I Admire Lord Sea God!!

In the end, he had underestimated Ghost Demon Venerable.

And underestimated how low he was willing to stoop.

As they continued on their way, Huo Yuhao reflected.

He had thought Ghost Demon Venerable would at least maintain some semblance of dignity and wouldn't immediately attack his newly accepted disciple.

At the very least, he could have put on an act.

Who would've thought he wouldn't even bother pretending?

Huo Yuhao had to admit it.

Ghost Demon Venerable simply didn't care about any of that.

He only needed to keep Huo Yuhao firmly in the palm of his hand.

Feeling the Ghost Killing Art Soul Power flowing through his body, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

The situation had gotten even worse than before.

Even though Ghost Demon Venerable wasn't making a move in his Sea of Consciousness right now, Huo Yuhao could feel a huge red "Danger" hanging over his head.

He had to get rid of this guy as soon as possible, or he was sure to die.

And right now, the only person he could think of who might be able to do that—might—was the very same God King he both loved and hated.

He had to reach Shrek Academy as soon as possible and get God King Tang to notice him without alerting Ghost Demon Venerable, if at all possible.

Huo Yuhao quickly set himself a goal.

He wasn't the only one feeling weighed down.

Bei Bei and Tang Ya, beside him, were also frowning with worry.

Why? Why had something like this happened?

Bei Bei and Tang Ya couldn't make sense of it.

After the change occurred, they had given Huo Yuhao a thorough examination from head to toe.

But the results were no different from when they had examined him after he cultivated the Purple Demon Eye: there was nothing abnormal.

Yet the black Soul Power flowing through Huo Yuhao's body just wouldn't disperse.

Another mutation??

But was that even possible?

Last time, it had merged with his Spirit Eye Martial Soul. What had caused it this time??

They couldn't figure it out.

Bei Bei and Tang Ya resolved that once they returned to the academy, they would ask a professional teacher to give Huo Yuhao a complete examination and analysis.

They couldn't let their hard-won junior disciple run into trouble for no reason.

With that in mind, the three of them picked up their pace.

Soon, they emerged from the Star Dou Great Forest two days ahead of schedule and caught sight of Shrek Academy.

Seeing the academy put Bei Bei and Tang Ya at ease.

As far as they were concerned, there wasn't a problem in the world that the academy couldn't solve.

At this point, Shrek could be called an academy, but including the buildings that had sprung up around it, its grounds were already so vast that they were like a city.

It even had four gates, one each to the east, west, south, and north.

With Bei Bei and Tang Ya leading him, Huo Yuhao arrived outside the east gate. This was the gate reserved for Shrek.

It was enrollment season, and the area outside the gate was bustling. Vendors came and went in an endless stream. Huo Yuhao looked around, wondering whether there was anyone he could win over in advance.

"By the way, Bei Bei, did you tell Yu Hao about the tests?"

The three walked side by side. Tang Ya was eating snacks from a food stall when she suddenly turned toward Huo Yuhao and asked, her words muffled as if she had just remembered something.

"Now?"

At Tang Ya's question, Bei Bei hesitated.

Tang Ya, on the other hand, slapped Huo Yuhao on the shoulder with a carefree grin.

"He'll find out sooner or later."

"There are two requirements for entering the Shrek Outer Court: you can't be over twelve, and your Soul Power has to be at least level fifteen. Given your current situation, you naturally don't qualify."

"But!"

Tang Ya abruptly changed tack, puffed out her chest with pride, and gave it a confident pat.

Huo Yuhao glanced at her. All he could say was—

He felt absolutely nothing.

Tang Ya didn't notice that her beloved junior disciple had just looked down on her. She continued,

"But since you're a disciple of the Tang Sect, you have an exemption. So you don't need to worry about those requirements."

Then she waved a hand, her expression turning helpless.

"But when it comes to the practical exam for new students three months from now, there's nothing we can do to help you."

"A practical exam..."

Huo Yuhao fell into thought. Given his current situation, a practical exam would indeed be difficult.

After all, his original body's starting conditions had been terrible.

But Ghost Demon Venerable's Ghost Killing Art should make up for that quite nicely.

After all, anything made by a Demon Venerable was bound to be top quality.

Even if Ghost Demon Venerable had created it with ulterior motives, it was still more than enough to deal with this bunch.

He just didn't know how much stronger it could make him.

But the problem remained the same.

Who knew whether he'd end up becoming Ghost Demon Venerable's puppet as he cultivated?

No.

He definitely would.

Damn it!!

The more Huo Yuhao thought about it, the more he felt that his luck had reached rock bottom.

After turning it over in his mind, he decided that Ghost Demon Venerable had set him up with a dilemma that had no solution for now.

Huo Yuhao was out of ideas.

All he could do now was hope that God King Tang would pay more attention to him and notice something was wrong as soon as he entered Shrek.

As for whether God King Tang could beat him?

That wasn't something Huo Yuhao needed to worry about.

If they could take each other down, that would be even better.

Ah, they'd clash, Ghost Demon Venerable would perish, and God King Tang would die a horrible death. How beautiful that sounded.

The only condition was that Huo Yuhao couldn't be caught in the crossfire.

As they talked, the three had already reached the east gate. With Bei Bei and Tang Ya leading the way, Huo Yuhao entered the Shrek Outer Court without a hitch.

Soon, several statues appeared before them.

"Oh, right, these statues..."

Bei Bei spotted the statues and was just about to introduce them to his junior disciple when he realized the younger boy beside him had vanished. Scratching his head, he murmured,

"Strange..."

When he turned around, he saw that at some point, Huo Yuhao had passed the statues of Flender, the other two, and Dai Mubai. He had gone straight to the Sea God Statue of Tang San, straightened his clothes, and stood there with a solemn expression.

"What's he..."

Bei Bei stared blankly, pointed at Huo Yuhao, then turned to Tang Ya in confusion.

Tang Ya was just as baffled. Huo Yuhao had solemnly bowed to the Sea God Statue, then looked up into its eyes and gazed at it with deep feeling. There was even a hint of pleading in his expression.

Huo Yuhao prayed frantically in his heart, almost shouting.

God King Tang! Open your eyes!!

Someone's about to steal your chess piece's body, and you're just going to do nothing?!

At least take a look!!

Even if you can't beat him, you can let him take your body instead!!

I don't mind!!

Tang Ya and Bei Bei were moved by Huo Yuhao's solemn expression. For a moment, they didn't dare disturb him.

Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm.

Tang San was lounging in his mansion with Xiao Wu in his arms, savoring the warmth and softness in his embrace, completely at ease.

"Third Brother..."

Just as the two were about to take things further, Xiao Wu, dazed with passion, seemed to remember something. She tried to push Tang San away and asked, her words slurred,

"What about Xiao Qi..."

"Don't worry, nothing's happening to Xiao Qi!"

Hearing his daughter's name, the clearly guilty God King Tang hastily brushed her off.

"Everything is under my control. Don't worry."

Since her "Third Brother" had said so, Xiao Wu stopped worrying and let down her guard.

A few seconds later, a blush crept over Xiao Wu's cheeks, and she pouted coquettishly.

"You're so mean~"

Damn it!!

Damn!!

Bastard!!

On the other hand, some were happy while others were miserable.

At Shrek Academy, Huo Yuhao was on the verge of breaking down.

He had been standing like that for half an hour, and the statue still hadn't reacted at all.

Huo Yuhao could now be certain: that damn God King hadn't looked at him once!!

Even though he was standing right in front of his statue!!

Tang Ya couldn't hold back any longer and was about to go over and find out what was going on.

Huo Yuhao could only pull himself out of that state and raise a hand to show that he was fine.

"Don't ask. It's all because I admire Lord Sea God!!"

"That's right!"

"I admire Lord Sea God!!"

Huo Yuhao said it with such conviction that he almost managed to fool himself.

Bei Bei and Tang Ya exchanged a glance, both of them visibly impressed.

What a promising talent! What a promising talent!

They'd really struck gold this time. He was already so devoted to the cause!

Tang Ya and Bei Bei walked over with satisfied smiles, patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder, and continued leading him farther into the academy.

Neither of them noticed that Huo Yuhao was grinding his teeth in such fury they were about to shatter.

He swore that once he grew strong enough, he would tear that irresponsible God King limb from limb.

Though there was a good chance he wouldn't live long enough to see that day.