Just as Huo Yuhao approached Xinghe Manufacturing, Huo Yun suddenly called out to stop him before he entered.
"What is it, Mom?" Huo Yuhao stopped and asked curiously, already activating his Eye of Destiny and Spiritual Detection as she had instructed.
The Eye of Destiny was the Martial Soul Huo Yuhao had obtained after awakening the Power of Destiny within him.
Strictly speaking, however, this Martial Soul was an upgraded version of his Spirit Eyes. It was one with them, and counted as one of their forms.
This was because Huo Yuhao's current strength was still insufficient to fully control the Power of Destiny, so it had become a form of his Spirit Eyes.
In his normal state, the Spirit Eyes' Spiritual Detection had a radius of 120 meters. That was the radius; the diameter was 240 meters, a full eight times the size of Huo Yuhao's original Spiritual Detection.
With the Eye of Destiny active, that distance rose straight to 360 meters, and new abilities were added to its original foundation. Not only could he see in finer detail than before, but he could also see all kinds of energy shifting and what would happen over the next five seconds.
Essentially, he had gained the ability to see through an enemy's weaknesses: he could observe the energy of an enemy's Soul Skill to pinpoint its weak spots, as well as see his opponent's actions over the next five seconds.
And this did not apply to just one person, but to everyone. With Huo Yuhao at the center, everything everyone around him would do over the next five seconds would enter his mind.
This required an enormous capacity for processing information, yet with the Soul Skill's help, Huo Yuhao found handling it extraordinarily simple.
With a diameter of 360 meters, its range had increased tremendously. In this state, he could envelop the entire interior of Xinghe Manufacturing.
Huo Yuhao could clearly see everything happening inside. The shop's owner, Zhao Xinghe, was on the second floor, apparently speaking with great respect to a burly man over two meters tall who looked about fifty, with powerful muscles like granite and white hair like steel needles.
They were too far away for Huo Yuhao to hear what they were saying, but he could tell their relationship just by looking.
"That's why. Boss Zhao went straight to his teacher and invited him here. He wants to recommend a promising talent like you and have his teacher take you as a disciple. He didn't bother asking whether you wanted it; he just pushed ahead," Huo Yun said.
"Does he really think that highly of my talent?" Huo Yuhao was rather speechless. He had clearly said before that he needed to discuss it with his family, yet Zhao Xinghe had invited the man over without waiting for his answer.
"You could say he values your talent and is showing you tremendous respect. It's just that he seems to have forgotten you never gave him a definite answer. He doesn't seem to have considered what would happen if you refused.
"To put it bluntly, perhaps he's thinking that since he's shown you so much consideration-and this is the vice dean of Shrek Academy-you ought to fall to your knees and bow on the spot, making a fine tale of it.
"They discovered a piece of fine jade, and the other party values talent enough to welcome it personally, showing you tremendous consideration. Honestly, they simply think Shrek's reputation is so far-reaching that you couldn't possibly refuse." Huo Yun could not help sneering as she spoke. It was an exceedingly arrogant approach.
"That's pretty annoying." Huo Yuhao's face darkened despite himself. With Ma Xiaotao and the others, that attitude had merely been etched into their bones without fully showing itself. Besides, that was when they had first met; afterward, they had taken his wishes into account.
But this time, Zhao Xinghe's actions truly showed no consideration for his wishes at all. If he walked into this situation, wouldn't he be caught between a rock and a hard place?
He had no intention of taking a teacher right now. He had come to see whether his Soul Tool was finished and then discuss whether he could borrow the workshop, yet the man had gone straight ahead and brought someone over.
To put it kindly, he did not want a genius to go unrecognized. To put it unkindly, he had shown no respect whatsoever for Huo Yuhao's wishes.
Zhao Xinghe might not see anything wrong with this-after all, it was the world's number one academy-but Huo Yuhao found this approach far from likable.
"What do you think you should do in this situation?" Rather than instruct Huo Yuhao on how to handle it, Huo Yun wanted to test him.
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao folded his arms, closed his eyes, and thought for a moment. "Whatever else, Boss Zhao did help me make a Soul Tool, and the person he invited is a senior figure at Shrek Academy. I'm in this city right now, and Sister Strawberry, Sister Lexuan, and the others are also at Shrek Academy. There's no need for me to antagonize them.
"So if I can't afford to provoke them, I can at least avoid them. I'll come back tomorrow and say something came up today. Sorry about that. What could he possibly do to me?"
"Then let's go." Huo Yun chuckled and stroked Huo Yuhao's head. It was a very sensible approach.
If he rushed in now and angrily vented his frustration, what then? It would feel good and relieve his anger, but what would he do afterward?
Huo Yuhao's approach of avoiding those he could not afford to provoke was quite good. He could simply leave and let the person who had created the situation handle what remained.
Zhao Xinghe had invited the man here, but Huo Yuhao had not come today. The man had waited here all day, only for him not to show up. It would be up to Zhao Xinghe to explain that.
As for afterward, it would be just as Huo Yuhao had said: something had come up today, so he had not come.
After all, Zhao Xinghe had never said whether he could finish that Level 7 Soul Tool within ten days. It was perfectly normal for them not to come because something had happened. That was only human nature.
This way, Huo Yuhao directly avoided being caught in a dilemma, as well as provoking Shrek's outer court vice dean.
Huo Yuhao ended the Eye of Destiny's detection. He had kept it active for a long time while assessing the situation and thinking things over. It was precisely because he had been unable to withstand its energy before that the Eye of Destiny had now become a form of his Martial Soul.
The moment he deactivated it, weakness washed through his entire body. In less than a minute, half the Soul Power in his body had evaporated, and he had expended a great deal of Spiritual Power as well. At the same time, his Soul Power...
???
"Am I imagining things?" Clutching his chest, Huo Yuhao abruptly squeezed his eyes shut and examined his internal condition.
He could clearly sense that his Soul Power seemed to have decreased slightly. This was not a reduction in the Soul Power stored within him, but seemingly a decrease in his overall capacity.
"What's going on?" Huo Yuhao was utterly dumbfounded.
"Don't panic. This is normal. Your teacher Electrolux told you before that Spiritual Power has quality, and Soul Power does too. Your original Soul Power couldn't support the Eye of Destiny, so every time you use it, you're essentially refining the quality of your Soul Power.
"Once its quality rises, its quantity naturally decreases a little. Don't worry; it's a good thing." Huo Yun clearly knew why Huo Yuhao was startled. Or rather, she understood the reason for this better than anyone.
That half-minute of using the Eye of Destiny had lowered Huo Yuhao's Soul Power Level by at least a little. Although he had not fallen below Level 15, it was equivalent to rendering his previous ten-odd days of cultivation futile.
But this was not a bad thing. That single use had directly improved the quality of the Soul Power within Huo Yuhao's body. In effect, it was suppressing his level.
"The Eye of Destiny is powerful, sure, but isn't this side effect way too much of a rip-off?" Now that Huo Yuhao understood the reason, he truly could not hold back his tears.
By that logic, he could only use the Eye of Destiny at critical moments from now on, rather than whenever he liked. If he used it too much, wouldn't his Soul Power Level drop to an unimaginable degree?
"What rip-off? This is a good thing. From now on, your Soul Power cultivation will depend entirely on this side effect. Once the Level 7 Soul Tool is ready, you'll be suppressing your level. At the very least, by Level 20, you need to compress the quality of your Soul Power enough to produce a Soul Power Vortex capable of forming a Soul Core. Only then will you meet the standard, and only then will we take you to find your third Martial Soul," Huo Yun said. How was this a side effect? It was clearly an opportunity. Others could not obtain such a cultivation opportunity even if they wanted it.
"A Soul Core? You're having Yuhao work with that already?" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm asked in surprise.
"Yes. The earlier he encounters it, the better it will be for him. Besides, surely you don't think a God-level Martial Soul is so easy to obtain that there aren't any conditions? Without reaching that point, Yuhao won't be able to withstand the power of a God-level Martial Soul."
"I see."
"What's a Soul Core?" Listening to Huo Yun and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, Huo Yuhao asked curiously. He genuinely did not know what a Soul Core was.
"Put simply, it's the energy core of Soul Power. Whether it's a Soul Beast or a Soul Master, once they become powerful enough, the liquid Soul Power inside their body can be compressed and condensed into a solid form, stored in the dantian to accelerate Soul Power recovery. Condensing a Soul Core is also one of the essential conditions for becoming a Titled Douluo. And after a Soul Beast dies, its Soul Core forms a Soul Bone. That's why a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast is guaranteed to drop a Soul Bone." Huo Yun gave Huo Yuhao a simple explanation of what a Soul Core was.
"As for the Soul Power Vortex I mentioned, you can think of it as a stage in condensing a Soul Core. Once you reach the point of having a Soul Power Vortex, both your Soul Power recovery and cultivation will become faster, though the effect won't be as strong as a Soul Core's."
"Mm." Huo Yuhao nodded lightly. Huo Yun's explanation was simple, but also easy to understand.
Simply put, his cultivation from now on would involve using the Eye of Destiny to compress the quality of his Soul Power, sacrificing levels to condense a Soul Power Vortex at around Level 20.
This would indeed delay his becoming a Soul Grandmaster considerably, but the corresponding benefit was that his Soul Power recovery and future cultivation speed would no longer be comparable to those of an ordinary Soul Grandmaster.
Besides, Huo Yun had just said that condensing a Soul Power Vortex was a requirement for obtaining a God-level Martial Soul.
Strictly speaking, of Huo Yuhao's three Martial Souls, only the Eye of Destiny met the standard of a God-level Martial Soul. However, it was a form of his Spirit Eyes, and using it came at a steep price.
But Body Martial Souls could undergo a Second Awakening. If his Spirit Eyes underwent a Second Awakening, they would reach the god level.
As for the Holy Necromancer, it did count as a God-level Martial Soul, but its greatest abilities might come from Electrolux, the remnant soul. Huo Yuhao still needed to study before he could fully master this Martial Soul's power.
As for the third, it was still in a soulless state, inferior even to an ordinary Martial Soul.
The fundamental reason was that Martial Souls were powerful, while the strength of a human body was limited. Sometimes, being unable to withstand one could leave its owner crippled.
Just as when Huo Yuhao had awakened: if he had received adequate nutrition growing up, he could indeed have withstood the power of his Spirit Eyes. But he had been undernourished, thin, and small. In the original story, the impact of the Spirit Eyes' power had left Huo Yuhao with only Level 1 innate Soul Power precisely because he could not withstand it.
Still, meeting the requirements was a long road with a heavy burden, and he had to keep working hard.
With these thoughts in mind, Huo Yuhao felt brimming with fighting spirit and prepared to return and continue training.
As evening gradually fell, Qian Duoduo, sitting on a leather sofa on the second floor of Xinghe Manufacturing, glanced at the dusk sky and the sun about to set, then cast a sidelong look at Zhao Xinghe beside him.
"It's already this late. Tell me, where is he?"
"Perhaps something came up today and he couldn't make it?" Zhao Xinghe was so embarrassed that his toes could have dug a three-bedroom apartment with a living room out of the floor.
"Xinghe, I know your character. You certainly wouldn't lie to me, but I really am busy. At least confirm whether he's coming today before you contact me." The corner of Qian Duoduo's mouth twitched as he spoke with earnest gravity. As the distinguished vice dean of Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department, he was usually very busy. He had waited here all day without seeing the person he was waiting for, wasting an entire day.
Had he not known Zhao Xinghe's character and that he would not lie about something like this, Qian Duoduo would already have started cursing anyone else.
But Zhao Xinghe was his disciple, after all, a Level 7 Soul Engineer not far behind his own Level 8. As soon as he cultivated to the Soul Douluo rank, he could advance to Level 8 at any time. Qian Duoduo was very satisfied with this disciple.
"You're right to reprimand me, Teacher. It was mainly because I was too impatient. I feel that both that child's talent and his Soul Skill are very well suited to our Soul Tool Department. He's also young, just the right age to enroll. Judging by the Soul Power Level he used while making a Soul Tool, he should be around Level 14 or 15. He probably didn't enter the academy this year only because his Soul Power fell a little short," Zhao Xinghe said truthfully.
"Forget it. If that's really the case-a Body Martial Soul with a Soul Skill like the one you described-then he's worth a day of my time. What's done is done today. I'll head back first. Next time, settle things with the child before I come, or simply bring him to the academy to find me." As Qian Duoduo spoke, he rose and strode outside. As far as he was concerned, this entire day had been wasted. Time was money.
"Yes, Teacher." Zhao Xinghe nodded repeatedly. How could he have known that it was precisely because he had invited his teacher over that Huo Yuhao had decided not to enter? Huo Yuhao had already reached his shop's entrance, only to turn around and leave.
The Far North!
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