After clearing all his worries of Tang Wutong off his mind, Huo Yuhao dove back into his research.
“The entire structure is almost complete. The manufacturing process is up next.” Xuan Ziwen looked pleased as he patted the thick stack of blueprints.
He had never built this Cla.s.s 9 soul tool before, as it had only been conceptualized recently. Even though the experience of their predecessors had played a part in the soul tool"s design, it was still something he deserved to be proud of.
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “How do you want me to help you?”
Xuan Ziwen chuckled, “No, no. You will not be the one helping me. You have mixed up the order. I should be the one helping you. From today onwards, you will begin the construction of this Cla.s.s 9 soul tool, and I will a.s.sist you in your work. If you b.u.mp into any problems, I will help you rectify them. Nevertheless, the entire process would be led and carried out by you.”
“What?!” Huo Yuhao"s eyes widened in disbelief. “Teacher Xuan, I"m not ready for this! You can"t push me this hard...”
Xuan Ziwen teased him, “Oh come on! Do you really think I don"t know you"ve already acquired your eighth ring? Besides, you previously built a Cla.s.s 8 soul tool, and are somewhat qualified to be a Cla.s.s 8 soul engineer. Besides, I"m not pushing you too hard. I"m merely varying my teaching methods according to the capabilities and potential of my disciples. How can you be compared to any average student? You possess such powerful spiritual power, and have attained a sufficiently high cultivation. If it were only a Cla.s.s 8 soul tool, there would have been no need for me to instruct you in person. I"m sure you"ll be able to figure it out if I give you time to slowly explore the designs. It will only be a matter of time before you complete the soul tool. Cla.s.s 9 soul tools are somewhat equivalent to a combination of twenty or thirty Cla.s.s 8 soul tools. Once you figure out the intricacies behind it, crafting Cla.s.s 8 soul tools will be a piece of cake for you in the future.”
“But don"t underestimate this pill furnace. It contains over thirty different formation arrays, and every single one of them is required to master the construction of a Cla.s.s 8 soul tool. As long as you can build the bulk of this soul tool, you can claim the t.i.tle of a Cla.s.s 8 soul engineer. Okay, that"s enough talking. You can start working now. Don"t rush into it, and begin from the external sh.e.l.l layer. I have collected all the rare metals and placed them here. You have one day to complete the external sh.e.l.l layer. We will discuss the interior after you"re done with that.” Following which, Xuan Ziwen gave a cheeky smile before leaving the Research Inst.i.tute.
Huo Yuhao"s jaw dropped as he watched Xuan Ziwen leave. This is a freaking Cla.s.s 9 soul tool! Seems like I need to tone down a bit. Being too outstanding can be bad sometimes… If it were someone else instead of me, I"m sure Teacher Xuan would not have done this…
Huo Yuhao knew Xuan Ziwen"s temperament very well. There was no chance of him changing his mind after he had made a decision. Since Teacher Xuan wants me to do it, bring it on then! But it"s really quite a shame that I got myself into this mess just when I was finally reunited with Wutong. I thought I would finally have time to spend with her…
But the mere thought of Wutong took away all the frustration in his heart as a blissful look appeared on his face. I will fight on just so I can better protect Wutong in the future!
Because the design of this pill furnace was made by Huo Yuhao and Xuan Ziwen, he was already very familiar with it. After having tried building a few outer sh.e.l.ls and formation arrays, he was pretty confident about it.
Very soon, Huo Yuhao was able to isolate the blueprints which pertained to the outer sh.e.l.l layer.
And just as Xuan Ziwen had said, all the rare metals required to craft the pill furnace were all prepared and ready to be used. They were all neatly arranged in front of a wall at the corner of the Research Inst.i.tute.
However, after examining the outer sh.e.l.l"s blueprints closely, Huo Yuhao started to doubt himself. With his current ability, building the outer sh.e.l.l of a soul tool—even a Cla.s.s 9 soul tool—would not be a problem. However, the outer sh.e.l.l of this pill furnace was quite a bit different from a standard Cla.s.s 9 soul tool.
While it was common for Cla.s.s 9 soul tools which were not close combat tools to be made from simpler outer sh.e.l.l materials, this pill furnace was the exception. Firstly, it had to be able to withstand high temperatures and pressure. Hence, even though it was just the outer sh.e.l.l, the material used to build the outer sh.e.l.l had to be carefully chosen. Being a perfectionist, Xuan Ziwen had chosen an exceptional metal—scarlet devil essence—to be one of the ingredients for the outer sh.e.l.l. It was an exceptionally rare fire-type metal.
This rare fire-type metal contained a humongous amount of fire-type elemental energy. Its body itself was also incredibly tough. Because it contained fire-type elemental energy, it was resistant to all types of fire—even Ultimate Fire This ingredient was often used only for soul tools which were Cla.s.s 8 and above because it was particularly hard to shape or carve. Because it was impossible to smelt it, one had to rely on his or her soul power to force its shape to change. During this process, one had to put up with a fire and poison attack from the scarlet devil essence.
Scarlet devil essence was simply too rare and precious. Even Xuan Ziwen"s pill furnace"s outer layer could not be entirely constructed from it. Nevertheless, the pill furnace"s interior was coated with a centimeter thick layer of scarlet devil essence. Huo Yuhao had no idea how Xuan Ziwen had managed to find so much of this precious metal.
No wonder Teacher Xuan wanted me to build this outer sh.e.l.l… Even though he was already a t.i.tled Douluo and a Cla.s.s 9 soul engineer, Teacher Xuan would still need at least 2 weeks to build this outer sh.e.l.l. Huo Yuhao might be talented, but it was simply not possible for him to be compared to Teacher Xuan when it came to raw, actual ability.
Teacher Xuan… How could you be so cruel to me?
As he stared blankly at the huge block of scarlet devil essence, which was radiating immense heat, Huo Yuhao was speechless.
As he coated his hands with diamond-like ice crystals, Huo Yuhao carefully lifted a block of scarlet devil essence that was roughly half a meter across. He placed it on the soul tool"s laboratory bench. Even though he was unwilling to experiment with this block of metal, Huo Yuhao had to admit that it was probably worth enough money to buy a small city. In fact, it was probably so precious that one would not be able to find it on the market.
I wonder how many high-level fire-type soul tools I could build with this! I must not waste even a small chunk of it!
What?! It"s so heavy!
Yes, the metal was impossibly heavy.
Even though this metal block was not very big, it weighed close to 5 tonnes. It took a lot from Huo Yuhao to even shift it onto the bench.
The immense heat from the metal made Huo Yuhao feel very uncomfortable. His ice-type martial soul did not enjoy being in close proximity to such high temperatures. Fortunately, his Extreme Ice was very resistant towards high temperatures. Under the protection of the Ice Empress" Pincer, he was able to stay out of harm"s way.
The biggest problem for the construction of this outer sh.e.l.l was this scarlet devil essence. How am I going to do it…? The Life Guardian Blade should be able to carve into this block of metal. However, it will only be able to do so by devouring the metal"s energy. This would mean that the metal would lose a copious amount of its energy. If Teacher Xuan were to know about it, I would definitely be killed!
Teacher Xuan, do you really think I"m a G.o.d? How am I supposed to finish this in a single day?
It seems like there"s no other way… I must find second senior brother to borrow his Darkness Green Dragon! Without a ranked carving knife"s sharpness, I don"t think it"s possible to carve anything on this metal. It seems like I must slowly dig out the metal from the center of this block before fixing the exterior and carving it into the shape of a sh.e.l.l! Just the thought of it makes me feel tired already...
After making up his mind, Huo Yuhao stood up and got ready to look for Caitou to borrow his Darkness Green Dragon. However, just when he was about to turn and leave, an idea hit him.
Mayan blue flame enshrouds an immortal art. Carving dragons and phoenixes with a cold blade.
Following which, Huo Yuhao felt his forehead turn cold as his Eye of Destiny opened on its own. A flash of Mayan blue escaped from his eye and suspended itself before him.
It was a small knife which was no longer than five inches. The tip of the blade was very small and delicate, while the blade and the handle were approximately the same length. The blade was giving off a Mayan blue glow, while the sides of the blade had a scary-looking carving.
This is…
After hesitating for a short while, Huo Yuhao"s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Startling changes begin where the masterful hand lands. Carving strokes ripple through the masterpiece a hundred times. This ancient art shall outlast eternity. The raised knife, like a crescent moon, will illuminate the cold spring.”
The Ghostcarving G.o.dly Blade!
Yes, it was the Ghostcarving G.o.dly Blade!
Huo Yuhao suddenly remembered the mysterious G.o.d of Emotions, and the two gifts he had promised him. Could one of them be the Ghostcarving G.o.dly Blade? Even though it appeared to be a simple carving knife used for cooking, it was still ultimately a knife used by a G.o.d in the G.o.d Realm. If a G.o.d had used it, would it be considered a G.o.dly weapon?
Just as he was trying to calm himself from his shock, a strange memory began to surface explosively in Huo Yuhao"s mind. These memories were like floodwaters which rushed into the center of his soul. Huo Yuhao felt as though there were countless slicing and cutting scenes which flitted before his eyes as he tried to control his spiritual sea to store these memories.
If it were any other person than Huo Yuhao, they would have fallen into a state of panic the moment they found their head filled with a huge sea of unknown memories. However, Huo Yuhao was mentally strong, and even though he was taken aback by this, he was able to calm himself and store these memories in the depths of his soul.
When a memory was imprinted onto a person"s soul, it was as good as the person"s. This memory happened to contain the doc.u.mentation for a certain carving technique. This carving technique was no ordinary technique, as it seemed to contain some special and mystical portions within it.
Huo Yuhao stood there quietly and closed his eyes as he tried to feel the intricacies behind the techniques within his newly-gained memories. As the flashback ran it course in his head, he slowly lifted his right hand and grabbed the Ghostcarving G.o.dly Blade before him.
The Ghostcarving G.o.dly Blade seemed to be alive as it gently adjusted itself in Huo Yuhao"s hands. It was like a beautiful cl.u.s.ter of blue flame in his hand.
As Huo Yuhao began to wave the knife in the air gently, the blue flame—or rather the blade—carved out mystical lines and patterns in the air. Those lines and patterns glowed as pitch black cracks started to form along them. Those lines were thin, and the cracks sealed themselves quickly after they were formed, but the air had undeniably cracked.