Chapter 364

At this moment, in the western suburbs of Mingdu, everyone's attention had already focused solely on Huo Yutong.

Only seeing her swiftly wield the emerald-green engraving knife in her hand, one core magic array after another was produced as if by conjuring.

Seeing this, an old man beside Ye Yu Lin asked, "Old Ye, what do you think of this girl?"

Ye Yu Lin snapped, "What do you mean? Old Wang, you ask how she is, pretending not to know! Her talent can be said to be unmatched in my lifetime; even the two little brats from the Jing Hong Chen family are far behind her. After the competition, no one had better try to take her from me—I've decided to claim this talent!"

The old man called Old Wang couldn't help but wryly smile.

His thought was indeed seen through at a glance by Ye Yu Lin.

Moreover, this is no surprise; given Huo Yutong's talent just displayed, any discerning ninth-level soul tool master would surely be moved upon seeing it.

Looking at this little girl's appearance, she is at most in her early twenties, yet her technique and speed in engraving the core magic array are beyond what most seventh-level soul tool masters can match.

Moreover, most importantly, the creativity revealed in her technique—even the eighth-level soul tool master judges present sometimes have to ponder the meaning behind her actions when they see her movements.

In a sense, it is no longer them judging Huo Yutong's production process, but Huo Yutong using her actions to give them a lesson.

Huo Yutong's school of crafting soul tools differs greatly from the main methods they know, making extensive use of mechanical-trigger techniques, which greatly facilitates the production of soul tools.

This novel technique is undoubtedly striking to them, to the point that they no longer even pay attention to the other competitors.

Moreover, the other competitors' production was also quite swift; by now more than half of them had finished crafting their soul tools, only to find that upon looking up they, like the judges, had their attention drawn away and could hardly look elsewhere.

Huo Yutong didn't notice their gazes; at this moment she was exerting her utmost effort to craft the soul tool.

In the previous matches she had actually held back, not only refraining from using the divine-artifact-level engraving knife Spirit Guard Blade, nor exerting her full effort in crafting soul tools; but now that she had reached the finals, she naturally had no need to continue hiding, and with her full effort the prototype of the soul tool soon emerged.

Watching her movements, the Third Elder exclaimed:

"She couldn't possibly be crafting a seventh-level soul tool, could she? How could that be!"

Feng Ling gave him a sharp look.

"Are you serious?"

The Third Elder had just said it was impossible, but now, faced with doubt, he firmly replied, "Indeed, look at her stance—she is crafting a close-combat-type soul tool; a ordinary sixth-level soul tool could not possibly have such a complex structure, so she must be making a seventh-level close-combat soul tool."

At first he was unwilling to believe it, but after careful observation for a while, even if he still didn't want to believe, he had to accept the fact.

Nangong Wan let out a sigh.

"I didn't expect her to be this talented; it seems after the competition we'll need to tighten our control over her, and brainwashing will have to be put on the agenda."

No sooner had he spoken than he felt something was off.

Glancing around, he saw that the Third Elder, Feng Ling, and Zhongli Wu were all giving him bewildered looks.

"Did I say something wrong?" Feng Ling said irritably:

"Idiot, do you think a soul tool maker just needs to follow the blueprints? Do you know what is most important for a soul tool maker? It's creativity! And brainwashing destroys exactly that, so if it's not necessary, we'd better not use brainwashing to control her in the future."

Zhongli Wu nodded.

"I originally thought her soul tool skill was merely a supplement to her soul master ability, but now it seems we may all have been mistaken; recommending her to her mother was indeed the correct decision."

Ye Xi Shui also cultivates both as a soul master and a soul tool maker; he believes that under his mother's guidance, Huo Yutong will surely lead the Holy Spirit Sect to renewed prosperity for hundreds of years.

Tang Wulin sat aside as if he hadn't heard the discussion, yet inwardly he couldn't help but sigh at the strangeness of worldly affairs.

Unintentional planting yields shade—he really hadn't expected that Huo Yutong merely going on stage to craft a soul tool would cause these Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Sect to abandon their forced brainwashing methods.

Although Huo Yutong actually isn't afraid of the Holy Spirit Sect's brainwashing, if they could abandon that method, the two of them wouldn't need to put on so many acts, undoubtedly making things much easier.

At that moment on the field, as the final emerald light flashed, Huo Yutong also finally finished carving the last cut, completing the production successfully.

Before her on the table lay a long gray staff, faintly emitting an emerald glow.

The Third Elder's judgment was half right, half wrong; speaking of this type of soul tool, a staff is indeed different from ordinary long-range soul tools, belonging to the same broad category as close-combat soul tools, but considering its combat use, calling it a close-combat soul tool always feels somewhat strange.

Seeing her craft this soul tool, everyone in the Holy Spirit Sect came to understand her intention.

Evidently, she intends to use this staff that appears to be a seventh-level soul tool to assist her soul master abilities.

As for the judges and competitors who are unclear about her abilities, the purpose of her crafting such a soul tool is not very clear.

Nevertheless, regardless, in this production her talent and ability have been fully displayed; Ye Yu Lin has made up his mind that even if he were to give Huo Yutong a Sun Moon Divine Needle, he would still forcibly take her as his disciple.

After finishing the soul tool's production, wiping away a sweat, Huo Yutong lifted her head and happened to meet Ye Yu Lin's gaze; his scorching look made her involuntarily twitch, and she instantly realized she had gone too far.

However, she quickly put it out of her mind, because seeing that she had finished crafting the soul tool, Tang Wulin had already informed her via telepathy of what had just occurred in the resting area.

After hearing his account, she also couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth.

This really is an unexpected blessing; it seems that many of the subsequent plans will be much easier to carry out.

Although the soul tool she crafted is of the highest level and its structure is the most complex, her soul tool prowess is so outstanding that, after she finished production, two soul tool masters on the field still had not completed theirs.

After she finished making it, the judges also finally shifted their gaze from her to the remaining two contestants.

Having just seen Huo Yutong's fluid production, watching these two contestants make soul tools now inevitably evokes a feeling of impatience.

(End of chapter)