Huo Yuhao's Belated Return

Rescue intervention meant failing the assessment. At best, a student would receive only the base score.

When Dai Huabin was carried out of the Beast Arena, his face was ashen and his eyes were shut. He refused to look at anyone.

"Brother Gu, now that brat should know what a real gap looks like," Zhou Sichen said under his breath, unable to hide his delight.

"He should thank me, really. Otherwise, a low score would've been the least of his problems," Gu Mingyuan replied.

The assessments continued for several days.

Gu Mingyuan held first place in the year with a perfect score. Cao Jinxuan and Zhou Sichen also completed their assessments. Meanwhile, Wang Dong had broken through to three rings and shown impressive aerial control in the Beast Arena.

But her excellent results did nothing to lift her spirits. Even after second-year classes had officially resumed, Huo Yuhao still had not returned.

The Academic Affairs Office could no longer ignore his absence. Huo Yuhao had enrolled through the Tang Sect's sole remaining examination-free admission slot, so the academy summoned Bei Bei and Tang Ya for a routine inquiry.

Tang Ya was frantic, but she could offer no clues. Bei Bei recalled Huo Yuhao's cultivation before he left and compared it with his current disappearance. His expression grew grimmer by the moment.

In the end, the Academic Affairs Office announced that if Huo Yuhao did not appear within three days, and no proof or credible news of him emerged, his enrollment would be revoked under academy rules.

This was not a matter of singling anyone out. Shrek Academy could not simply do nothing when a student missed classes without explanation.

Zhou Yi seemed indifferent, but she had quietly learned that Huo Yuhao had bought large quantities of cold-weather supplies before leaving. Fan Yu had his own concerns: Huo Yuhao was a rare prospect the Soul Tool Department had taken an interest in, and he did not want to lose him. But with no sign of the boy, there was nothing he could do.

At dusk on the seventh day of the term, at Shrek Academy's south gate, a slight figure staggered out of the fading sunlight.

Huo Yuhao wore a tattered cloak and looked like a refugee. Yet his eyes held an unsettling excitement.

The student on duty did not recognize the beggar-like boy at first. Once his identity was confirmed, he was taken straight to the Academic Affairs Office.

News spread quickly.

Wang Dong rushed out of the classroom as soon as she heard. She had been stewing for days. Seeing Huo Yuhao return alive finally eased her taut nerves, and she punched him squarely in the right shoulder.

"So you do remember how to come back!" Wang Dong's eyes were red.

Huo Yuhao grunted in pain but did not dodge. He lowered his head and said quietly, "I'm sorry I made you worry."

Xiao Xiao arrived soon after. Seeing the miserable state Huo Yuhao was in, she said nothing more.

She looked at Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao standing together and felt an inexplicable pang. Though she had stayed in Class One, some things would never be as close as they had been during the freshman assessment.

Dai Huabin stood at the far end of the corridor and raised his brows in surprise. "He didn't die out there?"

Inside the Academic Affairs Office, Du Weilun sat at the head of the room, with Zhou Yi and Fan Yu on either side.

"Huo Yuhao, you disappeared without explanation for seven days. The process to expel you has already begun. Even if you can explain your late return today, missing the advancement assessment means you've lost the right to remain at the academy." Du Weilun was following procedure.

Zhou Yi immediately cut in. "What do you think Shrek is, an inn? You leave when you please and come back when you please! If you'd died out there, did you expect the academy to collect your body?"

Huo Yuhao lowered his head and admitted his mistake. Then, following the account Yu Xiaogang had taught him, he described how a mutation in his Spirit Eyes had guided him north to the Far North; how, after falling unconscious, he had unexpectedly fused with an Ice Jade Scorpion Martial Soul and a Torso Bone; and how he had killed a Mental Attribute Ice Silkworm on his way back.

Du Weilun clearly did not believe him. "A One-Ring Soul Master went into the Far North alone, passed out, and woke up with a Soul Bone and a Second Martial Soul? How much of that do you expect me to believe?"

Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth. He knew words alone would not let him stay.

He took half a step back and said firmly, "I can prove it."

He activated his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul. Two Soul Rings, one white and one purple, rose from beneath his feet.

Then Huo Yuhao withdrew his Spirit Eyes, and his gaze changed.

The comfortable temperature in the office plummeted! A layer of translucent Diamond Ice Armor instantly covered Huo Yuhao's hands, and the faint image of an emerald-green scorpion appeared behind him.

At the same time, a Thousand-Year Soul Ring disguised as purple by Simulation slowly rose.

The aura of Ultimate Ice swept through the room.

Zhou Yi and Fan Yu's eyes widened. Du Weilun shot to his feet, staring at the Diamond Ice Armor.

What they saw was not a four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring, but Twin Martial Souls with Ultimate Ice and a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Fan Yu reacted first, turning to Du Weilun. "Director Du, Huo Yuhao was carrying out a secret test for the Soul Tool Department, which delayed his return. I formally confirm to the academy that he is a core disciple chosen by our department."

Du Weilun fell silent. He did not agree at once—not out of sympathy, but because he was considering how to bring Huo Yuhao back to the Martial Soul Department for training.

More importantly, this was Ultimate Ice. Its value might be far greater than it appeared.

At last, a decision was reached.

Huo Yuhao would not be expelled, but his late return would earn him a major demerit. He had to take the advancement assessment while injured within three days; if he failed, his enrollment would still be revoked. Information about his Second Martial Soul was classified and could not be shared beyond the three people present. From then on, he would also have to report any departure from the academy to the Academic Affairs Office in advance.

Huo Yuhao dragged his injured body out of the office.

On the surface, he had escaped disaster. But he knew he had only barely won the right to stay. He had received none of the acclaim a genius should have.

Besides, the Ice Empress and Tian Meng were still asleep. For all the power his Martial Soul displayed, he had nowhere near that much confidence himself.

Yu Xiaogang's voice sounded in his mind at just the right moment.

"Hmph! What a pack of shortsighted fools. One day, I'll show myself and make every last one of them kneel!"

Huo Yuhao said nothing. He raised his head toward the imposing Great Beast Arena in the distance. A trace of relief showed in his eyes, along with resentment he tried to conceal.

After classes that evening, Gu Mingyuan returned to the quiet street in the south of the city.

The door to the Spring Return Apothecary stood half-open. Behind the counter, the vacant-eyed clerk did not ask what he wanted. As usual, he mechanically turned around, shut the door, hung up the wooden "Closed" sign, and led Gu Mingyuan down to the third underground level.

A dagger cut across Gu Mingyuan's palm, and blood dripped into the groove in the statue.

Crimson light filled the chamber as the mental projection of Vice Cult Master Feng Ling took shape once more.

"The three-person team sent by the Far North Branch Altar to track Huo Yuhao—one Soul Saint and two Soul Kings—has gone missing. Do you know anything about it?"

Gu Mingyuan's expression did not change. He turned his wrist, took a faintly glowing thousand-year leg bone and the Soul-Tracking Disk from his storage belt, and placed them on the edge of the stone platform.

"I do. By the time I got there after absorbing my third Soul Ring, they had become three ice sculptures."