The First Stage

These Wind Baboons really were everywhere.

Huo Yuhao sighed faintly, then quickly scanned the matchup lists from the last few Level 2 Soul Engineer examinations. He found that, just as Feng Tingting had said, the first five rounds had barely changed.

Although the last five rounds kept changing, he could still pick out a few patterns.

After reading the matchup lists, Huo Yuhao had a clear understanding of the examination's difficulty and already had a rough plan for his choice of Soul Tools.

So he put down the matchup lists and resumed his frenzied absorption of knowledge.

Over four days, Huo Yuhao finished studying another book and had already started his fifth.

People came and went in the library, but whether it was because he had dealt with Wang Shaojie's troublemaking that day or for some other reason, Huo Yuhao felt more and more gazes falling on him.

There were especially many from girls.

As the Soul Engineer ranking examination approached, the library grew somewhat less crowded. Most people had gone to practice making the Soul Tools they had prepared, ensuring they could manufacture them successfully at the examination.

Huo Yuhao did not choose to do so. Instead, on the day before the examination, he went to the Combat Building to watch and study a standard introductory spear tutorial on his own.

Then he practiced with a spear in a combat training room, activating Spiritual Detection to scan himself and correct how every inch of his muscles exerted force. He practiced for two hours in total.

Morning light streamed through the library windows onto the mat where Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged. He slowly opened his eyes, washed up briefly, and set off for the thirteenth floor of the Combat Zone.

As soon as he arrived, he saw Feng Tingting, along with Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, whom he had not expected to find standing beside her.

Feng Tingting was busy directing her helpers on how to position the Recording Soul Tools. When she saw Huo Yuhao, she waved with a grin, then pointed at the two standing nearby.

Huo Yuhao first nodded to her, then greeted the Hongchen siblings:

"Senior Sister Meng, Senior Brother Xiao. What brings you here? The thirteenth floor is the venue for the Level 2 Soul Engineer examination."

He knew both of them were still some distance from reaching rank fifty Soul Power, so they certainly were not there to take the ranking examination.

With both hands in his pockets, Xiao Hongchen raised his head to gaze at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle:

"As the oldest of Grandfather's disciples who have yet to complete their training, I ought to come see how my junior brother performs and give you some guidance."

"It doesn't matter if you can't make the top five. I alone am enough to uphold our school!"

Meng Hongchen's eyes curved as she covered her mouth and chuckled softly:

"Yuhao, don't listen to his boasting. We're here to cheer you on. If you make the top five, the points you earn will be enough to exchange for some pretty good pills."

Pills?

Huo Yuhao's gaze shifted slightly. If Senior Sister Meng called them pretty good, they were probably very good indeed.

As it happened, although the dean's supplementary card covered almost all his everyday cultivation expenses, pills were restricted.

That made reaching the top five even more necessary.

A voice directing the examinees sounded over the examination hall's speakers:

"Examinees, please enter the examination hall. Entry is permitted only after your Campus Card has been checked..."

"Go on in, Yuhao. Your senior brother, senior sister, and I will all be able to see you in action!"

Feng Tingting tapped the "long guns and short cannons" set up beside her, then pointed toward the line about to form before the teacher checking identification.

Huo Yuhao nodded and strode into the spacious examination hall.

Although there were four or five hundred examinees and the hall was enormous, Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen were simply too dazzling and eye-catching.

Many second-year students saw Huo Yuhao talking with the three of them and began discussing it in hushed voices:

"Xiao Hongchen, the great demon king? What's he doing at the Level 2 Soul Engineer examination hall?"

"Miss Meng really is Mingdu's most dazzling jewel. Just seeing her standing there fills my whole body with strength. I'm definitely passing today!"

"I really want to be Senior Sister Meng's dog."

"Mommy!"

"Huh? Isn't that guy talking to them the transfer student from Class One?"

"Damn spiritual types. I curse him to run into a Soul Beast that counters him."

"He's taking the exam too? Things look grim now!"

"Would I be scared of him? There are over a dozen spiritual-type Soul Masters in the second year. I can't be scared of that many!"

Huo Yuhao walked out of the noisy crowd of examinees, found his examination table, and checked the types and quantities of the various metals.

There were not many lights in the hall, but each shone brightly, illuminating everything on the examination tables clearly.

A short while later, all the examinees had taken their places, and the hall fell quiet.

"The Level 2 Soul Engineer ranking examination now begins!"

"Part one: manufacture Soul Tools based on the matchup list, to a maximum of three. Anyone who makes more will have their result recorded at the lowest score. Time limit: ten hours."

"Those who submit first will receive priority in the order of the ten combat rounds. The matchup lists will now be distributed!"

Before long, an invigilator handed him his matchup list.

Huo Yuhao glanced over it. The first five rounds were indeed unchanged, and compared with the lists from recent years, its overall difficulty was on the higher side.

But that did not affect his plan.

Huo Yuhao took out Ice Edge, the Level 6 carving knife Soul Tool Meng Hongchen had given him, and placed it beside the workbench. After a little thought, he lowered his head and gathered the metals he needed first.

Ten three-millimeter sheets of No. 17 star spirit gold, three standard fine iron plates, ten jin of No. 85 titanium alloy...

As Huo Yuhao carried out his preparations as smoothly as flowing clouds and running water, a figure in formal attire entered the edge of his vision, his hair meticulously combed and his bearing refined and scholarly.

Senior Brother Feng?

Huo Yuhao glanced at the invigilator's badge on his chest and continued working.

First, he secured a three-millimeter sheet of No. 85 titanium alloy with the workbench's clamps, then operated the wire cutter to cut it into a special shape...

Feng Yu stood behind Huo Yuhao with his hands clasped behind his back. Having heard from Feng Tingting that Huo Yuhao would also be taking this examination, he had simply decided to come and watch.

He nodded. His expertise, approaching that of a Level 8 Soul Engineer, let him see at a glance that choosing star spirit gold sheets clearly meant Huo Yuhao intended to make a Card-Type Level 2 Milk Bottle.

A Card-Type Level 2 Milk Bottle was by no means easy to make, ranking among the most difficult Level 2 Soul Tools.

People generally played it safe in ranking examinations. Few would choose such a difficult Soul Tool without absolute confidence. But as long as it met the standard, a score of eighty-five for this Soul Tool was assured.

Not only was this a very suitable choice for racking up points, it also meant he intended to push for the tenth combat round.

Yuhao is a proud and ambitious one too. After all, the current top three on the Level 2 leaderboard only managed to fight all ten rounds because they were already Soul Elders when they took the assessment.

His hands are steady when engraving the Plane Core Array, and his mind is steadier still. Yuhao's fundamentals really are solid. That boy Feng Bujue taught him well-he hasn't disgraced the academy.

No, it's more likely that his talent was excellent to begin with.

Why does Teacher Feng keep staring at Huo Yuhao? Isn't he worried that putting too much pressure on him will affect his performance? Hu Mei, whose examination table was directly behind Huo Yuhao's, muttered inwardly.

Under Feng Yu's observation from start to finish, Huo Yuhao completed the Card-Type Level 2 Milk Bottle with flawless, standard movements.

No, Feng Yu added inwardly, this is beyond merely flawless. Every move he makes is highly effective. They could be called the optimal solutions!

Feng Yu glanced at the large clock hanging on the wall. Only two hours had passed.

The Card-Type Level 2 Milk Bottle provides endurance. What Soul Tools will Yuhao choose for the remaining two?