Chapter 33.3: Two Soul Bones

Book 6: Graduating

Chapter 33.3: Two Soul Bones

At that moment, He Caitou’s cheeks suddenly bulged, like he’d forcefully inhaled something. Afterwards, a cloud of smoke left his mouth. With the “turd” still in his mouth, he walked into the Testing Area.

Even though Huo Yuhao was stunned by the strange effect of He Caitou’s martial soul, he hurried to activate his Spiritual Detection to observe He Caitou’s movements more carefully, as the omnidirectional three-dimensional image allowed him to sense things around him much more clearly.

The instant he activated his Spiritual Detection, Huo Yuhao immediately sensed that something was amiss. He discovered that the testing area seemed to have come alive, as large metallic balls with diameters of at least half-a-meter had begun to appear from all directions.

“Brother He, be careful!” Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but cry out.

He Caitou turned towards him, then smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Immediately afterwards, He Caitou’s aura drastically changed.

The normally straightforward He Caitou’s gaze suddenly became sharp as he moved the ‘turd’ in his mouth to the side and breathed in deeply. Afterwards, his movements instantly became as vigorous as a cheetah.

Two large metallic balls had appeared beside him, and were rapidly flying towards him. He Caitou swiftly ran to the side, then rolled forward, allowing him to dive out of the way. He immediately turned around afterwards, and the two black metal pieces he’d put on his shoulders opened up, revealing minuscule holes.

At this point, Huo Yuhao sensed that the soul power in He Caitou’s body had suddenly began to surge violently and was rapidly gathering in his shoulders. As soon as it had, he released two thin rays of white light from his shoulders, which accurately struck the golden balls hurtling towards him.

Huo Yuhao noticed that He Caitou’s shoulder muscles had slightly moved the instant he released the white ray of light; most likely for the sake of adjusting the white laser’s direction.

The two metallic balls paused slightly for a moment, before unexpectedly melting midair.

This, this is the power of a soul tool? Huo Yuhao was stunned. He knew, based on his Spiritual Detection, that the two metallic balls were hollow on the inside. However, they were still relatively heavy! And yet, they’d instantly been blasted apart by the two thin lasers.

However, Huo Yuhao was even more astonished by what happened afterwards. The black pieces of metal on He Caitou’s shoulds rapidly extended to cover He Caitou’s arms, causing six foot-long metal tubes that were as thick as a child’s arm to appear on both of his arms. After the metal pieces had finished extending, Huo Yuhao was able to see He Caitou shift his soul power from his shoulders to his arms, which caused the six metal tubes to spit tongues of fire. In that instant, He Caitou’s berserk soul power distorted even Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection.¹

The six huge metallic balls that were charging towards He Caitou were all struck violently, multiple depressions appearing on them. He Caitou had only been firing the six metal tubes for less than three seconds before the six metallic balls had been entirely blasted apart.

As soon as they disappeared, six more metallic balls appeared to both his left and right sides and shot towards him.

He Caitou angled the ‘turd’ in his mouth upwards, revealing a fearless smile. Then, the black pieces of metal all over his body started moving. Furthermore, it seemed like they’d all been activated by him moving his muscles. As soon as they finished moving, He Caitou’s soul power erupted outwards like an explosion.

Huo Yuhao had the assistance of his Spiritual Detection, yet he still wasn’t able to count the number of metal, tube-like objects that had appeared all over He Caitou’s body. Soon afterwards, he saw that He Caitou had been fully covered in light. Countless barrages of rays of light shot out wildly from him towards the metal balls. Beneath his terrifying undulations of soul power, the twelve enormous metal balls instantly disintegrated in midair.

This was simply too mind-blowing!

After doing all of this, He Caitou’s soul power had been almost entirely drained. The metal tubes on his body quickly disappeared and transformed back into the original shape of his black metal armor. At that moment, Huo Yuhao no longer thought that He Caitou looked strange; in his eyes, the gentle and straightforward He Caitou had become a monster!

He’d seen quite a few three-ringed Soul Elders in the past, such as Dai Huabin, Ning Tian, his own senior brother Bei Bei, and Teacher Xiao Ya. They’d all had three soul rings, but in terms of combat strength… they weren’t even on the same level as the current He Caitou! The destructive power of those metallic tubes was simply too terrifying.

He Caitou walked over to the side and quickly removed the black pieces of metal from his body. The small object in his mouth had disappeared as well, but the faint scent of smoke still lingered around his body.

Fan Yu smiled and looked towards Huo Yuhao. “What do you think?”

Huo Yuhao subconsciously replied, “This, this is simply too powerful.”

Fan Yu replied, “Caitou’s cultivation level is still limited, thus he’s only able to release part of a soul tool’s power. Currently, he still can’t use any of the stronger soul tools. Other than the stationary soul tool you saw last time, all soul tools are activated via soul power. Because of that, cultivating soul power is also important to soul masters from the Soul Tool Department.”

“I know that you’re definitely curious as to how soul masters from the Soul Tool Department fare against those from the Martial Soul Department in a battle. Let me tell you this: Under the Soul Sage rank, our Soul Tool Department holds an absolute advantage against the Martial Soul Department in battle. On the contrary, the Martial Soul Department holds an absolute advantage against us in fights between soul masters above the Soul Sage rank. Our Douluo Continent focuses primarily on martial souls, but the armies of the other various countries focus primarily on soul tools. From another standpoint, soul tools are more helpful for ordinary people, as they can easily grant them a large amount of combat power in a short period of time.”

After listening to Fan Yu’s explanation, Huo Yuhao finally had a basic understanding of soul tools. He’d seen the power that He Caitou had shown, and could guarantee that, unless the abilities of his enemies martial soul were able to restrict him, not even four-ringed Soul Ancestors would be a match for him! This raised Huo Yuhao’s interest towards soul tools to an unprecedented high.

Fan Yu knew that the crucial moment had arrived. He lowered his tone, “Currently, the Soul Tool Department is weaker than the Martial Soul Department after the seven-ringed stage… but that’s not a certainty. Of the many research topics I have, the most important one of them all is to nurture a consummate soul master from the Soul Tool Department. I’m 46 years old this year, and the only disciple I’ve ever taken in is Caitou. If you’re willing, I’m also willing to take in another disciple.”

Huo Yuhao was relatively intelligent, and Fan Yu had already explained things so clearly; how could he hesitate? With a ‘Putong’, Huo Yuhao kneeled on the ground. “Teacher Fan Yu, please take me as your disciple. I’ll definitely work hard to study soul tools.” Afterwards, he kowtowed to Fan Yu three times.

Fan Yu nodded slightly as he allowed Huo Yuhao to pay his respects. After he’d kowtowed three times, Fan Yu helped him to his feet.

“I’ve heard of your diligence from Zhou Yi. From now on, you’re the second, and also last, disciple of mine. I’ll do my best to nurture you and Caitou. Someday, I’ll show the Martial Soul Department just what level our Soul Tool Department can reach. Yuhao, you aren’t just my disciple; from now on, you’re also a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department. I heard how the Martial Soul Department evaluated you; it’s their loss for not taking you in as a core disciple.”

I’m a core disciple now? This stroke of fortune was too sudden, to the extent that Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but stare blankly. The difference in treatment between the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department immediately caused the scales within his heart to shift.

Regardless of the facts, Huo Yuhao was still an eleven-year-old child. Because of his childhood, he was someone who held grudges. However at the same time, this made him cherish favors even more. The instant that Fan Yu said he would be a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department, Huo Yuhao felt warmth rise up from his heart. The grievances that he’d suppressed immediately turned into a warm stream that surged towards his eyes.

“Teacher.” He couldn’t help but let his tears flow freely.

Fan Yu spread his arms and held Huo Yuhao’s shoulders. “Good child, don’t cry. I know how aggrieved you feel, but I have to tell you this: no matter who it is, if you don’t want to feel aggrieved, and you want to be respected by other people, you can only rely on yourself. What you need to do is use your own strength to reject your grievances.”

“En.” Huo Yuhao nodded repeatedly as he wiped the tears from his face.

He Caitou walked over as well. Laughing, he hugged Huo Yuhao, then used his enormous strength to lift him up off the ground and spun him around in a circle.

“I have a junior brother now, hahaha! This is too good, I don’t have to be alone anymore. Yuhao, we’re brothers from now on.”

“Senior brother.” The feelings that came from He Caitou’s heart made Huo Yuhao feel something similar to the feeling that his senior brother Bei Bei had given him. As such, his inner emotions couldn’t help but surge up again.

Fan Yu said, “Yuhao, even though you’ve already become a core disciple of our Soul Tool Department, you still need to lay yourself a solid foundation as a soul master. Because of that, you’ll have to continue increasing your knowledge in the Martial Soul Department; at least until you graduate from your third year. Furthermore, you need to focus most of your energy towards cultivating your martial soul. Soul power is the foundation for everything we do; this is the case for the Soul Tool Department as well. At the same time, you have a special martial soul, so you have to pay attention to your soul skills too. I hope that you won’t just become an outstanding soul master of the Soul Tool Department in the future, but will also become an outstanding Control System Battle Soul Master as well.”

“I won’t hide this from you: Our Soul Tool Department has a rivalry with the Martial Soul Department. As such, you’ll have to keep the matter of you becoming one of our core disciples a secret for the time being, so that we won’t provoke a reaction from the Martial Soul Department. Also, you can’t become a core disciple of the Martial Soul Department. When you enter the inner courtyard, you’ll enter our Soul Tool Department’s inner courtyard. Zhou Yi will help you fill in the form that allows you to join our Soul Tool Department. Your classes at the Martial Soul Department normally end at around four in the afternoon, so after class you’ll have to come to me to study for two hours every day. The Martial Soul Department has a rest day every week, but you’ll have to come here and study on that day as well. Are you scared of hard work?”

^{1. From the Manga.}

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