Douluo: What the hell is the academic master development system?

Chapter 603 Four List Carving Knives
The Golden Hall remained bustling with activity.

Today, the central circular platform has been expanded and can now accommodate all the contestants.

Forty-eight soul tool crafting tables were neatly arranged on the round platform, forming an arc.

Chen Ping glanced around and saw that the suspended private rooms were already full of people, and the regular area of ​​the Golden Hall was completely packed.

Some changes have occurred in the Golden Hall.

A rectangular alloy platform, five meters off the ground, was added to the competition area and suspended in the air by steel cables.

The platform is fifty meters long, stretching almost from one end of the Golden Hall to the other.

However, it is only five meters wide, making it look like it was made for duels.

Soon, Chen Ping and Huo Yuhao were led onto the competition stage by the staff.

Each Soul Master faces their opponent, determined by a draw in this round.

The organizers of the competition offered no explanation as to how the draw was conducted.

This is the style of competitions organized by underground forces; if you're not happy about it, just keep quiet.

Just as Chen Ping remembered, his opponent was a young man who looked to be in his late twenties.

He was extremely ugly, with a flat nose, small eyes, and messy, slightly yellow hair with a piece missing from the top of his head.

This appearance is truly unappealing.

It was Gao Dalou, the guy who had a family heirloom engraving knife that was covered in blood.

A three-tiered storage compartment has been added to all the soul tool crafting tables, with each tier filled with metal.

The first layer consists of conventional metals, while the second and third layers consist of rare metals, totaling as many as thirty-two types.

With such abundant materials, there would be enough to make even a level seven soul tool.

The Xishui Alliance was quite generous in testing the abilities of these Soul Masters.

Just then, three small platforms slowly rose up in front of the competition stage, with an old man standing on each platform.

The old man standing in the center said in a deep voice: "Distinguished Soul Masters, distinguished guests, good afternoon. I am the chief referee of this match."

"The time limit for this competition is two hours. Within these two hours, all Soul Masters may create Soul Tools to the best of their ability. Defeat your respective opponents, and the winners will advance."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the participating Soul Masters raised their heads and looked at their opponents.

Starting from this round, the rewards for ordinary Soul Masters are quite generous.

Of the thirty-two rare metals awarded as a reward, almost all were controlled items collected by the Sun Moon Empire, making their value immeasurable.

Even Chen Ping was quite interested in several of these controlled metals, which were clearly types he hadn't been able to acquire in large quantities before.

The blond-haired youth opposite Chen Ping slowly raised his head, grinned at him, and revealed a set of uneven teeth.

"Hey bro, my name is Gao Dalou. Come on, let's have a good match."

Chen Ping nodded slightly; his overall impression of the tall building was acceptable. Although his background was tragic, he was quite hardworking, and his talent in the field of Soul Master was also worthwhile.

It's a pity he's an alcoholic.

Yes, just for this one reason, Gao Dalou was already on Chen Ping's blacklist. He was truly terrified of being ripped off by the drunkard.

Xuanzi at least had the trait of drowning his sorrows in alcohol, but Gao Dalou was a pure alcoholic. In the original work, after drinking heavily, he was the type who wouldn't even use his own soul power to dissipate the effects of the alcohol.

Considering that this guy didn't seem to achieve anything after being recruited into the Tang Sect by Huo Yuhao, Chen Ping immediately revealed his true colors as a ruthless capitalist.

Talented individuals like these should be directly promoted and placed into the workforce.

In his twenties and thirties, he was at the age to venture out into the world. His status as a level five soul master, coupled with the treasured sword that ranked among the top thirty in the engraving swords list, was enough for him to become a key figure in a certain force.

Anyway, the blood-coagulation carving knife in Gao Dalou's hand can only be used by Gao Dalou or the inheritor of his bloodline, and no one else can use it, so Chen Ping naturally didn't covet the carving knife.

Instead of worrying about the blood coagulation, Chen Ping turned his head and looked at numbers 96 and 98 in the distance.

The two Soul Masters, No. 96 and No. 98, acted quickly, each taking a piece of metal and starting to make their own.

As the saying goes, an expert's skill is immediately apparent. These two Soul Masters were not only skilled in their movements, but also had a great sense of rhythm and were completely composed.

Not only were their expressions calm, but their hands were also incredibly steady. Every movement was extremely precise.

Without using the auxiliary tools on the soul tool making table, the two simply took out a carving knife each and began carving directly.

Truly powerful Soul Masters don't really trust the assistance of tools; they prefer to do everything themselves.

What attracted Chen Ping's attention even more were the carving knives in the hands of the two Soul Masters.

In the hands of Soul Master No. 96 was a dark red carving knife. The knife itself did not appear to be made of metal, because the closer to the sharp point, the thinner the knife became.

Therefore, this carving knife gives the impression of a gradient from dark red to fiery red, then to light red, and even transparent. It's quite peculiar. The main body seems to be carved from some kind of jade.

On one side of the carving knife, cloud patterns extend downwards. During the carving process, these cloud patterns seem to come alive under the infusion of soul power.

The sharp edge of the carving knife faintly emitted a layer of blade light. The light was not strong; one had to look closely to see it.

But it is precisely because of this subtle blade edge that the carving knife itself becomes extremely sharp. Hard metal is carved with it as effortlessly as if it were tofu.

The carving knife in the hands of Soul Master No. 98 was also quite unusual. The dark blue carving knife was significantly larger than that of ordinary carving knives, and it seemed to have faint rust marks on it, but they didn't look like real rust.

The carving knife has an ancient and grand appearance, with a dragon-shaped relief on each side. When it is turned, the blade even emits a slight dragon roar.

With each strike, a layer of cyan appeared on the metal surface it etched, before quickly disappearing. There seemed to be a faint fluctuation of wind energy within the stroke.

Chen Ping couldn't help but sigh inwardly. As expected of a competition held within the Mingdu territory of the Sun Moon Empire, even an underground competition had produced three listed engraving knives in one go.

If we also include his Spirit Carving Knife, that makes four List Carving Knives, equivalent to one-twenty-fifth of all the List Carving Knives on the entire continent gathered here.

In the context of Douluo Continent, this would be an almost impossible spectacle.

Even the tyrannical Shrek Academy only possesses two List Carving Knives, and Qian Duoduo is still trying to get his hands on the List Carving Knife that Xian Lin'er has.

(End of this chapter)