Time passed just like that, and before long, another month and a half had gone by.
During that month and a half,
Tian Meng had fallen dormant.
The reason was simple: Huo Yuhao had been studying an Ice Attribute Magic Core.
He had conducted an experiment to see what else the Ice Attribute Magic Core could do besides purifying and upgrading a Martial Soul.
And the test subject was naturally Tian Meng.
Of course, he had two reasons for choosing Tian Meng as his test subject.
The first was that the Ice Attribute Magic Core had a high drop rate in the system's missions, so Huo Yuhao knew he would get more of them in the future.
Since he had extras, letting Tian Meng help him run an experiment was no big deal.
The second reason, naturally, was that Tian Meng was also an ice-attribute Soul Beast.
When Tian Meng sensed the Magic Core's aura, he immediately said that it was the Origin of Ice and that he liked it very much. It was comparable to ten-thousand-year spiritual milk, perhaps even purer.
After that, Tian Meng got drunk on it and began absorbing it.
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao thought it over and let Tian Meng absorb it.
Tian Meng was his Martial Soul now. If Tian Meng improved, he would naturally grow stronger too. Besides, Huo Yuhao knew that offering a few benefits would make things go more smoothly for him later.
By then, Huo Yuhao and the others had finally arrived in Shrek City.
Shrek Academy would open for the new term tomorrow.
At the same time, Shrek Academy's admissions were nearing their end, with only tomorrow and the day after left.
After all, the admissions process couldn't be completed in just a day or two, so it was normal for it to begin a little earlier.
The moment Huo Yuhao stepped into Shrek City, the system's voice rang out again.
"Ding! Host, you now have two choices."
[Option One: Refuse to join Shrek Academy.]
[Reward One: 100,000 points]
[Reward Two: Soul Power Level increased by 3]
[Reward Three: Three second-tier Ice Attribute Magic Cores]
[Reward Four: One bottle of Hehuan Powder refined by Xiao Yan (the same kind Yun Yun took when grilling fish with Xiao Yan)]
Option Two: Join Shrek Academy.
[Reward One: Two bottles of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid]
[Reward Two: 10,000 points]
Huo Yuhao listened, then waited a moment, puzzled.
"System, Option Two only has those two rewards?"
[System: Ding! Correct.]
Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched. He had already planned to join Shrek Academy.
Not for any other reason.
Shrek Academy had many geniuses. Once he got in, he could take advantage of being nearby and get them to join the Endless Fire Territory. That would help him earn system rewards later.
Besides, in the "Recruit geniuses for the Endless Fire Territory" section of Huo Yuhao's side quests,
there were already seven or eight little red dots, and their coordinates pointed toward Shrek Academy.
But the reward for refusing to join Shrek Academy was clearly quite good.
"Hey, system, did you get a bug? Do you think these rewards make sense?"
[System: Ding! Host, please rest assured. System bugs are only likely to occur around the time of an update.]
Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched again. So system bugs really did exist.
[Ding! Host, please make your choice promptly.]
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath. Just then, something occurred to him, and he asked tentatively,
"System, say you give me a mission and I don't complete it. Will I be punished? Or will you restrict my freedom?"
[System: Ding! This system has been optimized by the Main System for the sake of harmony, friendliness, and civility.]
[Therefore, unless the host implants a virus or maliciously alters system data and causes it to become corrupted, no punishment will be issued. (Note: This only applies to the current System 2.0 version.)]
Huo Yuhao sucked in a breath. So there might be punishments in the future, but there weren't any now.
If there were no punishments for now, he had to exploit any bugs he could while he still had the chance. Once the system upgraded, he wouldn't be able to exploit them anymore.
But soon, Huo Yuhao saw the bright side: at least there wouldn't be any punishment for now.
"Choose Option One. Refuse to join Shrek Academy."
[System: Ding! The host has confirmed the choice. Rewards are now being transferred.]
As the system's voice faded, his Soul Power surged by three levels, reaching level sixteen.
Huo Yuhao had been at level ten after absorbing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, but nearly three months of recuperation, along with the cleansing effects of the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, made a three-level increase entirely expected.
And that was with Huo Yuhao deliberately holding back. He had to build a solid foundation.
Next,
Huo Yuhao looked at the three Ice Attribute Magic Cores in his system space.
There had, of course, been one there already.
Besides those, there was also the little red bottle.
Just then, Jiang Nannan's voice reached him.
"Yuhao, your Soul Power... it increased by three levels at once. How did you do that? Is it harmful to your body?"
Jiang Nannan asked, her eyes unconsciously filled with curiosity and a hint of concern.
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao smiled and said mysteriously, "It's a little secret of mine."
Jiang Nannan didn't press him for an answer.
During their journey, she had already seen that Huo Yuhao had plenty of unusual things about him.
For example, those sanitary pads she had never seen before.
And the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, which was practically a miraculous medicine.
Then Jiang Nannan changed the subject. "Yuhao, what should we do first?"
Huo Yuhao heard her and replied,
"It's still early. Let's go register at Shrek Academy first."
[System...]
[System: Ding! An irregular operation by the host has been detected. The current behavior has been reported to the Main System, and an early optimization update is being prepared.]
Huo Yuhao sucked in a breath. He hadn't expected something like this to happen.
"Hey, system, I was just joking. Don't actually update!"
[System: Information transmitted. Feedback received from the Main System. System update countdown: 7 days.]
Hearing that, Huo Yuhao finally let out a slight sigh of relief. With seven days, it looked like he still had time to exploit a few more bugs.
Then Huo Yuhao continued following Jiang Nannan toward Shrek Academy...
A little over half an hour later, Huo Yuhao and the others arrived at Shrek Academy.
The entrance to Shrek Academy was bustling with activity.
The tall gates had an old-fashioned elegance. Time had left mottled marks on them, but their solemn majesty remained undiminished.
A huge plaque hung high above the gates, with the five powerful, vigorous characters "Shrek Academy" proclaiming the academy's long history and glorious past.
Seven or eight lines of young men and women had gathered at the entrance.
Most were lively boys and girls. Some carried travel packs, and although their faces showed the fatigue of the journey, the fire in their eyes was hard to conceal.
But ordinary people like them would often be turned away unless they had an outstanding Martial Soul.
The reason was simple: Shrek Academy didn't accept mediocrities. It only accepted monsters.
Some had servants with them and looked like members of wealthy families. Naturally, people like them enjoyed certain privileges, with their families there to receive them.
As for these people,
Shrek Academy allowed certain privileged applicants to enroll.
The official reason was:
For the harmonious development of the Douluo Continent and friendly exchanges between the various empires, some applicants were granted special admission and the privilege of receiving the academy's excellent education.
Seeing this scene, Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched.
How should he put it? Huo Yuhao couldn't help thinking of a certain God King's way of doing things...
Then,
Huo Yuhao looked toward the teachers who were recruiting those ordinary boys and girls.
Those teachers were still using the same old, unchanged methods to test the students.
Before you continue