"Ah, Yuhao, you have no idea how xenophobic the students at Shrek Academy can be."
After downing another cup of wine, Xiao Hongchen launched back into his rant.
"Take when I first joined Shrek, for example. The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament had just ended not long before that. Hmph. Those Shrek guys definitely didn't take kindly to us breaking their championship streak. For the entire first month, I didn't exchange a single word with any Shrek student."
It was clear that Xiao Hongchen had been holding this in for a while. He rambled on, venting to Huo Yuhao with no signs of stopping.
"And that's not all. Once I got into their so-called inner courtyard, any inner court disciple whose cultivation wasn't much lower than mine—or even surpassed mine—would try to mess with me. Heh, and some even dared to lay hands on me."
A cold smile crept across his face as he continued.
"Hmph. There's no one in this world who can treat me like a pushover. Anyone who dared to provoke me definitely paid for it. One time, an inner court soul emperor picked a fight with me. In the end, I beat him to the ground right in the sparring arena. Hahaha! Come on, Yuhao—drink!"
"Senior Xiao, you're impressive."
Huo Yuhao smiled as he filled their cups.
"Wow! Our big bro is really putting the Hongchen family name out there!"
Xiao Hongchen took a small sip and turned to Meng Hongchen with a proud and mysterious grin.
"Haha, of course! And by the way, thanks to all those 'friendly duels' with Shrek students, I've now reached the bottleneck of Rank 60. Little sis, you better start working harder!"
Meng Hongchen blinked in surprise—then suddenly burst into giggles.
Now it was Xiao Hongchen's turn to freeze. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting at all! When he saw his little sister again, he had imagined she'd be stunned and awed that he was about to become a Soul Emperor.
Huo Yuhao was also holding back a laugh. Smiling, he raised his cup toward Xiao Hongchen.
"Congratulations, Senior Xiao. But... Senior Meng is already a Soul Emperor."
Xiao Hongchen was dumbfounded. His jaw nearly hit the table.
"Huh?"
He stared blankly for a few seconds. Only when he saw Huo Yuhao's raised cup did he come back to his senses. Eyes wide and filled with disbelief, he slowly clinked cups with Yuhao and took small sips—like he needed more time to digest the news.
Putting his cup down with a soft clink, Xiao Hongchen wiped his eyes and looked at Meng Hongchen in disbelief.
"Little sis, how did you do it? I only just reached the bottleneck of Rank 60, and you've already absorbed your soul ring?!"
"Hehe, big bro, don't forget—my soul power compatibility with Yuhao is ridiculously high. We train together every day, so of course our cultivation is twice as effective."
Xiao Hongchen fell silent. Her explanation made sense, but it still felt like he'd taken two critical hits at once.
"Sigh, forget it. Congratulations, little sis. Your cultivation has officially surpassed mine. But hey, that means the Hongchen family now has two seventeen-year-old Soul Emperors. Hahaha! Compared to that, those inner courtyard disciples at Shrek are nothing."
The three Hongchen family members continued chatting for a while. Xiao Hongchen asked about the latest news from the Sun Moon Empire, while Meng Hongchen, curious, asked a bunch of questions about Shrek Academy.
Time flew by, and before they knew it, the food on the table was completely gone. Of course, that was mostly thanks to the one responsible for eating half the table's worth of food—the bottomless pit that was the Auspicious Beast.
"Senior Xiao, you know the legendary Great Star Dou Forest is right near Shrek City, right?"
Xiao Hongchen nodded. "That's right, Yuhao. I was actually planning to head there soon to search for my sixth soul ring."
"Perfect," Huo Yuhao smiled. "I'm also stuck at the Rank 40 bottleneck. I need a spiritual-type soul beast for my next soul ring. Senior Xiao, do you know what a soul spirit is?"
Then came the now-familiar explanation—Huo Yuhao began breaking down what a soul spirit was and how it worked.
A little while later, Meng Hongchen's Demon Soul Great White Shark soul spirit slowly re-entered her body. Xiao Hongchen's eyes were wide with shock.
"This is a soul spirit?! You're telling me this is an eighty-thousand-year-old soul beast?!"
He quickly realized how ridiculous that was—not only could a soul spirit offer additional soul rings, it also allowed a soul master to absorb soul beasts far beyond their usual limit.
"Exactly. That's why I plan to head to the Great Star Dou Forest and get one for you too."
Xiao Hongchen was moved beyond words. But he still asked hesitantly,
"Finding a soul spirit is one thing... but even if it doesn't require death, it still means giving up freedom. Where could we possibly find a powerful soul beast willing to do that?"
Huo Yuhao gave a mysterious smile, glanced at the Auspicious Beast, and replied,
"You don't need to worry about that, Senior Xiao. To explain why I'm so confident, let me introduce someone to you—Snow Empress."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao sealed off all connections between their private room and the outside world. Then he summoned Snow Empress.
Since they were all family, there was no need to hide her presence.
Next, Huo Yuhao briefly explained his plan—to take the Snow Empress, someone capable of contending with Di Tian, to negotiate face-to-face with the Beast God himself and propose a soul spirit partnership.
Xiao Hongchen fell into stunned silence again. It took everything he had to lift his head and look at the terrifying soul beast before him—a being with power rivaling the top of the world. Steadying his voice, he spoke with visible effort.
"Snow Empress... hello."
Snow Empress looked at him, a trace of approval in her eyes for his courage. She nodded gently.
"Hello."
Then, she returned to Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea.
With the overwhelming cold she brought now gone, Xiao Hongchen finally exhaled in relief. He turned to look at Huo Yuhao like he was some sort of monster.
He simply couldn't fathom how Huo Yuhao had managed to recruit someone like Snow Empress. Huo Yuhao had always been a legendary figure, someone who could do the impossible—but this... this had completely shattered the boundaries of Xiao Hongchen's imagination.
(End of Chapter)
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