Soul Engineering Department, Inscription Room.
Chu Feng lay on the icy chair with one leg crossed over the other, waiting for something.
Although Shrek Academy was primarily focused on the Spirit Master Department, its Soul Engineering Department had also developed quite well. Its students made up less than one percent of the academy, yet its facilities and funding far outstripped those of the Spirit Master Department. Even some of the Spirit Master Department's major expenses had to be covered by friendly donations from the Soul Engineering Department.
After all, training Soul Masters was incredibly expensive. Even with the tax revenue of all Shrek City to support it, the academy still couldn't meet its expenses. In the past, only sponsorships or partnerships with the royal families of the various empires and the major merchant associations had allowed Shrek to barely meet the cultivation needs of its students.
It wasn't until the past thousand years, as Shrek's Soul Engineering Department gradually developed, that the academy's finances finally improved.
The Soul Engineering Department made an absurd amount of money. Its income accounted for nearly seventy percent of Shrek Academy's total revenue.
But while the department made money, it was still utterly useless in a fight. The Spirit Master Department was invincible in battle, and that was why the relationship between the two sides was so awkward.
The Spirit Master Department looked down on the Soul Engineering Department from the bottom of its heart. But whenever it needed money, it had to humble itself and beg the Soul Engineering Department for funding. Those requests had to be handled by the big shots of the Sea God Pavilion...
The Inscription Room where Chu Feng was now, for example, was specially provided for Soul Engineering Department students to engrave Core Arrays and make basic Soul Tool molds. It had every kind of basic facility, and each room cost over one million Gold Soul Coins to build. Yet every student in the Soul Engineering Department got one of their own, free of charge.
Chu Feng had spent one hundred Gold Soul Coins to get a week's use of this Inscription Room from a senior in the Soul Engineering Department.
Of course, all he had to do was reveal a little of his Soul Engineering knowledge, and he would definitely become a core disciple of the department. But his relationship with Zhou Yi had turned somewhat sour, and he wasn't particularly fond of Shrek in the first place. Naturally, he didn't want to get more entangled with the academy. If he accidentally became a core disciple, it would be difficult to leave later.
Just as Chu Feng was thinking about his plans for the future, someone knocked on the door.
"Beep, beep~"
Chu Feng gave a casual wave, and the Inscription Room door opened by itself. Several faces immediately poked inside, leaving him stunned.
"Wu Feng? Ning Tian? Xiao Xiao? What are you doing here?" Chu Feng stared at them in disbelief.
He'd only asked Wang Dong to bring him some materials. Who could have guessed that Wang Dong would bring three people along? He could understand Xiao Xiao coming, but what were Wu Feng and Ning Tian doing here?
They were all classmates, but he hadn't interacted much with Wu Feng or Ning Tian.
"Chu Feng, they heard you knew how to make Soul Tools, so they came along to have a look..." Wang Dong quickly stepped forward and explained, sounding a little guilty. He didn't dare meet Chu Feng's eyes.
Actually, he'd been buying materials with Xiao Xiao when they ran into Wu Feng and Ning Tian in town. Wanting to show off, he'd boasted about Chu Feng's skills...
Wu Feng and Ning Tian had obviously refused to believe him, so...
They'd all come along.
"Chu Feng, when did you become a Soul Engineer?" Wu Feng walked in with her arms folded, pressing her chest slightly out of shape.
"Chu Feng, Wang Dong said you're really good at making Soul Tools. Is that true?" Ning Tian asked curiously, blinking her big eyes.
"Chu Feng, you're amazing!" Xiao Xiao had absolute faith in him. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him, her admiration for him reaching its peak.
"I'm just a beginner. My skills are average, I guess. You can watch if you want, just don't interrupt me while I'm working." Chu Feng was speechless, but he didn't tell them to leave. It wasn't as if watching would make him lose a piece of himself.
Besides, Ning Tian came from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and was incredibly rich. If he could use her family's channels to sell Soul Tools, it would probably be a lot more convenient.
As for Wu Feng, she was a lovesick hothead, a little fire dragon—untamable. Aside from her great figure and ample assets, she was useless in every way. Chu Feng wasn't particularly interested in her.
"Everything's here. Check it over. It took me three whole days to gather it all." Wang Dong still sounded a little guilty as he hurriedly handed the Storage Soul Tool to Chu Feng.
As he passed the Storage Soul Tool to Chu Feng, Wang Dong looked up at him with a faint glimmer of anticipation in his eyes, like a child who'd gotten a perfect score and was waiting for a parent's praise.
"Mm, good work. I'll make you a custom set of Soul Tools when I have time." Chu Feng gave Wang Dong's shoulder a light pat, quite pleased with how he'd handled the task.
As expected of the Clear Sky Sect's young master—he got things done efficiently. Chu Feng suddenly realized that Wang Dong was perfect for the role of secretary. He could handle anything. As the saying went, when there was work to do, the secretary did it; when there was nothing to do...
"Hehe, you should know who you're talking to~" Wang Dong puffed out his chest a little, looking rather pleased with Chu Feng's praise. A strange sense of accomplishment filled him.
"All right, find yourselves somewhere to sit. I'm going to make a Soul Tool," Chu Feng said flatly.
"Hmph, I don't believe you're really a Soul Engineer!" Wu Feng found a corner and sat down, crossing her legs. She still looked utterly unconvinced.
She'd accepted that Chu Feng was absurdly strong, but now he was a Soul Engineer too? She just couldn't accept it. There was no way anyone in the world could be so perfect!
Chu Feng didn't care at all about Wu Feng's doubts. He'd get to prove her wrong sooner or later.
Chu Feng went to the engraving platform, then took out a pitch-black engraving knife and a metal disc about the size of his palm. He immediately began engraving the Core Array.
The knife wasn't a Ranked Engraving Knife, but it wasn't cheap either; it was worth over ten thousand Gold Soul Coins. For him, it was more than good enough.
"Tap-tap-tap-tap—"
A sound like a knife blade knocking against glass rang out from the metal disc in Chu Feng's hand. In just a dozen seconds or so, he finished engraving the Core Array, looking utterly at ease.
The array he was engraving this time was called the Soul Gathering Array. It was mainly used to make "Milk Bottles," which restored Soul Power.
Milk Bottles could be Soul Tools of any level, but they could only be made by Soul Engineers of at least level three. The method of making them was simply too complicated, especially when it came to controlling the Core Array. Making a Milk Bottle could be called every Soul Engineer's nightmare.
But this was nothing to Chu Feng, because the Milk Bottle method currently in circulation was the most garbage version. The main problem was that its Core Array was extremely low-grade.
It was like writing code. To make something with the same function, the code nowadays took at least a thousand lines—dense and incredibly complicated.
But Chu Feng had inherited the skills of a god-tier Soul Engineer. He could get the same job done in ten lines of code, so naturally it was a piece of cake.
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