Rapid Progress

After fully absorbing the first Mystic Water Pill and reaching the peak of rank thirteen in Soul Power, Huo Yuhao went on to take the second Mystic Water Pill.

The second Mystic Water Pill raised Huo Yuhao's Soul Power by an entire rank, from the peak of rank thirteen to the peak of rank fourteen.

With his Soul Power approaching rank fifteen, it could already gather into a white current within his body. His whole body felt clear and unobstructed, his meridians warm. Not only was it comfortable, but his progress was obvious.

Huo Yuhao could already vaguely sense that the two Mystic Water Pills had broadened his meridians considerably, making them supple and resilient. His physique was now much the same as that of most Shrek students he had met.

But when it came to progress, his advances in Soul Engineer knowledge were even more obvious.

Over the past half month or so, he had not only mastered engraving all sorts of Level 1 Core Arrays, but had also taught himself material related to Level 2 Soul Engineers.

Although the volume and complexity of the knowledge kept increasing, once he had crossed the threshold, he could improve step by step.

Whenever he encountered something he did not understand, a little guidance from Feng Bujue was enough for it to click.

His greatest difficulty was feeling that there were too few hours in a day. There were so many things he wanted to do that, after finishing his nightly meditation, he opened his eyes and got straight to work.

His days were very fulfilling.

During this time, Feng Bujue also suggested that he stop selling grilled fish. The earnings were too meager, and he would be better off spending that time meditating.

But the money from the grilled fish stall was secondary now. More importantly, his identity as Little Huo the fish griller made him easy to overlook, allowing him to observe passersby and customers from a spectator's perspective more easily, analyzing their true thoughts through their various actions and microexpressions to condense Chaos Qi and improve the fundamental nature of his Sea of Consciousness.

The improvement in the fundamental nature of his Sea of Consciousness also strengthened his spiritual power.

After discussing it with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, Huo Yuhao decided to tell Feng Bujue that observing other people's thoughts could improve his spiritual power, presenting it as a characteristic of his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul.

For one thing, Feng Bujue had helped him so much and was open and honest, making him worthy of trust.

For another, if this ability of Huo Yuhao's evolved in the future, he might need to keep doing such things for it to evolve further.

If he did it frequently, it would be difficult to conceal. Rather than suddenly producing a peculiar ability later and arousing suspicion, it was better to reveal it early.

Upon learning this, Feng Bujue expressed his understanding, then lamented how much Huo Yuhao had suffered as a child. Otherwise, with Spirit Eyes possessing such a powerful Martial Soul characteristic, how could his Innate Soul Power have been only rank one?

Although he had learned over the past few days that Huo Yuhao came from the Star Luo Empire, Huo Yuhao had remained unwilling to say much about his precise background.

To him, Dai Hao did not qualify as his father at all. Sooner or later, he would settle his mother's account with Dai Hao, and that Dai Huabin would not escape either!

At the grilled fish stall.

"Yuhao, have you taken both Mystic Water Pills? How were the effects?" Seeing that no one was nearby, Feng Bujue handed Huo Yuhao a small wooden box.

"My Soul Power is only a hair away from rank fifteen! My meridians have widened and become tougher, and my cultivation speed has increased about tenfold."

Huo Yuhao chuckled, took the wooden box, and asked, "Brother Bujue, what's this now?"

Feng Bujue chuckled too. After looking around to make sure no one was there, he leaned close to Huo Yuhao and whispered:

"A Soul Ascension Pill."

"Huh?" Huo Yuhao was stunned. After more than a month of Feng Bujue's lessons on pill-popping, he had gained some understanding of medicinal pills.

The main purpose of a Soul Ascension Pill was to increase Soul Power. It was refined using several heavenly treasures as medicinal catalysts. Each Soul Master could take only one in their lifetime, and the Soul Power it granted was roughly equivalent to the amount a Soul Master needed to advance from rank thirty to rank thirty-one. Taking more would affect their future cultivation potential.

The Soul Ascension Pill also shared one similarity with the Mystic Water Pill: because it primarily worked by stimulating potential and providing more nourishment, its medicinal properties were relatively mild. Any Soul Master whose cultivation exceeded rank ten could take it.

What puzzled Huo Yuhao most was that, supposedly, only a tiny handful of plant-type Soul Masters knew how to make Soul Ascension Pills, with annual production no greater than twenty pills. How had Brother Bujue, a "peak Level 4" Soul Engineer, gotten hold of one?

Feng Bujue saw his confusion and smiled smugly:

"Underestimating me, aren't you? My merchant association might be small, but it has a big merchant association backing it. Ahem..."

Seeing Huo Yuhao's disbelieving expression, Feng Bujue cleared his throat before telling the truth:

"My older cousin is a peak Level 7 Soul Engineer, only half a step away from Level 8. The big merchant association backing us has ties to the Illustrious Virtue Hall. They only set aside this Soul Ascension Pill because my cousin put in a word. Otherwise, how could my word carry that much weight?"

"Besides, that claim about producing only twenty a year is just a marketing ploy. Otherwise, wouldn't the price be driven sky-high? Through our internal channels, it only cost us a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins."

Huo Yuhao put away the Soul Ascension Pill and watched Feng Bujue leave, silently sighing that he owed Brother Bujue more and more.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm in his Sea of Consciousness also said excitedly:

"Yuhao, this fellow really treats you well. First Mystic Water Pills, and now a Soul Ascension Pill. With this Soul Ascension Pill, you'll be able to reach rank twenty Soul Power even sooner."

"Brother Sky Dream, why are you so fixated on me reaching rank twenty Soul Power?"

"Do you still remember the second Martial Soul I gave you?"

"I do. Does that mean I can awaken it at rank twenty? What kind of Martial Soul is it, Brother Sky Dream?"

"Little Bro Huo, since you've put it that way, why don't I just give you an ultimate Martial Soul and call it a day?"

"What's an ultimate Martial Soul?"

"A term I came up with. An ultimate Martial Soul is a Martial Soul with an ultimate attribute. Ultimate attributes are extremely rare even among Soul Beasts, but every Soul Beast with an ultimate attribute has the potential to become one of the absolute strongest Soul Beasts."

"On the list of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts you humans compiled, three are confirmed to possess ultimate attributes."

An ultimate Martial Soul! Huo Yuhao clenched his fists. Tang Ya choosing to give Tang Yin the interview slot, Zhou Yi's mockery, Xu Sanshi's disregard...

At the root of it all, wasn't it simply that his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul was beneath their notice?

If he had an ultimate Martial Soul as his second Martial Soul, who would dare look down on him?

His inner excitement did not affect his movements as he sold grilled fish. Looking at two male regulars from Shrek Academy, he smiled and said:

"You two haven't been here for a couple of days. How many grilled fish would you like today?"

"Little Bro Huo, give us four to start!"

The two found a table and sat down with practiced familiarity, then began gossiping:

"While you were on leave to get your soul ring, something big happened at the academy. A fire-type Soul Emperor from the Inner Court went mad for who knows what reason, flew out of Sea God Lake, and nearly burned two students from Zhou Yi's class half to death in full view of everyone. Absolutely outrageous."

"Holy crap, I think I know who that Soul Emperor is, but I don't dare say."

"Even though a Healing Titled Douluo stepped in, their cultivation progress is bound to be held back."

"How did they handle it?"

"How else? They gave each of them a Soul Ascension Pill as compensation and called it settled. Absolutely terrifying."

"How did those two react?"

"Heh, one was pretty satisfied, while the other wouldn't stop going on about 'courting death.'"

"They're all something else."

With so many witnesses, only the unidentified Soul Emperor's name had been concealed. Clearly, the incident had not been completely hushed up, and it caused an enormous stir in the outer court.

Huo Yuhao also deduced more information from the discussions of many customers.

The story was largely true. One of the injured was Tang Yin, and the Inner Court Soul Emperor had extremely powerful backing, possibly being a personal disciple of one of the academy's higher-ups.

It was also true that each had been given a Soul Ascension Pill as compensation to settle the matter.

But the detail was that, had other witnesses not intervened at the time, those two might have been turned to charcoal on the spot.

Huo Yuhao felt a slight chill of lingering fear. By Shrek's logic, could a Soul Ascension Pill capable of raising a Soul Elder's Soul Power by one rank compensate for such a nearly fatal danger?

A medicinal pill might be good, but one still had to be alive to use it.

So I should actually be grateful to Zhou Yi?!

Moved by these reflections, Huo Yuhao took the Soul Ascension Pill that very night, and his Soul Power broke straight through to rank seventeen.