Time Flies

The setting sun shone upon the group, casting a glow over their handsome and beautiful faces. There was one exception, however: a man with a large, swollen lump on his face. Although the people around him didn't openly mock him, they would sneak glances at him from time to time, unable to suppress a chuckle.

In the end, Xu Sanshi couldn't take it anymore. It was just a swollen face, what was the big deal? Wasn't getting injured in a fight a common occurrence? He couldn't even bring himself to scold them; this was already the second time, and no matter how he looked at it, it was his own fault. Still, the ability of Huo Yuhao was truly shameless, and he was left suffering in silence.

He could only cover his face to hide it from their view as he walked ahead. Xiao Xiao had also joined this somewhat unfamiliar group. Not everyone had the opportunity to enter a circle of top-tier geniuses. In truth, she had previously wondered how Huo Yuhao managed to defeat Dai Huabin, and his current performance was the answer: only geniuses could truly communicate with other geniuses.

However, Xiao Xiao knew that she only had the chance to get to know these people because of Huo Yuhao. She had to seize this opportunity tightly. It was just that the look that girl gave her seemed a bit off. She hadn't yet noticed the strangeness in Bei Bei, as they hadn't interacted enough. Women were simply better at understanding the nuances of other women.

But after more interaction in the future, she would surely know the reason. She wasn't as slow as Huo Yuhao; girls were simply more mature than boys. While most little boys were still playing in the mud, some girls had already started to care about their appearance.

Just like that, the sun and moon rose and set repeatedly, shining upon these young people in a recurring cycle. A few times, someone joined the group, only to leave because they couldn't stand a certain person. They passed through the seemingly endless stream of people, leaving the bustling noise behind them.

They feared no hardship, regardless of wind or rain. The rain pattering against the leaves by the roadside slowly turned into snow, and so, winter arrived. The trees entered a dormant state; because they were a special species that didn't shed leaves in winter, it saved the city's sanitation workers a bit of trouble.

Yet, new problems arose. Every year, accumulated snow would break branches that fell onto pedestrians. There were still many ordinary people in Shrek City; a population of millions could not all be soul masters, or their strength would be enough to conquer the world.

Coincidentally, this time aligned with the end of the semester at Shrek Academy. To give these idle students something to do, the annual snow-clearing operation was established. It served to deepen the connection between Shrek students and the residents, preventing these students from becoming completely detached from the world.

It was also meant to provide these students with an opportunity to socialize. Many people were not good at speaking up and wouldn't take action without a proper reason. The school had no choice but to come up with this method to facilitate interaction as much as possible, preparing them for the upcoming final exams.

Huo Yuhao was also among them, though he no longer had to worry about this issue, as he already had his teammates. What troubled him now was a different problem. Previously, he had wondered why they were given such an excessively long period of free time.

Now that he was experiencing it firsthand, he understood: time was truly tight. In reality, it was his own fault; his foundation was very poor, which caused him to lag behind in his academic courses. Now, the retribution had arrived. He was no longer the confident Huo Yuhao from the start of the semester; his back was already bent under the weight of assignments and exams.

Of course, there was even worse news: the exams had been moved up. To give the Soul Guidance Department time to renovate classrooms and upgrade facilities, they had to get rid of these troublesome students, hence this plan.

This made the already scarce time even worse, like the branches bent under the weight of the snow before him. The once relaxed Huo Yuhao immediately became anxious. Yet, the impatience in his heart couldn't be immediately translated into action; it was hard to change after living the good life for too long. It was just like how people from a certain educational model would immediately adapt to the environment once they entered university.

Sleeping early and waking up late had ruined his health—in the literal sense. Huo Yuhao had been too conservative. Without pressure, it was easy to degenerate. Wang Yi was tempting him in his mind every day, telling him not to study, that there was still plenty of time, and that it would be fine to study tomorrow. Tomorrow and tomorrow, how many tomorrows are there! Now, it was too late.

Huo Yuhao shoveled snow while distracted, checking the tree branches for issues, while simultaneously cursing Wang Yi for inducing his laziness. In truth, he wasn't that far behind; soul power cultivation could not be neglected, and Wang Yi at most nagged about his daily life, never interfering with his core cultivation.

If Huo Yuhao really slacked off on that, he wouldn't allow it. Through Huo Yuhao's efforts, his soul power cultivation had actually reached level 20 for some time now. However, for the sake of the final exams, he hadn't embarked on the path planned by Tian Meng. Tian Meng had originally protested, but it was two votes against one, and after a democratic process, Huo Yuhao remained here to take the exams.

He didn't know what Tian Meng was so anxious about; one shouldn't ignore future benefits for the sake of immediate ones. It was short-sighted. Besides, one could still cultivate soul power without absorbing a soul ring; it wouldn't affect the future. This accumulation actually helped Huo Yuhao shed some of his impatience.

Because his soul power could be said to be the lowest in the entire grade, and he had teamed up with Xiao Xiao, many people found it incredible. Although they didn't know the true situation, and Huo Yuhao couldn't break this perception, the pressure from this reputation still existed, and he cared about it deeply.

Even if this situation improved in the future, it would still leave a mark in his heart. There was no way to deal with this other than letting nature take its course and letting time improve these thoughts.

As Huo Yuhao was absent-mindedly shoveling snow and planning his study schedule—he had to, as time was running out—a snowball suddenly hit him. A portion of the snow entered his clothes and melted into water, making Huo Yuhao instantly alert. Even though he had merged with Tian Meng and possessed an ice attribute, it was still just a castle in the air.

It only made him less afraid of the cold, saving him the money for buying cotton clothes, but it didn't have much other use. Once he possessed an ice-attribute martial soul, he wouldn't fear the cold at all. It could be said that this was one of the few opportunities he had to experience the sensation of cold.

"Who is it?" As soon as Huo Yuhao turned his head, he saw those few people. In fact, he didn't need to think to know it could only be them. Huo Yuhao stopped thinking about other things and immediately began to counterattack.

The opposing side was numerous, and Huo Yuhao was defeated, but they soon fell into infighting and began to split up. After several divisions, they were eventually forced to fight as individuals. At this moment, Huo Yuhao joined in and began his counterattack; this chaotic situation was like a fish in water for him.

His abundant spiritual power and the superior vision provided by his Spirit Eye allowed him to clearly see the enemies' attacks with ease. At this time, everyone was just playing around and hadn't activated their martial souls, so how much of a difference in physical constitution could there really be? This kind of one-on-one was Huo Yuhao's turn to shine.

After Huo Yuhao had vented his frustration from the start, someone finally reacted.

"Huo Yuhao, you're worthy of being Bei Bei's junior brother, you're too devious! You don't learn anything else, just this." The one cursing was, of course, Xu Sanshi. He was the primary target of everyone's attention. His exercised body was steaming in the snow, melting the white snow that had hit him and soaking his clothes.

Just like that, they spent half the day in laughter and joy, and Huo Yuhao didn't study again. Laziness had once again taken over his body.

No, I must study tomorrow. Huo Yuhao thought to himself.