--- Chapter 57 ---
After meeting with the Shrek Academy's Students, Huo Yuhao defused the situation and explained the Dragon Nest's Student Exchanging Program to them because the Shrek Academy's representatives seemed not to announce it.
For a short time, the mood lightened, and Huo Yuhao even offered to have lunch together. And Even though they are wary of Huo Yuhao's groups, The Shrek Academy students still sit around a bonfire while eating grilled fish.
"God, you're scaring the living shit out of us!" The red-haired young man named Xu Sanshi complained while biting on a grilled fish Huo Yuhao made. "By the way, this is so delicious~!"
The leader of the group, the pale purple-haired young man from earlier, called Bei Bei. "Sanshi, please keep your manners." He laughed weakly and prepared an antidote for the worst scenario possible, eating the grilled fish with a surprised expression.
"It is good."
The cheerful young lady Tang Ya had a cat-like expression the whole time and even devoured nine grilled fish already. She stared at Huo Yuhao with blinking star eyes like he was true humankind's savior with his cooking skill, which left Huo Yuhao amused inside.
"Huo Yuhao, if you open a restaurant in the future and let me eat for free, I'll go there every day!" She said while giving him a thumbs up.
"That's a big IF because my life can't be simple even if I wanted to." Huo Yuhao shook his head gently.
Jiang Nannan, the last member of Shrek Academy's group, had an intrigued face when eating Huo Yuhao's grilled fish. She has been observing the mysterious blue-haired young man since meeting with him.
'His cooking skill is bizarre. How could a regular river fish be this good? He doesn't even use any spices besides some sprinkle of salt.' Jiang Nannan thought to herself. She wanted to know the secret of Huo Yuhao's recipe, but he never showed anything special in the cooking process.
Jiang Nannan gradually frowned and appeared apathetic in others' eyes while staring at Huo Yuhao's back solemnly. "What's his secret..?" She muttered silently.
Qianye Ying'er sat on a flat rock and said, "This looks familiar for some reason, like a certain Spirit Engineer/Blacksmith at the Dragon Nest's Labs. That guy achieved his dream last year and still wanted to make a more powerful weapon."
Scathach squealed happily after eating her disciple's food and became interested in Qianye Ying'er statement. "Are you talking about Xiao Chen?" She asked naturally.
"Obviously. There is only one Weapon Maniac in the Dragon Nest." Qianye Ying'er shrugged her slender shoulders. She giggled because Xiao Chen was probably doing something wild in his workshop.
"Poor Kaela, her teacher is one of a kind."
"Well, It's not like everyone in the Dragon Nest is normal."
Scathach nodded and added, "That's true."
While eating the grilled fish and having a casual lunch, Tang Ya peeked into Huo Yuhao's mask when he was eating the grilled fish. She witnessed a bit of Huo Yuhao's face and became curious about his looks.
Qianye Ying'er smirked and teased, "Do you want to see Yuhao's face~? It's not that big of a secret because you can ask him to lift it, you know."
"Really?" Tang Ya gave Huo Yuhao a hopeful look.
"Haha, Ying'er trapped you." Scathach gently chuckled while hearing her disciple's defeated sigh. "I know you can ignore it, Yuhao. However, that pride of yours won't allow it."
Huo Yuhao watched everyone staring at him and slowly grasped the White Ogre Mask. He lifted the mask slowly, revealing his face to them.
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi's eyes widened like they were about to pop out of their sockets. The red-haired youth slapped his friend's shoulder and shouted, "Oh my fucking god! There is someone more handsome than you, Bei Bei!"
Jiang Nannan dropped her grilled fish and whispered, "H-How could someone be... Be this good-looking and pleasing to one's eyes?"
Tang Ya literally passed out because of the shock, and Huo Yuhao couldn't blame them because Ancient Human's charm enhanced with Divine Dragon and War Beast "extremely." boosted his appeals to others.
His identity is not a big deal like what Qianye Ying'er has said beforehand. It is because none besides Dragon Nest's members knows about it, but having a face mask always helps him from getting an annoying reaction. And for females of all ages, his charm could be a deadly weapon. That's why the Qianye Ying'er cult has a dominant amount of female followers.
Huo Yuhao placed White Ogre Mask back on and said, "You'll get used to it soon. After all, We would meet each other quite often in the Shrek Academy later."
"I-I don't think we would..." Jiang Nannan replied instinctively, blushing slightly.
Xu Sanshi's face actually darkened when seeing Jiang Nannan's expression, pushing him to declare, "I know we just met, but I have to warn you something, Yuhao. Nannan is mine!"
"Who's yours?" Jiang Nannan responded coldly.
Huo Yuhao nonchalantly waved his grilled fish and said, "Don't worry, I won't meddle with your couple drama. I have a fair share of fiancees already."
"Fiance?? Just how old are you, Yuhao?" Beibei jokingly commented. "With that face and physical build, I believe you can have more than one hundred girlfriends."
"Twelve." Huo Yuhao answered and ate his grilled fish.
Like another bomb of shocking facts dropped, the Shrek Academy Students were shocked beyond return. They could only stare at Huo Yuhao in disbelief, hoping that it was just a playful joke from him, and unfortunately. It's not a joke.
"How??"
Scathach decided to interfere and stated, "Dragon Nest's special training method pushed one's body to the limit, and students from Dragon Nest's Academy naturally have older appearance than their real age. Even though Huo Yuhao was an exception, it still applies to everyone in our community."
"Dragon Nest is not an ordinary organization." She added while swaying her head proudly.
It took an hour for the Shrek Academy's students to calm themselves as they would never have thought the mysterious young man was three years younger than them. And Huo Yuhao hasn't shown his cultivation realm yet.
"W-What about the Fiancee part?" Tang Ya asked naturally, triggering another bomb on the field.
Qianye Ying'er and Scathach looked at each other and smirked slightly, showing their left hand at Tang Ya. The young lady from Shrek Academy slowly looked at the mysterious yet beautiful ladies from Huo Yuhao's group and saw breathtaking engagement rings on their fingers.
"I-I can't... It is too much, Beibei. Take Tang Sect's clan master spot from me." Tang Ya dramatically dropped onto Beibei's chest like she was dying. Heck, even Xu Sanshi has his jaw hanging in pure amazement.
Jiang Nannan stared at the beautiful engagement rings and muttered, "How lucky of you... Qianye Ying'er and Yang Xin."
"You don't know how hard it was for us to get this ring." Qianye Ying'er said with a wry smile. "We had to complete a thousand trials to become Huo Yuhao's fiance. And no, I'm not joking."
"It's easy for me, though." Scathach continued, which made the corner of Qianye Ying'er mouth twitch in annoyance.
Qianye Ying'er facepalmed and clicked her tongue, "I know you would have said that from miles away."
"Get good, Ying'er."
...
...
The lunch ended with several twists, and the Shrek Academy's students became closer to Huo Yuhao's group, despite the shocking parts. Tang Ya's face was pale from the excessive twist of Huo Yuhao's personal information, which was only surface level.
'What kind of face would they make if I revealed that I was Dragon Nest's leader, but then... I can't let them know about that, especially with Tang San's influence around here.' Huo Yuhao thought while closing his eyes.
"Yuhao?"
"Yuhao??"
Huo Yuhao opened his eyes and replied, "Yes."
"What are you going to do after this? Our group will hunt in the Star Dou Forest for one more day because Jiang Nannan needs her fourth spirit ring." Beibei questioned while tying his shoe's laces.
"We have another objective in the Star Dou Forest too, but the location is probably out of reach for you guys. It's not going to take a day, but let's separate from here." Huo Yuhao stretched his neck a little.
"Soft Bone Rabbit? Here, a little gift from me." A purple rune stone flew to Jiang Nannan.
"See you guys later."
Huo Yuhao waved his hand and disappeared from their visions alongside Qianye Ying'er and Scathach, leaving a group of speechless youngsters.
"T-This is..." Jiang Nannan's hand trembled violently.
Tang Ya recognized the infamous item in Jiang Nannan's hand and shrieked in shock, "RUNE STONE!"
"Just who are you, Huo Yuhao!?"
After leaving the Shrek Academy's group, Huo Yuhao led Qianye Ying'er and Scathach to a specific area on the Star Dou Forest's outer layer. They arrived in five minutes, and Huo Yuhao told his companions to hide their presence.
"Wait here..."
Huo Yuhao gradually activated the Eyes of the Lord and added Haoshoku Haki, creating a spiritual energy storm in the area. He waited for a few seconds and sensed a "sudden." movement underground.
Cracks!
The ground burst out with brilliant white light and a thin layer of frost, revealing a spirit beast. A plump yet round head appeared off the destroyed ground and connected to a slender meaty body over 7 meters. This spirit beast's body possessed white jade color, sparkling with brilliant light under the shadow of a lush forest.
A pair of eyes sparkling with golden light on its round head. And The most peculiar thing is that from half a meter away from its head at every segment, a circle-shaped gold pattern could be seen clearly. There are ten gold patterns from head to tail, signifying the cultivation stage of this spirit beast.
"Finally~!" An excited feminine voice comes from the Spirit Beast.
"Oh, Heavens! Finally, I found a human with a Spiritual-Based Martial Soul. Little brother, this beautiful sister's name is Tian Meng. I'm 1.000.000 years old spirit beast. Do you want to accept me as the first-ever intelligent Spirit Ring?"
"Don't be afraid. Big sister won't bite you." Her voice somehow sounds desperate.
Huo Yuhao smiled and replied, "Sure."