The Collision of Genius Minds

Chapter: A Clash of Minds Among Geniuses

Two days later, Huo Yuhao met his other future teacher.

It was the academy's Dean of Students, Lin Jiayi, who took him to meet the man. It was just seven in the morning when he was brought to the foot of the sixth-grade teaching building.

It would be more accurate to call this an experimental building rather than a teaching building. As Lin Jiayi led Huo Yuhao up floor by floor, Huo Yuhao noticed that only the second floor contained classrooms; the rest were either office areas or laboratories.

Finally, Lin Jiayi led him to the front of a laboratory. The dean knocked on the door three times politely: "Teacher Xuan, this is Lin Jiayi. I've brought your new student."

"Enter."

As the person inside spoke, there was a click as if something on the door lock had disengaged.

"A Soul Tool security lock," Lin Jiayi whispered to Huo Yuhao. "This is a Level 6 Soul Tool used for identity verification to prevent unauthorized personnel from entering important laboratories at will. It's several times stricter than the locks on your dormitory doors."

Afterward, he pushed the door open and led Huo Yuhao into the laboratory.

Upon entering, the size of the laboratory caught Huo Yuhao by surprise. In terms of area alone, it was likely only inferior to the public laboratory under Jing Hongchen's name. Moreover, although the laboratory was vast, it was not empty; it was fully equipped with all kinds of Soul Tool equipment.

To have such resources, this teacher was clearly a big shot of high standing here.

There were four people sitting in the office and study area, while one person was busy in the experimental area. The four people looked tense, seemingly distressed over some task; Huo Yuhao guessed these were his senior fellow apprentices.

"Juzi, go and greet him," the man in the experimental area said without turning his head.

Hearing this, a young girl with beautiful skin among the four stood up. Her expression had initially been somewhat irritable and reluctant, but as she turned around, she tried her best to put on a friendly look.

The moment he saw the face of this senior apprentice sister, Juzi, Huo Yuhao felt the nameless seal in his Sea of Consciousness burn him fiercely. The disturbance was significant; both Tian Meng and the Ice Empress were startled awake, and even Electrolux had some reaction.

"What's going on?" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was somewhat at a loss. Currently, only Electrolux could make sense of the situation with this seal.

"Was it triggered by something Yuhao saw?"

A gray light flashed, and gray mist coiled around the golden seal, causing it to gradually quiet down. Strangely enough, the power of this seal was already close to the level of Electrolux; with only a wisp of Elder Yi's remnant soul, he shouldn't have been able to suppress it. Yet, it seemed to have an innate reverence for Elder Yi's power, retracting its edge the moment they made contact.

"Emotions..." Elder Yi sighed. "I feel many emotions mixed together; one could say they are a complex blend. However, among these myriad feelings, there is a warning."

"Elder Yi, what warning?" Huo Yuhao asked in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Do not have too deep an involvement with the young girl before you."

"But she appears to be my senior apprentice sister. How am I supposed to..."

"I am merely relaying the message," Electrolux said. "The intensity of the seal's emotion regarding this matter is something you must have just felt yourself... However, you decide how to handle it; we will not interfere further."

Huo Yuhao nodded, having already made his judgment. No warning would be without cause; caution remained the best policy.

"Little brother, are you Teacher Xuan's new student?" Juzi walked over with a charming, naive demeanor that would make anyone subconsciously lower their guard. However, with the seal's warning, Huo Yuhao remained twelve times more cautious.

"Greetings, Senior Sister," Huo Yuhao said. He had already composed himself and bowed slightly toward Juzi, keeping his expression hidden from her.

"Mm, you can sit at the far right for your study and work; there's an empty spot there," Juzi said, then pointed to the other students. "From left to right, that's Wang Shaojie, Keke, and Zimu. They are all your senior fellow apprentices."

"Greetings, Senior Brother and Senior Sisters," Huo Yuhao bowed slightly toward the group again. Although the three were still busy with their work, they all nodded in his direction.

"This is Teacher Xuan Ziwen's laboratory. Teacher Xuan is the chief researcher of Mingde Hall, and the research resources here are the best. You should be happy you get to study here."

This Teacher Xuan was actually a chief researcher! Huo Yuhao was overjoyed and quickly said, "I will definitely study hard under Teacher Xuan."

"Then I shall take my leave," Lin Jiayi nodded to everyone and said to Huo Yuhao, "Student Huo Yuhao, besides your regular coursework, you must actively come here to study. Starting tomorrow, you will begin your second-grade curriculum."

"Understood, Director Lin."

After giving his instructions, Lin Jiayi left and pulled the door shut behind him. The moment the door automatically locked, the man in the experimental area turned around and pushed a box of metal toward Huo Yuhao:

"Make a Soul Tool and let me see it."

Huo Yuhao was stunned: "Teacher Xuan, may I ask what level of Soul Tool and what type?"

"Do your best," Xuan Ziwen went back to his work, leaving only his voice for Huo Yuhao. "If you can manage it, making me a Level 9 Soul Tool would be fine too."

"You joke, Teacher Xuan. If I could do that, I wouldn't still be in the second grade."

Huo Yuhao immediately crouched down and rummaged through the box for the metal he needed. Based on his current soul power reserves, a top-tier Level 2 Soul Tool wouldn't stump him, and he should have no problem with an ordinary Level 3 Soul Tool.

What he was pondering was what kind of Soul Tool this teacher hoped to see.

On the way here, Lin Jiayi had mentioned a few things, including that Teacher Xuan was a person who valued innovation. Coupled with his status as a chief researcher, he must be a Soul Master active on the front lines of research and development.

Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao already had an idea. With Spiritual Detection activated, he reached into the box and accurately grabbed a piece of metal that looked as beautiful as glazed glass.

Xuan Ziwen appeared busy, but in reality, his work had quietly stopped; he was observing Huo Yuhao's movements. Huo Yuhao naturally put on his gloves and picked up a dark gold carving knife from the workbench—it was one of the best knives in the lab.

Previously, when Wang Shaojie first came to the lab and was asked to make a Soul Tool, he had been at a loss because Xuan Ziwen didn't give him a knife, and he didn't ask questions, wasting a lot of time and earning Xuan Ziwen's criticism. He liked students with strong initiative.

The metal Huo Yuhao chose had average hardness; he cut it into three pieces in a flash and welded them together using a specific connection method. Afterward, Huo Yuhao began carving the core array. His hands were steady, and his carving rhythm was very comfortable—a sign of confidence.

Xuan Ziwen couldn't help but put down the metal casing he was half-finished with and paced behind Huo Yuhao to carefully watch the array the young boy was carving.

Three energy-gathering arrays—what was he trying to make?

Huo Yuhao had his Spiritual Detection on, so he naturally knew Xuan Ziwen had come behind him, but he acted as if he hadn't noticed and continued his task unhurriedly. After the arrays were carved, he took out several pieces of metal, cut them into hexagonal shapes, hollowed them out, rounded them, drilled holes, and then embedded the soul arrays. Finally, he found two glass shards from the lab's scrap pile, polished them flat and round, and embedded them one in front and one behind the cylindrical casing.

"Teacher, I'm finished," Huo Yuhao said.

"Explain it," Xuan Ziwen said, a hint of curiosity on his face.

"No need for me to explain, Teacher Xuan. If you finish the Soul Tool you're working on and attach this piece I made to it, you'll understand."

Xuan Ziwen was a man of action; he immediately took this Soul Tool of Huo Yuhao's and returned to his workstation. However, it wasn't until he reached the finishing touches that a question occurred to him: how did Huo Yuhao know the function of the Soul Tool he had been working on?

In truth, the moment Huo Yuhao activated his Spiritual Detection, he had already seen through the Soul Tool in his teacher's hands.

What Xuan Ziwen was crafting was a Soul Ray Gun characterized by high energy concentration, designed specifically for small entry wounds and one-hit kills. During his scan, Huo Yuhao had understood the core arrays; this teacher Xuan was indeed brilliant, as these core arrays were the best concentration designs Huo Yuhao had ever seen. Had he not seen them today, Huo Yuhao would never have thought of such a combination.

However, he quickly discovered a minor issue, and this became the source of inspiration for the top-tier second-class Soul Tool he had made: a low-energy consumption targeting sight.

To pursue a one-hit kill that minimizes the enemy's suffering, one must naturally ensure a hit on a vital point. Huo Yuhao's Soul Tool could automatically determine the weakest point of an object within its field of view and provide a lock-on.

Xuan Ziwen took the Soul Tool to the testing grounds and fired it a few times before turning back to look at Huo Yuhao. "You thought of this on the spot after seeing my Soul Tool. How did you see it?"

This was not something that could be brushed off with having good eyesight, because the targeting sight was clearly designed to match Xuan Ziwen's core arrays.

Huo Yuhao thought for a moment and said, "Teacher Xuan, let me show you this; please do not reject my spiritual connection."

As he finished speaking, he activated his Spiritual Sharing, merging it with the Spiritual Detection he had already released, and reached out toward Xuan Ziwen's Sea of Consciousness.