A Gold Soul Coin a Day

It was not until the next day, when the dark sky gradually turned dark blue and a sliver of fish belly white appeared in the distant east.

Bei Bei slowly withdrew his palms and exhaled a breath of stale air. His clothes were soaked with sweat, his face pale and filled with exhaustion.

"Wah—!"

Huo Yuhao spat out a mouthful of filthy blood, then opened his eyes.

Seeing the fish belly white on the horizon, Bei Bei hurriedly pulled Huo Yuhao up. Tang Ya had also awakened by then, and the three of them widened their eyes as they looked eastward.

Only after the morning sun appeared and they had absorbed the purple qi did the three finally relax.

Only then did Bei Bei remember Chen Yuan, who had kept watch all night, and looked at him apologetically.

"Sorry. My junior brother's physical condition is just too poor, so it took quite a bit longer. I'll treat you to a meal when we get back."

"I could tell. He even threw up such a huge mouthful of black blood."

"Yeah. His physical condition is worse than that of some ordinary people without Soul Power. I really don't know how much effort he put in to cultivate to level ten."

"That shouldn't be possible. A hundred-year Soul Ring should improve his physique no matter what, unless you had him absorb a ten-year Soul Ring."

"Cough, cough. It really was a ten-year Soul Ring, but he hunted it himself."

"He only joined the Tang Sect after absorbing the Soul Ring."

The greatest difference between a Soul Master and a Soul Warrior was the Soul Ring. High-level Soul Rings could improve a Soul Master's physical qualities.

A million-year Soul Ring was indeed formidable, but Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had been drained dry by the fierce beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest before his death, leaving behind only his spiritual essence.

As a result, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Soul Ring improved Huo Yuhao's body even less than a ten-year Soul Ring with a slightly higher cultivation age.

"Poor physical qualities and poor talent aren't a problem. Just go to Xu Sanshi and buy some Mystic Water Pills. With an inside connection, it'll cost at most a few thousand Gold Soul Coins."

Mystic Water Pills were worth ten thousand gold, but their raw materials were not particularly precious. However, the Mystic Underworld Sect tightly controlled their supply, which was why their market price remained so high.

"To be honest, I don't even want to spend those few thousand Gold Soul Coins."

"You want to mooch one for free?"

"Easy. Bring some of Little Huo's grilled fish to Xu Sanshi and use it to curry favor with Jiang Nannan. Maybe you'll win Jiang Nannan over, and Xu Sanshi will just give the Mystic Water Pill to Little Huo."

"Then I'd rather pay for it."

Bei Bei's moral standards simply would not allow him to do such a thing.

Xu Sanshi pestering Jiang Nannan every day was already annoying enough for her. If they pulled something like that too, Tang Ya would probably nag Bei Bei to death.

Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan were not merely roommates; they were also close friends.

"Alright, it's already light out. Hurry back. I still have to take part in the admissions work."

"What? Just how badly do you need money? You're even taking part in freshman registration?"

"Can't be helped. Cultivation costs too much money. Every bit I can earn counts."

"I really don't know how you cultivate. The three of us are all Pre-selected Seven Monsters, yet you're the only one without enough cultivation resources."

"Tell me, how much does this job pay?"

"One Gold Soul Coin a day. Nine to five, and you can slack off."

"Can you have a little ambition?"

Pre-selected Shrek Seven Devils—this was Chen Yuan's current identity, and the academy had indeed given him more resources.

But those resources were not enough!

Ultimate Martial Souls cultivated very slowly. Chen Yuan had to maintain a certain cultivation speed so that he would not expose himself.

If Chen Yuan revealed his Ultimate Fire now, Shrek would definitely value him immensely, and he certainly would not have to worry about cultivation resources.

But Chen Yuan did not want that. At the very least, he had to wait until he was strong enough and had sufficient confidence before revealing it.

Yan Shaozhe was famously petty. For the sake of his disciple, Ma Xiaotao, he was capable of anything.

Ultimate Ice was not the only way to purify Evil Fire. Ultimate Fire could do it as well, and its effect was even better than Ultimate Ice's.

But Chen Yuan had absolutely no desire to get tangled up with that madwoman.

As for Shrek?

This was still a fantasy world in the end. Power meant nothing in the face of strength.

Moreover, Chen Yuan did not want to be tied to Shrek's sinking ship. He only wanted to travel across the world.

What happened in Small Lake Village had left Chen Yuan with no goodwill whatsoever toward Evil Soul Masters or this world's rulers.

He had not gone to the Sun Moon Empire because they colluded with Evil Soul Masters, and because he could not let go of everyone in Small Lake Village.

So in the end, he simply came to Shrek.

Of course, Shrek was not much better, but here, if your talent was truly outstanding, you could indeed rise to the top.

If your talent was average, then as long as you did not get involved with Shrek's privileged elites like Xuan Zi and Ma Xiaotao, you could peacefully earn a graduation certificate and live without worries afterward.

From that perspective, Shrek was still acceptable.

The prerequisite was that you did not get involved with Xuan Zi, Zhou Yi, or Ma Xiaotao. Those three were the craziest in the early days.

No matter how absurd Shrek was, it was still the number one academy on the continent. Among the Three Douluo Kingdoms, there was currently no academy that could compare to it.

Shrek Academy was not particularly far from the Star Dou Great Forest. Even while accommodating Huo Yuhao, whose cultivation was the lowest, the group arrived before noon.

Along the way, Tang Ya and Bei Bei had continuously taught Huo Yuhao some basic knowledge, giving him a basic understanding of Shrek Academy.

They arrived at the East City Gate, which was reserved exclusively for Shrek Academy, and the place was exceptionally lively.

At least several thousand people had gathered outside the city gate. Having caught wind of the news long ago, countless merchants had set up stall after stall here.

At the gate stood more than a dozen men and women, each dressed in yellow training uniforms with a green badge on their chests.

These yellow training uniforms were the school uniforms of Shrek Academy Outer Court second- and third-year students.

It had to be said that, at least in terms of design, the school uniforms in Douluo II truly looked far better than those from other eras. They were not even on the same level.

How could those ugly green uniforms possibly look better than Douluo II's five types of uniforms?

Upon seeing Chen Yuan and Bei Bei, those people did not stop them at all and allowed them to enter directly.

Upon entering Shrek Academy, the first things they saw were the statues of the Golden Iron Triangle and the Shrek Seven Devils.

Tang Ya and Bei Bei's eyes were filled with pride when they saw those statues, while Huo Yuhao was curious.

Wu Feng felt nothing at all, as though she were looking at something completely unrelated to her.

Ning Tian, however, was interesting. Her gaze at the statues of Ning Rongrong and Tang San was exceedingly complicated, with disgust outweighing everything else.

Regarding that transaction from ten thousand years ago, even though the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had never stated it outright, anyone with clear eyes knew that the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had lost everything down to their underwear.

After crossing Shrek Plaza, they arrived at the especially bustling White Freshman Teaching Building, where some freshmen who had already passed the assessment were registering.

Under normal circumstances, students had to be tested first and confirmed to meet Shrek's admission requirements before coming here to register.

But Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Huo Yuhao were all using special admission slots.

Do not think that only the Tang Sect had special admission slots. The White Tiger Duke Mansion and the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had them too, as did some other major forces on the continent.

In the original work, the three Soul Elders among the freshmen—Ning Tian, Dai Huabin, and Xie Huanyue—were all specially admitted students.

"Senior Chen! You're finally here! Hurry and help us! There are too many people!"

"Get lost! I'm here to keep order and slack off! I'm absolutely not doing any work!"

That bastard Yan Shaozhe expected a Soul Ancestor to work for one Gold Soul Coin a day?

Even Soul Grandmasters were not this cheap!

He wanted to hire a Soul Ancestor for one Gold Soul Coin a day? Today, Chen Yuan would let Yan Shaozhe know that cheap goods were never good goods!

As for whether Shrek actually needed a Soul Ancestor to keep order, that was another matter. Chen Yuan was here to slack off anyway.