Figurine Collector

"Senior Sister Meng, this was the interesting stuff you were talking about?"

Meng Hongchen asked in puzzlement, "What else? Don't you think they're cute and interesting?"

Huo Yuhao looked at the wooden shelving covered in all kinds of figurines in the living room of Meng Hongchen's luxurious single dormitory, feeling a little disappointed.

He had thought she meant some interesting Soul Tool. Sigh!

Huo Yuhao's gaze shifted. Sensing that these figurines were more than they seemed, he activated Spiritual Detection and swept over them.

Good grief, rare metals worth hundreds of thousands of Gold Soul Coins per pound, all used to make figurines?

The figurines of various Soul Beasts, pretty girls, Xiao Hongchen, and, uh, several teachers all bore intricate Core Arrays.

These figurines weren't merely toys. They had finely crafted mechanical joints and were also objects into which Meng Hongchen had freely incorporated Core Arrays.

Huo Yuhao tried to deduce the functions of these Core Arrays and concluded that the figurines could move.

There were also several Starlight Sapphires on the living room table. They were top-grade materials for storage rings, yet they had been carved into this shape to serve as eyes for the figurines?

They were only bean-sized, but surely they would fetch hundreds of thousands of Gold Soul Coins apiece elsewhere?

Rich, and knew how to have fun!

Senior Sister Meng certainly lived up to her reputation as one of the academy's wealthy women. Counting the value of the rare metals alone, this wall might well be worth over eight figures.

If he hadn't had the dean's supplementary card, the sight of these things would have rooted him to the spot too.

Huo Yuhao asked, "Senior Sister Meng, what exactly did you need me for?"

Meng Hongchen said, "Your Spiritual Detection can withstand a certain degree of interference, right?"

"I'd like you to activate Spiritual Detection Sharing. I want to see whether I can use this as the main material for a figurine."

As she spoke, Meng Hongchen took a brick-sized piece of Spirit-Nourishing Cast Iron from her Storage Bracelet, and Huo Yuhao immediately understood the situation.

Spirit-Nourishing Cast Iron was a rare metal commonly used for the casings of high-grade Soul Tools.

It was extremely hard, and its defining property was a stable internal energy field.

The larger its volume, the stronger its internal energy field, and the stronger its ability to block all forms of energy probing and intrusion.

That made engraving Core Arrays on it extremely difficult.

Hard, and it blocked probing too?

Wouldn't that make it excellent for solid projectiles?

Huo Yuhao nodded thoughtfully. Two Yellow Soul Rings rose, and he shared his Spiritual Detection directly with Meng Hongchen.

Although Spirit-Nourishing Cast Iron had these properties, this piece wasn't large, after all.

His spiritual cultivation was probably already at the Soul King level, so his Spiritual Detection wouldn't be affected much.

Meng Hongchen first poured Huo Yuhao a glass of water, then picked up the Starlight Sapphires on the table and turned toward another room.

"Hehe, junior brother, just stay on the sofa and read. Don't scan my Inscription Room with Spiritual Detection!"

He couldn't scan the Inscription Room?

Huo Yuhao didn't scan anywhere. He took a book from his storage ring and promptly entered a state of flow.

For him, reading was reading, wherever he did it.

Time always passed quickly when one was fully absorbed in something. In a flash, it was afternoon.

Inside the Inscription Room, Meng Hongchen carefully placed the Starlight Sapphires into the little figurine's eyes.

Then she took out "Soul Tool Genius," turned to the picture of Huo Yuhao aiming his gun that day, and compared it with the figurine.

Hmm, although the artistic treatment had left it with a little less of his spirit...

It was still very cute.

Meng Hongchen came out of the Inscription Room and said with a grin, "Junior brother, the figurine's finished!"

"How well did Spiritual Detection work?" Huo Yuhao asked casually, putting down his book.

"It worked extremely well. I'm very satisfied!"

"Where is it? Let me see."

"No, you can't. I'll show you another time." Meng Hongchen smiled a little sheepishly. "Sorry for all the trouble today. How about I treat you to dinner at the teachers' dining hall?"

Huo Yuhao had no objection, so he left the dormitory with Meng Hongchen.

On the way to the dining hall, Huo Yuhao and Meng Hongchen ran into Wang Shaojie again.

The fellow was squatting at the entrance to the dormitory area. Watching the two head to the dining hall together, he muttered in shock:

"A true man ought to be like that!"

Huo Yuhao was also surprised. He activated Mind Reading and glanced at him.

Not only did he sense no obvious malice from Wang Shaojie, but he even detected strong admiration.

What was he admiring me for?

Could it be that he failed to earn his Level 4 Soul Engineer certificate and envied me for topping the Level 2 rankings?

That would explain it.

So that was it, Huo Yuhao thought.

After dinner, just as the two were about to go their separate ways, Meng Hongchen finally unrolled the map to reveal the dagger and asked the question troubling her:

"Junior brother, what's your Spirit Eyes' second Soul Skill?"

What was Senior Sister Meng trying to sound out?

I promised my teacher I wouldn't reveal the Ice Empress Martial Soul. Huo Yuhao said with a natural smile:

"Senior Sister Meng, my second Soul Skill is called Divine Soul Unity. It came from a Fantasy Ice Butterfly, a Soul Beast from the Far North."

"This Soul Skill lets me merge my spiritual power into my Soul Power to a certain extent, improving my control over Soul Power."

"When combined with my Martial Soul, its derived ability distorts the various energies around me, producing an effect similar to an Ice Silkworm's Simulation."

Everything Huo Yuhao said was true, but this derived ability was quite useless and imprecise. In actual use, it could only produce a pixelated blur.

It was nothing like the miraculous Simulation he had used in the arena that day.

Meng Hongchen nodded in sudden understanding, but her sixth sense told her that Huo Yuhao was definitely still hiding something!

On Wednesday, Huo Yuhao reported to Feng Yu's laboratory as agreed.

Naturally, Huo Yuhao wasn't Feng Yu's only laboratory team member. There were seven other students or assistants of his.

Whether it was a case of yin flourishing and yang declining or something else, the only males on the team were Huo Yuhao and another boy sitting at a workstation. All the rest were girls.

The boy had a slender build and was slightly taller than Huo Yuhao. Long golden hair hung loose over his shoulders, and he had a high nose bridge. He looked Huo Yuhao over in surprise.

Work hadn't officially started yet, and the girls were gathered together, chatting about who knew what. The moment Huo Yuhao entered, he drew their attention:

"Is this the Huo Yuhao who knocked Xiao Hongchen off the top of the Level 2 rankings?"

"Keke, you really were right. He actually came!"

"I hear he isn't marked as belonging to any faction. Any sisters who are interested can make their move."

"Apparently, he spends every day buried in the library. Wouldn't that mean a few little tricks would be enough to win him over?"

Among the six girls, a particularly petite-looking girl walked up to Huo Yuhao with bright, lively eyes and held out her hand:

"Hello, Yuhao! I'm Keke. I look forward to learning from you!"

Huo Yuhao's spiritual power was strong, and so was his perception. Even though their teasing had been quiet, he had heard it.

But he chose to ignore it. "I look forward to your guidance, senior sister."

Feng Yu didn't mention Huo Yuhao's status as the hall master's disciple. After introducing him to the other team members, he pulled him aside:

"Feng Bujue's Soul Power broke through to Level 50 three or four days ago. He's already set off for the Western Coast to hunt a Sea Soul Beast. He'll treat us to a meal when he gets back."

Huo Yuhao asked in surprise, "Why didn't he tell me?"

"He said you might be busy with your exam those two days, so he didn't disturb you." As Feng Yu spoke, he handed him a thick stack of documents.

"I don't recommend researching Soul Tool sniper rifles, but if you're really interested, you'll first need to thoroughly master these materials on Level 2 to Level 4 Piercing Cannons."

"After all, their core technologies are very similar."

"Also, next week's independent study at the Quiet Heart Studio is canceled again. The problem Teacher and the others have run into won't be resolved anytime soon."

"Mm, you need to be ready to provide support at any moment over the next few days."

Huo Yuhao was rather at a loss. "Senior Brother Feng, even you can't get involved. What use would I be?"

Feng Yu said wistfully, "I can't get involved, but you have Spiritual Detection."