Pupil Power

Dawn had barely broken, and a pale strip of white gradually emerged in the east.

On the official road, the clear rumble of wheels slowly rolled past, accompanied by a voice.

"You'er, where are we going?"

On the flatbed cart, Huo Yun'er dressed Huo Yuhao's wounds, cleaned away the bloodstains, and tidied her appearance while she was still unconscious. At the same time, she asked softly.

"Soon. We're about thirty li from Thousand Reaches City. We'll resupply there and buy a carriage, then head north to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for Soul Rings. After that, we'll go to the nearest Star Brilliance City and get a recommendation letter for Shrek Academy from the City Lord's Mansion. Finally, we'll make for Shrek City."

Lin You had planned everything long ago. Over the past few years, he had gathered plenty of information about Shrek, and the results had been quite encouraging.

Shrek Academy required every Soul Master enrolling there to have a recommendation letter from someone at the city lord level.

They also had to be under twelve years old, possess at least level fifteen Soul Power, and pass the entrance examination before they could officially become provisional freshmen. Three months later, a large number would still be eliminated. It looked like an incredibly stupid system, one that completely abandoned commoners.

However, after Lin You looked into it more closely, he discovered that there had actually been a misunderstanding. As long as a child met the Soul Power requirement and age limit, they could apply for a recommendation letter from the City Lord's Mansion themselves, regardless of whether they were commoners.

Of course, the city lord would also require them to sign a contract. If they were eliminated by Shrek Academy after the New Student Assessment, they would have to give priority to the advanced Soul Master Academy in that city. Only if that academy did not want them could they attend another academy. Breaking the contract would incur a penalty, and it was legally binding.

In short, it was their second choice.

Just because Shrek did not want a freshman did not mean the local cities would not.

Embarrassingly enough, most city lords only had strength between that of a Soul Elder and a Soul Ancestor, with Soul Kings being rare. Only the lords of border cities could reach the Soul Saint level. Therefore, even a twelve-year-old child with level fifteen Soul Power was a desperately sought-after talent to them. Not to mention that Soul Masters were already one in ten thousand compared to ordinary people. Advanced Soul Master Academies often did not even fill their enrollment quotas, so these freshmen were highly welcomed.

Once they had been trained for a few years, they would at minimum become Soul Grandmasters, with a high chance of becoming Soul Elders. To the chambers of commerce, nobles, and powerful clans of a city, they were practically scorching hot commodities. Even while still in the academy, beautiful women would throw themselves at them in an attempt to win them over. The strength of a local faction was judged entirely by how many Soul Masters it kept in its service.

After all, Shrek Academy was the number one Soul Master Academy on the continent. Any students it let slip through the cracks would still be heavenly prodigies in the local area. Those with high-quality martial souls would be fought over by great noble families eager to marry them in, improve their own martial soul bloodlines, and offer them beautiful young ladies and maids aplenty.

Even those with poor martial soul quality but Soul Power would enjoy a life of luxury. At the very least, they would enter the middle class. If a merchant association had a powerful Soul Master escorting it at all times, its credibility would rise considerably.

Shrek took the top-tier genius monsters, while local cities gathered students with low-to-mid-tier talent to replenish their ranks. Every now and then, they could even pick up a talented student expelled by Shrek. This sustainable cooperative relationship had continued for who knew how long. At the very least, Lin You could see that since even a commoner Soul Master like Jiang Nannan could enter Shrek Academy, this route was viable.

Lin You did not want to get involved with the Tang Sect. Although the chance of God King Tang paying attention to the Tang Sect was low—after all, even when the Tang Sect's former site had been occupied and it had nearly been wiped out, he had not intervened—matters involving a Child of Destiny were impossible to predict. They were far too mysterious. Besides, there was only one special admission slot. Surely the two of them would not fight over a single spot?

If you wanted something done, you had to do it yourself.

Not long after, Lin You slowly came to a stop and parked the flatbed cart beneath the shade of a tree. Huo Yun'er promptly handed him a water flask, looking at him with both heartache and tenderness as she could not help saying, "You've been walking all night. You should rest for a while, shouldn't you? That brat sleeps like a pig. She's had enough sleep already—let her do it."

Huo Yuhao said, "...Mom, I'm awake."

Huo Yun'er's face instantly turned red. Realizing she had misspoken, she had been caught badmouthing her own daughter on the spot. If there had been somewhere to hide, she truly would have wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground.

"Ahem. Aunt Huo, I'm not tired. Let's eat some dry rations and continue on our way. We should try to reach Thousand Reaches City before noon."

Lin You reassured the thin-skinned young mother, then started pulling the cart again. Without turning his head, he asked, "Yuhao, what happened last night? Was that ability something you were born with?"

He still remembered last night vividly.

He should have been the one showing off, blasting all those enemies into the sky in the name of art. Yet unexpectedly, this girl had stolen all the limelight.

With a single Illusion Technique, she had instantly controlled the Black Crow Soul Master and made him slaughter his own allies. Then she had instantly killed a Soul Ancestor, making him take his own life. That level of power was honestly absurd.

The most terrifying part was that she was only a level ten Soul Master. She had not even met the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm yet, which meant she still had enormous potential for growth. If she properly cultivated under Electrolux as well, then even the original Huo Gua would probably have to call her the true cheat and offer his respects.

"How should I put it? At the time, I felt very strange. After I could no longer sense your and Mom's auras, I don't know what happened, but my mind suddenly went blank. Everything before my eyes seemed covered by a red veil, and then my vision became clearer, and I became stronger..."

Huo Yuhao hurriedly gestured as she described what had happened. Although her words were somewhat disordered, Lin You understood the gist of it.

She had received too great an emotional stimulus, directly awakened her eyes, and advanced to the Two Tomoe state. Even her Spiritual Power had been greatly enhanced, and the enhancement was substantial.

It was comparable to the second awakening of a Body Martial Soul.

A second awakening normally raised one's Soul Power Level tremendously, perhaps even enough to push someone straight to level twenty. But the Sharingan was different. What it enhanced was Spiritual Power, and to an outrageous degree.

And considering the future paths of growth—the Three Tomoe, as well as the Mangekyo known as the Eye That Reflects the Heart—this pair of "Spiritual Eyes" might transform her into something even more terrifying.

"Then, regarding Demonic Illusion: Sharingan, when the second tomoe appeared, the method of controlling that power suddenly awakened in my mind. It seems to be intimately connected to these eyes of mine. Using it doesn't consume Soul Power, either. Instead, it consumes a kind of energy stored in my eyes. Once that energy runs out, even my martial soul will be forcibly shut down. Right now, just using Demonic Illusion: Sharingan has already made me very tired."

After thinking it over, Huo Yuhao decided to name that energy stored within her eyes Pupil Power.

It was clearly a completely different system from Soul Power. With the two overlapping and interacting, it was like having a second mana bar to cast unique skills.

Hearing her words, Lin You could not help falling into deep thought.

So this was a Daughter of Destiny?

I never even taught her this pair of eyes' true name, yet as the tomoe awakened, she somehow learned it herself.

However, when he recalled that the abilities granted by awakening the Mangekyo worked the same way—the host would naturally learn their names and how to use them—Lin You accepted it. Basic stuff. No need to make a fuss.

Still, thankfully, my own cheat has never been turned off.

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