After Xiao Xiao finished speaking, Huo Yuhao nodded and said to her,
"No rush. Training rooms with that level of privacy need to be booked anyway. We can get something to eat first."
Xiao Xiao nodded, and the two left the Teaching Building area together. When they reached the sports field, they passed Dai Huabin.
Huo Yuhao noticed that Zhu Lu was not beside Dai Huabin, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Xiao Xiao remarked casually,
"Speaking of Zhu Lu, she made a scene in the girls' dormitory before. It looks like those two really have been having quite a falling-out lately."
Huo Yuhao nodded, then turned his attention back to Xiao Xiao. He followed her to the service desk at the Outer Court's training center, where they booked a private indoor training room.
They really were quite lucky. Private training rooms were usually fully booked, because their interiors were completely sealed off, with no observation windows or lookout posts.
Before entering, users had to sign a life-and-death waiver. The academy bore no responsibility for anything that went wrong inside. These special facilities had been established specifically for outstanding Outer Court students to research self-created soul skills and techniques for using new soul skills.
Moreover, their construction costs were extraordinarily high—even more expensive than keeping a ten-thousand-year soul beast—so they were among the facilities whose demand outstripped supply throughout Shrek Academy.
Normally, even with their status as Core Disciples, the two would have had to wait for the academy to arrange a room. Today, however, someone had happened to die inside one, leaving it temporarily vacant.
Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao had arrived just in time to take that opening.
"Someone just died in the room. Is that really all right?"
Xiao Xiao asked curiously as she received the token at the training center's service desk.
The staff member in charge handed Huo Yuhao the key to the training room without a care and said casually,
"Just like you, everyone signs a waiver. Whether they live or die inside, the academy takes no responsibility. That was established from the very beginning.
"If something went wrong on his end and he couldn't crawl back out, that was his problem, not our responsibility.
"A soul master's cultivation should never depend too heavily on help from others. You have to rely more on yourself. That's the Shrek way of survival."
Huo Yuhao cursed inwardly. Way of survival, my ass.
He showed none of it on his face, however, and simply followed Xiao Xiao into the training room.
The moment they opened the door, the smell of blood rushed into their noses, making Xiao Xiao wrinkle her brow slightly. Huo Yuhao said with some amusement,
"You didn't react like this even during a battle as intense as last night's. Why are you getting like this over a little smell of blood today?"
Xiao Xiao drew back slightly, unconsciously edging closer to Huo Yuhao as she said,
"That was different. Last night, we were actually fighting. I was in a different state of mind."
Huo Yuhao nodded and did not dwell on the matter. He merely told Xiao Xiao,
"Then take this opportunity to get used to it. As a soul master, it's nothing unusual to smell blood, no matter the occasion. This is the noblest profession on the entire continent, and that nobility is built on blood."
Xiao Xiao nodded, then stuck her tongue out at Huo Yuhao with a playful expression and said,
"You really sound just like the elders in my family when you say that. But when it's you talking, I don't find it nearly as annoying."
Huo Yuhao smiled and raised his hand. A faint thread of soul power linked the two of them as he said casually,
"Probably because of the rapport from our Martial Soul Fusion Skill."
At the mention of their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Xiao Xiao seemed to recall Wang Dong teasing them that people with a Martial Soul Fusion Skill were either siblings or spouses. A faint blush immediately rose to her face again.
Huo Yuhao failed to catch what was on Xiao Xiao's mind. He abruptly withdrew the soul power in his hand, and once his Qiongqi soul power dissipated, a faint chill spread through the entire training room.
Xiao Xiao shivered, but at the same time, that power of ice and snow also weakened the bloody smell in the room.
Xiao Xiao reached out and released her Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron martial soul. As she did so, she smiled and said,
"Come to think of it, it really is... Our Martial Soul Fusion Skills alternate between our martial souls. This martial soul of mine has two soul rings, while your—your snow martial soul... Your snow martial soul actually has a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring?!"
Huo Yuhao merely smiled, then said to Xiao Xiao,
"Surprised? Didn't see that coming, did you?"
Xiao Xiao rubbed her eyes. After repeatedly confirming that she was not hallucinating, she said to Huo Yuhao,
"Thinking back carefully, that martial soul of yours really did seem to have soul skills last night. I guess I was too nervous to notice."
Huo Yuhao took the opportunity to tell her,
"See? That's a problem you have. Next time, no matter what state you're in, you have to pay attention to the people around you. People's allegiances can change at any moment. If you don't watch the people around you, you might not even realize there's a traitor among them, and then you'll just be throwing your life away."
Xiao Xiao nodded, then held out her hand to Huo Yuhao and said,
"You're right. I'll make sure to pay attention next time. Come on."
Huo Yuhao nodded. As he reached out and took Xiao Xiao's hand, he told her,
"Oh, right. You'll have to help me keep this Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring a secret."
Xiao Xiao nodded. Huo Yuhao felt quite confident in her. After spending this time together, he was certain that she was not the sort to blab about something this important.
As they spoke, they had already drawn so close that each could feel the other's breath against their face.
At that moment, their two streams of soul power also blended together.
Since they had already produced a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Qiongqi and the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute, they knew the road well this time. Once that sensation emerged, they released each other's hands in unspoken agreement, interrupting the fusion.
At their current stage, the number of times they could use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill was extremely limited. Even with Huo Yuhao's reserves of soul power, he could only unleash one twice within a short period.
Although they had already passed their individual assessments, the class still had its advancement assessment ahead. Their opportunities to use Martial Soul Fusion Skills remained precious.
However, because Huo Yuhao's soul power cultivation far surpassed Xiao Xiao's, he could already faintly sense the specific effects of this martial soul.
Unlike the single-target Golden Age's Downfall from before, this Martial Soul Fusion produced a large-area offensive soul skill.
Afterward, Xiao Xiao pulled Huo Yuhao along for another test to see how much combat power the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute's manifested phoenix martial soul could display without any soul skills. Its effectiveness was roughly on par with a thousand-year soul beast...
Before you continue