Chapter 345.3. Steamed Buns

Soul Power Amplifiers didn’t have a class, but any soul tool with one as an attachment would be upgraded by one class, with the exception of Class 9 soul tools.

Only the Duskwater Alliance had given Diamond Essencegold to their competitors. Among them, only Huo Yuhao’s crafting desk had a piece of Diamond Essencegold as big as an infant’s fist.

This was Nangong Wan’s bias towards Huo Yuhao, as Ye Yulin wasn’t the only person who wanted to take Huo Yuhao as a disciple. There was still the Master of the Duskwater Alliance in the fray!

Huo Yuhao only discovered this piece of Diamond Essencegold through the cracks between the other rare metals after using some of the others. This thing’s value couldn’t be measured with money, and even when it was in its metallic form, a single piece of Diamond Essencegold had the same worth as a Class 8 soul tool.

Soul Power Amplifiers were touted as Class 9 soul tools that weren’t actually Class 9 soul tools, so it wasn’t hard to imagine why Diamond Essencegold was so valuable.

Diamond Essencegold was great, but it possessed some of its own unique characteristics, one of the most prominent ones being how hard it was.

The “Diamond” in its name didn’t just describe its inner refractive abilities, it also described how hard it was!

Diamond Essencegold was so hard that even Class 9 soul engineers would have a challenging time using their carving knives to engrave and sculpt it. One would not even be able to leave a single mark on Diamond Essencegold if they weren’t supported by formidable soul power, or if they didn’t have a carving knife that was hard enough.

But Huo Yuhao’s green carving knife waltzed around as the judges watched, and it cut into the Diamond Essencegold until dust and particles flew in all directions. The Diamond Essencegold in his hands was quickly taking shape.

“His carving knife is not a ranked carving knife…” one of the Class 8 judges muttered confidently. He wasn’t a Class 9 soul engineer, but nobody else compared to him in terms of understanding and research regarding ranked carving knives. If he said Huo Yuhao’s knife wasn’t a ranked carving knife, then it wasn’t.

Ye Yulin frowned and said, “If it’s not, then the people who created the list must be blind. Or maybe this carving knife has never appeared before. We can all see its strength from how it’s cutting through Diamond Essencegold like butter. This carving knife is probably the best I’ve seen at cutting through hard metal. It’s better than my Morning Star!”

Old Wang nodded sincerely and said, “That’s true. I think this fellow isn’t even using soul power, so there must be something strange about his carving knife, and it’s not just because it’s incredibly sharp. I suspect the carving knife itself carries some special characteristics that make it excellent at cutting through hard things. But this characteristic may be a little too intense.”

Ye Yulin said, “Can it be something that the Duskwater Alliance has taken out for him to use? I’m becoming a lot more confident in this kid.”

Elder Zhang laughed and said, “Right? The Duskwater Alliance is so astute and shrewd, yet they are willing to take out Diamond Essencegold for him to use. It’s not hard to imagine how much emphasis they have placed on this young man, and it would be weird if you or they didn’t have confidence in him.”

Ye Yulin smiled and said, “Then we will eagerly wait for this young man to finish his human-shaped soul tool. He is already today’s champion in my heart.” His pupils suddenly dilated as he said these words, and he exclaimed in surprise, “What a man! He’s already done with his formation array?”

Was that right? Huo Yuhao seemed to be finished engraving and sculpting the piece of Diamond Essencegold in his hands. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao retrieved a small bottle from somewhere and raised his hand. All the Diamond Essencegold dust that had fallen off from his cutting and engraving was all sucked into the bottle. This was good stuff, and even the dust and fragments had special uses and effects.

Huo Yuhao began working on his second formation array after that. He didn’t use any auxiliary tools, and gripping the piece of rare metal in his left hand while he grasped his Life Guardian Blade with his right, and engraved and sculpted rapidly. Metal dust and particles flew in all directions once more.

His current speed was faster than when he was making those components from before, and his hands were starting to leave afterimages.

The current state Huo Yuhao was in was his best state for crafting soul tools. He had been hiding his abilities in the previous rounds, but there was no need to hide anymore at a time like this, because he was in the final round. He probably wouldn’t meet these people ever again after the tournament, at least on good terms. Perhaps they would meet on the battlefield someday.

His Life Guardian Blade tapped lightly on the metal piece in his hands and quickly completed three arced cuts. They were so precise it was if they had been measured with a ruler. Cutting its corners, slicing at lightning speed, drilling and boring holes… his fingers switched continuously from technique to delicate technique.

Huo Yuhao did possess unique and extraordinary characteristics as a soul engineer. For one, he might have stronger spiritual power than even the Class 9 soul engineers judging this tournament, and there was no need to mention how agile his hands were, as he had the Tang Sect’s Mysterious Jade Hands and his training with hidden weapons. All that, in addition to Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power guiding him, meant he would never make a mistake. His spiritual power would guide his hands to move with incredible precision according to whatever he was thinking.

It was difficult for him to make an error throughout the entire process.

Huo Yuhao had recovered from his weakness after his spiritual avatar returned to his body, and it felt as if there were some kind of sublimation. Huo Yuhao basked in this magical feeling as the carving knife in his hand danced up and down, and line after line of intricate and beautiful patterns appeared continuously on the piece of rare metal in his hands. He was completely in the mood for crafting soul tools, and he could now give all his heart and soul to this endeavor without having to worry about anything else.

Xuan Ziwen had remarked in admiration before that if Huo Yuhao could place all his energy and attention into crafting soul tools, he could possibly become an unprecedented Class 10 soul engineer with all the talent that he possessed.

It wouldn’t be very difficult for him to become a Transcendent Douluo because of his Ultimate Ice, while his talent with soul tools was unique and otherworldly. Xuan Ziwen even believed that Huo Yuhao’s talent in crafting soul tools was superior to his accomplishments as a soul master.

However, Xuan Ziwen also told Huo Yuhao that talent was very important for soul engineers to reach Class 7. However, continuing up from Class 7 would take ten times more effort than before. Soul engineers would never be able to progress if they didn’t put their entire heart and soul into the endeavor. Therefore, Huo Yuhao needed to make a choice when he became a seven-ringed Soul Sage.

Huo Yuhao gave Xuan Ziwen an answer back then, and he had made the same choice from the day he became a soul engineer. His choice was simple; he was going to become a soul master who used soul tools, and this would become the mainstream in the future. He would never give up his journey as a soul master, because he wanted to climb all the way to the top, and also because he had to keep going for the Skydream Iceworm, the Ice Empress, and the Snow Empress. He had no choice but to work hard on his cultivation.

Huo Yuhao conveyed his opinions to Xuan Ziwen. His goal for the future was simple; he wanted to use soul tools to boost a soul master’s strength, and his goal would be complete when soul tools could completely become amplifiers for soul masters.

Huo Yuhao’s second formation array quickly took shape, and he didn’t slow down at all.

All seven judges were top-tier soul engineers, and they could naturally relate to the current state that Huo Yuhao was in. This was a state that they desired when they were crafting soul tools.

This state in the world of soul engineers was known as Body and Mind as One. A soul engineer couldn’t explicitly pursue this state; they needed to be spirited, have very deep foundations, and have a certain level of cultivation and spiritual power before they could reach this state.

A soul engineer would have to enter this Body and Mind as One state to craft Class 9 soul tools. Typical soul engineers didn’t have Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection, so they wouldt make mistakes, and thus they could only rely on reaching the state of Body and Mind as One to smoothly complete such an extremely sophisticated thing as a Class 9 soul tool.

The chief judge, the Starsky Douluo, who was also a Class 9 soul engineer, stared at Huo Yuhao until his eyes seemed to become a little greedy. What a prodigy! He’s an absolute prodigy! I don’t care who his teacher is, I have to snatch him over to my side! This talent is something that all soul engineers crave and desire!

The other soul engineers’ crafting progress was at odds with Huo Yuhao’s process. They were practically done with their formation arrays, and were now starting to casually forge their soul tools’ other parts.

The tournament’s technique round was coming later. Therefore, every contestant planned to have some time to rest and recover after completing their soul tools, so that they could be revitalized for the undoubtedly strict technique assessment afterwards.

The contestants began to glance at their adversaries at this point, now that they were relatively less tense than before. Huo Yuhao quickly became their focus of attention.

There was no way they couldn’t pay attention to Huo Yuhao; there was a human-shaped soul tool two and a half meters tall, standing right next to him!

One of the Alto Chamber of Commerce’s contestants pressed the pestle and mortar in his hands the wrong way when he saw that human-shaped soul tool, causing him to waste a piece of rare metal. He almost crushed his own hand!

The other soul engineers felt their eyeballs popping out as they watched Huo Yuhao… only He Caitou could maintain his casual and calm demeanor, because he wasn’t looking at Huo Yuhao.

A human-shaped soul tool? He’s actually crafting a human-shaped soul tool in this tournament?

“This Tang Wu is a prodigy. Have you investigated his identity?” The vice-founder deliberately suppressed her voice as she spoke.

Nangong Wan hurriedly answered respectfully and said, “I’ve sent someone to investigate, but we didn’t find anything. It feels like Tang Si and Tang Wu just emerged out of nowhere. They had servants before this, so I thought they came from a sect, but we’ve checked every single sect, and nothing. However, I don’t think his identity and where he’s from is important. He’s participating in this tournament for the rewards, and that means he’s not that wealthy. Everything else won’t be a problem; we just have to brainwash him.”

“Dumbass,” the vice-founder grunted coldly.

Nangong Wan felt his heart skip a beat, and his expression changed slightly as he bowed respectfully and said, “Forgive me, vice-founder. Please advise.”