Huo Yuhao got to his feet and adjusted to his newly increased strength, then opened the quiet room door and walked out.
As soon as he stepped outside, Huo Yuhao saw Mu En standing guard by the door, a trace of worry still lingering on his face.
The instant Huo Yuhao absorbed the Snow Empress's soul ring, Mu En sensed that something was wrong.
As soon as the seventy-thousand-year soul power fluctuation appeared, the old man knew exactly who the soul beast embryo was.
It was only because he trusted Huo Yuhao, and because Huo Yuhao had the power of fate as a safeguard, that he hadn't gone in to stop him.
Watching Huo Yuhao's soul power reach level 50, Mu En couldn't help but sigh to himself, "Truly, he has the makings of a god."
"Elder Mu, sorry for worrying you. My soul power has reached level 50, but I'm afraid there won't be time to absorb my fifth soul ring before the Soul Master Tournament."
Huo Yuhao looked at the worried expression on Mu En's face, feeling somewhat guilty, and spoke up.
"After the Soul Master Tournament, I'll have Xuan Zi and Shao Zhe take you to obtain your fifth soul ring. With your physical strength now, you're strong enough to absorb a hundred-thousand-year soul ring."
Watching Huo Yuhao's physical constitution improve so rapidly, Mu En felt much less anxious. It seemed that he would be able to personally hand the Dragon Pill to Huo Yuhao in his lifetime.
"Then, Elder Mu, I'll be off. I'll be carrying out my first surveillance mission in the next couple of days, so I'll go make some preparations."
"All right. Remember to keep yourself safe, Yuhao."
"Don't worry, Elder Mu. This mission will go off without a hitch."
Hearing Mu En's somewhat anxious reminders, Huo Yuhao replied with a serious expression.
Back in the soul tool laboratory, Huo Yuhao began taking out some defensive soul tools to protect his life.
Although battle armor was the culmination of soul tools, when it came purely to staying alive, the Invincible Barrier certainly had its own unique advantages.
A level-five Invincible Barrier could withstand three attacks from a Soul Douluo, making it more defensive than battle armor.
Huo Yuhao took out from his storage ring the twenty or so level-five Invincible Barriers that Fan Yu had given him earlier, along with three level-seven Invincible Barriers capable of withstanding attacks from a Titled Douluo.
It was his second time appearing on the training grounds in a long while.
With Huo Yuhao's help last time, Wang Dong's emotions had stabilized considerably.
Seeing Huo Yuhao again, she walked up, curious, and asked, "When did you find out I was a girl?"
Huo Yuhao hadn't shown the slightest surprise when she had changed back into women's clothing, which Wang Dong had found strange.
"Only female soul masters can awaken your martial soul. Not long after enrolling, I saw it in the martial soul compendium."
After casually replying, Huo Yuhao had Xuan Zi call all the students over to gather.
"There are twenty Invincible Barriers here. Each official team member gets one, each reserve team member gets two, and the rest all go to Senior Brother He Caitou."
Soon, all the soul tools had been handed out. Looking at Dai Yueheng, who was keeping his head down among the group, Huo Yuhao spoke again:
"Dai Yueheng, I can't be bothered to waste words. If you use your Invincible Barrier, you'll pay twice the going rate in gold soul coins."
Watching Huo Yuhao walk away after speaking, Dai Yueheng looked dazed.
As the eldest son of the White Tiger Duke, his position should have been completely secure after Dai Huabin's death.
But after the hatred between the duchess and Huo Yuhao came to light, the servants who had once currying favor with the duchess began dying one after another.
The duchess's name had become taboo within the Duke's Estate.
Apart from the few guards who had always stayed by her side, not even the servants were willing to bring medicine to her, though she was gravely ill.
Everyone was afraid of suffering the same fate as those servants.
Dai Yueheng was deeply affected as well. Although the Duke's Estate's elders knew those people had merely been targeted for revenge because they'd bullied Huo Yun'er back then,
many of the elders, who had already wanted to curry favor with Huo Yuhao after his rise, took the chance to make a big deal of it, claiming the duchess had done too much evil and was now suffering the consequences.
As her son, Dai Yueheng was naturally branded as having poor luck, and his position as heir was now hanging by a thread.
The duchess was still clinging to life because she feared that Dai Yueheng would meet with disaster after she died.
After all, sometimes the death of an eldest son was the best possible outcome for the second son.
By now, Dai Yueheng could no longer feel any hatred toward Huo Yuhao.
Under the immense pressure, all he wanted was for Huo Yuhao to show mercy and spare the lives of him and his mother.
At Shrek Academy, he knew Huo Yuhao had developed battle armor, so he understood better than anyone just how influential Huo Yuhao was.
Once the power of battle armor was displayed at the All-Continent Soul Master Tournament, he might still have a chance of surviving, but the duchess certainly wouldn't.
Someone would always step in to erase the rift between Huo Yuhao and the Star Luo Empire. Erasing one more Soul Emperor would be no great trouble.
Watching Huo Yuhao walk away, Dai Yueheng was overcome with defeat. The feeling of watching the future turn into a grave before his very eyes was truly despairing.
Dai Yueheng sighed and secretly hid the level-five soul tool away, not equipping it.
Only now did he finally understand just how desperate Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er had been back then.
Everyone looked silently at Dai Yueheng in the corner. Ma Xiaotao also began to understand Yan Shaozhe's warning to her.
"Xiaotao, your teacher can't protect you forever. The future of Shrek Academy belongs to Huo Yuhao."
"Remember this: starting today, get rid of all your old, overbearing habits. If Yuhao decides you're a threat to Shrek Academy, even your teacher won't be able to protect you."
After Huo Yuhao had spent a peaceful night cultivating, he looked toward the doorway in surprise and saw Yan Shaozhe.
"Dean Yan, you're fully equipped. You're not going with us, are you? Hasn't the Martial Soul Department been busy lately?"
"This time, Elder Xuan and I will accompany you. Elder Mu was worried about you, and besides, I've already stepped down as head of the Martial Soul Department."
As he spoke, Yan Shaozhe revealed a level-96 soul power fluctuation.
"After fighting you that day, I gained a lot. I've now devoted all my energy to cultivation and only serve as an elder of the Sea God's Pavilion."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao felt much more at ease. Although Xuan Zi had changed somewhat recently, Huo Yuhao still trusted Yan Shaozhe's ability to protect them more.
The group equipped their flying soul tools and headed toward the Mingdou Mountains.
Huo Yuhao activated his battle armor and soared through the air alongside Yan Shaozhe, while Xuan Zi continued eating chicken drumsticks nearby.
After traveling for a while, they stopped for a brief rest. Huo Yuhao tossed Bei Bei a storage ring.
Bei Bei took it and looked at Huo Yuhao in pleasant surprise.
"Yuhao, is this two-word battle armor?"
"It's an unfinished set of two-word battle armor. With your current level-42 soul power, Bei Bei, it should fit just right. Once you reach level 60, I'll help you finish it."
Before you continue