Meanwhile, elsewhere.
In the Outer Court, in the Soul Tool Department's dedicated area.
A boy nearly one meter seventy tall, with delicate features and a well-proportioned build, was staring fixedly at his hands.
He held something in each hand: a regular polygon of metal in his left and a small carving knife in his right. His gaze was intensely focused, a faint golden light flickering deep in his eyes, while a lustrous white soul ring slowly revolved beneath his feet.
Under his control, the little carving knife traced a nimble path across the metal's surface, cutting extremely regular and aesthetically pleasing patterns.
Accompanying the sound of the carving knife moving across the metal, iron filings kept falling onto the table before him.
Time slowly passed, and the carving knife etched more and more patterns into the surface of the metal in the boy's hand. Only when the final line connected with the very first did the sweat-drenched boy finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"It worked!"
"Beautifully done, Yuhao!" Fan Yu laughed heartily and excitedly patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder, but that pat nearly sent the utterly exhausted Huo Yuhao plopping onto the floor.
This boy was naturally Huo Yuhao, and what he had just done was engrave the core array for a Level 2 soul tool.
"Go on, give it a try! Check it!" Fan Yu looked at Huo Yuhao encouragingly.
Huo Yuhao nodded, holding the core array between his fingers as he slowly poured soul power into it.
Under the effect of his soul power, the patterns on the core array immediately lit up. A small pillar of light shot out of it, radiating a considerable fluctuation of soul power, signifying that the core array had been successfully engraved.
"Congratulations, Yuhao. In eight months, you've gone from starting from