The preparation for the test was a bit extensive.
He Caitou slapped his pitch-black waist belt. A one-and-a-half-meter long fixed-mounted soul tool cannon barrel appeared on his arm. A cover popped open at the bottom, revealing a recess.
After placing a soul tool trigger mechanism inside, he hefted the complete fixed-mounted soul tool cannon onto his broad shoulder.
A faint dangerous aura emanated from him.
Huo Yuhao only had one thought in his mind—Redundant!
Since you're taking it out from the storage belt anyway, why not assemble it directly instead of manually assembling and setting it up?
Why separate the fixed-mounted soul tool cannon barrel and the soul tool trigger mechanism?
If combining the two is dangerous, you could simply install a safety mechanism, manually turning it on and off!
"Yuhao, let's begin," He Caitou reminded.
"Okay."
Spiritual Detection Sharing!
He Caitou's movements paused briefly, and he glanced at Huo Yuhao in surprise.
Then he shouted, "Moving target, quickly!"
Whoosh—
A disc shot out from a corner.
Buzz buzz buzz—
Three soul rings—Yellow, Yellow, Purple—appeared around He Caitou.
The metal tube on his shoulder vibrated slightly.
Under the scan of mental power, the internal soul tool formation arrays were operating efficiently.
Transformed by the formation arrays inside the metal tube, soul power condensed into a black sphere of light.
Boom—
The black sphere of light shot out. It seemed about to miss the disc.
Huo Yuhao subconsciously used his mental power, applying the soft force of Tai Chi to nudge it slightly, altering its trajectory just enough for the black sphere to hit the disc.
Bang!
Amidst the loud explosion, violent air currents spread out.
He Caitou scratched his head in confusion.
"That's strange. The first test shot felt like it was going to miss. How did it hit?"
Huo Yuhao didn't speak, pondering the value of the so-called fixed-mounted soul tool cannon.
He had closely observed He Caitou just now. The amount of soul power drawn for that shot was far less than the destructive power it displayed.
However!
With Huo Yuhao's own luxurious configuration, he could achieve similar destructive power for the same soul power consumption, without all this complicated process.
But the concept was worth borrowing. If he could incorporate the shell power and gunpowder propulsion of modern firearms...
The power could definitely reach another level.
But the gunpowder mixture ratio was troublesome. He didn't know if all the materials could be found on the Douluo Continent.
He thought of the intermittent explosions he heard when passing the test zones earlier.
Perhaps local substitutes could be used?
...
Huo Yuhao was in the midst of a brainstorm.
He Caitou also started rapid firing. With the assistance of Spiritual Detection Sharing, he quickly found the feel, hitting one target per shot.
As accurate as if equipped with a guidance system!
Hmm?
Guidance system?
Right!
If this fixed-mounted soul tool cannon is hard to aim, wouldn't a simple red dot sight solve it?
He could even enlarge this fixed-mounted soul tool cannon, then add a guidance system, modifying it into a Douluo version of a fixed-guided missile, achieving qualitative change through quantitative means—a nuclear peace!
Huo Yuhao's thoughts surged like a fountain.
The practical concepts of modern firearms and the fantastical technology of soul tools collided fiercely, learning from each other's strengths to offset their weaknesses.
"Excellent!"
A loud shout interrupted his train of thought.
He saw Fan Yu, his face excited, looking at Huo Yuhao like a treasure.
"Your Spiritual Detection Sharing is the final piece needed to perfect my Ultimate Soldier Plan!"
"Now that the accuracy issue of fixed-mounted soul tools is solved, we can focus on making them bigger and stronger!"
"The concept of one person turning the tide of a battle is completely feasible!"
Huo Yuhao blinked.
Huh?
So the so-called Ultimate Soldier Plan really is literally about serving one person...
Can't say it's putting the cart before the horse.
But Huo Yuhao, armed with modern knowledge of "combined arms warfare," believed that individual heroism should be avoided!
Rather than using those resources to build one "Ultimate Soldier,"
It would be better to focus on making soul tools foolproof, and on the functionality and destructiveness of different firearms.
Assembling a combined arms army like this would be invincible!
The key point is its replicability, unlike the so-called Ultimate Soldier Plan, which still relies on his Spiritual Detection Sharing.
It's just absurd.
But speaking of the ultimate single soldier...
Huo Yuhao had another new idea—Battle Armor!
Among the theories Brother Lan gave, there was a type of mecha meant for martial souls.
But this thing is too complicated to make. Starting from scratch would be extremely difficult.
He decided to combine the concept of the Iron Man suit, using soul tool technology to arm himself, creating soul tool battle armor.
If the power isn't enough, then pilot a Gundam!
Ah, no.
Make it bigger and stronger, using size to increase the upper limit of power.
The more Huo Yuhao thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and he got excited!
Now, all he needed was the key piece—Soul Tool Formation Arrays!
This is the core of soul tools. Different soul tool formation arrays can unleash various attributes, even functionalities!
Attribute amplification, absolute defense, spatial teleportation, long-range strikes, and so on.
It's equivalent to "artificial soul rings."
Huo Yuhao's thoughts diverged again. He wondered if soul spirits could be combined with soul tool formation arrays to create genuine artificial soul rings?!
Even a step further.
Without the need for soul spirits, just like engraving soul tool formation arrays, directly hand-craft artificial soul rings?!
Inspirations kept bubbling up in his mind.
Looking back at Fan Yu's so-called "Ultimate Soldier Plan," it seemed utterly ridiculous.
And right at that moment, Fan Yu firmly grasped Huo Yuhao's shoulder.
"Little Yuhao, would you be willing to become my disciple?"
These words made the surrounding Soul Tool Division students cast envious looks.
This was the only eighth-rank soul master in Shrek Academy!
Even Elder Mu was far inferior to him in terms of soul tools.
Being able to become Fan Yu's disciple was absolutely...
"Sorry, I can't." Huo Yuhao apologized. "Teacher Fan Yu, I already have a teacher for soul tools. I cannot take another master."
"What?" Fan Yu said anxiously. "Is there anyone in Shrek more suitable than me to teach you soul tools? Who is it? It couldn't be Vice-Dean Qian, could it? Although he's a ninth-rank soul master, he isn't good at teaching!"
Huo Yuhao hadn't expected Fan Yu's desire to take him as a disciple to be so strong, to the point of wanting to get to the bottom of it.
He could only hint vaguely—
"My soul tool teacher is rather special, a member of the Holy Flame Sect."
"I cannot disclose the specific details. Please, Teacher Fan Yu, just teach me basic things like soul tool formation arrays."
"As for more advanced soul tool manufacturing and such, I had already gained a preliminary grasp before coming."
Fan Yu had evidently heard of the Holy Flame Sect's reputation and did quite a bit of mental supplementation himself.
But he still wanted to try and win over.
However, Zhou Yi grabbed his hand, subtly shaking her head to signal he shouldn't force it.
As Huo Yuhao's homeroom teacher, she clearly understood Shrek's attitude towards him. Even if Fan Yu was the only eighth-rank soul master, he couldn't compare.
"Ah..." Fan Yu said regretfully. "Fine then, let me first test your current level."
"Aside from specific soul tool formation arrays and hands-on manufacturing, I have already mastered all the knowledge points up to the third-rank soul master level," Huo Yuhao said confidently.
The effects of Instill Understanding + Mental Power made absorption efficiency outstanding.
Fan Yu frowned suspiciously, somewhat unbelieving.
"Then tell me, what is a soul tool formation array composed of?"
"Five parts: the Array Eye, Soul Lines, Point Matrix, Runes, and Array Border."