Soul Hunting

Just as Xu Jie was reminiscing about the past, Huo Yuhao's Soul Power had mostly recovered. He said to the absentminded Xu Jie, "Brother Jie, I'm ready."

Xu Jie immediately snapped back to his senses. Pulling Huo Yuhao closer, he whispered the key principles of the "Profound Nether Palm" into his ear. After thinking it over, Xu Jie realized that the Profound Nether Palm was actually better suited to Huo Yuhao. After all, Huo Yuhao's second martial soul was the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, with its ice poison attribute—a perfect match.

What he did not know was that, in pursuit of absolute purity in her ice attribute, the Ice Empress had long since abandoned poison.

Ten minutes later, Xu Jie stared blankly at the block of ice condensed in Huo Yuhao's hand.

Holy shit, was he starting to cheat now?! Before merging with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, this guy had struggled even with the Wudang Long Fist. Now he had grasped the basics of the Profound Nether Palm in just ten minutes.

So this was the world of cheaters! The last time he had been hit this hard was by that Old Zhu. Old Zhu's martial arts were mediocre, but his talent for learning everything else was completely maxed out. Whenever Xu Jie explained something to him, Old Zhu would start drawing inferences before he had even finished speaking.

Xu Jie could not help shaking his head. Smiling, he said to Huo Yuhao, "Yuhao! You're still too slow. Back then, I grasped the basics in under five minutes. Your speed just won't do."

Huo Yuhao smiled at that. He knew Xu Jie was teasing him, but he was still inwardly shocked. Brother Jie had mastered such a difficult palm technique in less than five minutes.

Xu Jie had not lied to Huo Yuhao. When he had first obtained the "Profound Nether Palm," his Nine Yang Divine Skill had already reached great mastery, and he had thoroughly integrated every martial arts system. Even five minutes had felt too long.

After helping Huo Yuhao correct several details, the two sat on their respective beds and began cultivating.

The night passed without incident.

Over the following days, Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao lived highly regular lives: waking up, training, eating, attending class, eating, training, attending class, eating, bathing, and cultivating.

Their routine locations were equally fixed: either the classroom, the dormitory, or the roof of the dormitory building.

For the first few days, they trained in the clearing Xu Jie had previously chosen near Sea God Lake. Later, Xu Jie moved their training grounds to the roof of the dormitory building.

When they trained that day, Huo Yuhao had even asked Xu Jie why they were changing locations. But before he could finish his question, an explosion suddenly erupted beside Sea God Lake, and the place where they had previously trained erupted in intense red light.

Huo Yuhao stared blankly at the red glow, then looked at Xu Jie in surprise. Xu Jie could not explain it, so he could only brush it off by saying that he had a strange premonition.

Huo Yuhao did not ask any further questions.

The days that followed were peaceful and uneventful. Every now and then, they could even watch a spectacular fireworks display, though the color of those fireworks was rather monotonous.

During that time, Zhou Yi suddenly took Huo Yuhao to visit the Soul Guidance Department. Then, just as in the original story, Huo Yuhao naturally joined the Soul Guidance Department. However, he did not rashly take Fan Yu as his master; he merely went there to study Soul Tools.

Then, on the second day after Huo Yuhao began cultivating in the Soul Guidance Department, He Caitou suddenly sought out Xu Jie and started talking about the Sun Moon Empire, leaving Xu Jie utterly confused.

He Caitou even asked Xu Jie to display his martial soul. After Xu Jie did so, the last trace of hope in He Caitou's eyes vanished. He left with a face full of disappointment, leaving Xu Jie completely baffled.

What did the Sun Moon Empire have to do with him? Was it just because they both had the surname Xu? But wasn't the imperial family's martial soul the Purple Radiance Dragon of Annihilation? That had nothing much to do with his sun.

This was not Xu Jie's fault. Back then, he had only read a little of the beginning of Unrivaled Tang Sect before he could no longer stomach the love story between two men and switched to the comic. But the comic was only slightly better than the novel.

He had heard the general plot of Unrivaled Tang Sect from friends. Other than the beginning, he knew absolutely none of the details, though he roughly knew who the important characters were.

One evening two months later, Xu Jie sat on his bed, feeling the abundant Soul Power within him, and could not help sighing. He had to admit that having no one behind him was truly difficult.

Xu Jie had already broken through to level twenty within three days of the school term beginning. But what was the use of reaching level twenty? He had no one to help him hunt for a soul beast.

This time, Xu Jie had not compressed his Soul Power as he had before. Instead, he had kept cultivating continuously. Restricted by the Soul Ring limit, his cultivation appeared to be only at level twenty.

But if someone gave him a Soul Ring, he could break through to level thirty in minutes.

"Knock, knock, knock." A rapid series of knocks pulled Xu Jie out of his wandering thoughts.

Xu Jie hurriedly got up and opened the door. At this time, Huo Yuhao was studying in the Soul Guidance Department, so he was the only one in the dormitory.

"Teacher Zhou?" Xu Jie exclaimed when he saw Zhou Yi standing outside. What did Teacher Zhou want with him at this hour?

Zhou Yi fixed Xu Jie with a sharp gaze and asked, "Xu Jie, what level is your Soul Power now?"

Whoosh!

A yellow Soul Ring rose around him. Xu Jie did not conceal his Soul Power cultivation: exactly level twenty.

"Pack up. We're going soul hunting now." Zhou Yi's stern face remained expressionless.

"Now?" Xu Jie was stunned, but his hands did not slow in the slightest. He quickly packed his things and left a note on the table telling Huo Yuhao where he had gone.

After placing his belongings into the Soul Tool hanging around his chest, Xu Jie walked out of Room 202. Following behind Zhou Yi, Xu Jie was filled with delight.

He could roughly guess why Zhou Yi was being so attentive toward him. A level-twenty Assault System Soul Master with Ultimate Fire was undoubtedly a seeded contender in Class One's freshman assessment.

The competition's results would affect Zhou Yi's promotion in teacher rank.

Shrek Academy generally did not take responsibility for helping students hunt soul beasts. After all, students usually needed a recommendation letter from the lord of a main city to enter Shrek Academy. Anyone who could obtain such a letter generally came from a family with some standing, so naturally someone would handle matters involving Soul Rings.

Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao—no, only Xu Jie. Huo Yuhao had a giant maggot in his head worrying about him. Unlike Xu Jie, who had neither power nor influence nor a giant maggot, and had been planning to try for a top-three finish in the freshman assessment so the academy would help him obtain a Soul Ring.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Another series of knocks rang out. Zhou Yi did not take Xu Jie away directly. Instead, she came to the door of Room 108 downstairs.

This dormitory had originally been shared by Dugu Lu and Wang Dong, but their enmity ran too deep, so the academy separated them. Now, Dugu Lu was the only one living in this room.