Forging Complete [Please Recommend, Invest, and Collect!]

Mastering a wealth of theory was only the foundation of becoming a Soul Engineer. Only those who could make a Soul Tool on their own could become true Soul Engineers.

It was difficult to become a Soul Engineer without a solid grasp of theory.

But if you couldn't make Soul Tools, you could never become a Soul Engineer!

So while the written exam was certainly important, practical ability was what ultimately determined whether someone could become a Soul Engineer.

For the freshmen who hadn't done well on the written exam, the practical assessment was their second chance.

If their Soul Tool met the requirements, they still had a good chance of advancing to the second year.

Now every freshman was fired up, ready to show off their skills at making Soul Tools. Which of them wasn't a heaven-blessed prodigy, having become a Level 1 Soul Engineer before the age of twelve?

No one wanted to fall behind and be relegated to the first year.

The Testing Zone wasn't far from the teaching buildings, and warning signs clearly marked the boundary between them.

Soon, everyone reached the Testing Zone. Led by Ran Ruobing, the group entered without a hitch.

This was Su Luoheng's first time here. The Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy had a rule that students in years one through four could enter the Testing Zone only when accompanied by a teacher.

From what he'd learned over the past few days, the academy hadn't always had this rule.

It had been introduced after an accident caused by a student mishandling some equipment.

He had no idea what kind of accident it had been.

In any case, every school rule had a story behind it.

But back to the matter at hand.

The most obvious difference between the buildings in the Testing Zone and those in the teaching area was that nearly all of them were single-story. Even the tallest were no more than three stories high. They looked incredibly sturdy, built not just from brick and stone but with many patches of metal gleaming across their surfaces. They were probably reinforced with plenty of metal. Each testing ground also covered about as much space as a soccer field. From time to time, deep rumbles sounded from inside the buildings, even making the ground beneath everyone's feet tremble slightly.

Ran Ruobing led the freshmen to a testing ground on the left.

A sign on the metal doors read: Assessment Testing Ground.

Ran Ruobing took a metal plaque from her arms and waved it in front of the door. A flash of light passed over it, and the doors slid apart.

"Come on."

The freshmen followed her through the testing ground's entrance.

As soon as Su Luoheng stepped inside, he saw that the entire Soul Tool testing area was built from metal. The metal that made up the place was a dark brown, likely meant to reinforce the testing grounds.

Beyond the entrance stretched a long corridor. It looked a little like the dormitory area, but doors appeared only along one side, spaced thirty meters apart. Signs above them read Second-Year Assessment Zone One, Second-Year Assessment Zone Two, Second-Year Assessment Zone Three...and Sixth-Year Assessment Zone One, among others.

Ran Ruobing was familiar with the place. She led the freshmen down the corridor toward the south without hesitation.

As they walked, they encountered several other groups of examinees, all students from other years taking their advancement assessments.

Each year, when new students enrolled, students in the other years also began their advancement assessments.

The freshmen looked around like curious little chicks.

Su Luoheng was no exception. It was his first time in the Testing Zone, and he was curious about everything inside.

Ran Ruobing took in the freshmen's reactions.

But she didn't urge them to hurry. Instead, she quietly slowed her pace.

Teacher Ran Ruobing, the ice-cold beauty who seemed so stern and unsmiling, wasn't as unapproachable as she looked.

Before long, Ran Ruobing stopped near the inner part of the building, in front of a door marked Freshman Assessment Area.

Ran Ruobing flipped her wrist.

Another silver, crescent-shaped token appeared in her hand. She pressed it against the door to the Freshman Assessment Area. After a brief pulse of Soul Power, the token popped back from its notch. Then, with a clattering rumble, the doors to the Freshman Assessment Area slid open to either side.

"Come on."

At Ran Ruobing's call, the freshmen streamed into the assessment area.

The freshmen, who had been waiting for ages, were full of curiosity. One look was enough to draw them in.

The assessment area was spacious, divided roughly into two sections by metal partitions.

One section held over fifty tables, each about six square meters in size. This was the Soul Tool production area. The tables had already been stocked with the necessary metal materials, the carving knives essential for engraving Soul Tool Core Arrays, and small Soul Tool smelting furnaces for making the outer casings.

The slightly larger area behind it was for testing Soul Tools.

The students' finished Soul Tools would be tested and scored there.

Ran Ruobing walked up to the podium as if she'd seen it all before.

When she had first entered the Testing Zone, she and her classmates had reacted much like these children.

Once the freshmen's excitement had mostly died down, she spoke.

"All right, everyone, quiet down. Your names are already written on the worktables. You have two minutes to get to your assigned places."

She didn't raise her voice, but her calm tone instantly quieted the noisy hall.

Before long, the freshmen were standing at their assigned worktables.

Ran Ruobing announced, "You'll have three hours to complete the Soul Tool production assessment. Just like in the written exam, you must hand in all your Soul Tools. Use the materials on your worktables to make a Level 1 Soul Tool within the allotted time. You may choose any type of Soul Tool, but it must be successfully completed. If it fails the inspection, you fail automatically."

"Is that clear?"

Her gaze swept over everyone, pausing briefly when it reached Su Luoheng.

"Yes!" everyone answered in unison.

"Good. The assessment begins now."

As soon as Ran Ruobing finished speaking, the hall filled with the clinking of metal. Many freshmen had already begun choosing their materials.

Su Luoheng was no exception.

The assessment offered a comprehensive selection of materials, suitable for making all kinds of Level 1 Soul Tools.

Mithril, Fire Rock Iron, Ice Cold Iron, Deep Silver, and more. All were materials suitable for a Level 1 Soul Engineer to engrave, and most could be used for the Core Arrays of a wide range of Level 1 Soul Tools. Su Luoheng knew more than ten Level 1 Soul Tools he could choose to make.

The others hesitated because they didn't know what to make. He hesitated because he couldn't decide which one to make.

He hadn't spent the past few days wandering the streets. He could now make so many Level 1 Soul Tools that they dazzled his eyes like a riot of blossoms.

After a moment's thought, he settled on one!

The image of a long sword appeared in his mind: the Ice Rain Sword.

Chapter 30: Forging Complete [Please Recommend, Invest, and Collect!]

Of the Level 1 Soul Tools Su Luoheng knew, the Ice Rain Sword was the one he was most familiar with, because it was the first Level 1 Soul Tool he'd ever successfully made. Although he'd memorized many Level 1 Soul Tools, sword-type Soul Tools were still the easiest for him to make.

So he chose the Ice Rain Sword for the assessment.

"Three hours should be enough."

Su Luoheng murmured under his breath, working out the time in his mind.

At his speed, engraving the Core Array and forging the weapon would take no more than three hours.

With the Level 1 Soul Tool decided, the next step was to choose the right materials.

Su Luoheng's gaze moved over the dozen or so materials before finally settling on the Ice Cold Iron in the corner.

Ice Cold Iron: produced in the Extreme North.

Its properties were just as its name suggested: it possessed a trace of extreme-cold attributes.

The Ice Rain Sword he'd chosen had an ice-attribute array. Of all the materials here, Ice Cold Iron best matched the sword's properties, making it the ideal material for the Ice Rain Sword's Core Array base.

With that thought, Su Luoheng picked up the Ice Cold Iron from the table.

He weighed it in his hand a few times, frowned slightly, then picked up a carving knife and began trimming it. Before long, a blue-black sphere appeared in his palm.

"Mm, that's better."

He weighed it again and looked satisfied.

The size and weight of the material used to carve a Core Array both mattered. Only the Soul Engineer making it could determine the right balance.

Then he picked up his carving knife and began refining it further.

Ice Cold Iron was fairly hard, but it was easy enough to channel Soul Power into the carving knife. The academy had naturally made sure that students could work with the metals it provided.

The Ice Rain Sword had two Core Arrays, making it moderately difficult among Level 1 Soul Tools.

As he shaved off layer after layer of iron filings, the palm-sized sphere of Ice Cold Iron gradually changed beyond recognition. It became a hexagonal block of metal, and the Core Array engraved on it began to sparkle faintly. The material and array enhanced each other, giving off a subtle chill.

As he approached the final few cuts of the engraving, Su Luoheng gradually slowed his pace.

His nimble fingers guided the carving knife to land precisely on the metal block.

At this point, precision was especially important. He had to make sure every cut landed exactly where it should. Even though he had a high chance of making the Ice Rain Sword successfully, he couldn't afford to be careless.

His mother had once told him: never let success make you complacent, and never let failure make you lose heart.

It was a quality every excellent Soul Engineer needed.

Su Luoheng had always kept it in mind.

Time passed slowly. Before long, half an hour had gone by.

Looking at the ink-blue Ice Rain Sword Core Array in his palm, Su Luoheng let out a long breath. Then he placed the hexagonal metal block on his left hand and slowly fed Soul Power into it. At once, the block shone with a vivid blue light, its soft glow carrying a chill.

"It's done."

Seeing this, Su Luoheng smiled with satisfaction.

The Ice Rain Sword's Core Array was complete. Next came forging the sword itself—in other words, making the Soul Tool's outer casing.

Su Luoheng picked out several suitable pieces of Iron Essence from the materials rack and put them into the smelting furnace.

A smelting furnace was extremely important to Soul Engineers.

Some metals could be made directly into casings using Soul Power. But hard materials that resisted Soul Power still needed traditional forging methods. Processes such as refining and quenching also required a forging furnace unless the Soul Engineer had exceptionally skilled hands.

The smelting furnace at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy was different from an ordinary one.

It could withstand higher temperatures and was easier to operate. All he had to do was put the materials inside and control them with Soul Power. As long as he had enough Soul Power, he could shape them into whatever blank he wanted.

But smelting furnace technology was exclusive to the Sun Moon Empire, so Soul Engineers from the Douluo Three Kingdoms still had to use forging furnaces to make their casings.

The small forging furnace they were using was a Level 2 Soul Tool. Don't underestimate it: its complete form was a Level 9 Soul Tool!

Although this was Su Luoheng's first time using one,

his mother had often told him about the Soul Tool Technology of the Sun Moon Empire, including smelting furnaces. He was familiar with the basic operating method.

All it took was controlling Soul Power, and that was something he could handle.

He still had more than half his Soul Power left. Su Luoheng had calculated that he had enough to forge the sword.

He placed his palm on the smelting furnace and channeled Soul Power into it. Flames roared to life inside, tempering the iron. Under the intense heat, it gradually melted from solid into liquid and slowly took the shape of a sword.

By the time Su Luoheng started forging the sword, the fastest of the other freshmen had only engraved half a Core Array.

Time flew by.

Another hour passed in the blink of an eye.

By now, the temperature inside the smelting furnace had climbed higher and higher. Su Luoheng was affected by the heat outside it, too. When he'd forged Soul Tools before, the Ice Crystal Bracer had protected him. Now he had to endure the heat on his own. Before long, fine beads of sweat covered his forehead.

Fortunately, as the temperature rose, the Ice Rain Sword's body was nearly finished.

At last, after all the materials had fused together, the sword's body was complete. It had passed through all three stages: melting, shaping, and quenching!

Su Luoheng seized the right moment and infused the Core Array into it.

In an instant, blue flames surged upward as the Core Array on the metal block began to merge with the sword!

The whole process didn't take long.

As the sword gleamed, he stopped channeling Soul Power.

When the temperature inside the furnace stopped rising, the Ice Rain Sword began to release a faint chill.

It wasn't quite finished yet.

Once the sword had cooled down enough, Su Luoheng hurried to polish it carefully.

He smoothed every edge and corner as much as possible. It was a habit he'd picked up from his mother's teachings: no matter how highly or poorly a Soul Tool was rated, he had to treat every one of his creations with care.

Maybe...