Compensation-that was exactly what he wanted!

Inside Jiang Hao's mind, all hell had already broken loose.

Half the voices cheered over awakening fine Martial Souls,

while the other half wallowed in despair over awakening ordinary or even inferior ones.

"All right, don't worry. There are plenty of examples in Douluo II of people cultivating with Trash Martial Souls. Besides, you can study Soul Tools later. There'll be opportunities. Are we going to let a little piss kill us?"

"That old thief Main Body is right. Brothers, don't lose heart. Even if you didn't awaken a Sword Martial Soul as fiercely deadly as mine, you'll still have a future."

"Fuck you, show-off."

Outside, Jiang Hao sighed and did his best to shut out the arguing in his head.

He felt the surging strength in his body and his swelling muscles.

He had inherited his mother's Body Martial Soul, but his Martial Soul was actually his entire body!

It's one thing for the cheat to give me more of myself. It's another for the cheat itself to be more of me.

Even the Martial Soul it awakened for me is me.

Is it trying to push me down the Extreme-Body Style path?

Come on! Body Martial Souls are prized, sure, but Ultimate Attributes and Spiritual Power are the real stars of Douluo II.

The first person to pursue the Extreme-Body Style was already dead. The second didn't have many years left!

If he hadn't had his Clones, his best option would probably have been joining the Body Sect.

"Not bad! Jiang Hao, come test your Soul Power!" Qian Duoduo smiled, delighted from the bottom of his heart.

"You take after your mother. You awakened a Body Martial Soul."

"But yours is far more complete than hers. Your mother only had her legs back then. I never expected yours to encompass your whole body."

Nostalgia tinged Qian Duoduo's voice as he recalled the past.

From what Jiang Hao remembered, his parents had once been Qian Duoduo's old friends and subordinates. His mother's Martial Soul had been her legs. She had ultimately stopped at level 69 and died at the hands of Evil Soul Masters.

His father had possessed an Iron-Feathered Cat Owl Martial Soul. He had reached level 78, but hadn't survived either.

Qian Duoduo had taken Jiang Hao in as soon as his mother's confinement period ended and brought him back to the academy.

After that, he had never been allowed beyond Shrek's gates, supposedly for his own protection.

Even so, he wore twenty Soul Tools that activated defensively alone.

Most were first- or second-tier.

The strongest was a sixth-tier defensive Soul Tool that activated on its own: the Invincible Shield. It could withstand a full-force blow from a level-80 Soul Douluo.

Not even a princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect received treatment like that.

He had worn them since childhood, and their weight had become so familiar it felt like part of his own strength.

Now he moved with them as easily as his own arms and felt no burden at all.

"All right, everyone!"

"Now that Hao'er has awakened his Martial Soul, you've all seen it."

"The child's Body Martial Soul may have mutated, but he's their son. No question about it. Isn't it time to give him what he's owed?"

Qian Duoduo's voice suddenly turned cold. Jiang Hao swept his gaze around the room, finally settling on the old man bathed in radiance, whose figure he couldn't make out.

Jiang Hao hadn't forgotten who had raised him all these years, young as he was. Hadn't it been Qian Duoduo?

Qian Duoduo paid when they went out to eat, and Jiang Hao slept in Qian Duoduo's home.

He hadn't eaten a single grain of rice paid for by Shrek Academy.

Atop Shrek Academy's platform, Mu En slowly spoke. His voice rang out, impossible to place or describe:

"Indeed. The child's parents died at the hands of Evil Soul Masters because Shrek failed them. Xuan Zi, you cannot escape blame for this either. Now that we've established the child is theirs,

Shrek owes him an explanation and compensation."

"The death benefits and the child's allowance should have been paid out long ago."

"Child, your father and mother were both outstanding Shrek Instructors and members of the Shrek Inspection Corps. The Dean will personally explain the compensation owed to you shortly. No one will shortchange you. As for Shrek's neglect of you these past few years, I will make the decision: you may claim a residence on Sea God Island.

When you turn twelve, I invite you to join Shrek Academy. Every one of us will devote ourselves to training you, so you can avenge your mother and wipe out the Evil Soul Masters."

Jiang Hao said nothing. He knew what Mu En was thinking.

Beyond guilt, Mu En had his eye on Jiang Hao's Body Martial Soul.

Jiang Hao could believe others knew little about Body Martial Souls, but Mu En came from the same era as Du Bisou and Du Busi. He had to know that the more complete a Body Martial Soul was, the greater its strength—and the more of the body it encompassed, the stronger it became.

Hah. You just want me to make Shrek stronger.

With that, Mu En vanished. Only then did Jiang Hao slowly unclench his fists.

Whatever else could be said, that old man Mu En had more conscience than anyone else in Shrek City.

When compensation was owed, he actually paid it, even if his motives were murky.

A residence on Sea God Island was compensation worthy of Jiang Hao's dead parents.

After all, they had spent their lives teaching at Shrek and had carried out countless life-or-death missions.

Yet whenever they entered the Shrek Inner Court, they could stay for only an hour or two. They could look around from afar, but they never even had the chance to rest there.

Today, their son was going to put down roots there.

And if anyone asked why he still wanted to live there?

Why shouldn't he? His parents had paid for it with their lives.

If he didn't live there, those bastards would be the ones to benefit.

He wouldn't merely live there. He would live comfortably, sunning himself whenever he pleased and cultivating beneath the Golden Ancient Tree by Sea God Lake.

"Main Body! You're right. We're living there. And we'll take Shrek down!"

"Once all several thousand of us brothers finish cultivating, that's several thousand Titled Douluo! We'll tear Shrek's whole operation down in minutes!"

"Give it a rest. Even if I dared let you out onto Sea God Lake, would you dare show yourselves?"

The moment they appeared, those so-called senior students and Sea God Pavilion Elders on Sea God Island might chop them into mincemeat.

After all, if more than two thousand identical people suddenly appeared, anyone would take them for Soul Beasts. How could normal people do that?

"All right, kid. Everyone's gone. You really did your parents proud today."

"Let those old fossils see what became of the 'bastard' they said I'd brought back to cheat them out of benefits." Qian Duoduo counted the Gold Soul Coins left in the chest, occasionally picking one up to check whether it was genuine.

"They really think I'm so money-mad I'd do that!"

"Just wait! Tomorrow I'll go with you to collect everything they've owed you all these years. In a couple of days, I'll take you hunting for a Soul Beast and get you the most impressive First Soul Skill there is. Think carefully about which direction you want to take. Shrek Academy hasn't studied Body Martial Souls much. I only know a little because of your mother. So my advice is to follow her example: focus on speed, use your body's formidable strength in close combat, then combine that with Soul Tools! That's the winning build for this version!"

"Old man, seriously, why do you keep copying the way I talk?"

Qian Duoduo said nothing. He clenched his fists and lightly tapped Jiang Hao's shoulder with his right one in encouragement.

"I've got another surprise for you in a little while." A sly look crossed Qian Duoduo's face as he nodded at Jiang Hao in satisfaction.

"If it's good news, tell me now!"

"The secrets of heaven cannot be revealed~"

That night

It was Jiang Hao's first time spending a night by Sea God Lake. He watched withered leaves drift down from the Golden Ancient Tree, felt the breeze blowing in from the shore, and took in the little lakeside courtyard that was now his.

For the past six years, he had lived with Qian Duoduo in a bamboo grove on the outskirts of Shrek Academy. It was Qian Duoduo's private retreat.

"Old thief! How about letting us out for some air?"

"Shut up. I'm not letting you out to cause trouble."

The moment they got out, they might start shouting about cutting Xuan Zi down. Then what?

"So what? Most of our thoughts are shaped by yours. Don't you want to cut him down?"

Jiang Hao fell silent. Xuan Zi might be short on brains, have a shriveled brainstem, and be a suspected elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, but he was a bona fide Super Douluo. Jiang Hao didn't need to try anything rash to know it would end badly.

"Just wait! I've got a plan. We'll use this Soul Beast hunt to pull off something big.

We can't share Martial Souls, but we do share Soul Power. Cultivate hard and make sure you master the Soul Power Recovery Method I gave you today. Whoever masters it first gets to take the position of main Martial Soul."