The journey to the Star Dou Forest had come to a perfect conclusion.
Not only did Ning Tian and Tang Ya each obtain top-quality soul rings that suited them, but Tang Ya's Blue Silver Emperor bloodline had also been awakened.
When Tang Ya regained consciousness, she was thrilled to discover that her soul power had broken through three levels, reaching the forty-third level. For her, this was undoubtedly an unexpected delight.
Generally speaking, at Shrek Academy, those confident enough to participate in the inner court assessment were elite outer court students who, during their six years of study, had reached at least the forty-fifth level of soul power.
For instance, Xu Sanshi and Beibei had both broken through to the forty-fifth level before taking the inner court assessment.
This was due to their particularly powerful martial souls and deep foundations. For ordinary outer court students, they would need at least the cultivation of a late-stage Soul Ancestor to have a chance of passing the inner court assessment.
The inner court assessment was extremely rigorous.
But Tang Ya was already in her sixth year. Unlike Beibei, who took the inner court assessment in his fifth year and had a buffer period, she only had this one chance. If she failed, it would mean leaving Shrek Academy, where she had lived for six years.
To enter the inner court and stay by Beibei's side, she spent the following period frantically cultivating and engaging in practical combat to improve herself, accompanied by Beibei.
During this time, Beibei also acquired a soul bone for Tang Ya.
Although Elder Mu was Beibei's great-grandfather, Shrek Academy was not their family's private property. It would clearly be inappropriate to search for a suitable soul bone for Tang Ya from the academy's collection.
Moreover, Beibei never had such intentions.
The soul bone was obtained through Ning Tian, leveraging the influence of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Naturally, the intermediary for the entire process was Xu Zihuang.
The Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had branches of the Nine Treasures Pavilion across the main cities of the three original empires of the Douluo Continent, gathering all sorts of treasures from the continent. Soul bones often appeared at the annual rare item auctions held at the end of the year.
This was especially true at the Nine Treasures Pavilion auctions in the imperial capitals of the Heavenly Dou City, Ling Dou City, Star Luo City, and Shrek City.
Tang Ya's soul bone was sourced from the inventory of the Nine Treasures Pavilion in Star Luo City. Ning Tian was happy to do Beibei and Tang Ya a favor, instructing that it be sold to Beibei at the auction's base price.
This was arguably the most appropriate approach. If it had been given for free, Beibei would certainly not have accepted it.
This way, it showed enough respect, made Beibei owe her a favor, and caused no discomfort whatsoever.
Although the soul bone wasn't of the highest quality, it was a standard ten-thousand-year soul bone—a right arm bone from a fifteen-thousand-year-old plant-type soul beast, the Crimson Flame Thorn.
Xu Zihuang and He Caitou had once encountered a Crimson Flame Thorn with nearly ten thousand years of cultivation in the hybrid zone of the Star Dou Forest. The Crimson Flame Thorn was considered a fairly powerful fire-attribute plant-type soul beast with several challenging innate soul skills. However, He Caitou had instantly killed it with a supercharged soul cannon, preventing it from fully displaying its abilities.
Strictly speaking, Tang Ya's Blue Silver Grass martial soul was not suitable for fusing with a Crimson Flame Thorn soul ring. While it would increase her Blue Silver Grass's resistance to fire and ice, the soul skills obtained from such a soul ring would not be particularly strong.
However, fusing with a soul bone was a different matter.
Soul bones were abilities independent of martial souls and soul rings.
As long as they did not completely conflict with the attributes of one's martial soul, they could theoretically be successfully fused. Regardless of the strength of the soul skills attached to the soul bone, it would enhance a soul master's abilities to some extent.
After fusing with the ten-thousand-year Crimson Flame Thorn right arm bone, Tang Ya's Blue Silver Grass martial soul gained significant resistance to ice and fire, and she also acquired a ranged attack soul skill, greatly compensating for her current shortcomings.
The base auction price for the ten-thousand-year Crimson Flame Thorn right arm bone was one million five hundred thousand gold soul coins. To gather this sum, Beibei borrowed money from several familiar inner court students. The first person he approached was Xu Sanshi.
Although the two often bickered, Xu Sanshi was always there when it mattered. Unfortunately, despite being the second young master of the Mysterious Underworld Sect, Xu Sanshi, like Beibei, only had about a hundred thousand gold soul coins at most. Most of this came from the one million gold soul coin reward from the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.
Unlike the three soul bones, these one million gold soul coins were divided among the eleven members of the main and reserve teams based on their contributions.
Considering the relationship between Yu Tianhuang and Ning Tian, Beibei didn't feel comfortable asking Yu Tianhuang for a loan. In the end, he had no choice but to approach the inner court's senior sister, Zhang Lexuan.
To his relief and surprise, Zhang Lexuan was exceptionally calm when facing him this time.
In the past, there had always been a faint trace of sorrow between Zhang Lexuan's brows. But during this meeting, Beibei noticed that the Lexuan he remembered had undergone a dramatic change in temperament. When she handed him the gold card worth a million gold soul coins, her beautiful face radiated a sunny smile.
After parting with Zhang Lexuan, Beibei felt much more at ease. He was genuinely happy for the change in her.
Xu Zihuang continued his usual studies. The goals set by Elder Mu and Fan Yu were always completed ahead of schedule and beyond expectations, so he never felt any pressure.
In this fulfilling life, the academic year at Shrek Academy was quickly coming to an end.
The outer court students were all cultivating and studying with a sense of urgency.
The only exceptions were those confident they could pass the next year's advancement assessment or those who had given up hope of passing and abandoned themselves to despair.
Winter nights carried a slight chill, but the area outside Shrek Academy's east gate remained lively.
Small stalls and vendors gathered here, the aroma of various specialty snacks filling the air. The soul-guided streetlights lining the wide main road illuminated the area brightly.
In a corner by the roadside, Huo Yuhao sat by his grill, silently roasting fish over a charcoal fire.
With his head lowered, his medium-length black hair covered his eyes, and his demeanor was somber. From time to time, he looked up toward Shrek Academy, his deep blue eyes carrying a mix of obsession and the last flicker of hope amidst despair.
In two days, the semester would end, but his soul power was still stuck at the nineteenth level. By his estimation, at his current cultivation speed, the one-month holiday would not be enough to break through the twentieth-level bottleneck, let alone acquire a soul ring to advance to Great Soul Master and pass the fourth-year advancement assessment for the soul tool department.
In his despair, Huo Yuhao thought of the Mysterious Water Pill Beibei had given him. He had personally experienced its effects. The transformation from a single Mysterious Water Pill had at least doubled his cultivation speed and directly increased his soul power by nearly three levels. If he could get another Mysterious Water Pill, he was confident he could break through to the twentieth level in a short time.
To this end, he had been setting up his stall outside the east gate almost every day, hoping to earn enough money to buy a Mysterious Water Pill.
But today, when he overheard a senior from the soul tool department mention that a Mysterious Water Pill cost over ten thousand gold soul coins, he fell into despair once again.
Ten thousand gold soul coins were an astronomical figure for an ordinary soul master like him with no background.
Then, when the senior mentioned a female student named Ying Ke'er from the third-year, fourth class of the martial soul department, whose soul skill had effects similar to the Mysterious Water Pill, hope reignited in him.
Huo Yuhao had an excellent memory and clearly remembered that a female student who often bought grilled fish from his stall was named Ying Ke'er.
So, he had come to set up his stall outside the east gate early today.
Not long after, the person he had been waiting for finally arrived.
Several female students in the yellow uniforms of the martial soul department walked out from Shrek Academy's main gate. Judging by their yellow uniforms and their ages—around thirteen or fourteen—they were clearly third-year students.
Though their appearances couldn't compare to Ning Tian or Tang Ya, they were still charming. Their lively chatter instantly drew many gazes.
Leading the group was a girl with shoulder-length cherry-red hair—Ying Ke'er, the class leader of the third-year, fourth class, from the same year as Xu Zihuang.
Following Ying Ke'er's gaze, the other girls also looked toward Huo Yuhao and walked over.
One of the girls stood in front of Huo Yuhao's grilled fish stall, wrinkling her nose and widening her eyes in surprise.
"It smells so good! Ke'er, you were right. How did we never notice this before?"
"He used to only set up his stall on rest days in the morning. Think about what you were all doing then," Ying Ke'er teased with a giggle.
The other girls blushed and exchanged glances. They were either auxiliary soul masters, healers, or food-type soul masters, with lighter study loads than battle soul masters. At that time, they were either still sleeping or meditating. They wouldn't get out of bed until necessary.
In terms of effort in cultivation, they were far behind Ning Tian and Ying Ke'er. An excellent soul master couldn't rely solely on innate talent; hard work was equally important.
Even Xu Zihuang never slacked in his cultivation.
The girl who had spoken first recovered and said regretfully, "It's a pity Sister Tian'er is busy preparing for the inner court assessment and doesn't have time. Otherwise, we should've brought her to try this."
"There'll be chances in the future," Ying Ke'er replied with an undimmed smile, then said to Huo Yuhao, "Give us two grilled perch each."
Huo Yuhao, who had been eagerly waiting, quickly nodded. He flipped the nearly cooked fish a few more times, sprinkled on seasonings, and handed them out.
To earn more money, he had upgraded his grill. The larger grill could now cook eight fish at once, perfect for Ying Ke'er's group of four.
The girls took the fish and eagerly took a bite. The crispy, oily fish skin and the tender, garlicky fish meat beneath it had distinct textures. The heat and flavor were impeccable.
"Ke'er, this is amazing," one said.
"Told you," Ying Ke'er said proudly, puffing out her chest slightly. Her gaze, however, inadvertently flicked to Huo Yuhao.
Though she seemed carefree, she was far from clueless. Coming from a prominent soul master family, she was smarter than many of her peers. Her playful demeanor was deliberate, a quirk of her personality. How could she not notice the odd look in Huo Yuhao's eyes?
But she didn't call him out. Instead, she took eight silver soul coins from her soul tool and placed them on the grill.
She was curious to see what Huo Yuhao was up to today.
"I… I don't want money," Huo Yuhao said, his expression shifting as he stammered.
Huo Yuhao and Dai Luoli both carried deep inferiority complexes, but compared to Dai Luoli, Huo Yuhao was more obsessive, clinging to his last shred of pride. If it weren't for his desire to stay at Shrek Academy, he would never have considered begging anyone.
"Then what do you want?" Ying Ke'er asked, her brows furrowing slightly in reflex. The other three girls also looked at Huo Yuhao curiously.
Under the gaze of four strikingly beautiful girls, Huo Yuhao grew visibly uncomfortable. As a teenager entering puberty, his inferiority complex and vague longing for the opposite sex made him ill at ease.
Hearing Ying Ke'er's question, he blurted out without thinking, "I want your cherries."
"What did you say?!" Ying Ke'er's face froze, her eyes filled with shock and disbelief. She never imagined she'd be the one teased.
The other three girls looked at him with disgust and disdain. Even the delicious grilled fish now tasted like wax in their mouths.
"This guy's so creepy. I'm grossed out."
"Yeah."
"Ke'er, let's go. No point talking to a sleaze like him."
Huo Yuhao opened his mouth to explain, but the girls' scornful expressions and words weighed on him, making it hard to breathe. His eyes even reddened slightly.
Over the years, he had suppressed too much. Even mere disdainful words and looks could easily ignite the negative emotions in his heart.
But he had gradually learned to suppress his emotions and hide his true thoughts, though he couldn't do so perfectly.
"I just want your martial soul, the cherries that can improve one's constitution. I can pay for them," Huo Yuhao said, his voice trembling slightly.
Though he explained, the girls, swayed by their first impressions, showed him no kindness.
But when Ying Ke'er saw the coldness in Huo Yuhao's eyes, a chill ran through her. The soul beast that had become her third soul ring had looked at her with those same eyes before it died.
Acting on instinct, she shook her head at the other girls, who were about to say more, and used her third soul skill to condense a few pink cherries, placing them on the grill.
They were all auxiliary soul masters with little combat ability; there was no need to confront Huo Yuhao. Besides, with her personality, she didn't mind such things. At most, she found it novel.
Many people wanted to try the effects of her soul skill, and she usually didn't refuse.
Seeing Ying Ke'er's serious expression, the other three girls understood and followed her lead. After spending so much time together, they had that level of tacit understanding.
Though Huo Yuhao had obtained what he wanted so smoothly, he felt little joy. Staring at Ying Ke'er and the others as they disappeared, he couldn't help but clench his fists.
Poor talent, weak strength, and no background destined him to a life of humility.
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