Shrek Academy's freshman teaching building was bustling with new students.
Huo Yuhao walked into Freshman Class One with his hands in his pockets, looking completely at ease.
A short distance ahead of him, Wang Dong dashed into the classroom as if a demon were chasing him. He quickly scanned the room, then took a seat as far from Huo Yuhao as possible.
After sitting down, Wang Dong glanced back warily. Only when he saw that Huo Yuhao had no intention of following did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Hmph! The farther I stay from that pervert, the better! Wang Dong swore to himself that he would never again give Huo Yuhao the chance to bully him.
Seeing how desperately Wang Dong was avoiding him, Huo Yuhao couldn't help chuckling. He took an empty seat near the middle of the classroom.
Before long, more and more students began to file into the room.
"Um... excuse me, is anyone sitting here?"
A timid voice sounded beside Huo Yuhao.
He turned to look, and his eyes immediately lit up.
Standing beside his desk was a petite girl.
She wore a pale green dress and had a shoulder-length ponytail. Her skin was as fair as jade, and her delicate features made her look like a porcelain doll.
Her large eyes were especially striking: clear and bright, full of spirit, yet tinged with shyness.
Huo Yuhao already had a guess about who she was.
"No one. Go ahead."
"Thank you." The girl breathed a sigh of relief and carefully sat in the empty seat beside Huo Yuhao. She seemed a little shy around strangers. Once seated, she lowered her head and fidgeted with her hands, looking rather nervous.
Huo Yuhao didn't rush to start a conversation. Instead, he studied his future teammate with interest. The Three-Life Soul Suppression Cauldron and the Nine Phoenix Flute—what a top-tier Twin Martial Souls combination.
Perhaps sensing Huo Yuhao's gaze, Xiao Xiao's cheeks flushed faintly. She mustered her courage, turned to him, and said softly, "Hello, I'm Xiao Xiao."
"Hello, I'm Huo Yuhao." Huo Yuhao extended his hand openly. "Yuhao, as in the rain in Yuhao, and the hao in Yuhao."
Xiao Xiao froze for a moment, then let out a giggle.
His introduction was basically a pointless bit of wordplay, but unexpectedly, it eased her nervousness.
She held out her soft little hand and lightly touched his fingertips before pulling back as if she'd been shocked.
"Um... Huo Yuhao, your eyes are very unusual. They're beautiful," Xiao Xiao said sincerely, gazing at his pale golden eyes.
"Really? Thank you." Huo Yuhao rested his chin on one hand and leaned slightly toward Xiao Xiao. With a faint smile, he looked straight into her eyes. "Actually, I think you're special too."
"Huh?" Xiao Xiao's heart skipped a beat. She hurriedly lowered her head. "I... What's special about me? I'm very ordinary..."
"No, you're not ordinary at all." Huo Yuhao's voice was low and warm. "You're adorable. The kind of adorable that makes people want to protect you the moment they see you."
Boom—!
Xiao Xiao felt a rush of heat surge to her head. Her whole face turned bright red, even the tips of her ears turning pink.
She'd never had a boy compliment her so frankly, so boldly, and call her adorable!
"But..." Huo Yuhao changed his tune, a hint of regret in his voice.
Xiao Xiao looked up without thinking. "But what?"
Huo Yuhao said solemnly, "You're already adorable, but you'd be even more perfect with a different hairstyle."
"My hairstyle?"
Huo Yuhao leaned a little closer and whispered in her ear, "Twin ponytails."
"T-twin ponytails?" Xiao Xiao's eyes widened.
"That's right. Twin ponytails are justice." Huo Yuhao nodded gravely, his expression sincere. "With your looks, twin ponytails would melt everyone's heart. Even I wouldn't be able to resist that kind of charm."
Xiao Xiao was stunned. Twin ponytails... melt everyone's heart... even he wouldn't be able to resist...
The words circled through her mind. She sneaked a glance at Huo Yuhao and saw him watching her expectantly.
Could it be... that he liked girls with twin ponytails?
Xiao Xiao's heart pounded. Without realizing it, she reached for the ends of her hair, imagining what she would look like with twin ponytails.
"Hmph! You lecher! You womanizer!" Wang Dong jabbed at the desk in front of him. "You're fierce and nasty to me, but all smiles with other girls! Huo Yuhao, you're such a hypocrite!"
"Ring—!"
The class bell rang, and the noisy classroom fell silent at once.
The light at the doorway dimmed as a hunched figure walked in.
She was an old woman with silver hair, a face full of wrinkles, and a sinister gaze.
Zhou Yi, Shrek Academy's notorious "psycho old hag."
Huo Yuhao looked at the woman on the platform, who was speaking in a raspy voice and spouting one outrageous thing after another, and couldn't help feeling amused.
Who could have guessed that beneath that withered, elderly facade was a stunningly beautiful, mature woman?
"My name is Zhou Yi, and I'm your homeroom teacher." Zhou Yi's gaze swept across the class like a blade. "I don't know how many of you will make it through the year with me. But I'll tell you this: trash has no place in my class. If you don't want to be expelled, then fight with everything you've got!"
The classroom erupted in an uproar.
Huo Yuhao pursed his lips and mocked her inwardly. This woman's teaching philosophy is the textbook example of survivor bias. If the Huo Yuhao in the original story hadn't been the child of destiny, with Sky Dream Ice Silkworm backing him up, any ordinary Mental Attribute Soul Master would have been eliminated long ago.
Huo Yuhao's performance during the physical training that followed was thoroughly average.
At last, the sun set, and the day's brutal training came to an end.
"Huo Yuhao, come to my office." Zhou Yi tossed out the command coldly.
The other students looked at him with sympathy. Wang Dong, on the other hand, looked delighted, as if to say, You're done for.
In the office, Zhou Yi sat in her chair and sized up Huo Yuhao. "I read your enrollment file. Your Body Martial Soul is your eyes. I want to know what your Soul Skill is."
Huo Yuhao didn't waste time. He activated his Martial Soul.
Golden flames blazed to life in his eyes, majestic and ancient. A deep Spiritual Power undulation spread outward.
Then a purple Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet.
"Mental Attribute. My Martial Soul is the Golden Eyes. My First Soul Ring is a thousand years old."
"What?!"
Zhou Yi shot to her feet, her eyes full of disbelief.
A Mental Attribute Soul Master would be lucky to absorb a First Soul Ring that was three or four hundred years old. Yet this boy had managed to get a thousand-year one?!
After closing her eyes and sensing the effects of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing Soul Skill, Zhou Yi looked delighted. "Good! Good! Good! Come with me!"
"Where?"
"The Soul Guidance Department!"
The Soul Guidance Department's testing area.
"Fan Yu!" Zhou Yi stormed in and shoved Huo Yuhao forward. "I've brought you a treasure! This boy is a Mental Attribute Soul Master, and his First Soul Ring is a thousand years old. Test him!"
Fan Yu, a tall, broad-shouldered man, looked at Huo Yuhao in surprise. Though he found it hard to believe, he still nodded. "Young man, use your Soul Skill on me."
"Yes, Teacher Fan Yu."
The corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth lifted.
First Soul Skill: Spiritual Detection Sharing!
Whum—!
An invisible wave of Spiritual Power instantly enveloped Fan Yu.
The next second, Fan Yu's body stiffened, and his pupils shrank violently.
The unremarkable testing area before his eyes transformed in an instant.
Everything around him seemed to become a model of information laid bare, every detail magnified beyond measure. Even Zhou Yi's breathing behind him appeared clearly in his mind.
More terrifying still, the detection covered every direction, with no blind spots!
"This... this is..." Fan Yu's voice trembled.
As an Level 8 Soul Engineer and the most accomplished Soul Engineer at Shrek Academy, he knew all too well what this Soul Skill meant!
It was practically a divine skill made for fixed soul cannons!
"Range!" Fan Yu grabbed Huo Yuhao by the shoulders and asked excitedly, "What's the detection range of this Soul Skill?!"
"About a thousand meters in every direction at the moment," Huo Yuhao said. "But the range will keep increasing as my Spiritual Power grows."
"A thousand meters... and still growing..." Fan Yu took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on Huo Yuhao as if he were a priceless piece of uncut jade. "A genius! You were born to be a Soul Engineer! Huo Yuhao, starting today, come here after class every day. I'll teach you everything I know about Soul Tools!"
"Thank you, Teacher Fan Yu!" Huo Yuhao bowed.
Beside them, Zhou Yi watched her husband's excitement. The corner of her mouth curled with satisfaction beneath her aged facade.
By the time Huo Yuhao left the Soul Guidance Department building, it was already late.
He stretched as he looked up at the starry sky.
The Soul Guidance Department had opened its doors to him. Next, he would raise his Soul Power and study Soul Tools... then go back to tease his cute deskmate and bully his haughty roommate.
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