Douluo: A Person in Peerless, Fake God

A competition between Soul Masters!

Soon, more and more students arrived at the Tenth Examination Zone. Su Luoheng saw several familiar faces among them and exchanged greetings; they were all students from Class One of the second year.

Not long after entering the examination zone, a teacher who looked to be about forty years old arrived. His appearance was extremely ordinary, the kind of person you would never notice in a crowd. However, his presence commanded respect without anger, and the seventh-level Soul Master badge of Mingde Hall on his chest made him appear even more dignified.

"..."

He scanned the crowd present, counting the number of people.

His stern face softened slightly, his indifferent gaze narrowed, and his voice was low and powerful as he spoke slowly: "Very good, the twenty students of the Tenth Examination Zone have all arrived. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Qin Cong, and I will be the teacher in charge of your upcoming examination."

"This competition will last for a total of five hours. You are required to use the materials prepared on the experimental tables to create Soul Guide arrays within the allotted time. There are no restrictions on the type, quantity, or level. You may use your own carving knives during the examination, but you are not permitted to carry any Soul Guides, or you will be disqualified."

"The final ranking of the examination will be determined by level, quantity, and quality, in that order."

"Does everyone understand?"

"Understood."

The students all nodded to show they understood.

Qin Cong nodded slightly and unfolded the roster in his hand to arrange the seating for everyone.

"Wu Yong, experimental table one; Shuancheng, experimental table two; Chen Yangyu, experimental table three; Jin Xigong, experimental table four... Su Luoheng, experimental table eight... Wu Tu, experimental table twenty."

Twenty students, twenty tables—it was a perfect fit.

Su Luoheng walked to the eighth experimental table.

Although the materials on the table were not as abundant as those in his teacher's laboratory, they were more than enough for a second-level Soul Master. A single glance was enough for him to conceive of six or seven suitable core arrays to engrave.

"..."

Before long, once all the students were seated, Qin Cong announced that the examination had begun.

All the students threw themselves into the creation of their Soul Guides.

They picked up their carving knives and displayed their respective engraving techniques. For a time, the room was a hive of activity, and the entire laboratory was filled with the sound of carving knives colliding with metal. This was a contest between Soul Masters, and every student participating in the test focused all their mental energy on their core arrays.

The air was permeated with the peculiar fluctuations of Soul Guide Circuits.

Qin Cong stood on the high platform, his eyes sharp yet calm, silently watching the busy crowd below.

Time flew by.

Throughout the Tenth Examination Zone, only the faint, crisp sounds of carving knives cutting through objects could be heard, along with the occasional frustrated sigh when an engraving failed.

Su Luoheng was exceptionally focused and dedicated this time; after all, his goal was to take first place in this examination!

The silver carving knife danced in his hands like a butterfly, agile and soaring. He trimmed one piece of selected metal material after another to the appropriate size, then precisely cut, carved, and engraved them. Before long, complex and mysterious inscriptions appeared on the metal surfaces.

These inscriptions were based on the structures in his mind, modified according to the actual properties of the materials.

This was the greatest gain from his studies with his teacher during this period.

Su Luoheng engraved while constantly adjusting according to the characteristics of the metal materials.

He was fast, his slender fingers nimbly controlling the carving knife as it darted across the surface. From the moment he picked up the knife, he was completely absorbed in the engraving of the inscriptions. His expression remained solemn throughout, his eyes fixed on the Soul Guide inscription pattern in his hands, oblivious to everything happening around him.

After three months of study, second-level Soul Guides held no difficulty for him.

In less than half an hour, he had completed the engraving of his first core array.

Looking at the other candidates in the same examination room, the fastest among them had only finished half of their Soul Guide Circuits.

"..."

His agile knife work and skillful technique naturally attracted the attention of the examiner.

"This child is not simple..."

Qin Cong muttered to himself, giving him a bit more attention.

After a short rest, Su Luoheng began to engrave the second core array.

Complex and precise Soul Guide lines were rapidly outlined by his hands. As the inscriptions of the core array gradually approached perfection, the metal block began to shimmer with a faint halo of energy, as if it were alive, leaping in the air and emitting a hazy, strange energy fluctuation.

When the final stroke was completed, all the activated runes lit up and converged into a beam of light.

The engraving of the second core array was successfully completed.

"Phew..."

Su Luoheng let out a long breath and quickly threw himself back into the work.

Then came the third core array, and then the fourth...

Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, five hours had gone by.

Maintaining mental focus for such a long time and performing high-intensity engraving of core arrays left even Su Luoheng feeling slightly exhausted, with beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

However, the carving knife in his hand remained fast and steady.

He meticulously engraved the Soul Guide lines of every core array.

The metal block soon glowed again, and another core formation was successfully engraved.

Looking at the five core formations emitting halos of various colors on the table, Su Luoheng's face showed a look of relief and satisfaction.

Five hours, five core formations.

Calculated, he successfully engraved one Rank 2 core formation per hour.

He was quite satisfied with this speed.

He raised his head and looked forward.

The Soul Guide Timer hanging in the Tenth Examination Zone showed that there was less than an hour left before the end.

One hour...

If it were at the beginning, this would be no problem.

But now, after continuously engraving five core formations, his condition was inevitably affected and declining. To engrave all the core formations within an hour, the difficulty...

Su Luoheng sighed inwardly.

He then stretched his fingers and looked up at the other students in his group.

In the Tenth Examination Zone, the vast majority of students were still in the stage of engraving two or three core formations. Only a few who had reached the fourth were just starting.

The speed in other examination zones should be similar.

From this, it could be seen that he was already far ahead of everyone else.

If he stopped now, it would be fine. Even if he didn't continue engraving core formations, he would basically secure first place in the second-year Soul Guide assessment.

However, Su Luoheng did not intend to do so.

Since he wanted to take first place, he had to give it his all!

It wasn't over until the last second before the end, even if he couldn't complete it, even if he failed!

With this thought, Su Luoheng picked up his carving knife again with his right hand, took a piece of metal material with his left, and began to quickly engrave a new round of Soul Guide Circuits!

Mysterious and profound patterns bloomed under Su Luoheng's carving knife.

Chapter 73: Shocking Everyone!

Time quietly slipped away.

An hour passed quickly...

As time went by, his speed slowed down, and his arm trembled slightly from the prolonged engraving.

The speed noticeably decreased during the last few steps of engraving.

"Ding dong--"

The engraving stopped at the last second.

Su Luoheng stopped the carving knife in his hand.

Looking at the glowing core formation, he sighed regretfully.

Despite his caution, he had still made a mistake.

When engraving the last core formation, a sudden tremor in his wrist caused the final stroke to deviate, preventing the entire formation from closing. Although he took immediate remedial action to close the formation and prevent its collapse, the rank of the core formation was still affected, dropping from Rank 2 to Rank 1.

However, even so, his results were still astonishing!

Soon, under Qin Cong's arrangement, all students brought their creations to the testing platform.

The testing platform was not much different from the testing instrument seen during the freshman assessment, except that this instrument could detect up to Rank 3 core formations.

It was one level higher than the previous testing instrument.

"Wu Yong, you're first."

"A total of four core formations, one Rank 2, and three Rank 1."

Wu Yong quickly stepped forward and took out the four core formations he had made.

With everything ready, Qin Cong placed his palm on the palm-shaped indentation of the testing platform and injected his Soul Power. Soon, the testing platform lit up with a silvery-white light, enveloping all four core formations.

After a minute, the white light slowly faded.

"One Rank 2 core formation, lower quality. Three Rank 1 core formations, two upper quality, one medium quality."

Qin Cong announced the results in a calm voice, his face as still as water without any expression.

"Next, Shuancheng."

"A total of three core formations, two Rank 2, and one Rank 1."

"Two Rank 2 core formations, with upper and medium quality respectively. One Rank 1 core formation, medium quality."

"Next, Chen Yangyu."

In the time that followed, the students stepped up to be tested in the order of their laboratory table numbers. The results were a mix of good and bad, but at the very least, everyone had a second-level core array as a baseline.

The testing order followed the ranking, so it was soon Su Luoheng's turn.

"Next, Su Luoheng."

Seeing that the student approaching was one he had been keeping an eye on, Qin Cong's calm expression shifted slightly, and he began to look forward to Su Luoheng's performance.

He had paid attention to him before; this child had produced quite a number of core arrays.

Meanwhile, Su Luoheng had already walked up to the testing bench.

"Six core arrays in total: five second-level arrays and one first-level array. Please inspect them, Teacher."

He took out the core arrays he had crafted one by one. At first, everything was normal... but the moment he announced the levels of the six core arrays, the Tenth Examination Zone erupted in an instant!

As soon as the words left his mouth, Qin Cong's indifferent expression vanished, replaced entirely by shock.

The other students were in much the same state.

In an instant, the eyes of everyone in the Tenth Examination Zone were fixed upon him.

"..."

They stared at their peer with stunned expressions.

To successfully engrave five second-level core arrays and one first-level core array over the course of six hours—they certainly couldn't do it.

"How did he manage that?"

"Isn't that just too inconceivable?"

"Six core arrays? Is he some kind of tentacle monster?"

"Is he just grandstanding?"