Volume 17, Chapter 148.1: Extreme Tes

Mo Feiyun looked extremely dismal as he rushed pathetically out of the Great Star Dou Forest. There had been eight of them initially, including Wei Na and Mu Xue. However, there were only five of them left now. Three soul kings had been left behind in the forest forever. They hadn’t even managed to hunt down the soul beasts that they’d wanted.

All of this had something to do with Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao after they left—or perhaps after they went missing.

After the three of them went missing, a frightening aura was released when Elder Xuan clashed with Three-Headed Scarlet Devilmastiff. Mo Feiyun had been terrified when he felt the aura, and immediately frantically escaped with everyone. Because they didn’t know where the aura had come from, they ran in the wrong direction in their panic, and met with opponents that they couldn’t deal with.

In the end, they made a lucky escape after they left the three soul kings behind. However, they didn’t make any progress after searching for several days, and had no choice but to leave the Great Star Dou Forest.

“Missy, Your Highness, it seems like we’ll have to make a trip to the Extreme North.” Mo Feiyun sighed.

Mu Xue comforted him, “Master Mo, it’s fine. We can search slowly. It’s also better for me and Wei Na to search for martial souls in the Extreme North. However, it’s a pity for those three other masters. The sect will compensate their families greatly when we return, don’t worry.”

Mo Feiyun nodded his head and said, “Hai, it’s all my fault. I let them down! If I hadn’t chose the wrong direction and brought everyone to the Hybrid Region, all of this wouldn’t have happened.”

Mu Xue snorted. “They’re also to be blamed. We haven’t seen them since they disappeared. Don’t let me see them again.”

Wei Na commented, “Sister Mu Xue, we can’t blame them either. They didn’t do anything to us either. They only left us suddenly.”

Mu Xue answered, “Even though I don’t think that they’re capable of making a hundred thousand year soul beast unleash its aura, they did coincidentally disappear when it happened. Who was the one that brought Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong away? If I’m not wrong, the three of them were here to seek soul rings. But they must’ve been followed by a powerful elder. Star Luo National Academy is the top academy in the Star Luo Empire, and has Titled Douluo-level teachers. Maybe that elder was a Titled Douluo who attracted strong opposition.”

Wei Na laughed bitterly. “There’s no point guessing now that things have gotten to this stage. Let’s just head to the Extreme North. To be honest, I’d really rather not go there! It’s too cold, and danger usually lies in the unknown.”

Mu Xue said, “Let’s return to Heaven Dou City to reorganize ourselves and replenish our strength. We won’t need to be afraid of the Extreme North if we make proper preparations. However, Wei Na, you’ve indeed impressed me! You didn’t complain once on this journey even though you’re the Heavenly Soul Empire’s princess. I didn’t expect this!”

Wei Na laughed and replied, “Let’s go, Sister Mu Xue. We have to seize the day if we want to reorganize. It’s been almost a month since we reached our Rank 30 bottlenecks. I don’t want it to go on like this.”

……

“Teacher Fan Yu, how did you know I was coming back?” Huo Yuhao asked curiously as he followed Fan Yu into the Soul Tool Testing Area.

Fan Yu replied, “Elder Mu informed me.”

Huo Yuhao was shocked, “Teacher informed you?”

Fan Yu chuckled and said, “Elder Mu is highly skilled; what’s so strange about him using long-distance communication? Yuhao, you have an important mission from today onwards. It’ll be much tougher than before, but you must persevere. The Sea God’s Pavilion has decided that the Soul Tool Department will use all of its resources to initiate the Ultimate Soldier Plan and nurture you and He Caitou. The pressure on the both of you will greatly increase from now on. Even though I’m your teacher, I won’t let you off so easily. You’ll face immense challenges when the training begins unless the both of you somehow back out of the Ultimate Soldier Plan.”

The two of them finally reached Testing Area Number 12.

The Testing Area was empty, save for He Caitou, who was in the midst of creating a soul tool.

“Senior He.” Huo Yuhao greeted him and rushed over.

He Caitou put the metal in his hands down and chortled, “Little junior, you’re finally back. How are things? Are they settled?”

Huo Yuhao nodded and replied, “I’m a soul elder now.”

Fan Yu said, “Alright, let’s get to work. Both of you, come over here.”

Huo Yuhao and He Caitou rushed to Fan Yu and stood in front of him.

Fan Yu said in a deep voice, “The Ultimate Soldier Plan will start from today. Even though it’s likely to be very tough with your current cultivations, there’s no way that you can back out now. You need to give your all to complete this training. Dean Xian, Dean Qian, and myself will be guiding both of you. I shall explain the significance of the Ultimate Soldier Plan in today’s first lesson.”

“The Ultimate Soldier Plan aims to nurture a powerful entity capable of changing the tide of an entire war. The definition of war here refers to resistance by a foreign army.”

“All four empires on the continent have armies that consist of soul masters. The generals of these armies must, at the minimum, be a soul sage. If a coordinated and well-trained army possesses sufficient soul tools, even Titled Douluo can’t easily deal with them. Since the two of you have been chosen as part of the Ultimate Soldier Plan, you must not only learn how to create soul tools, but you must also know how to use them. In addition, you need to learn infiltration, camouflage, investigation, destruction, and concealment techniques, on top of military knowledge. The academy’s original intention was to try out this plan over a ten year period. However, Elder Mu has instructed us to make it feasible within two years.”

“Yuhao, Caitou, there’s a slight difference in the way that both of you will be nurtured. Yuhao will focus more on investigation, destruction, infiltration, and concealment techniques, as well as the usage of soul tools. Caitou, you’ll focus on soul tool development, explosives, camouflage techniques, survival skills, military administration, strategy, observation skills, quick reactions, escape techniques, ambush techniques, and many other miscellaneous aspects.”

He Caitou had much more to learn than Huo Yuhao. This was because Huo Yuhao had to focus on cultivating both his martial soul and soul tools.

Fan Yu continued, “Simply put, Yuhao’s aim is to increase his own destructive capability and learn all of the methods available to destroy his enemies. On the other hand, Caitou is a food-type soul master. He needs to obtain greater knowledge to take on a more supplementary level. You’ll be Yuhao’s advisor and strategist. In our plan, the Ultimate Soldier refers to the two of you as a single entity. It’s not just one of you; it’s the both of you. Understood?”

Huo Yuhao quickly turned to look at He Caitou. He Caitou appeared calm, but his eyes revealed a look of excitement. He Caitou smiled when he saw Huo Yuhao looking over and said, “What’s wrong? This was my choice. My role is more important than yours in the Ultimate Soldier Plan, hehe.”

Even though Huo Yuhao wasn’t old, he was much more mature than others his age due to the experiences he’d been through. How could he not understand from Fan Yu’s words that he was the main protagonist in the plan, and that He Caitou was just his aide? Furthermore, He Caitou had to learn that much more than him. He would definitely have less energy to devote to his own cultivation!

Fan Yu patted Huo Yuhao’s shoulder and said, “Yuhao, don’t think too much. Even though Caitou is your aide in this plan, his future cultivation won’t be low. The academy will definitely think of a way to help him become a Titled Douluo. The academy has put a lot of effort into this Ultimate Soldier Plan; we’ll do our best to make it perfect. You should only concern yourself with how to enhance yourself through the tough learning and training.”

“Yes.” Huo Yuhao didn’t say anything further, but he’d never forget this favour from his senior.

Fan Yu said, “As it’s the first day of this plan, I shall give both of you a test. Go and prepare first, I’ll make the necessary arrangements while you do so. Proceed to the Beast Dueling Area in an hour’s time. You can use whatever skills you have during the test, including soul tools. Everything but stationary soul tools will be allowed.”

After Fan Yu left, He Caitou busied himself and grabbed many different types of soul tools.

“Senior, do you know the contents of this test? We should be fighting soul beasts in the Beast Dueling Area, right?” Huo Yuhao asked.

He Caitou replied, “I don’t know. However, teacher said that the Soul Tool Department’s resources will all be expended on us. I don’t think it’s as simple as a fight with soul beasts; we have to be prepared. If I’m not wrong, the test today is to find out what our limits are before they arrange our future training. The Ultimate Soldier Plan is more focused on live experience. We’ll have at least one practical experience every week from now on. The remainder of our training involves learning and practice.”

“Okay.” Huo Yuhao clenched his fists, and his eyes were filled with confidence. His abilities had improved greatly ever since they’d won the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. His teacher didn’t even know what he’d obtained in the Great Star Dou Forest. He was determined to surprise his teacher in this test.

Huo Yuhao didn’t prepare too much, since there wasn’t much for him to prepare. He hadn’t made any soul tools in months, so he still had the same few soul tools on him. The strongest one was likely the soul paralysis ray, which was why he only sat cross-legged and tried to regulate his soul power to bring himself to his best condition. He Caitou was soon finished with his own preparations.

After an hour, Huo Yuhao and He Caitou proceeded towards the Beast Dueling Area. It was already lesson time, thus the outer courtyard was very quiet. The two of them looked at each other, then entered the Beast Dueling Area.

A few important figures and the person in charge of the Beast Dueling Area, Gong Changlong, were waiting for them in the center of the Beast Dueling Area.

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