After the commotion on the first day of school, another month passed.
After that incident, Huo Yuhao had thought the school's atmosphere might have problems too, but nothing like it happened again over the following month. Teacher Yu had also spoken to him about it. The matter was quite serious, and he couldn't tell him exactly what it involved yet, but in any case, it wouldn't happen a second time.
The academy had also apologized and compensated them for what happened. The compensation was another three pills that could help improve Soul Power, but the people handling the matter had been sincere in their attitude, so Huo Yuhao felt a little better about it.
"How are these different from Soul Ascension Pills?" Huo Yuhao asked when he received them.
"I don't know." Wang Dong's eyes held the clear, untainted look of someone untouched by knowledge. "Most of the pills I can name come from famous sects in the Douluo Three Kingdoms. The Sun Moon Empire seems to have its own local system for producing pills, so I don't recognize these."
"I noticed some differences." Chi Qiu thought for a moment, then said, "Yuhao, does the Sun Moon Empire lack natural treasures?"
"It seems so." Huo Yuhao thought back. "I've read several books about the Sun Moon Empire. Based on what they say, the empire really does fall behind the Douluo Three Kingdoms in that regard. Even the treasured places they mention seem to come with tremendous dangers."
The "treasured place" he meant was the Valley of Love and Emotion. The Sun Moon natives who had compiled the books described it as a place from which "no one returned."
Since he mainly cultivated a spiritual Martial Soul, Huo Yuhao had an astonishing memory. He could swear that none of the books he'd read had said what treasures could be found in the Valley of Love and Emotion, or what kind of dangers lay inside.
If no one could actually obtain the treasures in a so-called treasured place, or even return safely, then it shouldn't be called a treasured place. It should be called the Land of Great Fierceness.
"Then let me offer a theory." Chi Qiu looked at the dark red pill in her hand. "The Sun Moon Empire doesn't have many of the core ingredients needed to make pills, so it improves its methods and tries to extract as much useful material as possible from each ingredient. That way, it can make full use of them."
"The sects in the Douluo Three Kingdoms have deep foundations and don't have to worry about that, so their pills are made more directly. They simply incorporate the ingredients as they are."
"So the part of the Sun Moon Empire's pills that helps improve Soul Power has a stronger effect. The benefit is that the results are noticeable. The downside is probably what you call an unstable foundation."
"But," Chi Qiu said, turning to Huo Yuhao, "you don't need to worry about that. You have the Eye of Destiny. It will absorb any medicinal effects that are too intense, then release them for you to absorb when the time is right, so you won't suffer any side effects."
"I see. I really have to thank you for that, Qiu'er..."
Huo Yuhao was gradually seeing the long-term benefits of the attribute connection, and he understood more clearly the thought behind the Auspicious Beast's decision back then.
"Wow." Wang Dong had somehow already stepped back two paces, wearing an expression full of gossip. "That's the first time I've heard Miss Qiu say so much at once. Tsk, tsk, tsk."
"Wang Dong, you need to grind it up and eat it slowly if you don't want any problems." Chi Qiu stopped Wang Dong's eager chatter in a perfectly flat voice.
"Got it. Thanks, Miss Qiu." Wang Dong cheerfully changed the subject. "Speaking of which, you can tell at a glance whether a pill is good or not. You must have seen a lot of natural treasures. No wonder you lived in the Star Dou Great Forest. How did you, a human, survive there on your own?"
"I defeated every living thing near my home."
"Whoa. You said something incredible in such an ordinary tone."
Wang Dong didn't ask any further. After they returned to their dorm, they each took the pills according to Chi Qiu's advice. Huo Yuhao took two, while Chi Qiu gave hers to Huo Yuhao, still explaining that "this kind of medicine would barely help her improve."
Soul Beasts and humans circulated Soul Power in very different ways. Medicines that humans could take rarely worked on Soul Beasts and might even cause their Soul Power to rebound.
After that, Huo Yuhao focused on studying Soul Tools during the day, then cultivated and slowly absorbed the medicine's effects in the dorm at night. Over the course of a month, his Soul Power rose from level 25 to level 27.
Huo Yuhao was delighted, but also a little nervous. His Soul Power had been rising quickly, but he was about to reach the level-30 threshold of an Ultimate Martial Soul, where cultivation would begin to slow down.
He had also learned about Ultimate Martial Souls by studying in the library. Xiao Hongchen had given him a VIP library card. But the Sun Moon Empire knew very little about Ultimate Martial Souls, and its records listed more disadvantages than advantages, making Huo Yuhao wonder whether jealousy had played a part. As far as he knew, the Sun Moon Empire had never produced an Ultimate Martial Soul. And the Douluo Three Kingdoms had won the Holy War a thousand years ago in part because they had Ultimate Soul Masters.
At the same time, another exciting event was just around the corner—
His Level 1 Soul Engineer examination!
Teacher Yu had told him that he could take the exam early if his skills were good enough, and had promised to recommend him to a teacher. So, at the end of the month, Huo Yuhao filled out an application to take the Level 1 Soul Engineer examination early and handed it to Teacher Yu before class the next day.
"Teacher Yu, I'd like to take the Level 1 Soul Engineer examination early this month."
Teacher Yu felt his eyelid twitch. "It's only been a month, Yuhao. Xiao took a month and a half."
"But I can already make Level 1 Soul Tools on my own."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao touched the surface of his Storage Soul Tool, and a Soul Ray Gun appeared in his hand. Though its design was based on the first Soul Guidance Gun he'd bought, both the casing and the Core Array were different. Huo Yuhao had even engraved the character "Huo" on the metal shell.
Teacher Yu had no reason to doubt his most promising student. Without saying more, he signed the bottom of the form with a flourish. "All right. I'll have you take the exam this weekend. What about your friends?"
"They'll take the school's regular exam in a month."
"Good." Teacher Yu patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder. "Let's see if you can break Xiao's record."
Two days later, at the examination venue.
The enormous examination hall held only one examinee: Huo Yuhao.
The examination was being held in the academy's public laboratory. When Huo Yuhao entered, he glanced at the sign by the door. The laboratory supervisor was named Jing Hongchen.
There was only one examinee, but a whole circle of people had come to assess his work. First was the teacher overseeing the exam, then his homeroom teacher, Teacher Yu. Even Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were there. Sitting beside the Hongchen siblings was a short, stout old man with glasses. At first glance, Huo Yuhao thought he looked a little like Xuan Zi.
But Huo Yuhao soon noticed the difference. Xuan Zi's eyes held the genuine weariness of an old man, while this man's gaze was shrewd, as though he were constantly evaluating the value of everything around him.
"These are the materials provided for your examination." The proctor laid out an assortment of low-grade rare metals on the workbench, along with a carving knife, a knife stand, and a bowl of clean spring water for washing.
"The examination is for a Level 1 Soul Tool. We'll inspect the Core Array within two hours and the finished product within four. If you're ready, Huo Yuhao, I'll start the clock." As he spoke, the proctor set out two hourglasses.
"I'm ready." Huo Yuhao nodded, looking calm and confident. The teacher turned over the hourglasses, and Huo Yuhao got straight to work. He activated Spiritual Detection, washed and wiped the knife, chose suitable metal, rough-cut it, polished it, and began carving the Core Array.
This time, he was making a Soul Sword. He could handle long-range attacks with Soul Shock, but without using the Soul Skill Ice Empress had given him, he still lacked a suitable weapon for close combat.
Of course, he didn't plan to actually use the Level 1 Soul Tool he made in the examination. The sword he was making for the test was just a model for his own weapon—practice, in a sense.
With Spiritual Detection to assist him, carving the Soul Guidance Array took only an hour. But making the outer shell took him two hours. He patiently tested which metals would work best for the shell and what shape would suit him.
After all, the rare metals he could use in his daily life were limited by their cost. Since the materials were free during the examination, he naturally wanted to take the opportunity to experiment.
"Xiao, what do you think?" The short, stout old man turned to the silver-haired young man beside him. This was, of course, Jing Hongchen.
"Looks like he really can pass after just one month," Xiao Hongchen said. Jing Hongchen could tell that his usually competitive grandson's expression had stiffened.
"Brother, you're about to lose your title as the top genius." Meng Hongchen dealt her dear brother another blow at just the right moment.
"...Hmph. I put it off by half a month back then to make sure I'd pass, and to give myself time to consolidate what I'd learned. At the one-month mark, my skills were already good enough for me to be a Level 1 Soul Engineer."
"Alas." Meng Hongchen sighed. Even if the sky fell, her brother would still refuse to admit defeat.
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