Volume 18, Chapter 156.2: Entering School and Taking Measurements
“Thud—” Huo Yuhao’s strike was much more underwhelming compared to He Caitou’s. The sound it made was also the softest among the ten students present.
“Strength—Rank 55!” The teacher in charge of recording their results shouted another shocking number once again.
Huo Yuhao was only average amongst the ten students despite his Rank of 55. However, as he was only fourteen years old, this was actually an extraordinary result. Furthermore, he’d released his strength using a different method than the others; he’d managed to unleash such a powerful force even though he was only a foot away. His strike hadn’t made much sound, which further demonstrated his technique. He hadn’t wasted any strength at all.
Huo Yuhao hadn’t used any soul skills to enhance his body either. The only thing he’d relied on was his own personal strength and a little of the Tang Sect’s Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon. He was quite satisfied with his strength evaluation; it was neither too high nor too low. With this, he’d pass the test without drawing too much attention to himself. If he’d used the Ice Empress’ Pincer and Mysterious Jade Hands, the result would’ve been completely different.
After the strength test ended, everyone proceeded to the last segment. This time, it was a reaction speed test.
The measuring scale was much smaller this time. It was a squarish platform that held sixteen boxes, each of which were the size of a fist. These boxes would light up at random, after which one was supposed to slap the lit boxes in order to deactivate them. The test would end when one box was missed.
This test had nothing to do with one’s abilities; it was a simple test of one’s reaction speed and the coordination between one’s mind and body.
Ye Xiaosheng didn’t act as arrogant as he had before when they arrived. The two tests that they’d just taken had revealed how inferior he was to He Caitou. The only lead he had was his soul rank. Although he didn’t think that he’d lost face, he still felt a bit awkward.
The last test was like a game. In the beginning, Ye Xiaosheng wasn’t very bothered by the test, and even became slightly complacent. However, he paid the price for his complacency very quickly.
When the test started, the boxes only lit up one by one and remained lit for around a third of a second. If one hit the boxes before the time was up, they’d pass and the test would continue.
Ye Xiaosheng managed to breeze through the test while the boxes lit up one by one. However, a pair of boxes lit up after a while, which temporarily stunned Ye Xiaosheng. He managed to hit one of them, but he was slightly too slow to reach the other.
With this, his test was over.
“Reaction—slow.” When the teacher in charge of recording the results gave him this evaluation, Ye Xiaosheng felt like hiding himself in a hole.
The rest of the students learned from Ye Xiaosheng’s mistake and were much more cautious. Even though they were all inner courtyard disciples from the Soul Tool Department, they had still once been part of the Martial Soul Department. Shrek Academy often trained the reactive abilities of their students, thus they weren’t too bad at it.
When He Caitou’s turn came, he fully demonstrated his great reaction speed and managed to survive for five full minutes. It was only when eight boxes lit up at the same time that he couldn’t react in time.
Huo Yuhao was the last to take the test. He was rather curious about how the test functioned. However, he found it difficult to focus. While the others had been taking the test, he’d attempted to memorize the structure and formation arrays of the three measuring scales using his spiritual power, which had depleted him greatly.
This caused him to be eliminated rather quickly. He only managed to reach six boxes, thus his reaction speed was evaluated as average.
“Alright, the tests will end here. The teachers will bring you all to your dormitory in a little while. The academy has arranged a single room along with a washroom for each of you. I hope that all of you like this place for the next two and a half years. Your uniforms will also be delivered tomorrow.”
The dorm area was located behind the teaching area, and was much larger than Shrek Academy’s. The map clearly detailed the various amenities in this area. Huo Yuhao was extremely interested in a place called the auxiliary cultivation room. However, it looked like an exorbitant fee had to be paid in order to use it.
They were all allocated rooms on the top floor of the sixth-grade dormitory region. The floor was rather quiet, and just like Lin Jiayi had mentioned, they’d each been allocated a twenty square meter dorm room equipped with a washroom. Even though their rooms weren’t luxurious, they were still neat and tidy, and were better than the dorm rooms at Shrek Academy.
However, Huo Yuhao had no energy to deal with any of this right now. The moment he entered his room, he quickly locked his door and walked to one side. A golden light flashed from his forehead, and his third eye slowly opened.
He shut his other two eyes, then solely used his Eye of Destiny to observe the world around him. He unleashed his Spiritual Detection, which reached a nuanced state under the influence of the Eye of Destiny. Even the smallest dustmite wouldn’t escape his detection.
The entire process lasted for about a minute. When his Eye of Destiny finally shut, Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but nod his head in satisfaction. The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy hadn’t installed any monitoring devices in their rooms, which could be considered quite magnanimous.
He didn’t dare to delay any longer, and quickly sat in front of a table in the room. He retrieved a paper and pen from his storage-type soul tool and then started to record the details of the three soul tools that he’d seen.
This was Huo Yuhao’s huge responsibility. He was aware that by recording the structure and formation array of every single soul tool that he saw, he was helping Shrek Academy improve.
The structure of a soul tool was rather complex, hence he couldn’t make any mistakes in his recording. The soul physique measuring had been the most advanced of the three soul tools that he’d seen today, followed by the soul strength measuring scale. They were Class 6 and Class 5 soul tools respectively. The last soul tool had only been Class 4, and was much simpler than the other two.
Their complex structures and formation arrays were slowly recorded by Huo Yuhao. He took two hours to record everything, and even included his own evaluation of the three soul tools.
Huo Yuhao also managed to develop a deeper understanding of them as he recorded their structures and formation arrays. He sighed when he realized that they weren’t even the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s greatest works. However, he could already sense the enormous gap between Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. Despite the deeper understanding he’d gleaned from them, Huo Yuhao could barely understand a third of the three soul tools he’d just recorded. Yet, according to Shrek’s standard, he was already at the level of a Class 6 soul engineer!
Despite his large quantity of spiritual power, he was still fatigued once he’d finished writing, thus he went to his bed to meditate.
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“What’s the situation like?” Jing Hongchen asked Lin Jiayi.
Lin Jiayi said, “The most outstanding of them is He Caitou. His strength has reached Rank 70. Furthermore, he stated that he was a food-type soul master, and his martial soul should be a cigar. His body has reached the level of a soul emperor despite him only being a soul king. He ranked first in all three tests.”
“What about Huo Yuhao?” Jing Hongchen asked.
Lin Jiayi answered, “He’s quite extraordinary. During the physique test, his strength and tenacity were rather outstanding. His reaction speed was normal, however. I observed him carefully, and I don’t believe that it was intentional. Furthermore, he actually has three soul bones. When our soul physique measuring scale tried to analyze them, the numbers got messed up. I thus suspect that he has an external soul bone. He’s not like a soul engineer, but more like a talented soul master. His soul power has reached Rank 40, yet he hasn’t obtained his fourth soul ring to attain a breakthrough yet. This is also quite suspicious.”
Jing Hongchen smiled and said, “That’s normal; Huo Yuhao is from Shrek’s Martial Soul Department. He’s mainly here as collateral. However, we can’t underestimate him. After all, he’s still Elder Mu’s personal disciple. My sources claim that he’s an orphan, and that his background is unclear. Continue to observe their movements. During class, try to pay attention to He Caitou. I’ll send someone else to watch Huo Yuhao.”
Lin Jiayi asked, “Hallmaster, do we…?”
Jing Hongchen shook his head and said, “There’s no need to. Just follow the normal procedures. The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy can’t go back on its word. So what if they manage to learn? The gap between our academies in terms of soul tools is simply too great; it can’t be closed with just a few exchange students. They won’t possibly be able to figure out our core secrets either. More importantly, Shrek is only an academy. However, we’re the research facility of the Sun Moon Empire. With the Dragon God Douluo Mu En dead, the continent will belong to the Sun Moon Empire within twenty years. The Douluo Continent will be renamed to the Moon Continent when that happens.” When he reached this point, an excited look flashed through his eyes.
Lin Jiayi acknowledged his words respectfully and then retreated.
“Jiayi, wait a minute.”
“Yes, do you have any other instructions?” Lin Jiayi asked.