Ye Lan wasn't the best Soul Engineer, but she was Su Luoheng's best guide.
All her teachings had benefited Su Luoheng immensely. Any Soul Engineer could teach him how to make Soul Tools, but her attitude toward them was truly precious.
Before long,
a beautiful, ornate long sword appeared in Su Luoheng's hand.
Its slender blade was as thin as a cicada's wing, shimmering with a cold, biting chill. The patterns left by the quenching lent the Ice Rain Sword an added layer of dazzling, icy radiance!
Su Luoheng gazed at the sword in his hand, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint smile.
After nearly two hours of work, he had finally finished making the Level 1 Soul Tool, the Ice Rain Sword!
He looked around. There was still an hour left before the examination ended, and most of the other new students had already started forging their outer casings.
Chapter 31: Testing
They weren't slow, but Su Luoheng was faster.
Taking advantage of the free time, he began restoring his Soul Power.
From carving the Core Array to forging the sword, he had used up nearly eighty percent of his Soul Power.
Meanwhile,
Ran Ruobing had been keeping an eye on Su Luoheng from the high platform.
Seeing that he had finished the examination a full hour early, a flicker of surprise and interest crossed her beautiful eyes. This kid's got a bit of talent, after all.
But invigilating was just too boring!
With all the time she'd wasted here, she could have made a Level 8 Soul Tool.
She'd never come back again...
Thinking of the person who had tricked her into coming to invigilate, Ran Ruobing idly toyed with her fingers, a trace of grievance flashing in her beautiful eyes.
But it vanished almost immediately. She lifted her head, scanned the room, and called out a reminder.
"There's still an hour left before the examination ends."
At her words, the new students who were falling behind picked up the pace. None of them wanted to reach the end without even one decent Soul Tool to show for it.
Anyone who had become a Level 1 Soul Engineer at this age was proud and unwilling to yield to anyone.
If they couldn't even finish the examination, it would be downright humiliating!
But sometimes, the more you rushed, the easier it was to make mistakes.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, the three-hour examination was over.
"Time's up!"
Ran Ruobing stood and looked around, her voice cold. "Everyone, stop, whether you've succeeded or not. Put your unfinished or completed work on the testing tables. Those who successfully made a Soul Tool, stand to my right. Those who didn't, stand to my left."
At Ran Ruobing's command,
the new students quickly split into two groups, one heading left and the other right.
At a glance, it seemed there were more people on the right who had successfully made Soul Tools.
Forty-five new students had taken the advancement examination. One had already been eliminated in the written test, and now twelve more had failed to finish their Soul Tools within the allotted time.
Those twelve looked at the others across from them, then glanced around at one another, unsure what to say.
They were all Level 1 Soul Engineers, yet the others had managed to make something and they hadn't. Every one of them lowered their head in shame.
Some of them had been capable of passing this examination, but time pressure, nerves, and other outside factors had kept them from performing to their full potential.
But failure was failure.
That was how life went. There was no chance to reload and start over.
All they could do was remember this failure and make sure they didn't fall into the same pit twice.
So she showed no change in her expression.
"Those who passed, take your Soul Tools and follow me to the back for testing."
After arranging the successful students, Ran Ruobing turned around and gave them a pointed reminder. "As for the rest of you... you can wait here, or come with us. But until testing is completely finished, no one may leave early. Understood?"
"Yes."
The two groups of students answered in unison.
Ran Ruobing nodded. The senior student who'd brought them here had specifically told her not to let the students walk around alone.
Whether they passed or failed, they had to leave together.
Soul Tool Testing Zone.
Most of the new students followed Ran Ruobing to the testing zone. Only two or three remained at the testing tables.
They still couldn't accept their failure.
The testing zone was about the same size as the workshop, but since it had no testing tables, it looked much larger. The room contained a Soul Guidance Tester for determining whether Soul Tools met the requirements, as well as ten platform-shaped Soul Tools.
Su Luoheng looked around.
When he saw the platforms, he got the feeling that this test wouldn't be as simple as it seemed.
Why else would they have set up those platforms?
As he wondered about it, Ran Ruobing led everyone over to the Soul Guidance Tester.
This was another example of technology unique to the Sun Moon Empire.
Even within the country, only the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy had the qualifications and resources to use it on a large scale.
The tester could assess Soul Tools of different levels, with settings corresponding to each level.
The one in the new students' testing zone was a simplified version. It could test whether a Level 1 Soul Tool met the standard, so the tester itself only needed to be Level 2.
"This is a Soul Tool Tester. Put your Soul Tools on it, and it'll tell you whether they meet the Level 1 standard."
"Now line up and bring your Soul Tools up for testing."
"..."
At her words, the new students began to move.
They all had some idea of how good their own Soul Tools were. The confident ones stood at the front with their creations, while those who weren't sure held back. Su Luoheng didn't care either way, and calmly took a place near the middle of the line.
Soon, the first new student, following Ran Ruobing's directions, placed his Soul Tool on the tester.
It was a Heavy Sword, a type of close-combat Soul Tool.
"What's your name?"
"Wen Qu."
Ran Ruobing opened the Scorebook and found his name. Then she pressed her palm against the groove on the side of the Soul Guidance Tester. As she fed it Soul Power, the tester activated, and a pearly white light swept down over the Soul Tool. With each pass, Bing'er compiled its data.
After about a minute, the light from the Soul Guidance Tester finally faded.
At the same time, a set of results appeared on the display behind it.
The results assessed its material strength, the completeness of its Core Array, its overall compatibility, and so on.
"Wen Qu, Level 1 close-combat Soul Tool: Heavy Sword. Passed."
Ran Ruobing opened the Scorebook and graded Wen Qu's Soul Tool based on the tester's data, then pointed to the right. "Take your Soul Tool and stand over there. The next person can give their name before the test begins."
"Su Yu."
"Go ahead."
"Passed."
"..."
"The Core Array is incomplete. Failed."
"The outer casing is unfinished. Failed."
"..."
One new student after another stepped forward for testing.
The Soul Guidance Tester flashed with white light again and again. Overall, most of the Soul Tools passed.
Besides the usual close-combat and ranged Soul Tools, quite a few students had chosen easy-to-make utility Soul Tools. For example, Amplifying Soul Tools, lighting Soul Tools, freezing Soul Tools, heating Soul Tools, and so on. Since they were meant for daily use, these Soul Tools were relatively easy to make.
But that also showed just how advanced the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Guidance Technology was. It had a far wider variety of Soul Tools than the Douluo Three Kingdoms could offer. No wonder it was the most advanced place on the Douluo Continent today.
Chapter 32: The Perfect Array!
Some of the new students approaching the tester were eager, while others looked nervous.
Their feelings had a lot to do with the quality of their Soul Tools.
Ran Ruobing assigned each student's Soul Tool a score in turn, and marked down the ones that failed as well.
The Soul Tool tests didn't take too long, and soon more than half of the new students had finished.
Before long, Su Luoheng reached the front of the line.
"What's your name?"
"Su Luoheng."
"Put your Soul Tool on it."
At his response, Ran Ruobing looked up and gave her usual reminder. But when she saw Su Luoheng—or, more accurately, the Ice Rain Sword in his hand—a flicker of curiosity crossed her eyes. The little guy made this Soul Tool in just two hours. I wonder how good it is?
Meanwhile, Su Luoheng had already placed the Ice Rain Sword in the Soul Tool tester.
Ran Ruobing operated the Soul Guidance Tester again. As the light flashed, the Soul Tool's data appeared one item at a time.
Material strength: Upper-middle;
Core Arrays: Soul Power Array (Perfect), Ice Cold Array (Perfect), Reinforcement Array (Perfect);
Compatibility: Upper;
Weapon attribute: Ice (weak);
Overall rating: Level 1 Soul Tool, upper grade.
"Perfectly engraved arrays?"
A hint of surprise flashed in Ran Ruobing's beautiful eyes. Engraving a Core Array was enough to become a Soul Engineer, but few could engrave one perfectly. It required a Soul Engineer to have complete mastery of the array. Even at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, the children capable of doing that were at least fifteen or sixteen years old. Yet Su Luoheng was only nine!
His talent for Soul Tools was simply terrifying...
She had to admit that even she had been nowhere near as good at his age.
She grew more and more curious about Su Luoheng.
She thought to herself that she would have to ask his grandfather about it when she got home. If he thought so highly of Su Luoheng, he must know something!
"Close-combat Soul Tool. Passed."
Ran Ruobing's surprise vanished in a flash, and she announced the result in her usual even tone. But in the Scorebook, she gave Su Luoheng's Soul Tool the only perfect score.
Soul Tool craftsmanship was divided into four grades:
Average, Good, Excellent, and Perfect.
So far, Su Luoheng was the only one to receive a perfect score.
And he would probably remain the only one. Not just anyone could engrave a Core Array perfectly.
Before you continue