Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, second year, Class One.
The transfer student Huo Yuhao stood beside a window seat in the classroom and gave a formulaic self-introduction, but his classmates' attention did not seem to be on the introduction itself.
"Wow, his eyes are so special. They look like they have little stars in them!"
"Holy shit, how come this kid is as handsome as me?"
"Wow, what a handsome little guy! This big sister doesn't mind you being young!"
"Three minutes. Get me everything on this handsome little guy!"
Among them, the girl sharing his desk, Hu Mei, giggled the most enthusiastically.
Huo Yuhao discreetly activated his Telepathist ability and swept his gaze across the room. Most of the girls' etheric bodies were pale pink, while the boys' reactions were all rather muted.
Ever since arriving in Shrek City, he had escaped malnutrition. Later, as his soul power rose to rank twenty and he even fused with the Ice Empress's soul ring, he had developed lean muscle.
His was the classic build that looked slim in clothes and muscular without them.
"There are only two months until the first semester's break. Those of you who haven't earned enough credits had better pay attention."
At their teacher Feng Yu's matter-of-fact voice, the classroom quickly quieted down.
Feng Yu, who had placed Huo Yuhao in Class One on Jing Hongchen's instructions, gestured with his lips toward the teaching assistant, Feng Tingting. The senior student Huo Yuhao had met yesterday then carried a stack of textbooks onto his desk.
With everything ready, Feng Yu began the lesson, which covered "Introduction to Soul Tool."
Generally speaking, this sort of class offered little substance. The knowledge often lay outside the textbook, making it the kind of class that most tested a teacher's breadth of experience and understanding.
While Feng Yu was still setting the scene for the lesson, Huo Yuhao quickly flipped through the second-year textbooks and discovered that he had already studied practically all of it on his own.
At the front, Feng Yu finally reached a subject that interested Huo Yuhao. "Even soul engineers of the same level differ in ability. Let's take Level 7 Soul Engineers as an example."
"The first kind are soul engineers who can only use Level 7 Soul Tools. They may be entitled to the Empire's Level 7 Soul Engineer allowance."
"But this kind of Level 7 Soul Engineer is merely a rack for soul tools. They struggle to bring out the full power a soul tool should possess and cannot apply for soul tool research projects, so soul engineers of this type often serve in the military."
"The second kind are newly qualified Level 7 Soul Engineers: they have passed the examination and received their certificates, and they have a certain success rate when making soul tools of their level from blueprints."
"The third kind are elite Level 7 Soul Engineers: they are proficient at making various soul tools of their level, with success rates reaching sixty to eighty percent, and can fine-tune parameters to suit the circumstances."
"The fourth kind are veteran Level 7 Soul Engineers: they have the ability to innovate and conduct research within a particular branch of soul tools at their level, with corresponding research results. They are qualified to lead research teams and have dedicated laboratories, and every one of them has some renown within the Empire."
"There are no actual standards for the words 'elite' and 'veteran.' They are a matter of industry consensus."
"And the fifth kind are top-tier soul engineers. Why didn't I say Level 7? Because top-tier soul engineers generally only appear among Level 9 Soul Engineers and a very small number of Level 8 Soul Engineers. They are often at the helm of major research disciplines, steering the development of soul tools."
"Every one of them is a leading authority in one of the Empire's soul tool fields, just like our own dean."
"So all of you here should strive to become veteran soul engineers, or even top-tier ones."
Students were like that. When they heard insider knowledge about the world of high-level soul engineers, every one of them listened with rapt attention.
"Teacher Feng, what fields are there in high-level soul tools?" Huo Yuhao raised his hand and asked.
Feng Yu closed his book and said with a smile:
"High-level soul tools are divided into numerous schools."
"Integrated soul tools, linked soul tools, soul bone soul tools, high-altitude soul tools, healing soul tools, sealing soul tools... Apart from a few specialized fields among them, Illustrious Virtue Hall has the most comprehensive collection of academic materials on the entire continent."
Soul bones could be made into soul tools too? What were high-altitude soul tools used for?
Huo Yuhao longed to explore these soul tool fields that sounded so interesting. These were new things he had never encountered in Shrek City, extending beyond the soul master classification system of power attack, defense, agility attack, and so on.
Soul tools truly did possess the power to turn imagined things into reality.
"Has humanity's soul guidance technology already developed to this extent? Even soul bones can be made into soul tools?" the Ice Empress marveled in the Sea of Consciousness. "That Hall Master Hongchen from yesterday would count as an extremely powerful being even in our Far North."
"Also, when we first arrived in Mingdu, I faintly sensed the existence of several kinds of soul tools capable of threatening me even at my peak."
"It looks like your choice wasn't bad, Tian Meng."
"Of course! Bingbing, as soon as I came to the human world, I keenly noticed this miraculous field and had little Yuhao study it properly."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm kept inching closer to the Ice Empress in the Sea of Consciousness, saying with an ingratiating air, "I also learned about a kind of human clothing worn on the feet called stockings. They're not only attractive but keep you warm too. Bingbing, would you like to try them?"
The Ice Empress did not understand, but she was sufficiently wary. "Get lost!"
After class, under the curious gazes of the entire class, Feng Yu called Huo Yuhao outside, gave him a small box and a reading list, and told him frankly:
"Soul engineers with mental-type martial souls learn at a different pace from other soul engineers. Attending regular classes would only waste your time. Apart from Sun Moon History, you can simply skip classes if you need to, as long as you submit a report afterward."
"The academy library has tens of millions of books. When it comes to elementary and intermediate soul tools, whether in variety or quantity, depth or novelty, its collection can be called the finest on the continent."
"Feng Bujue is still writing supplementary materials and won't be out until tonight. Gather at my place this evening, and I'll take you all to the faculty cafeteria for a big meal."
"This box and reading list are from our teacher. Keep them safe."
That last sentence was a little quiet. Huo Yuhao nodded and thanked his senior brother Feng.
Unlike Shrek's weighted corporal punishment and its inhumane practice of consuming low-level soul engineers' golden hours with metal forging, the Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Engineer Academy's curriculum was much more reasonable.
"Tsk, tsk, more gifts. Yuhao, they're trying to tie you down for good. You're just going to accept them?"
Huo Yuhao said, "Brother Sky Dream, if you take feelings out of it, this is essentially investment and linking our interests. If I refuse every benefit, wouldn't that show I don't want any deep connection with them? How would that do? You have to take more to get even more."
He returned to his seat, and the girl sharing his desk asked curiously:
"Hey! Your martial soul has a mental attribute? No wonder Teacher Feng thinks so highly of you."
Huo Yuhao glanced at her and saw pink so deep it was turning red in her etheric body. Based on his experience observing people, it was best not to have too much to do with girls like her.
"It's just a very ordinary mental-attribute martial soul." Huo Yuhao picked up his schoolbag and headed out.
Hu Mei was slightly embarrassed and frowned. "What's he so full of himself for?"
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