In the center of Mingdu, there was another competition called the Mingdu Soul Engineer Elite Competition.
Wherever there were people, there would be an underground world. This was true for the Heavenly Soul, Dou Ling, Star Luo, and Sun Moon Empires. The underground world was divided into many kinds. Whether it was a low-level or high-level underground world, in fact, they were all playthings for the princes and nobles. Otherwise, how could they continue to exist on this continent?
In the intelligence provided by Nana, the underground world of Mingdu was still dominated by three major forces: the largest Ordinary Alliance, the Sunset Water Alliance, and the Ordo Chamber of Commerce.
Among them, the Ordinary Alliance, which sounded the most ordinary, controlled the erotic industry of the entire Mingdu and was considered the most superficial underground force. The Ordo Chamber of Commerce controlled organizations similar to the Assassin's Guild, Thief's Guild, and some dark forces, specializing in collecting protection fees, assassination, theft, and other dirty work for a living.
As for the Sunset Water Alliance, the Holy Spirit Cult behind it was now controlled by Huo Yuhao. This force was much more high-end compared to them, engaging in the most profitable drug and arms trade in the underground world, and also moonlighting in human trafficking before being controlled by Huo Yuhao.
In the past, the relationship between the Ordinary Alliance and the Ordo Chamber of Commerce could be described as very close, faintly showing a posture of uniting to confront the Sunset Water Alliance. However, the Sunset Water Alliance had inexplicably become much lower-key recently, and there were not many places where they came into contact with each other. Only under the compromise of the big shots behind each of them could they maintain peace.
These three major underground forces were all involved in the reselling of rare metals. After all, this thing could be said to be extremely profitable. As long as they could penetrate the mining channels, the cost was extremely low, but much more profitable than anything else.
After weighing the options repeatedly, Huo Yuhao still chose the Sunset Water Alliance, which was the most powerful in actual strength among the three major underground forces but was once faintly restrained by the other two forces. After all, it could be considered a force under his banner.
The preliminary competition location of the Sunset Water Alliance was still a high-end hotel in the city center, very close to the Mingyue Hotel, making it convenient for Huo Yuhao's people to coordinate with each other.
The Green unripe Hotel (Qingse Hotel), a hotel with a very distinctive name, was only one kilometer away from the Mingyue Hotel and only two kilometers away from the Sun Moon Empire Imperial Palace, located in an absolute prime location.
This was the property of the Sunset Water Alliance. Huo Yuhao also learned from Zhongli Yu that there were several old friends of his here.
Although the scale of the hotel did not look as large as the Mingyue Hotel on the surface, with only five floors above ground, those who knew it well understood that its true strength was reflected underground.
At the main entrance of the hotel stood four strong men over two meters tall, wearing black tight-fitting劲outfits, coldly scrutinizing the passing crowd.
This time, Huo Yuhao deliberately used the image of Huo Gua from the original timeline, sitting in a wheelchair pushed by Nana, which was very eye-catching.
Before he and the disguised Hongchen siblings and Nana approached, a black-clothed strong man had already come up and raised his hand to block the way of the four.
Huo Yuhao sat in the wheelchair and smiled slightly, "Gentlemen, we are here to participate in the Mingdu Soul Engineer Elite Competition."
The black-clothed strong man was stunned for a moment, and the expression on his face obviously softened a bit. You know, the status of soul engineers in the Sun Moon Empire was much higher than in other countries. Offending a soul engineer, even if the opponent's level was not high, was definitely not a wise choice.
"Respected Soul Engineer sir, the preliminary registration is about to begin. Please follow me." The black-clothed strong man said respectfully.
Currently, Huo Yuhao was not yet a soul engineer, but don't forget that there was Elder Kong Deming in the Dragon Realm. Regarding the production of soul tools, Huo Yuhao had barely learned some in the past year. If he were to be graded, Kong Deming would be willing to give a certification of a Level 2 Soul Engineer.
Of course, all this was based on the premise that Huo Yuhao made soul tools independently.
He indeed couldn't make high-level soul tools alone, but it was only because of insufficient experience and knowledge.
The interior of the Green unripe Hotel was indeed very "green". Not only was the decoration very simple, showing no sign that this was the number one place in Mingdu's underground forces or a very important stronghold of the Sunset Water Alliance.
The hotel's layout had a moist feeling. There were white porcelain decorations everywhere—white porcelain floors, white porcelain walls. All colors were mainly white and red.
After entering the hotel, a middle-aged man greeted them, "Distinguished guests, may I ask who is going to participate in our Mingdu Soul Engineer Elite Competition?"
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, "Both I and the two of them will participate." Saying that, he pointed to the Hongchen siblings beside him.
The middle-aged man smiled and nodded, "May I ask how to address the three of you?"
Huo Yuhao said, "These two are my family members, Chen Hongxiao and Chen Hongmeng. I am Chen Honghao."
The names of the Hongchen siblings were naturally pseudonyms taken in reverse, while he used the character "Hao" alone.
In some areas, families would use generation names when naming the same generation. Huo Yuhao fabricated such names for the three of them participating in the competition.
The names of the three were successfully registered.
The middle-aged man did not ask about their origins. Many soul engineers had special hobbies, and many people had scruples when participating in underground force competitions. Not a few people used fake identities. The method by which this competition held by the underground force could win them over was definitely not by name.
It was very important not to inquire about the privacy of powerful soul engineers. Only absolute benefits could keep them.
"The competition will start soon, and time is tight. Could the three of you please show your soul engineer identities? It will be convenient for me to arrange matches for you."
"Hehe." Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up slightly, and he directly used a spiritual barrier. He was worried that the Hongchen siblings' abilities would be exposed too early and recognized, so he simply cheated to pass.
The middle-aged man's eyes first showed a moment of emptiness, and then he nodded, "Okay, confirmed."
After speaking, he made a gesture of invitation.
The four of them came to a soul guide elevator inside the hotel lobby. The middle-aged man said a few words into a soul guide communicator before leading the four into the elevator.
The elevator went down all the way. About ten seconds later, when the door opened again, a noisy sound mixed with an aura of luxury and dissipation rushed towards them.
Completely contrary to the simplicity of the Green unripe Hotel lobby, the splendor of the hotel's underground world instantly dazzled everyone's eyes.
The underground world was golden everywhere, even the mirror surfaces were, as if this underground world was completely made of gold.
The middle-aged man led the four through a magnificent circular hall first, then entered a gate directly in front.
Seeing the middle-aged man, the two guards at the door immediately opened the gate and invited them in.
Entering the door, the four came to a circular domed hall. The top of the hall seemed to be neatly and regularly outlined by countless golden lines.
The huge dome provided sufficient light for the entire hall. Rows of seats extended neatly downwards. There was a circle of escalators slanting upwards around the side.
At the end of each soul guide escalator, there was a circular room suspended in the air. The naked eye could almost not see how these rooms were suspended in mid-air.
In the center of the hall was a circular platform with a diameter of over thirty meters. Although far less spacious than the competition stage of the Continental Youth Advanced Soul Master Elite Competition, it was already quite amazing. This was the underground world.
There were dozens of metal tables on the competition stage, with soul tool lights flashing from time to time. Around the circular platform, there were also some metal tables, totaling over a hundred.
The outer circles of sapphire blue velvet chairs were filled with people. They were very quiet, watching intently the people busy at the metal tables in the center. Conservatively estimated, there were more than two thousand spectators. From their clothing, it could be seen that everyone was either rich or noble.
"Those who can watch the battle in person are all big bettors, betting at least ten thousand gold soul coins. Ordinary people can only choose to bet at the peripheral betting points of these underground forces." Nana explained in Huo Yuhao's ear.
This was just a sub-competition area, yet it attracted hundreds of soul masters under thirty to participate. It seemed that the attraction of this underground black market competition was quite remarkable.
"Three, today is the qualification trial. If you make a Level 3 soul tool within a certain time, you can pass the qualification review. There is a hourglass on every soul engineer's table responsible for recording the time." The middle-aged man explained.
Huo Yuhao smiled slightly, "Enough."
Then, two men dressed the same as the middle-aged man who led the way blocked their path. After a simple exchange, one of the two middle-aged men said: "Participants can enter. Idlers wait outside and place bets immediately."
Huo Yuhao turned his head to look at Nana: "Go ahead, just bet a little for fun first."
"Yes, Master." Nana responded and went down.
Hearing the address "Master", the face of the middle-aged man responsible for leading the way changed slightly. Being called Master by such a beautiful girl, he must be a young master from some big family.
Soon, the three were each assigned to a metal table. Various materials for making soul tools were placed on the table.
For making soul tools, the Hongchen siblings could be said to be handy. However, in order to hide their identities, they didn't use their most handy Ranked Carving Knives but used the ordinary carving knives on the table for soul tool production.
Nominally, although Huo Yuhao could only barely be considered a Level 2 Soul Engineer, he had absolute soul power and spiritual power support. Even without Kong Deming's guidance behind the scenes, it shouldn't be a big problem for him to complete a Level 3 soul tool independently.
The middle-aged man who led them in kept his attention on Huo Yuhao. In his view, this young man sitting in a wheelchair was obviously the person in charge among the few, and his ability must be much stronger than the other two.
However, he was soon disappointed. Although Huo Yuhao was extremely serious in the production process, an expert could tell his level at a glance. The technique of the entire production process was extremely unfamiliar. The only commendable thing was that there were no errors in the production process, which could even be described as flawless.
Similarly, although the referee was only a Level 3 Soul Engineer himself, his eyesight was definitely not bad. As a member of the Sunset Water Alliance, he had seen high-level soul engineers making soul tools more than once. However, Huo Yuhao's production process was extremely contradictory. Although his technique was unfamiliar, it won in smoothness and speed, incredibly fast.
Huo Yuhao's production didn't last too long. After only three minutes, Huo Yuhao's movements had stopped. He turned around easily and signaled to the confused referee: "I'm done."
Only then did the referee come back to his senses, hurriedly stepped forward, and picked up the oddly shaped soul tool on the table.
What Huo Yuhao made just now was a kind of cannon barrel guided by Kong Deming. The power was enormous after layers of compression, comparable to a Level 4 soul tool. Importantly, its core array structure was extremely simple. It was a gadget Kong Deming researched when he had nothing to do.
But even so, this thing reached the standard of a Level 3 soul tool.
Although the referee's face was still a bit strange, he respectfully handed the soul tool back to Huo Yuhao and said: "Congratulations, you have passed the qualification assessment. This is the soul tool you made, please keep it safe. In our competition, all soul tools made belong to the soul engineers themselves. Of course, you can also sell them to us."
Huo Yuhao smiled and put it away. Don't waste good things; there will always be a time when they come in handy.
At this time, the referee asked tentatively: "May I ask, what level of soul engineer are you?"
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly and said: "You will know later. However, you haven't seen the soul tools made by the two who came with me yet."
Only then did the referee realize that on the other side, the Hongchen siblings had also stopped their movements. What Xiao Hongchen made was a simple milk bottle, barely counted as Level 4, while Meng Hongchen made a short dagger, which also seemed to reach the Level 3 standard.
Under Huo Yuhao's request, the two siblings naturally hid their clumsiness. You know, the Hongchen siblings were already Level 5 Soul Engineers as early as five years ago.
"The three of you have passed the qualification trial. Tomorrow we will start the first round of the competition, which is directly the elimination round. Each round eliminates one-third of the total number of people in the previous round until the final champion is determined. These are the qualification pass certificates for the three of you. With these, you can receive the rewards for this round from the staff."
Saying that, the referee handed over three badges made of pure gold with the certificate numbers of the three on them.
Under the respectful gaze of the referee, Xiao Hongchen pushed Huo Yuhao's wheelchair and walked out with Meng Hongchen.
Nana also came up at this time, took the handle of Huo Yuhao's wheelchair, and pushed him towards the place to receive the award.
"Did you bet?" Huo Yuhao asked with a smile.
Nana shook her head. Her economic ability wasn't particularly good, and she didn't have ample funds to bet at all.
Huo Yuhao slapped his thigh. He forgot about this. He immediately took out the gadget he just made and asked Nana to sell it. It should be able to exchange for a few thousand gold coins.
Seeing this, the Hongchen siblings also took out the soul tools they made and gave them to Nana.
"Sigh, have to make money..." Huo Yuhao was somewhat distressed. He could be described as penniless now. The assets previously looted from the Star Luo Treasury were donated to the Heavenly Soul Republic. Even the 100 million gold coins he initially brought out from the Holy Spirit Cult were used up last time passing through Yelin City.
The Hongchen siblings didn't bring too many valuable things when they went out, only carrying some rare metals and the Ranked Carving Knives exclusive to soul engineers.
"Yuhao, this is what my grandpa asked me to give you." Meng Hongchen seemed to remember something and handed him a storage soul guide ring.
Huo Yuhao didn't look at it, but was startled when he did. Inside was actually a mountain of rare metals, and also quite a few Grade 9 soul tools personally made by the old man.
Most importantly, this storage soul tool actually had a voice recording function. Huo Yuhao was a bit curious and injected soul power as if no one was around.
"Brat, consider these things as the dowry this old man gives to his granddaughter. If this old man knows you treat Little Meng badly, I'll deal with you even if I have to chase you to the ends of the earth!"
Jing Hongchen's voice was loud. Fortunately, Huo Yuhao shielded the sound wave transmission with spiritual power in time, so the surrounding staff didn't hear it.
But the Hongchen siblings and Nana who were close at hand naturally heard it.
Xiao Hongchen's face instantly became strange. Meng Hongchen blushed completely, stomping her feet in shame.
Stinky Grandpa, nothing is settled yet, don't talk nonsense!
Meeting Huo Yuhao's ambiguous eyes, the redness on Meng Hongchen's pretty face spread to her neck.
"Oh—so it's a dowry..."
Xiao Hongchen sighed in his heart. In his heart, he had actually recognized Huo Yuhao as his brother-in-law long ago. Huo Yuhao was good in everything, just a bit philandering.
Crucially, taking gifts makes one beholden.
Without Huo Yuhao, he, Xiao Hongchen, might not have such achievements today—a Level 7 Soul Engineer under twenty years old!
When Huo Yuhao arrived at the underground world of the Green unripe Hotel, he sensed the whole venue with spiritual power. Just a qualification trial, there was no need for the big shots behind the Sunset Water Alliance to watch in person.
This was also the reason why he asked the Hongchen siblings to hide their clumsiness.
If they didn't hide their clumsiness, how could he earn rare metals later?
However, his standard as a soul engineer was indeed not high. With Nana responsible for collecting intelligence these days, he had time to find Meng Hongchen to guide him in making soul tools.
As a once-in-a-century soul engineer genius of the Sun Moon Empire, Xiao Hongchen's attainments in soul tools were definitely stronger than his sister's, but who wouldn't want to learn with a little beauty?
Huo Yuhao possessed God King realm spiritual power. It wasn't difficult to learn seriously. Kong Deming had already laid a good foundation for him. Meng Hongchen just needed to guide Huo Yuhao on some points.
After receiving the rewards, the three of them left the Green unripe Hotel together.
The abilities displayed by the three of them today were not particularly eye-catching, so naturally, they didn't attract the coveting of any forces.
"Nana, how is the result of your investigation over there?"
On the way back, Huo Yuhao asked Nana behind him casually.
"Master, it has been confirmed that there is indeed a participant named Ye Guyi in the Ordinary Alliance..." Nana reported the news she had inquired about in the past two days truthfully.
"Yuhao, who is Ye Guyi?" Meng Hongchen heard that Huo Yuhao actually asked Nana to investigate a girl for him, and immediately couldn't help becoming curious.
"Kiss me and I'll tell you." Huo Yuhao smiled harmlessly.
"You... annoying!"