Trouble's brewing, let's scram!

It was the seventh month since Shrek Academy's school year had begun.

Tang Yin was irritated. Not because that madwoman from the Inner Court had burned him so badly that his cultivation had slowed, leaving him to reach level thirty only two months ago; nor because he had revealed his trump card to win the championship, only to receive no core disciple status and ruin his reputation in the Outer Court; nor even because Wang Dong had formally broken with him after the last tournament and applied for a single room.

It was because he had been in the lower realm for seven months and still hadn't met the Child of Destiny!

By all rights, Wang Dong was bound to cross paths with the Child of Destiny, but there had been no sign of it. Was the Child of Destiny really at Shrek Academy?

There were still more than two months until the holidays. He had no excuse to trail Wang Dong and see whom she would meet next.

It seemed he could only activate his contingency.

Tang Yin snorted and activated the God King's Mark in Wang Dong's Sea of Consciousness, making her destiny intersect with the Child of Destiny's once more!

If the Child of Destiny was male and had no powerful background, he might as well have him marry into the Tang Family and change his surname to Tang!

It was Huo Yuhao's seventh month in Shrek City. Within his Sea of Consciousness.

"Brother Sky Dream, my Soul Power is at the peak of level nineteen. I only need an opportunity to reach level twenty, and my Sea of Consciousness seems to have hit some kind of bottleneck too. How am I supposed to awaken my Second Martial Soul?"

As Huo Yuhao's Soul Power gradually approached level twenty, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm lost his former laziness and grew more excited by the day:

"Wonderful! I've been waiting for this day for so long. Keep it up!"

From Huo Yuhao's perspective, as the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm let out an excited cry, wisps of golden light actually drifted out of his body. The golden light intertwined and spun, condensing into a glittering wisp of Chaos Qi that merged into the Sea of Consciousness.

The clear Sea of Consciousness abruptly changed color, its luster shifting constantly. Every strand of radiance seemed capable of shining into anyone's innermost heart. The Sea of Consciousness, originally only the size of a large puddle, gradually expanded to the size of a small pond.

Then the luster contracted, forming a transparent, dreamlike eye before slowly disappearing. The Sea of Consciousness had not changed much in color and remained transparent.

Huo Yuhao recalled that eye and found that it seemed to have no connection whatsoever to his Spirit Eyes.

Then a wealth of information arose in his mind.

Telepathist: a comprehensive advancement of the "Spectator." His observation was no longer limited to surface details but reached into mystical domains such as auras and the ether body. The combination of the two allowed a "Telepathist" to grasp people's hearts with extraordinary accuracy, seemingly able to read their thoughts. It was difficult to keep secrets before a Telepathist.

Every accurate reading of another person's thoughts would condense Chaos Qi.

Chaos Qi: could merge into the Sea of Consciousness, strengthening it, evolving it in a certain direction, and advancing the ability to its next stage.

Telepathist! Huo Yuhao's heart jolted. And what was an ether body? Sensing streams of unfamiliar occult knowledge, he hurriedly concentrated on sorting them out.

Inside the little house, Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged on his small bed. The faint golden light in his closed eyes dissolved into motes and dispersed. Along with his Sea of Consciousness, the strength of his spiritual power had also increased.

The increase in spiritual power, in turn, drove the Soul Power within him through its bottleneck, straight to the threshold of level twenty!

"Yuhao, we can go to the Far North now!" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said with a hearty laugh. Bingbing, I'm coming to save you!

Huo Yuhao nodded. "All right. I'll go persuade Brother Bujue. We'll follow the plan we discussed."

Suddenly, the changes in the Sea of Consciousness seemed to affect the little gray ball.

A strange ripple of soul energy emanated from the ball, accompanied by an aged voice:

"With sun and moon in my grasp, I pluck the stars; none in this world can match me!"

"Old geezer, who exactly are you? Why are you fighting me for territory?" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm demanded angrily.

"I'm fighting you for territory? You're nothing but a bug." The aged voice yielded not an inch, though he did not attack the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm either.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was so enraged that his ten clusters of golden light churned incessantly.

"May I ask who you are?" Huo Yuhao asked respectfully as he observed the little gray ball. How had merely breaking through to level twenty Soul Power made his Sea of Consciousness so lively?

The aged voice grew noticeably gentler when addressing him. "Boy, for reasons unknown to me, this wisp of my divine consciousness survived and arrived in your world. As it happened, a wondrous drop of liquid fell into this realm and merged into your Sea of Consciousness, giving its surroundings an effect akin to nurturing the soul. Thus, this wisp of my divine consciousness took up residence in your Sea of Consciousness. Rest assured, I bear you no ill will. I'm afraid I may never be able to leave this place of yours."

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm suddenly understood. "No wonder I've felt so comfortable since moving in!"

The aged voice ignored him and continued, "Only a wisp of my divine consciousness remains. My lingering memories tell me my name is Electrolux. I need time to slowly mend myself beside your Sea of Consciousness before I can gradually recover all my memories. Just now, at the moment your advancement triggered a transformation in your Sea of Consciousness, a strange fluctuation of destiny woke me from my slumber. Someone has probably laid a trap for you, and whoever laid it has activated his contingency!"

"A trap? A contingency?" Huo Yuhao couldn't make heads or tails of it. He had behaved himself ever since leaving the White Tiger Duke's Mansion and hadn't provoked anyone.

"Someone has interfered with your destiny," Electrolux said gravely. "This interference carries profound malice, though its manifestation may not be intense."

"Elder Electrolux, how should I understand that?" Huo Yuhao grew even more respectful.

"In other words, the person acting behind the scenes wants to establish a connection with you through certain means. Such means often seem mild at first, but later they will profoundly influence, control, or even change you to achieve his purpose."

"You actually have such a profound understanding of destiny!" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm swallowed.

"My domain is not destiny." Electrolux's aged voice shifted as he explained, "It was Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness that sensed the change in destiny and reacted. I am merely voicing my analysis and conjectures."

"But rest assured, Yuhao. At that critical point when destiny changes, I will warn you."

"As for that wondrous drop of liquid, I do not understand it either. But the magnitude of its origins may exceed everyone's imagination."

"Brother Bujue, what are you reading?"

Huo Yuhao had been about to visit Feng Bujue's dormitory to share the good news, only to find him standing in the residence's courtyard, holding two newspapers with a shifting expression.

Huo Yuhao moved closer and began reading along.

"'Honest Person News': Why the Sun Moon Empire has suddenly taken an interest in rejected Shrek Academy applicants."

"'Shrek Post': Sun Moon Empire immigration broker shakes Shrek's narrative."

"'Shrek Daily': An emigration broker's 'discarded pawns' and 'harvesting the three empires' theories are part of the Sun Moon Empire's propaganda offensive..."

Looking at the thick stack of newspapers in Feng Bujue's hands, Huo Yuhao swallowed:

"Brother Bujue, you're done for. Looks like you've landed yourself in serious trouble!"

"Can't you say something nice for once, brat?" Feng Bujue asked gravely, "Reached level twenty?"

Huo Yuhao nodded. "Brother Bujue, what do we do next?"

Feng Bujue rolled his eyes. "Before Shrek Academy fully catches on, of course-trouble's brewing, let's scram!"