Diary

After returning to his room, Huo Yuhao excitedly went to the vegetable patch in the backyard. He tended to the thriving spices he had planted some time ago, then infused Soul Power into several Soul Guidance Lamps with insufficient energy reserves. Only then did he return indoors and begin sorting through the results of his efforts over this period.

Mole can no longer be used as an identity. I've grown another centimeter recently, and it looks like I'm about to hit a growth spurt. Fortunately, my Soul Power Level has already broken through level ten. Once I obtain my First Soul Ring, I can take Mom away from Star Luo City and settle down in Shrek.

Huo Yuhao's pen suddenly paused as he wrote on the rough paper. He raised his head and looked out the window. The spices in the garden outside were flourishing, and the sight calmed him somewhat.

He had asked the owner of Muddled Treasure Pavilion to help him gather these spices. Many of them had extremely strict environmental requirements for cultivation and were not crops found within Star Luo City at all.

Moreover, even on the Sun Moon Continent, nobles had little more than scallions, ginger, and garlic on their tables. Their cooking methods were limited to simple stewing, boiling, and roasting. Still, that left him a way to make money.

Once he reached Shrek City, Huo Yuhao did not intend to keep accepting those dangerous commissions. Compared to the days of licking blood from the edge of a blade every day in Sekiro's world, taking commissions every few days to earn money was worlds apart. But there were simply too many powerful people in this world. During his most dangerous commission, a Soul Ancestor and two Soul Elders had chased him all the way, and he had only shaken them off after running more than two hundred li without stopping.

After that commission, for three consecutive days, Huo Yuhao tasted blood in his mouth whenever he spoke. He had even felt as though he had squeezed all the blood from his lungs.

So long as he could earn money honestly and peacefully, Huo Yuhao truly did not want to accept those commissions anymore.

With that thought, Huo Yuhao stared at the row of Level 1 Soul Guidance Lamps hanging above the crops. Their orange-yellow light shone down, radiating a comforting warmth. At this temperature, even in Star Luo City, a region closer to the north, crops native to tropical areas could still be grown.

Huo Yuhao sat in a daze for a while, then vaguely heard a string of soft, rapid coughs. The breathing that followed carried a faint wheeze, making his heart clench. Yet the sound soon vanished again, as if it had never existed.

The pills I brought back have not been particularly effective for Mom's illness. I can only place my hopes on Shrek City. Even if the private physicians serving the nobles there cannot cure her, if I can get into Shrek Academy, perhaps I can call in that favor and ask a Support System teacher to help examine Mom's condition.

Huo Yuhao's handwriting became somewhat messy with the sound of coughing, but fortunately, he soon continued writing.

Mom's Wheezing Syndrome probably began when the Duchess drove her into the woodshed while she was pregnant with me. She caught a chill then, and it left behind the root of this illness. Although I took Mom away from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion less than half a year after awakening my Martial Soul, the disease had already dragged on for many years. By then, treatment had been delayed for too long.

Many doctors could only say that she needed rest and nutritional food. I could understand what they meant from the look in their eyes. After dragging on for so long, even if it had only started as a chill, removing it from Mom's body now would be fraught with difficulty. Being able to keep the illness from worsening through rest was already the limit of what they could do.

I cannot blame them. Medical skills in this world are not even as advanced as Ashina's. With Healing System Soul Masters around, many treatment methods are rendered meaningless. While that is convenient, it has also hindered the development of medicine. If Lady Emma were here, she would surely be able to cure Mom's illness, wouldn't she?

At this point, Huo Yuhao could not help but sigh deeply, but he still picked up his pen and continued.

Mole is too sensitive an identity. Once I reach Shrek City, I absolutely cannot use it again. But in that case, I will have to find another way to obtain a recommendation letter for Shrek.

Besides being no older than twelve and having a Soul Power Level of at least fifteen, the minimum requirements for entering Shrek also include a recommendation letter from someone of at least city lord status. The first two are not difficult, but the last one is truly troublesome.

There are quite a few ways to obtain a recommendation letter from someone of at least city lord status. Joining a small family or sect that was once glorious but has now fallen into decline would be a good choice. The Earl Ansel Family is not a bad option, but that man could not even send his own son to Shrek to gild his credentials. The family has probably truly scattered like monkeys from a fallen tree, with no foundation left at all. It can only be a backup option.

Besides that, the Tang Sect seems like a good choice as well. According to the intelligence I have gathered recently, the Tang Sect now seems to have only one sect master and one disciple left. A sect that was once immensely popular but has now declined would truly suit me.

However, Huo Yuhao's pen changed direction as he continued writing:

But on the Douluo Continent, once any Soul Master joins a family or sect, they may never betray it and must become a part of that family. Everything they do in the future will be constrained. Joining a good family or sect would be fine, but this sect's reputation is truly enough to make people keep their distance. No matter how well it suits me, it can only remain a backup option.

Huo Yuhao closed his eyes in thought. After a brief while, he finally wrote:

Legend says that Shrek accepts only monsters and not ordinary people. My Martial Soul happens to be the rare eye-type Martial Soul, so perhaps it can arouse the curiosity of Shrek's teachers. Once I obtain my First Soul Ring, I should be able to try making a Level 2 Soul Guidance Device. Combining the two should be enough to attract a teacher willing to make an exception and apply for an opportunity for me to enroll.

But before that, I must find a way to establish myself in Shrek City. I need to open a restaurant and make a name for myself with the spices I have prepared. Only then will I have a chance to get to know the teachers of Shrek Academy.

I heard there is also an old man called Xuan Zi at Shrek Academy. He is crazy all day long and especially loves good food, particularly roasted chicken legs. If I can cater to his tastes, perhaps my chances of entering Shrek can rise a little further. I just wonder whose relative this old man called Xuan Zi is—a teacher's or one of the school leaders'—that he can live so freely at Shrek Academy.

In that case, I'll first prepare to head to the Star Dou Forest and hunt Soul Beasts. Afterward, I'll find a way to establish myself in Shrek City and, while I'm at it, weave a new intelligence network there.

Information gathered through hearsay is far too unreliable. I cannot even find out who stands behind a crazy old man. That is far too passive.

Only then did Huo Yuhao put down his pen. He stored the entire diary in his Storage Soul Guidance Device, then took out a Katana roughly ninety centimeters long from it.