The grade system of the Soul Tool Department at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Academy is quite interesting.
The final graduation exam for the second semester of the first year is the Level 1 Soul Tool Master assessment. If a student fails, they are immediately expelled and are even forbidden from claiming they were ever a student of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Academy once they are out in the world.
Starting from the second year, grade promotion is directly replaced by the Soul Tool Master assessment.
Upon becoming a Level 3 Soul Tool Master, one is promoted to the third year; becoming a Level 4 Soul Tool Master promotes one to the fourth year, and so on, all the way to the sixth year.
The conditions for graduation are either staying at the school for a full six years or being a Level 3 or higher Soul Tool Master. Once these conditions are met, one can graduate.
(The first year is similar to nine-year compulsory education, the graduation exam is like the College Entrance Exam, and then the third year is like a Bachelor's, the fourth a Master's, the fifth a Doctorate... it's roughly like that.)
Theoretically, Huo Yuhao already possessed the qualifications to directly attend second or even third-year courses. Unfortunately, after he attended half a day of class yesterday, Jing Hongchen applied for a leave of absence on his behalf and personally arranged for several people to conduct one-on-three teaching.
The reason given was very logical: the knowledge taught in the first year was useless to him.
What? You're asking who the extra people are?
That would naturally be Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.
As geniuses, they had passed the Level 2 Soul Tool Master assessment long before entering the academy. The only reason they went to class together yesterday was merely to go through the motions.
After all, school rules dictate that new students must attend class on the first day to hear the homeroom teacher explain various campus precautions and regulations.
Back to the main topic.
After being enlightened by their grandfather, Jing Hongchen, yesterday, Xiao Hongchen had already shifted his attitude. Filled with fighting spirit, he dragged Huo Yuhao along to class.
He moved so fast that Meng Hongchen, who had originally intended to grab Huo Yuhao's hand, didn't even have time to react.
Wait, Brother, why are you snatching my Huo Yuhao?!!!
...
"Control over soul power is, in essence, the application of one's own martial soul and soul skills.
"The more familiar you are with controlling your own strength, the more you can move from the initial 'expending ten parts of effort to gain three parts of benefit' to gradually achieving 'expending ten parts of effort to gain ten parts of benefit'..."
Huo Yuhao used soul power to levitate a small piece of metal. Simultaneously, a small carving knife blade, under the control of soul power, bit by bit began engraving upon that small piece of metal.
Explaining while engraving, it took only a short moment for a simple Level 1 soul tool core to be produced.
Xiao Hongchen watched, then tentatively tried to use his soul power to replicate Huo Yuhao's movements, but Huo Yuhao suddenly raised a hand to stop him.
"My martial soul is of the Spiritual Type, giving me a unique natural advantage in the control of soul power. You don't need to imitate me; you should utilize your own advantages.
"It's not about imitation, but learning the method."
"Not imitation... learning the method..."
Xiao Hongchen murmured subconsciously. In the next moment, his martial soul possessed him. The innate metal-control ability of the Three-Legged Golden Toad was driven by soul power, levitating a piece of metal.
His heterochromatic eyes grew brighter as contemplation turned into realization. A moment later, Xiao Hongchen picked up the carving knife and began to practice.
Huo Yuhao breathed a small sigh of relief, then looked toward Meng Hongchen, who had been silently watching them for a long while.
"Sister Meng..."
"Yuhao... what comes after that?" Meng Hongchen interrupted Huo Yuhao, asking thoughtfully.
"What?" Huo Yuhao didn't quite understand.
"What comes after the 'expending ten parts of effort to gain ten parts of benefit' that you just mentioned?"
Miss Meng's eyes were full of curiosity and inquiry. "Theoretically, a Level 3 soul tool core requires at least the entire soul power of an ordinary Level 15 Soul Master to create.
"Even though you are Level 16, Yuhao, after you engraved that Level 3 soul tool core yesterday, your soul power consumption seemed to have only just passed the halfway mark, right?"
Huo Yuhao was slightly stunned. He hadn't expected the disguise he intended for Jing Hongchen to be noticed by Meng Hongchen.
Huo Yuhao nodded, then naturally sat down beside Meng Hongchen.
Looking at Xiao Hongchen, who was deeply lost in thought not far ahead, Huo Yuhao said softly:
"Sister Meng, do you know about levers?"
Meng Hongchen nodded.
Levers are a widely used mechanical application in soul tool crafting, capable of saving effort or distance, and so on.
Meng Hongchen thought of something.
"Could it be..."
"Yes, it's using soul power as a lever. The principle is to first use soul power to construct a labor-saving structure, and then use that soul power structure to drive the soul power that engraves the soul tool array.
"I call this 'expending ten parts of effort to gain fifteen parts of benefit'."
"Is that really possible?"
Meng Hongchen was incredibly shocked. Huo Yuhao's operation was essentially equivalent to making a soul tool out of his own soul power!
Just how terrifying would one's soul power control have to be to achieve that?
"Actually, I constructed it using both soul power and mental power. Roughly translated, this method can reduce my soul power consumption by 50% under specific conditions. It's a nice little trick."
Meng Hongchen once again felt Huo Yuhao's "talent" clearly. However, she soon relaxed.
She wasn't like her brother; she didn't have those strange thoughts like "I must be number one!" or "I must surpass you!"
But Yuhao had truly given her a surprise...
"Does Sister Meng want to learn?"
"Ah, me?"
Meng Hongchen shook her head and declined. "It's different. My brother's martial soul comes with metal-control abilities, but mine doesn't."
"But soul power control can still be learned."
He knew the flaws of Meng Hongchen's martial soul.
Meng Hongchen's martial soul is the Vermillion-Eyed Ice Toad.
This kind of soul beast is a rare Ice-type, highly toxic soul beast, known in the Extreme North as the "King of the Crevices."
Its primary habitat is where the outskirts of the Extreme North meet the human world; the population is extremely small and their tracks are elusive.
The uniqueness of this martial soul lies in its body being Ice-attributed while its eyes are Fire-attributed. Its greatest power is poison—by alternating its ice and fire abilities, it produces a special cold poison. It leaves behind a lethal, long-lasting toxin wherever it goes, making it difficult for even soul beasts stronger than itself to harm it.
However, this martial soul also has side effects: its own cold poison can backlash against the host. One moment of carelessness could lead to death from the poison attacking the heart.
Judging purely as a Soul Master, Meng Hongchen's talent even surpassed Xiao Hongchen's.
However, every time Meng Hongchen cultivated, she had to divert a portion of her energy to controlling her own cold poison; otherwise, she might literally explode and die.
Because of this, she had never cultivated with her full strength. Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that this was the very reason for her somewhat indifferent, non-competitive personality.
The reason Huo Yuhao wanted to teach Meng Hongchen the method of soul power control was to close the distance and gain her trust. As Jing Hongchen's granddaughter, if she favored him, it could to some extent influence Jing Hongchen to favor him as well.