"Ugh…"
On the wooden bed, Ma Xiaotao's body moved slightly, murmuring, "So cold…"
She opened her eyes, which were a light pink, with all the previous blood-red color gone.
At this moment, Ma Xiaotao's eyes showed a hint of confusion as she muttered to herself, "Strange, why is it so cold?"
"Xiaotao, you almost made a huge mistake this time! However, by some stroke of luck, an ultimate ice attribute power surged into your body, sealing your evil fire. Do you remember anything after you rushed out of Sea God Lake?" said an old man in white, standing by her bedside.
"I don't remember. I just recall a sea of red before an extreme cold froze me. After that, I was back here," Ma Xiaotao shook her head and said. "Teacher, what kind of power could suppress my Phoenix Evil Fire?"
The old man in white pondered for a moment and said, "It was an extremely pure ice attribute, far purer than your Phoenix Evil Fire. This time, you almost killed an outer courtyard student. Initially, I thought it was his guardian who froze you, but he's just an average orphan with no background, who was only allowed to enroll because he happened to pick up a Shrek Academy token."
"Teacher, what is the name of this outer courtyard student?" Ma Xiaotao's eyes lit up with a brilliant spark as she asked.
"Class leader of the new student Class Nine, Huo Yuhao."
Compared to yesterday's curriculum, today's lessons were much easier for the students of Class Nine. Both morning and afternoon sessions were theoretical classes—Martial Soul Classification in the morning and Identifying Spirit Beast Age in the afternoon.
Many students, due to their family backgrounds, did not take these courses seriously. However, Huo Yuhao was different. He listened very attentively and took a lot of notes.
Compared to other students, he lacked not just in cultivation but also in knowledge. Whenever he had spare time, he would immerse himself in the Shrek Academy library, gaining a systematic understanding of the continent.
Although he had read the original novels and had a profound understanding of the history, culture, and knowledge of the Douluo Continent, what the author described was merely the tip of the iceberg of this world.
Huo Yuhao needed to fill the framework in his memory with extensive knowledge, which was crucial for his future development.
In the evening, Huo Yuhao, as usual, set up his food cart. Business was even more booming than the day before.
After all, he had already won over many students with his barbecue, and his fame had spread throughout Shrek Academy.
However, Huo Yuhao had wisely stocked up on 50% more barbecue ingredients, thanks to Old Mo, preventing a shortage.
Today's barbecue highlight was a ten-year spirit beast, the Black Striped Pig. These spirit beasts were plentiful and generally moved in herds. Compared to domesticated pigs, they were at least twice as small, making them ideal for roasting whole.
Notably, Xu Sanshi bought this roast pig for 3,000 gold soul coins, and he also handed over the remaining two Xuan Water Pills and the 10,000 gold soul coins for the purchase of the "Song Lyrics" to Huo Yuhao.
In addition to eating the roast pig himself, Xu Sanshi invited Bei Bei and Tang Ya to share it with him.
After all, they had spoken many good words for Xu Sanshi during yesterday's incident, so he obediently invited them to dinner as a thank you.
Of course, after eating, Xu Sanshi pulled Bei Bei aside to carefully inquire about Bei Bei's so-called tips for wooing girls, leaving satisfied afterward.
Finally, after finishing all the work at the barbecue stand, Huo Yuhao returned to his hotel room. After closing the door, Yao Lao emerged from the ring.
"Yuhao, you're going to cause quite a stir this time," Yao Lao said with a chuckle. "However, since you've been honing yourself for so long, you won't have any instability issues when you break through, so you can safely improve your cultivation."
Huo Yuhao nodded and handed the soul-enhancing pill he obtained during the day to Yao Lao.
"Teacher, this soul-enhancing pill seems to be made from a plant with strong life force. Please take a look."
Then, Huo Yuhao took out a Xuan Water Pill from his storage ring and placed it in his palm.
The Xuan Water Pill was dark blue, about the size of a cherry, with many white lines of varying depths on its surface. After being poured out of the porcelain bottle, a faint mist surrounded the pill, exuding a refreshing aroma that was pleasant to the senses.
In contrast, the soul-enhancing pill in Yao Lao's hand was about the size of a walnut, with a translucent green, gel-like outer shell. Inside the shell, a faint glow seemed to flow, sparkling and full of life.
Yao Lao observed the soul-enhancing pill and shook his head with a wry smile, "If the so-called soul-enhancing pill can only be called a pill, then the Xuan Water Pill doesn't even qualify as one. It's clearly a roughly purified precious wood-attributed herb, infused into a gel-like shell. If you look closely through the light, you can still see some plant residues inside."
"Give me the Xuan Water Pill as well. I'll purify and refine both pills and combine them with some leftover herbs and spirit beast blood to enhance their medicinal properties."
Huo Yuhao nodded and handed the Xuan Water Pill to Yao Lao. Then, Yao Lao took out some herbs collected from the Star Dou Forest and leftover spirit beast blood from refining the Foundation Establishment Elixir.
Moments later, Yao Lao exhaled lightly, and a pale flame suddenly flared up in his left palm.
As soon as the flame appeared, the room's temperature dropped significantly.
With a calm expression, Yao Lao's white flame flickered and engulfed the Xuan Water Pill. Within just two breaths, the Xuan Water Pill was refined into a small blob of blue liquid.
Then, Yao Lao broke the shell of the soul-enhancing pill, allowing the green liquid inside to flow out and merge with the blue liquid from the Xuan Water Pill.
The blue and green liquids fused together, slowly transforming into a clear green liquid under the refinement of Yao Lao's white flame.
The clear green liquid, like top-quality jade, wriggled continuously in the flame, while impurities were expelled as wisps of black smoke.
As the white flame calcined it, the volume of the green liquid shrank until it was only about the size of a thumb.
Next, Yao Lao added several herbs and two bottles of spirit beast blood into the white flame, refining them and merging them with the green liquid.
This process lasted about an hour, yet Yao Lao remained energetic, showing no signs of fatigue.
Finally, the white flame in Yao Lao's palm gradually subsided and eventually disappeared. In his palm, a drop of clear green liquid, exuding a unique fragrance, hovered.
"Alright, tonight I'll use the most extreme methods to temper all your muscles and meridians. Then you'll soak in the Foundation Establishment Elixir and take this drop of medicine for the best effect."
Huo Yuhao's face showed a trace of bitterness. He knew exactly what Yao Lao meant by extreme tempering.
It seemed he was in for a tough night.