Chapter 38.2. Huo Yuhao, a Class 1.5 Soul Engineer?

His Spiritual Detection could create a clear, three-dimensional shape of the metallic core in his mind. Because of this, he would basically never make a mistake, regardless of how deeply he had to cut, or how many cuts he had to make. This, combined with Huo Yuhao’s seriousness, allowed him to only need a month to finish engraving his first formation array from the time he started memorizing it from theory and putting it into practice.

In other words, Huo Yuhao had taken seven months to formally become a Class 1 soul engineer.

At that time, Fan Yu had told him that, although he wasn’t clear what the record in the Sun Moon Empire was, Huo Yuhao was definitely the fastest person to become a Class 1 soul engineer in all of the Heavenly Soul, Dou Ling, and Star Luo empires. He Caitou taking one year and four months to do this had already been considered breathtaking by Fan Yu, but Huo Yuhao had only needed half that!

Huo Yuhao had been extremely concentrated on his studies and practice. In Fan Yu’s opinion, he didn’t seem to know the meaning of ‘dry and dull’ at all. Even if it was the exact same Class 1 formation array, he would engrave several hundred of them onto an ordinary piece of metal with gusto.

After another month, Huo Yuhao had attempted to engrave a Class 2 formation array onto a true core. And he’d succeeded; he’d actually succeeded! Though Fan Yu had already predicted it to some extent, he couldn’t help but tear up at the sight of his disciple truly succeeding in front of him.

Strong teachers were hard to find, but talented students were just as hard, if not harder to find! That’s not mentioning a talented disciple that was also willing to give 200%. Fan Yu was an extremely harsh teacher, but even he hadn’t been able to find a single fault with Huo Yuhao.

It should be known that a Class 2 formation array is at least three times more complicated than a Class 1 formation array. Moreover, the requirements towards the usage of soul power are extremely high. Huo Yuhao’s success had had no element of luck to it at all; he’d truly controlled everything perfectly.

After Fan Yu waved towards He Caitou, he finally let Huo Yuhao go. Fan Yu couldn’t help but be filled with pride when he saw his pleased disciples.

Huo Yuhao had just passed his twelfth birthday, and was now half a head taller than when he’d entered the academy.

The top-ranked food that he’d received from the Martial Soul Department had provided him with more than enough nutrients. Combined with his five months of forging training and enormous activity level, Huo Yuhao’s body had become much sturdier. Though his muscles weren’t as exaggerated as He Caitou’s, he had still become relatively rugged-looking. The lines drawn by his muscles were evident, but they were filled with flexibility. If he were to take off his clothes, he’d look like a small leopard ready to pounce. His gaze had also become much calmer and much more resolute, while his back was naturally straight as he stood there.

Fan Yu beckoned towards his two disciples. “You guys can sit down. Yuhao, give me your completed core. This is the first Class 2 soul tool you’ve made, so I’ll assist you with creating its outer and inner shell as a graduation present for you.”

“Thank you, teacher.” Huo Yuhao didn’t decline as he replied with a smile, then handed the core over to Fan Yu.

Fan Yu continued, “The holidays are about to start. What do you two have in mind?”

He Caitou smiled in a silly manner. “Teacher, I’m an orphan, so I’ll just stay in the academy and continue training. My little junior brother’s improved too quickly; I already feel threatened by him. I want to become a Class 4 soul engineer by next year. In my opinion, I don’t think he’ll need long to catch up with me.”

Fan Yu smiled. “You don’t have to be so humble. The journey of a soul engineer gets tougher and tougher as you move forwards. Your junior brother truly has a monstrous level of talent in the aspect of formation array engraving, but his cultivation is still lacking. If he wants to engrave higher-ranked formation arrays, he’ll have to first increase his cultivation rank. If he doesn’t, he won’t have enough soul power to finish an engraving. Yuhao, this is also something you have to do. You need to work hard to increase your cultivation. If I’m not mistaken, your soul power should’ve already reached Rank 20. I’ll take you to the Great Star Dou Forest, as you need a suitable soul ring to improve even more.”

Right, Huo Yuhao’s cultivation had already reached Rank 20. Moreover, he’d reached it two months ago. During these past eight months, he’d cultivated incessantly. With the Haodong Power’s assistance, the rate at which his soul power increased was no less than his rate of improvement in the creation of soul tools.

When he’d reached Rank 20, there had still been some time left until the holidays. Because of that, Wang Yan had suggested that he not rush to obtain a soul ring. Instead, he’d asked Huo Yuhao to continue cultivating diligently. According to a grandmaster from Shrek Academy’s first generation, a soul master’s cultivation wouldn’t simply halt because of their inability to obtain a soul ring. Instead, the bottleneck would naturally restrict it from exploding upwards. In other words, although Huo Yuhao wouldn’t increase in rank after hitting Rank 20, his latent cultivation would still continue to improve. Once he’d obtained his second soul ring however, it would immediately explode upwards.

Because of that, Huo Yuhao had continued to cultivate. Wang Dong’s cultivation speed was also extremely quick. Cultivating with the Haodong Power alongside Huo Yuhao had caused his cultivation speed to double. In the past eight months, his soul power had risen by an impressive three ranks; he’d already reached Rank 28. According to Wang Dong’s calculations, he’d be able to break through to the three-ringed rank by summer at the latest. This cultivation speed was already fast enough to astonish many people.

Huo Yuhao being treated as core disciple of the Martial Soul Department naturally wasn’t limited to food alone. Teachers from the inner courtyard would come over every week to provide them with some pointers as well. Even though a person like him—as someone who could only enjoy the treatment of a core disciple—was only a side character, the number of things he’d learned absolutely wasn’t any less than the others.

“Teacher, there’s no need. I was one of the champions of the freshmen assessment, and one of the prizes I received was for a teacher to help me obtain the most optimum soul ring I could withstand. You’re still busy with your research, so there’s no need to trouble yourself.”

Fan Yu chuckled. “Right! I forgot about that. You can go find Director Du directly then; he takes care of these things. When do you plan on going?”

Huo Yuhao replied, “The day after tomorrow. I’ll leave in the morning. Please don’t worry, I’ll do my best to come back early. I’ll head back as soon as I get my soul ring.”

Fan Yu nodded. “Yuhao, if you’re just trying to upgrade your martial soul, I suggest that you get an attack-type skill. However, I suggest that you diligently train in your Spiritual Detection if you want to increase your abilities as a soul engineer. However, I can’t give you any specifics as to what soul ring you should obtain. Furthermore, the soul ring you obtain also depends on fate. Thus, it’ll be up to you to create your soul tools.”

“Yes. I’ll take note of that, teacher.” Huo Yuhao nodded seriously. However, this was the first time he’d told a lie to Fan Yu. He didn’t have any plans to ask the Martial Soul Department to help him obtain a second soul ring for his Spirit Eyes. He wanted to do it by himself, as he had the Skydream Iceworm.

Once he thought about how he was finally going to become a Soul Grandmaster, and how he’d formally awaken his second martial soul with the help of the Skydream Iceworm, he couldn’t help but inwardly turn fervent.

Fan Yu continued, “We’re about to begin vacation, so you don’t need to continue working anymore today. Go on, head back to your dorm and pack up. Rest for a bit too.”

He Caitou couldn’t help but widen his eyes. This was the first time he’d ever heard his teacher say the word ‘rest’.

By the time he’d left the Soul Tool Department’s Testing Area, the sky had already darkened. The weather today honestly wasn’t that great. A light drizzle gradually fell, and the sound of the pattering rain brought a slight chill to the spring night.

However, Huo Yuhao didn’t feel that the rain was bad at all. On the contrary, he felt somewhat carefree, as if it were washing away his exhaustion. Just as he was about to step out into the rain and experience this refreshing feeling, he suddenly shifted his gaze towards the left.

An umbrella had already been opened, and beneath it was someone wearing a Year 1 uniform. His short, pinkish-blue hair gave off the beauty of a fairy beneath the rainy night, while his similarly large pinkish-blue eyes were filled with both ingenuity and a slight trace of astonishment.

“Even the ironman is goofing off?” He said as he smiled towards Huo Yuhao.

Astonished, Huo Yuhao looked towards him. “Why’d you come?”

“It’s raining. We’re gonna be splitting up the day after tomorrow, so I came to get you.” The youth flipped his short, pinkish-blue hair, the gaze in his eyes somewhat peculiar.

Huo Yuhao chuckled. “You can’t bear to part with me? There’s only a month before we’ll all be back together. Let’s go. We’ll head back to our room first. And I’m not goofing off; Teacher Fan Yu specially allowed us to leave early.”

The person who’d come to get him was Wang Dong. After eight months, the still-developing Wang Dong had also grown slightly taller. Only, he hadn’t grown as much as Huo Yuhao had. Huo Yuhao was now taller than him by a little bit.

The two people slowly walked across the wet ground as they returned to their dorms. Normally, Huo Yuhao would’ve walked through campus as quickly as possible. Today however, he’d slowed down. With the scenery being as rainy as it was, he’d immediately felt that something was different. Thus, the two of them had deliberately slowed down as they walked back to their dorm.

“Did the Soul Tool Department agree to help you get a soul ring?” Huo Yuhao asked.

Huo Yuhao nodded. “Of course. I’m a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department after all.” He couldn’t help but feel somewhat apologetic as he said this. In order to keep the Skydream Iceworm a secret, he had no choice but to tell a white lie to both parties.

Wang Dong replied, “I’ll be heading back home too. I’m also leaving earlier than you. Thus, you’ll have to take care of yourself. It’s a pity that I haven’t reached Rank 30. Otherwise, I’d come with you to hunt a few soul beasts. That would’ve been nice.”

Huo Yuhao chuckled. “Don’t be so discontented. Ever since we got the Haodong Power, hasn’t our cultivation speed increased by a large amount? Go ask the other students; who else do you think could improve as much as you after reaching Rank 20? After we get back and pass the advancement test, you’ll be able to reach Rank 30 after two or three months at most. I haven’t obtained my second soul ring yet, but I reckon that I’m about Rank 22 or so right now. As time passes, the advantage that we get from our Haodong Power will become more and more obvious. Let’s try and catch up to Dai Huabin in soul power by the time we’re in Year 4.”