At that moment, everyone turned to look at the silent Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu'er, unsure of what the two of them were thinking.
Heh, what a fine Shrek, what a crafty old man—really knows how to spin a tale. Huo Yuhao sneered inwardly. To put it bluntly, Shrek is just recruiting soldiers under the banner of maintaining peace on the continent. The kicker? They don't even feed the horse they expect to run—pure freeloading.
And these guys? Their brains are fried. Just a few fancy words and they're all rushing to pledge their lives.
Huo Yuhao couldn't even be bothered to mock them out loud. In his view, people this gullible deserved to go knock their heads against a wall.
Seeing Xuan Lao's gaze on him, Huo Yuhao spoke in a deep voice:
"Sorry, Elder Xuan. I have my own matters to attend to. Please give the reserve spot to someone else."
Everyone was stunned. Elder Xuan had made things quite clear—this reserve team was a ticket to the next All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament, and possibly a shot at the Shrek Seven Devils title. How could he just give that up?
Even Xuan Lao found it hard to believe. In all these years, Huo Yuhao was the first to reject the opportunity to become one of the Shrek Seven Devils. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. Shouldn't he be weeping with gratitude or something?
"Yuhao, this is the reserve team we're talking about. Think it over one more time," Wang Dong came over and tried to persuade him.
Huo Yuhao shook his head firmly.
"My mind's made up. No need to persuade me. I really do have other matters to deal with."
Forget it. Xuan Lao sighed inwardly. Huo Yuhao was excellent, sure, but not to the point Shrek would bend over backward for him. One more or one less didn't matter.
"No need to apologize, kid," Xuan Lao said. "Everyone has their own path."
Huo Yuhao gave a slight bow, then turned and left. Since he had made up his mind to go, the rest of the conversation no longer concerned him.
The next day, Faculty Office Building.
"What? You're dropping out?" Zhou Yi shot to her feet, staring at Huo Yuhao in disbelief.
Huo Yuhao silently nodded.
"Teacher Zhou, thank you for your guidance this past year. I have reasons I must leave."
Zhou Yi's reaction was pretty standard. After all, the folks in the academic office had the same stunned look when he processed the paperwork. It was as if they'd never seen someone willingly quit before. They were used to expelling students—not the other way around.
As Huo Yuhao's homeroom teacher, and someone who had tolerated his frequent leaves and absences, Zhou Yi felt she deserved to hear it from him directly.
Sigh.
In the end, Zhou Yi just sighed. There was no point trying to stop Huo Yuhao now. He'd already quit—anything she said would be redundant.
Two days later, in Shrek City.
Song Ming and Ye Lingling finally returned. Ye Lingling had absorbed a 420-year-old plant-type soul ring. Her soul skill was healing. The Nine-Heart Begonia martial soul only had one skill from beginning to end: healing. So it didn't matter what kind of soul beast was hunted.
Nine-Heart Begonia, like Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, was a support-type martial soul. The key difference? Only one heir per generation. There could never be more than two Nine-Heart Begonia soul masters alive at the same time. One must die for another to emerge. It was arguably the rarest martial soul in existence.
Today, there were no known inheritors of the Nine-Heart Begonia. Ye Lingling might be the only one in this era. When Huo Yuhao had asked Song Ming to investigate historical Nine-Heart Begonia soul masters, Ye Lingling had never shown up.
Huo Yuhao recalled that in the original timeline, Ye Lingling was a member of the Emperor Team, which later participated in the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament. It should've been easy to dig up info—so her time travel must've altered history slightly.
"Little girl, we're leaving. What are you planning next?" Huo Yuhao asked with a smile, looking at Ye Lingling.
Ye Lingling froze for a moment, then clung to Huo Yuhao's arm and pouted:
"Big brother, take me with you, okay? Pretty please?"
Of course, Huo Yuhao knew she had nowhere else to go. He didn't plan to bring her around forever either. Once the sect's intermediate academy was completed, he'd arrange for her to be stationed there.
"How's the construction going in Longxing City?" he asked Song Ming, standing beside him.
Knowing the Young Master meant the advanced academy, Song Ming chuckled and replied:
"It was originally a mid-level academy. We acquired it and are expanding. Once the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament is over, enrollment can begin."
Huo Yuhao nodded in understanding. There were less than two months until the tournament. Normally, academies wouldn't start a new term right after the tournament. The Body Sect clearly intended to ride the hype wave.
Of course, this plan assumed the Body Sect performed well in the tournament.
That night, under the moonlight. On the second-floor balcony.
Huo Yuhao sat on a hanging chair, swaying gently.
"Yuhao, what's on your mind?"
A raspy voice sounded beside him. At some point, Poison Undying had silently appeared at his side.
"Master, you're here?"
Poison Undying grunted softly. Then he asked:
"I heard you dropped out of Shrek?"
"Mm. Shrek isn't helpful for my cultivation. Besides, the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament is in three months. I plan to compete under our academy's banner. What do you think, Master?"
Poison Undying was thrilled. He smiled broadly.
"That's excellent. With you in the mix, I have no worries. That's exactly why I came to talk to you. The sect has selected ten disciples for the tournament—seven main members, three substitutes. I'd like you to train them before the competition. What do you say?"
"What?"
Huo Yuhao almost thought he misheard. He looked at Poison Undying strangely.
"Master, are you serious? Any random elder in the sect is stronger than me."
He left out another point: the selected participants were all Soul Ancestors or Soul Kings—maybe even a Soul Emperor. All of them were above Huo Yuhao in level. How was he supposed to train them?
Besides, this would eat into his own cultivation time. Huo Yuhao instinctively disliked the idea.
"The sect isn't lacking in instructors," Poison Undying replied. "But we don't have anyone like you—someone who, as a Soul Ancestor, can beat a Soul Emperor. Not even the elders, the worshippers, or myself can manage that."
At those words, Huo Yuhao's face turned a bit ugly. Why could he skip two whole levels? Because of the Heavenly Demon Codex, the external soul bone, and the insights from his second soul. Could he teach any of that? Of course not.
....
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