Body Sect Attacks
After a simple forging process, the original egg-sized piece of Shadow Silence Crystal had shrunk considerably due to the high temperature and repeated forging.
The surface exhibits a denser, dark gray texture, and the residual heat has not completely dissipated, giving it a soft and restrained halo under the laboratory lights.
Without pausing, He Caitou produced a slender carving knife in his hand.
The tip of the knife was as thin as a hair, and the blade gleamed with a cold metallic luster; it was clearly no ordinary item.
He twirled the carving knife between his fingers to adjust his grip, then bent down and began to carve Soul Guidance Array on the surface of the Shadow Silence Crystal, without intentionally avoiding people.
Xuan Ziwen didn't stand on ceremony. He took half a step forward, tilted his head slightly, He Caitou's hand moved.
As the blade fell, fragments slid off the crystal surface, falling like fine grains of sand onto the table.
One by one, fine lines began to emerge, the curvature of the lines, the depth of the turns, and the spacing between adjacent lines were all precisely controlled by He Caitou's fingers.
Xuan Ziwen's eyes widened, his heart trembling with shock.
He had seen experts inscribe Soul Guidance Array before; he himself was Level 8 Soul Engineer, and had seen and drawn at least several hundred different formations.
But the way He Caitou was handling the situation was something he had never seen before.
Whether it's the angle of the strike, the force of the retraction, or the rhythm of the subtle wrist tremors at different turns, every aspect is completely different from any school of martial arts he knows.
What stirred his emotions even more was the formation itself.
This is clearly a level seven Soul Guidance Array. Although the energy flow path and the coupling method between the circuits present a complete logic, there are several key patterns that he has never seen before and cannot even understand the principle behind for the time being.
The direction of those patterns subtly contradicted his understanding of the soul guidance theory.
According to his common sense, such wiring would cause energy to become disordered at the intersection, but the array in front of him was taking shape steadily, with each engraving lying quietly on the crystal surface, without any signs of collapse.
Xuan Ziwen stared at the lines that were taking shape, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, but he remained silent.
He knew that the process of inscribing the Soul Guidance Array could not tolerate the slightest disturbance.
The laboratory was extremely quiet, with only the faint hissing sound of metal engraving tools touching the surface of the crystal, and the occasional slight hum of residual heat from the forging furnace that had not yet completely cooled.
Time passed quietly as each line extended, and half an hour later, He Caitou finally carved the last loop.
His wrist paused steadily for a moment, then he slowly raised the carving knife, straightened up, and let out a long breath.
Xuan Ziwen stepped forward almost simultaneously, carefully cradling the newly formed Soul Tool Core in his palm.
His movements were extremely light, as if he were holding some rare treasure in his palm.
He brought the core close to his eyes, squinting as he carefully examined the finishing touches of each line. He gently ran his fingertips along the surface lines, feeling the depth of the exquisite, almost perfect engravings.
A moment later, he raised his head, his eyes filled with a dreamy, almost intoxicated look.
"Perfect!" he murmured, "A perfect level seven Soul Tool Core!"
He turned to look at He Caitou, his gaze more intense than ever before.
He Caitou felt a slight stiffness in his back as he was stared at like that. He also felt a little awkward being looked at like that by a man.
Xuan Ziwen was just about to speak...
"Boom!"
A deafening roar erupted without warning, forcing him to swallow back the words he was about to say.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."
Explosions rang out one after another, shaking the entire laboratory.
The metal rack on the wall emitted a continuous hum, and several unsecured soul-guiding components on the table were shaken and slid to the edge, teetering on the verge of collapse, as if an earthquake had struck.
He Caitou and Huo Yuhao exchanged a glance, both seeing the same shock in each other's eyes.
This is the Mingde Hall of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, a sacred place recognized by the Soul Engineer of the Sun Moon Empire.
Who dares to cause trouble here?
He Caitou raced. These outsiders from the Spirit Pagoda seemed to be the most likely to make a move at this moment, but it definitely couldn't be them.
But Huo Yuhao's thoughts were completely different. He had far more information than He Caitou, and the first thought that popped into his mind the moment the explosion occurred was: the Holy Spirit Cult?
Could it be that the Holy Spirit Cult is unwilling to see the Sun Moon Empire cooperate with the Spirit Pagoda, and therefore sent people to sabotage the collaboration?
This conjecture seemed reasonable, but Huo Yuhao quickly dismissed it.
His immense Divine Power spread out silently like a tide, without the cold and gloomy aura unique to Evil Soul Master.
However, he sensed many powerful and intense auras, each one brimming with energy to the point of near boiling.
It's actually... the Body Sect?!
The Body Sect was at its peak during this era, a stark contrast to the situation ten thousand years later when it was reduced to only a handful of powerful figures.
At this time, the Body Sect was filled with powerful figures, and its strength was enough to rival any top power on the continent.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao sensed that there were already over a hundred Body Sect Soul Master who had entered the academy's territory, none of whom were below the Soul Saint level.
Huo Yuhao had read through countless historical records, but there was no such record at all.
Is this a "butterfly effect" he created on the timeline, or did this period of history always exist but was deliberately erased?
Just as Huo Yuhao was pondering why the Body Sect would suddenly attack the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, Xuan Ziwen's expression changed drastically.
His voice was several octaves higher than usual, almost a shout, "Get out of here! Mingde Hall stores Fixed Soul Guidance Shell. If they detonate, the whole place will be destroyed!"
Huo Yuhao knew perfectly well that the explosions just now were merely a means for the Body Sect to blow open the passage and force their way into the Mingde Hall. After all, the Body Sect didn't use Soul Tool.
But Xuan Ziwen didn't know any of this. He only knew that the batch of Fixed Soul Guidance Shell stored in the basement of the Mingde Hall, if they exploded, would be powerful enough to lift the entire academy and the ground into the sky.
Huo Yuhao didn't explain much, he just exchanged a glance with He Caitou, and then followed Xuan Ziwen out of the laboratory.
The public hall outside was now a mess. The once neatly arranged workbenches were overturned and metal fragments were everywhere. Screams mixed with the stench of blood filled the air.
A huge hole appeared in the floor in the center of the hall, and many men in black were emerging from it one by one.
Most of them were burly, and even though they were dressed in black, they could not hide their almost savage muscle contours.
Almost without pausing after landing, it pounced on the surrounding Soul Engineer.
Screams, sounds of fighting, and the buzzing of Soul Tool charging were all mixed together.
Just then, a roar filled with rage, as loud as a thunderclap, rang out.
The sound surged in, almost engulfing the entire academy, and could even be clearly heard in the underground Mingde Hall.
"The Body Sect! How dare you!"
That was Jing Hongchen's voice.
Clearly, he had recognized the enemy's identity.
This loud shout was both an expression of anger and a warning to all the teachers and students of the academy that the people coming were from the Body Sect.
Upon hearing the roar, Xuan Ziwen sensed his surroundings and confirmed that the terrifying explosion had indeed not occurred again. Only then did his heart, which had been pounding in his chest, begin to settle.
He then took a deep breath and quickly put on a set of Soul Tool Armor.
The armor was entirely silver-gray, with intricate energy circuits embedded in the joints, clearly a meticulously crafted piece.
Immediately afterwards, he sprang forward, leaving a trail of afterimages, and went straight to meet the nearest black-clad man from the Body Sect.
This technical genius, who spends most of his time in the laboratory, may not seem to be good at fighting, but he is, after all, Level 8 Soul Engineer. Now that he is wearing Soul Tool Armor, his charging momentum is surprisingly fierce.
However, Huo Yuhao did not hesitate at all. He activated his Soul Power and chased after them.
Xuan Ziwen is the genius he wants to bring back to the Spirit Pagoda; he absolutely cannot let him suffer any mishap here.