Target: The Far North!

"Boss, where on earth did you get this treasure?"

Cao Jinxuan held the cultivation manual, still looking dazed.

Wait, no! This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!

Huo Yuhao was a commoner, while they came from noble sect families. Yet the cultivation techniques they had were inferior to his, and when it came to manuals they didn't have, he pulled one out and crushed them on an entirely different level.

So after all that, they were the country bumpkins who'd never seen the world?

Who were the real nobles here, damn it?!

"Secret." Huo Yuhao smiled mysteriously and tapped the table with his fingertips, drawing out the suspense.

"Playing at being mysterious." Gu Yue rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide the gleam in them.

The two manuals looked basic, yet they led straight to the source of energy. Even a being like her stood to gain greatly from them.

It was the first time the Silver Dragon King had seen a method that could condense intangible Soul Power into substantial Spiritual Power.

That Huo Yuhao had so many cards up his sleeve. She bit her lower lip, torn between irritation and curiosity.

"All right, make sure you've memorized the manuals. Go back and practice at your own pace; don't rush it." Huo Yuhao stood and stretched. "That's it for the meeting. You're dismissed."

Night settled over Shrek Academy, stars scattered across the ink-dark sky.

Leaning by the window, Huo Yuhao spun the Jade Abacus between his fingers and murmured at the night sky, "The Hunt and Abundance have both entered the fray. How many more Aeons are going to get involved?"

He paused, then sighed. "Aha's probably here too. How could the Aeon of Elation miss something this lively? I just hope he doesn't take it too far and break Douluo Continent."

He pressed a hand to his brow and prayed helplessly, "Celestial Bow, please... don't cast your gaze down here."

The next half month brought one disturbance after another to the academy.

Dai Huabin did publicly admit fault at the flag-raising ceremony in the end, but his account had been rewritten beyond recognition. He claimed he had merely "hired someone to teach him a lesson over a personal dispute" and never once mentioned "assassination."

Yan Shaozhe even took the stage himself and labeled it "a misunderstanding and a minor clash between students," brushing it aside while helping Dai Huabin whitewash the affair, both openly and behind the scenes.

Standing below the stage that day, Huo Yuhao watched the two men play off each other. His hand slowly clenched at his side.

From that moment on, he truly wanted to kill Yan Shaozhe.

The dean of Shrek Academy? He was nothing but a politician who weighed the benefits and favored the powerful.

But only one event truly changed the landscape—the Jade Abacus officially entered widespread use.

The Soul Tool Department mass-produced its first batch of Jade Abacuses, and every member of the Lionheart Club received one. Group chats and forums flourished, while notices and intelligence moved more than ten times faster than before.

By contrast, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao's Butterfly-Phoenix Alliance and Dai Huabin's White Tiger Alliance still put on airs. They called "Communication Soul Tools a crooked path," half disdainful and half content to wait and see.

Huo Yuhao could only shake his head.

These people really didn't understand what communication tools meant. These weren't offensive or Defensive Soul Tools; they could erase the gap in information.

Why did Evil Soul Masters succeed time and again on Douluo Continent?

Apart from Tang San dismantling Spirit Hall's grassroots network, the biggest reason was that information traveled too slowly. A village could be slaughtered, and Shrek Academy might not hear about it for days, even a dozen or more.

Why had Ju Zi been able to sweep through the Three Kingdoms with a lightning campaign in the original story?

At its core, the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tool communication network had overwhelmed Douluo's primitive means of passing messages.

An information gap was the deadliest weapon of all.

Unfortunately, most people were still trapped in the old belief that Martial Souls reigned supreme. They couldn't see it.

There was no absolute good or evil, only differences in understanding and in where people stood.

Time flew, and summer vacation quietly arrived.

In the Class Zero classroom, everyone packed their things.

Huo Yuhao stretched long and hard, then turned to Ning Tian and Gu Yue beside him. "What are you two doing over the summer?"

"I'm going back to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect to handle some sect business." Ning Tian tucked her blond hair behind her ear and smiled at him. "Want to come with me? The sect has plenty of cultivation resources, and even a secret realm dedicated to ice."

"I'll pass." Huo Yuhao smiled and shook his head, tapping the desk with his fingertips. "Summer's the perfect time to take care of my Second Soul Ring."

"Do you need me to go with you?" Gu Yue asked softly, clear worry in her violet eyes.

"No need." Huo Yuhao shook his head, his tone easy. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

He knew perfectly well that the Soul Beasts of the Far North and the Evil Demon Forest had never bowed to the Dragon God's name. They bowed to strength.

The Snow Empress ruled the Far North and worshipped the Ice God, not the Dragon God. The Evil Emperor ruled the Evil Demon Forest, and all those under him were his own offspring.

"Then... contact me on the Jade Abacus if anything happens." Gu Yue waved the silver-violet Jade Abacus in her hand, her fingertips gently brushing its surface.

"Boss! I'm ashamed of you!" Zhou Sichen came over with an I've got you figured out look. "Two gorgeous girls both offered to come along, and you turned them down? What a waste!"

"Exactly! I'd love to have a girl take care of me!" Cao Jinxuan chimed in with a shameless grin.

"Oh, get lost." Huo Yuhao laughed and punched each of them, then raised an eyebrow. "Never mind me. How are things going with you two and Ye Qingwu and Wu Meng?"

That one question instantly deflated them.

Cao Jinxuan and Zhou Sichen exchanged an embarrassed look. The two brothers in misfortune kept running into each other lately: Ye Qingwu and Wu Meng spent every day together working on Pills and the Promotional Plan, so whenever the boys went to see them, they ended up there at the same time. It was ridiculous every time.

Off to the side, Xie Huanyue and Long Xiangyue exchanged a sigh, looking as though they despaired of ever seeing the two improve.

"All right, I'll stop teasing you." Huo Yuhao waved a hand with a smile. "Stay safe over the summer, keep up with your cultivation manuals, and I'll check your progress when school starts."

"See you, Boss!"

"See you when school starts, Yuhao!"

They said their goodbyes in twos and threes and gradually left the classroom.

"Time to go to Shrek."

The short-haired boy with gray-blue hair slowly opened his eyes. His pupils were a blue so deep they seemed bottomless.

Eight dark-blue spider legs hovered behind his back, and two purple Thousand-Year Soul Rings revolved steadily beneath his feet. The fluctuations of his Soul Power were nothing like those of a level-twenty-six Soul Grandmaster.

Tang San—Tang San's Divine Sense avatar—nodded in satisfaction.

This body was a pawn he had prepared with great care. It had inherited the Twin Martial Souls of the Blue Silver Emperor and the Clear Sky Hammer. He had originally wanted to squeeze the Asura Demon Sword in as a Second Martial Soul too, but he lacked the time—and the strength—so he had to give up.

He had personally reworked the First Soul Skill, upgrading the original "Entanglement" into "Growth."

Under his earthshaking wisdom, Entanglement had instead become a Self-Created Soul Skill.

As for where this body had come from and how its Martial Souls had awakened—don't ask. The affairs of God King Tang were none of your business.

The boy rose and dusted off his clothes. A calculating gleam flashed in his eyes.

Huo Yuhao, was it? He'd see just what this variable who had strayed from his script could do.

The Far North.

Snowstorms howled across the sky, and the wind sliced over the ice fields like knives.

Dressed in fitted black clothes, Huo Yuhao walked slowly across the snowfield.

Strangely, every snowflake that drifted within half a meter of him melted and veered away. Not a single flake touched him.

Perfected Lord of Clear Origin and Wonderful Dao's ice-element source let him walk through this bitterly cold land as though it were level ground.

"The spiritual energy here is much denser than at Shrek." He raised his eyes toward the white expanse of the Core Zone, a sharp glint in them.

"Heh, of course! The Far North is a paradise for Soul Beasts!" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's translucent projection floated out from between Huo Yuhao's brows. He wiggled his plump body, looking smug. "Back in the day, I used to sleep in the Core Zone of the Far North. It was so comfortable!"

"Come on, Brother Sky Dream. I know you want to bring the Ice Empress aboard." Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow, seeing straight through his little scheme.

The Ice Empress was the stated goal of this trip: she would provide the First Soul Ring for his Perfected Lord of Clear Origin and Wonderful Dao Martial Soul. His true ambition, though, was the Snow Empress, the Heavenly Snow Woman who stood first among the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North.

Of course, he knew his limits. He couldn't reach the Snow Empress yet. Securing the Ice Empress as a foundation came first.

"Don't you think Bingbing is perfect? The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, Ultimate Ice—she's just right for you!" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wiggled as he made his enthusiastic pitch.

Huo Yuhao: "..."

Yes, yes. Everything you say is right.

"Martial Uncle, if anything strange pops out later besides a scorpion, make sure you protect me." He gave the Howling Celestial Dog a warning in advance through his thoughts. With the Aeon of Abundance already in play, he wouldn't be surprised if another Aeon's follower appeared in the Far North.

"Don't worry." The Howling Celestial Dog's voice was steady and reassuring.

The closer they got to the Core Zone, the more biting the cold became. Even the air seemed on the verge of freezing.

Just then, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm cleared his throat and mustered his full Spiritual Power. His obnoxious voice rang across the entire ice field:

"Ice Empress! Brother Sky Dream is back for revenge!! Little Bingbing, come out and welcome me!!"

Huo Yuhao: "..."

He stared silently at the swirling snow and began to doubt himself.

What was going on? Why did he feel like the villain who'd come looking for trouble?