"Smack!"
"Smack, smack!"
"Smack, smack, smack!"
The inn's attendant set the tea and food outside the door, listened to the sounds coming from the room, and broke into a knowing smile.
"Good grief, he looks so young, but he's into some pretty twisted stuff..."
Meanwhile, inside the room, Huo Yuhao stood with his feet slightly apart in a bow stance, his toes gripping the floor and his teeth clenched.
Cold sweat streamed down his forehead. Wearing only a pair of shorts, he had bluish bruises covering his bare body.
Behind Huo Yuhao, Yao Lao sat cross-legged on the room's wooden bed in his soul form. His expression was solemn as he watched Huo Yuhao grit his teeth and endure, then gently swept his palm forward.
As Yao Lao moved his palm, a ripple like a wave of water appeared in the air. A pale red ribbon of energy shot from his hand and lashed viciously across Huo Yuhao's back like a long whip made of twisted steel wire, leaving a long bluish bruise.
At the pain of his flesh being torn, the corners of Huo Yuhao's mouth trembled violently, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
His shoulder seemed to go numb all at once, followed by waves of searing pain that bored straight into his heart. Under that intense pain, even his toes weakened, and he nearly lost his balance and collapsed.
But in his previous life, he had undergone countless harsh training sessions, some far crueler than the pain he was enduring now.
What this training brought Huo Yuhao was not suffering, but the tangible feeling that he was still alive.
After the intense pain passed, Huo Yuhao immediately circulated his soul power through the injured area.
Stimulated by the pain, his soul power seemed more vigorous than usual. As it flowed through the meridians and acupoints around his shoulder, traces of a cool, soothing sensation slowly seeped into his bones and muscles, quietly strengthening his body.
"Hiss! Haha, it's been so long since I felt this good! Again!" Huo Yuhao gave a smile uglier than a grimace, his still-childish face filled with determination and stubbornness.
"Good!" A pleased smile appeared on Yao Lao's face. He nodded slightly, and another pale red ribbon of energy shot from his palm.
"Smack!"
Yao Lao controlled his strength with precision. Each strike reached exactly the threshold Huo Yuhao's current constitution could withstand, damaging his body to a degree without seriously injuring him.
"Trees are injured by wind and rain too, but their wounds eventually form scars. And those ugly-looking scars become the hardest parts of the tree," Yao Lao said with a chuckle. "Put simply, before you learn to hit others, you must first learn to take a beating."
"Smack!"
Another ribbon of energy lashed out. Huo Yuhao's body had reached its limit, and his legs buckled as he collapsed onto the floor.
"Mm, very good. You actually endured sixty-two lashes of energy today. Compared with the dozen or so you could take at the beginning, you've improved tremendously." Yao Lao nodded in satisfaction, undisguised admiration in his eyes.
In both strength of character and speed of growth, Huo Yuhao was the most outstanding person he had ever seen.
Five days had passed since they left the Star Dou Great Forest, and during those five days, Huo Yuhao had made progress at a speed that could only be called miraculous.
Today, for instance, he had thought forty lashes of energy would be Huo Yuhao's limit. Yet the boy had held on until the sixty-second, leaving him marveling at the little fellow's endurance.
Gritting his teeth, Huo Yuhao forced himself upright, then clambered on all fours into the nearby bathtub filled to the brim with blood-colored liquid.
With his thorough knowledge of medicinal properties, Yao Lao had helped him find quite a few useful herbs before they left the Star Dou Great Forest.
Combined with the blood essence of the hundred-year soul beasts and thousand-year soul beasts Yao Lao had frozen earlier, those herbs had allowed him to refine enough Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid to last Huo Yuhao for some time.
Huo Yuhao had sold those soul beasts' pelts and meat to specialized merchants in villages and towns around the Star Dou Great Forest, earning more than ten thousand Gold Soul Coins. For the time being, he no longer needed to worry about money.
The blood-colored liquid in the bathtub was Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid diluted with clean water.
The medicinal properties of the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid could not only strengthen Huo Yuhao's constitution, but also increase his soul power and help compensate for his innate deficiencies.
The icy blood-colored liquid soaked Huo Yuhao's bruised skin, drawing a comfortable sigh from him. Slowly closing his eyes, he lay stretched out in the wooden tub and gradually fell asleep.
Yao Lao gazed at his disciple with tender concern, then smiled and shook his head. After sensing that no one was outside, he waved his hand to open the door, brought in the tea and food left there, and set them on the table.
Then his transparent body twisted, and Yao Lao turned into a streak of light that entered the Black Ring.
Most of the Star Dou Great Forest lay within the Star Luo Empire, with only a small portion in the Heaven Dou Empire. Shrek Academy stood northwest of the Star Dou Great Forest, not particularly far away.
However, the soul beasts in the direction facing Shrek Academy were the strongest. Most were over ten thousand years old, and there were even hundred-thousand-year soul beasts among them. Huo Yuhao had to skirt the Star Dou Great Forest to reach Shrek Academy, making his journey nearly a thousand li long.
The next day, Huo Yuhao followed the main road out of a stretch of woodland and finally spotted Shrek City on the plain ahead.
Built on the Lima Plain, Shrek Academy occupied an enormous area and was itself a city, hence the name Shrek City. Shrek Academy held independent governing authority over the city and did not need to pay taxes to any nation.
Well, put simply, it was an outlaw beyond the reach of the law.
Shrek City's southern, western, and northern gates were open to anyone, while the eastern gate was reserved exclusively for Shrek Academy. After asking for directions, Huo Yuhao headed straight to the eastern gate.
More than a dozen young Shrek Academy students guarded the eastern gate. Each wore a fitted yellow outfit with a green emblem on the chest.
Seeing Huo Yuhao trying to enter Shrek City, they immediately stopped him. Their manner, however, was not arrogant or overbearing, but gentle and courteous.
"Little brother, what brings you here?" The male student leading them walked over to Huo Yuhao and asked with a smile.
"I'm a new student for this year, here for the admissions assessment." Huo Yuhao smiled and nodded as well. There was not a trace of nervousness in his voice, as though he were chatting with a friend.
The male student exchanged a glance with his companions, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
Almost none of the new students applying to Shrek Academy could remain free of nerves. After all, Shrek Academy was the highest sanctuary for soul masters across the entire Douluo Continent, a place revered as holy ground throughout the soul master world.
The families and factions behind these applicants all placed boundless hopes in them, so how could they not be nervous?
Yet Huo Yuhao was an exception. His expression had not changed in the slightest, remaining as still as an ancient well. Speaking with him felt like ordinary small talk, without the slightest pressure.
"Very good, but little brother, there are requirements for applying to Shrek Academy. First, you must be no older than twelve. Second, your soul power must be at least rank fifteen. You must also have a recommendation letter from at least a major city in one of the three great empires." The male student nodded with a smile. "So, what rank is your cultivation now?"
"Rank eleven," Huo Yuhao said.
"Cough, cough, cough..." The male student nearly choked to death on his own saliva. "What did you say?! Rank eleven?!"
"Yes, that's right." Huo Yuhao nodded and even obligingly released his soul ring.
A luminous white soul ring rose from beneath Huo Yuhao's feet, slowly ascending to his head before pulsing gently downward. It was his first soul ring.
"A ten-year soul ring... rank-eleven soul power..."
Not only that male student, but the other Shrek Academy students nearby also stared at Huo Yuhao, somewhat dumbfounded.
With talent like that and strength like this, where did you get the confidence to apply to Shrek Academy? Who gave you the courage?
Taking a deep breath, the male student guarding the gate showed no anger on his face. He gently patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder and said solemnly, "Little brother, I'm very sorry, but you don't meet Shrek Academy's admission requirements, so..."
He failed to notice, however, that Huo Yuhao was also studying him, a hint of a smile in his eyes.
Perhaps Shrek Academy would become a malignant tumor on the continent in the future, but not all the students it produced were useless mediocrities.
Their willingness to treat a fellow soul master who could practically be called trash with courtesy showed that, at least in the hearts of these younger Shrek students, warmth and sincerity still remained.
"Senior, perhaps I didn't make myself clear just now." Huo Yuhao smiled faintly, took a token from inside his clothes, and handed it to the male student. "I heard that holding this allows someone to enter Shrek Academy without taking the assessment."
"Don't joke around, little brother. There are all sorts of legends and rumors about Shrek Academy on the continent. You shouldn't..." The male student shook his head, unsure whether to laugh or cry, and accepted the weighty token.
But when he saw the large character for "grace" on the token, his expression changed instantly.
"The Shrek Grace Token?!"
Hearing those words, the other Shrek Academy students nearby hurried over as well. But they were only junior students, and this was their first encounter with such a situation, so none dared take it upon themselves to let Huo Yuhao into Shrek City.
The male student gave the perfectly composed Huo Yuhao a long look, then nodded, holding the Shrek Grace Token. "Little brother, wait here a moment. I need to go into the academy and report this to a teacher before I can let you into the city."
Before you continue