What was more, the current Dou Ling Royal Family was related by marriage to the Mysterious Underworld Sect.
Who would really care if a commoner was locked up and "studied"?
In this world, Huo Yuhao had died a miserable death in the Mysterious Underworld Sect before he was even sixteen.
After he died, Xu Sanshi had clutched his corpse and wept bitterly, crying over and over, "I'm sorry. I love you. I'm sorry. I love you. I'm sorry. I love you..."
At that moment, Xu Sanshi's Black Tortoise Turtle Martial Soul evolved once again. The phantom image of a black tortoise appeared behind him, and the extreme cold around him turned to Mysterious Ice. It threw back its head and wailed in grief.
But the extreme Mysterious Ice suddenly shattered amid Xu Sanshi's roar. In its place, black flames covered the entire Black Tortoise Turtle Martial Soul—and even Xu Sanshi's body.
At that moment, Ma Xiaotao's pupils contracted within Shrek Academy. How could she fail to recognize that this was the same Evil Fire she had? It was even more violent, even more intense. It had probably reached the level of Ultimate Fire!
"C-Coming out of adversity comes prosperity?"
In the Clear Sky Sect, the two sect masters watched the scene and couldn't help thinking of the Snow Empress's Snow Core explosion in the previous Sky Screen! And now Xu Sanshi, under the weight of his extreme grief and desire, had turned yin into yang, becoming the figure wreathed in raging Evil Fire before them!
The terrifying scene sent a chill through everyone outside the Sky Screen!
Bei Bei's hair stood on end. At this point, how could he possibly fail to guess the source of the awkward relationship between Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan?
He had never imagined that his "good brother" would have such a shocking fetish!
He had already decided that once he returned to the academy and saw that guy again, he'd stay as far away from him as possible!
Who knew whether, after watching what had happened in the Sky Screen, some thoughts he might not even have realized he harbored would truly awaken?
[Rank 2: Mysterious Underworld Sect Yuhao. Alone and without anyone to rely on, he was lured into the Mysterious Underworld Sect to awaken Second Young Master Xu Sanshi's Martial Soul. The sect then imprisoned and exploited him, until he died a miserable death.] [Overall evaluation: Absolutely awful!]
At this evaluation, everyone on the continent was left with a jumble of feelings.
So even possessing the talent of a genius wasn't necessarily enough. And even avoiding a massive pit like Shrek Academy didn't mean things would turn out well!
[Reward: Lubricating Oil x1, physical strength increased to Soul Saint level.]
With a flash of golden light, a bottle of lubricating oil really did fall at Huo Yuhao's feet, just like the dog collar from before.
Tang Ya and Bei Bei gave the lubricating oil on the ground a strange, sympathetic look, then glanced at Huo Yuhao.
"Um... little brother. You should keep this, too. Who knows... you might need it someday."
Bei Bei gave Huo Yuhao an awkward look and spoke after a moment's thought.
"Need it? Heh, you never know, I suppose."
A flare of anger rose in Huo Yuhao's chest for an instant.
But in the very next moment, it subsided. Huo Yuhao chuckled, then really did bend down again to pick up the jar and put it into his backpack. A glint of amusement and scorn unconsciously passed through Bei Bei's eyes.
What he failed to notice was that, as Huo Yuhao picked up the jar, he also glanced at Tang Ya beside him.
Huo Yuhao licked his lips and put the jar in his bag, setting it alongside the collar.
He really might need it someday. The only question was who he'd use it on!
At that very moment, Huo Yuhao could also feel his physical strength rapidly improving without a sound.
Beneath his clothes, his muscles quickly reshaped themselves. His skin became fair and smooth, like jade porcelain, yet hard enough to withstand the slash of a blade, even the shots of some low-tier Soul Tools.
Huo Yuhao vaguely understood why he had received this reward. After each Sky Screen ranking ended, the rewards he received were probably connected to the experiences of the Huo Yuhao from that parallel world.
In the world of Mysterious Underworld Sect Yuhao, the sect had given Huo Yuhao large quantities of precious Mysterious Water Pills to improve his physical strength, so he wouldn't be tormented to death too soon.
Otherwise, how could Huo Yuhao have lasted until he was fifteen or sixteen?
Under the Mysterious Underworld Sect's crude methods of improvement, Huo Yuhao from that world never achieved a particularly high cultivation level, but his physical strength was enough to rival a Soul Saint's. He had forged a Mysterious Yin Body.
Though Huo Yuhao was still behaving himself beside Bei Bei and Tang Ya, if he got into a fight now, he'd probably take only a few moves to beat Bei Bei, that silver-plated spearhead, into a dead dog!
Just then, the scene in the Sky Screen changed once more. The eyes of everyone on the continent were instantly drawn back to it.
[Parallel Universe of Ten Thousand Worlds Huo Yuhao, Rank 8: Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Yuhao!]
This time, after the Mysterious Underworld Sect, it was the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?
But comparatively speaking, this didn't seem strange to everyone. If anything, it seemed like a pretty good fit.
After all, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had always been one of the Soul Master sects most eager to recruit outstanding talents from across the world. They had never shut themselves away from the outside world.
Other Martial Soul sects, such as the Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, once ranked alongside the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect among the Upper Three Sects, relied entirely on the strength of their core inherited Martial Souls. They were entirely capable of standing on their own and dominating a region.
But the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was different. Their family's inherited Martial Soul was a support-type Martial Soul, so relying on themselves alone clearly wasn't enough to sustain a powerful force. They needed the support of other military strength.
In particular, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul inherited by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had a flaw of its own. It had seven levels in total and could only hold seven Soul Rings, which meant its cultivators could reach only the Soul Saint realm at most.
Though history had once seen a Nine-Colored Goddess, Ning Rongrong, evolve the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into the unprecedented Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, breaking the Soul Saint limit and eventually ascending to godhood, she had never left behind any descendants. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul had not been passed down.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had merely benefited from the prestige of that deity and changed its name to the "Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
Perhaps that was precisely why the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had always kept up its tradition of recruiting talented people and cultivating the strong without regard for convention. They had also been among the quickest to embrace Soul Tools.
By now, the Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect had both fallen into complete decline, while the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect remained a famous and wealthy power.