Chapter 8: Xuan Ziwen "I Was Here First!"

Chapter 8: Xuan Ziwen "I Was Here First!"

Suddenly, Xuan Ziwen's expression changed drastically.

The world around him had become incredibly clear so much so that he could even see the slightest movements of every strand of hair on Huo Yuhao's head.

Even though he was looking directly at Huo Yuhao, his mind simultaneously perceived everything within a thirty one meter radius. Every detail appeared crystal clear in his mind.

"This… is your soul skill? Impossible! A ten year soul ring shouldn't be able to grant a skill like this! Could it be… a soul skill mutation?"

Xuan Ziwen's breathing grew rapid. The possibility of a mutated soul skill did exist otherwise, there was no way to explain how a ten year soul ring could grant such a broken ability.

As a soul engineer, he knew how valuable a skill like this was.

With this ability, Huo Yuhao was practically born to be a soul engineer.

Generally speaking, a soul tool consisted of three main components the outer shell, the inner shell, and the core.

The outer shell was usually made of durable, heat resistant metal to ensure the tool's longevity. The inner shell was crafted from conductive metal to amplify soul power as efficiently as possible.

However, the most important part of any soul tool was its core array.

Engraving a core array was not easy. The level of core arrays a soul engineer could inscribe directly determined their rank.

If Huo Yuhao could use his soul skill while engraving core arrays, his efficiency would skyrocket. Compared to other soul engineers, he would have a massive advantage.

Moreover, if Huo Yuhao assisted him using this skill, Xuan Ziwen's own work on core arrays would become much easier.

Huo Yuhao pretended to be confused. "Teacher Xuan, is my soul skill really that impressive?"

Tianmeng Iceworm had given him a million year soul ring, which meant he had four first soul skills Spiritual Detection, Spiritual Sharing, Spiritual Interference, and Soul Shock.

Just now, he had activated Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing together, which was why Xuan Ziwen was so shocked.

Even though Tianmeng Iceworm was terrible in combat, it was still a million year soul beast. The wisdom soul ring it granted had incredibly versatile skills.

"'Impressive' doesn't even begin to cover it!"

Excitedly, Xuan Ziwen grabbed Huo Yuhao by the shoulders.

"You were born to be a soul engineer! Your soul skill is one of the most compatible skills for soul engineering that I've ever seen! What's it called?"

"Spiritual Detection Sharing!" Huo Yuhao immediately responded.

Of course, he wasn't about to tell Xuan Ziwen that it was actually two different soul skills.

Instead, he combined the names of Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing into one.

After all, under normal circumstances, a ten year soul ring should only grant one skill. Only one hundred thousand year soul rings could grant two.

"Spiritual Detection Sharing… that's an incredible skill.

"But the only downside is that your detection range is too small.

"If your range were larger and if you had command abilities you could become a natural born battlefield commander," Xuan Ziwen said with a hint of regret.

He desperately wished Huo Yuhao's detection range was bigger.

"Teacher Xuan, when I first obtained this skill, my detection range was only thirty meters. But through meditation, I've already expanded it to thirty one!

"As my cultivation grows, my detection range will continue to increase!" Huo Yuhao revealed.

Xuan Ziwen's eyes widened. "Your detection range can grow?!"

He took a deep breath. "Huo Yuhao, would you be willing to study soul engineering under me?

"I promise I will not let your talent go to waste! If you can become a Rank 2 Soul Engineer within a year, I will officially accept you as my disciple!"

Huo Yuhao looked at Xuan Ziwen, knowing that he had taken the bait.

However, he didn't agree immediately after all, according to his current persona, he was just an ordinary kid who didn't know much about Xuan Ziwen's reputation.

"Study soul engineering under you?" Huo Yuhao hesitated, pretending to be unsure.

Just then, a voice called out from outside the classroom.

"Teacher Xuan, if I remember correctly, even Juzi, despite her talent in soul engineering, never got you to personally offer to take her as a disciple.

"What makes this kid so special?"

A short, stout man pushed open the door and entered.

Teacher Tang and Xuan Ziwen turned their heads toward the newcomer.

The moment they recognized him, they immediately bowed and said in unison:

"Hall Master!"

Mingde Hall's leader and the Dean of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, Jing Hongchen, had arrived.

Jing Hongchen nodded slightly, then turned to Huo Yuhao.

"I am Jing Hongchen, Dean of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.

"I overheard your conversation just now. Show me your soul skill as well. I'd like to see what kind of ability has Teacher Xuan so excited!"

"Understood, Dean Jing! Please don't resist," Huo Yuhao replied, activating Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing once more.

At first, Jing Hongchen was indifferent.

But as soon as Huo Yuhao's soul skill took effect, his expression immediately changed.

Moments later, he couldn't help but exclaim:

"No wonder! No wonder Teacher Xuan is so impressed!

"This truly is an outstanding skill for soul engineers!

"I've lived a long time, but this is the first time I've ever seen a spiritual soul skill this useful!

"With this ability, you're a natural team leader! Even throughout the entire history of the Sun Moon Empire, no one's first soul skill has ever been this powerful!"

"Dean Jing, you flatter me," Huo Yuhao said humbly.

Jing Hongchen smiled and shook his head.

"Huo Yuhao, you're too modest. Your soul skill is truly remarkable.

"You have the Spirit Eyes, which is both an Innate Body Martial Soul and a spiritual type martial soul.

"If that old bastard Du Busi from the Body Sect knew about you, he'd definitely send people to take you away.

"After all, the Spirit Eyes involve both the eyes and the brain two of the most critical organs in the body!

"But since you're here in the Sun Moon Empire, I won't let that old bastard steal you away!

"Also… I heard you mention that your detection range increases as your cultivation grows. That's extremely rare.

"So, Huo Yuhao are you willing to study soul engineering under me?

"If you can become a Rank 3 Soul Engineer within a year and a half, I will personally take you as my disciple!"

Jing Hongchen had already known for some time that Huo Yuhao's innate soul power was only Rank 1.

However, after personally examining him just now, he confirmed that Huo Yuhao's low soul power wasn't due to natural limitations it was because of a weakened body and blocked meridians.

Of course, these issues could be fixed with medicinal pills and rare resources.

Therefore, in Jing Hongchen's view, Huo Yuhao could completely follow the pill enhanced cultivation path, relying on large amounts of elixirs and rare herbs to push himself to the Soul Douluo level it wouldn't be a loss. After all, a soul engineer's combat strength primarily came from their soul tools.

If a soul engineer's personal strength was a bit lacking, it wasn't a big deal. With Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes martial soul and his mutated soul skill, he might even become an Eighth Rank Soul Engineer in the future!

Meanwhile, Xuan Ziwen froze for a moment before immediately protesting. "Hall Master, you can't do this! There's always a proper order to things I was here first! Just because you're the Hall Master, does that mean you can just steal a student? You should at least be reasonable!"

"Teacher Xuan, what you're saying isn't quite right," Jing Hongchen replied with a smile. "You're a teacher, and I'm the Hall Master. We're both working for the Sun Moon Empire, trying to find and develop talent.

"So there's no need to argue about who came first, right?"

Xuan Ziwen's face darkened. "Hall Master, you've gone too far. I'm reporting this directly to my teacher."

For Xuan Ziwen, finding a student even more talented than Juzi was a rare opportunity there was no way he was going to give up so easily.

His love for soul tools was genuine, so naturally, he wanted a brilliant student who could help him craft better soul tools or, even better, a student who could develop groundbreaking soul tools on their own.

Jing Hongchen hesitated for a moment, then let out an awkward laugh.

Xuan Ziwen's teacher was Kong Deming, an immensely powerful Ninth Rank Soul Engineer who had even served as the Hall Master of Mingde Hall before.

Even Jing Hongchen himself had to respectfully address him as Elder Kong.

Moreover, Kong Deming had one fourth royal blood, which meant he was deeply trusted by the imperial family.

There were even rumors that he might become the first ever Tenth Rank Soul Engineer in Sun Moon Empire history.

Jing Hongchen quickly adjusted his approach. "Teacher Xuan, there's no need to trouble Elder Kong with this matter.

"How about this we let Huo Yuhao decide for himself? Whoever he chooses, that's who he studies under. Sounds fair, right?"

Xuan Ziwen nodded, then turned to Huo Yuhao, ready to persuade him.

"Huo Yuhao, you've seen it for yourself this man here is the Dean of our Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy and the Hall Master of Mingde Hall.

"However, because of his high status, he's extremely busy. He won't have time to personally teach you. He'll probably just hand you over to someone else.

"But I'm an Eighth Rank Soul Engineer with the time and energy to teach students.

"Sure, I may not be as high ranked as the Hall Master, but my teacher is also a Ninth Rank Soul Engineer. If you prove yourself, I won't hesitate to recommend you to him."

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao had already made up his mind.

"Teacher Xuan Ziwen, I choose you. I want to learn soul tool crafting under you."

His decision was based on two key factors.

First, Xuan Ziwen actually had the time and energy to train him, while Jing Hongchen was too busy prioritizing his own grandchildren.

Second, in the original story, Xuan Ziwen's teacher, Kong Deming, became the world's first Tenth Rank Soul Engineer.

If he could form a connection with Kong Deming, he might be able to develop an even stronger version of the Ice God Battle Armor later on.

Besides, even if he did become Jing Hongchen's student, he still wouldn't be able to acquire the Snow Empress embryo in the future.

The Snow Empress embryo was already reserved for Xiao Hongchen to awaken his second martial soul.

Even if Huo Yuhao showed extraordinary talent later, the embryo's priority would never go to him.

The Sun Moon Empire had experience with awakening second martial souls, but not with awakening a third. There was no way they'd risk using the precious Snow Empress embryo on Huo Yuhao.

If the fusion failed, both Huo Yuhao and the embryo would be wasted.

By the current timeline, Huo Yuhao would soon awaken his Ultimate Ice martial soul.

At that point, his status in the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy would skyrocket he would become a peerless genius in everyone's eyes.

Jing Hongchen wasn't an idiot there was no way he'd risk such a promising twin martial soul genius on an uncertain experiment with the Snow Empress embryo.

Even if others didn't recognize the embryo for what it was, they'd definitely realize it was a one hundred thousand year soul beast embryo.

On the Douluo Continent, twin martial souls were already incredibly rare, and a third martial soul was completely unheard of.

So rather than trying to make Huo Yuhao awaken a third martial soul, the Sun Moon Empire would much rather use the embryo on Xiao Hongchen, ensuring he successfully awakened his second martial soul.

*"Looks like I'll have to wait for the Body Sect to make their move. Only 'Du Busi' can help me snatch the Snow Empress embryo!

"Of course, as long as I avoid visiting the Clear Sky Sect early, the Snow Empress won't turn into a soul spirit, and Elder Yi won't die."*

That said, while he intended to use the Body Sect's attack to his advantage, he had no intention of letting Mingde Hall suffer heavy casualties like in the original story.

After all, he had already defected to the Sun Moon Empire he had to look out for them now.

Jing Hongchen sighed. "Forget it. Teacher Xuan, since Huo Yuhao has made his choice, I won't interfere."

With that, he gave a slight wave and reluctantly left.

Xuan Ziwen looked at Huo Yuhao and reached for his storage soul tool. He took out two wooden boxes and handed them to him.

"Inside are a Mystic Water Pill and a Soul Ascension Pill a small gift from me.

"The Mystic Water Pill has a gentle effect it helps cleanse impurities from your body and increases your soul power.

"The Soul Ascension Pill also boosts soul power and has mild medicinal properties."

"Thank you, Teacher Xuan."

Huo Yuhao looked at him gratefully.

These two pills were extremely valuable.

But as everyone knew, soul engineers were incredibly wealthy.

Soul tools sold exceptionally well on the Douluo Continent, making high ranking soul engineers extremely profitable.

As an Eighth Rank Soul Engineer and Mingde Hall's chief researcher, Xuan Ziwen was undoubtedly rich.

For example, if a soul tool was made by Mingde Hall, auction houses wouldn't hesitate to set a higher starting price this was the brand effect in Douluo Dalu.

So while these two pills were worth a fortune, to Xuan Ziwen, they weren't that expensive.

"Good. After your classes tomorrow, come to the testing lab.

"I'll personally teach you soul tool crafting.

"If you can pass the Rank 2 Soul Engineer exam within a year, you'll officially become my student."

"Understood, Teacher Xuan! Thank you for this opportunity I'll do my best!"

At that moment, Huo Yuhao felt completely confident.

After all, the original Huo Yuhao was a gifted soul engineer.

Although the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy's exams were harder than Shrek Academy's, with his talent, passing the Rank 2 exam within a year would be easy.

(End of chapter.) 

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