The Fastest Level 1 Soul Master

The Fastest First-Level Soul Tool Master

A month had passed since the turmoil on the first day of school.

After that incident, Huo Yuhao had initially thought that the school culture here was problematic, but nothing of the sort had happened in the month that followed. Yu Rufeng had also spoken to him, explaining that the nature of the incident was quite serious and he couldn't disclose the specifics, but that it would never happen a second time.

They had received an apology and compensation from the academy for the matter. It was also three pills that helped increase soul power, but because the person handling the situation had been very sincere, Huo Yuhao felt more at ease about it.

"How is this different from a Soul Ascension Pill?" Huo Yuhao asked when he received the pills.

"I don't know." Wang Dong's eyes revealed a clarity untainted by knowledge. "Most of the pills I can name come from famous sects in the three Douluo nations. It seems the Sun Moon Empire has its own local system for producing pills, so I don't recognize them."

"I can see some differences, actually." Chi Qiu pondered for a moment and said, "Yuhao, is the Sun Moon Empire very short on rare treasures?"

"It seems so." Huo Yuhao recalled, "I've read a few books introducing the Sun Moon Empire, and based on those, they are indeed not as well-off as the three Douluo nations in this regard. Even the treasure lands mentioned seem to be fraught with immense danger."

The "treasure land" he was referring to was none other than the Valley of Love and Emotion. The Sun Moon people who compiled the introductions gave this place a rating of "no return."

Because he specialized in a spiritual martial soul, Huo Yuhao's memory was astonishing. He could guarantee that none of the books he had read mentioned what treasures were in the Valley of Love and Emotion, nor did they describe what kind of dangers lay within.

If a so-called treasure land offered no way to actually obtain treasures, or even return safely, it shouldn't be called a treasure land; it should be called a land of great calamity.

"Then I'll offer a hypothesis." Chi Qiu looked at the dark red pill in her hand and said, "The Sun Moon Empire doesn't have many core materials for making pills, so they choose to improve their techniques, squeezing out every useful component from the raw materials to form the pills, thereby achieving maximum utilization."

"The sects of the three Douluo nations have deep foundations and no such concerns, so their pills are made more directly—they simply melt the raw materials straight in."

"Therefore, the medicinal properties in the Sun Moon Empire's pills that promote soul power growth are more intense. The benefit is significant effectiveness, while the downside is likely what you call an unstable foundation."

"However," Chi Qiu turned to look at Huo Yuhao, "you don't need to worry about this. You have the Eye of Destiny; those overly intense medicinal forces will be absorbed by it and released at the right time for you to absorb, so you won't have any side effects."

"So that's how it is. I really have to thank Qiu'er for this..."

Huo Yuhao gradually saw the long-term benefits that the attribute guidance brought him, and he understood even more the intentions behind the Lucky Beast's decision back then.

"Oh my." Wang Dong had stepped back two paces at some point, wearing an expression full of gossip. "This is the first time I've heard Miss Qiu say so much at once, tsk tsk tsk."

"Wang Dong, you have to grind it up and eat it slowly so you won't have any problems." Chi Qiu used a tone devoid of fluctuation to cut off Wang Dong's restless remarks.

"Got it, thank you, Miss Qiu." Wang Dong cheerfully changed the subject. "Speaking of which, since Miss Qiu can tell the difference in pill quality at a glance, it seems you really have seen many rare treasures. You truly live up to being someone who lived in the Star Dou Great Forest. How did a human like you survive in Star Dou?"

"By beating every living thing near my territory."

"Wow, you really said something incredible in such an ordinary tone."

Wang Dong didn't press further. After returning to the dormitory, they each took the pills according to Chi Qiu's suggestion. Huo Yuhao took two, and Chi Qiu gave hers to Huo Yuhao, with the same reason: "This kind of medicine does almost nothing to improve me."

The way soul beasts and humans circulate soul power is very different; medicine that humans can eat rarely works for soul beasts, and might even cause a soul power backlash.

Afterward, Huo Yuhao focused his energy on learning about Soul Tools during the day and returned to the dormitory at night to cultivate and slowly absorb the medicinal effects. Over the month, his soul power had climbed from level twenty-five to level twenty-seven.

While happy, Huo Yuhao was also a bit nervous. Although his soul power had increased quickly, he was about to hit the thirty-level threshold of his ultimate martial soul, which would bring the problem of slower cultivation.

He had also taught himself about the issues of ultimate martial souls in the library, thanks to a VIP library card Xiao Hongchen had given him. However, the Sun Moon Empire knew very little about ultimate martial souls, and the recorded disadvantages outnumbered the advantages, making Huo Yuhao truly suspect jealousy. As far as he knew, the Sun Moon Empire had yet to produce an ultimate martial soul, and the fact that the three Douluo nations won the Holy War a thousand years ago was related to their possession of ultimate soul masters.

At the same time, another thing that made him incredibly excited was about to arrive—

His first-level Soul Tool Master assessment!

Yu Rufeng had told him that if his level was sufficient, he could take the assessment early, and he had also promised to recommend him to a teacher. Thus, at the end of the month, Huo Yuhao filled out the application form for an early first-level Soul Tool Master assessment and handed it to Yu Rufeng before class the next day.

"Teacher Yu, I would like to apply for an early first-level Soul Tool Master assessment this month."

Yu Rufeng felt his eyelid twitch. "It's only been a month, Yuhao. Student Xiao took a month and a half."

"But I can already independently produce first-level Soul Tools."

As he spoke, Huo Yuhao brushed the surface of his storage soul tool, and a Soul Ray Gun appeared in his hand. Although the design was based on the first soul gun he had bought, the casing and core array were different, and Huo Yuhao had even carved the character "Huo" onto the metal shell.

Yu Rufeng had no reason not to believe his most prized student. He didn't say anything more and signed the bottom line of the form with a flourish. "Fine, I'll arrange your assessment for this weekend. What about your friends?"

"They are participating in the school's unified assessment in a month."

"Good." Yu Rufeng patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder. "Whether you can break Student Xiao's record is up to you."

Two days later, at the assessment site.

In the vast examination hall, Huo Yuhao was the only one taking the test.

The assessment was held in the academy's public laboratory. When Huo Yuhao entered, he glanced at the sign on the door; the person in charge of the laboratory was Jing Hongchen.

Although there was only one candidate, a circle of people had gathered to inspect the results. First was the proctor, then his homeroom teacher Yu Rufeng, and behind them were Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen. Sitting next to the Hongchen siblings was a short, chubby old man with glasses, who at first glance reminded Huo Yuhao somewhat of Elder Xuan.

However, Huo Yuhao soon discovered their differences. Elder Xuan's eyes truly held the vicissitudes of an old man, while this person's eyes were shrewd, as if he were weighing value at every moment.

"These are the materials provided for this assessment." The proctor placed a series of low-grade rare metals on the workbench, along with a carving knife, a knife rest, and a bowl of clean spring water for cleaning.

"The goal is a first-level Soul Tool. The core array will be inspected within two hours, and the finished product within four hours. If Student Huo Yuhao is ready, I will start the timer now." As he spoke, the proctor set out two hourglasses.

"I'm ready." Huo Yuhao nodded, looking calm and determined. As soon as the teacher flipped the hourglass, he immediately took action. He activated his spiritual detection, washed the knife, wiped the knife, selected the appropriate metal, performed rough cuts, polished, and began carving the core array.

He was making a Soul Sword this time. For him, long-range attacks could be completed using Soul Shock, but for close combat, he lacked a handy weapon without using the soul skills granted by the Ice Empress.

Of course, he didn't intend to actually use this first-level Soul Tool he made in the exam. This sword, used for the exam inspection, was just a template he made for his own weapon, or one could say he was practicing.

With the aid of spiritual detection, carving the soul array only took an hour. But crafting the casing took him two hours; he patiently experimented repeatedly with which metals were more suitable for the casing, and what shape would be more suitable for him to use.

After all, due to the price, the rare metals he could usually use were limited. Since he could use them for free in the exam, he naturally had to take this opportunity to work more.

"Xiao, what do you think?" The short, stout old man looked toward the silver-haired youth beside him. Naturally, this was Jing Hongchen.

"It seems he really might pass in just one month," Xiao Hongchen said. Jing Hongchen could tell that the expression on his grandson's face, who had always been competitive, was somewhat stiff.

"Brother, your title as the number one genius is about to be lost," Meng Hongchen chimed in at the perfect moment to twist the knife in her dear brother.

"...Hmph, I only pushed my attempt back by half a month to consolidate my skills and ensure I passed. At the one-month mark, in terms of pure skill, I was also a Level 1 Soul Master."

"Sigh," Meng Hongchen let out a breath; even if the sky were falling, her brother's mouth would still be stubborn.