An Interesting Life Was About to Begin?

Early the next morning, Ling Mo got up and prepared to head to Shrek Academy in the east of the city for new student enrollment. Turning back to look at the small room, he probably would not be returning often in the future. After all, once he enrolled, he needed to focus on cultivation.

At the entrance of Shrek Academy, Ling Mo was surprised to spot someone he knew—Beibei, one of the Shrek Seven Devils from the original story. Then the young man and woman beside him must be Huo Yuhao and Tang Ya. What a coincidence. Logically speaking, as Mu En's great-grandson, Ling Mo should have been fairly close to Beibei. However, Ling Mo had spent nearly all these past years hunting Soul Beasts outside, so he had not become particularly familiar with Beibei.

He stepped forward to greet him. "Hello, Senior Beibei. Have you already found a Soul Ring for Senior Tang?"

"Little brother Ling Mo, you finally decided to enroll at Shrek?" Beibei had understood from Ling Mo's form of address that he had finally come to enroll today. He remembered his great-grandfather Mu En mentioning that Xuan Zi had kept urging Ling Mo to come two years ago, though he seemed to have stopped bothering after that.

"Yes. I'm twelve now, and I probably won't be able to come next year. Over these past few years, I've realized that my cultivation is still too slow. By the way, aren't you going to introduce these two friends of yours?" Ling Mo replied.

"This is your Senior Tang Ya. You should know her too; she is the current sect master of the Tang Sect." Beibei introduced them to Ling Mo. "This is Miyabi's newly accepted disciple, my junior brother—Huo Yuhao. Miyabi and I brought him here to enroll today. Since you happened to come too, why not go together?"

"Then thank you." Ling Mo was not entirely unfamiliar with Shrek Academy, but having someone lead the way would save him plenty of trouble.

"Student Huo, can I just call you Yuhao?" Ling Mo followed Beibei's group and completed the enrollment procedures. Since Tang Ya had reached Soul Elder after absorbing her Soul Ring, Beibei needed to take her to advance to the next grade. Thus, only Ling Mo and Huo Yuhao could head to the dormitories on their own now.

"Sure. Then I'll just call you Ling Mo. I heard Senior Brother say that you only came to enroll now at the age of twelve. Is it because your Soul Power Level wasn't high enough? My Soul Power Level wasn't high enough either. If Senior Brother Beibei and Teacher Miyabi hadn't given me a special Tang Sect quota, I wouldn't even have been able to enroll." Perhaps because he felt that this future classmate shared his hardships, Huo Yuhao was unusually warm toward Ling Mo.

"Uh... would you believe me if I said I enrolled so late because I needed to make money?"

"I believe you. Senior Brother just told me that Shrek's tuition is very expensive." Beibei had told Huo Yuhao about Shrek Academy on the way here, naturally including the academy's expenses. In Huo Yuhao's eyes, Ling Mo was probably poor, just like him.

Ling Mo thought, You actually believed that? Although he had indeed spent these past years hunting Soul Beasts for money, that was not the main reason. First, Huo Yuhao had not enrolled yet. If Ling Mo had enrolled too early, he might have missed many interesting events. Second, he wanted to practice the abilities from his previous life in the Honkai World. Whether it was his Martial Souls or the martial arts, swordsmanship, and other combat techniques he had learned in his previous life, all those combat skills and methods remained in his mind. Though the instincts were still there, his reincarnated body needed new muscle memory before he could bring out greater strength.

Ling Mo looked at the current Huo Yuhao. Was he so naive because he had only recently left the Duke's Mansion and had not yet gone through those experiences? But once he obtained his Second Martial Soul, things should get better under Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's guidance.

Damn it, why didn't I have some old grandpa-like existence to help me? Even a low-level system would have been fine. Otherwise, I might not even have come to Douluo Continent.

"Ah." After parting with Huo Yuhao and arriving at his dormitory, Ling Mo looked at the several layers of dust piled up inside and let out a deep sigh. No matter what world it was, no matter how good the school, freshmen dormitories almost always looked like this.

The next morning, Ling Mo had just finished cultivating. "Whew, at this rate, it will probably take over a year to reach level thirty." He summoned his Divine Key Martial Soul, and one yellow and one purple Soul Ring circled around him. His ability to absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring across ranks owed much to the Heart-Shattering Fist. Constant combat and tempering had made his physical body somewhat stronger than that of ordinary Soul Masters.

Back when he had reached level ten, Xuan Zi had taken him to hunt Soul Beasts for a Soul Ring. Ling Mo had initially wanted to find a plant-type Soul Beast, since Void Archive could mimic all things and plant-types were highly adaptable, making them a suitable choice. Yet perhaps because of his good luck, Xuan Zi unexpectedly helped him find a Mirror Beast that was over three hundred years old. Ling Mo had some recollection of this Soul Beast. In Douluo One, Oscar had found a ten-thousand-year Mirror Beast for his Soul Ring and gained a Soul Skill that could copy Martial Soul forms. Upon seeing this Soul Beast, Ling Mo decisively chose it as his First Soul Ring. However, the Soul Skill he ultimately gained surprised him somewhat, because his First Soul Skill was Void Archive's original function—Mimicry. Incidentally, the first Soul Ring of his Herrscher Martial Soul came from a Thunder Tiger over four hundred years old. Don't ask why.

"So that's why neither of my Martial Souls was useful at all before gaining Soul Rings. The Soul Skills were their original abilities." Once Ling Mo understood this, he became much less particular when searching for his second Soul Ring. Rather, he leaned toward finding a Soul Beast whose Soul Ring could strengthen his physical body after absorption. However, such Soul Beasts were rare. It would be more practical to seek Soul Bones instead, but then again, after Huo Yuhao obtained his Second Martial Soul, he seemed to gain a torso bone from the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion as well. A Soul Bone over two hundred thousand years old... Should he consider it?

"Haah." Stretching lazily, Ling Mo left his dormitory and wandered around the academy to familiarize himself with the surroundings.

In the end, Ling Mo gave up on the idea of stealing Huo Yuhao's Soul Bone for three reasons. First, with Sky Dream Ice Silkworm there, he might not succeed, and the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion would not let him have his way either. Second, even if he did obtain the Soul Bone, he could not absorb a two-hundred-thousand-year Soul Bone right now. He was not the protagonist; trouble could arise if he delayed. If he were discovered, he might end up making a wedding dress for someone else. Third, and most importantly, it was too troublesome. As he had said, this was no longer the Honkai World. He no longer needed to desperately force himself to become stronger as he had before. He only needed to let nature take its course and work hard. Otherwise, with the advantages of Twin Martial Souls and the power of his Martial Souls, even if his Innate Soul Power had been as low as level one, he would not be stuck at such a low level as twenty-one.

On Douluo Continent, people said that Innate Soul Power determined a Soul Master's talent and potential. In truth, this was indeed the case for many Soul Masters. But Ling Mo knew perfectly well that his low Innate Soul Power was not a matter of talent; it was likely due to the special nature of his Martial Souls. Part of the reason his Soul Power Level was low was that each level of his Martial Souls required more Soul Power than other people's. If not for these factors, combined with Ling Mo's truly abysmal innate level, he should be preparing to break through to level thirty by now.

"Huh? Isn't that Huo Yuhao? Why is he fighting someone?" Ling Mo had been walking along when he suddenly saw a fight ahead. Looking closely, wasn't that Huo Yuhao?

Oh, right. He remembered now. In the original story, Huo Yuhao had gotten into a fight with someone when school started, and it seemed to have been with the female lead. Tsk, tsk. Whether the two of them were truly fated or Tang Wutong had been arranged for him too thoroughly by her father Tang San, their relationship had confused him at first. But he had gradually accepted it later.

While Ling Mo recalled the plot, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong—he would call her that for now—had already finished fighting. After viciously warning Wang Dong, whom he had knocked down and pinned to the ground, Huo Yuhao got up and walked in Ling Mo's direction. It looked like he was preparing to return to the dormitory.

Ling Mo watched the scene from the side. "Well, I probably won't be too bored in the future. I guess I've found my goal in this world?" After greeting Huo Yuhao, he watched his departing back.

"Looks like my choice to enroll this year was not wrong after all. Life is finally getting interesting."