken by Di Tian—three words that formed a name. A name that belonged to a disciple of the Body Sect, the one disciple Mu Ye was most proud of and cared about the most.
His personal disciple, A Ruheng. His affection for A Ruheng was one thing.
More importantly, A Ruheng was the most talented disciple the Body Sect had seen in nearly a thousand years. He was the only one in the current generation with a real chance of mastering the Body Sect's highest innate secret technique—the Immaculate Golden Body.
The Body Sect had declined to its lowest point. As its Sect Master, Mu Ye was not even a Hyper Douluo. The strongest body martial soul users were now affiliated with other factions—Smiling Face Douluo Hu Jie had abandoned his Body Sect origins to join the Tang Sect, and the great spiritual master Han Tianyi was a member of the Spirit Pagoda.
It could be said that A Ruheng was the final ember of hope for the Body Sect's revival—its very last hope!
Now, faced with Di Tian's overwhelming strength, Mu Ye became even more convinced of the necessity of producing a near-god-tier expert with the Immaculate Golden Body.
The Immaculate Golden Body was said to be as natural as heaven and earth itself, with no flaws, no leaks, no filth, and no corruption. It could absorb any form of energy from the world to replenish itself, making its physical resilience almost comparable to that of a god.
A Ruheng's Immaculate Golden Body as the ultimate shield, paired with Cloud Contact Spear of Yun Ming, the strongest attack—only such a combination might be able to counter the terrifying power of Di Tian standing before him.
Mu Ye, who had stood tall his entire life, finally bowed his head at this moment.
"I will do as you ask. But A Ruheng is my only disciple—you must not harm him."
He had no doubt that Di Tian could easily locate A Ruheng's whereabouts. If Di Tian could uncover the tangled romantic history between Zhen Hua, Mu Chen, and Yuan Bao'er so clearly, then there was no way he wouldn't be able to find a hidden genius disciple.
Clap, clap, clap!
Di Tian clapped his hands and loosened his grip on Mu Ye's neck, letting him land steadily on the ground.
"As expected of a sect master—you know honor, and you understand when to advance or retreat."
"Rest assured, a body martial soul user who has not yet mastered the Immaculate Golden Body is not worth my time."
Hearing these words, Mu Ye's body trembled slightly. Even though he had mentally prepared himself, having his trump card exposed still gave him a chilling sense of vulnerability.
After all, A Ruheng was his secret disciple, kept hidden while being cultivated in the Body Sect's dwindling resources to master their ancient secret technique. He had never been exposed to the public eye.
"I hope Beast God Di Tian is a man of his word."
"Of course," Di Tian nodded slightly.
"Since we've 'negotiated' everything, let's begin as soon as possible."
Zhen Hua no longer cared about the look of disdain Mu Ye had given him earlier. He stepped forward to support Mu Ye's slightly shaky body, using his soul power to activate the self-repair functions of both his four-word battle armor and his god-ranked mecha.
Then, he turned to Di Tian and said, "Whether forging four-word battle armor or crafting a god-ranked mecha, both are long and painstaking processes. Not to mention, we are now trying to adapt them for… a soul beast."
"I estimate that for each set of synchronized four-word battle armor and god-ranked mecha, Mu Ye and I will need at least six months of full concentration."
"Six months per set…" Di Tian pondered for two seconds.
"Acceptable."
"Six months per set of four-word battle armor and god-ranked mecha—I can accept this timeframe. But don't think you can use this as an excuse to stall."
With a flick of his fingers, two strands of rainbow-colored light shot out like living threads, burrowing into the foreheads of Zhen Hua and Mu Ye.
"For the next few years, I'll trouble you both to stay busy in this forging chamber. You have people to run errands for you, don't you? If not, I'd be happy to handle things myself."
Faced with Di Tian's de facto house arrest order, neither of them had any response—or rather, they had no right to respond. They simply accepted it in silence.
Since Mu Ye was unwilling to converse further with Di Tian, Zhen Hua had no choice but to brace himself and continue the discussion.
"There are currently three soul beasts here. Which one do we start with for the four-word battle armor and god-ranked mecha?" He still couldn't discern the black-robed woman's mysterious aura, but anyone who arrived alongside Di Tian could only be a soul beast.
Xueling recalled how excited Di Tian had been when bringing her here and thought that he would surely let her go first.
But just as she was about to speak, Di Tian spoke ahead of her.
"Start with me. I'll be the first to receive a compatible set of four-word battle armor and a god-ranked mecha."
Then, he turned to Xueling and said, "Since this is the first time making battle armor and mechas for soul beasts, it's better that I test it out first."
Of course, part of the reason was safety testing. But more importantly—what man could resist mechas and Gundams? The cold, metallic texture of steel… Di Tian was no exception.
Xueling had no objections. In her eyes, Di Tian respected her, never treating her as a mere replacement for Snow Empress. To her, he was the very definition of reliability.
Mhm! If Di Tian is making this decision, he must have a good reason for it!
On the side, Demon Empress also remained silent.
It wasn't that she hadn't considered acquiring a set of four-word battle armor and a god-ranked mecha, but both required divine-grade metals.
The best forgers within the Holy Spirit Cult were only eighth-rank saint artisans, capable of producing three-word battle armor and black-grade mechas. But such equipment would not only fail to enhance her combat abilities—it would hinder her when transforming into her true form.
The cult had tried to either kidnap or assassinate Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua multiple times in the past, but all attempts had ended in failure. Eventually, the plan to create her own four-word battle armor and god-ranked mecha was shelved.
As for why she wasn't jumping at the chance now?
She understood Di Tian's thinking. He would ensure that all the powerful soul beasts who could take human form obtained four-word battle armor and god-ranked mechas. There was no need to rush.
Seeing that the three of them had reached an agreement without dispute, Zhen Hua suppressed his fluctuating emotions and said,
"This is also my first time crafting four-word battle armor and a god-ranked mecha for a dragon-type soul beast… Many human Soul Masters have dragon martial souls. How about we use their four-word battle armor and god-ranked mechas as the blueprint?"
"No problem."
"As long as it's done as soon as possible."
Hearing Di Tian's decisive approval, Zhen Hua let out a long sigh of relief.
In highly specialized fields, nothing was worse than interference from an uninformed outsider.
He had genuinely feared that Di Tian would make a fuss about using human-designed battle armor and mechas as the model.
After all, Di Tian was no ordinary troublemaker. He was more fearsome than any demanding investor or client—because he actually had the power to enforce his demands.
But before Zhen Hua could fully relax, Di Tian spoke again, immediately tightening the tension once more.
"I'll be borrowing Zhen Hua's private kitchen."
Without waiting for a response, Di Tian led the two women toward a small adjoining room.
This left behind an indignant but powerless Zhen Hua and a sullen Mu Ye.
After a long silence, Zhen Hua was the first to break it.
He patted Mu Ye's shoulder.