“Move aside,” one of the youths next to the short blue-haired youth shouted at Huo Yuhao fiercely.
In terms of appearance, they were around Huo Yuhao’s age. At most, they were only younger than him by one or two years. Next to them were five or six other students from Shrek Academy, all clad in purple uniforms, among them some pretty girls.
Huo Yuhao would never make a scene with his juniors over such an issue. He smiled slightly and moved to one side.
However, while he was magnanimous, not everyone was like him.
“Oi! Can you behave with some decorum?” a woman’s voice sounded. Someone appeared next to Huo Yuhao. Her hands were on her waist as she looked angrily at the group of young men and women. “Do you even know what courtesy is? Don’t you know that you should make way for your seniors? Move aside!”
The provocateur was naturally Nan Qiuqiu!
While Nan Qiuqiu was not as dazzling as Jiang Nannan or Wang Dong’er, she was pretty in her own right. The moment she jumped out next to Huo Yuhao, she was able to catch everyone’s attention.
The skinny youth’s eyes lit up as he said, “Wah! What a beauty! Where did you come from? Why don’t I recognize you?” Huo Yuhao and his entourage were not wearing the uniform of Shrek Academy, so naturally, they were regarded as outsiders.
Nan Qiuqiu said angrily, “Cut the crap! Move aside! If not, I’ll beat you up so badly your own mother won’t recognize you!”
The skinny youth was stunned. He mumbled, “This babe is feisty indeed! Boss, what should we do?”
The youth with the blue hair, who was evidently their leader, frowned and said helplessly, “It’s fine. Real men don’t fight with women.” As he said that, he moved to the side as he tried to walk past Nan Qiuqiu.
However, Nan Qiuqiu did not give up so easily. She grabbed his arm and said, “Are you insulting women?”
“I…” The blue-haired youth was perplexed as he said, “How did I insult women?” As he said that, he shrugged his shoulders slightly, and all Nan Qiuqiu felt then was that she was grabbing onto a chunk of soft clay. Her hands slid free, and her target slipped out of her grasp.
“Wow! You still dare to resist!” Her eyes glinted, and energy started to pulsate from her body. Two yellow, two purple, and one black ring, five in total, rose from underneath her feet. Her powerful aura dominated the entire area.
“Soul King?” The skinny youth exclaimed in shock. He could not help but take a few steps back. “This aunty here is a Soul King?”
Huo Yuhao slapped his forehead. We’re in trouble now.
Indeed, when she heard him call her an aunty, Nan Qiuqiu, whose intentions were more playful than malicious, blew her top. She glared at the skinny youth so intently the veins on her forehead could be seen. Fire blazed in her eyes as she uttered, word-by-word, “Who…are…you…calling…aunty?”
Nan Qiuqiu was only twenty years old. While she had a nice body, how could any woman not care about her age? When she heard that, she was naturally enraged.
The skinny youth was a natural-born troublemaker. He did not appear to be afraid of trouble as he said, sticking his neck out, “I’m calling you aunty, you big-breasted bimbo! So what if you’re a Soul King? If you want to show off in front of Shrek Academy, don’t cry if I beat you up so badly your own mother won’t even recognize you!”
“Ah! Ah! Ah! I’m going to kill you!” The Ruby Dragon appeared above Nan Qiuqiu’s forehead. If not for Ye Guyi, who was holding her back, she would have already rushed forward.
“See! Even you admit that you’re old,” the skinny youth said, without a care in the world.
“Be kind with your words, junior,” said Huo Yuhao. He noticed that Nan Qiuqiu was on the verge of exploding, and so had no choice but to intervene. As he said that, he stood in front of Nan Qiuqiu.
The skinny youth was just about to retort, but then saw the clear light in Huo Yuhao’s eyes. His eyes glazed over as he said, “Oh.”
Including the blue-haired youth, the entire group of Grade 4 students from the outer courtyard all felt as if Huo Yuhao’s warm gaze was staring straight at them. Their brains were all in a complete mess.
“Move aside.”
“Okay.” The group of young men and women all moved aside.
Huo Yuhao turned around and dragged Nan Qiuqiu into the academy with everyone else.
“Why are you dragging me? I’m going to kill them all! They dared to call me an aunty! Am I that old?” Nan Qiuqiu was about to rush back outside, but the hand Huo Yuhao was grabbing her with felt as solid as gold. No matter how much she struggled, she could feel a powerful energy coming from his hand, making her soul power and spiritual power tremble. There was no way she could break free of him!
“If you continue to cause trouble, you don’t need to come with us anymore. Stay at the Tang Sect,” intoned Huo Yuhao.
As she looked at his serious expression, Nan Qiuqiu suddenly felt a sense of fear rising in her heart for no apparent reason. The anger in her heart was a fire that was just now doused by cold water. She became much calmer.
“Alright, alright! There’s no need to be so fierce!” Nan Qiuqiu’s tone dipped.
Huo Yuhao let go of her hand, smiled thinly at her, and said, “Am I that fierce? Let’s go, we’re going to Sea God’s Island!”
Xu Sanshi walked behind them as he said in a bored tone, “So boring! If they really fight, wouldn’t that be a sight? Qiuqiu is a hot little chili, indeed. What a volatile personality!”
He Caitou smiled slightly and said, “Screw that! You should stop causing trouble, too. Let’s go!”
Xu Sanshi chuckled and said, “We’re all youths, and should behave as such. Brother Ji, am I right?”
“Go!” Ji Juechen replied in his typical clipped fashion.
At the gate of Shrek Academy, the group students from Grade 4 finally cleared their heads. The skinny youth mumbled, “What happened? What’s going on? I feel like I’m floating.”
The youth with the short blue hair turned serious as he said, “We appear to have been manipulated. That person was so strong! Do you know who he is?”
A girl said, “I’ve never seen him before! Judging by his age, he should be about as old as us. However, why don’t I have any impression of him?”
The youth with the short hair said, “He called us juniors, so he must be someone from the Academy. Could he be a senior from the inner courtyard? Right! He must be! If not, how could his spiritual power be so strong?”
A hawker next to him could not help, but interject, “Young brother, stop thinking about it! You can’t afford to piss that guy off. He’s known as the most talented student Shrek Academy has seen in the last thousand years!”
The blue-haired youth turned to look at the man in shock and asked, “Uncle, you know him?”
The hawker nodded and said, “Of course I do. Five to six years ago, he had a stall here too, selling grilled fish. His business was rather good. Then the Academy decided to place special emphasis on nurturing him. We’ve all heard his story. Once I say his name, you’ll naturally know who he is! He’s called Huo Yuhao!”
“Huo Yuhao?” The blue-haired youth’s voice jumped a few octaves. His eyes were filled with shock. The group of Grade 4 students behind him all appeared paralyzed.
The skinny youth’s face turned pale, and then green as he said, “I… I told Senior Huo to make way for me. Heavens! I’m dead, I’m so dead…”
The young girl who had spoken before couldn’t help but ask the hawker, “Uncle, so that person just now was the Huo Yuhao? The champion who seized the championship from the jaws of defeat in the last Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, who also represented the Tang Sect and defeated an evil Soul Sage in the most recent tournament? The one born with twin martial souls and an Ultimate martial soul, who is also known as the top genius from Shrek Academy?”
The hawker mumbled, “I don’t know all those titles, but the name Huo Yuhao is rare. There appears to be only one guy from the Academy with that name.”
The blue-haired youth mumbled to himself, “It’s him, it must be him! One of Senior Yuhao’s martial souls is Spirit Eyes! Just now, when we saw him, he used some power in his eyes. We passed by our idol just like that! Let’s go! We must apologize to our senior!”
As he said that, he turned and ran in the other direction. The others followed him. However, when they reached the shore of the Sea God’s Lake, they could not see anyone from the Tang Sect. All the saw was a few small, black dots stepping onshore in the middle of the lake.
The blue-haired youth sighed and muttered, “We missed our chance. We really missed our chance!”
—
Huo Yuhao naturally did not know about how his juniors reacted to the discovery of his identity. Now, he was back with his companions on Sea God’s Island.
Every time he returned, he would sense a warm feeling that made him happy. However, it was different this time, because someone was missing.
At the Sea God’s Pavilion, Huo Yuhao did not enter straightaway. Instead, he knelt in front of the blooming golden tree and kowtowed three times. It was his way of honoring Elder Mu.
“Teacher, I’m back. I think I’ve found the path that you talked about,” Huo Yuhao mumbled softly.
A clear gust of wind blew, and the tree leaves on the golden tree danced. The tree emitted a faint compassionate aura.
“Get up. Have you recovered?” Elder Xuan’s voice rang out from the Sea God’s Pavilion.
Huo Yuhao stood up and said respectfully, “Yes. Hello, Elder Xuan!”
Elder Xuan replied, “Come in!”
Not everyone could enter the Sea God’s Pavilion. Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi naturally knew this rule. Nan Qiuqiu and Ye Guyi, who were not as familiar with the rules of Shrek Academy, were brought to wait at one side. Huo Yuhao entered the Sea God’s Pavilion alone.
Elder Xuan sat at the head of a long table. He was not alone. The other elders of the Sea God’s Pavilion, including Zhang Lexuan, were all present. There was only one empty chair.
Elder Xuan nodded at Huo Yuhao and said, “When you were undergoing your closed-door cultivation, Bei Bei took over your spot temporarily. Now that you’re back, please take up your seat once more.”
“Yes,” Huo Yuhao replied respectfully. He bowed to the other elders before walking to the seat at the table and sitting down. He lowered his head slightly, appearing extremely respectful.
Elder Xuan looked at him and said, “Yuhao, you’ve grown. After Dong’er got into trouble, I was afraid that you might not recover from it. Now, I see that you’ve managed to hold yourself together. Your powers have improved greatly, too. Very good! I believe Elder Mu’s spirit would rejoice at the sight of you now, too! You are indeed his chosen one.”
Huo Yuhao said respectfully, “Grief solves nothing. While Dong’er sleeps, all I can do is continually improve myself. After she wakes up, I’ll be better able to protect her.”
“Good that you know,” Elder Xuan said gladly. “Now that everyone is here, the meeting of the Sea God’s Pavilion shall start. We have only one thing on the agenda, and that’s the mission!”
The meeting lasted for more than four hours.
Fortunately, Xu Sanshi and He Caitou both had places to stay in the inner courtyard. After waiting for a while, they brought Ji Juechen, Jing Ziyan, and the rest away to eat before coming back to wait some more.
After one entire afternoon, Huo Yuhao finally emerged from the Sea God’s Pavilion. He did not say anything to them. All he told them was that they would be moving out tomorrow before he brought everyone back to the Tang Sect.
As they left Shrek Academy, it was still lesson time. This time, they naturally did not meet any juniors. Xu Sanshi felt a twinge of regret.
——
Back at the Tang Sect, everyone busied themselves. They packed their daily necessities and brought out everything they needed to use. Those from the Tang Sect would play a big role in the plan the Sea God’s Pavilion had come up with. For everyone to return peacefully, Bei Bei opened the warehouse of the Tang Sect to let them pick what they needed.
The first thing Huo Yuhao took out was the giant Heart Protecting Mirror made out of Starlight Sapphire, which had once held the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s human-shaped soul tool, and which he had been keeping safe for Dong’er. With the Heartprotecting Mirror on him, he and He Caitou started to gear up.
They worked until midnight, and only then did Huo Yuhao find Xuan Ziwen. After he left his room, he had another Starlight Sapphire Ring on him.
—
In the morning the next day, Bei Bei personally brought everyone from the Tang Sect out to send them off. They only went back after the team left Shrek City.
Huo Yuhao’s flying-type soul tool was now Grade 7. This one was made personally by Xuan Ziwen. It was both fast, agile, and defensively strong. Furthermore, it was customized to his needs, according to his measurements. Of course, this was possible only because Huo Yuhao had managed to get enough materials from the Sun Moon Empire the last time he was there!
Huo Yuhao jumped into the air, and a light flashed in his eyes. He did not release his martial soul, but the Grade 7 soul tool on his back opened.
The soul tool looked odd. It resembled a pair of butterfly wings, each of which had thrusters built in. In total, there were twelve, six on top and six below, aligned at different heights. When the dozen thrusters activated together, he was able to reach top speed.
