Registering at Shrek

Xu Sanshi left, nearly stripped bare by Huo Yuhao before he went.

After thanking Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo, he left in a sorry state, his face full of grief and indignation.

In his place, Huo Yuhao stood nearby with a beaming smile, turning Xu Sanshi's Storage Soul Tool over in his hands.

The corner of Zhang Lexuan's mouth twitched.

That kid was practically a bandit.

Now that the matter was settled, the crowd of onlookers dispersed one after another.

Before leaving, everyone eagerly discussed the fight, and they took a long, hard look at Huo Yuhao, committing his name to memory.

A One-Ring Soul Master defeating a Soul Elder three ranks higher—a street-food vendor beating up a genius student from Shrek.

It was sure to become a legend in Shrek City for a long time to come.

"Brat, you've got some skills," Han Ruoruo said, surprise on her face.

Huo Yuhao remained calm, showing little reaction.

With Sasuke's strength back in Team 7, if he couldn't even beat an Xu Sanshi, wouldn't that make him completely useless?

Still, Huo Yuhao had won by a wide margin. His Soul Power was far too thin, only at level 15. If Xu Sanshi had managed to use his second and third Soul Skills, Huo Yuhao would have had a tough time.

"Yuhao, I've been forgetting to introduce myself. We're both students at Shrek. My name is Zhang Lexuan, and this is my junior sister, Han Ruoruo. One of our students was indeed too impulsive today. I apologize on his behalf, and thank you for going easy on Xu Sanshi," Zhang Lexuan said, sounding somewhat apologetic.

Zhang Lexuan? Han Ruoruo?

Weren't they Shrek's senior and second senior sisters from the Inner Court in Soul Land II? So it was them!

Huo Yuhao's expression didn't change, but a few ripples stirred in his heart.

"It's fine. Since he paid enough for what he did, I won't hold it against him," Huo Yuhao said.

"Yuhao, what are you planning to do next? If you want to join Shrek Academy, we could help you," Zhang Lexuan said hopefully.

Huo Yuhao had originally intended to agree right away, but after thinking it over, he put on a dejected expression and shook his head. "I thought Shrek Academy, with its reputation as the greatest academy under heaven, must have something special about it. But after what I just saw, I've realized Shrek's students are nothing special. I'm so disappointed."

"Rather than joining Shrek, I might as well go to the Sun Moon Empire and enroll in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy. At least their achievements in Soul Tools are unrivaled on the continent."

"The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy?" Zhang Lexuan's mouth fell open slightly.

"Brat, what's so great about the Sun Moon Academy? Shrek is the best place for you. That Xu Sanshi was only an Outer Court student. Our Shrek Academy has an Inner Court, and that's where Shrek's true strength lies. With your talent, if you don't stay at Shrek to cultivate and instead run off to become some Soul Engineer, you'd be wasting your gifts!" Han Ruoruo said, eyes wide.

"Oh? The Inner Court? Can I join as an Inner Court student right away?" Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow.

"Join the Inner Court right away? That..." Han Ruoruo was stunned.

She had been about to say that students had to pass an examination to enter the Inner Court. But then she thought again: Huo Yuhao was only a One-Ring Soul Master, yet he'd defeated a Soul Elder three ranks above him. A monster like him probably wouldn't find the Outer Court all that appealing.

"Yuhao, I'll explain your situation to the Inner Court's teachers. How about you come with us tomorrow to register at Shrek first? I promise that with your talent, you'll definitely be able to enter the Inner Court," Zhang Lexuan said earnestly.

Huo Yuhao thought for a moment, then nodded. "All right. I'll wait for you at the entrance to Shrek Academy tomorrow."

With the two senior sisters from the Inner Court guiding him, it would be much easier for him to enter Shrek Inner Court later on.

After they finished talking, the three agreed that the two women would bring Huo Yuhao into Shrek the next morning. Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo then left at once.

After they were gone, Huo Yuhao was just about to find a nearby hotel when he saw Jiang Nannan still waiting quietly nearby.

"Why haven't you left yet?" Huo Yuhao asked, surprised.

Jiang Nannan still held the cup of milk tea in her hand. She looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry, young man. I got you dragged into this today."

In the original story, Jiang Nannan had a rather tragic fate. At thirteen or fourteen, she had given herself to the Black Tortoise Sect to save her mother. After Xu Sanshi did something so vile, she had somehow fallen in love with him again and sacrificed herself once more to help him completely awaken and upgrade his Martial Soul.

That part of the original story was truly outrageous. A girl only thirteen or fourteen was made to do such a thing, and the key point was that Jiang Nannan barely had any presence later on. She was really just a tool to make the audience feel that the story was melodramatic and to help Xu Sanshi awaken his Martial Soul later.

But after meeting Jiang Nannan, Huo Yuhao thought she was actually a decent girl. At least her values were sound; she had simply been cruelly toyed with by fate.

He couldn't help feeling a little rueful.

Huo Yuhao waved a hand. "It's fine. What happened today had nothing to do with you. That guy was just a bully who picked on the weak and ingratiated himself with the strong. He wanted to win you over by putting me down. It had nothing to do with you."

"But when it comes to me, I repay every grudge and every kindness. If someone does me a kindness, I'll repay it tenfold. If someone holds a grudge against me, I'll repay it a hundredfold. I'm not the sort to repay evil with kindness."

"After thirty years, the river east of the city will run west; don't bully a poor young man." Huo Yuhao spoke with deep meaning.

"Since you're all right, I'll be off." After saying goodbye to Jiang Nannan, Huo Yuhao walked away without looking back.

Jiang Nannan remained where she was, her expression hard to read.

She slowly savored Huo Yuhao's words.

"Every grudge repaid, every kindness returned!"

"Picking on the weak and currying favor with the strong!"

"After thirty years, the river east of the city will run west; don't bully a poor young man."

At that moment, something seemed to click in Jiang Nannan's mind. She clenched her fists in silence.

Actually, after that incident a few years ago, Jiang Nannan hadn't really hated the Black Tortoise Sect. Though it still weighed on her heart, both sides had agreed to the deal, so she hadn't felt she had much to say.

But afterward, when the Black Tortoise Sect discovered that their young sect master's Martial Soul had not fully awakened, they pressured her into doing that with Xu Sanshi again so that his Martial Soul could fully awaken.

Jiang Nannan naturally refused. But the Black Tortoise Sect turned around and threatened her in all sorts of ways, even bringing up her mother more than once.

Things only began to improve after Jiang Nannan passed the entrance examination to Shrek Academy.

But at Shrek Academy, she ran into Xu Sanshi again.

"I won't be anyone's tool anymore. Xu Sanshi, Black Tortoise Sect, one day I'll take back everything I lost!"

A blazing fire burned in her eyes.

Early the next morning, Huo Yuhao met Zhang Lexuan at the entrance to Shrek Academy.

She was still dressed in a white skirt, a gentle smile on her face.

After they met, Zhang Lexuan led Huo Yuhao straight into Shrek Academy.

Unlike the modern atmosphere of Shrek City, the grounds of Shrek Academy were much closer to nature.

The academy was lush with all kinds of plants. The two walked along its broad avenue for about two hundred meters before several enormous statues blocked their view.

The statue at the very front depicted an old man wearing glasses, with a distinctive hooked nose.

Zhang Lexuan introduced him to Huo Yuhao. "These are the founders of Shrek Academy, known as the Iron Triangle: Flender, Yu Xiaogang, and Liu Erlong. The one at the front is Flender, and the one to his left is Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang. You could say he's one of the central figures in our academy. He created the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls theory, and one of his famous sayings has always served as Shrek's motto, inspiring every one of us."

"There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters!"

Zhang Lexuan's gaze still held a trace of reverence. After all, those three had brought Shrek the glory it enjoyed today, and she was naturally proud of that.

Huo Yuhao was noncommittal. He suddenly asked, "If there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters, then why does Shrek set such high standards for Martial Soul quality when admitting students? Forgive my bluntness, but if no Martial Soul is useless, then Shrek should admit more Soul Masters with lower-quality Martial Souls who work harder. Turning a genius into a genius isn't anything remarkable. It's turning an ordinary person into a genius that would show what Shrek is capable of."

Zhang Lexuan was instantly at a loss for words. "Uh..."

After a long silence, Zhang Lexuan seemed unable to answer. She offered an awkward smile.

Then she continued the introduction. "The statues behind these three are the Shrek Seven Devils from ten thousand years ago."

"Leading the group is White Tiger Douluo Dai Mubai. The second is Sausage Douluo Oscar, and the third is Sea God Tang San, the one who ended the turmoil ten thousand years ago. The fourth is..."

The one at the front of the seven was a tall man with long hair and a pair of imposing eyes that made him look strikingly valiant.

So this was the ancestor of the Dai Family? As Huo Yuhao looked at Dai Mubai's statue, memories surfaced of the abuse he'd suffered at the Dai Family's hands over the past dozen years, along with the scene of his mother, Huo Yun'er, dying.

His heart burned with rage, and he silently swore to avenge his mother.

Then he looked at Tang San's statue. Long blue hair flowed down his back, Blue Silver Grass coiled around him in rings, and a faint smile played at the corner of his mouth.

Huo Yuhao gave a cold laugh and followed Zhang Lexuan farther inside.