Before Spirit Hall Fell, We Paid; After It Fell, We Still Paid—Then Spirit Hall...

Within the Star Dou Great Forest, Bei Bei and Tang Ya had been the ones helping Huo Yuhao hunt for a hundred-year spirit ring rather than having him obtain one himself, so unsurprisingly, an accident occurred.

Because of an unexpected mishap, Huo Yuhao became separated from Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and the others. Fortunately, Huo Yuhao's Fortune kept him safe all the way, and he even successfully encountered a four-hundred-year Azure-eyed Bird that was already on the verge of death.

With a single slash, Huo Yuhao killed the Azure-eyed Bird. A yellow spirit ring gradually rose from its body, and Huo Yuhao released his Soul Power, slowly guiding the hundred-year spirit ring into his body.

Although Bei Bei had helped clear his meridians, this spirit ring was right at the limit of what a first spirit ring could absorb, leaving him in considerable discomfort. Fortunately, Electrolux was also inside Huo Yuhao's body.

Sensing a force entering Huo Yuhao's body and seemingly preparing to destroy his body and perish alongside him, Electrolux used a wisp of divine consciousness to instantly suppress its violent aspect.

Without that violent aspect, although it was still not easy for Huo Yuhao's body to absorb it, the spirit ring had ultimately become something he was capable of absorbing.

After absorbing it for half an hour, Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes. He had been perfectly safe throughout those half an hour, and no spirit beast had suddenly come to disturb him.

After he finished absorbing the spirit ring, Bei Bei and Tang Ya finally found him as well.

"Little Junior Brother, thank goodness you're all right."

"Little Yuhao, you scared me to death! I thought I'd never get to eat your grilled fish again in this life."

Seeing the concern in their eyes, Huo Yuhao was deeply moved. "Don't worry, Senior Brother, Teacher Xiaoya. Not only am I fine, but..."

As Huo Yuhao spoke, he released his spirit ring. A yellow hundred-year spirit ring appeared around him, proving that he had successfully entered the realm of a Soul Scholar.

"Little Junior Brother, you..."

Bei Bei had just been about to rejoice for Huo Yuhao when his expression changed drastically upon seeing the dead Azure-eyed Bird beside him.

"Little Junior Brother, are you all right?"

"Of course I'm fine. What's wrong, Senior Brother?"

"It's good that you're fine." Seeing that Huo Yuhao's body was completely normal, Bei Bei was relieved that he had overthought things.

The maximum age limit for a Soul Scholar's first spirit ring was four hundred and twenty-three years. This was a theory put forward by the Master, known as the foremost authority on Spirit Martial Theory.

It sounded like there was nothing wrong with it, but as a direct descendant of the Master, others might not know just how many problems that theory had, while Bei Bei knew perfectly well.

The Master had listed the age limits for the first through ninth spirit rings and published them in his theory, but within Shrek, that theory was more of a political correctness.

From Tang San ten thousand years ago to Bei Bei's Progenitor Xuan and Eldest Senior Sister Zhang Lexuan in more recent times, none of them had absorbed spirit rings according to the Master's so-called spirit ring age limits.

That completely proved that the Master's theory had serious problems. Assault-type, control-type, and support-type soul masters all had different physical constitutions, so naturally their absorption limits could not be measured by the same standard.

Earlier, when Bei Bei had helped Huo Yuhao circulate the Mysterious Heaven Skill within his body, he discovered that Huo Yuhao's meridians were severely blocked. Due to long-term malnutrition, his body was far weaker than that of an ordinary level-ten Soul Scholar.

Under such circumstances, he could not absorb spirit rings according to the standards of an ordinary Soul Scholar. Based on Bei Bei's assessment of Huo Yuhao, absorbing a two-hundred-year spirit ring should not have been a problem, and a three-hundred-year spirit ring should have been manageable as well. But a four-hundred-year spirit ring was, more or less, beyond Huo Yuhao's current limit.

The instant he saw the Azure-eyed Bird, Bei Bei had truly feared that Huo Yuhao would kill himself by absorbing a spirit ring beyond his limit. Fortunately, it seemed Huo Yuhao had escaped danger unscathed.

"An Azure-eyed Bird? Little Yuhao, let's roast it when we leave." After confirming that Huo Yuhao was all right, Tang Ya picked up the Azure-eyed Bird from the ground, intending to have a barbecue once they got out.

But suddenly, Tang Ya felt that the Azure-eyed Bird in her hand seemed a little hard. She immediately thought of something, and tore open the bird's corpse in her hands. Sure enough, she found exactly what she had suspected.

"A spirit bone! And it's an External Soul Bone!" Tang Ya cried out. She could hardly believe that a mere four-hundred-year spirit beast had dropped an External Soul Bone.

"Little Yuhao, absorb it quickly. Even though it's only four hundred years old, External Soul Bones can grow. This is second only to a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring."

Tang Ya handed the spirit bone to Huo Yuhao, but Huo Yuhao quickly raised his hand in refusal. "Teacher Xiaoya, you or Brother Bei Bei should absorb this instead. The Tang Sect did not look down on me and accepted me as a disciple. Since that is so, it is only right that I work for the Tang Sect and offer this spirit bone to it."

As one of the only two forces capable of gaining high returns from Huo Yuhao at little cost, after some mutual refusal, the External Soul Bone obtained from the spirit beast Huo Yuhao had killed was naturally absorbed by Tang Ya in the end.

Given Bei Bei's character, he could never have accepted a spirit bone dropped by a spirit beast Huo Yuhao had killed alone. But he could sense Tang Ya's daily anxiety over her lack of strength.

For the sake of his girlfriend, Bei Bei ultimately did not firmly refuse something that should not have belonged to him as he usually would.

"Little Junior Brother..."

"Is something wrong, Brother Bei Bei?"

"Nothing." Forget it. He would find a way to compensate this little junior brother in the future. As for now...

Bei Bei looked at Tang Ya, who was absorbing the spirit bone, and silently rejoiced over the increase in her strength.

After Tang Ya finished absorbing the spirit bone, the three arrived at Shrek Academy. As in the original story, Bei Bei and Tang Ya introduced Huo Yuhao to Shrek Academy.

"Oh, right, Little Yuhao. Later, I'll take you to collect a Soul Scholar's allowance."

"An allowance?"

"Mm. This allowance is exclusive to resident Soul Scholars of Shrek City and students of Shrek Academy. A one-ring Soul Scholar receives one Gold Soul Coin per month, a two-ring Soul Scholar receives ten Gold Soul Coins, and now that I've become a Soul Elder, I can receive one hundred Gold Soul Coins every month."

"One hundred Gold Soul Coins! That much?" Huo Yuhao exclaimed. He had never seen so much money in his life.

"It is quite a lot. After all, this is one of the investments the three great empires provide to Shrek Academy every year. That is precisely why this Gold Soul Coin allowance policy exists only within Shrek City." Bei Bei explained slowly.

In Douluo One, Spirit Hall distributed Gold Soul Coins to all lower-level Soul Scholars. Those Gold Soul Coins were funded by the two great empires and distributed by Spirit Hall. In theory, those Gold Soul Coins had nothing to do with Spirit Hall.

But just as Eagle Country became what it was because of Fuzzy Bear Country's existence, after Spirit Hall was destroyed and its threat was gone, the two great empires naturally had no reason to keep giving money to ordinary Soul Scholars.

After all, that was real gold and silver. And from the nobles' perspective, they had to spend money while Spirit Hall still existed, and after Spirit Hall was destroyed, they had to spend even more money. Then wasn't Spirit Hall destroyed for nothing?