The Day of Departure

Second Madam's gaze immediately settled on Huo Yuhao.

"Hello, Second Madam."

Huo Yuhao appeared very respectful before Second Madam. No matter what, she was his benefactor.

Since he did not know how he should address her, Huo Yuhao used the general form of address.

Seeing that Huo Yuhao looked quite well, Second Madam immediately smiled. "You should call me Aunt Chu. Calling me Second Madam is far too formal."

"Aunt Chu."

Huo Yuhao changed how he addressed her at once, without the slightest hesitation.

Second Madam nodded gently. Rising to her feet, she spoke in a warm voice, "Then I won't disturb you any longer, Old Chen."

Old Chen nodded slightly.

Soon, Second Madam said nothing more. After giving Huo Yuhao and Dai Luoli encouraging smiles, she quietly left alone.

"Alright, come with me to the Training Ground." Old Chen stood up and walked steadily toward the Training Ground.

Huo Yuhao and Dai Luoli followed closely behind him.

That day's lessons were nothing more than combat training and theoretical instruction.

Being a Soul Master did not mean one could disregard fighting techniques. Such techniques were also quite helpful to Soul Masters.

The most typical example was the Body Sect. They greatly valued fighting techniques, as they could uncover opportunities to develop self-created Combat Techniques through them.

Then came theoretical instruction. How should he put it? Anyone with even a little background would have learned it.

As the saying went, know yourself and know your enemy, and you would never be defeated in a hundred battles.

The only thing Huo Yuhao could not understand was why so many freshmen going to study at Shrek acted as though they had never learned any theory. The moment class began, they would pretend to be clueless. Whenever the Teacher said something, they would all gasp and exclaim as if whatever he said was incredibly amazing.

Good heavens!

It was understandable for freshmen from poor families like Jiang Nannan not to know such things, but as for the rest, if not all of them, then at least ninety percent had surely learned basic theory at home.

Shrek Academy's teaching for freshmen would not start by making them learn difficult concepts. It would definitely begin with these simple things, so why make themselves look like complete novices?

Of course, they really did not understand Soul Tool knowledge. That was not baseless criticism, since opinions on Soul Tools Inside Shrek Academy were sharply divided.

Those who liked them loved them dearly, while those who disliked them utterly detested them.

Speaking of which, there was another puzzling matter. Wang Dong's Light Goddess Butterfly was one of the most beautiful Martial Souls on the continent. This Martial Soul could only be inherited by exceptionally beautiful girls, yet in the early part of the Original Work, no one besides Shrek's teachers and higher-ups noticed the problem.

He did not know whether those Outer Court students simply disliked learning such obscure trivia or truly did not know what was special about it.

The following days passed amid high-intensity training. Huo Yuhao did not dare waste a single moment. Other than eating and using the toilet, he spent all his remaining time studying and cultivating.

Yet his poor physical condition could not help but make him sigh. Before the Original Work's Huo Yuhao encountered Big Worm, his early days had truly been far too difficult.

After several days of intense cultivation, the increase in his cultivation was not even comparable to Dai Luoli's.

But without a doubt, for Huo Yuhao, the five days he spent living with Old Chen had been almost the most comfortable days he had experienced in a long time.

The Thousand-Year Soul Beast meat had also made Huo Yuhao's originally thin and weak body much sturdier. At least, he was not as frail as in the Original Work.

White Tiger Duchess and Dai Huabin also seemed to have truly forgotten about him. But that was fine. Huo Yuhao knew that he currently had no ability to fight them. There would be plenty of time in the future.

Early morning.

The sun had yet to rise. The earth was gradually awakening, and a faint glimmer of light had already appeared at the edge of the sky.

Huo Yuhao ended his meditation early, then meticulously cleaned the room until it was spotless.

He had very few belongings, only the things he had brought when he first came to Old Chen's place. A simple bundle was enough to hold them all.

"Finally finished cleaning." Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Huo Yuhao looked at the neat, clean room and nodded in satisfaction.

Knock, knock.

Suddenly, there came a knock at the door. Knowing that Old Chen had arrived, Huo Yuhao hurried over to open it.

Sure enough, when the door opened, Old Chen was standing in the corridor.

"Old Chen," Huo Yuhao called respectfully.

"Come eat breakfast. Once you're done, I'll see you off," Old Chen said with a light smile.

"Yes."

Breakfast was plentiful: tender, delicious grilled Soul Beast meat, a large bowl of White Jade Corn Juice, and three Golden Pheasant Eggs.

Clack.

Just as Huo Yuhao was gulping down the corn juice, a crisp sound of something falling rang out beside him.

Huo Yuhao looked over in confusion and discovered something that looked like a money pouch.

"There are a hundred Gold Soul Coins in there. Take them as travel expenses. Shrek City isn't cheap, and I'm afraid you'll fail to become an apprentice and end up begging as a beggar instead," Old Chen said, looking at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao did not refuse. Holding the bowl in his left hand as he drank the corn juice, he grabbed the money pouch with his right hand and stuffed it into his trouser pocket.

"If you haven't settled down after reaching Shrek City, then go to Star Luo City," Old Chen instructed sternly as he drank his tea.

"Alright." After finishing the last mouthful of corn juice, Huo Yuhao set down the large bowl.

At the gates of Falling Maple Courtyard.

The sky had already begun to brighten. Following behind Old Chen, Huo Yuhao instinctively looked back at the place where he had lived for several days as Old Chen opened the gates.

Suddenly, a morning breeze blew by, tearing a leaf from the maple tree. It eventually landed on Huo Yuhao's shoulder.

Taking the leaf from his shoulder, Huo Yuhao gazed at its fiery brilliance, and his eyes grew silent.

"Let's go." Old Chen's voice sounded, breaking Huo Yuhao's silence.

Smiling, he loosened his grip and released the leaf, allowing it to fall freely. Yet perhaps because of the wind, the leaf did not drift down to the ground as usual. Instead, it flew away with the breeze, leaving Falling Maple Courtyard.

Duke White Tiger's Mansion was no longer quiet in the early morning. As Huo Yuhao walked beside Old Chen, especially when they reached the mansion's outermost area, he could already see large numbers of servants moving about.

It was only a little past six in the morning.

Huo Yun'er used to rise even earlier than this. She worked nearly seventeen or eighteen hours a day. She had not merely fallen ill; she had been worked to exhaustion.

Dai Huabin's kick, however, had completely shattered the last remnants of Huo Yun'er's life.

Along the way, every servant they encountered respectfully bowed to Old Chen.

Within Duke White Tiger's Mansion, servants were also ranked by status. The lowest-ranking ones lived and worked on the outermost grounds.

The slightly better-off servants worked in the Outer Mansion, serving as direct attendants to different Courtyards.

As for the maids who served the Duchess and the White Tiger Family's direct descendants, their status was naturally even more different.

But as they walked past one particularly large Courtyard, Huo Yuhao's expression suddenly grew much more solemn, because this Courtyard was the Firewood Room.

Outside the Firewood Room, quite a few servants were currently heading inside. There were roughly thirty of them, all preparing to begin the day's work.

Huo Yuhao recognized quite a few of them.

Likewise, after respectfully greeting Old Chen, these people had intended to go about their business. But when they saw Huo Yuhao behind Old Chen, expressions of surprise appeared on all their faces.

After Huo Yuhao passed the Firewood Room, those people withdrew their gazes. Most of them exchanged looks, seemingly unsure what to think.

At the gate, two of the servants widened their eyes even further. They stared intently at Huo Yuhao's retreating back, then hurried into the Courtyard.