Dusk was gradually approaching, warm lights automatically lit up inside the lab to maintain the brightness. However, neither Huo Yuhao nor Ju Zi noticed these changes.
One was focused on working, another was watching on, enchanted.
Today"s takeaways were almost overwhelming for Huo Yuhao. He had received Xuan Ziwen"s guidance in soul engineering principles this morning, but these several hours of standing during the afternoon were actually even more important.
This was the optimal combination of theory and hands-on practice. Ju Zi was effectively giving him an exciting and magnificent practical lesson, it was especially effective because she was a form of confirmation for what Xuan Ziwen had talked about in the morning. A new door to becoming a proper soul engineer was slowly opening before Huo Yuhao.
Ju Zi heaved a long breath after a long time. "Oh, it"s finally done." The silver-white metal piece became a square formation array. The horizontal and vertical lines on the formation array were precise and orderly, and Huo Yuhao wouldn"t have believed it if you told him they were carved manually, without the help of any other tools, had he not just seen it happen in person.
"Why didn"t you use any other tools?" Huo Yuhao spoke for the first time after she finished her work.
"Ah!" Ju Zi was clearly startled. Her body instantly erupted with orangish-red radiance, and uncountable oranges were immediately flung towards Huo Yuhao. The oranges whooshed through the air like they were shot out by a tornado.
Huo Yuhao didn"t expect she would have such a violent reaction, but his battle instincts caused him to respond subconsciously.
Diamond-like crystals covered his entire body, and the flurry of oranges crashed against him, but didn"t even force him to take a single step back. The oranges ricocheted against the Ice Empress" Armor and scattered in different directions.
Huo Yuhao"s pupils suddenly dilated as he felt more than ten oranges soundlessly stick to his body, and he was a.s.saulted with an unprecedented sense of danger.
He made a split-second judgment due to his perceptive senses. Emerald light flickered as a shadow flashed behind his body. An emerald-green layer of light blew outwards with his body at the center before being immediately withdrawn.
Everything froze within an area of about ten meters in diameter. Ju Zi had already turned around, and was a looking at Huo Yuhao with an astonished look on her face, the whirling oranges in the sky—just stopped and remained in a strange state of silence.
The oranges rained down from above, to the ground. They crackled like fireworks as they hit the floor, like they were rocks slamming into the ground.
Huo Yuhao first scanned his body. There were more than ten oranges stuck to his Ice Empress" Armor, but they had all become small ice blocks, and their original effects were dispelled by his Ultimate Ice.
He pinched one of them, and realized that the orange"s surface was soft and tender like an actual orange. He used his Spiritual Detection and discovered, to his intense fright and bewilderment, that this orange contained a complicated formation array that was no weaker than that of a Cla.s.s 4 soul tool, as well as a small energy-gathering array. The soul power contained within it had been frozen luckily—if not, he couldn"t even begin to imagine what would have happened.
Without a doubt, her food-type martial spirit was just like her name, Orange. Her food-type martial soul didn"t contain much offensive power, but was incredibly misleading. He would have suffered unimaginably had his senses not been adequately keen and perceptive. Ten Cla.s.s 4 soul tools detonating on his body at the same time—not even his Ice Empress" Armor could"ve taken that! Of course, it was likely that Ju Zi would stop what she was doing when she realized it was him. However, Huo Yuhao wouldn"t gamble with his life over this.
He shook his body, and the ten "oranges" fell off. Huo Yuhao used the Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon technique to grab them carefully before putting them on the lab desk some distance away.
Huo Yuhao placed his right hand on Ju Zi"s shoulder, and the Ultimate Ice energy released by the Domain of Perpetual Ice was slowly withdrawn.
Ju Zi was a five-ringed Soul King, but it would have probably still taken her around fifteen minutes to remove the effects on her own, and this was only when Huo Yuhao used the Domain of Perpetual Ice without much force in consideration of her safety.
"It"s so cold." Ju Zi s.h.i.+vered, and her charming figure quivered slightly before she sat back down. Her red and supple lips were turning blue, and the infuriated expression in her eyes held a tinge of fright.
"What were you thinking?!" Ju Zi exclaimed angrily.
Huo Yuhao forced a laugh and said, "I would not have acted like that if you didn"t react so violently."
Ju Zi grunted angrily and pointed a finger at Huo Yuhao"s nose. "Just you wait!" She took the newly finished formation array as she spoke and stormed out.
Huo Yuhao stroked his nose. He felt as exasperated—he had never intended to offend this senior sister, but he couldn"t possibly be expected not to retaliate in that kind of situation.
He didn"t think too much about it. The sky was getting darker by the minute, after eating something light at the canteen, he returned to the dormitory and immediately started meditating.
Huo Yuhao"s meditation process was different from that of normal soul masters. After obtaining his second spiritual sea, Huo Yuhao realized that he could separate a strand of consciousness to think about things while he cultivated. This was undoubtedly a great increase for his intellect and ability to grasp concepts.
This was how things were: He had absorbed voluminous amounts of knowledge, even though it was only the first day, and he needed time to fuse what he"d learned today with the things he already knew. All so he could better understand the most advanced soul tool engineering principles.
………
Three days pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye. Over these few days Huo Yuhao received Xuan Ziwen"s meticulous guidance on principles and concepts. Even though he hadn"t attempted to forge another soul tool yet, he obtained a fresh mind, full of knowledge about soul tools. However, he didn"t see Ju Zi again after the first day, as if she"d just vanished into thin air.
On the morning of the fourth day, Huo Yuhao arrived early and started cleaning up the lab once he arrived. He"d been doing this since the second day; he cleaned every the lab until it was spotless and then awaited Xuan Ziwen"s arrival.
He was halfway through cleaning when the lab door suddenly shot open. Huo Yuhao was wondering why teacher Xuan was coming so early in the morning when four people stepped in from outside—one of them being Ju Zi.
A tall and burly youth stood in front of the group. He was at least two meters tall, and his muscular body rivaled that of He Caitou. Even his skin was dark and tanned—darker skin was an aristocratic sign within the Sun Moon Empire. This muscular youth"s hair was brown and short, his eyes sparkled with vitality, and his bulging muscles stretched his uniform tightly.
A tiny girl with a small figure stood behind him. She wasn"t as beautiful as Ju Zi, but she had a cute charm, and was only about one hundred and sixty centimeters tall. Her eyes were full of life and ferocity, and even contained a tinge of intimidation. The third person was male, and he had a tall and slim figure. He was a little taller than Huo Yuhao, had long flowing golden hair reached past his shoulders, his nose was high and sharp, his blue eyes were deep yet lively, and his handsome features were complementary with Ju Zi"s behind him.
Huo Yuhao immediately stopped what he was doing when they walked in and he said respectfully, "Nice to see you again, senior sister Ju Zi. You guys must be my senior brothers and sisters. Nice to meet everyone—my name is Huo Yuhao, and I"m a new exchange student."
He barely finished his sentence when the tiny girl"s shrill voice rang out. "Enough with all that formality. We aren"t your senior brothers and sisters—did we let you call us that?"
She walked towards Huo Yuhao as she spoke. Her hands planted on her waist, carrying a truculent and overbearing demeanor.
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, "Then how should I address you?"
"Uh…" The tiny girl was stunned momentarily, and her fierce mannerisms fell apart instantly. "Let"s not talk about that first. Who allowed you into the lab?"
"Teacher Xuan, of course." Huo Yuhao replied, amused.
The tiny girl grunted and said, "We haven"t agreed to that. This is a shared study area. Follow me outside for a while, I want to ask you something." She pointed towards the door as she spoke.
"Why?" Huo Yuhao asked doubtfully.
The tiny girl said, "Come out and you"ll know." She took the lead and headed outside as she spoke
Huo Yuhao didn"t know what she was going to do, but, judging from her att.i.tude, it probably wasn"t anything good. However, he didn"t want to antagonize his senior brothers and sisters in his first few days here, so he followed the tiny girl outside. The other three gazed at him expressionlessly—it was clear that they were ostracizing him.
The tiny girl walked out of the lab and pointed towards a wall by the corridor. "Stand over there."
Huo Yuhao followed her instructions and asked, "What do you want to say to me?"
The tiny girl grunted coldly and replied, "I want to tell you that you aren"t worthy enough to enter the lab without our permission. Next time you do, we"ll beat you up. Do you understand?"
Huo Yuhao"s brows creased. He wanted to say something, but the young girl swiftly took a step back and into the laboratory and shut the door behind her.
"You…" Huo Yuhao possessed impressive self-restraint and composure, but he couldn"t help but feel a indignant. He hurriedly stepped forward to use the access card hanging at his chest to swipe at the door, while he prepared to reason with them inside.