The next day, Lin Xi brought Huo Yutong to the Soul Tool Department's testing area.
There were still a few days before classes officially began, and they could arrange their own schedules during that time. Not taking the opportunity to learn more about Soul Tools would simply be a waste.
He would grind these otherworld natives into the ground.
As soon as they entered the testing area, a staff member walked over.
"What is it, students? Are you looking for someone?"
"Yes." Lin Xi nodded. "I'm looking for Teacher Fan Yu."
"Ah! Then you must be Lin Xi and Huo Yutong, right?" The staff member immediately grew enthusiastic. "Come, this way. He told me beforehand that if you came while he was away, I should take you to Caitou first."
Fan Yu had instructed him beforehand to be sure to treat these two new students properly if they came.
He had no idea what background these two students had to warrant such treatment from Fan Yu, the Soul Tool Department's third-in-command, but he could hardly go wrong by following instructions.
He Caitou, huh... Lin Xi's gaze darkened slightly.
To him, He Caitou might well be worth more than Shrek's entire Soul Tool Department.
This fellow was the biggest bomb Shrek had hidden away.
But he showed none of this, asking in puzzlement:
"Caitou? What's that?"
"That's your senior brother He Caitou's nickname," the staff member explained warmly. "He's Teacher Fan Yu's most prized disciple. You can ask him anything you don't understand. He's very friendly."
As they exchanged questions and answers, the three of them reached their destination.
The staff member called out loudly:
"Caitou, your new junior brother is here!"
"Oh! Coming!" A big bald fellow who had been fiddling with a Soul Cannon shell hurried over and looked the two of them over curiously. "Are they the ones Teacher Fan Yu mentioned?"
"Yes, I'm Lin Xi."
Lin Xi stepped forward to answer, signaling Huo Yutong with his eyes.
Huo Yutong nodded lightly and stepped forward as well.
"I'm Huo Yutong."
At the same time, she activated Spiritual Detection Sharing.
In an instant, images resembling a god's-eye view slowly unfolded in He Caitou's and the staff member's minds.
"Oh, oh!" He Caitou's eyes immediately lit up. "Th-this, junior sister, this is a godly skill!"
As the most gifted Soul Engineer among Shrek's students, he immediately recognized just how terrifying Huo Yutong's Soul Skill was.
The staff member was also dumbfounded. "So that's why. No wonder Fan Yu is so concerned about you..."
It was hard to imagine that this was a Soul Skill a Ten-Year Soul Ring could bestow.
Think that's all? The corners of Lin Xi's mouth rose slightly.
He smiled and said, "The range of Yutong's Soul Skill can also grow as she gets stronger."
"What?!"
Both of them instantly felt dizzy.
Could a Ten-Year Soul Ring really bestow a Soul Skill of this caliber?!
Even a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill might not be this absurd!
In fact, that really was the case.
In Lin Xi's opinion, although the Soul Skills Tian Meng had provided did not count as first-tier skills in Huo Yuhao's skill tree, they were firmly in the second tier.
Spiritual Detection Sharing went without saying. Nobody who had used it had a bad word to say about it.
Mental Interference was something of a pity. It had served as a stepping stone for Simulation from beginning to end, accomplishing nothing apart from the Tian Meng Domain that had bloomed briefly like a night-blooming cereus midway through.
Soul Shock, however, was impressive. In the early stages, when his level was low, he used it as a control skill, forcibly controlling opponents above his level; later, once his spiritual power rose, he used it directly as an offensive move, popping a head with every hit. No technique, just raw stats.
That sounded a little ordinary, didn't it?
But one must not forget what sort of Soul Ring Configuration Yuhao had.
His Soul Rings were so stacked that even the Ice Empress's four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Skills could only serve as minor skills in the later stages.
Even so, Soul Shock remained one of his finest killing moves, and Spiritual Detection remained a top-tier detection method. That alone showed the worth of these Soul Skills.
At the very least, they were more than enough to show off in front of these fellows from Shrek's Soul Tool Department who had seen so little of the world.
Lin Xi looked at He Caitou.
"Senior Brother He, now you understand why Teacher Fan Yu took an interest in us, right?"
"I do! How could I not?!" He Caitou laughed heartily. "Come, come, junior sister, hurry over. I want to properly test just how far I can go under the effects of your Soul Skill."
Huo Yutong looked at Lin Xi. Seeing him nod slightly, she obediently followed He Caitou into the testing area.
Lin Xi stayed behind and struck up a conversation with the staff member:
"Teacher, could you tell me what materials would be best for a beginner learning about Soul Tools?"
Although he reckoned that Shrek's deeply scorned Soul Tool Department, whose ceiling was only Class 8, could not teach him all that much, free resources were right in front of him. Only a fool would refuse to freeload.
As a result, when Fan Yu arrived at the Soul Tool Department's testing area two hours later, he found Lin Xi and Huo Yutong already mingling with everyone there.
A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes as he approached Lin Xi, who was chatting enthusiastically with He Caitou.
"Lin Xi, I heard you arrived two hours ago? You certainly came early. What do you think of this place?"
"It's great," Lin Xi replied with a smile. "Everyone here talks so nicely, and they're all talented. I absolutely love it here."
"That's good."
Unfamiliar with Lin Xi's meme, Fan Yu nodded in satisfaction.
It seemed the boy was reasonably pleased with this place.
That was good. Ideally, he would come to see the Soul Tool Department as his home and be bound to it for good. Otherwise, if the Martial Soul Department tried to snatch him away later, their Soul Tool Department would probably have to pay a hefty price.
He had already reported the situation to Qian Duoduo yesterday. After hearing it, Qian Duoduo had explicitly declared that they must keep Lin Xi and Huo Yutong in the Soul Tool Department at all costs, in preparation for the future Ultimate Individual Soldier Plan.
Just then, he suddenly heard Lin Xi ask:
"By the way, Teacher Fan Yu, how is Teacher Zhou?"
In an instant, Fan Yu's smile froze on his face.
Only after a long while did he sigh.
"You went a little too far yesterday. I've already soothed her, so whatever you do, don't get into another conflict with her."
Heaven knew how much effort he had put in last night.
"Don't worry, Teacher." Lin Xi shrugged. "As long as she agrees that our well water won't interfere with her river water, I guarantee I won't start a conflict with her."
What a joke. His time was precious. He certainly would not waste it on a clown like Zhou Yi, who had no professional ethics as a teacher.
In Lin Xi's eyes, Zhou Yi was not worthy of him going out of his way to provoke her.
"That's good." Fan Yu breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly changed the subject. "Let's begin your Soul Tool lessons. How much do you know about Soul Tools?"
Lin Xi rubbed his chin.
"Hmm... We've only just gotten started, really. If possible, please start from the beginning. Our previous studies weren't systematic."
"..."
For some reason, hearing Lin Xi say this made Fan Yu feel a little relieved.
The shock Lin Xi had given him yesterday had been too great. Only now, after learning that the boy also had things he was not good at, did he feel a certain sense of reality return.
He smiled and said:
"No problem. Call Yutong over. I'll fill you in on the fundamentals now."
What he did not know was that he was about to receive another tremendous shock in the field of Soul Tools as well.