There were still many important matters waiting for him in the future, but Huo Yuhao didn't want to just sit and wait idly for the outbreak of civil war. No—he wanted to act, to accelerate the inevitable, or even directly ignite the powder keg that was the Sun Moon Empire's increasingly tense political atmosphere. If he could spark something akin to the "Sarajevo incident," then so be it.
That was why he chose to heavily publicize the news that ordinary people were now studying at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. It would be a prime example of the education reform's success and model. The effect? Bound to be explosive. Noble families across the empire—and especially those aligned against Crown Prince Xu Tiannan—would absolutely lose their composure. That was precisely what Huo Yuhao wanted.
Once the situation became chaotic enough, the Third Prince would likely seize the opportunity and launch an insurrection, rallying his allies under the banner of "protecting the throne and purging the traitor." With that, the civil war Huo Yuhao anticipated would erupt in full force.
Just thinking about this made Huo Yuhao's mood lighten considerably. He stood up from his seat, his heart burning with anticipation, and decided to visit a certain place—one that played a crucial role in his grand plan.
In a mountainous military-restricted zone near Mingdu, there was a particular force undergoing intensive training. It was the very army that Huo Yuhao himself had personally organized and now controlled—a thousand-man strong, fully modernized, standardized combat unit.
"With war on the horizon, it's time I personally inspect their progress," Huo Yuhao muttered to himself.
He exited his office, the heavy door shutting with a solid thump behind him, leaving a silence that felt like the calm before a storm.
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"Take aim… fire!"
Buzzing pulses and sharp cracks of firing echoed through the valley nestled within the restricted mountains. Looking down into the basin, one could see the figures of several distinct military squads immersed in rigorous training.
The booming mechanical clangs came from the power-armor unit practicing precision strikes. Because sealed milk bottles—the soul power storage devices—had limited capacity, the soldiers had to learn how to fire their heavy electromagnetic rifles, which possessed tremendous recoil. That meant relying on their mechanized suits to stabilize and absorb the force, allowing them to land accurate shots on target with maximum efficiency.
These rifles, classified as fifth-level soul tools, had been developed under Huo Yuhao's direct guidance. Equipped with a custom electromagnetic propulsion system and special alloy rounds, they could pierce even sixth-level soul barriers. Against most mid- to low-tier soul engineers or soul masters, they were absolutely lethal.
Then there was the buzzing "zi-bang" sound, which came from the sniper squads. These soldiers wore light, camouflaged exoskeletons and were armed with long-barrel, charged soul rifles. These rifles fired focused soul energy beams that could penetrate high-level armor. Each beam carried the destructive power of a seventh-level soul tool, making them deadly to anyone below Soul Sage rank if unshielded.
The downside? These sniper weapons had long charge times and were incredibly loud—so their operators also wore terrain-adaptive suits that let them quickly reposition and retreat across various landscapes.
The snipers lay prone in hidden positions, cloaked against the terrain, their eyes pressed against high-magnification scopes as they waited to unleash that devastating energy burst upon distant targets.
Elsewhere, the deep rumble of engines signaled the movement of the combined infantry and tank battalion. Ten heavy tanks rolled across the training field, each accompanied by a group of foot soldiers in power armor.
Tanks were designed to deal devastating damage to cavalry or regular infantry formations. However, against powerful soul masters, tanks were just slow-moving targets. That's why elite power-armored infantry were deployed in tandem—so they could cover the tanks' weaknesses and fight off powerful enemies up close.
Beyond those three main formations—the sniper squads, the armored infantry, and the tank corps—there were also artillery divisions, rocket launcher units, fire support teams, and logistics personnel, all conducting parallel drills throughout the valley.
This was Huo Yuhao's vision for a modernized military—meticulously organized into specialized mobile strike teams that could coordinate seamlessly on the battlefield. Such compartmentalization wasn't just for tactical efficiency; it was a strategic necessity.
After all, no matter how well-trained this army was, they were still made up of ordinary humans. In a direct confrontation against high-ranking soul masters or soul engineers, they would undoubtedly suffer significant casualties. That was a fact Huo Yuhao couldn't ignore.
But by fragmenting his forces into agile squads with distinct roles, he could execute surgical strikes and flanking maneuvers, winning battles by overwhelming the enemy with strategy and coordination rather than brute force.
---
When Huo Yuhao arrived at the basin base, the training immediately came to a halt. Every soldier present ceased their actions, turned toward him, and saluted in unison. In an instant, the entire valley fell into respectful silence, all eyes focused on the young man who had changed their lives.
And changed them, he had. For many of these men and women, it was Huo Yuhao who had pulled them out of despair. They had once been dismissed as useless—mere ordinary people in a world dominated by soul power. But here, wearing mechanized suits and wielding high-tech soul tools, they had experienced what it meant to possess strength.
No one could truly understand what it felt like—the thrill of firing a soul engineer's weapon, the exhilaration of breaking through an enemy barrier, the pride of being able to stand against the seemingly untouchable classes of soul masters.
Many of these soldiers had experienced war before. In their past lives, a battle meant facing death with no hope of fighting back. When a commoner army went up against a soul master force, the result was always one-sided carnage.
Some of them remembered running in terror from enemy soul masters who toyed with them for sport—dragging out the slaughter just for entertainment.
But now, the tables had turned.
Now, these same powerless foot soldiers were being trained to fight back—to defeat, and even destroy, the very soul master elites who had once crushed them like ants. The hope and pride that burned in their hearts was something no outsider could ever understand.
As he surveyed their faces, Huo Yuhao smiled faintly and raised his hand in a simple gesture.
"Back to your drills, everyone. I'm just here to observe," he said.
With that, the valley came alive once more—engines roared, weapons charged, and his army returned to their relentless pursuit of progress, ready to take on the world.
(End of Chapter)
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