Huo Yuhao Was Misjudged, and Wang Dong'er Got Angry

Wang Dong'er walked out of the room in high spirits.

Not only had she escaped punishment over this incident, but she had also reaped quite a few benefits. It had turned out rather well.

When Huo Yuhao saw Wang Dong'er emerge, he hurried over nervously.

"Wang Dong, are you all right? What did the dean say?"

Huo Yuhao was worried that Wang Dong'er would be given a hard time.

"Don't worry, everything's fine now. Dai Huabin and the others getting hurt was just an accident. The academy also compensated us for Ma Xiaotao's attack earlier."

Wang Dong'er handed Huo Yuhao the bottle containing the Soul Ascension Pill.

Huo Yuhao stared at the Soul Ascension Pill in his hand in astonishment. He had already braced himself for expulsion, yet the road had taken an unexpected turn around the mountain, and he had ended up with a reward instead.

"Wang Dong, thank you."

Wang Dong'er smiled faintly and asked tentatively, "Then how are you going to thank me?"

Huo Yuhao scratched his head, looking troubled.

He had nothing to his name. Apart from grilled fish, he really seemed to have nothing he could offer as thanks.

"If you can't think of anything, save it for now. You can thank me once you're able to."

Huo Yuhao nodded earnestly.

Du Weilun approached from the side and said, "The academy will hold a freshman assembly tomorrow to present the winning teams with their awards. Make sure all three of you arrive on time."

Huo Yuhao nodded. "All right, we understand. Thank you, Director Du."

News that Dai Huabin had been gravely injured and fallen unconscious soon reached the Inner Court.

Upon hearing that his younger brother had been seriously injured, Dai Yueheng immediately went to the infirmary to check on him. After asking about the exact circumstances, he was ready to settle the score with Wang Dong'er and Huo Yuhao, but Dean Yan held him back.

If Dai Yueheng went after them, the incident would escalate further. It might even spark a conflict between the White Tiger Duke's Mansion and Clear Sky Castle.

And if anything happened to Wang Dong'er, the White Tiger Duke's Mansion would be razed to the ground the very next day.

Although Dai Yueheng desperately wanted revenge for his younger brother, with Dean Yan keeping him in check, he had no way to act openly.

But if he couldn't act in the open, he would find a way in the shadows. Dai Yueheng would never let the two of them off so easily.

Fortunately, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er were still relatively safe within Shrek Academy.

On the way back, Huo Yuhao told Wang Dong'er about his conversation with Qian Duoduo.

"Dean Qian wants me to join the Soul Tool Department. What do you think?"

"I think it suits you very well. But although Shrek Academy's soul tools are fairly advanced by the standards of the Douluo Continent, they're like little children compared to the Sun Moon Empire's."

Huo Yuhao froze for a moment. Teacher Fan Yu had indeed told him that the Sun Moon Empire's soul tools were formidable, but he had never mentioned such an enormous gap.

"Is the Sun Moon Empire really that powerful?"

"All right, that's not something you need to worry about now. Shrek Academy's knowledge of soul tools will be enough to keep you studying for quite some time."

Wang Dong'er knew that soul tools would play an increasingly important role in the future. The very finest could even kill a Limit Douluo.

That was why Wang Dong'er strongly supported Huo Yuhao studying soul tools.

"Then I'll give it some more thought."

Huo Yuhao liked soul tools very much, but he felt that martial souls were also extremely important. Yet the Martial Soul Department didn't seem to like him.

The following day, the first-year students who had passed the assessment arrived at Shrek Square. Half the students had already gone home after being eliminated the day before.

Dai Huabin and his two teammates did not attend.

Zhu Lu and Cui Yajie had already woken up, but they were still mentally weakened and needed plenty of rest.

Dai Huabin, however, remained in his hospital bed. It was hard to say whether he would wake up at all.

Du Weilun and more than ten teachers stood before the students.

Standing at the very front, Du Weilun began, "The competition over the past few days was truly outstanding. All of you have passed the assessment. On behalf of the academy and your teachers, I congratulate you."

Applause rang out across the square. Every student was delighted. They could now truly count themselves as members of Shrek Academy.

"Next, I will first present the rewards for the top three teams. Whenever any member of these teams needs a soul ring, they may apply to the academy. The academy will send a teacher to select a suitable soul ring for you."

The other students were thrilled by this unexpected reward, but Wang Dong'er and Huo Yuhao felt little excitement. After all, they had already received such an opportunity. This brought their total to two.

In truth, having more of these opportunities wasn't particularly useful. For students like them, who had demonstrated exceptional talent and strength, the academy would naturally help them obtain soul rings as many times as necessary.

Besides, Wang Dong'er didn't need the academy's help obtaining soul rings at all.

Du Weilun quieted the crowd and continued, "Due to the outstanding performance of our champion team, Team Wang Dong, the academy will give them a special reward. Once class assignments are complete, come with me to collect it."

The students were all curious about what this mysterious reward might be.

Others might not have thought much of it, but when Wang Dong'er heard Du Weilun change "Team Huo Yuhao" to "Team Wang Dong," she realized that it had still happened.

The academy had relegated Huo Yuhao to the sidelines.

Wang Dong'er looked at Huo Yuhao beside her. He was very interested in the special reward and hadn't paid much attention to the name change.

After explaining the rewards, Du Weilun composed himself and said solemnly, "In light of your outstanding performances, the academy has decided to grant special approval for certain students to become Outer Court core disciples. Here is the list of core disciples."

Du Weilun took out a list, ready to read it aloud. Every student eagerly hoped to hear their own name.

Everyone knew that becoming a core disciple meant preferential access to resources. It was also something to be proud of.

"Those becoming core disciples are: Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu... Wu Feng."

Du Weilun read out ten names, but Huo Yuhao's was not among them.

Huo Yuhao froze. He couldn't understand why, when his team had clearly won the championship, he was the only one of the three who hadn't become a core disciple.

His earlier joy over receiving the special reward instantly dissipated.

Xiao Xiao quickly grabbed Huo Yuhao, worried he might act rashly.

However, Wang Dong'er had already stepped forward beside him.

"I object to this list!"

Du Weilun's expression darkened. He had known Wang Dong'er would make trouble.

"Wang Dong, if you have any concerns, you may report them to the academy. Now is not the time to cause a scene."

"Director Du, I just want to know why Huo Yuhao hasn't become a core disciple when all three of us are champions."

Wang Dong'er naturally knew the reason. In fact, she could understand it to some extent. After all, the strength Huo Yuhao had displayed so far truly wasn't enough to qualify him as a core disciple.

But she couldn't stand by and watch the academy bully Huo Yuhao.

Xiao Xiao also stepped forward. "I don't think the academy is being fair either."

Seeing both Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao speak up for him, Huo Yuhao was deeply moved.

He walked to the front, faced Du Weilun directly, and asked, "Teacher, I just want to know where I fall short."

Under the gazes of all the students, Du Weilun sighed. Had he known this would happen, he would have left the matter to Yan Shaozhe. Now he had drawn the flames onto himself.

"I know your team did win the championship. However, Huo Yuhao, your talent and abilities are still somewhat lacking."

"Of course, because of your outstanding performance in the competition, the academy has decided to let you and four other students temporarily enjoy the privileges of core disciples. If you make a major breakthrough by next year's Promotion Assessment, you will be promoted to full core disciples."

Huo Yuhao swayed, barely able to remain standing. The inferiority in his heart rose once again.

Yes, he was only a one-ring Soul Master. He didn't have Wang Dong'er's powerful soul power and talent, nor did he possess twin martial souls like Xiao Xiao.

Although he had a Million-Year Soul Ring, he couldn't tell anyone about it.

Wang Dong'er looked at Huo Yuhao, her eyes full of heartache.

She certainly had ways to make Huo Yuhao a proper core disciple, but she knew doing so would only deal him an even greater blow.

Only by proving his strength through his own efforts could he make the academy regret its decision and truly find peace with this.

Seeing that Wang Dong'er wasn't making any more trouble, Du Weilun sighed in relief and proceeded with the class assignments.

They were divided into four classes according to the nature of their martial souls. Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong'er, and Xiao Xiao were all assigned to Class One.

"All right, teachers, please take your students back to their classrooms. Wang Dong, the three of you, come with me."

Although Huo Yuhao didn't particularly want to go, there was a special reward waiting. He might as well take it.

The three followed Du Weilun to his office.

Du Weilun smiled and said, "Take a seat, all three of you."

"Huo Yuhao, I actually have high hopes for you. It's just that your soul power is indeed a little too low, and your first soul ring is only a ten-year one. Once your soul power breaks through rank twenty, have one of the academy's teachers help you obtain a more suitable soul ring. You may well be promoted to a core disciple then."

Huo Yuhao nodded. "Thank you, Director Du. I'll work hard."

Du Weilun was very satisfied with Huo Yuhao's attitude.

"All right, let's get down to business. After some discussion, the academy has decided to reward you with something special."

Du Weilun opened a bag, and a soul bone appeared in his hand.

Was that... a soul bone?

"Judging by your expressions, I imagine you know what this is?"

"That's right. Your reward this time is a left leg bone from a Void Demon Leopard. After you fuse with it, it can increase your speed and grant you an additional offensive skill."

"However, there is only one reward. Discuss it carefully after you return and decide who will absorb this soul bone. Of course, please keep this confidential. Don't tell anyone."

Wang Dong'er curled her lip. Wasn't it just a hundred-year soul bone? What was so precious about it?

An entire crate of them sat gathering dust in Clear Sky Castle's storeroom, and no one wanted to use them.

Hundred-year soul bones were still useful to Soul Masters below the Soul King level, but once they became Soul Kings, those bones were nothing but a burden.

"Thank you, Teacher Du. We'll be going now."

Huo Yuhao took the soul bone and left with Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao.

After leaving the office, Huo Yuhao said quietly, "Xiao Xiao, why don't you use this soul bone?"

Xiao Xiao paused, then hurriedly declined. "How could I take it? You clearly contributed the most. Besides, the academy was biased and didn't make you a core disciple. I think you should use it. With it, your strength will improve even more, and you'll be able to become a core disciple at the Promotion Assessment."

Seeing Xiao Xiao refuse, Huo Yuhao offered the soul bone to Wang Dong'er.

"Then, Wang Dong, you should have this soul bone."

"It's too ugly. I don't want it."

Wang Dong'er quickly walked ahead of them, looking very unhappy.

Huo Yuhao was puzzled. "What's wrong with Wang Dong?"

"Idiot, she's jealous." Xiao Xiao rolled her eyes at him.

"Jealous? What's there to be jealous about?" Huo Yuhao didn't understand.

"Because you offered the soul bone to me first instead of giving it to her right away, of course."

"Surely not. Aren't we all friends? There's no need to be so petty, is there?"

Xiao Xiao stared at him. "Stop pretending. You two hugged each other when you used your soul skill. Everyone saw it."

"So what? Aren't you supposed to hug when using a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?" Huo Yuhao asked in confusion.

Xiao Xiao burst out laughing. "Who told you that? You only need physical contact. Once you're proficient enough, you can even do it without touching."

"Oh, so that's how it works..."

Huo Yuhao had thought that using a Martial Soul Fusion Skill always required an embrace.

"Xiao Xiao, you should take this soul bone after all."

"All right. Since neither of you wants it, I'll accept it."

Xiao Xiao took the soul bone.

"But you'd better go coax Wang Dong a little more, or you won't be getting any sleep tonight." Xiao Xiao wore a mischievous grin.

Huo Yuhao didn't quite understand what Xiao Xiao was laughing about, but he hurried after Wang Dong'er anyway.

"Wang Dong, I'm sorry. I only offered the soul bone to Xiao Xiao first because she's a girl. We're both boys, so let's not be so petty, all right?"

Wang Dong'er suddenly stopped and fixed Huo Yuhao with a fierce stare. "You're calling me petty?"

"That's not what I meant..."

"Fine. Very fine. Huo Yuhao, if you manage to get into the dorm room today, this lady will take your surname!"

Huo Yuhao looked distressed. Why was Wang Dong angry again? She was so furious she had even called herself "this lady."

On their way back to the classroom building, they unexpectedly encountered Zhou Yi.

To their surprise, Zhou Yi also gave them a soul bone.

She had won it in a bet with a teacher from another class.

Looking at this soul bone, Wang Dong'er felt even more strongly that the academy's reward had been miserly. Even two Outer Court teachers could put up a precious soul bone for a bet.

"Wang Dong, you should keep this soul bone." Huo Yuhao hoped this would soothe Wang Dong'er's anger.

"I don't want it. You keep it." Wang Dong'er's attitude was firm.

Huo Yuhao could only put the soul bone away. He thought Wang Dong'er's anger would probably subside by evening.

Their new class had more students again. Only a small portion had originally belonged to Freshman Class One, so everyone had to get to know their new classmates.

Zhou Yi wasted few words and began the lesson immediately.

With the weaker students gone, the competition among them had actually grown fiercer.

After classes ended that afternoon, Wang Dong'er, Huo Yuhao, and Xiao Xiao went to dinner together.

During the meal, Wang Dong'er thought, Maybe I'm being too sensitive. After all, Huo Yuhao doesn't know I'm a girl. It's understandable.

She looked at Huo Yuhao. As long as you apologize to me once more right now, I'll forgive you, for the sake of this delicious meal.

Huo Yuhao put down his chopsticks. "I'm full. I still have to go study soul tools, so I'll leave first."

With that, Huo Yuhao darted away like a wisp of smoke.

Sitting beside Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao suddenly felt the air grow much colder. She secretly moved one seat farther away, afraid of getting splashed with blood.

(Two chapters in one)