"No, that's not right—my molted skin is gone!" The Skydream Ice Silkworm suddenly cried out in flustered embarrassment. His startled outburst left Huo Yuhao a bit confused. "Brother Skydream, is that molt really important?"
"Of course!" Skydream snapped. "Without the molt, there's no way to keep the Ice Empress—cough, cough—your second martial soul's thing—under control. If that one goes on a rampage, forget my true body; I'm afraid hardly anyone could withstand her."
Seeing the confusion still in Huo Yuhao's eyes, Skydream sighed helplessly. "Let me put it this way: with the molt, going to the Extreme North is basically going to pick up a free opportunity. I'd have at least a fifty percent chance to talk the other side down. Without the molt… the success rate is probably under ten percent."
"What happens if we fail?" Huo Yuhao's eyes widened.
"We die." Skydream spread his hands.
"I still have to avenge my mother…" Huo whispered weakly.
"Alright, alright. I'm going to rest for now. I'll think of something in the end." Skydream sighed helplessly.
If Su Wen knew about this, he'd probably only grin.
Just based on Huo Yuhao's status as the son of destiny, you'd bet the house on him. The will of the world can't always preserve his opportunities intact, but for the son of destiny it won't let things escalate to the point of costing his life.
…
As an ink-black ripple surged out of Ning Tian's body and spread outward, the girl was the first to open her eyes. Her pale-gold eyes shone brilliantly. She looked straight at Su Wen, broke into a sweet smile, and ran over.
"Strength?" Su Wen asked.
"Mm!"
"'Seven Treasures turn out to become Glazed; third is Strength!'"
A purple spirit ring rose from beneath her feet.
The third layer of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda's light fell upon Su Wen.
In an instant he felt a boost wash through his entire body—around a forty percent increase in strength. With Su Wen already possessing nearly fifty percent of the Darkgolden Dreadclaw Bear's attributes, he rolled his shoulders, then couldn't help but throw a punch at an ancient tree beside them hundreds of meters tall, piercing the clouds.
Boom!!!
A thunderous roar shook the sky.
The force of his fist practically triggered a sonic boom, and faint, invisible ripples spread through the air.
The others: "…"
Wu Feng in particular swallowed hard, crushing her earlier thought of challenging Su Wen. Back then, Su Wen's single kick only made her dry heave for a while, but if they fought now… she'd probably be turned into bloody mist by a single whip kick.
"Not bad," Su Wen nodded.
Bei Bei's lips twitched.
Not bad?
With a physical body like that, if someone called him a soul beast wearing human skin, no one would doubt it.
He had always thought that as a summoner, Su Wen would be weak defensively—a squishy type like support-control—but unexpectedly… he seemed even more assault-type than Bei Bei, who actually was assault-type.
A flawless hexagonal warrior.
Crack…
The ancient tree snapped where Su Wen's punch landed. The upper half crashed to the other side, sending a flurry of birds flapping into the sky.
Just then, Tang Ya slowly woke, staring blankly at the scene before her. She asked in surprise, "Did another soul beast show up while I was absorbing the ring?"
"No, it was Su Wen," Bei Bei said softly.
Tang Ya: "…"
…
They took their time coming, but the return trip went quickly.
Maybe they were rushing the registration deadline. Though registration lasted half a month, more than half that time had already passed. If something unexpected happened on the road and they didn't make it back, that'd be… interesting.
Along the way, Huo Yuhao trained diligently. But in Su Wen's eyes, his progress was like a turtle—like an old clunker wheezing along—barely even a fifth of Su Wen's speed.
Huo Yuhao really was weak early on. Without the Ice Jade Scorpion as a second martial soul and backup battery number two, his speed hadn't qualitatively changed. He was a growth-type protagonist; his soul power rose painfully slowly all the way until he went to the Sun Moon Empire as an exchange student.
Even so…
Su Wen smiled. With him around, there was no way Skydream would be able to screw over the Ice Empress. He'd even had Gale whisk away the molt. In the original, they controlled the Ice Empress by relying on the molt. Without it, what was Skydream planning—winning her over with talk no jutsu?
Not likely…
Still, jokes aside, Skydream was a million-year soul beast. Even without the molt, that didn't mean he was helpless.
Anyway, Su Wen would just tag along when the time came.
"Xiao Wen, aren't you going to acquire a soul beast?" Ning Tian leaned in close, curiously asking.
"I'm still a few months from level forty." Su Wen smiled and ruffled the girl's hair. This golden fluff felt pretty nice.
His martial soul was special; he didn't advance by obtaining soul rings. Only after breaking through level forty would he get a fourth Poké Ball, and then capture a soul beast. So the level forty breakthrough was a hard requirement.
But he was close.
Maybe by the time school starts, before the first assessment, he'd be there.
"Mm."
Ning Tian's pretty eyes narrowed like a contented kitten. She just wanted to make conversation.
"Which class are you planning to enter?"
After snuggling with Su Wen for a bit, she suddenly widened her eyes and asked intently. This was a crucial question. Even as the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda's princess, transferring classes at Shrek Academy wasn't easy, so best to get it right in one go.
"Class Two," Su Wen said softly.
"Teacher Mu Jin is a good person."
"Mm." Ning Tian didn't keep talking, just nodded lightly, then leaned into Su Wen again.
…
In just a few days,
Huo Yuhao had learned the Mysterious Heaven Record and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to a decent level. It wasn't that he was exceptionally gifted—he was simply diligent, a prime example of the early bird.
This pleasantly surprised Bei Bei and Tang Ya.
They'd thought they'd picked up a noob and didn't expect much—just hoped he could carry on and revitalize the Tang Sect. But he was this hardworking, meditating and training day and night.
"Brother Skydream, my cultivation speed is three to four times faster than before!"
In his spiritual sea,
Huo Yuhao said with delight.
In just a few days, he had already broken through to level eleven.
"Mm, not bad…" Skydream answered weakly—he was still scheming how to talk the Ice Empress around.
"Not fast?" Huo Yuhao scratched his head, his joy dimming a bit.
"So-so." Skydream yawned.
"Look at that kid Su Wen."
"Mm." Huo Yuhao nodded blankly.
"His soul power is increasing at seven times your speed," Skydream said lazily.
"What?!!" Huo Yuhao's eyes bulged.
"So work hard, kid. In your era, monsters are everywhere."
Advanced chapter here: p-atreon.com/Sajaboyzzz
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