He took out a piece of white paper and immediately made a simple drawing.
To produce a complex soul tool, the first thing to do was to list out the requirements. After that, solutions had to be devised. The third step was to create the necessary formations using those solutions. Then, the formations had to be linked with one another. During this process of linkage, it was important to simplify things without compromising usefulness. The last step was to perform a mechanical run-in.
After these five steps, the core formations could then be worked on. The outer sh.e.l.ls were then created based on how the core formations came out.
The entire process was rather complicated.
When Huo Yuhao successfully created the Cla.s.s 8 decomposition cannon, he was still some way off from the standards of a Cla.s.s 8 soul engineer. After all, the blueprint that he had then was provided by Xuan Ziwen.
As Xuan Ziwen drew out a blueprint, he muttered to himself, “First is the choice of materials. Since our pill furnace will be Cla.s.s 9, we need to consider the materials that we will use. Even though using core formations can generate energy compression and isolation, the materials used have to be resilient and resistant enough to isolate external substances. At the same time, it needs to be a good conductor of heat…”
Huo Yuhao stood at one side and listened to Xuan Ziwen seriously as he looked at the blueprint being drawn up. Everything being said was for his benefit.
During the process of research, time always pa.s.sed very quickly.
Xuan Ziwen was indeed a Cla.s.s 9 soul engineer. It had only been a day, but Huo Yuhao was already feeling pretty overwhelmed, even given the strength of his spiritual power. He had to meditate to restore it. However, Xuan Ziwen was still forgoing food and sleep for his research. The blueprint that he was drawing up already made up a stack of paper.
The complexity of Cla.s.s 9 soul tools was far beyond Huo Yuhao"s expectations. This Cla.s.s 9 soul tool was formed by multiple Cla.s.s 8 soul tools. Not only did it involve the knowledge of spatial systems, but temporal systems, too. Every detail deviated greatly from what Huo Yuhao had learned in the past.
Furthermore, in the process of creating a Cla.s.s 9 soul tool, every rare metal used was absolutely precious. It was very difficult to carve each and every one of them. Not only did one require great soul power, but one also needed to combine his soul and spiritual power. Even with Huo Yuhao"s immense spiritual power, the complicated core formations were still astonishing to him. He was completely bamboozled.
He didn"t understand everything Xuan Ziwen was talking about. However, Xuan Ziwen didn"t seem to be bothered at all. He continued to ramble on, and didn"t repeat himself at all, letting Huo Yuhao work out everything by himself. He only asked Huo Yuhao questions occasionally. If he got them right, they would continue. If he was wrong, he would be admonished.
---
In the blink of an eye, three days pa.s.sed. A prototype had been made. Xuan Ziwen was already on the fourth step of the blueprint, the simplification and combination of the required formations.
This combination wasn"t just for the purpose of eventually coming up with a core formation. Rather, through the simplification, they hoped that the core formation could also be simplified. This would make it less difficult to create.
Of course, this was only a relative statement. A Cla.s.s 9 soul tool still required a great amount of effort to forge.
Cla.s.s 9 stationary sh.e.l.ls were even more difficult. This was because the core formations of a Cla.s.s 9 stationary sh.e.l.l required very detailed and extreme designs, in addition to the complexity of it, so that it could produce the greatest strength when it blew apart. As a result, it could detonate anytime during the production process.
“Yuhao.” A soft voice came from outside. Huo Yuhao turned around and saw He Caitou waving to him.
Huo Yuhao took a look at Xuan Ziwen, who signaled that he could go over. His gaze was fixated on his blueprint from start to finish.
Huo Yuhao walked over in front of He Caitou. He lowered his voice, “Second senior, what"s the matter?”
He Caitou lowered his voice. “I came here to find you. You and Teacher Xuan have already been here for three days. It"s time to rest when it"s time to rest. You should remind him, too. This was what eldest senior said to me. Another thing: don"t forget you have to make a trip to the Academy the day after tomorrow. Eldest senior sister sent someone to remind you today.”
“Oh, oh.” Huo Yuhao recalled now. He had agreed to Zhang Lexuan"s request to join the Fated Blind Date. At the same time, he needed to get his graduation certificate.
He smacked his forehead and replied, “Thank heaven that you reminded me. Otherwise, I would really have forgotten! Thanks, second senior.”
He Caitou smiled and said, “We"re brothers. You don"t have to thank me. What are you and Teacher Xuan researching?”
“A pill furnace,” Huo Yuhao replied. Although Bei Bei didn"t allow him to talk about cultivating pills, it was fine to mention a pill furnace.
He Caitou was curious. “A pill furnace? For what purpose?”
“To cultivate pills,” Huo Yuhao replied, “Teacher Xuan wants to make an advanced-tier pill furnace. This is so that pills can be cultivated for disciples of the sect to consume, which would quicken their cultivation speed.”
He Caitou"s eyes brightened and he commented, “That"s great! I"m anxious after seeing that all of your cultivations have been increasing significantly!” Ever since he became a Soul Sage, He Caitou felt that his cultivation speed had been lagging behind. It wasn"t that he wasn"t working hard enough; it was because of his martial soul.
He Caitou was a food-type soul master. It was harder for a food-type soul master to cultivate during the later stages of his cultivation, and much more difficult for a food-type soul master to increase his soul power compared to an ordinary soul master. However, with the right medicine, it would be much easier. Regarding this, He Caitou had always been very accepting. He was a soul engineer, too. Most soul engineers relied on medicine to improve. It would be great for him to have medicines to consume. If his cultivation wasn"t high enough, it would affect his ability to become a Cla.s.s 8 or 9 soul engineer.
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “Don"t be anxious. When the pill furnace is done, we can try it.”
He Caitou nodded and said, “I"ll return first. The past few years have been tiring. However, I still feel a sense of achievement when I see soul tools being created. Learn well from Teacher Xuan. Little junior, you are much more talented than me. You must do your best!”
“Definitely!” Huo Yuhao acknowledged.
------
He Caitou left and Huo Yuhao returned to Xuan Ziwen"s side. He continued to a.n.a.lyze the blueprint along with his teacher.
Over these last few days, Xuan Ziwen was rather satisfied with Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao hadn"t left his side during the past three days. Furthermore, he was actually very pleased inside, even though he was scolding Huo Yuhao frequently. Huo Yuhao was very intelligent, even smarter than he was before. Regarding his descriptions, he was always able to draw inferences about other cases. At times, he even came up with suggestions that stunned his teacher.
Xuan Ziwen was rather pleased to have such a clever student. However, he always acted fierce to prevent him from being overly full of himself. Talents had to be restrained a little to prevent them from getting arrogant.
Huo Yuhao was indeed much more intelligent than he was before. The reason was very simple: w.a.n.g Qiu"er"s sacrifice. w.a.n.g Qiu"er had given him the Skull of Destiny. Not only did it increase Huo Yuhao"s spiritual power, but it also greatly enhanced his intelligence, though even Huo Yuhao was unsure of how that had happened.
In fact, if not for the fact that his intelligence had greatly increased, his cultivation wouldn"t have grown at such a rapid speed, even if he consumed the rarest substances and fused with a large amount of life energy.
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In the blink of an eye, another day pa.s.sed. It was easy for one to forgo sleep and food when one was deep in research. It was only when He Caitou came to find Huo Yuhao again that he remembered he needed to make a trip to the Academy.
Xuan Ziwen didn"t stop him. He had to collect his graduation certificate, after all. They were already at the last stage of their blueprint. Given Huo Yuhao"s current abilities, he wouldn"t be able to comprehend this stage. It was a point where nothing could be allowed to go wrong. If something did, all the precious materials would go to waste!
After exiting Xuan Ziwen"s laboratory, Huo Yuhao took in a deep breath. It was unprecedentedly comfortable feeling the surge of fresh air into his lungs.
“Second senior, I"ll go first. Please help me tell eldest senior that I"ll be back tomorrow morning.” It was bright outside, but Huo Yuhao had been in the laboratory for many days. He hadn"t tracked the time at all.
He Caitou stopped him and asked, “Little junior, are you planning to go just like that?”
Huo Yuhao answered, “Of course! What other way is there?”
He Caitou was speechless. “Little junior, eldest senior sister mentioned that you are going for the Sea G.o.d"s Fated Blind Date. You are the face of the Tang Sect now. Look at you. You"ve not changed your clothes since you returned. You"ve not showered for many days either, and your hair is a mess. If you go like this, she"ll send you back. Go and tidy up before getting some food. Freshen up first.”
“Ugh…” If not for He Caitou"s reminder, Huo Yuhao wouldn"t have realized that he had so many problems right now. He hadn"t showered in days, and had skipped a few meals. He had been immersed in the world of soul tools. He seemed so slipshod right now. How could he represent the Tang Sect like this?
Huo Yuhao"s face turned red, and he said, “I"ll return now. Thanks for your reminder, second senior.”
He Caitou laughed, “You! Quickly, go. Eldest senior has already prepared clothes for you. Go and represent the Tang Sect. Recruit more students. You must be more presentable, do you understand?”
“Oh, yes.” Huo Yuhao replied. He felt warm inside. Eldest senior is so busy taking care of Teacher Xiao Ya, but he hasn"t forgotten about me. His concern makes me feel as if he"s my biological elder brother.