Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin!

Huo Yuhao listened quietly, occasionally chiming in with a word or two. The corners of his lips unconsciously curved into a faint smile, one so slight that even he failed to notice it.

This feeling was strange.

He had only known Wang Dong for a few months. Her personality was awkward, her temper eccentric, and between them still lay that embarrassing, failed "martial soul fusion" incident.

Yet whenever he walked beside Wang Dong and listened to her chatter about trivial little things, Huo Yuhao felt an inexplicable... peace in his heart.

Like a drifting ship finding harbor, like a lone traveler meeting a companion.

Like... seeing a faint yet warm light in the cold darkness.

No, that's not right. Huo Yuhao warned himself again.

Wang Dong was a genius of Shrek Academy, a designated core disciple, and a mysterious "young lady" with an unknown background.

While he, Huo Yuhao, was merely an illegitimate child—a avenger burdened by bloodshed, destined to stir up carnage in the future.

They were not walking the same path.

He could not, and should not, develop any improper... dependence on Wang Dong, or any other feelings.

That would only harm Wang Dong, and himself as well.

Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the ripples in his heart that should not have been there. His expression returned to its previous calmness, even taking on a trace of distance.

Wang Dong seemed to sense something. Her voice gradually softened, and her pink-blue eyes secretly glanced at Huo Yuhao. A hint of disappointment flashed through them, but it was quickly replaced by a deeper, almost stubborn... resolve.

The two walked on in silence, and the atmosphere became somewhat delicate.

Fortunately, they soon arrived at the registration office.

It was a three-story white building located at the center of the teaching district. A fairly long line had already formed outside. There were both old and new students, dressed in identical school uniforms, their faces full of excitement, nervousness, or anticipation.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong walked to the end of the line and waited quietly.

The line moved quickly, and before long, it was their turn.

Huo Yuhao stepped up to the window and handed over his student card.

Behind the window sat a stern-looking female teacher in her forties, wearing glasses. She took the card and scanned it with a soul tool. Huo Yuhao's information immediately appeared on the screen.

"Huo Yuhao, first-year outer courtyard student, martial soul: Spirit Eyes, Soul Power..." The teacher pushed up her glasses as she looked at the data on the screen. Her brows furrowed slightly, confusion flashing through her eyes before turning into shock.

"Level twenty-two? Weren't you only level eleven half a year ago? This..."

She raised her head and carefully examined Huo Yuhao, her gaze turning sharp.

Huo Yuhao's heart sank, but his face remained calm as he nodded. "Yes, Teacher. I had some fortunate encounters during the break and managed to break through by luck."

"Fortunate encounters?" The female teacher stared at Huo Yuhao for several seconds, then slowly nodded. She did not ask further questions, merely taking a new Soul Power Level badge engraved with "Twenty-Two" from a drawer and handing it to him.

"An increase in Soul Power is a good thing, but your foundation must be stable. Don't rush for quick results. Go on. Next."

"Thank you, Teacher." Huo Yuhao accepted the badge and secretly let out a breath of relief before turning away from the window.

Wang Dong quickly completed her registration as well. She caught up to him and waved a badge engraved with "Twenty-Seven" before his eyes, raising her brows smugly.

"Well? Impressive, right? I'm a genius!"

Huo Yuhao smiled but said nothing.

The two were about to leave the registration office for class in the teaching building when a commotion suddenly erupted among the crowd at the entrance.

"Move! All of you, move aside!"

An arrogant voice full of impatience rang out.

Like waters parted by a tide, the crowd automatically retreated to both sides, opening a path.

Then Huo Yuhao saw two people.

Walking in front was a youth of fifteen or sixteen. He wore a well-tailored white martial outfit beneath a dark green Shrek Academy uniform. His short golden hair was combed meticulously, gleaming under the sunlight.

His face was handsome, the sharply defined, aggressive sort of handsome.

Especially his eyes—they were a pure gold. Deep within his pupils, the phantom of a White Tiger seemed to roar, filled with arrogance, brutality, and a deeply ingrained... sense of superiority.

Dai Huabin.

The second son of Duke of White Tiger Dai Hao, Zhu Yue's biological son, and Dai Yueheng's younger brother.

He was also... Huo Yuhao's half-brother by blood.

Huo Yuhao's breathing stopped instantly.

He stared at Dai Huabin's face, seven or eight parts similar to Dai Hao's, and at those golden eyes full of arrogance. Countless scenes flashed through his mind in an instant.

The cold, towering walls of the White Tiger Duke Mansion; the contemptuous looks of the servants; the unrestrained mockery of the young masters and ladies; the whips that struck his body; the nights he went hungry; and... his mother's eyes before her death, filled with resentment and despair as they stared fixedly at him.

Hatred surged wildly from the deepest part of his heart like poisonous vines, instantly spreading through every limb and bone.

Huo Yuhao's fingers curled unconsciously, his nails digging deeply into his palms until they drew blood. The Soul Power within him began to churn uncontrollably under the force of his extreme rage. The chill of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion even showed faint signs of escaping his body.

"Calm down, Yuhao!" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's anxious voice sounded in his mind. "This is Shrek Academy. You can't make a move here! Hold it in!"

Huo Yuhao clenched his teeth hard and forced himself to lower his head. He refused to look at Dai Huabin, refused to look at those golden eyes that made him want to gouge them out.

But Dai Huabin noticed him.

No—not noticed. He had... recognized him.

Dai Huabin's gaze swept over the crowd before finally settling on Huo Yuhao.

He stared at Huo Yuhao for two seconds, then the corners of his lips lifted into a cold curve filled with mockery and disgust.

"Who did I think it was? So it's you... you bastard."

His voice was not loud, but at the suddenly silent entrance of the registration office, it clearly reached everyone's ears.

Bastard.

Those two words were like two red-hot knives, plunging fiercely into Huo Yuhao's heart and tearing open the wound that had only just begun to heal, leaving it bloody once more.

Everyone around them was stunned. They looked from Dai Huabin to Huo Yuhao, their eyes filled with curiosity, confusion, and... a trace of barely concealed gloating.

Wang Dong's expression darkened instantly.

She stepped forward, blocking Huo Yuhao from view. Her pink-blue eyes stared coldly at Dai Huabin, and her voice was like a blade tempered in ice.

"Dai Huabin, watch your mouth!"

"Watch my mouth?" Dai Huabin sneered. He looked Wang Dong up and down, disdain flashing in his eyes. "Wang Dong, I advise you not to meddle in other people's business. This is a private matter between me and this bastard. It's not your place to interfere."

"A private matter?" Wang Dong refused to yield an inch. Deep within her pink-blue pupils, faint golden light flowed. "Yuhao is my roommate and my friend. Insulting him means insulting me. I'm handling this matter today!"

The atmosphere instantly became tense as drawn swords.

The lackeys behind Dai Huabin also crowded forward, glaring menacingly at Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao.

A deathly silence fell over the entrance to the registration office.

Only the rustling of wind through the leaves remained, along with the faint sound of a class bell in the distance.

Just then.

"Huabin, enough."

A hoarse voice filled with exhaustion and gloom suddenly rang out.