Chapter 139: Flying-Type Soul Tool

"Huu... That should do it." Huo Yuhao said, smiling as he observed his newly modified flying-type soul tool.

It was entirely dark blue, with the main body of the soul tool being a meter-long, half-meter wide, and one-foot thick metallic box with blue circuit-like lines all across its surface. The two sides of the box were connected to a set of folded wings, similar to the wings of a dragon, which would have a four-meter wingspan when they were unfurled.

The modifications he made had significantly enhanced its performance and adaptability; the soul power conduits were optimized for better energy flow, and the new thrusters he added to it provided greater speed and stability.

As an official class 6 soul engineer, modifying a flying-type soul tool wasn't too difficult as long as he had the materials and the fundamental basics behind the schematics of the soul tool, and thanks to his Sharingan, he could easily see through its mechanics and figure out its inner workings. The Sharingan allowed him to analyze the intricate designs and connections within the soul tool, making the modification process much smoother.

Which is quite impressive, considering that Huo Yuhao never really made a flying-type soul tool before, now that he thought about it.

Of course, he was greatly interested in making one, it makes one fly after all! Who wouldn't want a device that grants them the ability to soar through the skies? Only Soul Sages and soul masters with flight-type martial souls have the natural ability to fly in the sky.

This was envious, as flying-type soul tools still have a certain limitation and a requirement needed to use it, and that was the Soul Power consumption!

Only a soul master with four or more soul rings could use one due to the amount of soul power required to reach an altitude of a certain level. If the user wasn't that strong, they wouldn't be able to reach that height, which in turn meant that they wouldn't have enough buoyancy to even float in the air, much less fly.

At that moment, a problem arose in the case of Wu Feng, Ning Tian, and Xiao Xiao, more so for the latter as she was still a Soul Grandmaster. In the case of Wang Dong'er however, she could fly in the first place! It wouldn't be too hard for her to rely on the Radiant Butterfly Goddess' wings to rise into the air, and then fly forwards with the flying-type soul tool.

The three girls were then left in the care of Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochen, this wasn't the first time that they had used a flying-type soul tool, they were the ones who helped guide them on how to use their respective flying-type soul tools, and after which, the seniors attached harnesses with the juniors.

For their safety, and also because they were still having some minor issues in properly controlling the soul tools.

'Looks like everyone's ready,' Huo Yuhao thought to himself as he strapped his flying-type soul tool, which he named "Skywing Dragon," onto his back. The harness fit snugly, and he felt the familiar hum of soul power flowing through the conduits, ready to propel him into the air.

Another reason why he didn't make a flying-type soul tool, they were freaking expensive to make!

'I'm so keeping this soul tool,' He grinned excitedly as two beams of white light were released from the flying-type soul tool on his back, which propelled him into the air.

To use a flying-type soul tool, one first had to gather one's thoughts, then needed to channel their soul power from their back into the core formation of the flying-type soul tool to produce a propulsive force. The contraption had a few buttons on it for the sake of adjusting its wingspan. However, a larger wingspan didn't necessarily mean that one would fly faster; that was determined based on the change in one's turbulence.

As long as the user was able to maintain a high amount of forward momentum, they wouldn't fall down.

As Huo Yuhao was a soul engineer, controlling such a soul tool didn't pose a challenge to him. Right now, all he needed to do was learn how to control his balance as this was the first time he ever flew like this; being carried by Wang Dong'er doesn't count.

Fortunately, the omni-assisting Spiritual Detection once again played a wonderful role in this: He was able to clearly detect the changes in turbulence in the air, and accurately react by changing the angle of his wings. It only took him a short while of testing to master flying in a straight line. Afterward, he began attempting to glide through the air.

"Wow, you're pretty talented, aren't you?" A voice sounded beside him. He didn't have to turn his head to know it was Zhu Mei Lan, flying beside him with a military-grade flying-type soul tool of her own. "To modify a soul tool like that so easily in just half an hour, you're a soul engineer, aren't you? A pretty high one too, I bet."

Huo Yuhao lightly smiled, adjusting his position slightly to maintain his balance. "I am a soul engineer, though not the only one in our group. See that big guy over there with a bald head? He's also a soul engineer and my senior brother."

Zhu Mei Lan raised an eyebrow. "Not going to announce your class?"

"Do I need to?"

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. It's just that all of the soul engineers that I've met are usually pretty proud of their rank and achievements. You're quite modest, aren't you?"

Huo Yuhao chuckled, adjusting the angle of his wings to gain more altitude. "It's not about modesty. I just believe actions speak louder than words. Plus, there's always more to learn and achieve."

Although he had achieved an impressive achievement of becoming a class six soul engineer with just four soul rings, as a soul engineer's soul power and class had a direct connection, he still felt that he had a long way to go in this field.

He had read and understood almost every soul tool blueprints and theory of soul tools given to him by Fan Yu, with the help of his clone to shorten the time required, and he created his own functioning soul tools and blueprints. He was officially a true soul engineer long ago when he created Frostbane and the Godly Shotgun.

But he knew that he couldn't be complacent, since the soul engineering teachings that the academy, as well as the Star Luo, Heavenly Spirit, and Dou Ling Empires, are entirely inferior compared to the technologically advanced Sun Moon Empire. If Huo Yuhao wanted to improve his field in soul engineering, he needed to go to the Sun Moon Empire.

But that was in the far future, he still has all kinds of unfinished businesses in the academy, Star Luo Empire, and his sect. He'll go there to expand his horizons when he has the time, or simply send out a clone when he could spare more soul power.

Huo Yuhao glanced at his friends, seeing everyone except Wang Dong'er having a hard time, he naturally spread out his Spiritual Detection to help them out.

"Hey, you got it already?" Wang Dong'er asked, flying up beside Huo Yuhao with her Bright Goddess Butterfly Wings on display as well as the flying-type soul tool, which, he wasn't going to lie, looked quite weird on her.

Imagine, a pair of butterfly wings that were the most beautiful things you've ever seen; it wasn't strange to compare them to something divine, and a pair of artificial cicada-like wings with thrusters was attached in the middle of the butterfly wings...it simply ruins the image.

Wang Dong'er glanced at Zhu Mei Lan, although she tried to hide it, but she couldn't help but look at her with narrowed eyes and drew closer to Huo Yuhao, snatching his hand.

"Oh?" Zhu Mei Lan's eyebrows shot up in shock. She looked at Wang Dong'er and then at Huo Yuhao with a strange look and asked, "Are you two...?"

"Yes."

"We're friends."

Were Wang Dong'er and Huo Yuhao respective answers. The latter turned to his friend with a deadpanned lightly slapped her head. "Don't you start teasing people! Everyone's going to start misunderstanding us."

"Humph!" Wang Dong'er pouted and started gently punching his shoulder, Huo Yuhao chuckled and rubbed her head.

He then explained to Zhu Mei Lan, "We're holding hands because we have a martial soul fusion that works in cultivation as well."

"Ah, you're both quite diligent." Zhu Mei Lan replied, slumping her shoulders down, though her eyes still wandered between the two.

Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes. Why did she look so....disappointed? He didn't understand why, but a chill ran down his spine when Zhu Mei Lan looked at them with that strange expression. He could try to read her mind...but he has a feeling that he was going to regret doing so.

He shook his head. "So, Lieutenant huh? That is pretty impressive, I've never seen someone so young such as yourself achieve that military ranking. You must be quite exceptional. How old are you this year, miss Lieutenant?"

Zhu Mei Lan smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thank you. Hard work and a bit of luck, I suppose. Please, just call me by my name or Mei Lan for short. Officially, I'm currently off-duty due to...familial issues. So there is no need to stand on ceremony."

Huo Yuhao nodded, appreciating her humility. "Alright, Mei Lan it is then. It must be challenging balancing your duties with personal matters."

Mei Lan sighed softly. "It can be, but I've learned to manage. Sometimes, it's the only way to keep moving forward." A glint flickered across her eyes.

Huo Yuhao hummed and didn't asked, as it was insensitive and that he already knew almost everything about her, so he just talked to her about random topics to pass the time as they flew together.

'He's...not hostile towards her?' Wang Dong'er thought to herself as she observed their interaction. She thought for sure that Huo Yuhao would either keep his distance or be antagonistic towards her, but it wasn't as she expected it to be.

There was one simple reason for that: Zhu Mei Lan didn't like her mother, the duchess. Sure Zhu Mei Lan didn't hate her to the point of wanting to kill her, like Huo Yuhao does, but as long as they had a common distaste for the duchess, there was no reason for him to act hostile towards her. Instead, he saw an opportunity to gain a possible ally.

 After an hour of practice, everyone was at least decent on their use of the soul tools. Once everyone had reached this point, they all naturally entered a state of meditation to recover their soul power, then took flight again. For the sake of receiving the help of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection, every single one of them gathered behind him.

Zhu Mei Lan gasped in shock as she experiences the Spiritual Detection for the first time.

They were able to fly a total of around six hundred miles in two hours, but this was their limit, due to the outer courtyard disciples with relatively lower cultivation levels. Due to their earlier hold-up, the sky had already begun to dim by the time that they landed to rest.

"This isn't good; we won't make it in time. This old man will carry you guys for a while." Elder Xuan's voice rang out as his leisurely figure materialized in the air above them, as if he'd instantaneously teleported there. "Everyone, get ready to tie yourselves together with a rope. After you all properly rested, we depart once more."

They nodded and sat to meditate. By the time they recovered their soul power, the sky had already turned dark.

"Here, fasten this to your waist." Wang Yan passed a long length of rope to Huo Yuhao and to everyone else, a somewhat nervous expression on his face.

'What is Elder Xuan planning on doing?' Huo Yuhao took the rope and fastened it to himself. He looked around to see everyone having ropes around their waists, the ends to all of them were handed to Elder Xuan.

"Little fellas, you'll have to do your best to protect yourselves in a bit. Once we ascend, everyone should maintain a forwards-facing position. Once I give you the signal, activate your soul power to prevent yourselves from being injured by the turbulence around us. Understood?"

"Yes, elder!"

'Elder Xuan's personally making a move. I wonder what he is going to do...' Huo Yuhao thought to himself, waiting in anticipation and excitement on what he was going to do.

Well, he certainly didn't expect him to bring out a flying-type soul tool that was half as thick as everyone else's back. A set of dark-red wings quickly unfurled until they were about two meters or so wide, which wasn't considered too wide. However, there were twelve thrusters on the ends of his wings.

It had to be known, most flying-type soul tools, including military-issued ones, only had two thrusters! What does this mean?

'Oh shit!' Huo Yuhao's face paled as held onto his rope for dear life, some of the others also realized the situation and grabbed onto their respective ropes tightly.

Once everyone had gotten into a forwards-facing position in the air, Elder Xuan's voice rang out, "Is everyone ready? Three, two, one, let's go!"

Following Elder Xuan's shout, all twelve thrusters on his wings simultaneously burst into life with blazing white light. Immediately afterwards, Huo Yuhao felt a large burst of force at his waist. Due to the enormous tension acting on him, the wings on his back automatically slightly withdrew. Afterwards, he wasn't able to clearly see his surroundings anymore.

'HOLY SHIT-!?'

Suffice to say, their journey towards the Ming Dou Mountain was greatly shortened by a lot.

....

AN: I really do not want to stretch this out any further. This small arc will end in at least four-five chapters before we proceed to the Tournament Arc, I hope so.

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