Gu Yue: Fate's Guidance!

At the heart of the Star Dou Great Forest lay the Lake of Life.

Beneath its deep waters, time seemed to have stood still for ten thousand years.

A colossal silver dragon lay motionless. Dark red sword scars remained where her scales had shattered—an almost eternal curse left by Xiu, the Asura God.

Suddenly, her eyes, as though they held countless stars, snapped open in the absolute darkness. Surprise spilled from them, along with a trace of... stirring.

"This is..."

"My liege!" At the lakeshore, the black-haired, golden-eyed man standing guard sensed the disturbance at once. He dropped to one knee, his voice deep and respectful.

"Di Tian..." The silver dragon's weakened voice sounded directly in his mind. "Beyond Star Dou... an unknown presence has appeared. That being... is at the forest's edge!"

"As you command!" Di Tian's figure seemed to melt into shadow and vanished, leaving only a faint ripple on the lake.

At the forest's edge, Di Tian's senses spread like an invisible spiderweb, catching everything happening to the human boy named Huo Yuhao—

The plump Ice Silkworm's sacrifice deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the stirring of a newly born Martial Soul, and... a trace of supreme power so vast and unfathomable that even Di Tian's heart trembled.

He suppressed his instinctive urge to kill Huo Yuhao for receiving Tian Meng's sacrifice, and his figure faded once more.

Back beneath the Lake of Life, Di Tian reported, his voice troubled. "My liege, the source of the disturbance at the forest's edge was a human boy. He... received the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's sacrifice."

"No, Di Tian." The silver dragon's voice was firm, her eyes shining with an intensity he had never seen. "The mere Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could never have caused this! That power came from a higher dimension... It carried the presence of a god! An unfamiliar, supreme god!"

Her body trembled slightly, as though she were trying to shake off the Asura Sword's energy embedded deep in her bones. Disbelief shook her voice. "A single wisp of power, released without intent, could... soothe the wound Asura dealt me, a wound that has refused to heal for ten thousand years? This is an opportunity... Di Tian! Perhaps fate has granted the Soul Beast Clan a slender thread of... survival!"

A drop of blood shimmering with nine-colored light and brimming with immense draconic might slowly seeped from between the silver dragon's broken scales.

Once separated from her body, the drop twisted and took shape in the dark water, finally becoming a graceful young woman.

Her black hair fell like a waterfall, her purple eyes were deep as an abyss, and she wore a simple, flowing white-and-violet dress. An innate nobility lay beneath her cool, unearthly bearing.

"From today onward, my name is Gu Yue." The young woman parted her lips, her voice ethereal, but her gaze sharpened as it fell on Di Tian. "Di Tian, he will eventually go there—to Shrek Academy, won't he?"

Di Tian bowed his head deeply, shadows concealing the myriad thoughts in his eyes. "As you command, my liege."

A freshman classroom at Shrek Academy.

When Huo Yuhao's gaze fell on Gu Yue, he could not help pausing.

"Classmate, is there something you need?" A barely perceptible chill and curiosity touched Gu Yue's voice as her purple eyes met Huo Yuhao's.

She could sense that, for an instant just now, the boy seemed to have "seen" something he should not have seen.

"Oh! No, nothing!" Huo Yuhao snapped back to himself. Realizing he had been staring, he hurriedly apologized.

At the lectern, Mu Jin surveyed the talented freshmen with satisfaction. "All right. For our first lesson, let's get to know one another. Starting from the left, introduce your name, Martial Soul, level, and specialization."

"Kong Zimu. Martial Soul: Book. Level nineteen Support System Soul Master."

"Chen Yuan. Martial Soul: Azure Edge Sword. Level twenty-five Power Attack System Soul Grandmaster."

"Ning Tian. Martial Soul: Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. Level thirty-one Support System Soul Elder." The blonde girl spoke gently and carried herself with elegance. As her gaze passed over Huo Yuhao, it held the appraising look of someone raised in a prominent family.

"Gu Yue. Martial Soul: Elemental Envoy. Level thirty-five Control System Soul Elder." Her cool voice carried a natural distance.

Level thirty-five! She was unquestionably at the peak of the freshman class!

Muffled gasps swept through the classroom.

"Huo Yuhao. Martial Souls: Spirit Eyes and Reignbow Arbiter. Level thirteen Control and Support System Soul Master." Huo Yuhao rose calmly.

The moment he finished, the classroom fell so quiet a dropped pin could have been heard.

Level thirteen?!

He had not even met Shrek Academy's minimum admission requirement of level fifteen! Countless gazes swept over him, filled with shock, doubt, and even undisguised contempt.

Yet the words "Twin Martial Souls" struck the quiet lake like a massive stone, shattering every trace of disdain.

After a brief, deathly Silence, the room erupted into an even louder hum of discussion.

His low Soul Power was a serious weakness, but Twin Martial Souls meant limitless possibilities!

His potential in the later stages was impossible to measure!

Ning Tian's eyes lit up. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda needed powerful partners, and someone with the potential of Twin Martial Souls was worth watching and investing in, no matter how low his starting point.

Gu Yue narrowed her purple eyes slightly as she studied Huo Yuhao's profile. Level thirteen? Twin Martial Souls? That feeling of being peered into just now... It was him.

As soon as the bell rang, Huo Yuhao left without delay. He rushed out of the Martial Soul Department building and headed straight for the Soul Tool Department on the other side of the academy.

Within Shrek Academy, the divide between the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department ran deep. Even their buildings stood far apart, separated as clearly as the Jing and Wei rivers.

By the time he reached the Soul Tool Department, panting for breath, the sight before him left him awestruck.

Gone were the old stone-and-timber buildings. In their place stood a behemoth forged from high-strength alloy!

The silver-gray metal walls gleamed coldly in the sunlight. Great Soul Tool conduits wound across the building's surface like blood vessels. From within came the faint hum of flowing energy and the clang of working machinery, giving the place the raw power of something from a science-fiction future.

Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department might have lagged behind, but this was still the technology of a fantasy world.

It was like comparing isolationist Qing-era China with foreign nations already developing at breakneck speed.

And in that comparison, Shrek Academy was isolationist Qing-era China, while the Sun Moon Empire was those rapidly developing foreign nations.

The difference was simply that their technology tree had branched in a strange direction.

"Yuhao! Over here!" called a hearty, friendly voice.

Qian Duoduo, the tall vice dean of the Soul Tool Department, appeared in the doorway, his delight plain on his face. He strode over and pressed a smooth jade bottle into Huo Yuhao's hand.

"Take it. A Mystic Water Pill." Qian Duoduo patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder with an elder's concern. "It'll cleanse your body and improve your innate aptitude. It'll be especially useful to you. Don't let your talent go to waste!"

Before Huo Yuhao could thank him, Qian Duoduo continued, "Theory is the foundation. Take this Basic Principles of Soul Tools and a Detailed Explanation of Core Arrays and read it first. But knowledge gained from books always falls short..."

An eager light flashed in Qian Duoduo's eyes. "Come on. I'll show you what real Soul Tools can do! A hands-on demonstration beats empty talk a hundred times over!"

Qian Duoduo led Huo Yuhao through the metal doors, down several metallic corridors, and into a vast, heavily fortified area—the Soul Tool Testing Ground.

A faint smell of ozone and heated metal hung in the air.

At the center of the grounds, an exceptionally burly young man with dark skin gleaming like forged iron was wholly absorbed in operating a complex metal platform.

Beside him stood a stern-faced middle-aged man whose white hair was combed neatly into place and whose eyes were sharp as a hawk's.

"Vice Dean Qian." Fan Yu nodded in greeting. His gaze swept over Huo Yuhao like a searchlight, plainly assessing him, but he said nothing more.

Fan Yu had long since grown used to Qian Duoduo's lavish efforts when taking on students. He was merely curious what made this boy, whose Soul Power seemed so low, worth so much of Qian Duoduo's attention.

"Mm. Fan Yu, Caitou." Qian Duoduo pointed at Huo Yuhao, his voice ringing out. "This is Huo Yuhao, my student. Yuhao, this is Teacher Fan Yu, head of the Soul Tool Department, and this is his prized student, He Caitou."