Thinking he would still need this guy as a punching bag in the future, Dai Huabin didn't hit him any harder. Instead, he stepped forward, plopped down on Huo Yuhao, and gave him several slaps—not too hard, not too soft.
"Your young master has somewhere to go. Make my bed for me. If it isn't ready when I get back, or you get my blankets dirty, you can wait to die."
After saying this, Dai Huabin turned and left the dormitory. He was going to ask his big brother, Dai Yueheng, for a Soul Ascension Pill.
Dai Yueheng was an Inner Courtyard disciple and one of the current members of the Shrek Seven Devils. Getting a Soul Ascension Pill wouldn't be difficult for him.
"Mom, Mom..."
Dai Huabin's punch had been so heavy that Huo Yuhao's chest felt as if it were on fire.
He spat up sour fluid and could barely breathe. How could he hear what Dai Huabin was saying?
In his daze, Huo Yuhao saw his mother's face in his mind as she lay dying—the reluctance and resentment in her expression.
For his mother's final wish, and so that one day he could clear her name and avenge her, he couldn't fall here, no matter what.
"Thump, thump, thump..." Huo Yuhao stood up again. His footsteps landed heavily, and his limbs and body trembled uncontrollably.
Yet he still forced himself to hold on.
But when he got to his feet, Dai Huabin was nowhere to be seen in the dormitory.
Had Dai Huabin left?
For no particular reason, Huo Yuhao felt hollow inside. He didn't know whether it was because Dai Huabin had left and he could finally breathe a sigh of relief,
or because he was afraid of Dai Huabin.
Just then, the voice of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm rang out in Huo Yuhao's mind. "Sigh, Yuhao, give up. You're not his match yet."
He'd been sleeping soundly.
Then Dai Huabin's punch had knocked Huo Yuhao unconscious and nearly killed him.
There was no helping it. Huo Yuhao's constitution was simply too weak.
Even though its Million-Year Soul Ring had been sacrificed to him, the ring was sealed, and its age was at most equivalent to four or five hundred years.
His First Soul Ring had only absorbed a Ten-Year Soul Ring—exactly ten years, no more and no less.
Compared with other Soul Grandmasters of the same level, Huo Yuhao's constitution was still far too weak.
And Dai Huabin had thrown that punch intending to take down a Soul Grandmaster in a single blow.
If it hadn't immediately used a wisp of its source energy to repair Huo Yuhao's body, Dai Huabin's punch would have killed him.
Besides, it couldn't appear and fight in Huo Yuhao's place.
That would make Huo Yuhao dependent on it, and it would also leave it unable to act for half a year, perhaps even a whole year.
This kind of possession could only be used when Huo Yuhao faced a genuine threat to his life.
"Brother Sky Dream, I can't accept this. I still haven't used Soul Shock." Huo Yuhao clutched his chest, which was still aching faintly.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sighed. "You'll just have to bear it, no matter how unwilling you are. As for Soul Shock, it only works on people with less mental power than you. If your opponent has greater mental power, you'll suffer a backlash. That kid Dai Huabin has far more Soul Power than you. If you rashly unleash Soul Shock, he might not even fall before you pass out first."
"Damn it! Am I destined to be bullied by him for the rest of my life?"
Huo Yuhao was filled with resentment. Dai Huabin had bullied him before he came to Shrek Academy, and he was still bullying him now that he'd arrived.
What the hell was the point of coming to Shrek Academy?
"At this stage, the most important thing is to improve your strength. As I said, for now, stay at Shrek Academy and learn the Tang Sect Secret Arts. The Purple Demon Eye in particular will be crucial to your Soul Shock. Then, when this school year ends, I'll take you to obtain a Second Martial Soul. By then, you won't have to suffer Dai Huabin's bullying anymore. You can pay him back in his own blood, tooth for tooth."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm patiently tried to persuade him.
It had suddenly realized that this child's innocence might not be a good thing after all.
Innocence meant vulnerability. Huo Yuhao still needed a lot more tempering.
"A year..." Huo Yuhao murmured. "Fine. I'll endure it for one year. A year from now, I'll return everything Dai Huabin has done to me, every last bit of it."
The worst thing was having no hope. Now that there was hope of defeating Dai Huabin, Huo Yuhao could keep going.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said, "Mm, good. First, make Dai Huabin's bed. Be careful not to get it dirty, or he'll probably beat you again when he gets back."
Huo Yuhao: "..."
At the same time, while Huo Yuhao was making Dai Huabin's bed, Dai Huabin had already found Dai Yueheng.
"Big brother, how'd it go? Did you get the Soul Ascension Pills?" Dai Huabin asked, looking at the figure in front of him, whose features bore some resemblance to his own.
Dai Yueheng said, "You're so arrogant, yet you actually came to ask me for Soul Ascension Pills. That's not like you."
Dai Huabin snorted without answering, his eyes fixed intently on Dai Yueheng.
Dai Yueheng immediately lost interest. He handed over an exquisite box containing the pills.
"These are two Soul Ascension Pills. One is for you, and one is for Zhu Lu. Consider it a little enrollment gift from me, your big brother, to my sister-in-law."
Two? Dai Huabin's eyes lit up. He had already set his sights on Wang Dong'er, and he had no interest in Zhu Lu, that woman who only knew how to meekly agree with everything.
If he gave the Soul Ascension Pill to Wang Dong'er after defeating Feng Piaoling, would she be more likely to accept his advances?
At the thought, Dai Huabin's eyes grew noticeably more ardent.
Dai Yueheng had no idea his younger brother was already cheating on Zhu Lu in his heart. The White Tiger Dai brothers' affection for each other was well known—or so people said. Even without having to fight over the throne anymore, their relationship was hardly any better.
After handing over the two Soul Ascension Pills he'd gone to considerable trouble to obtain from the Inner Courtyard, Dai Yueheng left.
Watching his big brother walk away, Dai Huabin sneered to himself. "Dai Yueheng, you were just born a few years before me. One day, I'll surpass you, and you won't be able to put on that big-brother act in front of me anymore."
At dusk, as the sun sank in the west, Feng Piaoling slowly emerged from his cultivation, feeling a little hungry.
His roommate had returned long ago.
Noticing Feng Piaoling wake up, the roommate—who had more time to meditate and cultivate thanks to Feng Piaoling's offer to hire him—opened his eyes at once, jumped off the bed, and hurried over.
"Brother Feng, I've got the details. Shrek Academy has a dedicated, enclosed Mimicry Training Ground, but you have to pay to use it. The rent is one Gold Soul Coin a day."
The Mimicry Cultivation Environment, which should have been free at a high-level Soul Master Academy in Douluo I, had been turned into a paid service.
A single day's fee was nearly a month's worth of food for a commoner newcomer. It really did carry on Flender's penny-pinching ways...
Feng Piaoling sighed to himself.
"Also, they've released the class assignments. You and I are both in Class Nine, and our teacher is Mu Jin."
When he mentioned his assigned class, his shoulders visibly relaxed. After all, if he'd been assigned to Class One, he'd have had a high chance of dropping out.
Before you continue