Chapter 30: Superlative Elements

Lei En almost let out a shout, but he managed to hold it back with great effort.

On the surface he kept a calm face, but inside his mind roiled like a raging river; he could hardly believe his eyes, seeing three Elements in the soul of a gold‑eating ant!

"Stay calm! Stay calm!"

"Never let anyone notice."

Lei En averted his gaze; the few customers were each browsing, no one paid attention to him, especially the wizard who seemed to be a renowned soul‑inspector, who was standing farther away, and he let out a sigh of relief.

He pretended nothing had happened, took two steps forward to get closer, and studied the gold‑eating ant carefully.

The gold‑eating ant looked ordinary at first glance, indistinguishable from other ants. Yet a close examination reveals its color is darker, its body and joint edges are sharply defined, and it is a notch smaller than typical ants, appearing more compact and solid.

Moreover, for some reason it remained motionless in the glass jar, lifeless, like an artwork forged from steel.

Through the Soul Eye, the ant's Elements resurfaced, this time crystal clear.

"Damn, three Elements!"

Lei En was astonished, sensed them carefully, and soon identified what the three Elements were, each of which he had seen not long ago in the Thousand Souls Book.

The first was the Power Element, which can greatly boost physical strength; it is the ant's basic Element, which Lei En had just seen on another gold‑eating ant.

However, he found that this ant's Power Element was far stronger than the previous one.

"Power" is a Physical Element that can be enhanced. Each enhancement dramatically raises one's strength, sometimes multiplying it severalfold.

And this ant's Power Element was clearly already enhanced.

"It likely devoured the souls of its kind, which is why its Power Element is reinforced,"

Lei En had a hunch, but he didn't dwell on the Power Element, because the second Element left him utterly stunned.

"Steel Body!"

If no one else were present, Lei En would have shouted loudly to vent his amazement and shock.

Steel Body is a Superlative Physical Element!

Master Tai Manduo La, author of the Thousand Souls Book, divided the thousands of Elements he knows into four grades according to strength and rarity.

The most common and widespread Elements are called Common Elements, such as Power, Stone Skin, and Fire Breath; next are the less common Elements with greater potency, termed Rare Elements, upon which many extraordinary professions base their core abilities.

Then come the even rarer and more powerful Superlative Elements; possessing just one can decisively affect an extraordinary profession, granting an unimaginable boost.

Finally are the Legendary Elements, each renowned, with only a handful known; the Thousand Souls Book lists just a dozen or so.

Common, Rare, Superlative, Legendary.

The rarer the grade, the stronger the Element, though not absolutely.

A Common Element, once enhanced or upgraded, can reach the power of a Rare Element; with enough enhancements it can rival higher‑grade Elements.

For example, Power; if it is enhanced many times, it can match a Superlative Element, even attaining Legendary power, though it is extremely difficult.

In short, an Element's grade represents its rarity and strength.

Steel Body is one such Element; it is a Superlative Element, just below Legendary, and among the most famous Superlative Elements!

Lei En had just read the Thousand Souls Book and remembered the description of Steel Body clearly.

It grants extraordinary beings a hardened body—skin, muscles, bones, even hair become indestructible,

leaving almost no weak points; ordinary weapons struggle to breach the defense, as if the person were a true iron man forged of steel!

A being whose whole body is like steel naturally possesses tremendous strength, which may explain why the ant's Power Element is reinforced.

The source of the Steel Body Element is known to be only a few, all terrifying monsters, the most famous being the Bronze Giant and the Steel Dragon.

One is a giant, the other a true dragon; both are Legendary‑rank monsters, beyond the reach of ordinary extraordinary beings.

This Superlative Element is the most coveted by all Iron Guard across the world.

Of course, other extraordinary beings also covet it; regardless of profession, possessing Steel Body is like gaining half a life—enemies find it hard to kill them.

A being with Steel Body stands unmoving before ordinary people, letting them slash with swords and knives; not even a scrap of skin can be scraped off.

Moreover, Steel Body can be enhanced again.

Lei En suddenly imagined many possibilities—what would Steel Body look like if pushed to its limit?

If a wizard obtained a steel body, would it have no close‑combat weaknesses?

A vague idea flickered in his mind.

But that wasn't all; the gold‑eating ant also possessed a third Element, and after Lei En saw it, he let out another gasp of awe.

The third Element is called Metal Touch, a rare psionic Element.

Psionic Elements are already scarce, and this one is Rare grade; Lei En was almost numb—what on earth is happening with this ant? What occurred to it?

He was not unfamiliar with Metal Touch, having seen it not long ago in another shop.

It was a magical soul of an Iron Rust Wraith, contained within a soul stone, priced at three hundred Gold Shields, drawing many onlookers.

The Iron Rust Wraith is a kind of spirit; its soul holds three Elements: Corroded Heart Shriek, Lightness Technique, and Metal Touch.

Lei En's keen interest in the Iron Rust Wraith stems from its being the key to becoming a Machinist.

After a successful Soul Transformation, merging with an Iron Rust Wraith allows one to transition to the Machinist class, and the most crucial core Element for a Machinist is Metal Touch.

Metal Touch grants Machinists a special sense: any metal object touched with the hand instantly reveals its performance and structure, as clear as reading patterns on the palm.

With Metal Touch, Machinists can fully exploit its power when forging metal‑based gear, creating the strongest weapons!

After enhancement, Metal Touch enables Machinists to gain further abilities, no longer limited to touch; through scent, sound, and shape they can discern metal information.

This ability is highly useful—for mining, detecting internal damage in metal equipment, or casting metal‑related spells, it offers great assistance.

In short, Metal Touch is like a metal affinity, the primary core Element of all Machinists.

After viewing the three Elements, Lei En nearly lost control; his breathing grew heavy, and he almost thought he was hallucinating.

He actually saw three Elements in the soul of a weak gold‑eating ant, and none were ordinary Elements.

Enhanced Power, Metal Touch, Steel Body!

One is a Common Element, one a Rare Element, and one a Superlative Element.

Each of these three Elements is rare on its own, yet they have all gathered in a single soul, and that soul is so weak.

Lei En double‑checked: even if this gold‑eating ant possesses three Elements, its soul is far inferior to a typical magic soul. Moreover, the three Elements are extremely faint; if they were placed into a soul stone, many soul‑appraisers might overlook them.

Nevertheless, these three Elements are absolutely certain; there is no mistake.

"This is a miracle!"

Lei En silently praised it, then grew a bit nervous, realizing he could not let anyone else get the jump on him this time.

Fortunately, the gold‑eating ant looks inconspicuous and lifeless, so for now no one has noticed its extraordinary nature.

He stood before the glass jar containing the ant to keep others from taking it, while observing the other gold‑eating ants and pondering how he could take it away.

"It definitely must not be killed here."

"If anyone discovers the true value of this gold‑eating ant, it's not just whether the magic soul can be preserved—whether I can even leave the market alive becomes the question."

Lei En cannot precisely assess the magic soul's worth, but even by a rough guess he knows that a magic soul containing ultra Elements would cause a huge sensation.

Even if the gold‑eating ant itself is weak, it could still fetch tens of thousands of Gold Shields!

Surrounded by so many transcendent beings, he is just an ordinary person—like a child clutching gold walking through a bustling market; once exposed, he would be courting death.

It might even be hard to take the magic soul out of the shop; the shop owner wouldn't agree to that in the first place.

Lei En glanced at the shop owner, thinking he should let the other make some money first to avoid suspicion. Pretending to have inspected them, he carefully selected three gold‑eating ants, handed them to the owner, and said eagerly, "These three, please extract the magic souls."

Before killing the gold‑eating ants, he first paid three Gold Shields.

The shop owner gladly took the money, then used an iron hammer to smash the ants one by one; unsurprisingly, none of them contained any Elements.

Lei En had known this outcome long ago, yet he still showed a disappointed expression.

The watching customers looked on with a hint of schadenfreude, while the shop owner beamed with joy, cheerfully releasing the gold‑eating ant's magic soul from the soul stone, which reverted to a white crystal.

After a soul stone releases its magic soul, it can be reused.

Lei En pretended to be unwilling to accept it, and thereafter selected several more gold‑eating ants, still gaining nothing.

The shop owner saw his expression and thought the young man was clearly getting obsessed, but said nothing, secretly delighted—soul‑gambling profits come from people like this.

After handing over ten Gold Shields, Lei En felt it was enough, let out an unwilling hum and said loudly, "Owner, I've bought so many and still saw no Elements; you haven't already screened these ants, have you?"

"I don't even know whether there are Elements; how am I supposed to select?"

The shop owner instantly grew displeased; he was experienced dealing with people who lost money and were dissatisfied, and said firmly, "It's just your bad luck, stop babbling. That gentleman just now revealed an Element, and you saw it with your own eyes."

Other customers were drawn in; someone nodded and said, "Indeed, young man, you must accept defeat when you gamble."

A few likely planted guys even scolded Lei En, saying he lost and can't afford to play.

Lei En's face turned pale and then flushed, as if regretting spending so much; he patted his wallet, hesitated, then gritted his teeth and said, "Who says I can't afford it? I have plenty of money, give me five more!"

As he spoke, he angrily tossed five Gold Shields at the shop owner and immediately selected five gold‑eating ants.

This time, the gold‑eating ant that carries three Elements was among them.

The shop owner paid no heed to Lei En's attitude, collected the Gold Shields, and began killing the ants to extract souls.

The iron hammer struck the iron anvil with a bang‑bang sound; ant after ant was slain, and the first three magic souls contained no Elements, making Lei En's expression grow increasingly desperate.

Just as the shop owner raised the hammer to kill the fourth gold‑eating ant, Lei En could no longer hold back and shouted, "Owner, I'm done playing, give me my money back!"

The shop owner, looking displeased, set the hammer down and pointed at Lei En, saying, "Items bought here are non‑returnable. Young man, if you have no money, don't gamble with souls."

The surrounding customers all wore looks of spectators; such situations are common in the magic soul market.

"I don't care, I'm done playing anyway," Lei En said, a little frantic, insisting, "These two ants are still alive; give me back the Gold Shields."

"A refund is impossible; you've already bought those two gold‑eating ants, they're yours, kill them or not as you wish," the shop owner, of course unwilling to spit out meat already in his mouth, gave a signal; the shop's assistants and the few planted guys gathered, staring at Lei En with unfriendly faces.

Lei En was startled and stepped back, but inside he almost burst out laughing.

His face flushed with urgency, and finally he still dared not ask for a refund, stubbornly saying, "Then I won't kill them; give me the ants, I'll take them home and test them myself."

The shop owner shrugged indifferently, letting Lei En pick up the two glass jars and leave.