Douluo: Huo Yuhao Returns from Devouring the Stars

After reading through the information on the soul guide array, Huo Yuhao read it again to prevent errors in the "scan". After finding no problems, he closed his eyes and began to understand the knowledge about the soul guide array. He stopped only after he had mastered it.

After finishing the class, Huo Yuhao went to the exclusive soul guide manufacturing room specially equipped for him by Jing Hongchen to continue studying the soul guide array.

As his research on the fifth-level soul guide array deepened, Huo Yuhao gained a deep understanding of the functions of various soul guide arrays. Now he needed to conduct an in-depth analysis of the soul guide arrays he had learned, and after he had mastered them by heart and could create corresponding soul guide arrays according to his own needs, he would begin to try to use soul power as the source and soul guide arrays as the driving method to create a mecha similar to but superior to battle armor!

Nowadays, Mingdetang's research on soul guide arrays based on mind control and passive triggering of soul guides is becoming more and more mature. In the future, when he manufactures a natal mecha similar to Kong Deming's natal soul guide Silver Moon Divine Light Shield, he can completely combine these soul guide arrays to develop and improve the natal mecha.

However, he still needs to learn a large number of soul guidance arrays to lay the foundation for the development of his own mecha...

In view of Huo Yuhao's extraordinary talent in soul guides, Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen specially provided Huo Yuhao with a channel to supply rare metals. As long as he needed rare metals and could get them, he could just write to the relevant person in charge, and the rare metals he needed would be delivered to the storage device outside his exclusive manufacturing room.

With a vast supply of rare metals and the assistance of his Spirit Eyes martial soul, it is no exaggeration to say that Huo Yuhao's progress in carving soul guide arrays is rapid.

After carving the soul guide array in the exclusive soul guide manufacturing room for two hours, Huo Yuhao stood up, opened the door and prepared to return to Luoshan Garden.

As soon as he opened the door, Huo Yuhao saw the Hong Chen brothers and sisters outside the manufacturing room, who seemed to have been waiting for him for a long time.

"Why are you here?" Huo Yuhao stretched and asked sleepily.

Meng Hongchen skipped over to Huo Yuhao and said cheerfully, "Yuhao, Grandpa plans to take you to Mingde Hall to familiarize you with the route. Later, you can go directly to Mingde Hall to find him or consult other soul guide masters, so he specifically asked us to tell you..."

"Visiting Mingde Hall? That's great! As the holy land of the empire's soul masters, we will definitely gain a lot from visiting it!" Huo Yuhao said excitedly.

As the grandchildren of Jing Hongchen, the head of Mingde Hall, the talented Meng Hexiao feel like returning home when they go to Mingde Hall.

This time, Jing Hongchen took time out of his busy schedule to personally take them to visit Mingde Hall. In fact, it can be said that Jing Hongchen prepared it specially for him. As for Meng and Xiao, of course they accompanied him.

Although Kong Deming had given him a Silver Moon Order that allowed him to move freely in many important places such as the Gongfeng Hall and Mingde Hall when they were in Xingluo City, which symbolized Kong Deming's presence in person, he was still unfamiliar with Mingde Hall and Gongfeng Hall. Even if he went there with the Silver Moon Order, he would probably not gain much. It would be best to have Jing Hongchen personally take him there to familiarize him with the place.

"Let's go, Yuhao. Grandpa plans to take us on a comprehensive tour of Mingde Hall this time. We need to visit many confidential places. If we go too late, we will have to stay up late at night to tour." Xiao Hongchen pushed Huo Yuhao towards the door, his eyes full of anticipation and excitement.

"You've never been to Mingde Hall? Why do you seem more excited than me?" Huo Yuhao scratched his head, confused.

"Hehe, you don't know, when we went to Mingde Hall before, we could only go to those unimportant places. We were not allowed to go to many confidential places in the hall. This time we can fully visit Mingde Hall, all thanks to you. Mr. Kong thinks it's time for you to get in touch with Mingde Hall, so he arranged for grandpa to take you there..." Meng Hongchen puffed up her cheeks and explained with a sweet smile.

"Let's go, buddy, I've long wanted to visit those advanced soul guides..." Xiao Hongchen said excitedly.

……

As a holy place for soul guides, Mingde Hall, which gathers the wisdom of countless soul guides of the Sun-Moon Empire, is home to advanced soul guide devices that are unimaginable to ordinary people. For example, the No. 1 metal man in the basement of Mingde Hall, which embodies the most advanced soul guide technology of the Sun-Moon Empire in thousands of years and is like an intelligent robot, is a masterpiece of Mingde Hall.

When he saw the metal man, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but respect Mingde Hall. In Douluo Three Kingdoms, there were not even eighth-level soul masters. It was similar to the slave feudal era when soul masters used cold weapons to fight against the artillery fire of the Sun and Moon Empire with their physical bodies. However, Mingde Hall had already developed a "super robot" that was enough to decide the war of unification!

After visiting Metal Man No. 1, Jing Hongchen took Huo Yuhao and the other two to visit other advanced soul guides. Jing Hongchen gave a relatively detailed explanation of each advanced soul guide, so that Huo Yuhao and the other two could deeply feel Mingdetang's achievements in soul guide technology.

After personally experiencing the many advanced soul guide technologies of Mingde Hall, Huo Yuhao gained a lot more confidence in his future ability to create a mecha with many functions that can form his own soul guide device. If he can fully understand the many soul guide technologies in Mingde Hall in the future, then manufacturing mechas and super shells should not be particularly difficult.

After visiting the many advanced soul guides in Mingde Hall, Kong Deming solemnly introduced Huo Yuhao to many respected soul guide masters in the hall. Everyone who had already heard of Huo Yuhao expressed their warm welcome. Many of the soul guide masters hoped that Huo Yuhao would visit Mingde Hall more often to discuss issues with them in the future.

After visiting Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen took Huo Yuhao and the Hongchen siblings to a famous private chef restaurant in Mingdu for dinner.

The private room is luxurious, the dishes on the table are plentiful, and the evening breeze blowing in from the window is filled with the smell of decadence and extravagance.

However, the people eating at the table were devouring their meals like hungry wolves, without any image burden at all. This was especially true of Jing Hongchen, the dean of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy and the head of Mingde Hall. As a big shot in the top circle of the Sun Moon Empire, his eating speed was like a tornado destroying a parking lot, even more ferocious than Huo Yuhao and the other two.

After eating and drinking his fill, Jing Hongchen burped contentedly. He looked at Huo Yuhao kindly and asked, "Yuhao, what do you think of Mingde Hall?"

Huo Yuhao took a bite of the tender and tasty pig's trotter, then looked around warily. "Dean, are we being monitored while we're discussing this?" he asked.

Jing Hongchen smiled faintly and said, "Don't worry, this private kitchen is under the jurisdiction of the Hongchen family. Our room has no surveillance and is very soundproof. There is no need to worry about secrets being leaked."

Huo Yuhao nodded and took a sip of juice before speaking bluntly, "Dean, I'm a little confused. Why did you place so many powerful soul guide cannons underneath Mingde Hall? Aren't you afraid that they might accidentally go off and blow up Mingde Hall?"

"Also, Mingde Hall's underground security seems a bit insufficient. What if someone digs a tunnel directly to Mingde Hall? Wouldn't Mingde Hall be blown up?"

If he remembered correctly, in the original novel, when the Benti Sect attacked Mingde Hall to steal the Snow Empress embryo, it caused a huge explosion in Mingde Hall. And the most ridiculous thing was that the Benti Sect relied on digging a tunnel to reach Mingde Hall, and after digging to Mingde Hall, Mingde Hall only reacted when they attacked Mingde Hall...

The most incomprehensible thing is that the number one metal figure, which condensed the hard work of countless soul masters, was easily swept away by the original owner...

"Depending on digging tunnels to reach Mingdu, and then to Mingdetang?" Meng Hongchen asked in surprise.

"It's not impossible. The security on the ground is so strong that even if the Body Sect and Shrek Academy join forces, they won't be willing to confront Mingde Hall head-on, right? But if we go underground, although it's a bit tiring, the cost is low and the hope is high, especially when there are no early warning security measures underground in Mingde Hall." Huo Yuhao took another bite of the pig's trotter and said frankly.

"It's not easy to accurately dig out Mingde Hall..."

As he was speaking, Xiao Hongchen seemed to remember something and couldn't help but say in fear: "Although it is not easy to accurately dig into Mingde Hall, but if there are spies or traitors from the hostile forces in Mingde Hall, then..."

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, "That's right. If there's a traitor in Mingde Hall, then it would be very easy. We can just dig a tunnel and wipe out Mingde Hall. This deal is a sure win."

Jing Hongchen frowned and his expression became complicated.

Meng Hongchen suddenly remembered the high-level soul guides they had seen at the auctions they had attended in Xingluo City, who shouldn't have been at the Xingguang Auction House. She said seriously, "Grandpa, do you still remember the empire's regulations prohibiting the flow of high-level soul guides into the black market or any other form of trafficking across the border?"

Jing Hongchen nodded and said, "No high-level soul guides can be exported through the black market or any other channels. Otherwise, the person will be executed."

Meng Hongchen pursed his lips and said seriously, "However, at the top auction at the Xingluo Empire's Xingguang Auction House, we saw several high-level soul guides from our Mingde Hall. This is enough to prove that there are spies or rebels within Mingde Hall!"

Huo Yuhao said seriously, "Dean, I'm sure you don't want Mingde Hall to be dug up, right?"

Chapter 148: Sky Shuttle

Jing Hongchen stood there in a daze. Although Mingde Hall was heavily guarded and had a high level of security, it was not impossible for hostile forces to dig a tunnel directly into Mingde Hall, as Yuhao said. Moreover, Yu Yu had mentioned to him earlier that Mingde Hall's high-level soul guides had been leaked out of the country...

After pondering for a long time, Jing Hongchen frowned and said, "Some of the soul guide cannons in the basement are used for security, and some have just been produced and have not yet been shipped out. This really needs to be taken seriously."

"As for the security and safety of the basement, we originally thought that Mingde Hall would be absolutely safe in the heavily guarded underground of Mingdu. However, Yuhao, your guess is not impossible, and it is one of the biggest threats to Mingde Hall's safety."

"Mingde Hall has plenty of money and equipment. It's no problem to fully arm Mingde Hall from all angles and distances. However, the security and protection of the basement do need to be strengthened."

"As for the issue of spies and rebels appearing in the hall, we will also take steps to deal with it and ensure the safety of Mingde Hall."

"We have underestimated this threat in the past, Yuhao. Your proposal is extremely important for protecting the safety of Mingde Hall. On behalf of myself, the members of Mingde Hall, and even the Empire, I would like to express my gratitude to you."

Jing Hongchen pondered for a moment, then suddenly his eyes lit up, and he said seriously:

"Yuhao, if you don't mind...how about we help you upgrade your Divine Slashing Weapon?"

Huo Yuhao was stunned, wondering why he upgraded his equipment just because of a disagreement.

He already has several ninth-level soul guides that even Douluo Three Kingdoms and Shrek Academy covet.

"Dean, the Divine Slayer is still usable. There's no need to upgrade it..."

Jing Hongchen knocked on the table and said gently, "You have eliminated a fatal hidden danger for Mingde Hall. If we only express our gratitude with empty words, it would seem that Mingde Hall's gratitude is too cheap."

"We were originally going to commend you for your performance in this competition, so we'd like to take this opportunity to have the Soul Masters in the hall help you build a weapon that suits you. Furthermore, the old guys in the hall should also make some contributions. Just ask for as much as you can."

"It's up to you to choose. We can create a ninth-level soul guide suitable for you based on your abilities, or help you upgrade your God-Slaying Weapon to the ninth level, allowing it to fully utilize your advantages in mental strength and swordsmanship."

At this moment, Huo Yuhao finally came to his senses - Jing Hongchen probably wanted to use this opportunity to gain benefits for him through the soul guide masters of Mingde Hall!

Who would complain about having too many high-level soul guides, especially the ninth-level soul guides produced by Mingdetang?

Moreover, Ting Jing Hongchen wanted to gather the power of all the soul guide masters in Mingde Hall to help him create soul guide weapons!

In the past, only national-level or far-reaching ultra-high-level soul guides were created with the combined efforts of everyone in Mingde Hall...

Huo Yuhao thought for a moment and said, "In that case, please help me upgrade the Divine Slashing Weapon. I'll call this new Divine Slashing Weapon... the Sky-Escape Shuttle. When we get back, I'll write down the blueprints and related ideas on paper so that you can manufacture it later."

The Sky-Drifting Shuttle is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons that City Lord Luo of the Devouring Star World relied on in the early days. Although Mingde Hall's technical level cannot replicate the Sky-Drifting Shuttle, and he doesn't know how to manufacture it, it should be no problem to manufacture a low-profile version of the Sky-Drifting Shuttle.

As long as this low-end version of the Sky-Drifting Shuttle has the defensive power of a top-level ninth-level protective shield and can change its form at will to attack and defend, that will be enough.

As for attack power, with the God-Slaying Flying Knife, the God-Slaying Sword, and the God-Slaying Cannon, there is no need to worry about the Sky-Escape Shuttle's lack of attack power.

Jing Hongchen nodded and said, "Okay, I will personally take the lead in manufacturing this Sky-Drifting Shuttle when the time comes, and strive to ensure that it can meet your needs for weapons for a long time to come."

"Grandpa, what about us?" Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen blinked and asked expectantly.

"Don't worry, we will also make a ninth-level soul guide suitable for you two. After all, the three of you are the hope of Mingde Hall's future and the pillars of the empire's future. You deserve preferential treatment." Jinghong said solemnly.

Huo Yuhao gnawed a few bites of the pig's trotter before suddenly remembering something. "Oh, Dean, before I was accepted into the academy and was wandering around, I heard there was a soul guide competition going on in the underground black market in Mingdu. Is that true?"

"Underground black market competition? How do you know?" Jing Hongchen asked puzzledly.

Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen, who were drinking juice, looked at each other and then at Huo Yuhao in confusion.

Huo Yuhao made up a plausible excuse: "When I came to Mingdu and had nowhere else to go, I was almost dragged away by people in the underground black market to learn soul guides and help them compete. Luckily, I was smart and ran away halfway. Otherwise, I might be in the underground black market now, not at the academy..."

“This...?!” Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen were stunned. They couldn’t believe that Huo Yuhao had such an experience.

Jing Hongchen's pupils shrank slightly, and he looked at Huo Yuhao with a serious expression, and couldn't help feeling a little scared.

If Yuhao hadn't been clever, wouldn't the academy have missed out on Yuhao, a rare genius soul guide in the ages?

Moreover, he only found out about Yuhao being nearly taken away by people from the underground black market after Yuhao exposed himself. So how many talented soul masters were there who were absorbed by the underground black forces that he didn't know about?

Jing Hongchen frowned. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the underground black market absorbing soul mentor geniuses was an extremely serious matter.

When he first took over as the head of Mingde Hall, he intended to use the power of Mingde Hall to destroy the series of soul guide competition activities entrenched in the underground black market in cities like Mingdu, helping those talented soul guides to embark on the right path and gain more opportunities to choose the life they want. However, many forces in the underground black market were minions of the Protectorate Cult...

Jing Hongchen pondered for a long time before taking a deep breath and replying with a complicated expression, "Underground black market soul guide competitions do exist. In the Sun-Moon Empire, which highly values ​​soul guides, this is difficult to avoid. Moreover, the interests involved are huge. Even if I mobilize the power of Mingde Hall to deal with it, it will be very difficult..."

Huo Yuhao patted his chest in a feigned state of fear, then continued to concentrate on eating.

In reality, he said this mainly because he hoped Jing Hongchen would pay more attention to those frustrated soul masters who were forced to turn to the black market, as well as those soul master geniuses absorbed by the black market, so as to prevent the benefits from flowing to outsiders, such as Douluo Three Kingdoms and Shrek Academy, which are currently in urgent need of soul masters...

As for why Jing Hongchen felt it was difficult to mobilize the power of Mingde Hall to destroy the soul mentor competition in the underground black market, he also knew it, because the biggest and ultimate beneficiary of the underground black market was the Holy Spirit Church, the national protector religion of the Sun Moon Empire, which had a status like an underground emperor in the Sun Moon Empire!

After the old emperor usurped the throne and became the new generation emperor of the Sun-Moon Empire, in order to make up for the shortcomings of the Sun-Moon Empire in terms of soul masters, he launched in-depth cooperation with the Holy Spirit Church, making the Holy Spirit Church formed by evil soul masters become the guardian religion of the Sun-Moon Empire.

The followers of the Holy Spirit Church were all evil soul masters, so the Sun-Moon Empire could not allow them to operate openly in the Sun-Moon Empire. They could only allow them to operate in the underground world such as the black market to seek profits. Destroying the underground soul master activities would inevitably lead to opposition with the Holy Spirit Church...

After discussing some lighthearted topics, Jing Hongchen asked, "I think you all know about the establishment of the Joint Soul Master Academy in Maple Leaf City by the Douluo Three Kingdoms, right?"

Huo Yuhao and the Hongchen siblings all nodded, indicating that they knew about this.

"In order to advance the development of soul guides, the United Soul Master Academy wants to conduct a two-year exchange program with our Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. The academy also agreed to this exchange program in order to gain experience in soul master training from the United Soul Master Academy."

Jing Hongchen paused and continued, "After discussion, we've decided that each side will send seven students for a two-year exchange program. The United Spirit Master Academy has already preliminarily finalized the list of exchange students, and we're currently working on the finalization."

"The main instructor for martial spirit knowledge at the United Spirit Master Academy has been confirmed. He is Wang Yan, the teacher leading the Shrek Academy team for this competition. Although Wang Yan is only a Soul King-level soul master, he is known as a theoretical master in martial spirit research. Having been kicked out of Shrek Academy, he must be well versed in the art of soul master training. If the exchange students can get the same learning conditions as the students there, they will definitely benefit."

"Kick out a teacher who has mastered almost all of Shrek's martial spirit knowledge and soul master training experience?" Meng Hongchen, who felt incredible, couldn't help but said in shock.

Jing Hongchen explained, "According to the investigation, the reason is that the Shrek team not only failed to defend Shrek's ten thousand year glory during this competition, but also suffered heavy losses. As the team leader, Wang Yan resigned and was later invited by the United Spirit Master Academy to go to Maple Leaf City. He served as the Dean of the Martial Spirit Department and the main lecturer. We exchange students went there to study in his class."

"Well, do you have any ideas?"

Huo Yuhao and the other two looked at each other, then looked at Jing Hongchen, and none of them expressed their opinion immediately.

Huo Yuhao did not want to go to Maple Leaf City as an exchange student for his own safety, while Meng Hongchen would wait for Huo Yuhao's choice. If Huo Yuhao chose to go, she would go. As for Xiao Hongchen, he wanted to pass the sixth-level soul mentor assessment in the academy as soon as possible to avoid being overtaken by Huo Yuhao later.

No one knows a son better than his father. Mirror Hongchen could see through Xiao Hongchen's thoughts at a glance. As for Huo Yuhao and Meng Hongchen...

Jing Hongchen observed carefully and found a lot of clues. He couldn't help but smile and said ramblingly, "The exchange student period is only two years, it will pass by in a flash. Whether you can fight side by side and make progress together in the future is a matter of life and death. You should think carefully about it and don't lose the big picture for the sake of small things."