Big Brother, One of Us

After leaving the Gathering Treasure Pavilion, Huo Yuhao and Xie Huanyue strolled back toward Shrek Academy, chatting happily along the way.

Using the conversational tricks from his previous life, Huo Yuhao finally learned about Xie Huanyue's background, which had never been described in the original work.

Xie Huanyue's father, Xie Long, was a descendant of Ge Long, a famed marshal of the former Heaven Dou Empire. After the Heaven Dou Empire split apart, he joined the Heaven Dou Empire's army. When the Sun Moon Empire went to war with the former Three Great Douluo Empires, the Heaven Dou Empire, drained of national resources, increased its taxes, leaving most regions in misery. General Xie Long pleaded on behalf of the people, only to be falsely accused. Forced to flee the country with his subordinates, he formed a rebel army whose strength could not be underestimated, intending to overthrow the current Heavenly Soul Royal Family's brutal rule.

As the descendant of a famous general, Xie Huanyue's inherited Martial Soul should have been the Great Strength Demonic Ape. Yet his Martial Soul mutated upon awakening. In order to develop the potential of his mutated Martial Soul, he had come to Shrek on his father's orders for further study.

Because General Xie Long had fought wars year after year, with considerable military expenses every year, Xie Huanyue himself was not wealthy enough to even afford a Soul Beast corpse.

"That mutation was way too outrageous, wasn't it?" Hearing this, Huo Yuhao could not help feeling speechless. An elephant and an ape were not even the same species, okay?

Xie Huanyue pulled a long face. "I don't know what happened either. But my original Martial Soul was still ape-type, just a rare Martial Soul known as the Gluttonous God Ape."

"At least that was still an ape." Huo Yuhao nodded. "So how did it later become the Rubber Elephant?"

"Sigh, it was still because of my Martial Soul. It made me able to eat far too much, and one day, I accidentally ate a fruit my father had brought back from the coast," Xie Huanyue said mournfully.

"What kind of heaven-defying fruit could turn your Martial Soul from an ape-type into an elephant-type?" Having found the crux of the matter, Huo Yuhao hurriedly pressed on with curiosity.

"My Martial Soul actually didn't change. It's still the Gluttonous God Ape. But that fruit made my body incredibly elastic after Martial Soul Possession. Every part of my body can stretch freely, and I can even mold myself into the rough appearance of other Martial Souls, just like rubber." Xie Huanyue helplessly rubbed his belly. "Because of that, my stomach and intestines can expand without limit, which made my appetite even bigger, and I just got fatter and fatter..."

"After that, I searched through books and publicly claimed that my Martial Soul was the Rubber Elephant, because only that Martial Soul could explain the changes in my abilities."

The more Huo Yuhao listened, the more something felt off. This ability seemed awfully familiar! Then he recalled the giant ape corpse Xie Huanyue had bought. "Could this giant ape have some way to restore your Martial Soul to the original Great Strength Demonic Ape?"

"Not exactly. I still haven't figured out the origin of that fruit," Xie Huanyue admitted honestly. "But this Soul Beast corpse contains a trace of Ancient Sun God Ape bloodline. It can evolve my Gluttonous God Ape Martial Soul and completely solve the fat problem all over my body."

"I see. Do you need help?" Only then did Huo Yuhao understand why Xie Huanyue had bought the corpse. Thinking that he might need the support of more powerful people in the future, he decided to lend him a hand.

"If you're a Spiritual Attribute Soul Master, then you should be able to help me." Xie Huanyue had no intention of refusing any assistance and stated his position directly.

Huo Yuhao smiled upon hearing that. He immediately activated his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul, and powerful Spiritual Power surged toward Xie Huanyue.

"Far away at the edge of the sky, yet right before your eyes, Fatty."

Feeling Huo Yuhao's powerful Spiritual Pressure, Xie Huanyue's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He hurriedly reached out and grabbed Huo Yuhao's shoulder. "Good brother, help me. As long as you can solve my Martial Soul problem, I'll climb mountains of blades and plunge into seas of fire for you without hesitation!"

"Aren't we already partners?" Huo Yuhao smiled at him with a sincere expression.

Xie Huanyue suddenly felt his nose sting. Since he had become this strange mess, this was the first time anyone had sincerely wanted to be his partner. He said nothing more. There was nothing more that needed to be said.

As they talked, they unknowingly returned to the academy. Xie Huanyue's dormitory was on the third floor. Due to his size, the academy had arranged a room just for him.

Xie Huanyue impatiently opened the bag and took out the ape corpse. Even with Huo Yuhao's vast knowledge from his godlike perspective, he could not sense anything unusual about the corpse.

The two quickly dissected the ape corpse. Unfortunately, they found no Soul Bone. Xie Huanyue seemed uninterested in the ape's flesh and blood, directly pulling out its spine.

"This spinal bone seems to contain a trace of an ancient exotic beast's bloodline." At that moment, Bibi Dong finally sensed something. Her voice was grave. "It's an incredibly powerful bloodline. Even the Dragon King bloodline from your memories cannot compare to it."

"It's that strong?" Huo Yuhao was stunned. It seemed this fatty had studied quite a few ancient texts. He had actually discovered such a heaven-defying benefit. Perhaps this was what people called a fortunate opportunity.

Xie Huanyue moved with remarkable efficiency. He directly snapped off a section of the spine, and a drop of snow-white marrow streaked with blood fell into a container prepared beforehand.

Huo Yuhao hurriedly leaned closer. The drop of marrow lay quietly in the container, emitting an unusual gleam.

"Yuhao, after I take this, I'll completely relax my mind. Use your Spiritual Power to attack me. It would be best if you knock me straight into shock!" Xie Huanyue's expression was rarely solemn. "Don't consider any consequences!"

Knowing how important this was to Xie Huanyue, Huo Yuhao could not help saying, "This is a serious matter. How about I first ask the academy to send over a Healing Type teacher as a safeguard?"

Xie Huanyue shook his head. "I don't want to owe the academy too many favors. I won't stay at the academy for long in the future. Shrek's glory and spirit will only bind me."

Huo Yuhao laughed. "If this succeeds, you'll definitely shine brightly in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition. By then, you'll be an academy hero. Even becoming one of the Shrek Seven Monsters would not be surprising. You're already a level thirty-two Soul Elder. With your talent, you'll definitely become a Soul Emperor before the age of twenty."

"I have no interest in being a hero. The greatest difference between heroes and me is that heroes give their meat to others," Xie Huanyue said seriously.

"But I want to eat meat!"

"Ha ha ha ha!" Huo Yuhao laughed so hard that his whole body nearly convulsed. "Fatty, you're something else!"

"Yuhao, aren't you the same?" Xie Huanyue did not laugh along with Huo Yuhao. Instead, he looked at him seriously.

Huo Yuhao's smile gradually faded. The Xie Huanyue before him was far from as simple as he appeared. Calling him wise beneath a foolish exterior would not be an exaggeration. Through their conversation alone, Xie Huanyue had sensed that Huo Yuhao was not particularly fond of Shrek.

"Big Brother, one of us."

Meanwhile, in the rented room shared by Wu Feng and the other two girls.

The two beds that had originally been separated had been pushed together. The three girls all had flushed faces, looking at one another in silence for a long while.

"Let's talk about Huo Yuhao first." Ning Tian was the first to break the silence, casually tossing a stack of documents in her hand onto the bed.

Nanmen Yun'er and Wu Feng had both read them as well.

That was right. The official information on Huo Yuhao, with his paternal bloodline concealed by the Duchess, had arrived.

Huo Yuhao, a citizen of the Star Luo Empire. Martial Soul: Spirit Eyes. Innate Soul Power at awakening: level one. His mother, Huo Yun'er, was a maid of Duke White Tiger. Born into poverty, he had always worked in the Ducal Palace with his mother, until the Ducal Palace was destroyed in an unknown attack a year ago, after which he disappeared...

"From the looks of it, Huo Yuhao must have encountered some opportunity after leaving the Ducal Palace..." Nanmen Yun'er analyzed. There was no reason for someone with only level one Innate Soul Power to reach level twenty-nine by the age of eleven.

"Maybe he picked up a bargain Soul Ring outside, which caused his Martial Soul to mutate. His first Soul Ring is a thousand-year one, after all." Wu Feng spoke casually. "There are so many organizations on the continent that hunt Soul Beasts. Maybe some crippled Soul Beast happened to run into Huo Yuhao while he was out, letting him take advantage of it?"

"Huo Yuhao has too many secrets. There's also his physique. If he had displayed that ability to attract Life Energy before, there would have been no reason for someone with ulterior motives not to capture and control him." Ning Tian summarized, "Including his current financial means, appearance, and noble bearing, none of it resembles what a servant's son should possess."

"The only explanation is that during the year Huo Yuhao disappeared from everyone's sight, he was likely noticed by some major power and then rose to prominence in a single stroke."

As for Xie Huanyue, his Rubber Elephant Martial Soul seemed far too overpowered in the early stages, which left a deep impression on me. There was also his Soul Power Level—level thirty-two before the age of twelve. Even Tang San at that age was completely crushed. After thinking it over, I decided to give him a story and let him truly join the protagonist's group.