Sun Moon Empire, inside Huo Yuhao's laboratory.
Thinking that he wouldn't get an answer from Ling Luochen for the time being, Huo Yuhao chose to clear his mind through research.
"Here, Old Ji, give it a try."
Huo Yuhao handed the Meteoric Iron Sword, which he had just adjusted, back to the silent Ji Juechen standing nearby.
Ji Juechen had been tricked into signing a contract long ago. In a sense, he was Employee No. 001 of the Sun Moon Empire branch of the Spirit Transmission Pagoda.
The method of recruiting Ji Juechen had been quite simple: Huo Yuhao fought him. After winning, Ji Juechen willingly signed the contract.
As for why he sought out Ji Juechen, it was simple: Ji Juechen was too unique.
Setting aside his perseverance and hard work, Ji Juechen's Meteoric Iron Sword was truly of immense research value!
Ji Juechen's sword had originally been a piece of extraterrestrial meteoric iron.
After obtaining it, he used his own method—constantly tempering it with his hands and Soul Power, day after day for over ten years—before it gradually took the shape of a sword.
In his previous life, Huo Yuhao had seen Ji Juechen's sword. When they first clashed, he had even thought the sword was a powerful melee Soul Tool. It wasn't until later that he realized the sword was merely a sword.
In this life, once Huo Yuhao got his hands on it, he discovered that Ji Juechen's sword had already birthed a "Spirit."
Regardless of the meteoric iron's toughness, the Soul Power existing within it alone already exceeded the amount contained in a normal "Thousand-Forging" level metal. It was incredibly close to the "Spirit-Forging" metal Huo Yuhao had envisioned.
Furthermore, when Ji Juechen began to fight and his Martial Soul merged into the Meteoric Iron Sword, a certain change occurred within the blade.
How should it be described?
It was like the skeletons in Huo Yuhao's Spectral Demiplane who were currently working 24/7. Those skeletons, which relied on being collected into the Spectral Demiplane, mostly had fragmented souls—they had a bit of spirituality, but not much.
But besides those simple skeletons, there were high-level undead with complete souls. They possessed intellect no different from ordinary people; aside from their bodies, they were almost indistinguishable from humans.
The difference between those simple skeletons and high-level undead was the soul.
The moment Ji Juechen's Martial Soul attached to the Meteoric Iron Sword, the "Spirit" of the sword was stimulated, and a "Soul" was subsequently born.
This change instantly caused the entire Meteoric Iron Sword to undergo a metamorphosis. Whether it was its toughness or the Soul Power within, everything received a terrifying boost!
This allowed Huo Yuhao to seemingly glimpse the realm beyond "Spirit-Forging"...
Forging metal with physical strength yields "Hundred-Forging"; forging with Soul Power yields "Thousand-Forging"; forging with Soul Power, Blood Essence, and Spirit to give the metal spirituality is "Spirit-Forging." The next stage, then, is allowing that spirituality to birth a soul, thereby achieving... "Soul-Forging"!
Of course, right now it was merely a hypothesis. Without producing a physical finished product, all hypotheses were meaningless.
Ji Juechen took the sword. His first impression upon holding it was that the sword had become slightly heavier. Other than that, the feel and the special connection between him and his sword remained.
"I had someone perform some fine-tuning for you and corrected some inconsistencies, but there haven't been too many changes."
"...Thank you." Ji Juechen nodded.
"Oh, right. How is your forging coming along?"
Ji Juechen remained silent for a moment before speaking calmly: "I have yet to master the basics of Hundred-Forging."
Huo Yuhao fell silent.
Well, he had originally hoped Ji Juechen could reforge the Meteoric Iron Sword himself, as something he forged personally would ultimately fit him better.
But clearly, Ji Juechen had put all his talent points into the Way of the Sword; he knew absolutely nothing about other fields.
Huo Yuhao nodded and made a decision: "Alright, Old Ji, you don't need to forge for now. Just continue trying to 'Infuse the Soul into the Tool'."
Ji Juechen nodded.
Such was his character: taciturn, with only the sword in his heart.
Had it not been for Huo Yuhao's instructions, Ji Juechen would never have attempted forging. After all, he knew his own limits—aside from some insights into the sword, he was ignorant of everything else.
Huo Yuhao was about to continue giving instructions when, in the next moment, a figure walked quickly into his laboratory.
"Yuhao, Yuhao! Let me tell you some good news! Hey, Old Ji, you're here too. What a coincidence!"
"..." Ji Juechen nodded as a response.
Xiao Hongchen was in high spirits. Even facing Ji Juechen's cold face, Xiao Hongchen wasn't the least bit angry; instead, he turned to look at Huo Yuhao with a beaming smile.
Huo Yuhao sensed something was wrong and felt a slight chill.
"Xiao, what did you do?"
"Hehehe... Yuhao, you can't escape after all! I applied for a slot in the Soul Master Competition for you a few days ago, and the notice came down today! The application was approved!
"Hahaha! There are seven regulars, and you aren't one of them, but... become my support! Yuhao! You can't escape!"
Huo Yuhao: "..."
Looking at Xiao Hongchen currently holding his forehead with one hand, laughing wildly like a mastermind whose plot had succeeded, Huo Yuhao felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest.
This guy... why is he so childish?
"Is that it?"
"Otherwise? Didn't you stubbornly refuse before? You never wanted to participate in the competition with me."
"I just find it troublesome. It's just a competition, after all. There's no profit in winning. Instead of competing, I'd rather spend more time researching 'Battle Armor'."
Huo Yuhao shook his head. He had said long ago that participating or not made no difference to him, as there was no benefit involved.
The so-called grand prize for the competition was just a few Soul Bones, which were useless to him. Backed by the Star Constellation Great Forest, he could gather a dozen sets of top-quality Soul Bones whenever he wanted.
"Hmph, so what! Anyway, the slot has been given to you. When the time comes, you're coming with us to the competition!
"You won't have to do anything then. Just stand on the sidelines and activate a Soul Skill, then watch me slaughter the opposition!"
"Slaughter?"
Huo Yuhao thought of Ling Luochen.
With two ten-thousand-year level Energy Storage Rings and some self-created Soul Skills taught by Huo Yuhao, Ling Luochen's current combat power would have absolutely no problem fighting ordinary Soul Douluo.
Coupled with Ma Xiaotao, who would definitely reach high-level Soul Emperor or even Soul Saint in a year, and Dai Yueheng, who would become a Soul Emperor, the Sun Moon Empire's chances of winning weren't high...
Oh, he almost forgot about the Death God Envoy. If the Death God Envoy appeared like in the previous life, Shrek Academy might even be eliminated in the early rounds.
However, Huo Yuhao wasn't sure if the Death God Envoy existed now. Zhang Peng, who had been in Huo Yuhao's hands for a long time, had already been transformed into an undead and sent out to hunt Evil Soul Masters.
On average, he could steadily provide three to six subjects per month. As for whether the Death God Envoy was among those subjects...
Huo Yuhao didn't know. After all, whether he was there or not, he was just a subject to him—only a serial number, no personality.