"From my own observations, this Radiant City seemed to be larger than the capital cities of the Three Douluo Empires," Huo Yuhao muttered, looking around with curious eyes.
Fan Yu couldn't help but ask, "Hallmaster Hongchen, why are there no city walls?"
Throughout all the cities in the Three Douluo Empires and even Shrek City, there were towering walls—fortified with stone and steel, lined with soul tool cannons and patrol towers. Defensive structures were considered essential for any city in an event of war or beast tide.
Yet here, in the very heart of the Sun Moon Empire, there was nothing.
Jing Hongchen, who had been calmly leading the group, turned his head slightly and answered with a faint smile, "Because Radiant City don't need them."
The statement was simple—but heavy.
He didn't speak further. Instead, he continued leading them through Radiant City and several minutes passed when they reached an enormous plaza. The light film dispersed, and the advanced flying-type soul tool disappeared before any of them realized.
Some people were awaiting their arrival in the plaza and had come to welcome them.
Among them, a short and plump middle-aged man walked towards Jing Hongchen and said respectfully, "Hallmaster, everything's been arranged."
Jing Hongchen smiled and said, "Let me introduce this man to you all. He's the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy's teaching director, Lin Jiayi. All of you will be learning from him over the next few years."
"Jiayi, please make the proper arrangements for these students. Teacher Fan Yu, please follow me."
Jing Hongchen led Fan Yu somewhere else. Fan Yu didn't even look at Huo Yuhao or He Caitou as he left.
As of this moment, the exchange had officially begun.
Lin Jiayi waved his right hand, and the people behind him stepped forward. They each held a tray and stood in front of a different Shrek student.
"Welcome everyone, to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. For the next two and a half years, each and every one of you will be considered students of our school.
To ensure the success of this exchange, we'll be providing you all with the best learning environments. As such, the Illustrious Virtue Hall will be open to you two days week. Additionally, you'll have the opportunity to take part in the Illustrious Virtue Hall's tests. If you manage to pass, you'll become members of the Illustrious Virtue Hall until the exchange is over.
Within these trays you'll find a map of the academy and the academy's handbook, as well as the keys to your room. As it's a bit late right now, the academy's teachers will conduct a few simple tests so that you can receive your proper uniforms tomorrow.
Once your physical conditions have been recorded, you can find me if you need help with anything." Lin Jiayi explained.
Everyone received their things, while Ye Xiaosheng cemented his role as their "leader" by stepping forward first. He Caitou and Huo Yuhao, along with the rest of the students, followed him. He Caitou and Huo Yuhao stayed near the back of the pack as they were led by the teachers to a nearby area.
As they walked, Huo Yuhao took out the map that he'd just received. The darkness didn't affect his vision much. The map simply showed that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy was divided into three regions—the teaching area, dormitories, and the testing area.
He stared at a certain location longer than the rest.
'Hmm. If what I received from that person is true, then this place is where I'll be heading. After the tests we'll take, I'll head towards that place as soon as possible.'
At this point, the teachers brought Huo Yuhao and the others to a school building for first-grade students. The building was massive, and the vast corridors extended far into the distance.
Huo Yuhao noticed that there were many soul tools all throughout the school building, all of which looked exquisite. While he could tell what some of them were used for, most of them he couldn't.
He licked his lips and thought, 'This totally beats Shrek Academy's infrastructure by decades. From the point of expenditure, Shrek Academy is like a beggar compared to this empire of gold and gears.'
He doesn't normally insults his school, but goddamn if he wasn't being honest with himself right now.
Lin Jiayi brought them all the way to the end of the first level and stopped in front of a room. There was a sign on the door that read "Measurement Room" and he lead everyone inside.
The room wasn't very big, only around a hundred square meters in size. Inside, there were several large-scale soul tools.
There were some large-scale soul tools inside Shrek Academy's Soul Engineering Department's testing area, but they were mainly used for handling metal, sculpting, and punching holes during the process of creating other soul tools.
However, the large-scale soul tools here were much more compact, and soul power undulations they emitted were much stronger.
Lin Jiayi clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention to him. "This is the academy's measurement room. All students must complete their physical measurements here. Don't worry, the soul physique measuring scale won't do any harm to your body.
Now then, I'll need all of you to temporarily put your soul tools away to prevent any interference. Pass your storage-type soul tools to your friends first, then ensure that there's no other metals on your bodies."
"Ah, I have a small problem with that." Huo Yuhao said, raising his left arm.
Lin Jiayi raised an eyebrow. "What's the problem?"
Huo Yuhao wryly smiled and a kunai appeared in his right hand, surprising everyone except those who knew about him, and struck his left arm—producing a crisp *ding* sound.
"My left arm is a prosthetic that I made myself. The person who severed my left arm left a pretty nasty curse in my stump so, the prosthetic also acts as a sort-of seal. Removing it would...."
Huo Yuhao tilted his head around, humming nonchalantly. At that moment, cold sweat dripped down the faces of Lin Jiayi and the others. "Well, let's just say that it's been suppressing the curse for almost two years now. Removing it would be like opening the lid on a very, very angry pot."
He smiled politely—too politely.
"You wouldn't want that. I definitely wouldn't want that. So," He spread his hands apart with a casual shrug, the kunai still loosely gripped in his right hand, "is it really necessary to have zero metallic objects on me? I can put away everything else except my prosthetic."
Huo Yuhao also didn't want to miss the chance on experiencing this physical measuring scale soul tool. This was the first he'd ever heard of such a term among soul tools. Was this soul tool supposed to scan their bodies and display what abilities they possessed?
His body held many secrets.
But he was also curious.
"W-Wait a moment. May we first inspect your prosthetic?" Lin Jiaya said.
"Sure, but no questions asked." Huo Yuhao nodded and extended his left arm towards him.
"My word! The aesthetics of your prosthetic is so life-like that I didn't notice it until I got a closer look."
"T-This....! The soul circuits and soul arrays in this soul tool are incredible! They all seamlessly connect with the boy's nervous system that it functions like a natural extension of his body. Its as if it is really his own arm and not some prosthetic! I've only seen this kind of soul input skillset by a high level class 8 soul engineer."
"H-Hold on! I somewhat recognize some of the alloy used to forge this arm! It's made out of high quality ores that are typically only used on Class 8 or 9 soul tools! Some of them are used primarily to heat things up like something out of a forge. Why? H-How did you—!"
"Not only that, as someone who deals in creating prosthetic soul tools and researching soul bones more than others, I also recognize that this piece of work was combined with a high quality soul bone that is older than 50,000 years old!"
"Y-You..." Lin Jiaya looked up in shock and stared at Huo Yuhao's calm eyes. "Who are you? You said you made this? Impossible. This soul tool, though riddled with some flaws in its soul circuitry, is advance enough that even we feel in awe of such craftsmanship!
This expertise of soul engineering could only be achieved by a high level Class 7 or Class 8 soul engineer."
Huo Yuhao calmly smiled by his questions and replied, "Sorry, but no questions asked. We all have our secrets, yes? But I can save you the trouble by stating, by the standards of Shrek Academy, I am a class 7 Soul Engineer and created this prosthetic soul tool called— Flame Demon King Arm, an edgy long name I know, but I named it in tribute to the soul bone I used in creating it."
Lin Jiaya and the other soul engineers behind him looked at each other in stunned silence, their expressions twisted in disbelief, admiration.... and just a hint of fear. The students from Shrek Academy were feeling more or less the same as them.
Ye Xiaosheng's expression changed drastically, something flickered across his eyes at that moment.
"A class 7.... at your age?" one of the instructors whispered.
"Impossible. Not even the greatest genius in our empire had managed to become a Class 7 soul engineer at his age, uh, wait how old is he?"
"I heard he was 12-13 years old during the competition so by now, he should be around 14-15 years old."
"That..."
"Moreover, even if their classification of soul engineers are inferior to ours, he would still be classified as a high level Class 6 soul engineer!"
Lin Jiaya pursed his lips, staring at the little monster in front of him with a little bit of apprehension.
'So this is Shrek Academy's greatest monster I've heard hall master Jing was talking about.... We must either recruit him or eliminate him.'
Huo Yuhao welcome their gazes and was never one to hide his talents, not because he was a show-off. Especially since he placed an illusion over the Flame Demon King Arm to make it appear as a Class 7 soul tool and held back from saying outright he's a Class 8 soul engineer by Shrel Academy standard.
They'll find that out when they dig enough into the school, but that would reveal that they have a spy in the school. The ones who truly knew his class are the two deans and Elder Song.
Huo Yuhao revealed some of his talents because he was the greatest distraction to his enemies. Never expecting another him appearing from the shadows as they were busy staring at him in fear, wondering how powerful he would become in the future—only for a blade to pierce them at the present.
In this new land, Huo Yuhao was going to make a name for himself.