There was only a little over half a month left before the competition began.
Inside the unfinished Soul Tool Mimicry Laboratory at the Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes, golden light spilling from them.
Feeling the Soul Power surging through his body, he slowly exhaled.
The white breath traveled more than three meters before slowly dispersing.
Rank 30 Soul Power, achieved!
Within his Sea of Consciousness, Huo Yuhao looked at the expanse beneath his feet. It could no longer be considered a pond.
Nourished by large quantities of Chaos Qi, it had grown to the size of a small lake. It was no longer transparent, but slightly murky.
Faint ripples spread across it, indicating that it was about to undergo some kind of change.
Electrolux's small gray orb still hovered above it. Gray light flickered, and an elderly man in white with an aged face appeared in Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness.
"Elder Yi, has your divine consciousness recovered?" Huo Yuhao asked in delighted surprise.
The old man smiled faintly, nodding in greeting to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Ice Empress as they approached, and said:
"Part of it has recovered, but complete recovery is still far, far away."
"Yuhao, although the area around your Sea of Consciousness has something of a soul-nourishing effect,"
"it would no longer be appropriate for me to stay so close to this Sea of Consciousness."
Thinking Electrolux was afraid of causing him some inconvenience, Huo Yuhao hurriedly said:
"Elder Yi, as long as my Sea of Consciousness still helps your recovery,"
"I don't mind you staying close to it at all."
The old man's smile deepened.
"I'm afraid the transformation your Sea of Consciousness is about to undergo will be different from before."
"If I stay close to your Sea of Consciousness as I used to,"
"I might lose myself and be assimilated at some point."
"That drop of water actually has such a high standing?" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm asked in astonishment.
"Even a change at Yuhao's level can affect divine consciousness as powerful in essence as yours?"
Electrolux shook his head, saying no more about that droplet.
"Big worm, little scorpion, don't approach Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness carelessly either. Move your living space a little higher."
"Once Yuhao has three Soul Rings, you can release a little of your sealed power to replenish his Sea of Consciousness and strengthen his spiritual power."
"Elder Yi, what should I do?" Huo Yuhao asked curiously.
Electrolux looked at the slightly murky Sea of Consciousness and considered for a moment before saying:
"Perhaps, starting with your fourth Soul Ring, you can solidify the abilities this mutated Sea of Consciousness grants you into Soul Ring skills."
"After all, that droplet is not native to this world and has no connection whatsoever to Martial Souls."
"Yet its standing is extraordinarily high."
"Doing this can increase your affinity with it and help you, to some extent, control it one day in the future-or rather, accommodate it."
Accommodate? Huo Yuhao felt a slight tremor within as he mulled over the word.
Electrolux continued:
"Right now, something within your Sea of Consciousness seems to be gradually turning from illusion into reality."
"Once its transformation is complete, you will probably be able to fish out one or two things you can use at your current stage."
In the Quiet Heart Studio, Feng Yu stood beside the desk, brewing tea for Huo Yuhao and Jing Hongchen.
Jing Hongchen glanced at Huo Yuhao's physical assessment report in his hand.
"Physical strength: rank 43."
"Physical resilience: rank 46."
"Soul Power fluctuations: rank 30."
"Height: 1.75 meters."
"Weight: 64 kilograms."
"Bone age..."
Then he recalled how, some time ago, while helping overcome technical difficulties with the giant humanoid Soul Tool, Huo Yuhao had displayed
Spiritual power approaching the Soul Emperor level.
In the end, Huo Yuhao's raw capabilities convinced him, and he agreed to Huo Yuhao's plan to absorb the Ten-Thousand-Year Silver Ying Beast.
But he had one requirement: Huo Yuhao had to absorb the Soul Ring in the Quiet Heart Studio's secluded cultivation room, so he could provide timely assistance.
"Yuhao, sealed inside this Class 7 sealing Soul Tool is that Ten-Thousand-Year Silver Ying Beast."
Jing Hongchen placed an object on the desk in front of Huo Yuhao.
Looking at the magnificent bottle, its surface studded with gemstones and covered in core arrays, Huo Yuhao asked curiously:
"Teacher, how much did buying this Ten-Thousand-Year Silver Ying Beast cost?"
The feeling of displaying his capabilities before his prized disciple had much in common with the "showing one's divinity before others" that Xiao Hongchen so often talked about.
Jing Hongchen smiled calmly. "It's not a matter of money. Without sufficient status, you wouldn't even be qualified to hear about this."
"Five million Gold Soul Coins, and that's after a discount."
"Besides the value of the Soul Beast itself, that includes the capture fee and the price of the Class 7 sealing Soul Tool."
Huo Yuhao sucked in a breath of cold air.
Good grief, five million Gold Soul Coins for a third Soul Ring. Filthy rich!
Oh, this Soul Beast is mine?
Never mind, then.
Huo Yuhao glanced at Feng Yu and found that his expression did not seem to match his thoughts all that well.
Hmm? I'm getting less and less Chaos Qi from Senior Brother Feng.
Huo Yuhao picked up the Class 7 sealing Soul Tool and headed into the secluded cultivation room behind the office...
Everything proceeded smoothly. Without a scare or mishap, he successfully absorbed this Silver Ying Beast that had only just reached ten thousand years of age.
Imprint could copy an opponent's Soul Skill the instant they used their ability and store it in his own Soul Ring.
He could then unleash it whenever he needed it.
Its power depended on his cultivation; with equal cultivation, its power would not diminish.
The limitation was that he could store only one Soul Skill obtained through Imprint. Imprint could be used three times a day.
After reading through the information on Imprint, Huo Yuhao felt the abundant strength within his body.
Then, looking at his three Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, and black, though actually white, purple, and black-he felt greatly invigorated.
The transformation of his Sea of Consciousness might be completed tonight, at which point his Spectator Sequence abilities would improve again.
What changes would the Sequence after Telepathist bring?
And what good things could he fish out of his Sea of Consciousness?
Sitting in the office drinking tea, Jing Hongchen sensed the fluctuations of Huo Yuhao's Soul Power, which had already entered the Soul Elder level, coming from the secluded cultivation room. He could not stop smiling.
Try as he might, he could not fathom how such a genius had fallen into his lap.
He had raced from Level 1 to Level 3 Soul Engineer in thirteen months!
Twin Martial Souls, an Ultimate Martial Soul, and, most importantly, that nearly perfect temperament-neither arrogant nor impatient, steadily moving forward.
He suited Jing Hongchen's tastes perfectly!
Back in his dorm room, Huo Yuhao had nothing else to do. In any case, the transformation of his Sea of Consciousness was not something he could influence at will.
He simply took out the Class 4 absorption array with its one incorrect stroke and began studying it.
Then he tried to reproduce that error on a Class 3 absorption array.
In the end, following the inspiration he had felt back then, he inscribed a Class 3 core array that could absorb Soul Power from the same source largely without loss.
Although this Class 3 core array was still immature and had many problems,
Huo Yuhao nevertheless named it the "Ultimate Absorption Array." He felt it had enormous room for optimization.
He held a Class 3 Laminar Flow Output Core Array in his left hand and a Class 3 Ultimate Absorption Array in his right.
Just as he was about to consider how to combine and apply these two core arrays, neither of which had any real offensive or defensive function,
something stirred within his Sea of Consciousness.
Before you continue