Contracts again
After the first soul surgery, Sam's life became a lot more easier.
The questions from Trike and his team lessened. They didn't dare doubt him and if they did, they didn't dare to voice them out. One elder's momentary lapse of judgment cost them a lot of learning experience.
The other three elders isolated that guy.
Just like how high school students do to the nerd or the teacher's pet. The work went on and their thoughts of stuck because of this.
Sam on the other hand moved at a clean pace. He fought and won all his battles. Gained the weapon spirits, fed them to the black smoke. After some time, the black smoke increased in quantity because of the vast amounts of death energy fed to it.
Sam enlarged the container to double its original size to accommodate all this smoke.