37 The Protective Hegemon Flower

Dai Huabin was stunned. He hadn’t expected Zhou Yi to be this harsh, and he could only stare blankly for a moment. Before he was able to react, Zhou Yi had appeared right in front of him. Despite Dai Huabin being the strongest individual amongst the freshmen, he was still completely powerless in front of the six-ringed Zhou Yi. He followed in Huang Chutian’s footsteps as he was immediately thrown out the window by Zhou Yi.

Zhu Lu’s voice was intermingled with both anger and astonishment as she cried out, “Teacher Zhou, I can’t accept this!”

Zhou Yi grabbed ahold of her and flung her out of a window as well. “If you aren’t able to accept it, you can scram too.”

The class had been shaken when Huang Chutian was thrown out, but now the entirety of Class 1 had become so silent that even a pin hitting the floor would be heard. Even the students who’d been told to stand outside in the corridor had been able to hear the commotion, and everyone had momentarily been overwhelmed with shock. This caused the atmosphere in the room to instantly turn grave.

Wang Yan eyes widened in astonishment as he finally realized why Zhou Yi had never been promoted to a high-ranked teacher. Her, her temper was too…

“Teacher Zhou!” Wang Yan hurriedly shouted.

Zhou Yi appeared in front of him in a flash, shocking the students, who thought for a moment that she was about to throw Teacher Wang out. However, Zhou Yi only said icily, “Teacher Wang, you’re the main teacher in charge of Class 1, while I’m the assistant teacher. However, I have the qualifications to carry out my personal teaching philosophies. As such, I’ll have to trouble you to make a report to the Academy stating that the students ‘Huang Chutian’, ‘Dai Huabin’, and ‘Zhu Lu’ have severely violated class discipline. Seeing that they’re either core disciples of the outer courtyard or temporary core disciples, I’m unable to expel them. However, I’d like the Academy to transfer them out of this class, as I refuse to teach these types of students. At the same time, Wu Feng hasn’t attended the first day of class, and hasn’t given a reason for her absence. Thus, I’d like to request that the Academy transfer her to another class as well.”

Wang Yan hurriedly replied, “Teacher Zhou, calm down. They’re core disciples!”

Zhou Yi glared at him icily. “In my eyes, there are only obedient and disobedient disciples; outstanding and trashy disciples. There are no core disciples. I’ve already decided that they need to screw off. Now then, you can go ahead and teach the students in the classroom. I’m going to teach the students outside.” With that, she turned and left the classroom.

Xiao Xiao whispered, “Yuhao, see that? Teacher Zhou’s helping you out for the injustice you’ve suffered. I like her protection.”

Wang Dong’s evaluation of her was even more succinct, “Her domineeringness has been exposed!”

Zhou Yi was truly domineering. In only a short three minutes, she’d expelled three core disciples, as well as one temporary core disciple. If it were any other teacher in the Academy, they never would’ve done this. At this moment, even Wang Yan felt that she was a lunatic.

However, it was true that Zhou Yi’s actions had stunned the students of Class 1. Every single student present suddenly felt an extremely intense sense of crisis.

Core disciples couldn’t be directly expelled by a teacher, but the other students could be! After core disciples had been used to set an example, who would dare to go against Teacher Zhou’s authority?

At this moment, the students both within and outside the classroom all suddenly became extremely obedient.

The original students of Class 1 were already having a moment of silence for the students that’d been left outside with Teacher Zhou. They understood Teacher Zhou’s methods of teaching all too well. However, not only did they feel joyous towards this matter, they even felt a sense of closeness. They all felt that she’d vented some anger for Huo Yuhao; this was equivalent to venting some anger for the entirety of the original Class 1!

Wang Yan began his class with a heart full of depression. Even if he wanted to accuse Zhou Yi of misconduct, he’d have to wait until after class to do so. However, Wang Yan quickly discovered that the class’s atmosphere had changed.

Compared to yesterday’s lax atmosphere, the remaining thirty or so students in the class were extremely serious, to the point that they seemed to basically be thirsting for knowledge! Moreover, the discipline in the class had become so good that he basically couldn’t find anything to even be fussy about.

He couldn’t help his way of thinking gradually shifting because of this. It seems like being somewhat strict isn’t that bad after all!

Naturally, Huang Chutian, Zhu Lu, and Dai Huabin—who were currently crawling up from the field they’d landed in—didn’t feel the same about Zhou Yi’s strictness. The three of them were somewhat dumbstruck; never in their wildest dreams had they expected a situation like this to occur.

Dai Huabin had felt like he had the qualifications to be a class monitor, as Wang Dong wasn’t his equal in terms of strength. However, he’d never expected Zhou Yi to not care about his cultivation or his identity, nor had he expected her to literally throw him out of class. Furthermore, she’d even kicked him out of Class 1.

Of the four classes in Year 1, Class 1 was the strongest, and was also the class that specialised in teaching control-type and assault-type soul masters. If Class 1 didn’t want him, where could he go? The only answer to that was Class 2. However, Class 2 taught defense-type and agility-type soul masters! What could he learn there? More importantly, this was simply too embarrassing. As the son of the White Tiger Duke, he’d actually been kicked out of his class! If it hadn’t been for his status as a core disciple, he would’ve had to simply pack his bags and leave. For a brief moment, Dai Huabin was so filled with hatred that he clenched his fists, ready to explode.

However, where was he again? This was Shrek Academy, the continent’s number one academy. As a three-ringed Soul Elder, he was definitely an excellent figure amongst his peers. However, in a place like Shrek Academy, where experts were like stars in the sky, he was worth a fart! Even if his father, the White Tiger Duke, were to personally come, he’d have to kowtow in front of the upright sculptures of the first generation Shrek’s Seven Monsters. What could he do?

“Huabin, what should we do?” Zhu Lu was somewhat agitated. As an agility-type soul master, she should’ve gone to Class 2 in the first place. However, she’d been specially placed into Class 1 because of the martial soul fusion she had with Dai Huabin. However, they’d been expelled together. At the same time, her arrogant temper was no less than Dai Huabin’s!

Dai Huabin clenched his teeth tightly. “We’ll follow the Academy’s arrangements. I’ll remember this humiliation. There’ll be a day, hmph….”

In the end, Wang Yan didn’t accuse Zhou Yi of misconduct. Furthermore, he decided to stand by Zhou Yi’s decision. At the end of the day, the remaining students in Class 1 had all ended up being extremely obedient. Their learning efficiency was also much higher than any class Wang Yan had ever taught.

Wang Yan had no choice but to accept the facts that had been placed in front of him! He admitted that, even though Zhou Yi’s teaching methods were somewhat rough, she was extremely efficient. With a partner like her, he’d definitely be able to produce a good batch of students. Because of this, he decided to have a private conversation with Zhou Yi before he went to the Academy to report the issue that had occurred at the end of the day. He only had one condition: He wanted to continue teaching Class 1 beside Zhou Yi all the way up until they’d graduated from the outer courtyard. Zhou Yi agreed.

“You’re making trouble. Is there anything good that I can say about you, Zhou Yi? The classes have only just been divided, yet you’ve already caused such a large ruckus. Are you scared that they don’t know who you are? The freshmen that you taught were cumulatively able to obtain the best results in the freshmen assessment, thus the Academy was going to promote you to a high-ranked teacher. And yet now, you’ve gone and done this. Don’t you think…” With an angry expression on his face, Du Weilun looked towards Wang Yan and Zhou Yi, who were seated in front of him.

Zhou Yi indifferently replied, “This is the way I teach my students. If I can’t become a high-ranked teacher, so be it. Either you get rid of me, or I’ll continue to teach like this.”

“You—” In a moment of anger, Du Weilun almost decided to actually get rid of her. However, he wasn’t Zhou Yi, nor was he as impulsive as her. It was widely known that there was a problem with Zhou Yi’s way of teaching, but one had to admit that the way she taught was extremely efficient. The number of inner courtyard students that Zhou Yi had nurtured was much higher than an overwhelming number of high-ranked teachers. Naturally, the number of students she’d expelled was also the highest in the Academy.

Wang Yan hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “Director Du, please don’t be angry. Actually, Teacher Zhou wasn’t really wrong in doing what she did. These new students were overconfident because of their talent, which made them somewhat rebellious. They’ll now be much more obedient after today’s lesson, which in turn will be extremely advantageous for both their and our future classes. Furthermore, none of the students that Teacher Zhou removed were actually expelled in the end. They still have their identities as core disciples, so they’ll still be able to receive pointers from inner courtyard teachers. Moreover, they’ll still be able to continue studying in the Academy, so it won’t affect them too much. As such, I support Teacher Zhou’s strict way of producing brilliant students.”

After hearing Wang Yan’s words, Du Weilun’s expression became much better to look at. He pointed towards Zhou Yi, and an exasperated expression appeared on his face. “Is there anything good to say about you? When will a hegemon flower like you become any softer?”

Zhou Yi, her eyes as calm as before, replied, “When Fan Yu thinks that I’m not soft enough.”

When Du Weilun heard this, he felt like he’d go crazy if Zhou Yi stayed there any longer. He hurriedly said, “Fine then, you two can leave. Zhou Yi, from now on I won’t care about any ruckus you make. However, this time, you’ll have to follow this class all the way from Year 1 until they graduate. If, by that time, you haven’t produced five inner courtyard disciples, I’ll fire you.”

If Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Wu Feng, and Huang Chutian were still in Class 1, Wang Yan wouldn’t have thought much of this request. However, he felt uncertain about this since they lacked these four core disciple-level students.

However, Zhou Yi didn’t reveal any weaknesses as she replied, “There will only be more than that, not less.” After saying that, she turned around and left. Everything had smoothly been settled.

As Zhou Yi and Wang Yan were making their report to Du Weilun, Huo Yuhao was walking over to the Soul Tool Department by himself for the first time.

Since he could no longer sell his roasted fish anymore, there was now a two hour gap between the end of class and dinnertime. After saying farewell to Wang Dong, he headed straight for the Soul Tool Department.

From today onwards, he would have to learn from Teacher Fan Yu in the Soul Tool Department.

With the golden badge Fan Yu had given him in-hand, Huo Yuhao entered the Soul Tool Department unimpeded. Afterwards, he went directly to Testing Area 12. As soon as he opened the door, he saw He Caitou busily messing with something atop metal table while Fan Yu stood beside him, guiding him.

“Teacher Fan Yu, senior brother He.” Huo Yuhao hurriedly walked over, only to see He Caitou fiddling with a few metallic parts.

Fan Yu smiled. “You’ve come? I heard about what happened yesterday. Nice job, real men can’t surrender. Caitou, be a bit more careful. You’ll have to handle it by yourself for a little while.”

After He Caitou greeted Huo Yuhao, Fan Yu led him over to another metal table.

Fan Yu pulled over a chair, looked towards Huo Yuhao, and said, “You’re my last disciple, so I’ll definitely teach you in a way that’s different to the other Academy teachers. At the same time, our schedule’s going to be much tighter. You’ll have to come over here for at least two hours after dinner before you can head back and rest. Do you have any problems with that?”

Huo Yuhao replied without any hesitation, “No problem, teacher. I’m not afraid of hard work; I’ll definitely study hard.”

Fan Yu nodded. “You don’t need to keep telling me that you’re hardworking. Show it to me with your actions. Let me ask you this: What are Soul Tools?”

Huo Yuhao was stumped; his understanding of soul tools was limited to the two trips he’d made here.

Fan Yu didn’t seem to have any hopes of Huo Yuhao answering his question. He directly answered his own question, “Soul tools are weapons that soul masters activate using soul power. Each and every soul tool is intimately linked to a soul master’s soul power. Even a stationary soul tool, which needs very little soul power, isn’t an exception to this. Today, I’ll be teaching you some basic knowledge about soul tools, which you’ll have to remember all of.”

“Yes.”

“It’s impossible to tell when soul tools were first created, but the true development of soul tools began when the Sun Moon Continent collided with our Douluo Continent. You should know the history of our continent; the enormous collision that caused a massive war between our two continents. Though we were able to win in the end, the Sun Moon Continent inflicted enormous losses on the various empires within our Douluo Continent by relying on their soul tools.”

“Why then, was the Sun Moon Empire able to develop their soul tools to such an extent? Other than their painstakingly hard work, the main reason that they were able to do so was because of their resources. There are many precious metals available within the Sun Moon Empire, and it’s precisely because of these precious metals that they were able to create exceptionally high quality soul tools. Over these past few thousand years, the level of their research into soul tools has gone more and more in-depth. Moreover, the strength of the Sun Moon Empire’s Soul Tool Army has already exceeded that of a few of our Douluo Continent’s empires. As such, the main reason that they were able to do this was because of their resources. In turn, the conflict between their various empires will never end precisely because of their natural resources. However, the strength of the Sun Moon Empire has unceasingly increased due to their soul tools. If it weren’t for their lack of consummate experts, they would’ve already begun an all-out war.”

“Because of that, soul tools are strategic weapons for the various empires on the continent. However, the fact that a soul tool requires a soul master to utilise it stops an army from being able to use them on a large-scale basis. Otherwise, the conflicts that would’ve occurred would’ve been even more terrifying.”

“You should know that our Shrek Academy is the number one academy on the continent. That, however, refers only to our Academy’s Martial Soul Department; our Soul Tool Department isn’t the highest ranked on the continent.”

After saying this, a light seemed to flicker through Fan Yu’s eyes.

“Ah? We’re not? Is the number one Soul Tool Department in the Sun Moon Empire?” Huo Yuhao asked.

Fan Yu nodded. “You’re correct. The top ranked Soul Tool Department belongs to the Sun Moon Empire. It’s known as the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, and it’s specialised in both nurturing soul engineers and researching soul tools. Because of both the early start they got, and the precious metals they have access to, they have a large advantage over us. For example, they were the first ones to create stationary soul tools.”

“We’ve always been chasing after the footsteps of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, but we’ve never caught up with them. However, I believe that this sort of situation won’t last forever. We have our own advantage over the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, which lies in the fact that we have far more talented soul masters.”

“The heavens are fair. They gave the Sun Moon Empire an abundant amount of resources, but they didn’t give them too many talented soul masters. However, it’s different for the countries that originally belonged to our Douluo Continent. There’s always been a saying in the world of soul engineers: The stronger a soul tool is, the stronger the soul master required to utilise it. However, at the same time, you need stronger soul masters to create stronger soul tools. This is the path that we’re currently following.”

“Now then, I’ll give you a simple explanation of the ranks soul engineers have and what types of soul tools there are.”

“Soul masters that follow the path of researching, creating, and using soul tools are collectively called soul engineers. Soul engineers have different levels, but their titles aren’t as complicated as ‘Soul Grandmasters’, ‘Soul Elders’, ‘Soul Ancestors’, and such that soul masters have. Instead, we simply separate them by class. As such, we have Class 1 through Class 10 soul engineers. Currently, the strongest soul engineer on the entire continent is Class 9; there aren’t any Class 10 soul engineers. Do you know why that’s the case?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head blankly.

Fan Yu continued, “The difference in class between soul engineers is determined by the class of the corresponding soul tool they can control. I’ll give you an example so that you can understand what I mean: If you can create and control a soul tool suitable for soul masters that are Rank 10 and below, you’ll be a Class 1 soul engineer. If you can create and use soul tools that are suitable for Rank 10 to 20 soul masters, you’re a Class 2 soul engineer. Following this rule, Class 9 soul engineers need to be Titled Douluo as well. As for Class 10 soul engineers, the first step is having a cultivation of at least Rank 95.”

“There’s a limit to the amount of energy a person has. A soul master’s cultivation is extremely arduous; even people with an absolutely heaven-defying amount of talent have to go through an untold number of difficulties and an extremely large amount of hard work in order to simply become a nine-ringed Titled Douluo expert. Let’s not even mention the time they’d have to use to study and research soul tools as well. Because of that, while soul engineers are common, high-ranked soul engineers are extremely rare. From what I know, there are only three Class 9 soul engineers within the Sun Moon Empire. However, the highest ranked soul engineer within the Heavenly Soul Empire, Spirit Ling Empire, and Star Luo Empire is only at Class 8.5.”

Huo Yuhao asked in astonishment, “There are even half ranks?”

Fan Yu replied, “That Class 8.5 soul engineer actually belongs to our academy; he’s the Dean of our Soul Tool Department. He’s already reached the Titled Douluo rank, but he’s currently unable to create a powerful soul tool that only Titled Douluo can use. That’s why we call him a Class 8.5 soul engineer. The reality is, we don’t have a single Class 9 soul engineers throughout all three of our empires. Ever since the high-speed development of soul tools, a Class 10 soul engineer has never appeared on the continent before; it’s only there in name. If a Titled Douluo manages to reach Rank 95, he reaches a totally different level. There might not even be a single Rank 95 expert amongst ten Titled Douluo, much less one who’s also a soul engineer.”

“Now that you know about the different ranks that soul engineers have, let’s talk about the different types of soul tools. After several thousand years of development, soul tools have become increasingly mature. As such, soul tools have been separated into three different categories: close-combat soul tools, long-range soul tools, and stationary soul tools.”

“As the name implies, a close-combat soul tools focus on close-combat, and allow a powerful offensive or defensive skill to be unleashed via soul power. Speaking relatively, there are very few soul engineers who use close-combat soul tools. A large majority of soul engineers don’t have martial souls that are good for combat, so they’re somewhat timid in a close-combat situation. Though close-combat soul tools aren’t weak, it’s hard to find a chance to use them against other soul masters at a similar rank. Because of that, most close-combat soul tools are used by combatants from the Martial Soul Department. On the other hand, a majority of soul engineers use long-range soul tools.”

“You’ve already seen Caitou’s demonstration; he was using a long-range soul tool. Long-range soul tools drain much more soul power than close-combat soul tools, but if they’re used skillfully, they can be equivalent to an additional soul skill with an extremely large amount of destructive power. With Caitou’s current level of control and skill, even a four-ringed Soul Ancestor might not have the upper hand in a fight against him. Nobody at the three-ringed rank can compare to him.”

“Lastly, let’s talk about stationary soul tools. Stationary soul tools are the most difficult of the three to create, with their material requirements and creation techniques able to be described with the phrase ‘to perfect something that’s already outstanding’. Extremely complicated formation arrays have to be carved onto the soul tool when it’s created, and you also need to use soul power as a source to power it. It has the largest amount of power and range, but it drains the greatest amount of resources amongst the three types of soul tools. Furthermore, it has another problem: Unlike a long-range soul tool, where you can use your soul force to lock onto your opponent, you have to manually aim a stationary soul tool. This is the main reason that I was so interested in your Spiritual Detection.”

“Ever since the advent of the use of stationary soul tools on the battlefield, the gap between our three great empires and the Sun Moon Empire has been decreasing, so much so that it’s practically become nonexistent at this point. If it weren’t for them being afraid of the fact that we have even more consummate experts than them, the Sun Moon Empire definitely wouldn’t have endured for so long. Because of that, the main focus of my research is on stationary soul tools. Once we can accurately launch long-distance attacks with stationary soul tools, it’ll play a crucial role in any future conflicts we have.”

“Other than close-combat, long-range, and stationary soul tools, there’s also subdivisions of soul tools. For example, the attack-type, defense-type, illumination, and other such soul tools that I’ll gradually teach you how to create and use in the future. Now then, we’ll be moving on to the last section of today’s crash course: The components of a soul tool.”

With that, Fan Yu stood up and retrieved a rectangular metal box. The box was black, roughly a foot long, and as wide as a fist. It was square-shaped at the top, but arc-shaped at the bottom.

Fan Yu fastened the metal box to his left forearm then made sure it was snug. Afterwards, he tapped it in an unknown fashion, causing the black box to immediately begin changing.

A series of clangs rang out as the black box began to completely cover his left forearm. Three protrusions as thick as a thumb appeared above it.

“This soul tool’s known as a Sleeve Cannon. It’s a relatively common long-range soul tool, and it’s activated by soul power. Here, watch.”

With that, Fan Yu raised his arm. Three rays of white light immediately shot out from the three metal tubes that had appeared, and a strong undulation of soul power immediately shot towards the distance. They struck the distant metal wall, instantly causing halos of light to appear in it.

“The principles behind a soul tool are in fact, extremely simple. Using special methods and techniques, they turn soul power into destructive energy. The most common technique we use is compression, and the way that we do that is by using Formation Carving.”

As Huo Yuhao carefully observed him, Fan Yu removed the Sleeve Cannon from his left arm and slowly dismantled it. While doing so, he explained, “A soul tool is mainly split into three portions: the outer shell, the inner shell, and the core. The outer shell is what you can see on the exterior of the soul tool. You need to use the most durable and heat-resistant metals to create the outer shell, so as so prevent them from being easily destroyed in the long term. On the other hand, the inner shell is different; the inner shell’s most important feature is its ability to magnify and conduct soul power. Because of that, it has to be created using extremely precious conductive metals such as crystal-silver. At the same time, the inner shell’s ability to magnify soul power allows the user to reduce their consumption of soul power whilst using the soul tool. It’s because of this that soul engineers below Class 7 are stronger than soul masters in a drawn-out fight. Lastly, the core of a soul tool is the most important part. It needs to be created using the most precious types of metals and gems. Different types of formation arrays have to be activated using different levels of soul power, and correspondingly, we have to change the materials used for the inner and outer shells of the soul tool. The core can be considered the most important part of the soul tool, and the carving of a formation array is the most important step for a soul engineer.”

“When we determine the rank of a soul engineer, the most important step is to look at the formation array they carve. If you can carve a formation array of a certain rank, and your own soul power has reached that rank as well, you can then be considered a soul engineer of that rank.”

“There aren’t any shortcuts in learning how to carve a formation array. Once you’ve finished memorizing the formation that our predecessors racked their brains to create, you’ll simply have to continuously experiment with a few ordinary metals. That’s the only way that you’ll be able to constantly improve. Once you’ve learned the various theories of formation array carving, you’ll finally be able to create something that can be considered your own. When that happens, you can graduate.”

“The most important parts of our research are reflected through formation array carving, as it’s much easier to pair an inner and outer shell with a formation array as the base. Caitou has a lot of talent in this field. Despite how relaxed he appears to be, he has a special characteristic that his peers don’t have. That characteristic is his concentration. If you want to carve an extremely detailed formation array, you can’t lack concentration.”

“It’s not as if you can’t make any mistakes while carving formation arrays. However, the fewer mistakes you make, the more durable your formation arrays will be.”

After saying this, Fan Yu finally stopped. Huo Yuhao, who seemed to be deep in thought, made him feel extremely satisfied, as he could feel a level of concentration from Huo Yuhao that was comparable to He Caitou’s. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao’s facial expression showed that he’d been able to absorb the information very quickly; he seemed to already have a certain level of understanding towards soul tools.

A short period of time later, Fan Yu asked, “Do you understand now?”

Huo Yuhao nodded. “Teacher, I understand.”

Fan Yu smiled. “These are the most basic things that you’ll have to learn from now on. Now then, what you’ll first need to do is build a solid foundation in preparation of creating soul tools. This will take quite a long time to do, but it’s a fundamental part of being a soul engineer. The only way that you can become an outstanding soul engineer is by laying a solid foundation. You should know that, as a soul engineer, you’ll have to personally create every single soul tool that you’ll use. This is because only you can understand yourself the best, and because you have the most confidence in yourself. We’ll start by teaching you how to forge metal. If you want to become an excellent soul engineer, you’ll first have to become an excellent blacksmith.”

After he’d finished speaking, he gave Huo Yuhao a set of blacksmithing equipment that contained a funnel, a furnace, an anvil, a forging hammer, and more. Afterwards, Fan Yu began to teach him the art of forging, step by step.

Forging was separated into four main steps, as was more or less the case for all precious metals. Even the base of a formation array followed this principle.

The first of these steps was material purification. By unceasingly hammering a metal at high temperatures, one would be able to expel the impurities within it, in turn causing it to become more compact. The higher a material’s purity, the better it would perform. However, different metals had slightly different methods of purification.

The second step was molding. While some metals could be poured into a pre-made mold, a large majority of metals had to be molded by hand.

The third step was tempering. Tempering was a somewhat complicated process, but more than anything else, it’s something that requires experience.

The last step was polishing. Meticulously polishing and inscribing metal was the last step in creating a soul tool; it was the process that perfected an already outstanding item. However, once a core formation array had been polished, a formation array would have to be carved on the base.

Once these four steps were performed, and all the necessary parts were assembled, a soul tool would be created.

It seemed simple on paper, but every single step had extremely stringent requirements. And right now, Huo Yuhao was starting from the very first step of forging—material purification. The sound of a forging hammer smashing against metal began to ring out from Laboratory #12.

At dinnertime that evening, Wang Dong noticed that Huo Yuhao’s hands were visibly shaking.

“Hey, why’re your hands shaking?” Wang Dong asked, puzzled.

Huo Yuhao replied sulkily, “You go and smash a metal hammer into a metal block for over an hour, see what happens. If I hadn’t had my Mysterious Jade Hands, my hands would currently be full of blisters.”

As they ate, he gave Wang Dong a concise explanation of the basics of soul engineering that Fan Yu had taught him.

After he;d finished listening, Wang Dong had a disapproving look on his face. “Aren’t you just creating more trouble for yourself? That Teacher Fan Yu said it as well; once we’ve reached the seven-ringed Soul Sage rank, soul engineers simply aren’t a match for us soul masters. Why bother? You’re already lagging behind in terms of cultivation, yet you’ve decided to take time off to train as a soul engineer. Won’t this slow down the rate of your improvement even more?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head. “No. I have to become a soul engineer.” He had his own thoughts in mind. There were many characteristics of a soul engineer that he needed. Furthermore, Fan Yu had informed him that soul engineers were beginning to become even more popular than soul masters on the continent, even at the higher ranks. A single soul master only had the combat power of a single person, while a powerful, peak-level soul engineer could create a terrifying army.

His enemy was currently the White Tiger Duke and his wife, which was equivalent to making half of the Star Luo Empire his enemy! Even if he managed to reach the Titled Douluo rank, would he safely be able to win solely by relying on the strength of a soul master? Because of this, he didn’t just want to become a pinnacle-ranked soul master; he wanted to become a pinnacle-ranked soul engineer, so that he could forge the strongest soul tools for himself.

This goal of his was still very far, far away from coming to fruition. However, Huo Yuhao still had his own sense of pride and confidence. He wasn’t afraid of suffering, and in turn was willing to put in twice the effort of an ordinary person. On top of these things, he also had the Douluo Continent’s first ever million year soul ring. The Skydream Iceworm had also told him that the strength of his million year soul ring would increase along with his cultivation.

After eating the top-ranked dinner that core disciples could eat for free, Huo Yuhao’s body felt comfortably warm; an indescribable sense of relaxation had filled his body.

Wang Dong wiped his mouth and said, “Let’s head back and rest for a bit.”

Huo Yuhao replied, “I still have to see Teacher Fan Yu and train for another two hours, you can head back first. We can meditate once I’m back.”

Wang Dong rubbed his forehead. “Huo Yuhao, you know, sometimes I think that you’re a madman.”

Huo Yuhao chuckled. “A cute madman?”

Just as the two were leaving the canteen, they bumped into Tang Ya and Bei Bei. Seeing Huo Yuhao, Tang Ya patted her increasingly conspicuous chest like she was sighing in relief. “Little Yuhao, I thought that something had happened to you. It’s good that nothing’s happened, it’s good.”

It turned out that Tang Ya and Bei Bei had also heard about Huo Yuhao’s match with Wu Feng yesterday. Since he hadn’t left to sell any roasted fish, they’d assumed that he’d suffered serious injuries. After the two had thought about it for a bit, they’d realised that it was dinnertime. Thus, they decided to head over to the canteen and try their luck… just in time for them to bump into Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, who’d just finished their meals.

Huo Yuhao said, “Teacher Xiao Ya, senior brother, I apologize, but I need to head to the Soul Tool Department’s Testing Area to continue training! I don’t have time to explain everything to you right now. You can ask Wang Dong about yesterday’s incident since he knows what happened.” As soon as he’d finished speaking, he hastily walked away. The first steps of one’s journey would always be the toughest ones, and he wasn’t willing to give up on his training in the Martial Soul Department. Thus, he naturally had to make the most of his time.

Suspicious, Tang Ya asked, “What’s happened to Little Yuhao?”

Wang Dong laughed. “Him? He’s a madman. Well, using his own words, he’s a ‘cute’ madman. When he cultivates, he has so much enthusiasm that he isn’t even human anymore.”

Wang Dong explained yesterday’s issues, as well as the matter of Huo Yuhao becoming Fan Yu’s last disciple, to Tang Ya and Bei Bei. However, he decided to keep the matter of Huo Yuhao becoming a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department a secret out of consideration for him. After all, the Martial Soul Department could immediately withdraw his temporary core disciple treatment if they were to find out.

After they’d finished listening to Wang Dong, Tang Ya and Bei Bei looked towards each other.

Bei Bei smiled bitterly. “I didn’t think that our many years of hard work wouldn’t even amount to our junior brother’s three months. It seems that Teacher Fan Yu has actually taken him in as a disciple. Xiao Ya, perhaps the responsibility of reviving our Tang Sect will fall onto the shoulders of our little junior brother.”

Tang Ya nodded, somewhat relieved. “That’s fine to. I wasn’t really talented at creating soul tools in the first place, so I wouldn’t really be able to accomplish much, even if I continued. It’d be better if I focused on our Tang Sect’s traditional hidden weapons.”

With a puzzled expression on his face, Wang Dong asked, “Senior brother, Teacher Xiao Ya, what are you two talking about?”

Bei Bei said, “Both the rise and fall of our Tang Sect were because of our hidden weapons. Ever since the high-speed development of soul tools began, our Tang Sect began to decline in turn. Because of that, we lost a lot of income. After thinking it over, Tang Ya and I realised that the only opportunity we have to revitalise the Tang Sect is to fuse our hidden weapons with modern soul tools. Because of that, both of us entered the Soul Tool Department. However, I’m a core disciple of the Martial Soul Department, while my classes in the Soul Tool Department are all electives. Right now, I’m only a Class 1 soul engineer. Xiao Ya is able to spend more of her time over there, but her personality makes it so that it’s hard for her to focus while she’s studying and researching. She’s only a Class 2 soul engineer right now, and it will be hard for her to advance to a Class 3 soul engineer.”

Tang Ya interjected, “But Teacher Fan Yu’s different! Teacher Fan Yu is the number one genius of the Soul Tool Department, as he’s one of very few Class 8 soul engineers that are rarely seen throughout the entire continent! He’s second only to the two Deans of the Soul Tool Department, and he’s widely accepted as the only person in our academy’s entire history capable of becoming a Class 9 soul engineer. He’s also the current candidate to succeed the Dean. In essence, if you can become his disciple, you’ve basically entered the inner circle of the Soul Tool Department. Not only will you receive the best education, you’ll also obtain the all-around backing of the Soul Tool Department. Little Yuhao’s truly capable! He’s unwittingly done something that we’ve been yearning for. Bei Bei, I think that we can teach Yuhao the Hidden Weapon Hundred Separation.”