"What?!"
Huo Yuhao's eyes flew wide, his face full of disbelief.
"Sign a contract with a living Soul Beast? Th-this is possible? No one's ever done that before!"
Zhao Ze only smiled without answering, turning to look at Electrolux beside him.
Electrolux noticed his gaze. He paused, then smiled helplessly.
"You must have had this all planned out already, haven't you? You want me to use necromancy to create this kind of contract?"
"Exactly."
Zhao Ze nodded, his expression serious.
"We got sidetracked earlier by the Soul Tools and the Body Sect, but it's not too late to start now.
"Necromancy specializes in manipulating souls and forging contracts. With your abilities, and my understanding of the rules, creating a contract that lets Soul Beasts and humans coexist as equals shouldn't be difficult."
"All right."
Electrolux pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"This really could be quite significant. I'll do my best to try."
As the three of them spoke, Mu En patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder, smiling warmly.
"Yuhao, how are you preparing for the freshman assessment in three days? Challenging every group by yourself is no small pressure."
"Don't worry, Elder Mu. I'm ready."
Huo Yuhao straightened his back and replied with a resolute gaze.
"Good. It's that fighting spirit that matters."
Mu En nodded in satisfaction, his tone turning serious.
"If you can defeat every group in the assessment and take first place, the Sea God Pavilion will give you an extra reward: a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone suited to your Mental Attribute."
"A Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone?!"
Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up, his face brimming with delight.
Soul Bones were even more precious than Soul Rings. One suited to him could greatly boost his strength.
"That's right."
Mu En said with a smile.
"Give it your all. Don't let us down."
"Thank you, Elder Mu!"
Huo Yuhao replied excitedly.
After chatting a little longer with Mu En and Xuan Zi, Huo Yuhao took his leave from the Sea God Pavilion.
He had just reached the edge of Sea God Lake when he saw a group of senior sisters in their inner-court uniforms standing nearby, chattering among themselves and glancing his way from time to time.
When Huo Yuhao walked over, the girls fell silent. They nudged one another and took a few steps forward.
The senior sister at the front, dressed in a yellow skirt, blushed and gathered her courage before approaching Huo Yuhao. She asked softly,
"Junior Yuhao, are you free right now? Could you... could you cultivate with us?"
"Huh? Cultivate with you?"
Huo Yuhao stared at them blankly, bewildered.
"Yeah, yeah!"
Another senior sister quickly nodded, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.
"We saw you go into the training room with Ma Xiaotao just now. When she came out, she looked refreshed, and her cultivation must have improved!
"You have some amazing cultivation method, don't you? We want to try it too!"
When they brought up what he'd done with Ma Xiaotao in the private room, Huo Yuhao's face went bright red in an instant, from the tips of his ears all the way down to his neck.
He stood frozen, flustered, his gaze darting around as he didn't dare meet the senior sisters' eyes.
"This is a great opportunity, Yuhao!"
Zhao Ze's voice rang out in the Sea of Consciousness.
"Most of their Martial Souls have different attributes. Cultivating with them would let your attributes complement each other, and the effect won't be much worse than with Ma Xiaotao!
"Oh, and tell them that Martial Souls with elemental attributes should go first. Ice, fire, lightning, wind, earth—anything works."
"Master!"
Huo Yuhao cried out inwardly, mortified, though he knew Zhao Ze was telling the truth.
Cultivation through complementary attributes really could bring huge benefits to both sides.
Seeing the hopeful looks on the senior sisters' faces, Huo Yuhao hesitated for a long while before finally speaking in a timid voice, soft as a mosquito's buzz.
"Um... the cultivation method is..."
Once he'd finished, he wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground. He lowered his head and didn't dare look at anyone.
The senior sisters exchanged glances, their faces turning hesitant.
Cultivating that close to a junior several years younger than them was a little embarrassing.
But when they looked up at Huo Yuhao—at his flushed cheeks, clear eyes, and long eyelashes—their hesitation wavered at once.
Huo Yuhao was so handsome and gentle. It didn't seem like such a bad deal!
Besides, it would rapidly improve their cultivation. This was the kind of opportunity you couldn't find even with a lantern!
"I'll go first!"
The senior sister in the yellow skirt raised her hand first, her face red as she spoke.
"My Martial Soul has a fire attribute, so it'll complement Junior's ice attribute perfectly!"
"Mine has a fire attribute too! I want to go!"
"I have a lightning attribute! Lightning and ice will work even better together!"
"And me, and me! My attribute is wind!"
In an instant, every senior sister raised her hand, all eager to cultivate with Huo Yuhao.
Surrounded by a throng of lovely girls, Huo Yuhao caught the faint floral scent on them. His cheeks were hot enough to fry an egg, and he was completely dazed.
Zhao Ze said from within the Sea of Consciousness,
"Don't just stand there. Find a spacious training room and take them one at a time! Try to raise your cultivation a little more before the assessment!"
Huo Yuhao could only sigh helplessly and lead the excited group of senior sisters toward the training area.
Wang Dong'er happened to see the whole thing from nearby.
Watching Huo Yuhao surrounded by a group of senior sisters, his face red as an apple, she angrily stamped her foot, fury filling her pink-and-blue eyes.
"Stupid Huo Yuhao! You lecher!"
Wang Dong'er muttered through gritted teeth.
"You were just getting all tangled up with Senior Ma Xiaotao, and now you're flirting with all these inner-court senior sisters! I was wrong about you! In three days, I'll beat you until you're utterly defeated!"
Under a willow tree not far away, Xiao Xiao folded her arms and watched Huo Yuhao walk off amid a crowd of senior sisters. She couldn't help clicking her tongue.
"Wow, Yuhao sure is popular. Even the inner-court senior sisters are fighting to cultivate with him."
"What's so great about being popular!"
Wang Dong'er whirled around, cheeks puffed up and red with anger.
"Those senior sisters are the ones with no shame! They could be cultivating just fine on their own, but instead they go looking for a freshman junior!"
Xiao Xiao covered her mouth to hide her grin, then leaned toward her, waggling her eyebrows teasingly.
"Oh? Is that so? Why do I think someone's eyes are about to shoot flames? Dong'er, don't tell me you're jealous?"
"Who's jealous?!"
Wang Dong'er's voice jumped an octave, drawing curious glances from a few students passing by.
Her face grew even redder. She hurriedly grabbed Xiao Xiao and headed toward the training grounds, lowering her voice to a fierce whisper.
"Huo Yuhao is our biggest rival in this assessment!
"I'm just angry that he isn't preparing properly and keeps showing off everywhere!
"We have to beat him and show him who's strongest among the freshmen!"
"All right, all right. We'll beat him, we'll beat him."
Xiao Xiao held back her laughter and let herself be dragged along, privately muttering,
"She's so in denial. She's obviously jealous, but she won't admit it."
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