The Unrivaled Tang Sect

The final decision was for Bei Bei to take the leading role, while Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, Xiao Xiao, Ji Juechen, Ye Guyi, and Nan Qiuqiu would all participate. Of course, Huo Yuhao would have a spot on the team if he could pass his test. However, nobody believed that he could actually do so.

Bei Bei and four others from Shrek’s Seven Monsters were part of this operation, excluding Huo Yuhao and He Caitou. With the addition of the sword fanatic, who was also a Soul Sage, along with Ye Guyi and Nan Qiuqiu, who were two Soul Emperors with special martial souls, their overall strength was unprecedentedly powerful.

Of course, Bei Bei was very clear on the difference between having Huo Yuhao around and going on without him. Simply put, even if they encountered a Titled Douluo, Huo Yuhao would give them a chance to kill their opponent with their prowess. Without Huo Yuhao, the best they could do was protect themselves.

But Dean Yan and Elder Song, who were both Transcendent Douluo, would also participate in this expedition. Their chances were probably quite good.

Bei Bei began to prepare intricately after he decided who was to participate in this expedition. He had to make sure that the Tang Sect’s affairs were properly settled and arranged within the shortest possible time. At the same time, he had to make a trip to Shrek Academy’s Soul Tool Department to request Xian Lin’er and Qian Duoduo’s support, and so that the two Deans could help him temporarily look after the Tang Sect. With all that arranged, the Tang Sect wouldn’t run into any problems.

--------

Huo Yuhao didn’t have any energy to see how his eldest senior brother was arranging things; his thoughts were entirely occupied by how to forge a Class 8 soul tool.

There was only one set of blueprints, and he didn’t get to choose. Since he didn’t get to choose, then he had to rely on his own efforts!

Fortunately, he had He Caitou to help him. Even though he and He Caitou had clashed with each other for a chance to participate in this expedition, they were brothers after all, and how could He Caitou sit by and watch when his brother was in trouble?

The two entered one of the well-equipped silent rooms within the Soul Tool Hall. Huo Yuhao realized to his surprise that the silent room’s layout was very particular and exquisite. There was an extremely large platform for crafting soul tools in the middle, its surface silver-white, with all sorts of equipment and configurations around it. This seemed very similar to the one that he had used back in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy... though this one was probably better, due to their being some equipment and configurations that even he didn’t know about!

There were many metal racks and frames around the silent room. These racks weren’t very pleasing to the eye, but they were very practical, because all sorts of rare metals were placed on them, coming in all shapes and sizes. Typically, the more precious a rare metal was, the smaller the pieces on the racks would be.

Forging soul tools would naturally be a lot more effective with a silent room like this one!

Huo Yuhao couldn’t be bothered with admiring the Soul Tool Hall’s current development as he walked up briskly before the table and laid out the blueprints that Xuan Ziwen had given him. He started to study them closely.

This was the first time that he had seen such detailed and comprehensive blueprints of a Class 8 soul tool, but this wasn’t the first time that He Caitou had seen such things.

He Caitou’s expression changed a little when he saw them. He couldn’t help but utter, “Teacher Xuan is cruel enough! Little junior brother, do you know what these blueprints are for?”

Huo Yuhao was still looking at the rare metals that this soul tool required, but he hurriedly turned his attention towards the name on the blueprints’ first page when he heard He Caitou’s words. Huo Yuhao’s expression also became extremely spectacular when he saw the name.

“Decomposition cannon!” The soul tool’s name was just two simple words, but Huo Yuhao drew a cold breath.

Of course he knew about decomposition cannons, as such soul tools had appeared in various classes. However, decomposition cannons of the lowest class were at least Class 6 soul tools!

A decomposition cannon was a single-target offensive soul tool. Its core principles included the element of space and making use of space’s pyrolytic properties to create formidable destructive power. Decomposition cannons were one of the hardest types of soul tools to forge, no matter which class they were in, and they were also considered one of the strongest single-target offensive soul tools within their respective classes.

That was the reason why He Caitou remarked that Teacher Xuan was cruel. He was indeed! Even Xuan Ziwen himself would have to put in some effort to forge a Class 8 decomposition cannon by himself. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao could vaguely remember that Xuan Ziwen had mentioned that Class 8 decomposition cannons were impractical and a waste of time. It had formidable attacking power, but forging one required too much effort, while the time and effort needed to forge such a cannon was enough to forge three other Class 8 soul tools. Even though the alternate soul tools would have weaker attacking strengths, the three of them added together would still be stronger overall than a single decomposition cannon.

Yet, Teacher Xuan has chosen to use this decomposition cannon to stump me. Teacher Xuan, oh, Teacher Xuan, you are too cruel...

Huo Yuhao wanted to cry, but no tears would come. But what else could he do? There was nothing he could do against Teacher Xuan’s authority.

Huo Yuhao heaved a long sigh as he concentrated on studying those blueprints.

Huo Yuhao had to make sure he knew what rare metals these blueprints required before he could gather those resources. He couldn’t do anything more without sufficient materials, or everything else wouldn’t matter, and he wouldn’t even have a chance to attempt this feat. What else was there to talk about?

Fortunately, Xuan Ziwen just wanted to see what Huo Yuhao could do after slacking for so long. Therefore, there were no problems with resources, even though he deliberately chose a difficult Class 8 soul tool to pin him down.

Shrek Academy had been receiving support from the Douluo Continent’s three native empires in secret. They didn’t have that many rare metals, but they could be considered well-stocked. Even though their inventory couldn’t compare to the Sun Moon Empire’s scale, the three empires’ combined national strengths were sufficient to support all kinds of research and soul tool production.

Huo Yuhao used one hour to gather all the materials that he required with He Caitou’s help, and only then did he begin perusing the blueprints for forging this soul tool. His expression quickly changed after just one look.

So complicated, this is just too complicated! Teacher Xuan, you’re asking for my life!

Huo Yuhao felt like he couldn’t take it anymore after going through the blueprints for a little while. Twenty-four plans out of the thirty were for designing the formation arrays. Huo Yuhao wouldn’t complain if twenty-four formation arrays were needed, because that was just a quantitative problem. He wouldn’t have any trouble with that with his speed at crafting soul tools.

The problem was that these twenty-four pieces actually depicted just three formation arrays! That meant that every formation array had eight components on average, which meant... every formation array was as complicated as one could get! These weren’t simple two-dimensional pictures; they were all three-dimensional, and they even breached topics of four-dimensional spatial features.

For instance, the most important formation array hovered within the soul tool. This was the first time that Huo Yuhao had even heard of a formation array being used that way, not to mention never having seen one.

Huo Yuhao felt like he didn’t know where to start. A Class 8 soul tool. It really is a Class 8 soul tool, after all!

Huo Yuhao heaved a long sigh. Does heaven want to punish me?

Huo Yuhao began to scrutinize those blueprints after momentary sighs and laments. He was never one to admit defeat just like that, and he had a defiant personality that made him stronger the more suffering he took.

Huo Yuhao quickly immersed himself in his studies. He wasn’t quick to attempt to forge the soul tool, he just studied and interpreted the blueprints intently.

From Huo Yuhao’s perspective, forging wasn’t too difficult. Forging a Class 8 soul tool shouldn’t be too difficult with his current soul power. That was especially true with the support from his formidable spiritual power. With his spiritual soul core, Huo Yuhao was confident that his spiritual power wasn’t inferior to even a Class 9 soul engineer.

The crucial problem lay in understanding this soul tool’s principles and its forging method before he could get any work started.

He Caitou was still watching from one side in the beginning, but he quickly realized that Huo Yuhao had been completely absorbed into the blueprints. He Caitou was also staring at the blueprints seriously from the side, and even though these blueprints were so complicated that he wanted to vomit blood, they were still invaluable treasures to soul engineers like them! Not every soul engineer could obtain blueprints of such top-tier soul tools, and that was especially true for the Douluo Continent’s three original empires. Top-tier soul tool blueprints were considered extremely rare.

However, He Caitou felt like he couldn’t keep going anymore after studying them for a short while. The Class 8 decomposition cannon’s blueprints were absolutely the most complicated ones of any of the Class 8 blueprints he had seen before. Furthermore, they weren’t just complicated. He Caitou felt like his head was spinning after just looking at those three-dimensional blueprints for a short while.

He Caitou knew that he was lacking in spiritual power. Even though he was already working very hard, he knew that his spiritual power could only catch up after his soul power passed Rank 85 and then allow him to consider these blueprints.

He stole a glance at Huo Yuhao, and discovered that Huo Yuhao was very seriously studying them, but didn’t seem like he was completely lost. He Caitou couldn’t help but feel a tinge of admiration and envy. Little junior brother’s spiritual power is truly admirable!

Soul engineers were more reliant on spiritual power in some ways than soul masters, and that was ever more the case as soul engineers became stronger.

-----------------

Time continued to pass. He Caitou accompanied Huo Yuhao for another two hours inside the silent room before he left quietly, as he knew that he could no longer help. He didn’t know how much time would pass before Huo Yuhao would awaken from his contemplation.

He Caitou left quietly, and informed the Tang Sect’s other members that nobody was to disturb Huo Yuhao.

A full day passed in the blink of an eye, and Huo Yuhao had been inside the silent room from the beginning to the end. He Caitou came to visit him twice discreetly, and Xuan Ziwen even came by to see Huo Yuhao once. However, Huo Yuhao didn’t speak, and neither did he move as he stared at those blueprints, like his entire being was completely immersed in them.

He Caitou sighed in exasperation, while Xuan Ziwen was feeling happy inside. Of course, he knew how difficult it was to forge a Class 8 decomposition cannon. This challenge was meant to deliberately stump Huo Yuhao, after all.

Xuan Ziwen was clear that becoming a Class 9 soul engineer was his own limit, given his talents. That wasn’t because his abilities at research weren’t enough, but because he didn’t have enough soul power. He couldn’t possibly become a Transcendent Douluo in the future, and even if he could become a Transcendent Douluo, he wouldn’t have a chance to try to become a Class 10 soul engineer in the future.