Tang Sect

Ten thousand years ago, Tang San founded the Tang Sect. At that time, the Tang Sect was at the height of its glory, with a god among its ranks, and was hailed as the number one sect on the continent. However, the Tang Sect had a massive hidden danger from the moment of its inception. It would not erupt while Tang San still walked the earth, but once he ascended, it was bound to explode.

The structure of the Tang Sect was different from other sects. Other sects were essentially ruled by families, relying on the powerful Martial Souls inherited through bloodlines to form bonds for the transfer of power and wealth.

What made the Tang Sect different was that it was a product of its era—a groundbreaking creation forged by the collective opposition of various noble families against the rule of the Martial Soul Hall, and held together by the formidable strength and prestige of Tang San. To oppose the Martial Soul Hall's ambition to unify the world, these families had no choice but to follow Tang San. The Martial Soul Hall wanted to establish a royal rule with the Angel Martial Soul as its absolute core, supplemented by niche Martial Souls in the middle ranks; in that nation, there was no room for powerful Martial Souls other than the Angel Martial Soul.

Tang San's side was composed of a group of families, or rather, noble clans. These clans could not allow such a thing to exist, and their interests were in direct conflict. Perhaps every clan harbored the ambition to unify the world, but they absolutely refused to be the ones being unified. Of course, if push came to shove, they could be flexible, submitting only to wait for an opportunity to strike.

Coupled with the Martial Soul Hall's practice of recruiting individual powerhouses to bolster its own strength, it eventually reached its peak. Bibi Dong and Tang San were the proxies pushed forward by the two opposing forces; even if they lost, they could preserve themselves, surrender, admit defeat, and wait for their moment. These proxies were supposed to be controlled, but the overwhelming momentum of the era created two gods, and the situation spiraled completely out of control.

After the Martial Soul Hall was defeated, they were not liquidated at Tang San's request; their territory was simply carved up among the victors. Without the protection of a god, how could those ghouls miss out on such a sumptuous feast?

In the aftermath, the Tang Sect became too big to fail, and no one had the means or the guts to carve up this cake. Consequently, the Tang Sect ended up possessing immense military power, a monopoly on military industrial products, and the highest political legitimacy. Supplemented by an extremely efficient competitive system, no one could restrict its development.

So, what happens when Tang San is no longer there?

The first issue was the selection of the Tang Sect Master, as Tang San had left no heirs. The organizational structure was not a family business, so it couldn't just be passed down to a child like Dai Mubai. The various factions had only gathered together for the sake of profit. This could be resolved, but it was an internal problem. At this point, all the major sects and families emerged to choose their own representatives. Internal strife began to intensify.

The final straw that broke the camel's back was the intervention of the national will pushed by the various families, and the split began. After exchanges of interests, compromises, and promises between the proxies of the two great empires, a situation emerged with two competitors representing the two empires. As for the internal factions of the Tang Sect, their strength was too weak—though "weak" was only relative—but no one could stop the will of the two major interest groups. Unless another god appeared.

In the end, the Tang Sect split into three, and now it is split into four. The local faction fled to Shrek Academy, but they brought with them the core techniques and cultivation methods. Although the two great empires coveted them, it was too late; they were busy carving up the Tang Sect's assets, their mouths dripping with grease.

The Tang Sect was, after all, a product of a special era, and its method of resource distribution severely harmed the interests of the noble families. After all, how could important resources be given to those commoners? Family interests came first.

Shrek had the things Tang San left behind, and no one wanted to clash with a god. In the end, the situation settled into this compromise. Over the past ten thousand years, some families that failed in the competition relied on connections to settle into Shrek Academy, but that is another story.

Relying on the rules left over from the era of Tang San and the compromises made after the noble families were terrified by the powerhouses who rose from the grassroots, Shrek Academy is now the most suitable place for civilian geniuses. The rest are just dogs for the noble families.

The Tang Sect Secret Techniques were ostensibly not passed on to outsiders, but in reality, any family with a bit of influence could obtain them. However, they couldn't use them; they could be used as a trump card in private, but bringing them into the open would be a slap in the face to the Tang Sect. No one knew if the news that Tang San had ordered them not to be passed on was true or false, and no one wanted to anger a true god. Even if it split into four, this facade had to be maintained. Moreover, the core techniques were all in the hands of the Shrek branch. Since family martial arts were basically sufficient, there was no need to provoke the Tang Sect.

Furthermore, the Tang Sects in the three great empires had long been occupied by super Martial Soul families. The Shrek branch, possessing great treasures but lacking the strength to protect them, suffered numerous assassinations by unknown powerhouses, and their bloodline gradually withered. Now, only a single seedling remains. Regarding the assassins who openly committed crimes in Shrek City, Shrek Academy issued the strongest warning and expressed deep regret over the tragedy of the Tang Sect. They vowed to investigate the killers and uphold the dignity of Shrek. Finally, through the efforts of the Shrek Inspection Team, the entire criminal gang led by a Soul Douluo was wiped out. They declared they would protect the last seedling, and any harm done to them would be considered an act of war against Shrek, which would be investigated to the end. Those secrets had actually long been entrusted to Shrek Academy by the elders, so the assassins were destined to return empty-handed.

The matter more or less faded away. The Tang Sect had to die; to be precise, the organizational form of the Tang Sect had to be eradicated. And as they had hoped, the Tang Sect was effectively dead and gone.

To adapt a quote: progress causes people to not understand why they should progress, leading to regression, but eventually, regression will bring about progress once again. That is all.

Now twelve years old, Huo Yuhao was being carried on Bei Bei's back toward Shrek Academy. To be precise, he had been picked up like a corpse by Tang Ya and Bei Bei.

The story must start from a few months ago, after Huo Yuhao broke out of the door: once the adrenaline wore off, the pain set in. His body and mind had erupted with such powerful force that now he was just having nosebleeds and had broken several bones from overexertion.

What was more difficult was that there were pursuers hunting him, a wanted criminal. Even if the Soul Masters knew the inside story and were afraid that coming would mean death, the ordinary people were not. This was a big problem for the severely injured Huo Yuhao. He couldn't recover in a place with people, so he had to run into the Star Dou Great Forest. The strenuous exercise after being injured made his already poor condition even worse. This wasn't the biggest problem; the most important thing was that whenever Huo Yuhao thought about what he had said, he couldn't help but squirm in discomfort. After finally calming his mood, he found a place to bury the gun he had on him and let himself go.

He put on the Silkworm Slough and lay like a corpse by a river. When he was hungry, he would activate his Mental Interference Domain, and a large group of fish would float to the surface. For the first few days, he didn't have the strength to start a fire and had to eat them raw. It wasn't until Wang Yi, who had fallen into a deep sleep after overexerting himself, woke up after several days that things improved. A Green Aura wandered through his body, accelerating the healing of his wounds. Understanding some of its uses, Huo Yuhao used this power to stimulate his own potential, forcing himself to get up, start a fire, and grill the fish.

When the fish meat, exuding a fragrant aroma, entered his mouth, tears almost flowed out. Showing off has its risks; one must be cautious when exerting force.

After eating, he immediately lost his strength and continued to lie on the ground like a corpse.

About half a month later, he could move freely. After careful consideration, Wang Yi suggested training in the Star Dou Great Forest for a few months to improve their combat effectiveness. At this stage, fights ultimately came down to hand-to-hand combat; how much lethality could a Soul Skill really have? In the end, whoever had the bigger fist won. Experience was very important at this time.

Another reason was that Huo Yuhao needed a large amount of energy; eating fish was no longer enough for him. He had to eat meat with energy to improve his physical fitness. Thus, Huo Yuhao began to kill starting from weak ten-year Spirit Beasts. For someone with the Silkworm Slough, Spiritual Detection, Soul Shock, and autonomous Berserk, this was simply an amusement park. Huo Yuhao temporarily called the power brought by the Green Aura "Berserk." Currently, this was the only ability he had discovered.

After the initial wanton slaughter, Wang Yi let Huo Yuhao fight without the Silkworm Slough. Sneak attacks were not suitable for tournament-style fighting and did little to improve his abilities. If he encountered something he couldn't beat, he would use the Silkworm Slough.

After months of effort, the number of Wind Baboons decreased sharply. No, wait—Huo Yuhao's abilities had been greatly improved. Then, on his twelfth birthday, he attempted to hunt a hundred-year Wind Baboon. Despite some twists and turns, he succeeded in killing it. In the days that followed, Huo Yuhao tried to fight Spirit Beasts hand-to-hand, and unsurprisingly, he was beaten very badly. The physical flaws of a Spirit System Soul Master were too obvious. In the end, he had no choice but to activate Berserk, cheating to kill that ten-year deer-type Spirit Beast.

During this period, Wang Yi proposed a possibility based on his own knowledge: the mind can strengthen the body. The logic was as follows: it is known that an increase in Soul Power cultivation brings about an enhancement of mental power; a one-ring Soul Master certainly cannot compare to a Title Douluo in mental power.

Soul Power is the circulation of the body.

So, could one reverse this? Could the strength of mental power react upon Soul Power? Huo Yuhao's mental power was too strong, and with his current physical fitness, it was difficult to exert its full power. After life-and-death battles and months of cultivation, he had barely reached level 13. This was fast compared to before, but it wasn't enough. So, he began to experiment.

Tian Meng was sleeping, and the mysterious Electrolux was also silent. Only Wang Yi, who had only the experience of an ordinary person, and Huo Yuhao, whose eyes revealed a clear stupidity, discussed it and decided to do it.

One dared to suggest, and the other dared to do.

After killing a large, edible Spirit Beast and making preparations, he began the experiment.

Huo Yuhao began to mobilize his vast mental power to perform a baptism directly from top to bottom, and the immediate consequence was that his mind went blank.

It hurt! It itched! This was Huo Yuhao's direct sensation, and the remaining bit of consciousness thought it seemed to be working. His heart began to beat violently, his body temperature rose rapidly, and nosebleeds sprayed out again.

The Green Aura swam anxiously through his body, soothing every place it passed. However, this could not solve Huo Yuhao's predicament; the intense pain and itching made him roll around incessantly.

The violent fluctuations in the Sea of Spirit woke Tian Meng, who was so frightened he thought a powerful enemy had arrived. Upon closer inspection, the "powerful enemy" was Huo Yuhao.

He directly intervened to cut off the transmission of mental power, and Huo Yuhao finally caught his breath.

"Are you two crazy? People will die."

Wang Yi listened to Tian Meng's reprimand from the corner, feeling embarrassed; he hadn't expected such a strong reaction. Since he had made a mistake, he would stand tall and take the beating.

Huo Yuhao, who had just caught his breath, felt the weakness in his body but became excited: "Level fourteen, it's useful, it's really useful!" Then he passed out.

Tian Meng was somewhat shocked and began to soothe the Sea of Spirit in silence. He released his mental power to cover Huo Yuhao and the Spirit Beast meat, waiting for Huo Yuhao to wake up.

Five hours later (the more precise time scale brought by the Sun Moon Continent was adopted), Huo Yuhao was woken up by hunger. As soon as he felt his body, he found that it was extremely weak, and still itchy and painful. At this moment, he felt a cool sensation in a part of his body; upon sensing it, it was the change brought by the Green Aura passing through. Wherever it went, it felt like a cool breeze, which was very comfortable. After a while, it completed a cycle, and Huo Yuhao regained control of his body. Not thinking too much, he lunged at the Spirit Beast carcass to prepare ingredients for a meal.

While waiting, hunger continued to affect him. The feeling of having it right in front of him but being unable to reach it made him feel itchy inside, and there was nothing he could do.

After eating and drinking his fill, he began to summarize: mental power can increase Soul Power. The side effects are not small; after one time, he didn't want a second. The body becomes extremely weak, as if it has been hollowed out. Due to excessive nosebleeds, Huo Yuhao's face was now deathly pale, without a trace of color.

However, these were not big issues; this method was truly useful. The small wish hidden deep in his heart now seemed to have a glimmer of possibility. Although he knew it was very difficult, he couldn't help but think about it. During the few days of recovery, he was often in a trance, and Huo Yuhao realized this problem, but he just couldn't control himself.

Wang Yi, who was reading in the Sea of Spirit, didn't have much free time but still noticed the abnormality.

"What are you confused about, little Yuhao?"

"Nothing, nothing." Huo Yuhao hurriedly denied it.

"Sigh, tell me about it. I finally understand why my teachers always knew when I was lying back in school."

"I have a wish, but with my aptitude, it's impossible to reach the standard," Huo Yuhao said with some hesitation.

"Hahaha, I've already roughly guessed the reason. Set your heart at ease. With Tian Meng, Electrolux, and me in your Sea of Spirit, what do you have to hesitate about?"

"There isn't much that can stop your progress now. Remember this: whatever you, Huo Yuhao, want to accomplish, you can do it; it's only a matter of time. You should have this confidence. Straighten your back, cast aside your hesitation, and just do what you want to do. If you want something, go put it into practice. Don't doubt yourself. You, Huo Yuhao, will surely stand at the pinnacle of the world."

"Say what you want to do, and say it loudly."

Hearing this chicken soup for the soul, a spirited Huo Yuhao gathered his courage: "I want to enter Shrek Academy!"

Wang Yi nodded in satisfaction after hearing Huo Yuhao begin to express his thoughts, then sent out a question mark. You've been agonizing over this for so many days? Is there really anything that can trap you? Feeling a bit slapped in the face, Wang Yi pretended to agree and said: "Then move forward, child." He then ran back into the Sea of Spirit to sulk, thinking, My first time giving a speech and it went so off the rails. He began to doubt himself.

In his excitement, Huo Yuhao began his own training.

Not long after, he encountered a thousand-year Mandala Snake and had to use all his trump cards just to escape with heavy injuries. Tian Meng had almost intervened.

In the end, he was picked up like a corpse.

Because of the information Huo Yuhao provided and his assistance in helping Tang Ya obtain a suitable third Soul Ring, Bei Bei asked Huo Yuhao out of gratitude if there was anything he needed help with.

Huo Yuhao blurted out: "I want to enter Shrek Academy."

Hearing this request, Bei Bei and Tang Ya fell silent, thinking they had been unreasonable to pose such a difficult problem, as if they were leveraging their favor for a reward. Just as Huo Yuhao was about to apologize, he heard Bei Bei say: "Yuhao, we are members of the Tang Sect. We can solve the issue of the recommendation letter, but the rest will have to depend on you."

He hadn't expected there to actually be a way, and though he wanted to refuse, he found it difficult to do so.

"Our Tang Sect has a few recommendation spots. They're going to go to waste anyway, so we'll give one to you."

"However, we have one condition: you must join the Tang Sect and learn the Tang Sect Secret Techniques."

Such a good condition almost made the bedridden Huo Yuhao jump up in surprise, and he hurriedly agreed.

Tang Ya, who was standing to the side, only spoke after they finished: "Bei Bei, I am the Tang Sect Master, you know. Are you trying to usurp the throne?"

Bei Bei hurriedly apologized, "What instructions does the Sect Master have?"

"I think Huo Yuhao is very suitable for our Tang Sect. The task of teaching him the Tang Sect Secret Techniques is handed to you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sect Master."

The country boy Huo Yuhao stared at them in a daze; city folk really know how to play. Watching them made the pain in his body throb, but then he was drawn in by Bei Bei's words and began to study seriously.

The next morning, after the three of them finished practicing the Purple Demon Eye, they began their journey for the new day.

Destination: Shrek Academy.