The person that had blocked their path said coldly, “It’s not my problem that you guys arete. Time waits for no man – we’re getting closer and closer to the end of thepetition.”


    Huo Yuhao smiled, a very warm smile. “Alright then. Xiao Dong, Xiao Na, you guys can go ahead and follow his instructions. We’ll make the wager. However, I hope you have the courage to stay here until the end, mister. I’m a very stingy person, and you will have to pay with your life if I lose my money.”


    The middle-aged man was momentarily stunned. He stared at the warm smile on Huo Yuhao’s face, but for some reason, he began to feel a chill run down his spine. But the sensation onlysted for an instant, and he returned to normal as he said indifferently, “You’re in the Duskwater Alliance’s territory. If you have the ability, my life doesn’t mean anything at all.”


    Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Very well. Show us the way.”


    Wang Dong’er didn’t feel very assured, but she went ahead with Na Na to make the wager anyway. Huo Yuhao and He Caitou followed the middle-aged man that Huo Yuhao had just threatened to thepetition arena.


    They weren’t qualified to participate in thepetition on stage, so they were brought to two metal desks in the outer corners that belonged to participants that had already finished their part in the contest.


    Huo Yuhao frowned and said, “You guys don’t even provide materials for crafting soul tools?”


    The middle-aged man had just been threatened, so he shot Huo Yuhao a dark look and said, “We did have some originally, but there won’t be any for you because of what you said earlier. You can find your own materials since you guys arete.” He turned around to leave after he finished talking, and another elderly man clothed in yellow walked over and stood behind the two of them. The other contestants were in a simr situation.


    “What are the rules?” Huo Yuhao asked the old man in yellow.


    The old man pointed to a desk not far from them that was being used for the contest. “There’s an hourss over there – you guys will check the time yourselves. You have to craft a ss 3 soul tool before thest grain of sand drops down in the hourss, and you will qualify for the next round once youplete your soul tool within the stipted time. You will be eliminated if you can’tplete the task. You may begin. I will be here to watch and to ensure that you don’t use finished or half-finished soul tools to cheat.”


    Huo Yuhao turned around toward He Caitou, and then he looked at the metal desk that was well-equipped with crafting tools. He smiled and said, “Big brother, doesn’t this feel familiar?”


    He Caitou was wearing a mask. He naturally knew that Huo Yuhao was referring to their days inside the Illustrious Virtue Hall, and he nodded.


    Huo Yuhao sighed and said, “Not giving us materials is just so harsh and unkind. I have to make use of what’s around me, I guess.”


    He raised his right hand as he spoke. The old man behind him saw a dark-golden sh of light before one of the steel desk’s corners was lopped off. The piece was half a foot thick, and the old man also saw the five sharp des that flickered with dark golden radiance that extended from Huo Yuhao’s right hand.


    The Darkgolden Terrorw Bear was known as one of the most powerful species in the world of soul beasts. A unique and frightening aura could be felt once Huo Yuhao unleashed his Darkgolden Terrorw.


    Huo Yuhao flicked his w upwards, and the metal piece flew towards He Caitou. “We’ll have to make do with this, big brother.”


    “Alright.” He Caitou decided to talk as little as he could, to avoid saying the wrong things. He took the piece of metal and immediately began to work on it with a carving knife from the crafting tools that wereid out on the table.


    Huo Yuhao didn’t wait for the old man to stop him. The sharp des flickered once more, and another piece of steel was cut off, but he took it himself this time.


    “This is a standard desk for crafting soul tools, and every table is worth five thousand golden soul coins!” The invigtor was shaken by the Darkgolden Terrorw’s aura for a little while.


    “Oh.” Huo Yuhao answered casually before he began to work with his right hand. Five golden des trembled at the same time, and it felt as if they were forming a dark goldenyer of water that undted on the metal desk’s surface. Metal powder and fragments drifted down, but they didn’t scatter all over the ce. They actually spread around him in an orderly fashion.


    Huo Yuhao wasn’t even looking at the tough steel that he had just retrieved. He turned around towards the invigtor and asked, “Are you a soul engineer as well? What’s your ss?”


    The elderly man didn’t answer his question, because he was in aplete daze at the moment, his eyes fixated upon Huo Yuhao’s rhythmic right hand.


    That was a hand that could aplish miracles! Huo Yuhao’s five razor-sharp des continued to move rhythmically, and the irregr piece of steel quickly became rectangr, before strange and peculiar patterns began to appear on its surface. The steel piece was subsequently split into pieces and carved… the entire process was as smooth as a flowing river.


    Huo Yuhao’s fingers seemed like they were just faintly quivering, and every movement was just so precise and urate...


    Just as Huo Yuhao had said, the old man in yellow was also a soul engineer, but he was only a ss 3 soul engineer. In the end, breaking through three rings was quite a drastic change for most soul masters, and many people couldn’t breach that barrier, even across an entire lifetime.


    This elderly man was just a ss 3 soul engineer, but his eyes were quite fine. He was part of the Duskwater Alliance, and he had seen multiple high-level soul engineers craft soul tools. What Huo Yuhao was doing at the moment wasparable to those high-level soul engineers. He was smooth, quick, and agile at the same time, and he was working at a speed that was almost impossible to believe.


    From a soul engineer’s perspective, steel was a rtively standard crafting material that was also easy to carve and engrave. However, working at such rapid pace was simply unbelievable, and the old man knew that he couldn’t do anything like Huo Yuhao. The youth before him was going through everything so casually, and he hadn’t even pulled out his carving knife. This youth was just using sharp des from his martial soul, or perhaps from a soul skill, to craft his soul tool.


    The silver-white steel gradually took shape. Huo Yuhao didn’t use a single crafting toolfrom the table, but an impable metal tube was produced just like that. He quickly assembled, crafted, and inserted the formation arrays.


    Huo Yuhao used the five sharp ws of his Darkgolden Terrorw to cut, drill, slice, chisel, and whatever techniques he had to use to craft his soul tool, and he only used one hand from beginning to end. Of course, there was no way he could use his other hand even if he wanted to, but the old man didn’t know that. The elderly man felt as if he wasn’t watching a contest, but a performance, an incredibly spectacr performance in crafting soul tools.


    This process didn’t continue for too long. Five minutes, after just five minutes, Huo Yuhao’s undting des halted, and his body casually turned around as he signaled to the old man, who had a nk look in his eyes. “It’s done!”


    The elderly man recovered from his astonishment, and quickly stepped forward to pick up the silver-white soul tool on the desk.


    The silver-white metal tube was long and smooth. It was about a foot long, and there was an arm buckle beneath it, so it was most suitable for use when attached to the arm. The old man carefully infused soul power into the soul tool, and it immediately lit up. The old man gasped, as he could feel that this soul tool was consuming his soul power at an rming rate, to the point where he couldn’t control it anymore. Afterwards, he could feel the formation arrays activating themselves from the soul powerpressed in them. The entire silver-white metal tube sparkled, and intense soul power immediately began to radiate out of it. He realized that there was no way for him to stop it.


    The contest was still ongoing at the moment, and this was the Green Hotel’s Golden Hall! The invigtor didn’t know what would happen if this soul tool was allowed to fire. He went a little hysterical as he eximed, “Quick, make it stop! Why won’t it stop?”


    Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “That’s because you’re not operating it in the right way.” He raised his right hand as he spoke, and pressed down gently on the tube’s surface. The charging andpression instantly disappeared, and the entire soul tool powered down.


    Huo Yuhao said, “Your soul power isn’t wasted. The energy-gathering formation array will still maintain its activity for two hours, and you can fire it at anytime you wish.”


    The old man wiped the sweat from his brow and stared at Huo Yuhao fearfully. “The soul tool that you have made is…”


    Huo Yuhao grinned and said, “It’s a simplified energy-gathering soul cannon. It should be at least ss 3, but ss 4 soul engineers are typically more suited to operate something like this. It seems like you’re not a ss 4 soul engineer yet. The materials that I have had to retrieve on the spot were a little substandard, so this cannon can only be fired thrice. If you want to y around with it, you’ll have to wait for me toplete the qualifying round. My part of the contest is over; have I passed?”


    The old man’s expression was entirely different from before. He handed the soul tool back to Huo Yuhao respectfully and said, “Of course you have passed the qualifying round. You’re the one who has crafted this soul tool, please take it back. The soul engineers get to keep all the soul tools that they make within thispetition. Of course, you can sell your productions to us if you wish.”


    Huo Yuhao replied, “I’ll leave it to you then. Just treat it aspensation for damaging the table. That should be enough, right?”


    “Yes, yes it’s enough.” A ss 3 soul tool was worth about three to five thousand golden soul coins, while Huo Yuhao didn’t destroy the entire table, so repairing the table probably wouldn’t require more than ten golden soul coins. Using a soul tool like this topensate for the damage was more than enough. Furthermore, the crafting abilities Huo Yuhao had just disyedpletely astounded this invigtor.


    The old man asked probingly, “If I may ask, what ss are you in?”


    Huo Yuhao smiled faintly and said, “You will know eventually. However, you have to continue with your duties. You haven’t seen the soul tool that my big brother is crafting yet.”


    The old man realized that He Caitou’s hands had stopped moving on the other side as well, and he had also crafted another soul tool from the piece cut off from the table. The soul tool that He Caitou had crafted was a broad bracelet, the kind intended for men. The old man quickly went over to check.


    “This… is this a storage-type soul tool? A storage-type soul tool crafted from steel?! Oh, my goodness! That’s such a waste of your abilities.” The old man didn’t know what else to say. He discovered after inspecting and testing the soul tool that this broad bracelet had about five cubic liters of storage space, and it absolutely met the criteria as a ss 3 soul tool.