Water splashed everywhere, and a dark figure suddenly landed on the stone path on the bank.
The water stains on the clothes quickly soaked the originally dry stone path.
Huo Yuhao struggled to his feet and looked at Ji Juechen, who was slowly landing in front of him, with a helpless smile.
"I'm no match for you, you're really strong."
Ji Juechen frowned slightly, looking at the disheveled Huo Yuhao, slowly sheathing his longsword, and reached out to Huo Yuhao, saying, "You didn't use your full strength."
Huo Yuhao reached out and grabbed Ji Juechen's hand, stood up from the ground, patted the mud and sand off his clothes, dried them with his Soul Power, and said seriously, "This is my strength. I really can't beat you. You are really strong."
Ji Juechen ignored Huo Yuhao's words, his eyes indifferent. He crossed his longsword over his chest and said, "This time, my victory was unfair. I can sense that you can also use a sword. I had the upper hand this time, but next time, next time I will force you to use your full strength."
Jing Ziyan arrived at that moment and naturally overheard their conversation, but she was unaware of what had happened between them.
However, since Jing Ziyan had personally witnessed Huo Yuhao being beaten up by Ji Juechen, she naturally asked politely, "Classmate, are you alright? If Ji Juechen did anything wrong, I apologize to you."
Huo Yuhao looked at Jing Ziyan's sincere face and waved his hand, saying, "I'm fine, I just can't beat him, hahaha."
Hearing Huo Yuhao's words, Jing Ziyan smiled smugly and immediately said, "Of course, Ji Juechen is one of the top Soul Master in our academy. Even our dean thinks highly of him. It's normal that you can't beat him. Don't be discouraged."
Huo Yuhao scratched the back of his head, smiled, and nodded. "He is indeed amazing, I'm fine."
Hearing Huo Yuhao's words, Ji Juechen snorted coldly and said, "You didn't use your full strength. My victory this time was unfair. Next time, I'll come back to challenge you to a duel."
"What's your name? Tell me."
Huo Yuhao felt a little embarrassed, but seeing Ji Juechen's overly serious gaze, he finally had to compromise and said, " Huo Yuhao, Shrek exchange student."
Upon hearing the name Shrek, Jing Ziyan's eyes lit up instantly. She ran up to Huo Yuhao and exclaimed, " Shrek? You really are from Shrek! No wonder Ji Juechen said the victory was unfair. It seems you must have been hiding your strength!"
Jing Ziyan looked Huo Yuhao up and down, patted Ji Juechen on the shoulder, proudly raised her head, revealing her snow-white Swan neck, and said, " Ji Juechen is very powerful. If you ask me, there aren't many Shrek students who can beat him at the same cultivation level."
At this point, Jing Ziyan became somewhat melancholic, murmuring, "It's just a pity that he started too late. If only..."
Ji Juechen stepped forward, interrupting Jing Ziyan, and looked at Huo Yuhao seriously, saying, "I know you are very strong. Next time, I hope you can prepare your sword, and then we can have a competition."
Huo Yuhao quickly waved his hand and refused, saying, "No, no, no, I really can't beat you!"
Ji Juechen ignored him and continued, "If you don't prepare, I will prepare it for you."
After saying this, Ji Juechen stopped talking, turned around and walked directly into the distance, his body still exuding that sharp sword intent.
Jing Ziyan's eyes lit up, and she said, " A Chen, since you say you're very strong, then I'll try to spar with you next time. Hehe, little brother, good luck!"
Jing Ziyan patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder, smiled, and followed Ji Juechen. As she left, she turned back and waved to Huo Yuhao.
The two left quickly.
Huo Yuhao watched the two leave and smiled helplessly. His intuition told him that encountering these two meant his peaceful days were over again.
Meanwhile, on a rooftop some distance from the lake.
Jing Hongchen stood there, looking in Huo Yuhao's direction, silent.
The teacher monitoring Huo Yuhao respectfully said to Jing Hongchen, "Master, Huo Yuhao has lost. As expected, Ji Juechen from our academy is even better than Shrek."
"Keep observing. The people at the Shrek Academy are all shrewd; you never know what they're hiding. If we only look at the surface, we'll only suffer losses," Jing Hongchen said calmly, and then asked the teacher to report to him on what Huo Yuhao had done that day.
In particular, it mentioned that Huo Yuhao wanted to leave the school, but turned back halfway.
Jing Hongchen narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then instructed, "From now on, Shrek Academy students may leave as long as they have a legitimate reason and the situation is true."
Upon hearing this, the teacher seemed puzzled, but he didn't ask and instead respectfully withdrew.
Only Jing Hongchen watched Huo Yuhao slowly walk away into the distance, snorted coldly, and cursed inwardly, " Shrek are all shrewd!"
The next morning, Huo Yuhao clocked in at the lab as Xuan Ziwen had requested.
Huo Yuhao asked Xuan Ziwen, " Teacher Xuan, are there any relaxing places around here?"
"Something easier?" Xuan Ziwen stroked his chin, assuming Huo Yuhao wanted to go to the library to learn some soul guidance knowledge, and then said enthusiastically, " Yuhao, I love your thirst for knowledge. Come with me, I'll take you there."
Seeing how enthusiastic Xuan Ziwen, Huo Yuhao followed him. When they arrived at the library, his lips twitched, and he knew that Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's vacation was over.
Finally, Huo Yuhao spent the entire morning memorizing all the books in the library. As for the analysis, the silkworm in his mind had already begun to work diligently.
As for Xuan Ziwen, he was very focused on his project at the Illustrious Virtue Hall. Seeing that Huo Yuhao had already started reading, he left long ago.
Since Huo Yuhao discovered that he was being watched, he simply scanned all the books, which took him a whole morning.
By mid-afternoon, with nowhere else to go, he had no choice but to return to the lab for a while.
The laboratory was still empty, except for one figure who was carefully inscribing the Core Array on the experimental table.
Huo Yuhao simply found a seat and sat down, watching Ju Zi's actions.
She was extremely focused, seemingly oblivious to everything around her.
Ju Zi was completely focused and didn't even notice that Huo Yuhao was sitting next to her. She held a piece of silver-white metal in her left hand and a strangely colored carving knife in her right.
This carving knife is like a piece of crystal clear. The handle is orange-red, and the color gradually fades as you look towards the blade. By the time you reach the tip, the blade is so transparent that it is almost invisible.
As Ju Zi wielded the carving knife, she exuded a light and agile aura. The orange-red knife seemed like a ball of fire, yet it always touched the metal used to carve the Core Array and moved away instantly, never lingering. Her fluid movements were like her gently caressing the metal with the knife. Metal shavings fell continuously, but none drifted away, and the fine texture gave the impression of a masterpiece of nature.
Huo Yuhao remained silent, simply waiting for the Ju Zi to be inscribed into the Core Array. Time passed quietly without him noticing.
The Core Array in Ju Zi's hands is also about to take shape.