Huo Yuhao said no more, and Su Tong asked no further questions.
She was not talkative by nature. She had only been willing to say this much to Huo Yuhao because they were both Ultimate Ice Soul Masters.
Every Soul Master grew as an independent individual. Since Huo Yuhao had made his own choice, Su Tong would not interfere too much.
After he parted with Su Tong at the city gates, the Ice Empress spoke to Huo Yuhao from his Sea of Consciousness.
"Yuhao," the Ice Empress said, withdrawing her consciousness, "that girl named Su Tong, her Martial Soul seemed to be..."
"It's the Heavenly Snow Woman, the same race as the Snow Empress," Huo Yuhao told her.
The Ice Empress let out a meaningful sigh. "There has only ever been one Heavenly Snow Woman-the Snow Empress. To think such a Martial Soul would appear in the human world."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm opened his mouth, but ultimately fell silent.
Huo Yuhao noticed the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's unusual behavior.
Ever since Huo Yuhao had used his spiritual power to unleash Great Heavenly Thunder Sound, the once lively, spirited Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had become rather downcast.
Huo Yuhao could guess what was on the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's mind.
"Tian Meng," Huo Yuhao said through a mental transmission, "do you want to cultivate spiritual power too?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm gave a small smile, his voice dejected. "I don't know."
He did not possess the Ice Empress's resolve. He was still struggling over whether to hitch a ride on Huo Yuhao's express carriage to eternal life or free himself from his constraints someday and start growing on his own from scratch.
"When you've thought it through, I can make you the same promise I made the Ice Empress."
Having said that, Huo Yuhao stopped paying attention to the situation in his Sea of Consciousness.
Whatever the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's original purpose had been, Huo Yuhao had, after all, gained a considerable opportunity through him.
He was therefore willing to promise the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm a chance to be reborn and cultivate in the future.
Whether the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could cultivate the Talisman Master system, however, would depend entirely on the Martial Scripture.
Huo Yuhao walked along the streets of Heaven Dou City.
Unlike the relatively free atmosphere of Shrek City, Heaven Dou City was filled with a solemn air, as befitted the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Buildings in the style of the Heaven Dou Empire towered majestically on either side of the streets. The vendors kept their cries subdued, merely introducing their wares to passing pedestrians in low voices.
In Imperial Square at the center of the city, a statue of the First Emperor, dozens of meters tall, held a greatsword and gazed into the distance.
Di'ao Academy was located not far from Imperial Square.
"As the capital of an empire, it really does have a completely different style from Shrek City."
Watching the Di'ao students maintain ramrod-straight posture even as they entered and left, Huo Yuhao could not help remarking, "The students here look much more disciplined than those at Shrek."
"You have a good eye, little brother!"
A sturdily built young man heard Huo Yuhao's words and laughed, patting him on the shoulder. "Our Di'ao Academy is far better than that shameless bunch!"
Seeing that he wore Di'ao Academy's uniform, Huo Yuhao understood who he was.
"Big brother," Huo Yuhao asked, "what makes Shrek Academy shameless?"
The young man first cursed Shrek Academy under his breath, then said to Huo Yuhao, "You must have just arrived in Heaven Dou City, little brother. You don't know what happened a while ago."
Huo Yuhao watched the young man, who acted as though they were already friends, and waited for him to continue.
"A while ago, one of their Titled Douluos named Xuan Zi came to our Di'ao Academy and declared right off the bat that Di'ao had tricked away a new student of theirs named Huo Yuhao, who had a super Martial Soul."
"What an absolute joke."
The young man scoffed. "People are free to join whichever academy they want. Since when does Shrek get a say? By their logic, does everyone in the world with a halfway decent Martial Soul have to belong to Shrek?"
"He didn't even know what the kid's Martial Soul was, yet he still had the nerve to demand we hand him over."
"I... gulp."
The young man forcibly swallowed the spit he had been about to send toward the ground.
Huo Yuhao blinked, already forming a guess.
It was most likely Bei Bei and Tang Ya who had told them.
They had mistaken him for someone with a super Martial Soul when he used the Supreme Purity Sky Roaming Steps, then reported it to Shrek Academy, ultimately leading Shrek to come demanding him.
Huo Yuhao already had a poor impression of Shrek Academy.
When he had purchased supplies in Shrek City, a shopkeeper had mistaken him for an incoming student and kindly told him that he needed to prepare a recommendation letter from a major city in advance. Only then could he enroll.
If he did not have one, he could go to the City Lord's Mansion in Shrek City and find someone to buy a single-use recommendation letter from for 888 Gold Soul Coins.
It was from that moment that Huo Yuhao decided Shrek Academy, wrapped in the stench of money, did not deserve the title of sacred ground for Soul Masters that his mother, Huo Yun'er, had spoken of.
Requiring a recommendation letter first and then checking financial means afterward was going far too far.
Setting up barriers at every turn like this clearly tied a Soul Master's talent to wealth and status.
And Shrek City's practice of selling recommendation letters separately was nothing less than openly putting a price on admission.
It reminded Huo Yuhao of those stewards at the White Tiger Duke's Mansion who fawned over the powerful.
They, too, had sold positions in the mansion at prices based on how much could be skimmed from them.
Now that he had heard about Shrek Academy's conduct from the young man, Huo Yuhao's impression of it grew even worse.
If you want Soul Masters with both good family backgrounds and talent, just say so. Don't tout yourselves as a sacred ground where commoners can rise against the odds.
The Body Sect's assumption that all Body Soul Masters were its disciples seemed overbearing, but at least they dared to thump their chests and say it openly.
"That really is shameless," Huo Yuhao said. "It's outright banditry."
"Exactly!"
The more the young man looked at Huo Yuhao, the more he liked him. "You truly have keen insight, little brother! There aren't many young Soul Masters with your understanding!"
"Then how was the matter resolved?" Huo Yuhao asked in puzzlement.
The young man replied, "In the end, our Di'ao headmaster, Prince Xue Xin, had to step in to drive Xuan Zi away."
"Before leaving, Xuan Zi even said he would make that Huo Yuhao regret not choosing Shrek Academy at the Soul Master Tournament."
"Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself yet."
The overly friendly young man smacked his forehead. "I'm Jiang Peng, captain of the Di'ao team. What should I call you, little brother?"
Huo Yuhao bared his teeth, looking a little embarrassed. "Huo Yuhao."
He could seemingly be considered the chief culprit behind Shrek coming to their door.
"You're Huo Yuhao?! You're the one Shrek was looking for?!" The smile vanished from Jiang Peng's face as he cried out in surprise.
He circled Huo Yuhao several times before finally stroking his chin and saying in a puzzled tone:
"That's not right. When Shrek came looking for you, it happened to be Di'ao's enrollment day, but you didn't join Di'ao then."
"With the capabilities of your super Martial Soul, surely you couldn't have been held up on the road? Why have you only reached Di'ao now?"
"New student enrollment has already ended. Come on, I'll take you to the headmaster to complete your enrollment."
Huo Yuhao scratched his head sheepishly. "I was held up for a little while, actually, because I had to go Soul Hunting."
Jiang Peng's pupils twitched. "How old are you? You're already a Soul Elder?"
"A Soul Grandmaster," Huo Yuhao said.
Then a brilliant, clear light flashed in his eyes, and two Soul Rings, one yellow and one purple, slowly rose.
"Eyes?"
"A Body Martial Soul?!"
"Big Brother Jiang Peng," Huo Yuhao said, "I'm very sorry, but Di'ao Academy isn't what I want to join."
"My goal is the Body Sect."