Reversal of the Situation

Huo Yuhao stood up to adjust to his newly increased power, then opened the door to the quiet room and stepped out.

The moment he stepped out, Huo Yuhao saw Elder Mu guarding the door, a lingering look of worry still etched on his face.

The instant Huo Yuhao absorbed the Snow Empress's soul ring, Elder Mu had sensed that something was amiss.

Once the soul power fluctuations of a 700,000-year-old soul beast emerged, the old man knew exactly what that soul beast embryo was.

It was only out of trust in Huo Yuhao, combined with the fact that Huo Yuhao possessed the power of destiny as a safeguard, that he had not gone inside to intervene.

Watching Huo Yuhao, whose soul power had reached level 50, Elder Mu could not help but sigh inwardly, "He truly has the makings of a god."

"Elder Mu, I've made you worry. My soul power has reached level 50, though I'm afraid I won't have time to absorb a fifth soul ring before the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament."

Seeing Elder Mu's worried expression, Huo Yuhao felt a twinge of guilt and spoke up.

"After the tournament concludes, I will have Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe take you to obtain your fifth soul ring. With your current physical constitution, you are more than capable of absorbing a 100,000-year soul ring."

Watching Huo Yuhao's rapidly improving physical fitness, much of the urgency in Elder Mu's heart dissipated. It seemed that within his lifetime, he would be able to personally hand the Dragon Core to Huo Yuhao.

"In that case, Elder Mu, I shall take my leave. I will be carrying out my first inspection mission in two days, so I need to make some preparations."

"Very well. Remember to prioritize your own safety, Yuhao."

"Rest assured, Elder Mu. There certainly won't be any accidents on this mission."

Hearing Elder Mu's concerned instructions, Huo Yuhao responded with a solemn expression.

Returning to the soul guidance laboratory, Huo Yuhao began to retrieve several defensive soul guidance devices for self-preservation.

Although battle armor was the pinnacle of soul guidance technology, the Invincible Barrier truly had its own unique advantages when it came to pure survival.

A level-five Invincible Barrier could withstand three attacks from a Soul Douluo, offering defensive capabilities that surpassed even battle armor.

Huo Yuhao took out the twenty or so level-five Invincible Barriers that Fan Yu had previously given him, along with three level-seven Invincible Barriers capable of withstanding attacks from a Titled Douluo.

For the first time in a long while, he appeared on the training grounds.

With Huo Yuhao's help last time, Wang Dong's emotions had stabilized significantly.

Seeing Huo Yuhao again, she walked up with some curiosity and asked, "When did you know I was a girl?"

Huo Yuhao had shown no surprise when she returned to her female attire, which Wang Dong found rather strange.

"Your martial soul can only be awakened by female soul masters. I saw it in the martial soul compendium not long after I enrolled."

After responding casually, Huo Yuhao had Xuan Zi call all the students over to assemble.

"Here are twenty Invincible Barriers. Each main team member takes one, each reserve member takes two, and the rest go to Senior Brother He Caitou."

Soon, the soul guidance devices were distributed. Huo Yuhao looked at Dai Yueheng, who was hiding in the crowd and trying to keep a low profile, and spoke again:

"Dai Yueheng, I won't waste my breath on unnecessary words. If you use your Invincible Barrier, you will pay me double the market price in Gold Soul Coins."

Watching Huo Yuhao's retreating figure after he finished speaking, Dai Yueheng felt a sense of daze.

As the eldest son of the Duke of White Tiger, his position should have been rock-solid after Dai Huabin's death.

However, after the hatred between the Duchess and Huo Yuhao was exposed, the servants who had once curried favor with the Duchess died one after another.

The Duchess's name had become a taboo within the Duke's mansion.

Except for a few guards who remained by her side, not even the servants were willing to deliver medicine to her while she was bedridden.

Everyone feared suffering the same fate as those other servants.

Dai Yueheng was deeply affected by this. Although the elders of the Duke's mansion knew that those people had only been targeted because they had bullied Huo Yun'er back in the day, the many elders who wanted to curry favor with Huo Yuhao due to his rise naturally used this as an excuse to stir things up, claiming that the Duchess had committed too many evils and was now suffering the backlash.

As her son, Dai Yueheng was naturally labeled as having poor fortune, and his position as heir was now in jeopardy.

The reason the Duchess was still clinging to life was out of fear that if she died, Dai Yueheng would meet with misfortune.

After all, sometimes a dead eldest son was the best outcome for the second son.

At this point, Dai Yueheng could no longer harbor any hatred toward Huo Yuhao.

Under immense pressure, he only wanted Huo Yuhao to show mercy and spare his and his mother's lives.

At Shrek Academy, knowing that it was Huo Yuhao who had developed the battle armor, he was all too clear about Huo Yuhao's influence.

Once the power of the battle armor was demonstrated at the Continental Soul Master Tournament, he might still have a chance to survive, but the Duchess would certainly not live much longer.

There would always be someone willing to erase the rift between Huo Yuhao and the Star Luo Empire for him; erasing one more Soul Emperor was no big deal.

Watching the departing Huo Yuhao, Dai Yueheng was filled with a sense of frustration. The feeling of watching one's future turn into a grave was truly despairing.

Dai Yueheng sighed and secretly hid the level-five soul guidance device, choosing not to equip it.

Now, he finally understood just how desperate Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er had been back then.

Everyone looked at Dai Yueheng in the corner in silence. Ma Xiaotao also began to understand the instructions Yan Shaozhe had given her.

"Xiaotao, your teacher cannot protect you forever. The future of Shrek Academy will be the era of Huo Yuhao."

"Remember this: from today on, shed all your old, overbearing habits. Once this child, Yuhao, decides that you are a detriment to Shrek Academy, even your teacher won't be able to protect you."

After Huo Yuhao spent a night in stable cultivation, he looked at Yan Shaozhe at the door with some surprise.

"Dean Yan, you're fully equipped—you aren't coming with us, are you? Isn't the Martial Soul Department quite busy lately?"

"Elder Xuan and I are accompanying you this time. Elder Mu is worried about you, and besides, I have already stepped down as the Dean of the Martial Soul Department."

As he spoke, Yan Shaozhe revealed his level-96 soul power fluctuations.

"After our battle that day, I gained a great deal. I have now devoted all my energy to cultivation and serve only as an Elder of the Sea God Pavilion."

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao felt much more at ease. Although Xuan Zi had changed recently, Huo Yuhao still trusted Yan Shaozhe's protective capabilities more.

The group equipped their Flight Soul Guidance Devices and set off toward the Mingdou Mountain Range.

Huo Yuhao activated his battle armor and walked through the air alongside Yan Shaozhe, while Xuan Zi continued to eat a chicken leg on the side.

After the group had traveled for a distance and stopped for a short rest, Huo Yuhao tossed a storage ring to Bei Bei.

Bei Bei caught it, took a look, and looked at Huo Yuhao with pleasant surprise.

"Yuhao, is this a Two-Word Battle Armor?"

"It's a semi-finished Two-Word Battle Armor. With your current level-42 soul power, it's a perfect fit. Once you reach level 60, I will help you complete it entirely."