After classes ended that afternoon, Huo Yuhao went to the market to set up his stall as usual.
Wang Dong followed him.
At first, Wang Dong had complained that the smoky smell of grilled fish was too strong and refused to come along.
But then she suddenly noticed that Huo Yuhao's stall drew a crowd, especially female students, so she volunteered to handle the money.
Her reason was perfectly sound.
"You handle the grilling, and I'll handle the money. That way, nobody can sneakily touch your things."
Huo Yuhao had been left utterly baffled.
Taking the money was one thing, but how had it turned into people sneaking around touching things?
What could they even touch?
Classmate Wang Dong, had you been looking at things you were too young to see?
But even though Huo Yuhao was suspicious, he didn't say anything. Having someone help was always a good thing.
Especially since Wang Dong might complain, but she was quick and efficient. She could even keep track of every missing Copper Soul Coin.
The young mistress of the Clear Sky Sect had set up a stall to collect money, then got so happy over earning a few Copper Soul Coins.
If those two from the Clear Sky Sect saw this, they'd probably have fallen apart on the spot and questioned their entire lives.
They might even have wondered whether something had gone wrong with their parenting.
By the time the two arrived at the stall, Tang Ya and Bei Bei were already waiting there.
Selling grilled fish with Huo Yuhao had become part of their daily routine.
The moment Tang Ya spotted Huo Yuhao, she perked right up and jumped to wave at him.
"Yu Hao! Hurry, hurry, hurry! I've been starving for half the day!"
Huo Yuhao glanced at the small bag of snacks by her hand and gave her a helpless look.
"Teacher Xiao Ya, you call that starving for half the day?"
Tang Ya hid the bag behind her and stuck out her tongue.
"This is just to tide me over. It doesn't count as a meal."
Bei Bei stood beside her, smiling warmly.
"She started complaining about being hungry as soon as training ended this afternoon. It's already impressive that she managed to hold out until now."
Tang Ya immediately raised a fist and jabbed it toward Bei Bei to show her displeasure.
"Bei Bei, whose side are you on?"
Bei Bei changed his tune without hesitation.
"I was wrong. You're right, Xiao Ya."
Watching Bei Bei switch sides without missing a beat, Huo Yuhao could only admire him.
Now that was survival smarts.
As expected of the senior brother.
Soon, the aroma of grilled fish wafted through the air.
Not long afterward, a familiar voice came from the far end of the snack street.
"Yu Hao! Save me two!"
Xu Sanshi strode over, already holding enough Copper Soul Coins in his hand to pay, looking every bit the regular customer.
Wang Dong glanced at him, looking puzzled.
"Why are you here again?"
At that, Xu Sanshi immediately clutched his chest, wearing a deeply wounded expression.
"Junior Wang Dong, that's a hurtful thing to say!"
"I'm paying for my food. That's perfectly reasonable."
After spending the past two days together, Wang Dong and Xu Sanshi had become fairly familiar with each other.
Tang Ya nodded along too, unexpectedly taking Xu Sanshi's side for once.
"Exactly. Wang Dong, you can't treat him like that. If he's paying, he's a customer."
Xu Sanshi was instantly touched. He was just about to say something when Tang Ya held out her hand to him.
"Then pay up first."
Wang Dong's eyes lit up at the sight, and she quickly chimed in.
"Exactly, exactly! Pay up first!"
Xu Sanshi said nothing and looked toward Huo Yuhao, who was grilling the fish.
Huo Yuhao didn't even look up. He simply said, "Wang Dong's in charge of collecting the money."
Xu Sanshi was absolutely heartbroken, but with Tang Ya and Wang Dong looming over him, one older and one younger, he had no choice but to put the Copper Soul Coins for two grilled fish on the table. He couldn't help complaining as he did.
"You've changed, Yu Hao. You weren't like this before."
Bei Bei stood to the side, grinning.
"You also weren't someone who came here for grilled fish every single day."
Even after paying, Xu Sanshi still refused to back down.
"Can you blame me? It's not my fault this kid's grilled fish is so good."
Tang Ya, biting into a freshly grilled fish, mumbled in agreement.
"Exactly, exactly. Xu Sanshi finally said something sensible for once."
Listening to these clowns banter, even Huo Yuhao, busy grilling, couldn't help smiling.
After the "Lower-Body Disturbance" more than a week ago, Xu Sanshi hadn't really held a grudge.
He was thick-skinned, and he bounced back quickly.
After Huo Yuhao had tricked him out of a Mystic Water Pill, he had shown up again the very next day.
At first, he'd insisted that he was only passing by.
But after eating two grilled fish, he had announced on the spot that all their past grievances were forgiven.
Of course, on the condition that Huo Yuhao never used that move again.
Huo Yuhao had made no such promise.
As a result, whenever Xu Sanshi came near him, he stood with impeccable posture.
"Hold on. What do you mean, 'finally said something sensible for once'? Were all the other things I said nonsense?"
"Tang Ya! Explain yourself!"
Xu Sanshi suddenly caught on and cried out in outrage.
Tang Ya made a face at him and ducked behind Bei Bei.
Xu Sanshi could only accept it helplessly.
Just then, Bei Bei turned to the empty spot beside Huo Yuhao and asked, puzzled, "Has Senior Sister Xiaotao not been here these past few days?"
At the mention of Ma Xiaotao, Xu Sanshi's expression immediately fell.
"Bei Bei, what are you getting at?"
Bei Bei looked at him, unbothered.
"Nothing. I was just asking."
"Oh, please!"
Xu Sanshi looked wary and pointed at the Copper Soul Coins on the table.
"Are you trying to call her over so she can chase me away? I'll have you know, I'm a proper customer now! I paid!"
Wang Dong couldn't help laughing. In all these days, this was the first time she'd seen Xu Sanshi act like this.
"Are you scared of her?"
Xu Sanshi stubbornly denied it.
"Scared? What are you talking about? I'm showing respect to an Inner Academy senior!"
Tang Ya immediately called his bluff without mercy.
"Sure, keep telling yourself that. Last time you saw Senior Sister Xiaotao, your legs were practically giving out."
"Tang Ya! You've got to be decent!"
Bei Bei didn't join in their joking. He knew a little about Ma Xiaotao's situation.
He looked at Huo Yuhao, his tone turning more serious.
"Yu Hao, has Senior Sister Xiaotao come looking for you since then?"
Huo Yuhao's hands paused for a moment before he went back to turning the fish.
"No."
Bei Bei frowned and thought it over.
"She really liked your grilled fish. Normally, she wouldn't go this many days without showing up."
Xu Sanshi quieted down too.
"Now that you mention it, that is a little strange."
Huo Yuhao flipped the fish over, already forming a guess.
Ma Xiaotao probably hadn't stopped coming because she didn't want to.
She just couldn't.
In Shrek as it was now, there was only one reason that could keep her away.
The Evil Fire.
That day, he'd dropped a few hints while grilling fish and let Ma Xiaotao experience firsthand how the Ghost Killing Art could suppress her emotions.
If she had actually gone back and tried it, there were two possible outcomes.
She might have made some progress.
Or she might have gone too far.
After all, the Evil Fire she'd been suppressing for years was no joke.
If she could suppress it, it was a lucky break. If she couldn't, it would explode.
Huo Yuhao kept these thoughts to himself.
He was only a new student who'd just enrolled. Knowing too much would only bring trouble.
"Maybe something's come up in the Inner Academy."
He simply handed the grilled fish to Xu Sanshi.
"Here."
Xu Sanshi took the fish and bit into it, instantly forgetting all his suspicions.
"Hot, hot—delicious!"
Wang Dong looked at his hopeless expression and turned away in disdain.
Bei Bei, however, couldn't let the matter go so easily.
Something still felt off to him.
But Ma Xiaotao was a gifted Inner Academy student, with several teachers personally looking after her. If something really had happened, it wasn't the place of a few Outer Academy students to worry about it.
So he put his doubts aside for the time being.
Huo Yuhao continued grilling fish. His expression didn't change, but his thoughts began to turn.
If the Evil Fire really had caused Ma Xiaotao trouble, it might be an opportunity for him.
Could he use the power of the Ghost Killing Art to change someone else's fate and gradually break through the restrictions God King Tang had placed on him? He needed to find out.
Ma Xiaotao was the ideal person for the test.
Of course, the risks were high.
If he acted too strangely, someone of Yan Shaozhe or Xuan Zi's caliber would definitely take an interest in him.
What Huo Yuhao needed most right now was time to grow in safety.
But if it really came down to it,
he wouldn't hold back.
Shrek Academy, the principal's office.
Yan Shaozhe sat behind his desk, with Wang Yan standing in front of him.
Wang Yan held a stack of records and was giving him a report on this year's freshmen.
"Principal, that's the general situation with Freshman Class 9."
"Ning Tian has a three-ring Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda. She can essentially be considered a seed for the Inner Academy."
"Wang Dong's Light Goddess Butterfly is also quite unusual. Her Second Soul Ring is a thousand-year ring. I recommend that the academy keep a close eye on her. She also has a strong chance of entering the Inner Academy in the future."
"And Wu Feng has a top-tier Martial Soul as well..."
Yan Shaozhe nodded.
"I've read the profiles on those students. They're certainly worth cultivating."
Wang Yan hesitated, then turned to another page.
"There's also Huo Yuhao."
At the name, Yan Shaozhe looked up, his interest piqued only slightly.
"You mean the one Tang Sect recommended?"
"Yes."
Wang Yan pushed up his glasses.
"His Soul Power Level is low, and his First Soul Ring is only a ten-year ring. But I think there's something unusual about him worth observing."
Yan Shaozhe didn't respond.
So Wang Yan continued.
"His Soul Power fluctuations are different from those of ordinary Soul Masters. His aura is sometimes weak, then suddenly turns sharp. I verified this myself."
"Also, his Martial Soul has already undergone a mutation. My preliminary conclusion is that it mutated twice in succession, though we still don't know why..."
Wang Yan was about to continue when Yan Shaozhe raised a hand and cut him off.
"Martial Soul Mutation isn't unusual."
"Over the tens of thousands of years of Douluo Continent, there have been countless recorded cases of Mutated Martial Souls."
"Some mutations succeed, but far more leave the Martial Soul crippled."
"No matter how you put it, his First Soul Ring is ten years old. That won't change."
Wang Yan immediately objected.
"But, Dean, a Soul Ring's age doesn't represent everything."
"But it does represent part of someone's potential."
Yan Shaozhe's tone remained fairly calm as he faced Wang Yan.
"The academy's resources are limited. We can't devote too much effort to him based on a mere guess."
Wang Yan understood the implication and grew anxious.
"Dean, I'm not asking the academy to immediately divert resources to him. I just think he deserves further testing."
"And there's what happened to Wu Feng a few days ago..."
Yan Shaozhe furrowed his brow, looking displeased, and asked in reply,
"Wasn't that matter already settled?"
"But that's exactly the problem."
Wang Yan immediately produced another record.
"Wu Feng is a Level 25 Soul Grandmaster with a Red Dragon Martial Soul."
"Huo Yuhao only has one Soul Ring. Even if Wu Feng let her guard down, she shouldn't have lost so quickly."
Yan Shaozhe didn't pick up the thread.
Of course he'd heard about what happened.
Xuan Zi had personally taken Wu Feng to the infirmary. It would've been hard not to hear about it.
But Wu Feng herself wasn't pursuing the matter, and Mu Jin hadn't filed a formal complaint, so the academy naturally had no reason to make a bigger issue of it.
"When young people fight, cultivation isn't always what decides the outcome."
Yan Shaozhe spoke mildly.
"An ambush, a Hidden Weapon, the terrain, their emotions—all of these can affect the result."
Wang Yan could only smile wryly.
The office fell silent for several breaths.
Yan Shaozhe was just about to speak when hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.
An Inner Academy steward pushed his way in. He didn't even have time to bow before hurrying over to Yan Shaozhe and whispering in his ear.
Wang Yan stayed where he was, watching Yan Shaozhe's face suddenly change.
The next moment, Yan Shaozhe sprang to his feet, and the chair behind him toppled to the floor.
"What? Something happened to Xiaotao?!"
Before you continue