Fifteen Days, Level Two Soul Grandmaster

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, half a month flew by.

Inside the soul tool experimental zone of Mingde Hall.

It was clearly nearing the dead of night.

Yet, at an experimental bench in the corner, a figure remained seated.

A fine carving knife glided across the metal surface, emitting a soft, rustling sound.

His gaze and expression were incredibly focused, as if the entire world had narrowed down to nothing but the core array he was currently carving.

Not far away, the instructor in charge of guidance couldn't help but look up at the clock on the wall.

Then, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

"How is this kid still not gone?"

Beside him, another instructor didn't even bother to lift his head, seemingly long accustomed to such occurrences.

"It's normal. You're new here and don't know the situation with this kid; he's always been like this."

"He was here at this hour yesterday, and the day before that as well."

"In these past two weeks, I haven't seen him leave before midnight once."

Hearing this, the first instructor couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.

Truth be told, although it was a special approval from the Hall Master himself that allowed Ye Luochen to enter Mingde Hall, they hadn't initially taken him very seriously.

After all, no matter how powerful one's talent might be, it still needed to be realized.

The path of soul tools ultimately relied on accumulating vast amounts of time and experience.

However, after half a month of actual contact, they realized they seemed to have been wrong.

Because while Ye Luochen's talent for soul tools was indeed astonishing, that was far from his most terrifying trait.

His most terrifying trait was his way of learning.

He attended classes in the morning, came to Mingde Hall in the afternoon, and after finishing dinner, returned to Mingde Hall for the evening.

Once the experimental zone closed, he went back to cultivate.

The next morning, he appeared again.

Except for the necessary sleep, he spent almost all his time immersed in the classroom and Mingde Hall.

For half a month, there hadn't been a single exception.

"Has this kid always been this desperate?"

One instructor couldn't help but ask.

The instructor beside him shrugged.

"Who knows? Regardless, in all my years of teaching students, this is the first time I've seen someone like this."

"It's one thing to learn quickly, but he's working himself to death."

As they spoke.

At the experimental bench, Ye Luochen finally slowed his movements to a stop.

He let out a long breath.

Then, he set the metal plate in his hand aside.

In the center of that metal plate, a complete second-tier core array flickered with a faint light.

Seeing this, the instructor in charge of guidance walked over, picked up the core array, and took a look.

After a few seconds of silence, he didn't even bother to offer an evaluation and simply placed it into the "qualified" bin.

Because this situation had happened far too many times over the past half month.

The first time he succeeded in carving, they had been extremely shocked.

After all, Ye Luochen had only just come into contact with soul tools; a few days prior, he had been a novice who couldn't understand a single word in class.

Yet, a few days later, he had transformed and produced a second-tier soul tool core array?

Following the second and third successes, the Mingde Hall instructors were still quite surprised.

They were surprised that the previous second-tier soul tool core array hadn't been a fluke, but that he actually seemed to have a real success rate.

But by the eighth, ninth, and tenth successes, and up to the countless times since then, they had long since grown accustomed to it.

Now, the instructors even unanimously agreed that if this kid were to fail a carving once, it would be far more worthy of attention than his success.

"Teacher."

Ye Luochen stood up.

"I believe I have mastered the second-tier core array just about enough."

Hearing this, several teachers exchanged glances, their expressions somewhat peculiar.

Listen to that, just listen to that—what kind of talk is that?

According to convention, many soul masters would label themselves as being at a certain level as soon as they successfully crafted a single item.

It was just like running; as long as you broke ten seconds in the hundred-meter dash once, you could call yourself a ten-second-level athlete.

But this kid was something else; after tempering his skills a thousand times, he just said he should have "pretty much mastered it"?

One of the teachers coughed.

"Since that's the case, let's officially conduct the Level 2 Soul Master examination tomorrow."

"Alright."

Ye Luochen nodded.

He glanced at the time, then at the group of instructors who were eagerly waiting to clock out.

After a moment of hesitation, he decided not to keep grinding, packed his things, and headed out.

However, after he left, the teachers didn't rush to leave.

Instead, they began a heated discussion.

"No, are you really planning to let him take the Level 2 Soul Master exam?"

"Of course it's a real exam."

"But how long has he been learning?"

"Uh, half a month."

"..."

The air went instantly quiet, and the teachers fell silent in unison.

Half a month.

From zero foundation to challenging a Level 2 Soul Master rank.

Just thinking about such a thing felt utterly absurd.

"Should we notify the Hall Master?"

"We should, after all, what if he actually passes?"

"What if? Do you think there's any possibility this kid won't pass now?"

The next day, in the examination room.

Several teachers gathered there.

Elder Ma and Jing Hongchen were among them.

Ye Luochen stood before the experimental bench, adjusted his breathing, and as his soul power was injected, the Dark Iron Blade emerged, moving continuously across the metal surface.

An hour later.

With the final pattern carved into place.

Hum—

The core array lit up with a faint glow.

Afterward, Ye Luochen placed the core array into the Soul Guidance Cannon frame that had been prepared on the side.

The next moment, a red light emanated from the cannon barrel, and explosive energy began to condense.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Applause rang out from the side.

Jing Hongchen's face was full of a warm smile as he clapped and spoke:

"Luochen, congratulations. From this moment on, you are officially a Level 2 Soul Master."

"Fifteen days, from zero foundation to Level 2—you have truly given this old man a massive surprise!"

Hearing this, Ye Luochen replied:

"It is all thanks to the academy's cultivation. If not for the teachers teaching me everything they knew, I would never have been able to achieve this."

He truly didn't mean that as mere pleasantries.

What kind of place was Mingde Hall? It was the core of the academy and even the empire.

The instructors who could enter were the elite of the academy and the empire; their time was incredibly precious, and they had countless things to do every day.

Therefore, most students in Mingde Hall spent the majority of their time enjoying the superior resources provided by the hall while studying on their own.

They could only ask questions when an instructor happened to be free.

But Ye Luochen was different.

Jing Hongchen had arranged six instructors for him all at once.

He ensured that every minute Ye Luochen spent in Mingde Hall, an instructor was present by his side to answer his questions at any time.

Among these six instructors, four were Level 7 and two were Level 8.

Such a terrifying setup, if placed in the outside world, would likely be enough to establish a small soul master academy.

The contribution made by such terrifying teaching staff to Ye Luochen's incredible rate of progress could absolutely not be ignored.