Zhou Yi's Show of Force

Night gradually fell, and Huo Yuhao had recovered his mental energy. He was preparing to leave the library.

Although the Shrek Academy Outer Court Library was open around the clock, few people usually came even so.

I should head back first. Once I'm back, I'll compile and organize the records of the books I entered earlier and see if there's anything valuable. Hopefully, it won't all be garbage information. Huo Yuhao did not hold out much hope.

From his rough perusal just now, there was simply far too much cluttered information in the Shrek Academy Outer Court Library, especially in the books published and reorganized by Shrek Academy from ten thousand years ago to around three thousand years ago.

There was very little substantial knowledge on cultivation or Martial Souls. Even the materials describing Soul Beasts were not particularly detailed, and much of it had been pieced together from all sorts of scattered sources.

It could only be said that Shrek Academy had thoroughly inherited Yu Xiaogang's style in this regard. They were old patchwork monsters. After all, Shrek Academy had merely been an emerging force back then.

Though it had a Deity backing it, its foundation had been shallow. It could only borrow a little here and copy a little there, then throw everything together into a complete mess and call it Shrek Academy's "research results."

Even so, Huo Yuhao was not too disappointed. His target was the entire Outer Court Library. No matter how much trash it contained, he could still pan some gold out of the shit.

Back in the dormitory, Huo Yuhao's gaze involuntarily turned toward Wang Dong's half of the room. It was still a complete mess. Though it looked as though it had been tidied up on the surface, the items were still strewn about without any order.

Wang Dong herself was nowhere to be seen. Huo Yuhao naturally had neither the mood nor the interest to care where she had gone. He lay directly on his bed and let his body enter a sleeping state.

However, Huo Yuhao's consciousness entered his Spiritual Sea. Seeing Sky Dream Ice Silkworm lying there and snoring away, he could not help but sigh.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm really is a genius. He can actually make his Spiritual Power circulate on its own while sleeping and help me cultivate.

Huo Yuhao did not bother him. He was not some devil, after all. As long as Sky Dream Ice Silkworm completed the work Huo Yuhao had assigned him, Huo Yuhao did not care whether he was sleeping on the job.

My body is asleep. This is a good chance to organize my Spiritual Sea.

With a gentle wave of his hand, all the knowledge he had memorized transformed into books that appeared before him.

Huo Yuhao did not even need to open those books to know what was recorded inside.

That was because the Spiritual Sea was humanity's perception of the self. To whatever extent a person understood themselves, the Spiritual Sea could exert its effects to that same degree.

Whenever Huo Yuhao needed to manifest his knowledge, he could display it in the form of books.

This is useful knowledge. This is useless bullshit.

After briefly verifying them, Huo Yuhao sorted the books he had carried back from the library into categories.

Next, I need to search these useless books for any slightly useful observations or knowledge.

Huo Yuhao waved his hand again. Book after book flipped through their pages at high speed, and the words within began floating into the Spiritual Sea, circling around Huo Yuhao.

At the same time, the trash whose useful information had been extracted was directly swept away by Huo Yuhao and sealed at the deepest level of his memories. Simply reading that information was torture for him.

These too. I should organize them together. The remaining sorted knowledge was then categorized by Huo Yuhao according to how frequently it would be used.

The most commonly used knowledge concerned observation and detection, because it could allow Huo Yuhao to compare the changes observed through his Eye of Truth with actual phenomena.

This would further develop and improve his use of the Eye of Truth.

All right, that should be about enough. Next, let's give it a try.

Several illusory figures slowly appeared within the Spiritual Sea. They were people Huo Yuhao had actually fought or observed for long periods of time.

Among them were the instructor responsible for the assessment, Beibei and Tang Ya, and that chubby boy with a Support Type Martial Soul.

In the end, Huo Yuhao chose Beibei, because only his Martial Soul and Soul Skills had been recorded at great length in numerous books as representative examples.

When Martial Soul Possession occurs, Soul Power circulates, but there are also traces of other substances or energies circulating alongside it.

Is that what ultimately transforms into the shape of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon?

Other Soul Masters seem to have this as well when they undergo Martial Soul Possession. It's just that the combinations, compositions, and arrangements of those substances and energies are all different.

And with my current Spiritual Power, even if I gave it my all, I probably couldn't reproduce such deep-level changes.

After several attempts, Huo Yuhao gave up on using his spiritual body to simulate the changes of Martial Soul Possession.

But Soul Skills can still be used for reference. I've secretly tested it several times before. My Martial Soul can also simulate Thunder Dragon Claw, but without the corresponding enhancement from the Martial Soul, its power and effect are lacking.

If the same amount of Soul Power is used, its power is at least thirty percent weaker than Beibei's, but the resulting effect is the same.

A lightning-element shaping attack that can leave the body, hover in the air, and be controlled to a certain extent.

Lightning may be intangible, but its individual strands can connect tightly and pull one another.

Then could I use the same method to try controlling other elements through Soul Power and changing them?

I tried it with Spiritual Power before, but it didn't work very well. Pure Spiritual Power dispersed soon after leaving my body.

Soul Skills like Thunder Dragon Claw are primarily guided by Soul Power, but their essence is using Soul Power to shape a form. In reality, they attract external elements to work together with it, making them far more enduring and powerful than relying on one's own Spiritual Power alone.

After a good night's sleep, Huo Yuhao had made several attempts in his Spiritual Sea. Although he could simulate the practical effects of other elements, simply using the Soul Power energy arrangement of Thunder Dragon Claw could only draw in other elements.

The final result was not ideal. At most, it possessed fifty percent of Thunder Dragon Claw's power, along with only faint traces of the other elements' inherent characteristics.

Not enough. But I don't have time to keep experimenting today. Maybe I should start with Soul Skills of other attributes. Perhaps every attribute has its own suitable arrangement and combination. I just know too little right now.

With that thought, Huo Yuhao stopped dwelling on it and left his Spiritual Sea. No matter what, this path is viable. As long as I keep trying, I should be able to free myself from the limitations of the Soul Master system.

If I can form Soul Skills on my own, forming Soul Rings on my own should not be that difficult either. This can serve as a new direction.

When he woke up, it was already fairly late. Wang Dong seemed to have only just woken up as well, but she appeared to have encountered something good and was in a pleasant mood. There was even a smile at the corner of her lips.

Wang Dong waved and greeted Huo Yuhao. "Morning."

Huo Yuhao glanced at her without saying much. He merely nodded in acknowledgment before leaving the dormitory.

At this school, it can only be something involving the Tang Sect. But it has nothing to do with me now. I'd better get there early and not let Zhou Yi notice me.

After eating at the cafeteria, Huo Yuhao went straight to the classroom. He was among the earlier arrivals. Before long, the other students gradually entered as well. Quite a few arrived in groups, seemingly having become close in just a few days.

Huo Yuhao sat toward the back. The classroom was large enough to accommodate a hundred people.

Wang Dong soon arrived as well, accompanied by several little fangirls bewitched by her appearance.

Wang Dong did not seem inclined to speak with Huo Yuhao again. She casually found a seat and sat down.

As the class bell rang, an elderly woman with graying hair soon entered through the classroom door.

After taking several steps to the podium, Zhou Yi coldly swept her gaze across the class. The students who had been chattering away immediately felt an invisible pressure.

The classroom quickly fell silent. Only then did Zhou Yi slowly speak. Her voice was hoarse and unpleasant, like a cracked gong.

"My name is Zhou Yi. I am your homeroom teacher. I am not sure how many of you will be able to graduate from my class."

"Because let me tell you this: in my class, no trash will ever pass the assessments. What I intend to cultivate are monsters, not idiots."

Many students were indignant at Zhou Yi's words. Others, who had heard of Old Witch Zhou Yi's reputation, hurriedly put on proper expressions to avoid drawing her attention.

"All right. Since enrollment began, everyone who has gotten into a fight, stand up!" After sweeping her gaze around and noting down those students with unconvinced expressions, Zhou Yi spoke.

After a long while, the entire class remained silent. Not a single person stood up to admit it. They had only just enrolled, and unless it had been an exceptional situation, even if there had been friction, it would not have been resolved through fighting.

Unless one side was arrogant, overbearing, and flamboyant, while the other was sensitive, insecure, and psychologically twisted.

Seeing that no one stood up for so long, Zhou Yi sneered. "What a bunch of trash. Don't you know Shrek Academy's motto? Those who dare not cause trouble are mediocrities. All of you, get out."

"Within one hour, run one hundred laps around Shrek Plaza. Anyone who fails to finish will be expelled immediately."

That was right. Zhou Yi was doing this to establish her authority, forcing this group of new students—whether obedient good children or unruly top students—to reveal themselves.

Only then could she tame them one by one in her future teaching, turning them into part of Shrek. This was how Shrek Academy's teachers had always done things.

It was simply that no one had ever been as unreasonable and excessive as Zhou Yi before. After all, with Fan Yu supporting her from behind, Zhou Yi genuinely did not care how many people she expelled.

The whole class erupted in an uproar, only to be forcibly suppressed by Zhou Yi's strength. How could a group of Soul Grand Masters with no more than two Soul Rings resist the pressure of a Soul Emperor?

Everyone could only obediently go out and begin running laps.

Huo Yuhao watched coldly and found it absurd, but there was nothing he could do. The one with the bigger fist had the final say. Zhou Yi only bullied the weak, but he was weak right now.

If you were wrong, you had to admit it. If you got beaten, you had to stand straight. In this shitty world, weakness itself was a mistake. There was nothing to argue about.

But

Who could guarantee that they would always be the strong one?

At the very least, no one dared make that guarantee now. It was only a matter of now.

Huo Yuhao silently followed the bulk of the class out of the classroom. At that moment, Wang Dong walked to his side and asked softly, "Hey, Huo Yuhao, are you all right? I remember your Soul Power is only Rank Twelve. Can you really finish one hundred laps?"

"If you don't finish, you'll be expelled. Want me to help you? You don't know yet, right? Little Ya agreed to let me join the Tang Sect yesterday. We'll be fellow disciples from now on!" At this point, a smile seemed to appear on Wang Dong's face.

"Little Ya said that you and I joined at about the same time. If I'm older than you, you'll have to call me Senior Brother! Want Senior Brother here to help you later? She only said one hundred laps, but that old witch never said others couldn't help."

Huo Yuhao merely rolled his eyes at Wang Dong and said nothing.

While Wang Dong was still confused, she suddenly felt a chill down her back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zhou Yi following behind the group and looking at her with an amused expression.

Only then did she remember that Zhou Yi was a Soul Emperor. Even without using Soul Power, from such a short distance, she would certainly have heard everything Wang Dong had just said. Wang Dong could not help glaring fiercely at the silent Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao was puzzled as he looked at Wang Dong, who was glaring at him for no reason. What's with this girl? Why is she so dramatic?

Before long, everyone began running across Shrek Plaza. One lap, two laps, three laps.

Whether the others were tired or not, Huo Yuhao certainly was not very tired. His physical condition might not have been good, but he had Soul Power to assist him.

The others had to consume Soul Power to recover their strength after running a certain distance, but Huo Yuhao did not. With Sky Dream Ice Silkworm helping him cultivate, the Soul Power within his body circulated without end.

Unlike the others, whose Soul Power dwindled with every use, Huo Yuhao's Soul Power endurance did not pale even against Soul Grand Masters and was even rapidly approaching that of a Soul Elder. That was the benefit of an autonomous Soul Power cycle.

The closer he came to becoming a Titled Douluo, the more apparent this benefit would become. Thus, despite possessing only Rank Twelve Soul Power, Huo Yuhao ran rather easily near the front of the group.

Zhou Yi watched this scene with an unreadable expression.

This brat is strange. He came in through the Tang Sect's Special Invitee channel, and his Soul Power is so low, yet he can run so easily. Is it because of his Martial Soul, or because of the Tang Sect?

At that moment, Huo Yuhao activated his Eye of Truth and continuously observed the traces of Soul Power circulation in the people around him, recording them one by one in search of a more suitable way to improve his own cultivation method.