Volume 28, Chapter 340.2: Sunmoon Divine Needle
“Let us now invite the nine competitors of the Radiant City Elite Soul Engineering Tournament to come up to the stage now. Our accurate timer-type soul tool has already been prepared. In our first segment for tonight, the competitors will be given six hours to create a soul tool. Our seven judges will be monitoring them throughout the entire six hours. Those who try to flout the rules and attempt unfair means will be disqualified. Please treat this tournament seriously.” Lu Qi said with a stern look on his face. He shifted his body to one side and gestured.
The competitors from the three organizations exited their resting areas. They followed their respective leaders up onto the stage.
He Caitou was still pushing Huo Yuhao’s wheelchair. Besides him, the rest of the competitors were fit and healthy.
Nangong Wan was the frontmost person. He was the first to ascend the stage. His gaze was very sharp, and he glanced coldly at Lu Qi.
Lu Qi was petrified, and felt as if his head had been hammered. His expression changed in horror, and he subconsciously took a step back.
An Litong was still wearing the pretentious smile on his face. He glanced at the three behind Nangong Wan, and his smile became a little forced. He said, “Master Nangong, I’d heard there was a disabled person among your three representatives and thought it was a joke, but it’s really true that you’ve picked a cripple! You are really creative.”
Nan Gongwan smiled and said, “Physical disabilities are nothing. The worse disability is up here. It’s fatal!” As he spoke, he pointed to his own head.
An Litong’s expression changed slightly. He was a bit terrified of Nangong Wan. After years of interaction, he naturally knew that Nangong Wan was an evil soul master. It was just that the Alto Chamber of Commerce was backed by the military, and thus he wasn’t afraid of dealing with Nangong Wan on a large scale.
“Oh! Brother Nangong, you are still as trenchant as ever! I’m so terrified.” Shangguan Wei’er walked up to the stage in her usual manner and arrived beside Nangong Wan.
Nangong Wan’s smile became wider. “Long time no see, Elder sister Shangguan! You still look as young as ever. I admire you so much for that.”
Nangong Wan looked like an elder, but he called Shangguan Wei’er his elder sister. Everyone felt very irked by that. The enchantment they were under after seeing Shangguan Wei’er’s stunning looks also disappeared.
Her expression changed, and she immediately seemed very cold. “Nangong Wan, you are courting death!”
Nangong Wan was still smiling widely as before. Two silvery-grey sparks appeared in his eyes, “Elder sister Shangguan, calm down. The tournament is about to start.”
Shangguang Wei’er was also slightly petrified when she saw the sparks in his eyes. She snorted and regained her original expression. “Then let’s start. I’ll make you pay for what’s happened today another time.”
After the three leaders completed their brief exchange of words, they all retreated to their own sides. Apart from observing the competitors, they didn’t do anything else. Under so many watchful eyes, even they didn’t dare to pull any tricks.
Huo Yuhao was also observing his opponents.
The three representatives from the Alto Chamber of Commerce were all men. They seemed to be around thirty years old, and didn’t look very special. The only notable thing about the three of them was their composure. Evidently, they were experienced and talented soul engineers.
The Common Alliance was bound to draw attention. All three of their representatives were ladies.
There were women soul engineers, but they were much rarer than male soul engineers. The Common Alliance sent out three women soul engineers, and they were all extremely pretty. It was shocking. Evidently, they were all nurtured by the Common Alliance.
The three of them were clad in three different colors – red, yellow, and blue. These three primary colors were indeed very recognizable.
The lady in red was extremely stunning. She was like a blooming rose, whereas the lady in blue seemed very cold and arrogant. As for the lady in yellow, she was wearing a long palace dress. She was extremely elegant, just like a princess.
The three ladies were all special in their own ways. All of them were extremely outstanding.
However, Huo Yuhao only thought of them as ordinary people, because they couldn’t control their own souls. Everything they displayed on the surface was actually trained; they weren’t natural. Such ladies couldn’t compare to Wang Dong’er. They weren’t even fit to compare with Wang Dong’er.
“Don’t be fooled by their looks. The soul engineers nurtured by the Common Alliance are very cunning. If there’s an opportunity, go hard on them. Don’t give them a chance.” Nan Gongwan’s voice sounded in He Caitou, Huo Yuhao and Huang Zheng’s ears.
Huo Yuhao thought of something. Indeed, these ladies would gain an advantage to a certain extent. Against ravishing beauties, any normal man would be more merciful.
Ye Yulin gestured and said, “All three leaders, please step down from the stage. Competitors, get into position and get ready to compete.”
Nan Gongwan, Shangguan Wei’er, and An Litong looked at one another. There was a cold look in their eyes as they turned around.
He Caitou pushed Huo Yuhao behind a carving table before he proceeded to his own carving table behind him.
Ye Yulin placed his hands behind his back. He seemed very stern. Even in the face of the leaders from the three organizations, he continued to be very blunt.
If not for the fact that Xu Tianran had personally invited him, he wouldn’t have appeared today. He was only willing to part with his Sunmoon Divine Needle after Xu Tianran promised him compensation. In his opinion, soul engineers should be more invested in soul tool research. Competing in tournaments was a waste of time. Moreover, this tournament was organized by underground organizations. That was why he didn’t like any of the competitors that were going to compete.
They were both Class 9 soul engineers, but Ye Yulin’s status seemed to be higher compared to Zheng Zhan.
Given different research directions, Class 9 soul engineers would achieve different things. Ye Yulin was among the top three Class 9 soul engineers in the Sun Moon Empire. In terms of his abilities, he was at least at Jing Hongchen’s standard. He was even recognized as the controller of the stars and the sky.
Right now, his dominant aura filled the entire stage as he scanned the nine competitors coldly. Among all the nine competitors, he was most drawn to Huo Yuhao. It was only when he looked at Huo Yuhao that his gaze turned much gentler.
Although he was also representing an underground organization, Ye Yulin felt that Huo Yuhao seemed very determined, even with his disability. After all, soul engineers required a lot of resources. It was much more difficult for a crippled soul engineer to obtain resources compared to a normal soul engineer, so Ye Yulin paid more attention to Huo Yuhao.
“You’ll be given six hours to create a soul tool. You can only create one soul tool, but you can use whatever materials you want. However, you can’t use any half-finished products that were assembled earlier. If you are discovered doing something like this, you’ll immediately be disqualified. At the same time, I need to remind all of you that you won’t be given any time to rest after the six hours. We’ll enter the technical test immediately. The lowest-ranked of the nine will be eliminated, and the rankings will also determine your places in the quarterfinals. That’s why it’s important for all of you to conserve some of your energy when you create your soul tool, so that you’ll have some energy left to deal with the technical test. The difficulty of the technical test is going to be very high.”
After hearing Ye Yulin’s words, the nine competitors were stunned. If even Ye Yulin claimed that the technical test was going to be difficult, it must be really difficult.
Huo Yuhao was also slightly shocked. He shut his eyes and placed his hands on the table. He was waiting silently.
“The time starts now! Raise the soundproofing barriers!”
As Ye Yulin shouted, a layer of dim white rose from the sides of the stage. The gentle white light quickly formed a ceiling in the sky and covered the stage. All external noise was isolated. Ye Yulin also returned to his position and watched the soul engineers as they worked.
Huo Yuhao immediately moved after Ye Yulin shouted. He grabbed a piece of rare metal with each of his hands before moving to the stamping equipment on the table.
The rest started on their formation arrays, since they were in their best condition right now. Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, started with the shell of his soul tool. He was extremely quick, and used many pieces of rare metal and equipment to form the shell of his soul tool.
He was also the one who moved the most because of his choice. He created pieces of abrasives. They were also quite large in size.
Ye Yulin had been observing him earlier because of his disability. He was even more drawn now. Seeing the method that he used, Ye Yulin was a little stunned.
What is this young man doing? Why isn’t he creating his formation arrays when he’s most focused, but instead creating his outer shell? Does he think it’s more difficult to create the outer shell compared to the formation arrays he plans to use?
While he thought like this, he wouldn’t go and disrupt Huo Yuhao. Each competitor could choose how they wanted to create their soul tool.