You Call This a Test for a Genius Soul Engineer?

Huo Yuhao looked at the two of them and said, "You two, I'm not short on materials at the moment, so there's really no need for this."

He had little interest in Zi Mu and Wang Shaojie's proposal. After all, neither of them could offer particularly good materials. In the world of Soul Engineers, the scope of materials was incredibly broad; rare metals were merely one type of material used to make Soul Tools.

Take the Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade, the eighth-grade close-combat Soul Tool from the original work. Its most essential material was not rare metal, but the soul bone of a ten-thousand-year soul beast. Because that soul bone had been incorporated into it, the Soul Tool possessed a fixed soul bone skill: Tyrant Blade Strike.

Zi Mu and Wang Shaojie froze for a moment, and embarrassment appeared on both their faces.

Then Wang Shaojie shamelessly said, "Brother Huo, I just feel like there might be something wrong with those materials. If a genius Soul Engineer like you could give us a little guidance, perhaps the issues with them could be easily resolved. Besides, there's even a soul bone among those materials!"

His cousin was a member of the Royal Oversight Squad, which served under the Third Prince. In truth, the Third Prince was Xu Tianran's strongest competitor. Backed by the imperial clan, he was currently enjoying immense influence.

However, compared to the Crown Prince, the Third Prince was still far inferior. Once the Crown Prince ascended the throne, even with the imperial clan's support, the Third Prince likely would not have an easy time. After all, the Third Prince was not Xu Tianzhen, the one doted upon by the imperial family.

If the Third Prince fell on hard times, how could Wang Shaojie possibly fare well himself?

Thus, for the sake of his future, even if he had to offer up the thousand-year soul bone passed down through his family, he had to seize this opportunity to attach himself to a genius Soul Engineer. No matter who became emperor, such a genius Soul Engineer would always be highly valued!

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao gave Wang Shaojie a surprised look.

You called this a test for a genius Soul Engineer? What genius Soul Engineer could possibly fail such a test?

Soul bones were not something he lacked. After all, he was a genius even Kong Deming valued. Given Kong Deming's standing in the empire, helping him find a complete set of soul bones would not be difficult. Of course, to Huo Yuhao, suitable soul bones were what mattered most.

Xuan Ziwen walked over from the side and said helplessly, "The Hall Master and I will fully support all of Yuhao's material requirements, including soul bones. As for you two, stop bothering Yuhao for now."

Only then did Wang Shaojie give up. He and Zi Mu obediently moved aside.

Xuan Ziwen looked at Huo Yuhao and said, "Yuhao, begin now. I hope your Soul Tool will continue to bring me surprises."

He was confident that Huo Yuhao would pass the assessment, but he had no idea what kind of third-grade Soul Tool Huo Yuhao would create.

To him, some of Huo Yuhao's ideas were extraordinarily novel, fully deserving of the title of genius Soul Engineer.

"Alright, Teacher." Huo Yuhao nodded, then began crafting his Soul Tool while everyone nearby watched his movements without blinking.

After some time, Huo Yuhao pointed at a black metal disc on the table and said, "Teacher Xuan, this is the third-grade Soul Tool I made."

Xuan Ziwen paused and examined the black metal disc. He found a strange pattern carved across its surface.

Based on the crafting process he had just witnessed, he knew that Huo Yuhao had inscribed two Charging Arrays, three Soul Power Detection Arrays, and one array he did not recognize into the disc. The unfamiliar array was likely one Huo Yuhao had developed himself.

The profession of Soul Engineer had existed for a long time and possessed a complete system of knowledge. Core Arrays were among the most important parts of that knowledge. Of course, Core Arrays were also creations of people. Their number in this world was not fixed, but continued to grow with the development of the times.

"So, what does this thing do?" Thoughts churned through Xuan Ziwen's mind. Since the other students were nearby, he did not immediately ask Huo Yuhao. Instead, he began studying the Soul Tool himself.

The others also stared at the strange Soul Tool with puzzled expressions.

Could Huo Yuhao have failed to make a third-grade Soul Tool? Such a thought crossed Wang Shaojie's mind, but he immediately dismissed it. Huo Yuhao was a genius Soul Engineer. There was no way he could fail at crafting a third-grade Soul Tool.

After studying it for a while, Xuan Ziwen let out a long sigh and said with some disappointment, "Yuhao, I can only confirm that this Soul Tool can detect Soul Power. But if all it can do is detect Soul Power, then the soul detection device the Sun Moon Empire is researching could completely replace it."

He wondered whether his expectations for Huo Yuhao had been too high, whether he had pushed Huo Yuhao too hard and caused his creativity to run dry. For a moment, Xuan Ziwen felt guilty. After all, Huo Yuhao was still only a child. He should not have placed such enormous expectations upon a child.

"Teacher, you're right. It does have the ability to detect Soul Power, but it can distinguish between different sources of Soul Power," Huo Yuhao explained patiently.

"Different sources of Soul Power?" Xuan Ziwen was confused.

"That's right. Different sources of Soul Power. For example, if two academies were competing in the Soul Arena, and one side secretly cheated through outside assistance in order to win, would you consider that fair?"

"Of course not. So, the third-grade Soul Tool you designed is meant to prevent cheating?" Xuan Ziwen asked in surprise.

"That's right. Its core function is to memorize a Soul Master's Soul Power fluctuations. Once Soul Power fluctuations outside its stored records appear within its detection range, it will immediately issue a warning. However, limited by its grade, it can only memorize Soul Power fluctuations up to the Soul Emperor level," Huo Yuhao said.

The grade and effectiveness of a Soul Tool were not equivalent, and not every Soul Tool could reach a maximum of ninth grade. Take the Invincible Barrier, for example. A fifth-grade one could withstand a Soul Douluo for three seconds, but in Peerless Tang Sect, even the strongest Invincible Barrier was only seventh grade. Of course, the original author never stated exactly how powerful a seventh-grade one was, but a sixth-grade Invincible Barrier could withstand a Titled Douluo for three seconds!

He had no choice. After all, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had always had a tradition of cheating, and he was not from Shrek Academy. Thus, when the Death God Envoy made his move this time, without his Mental Detection warning them, Shrek Academy would definitely lose even more people.

That was why he had used some relatively precious rare metals to create this thing.

If the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy encountered Shrek Academy in this tournament, then given Shrek Academy's nature, they would definitely cheat to protect their ten-thousand-year glory!

After all, the Death God Envoy had been far too effective. For Shrek, winning without cheating would be extremely difficult. Therefore, once Shrek entertained the thought of cheating, they had to be stopped.