Soul Power Pollution

In the days that followed, Huo Yuhao lived very easily.

Every day, Class One of the new students underwent intense physical training and tedious basic theory lessons.

But Huo Yuhao spent most of his time soaking in the Outer Court library.

With the absurd learning speed granted by his first soul skill, the slow-paced instruction in the freshman class simply could not keep up with him.

And Shrek's physical training consisted of running laps—nothing but running laps, especially weighted laps. None of it did Huo Yuhao the slightest bit of good.

Whenever Huo Yuhao cultivated the Heavenly Origin Art at night, his soul power flowed through his meridians, stimulated his acupoints, and tempered his body. The results were far better than running laps.

So.

As long as Zhou Yi was not personally watching over a class, Huo Yuhao openly skipped every other teacher's theory lessons.

Such utterly rebellious behavior naturally made him a regular visitor to Zhou Yi's office.

Had it been any other freshman, they would probably have been packed up and thrown out of Shrek long ago.

But Huo Yuhao happened to be an unreasonable exception.

Office.

Zhou Yi sat behind her broad desk, glaring fixedly at Huo Yuhao in front of her.

Her wrinkled old face was filled with barely suppressed fury.

"Huo Yuhao, you haven't attended a single theory class this week."

Zhou Yi slammed her hand on the desk. Her hoarse voice burned with anger. "Do you think that just because your martial soul is special, you don't need to learn the basics?!"

Huo Yuhao kept both hands in his pockets, his expression unchanged.

Looking at the furious old woman, he skillfully brought out that classic line.

"Teacher Zhou, didn't you say that those who dared not cause trouble were mediocre?"

Huo Yuhao blinked and said solemnly, "Attending class on time is what mediocre people do. As a monster, isn't skipping class perfectly normal?"

The air froze.

Zhou Yi's chest heaved sharply twice.

She opened her mouth, only to find that she could not curse him at all.

Being choked by her own words felt even worse than swallowing a fly.

"Those who dare not cause trouble are mediocre?"

Zhou Yi's old face turned livid with rage. "I told you to cause trouble so you'd go fight, not so you could ignore discipline!"

Huo Yuhao shrugged, looking utterly unconcerned.

Zhou Yi took a deep breath, the hand gripping her cup turning slightly white.

She truly had no good way to deal with this brat.

As one of the only three two-ringed Great Soul Masters in Class One, Huo Yuhao not only possessed strange and troublesome soul skills, but he had also ranked first in the grade in combined theory and practical results in the weekly exams held every half month and the monthly exams.

Shrek Academy's rules were simple.

Everything was decided by results. The last-ranked student in every examination would be expelled outright.

That was Shrek's screening mechanism behind its high elimination rate.

For a freak like Huo Yuhao, who scored full marks in every subject, even if he slept in the dormitory every day, the academy's higher-ups would only turn a blind eye.

Most importantly, the boy was clever. He had never once skipped one of Zhou Yi's own classes.

"Enough, enough. Get lost already!"

Zhou Yi impatiently waved her hand, too lazy to look at that punchable face any longer.

Huo Yuhao smiled and turned to leave the office.

In the blink of an eye.

Two months quietly passed.

Less than a month remained until the freshman assessment.

Over those two months, Zhou Yi mercilessly expelled nearly a third of the class.

But under that high pressure.

Life in the freshman dormitory building remained peaceful.

Evening.

The dormitory's wooden door was tightly shut.

Huo Yuhao sat at the desk, quietly flipping through a thick ancient book he had borrowed from the library.

On the bed behind him.

Wang Dong lay sprawled across the blanket.

Her pair of fair bare feet swung casually in the air.

Ever since that farce of living together two months ago, the little girl had become increasingly uninhibited in the dormitory.

There were only the two of them in the room anyway.

So Wang Dong could not even be bothered to keep up appearances.

She wore only a loose, thin shirt and a pair of cool little lounge shorts, dressed however she found most comfortable.

She looked completely at home.

"So boring..."

Wang Dong rolled over on the bed, dragging out the words weakly.

No one responded to her.

Huo Yuhao continued staring intently at the book in his hands without even turning his head.

Wang Dong curled her lips.

She rolled over and sat up, then walked barefoot to Huo Yuhao's side. Bracing both hands on the table, she leaned over to look at the ancient book.

"Turning stone into gold..."

Wang Dong slowly read the words on the page.

"A soul master possessing a golden martial soul steadily nourished a palm-sized stone with soul power."

"After a full seventy years, this stone finally became a genuine piece of gold?"

After she finished reading, an extremely puzzled expression appeared on Wang Dong's face.

She looked at the book with some disdain.

"Huo Yuhao, you spend every day in the library just to read this kind of made-up nonsense?"

Wang Dong looked at him in confusion.

To traditional soul masters, most such strange tales were merely laughable stories for idle conversation. No one took them seriously.

"Are you short on money or something?"

Wang Dong raised her delicate chin, a flash of pride passing through her eyes.

She patted her nonexistent chest.

"If you're really short on money, why not just beg this young master?"

"My family lacks everything except money. If you're willing to lower your head, I'll directly reward you with some spending money."

Seeing her arrogant, wealthy, and thoroughly punchable expression,

Huo Yuhao simply rolled his eyes.

"This is the only ambition you have."

Huo Yuhao said speechlessly, "How do you even have the nerve to say such shallow things when your head is filled with nothing but gold soul coins?"

The moment Wang Dong heard that, she was immediately displeased.

"Who are you calling shallow?!"

"You."

Huo Yuhao bluntly pointed at the contents of the page.

"In the eyes of traditional soul masters like you, this kind of rumor is nothing more than a folk legend."

"But that's because you simply cannot see what lies beneath the surface."

Wang Dong froze.

She lowered her head and looked at that absurd passage again. Hesitantly, she asked, "What could there possibly be beneath the surface?"

Huo Yuhao looked at her, his tone turning serious.

"It's pollution."

"Seventy years of soul power output caused an ordinary stone to undergo a fundamental transformation."

"This proves that soul power can deeply pollute and assimilate material objects in reality."

Huo Yuhao paused, then said each word distinctly, "From a broader perspective, this is direct evidence of energy converting into the material dimension."

The dormitory fell quiet.

Wang Dong blinked her pink-blue eyes.

She listened very seriously.

But in reality.

She did not understand a single word.

What energy dimension? What material pollution?

Seeing Wang Dong's blank expression, clearly already frozen solid,

Huo Yuhao sighed inwardly.

Sure enough.

Discussing fundamental theory with this young master whose mind only knew hand-to-hand fighting was like playing music to a cow.

Over the past two months.

He had read more than half the books in the Shrek Outer Court library.

By comparing countless vast and miscellaneous materials, he had gained tremendous inspiration.

Huo Yuhao directly shut the ancient book in his hands.

He stood up, casually stuffed the book into his storage soul tool, and headed for the dormitory door without looking back.

"Huh?"

Wang Dong was startled by his sudden movement.

She hurried to the door and grabbed Huo Yuhao's arm.

"Where are you going so late?"

Huo Yuhao's gaze was calm.

"To test a new idea for my martial soul by Sea God Lake."

Testing a martial soul?

Wang Dong's eyes instantly lit up.

After being cooped up in the dormitory all day, she had long been bored out of her mind.

"Wait for me!"

Wang Dong excitedly grabbed his sleeve and shamelessly latched onto him.

"This young master happens to be bored too. I'm coming to watch."

Looking at this roommate who had stuck herself to him like an adhesive plaster,

Huo Yuhao helplessly shook his head.