Douluo: A Fake God in Peerless

An hour later.

The bell for the end of class rang right on time.

After Ran Yuming gave a brief summary, the first lesson concluded. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, that's all for today's class. You are dismissed."

"..."

The second-year students had gained a great deal from this lecture. Each of them had their own realizations regarding how to become a Level 2 Soul Tool Master, and the way they looked at Teacher Ran was now filled with reverence.

He's no simple man.

They had encountered many teachers, but only this Teacher Ran Yuming could bring them such a sense of sudden enlightenment in a single session.

"As expected of Teacher Ran, that was brilliant!" Xu Yu's eyes sparkled, his face full of admiration.

"Indeed..."

Hearing this, Su Luoheng expressed his deep agreement.

Before this, he had thought his grasp of Level 2 soul tools was quite good, but after this class, he realized he still had many shortcomings. The distance between him and becoming a true Level 2 Soul Tool Master was not just a matter of soul power. Of course, the Soul Tool Master levels here were evaluated according to the standards of the Sun Moon Empire.

Before long, most of the students in the classroom had left one after another.

Su Luoheng packed his things and was just about to leave when he was suddenly called out by Ran Yuming.

"Stay behind for a moment."

"Teacher Ran." Su Luoheng stopped and called out respectfully.

Once all the students had cleared out of the classroom, Ran Yuming asked with a smile, "Do you remember me?"

"Yes."

"Good, as long as you remember. Come, follow me." Ran Yuming nodded with a chuckle, gestured to him, and began walking ahead on his own.

"..."

Su Luoheng hesitated for a brief moment, but he quickly followed behind.

His intuition told him to keep up.

Although Ran Yuming's pace did not look fast, no matter how Su Luoheng accelerated or slowed down, the distance between the two remained at about two meters.

After leaving the second-year teaching area, Teacher Ran led Su Luoheng toward the advanced teaching area in the back.

They twisted and turned for a full quarter of an hour before finally arriving at a sixth-year teaching building, where he led Su Luoheng inside.

Su Luoheng looked around and asked, "Teacher Ran, is this the senior area?"

"Yes."

Ran Yuming beckoned him into the elevator and introduced it, "This is the sixth-year teaching building. My private laboratory is located here."

As long as a teacher was Level 7 or above, the academy would arrange and assign them a laboratory. These were generally located in the sixth-year teaching building to make it convenient for them to instruct the sixth-year students.

Although Ran Yuming was currently teaching second-year students, his laboratory remained unaffected.

"Teacher Ran, why have you brought me here?"

"You'll know in a moment."

Ran Yuming kept him in suspense and did not offer further explanation.

As they spoke, the elevator stopped at the eighth floor.

"Let's go."

"..."

Seeing this, Su Luoheng shrugged and continued to follow behind Ran Yuming.

Regardless, his intuition told him it wasn't a bad thing.

Ran Yuming seemed to be in a good mood, his face full of smiles. He led Su Luoheng along the corridor for another dozen meters before stopping in front of a large metal door.

There was a sign on the door: Laboratory Seven.

Ran Yuming took out his identification badge and waved it in front of the door.

"Beep—"

The electronic lock gave a soft click, followed by a flash of white light, and then the two heavy, thick metal doors were slowly pushed open.

"Come in."

Ran Yuming's voice drifted over, and Su Luoheng followed closely into the laboratory.

The first impression he had upon entering was that the space was very open; the area was roughly equivalent to two classrooms. In the center, a silver-white circular experimental table was neatly arranged with various soul tool instruments and rare metals. Although there were many items on the table, they were organized in a tidy manner, giving a sense of order that was very pleasing to the eye at first glance.

Beyond the experimental table, bookshelves lined three of the walls.

They were filled with books on soul tools, as well as works by famous Soul Tool Masters. Without exception, every book had a label neatly affixed to its side.

In this laboratory, what Ran Yuming valued most was not the soul tools or the rare metals, but the bookshelves packed full of various soul tool texts. These were things he had spent decades collecting, and the books he had curated here were ones that could rarely be found on the market.

Looking at the sheer volume of books, Su Luoheng couldn't help but ask.

"Teacher Ran, have you really read all these books?"

"Just about..."

Ran Yuming rested his palm on the bookshelf, a complex expression flashing through his eyes. "I flip through a few whenever I have some spare time. Over the years, it just sort of added up."

Hearing this, a sense of admiration for Teacher Ran welled up in Su Luoheng.

There were nearly thousands of books in the room. Even if one didn't read them all thoroughly, simply flipping through them would require a significant amount of time and perseverance.

Given Ran Yuming's status, he certainly wouldn't speak lightly, so one could only imagine how profound his knowledge must be.

It was no wonder he held such a prestigious reputation at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

Ran Yuming took in Su Luoheng's reaction, a faint smile appearing on his face as he felt even more confident about taking this apprentice under his wing.

"Alright, kid, do you want to know why I brought you here?"

"I do."

Su Luoheng replied instinctively.

"Then what are you waiting for? Come in."

With that, Ran Yuming patted Su Luoheng on the shoulder and began to walk forward.

Hearing this, Su Luoheng hurried to follow.

Ran Yuming led Su Luoheng to an experimental workbench and waved his wide sleeves. A flash of blue light flickered, and the next moment, three soul tools of varying shapes appeared on the table.

The first: a silver beam-type soul tool.

The second: a red blade-type melee soul tool.

The third: a blue sword-type melee soul tool.

Judging by their feel, the quality of all three soul tools was quite high—at the very least, they were all Level 2 or above.

"Teacher Ran?" Su Luoheng glanced at the workbench, confused.

"Use your first soul skill to analyze and describe the core arrays and construction of these three soul tools, and then I will tell you why I brought you here."

As he spoke, Ran Yuming gestured toward the soul tools on the table.

Su Luoheng cast his gaze over them, instinctively performing an inspection.

This was a small habit he had picked up while scouring the streets of Ming Capital these past few days; his first reaction upon seeing a soul tool was always to check its level.

"..."

"What is it? Is there a problem?"

Seeing Su Luoheng remain motionless, Ran Yuming looked over with a hint of confusion.

Su Luoheng's eyes flickered. He glanced at the books to his right and asked with a smile, "Teacher Ran, if I manage to analyze them all, is there a reward?"

"You kid..." Ran Yuming's gaze shifted, and he let out a dry chuckle. "Are you eyeing my collection?"

"I enjoy reading in my spare time, Teacher. Would it be possible to borrow some of these books?"

Su Luoheng nodded, admitting it openly.

"I generally don't lend out my books."

The tone of the conversation shifted as Ran Yuming continued, "However, I can't have you wasting your soul power for nothing. How about this? As you suggested, I'll add a little incentive. For every soul tool you successfully analyze, I'll let you borrow one book. If you can analyze all three, I'll lend you five."

"What do you think, kid?"

"This student thanks you for the books, Teacher."

Su Luoheng bowed, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

He had already sensed those three soul tools earlier; they were all Level 2.

Currently, the limit of his first soul skill for ordinary weapons was Level 2, while its limit for sword-type weapons was Level 3.

If he had tried to analyze them all before, it might have been difficult, but now that his soul power had increased by a level, his analytical capabilities had also been enhanced. Taking down these three soul tools would be a breeze.

"Don't get too happy just yet. Whether you get the books depends on your ability. If you can't analyze even one, don't say I didn't give you a chance."

Ran Yuming knew exactly what Su Luoheng was thinking and specifically reminded him that while the books could be borrowed, it all depended on whether he had the skill to earn them.

"Teacher Ran, I'm going to get those books." Su Luoheng's smile remained confident; he had absolute faith in himself.

"Then let's begin."

Seeing this, Ran Yuming smiled and stepped aside.

"Understood."

As he spoke, a look of anticipation flashed in Ran Yuming's eyes.

This was an assessment he had specifically prepared for Su Luoheng. The three Level 2 soul tools were all different in style. He had already witnessed the limits of the sword-type soul tool during the entrance exam, and now he wanted to test the capabilities of the first soul skill on ordinary weapons, as well as the soul power consumption involved.

It was a way to gauge Su Luoheng's potential, which would make it easier to decide how to instruct him in the future.

Secondly, taking on a disciple was a major event, so such an examination was a safer approach.

Of course, the primary purpose was still for the former.

Meanwhile, Su Luoheng arrived at the testing bench.

After a moment of consideration, he first picked up the longsword soul tool.

He then steadied his focus, slowly closed his eyes, and channeled his soul power into mental energy, which surged out of his body like a tide to envelop the soul tool in his hands. Simultaneously, the detailed construction and core arrays of the longsword soul tool immediately surfaced in his mind.

Before long, the analysis of the longsword was complete.

He sensed his internal soul power and found that the total consumption was less than twenty percent.

Without pausing, Su Luoheng picked up the longblade soul tool on his right and began the analysis.

Although the longblade and the longsword were both second-level soul tools, the rate of soul power consumption this time was more than twice as fast as before.

This was the characteristic of Unlimited Blade Works.

Analyzing sword-type weapons consumed significantly less soul power than ordinary weapons.

Time ticked away second by second, and Su Luoheng's soul power gradually diminished accordingly.

Behind him, Ran Yuming had been watching silently the entire time.

Sensing the discrepancy in soul power consumption between Su Luoheng's analysis of sword-type soul tools versus ordinary ones, even someone as learned as he could not help but show an expression of astonishment.

A peculiar martial soul, a peculiar soul skill.

His future was destined to be limitless; he was truly worthy of being the disciple he had chosen at first glance.

He just wondered where his limits lay.

However, he would be able to verify that very soon.