"Yuhao, you've grown… up. You must… become… an unrivalled hero… like… your father. But, mother… might not be able… to see that day… come. Mom has… to go, and you… have to take… care of yourself… Good child… don't cry… Mother's going to heaven, and… I'll always… be watching you. I don't… hate your father, truly. If… there's a single person… I don't hate within this White Tiger Duke's Mansion… it's actually… only him…"
"Mom… wasn't lucky, I had… no way… to continue… living on… with your… father. I… wish that… I could have… stayed by his side… and seen him everyday… like how it… was in the past! Maybe… I never had a spot… in his heart… but… I don't regret it. Yuhao… you look… a lot like me… If you can't… become a… soul master… in the future, then… learn a craft. As long as you're safe… your mom can also… smile… in the underworld…"
"Mom, mom——" Yuhao howled inwardly. A stubborn conviction suddenly rose up in his heart, and in this instant, it was covered by the longing and grief he felt. Mom, there will be a day when I'll complete your wish. I will make that man kneel in front of your grave and beg you for forgiveness.
Mom, for mom, I must become strong, I have to become strong. No matter what, I have to hold on. I'm not a coward, I'm Huo Yuhao. I'm my mom's son, and for mom, I must bravely live on. I can't become a person like the White Tiger Duke, I have to surpass him!
This inward howl became an indescribable energy that suddenly exploded within his spiritual world. All the cracks that had appeared due to him approaching his limit were healing at an astonishing rate, and his spiritual sea was re-coalescing. Though it was still undulating violently due to the pain he was feeling, its core was abnormally sturdy. It was much sturdier than it previously was.
The Skydream Iceworm was utterly astonished. Huo Yuhao had actually endured the pain that even the Ice Empress found difficult. Just how much willpower did he need to do this?! In this instant, not only did the Skydream Iceworm feel admiration towards Huo Yuhao, he even felt a trace of fear. He knew that he had chosen the right person, but this small Huo Yuhao might not be someone he could control in the future. He might only be able to serve as his intelligent soul ring.
Two agonizing hours slowed passed, and the alternating jade-green and dark-green gradually stabilised. Finally, the color of Huo Yuhao's bones ended up an abstruse jade-green that was identical to the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's tail. However, an earth-shaking, heaven-flipping transformation had also occurred in Huo Yuhao's body.
Nourished by a large amount of nutrients, Huo Yuhao's bones had grown noticeably. His shoulders had widened somewhat, and he had grown by a little bit. Furthermore, his muscles, tendons, fascia, veins, and internal organs had become much sturdier. A jade-like luster had appeared on his skin, radiating a noble aura within this snowy world.
His eyes had been open the whole time, and now the jade-green light within them faded slowly. His deep blue pupils had become even more abstruse following this.
If you were to use a word to describe the current Huo Yuhao, then 'metamorphosed' couldn't be any more fitting.
When he had left the White Tiger Duke's Mansion in the beginning, he had only been a low-ranked soul master with an ordinary amount of talent who wasn't taught by a teacher. You simply couldn't see any prospects from him. However, he was now a full-fledged super-genius who had the number one torso bone in the world. Furthermore, he was about to become a young soul master who had twin innate martial souls.
As the pain gradually faded, Huo Yuhao's body loosened up. The Ice Jade Empress' tail which was stabbed into his spine slowly pulled back, placing Huo Yuhao on her back.
The abstruse light in Huo Yuhao's eyes gradually became one of exhaustion. Having been devastated by pain for such a long time, his body and mind had already reached their limit. The only thing keeping him up was the stubborn conviction within the depths of his heart. Now that his fusion with the soul bone had ended, the most important foundations had been laid. Following that, a strong wave of exhaustion swept towards him, and a sleepy feeling overcame him. Just like that, Huo Yuhao fell into a deep sleep while still on the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's back.
After nearly a full hour had passed, the Ice Empress' exhausted voice rang out slowly, "Skydream."
"I'm here. How are you feeling?" The Skydream Iceworm asked, deeply concerned.
The Ice Empress snorted, "I'm fine. Although a fella like you is a piece of trash, you have good eyesight."
"Hehe." The Skydream Iceworm was already used to being scolded by the Ice Empress, "To tell the truth, I didn't think that Yuhao would be this strong. He was able to persist due to the stubborn convictions he holds in his heart. This experience has opened up a brilliant road for his future growth. Let's quickly start fusing your martial soul with his body. Now that you've discarded the most important origin of your body, your spiritual origin will get damaged if we waste too much time."
"En. Protect me." To Huo Yuhao, the crucial moment had already passed. After fusing with the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's torso bone, he had crossed a difficult level. With the torso bone as a foundation, his coming fusion with the Ice Jade Empress' martial soul and soul ring would be much easier. This would mainly rely on the Ice Empress and the Skydream Iceworm's strength in order to seal her energy and fuse it with Huo Yuhao. Thus, the most important task for the Ice Empress had just begun. Fusing her martial soul with Huo Yuhao while protecting her spiritual origin in order to not have it completely assimilated with Huo Yuhao so she could maintain her intelligence was the foundation of her plan to create God and attain immortality. She had never thought about a situation like this before, and it was simply impossible for her to have done any experiments in the past. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't nervous. If she did anything wrong, she would lose her sense of self, and her consciousness would disappear eternally.
"Don't worry, I'll help you out. Ice Empress, I truly do like you. Don't worry, for the sake of my own happiness, I'll do all I can to help you. Come, let's start."
Strangely, the Ice Empress didn't make a retort this time around. Right after that, a thick halo of white light blossomed from Huo Yuhao's body, sweeping upwards and covering his body within it. The crystal-like sphere on the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's body dissolved quietly, turning into threads of icy mist that entered Huo Yuhao's body through his skin.
Huo Yuhao was in too deep of a sleep. Furthermore, the Skydream Iceworm had already responsibly guarded his spiritual sea, ensuring that he remained in his sleeping state so as to not wake him up. The previous events had already tempered him enough, and the following stages of the fusion needed to be completed by him and the Ice Empress.
Huo Yuhao's presence quickly vanished within the icy mist. In addition to that, the Ice Empress underneath him also vanished without a trace.
If an ordinary human were to have witnessed this scene, they would definitely have assumed that the Ice Empress' body had melted. To the Ice Empress, however, this wasn't a melting, but an combustion of her own body. Only by burning the origin of her body could she create an effect like this. Otherwise, with the toughness of her body, even the strongest weapons in the entire world couldn't damage her easily.
A golden halo of light appeared noiselessly, drawing the white halo of light into Huo Yuhao's body. The Skydream Iceworm was actually doing all he could to help the Ice Empress. While protecting Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, he even protected the Ice Empress' spiritual origin. Furthermore, he was even helping the Ice Empress suppress her own power. He was multitasking, doing all three things at once. Due to the Skydream Iceworm's powerful spiritual power, the Ice Empress' fusion with Huo Yuhao went much more smoothly. However, this process still took a long time.
...
The cold wind was still as bitingly cold as ever. Large snowflakes covered everything as far as the eye could see within the icy plain.
Suddenly, a soft 'Pu' rang out. An arm jutted out from the thick snow, and right after that, a completely naked body crawled slowly up from underneath.
The contours of his body were extremely well-defined, and although his muscles weren't especially big, they were flawless. After his white, gem-like skin dug out from the snow, it radiated with a unique luster due to the parallelism created by the surrounding white.
As he slowly opened his eyes, two different colors instantly flashed through his deep blue pupils. It was gold at first, but then it turned jade-green before settling on a somewhat terrifying white that completely covered the original blue.
A strange scene then occurred. The falling snowflakes suddenly moved away from a three-feet radius around his body the moment they approached him. Unexpectedly, a clean patch of earth around him had appeared within the world of ice and snow.
As the white within his eyes slowly faded away, an abstruse dark-blue gradually resurfaced within them. His pupils had changed color three times; this was quite miraculous.
He clenched his fists tightly, and immediately, his taut muscles released a sensation filled with power. He suddenly leapt into the air, reaching an astounding twenty feet. When he reached the peak of his jump, he let out a long, resounding roar towards the sky.
The rumbling sound waves caused by his roar reverberated through the air, scattering the falling snowflakes. His breathing immediately became unhindered, and under the circulation of his soul power, he was able to clearly see that his sternum, ribs, and spine were emitting a jade-green glow.
This scene seemed beautiful, yet terrifying. A person's bones were suddenly emitting a light that could be seen through the skin; this was somewhat strange. At this moment, however, a halo of jade-green light suddenly spread out from his body, covering a ten-meter diameter around him in a jade-green light. It seemed as though the snowflakes within this area had increased in weight, causing them to fall to the ground with a crash. The moment they fell onto the piled-up snow, they cut out tiny holes, as if they were tiny knives.
However, that jade-green light only remained for an instant before vanishing quietly. Following that, his body collapsed to the ground.
A soul ring that flickered with a dazzling light rose up from the youth's feet. This soul ring was simply too bizarre; it shone with a terrifying blood-red light. This noble, cold soul ring that shone with a luster resembling a bloody sea emitted a boundless amount of might from it. There were also four golden patterns which were faintly discernible on the blood-red soul ring. The interwoven colors of red and gold were extremely dazzling amidst the snowy plains of ice. The instant this soul ring appeared, a suddenly transformation occurred to the youth's aura. A desolation that seemed to come from the ancient times appeared on his body.
There were no obvious changes to his body, but there was now an enormous tattoo on his back. There was a pair of pincers that flickered with a dazzling light, and a captivating, jade-green tail. Was that not the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion?
This tattoo was extremely large, practically covering his entire back. Its six limbs hugged his ribs, and its pincers were located on the back of his shoulders. Its long tail was followed his spine, continuing all the way till his backbone before it slanted to the right, ending on his right buttock.
Other than the enormous tattoo, the youth's greatest transformation was in his hands. His hands were now covered in a layer of extremely detailed diamond-like hexagons, which were about the size of a bean. If you looked at him as a whole, the resplendent luster coming from his arms also brightened the enormous tattoo on his back. Naturally, all of these changes, other than the one that had occurred to his hands, would be hidden if he had clothes on.
"I've succeeded." The youth murmured to himself. At this moment, tears were flowing uncontrollably from his eyes. He had endured far, far too much pain for the sake of succeeding. After finishing everything, how could he not let tears of joy out? Something that was not easily obtained would make one cherish it more. After sensing the powerful feelings that were unceasingly spreading throughout his body, he nearly couldn't control his emotions.
Right, this youth was Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao, who had finally completed his fusion with the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion of the Extreme North's Three Emperors.
The blood-red soul ring flickering with four golden patterns was the first soul ring of his Ice Empress martial soul. It was a soul ring that had reached the four hundred thousand year rank.
Yes, four hundred thousand years, not three hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred years! During the fusion process, the Skydream Iceworm had used his origin energy to help the Ice Empress out. Due to this, she was able to break through her bottleneck during the fusion and strengthen her soul ring into a four hundred thousand year one. Although it was only a difference of a hundred years, it was a qualitative difference that was as different as the sky and the earth. That also represented the difference between a hundred thousand year soul ring with three golden patterns and one with four golden patterns!
"We've finally succeeded. All of my hard work wasn't wasted after all." The Skydream Iceworm's exhausted, yet relieved voice rang out.
"Brother Skydream." Huo Yuhao yelled out. Tears started to spring out from his eyes, "Thank you." He naturally knew that from this moment on, he was no longer the weak, bottom-feeder soul master from Shrek Academy who could only rely on his hard work to barely catch up with everyone else while having no attacking soul skills at all. Everything he had at this moment had been given to him by the Skydream Iceworm! Thus, how could he not feel moved?
The Skydream Iceworm chuckled. "It's good that you've succeeded. We've crossed the most substantial step now. With the torso bone the Ice Empress' given you, the strength of your body has increased by at least fivefold. Your endurance has also increased by a large amount, so you're now able to withstand the soul ring of a three thousand year soul beast at the very least. This is also the main reason why I got you to fuse with the Ice Empress before getting you your second soul ring. The Ice Empress has formally become the main soul ring of your second martial soul, as well as the main part of your second martial soul. She's strengthened you by a large amount, so much so that it's even more than what I've done. Your current cultivation is still weak, so you can only use a very small part of her power. However, as your cultivation continues to increase, the power she's given you will definitely give you a nice surprise."
"At first, I gave you four soul skills and a martial soul. Though the Ice Empress' cultivation is inferior to mine, the legacy of her race is much more powerful than mine. Furthermore, according to the strength of a hundred thousand year soul beast, she'll also give you four more soul skills in addition to the torso bone which has already fused perfectly with your body. The reason why you're receiving four soul skills is because her soul ring will give you two skills, and her soul bone will give you another two. Though the fusion used up that Secret Law Soul you originally had, it's absolutely worth it. Without the Secret Law Soul, the pain you received would've increased by at least 20%, and the fusion might not have been this perfect."
It would've increased by 20%? Hearing the Skydream Iceworm's words, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but shiver. Though he'd already endured it, he didn't want to even remember the fusion. This was especially so for the last two hours; the moment he thought about it, he felt his body itch incomparably.
"Four soul skills, another four soul skills!" Exuberant, Huo Yuhao asked impatiently, "Brother Skydream, what soul skills did the Ice Empress give me? How is she now? Was she able to retain her consciousness?"
An intelligent soul ring was much stronger than a regular soul ring that only gave him some strength. Let alone that, with the Ice Empress' status in the Extreme North and her intelligence, anything Huo Yuhao wanted to do here would be much simpler. On the other hand, Huo Yuhao's second martial soul was Ice. As a result of that, it was probable that he would have to return here in order to obtain more soul rings. Furthermore, the Ice Empress had done everything she could for him. If she couldn't retain her spiritual origin, that would be extremely regretful.
"The Ice Empress is fine. Only, she's just fused with your body. She had my protection, but she was still extremely exhausted. Right now, she's in a deep sleep. After all, this was different from my fusion with you. When I fused with you, I didn't really have much of my soul power left. It was a simple fusion with my spiritual origin. Moreover, I'm a spiritual-type soul beast, making it much easier. However, the situation was very troublesome with her. Fortunately, we succeeded. She'll wake up in a while." The moment he spoke about the Ice Empress, the Skydream Iceworm was evidently pleased.
"Then what about the four soul skills? What are they?" Huo Yuhao asked again.
The Skydream Iceworm smiled mischievously, "I don't know either! I'm not the Ice Empress. You'll slowly understand what they are. Go, head towards the east and we'll go find your second soul ring."
Huo Yuhao was extremely happy. Now that he thought about it, he was still a Soul Master. His soul power was still limited to Rank 20. There was nothing he could do about it. Though he'd obtained another soul ring, it was still the first soul ring of his second martial soul! Thus, he was still a one-ringed soul master. If he wanted to continue to increase his cultivation, he had to obtain another soul ring.
"Brother Skydream, should I get another soul ring for my Spirit Eyes or the Ice Empress' martial soul?" Huo Yuhao asked. Both of his martial souls were one-ringed ones, and he was faced with a choice now. Would he choose to continue strengthening the Spirit Eyes or the Ice Empress' martial soul? These were undoubtedly two different paths.
Normally, soul masters possessing two martial souls wouldn't obtain soul rings for both of their martial souls at once, because that would erase the greatest advantage of having two martial souls. The truly powerful twin-souled soul masters would do their best to increase their soul power while cultivating and adding soul rings to a single martial soul. When they cultivated to a certain level, they would begin to add soul rings to their second martial soul. This way, it was very likely that a situation in which their second martial soul was filled with high-ranked soul rings would occur. In that case, they would be much stronger than the other soul masters of their rank.
However, this required a process. Normally, twin-souled soul masters would add soul rings to their martial soul when they were at the seven-ringed rank, at the very least.
For example, Xiao Xiao. She had had no choice but to add a soul ring to her second martial soul in order to claim a place in Shrek Academy and give her a certain advantage over the other students. This was why she had chosen to add a soul skill to her second martial soul. Other than giving a soul skill, a soul ring would also increase the comprehensive physical ability of a soul master. After much consideration, and wishing to increase her cultivation as quickly as possible, Xiao Xiao decided to add a soul ring to her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute. However, that was only her first soul ring. Before reaching the seven-ringed rank, she would definitely not add any more soul rings to her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute.
If Huo Yuhao decided to continue adding soul rings to his Spirit Eyes, he would walk the path of a control-type soul master for a very long time; if he chose to add soul rings to the Ice Empress, he would switch to the path of an assault-type soul master. There was no doubt that he would definitely become the number one attack-type genius in Shrek Academy if he chose to switch to the path of an assault-type soul master, having a four hundred thousand year soul ring. There was absolutely no need to doubt this. However, how would he explain the appearance of a four hundred thousand year soul ring?
The Skydream Iceworm said, "Yuhao, I'm guessing that you're already thinking about it. It's true that the Ice Empress is very powerful, but from my experience, you'll have to hide your abilities as much as possible if you want to live for a long time. Moreover, even if you choose to cultivate the Ice Empress, you'll have to find a second soul ring for your Spirit Eyes right now. It's because the first soul ring of your Ice Empress is too eye-catching. You have to conceal it, otherwise you'll just be studied in a research lab.
Huo Yuhao nodded in agreement, "Brother Skydream, I've made a decision. I'm going to continue cultivating my Spirit Eyes. Once my cultivation's high enough, I'll continue to add soul rings to my Ice Empress martial soul. In the future, I'll do my best to not use the Ice Empress. This way, other people won't be able to see how special my soul ring is."
The Skydream Iceworm smiled mischievously, "Why won't you use it? If you don't use it, how are we going to go awe the others? That Shrek Academy of yours isn't simple! If you want to stand stably, you'll have to show off some of your strength. If you're going to use the Ice Empress, you don't necessarily need to be very subtle about it."
Huo Yuhao was at a loss. "Brother Skydream, I don't understand."
The Skydream Iceworm replied in a mysterious tone, "You'll naturally understand once you've gotten your second soul ring. Now then, do you really think you look that good butt-naked? Quickly clothe yourself so that we can get going. Time's not moving any slower while you're standing here. You should probably know that your school's about to re-open. In fact, I'm not particularly clear as to how long we actually have left until it does. I lost of track of time in the outside world while I was helping the Ice Empress fuse with you."
When he heard this, Huo Yuhao immediately became astonished. According to his calculations, more than fifteen days should've passed since the holidays had started. It would take him quite a while to get back as well, thus he couldn't afford to not rush.
A pale gold light flashed through Huo Yuhao's eyes as he withdrew the Ice Empress and released his Spiritual Detection. However, he nearly jumped from shock the moment he released his Spiritual Detection.
As his cultivation had increased in the academy, the range of his Spiritual Detection had also continued to increase. When he'd left, it had surpassed eighty meters in all directions. If he were to focus it in a single direction, it could surpass two hundred meters.
However, the moment that he released his Spiritual Detection, Huo Yuhao immediately felt his eyes release an indescribable flow of air. Immediately afterwards, the ground in a two hundred meter radius around him—including a meter deep into the snow and some parts of the mud underneath—were encapsulated within the range of his Spiritual Detection. As soon as it did, a large amount of information surged into his mind. How could the large increase in the range of his Spiritual Detection and the amount of information he received not astonish him?
"How… how could this have happened?" Huo Yuhao asked blankly, having managed to find the nearby Twenty Four Moonlit Bridges using his Spiritual Detection.
"You didn't just suffer that pain for nothing. Haven't you realized that your spiritual sea has nearly doubled in size? If you'd followed the usual routine of obtaining your second soul ring, your spiritual sea would only be this big once you reached three rings. However, you relied on your own willpower to withstand that pain. As such, your spiritual sea has evolved. Of course, I've also used my spiritual origin to help you out a bit. Congratulations. As of now, you can release power equivalent to that of a five thousand year soul ring, while your body's endurance now permits you to both obtain and perfectly absorb a three thousand year soul ring."
When he heard the Skydream Iceworm's words, a single emotion was left in Huo Yuhao's heart: Happiness.
After experiencing such an extreme amount of pain, a few shadows had been left in his heart. At this moment however, the pain and bitterness were over, while the rewards he'd gained were just beginning to show themselves. He finally felt that everything was worth it. After receiving the proper reciprocation for his efforts, the shadows in his heart naturally shrunk by a large amount.
He took a set of clothes out of the Twenty Four Moonlit Bridges, but decided to only wear a regular shirt, as he didn't feel cold at all.
What a joke. With an existence such as the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion connected to him, the number of things in the entire world that could even make him feel cold was practically zero. His own body was basically a representation of extremely cold ice!
"Go!" The Skydream Iceworm shouted, jolting a certain person who was foolishly giggling to himself back to their senses. This certain someone then hurriedly scrambled to his feet.
The originally-cold climate was no longer a problem to Huo Yuhao, as the soul ring and soul bone he'd obtained from the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion made it so that the quality of his physique now far exceeded what it had previously been. He wildly rushed through the snow, leaving only a few shallow traces behind him. In fact, he wasn't hindered by the snow at all anymore.
The soul power in his body continued to circulate, but it didn't seem like it was being drained at all. Right now, Huo Yuhao was unexpectedly relying only on his physical strength to maneuver through the snow. He didn't know how long it had been since he'd eaten or drank anything, yet he didn't feel hungry or thirsty at all. At this very moment, he only felt that everything within the boundless, vast plains of ice was extremely beautiful.
...
Within Shrek Academy.
The start of the new term had now arrived, which was the most important period of time every year. A large stream of people had already arrived outside of Shrek Academy by dawn. Besides the returning students, there was also an overwhelming number of parents who'd brought their children to register for the newcomer's assessment.
No matter what background you had, or who you were referred by, you'd still have to go home if you didn't pass the newcomer's assessment.
A few of the upperclassmen were outside the school gates, helping the teachers conduct the assessment. Although they were only students, they were still able to represent Shrek Academy, as they were all at least at the three-ringed Soul Elder rank. Since they'd reached the rank of Soul Elder, they held considerable status within the continent. The lowest requirement for a student to graduate from Shrek Academy's outer courtyard was to become a four-ringed Soul Ancestor. If you weren't able to become a Soul Ancestor, you wouldn't be able to become a Year 6 student. In the end, you'd only be eliminated during the assessment.
Twenty-eight days of the vacation had passed by, and the new school year would begin in just two days. Even though the newcomers were rushing to participate in the academy's entrance test, the older students weren't just lazing about; their advancement assessments were about to start too. They would only be able to truly advance to a higher year group once they'd passed their advancement assessments. If they didn't, they'd have to do the exact same thing that the newcomers who weren't able to pass the entrance exam had to—return home.
At least two-thirds of the older students in the academy had returned by thise point. They hadn't dared to relax at all during their vacation period. Seeing that school was about to start, they'd naturally come back earlier in order to ask their teachers about the contents of their various assessments. In addition to this, they'd also asked their teachers for extra pointers. Students who were strong enough naturally weren't scared of the assessments; on the contrary, they enjoyed them. Through them, they could truly test the fruits of their cultivation. However, every single assessment would be an extremely difficult barrier to the vast majority of students. Thus, why wouldn't they grasp every opportunity they had?
A figure rushed past the Sea God's Lake's lakeside path with astonishing speed, and quickly passed through Shrek Plaza. When he arrived at the Year 1 dorms, he muttered to himself, "Aih, I'm late, I'm late. He's definitely come back early and is probably waiting impatiently for me. Aih, it's all my fault! Why'd I have to go and go all-out! Whatever, I'll definitely give that guy a big surprise, haha."
With that, the youth arrived at the door to the dorm. The elder that was always present by the dorms was still lying on his recliner in an easygoing manner when, giving off an indescribable sense of leisureliness when he arrived.
"Grandpa, hello." The youth excitedly blurted out as he rushed into the dormitory.
A funny look appeared on the elder's face, but he quickly returned to normal. Squinting his eyes, he comfortably immersed himself in a half-sleep state.
"Peng, peng, peng." The youth rushed back towards his room, then forcefully knocked on the door, causing dust to fall off of it.
"Eeh?" The youth hurriedly ducked away from the dust. Feeling that something was off, he said, "Huo Yuhao, quickly open the door. Just look at how lazy you've become! You truly only know how to cultivate. There's already enough dust on the door to bury someone, yet you haven't even cleaned it."
Right, the youth who had hastily rushed over was Wang Dong. He didn't seem to have changed much compared to one month ago. He was still wearing the Year 1 uniforms, but his short, pinkish-blue hair had grown slightly. His large, bright eyes were also slightly livelier, and were filled with excitement,.
They'd been separated for almost an entire month, however Wang Dong had been held up because of a few issues on his way back. He'd only managed to arrive three days before school started with great difficulty, which was much later than the time that he and Huo Yuhao had previously agreed on. He thought that Huo Yuhao would definitely have arrived earlier. After all, the quickest way they could cultivate was by being together. Having returned late, he was extremely apologetic. He was just about to apologize to Huo Yuhao and say a few good words to him; that was why he hadn't used his own key to unlock the door and enter on his own.
No response? Wang Dong couldn't help but be dazed when the dorm remained silent.
"Hey, don't be petty. Are you still angry at me? I didn't come back late on purpose. I was held up by something." Wang Dong knocked on the door again, however there was still no response.
"Huo Yuhao, you little miser. If you don't open the door, I'm going to open it myself." Wang Dong said fiercely.
There was still no response.
At that moment, Wang Dong couldn't help but feel stunned. He felt that, even though he'd arrived late, with the relationship between him and Huo Yuhao, combined with Huo Yuhao's character, he wouldn't stoop so low as to ignore him like this!
Wang Dong took out his key and unlocked the door.
The dorm was quiet on the inside. Everything was identical to when they'd left; there weren't any changes at all. Wang Dong's mattress had been rolled up and covered in a white bedsheet to shield it from dust. On the other hand, Huo Yuhao's bed was still empty. A layer of dust had already appeared on the ground and the table, as if nobody had recently been in the room at all.
Wang Dong rushed into the dorm room. After looking at his own bed and then Huo Yuhao's bed, he felt his heart sink with a "thunk". His face immediately turned somewhat pale.
He didn't come back. He actually hasn't come back yet. Wang Dong instantly felt a wave of goosebumps travel from his feet to his head. He would've preferred to have Huo Yuhao waiting for him in advance to scold him the moment he saw him rather than the scene in front of him. The feeling of his heart being emptied caused his breathing to become rushed all of a sudden.
"How is it possible that he hasn't come back yet? Didn't he say that there was a teacher waiting for him outside the Great Star Dou Forest? He only left to get his second soul ring; there was even a teacher accompanying him. Why hasn't he returned after so long? He's an orphan, where else could he have gone?"
Wang Dong immediately became anxious. He violently took in a few deep breaths of somewhat dirty air from the dorm room, then suddenly turned around and rushed back towards the dorm entrance.
When he reached it, he instantly kneeled beside the reclining elder. "Grandpa, have you seen Huo Yuhao? He's living in a room with me; he's the guy who always comes back with me."
The old man squinted his eyes and shook his head.
Wang Dong bit his lower lip and stood up. Afterwards, he immediately dashed towards the faculty buildings.
Once he reaching the faculty buildings, he headed directly towards Zhou Yi's office. The door to her office was wide open, and inside a few students were talking to her.
Wang Dong was extremely anxious, thus he didn't even bother to knock on her door. Like a gust of wind, he rushed inside. "Teacher Zhou, Teacher Zhou."
The students standing in front of Zhou Yi's desk were all first year students, and they were all jolted by Wang Dong's hurried entrance. They were all aware of the fact that Zhou Yi hated students who broke the rules the most. Even though Wang Dong was a class monitor, he was still acting too gutsy.
However, they were astonished by the fact that not only had Zhou Yi not flown into a rage when she saw Wang Dong, she'd even stood up. The two of them then spoke in an impatient voice at the exact same time.
"Where's Huo Yuhao?"
"Teacher Zhou, have you seen Huo Yuhao?"
The instant they finished speaking, both of them simultaneously became stunned. Afterwards, they spoke at the exact same time again, "You're also looking for Huo Yuhao?"