After Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes Martial Soul fused with the angel origin, his Innate Soul Ring gained two Soul Skills.
A domain was one of them.
Similar to Qian Renxue's Angel Domain, his domain allowed him to turn himself into a spiritual body when he deployed it, rendering him immune to physical attacks. It also boosted all his and his teammates' attributes by thirty percent and weakened their enemies by ten percent. Against Soul Masters with attributes such as darkness, evil, and devouring, the effects were tripled.
Moreover, enemies caught within the domain could never escape and would always be fixed at its center. The domain also possessed holy energy that could continuously dissolve the enemy's Soul Power and spiritual power.
Naturally, this effect was also tripled against Evil Soul Masters.
Huo Yuhao said the domain was vicious to the extreme. If he were an Evil Soul Master, he would kill himself at any cost too.
Once the domain enveloped Ma Xiaotao, the Evil Fire within her immediately grew restless, as though it had encountered its natural enemy. But as soon as the holy presence reached it, the Evil Fire fled frantically into the depths of her dantian.
Huo Yuhao withdrew his domain and looked at Mu En. "I can purify her Evil Fire, but that only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. As long as the problem with her Martial Soul isn't resolved at its source, new Evil Fire will keep appearing as she cultivates."
"That's already wonderful!"
Ma Xiaotao was only a little disappointed before she immediately grew excited.
Even Mu En couldn't do anything about her Evil Fire. Huo Yuhao's ability to treat the symptoms was already excellent, and compared with her previous situation, it was enough to make her excited.
Now she could cultivate without holding back!
Yan Shaozhe breathed a sigh of relief.
At last, some good news.
"All right, now it's time to discuss the price you'll have to pay."
Huo Yuhao spoke with a smile.
Yan Shaozhe's expression froze.
Mu En, on the other hand, smiled as he looked at Ma Xiaotao and then at Huo Yuhao. A gleam flashed in his eyes.
"All right. Whatever you ask, as long as it's reasonable, we'll do our best to meet it."
Huo Yuhao thought for a moment and said directly, "My first condition is that I want a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins every time I purify her Evil Fire."
By his reckoning, Ma Xiaotao would probably need another purification a month or two after each one. Over a year, he could earn a net profit of roughly a million Gold Soul Coins, which was enough for his needs.
"Agreed." Mu En accepted immediately.
"My second condition is that I want access to Shrek Academy's research and texts on Martial Souls, such as Ring Stacking, Ring Fusion, Multi-Tasking, techniques for using Twin Martial Souls simultaneously, True Body Possession, and so on."
Huo Yuhao believed in one principle: only by building on the legacy of those who came before could one go farther. Those who built a cart behind closed doors would never achieve greatness.
In his previous life, even someone as brilliant and learned as Newton had acknowledged that he stood on the shoulders of giants.
Shrek had accumulated knowledge for ten thousand years, after all. Its research into and application of Martial Souls were beyond anything he could match at present.
That was also why he had planned to join Shrek before. Only by learning and studying more on the foundation laid by his predecessors could he broaden his own path.
Since he couldn't join now, he would find another way.
Mu En pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Agreed. I'll open the academy's library to you, and you may study there to your heart's content."
"Teacher!" Yan Shaozhe hurriedly tried to signal him with his eyes.
These were all fundamental to Shrek Academy. Some techniques weren't even available to inner court students, and True Body Possession could only be learned by Sea God Pavilion Elders. How could they give them to Huo Yuhao?
"Wait! This library isn't in the inner court, is it?"
Huo Yuhao hurriedly asked. He had no desire to enter the Golden Ancient Tree and fall victim to Tang San's schemes.
Mu En said, "There are libraries in both the outer and inner courts, but some core materials are only in the inner court. If you don't want to go there, I can have someone make copies for you."
"Great! Your Holiness Dragon God, you're refreshingly straightforward!"
Huo Yuhao was very pleased. Doing business with a smart person was a pleasure.
Huo Yuhao took Ma Xiaotao away to find a place to purify her Evil Fire. Mu En glared at Yan Shaozhe, his expression turning cold.
"Tell me, why did the academy expel Huo Yuhao?"
Yan Shaozhe said sheepishly, "I don't know either. Zhou Yi was the one who expelled Huo Yuhao."
"You don't know!" Mu En's imposing presence surged toward Yan Shaozhe, and an incomparable majesty burst from his clouded eyes.
"You're the dean, and you're telling me you don't know?! A student with talent like that was expelled, and you didn't know?"
Yan Shaozhe lowered his head.
"Fool!"
Mu En took a deep breath, his back hunching a little more, and asked wearily:
"Zhou Yi hasn't done anything else foolish, has she?"
Yan Shaozhe said sheepishly, "Probably not?"
Mu En thought of Wang Dong. It seemed he hadn't seen her for the past two days either.
Still, Wang Dong was from the Clear Sky Sect. Surely Zhou Yi and Yan Shaozhe wouldn't be so foolish as to expel her too?
Surely not.
Mu En frowned and waved a hand, a ruthless look flashing in his eyes. "Tell Zhou Yi to get out of the academy! And it's time the academy was put in order. Don't let a single teacher like Zhou Yi slip through the net!"
"Yes!"
"Also, go and call a Sea God Pavilion Meeting!"
Before long, the Elders had gathered on both sides of the round table in the Sea God Pavilion.
A gentle young woman served tea to the Elders and laid out the files they needed to review, then prepared to take her leave.
At the head of the table, Mu En opened his eyes from where he lay in his recliner. "Lexuan, sit in on the meeting today."
"Yes!" Zhang Lexuan silently sat down at the end of the round table, taking the lowest seat.
At that moment, all the Sea God Pavilion Elders were looking at Yan Shaozhe with strange expressions. Xuan Zi, seated first on the left, took a sip of wine and asked bluntly:
"Yan Shaozhe, I haven't seen you in a few days. How come your cultivation's been growing backward?"
The others began to smile. Qian Duoduo, dean of the Martial Soul Department, clicked his tongue. "Tsk, level ninety-one. Yan Shaozhe, how come you're getting worse and worse?"
He and Yan Shaozhe had always been rivals in love, and he was delighted to see his rival suffer a setback.
Yan Shaozhe's face darkened. "Even at level ninety-one, I'm still stronger than you. If you don't believe me, let's have a match."
"Bring it on!" Qian Duoduo wasn't intimidated either. If he didn't take such a good chance to strike back, people really would think he was a tortoise reincarnated.
"Enough!" Mu En's voice was gentle, but it instantly silenced the Sea God Pavilion.
"Everyone, take a look at Huo Yuhao's file."
The Elders silently examined it.
"Whoa! A Body Martial Soul and an Ultimate Attribute! And he's even undergone a Second Awakening!"
Exclamations rang out one after another in the Sea God Pavilion.
Xian Lin'er, dean of the Martial Soul Department, slammed the table and rose to her feet, immediately trying to claim him. "Mu En, he has a spiritual-type Martial Soul. He's a natural talent for learning about Soul Tools! A genius like him could certainly lead the Soul Tool Department to prominence and surpass the Sun Moon Empire!"
Xuan Zi found it a little strange that Yan Shaozhe wasn't competing with Xian Lin'er for the boy this time. Since Yan Shaozhe wasn't going to fight for him, Xuan Zi would have to step in himself. Talent like that belonged in the Soul Tool Department.
He put down the wine gourd he was so fond of and looked at Mu En. "Mu En, it would be a waste for someone so talented to study Soul Tools. The Martial Soul Department should train him! Martial Souls are the foundation of everything."
Mu En sighed helplessly. "Stop arguing. Yan Shaozhe has already expelled him."
The Elders all turned to look at Yan Shaozhe, their gazes filled with shock and confusion.
He had expelled a genius like that? Was he an undercover agent sent by the enemy?
Yan Shaozhe flushed, so embarrassed he wanted to bury his head in the table.
Xuan Zi frowned and said urgently, "If he's been expelled, then bring him back! How could you expel a genius like that?"
Yan Shaozhe fell silent for a moment. "We tried. He wouldn't agree."
A ruthless look flashed in Xuan Zi's eyes. He was just about to say, "Then force him into the academy!"
But then he heard Yan Shaozhe continue, "I threatened him, and then I ended up at level ninety-one. He already has a teacher whose strength is no less than Teacher's."
The Elders fell silent.
Lin Huiqun looked at Mu En. "Mu En, in that case, why have you called this meeting?"
Mu En sat up straight and swept a majestic gaze over everyone.
"The academy has made a serious mistake this time and needs to be put in order. Yan Shaozhe committed a grave error and is no longer fit to be dean of the Martial Soul Department. Do any of you object?"
Everyone exchanged glances, then shook their heads.
"Then Mei'er will serve as acting dean of the Martial Soul Department, and Lexuan will serve as acting deputy dean. As for Yan Shaozhe, he'll remain in the inner court to reflect on his mistakes and recover his cultivation."
"Yes!"
Yan Shaozhe smiled bitterly.
He had never imagined that Zhou Yi expelling one student would cost him his position as dean of the Martial Soul Department.