Chapter 202
Chapter 202: Human-shaped Soul Tool
“Teacher Xuan.” Xuan Ziwen was doing his routine inspection in the Illustrious Virtue Hall. When he walked past Huo Yuhao’s table, he was stopped.
He revealed a smile on his face and said, “Yuhao, you haven’t proactively talked to me in more than a month. You finally have something to ask me?”
Huo Yuhao appeared fatigued, but there was a vibrant look in his eyes. “Teacher Xuan, can I make a trip to your office later tonight? Our exchange is about to end and I have some things to tell you.”
Xuan Ziwen was stunned for a moment. Yes! The exchange was indeed about to end.
Although he hadn’t interacted much with Huo Yuhao over the past few months, he could tell how persistent Huo Yuhao was in his research and creation of soul tools. Furthermore, he was also a very outstanding soul master. Which teacher wouldn’t like a student that was like him?
“Alright.” He didn’t even hesitate, and agreed to Huo Yuhao’s request immediately.
Huo Yuhao smiled and was filled with confidence. It was only noon, but he tidied up his laboratory desk a bit. After scanning his surroundings, he bade goodbye to Xuan Ziwen and left the laboratory. He was going to leave in another two days. Before he left, he had to settle that important matter.
“I’ve finally found you. Let’s see where you can run.” As he left the Illustrious Virtue Hall, however, Huo Yuhao ran into trouble.
Jing Ziyan seemed to harbor ill-intentions as she looked at him. Not far from her, a cool-looking Ji Juechen was wielding his Extraterrestrial Meteoric Sword while glancing at Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao laughed bitterly. “Guys, I don’t want to fight today. I’m very tired. I haven’t rested in months. Can the two of you let me off this time?”
Jing Ziyan snorted and said, “You haven’t rested in months? We haven’t found trouble with you in months. You said you had important stuff to settle the other time. Didn’t we let you off then? After that, you’ve avoided us for such a long time. We finally found you today. Don’t try to make excuses for yourself this time.”
Huo Yuhao was helpless as he replied, “You don’t have to pester me either. I won’t have a chance to spar with you again. I’m going back in two days. I promise the both of you that I’ll spar with you one last time before I leave.”
“You’re going to leave?” Jing Ziyan’s aggressive look disappeared, and she looked at Huo Yuhao doubtfully. Ji Juechen also put down his sword and watched Huo Yuhao intently.
“Yes, our exchange is going to end. In two days, I’ll be returning to Shrek Academy. Although the two of you are annoying, I’ve regarded you as my friends. That’s why I’m not being perfunctory. Before I leave, I’ll teach both of you a good lesson.” Huo Yuhao said seriously.
Jing Ziyan furrowed her brow, while Ji Juechen turned around and left. He stopped harassing him. Jing Ziyan glanced at Huo Yuhao before following Ji Juechen away.
“What’s this?” Huo Yuhao said furiously, “You don’t even say anything to me? At least give me a sending off.”
However, Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen didn’t bother with him. They quickened their footsteps, as if they had something important to attend to.
“Two heartless people.” Huo Yuhao snapped. He was stunned to find out that he was a little reluctant to leave after two years in this place. Even though this was an enemy camp, he had had many memorable moments here.
Teacher Xuan, Ke Ke, Zi Mu and the two of them. There was also Ju Zi.
Even though he spent all his effort on cultivating and learning tirelessly in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, which was the rival of Shrek Academy, he still had some feelings for this place after two years. He wouldn’t miss the academy, but the people.
After he returned to his room, he didn’t meditate. He collapsed onto his bed and shut his eyes before he fell into a deep sleep.
He had been very exhausted over the past few months. He needed a good rest.
He completely blacked out as he slept. It was only when he heard a knock on his door that he woke up.
“Who’s that?” He rubbed his eyes and forced himself up from his bed. He was a little lethargic. He knew that it was because he had over-relaxed his body.
“It’s me.” An unpleasant yet familiar voice sounded.
Huo Yuhao was jolted awake. He cursed when he saw the sky outside. He quickly crawled out of his bed and opened the door.
Indeed, it was Xuan Ziwen who was standing outside.
“Teacher Xuan, I’m sorry. I overslept.” Huo Yuhao invited him in awkwardly.
Xuan Ziwen didn’t appear too angry. On the contrary, he was a little stunned and asked, “You? Overslept?”
“Yes!” Huo Yuhao was apologetic as he nodded his head.
Xuan Ziwen took a deep look at him and didn’t know what he was feeling. Although he was Huo Yuhao’s teacher, he had only truly imparted knowledge of soul tools to him for about half a year. This didn’t even include some of the core knowledge in the Illustrious Virtue Hall. However, he had passed on one of the most important theories regarding soul tools to Huo Yuhao. He had once told him that his cultivation depended on him alone. It would all depend on his own learning and research.
In the time that passed, Huo Yuhao would also approach him with a bunch of questions almost every day. Apart from some confidential stuff, he answered all of his queries. Half a year passed like that, and Huo Yuhao started asking fewer and fewer questions. From the tens of questions a day at the start, it slowly became a few a day before it became one question every few days. In the past few months, Huo Yuhao had completely stopped asking questions.
Xuan Ziwen didn’t doubt his talent. However, he didn’t think that Huo Yuhao could become a top-ranked soul engineer. The reason was very simple – his martial soul was too strong.
As a strong soul master, the cultivation and use of his martial soul had been deeply ingrained in his bones. Xuan Ziwen could also tell that his passion for soul tools wasn’t comparable to his passion for martial souls even though he liked researching soul tools.
Everyone’s energy was limited. The higher one’s cultivation was, the more one had to focus on comprehending and understanding more advanced knowledge. Since Huo Yuhao possessed twin martial souls and an Ultimate martial soul, how could he possibly put most of his energy into researching soul tools?
However, Xuan Ziwen was still very curious about him. More accurately speaking, he was curious about his research. He had been monitoring the direction of Huo Yuhao’s research ever since he came up with the Zhuge Divine crossbow. However, Huo Yuhao was very good at concealing his work. Even with Xuan Ziwen’s abilities in soul tools, he couldn’t tell what Huo Yuhao was up to.
The two year exchange was about to end, and Huo Yuhao was about to return to Shrek Academy. Xuan Ziwen felt a little lost. As he wasn’t from the Sun Moon Empire, Xuan Ziwen didn’t possess any ill-feelings towards Huo Yuhao. The only thing in this world that could arouse his interest were soul tools. He actually admired Huo Yuhao’s talent in the aspect of soul tools. Even though he knew it was impossible, he still hoped that Huo Yuhao would develop in this area.
“Tell me, why did you ask to see me?” Xuan Ziwen looked at him and asked while standing where he was. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to find a place to sit. It was just that Huo Yuhao’s room was too messy. There were all types of metal accessories strewn on the floor. It was much messier than the time Wang Dong had visited. Even his bed wasn’t spared.
Huo Yuhao used his legs to make a path before removing the clutter from a chair. “Teacher Xuan, take a seat.”
Xuan Ziwen furrowed his brow and said, “Yuhao, you don’t seem so untidy normally! Why is your room so messy?”
Huo Yuhao replied, “I have no choice. I can only work on some things in my room if I want to keep them as secrets.”
“What?” Xuan Ziwen’s interest was aroused. He smiled and asked, “You wanted to see me today so that you could show me your secret work?”
Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment, then freshened himself up completely. He circulated his spiritual power, and the lights in his Spirit Eyes flashed slightly.
“Teacher Xuan, do you still remember our bet?” Huo Yuhao asked.
Xuan Ziwen replied, “Of course I do. Why? Can you come up with ten items of that level? I am a man of my word. If you can, I will follow you wherever you want.”
Huo Yuhao shook his head and replied, “I can’t. However, I hope that you can give me pointers on two of my products. They are also the essence of my hard work after I came to the academy. At the same time, I hope that they can be of use to you.”
Xuan Ziwen’s eyes brightened, and he sat up straight. “Are you saying that you invented two new types of soul tools? Quick, let me see them.” His passion for soul tools made him forget everything instantly.
Huo Yuhao said, “Teacher Xuan, I can show you one of my two final products. I wish to take a look at my second product again. But I can’t show you the first product here because this place is too small, and it’s also my secret. If you want to see it, we need to use a special method.”
“What special method?” Xuan Ziwen asked doubtfully.
Huo Yuhao said, “I will send the image directly to your mind with my spiritual power.”
Xuan Ziwen was astonished as he asked, “You can do that?” Although he knew that Huo Yuhao was a spiritual-type soul master, he was aware that he would need immense spiritual power to to transfer an image with it.
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “I can do it, but I’ll need you to trust me before I can show you the image in your mind.”
Xuan Ziwen replied without hesitation. “What are we waiting for then? Let’s start.”
Huo Yuhao was the one who was stunned now. “Teacher Xuan, I’ll need you to open your mind if I’m to do this. Aren’t you afraid…?”
Xuan Ziwen laughed and said, “What’s there to be afraid of? I’ve been your teacher for two years. If I don’t understand your character by now, I’m not fit to be your teacher! Let’s cut the crap and start!”
As he spoke, he’d already shut his eyes.
Huo Yuhao’s eyes flashed with a look of respect. He knew that he wouldn’t open his spiritual sea for anyone.
Dim golden light shone from Huo Yuhao’s eyes, and the golden light became more and more intense. He was standing right in front of Xuan Ziwen. The entire room started to shine with strange and distorted spiritual undulations. Dim golden halos started to ripple outwards with Huo Yuhao’s head as the center. Even his body gradually glowed with a dim layer of gold.
After fusing with the Snow Empress’ Spirit, his spiritual power had ascended to another level. Even he didn’t know what level. However, he could use new abilities.
Two streaks of golden lights shot out from his eyes. These lights appeared gentle, but they caused the room to be filled with a strange aura.
Xuan Ziwen’s body jerked a little. He only a felt a strong force surging into his spiritual sea, and he wanted to resist it subconsciously. However, he could resist this urge as an eight-ringed Soul Douluo and a soul engineer. Even so, his guard wasn’t completely down. He retracted his spiritual power to shield his spiritual origin.
A human’s spiritual power would slowly increase along with his soul power. After all, great strength could only be controlled by a high enough spiritual power.
Xuan Ziwen was greatly invested in soul tool research. and spent most of his day thinking. That was why his spiritual power was stronger than most soul engineers of the same class. However, he was shocked to discover that the spiritual power surging into his body wasn’t any weaker than his own. Its spiritual aura managed to assimilate with him after encountering his spiritual aura.
Xuan Ziwen clearly felt that he was under a great, all-around pressure after Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power entered his spiritual sea. This also meant that he would be very passive if Huo Yuhao attacked him.
However, this was only an “if”. Just as Xuan Ziwen was shocked, an image suddenly appeared in his mind.
At the start, it was just a single, simple image. However, it was soon joined by others, and formed a projection.
It was a barren land surrounded by mountain rocks. The exact location couldn’t be discerned from the projection. The surroundings were very quiet, and he was looking at the barren land from the sky. There was only one person here—Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao was standing on top of a small hill, peering into the sky.
Xuan Ziwen was shocked to realize that there was a third eye on Huo Yuhao’s forehead.
He thought that he was seeing things initially, and quickly gathered his spiritual power for clarity. However, he then noticed the vertical eye shining with a golden light. It seemed like it was looking at him.
A third eye? Don’t tell me that his Spirit Eyes experienced a second awakening, just like the Body Sect? Even though he was a powerful soul engineer with eight rings, his knowledge on this aspect of soul masters was limited.
Before he could form any concrete thoughts, the projection changed again. Huo Yuhao lifted his right hand, revealing a huge blue sapphire ring on his index finger. Six dazzling strips of starlight were shining on the surface of the ring.
Starlight Sapphire! Good stuff! Even though this piece was only as big as a fingernail, it could contain ten cubic meters of items if it was used as a storage-type soul tool. Xuan Ziwen immediately thought of soul tools when he saw such top-ranked materials.
Huo Yuhao lifted his right hand at this point, and the six strips of starlight started to spread. As blue light flashed, something huge was presented in front of him.
Upon seeing this object, Xuan Ziwen was unable to think about anything else. His entire body started to tremble violently, as if he’d been struck by lightning.
What is that? It was a dark grey metallic man, and it looked quite simple. He was around three and a half meters in height, and was completely human in shape. The dark grey surface wasn’t decorated with anything, but the lines on his body were very smooth.
A human-shaped soul tool? This was why Xuan Ziwen was shocked.
One of the most important research topics of the Illustrious Virtue Hall was human-shaped soul tools. That was because their development in this area had reached a huge bottleneck. There were many beneficial effects to human-shaped soul tools, but there were even more problems that existed. As one of the pioneers of this research category, Xuan Ziwen understood these problems clearly.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao had whipped out a human-shaped soul tool in front of him… that actually looked presentable. How could he not be shocked? He even suspected that Huo Yuhao had stolen a peek at the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s confidential secrets. He couldn’t believe that Huo Yuhao had successfully created a human-shaped soul tool. The reason was very simple—the size!
Human-shaped soul tools weren’t just an armor for soul masters. They were controlled internally, allowing them to move freely just like the all-terrain exploration soul tool that Huo Yuhao had controlled before. Which enabled them to attack and defend.
All this required a large number of formation arrays to be combined, and a strong soul master to control the finished product.
This human-shaped soul tool was too small. It was only three and a half meters tall. How many formation arrays could it contain? It probably couldn’t even perform simple flexible movements like a person.
In the projection, Huo Yuhao walked slowly to the human-shaped soul tool. He activated it, and it started to experience changes from the head down. Its headpiece was removed, and its neck revealed a straight vertical line that extended all the way to its lower body. After that, it started to crack through the middle, revealing a hollow interior.
Xuan Ziwen was even more confident of his judgment after seeing the empty space. Huo Yuhao wanted to step into the soul tool and control it from the inside.
Xuan Ziwen relaxed a little. To him, this human-shaped soul tool would probably be controlled by Huo Yuhao from the inside, as if it were a huge suit of armor. It was very different from the real internal control he had thought of.
Huo Yuhao indeed entered the soul tool, and the soul tool closed up, sealing him inside. After that, Xuan Ziwen wasn’t observing from the sky anymore. He had two different perspectives now—one was close-range observation, and the other was from inside the soul tool.
Huo Yuhao’s arms weren’t placed in the hollow arms of the soul tool. Instead, there were a few control joysticks and a series of buttons in front of him.
Xuan Ziwen then saw Huo Yuhao lifting a joystick from the inside of the soul tool. After that, the back of the soul tool started to crack open, revealing two huge pairs of wings. After pressing a few buttons, twelve streaks of light shot out from the wings. The thrusting force of the wings propelled the metallic man into the sky.
He was moving very quickly, reaching a standard that ordinary Class 7 soul engineers couldn’t even achieve. Gosh! Has this kid created twelve Class 6 soul thrusters to increase the speed? The balance is also so good? Furthermore, the air resistance against him is greatly reduced with the protection of the metal shell.
It’s also very flexible, and can perform actions in the air.
How is this possible? Why are the soul tool’s arms moving when his arms are only controlling the joysticks? Don’t tell me this is really a human-shaped soul tool. No, that’s impossible. I don’t believe it!
After flying for in the sky a while, the human-shaped soul tool landed on the ground. This time, it landed on flatter terrain.
Xuan Ziwen was still looking at it from two perspectives. Inside the soul tool, he saw Huo Yuhao sitting cross-legged.
The soul tool was three and a half meters tall, and its back was more than a meter wide. It was evidently a tight fit to sit inside it like that, but it was manageable.
Is he proving to me that…? Xuan Ziwen soon understood Huo Yuhao’s intention.
After that, Huo Yuhao’s hands moved faster and faster. The joysticks and buttons flickered under his control.
The human-shaped soul tool moved.
At the start, he was only simply walking forward. Following this, he leapt, rolled, turned around, and even did a cartwheel.
Huo Yuhao’s control was a little rough at the start. But the movements of this metallic man became increasingly smooth as he familiarized himself with the controls.
Although this metallic man’s movements were still a little delayed, and deviated slightly from how a real human moved, it was pertinent to note that it was being controlled by Huo Yuhao using joysticks and buttons! His ability to maintain balance had already shocked Xuan Ziwen.
Time passed second after second. The metallic man only stopped ten minutes later. Finally, it adopted a half-squat position before straightening.
Following this, Huo Yuhao inserted his arms and legs into the empty sides of the metallic man’s interior. The control panel that was initially in front of him was retracted to the side of his waist. The soul tool started to move again.
Through his two spiritual perspectives, Xuan Ziwen could see that the metallic man was now being controlled by Huo Yuhao’s soul power and limbs. It boasted a far greater flexibility now.
When Huo Yuhao controlled it and used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Xuan Ziwen felt like he was being strangled. He was becoming extremely emotional.
He saw the results from the outside, and watched how he did it from the inside. The human-form soul tool didn’t use any offensive soul tools throughout the entire process, but it greatly moved Xuan Ziwen.
The projection started to turn blurry. Everything seemed to return to normal, and the spiritual power that had surged into Xuan Ziwen’s spiritual sea slowly faded away.
“Impossible!” When Xuan Ziwen recovered from the projection Huo Yuhao had showed him, he shouted without a care. He already stood up at this point, and there was strong undulations of soul power surging from his body. The rare metals that were strewn on the ground started to scatter in the air, and even Huo Yuhao staggered a few steps back before he managed to stabilize himself.
Xuan Ziwen was perspiring, and his eyes were red. He was like a competitive bull, one that was staring at Huo Yuhao, and he said word by word, “This. Is. Impossible! Tell me that it’s not real!”
Huo Yuhao looked at him calmly and said, “Teacher Xuan, you’re a Class 8 soul engineer and you shouldn’t be that far off from a Class 9 soul engineer. Can’t you tell if it’s real or not? Even if it was only a projection, that doesn’t mean that I don’t have the ability to produce it in reality.”
Xuan Ziwen glared at him and asked, “How did you create those images? And how did you divide them into different perspectives too?”
Huo Yuhao replied, “I refuse to answer your questions. They involve secrets regarding my soul skills.”
Xuan Ziwen took in a deep breath and was a little anxious as he walked up and down in the room. He didn’t even care as he kicked the rare metals that were strewn about.
Huo Yuhao seemed to have expected this result. He sat in the chair that Xuan Ziwen was just using and waited calmly.
In the dorm room, one of them was pacing up and down frantically, while the other remained seated calmly. Neither of them made any other moves.
Time passed second after second. Xuan Ziwen didn’t stop perspiring, and in fact started to sweat even more. It started to drip from his jaw, while the back of his shirt was already soaked.
He was completely immersed in his thoughts now. His mind was circulating quickly as he pondered.
This carried on for fifteen minutes before Xuan Ziwen suddenly stopped. He turned around to face Huo Yuhao suddenly, and the beads of perspiration on his face were flung off by the sudden turn.
“How many formation arrays did you use?” Xuan Ziwen’s voice was trembling.
Huo Yuhao replied, “Thirty-two.”
“Impossible. How can it be so few? Did you know… you didn’t know!” Xuan Ziwen was muttering to himself as he stared at Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “Teacher Xuan, I’m only a at most Class 6 soul engineer.
“How many formation arrays did you think I’d use to complete this soul tool? Furthermore, you saw its size, internal structure and physical form. Without adding any offensive tools, there’s only a handful of places that can contain formation arrays. How many formation arrays did you think there would be?”
Xuan Ziwen replied, “Then how did you manage to make it move, and even make it fly, without pouring in soul power?”
Huo Yuhao didn’t hide the truth. He said almost naturally, “Milk Bottles! I added twelve Class 6 Milk Bottles. While the soul power in the Milk Bottles becomes volatile, it happens much slower compared to other soul tools. Theoretically speaking, it can maintain flight for two hours without using my own soul power as long as these twelve Milk Bottles are filled with soul power beforehand. Otherwise, I can engage in an intense fight for ten minutes, but that will include other offensive soul tools. I won’t talk much about the internal design. This is a stupid design because only soul masters can control this soul tool. After all, Milk Bottles are only replenished by soul masters.”
Xuan Ziwen stared at Huo Yuhao. “How did you know that I was researching soul power outflow prevention in Milk Bottles?”
Huo Yuhao was stunned. “I didn’t!”
“You didn’t know?” Xuan Ziwen was now the one who was stunned. “Then why did you use Milk Bottles to provide power for this human-form soul tool?”
Huo Yuhao looked at him anxiously and replied, “It was the only method I could think of. Teacher Xuan, have you really found a way to prevent the outflow of soul power? That’s great!” If Xuan Ziwen wasn’t lying, the practicality of his human-form soul tool would be greatly enhanced.
Xuan Ziwen changed the topic instantly and said, “That’s not the main point. The main point is, how did you manage to balance the human-form soul tool? Doesn’t every joint have to be controlled using formation arrays? There’s also the linkage and coordination between the arrays. Problems will definitely arise. Did you think about all these problems?
Huo Yuhao replied, “I thought of them! Not everything requires formation arrays.”
“Then what did you use?” Xuan Ziwen probed.
Huo Yuhao chortled and replied, “Sorry! Teacher Xuan, I can’t tell you. That’s a secret.”
Xuan Ziwen turned gloomy. Huo Yuhao answered his questions at the start, but claimed that it was a secret when he got to the critical questions. He was obviously playing with him!
With Xuan Ziwen’s proficiency in soul tools, he wanted to use his Milk Bottle formula on human-form soul tools after they developed one. However, the human-form soul tools in the Illustrious Virtue Hall were too large. If he only used Milk Bottles, he wouldn’t be able to create Class 9 Milk Bottles. Even if he could use Class 8 Milk Bottles, he needed more than ten of them to ensure the experiment ran smoothly. And then it would only be able to work normally for an hour. This also meant that more than ten eight-ringed Soul Douluos had to follow the soul tool to make it move before it could work properly. In addition, Xuan Ziwen was certain that the soul tool couldn’t compare to Huo Yuhao’s metallic man in terms of flexibility.
Xuan Ziwen wasn’t concerned about Huo Yuhao’s craftsmanship. The metallic man might have many problems. He found five to six problems that couldn’t be resolved right away. However, the key thing was his concept!
He had only used thirty-two formation arrays before he managed to make the metallic man move. It was practical, and didn’t require Huo Yuhao to use his soul power to make it move. At least it could be used to escape.
Xuan Ziwen was puzzled by all this. He started to become very restless.
“Impressive! Huo Yuhao, you are impressive.” Xuan Ziwen looked at him and was filled with emotions. He knew that Huo Yuhao wasn’t lying. That human-form soul tool couldn’t have been created by him alone.
The complex structure that it possessed couldn’t have been completed in just two years. It must be related to his sect. How should Xuan Ziwen go about asking him then?
Xuan Ziwen knew that this was all Huo Yuhao’s grand ploy to attract him. On the surface, he said that he didn’t have ten new creations. However, he came up with a product that represented the essence of the research that Xuan Ziwen had always been invested in. How could he not be interested?
Xuan Ziwen took in a deep breath and said, “Yuhao, tell me if this is agreeable. I don’t want your detailed production method. I just want to know the concept and ideas behind this human-form soul tool. I’ll trade for them with the Sealed Milk Bottle formula that I just completed. You need to know that this formula will change the whole development of soul tools. I haven’t reported it to the Hall yet. But once more data is collected, I believe this formula will become one of the most important bits of research in the Illustrious Virtue Hall. Do you want to make a trade?”
Huo Yuhao was a little hesitant now on this. As a Class 6 soul engineer, he knew that Xuan Ziwen was right. The appearance of Sealed Milk Bottles was bound to change the world of soul tools! Ordinary people wouldn’t find it so difficult to control soul tools anymore. Although the price of Sealed Milk Bottles was bound to be astronomical, they could solve the huge power problem when used on human-form soul tools. Even though this didn’t solve the root of the problem, it wasn’t completely out of the question to create huge Milk Bottles for Test Subject 1. Thinking about it gave Huo Yuhao the chills.