Zhou Yi's unpleasant voice interrupted the others' discussion. "Alright, this time it's different from before. Consider it an unexpected situation."
"You don't need to worry too much. Even if you lose the selection, there won't be any punishment. Besides you, there will also be students from the Soul Tool and Martial Soul Departments, from the third, fourth, and fifth years. As second-year students, just do your best."
"Still, even so, there are only about thirty participants, and only seven will be chosen for a special mission. You'd better work hard,at the very least, don't let all of you be eliminated."
"Alright, go back to your classrooms. Study when it's time to study, attend class when it's time for class. Don't let your state be affected."
Hearing this, everyone left Zhou Yi's office.
"Yuhao, what do you think this is about? It seems like something big,it's even affecting the second through fifth years," Wang Dong said, speaking to his external brain.
Huo Yuhao shook his head. "I don't know. Don't think too much about it. Just train as usual. At least we second-years have the advantage, right? Out of thirty people, we make up more than ten."
He couldn't help but find it a little funny. No wonder Shrek Academy lowered the qualification requirement for the preparatory team to include second-years,after all, in the higher grades, there weren't many capable students left.
Despite having access to the combined resources of the three former empires of the Douluo Continent, Shrek Academy's current generations of students were clearly in decline. Only the new blood of the second years showed promise.
Of course, some of that might be due to Xuanzi's "contributions." Under his leadership, several inner court disciples had somehow died during soul beast hunting missions that were supposed to be relatively safe.
Over the next few days, Huo Yuhao devoted himself entirely to absorbing the medicinal power of a special potion. He didn't do anything else, because he found that his body seemed to be undergoing subtle changes as the potion took effect.
As his blood energy steadily increased, he began attempting more dangerous forms of training.
In his dorm room, Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged, his body soaking in a wooden tub filled with a special medicinal liquid.
Shrek Academy naturally had cultivation chambers available for students, equipped with everything one might need,but renting them cost an exorbitant amount of gold soul coins. Even core disciples only got a fifty-percent discount.
Cultivation often involved personal secrets, especially for soul masters with powerful family or sect backgrounds. Those students didn't mind paying for privacy.
But for Huo Yuhao, the cost was painful. Still, since Wang Dong had taken leave to go into seclusion for her own training, he now had the dorm to himself and didn't need to rent a chamber.
The medicinal liquid was something he had prepared himself using materials he had exchanged for at a Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect merchant shop in Shrek City. He had also exchanged some gold soul coins for future plans.
Crimson Blood Vine, Bone-Purifying Wood, and Marrow-Washing Grass,these were all common medicinal herbs used to strengthen a low-level soul master's body, though they had little effect on higher-ranked ones.
Huo Yuhao used them to stimulate his body, accelerating the absorption of the potion's energy.
During this process, his body would repeatedly suffer damage under the external strain, only to be repaired by the potion's medicinal properties.
His Eye of Truth recorded every detail of this transformation, allowing him to observe even the smallest changes in his body.
Though soul masters' bodies were similar in structure, their bloodlines, martial souls, environments, and cultivation methods created subtle differences.
Huo Yuhao was now identifying these differences within himself and gradually reconstructing his body in line with his own design.
Noticing that his once short black hair had grown down to his waist, he shaped his spiritual power into a blade and swiftly trimmed it back to its original length.
"Well, that's more or less a success. Thank you, Elder Yi, for keeping watch. You can rest now," Huo Yuhao exhaled deeply.
Electrolux's aged voice sounded slightly helpless. "You really are reckless. Using energy to interfere with your body from outside the meridians and acupoints,one mistake could cripple your flesh. And you're even trying to rebuild it from the ground up."
"That's not something easy to do. With your current strength, even with those extraordinary eyes, you shouldn't be this careless."
"Heh, but it worked, didn't it? And it's more or less successful." Huo Yuhao looked at the strands of his hair in the vision of his Eye of Truth. Compared to others', his hair structure now looked tougher and stronger, and he was quite pleased.
Using his spiritual power to control both soul power and blood energy, he was trying to strengthen his body's structure,to make it denser and more resilient.
Of course, he wouldn't experiment on vital parts of his body. Hair was the safest option.
By imitating the martial soul structures of the Lan sisters, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, Huo Yuhao modified his hair. Although it was still far from an actual "Hair Martial Soul," it was already much stronger than the body of an ordinary soul master.
This toughness came not from external reinforcement through soul or blood power but from structural transformation at the most fundamental level.
If the body's foundation was the base, then blood and soul power acted as multipliers.
The reason most soul masters' bodies were weaker than soul beasts' was that beasts had far stronger physical foundations. Unless a soul master's martial soul itself was powerful enough to reconstruct their body's base, humans were simply weaker than beasts in this world.
Even gods were no exception,gods had divine power, but so did divine beasts.
Although Huo Yuhao hadn't achieved a full transformation, the fact that he could modify his hair meant he could gradually extend the process to other parts of his body in the future.
However, his success was only partial,his current soul power and blood energy were still too limited.
Relying only on the potion's energy and his current level, he could barely strengthen an unimportant part like hair. Reaching the level of a martial soul was far beyond him for now.
Huo Yuhao's true goal was to create a "True Body Martial Soul," using his Eye of Truth as the foundation to turn his entire body into part of his martial soul and strengthen his physical essence.
When he stood up and wiped himself down, his entire skin was a faint shade of red, smooth and delicate like a newborn's.
This was the new skin layer that had just grown under the potion's influence, while his old skin had been refined away by the Crimson Blood Vine's power.
The once-dark-red liquid had now turned black, its energy completely drained.
"Still too poor. If I could afford a hundred more sessions like this, I could probably absorb all of the potion's potential."
He cleaned up and sighed regretfully. He needed to save some gold soul coins for bidding on the Devouring Spirit Blade and couldn't spend everything on herbs.
Even so, his body had reached the level of a Soul Elder, and his soul power would soon advance another rank.
The next day, Wang Yan looked at the students below and said, "Class dismissed for everyone else. Core disciples, stay behind and follow me to the Soul Fighting Arena."
Because of Zhou Yi's earlier notice, all the core disciples were present. Huo Yuhao glanced at Wang Dong and, through his Eye of Truth, noticed that while Wang Dong's body seemed normal, her hands had clearly strengthened, faintly glowing with a jade-like light.
"Looks like someone's getting ready to swing a big hammer," he thought to himself.
Wang Dong, of course, had no idea what he was thinking.
As the core disciples followed Wang Yan toward the Soul Fighting Area, Wang Dong leaned close to Huo Yuhao and whispered, "I wonder what kind of format this selection will take. If it's still team-based, should we team up with Xiao Xiao again?"
Huo Yuhao nodded but said nothing. This selection was organized by Xuanzi himself, so it probably wouldn't follow any standard format. Whether they stayed or got eliminated would depend on luck and skill.
Soon, the ten or so second-year core disciples arrived at the arena, followed by the older students.
Seeing Ning Tian, Huo Yuhao nodded politely, remembering the agreement they had made before.
He also recalled the message Ning Tian had sent him through the merchant, asking for his help in ensuring she made it into the final seven.
"She might already have guessed something. After all, seven disciples, not much time until the real competition, and there's even an age limit,it's not hard for someone smart to figure it out."
Although the participants' ages varied widely, their strengths weren't so different. Aside from Beibei, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, and He Caitou,who each had four soul rings,most of the senior students were only at the three-ring level.
Among the second-years, most had two or three rings, so overall the difference in soul power wasn't too great.
Once everyone was present, an old man appeared, holding a gourd of wine in one hand and a drumstick in the other,none other than Xuanzi himself.
Half drunk, Xuanzi said lazily to Wang Yan, "Little Wang, everyone's here?"
"They are. There are twenty-six core disciples from the Martial Soul Department, grades two through five. The Soul Tool Department only sent one person,the rest were disqualified during screening."
The Soul Fighting Arena had been reserved for this event, and all other teachers and students had been cleared out.
Xuanzi led everyone to the center and said, "The content of this core disciple assessment is simple."
"I call it a free-for-all brawl. Within the arena, you can attack however you like,no rules. Anyone who surrenders or is rescued out is eliminated. The last seven standing are the winners."
"Alright, teachers, leave the area. When I say 'start,' you can begin."
"No way," Wang Dong muttered instinctively, moving closer to Huo Yuhao. Xiao Xiao, realizing the situation, quickly joined them.
Not far away stood Ning Tian and Wu Feng. Wu Feng still looked confused, but Ning Tian understood immediately and dragged Wu Feng toward Huo Yuhao's group.
The teachers quickly left the arena. Then Xuanzi raised his gourd and shouted, "Begin!"
With that, he vanished, leaving twenty-seven outer-court core disciples behind.
Huo Yuhao scanned the field,and immediately unleashed a full-force spiritual shock at He Caitou.
Why? Because you always take out the troublemaker first.
Among all the soul masters present, the strongest had only four rings,and He Caitou was one of them, plus a soul engineer.
Soul tools were terrifying at this stage of combat, and He Caitou was an expert in using them.
Huo Yuhao had no connection to the Soul Tool Department's only representative and had no desire to be blasted by a soul cannon or test whether his hidden weapons could beat soul tools.
Clutching his head, He Caitou didn't collapse, but his prepared attack was interrupted.
The sudden mental strike caused his soul power to backflow, disrupting his concentration.
Seeing the four soul rings beneath him, the nearby students were stunned,none had realized this quiet soul engineer was actually a Soul Ancestor-level expert.
But now that he was dazed, several nearby core disciples immediately seized the opportunity, activating their martial souls and attacking together.
After all, he was the only one from the Soul Tool Department, unfamiliar to everyone. Who else would they target first?
And so, He Caitou,unlucky and outnumbered,became the first core disciple eliminated from the selection.
His defeat, though not entirely his fault, would likely deal another blow to the Soul Tool Department's already fragile standing within Shrek Academy.
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