" Yuhao!" Bei Bei could no longer hold back, her voice trembling as she asked, "Can you really make Progenitor Xuan... continue to live?"
A chorus of questions immediately arose from the surrounding crowd, but Huo Yuhao paid no heed. He raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. "Life and death are predestined. Today I saved Mu En's life as a way of repaying the kindness of introducing me to him."
His gaze shifted to Mu En, "As for how long he can live, it all depends on Mu En's own fate. My current estimate is a dozen or so years. If something unexpected happens, let alone a dozen or so years, he'll be lucky to even live a few years."
Mu En's cloudy eyes suddenly flashed with an astonishing light. "Child... how confident are you?"
"Eighty percent." Huo Yuhao answered without hesitation, "Although the Dragon Core's malevolent energy is strong, my Martial Soul happens to be of the dragon type. It's perfect for me to absorb and transform this malevolent energy. At that time, I will use my life force and some Immortal Herb to help you complete the life-extending process."
Mu En took a deep breath, his thin fingers gripping the armrest tightly. "Alright... let's begin then."
Huo Yuhao took the Dragon Core and began to dispel the malevolent energy from Mu En, causing the temperature in the entire Sea God Pavilion to plummet. A faint black mist appeared around him, which was the pure killing intent and malevolent energy emanating from Huo Yuhao himself, using his own malevolent energy to devour the malevolent energy on Mu En's body.
When the malevolent energy within Mu En encountered this combination of murderous and malevolent energy, it was completely dispelled, transferred, and enveloped, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea.
(Killing two birds with one stone...)
Huo Yuhao silently prayed to himself, "I can obtain this precious Dragon Core and repay Mu En's favor at the same time."
The light in his Golden Pupils shone even brighter, and the Martial Soul within his body surged forth with immense dragon might, simultaneously activating to transfer all the accumulated malevolent energy from his body to himself. Extracting this malevolent energy had taken him quite a bit of effort.
Bei Bei and the others watched this scene with bated breath. They saw Mu En En's hunched back slowly straighten a little, and his pale face gradually regained its color. Zhang Lexuan covered her mouth, tears silently streaming down her face.
"It's done." Huo Yuhao put away the Dragon Core, his voice still calm. "Now, let's see how long the life force of the Golden Ancient Tree can sustain you."
He turned to leave, but Mu En called out to him, "Wait... child, this kindness..."
Huo Yuhao waved his hand without turning his head. "We're even." Before he finished speaking, he had already disappeared into the light and shadow cast by the colorful glass window.
Outside the Sea God Pavilion, the sun shone brightly. The Golden Ancient Tree rustled in the breeze, its golden leaves fluttering down as if rejoicing for Mu En's rebirth. Cheers echoed from inside the pavilion, but Huo Yuhao stood alone in the shade, his Golden Pupils reflecting dappled light and shadow.
"Junior Brother Huo..."
A soft female voice came from behind. Huo Yuhao didn't turn around, but he could already sense Zhang Lexuan's uneasy aura. This Grandmaster of the Inner Court was completely devoid of her usual composure, her slender white fingers tightly clenched together.
"I apologize again for my previous slip of the tongue." She bowed deeply, strands of hair falling to cover her reddened eyes. "I was too hasty and said such hurtful things..."
Huo Yuhao gazed at the students frolicking in the distance, his voice calm and utterly unwavering. "Senior Sister Zhang, there's no need for this. I'm just an ordinary student, unworthy of the responsibility of sacrificing myself for the academy." He turned slightly to the side, sunlight casting dappled patterns on his handsome features. "Whether it's the Tang Sect or Shrek, these responsibilities... are none of my concern."
He had barely finished speaking when he brushed past Zhang Lexuan, not even sparing her a glance. A gentle breeze swept by, leaving Zhang Lexuan standing there dumbfounded, along with a few golden leaves swirling down.
"Wait!" Zhang Lexuan suddenly turned around, only to see that tall figure walking further and further away. She bit her lip, a resolute glint in her eyes.
In the afternoon, Ma Xiaotao and Jiang Nannan were resting by the training field. They were both surprised to see Zhang Lexuan walking over in a hurry.
" Grandmaster?" Ma Xiaotao wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Is there something you need?"
Zhang Lexuan twisted the hem of her clothes, a rare look of embarrassment on her face. "I wanted to ask... what does Huo Yuhao usually like to eat?" Seeing the two's puzzled looks, she quickly added, "About today... I want to apologize properly."
Jiang Nannan and Ma Xiaotao exchanged a glance and smiled simultaneously.
" Yuhao," Ma Xiaotao scratched her head, "He's a great cook. He's always the one who makes us delicious meals."
"Yes," Jiang Nannan added gently, "Actually, as long as it's prepared sincerely, he'll be happy." She then suddenly remembered something and winked playfully, "But he seems to be particularly good at cooking seafood. The barbecue he made during a mission before was so good that even Xuan Zi praised it highly."
Zhang Lexuan took notes diligently, but didn't notice the sly glint in the eyes of the two girls. They knew, of course, that Huo Yuhao wasn't picky about food, but it was a rare and amusing sight to see their usually serious Grandmaster so flustered.
As the sun set, a delicate food box appeared in front of Huo Yuhao's dormitory.
Lifting the lid, several side dishes were neatly arranged inside—stir-fried seasonal vegetables, pan-fried silver pomfret, roasted pork ribs, and a plate of somewhat clumsy-looking lotus-shaped pastries. A neatly written note was pressed at the bottom of the food box:
[I sincerely apologize for any offense I may have caused today. I know it's crude, but I hope you'll accept it. -Lexuan ]
Huo Yuhao stared at the note for a long time, a barely perceptible tenderness flashing in his Golden Pupils. He gently closed the food box, and as he turned around, the trees outside the window were shedding their last withered leaves.
Huo Yuhao and Ice Empress went to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, took out the two dragon bones, and before the mist in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had dissipated, Huo Yuhao had already quietly left with Ice Empress.
Deep within the spring, the two dragon skeletons still exuded a faint aura of power, but the most core Soul Bone had been removed. Before leaving, Huo Yuhao had specially set up an array around the spring to ensure that the Plant-type Soul Beast would not be affected by the weakening power of the dragon bones.
Refining weapons is completely different from Soul Tool. It was Third Prince Nezha, who told him the detailed steps and took out a book on weapon refining techniques from Laozi.
The old man was proficient in alchemy and weapon crafting. The book transformed into a stream of light and entered Huo Yuhao's soul.
He had completely understood.
Inside the Soul Tool Department laboratory, Huo Yuhao stood quietly in the center of the weapon-refining array. He slowly opened his eyes, his Golden Pupils reflecting the profound methods from the " Supreme True Explanation of Artifact Refining ".
The weapon-refining manual given to him by Third Prince Nezha has been completely integrated into his consciousness. At this moment, what appears in his mind is the supreme method of alchemy and weapon-refining of the Dao Ancestor in the Tushita Palace.
"Let's begin. The materials for refining the weapon are almost ready."
Huo Yuhao took out a series of rare materials from his storage ring: the Soul Bone of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings emitted a red and blue intertwined light, and the immortal lotus root given by Nezha flowed with seven-colored glow.
There were also a few standard-issue spears of the Heavenly Soldiers. Although they were just the most common equipment in Heavenly Court, they were rare treasures in the mortal world. It is said that Heavenly Soldiers and magical treasures are distributed, and there are always some leftover weapons that end up in his hands. Anyway, they are not rare items.