Level Thirty!

Watching Wang Dong's back recede into the distance, Huo Yuhao's smile gradually faded. His fingertips rested on the golden mark of the Soul Tool, where the warmth that belonged to Wang Dong had yet to dissipate, but the tenderness in his eyes had been replaced by a layer of icy sharpness.

Thinking of Wang Dong's identity as the "Sea God's daughter," Huo Yuhao more or less understood. "Tang San, you were the one who made Dong'er hate Soul Tools, weren't you? Really... exclusionary and old-fashioned."

He knew Tang San too well.

In the fragments of memories from the future, that Lord Sea God had always stood above the clouds, looking down upon all living beings with a gaze that was compassionate yet unquestionable. He had planned the order of Douluo Continent and personally drawn countless invisible boundaries—Soul Masters were supposed to follow the traditional path of cultivation, while Soul Tools were "crooked paths."

He had dictated Huo Yuhao's future and turned it into a complete mess.

Huo Yuhao's fists clenched unconsciously, his knuckles turning white. Even the golden mark on the Soul Tool trembled slightly. Fragments from his future memories pierced his mind like ice picks. Though he had not experienced them personally, he felt them as if they were his own.

"Dictate fate?" he repeated softly, his voice tempered with ice. "Your so-called 'order' is nothing more than stuffing everyone into the boxes you drew. My mother's death, Qiu'er's sacrifice, Dong'er's struggles, my teacher's death... which of them did not bear your shadow?"

"Just wait. I'll continue studying Soul Tools. I'll take Dong'er and Qiu'er with me and personally use the crooked paths you condemned to blast open the gates of the God Realm."

"I'd like to see who else can interfere with other people's fates!"

"Dong'er, Qiu'er, Teacher..." he murmured those names, his fingertips carving deep marks into the windowsill. A trace of spiritual power was poured into every mark. "Wait for me."

"Wait until I tear this so-called framework of fate to pieces. Wait until I aim the cannons of Soul Tools at the gates of the God Realm. Then—"

"No one will ever lay a finger on you again."

As the final word fell, the icy mist around him abruptly drew back. All his fury settled into an almost terrifying calm. He turned and returned to the desk, spreading out a fresh blank sheet of paper. Dipping his pen in Soul Power, he began drawing a brand-new Soul Tool core formation.

"Yuhao, why are you still drawing blueprints?!" When Wang Dong returned, this was what she saw.

Huo Yuhao's hand holding the pen paused. When he looked up, the frost in his eyes had completely faded, leaving only a trace of lingering focus.

A new Soul Tool had already been half-drawn on the blueprint. It was a pink-blue ring, interwoven with icy-blue Soul Power patterns that carried an indescribable beauty. The patterns of a pair of Light Goddess Butterfly wings were outlined within it, faintly gleaming with gold.

"You're back?" He set down his pen, his fingertips gently brushing the butterfly wings on the drawing. "I just came up with a new idea. I wanted to see if I could make a somewhat versatile Soul Tool, so I got a little absorbed."

Wang Dong walked to the desk, her gaze drawn to the patterns on the blueprint. Hidden within those icy-blue lines was a familiar feeling that inexplicably put her at ease, like... Huo Yuhao's spiritual power mark. She remembered the inexplicable panic she had felt when she ran out earlier. Looking at the half-finished blueprint now, she suddenly calmed down.

"Always making these strange things." She complained aloud, but could not help reaching out. Her fingertips hovered over the blueprint, not daring to truly touch it—using the Soul Tool earlier had felt so smooth and natural, yet faced with this drawing that embodied Huo Yuhao's painstaking effort, she found herself cherishing it with unexpected care.

Huo Yuhao looked at her hand hanging in midair, amusement rising in his eyes. "Afraid you'll get burned?"

"W-Who's afraid?!" Wang Dong abruptly pulled her hand back, though the tips of her ears reddened. "I just think... you draw too slowly."

She turned around and took out an oil-paper packet from her Soul Tool pouch, slapping it onto the table with a smack. "Here, it's for you. I didn't buy it for you or anything. The shop just happened to make too much osmanthus cake, so I picked some up. It definitely wasn't for anyone in particular."

The oil-paper packet opened to reveal several snow-white pastries, giving off a faint osmanthus fragrance. Huo Yuhao picked one up and put it in his mouth. Its sweet, delicate flavor spread across his tongue, and warmth rose in his heart...

"Thanks."

"What are you thanking me for? We're friends." Wang Dong turned her face away, but her eyes drifted back to the blueprint. "You... were you unhappy just now?"

Huo Yuhao's hand holding the pastry paused.

Wang Dong's voice lowered. "When I was by the door, I heard you sounding like you were talking to someone. Your voice... was scary."

She had not heard the details, only a few angry fragments and words such as "God Realm" and "fate." At the time, Huo Yuhao's Soul Power fluctuations had been incredibly violent, freezing enough to seem capable of cracking the entire dormitory apart. It had frightened her so much that she had not dared come in immediately.

Huo Yuhao was silent for a moment. He picked up the Soul Power pen and finished the final stroke of the butterfly wing on the blueprint. "It was nothing. I just thought of some unpleasant things from the future."

"The future?" Wang Dong frowned. "The future hasn't arrived yet, so why think so much about it?"

"I'm afraid it'll really become reality." Huo Yuhao's voice was soft, yet it carried a barely perceptible vulnerability. "Afraid that some people are destined to leave."

He thought of Qiu'er's resoluteness when she sacrificed herself, of Dong'er's determined palm strike, and of those unwilling farewells swept along by fate. Those scenes had once stabbed into his heart like ice picks. Yet now, looking at Wang Dong beside him and the pure, untainted concern in her eyes, he suddenly felt that perhaps those futures were not impossible to change.

Wang Dong saw the fleeting gloom in his eyes, and her heart inexplicably tightened. She remembered Huo Yuhao's words from earlier: "No one will ever lay a finger on you again." Though she had not heard the whole story, she could feel the weight of that determination.

"Hey, Huo Yuhao." She suddenly spoke, her tone unusually serious. "No matter what future you're afraid of, I'll help you."

Huo Yuhao abruptly looked up and met her gaze. There was not the slightest hesitation in Wang Dong's eyes, only clear determination, just like the Wang Dong'er in his future memories who had not hesitated even a little when it came to his safety.

It felt as though something had gently bumped against his heart, leaving it aching and soft.

"Alright." He smiled. This time, it was a warm smile from the bottom of his heart. "Then you'd better keep up. My Soul Tools are still waiting for you to be their test subject."

As if remembering something, Huo Yuhao suddenly said, "I'm going out for a while soon. I should be back before the Freshman Assessment."

Wang Dong's fingers tightened sharply around the oil-paper packet. Before the blush on her face had faded, she was stunned by the sudden news. "Going out? Where?"

There was a hint of tension in her voice that she had not noticed herself. Ever since Huo Yuhao had moved into this dormitory, aside from class hours when they were in different classes, the two of them had been nearly inseparable.

Huo Yuhao suddenly saying he was going on a long journey left an inexplicable emptiness in her heart.

Huo Yuhao picked up his pen and drew a snowflake on the blueprint. "I'm going to the Northernmost Land. After taking the Blackwater Pill and the Soul Ascension Pill, I should reach level thirty. I need to obtain my third soul ring."

"Fine, but remember to apply to the academy and have a teacher help you." At this point, Wang Dong suddenly changed the subject. "By the way, where did you get a Blackwater Pill and a Soul Ascension Pill? Even I haven't taken a Soul Ascension Pill before."

As if thinking of something, Wang Dong widened her eyes at Huo Yuhao. "Did Ning Tian give them to you?"

Huo Yuhao's hand holding the pen paused. When he looked up, he met Wang Dong's eyes, which were clearly saying, If you dare say yes, I'll lose it. He could not help smiling.

"The Soul Ascension Pills were from Ning Tian. They're the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect's investment in me. As for the Blackwater Pill, do you remember the boy from when we first met?"

"And... look, I got two Soul Ascension Pills!"

Wang Dong's face flushed bright red—not from embarrassment, but anger. She strode forward, nearly pointing at Huo Yuhao's nose. "Ning Tian gave them to you?! What right does she have to give you Soul Ascension Pills? Do the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect's pills just fall from the sky?"

The more she spoke, the angrier she became, to the point that her hair nearly stood on end. "Is she trying to recruit you into her sect again? I knew she was up to no good! She can barely bring herself to take many Soul Ascension Pills herself, so why give them to you?"

Watching her puff up like an angry cat, Huo Yuhao could not help laughing softly. "Your reaction makes it seem like I stole something from you."

"W-Who cares!" Wang Dong stiffened her neck, though a trace of barely noticeable grievance flashed through her eyes. "I just think... she definitely has ulterior motives. People from the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect always have calculations behind everything they do."

That was what she said, but her heart felt inexplicably sour. Soul Ascension Pills—those were treasures that could directly raise one's Soul Power level. Even at the Clear Sky Sect, she had never taken one, yet Ning Tian had simply given them to Huo Yuhao? When had the two of them become so close?

Huo Yuhao saw the little emotions in her eyes and suddenly found her flustered appearance rather cute. He took out another jade bottle from his Soul Tool pouch, placed it on the table, and gently pushed it toward her. "Look carefully. There are two."

Wang Dong froze and lowered her head to look at the jade bottle. The stopper had been opened, and rich Soul Power fluctuations rushed toward her. Two orange-yellow pills rested quietly inside. They were undoubtedly Soul Ascension Pills.

"Two?" She was stunned. "Ning Tian gave you two?"

"Mm." Huo Yuhao nodded, amusement in his eyes. "How could I forget my Wang Dong when there's something this good?"

"W-Who's yours?!" Wang Dong abruptly stepped back half a step as if she had been burned. She hurriedly tried to close the jade bottle, but her fingertip accidentally touched one of the pills. Warm Soul Power flowed up her finger, startling her so badly that she nearly threw the bottle away.

Huo Yuhao watched her flustered movements, the amusement in his eyes nearly overflowing. Sunlight streamed through the window and fell upon the reddened tips of Wang Dong's ears like scattered golden dust, painting even her pink-blue hair with a layer of golden light.

"Isn't that right?" Huo Yuhao deliberately leaned closer, the tip of his nose nearly brushing Wang Dong's cheek. "Since school started, aside from me, what other friends do you have? Is it that no one else wants to play with you?"

With every sentence he spoke, Wang Dong's face reddened a little more. By the end, even her neck had been dyed pink, like a ripe peach.

"Hmph, I'm not taking anything Ning Tian gave you! And stop hanging around Ning Tian. One day, she might just gobble you up whole."

"Oh? Is that so?" Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow and picked up the Soul Ascension Pill that belonged to him, lightly tossing it on his fingertip. "Then perhaps I should return this pill to Ning Tian. After all, she meant well. I can't possibly..."

"You're not allowed to return it!" Wang Dong abruptly turned around, her eyes fixed fiercely on Huo Yuhao. "It was given to you already. How can you return it? If Ning Tian asks, just say—just say I ate it!"

After shouting those words, Wang Dong froze herself. Her cheeks felt as though they had been scorched by blazing fire, hot enough to fry an egg. Yet looking at the Soul Ascension Pill Huo Yuhao kept tossing about on his fingertip, she simply could not bear to watch it be returned.

It was not as if she coveted a mere Soul Ascension Pill. If she truly needed one, she could send word home and eat Soul Ascension Pills like candy. It was just that Ning Tian's gaze toward Huo Yuhao during their meal that day had made her deeply uncomfortable.

Deep down, Wang Dong very much wanted to stop Huo Yuhao from continuing to spend time with Ning Tian.

"Alright, alright. One for each of us. We'll take them tonight." Huo Yuhao had always been more patient with Wang Dong than he was with others.

After the two of them fooled around for a while, Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged on the bed and swallowed both pills directly.

With the help of the medicinal effects and Tianmeng Origin, Huo Yuhao's Soul Power rose directly to level thirty.

Early the next morning, Huo Yuhao knocked on Teacher Mu Jin's door.

Seeing that it was Huo Yuhao, Mu Jin, who had just finished meditating, looked somewhat bewildered. "Huo Yuhao, is there something you want to ask me?"

"Teacher, I'd like to apply to go out and hunt a soul ring." After a brief pause, Huo Yuhao continued, "I broke through level thirty yesterday, and I need to obtain my third soul ring."

Mu Jin's eyelashes trembled, as though disturbed by an invisible force. His smoothly circulating Soul Power abruptly fluctuated for an instant. He widened his eyes, and those normally somewhat lazy eyes became astonishingly clear. His gaze landed precisely on Huo Yuhao, filled with undisguised surprise.

"What did you say?" His voice still carried the faint rasp of someone who had just emerged from meditation, but it also possessed an unignorable sharpness. "Level thirty?"

He walked over to Huo Yuhao and gently pressed a finger against his brow. A warm but highly penetrating stream of Soul Power entered Huo Yuhao's body, traveling through his meridians before finally stopping at his dantian.

When he sensed that stable level-thirty Soul Power, Mu Jin's fingertip paused, and the surprise in his eyes became deep scrutiny.

"A Soul Ascension Pill?" He withdrew his hand, his tone calm but certain.

Huo Yuhao did not hide it. "Yes, along with a Blackwater Pill to help stabilize my foundation."

Mu Jin was silent for a moment before walking to the window and pushing it open. The morning breeze, carrying the fragrance of grass and trees, swept in and dispersed the lingering Soul Power within the room. He looked at the students running on the distant training field and suddenly chuckled. "I knew there was something strange about you, kid. Your spiritual power is absurdly strong, and even your Soul Power rises like a rocket."

He turned around, his gaze falling on Huo Yuhao again. His ever-smirking eyes now carried a few more traces of seriousness. "The academy's Soul Fighting Arena does have soul beasts that can provide soul rings for you, but you came to find me so early in the morning, so you must not think much of the soul beasts raised there. Tell me, how many days do you want off?"

Huo Yuhao's fingers tightened slightly. Facing Mu Jin's probing gaze, he answered honestly, "Teacher, an elder from my family will take me to the Northernmost Land to hunt a soul ring. I can only guarantee that I'll return before the Freshman Assessment."

Upon hearing that, Mu Jin was nearly angered into laughter. His usual composure seemed to vanish completely. "You've only been in my class for a few days, and you already dare to ask for leave all the way until the Freshman Assessment?"

Seeing Huo Yuhao's determined eyes, Mu Jin ultimately agreed to his request. "Forget it. I can't control a child like you. Just come back as soon as possible."

"And," Mu Jin said, taking a silver badge from a drawer, engraved with Shrek Academy's emblem, "this is the academy's emergency distress badge. Crush it and it will send out a signal. If there are Shrek Academy experts nearby, they'll come rescue you. But remember—"

His voice suddenly turned cold. "The Northernmost Land is too vast, and ordinary people do not stay in that hellish place. Don't count on this thing to save you."

Huo Yuhao accepted the badge, warmth rising in his heart. He bowed to Mu Jin and reassured him aloud. "Teacher, don't worry. Since we dare enter the Northernmost Land, we naturally have something to rely on. You don't need to worry about me."

As he spoke, Huo Yuhao waved to Mu Jin and headed outside.