"..."
Seeing this brutal scene, Mu En felt a chill run down his spine, while simultaneously feeling incredibly lucky.
That brute Zhou Yi! Killing her really happened too late!
He wasn't even dead yet, and Shrek's reputation had already been ruined to this extent. A few years, decades, or centuries after his passing, would the powers of the entire continent still tolerate Shrek?
Without the Sun Moon Empire even needing to lift a finger, the sects and powers within the three original nations of the Douluo Continent would likely charge in together—chopping the earthworms of Shrek City vertically and shaking every egg until the yolks broke.
Mu En dared not think further. His voice was raspy as he spoke: "From this moment on, remember this: Zhou Yi is the greatest stain in Shrek's school history, nailed forever to the pillar of shame! A stain to warn all future teachers!"
The surrounding Elders of the Sea God Pavilion couldn't help but shudder.
"I don't care what you did before, but if something like this happens again, I will personally kill the offender! Don't forget, I am not dead yet!"
"…Yes."
Mu En looked deeply toward the distant Shrek Academy and those seven tallest landmark buildings—the statues of the original Shrek Seven Monsters.
…Ancestors of Shrek, this is Mu En's last resort!
...
Star Net City, Star Emperor Hotel.
"Whew..."
After finishing his cultivation, Huo Yuhao stood up from the bathtub.
The tub of clear water had become quite murky, filled with impurities discharged from Huo Yuhao's body.
He clenched his slender palms; in his view, the results of this cultivation session were quite good.
The life energy from the original Spirit Devouring Craving Knife could almost be seen as another round of marrow-cleansing. His fair skin had a faint halo flowing over it, with a moist luster on the surface that looked as if it would break at a touch.
No, the most crucial part was...
With a satisfied curve at the corner of his mouth, Huo Yuhao inspected his internal state. At the position of his chest, a deep blue vortex was rotating slowly and steadily.
The vortex was tiny, about the size of a soybean.
This was what Baili Du had mentioned to him before—a blood essence vortex condensed from blood essence power. It was the prototype of a future blood essence soul core, vital to the body's physical capabilities.
To advance to a higher level of existence, physical strength could never be neglected.
Of course, the source of Huo Yuhao's blood essence vortex was primarily the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon martial soul, which contained a certain degree of the Dragon God's bloodline.
If Lan Xuanyu saw this, he would probably cry from envy...
To tell a joke: Huo Yuhao, who specialized in mental power, had higher physical strength, while Tang Wulin, who specialized in physical ability, had higher mental power.
The evidence: Old Huo, wearing a prototype Battle Armor, tanked a Black Dragon Sword strike from Di Tian without a scratch. Yet Tang Wulin, possessing the Golden Dragon King bloodline and wearing three-word Battle Armor while holding the Dragon Slaying Saber, was flicked away by Di Tian's finger...
Everyone has their own view on this—some say Old Huo had a divine artifact for protection, others say Tang Wulin's cultivation was insufficient, or that Di Tian was stronger ten thousand years later... regardless, it showed the importance of physical strength.
It was also thanks to obtaining another piece of Life Gold that Huo Yuhao's physical strength reached a new level, allowing him to stably construct the blood essence vortex and nourish it with life energy.
If Huo Yuhao's chances against Ma Xiaotao were slim before, now, after condensing this blood essence vortex, he had full confidence in defeating a powerhouse of her level head-on.
After showering again and changing clothes, he walked out and knocked on Zhang Lexuan's door, waiting.
Before long, the door opened.
"Yuhao! Why are you here? Is your cultivation finished?"
Huo Yuhao nodded in greeting, then scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Uh, Teacher Lexuan, you are..."
"I just finished bathing... so I'm dressed like this."
Zhang Lexuan looked down at herself bashfully. She was wearing only a simple oversized T-shirt and shorts. Her slender limbs revealed a large amount of snowy skin, which was incredibly attractive.
"Come in first."
Once Zhang Lexuan closed the door, Huo Yuhao said, "It's... it's nothing. I've solved the issue with the Spirit Devouring Craving Knife and wanted to come help Teacher Lexuan take a step further."
"Huh?"
In front of a shocked Zhang Lexuan, Huo Yuhao opened his palm to reveal a short, emerald-green sword that looked like dripping jade.
"This is..."
Zhang Lexuan could naturally feel the rich life aura emanating from the short sword. Just looking at it for a few moments made her feel much more comfortable physically and mentally.
Huo Yuhao explained, "When I saw Teacher Lexuan before, I felt that you hadn't cultivated properly for a long time, causing your blood essence to be sluggish and creating a knot in your heart. This will affect your future cultivation and advancement."
Zhang Lexuan's talent was indeed terrifyingly high. At only twenty-four years old, she was already an eight-ring Soul Douluo. Not to mention the last three thousand years at Shrek Academy, even among the original Shrek Seven Monsters, including Tang San, no one could compare to her.
But... Elder Xuan had nearly ruined such a genius.
In Huo Yuhao's view, it would be a pity for such a genius to be buried like this, especially since she was his teacher.
She suddenly showed a weeping-yet-smiling expression, her face scrunching up as she blinked repeatedly. "...You really are meticulously observant."
Among the twelve students who went on the mission, she was the only one who survived. One could imagine how immense the pressure was for Zhang Lexuan.
Guilt and the smiles of her late companions appeared in her dreams almost every day. As Huo Yuhao said, she hadn't cultivated seriously for several years. If not for the high-quality 100,000 Year Soul Ring and soul bone maintaining her, Zhang Lexuan's cultivation might have regressed.
"Haha, after all, Teacher Lexuan wears her heart on her sleeve."
Zhang Lexuan first pouted, then smiled again, meeting Huo Yuhao's gaze.
"...Now that I think about it, I've actually learned a lot from my own student."
"Alright then, I'll leave it to you. What should I do?"
Huo Yuhao said, "Nothing much. Just cultivate normally and absorb this life energy."
Zhang Lexuan didn't hesitate, immediately sitting cross-legged in a meditative posture.
Huo Yuhao activated his soul power, covering the room with his domain, and then released the dense life force from the Life Sword.
The entire room was instantly enveloped by this vigorous vitality. Zhang Lexuan was stunned; she had only felt this level of life force in the deepest parts of the Star Constellation Great Forest or from the Golden Tree on Sea God Island.
Though she wondered where the boy got so much life force, Zhang Lexuan had no intention of prying. She unhesitatingly absorbed the life force dissipating into the air. A faint halo emanated from her skin. As time passed, her sensations became more pronounced.
The hidden injuries left by absorbing the 100,000 Year Soul Ring and soul bone, and the blood essence stagnation from years of neglected cultivation, were weakened and erased at a slow but steady pace under the nourishment of life energy.
Even mental power, the hardest to cultivate, seemed to increase within this rich life energy.
It took an entire morning for Zhang Lexuan to slowly finish her cultivation.
Her skin had become clearer, her face seemed even more beautiful, the knot in her heart had dissipated, and even her mental power had received a significant boost.
Level 83! Zhang Lexuan had even touched the threshold of Level 84!
Without "cheating" through system tasks like Divine Trials or eating heavenly treasures, every level of advancement for a Soul Douluo usually took years. Yet Zhang Lexuan had reached Level 83 at age 24; it could be said that becoming a Limit Douluo was now a certainty.
Seeing Zhang Lexuan's refreshed state after she opened her eyes, Huo Yuhao smiled. "Congratulations, Teacher Lexuan."
Zhang Lexuan pursed her lips, stood up, and ruffled Huo Yuhao's hair.
"I feel like I'm becoming more and more unable to leave your side."
Huo Yuhao replied casually, "Then don't leave."
Zhang Lexuan froze for a moment, a faint, almost imperceptible flush crossing her rosy face.
You said it...
Zhang Lexuan didn't say anything about Huo Yuhao not using this power to heal Gongyang Mo and the others. After all, "an ordinary man is innocent, but harboring jade makes him guilty." One must be cautious with such a secret treasure. The fact that he came to help her was already due to their close relationship. Although they were on the same team, Huo Yuhao was not yet that familiar with the others.
"Let's go. Gongyang Mo and the others won their match too. Wang Yan is preparing for the afternoon meeting."
Yesterday, the Shrek team faced Qianling Academy in a team battle.
With Ling Luochen's recovery and return, the Shrek team gathered two of their main forces and defeated them with overwhelming force, successfully advancing.
However, there was also some bad news: Lan Xuanyu seemed to have mostly recovered and could arrive to join them by the semifinals at the latest.
Though Wang Yan felt it didn't really matter if Lan Xuanyu came—after all, what could a preparatory member with unremarkable strength do? Be a cheerleader?
Wang Yan was truly skilled at gathering intelligence and arranging tactics. He had collected data and combat styles for dozens of teams, noting soul skills to watch out for, and explained them all to the team.
Aside from his initial lapse in judgment when he asked Huo Yuhao to cheat, Wang Yan was a truly excellent teacher.
After the tactical meeting ended, Huo Yuhao stood at the door and stretched, loosening his blood essence and muscles which had grown stiff from sitting too long.
"Yuhao, let's go eat." Ma Xiaotao proactively took his hand and spoke softly.
"Okay," Huo Yuhao agreed.
"Senior Bei Bei, do you think we can win the final championship?" Xiao Xiao asked worriedly from behind.
Bei Bei smiled slightly. "What? No confidence?"
Xiao Xiao shook her head. "It's not that. It's just that after hearing Teacher Wang's analysis, our opponents are indeed very strong!"
Bei Bei laughed. "Correct, our opponents are certainly strong. Almost all the teams are composed entirely of Soul Kings or above. However, I have confidence. Confidence in winning the final championship."
"Confidence comes from strength. The reason our Shrek Academy can become the number one academy on the continent is that the academy's training never rushes growth."
"Every member of ours participating in this tournament has reached today's combat power through their own hard work. Therefore, Shrek soul masters are different from those of other academies."
"Perhaps our opponents can close the gap using soul tools or certain strategies and tactics. But as long as our foundation can be ignited by fighting spirit—as long as we can truly burn with the glory of Shrek—then we are certain to win!"
Since everyone was leaving the meeting room one after another and Bei Bei hadn't lowered his voice, the others heard him.
Ma Xiaotao, Gongyang Mo, and Ling Luochen couldn't help but look slightly moved. Their gazes toward Bei Bei changed slightly.
However, Ma Xiaotao's eyes held a hint of dissatisfaction, while Ling Luochen looked thoughtful.
Bei Bei looked at Huo Yuhao with a smile. "Yuhao, you must think so too, right?"
Huo Yuhao shook his head decisively. "Sorry, Senior Bei Bei, I don't see it that way."
As soon as he spoke, Bei Bei's proud expression froze, replaced by total bewilderment.
Was he really giving no face at all, slapping him in public?
At Huo Yuhao's words, everyone except Ma Xiaotao looked at him in shock.
But Huo Yuhao showed no cowardice; he spoke very frankly, unafraid of offending the other party.
Bei Bei frowned, saying with some displeasure, "Yuhao, how can you say that? What did I say that was wrong?!"
Huo Yuhao looked at him and said calmly, "When I was young, my uncle once taught me a sentence. I have always kept it in my heart and never dared to forget it!"
"That sentence is—'Self-proclaimed virtues will kill us'!"
...
Hearing this, the Inner Court students present began to understand.
Bei Bei blinked, subconsciously asking, "What does that mean?"
Huo Yuhao said, "I was only seven then, and I couldn't understand what it meant at all."
"But today, your words, Senior Bei, and our encounter in the Mingdou Mountains, have made me understand."
"Just like the seniors who died in the Mingdou Mountains, they were killed by their own 'virtues'."
"In a one-on-one head-on fight, any Inner Court senior could have beaten that Death God Envoy into mincemeat. But..." Huo Yuhao paused. "Their conceit still killed them."
Bei Bei touched his chest, remaining silent.
No one present could argue with this, as they all knew exactly how they had been injured.
"Soul tools are also a perfect example. The students of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy might have martial souls that aren't particularly brilliant, yet they can use soul tools to easily defeat soul masters with higher cultivation than themselves."
"Don't talk about relying on external forces. In my view, they use their wisdom to transform external forces to make up for their deficiencies. From that perspective, their hard work is not inferior to ours."