Join my patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel along with weekly chapters mass release:
patreon.com/ZeroMoney
I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated.
******
"Selling newspapers, Martial Soul News! Master Tang has new theories related to soul fusion techniques!"
Half a month later, Huo Yuhao arrived at Tian Dou City. As soon as he entered the city gate, he heard shouts similar to those of newspaper vendors. He felt that something was off. "Does Shrek have newspapers now? Or is it that I didn't pay much attention to external news when I was in the Dai Family?"
Tian Dou City wasn't far from the Star Dou Forest. If one took a carriage, it would take about seven days to arrive. However, Huo Yuhao was short on money and got lost, wasting more than twenty days.
"Which academy do you want to join?" Dou Yitianmeng asked. "According to your memory, the famous academies in Tian Dou City are only the Elemental Academy, Tian Dou Royal Academy, and Shrek. Oh, and there's also the Canghui Academy and other smaller ones."
"Shrek," Huo Yuhao said, his eyes firm.
"Are you crazy? Isn't Tang San in Shrek?" Dou Er Tianmeng felt that Huo Yuhao was being reckless. "Aren't you walking into a trap?"
"The most dangerous place is the safest place. With my strength, I should be able to get in. Besides, with two white soul rings, I won't attract much attention." Huo Yuhao stated his reasons.
"The Elemental Academy has certain requirements for the attributes of martial souls, especially for Tianshui. Since I'm male, I can't join. Canghui Academy might be more suitable for me. After all, my martial soul is spiritual, and theirs was too at that time. Perhaps I can also use their meditation techniques, which might be more suitable. However, the person is similar to Tang San, a cunning person. I don't trust him much. As for the Tian Dou Royal Academy, although they accept commoners, as soon as I reveal my two soul rings, I won't even be able to enter the door, unless I happen to encounter someone inside who can demonstrate my abilities... Without connections, I can't get in."
"Shrek Academy. The main characters' group is basically parallel to ordinary students, and there is not much interaction between them. Moreover, Liu Erlong is from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family, and the academy's library might have meditation techniques suitable for spiritual martial souls."
Seeing Huo Yuhao's analysis, Dou Yitianemeng and Dou Er Tianmeng didn't say much.
If they ever met Tang San, they would just control Huo Yuhao a bit. If there were conflicts, they could just abandon Huo Yuhao again.
They had already broken through the seal of undead magic left by Electrolux.
Electrolux was a demigod, but they were both million-year soul beasts, and they were spiritual types. Even if their methods using spiritual power weren't as sophisticated as his, they had quantity!
So, Huo Yuhao asked passersby for the direction to Shrek Academy and began his action.
However, as soon as he arrived at the gate of Shrek Academy, he was stopped by a student on duty who said, "Idle people, stay away."
"I'm here to enroll," Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and said kindly.
"Enroll?" One of the students frowned. "You're too late. The enrollment exam ended half a month ago. Come back next year."
"There's still an enrollment exam?" Huo Yuhao was stunned. This was different from what he had heard on the road. "I heard that this academy only requires you to reach the rank of Grand Soul Master, be under eighteen years old, and be a commoner. You can join at any time. I'm twelve years old, the right age."
"Your information is outdated," another student standing on the right said. "The academy was renamed from the Blue Tyrant Academy to Shrek last year, and the dean has changed. The requirements for new students have been raised. You must reach the rank of Grand Soul Master before the age of fourteen... If you really are a Grand Soul Master now, that should be suitable, but the academy is short of manpower and cannot conduct tests for you alone, unless—"
The student on the left continued, "Unless you're exceptionally outstanding, with strength approaching that of a Soul Ancestor."
The student on the right followed up, "Release your martial soul and soul rings, let us see. If it's possible, we'll report it."
After thinking for a while, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, and the Spiritual Eyeball Martial Soul attached itself to them, making them exceptionally bright and clear. Then, two white soul rings appeared.
"The martial soul is an eye?"
"Two ten-year soul rings?"
The two students were dumbfounded, feeling enlightened.
This was the first time they had seen a martial soul that was a part of the person's body, and it was also the first time they had seen someone with two ten-year soul rings, both of which were white and of the same depth of color.
"Sorry, you're not qualified to join Shrek Academy," the student on the right said bluntly. "Although reaching the rank of Grand Soul Master at twelve proves that your innate soul power should be good, two white soul rings are really too weak."
The student on the left was even more sarcastic, "If Shrek had a student like you, it would be so embarrassing. We don't want such a trash junior fellow like you."
Of course, the two students were also observing Huo Yuhao's expression.
Huo Yuhao's attire was a bit strange but plain, and his body was thin and weak, definitely not someone wealthy. He was someone they could bully.
The new dean had said: Those who don't dare to
cause trouble are mediocre.
This powerless trash Soul Master was best to mess with.
Huo Yuhao clenched his fists, gritting his teeth, "Today's humiliation will be repaid a hundredfold!"
"Huh, still dare to insult Shrek!" The student on the left sneered and glanced at the student on the right, who immediately understood and rubbed his wrist.
Facing the attacks of the two, Huo Yuhao had no power to resist at all, and Dou Yitianmeng and Dou Er Tianmeng didn't help either—facing two Grand Soul Masters who hadn't even released their martial souls, it would be too embarrassing for them to make a move.
Moreover, they felt that Huo Yuhao should learn a lesson and not be arrogant when he didn't have strength, lest he be beaten to death.
If Huo Yuhao were to ask, Dou Er Tianmeng also had a reason. Just say that Electrolux suddenly left, and they were also affected by his spiritual power, occasionally falling into sleep.
As for Dou Yitianmeng, there was another reason, which was her sacrifice, directly increasing Huo Yuhao's cultivation to level twenty-one, consuming even more than Dou Er Tianmeng.
Therefore, they had plenty of reasons.
"Hmph!"
The student on the left snorted and kicked Huo Yuhao one last time, saying, "See if you dare to provoke Shrek again! If we see you again next time, don't blame us for teaching you another lesson."
"Huh?" The student on the right noticed the White Tiger Dagger hanging from Huo Yuhao's waist, took it down, and played with it, "What a beautiful dagger. It looks like a soul tool, an offensive soul tool? This is a real antique, if it's sold..."
Suddenly, greed appeared in the eyes of the two.
"This soul tool will be considered as compensation for the insult you just gave us. Now, get lost," the student on the right said bluntly. "What compensation?" The student on the left was even more ruthless, "This dagger is obviously our joint property, but it was stolen by this kid just now."
"Ah, yes, that's it," the student on the left realized, chuckling, then kicked Huo Yuhao again and said, "Get lost, don't let us see you again."
After the two Shrek students returned to their posts at Shrek Academy, Huo Yuhao staggered to his feet, his eyes filled with killing intent.
Shrek!
Damn it!
Being beaten like this, joining Shrek again would be demeaning.
Without saying a word, he glared at the two for a while before turning around and preparing to go to Canghui Academy.
In front of the gate of Canghui Academy, Huo Yuhao displayed his martial soul and soul skills again, only to be laughed at once more. But this time was different because there happened to be someone who had just returned from hunting soul beasts outside.
"What's all this noise?" The voice of the elderly but magnetic man sounded authoritative as he looked at Huo Yuhao, who was emitting two white soul rings. "Who are you?"
Faced with the demanding tone of the elderly man, Huo Yuhao wanted to show some backbone but found himself somewhat intimidated. He said obediently, "Hello, teacher. I want to join Canghui Academy. My martial soul is an eye."
"Join Canghui Academy? Just you?" A student behind the elderly man burst into laughter. "With two white soul rings, you're just a joke."
"Did I ask you to speak?" The elderly man questioned sternly, silencing the students who were laughing along.
"We welcome talented students at Canghui Academy. How old are you this year?" the elderly man asked.
"Twelve."
"Twelve years old, Grand Soul Master, indeed talented. You're from a remote village, aren't you? Your attire is a bit odd," the elderly man said more objectively. "But two white soul rings are indeed lacking... What are your soul skills?"
"My first soul skill is Mental Detection, and the second is Mental Sharing."
The Iceworm gifted Huo Yuhao with four soul skills: Mental Detection, Mental Sharing, Mental Interference Field, and Soul Assault. Both of his soul rings possessed these four skills, and the same skill could be stacked.
However, Huo Yuhao couldn't possibly tell the truth about this. He had to choose.
"Mental Detection and Sharing?" The elderly man pondered. "Sounds good. I wonder how powerful they are. Let's try. If it works, I can make an exception and let you join Canghui Academy."
"Okay!"
Huo Yuhao nodded. His first soul ring flickered, detecting everything within a twenty-meter radius, then the second one flashed, transmitting the detected images to the elderly man.
"What is this?" The elderly man felt like he could see everything within a twenty-meter radius, 360 degrees, including the sky and the ground, without any blind spots.
He realized that this was a perfect detection soul skill.
More importantly, being able to use the skills of both soul rings simultaneously was quite remarkable.
However—
"Is the detection range only twenty meters?" The elderly man wasn't quite satisfied with this because the power of soul skills was fixed, which limited the usefulness of this skill.
"No, my martial soul is an eye, named Sprit Eyes, and it's spiritual. As long as my spiritual power is enhanced, the range can also increase. Also, my soul power can be converted into spiritual power, but the consumption will be greater," Huo Yuhao tried to showcase his value. "Although the duration of my soul rings is a bit low, the soul skills are very useful, especially in auxiliary aspects. I dare say that no one can match me."
At this moment, the elderly man's eyes filled with excitement as he extended an invitation to Huo Yuhao, saying, "Be my disciple! As a spiritual-type like you, only under my guidance can you unleash even greater power. My martial soul is Remnant Dream, also spiritual. Your spiritual eyes and my Residual Dream might even be able to form a fusion skill."
"Isn't this a bit too sudden?" Huo Yuhao wasn't too keen on becoming a disciple, especially since the elderly man in front of him wasn't someone easy to get along with.
"What's sudden about it? Even if you join Canghui Academy, you still need to pay tuition. Judging by your appearance, you don't have money. Without becoming my disciple, can you afford it?" The elderly man chuckled. "Five hundred gold soul coins per semester."
"Huh..." Huo Yuhao felt a bit helpless. "Teacher!"
"Haha, from today onwards, you're my disciple!" The elderly man was excited. In the mindset of the Douluo Continent, once a student truly became a disciple, it was the closest relationship after parents.
Moreover, the elderly man believed that this kid from a small village wouldn't betray him.
"What's your name?"
"Huo Yuhao."
"Good name."
The elderly man put his arm around Huo Yuhao's shoulder and said to the students behind him, "From today onwards, Huo Yuhao is my disciple and your senior. If I find anyone bullying him, you'll have to consider your own strength."
"Yes, sir."
The students who were laughing earlier dared not speak anymore. Even the two students on duty lowered their heads, not daring to look at Huo Yuhao.
Who could have imagined that the poor kid from earlier would now become
the disciple of the elderly man?
Fate worked in mysterious ways.
They just hoped that Huo Yuhao wouldn't retaliate against them in the future, which wouldn't be pleasant...
On the other side, after Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Guang Ling returned to the Royal Academy of Star Luo, they either trained, researched martial souls and soul tools, or studied medicine and herbs. Their days were fulfilling.
During their free time, Tang San applied to the Martial Soul Hall for the intellectual property rights and patents of the mother-son soul-guiding cinematographic sphere and began production in collaboration with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
For this, Tang San and Xiao Wu specially made a ten-minute animated film.
Yes, an animated film.
Who would have thought that the first film to appear in the Douluo Continent would be animated, not live-action?
For this ten-minute animation, Xiao Wu drew thousands upon thousands of nearly identical pictures, nearly nine hundred thousand in total, making her reluctant to engage in creative drawing again.
However, this kind of creation was also a mental challenge for her, which could enhance her spiritual power—the simple way to enhance spiritual power: exhaust it, sleep, and recover.
Soul power could also be accelerated using such methods.
The content of this ten-minute animated film depicted a simple story of a girl named Xiaorou who came out of the mountains and wandered in the big city. She later met a pharmacist named Xiaotang and worked in his pharmacy. With her knowledge of various medicinal herbs from the mountains, she eventually became a famous doctor.
It was a simple story.
The attraction for the audience lay only in the fact that the seemingly paper-thin characters could move.
When this micro-animation film was shown in an opera house in Tian Dou City, it caused a tremendous sensation. Most of the audience had never seen such moving pictures before and couldn't understand how they worked.
Tang San didn't hesitate to let Guang Ling reveal the principle of how the animation worked—it involved drawing countless similar but different pictures and flipping them quickly.
This simple principle shocked the world and gave rise to a "if they can do it, so can I" mentality.
However, most people gave up.
In an era without industrial measures, an ordinary person would need half a year to draw thousands upon thousands of pictures.
However, some ordinary people joined forces and persisted in drawing.
Some sculptors and painting masters realized that making their works move was an elevation of art and could attract more viewers and recognition.
When this ten-minute animated film appeared in front of Bibi Dong, it also attracted her attention, but she was more concerned about the Mother-Son Soul-Guiding Cinematographic Sphere, a soul tool that included photography, videography, and message transmission.
According to the tests conducted by the Martial Soul Hall, this Mother-Son Soul-Guiding Cinematographic Sphere could photograph with the mother sphere and play back images with the son sphere. The two were complementary, and one mother sphere could have multiple son spheres.
The transmission of messages between the son and mother spheres was almost instantaneous. Even if they were thousands or tens of thousands of miles apart, the son sphere could project the images recorded by the mother sphere.
However—
For every thousand miles, the projection from the son sphere would be delayed by ten seconds.
For every ten thousand miles, it would be delayed by a hundred seconds.
With each additional thousand miles, the delay would increase by ten seconds. Within a thousand miles, the delay was negligible.
The convenience of message transmission far surpassed carrier pigeons or having agile soul masters run or fly.
"Tang San, and his disciples, really gave us the Martial Soul Hall and other forces a big gift," Bibi Dong realized that the mass production and dissemination of this device, whether by the Martial Soul Hall or the two great empires, would greatly enhance their control over their territories.
However, what was Tang San's purpose in doing this?
Bibi Dong pondered. From the perspective of a master researcher in martial soul theory, a stable environment was needed for better research.
The spread of this soul tool, besides strengthening the control of the three major forces over their territories, would also allow them to understand each other's strengths and weaknesses to some extent, thus preventing possible wars...
In fact, Bibi Dong was overthinking.
Tang San's purpose was only twofold:
First, he hoped to see the world of two-dimensional animation again, as it was his youth.
Secondly, he hoped that after the Soul Master Competition began, its scenes would not only be visible to the people of Tian Dou City but also to residents of various cities and even villages across the continent.
Merely circulating within the soul master world was too limited, especially considering that soul masters made up a tiny proportion of the continent's population.
He!
Tang San!
He wanted to announce to the entire Douluo Continent:
[I have been in this world!]
The first purpose was selfish.
The second purpose was to expand his influence for better, but ultimately it was also selfish.
"Nana, what do you think?" Bibi Dong suddenly asked Hu Liena, who was meticulously focused on the screen.
Huh?
Hu Liena was startled but quickly regained her composure and respectfully said, "Teacher, the moving images turn inanimate objects into living ones, it's truly miraculous..."
Hearing Hu Liena's words, Bibi Dong knew that she definitely didn't realize the importance of the Mother-Son Soul-Guiding Cinematographic Sphere. She sighed inwardly, "Nana is still too young and hasn't experienced enough. Just practicing diligently won't be enough to control the Martial Soul Hall in the future. After the competition ends, should I arrange for her to experience in one of the branch halls?"
(End of this chapter)