A Lion's Share: Fuse a Soul Bone? No-Refine It into the Body!

Third floor of Shrek Academy's Outer Court Activity Center, Lionheart Club Headquarters conference room.

Morning sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows and fell across the long table. Before each person sat a freshly prepared Pearl Milk Tea—a trial product from the House of the Hearth. The scents of milk and tea drifted through the room.

Huo Yuhao leaned back in the chair at the head of the table and took a sip. The sweetness was just right, the texture smooth. He nodded in satisfaction and smiled. "You've all read the Point System proposal I mentioned yesterday. What do you think? Let's hear it."

The plan was simple: the Lionheart Club would regularly issue three kinds of tasks—cultivation, assignments, and Club development. Members would earn points for completing them, then exchange those points for access to cultivation facilities, Soul Bones, and even shares of future shop profits.

It would create a virtuous cycle: complete tasks, earn points, claim resources, grow stronger, then take on more work. The Club would no longer depend on one person to keep it afloat.

"Uh... Boss, there's nothing wrong with the system. Honestly, it's brilliant." Cao Jinxuan raised his hand first and scratched his head. "It's just... aside from that Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, there's hardly anything in our warehouse worth offering as a reward. Even the cleverest cook can't make a meal without rice."

As soon as he finished, everyone around the table nodded. No matter how good the Point System sounded, without valuable rewards, it was nothing but an empty promise.

"We'll have resources." Huo Yuhao smiled mysteriously and tapped the table with a fingertip. "Don't worry. They'll be here soon—and there'll be plenty."

Everyone exchanged puzzled looks, but no one pressed him.

Over the past month or so, Huo Yuhao had proved it through his actions: if he said they would have something, they would. Their boss had an unpredictable, sometimes downright bizarre way of doing things, but he always kept his word. He had never let them down.

"All right, then I have no other questions." Cao Jinxuan sat down with a smile and opened the Disciplinary Department's draft rules, ready to continue the discussion.

Knock, knock, knock—

A steady knock sounded at the door.

"Come in."

The conference room door opened, and a girl with long, straight black hair walked in.

She wore the red uniform of the Inner Court. Her features were delicate and dignified, her bearing composed. Her gaze swept the room before settling on Huo Yuhao at the head of the table, and she gave a slight nod. "Hello, juniors. I'm Zhang Lexuan, president of Shrek Academy's Student Council. Forgive me for dropping by unannounced, but I'd like to ask Huo Yuhao to step outside and discuss something with me."

Shrek Academy's Student Council was made up of Inner Court disciples, and its president was the Inner Court's senior sister. Its chief duties were to coordinate and supervise every student Club and keep their conduct in line. It served as a bridge between the academy and its Clubs.

When Huo Yuhao founded the Lionheart Club, he had expected to deal with the Student Council sooner or later. Her visit did not surprise him.

"You're too polite, Senior Zhang." Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow and leaned forward slightly, his tone calm. "There's no need to go anywhere. Say what you came to say here. If the White Tiger Duke's Mansion sent you to plead its case and ask me to let the assassination attempt go, you can turn around now—I refuse."

With one sentence, he laid it all bare.

A rueful smile appeared on Zhang Lexuan's face. As expected, nothing got past this legendary freshman.

She sighed and spoke frankly. "Since you've guessed, I won't beat around the bush. Senior Dai Yueheng asked me to come. Dai Huabin is his younger brother. He hopes the two of you can settle this privately. Compensation is negotiable; he only asks that you not make the matter any bigger."

She found the whole thing rather absurd herself.

Dai Yueheng was clutching at straws. An assassination attempt crossed one of Shrek's firmest lines, yet he still wanted to settle it privately?

Besides, she barely knew Huo Yuhao. Asking her to be his go-between meant he had picked the wrong person entirely.

"I thought it was him." Huo Yuhao smiled, but the laziness vanished from his eyes. His gaze turned sharp as an unsheathed blade. "Please pass a message to Dai Yueheng for me."

"First, my lack of interest in making this bigger doesn't mean I'm afraid of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. I can let the assassination attempt go, but the compensation must be paid in full: three Thousand-Year Soul Bones, any attributes; three hundred portions of rare natural treasures of various attributes; and three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins."

"Second, next week Dai Huabin must kneel before the Seven God Statue in front of every teacher and student, recount in his own words exactly how he hired an assassin to kill a fellow student, and repent publicly."

The conference room fell so silent that not a bird seemed to stir.

Everyone was stunned.

Three Thousand-Year Soul Bones, three hundred portions of materials, and three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins—that alone was a lion's share. Making Dai Huabin kneel and repent in public would grind the White Tiger Duke's Mansion's reputation into the dirt.

For someone as proud as Dai Huabin, kneeling in public would be worse than death.

Zhang Lexuan was stunned too. She had not expected Huo Yuhao's demands to be so harsh.

The payment was almost beside the point. Publicly kneeling and repenting would nail Dai Huabin to a pillar of shame and drag down the White Tiger Duke's Mansion's reputation with him.

"That..." Zhang Lexuan drew a deep breath and looked at the boy before her. "Aren't these conditions a little too severe? Dai Huabin did act in a moment of foolishness."

"A moment of foolishness?" Huo Yuhao scoffed, his voice turning cold. "Senior Zhang, if I'd been a little weaker yesterday, I'd be a corpse right now. Did he think about 'a moment of foolishness' when he hired an assassin? Under academy rules, expelling him and handing him over for trial would already be showing Dai Yueheng consideration."

"That's all I have to say. Whether to accept is Dai Yueheng's choice."

Zhang Lexuan saw the resolve in his eyes and knew there was no point arguing further. She nodded. "Very well. I'll relay your words to Senior Dai exactly as you said them. Farewell."

With that, she turned and left the conference room.

The moment the door closed, Zhou Sichen jerked his head up, his face full of shock. "Boss! Someone really tried to assassinate you last night?!"

"Obviously." Huo Yuhao rolled his eyes and took another sip of milk tea. "Where did you think the resources were coming from? Falling out of the sky?"

"I... I thought Sister Ning was paying for them..." Zhou Sichen muttered.

"Do I look like the kind of man who lives off a woman?" Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow and pointed at his eyes. In deliberately awkward pronunciation, he said, "Look me in the eye! Answer me!"

"Huh?" Zhou Sichen stared blankly. "Boss, what did you say? What does that mean?"

"Get lost." Huo Yuhao laughed and waved him off. "All right, everyone, we're done here. Roll out the Points System as planned. Once the compensation arrives, the first batch of rewards goes into storage. Wu Meng, have the publicity department post the points redemption list and start building interest."

"Understood, President." Wu Meng nodded, her delicate face earnest.

Everyone agreed with a laugh and filed out of the conference room.

The little disturbance only gave them more confidence in the Lionheart Club's future. Their boss could even turn an assassination attempt by the White Tiger Duke's Mansion into a chance to fleece them for a fortune. What couldn't he do?

Once everyone had gone, Huo Yuhao stood and headed for the cultivation rooms at the back of the conference room.

He had specially renovated them, installing a Soundproofing Array and a Spirit Gathering Array in each. They were highly secluded, meant for core members to absorb rare natural treasures and fuse with Soul Bones—and considerate of Club members who preferred to avoid company.

Huo Yuhao locked the door, sat cross-legged on a Warm Jade Meditation Cushion, and took the Void Dreamweaver Spirit Sea Skull from his Storage Soul Tool.

The skull gave off a faint silver-violet glow in the dim room. Nebula-like patterns slowly flowed across it, and its gentle spiritual fluctuations resonated with his Heavenly Eye Martial Soul. It felt warm and smooth in his hands.

"A treasure that never appeared in the original story. Today I'll see what it's like." Huo Yuhao weighed the skull in his hand, anticipation flashing in his eyes.

He knew the course of events in this life had long since diverged. He was unlikely to obtain the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's skull of destiny.

This ten-thousand-year spiritual-attribute skull was a perfect match for his Heavenly Eye and could fill the gap in his domain abilities. He had no reason not to fuse with it.

Just as he channeled Spiritual Power and prepared to press the skull to his brow, the Howling Celestial Dog's voice exploded in his mind, thick with disgust:

"Young master! What are you doing?! You have a perfectly good Divine Body, and you want to fuse a shoddy beast bone into it? That bone is full of residual blood and impurities from a Soul Beast. Fusing it won't help you—it'll only weaken your foundation! Have you gone mad?"

Huo Yuhao stopped, a little exasperated. "Martial Uncle, that's how cultivation works on Douluo Continent. Soul Bones contain the essence of Soul Beasts. Once you fuse with one, you gain a Soul Skill and grow stronger. Besides, I don't have another way to strengthen my Spiritual Origin."

"There is a way."

An aged, solemn voice, touched with something ethereal, suddenly sounded from the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

Huo Yuhao froze, then joy surged through him. "Elder Yi?! You're awake?!"

Ever since Perfected Lord of Clear Origin and Wonderful Dao's Martial Soul Awakening, Electrolux had been asleep. Huo Yuhao had thought the old Undead Calamity would not wake for a long time.

"Yes. During my slumber, I came to understand many of this world's rules." Electrolux's voice was measured and authoritative. "Fusing bone into flesh is a crude method from a lower world, a waste of a precious resource. I have a method that can solve this."

"What method?" Huo Yuhao perked up at once.

"It is called the Flesh Furnace," Electrolux said calmly. "Rather than fusing with a Soul Bone, you use your own Magic Power as the fire and your flesh as the furnace. You refine the bone's original essence completely, break it down, and absorb it into your bones, meridians, and Spiritual Origin."

"That way, you gain more than a single Soul Skill. Your entire foundation improves. You can master the Soul Bone's skill, trace its essence to unlock deeper powers, and leave no impurities or hidden dangers behind."

Even the Howling Celestial Dog was intrigued. He clicked his tongue. "You've got something there, old undead! That's much cleverer than fusing with the bone directly!"

Huo Yuhao's eyes shone.

The Flesh Furnace—he could tell from the name alone that this body-refining technique could change the course of his cultivation.

With it, Soul Bones would no longer be one-time consumables. They would become nourishment that strengthened his foundation.

"Elder Yi, teach me!"