Every day of the next two months was full.
Those two months spanned the end of the semester and the holidays. Huo Yuhao did not even take his final exams.
The academy used a semester credit system, and he had already earned all the credits he needed for the semester through the library's examination system, so he did not need to sit the finals.
Many students chose to stay at the academy to study, preparing for next semester's Soul Engineer rank examinations.
Huo Yuhao stayed to conduct research.
For his research into the Live Ammunition Soul Guidance Sniper Rifle, the cooling core array was the highest priority.
As soon as his research began, Huo Yuhao felt just how immensely difficult it was.
When putting theory into practice, especially when researching and innovating upon a basic core array that had developed into an established system over hundreds or thousands of years, difficulties never mentioned in textbooks always arose.
But he had advantages others could scarcely hope to attain: guidance from one of the continent's finest Soul Engineers, Spiritual Detection, Ultimate Ice, and Spectator to check his own research approach.
Only two months had passed, yet he had already solved many problems and was on the verge of producing results.
Feng Yu's laboratory.
Whoosh!
Huo Yuhao engraved the final stroke, completing the Level 2 core array.
He carefully picked it up and infused it with Soul Power.
A soft blue halo blossomed across the silvery-white metal sphere, and a chill spread outward from within it.
The water vapor in the surrounding air was the first to be affected, depositing into white ice particles. So fine were they that they floated around the core array like a layer of white mist.
Huo Yuhao blew gently, sending the white mist drifting away.
But the next instant, the core array turned the water vapor in his breath into ice, replenishing the mist.
This created the peculiar sight of white mist around the core array that could never be blown away, replenishing itself without end...
"Yuhao, you actually did it!"
Standing beside him, Feng Yu swallowed. Ever since Huo Yuhao appeared, his world had started to feel unreal.
Twin Martial Souls, an Ultimate Martial Soul, Spiritual Detection that could be called a divine skill, and now this heaven-defying creative ability...
What normal person did not huff and puff through the fundamentals as a Level 2 Soul Engineer, preparing for their Level 3 Soul Engineer certification?
Who went off to innovate their own core array instead?
"Senior Brother Feng, I was taking advantage of my Ultimate Ice, too."
Huo Yuhao glanced around the laboratory, which seemed empty now that the team members had gone to lunch, and said:
"Its starting level is only Level 2."
"And at this stage, only I can use it. It isn't compatible with Soul Power of any attribute other than Ultimate Ice."
"Judging by its strength, your cooling core array should at least rival a Level 3 cooling array. When I was at your stage, I was still... ah!"
Feng Yu shook his head and went with Huo Yuhao to the testing area, taking the core array along.
The testing area contained a large experimental Soul Tool occupying over ten square meters. Huo Yuhao placed the charged core array inside.
Before long, the report came out. Feng Yu and Huo Yuhao skipped the complicated test data and went straight to the conclusions:
Category: Special cooling core array Technical level: Level 2 Performance rating: Level 4 cooling core array
Within the Sea of Consciousness, the Ice Empress, who had already adjusted and recovered, sighed:
"Even as the former sovereign of ice, I could never achieve this effect without relying on cultivation far beyond Yuhao's."
"Tian Meng, I truly underestimated human creativity. No wonder they've occupied the vast majority of the continent."
Feng Yu had to admit that he had still underestimated this core array. "Give it a name."
Huo Yuhao said, "Let's call it the Level 2 Ultimate Cooling Array."
Feng Yu patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder.
"The next stage, integrating it with other core arrays, can wait. Go have a proper meal today and relax."
"Even the other students who stay at the academy during the holidays often go out for a stroll."
"But you? Ever since you started researching the Live Ammunition Soul Guidance Sniper Rifle, you've practically moved into the laboratory. You haven't had a proper meal in two months."
Huo Yuhao sighed. "Time is tight, and the task is heavy, Senior Brother Feng."
"Hmm? You can ignore what I say."
Feng Yu raised an eyebrow and gestured behind Huo Yuhao with his chin. "But surely you have to give your Senior Sister Meng some face?"
Huo Yuhao waved his hands to indicate that was not what he meant.
Then he turned and saw Meng Hongchen peeking through the laboratory doorway. Her pink lips curved slightly, mischief in her blue eyes.
"Junior Brother, Grandpa ordered me to come take you to a get-together!"
Huo Yuhao walked over and said with a smile:
"Huh? I thought you'd come to have me help you make figurines again, Senior Sister Meng."
"Shh!" Meng Hongchen raised a slender finger and glanced at Feng Yu, who was smiling at them. "Didn't we agree you'd keep that secret for me?"
In public, she was an elegant, aloof genius Soul Engineer. Privately liking such cute things undermined that image somewhat.
"All right." Huo Yuhao lifted the experimental data he had just collected.
"When's the get-together? Do I have time to go to the library and write an experimental report?"
"We're going in the evening. There's time! I'll go with you. I have something to do, too." Her blue eyes flickered as Meng Hongchen assured him.
"Junior Brother, have you made a breakthrough with that cooling core array? Can I look at the experimental data?"
Naturally, Huo Yuhao did not refuse, and the two walked from the laboratory to the library's study area.
In the study area where Huo Yuhao's reserved seat was located, Wang Shaojie was still huffing and puffing through his theoretical studies.
Two months earlier, after seeing Huo Yuhao demonstrate the truth of the Simp Bible through his actions, Wang Shaojie had launched a second ferocious offensive of fawning over Hu Mei.
However, faced with Hu Mei, whose level far surpassed his own, he had lost once again.
The reason Hu Mei gave this time was that he was not even a Level 4 Soul Engineer.
Thus, he had specifically stayed at the academy over the holidays to work hard, determined to astonish everyone once classes resumed and make Hu Mei see him in a new light.
Of course, he also had some intention of observing up close how Huo Yuhao fawned over Meng Hongchen.
When Huo Yuhao returned to the study room with Meng Hongchen, Wang Shaojie pricked up his ears and watched them out of the corner of his eye, gathering every detail of their interactions.
Unfortunately, after Huo Yuhao sat down and began writing, Meng Hongchen leaned over, exchanged a few words with him, then left the study room.
The experimental data was not complicated, and Meng Hongchen had finished reading it on the way. Before leaving the study room, she stole another glance at Huo Yuhao.
She had come to find Huo Yuhao not merely because Jing Hongchen had told her to, but also because she had an idea for finding the crucial evidence that would lift his veil of mystery!
In simple yet elegant little sandals, she made her way briskly to the lending building.
Whenever someone happened to look at her, she switched to an icy expression.
She reached the lending building's data Soul Tool storage center and secretly used a Level 7 Soul Tool made by the Illustrious Virtue Hall to hack into the borrowing records system and pull up Huo Yuhao's borrowing history.
The more Meng Hongchen read, the brighter her blue eyes grew. She seemed to have grasped the key!
Almost all these materials pointed to Huo Yuhao's research field: cooling core arrays!
Combined with the peculiar affinity she felt from Huo Yuhao...
I already know the truth behind this.
There is only one truth!
Huo Yuhao has Twin Martial Souls, and his Second Martial Soul is an ice-attribute Martial Soul!
With that, many things made sense to Meng Hongchen.
Why Jing Hongchen had valued Huo Yuhao so highly from the start.
Why she felt a peculiar affinity with Huo Yuhao-it was because they were both ice-attribute Soul Masters!
Heh-heh!
All the mysteries have been solved.
Meng Hongchen felt the delight of having cracked a case and uncovered a mysterious side of Huo Yuhao.
But she did not intend to tell anyone. Deducing things about others from details to satisfy her curiosity was merely a little personal quirk.
Thinking that gave her the right to spread them around and disrupt someone else's normal life, however, would be downright indecent.
She returned to the study room, took out a book beside Huo Yuhao's seat, and was just about to read.
To her surprise, Huo Yuhao, who was writing his experimental report, spoke without even lifting his head:
"Senior Sister Meng, so this is the kind of person you are!"
"What did you discover when you went to the lending building to check my borrowing history?"
Eek!
Like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, Meng Hongchen's eyes widened. Her first reaction was:
I've been caught! How embarrassing!
She mumbled, "I found out you have an ice-attribute Second Martial Soul."
"Wait, how did you know, um, that your borrowing history had been checked?"
Understanding dawned on Huo Yuhao. He first organized the experimental materials he had finished writing, then took out an identity card to show Meng Hongchen.
"Senior Sister Meng, all our information is protected around the clock, without interruption, by dedicated personnel."
"The moment anything unusual happens, we're notified immediately."
"Didn't the person who sold you that Level 7 Soul Tool tell you?"
"Then... what do you want to do?" Meng Hongchen really had not known about this.
Who did not know she was Jing Hongchen's granddaughter? Who would dare inspect her information with ill intent?
She simply admitted her mistake and accepted the punishment, looking at Huo Yuhao earnestly.
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly.
"Senior Sister Meng, you wouldn't want anyone finding out that you like cute figurines and pry into other people's privacy, would you?"
"Agree to one condition, and we'll call this matter settled."
"Huh? What condition?"
Meng Hongchen's almond-shaped eyes widened. A rosy flush, like sunrise through a thin mist, appeared on her cheeks, and she looked a little bashful. Her delicate fingers pinched the hem of her skirt and swayed it gently, while her rounded toes gripped her sandals.
"Help me with my research project over the holidays."
That's all?
Couldn't you just ask? Would I refuse?
Looking utterly bewildered, Meng Hongchen listened as Huo Yuhao spoke at length:
"It's mainly the issue of integrating the High-Pressure Polymerization Core Array with the Ultimate Cooling Array."
"Once I come up with a design approach for a Level 4 or even Level 5 Ultimate Cooling Array, my current cultivation won't quite be enough."
"Hmm? Senior Sister Meng, are you listening?"
Meng Hongchen came back to herself. "Oh, yes, yes. Keep going."
Meanwhile, Wang Shaojie, who was secretly observing, looked equally bewildered.
Huh?
God Huo is giving a live demonstration of how to fawn over girls?
Wait, why does his approach feel so different from what he taught me? Did God Huo hold something back?
And why are his results so obvious?
The way Miss Meng looks is clearly not an expression she'd show an outsider!
Wang Shaojie was very certain of this, because, as a member of an extremely distant branch of the imperial family, he had greeted Meng Hongchen before.
Her response back then had been perfectly appropriate, but the underlying attitude that kept people a thousand miles away could not be faked.
It was completely different from how she interacted with Huo Yuhao!
Without realizing it, the students in the study room who looked toward the pair all contributed a portion of chaos energy.
Wang Shaojie felt he could no longer focus on his book.
He might as well take today off and go outside the academy to clear his head.
Shrek Academy, Soul Tool Department, Qian Duoduo's office.
Fan Yu handed over a list titled "Candidates for the Ultimate Individual Soldier Plan." There was only one name on it.
He Caitou.
"Let's go with He Caitou," Qian Duoduo said.
Fan Yu said regretfully, "It's a pity Dean Yan of the Martial Soul Department simply refuses to let him go. Otherwise, Tang Yin should have been a good choice, too."
Qian Duoduo gave an amused laugh.
"For some reason, a Tang Sect member who plays with hidden weapons keeps saying Soul Tools are external aids that will only hinder the improvement of his own strength."
"Yan Shaozhe keeps proclaiming his admiration for Ancestor Tang San and saying he wants to vigorously nurture the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul."
"Hah, if Tang Yin hadn't acquired that External Soul Bone so similar to the Eight Spider Lances, he might have been expelled the very day he returned to the academy."
"In my view, He Caitou is a fine choice for the Ultimate Individual Soldier Plan."
"That child looks like he bears a blood-deep vendetta. Even without joining the Ultimate Individual Soldier Plan, he's already doing everything he can to squeeze himself to the limit."
"If he's selected for the Ultimate Individual Soldier Plan, he'll probably only work harder. Wouldn't that increase the plan's chances of success?"
Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Quiet Heart Studio.
After Huo Yuhao finished his experimental report, there was still some time before the evening meal and other activities, so he came to Quiet Heart Studio to see Jing Hongchen.
"Squeezing yourself to the limit isn't how a person should grow. At the very least, it shouldn't be the main theme."
Jing Hongchen spoke to Huo Yuhao while marking documents:
"Yuhao, as your teacher, I know you have your convictions and desires, but you've already worked hard enough over these months since enrolling."
"Today, I'm making the decision to give you a day off."
"Go experience the beauty of life. Loosen that taut string a little, and embrace the vitality young people ought to have."
"Have a meal with your friends, for instance..."
Watching Huo Yuhao and Meng Hongchen walk away side by side, Jing Hongchen smiled.
Come to think of it, little Meng would turn sixteen next year, the official age of adulthood in the Sun Moon Empire.
Ever since Yuhao had first come into contact with Feng Yu.
The bond of being recognized and appreciated, the bond between teacher and student, friendship, and even the love that would most likely come in the future were all rooted in the academy and Illustrious Virtue Hall.
He could not have been more satisfied with such an exceptionally gifted disciple.
Just outside the academy was Mingdu's liveliest food street.
It had every kind of delicacy, novelty, and resource for Soul Engineers one could ask for.
Inside a small restaurant.
Huo Yuhao, Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and Feng Tingting sat around a table laden with all sorts of delicacies.
Sea cucumber braised with scallions, steamed lobster with garlic and glass noodles, black pepper beef short ribs, old hen stewed with matsutake mushrooms...
Feng Tingting first picked up a piece of sea cucumber for Xiao Hongchen with her chopsticks, then introduced the place:
"This restaurant has the best reputation for food on this whole street."
"Their grilled fish is absolutely outstanding..."
Had Sister Tingting and Senior Brother Xiao already gotten this far?
Huo Yuhao thought for a moment, then said, "My grilled fish actually tastes pretty good too. I've never had a bad review."
Xiao Hongchen exclaimed, "Then once we've finished this meal and let the food settle, you absolutely have to show us what you can do, little junior brother."
"Of course." Huo Yuhao smiled.
These three were the closest friends he had made since coming here, so there was no reason not to.
Counting the days, Brother Bujue should be back from hunting for Soul Rings at sea by now, too.
As he ate, Xiao Hongchen said, "Yuhao, after this meal, little Meng and I will be setting off tomorrow to get our fifth Soul Rings."
"None of the Soul Beasts kept in Mingdu are what we need," Meng Hongchen added. "We're planning to go to the Evil Demon Forest. It isn't far. We might be back in ten days or so."
Xiao Hongchen stressed, "When we come back, we'll be Level 5 Soul Engineers. I'll make sure Ma Rulong can't hold on to his spot on the Level 5 rankings either!"
Huo Yuhao's gaze shifted slightly. He had secured Senior Sister Meng's help; he could try winning over Senior Brother Xiao too:
"Senior Brother Xiao, could you help me with some research when you get back? And Sister Tingting, will you have time then?"
Having used the Spectator's abilities so much, he was thorough in how he handled things, after all. To spare Feng Tingting's feelings, he had included her too.
Feng Tingting hurriedly waved her hands. "Yuhao, I only just got my Level 4 Soul Engineer certification. My skills are still quite a way behind theirs."
"I've heard Brother Yu mention your project. I don't have what it takes. Sorry."
Huo Yuhao said sincerely, "What are you saying, Sister Tingting?"
"You've already helped me so much, and here I am shamelessly asking you for more help. I'm already behaving like something less than human."
"Ha!" Meng Hongchen laughed at Huo Yuhao's description of himself as less than human. So now you know you're less than human?
Seeing Xiao Hongchen nod in agreement, Huo Yuhao raised his left hand and chuckled:
"Senior Brother Xiao, take a look at my second Soul Skill. Get it?"
Wasn't that the Soul Skill Yuhao used to turn invisible?
Xiao Hongchen looked over curiously, only to see dazzling, multicolored light flowing and shifting above Huo Yuhao's left hand, as obedient as his own fingers.
His eyes grew wider and brighter the longer he watched, and he blurted out:
"Holy shit, you waited until now to bring out something this good?! It's time for me to show my divine prowess before the masses again! Tingting, I'll have more publicity material very soon!"
Feng Tingting and Meng Hongchen exchanged a glance, both utterly lost in a fog.
Before you continue