"Ordinary thousand-year and ten-thousand-year ones? I wouldn't spare them a glance!"
A flash of burning excitement crossed Dongfang Hao's eyes, and his lips curved slightly. "If I can arrange for that kid Huo Yuhao to absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring of considerable age, then under the system's tenfold critical-hit rule, what I'll receive will be a genuine Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"
An opportunity like that was enough to set anyone's heart surging just by thinking about it.
Yet this seemingly perfect plan had hit a fatal obstacle-
Huo Yuhao was far too weak at present!
He was merely a rank-eleven Soul Master, still nowhere near being ready to absorb his second Soul Ring.
"I'll have to feed him plenty of pills that can cleanse his marrow and meridians and forcibly raise his soul power cultivation..."
Dongfang Hao rubbed his chin and sank into thought.
In this era, medicine refining on the Douluo Continent was extremely crude and backward. At most, the major sects swallowed natural treasures raw or boiled them into rudimentary medicinal broths, wasting much of their potency. No complete method of pill refinement had taken shape at all.
But just because ordinary people lacked one did not mean that he, Dongfang Hao, lacked one too!
"The Medicine Chapter recorded in the God-Slaying Hidden Weapon True Explanation within the Divine Heaven Record..."
With a slight stirring of his mind, countless secret pill-refining arts and detailed explanations of medicinal herbs unfurled deep within Dongfang Hao's mind like an immense scroll!
It recorded not only the medicinal principles and properties of tens of thousands of rare, wondrous herbs, but also terrifying pill formulas that seized the creative power of heaven and earth, along with unique methods for controlling fire and refining medicine!
"As long as I can refine finished spirit pills and feed them to Huo Yuhao, the system's critical-hit feedback will inevitably give me divine pills ten times as potent!"
At that thought, the fervor in Dongfang Hao's eyes grew even stronger.
Now that he had already brought Ma Xiaotao and Zhou Yi to heel, gathering medicinal ingredients would be child's play for him!
His deep eyes flickered slightly, and Dongfang Hao soon selected two spirit pills from the vast collection of formulas in his sea of consciousness that best suited his current circumstances.
"The first is the Purple Spirit Pill."
"Its principal ingredient is a thousand-year-old purple spirit mushroom. Its medicinal properties are mild and mellow, and it can utterly transform Soul Masters at the Soul Elder level and below!"
"It has no minimum physical requirement, and it can raise soul power cultivation by a full two to three ranks while cleansing the marrow and bones. It's just right for laying that kid Huo Yuhao's foundation!"
"And the second... the Azure Spirit Meridian-Opening Pill!"
"This pill requires a ten-thousand-year-old azure spirit grass as its main ingredient. Its medicinal power is rich and potent, with effects that can be called heaven-defying even for Soul Kings and Soul Emperors!"
"Not only can it forcibly raise soul power cultivation by three to four ranks, but it can also accelerate the circulation of soul power through the meridians throughout the body!"
Inside the Freshman Class One classroom.
When slightly heavy footsteps sounded in the corridor, the noisy classroom instantly became so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.
Creak.
As the wooden door was pushed open, Zhou Yi's face, covered by an aged human-skin mask, appeared before everyone's eyes.
Yet the moment she stepped toward the lectern, this notoriously ruthless and harsh "old hag" of the Outer Court walked with an almost imperceptible unsteadiness, her steps slightly disordered. Even her long, slender legs faintly trembled as she crossed the threshold.
Several sharp-eyed students exchanged glances, surprise and suspicion flashing in their eyes.
Wang Dong, the pink-and-blue-haired girl seated in the front row, slightly knitted her delicate brows, confusion surfacing on her exquisitely beautiful face.
An abnormal flush had spread over Zhou Yi's ears and slender neck.
Teacher Zhou... what exactly happened on the field just now?
Wang Dong silently wondered, the indifferent boy in black beneath the shade of the tree earlier involuntarily appearing in her mind. For some reason, her instincts told her that Zhou Yi's unusual state almost certainly had something to do with that mysterious fellow.
"Huo Yuhao, get your ass out here."
Just as the oppressive atmosphere in the classroom became suffocating, Zhou Yi finally drew a deep breath at the lectern, suppressing the restless emptiness within her before barking in her usual cold, hoarse voice.
The command prompted a chorus of sharp intakes of breath, and every gaze turned toward the frail boy sitting in a corner of the classroom.
"Huo Yuhao? Why is Teacher Zhou calling him out alone? Could she be planning to expel him outright?!"
Wang Dong also turned her head, worry and anxiety flashing in her beautiful eyes.
As for Huo Yuhao himself, his already pale face instantly lost every last trace of color from fright.
He froze as though struck by lightning, his hands clutching his trouser legs tightly, his heart pounding so violently that it seemed ready to leap out of his chest.
"Yuhao... don't panic. Just go out with her and see what she wants. With your big brother here, nobody's going to take your life easily!"
Deep within his sea of consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's plump golden body rolled over as he offered reassurance, though his voice carried an unprecedented hint of gravity.
Swallowing hard, Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth and stood. Under his classmates' sympathetic and gloating gazes, he followed Zhou Yi out of the classroom with his head lowered and an anxious expression, arriving at a quiet office.
Bang.
The heavy wooden door closed.
Huo Yuhao kept his head lowered, his legs trembling slightly. He did not even dare breathe deeply as all manner of desperate thoughts raced through his mind:
It's over... I finished last in the run just now. Teacher Zhou must think my talent is too poor and wants to throw me out of Shrek...
If I'm expelled, how will I avenge my mother?!
"Take this."
Yet just as Huo Yuhao was sinking into despair, a cold voice abruptly sounded above his head.
Huo Yuhao suddenly raised his head.
Zhou Yi stood before him expressionlessly, holding a strange, hard lump that was charred black all over and covered in pits. Without a word of explanation, she shoved it straight into his arms.
"T-Teacher Zhou? What is this?"
Huo Yuhao instinctively caught the heavy black lump with both hands. His mind went blank, and he stammered out the question.
"Cut the nonsense. If I tell you to take it, take it."
Zhou Yi shifted her gaze slightly and gave a cold snort, speaking stiffly:
"All right, get back to the classroom for your lesson!"
With that, Zhou Yi could not even be bothered to offer another word of explanation. She swept her sleeve and turned away, coldly dismissing him.
"Ah... yes! Thank you, Teacher Zhou! Thank you, Teacher Zhou!"
This barrage left Huo Yuhao reeling and utterly bewildered, but upon hearing that Zhou Yi was not expelling him and had instead bestowed a treasure upon him, he hurriedly bowed deeply to her. Then he fumbled the black lump into his clothes and cautiously backed out of the office.
"Yuhao! Quick! Take that black lump out of your clothes and let your big brother have a look!!"
He had barely taken a few steps out of the teaching building when the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's previously fairly composed voice rose into a shriek within Huo Yuhao's mind, brimming with shock and wild joy!
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