He Caitou was meeting You Jie for the first time, and he was naturally curious about this legendary figure from the Soul Tool Department.
As someone from the Sun Moon Empire, He Caitou had caught a glimpse of Mingde Hall's ideas about Soul Tools, even if he had only been there briefly.
But You Jie's ideas were completely different from Mingde Hall's. Even so, He Caitou felt that both approaches had their own merits.
This was a first for the Soul Tool Department at Shrek Academy.
What was more, the theory of metal forging that You Jie had first proposed had genuinely expanded the possibilities of Soul Tools. That made He Caitou even happier.
At last, he could put his powerful physique to better use in making Soul Tools, producing heavy-firepower Soul Tools with even greater destructive force.
Still, when he finally met You Jie in person, You Jie didn't quite match the image he'd had in mind.
He'd imagined You Jie as a gentle, refined scholar, not a muscular man with a crab-shaped head.
That was right: muscular. With help from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon body-tempering method Mu En had provided, You Jie had become incredibly solidly built. He even looked stronger than Bei Bei.
That was clear proof that Bei Bei was still putting more thought into Tang Ya. Otherwise, with his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, there was no reason for him to look weaker than You Jie.
The spark in You Jie's eyes made He Caitou pause for a moment, then smile.
Clearly, only someone with that kind of gaze could come up with such ingenious ideas.
If he could build a good relationship with someone so talented, then taking revenge in the future would surely be easier, wouldn't it?
After exchanging greetings, the three set off for the Academy's Assessment Zone.
The Assessment Zone sometimes served as the Soul Fighting Zone as well, but that required separate arrangements.
Qian Duoduo had already given advance notice, though, so staff were waiting for them.
After greeting the staff, the three entered the Soul Fighting Zone arena.
"Brother He, you and Yu Hao work together and attack me. Let me see the fighting style you're best at."
After speaking, You Jie immediately retreated, putting about fifty meters between himself and He Caitou.
That distance gave He Caitou enough room to fight while still keeping him within the range of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing.
As You Jie came to a stop, four Soul Rings—one yellow, two purple, and one black—appeared on his left arm.
Huo Yuhao and He Caitou noticed You Jie's Soul Ring configuration through Spiritual Detection Sharing. The astonishment on their faces grew even more pronounced.
They'd heard that two of this year's first-year students had Soul Rings that surpassed the optimal ratio, and that You Jie was one of them. But learning that You Jie had already become a Soul Ancestor still forced them to reassess their understanding.
The two quickly adjusted their mindsets, and He Caitou readied himself for battle in no time.
He Caitou roared. Light flashed from several Storage Soul Tools on his body, and in the next instant, he was equipped with a large assortment of Soul Tools.
With cannon barrels of varying sizes jutting out from him, He Caitou now looked like a steel hedgehog. You Jie also noticed that He Caitou had fitted quite a few offensive Soul Tools to his legs. But judging by how they'd been installed, the Soul Tools there seemed strangely out of place compared with those on his upper body.
It was as if someone had abruptly replaced a small engine in a deck with another small engine they'd never used before, one with an entirely different Type and Attribute.
Like that one Mr. Chazz Princeton, for example...
"Looks like the Soul Tools on He Caitou's upper body are meant for a Soul Tool Turret, while the extra equipment on his lower body is meant to supplement his full-power output.
"He's going all out because he wants to show me what he can do?
"Then let's see just how effective the man known in the original story as the 'Source of Destruction' really is!"
As the cannons on He Caitou's body adjusted their aim and prepared to fire, the First Soul Ring on You Jie's body lit up.
Then Little Sparrow, Quillbolt Hedgehog, and Junk Synchron appeared in front of You Jie, one after another.
"When the messenger of the gale gathers the steel's prayer, that prayer will become an ironclad shield!
"Become a shining road that leads ever onward!
"Go, Junk Gardna!"
The green armored warrior raised both arms, forming a massive shield that blocked You Jie from view.
He Caitou's Soul Tool attacks were all stopped by Junk Gardna.
Huo Yuhao's precise shots were mixed in among them. They still lacked power, but they struck the spots on Junk Gardna that looked like vital points with pinpoint accuracy.
If Junk Gardna had really been some kind of robot, Huo Yuhao's attacks might actually have caused problems.
But neither He Caitou nor Huo Yuhao could break through Junk Gardna's defenses. So far, they hadn't dealt it much effective damage.
Even so, You Jie could use the resolution process triggered by Junk Gardna to gauge the power of He Caitou and Huo Yuhao's attacks.
"Not bad. The two of you are already starting to work well together. Even if you entered the so-called reserve team selection competition right now, you'd probably be able to show enough strength to earn a place.
"Next..."
After assessing their abilities, You Jie continued training with them for a while.
It was hard to tell much in such a short time. Some claims of being able to infer the whole from a single detail were nothing more than conspiracy theories. Still, You Jie could at least confirm that He Caitou wasn't especially gloomy yet.
As for what had made He Caitou so twisted in the original story, You Jie didn't want to blindly blame Shrek Academy's education. Even if He Caitou could never repay Shrek Academy's kindness, that still didn't mean he could sincerely say, "I've been a proud Shrekian for ages."
"Could it be... that absurdly hard-to-swallow spy training? Or maybe the now-abandoned Ultimate Individual Project?"
Thinking about the Ultimate Individual Project's curriculum in the original story, You Jie couldn't help feeling a headache coming on.
Why did powerful Soul Masters have to learn all kinds of things that were only useful for wilderness survival? And that damn disguise technique—wasn't it as good as useless in the face of Soul Power detection and Spiritual Detection?
They were in the prime of their cultivation years, yet so much time was being wasted on pointless classes, and under high-pressure instruction at that. Anyone would turn bitter.
"But that look in He Caitou's eyes... Even if he didn't get the chance to join the Tang Sect, he'd probably find a way to tell me about his background. I'll confirm his state of mind then..."
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