However, this wonderful feeling only lasted for three seconds before it disappeared after Huo Yuhao released his hand.
“This, this… Master Tang, how is it possible?” Chen An felt as if everything he had known was a lie. He hadn’t expected that a soul master could help increase the cultivation of a soul engineer. He quickly inspected his body and sensed the changes in his soul power. As he did, he discovered that the enhancement was real. His soul power didn’t stop increasing even after Huo Yuhao’s finger stopped contacting his hand. It was real!
Chen An was only a soul engineer, and his martial soul wasn’t very outstanding. His cultivation was able to reach Class 5 because he had consumed all sorts of medicine and used soul tools to forcefully stimulate his progress. He had thought that he would remain in this class for the rest of his life. His cultivation hadn’t increased in the last seven years!
But right now, his soul power had finally experienced an increase after years of dormancy. Furthermore, he was also felt that the impurities in his soul power were being cleansed by the introduction of Huo Yuhao’s soul power. Although the immense life power only surged in his body for a moment before disappearing, it still generated a lot of benefits for him. The feeling of being filled with energy, rushing blood, and youth was too wonderful. At this point, Chen An was looking at Huo Yuhao with a burning passion in his eyes.
Huo Yuhao calmly said, “In this world, no one can understand everything. There are many things that exist even if you don’t think they do. Do you understand?”
“Yes! Yes, I understand!” Chen An hurriedly nodded. Wang Dong’er and Na Na furrowed their brow when they saw how submissive he had become. They didn’t know what Huo Yuhao had done to him that caused his attitude to change greatly.
Huo Yuhao said, “Alright, bring us in. Please carry out my orders as soon as possible. When this tournament ends, I’ll be going into retreat to study soul tools. It’ll be difficult to tell if we’ll ever meet again. Don’t worry about the money. If you can bring the goods, I’ll have the money for you. Of course, you must keep this confidential. Otherwise, don’t expect to obtain any benefits from me.”
“Yes, I’ll certainly keep it confidential.” Chen An was in an unsteady state right now. To a soul engineer, there was nothing more astonishing and surprising than an increase in his cultivation. This was especially so when the enhancement was extremely pure. Chen An didn’t sense any side effects at all! If he could really become a Soul Emperor, he might be able to become a Class 6 soul engineer. While Class 5 and Class 6 were only one class apart, the treatment of soul engineers from these two classes varied immensely! How could a Soul King and Soul Emperor be treated the same way? There was also a huge increase in one’s abilities when one advanced from a Soul King to a Soul Emperor. Furthermore, Chen An also recalled that Huo Yuhao had once mentioned that he might consider letting him become an evil soul master if he performed his tasks well. If that was the case, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion for him to become a Soul Sage! To Chen An, this was a great motivation!
He was determined to take the risk and complete the task Huo Yuhao had asked of him. In this world, there were only eternal benefits. The benefits that Huo Yuhao could bring to him made him extremely determined to take that risk. After being in the Duskwater Alliance for so long, he had many contacts he could use...
Chen An was very excited as he led Huo Yuhao and the other three into the Golden Hall before he left. Numbers 96 and 98 had not arrived at the resting area yet...
Huo Yuhao didn’t speak much as he arrived. This was the Duskwater Alliance’s territory, so there was a possibility of being monitored. It was best to remain silent.
Chen An returned after a while. He bent his waist and whispered something into Huo Yuhao’s ears, “Every soul engineer will be given ten hours to create a soul tool today. There aren’t any restrictions on the number of soul tools that can be created. The fights will only commence early tomorrow morning. There are fewer restrictions now. Apart from the restriction of using any other soul tools, there aren’t any other restrictions.”
Huo Yuhao thought of something and asked, “This means that I can use soul skills?”
Chen An nodded and replied, “Yes. Apart from testing one’s soul tools, this is also a test of one’s overall abilities. I heard that the grand final between the three organizations will be held in a similar style. Everyone is going to compete on a bloody stage. Only one will emerge as the champion out of the nine competitors in the grand final. Only the first three will be rewarded. I heard that the winner will take home a Class 9 soul tool.”
After hearing the words ‘Class 9 soul tool’, Huo Yuhao was also shocked. It was too great of a reward. What were Class 9 soul tools? Strategic weapons! In the Sun Moon Empire, how many Class 9 soul tools were sealed inside the military vault? Even Class 9 soul engineers were restricted by the materials they possessed and the difficulty of creating Class 9 soul tools. Generally speaking, there were very few people who had more than three Class 9 soul tools. Of course, Jing Hongchen was an exception, since he was backed by the empire.
The destructive power of a Class 9 soul tool was even more devastating than a Titled Douluo in terms of a single attack. With a Class 9 soul tool as a reward, the soul engineers who competed weren’t afraid to risk their lives!
“You’re good.” Huo Yuhao acknowledged. “Go and get busy. I know what to do. Remember to help me place the bets.”
Seeing how confident Huo Yuhao was, along with the miraculous scene he experienced earlier, Chen An had already made up his mind. He was going to place some of his own money on Huo Yuhao. No one would mind more money!
As Chen An left, Huo Yuhao revealed a slight grin on his face. The task he had set for Chen An wasn’t very difficult. Everything Chen An felt was real. The immense life power came from the Life Guardian Blade. As for the pure soul power, Huo Yuhao had retrieved it from the origin energy of Ultimate Ice when he cultivated in the morning. He left a shred of it to strengthen Chen An’s conviction. It was quite precious! It was also very helpful to Huo Yuhao’s own enhancement of his soul power.
After this period of cultivation, Huo Yuhao’s soul power would increase by leaps and bounds. He was more and more confident that he would be able to walk again soon.
The door opened. Number 96 and 98 walked in, still decked out in black. When he saw Huo Yuhao, 98 twisted his mouth and said, “I didn’t expect this! You actually managed to reach this stage. You’d better pray that you don’t meet either of us!”
Huo Yuhao smiled and replied, “It’s difficult to tell who will win or lose. I bet ten million gold soul coins on myself. I wonder if you dare to do that?”
Number 98’s expression changed, “Ten million? I didn’t know you were such a wastrel. You’d better pray that you don’t draw me as your competitor.”
Number 96 dragged him away, simply nodding at Huo Yuhao. The two of them walked to one side and sat down.
Huo Yuhao squinted, thinking of the carving blades that the two of them had used, and revealed a smile on his face.
Wang Dong’er thought to herself after seeing his smile, What’s he up to again? He must be trying to dupe these two fellows.
96 and 98 came a little late. They only sat down for a short time before some staff members came to inform them that the tournament was about to begin.
------
They entered the Golden Hall again. 96 and 98 were in the spotlight, while Huo Yuhao naturally caught some attention too, since he was in a wheelchair.
He had caused some trouble on his first day of the tournament, but his performance had been average in the succeeding rounds. There wasn’t anything very special about him. He wasn’t like 96 and 98, who had blazed their way into this round. However, Huo Yuhao was able to edge out his opponents every time, and finally reached the round of six. If he won this round, he would be qualified to represent the Duskwater Alliance.
As there were only six people left, the stage in the hall was also much more spacious. There were three distinct regions, and the carving table in each region had been enlarged. At the center of the stage were three circular tables. Every table was stacked with rare metals. They were the rewards for the victors today.
The startling thing was that the Duel Region behind it had been dismantled. There was only the circular stage in the center.
Huo Yuhao and the rest were brought to a tunnel behind the stage. They didn’t enter through the main door of the hall like before. In addition to the four of them, there were two other young men around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old waiting there, who appeared quite excited. They were also competitors in the round of six. According to the information Chen An had given Huo Yuhao, they were both Class 5 soul engineers. They were the weakest two of the six remaining competitors.
On the stage, a handsome young man wearing a dazzling golden shirt walked up to the stage.
“Greetings to all distinguished guests. I’m the emcee for today’s tournament. You can call me Ajin. I’ll help everyone interpret today’s fights.”
All the spectators got excited when they heard that the match was about to begin. They started to cheer, and whistling could be heard from time to time. They had placed heavy bets on today’s fights, since they could now bet on specific individuals. As for how the six of them would be paired up, it was going to be decided using lot. This lot-drawing would be very important.
“First, let me introduce all of you to our top six soul engineers. I must reiterate that the information that we released regarding the six of them before the start of the match and the analysis that I’m going to give you now are all based on their performances in the previous rounds. We’ve never asked them what their class or abilities are. That’s because it’s taboo to talk about such things.”
Ajin’s voice suddenly sounded very high-pitched. “Let’s welcome our first competitor, whose number is 37, onto the stage.”
A young man slightly to the front in the tunnel behind quickly ascended the stage. He took two to three steps and walked over in front of Ajin, placing both his hands behind his back.
“He has defeated many strong opponents en route to the last six. He even created a strong yet rare Class 5 soul tool in the previous round. We estimate that he’s a Class 5 soul engineer, and specializes in creating dexterous, offensive-type soul tools.”
“Next, let’s welcome our number 85 competitor up onto the stage.”
The other young man also quickly went up to the stage. He stood beside 37. His introduction was similar to 37, it wasn’t very special. Those who were sharp could tell that they were the weakest two. They were also given higher odds to win.
“Third, let’s welcome our number 66 soul engineer up on the stage. I’ll need some of my staff members to give him a hand.”
Huo Yuhao was pushed onto the stage by two staff members.
The emcee came to his side and smiled at him before saying, “Although it’s a little inconvenient for him to move, he managed to triumph in every round of this tournament. We don’t know what his limit is, but we estimate him to be a Class 5 soul engineer. From his calm and composed performances, we can roughly tell that he has a strong, yet mysterious amount of potential.
“Our fourth competitor today is our number 88 soul engineer. He has been wearing a mask all this while, and has a huge and burly figure.”
He Caitou walked up to the stage and quickly made his way over beside Huo Yuhao.
“He once demonstrated his strength. We estimate him to be between a Class 5 and Class 6 soul engineer. In fact, I’d like to know why he’s always wearing a mask. Perhaps he’s a familiar, reputable soul engineer in our empire! I rate him highly.”
He Caitou listened to Huo Yuhao’s instructions and didn’t mutter a word. After all, he was wearing a mask. His appearance seemed very cold.
“Our fifth competitor is our number 98 soul engineer.
“He is very strong, and even possesses an extremely special, sharp carving blade. We believe it to be a top-ranked carving blade, and estimate him to be a Class 6 soul engineer. We can confirm that his abilities are Class 6 and above. I don’t think any of the first four competitors would like to draw him in this round.
“Our last competitor is our number 96 soul engineer. Just like our number 98 competitor, we believe him to be a Class 6 soul engineer. He also possesses a sharp carving blade that we believe to be a top-notch carving blade. We’ve announced earlier that he and our number 96 soul engineer won’t meet each other in this round since they are the strongest. This is to ensure that we can send our best lineup to the grand final. Let the lot-drawing begin!”