"White Tiger Duke?!"
Upon hearing this name, He Caitou was stunned.
The hereditary White Tiger Duke had guarded the Mingdou Mountain Range for the Star Luo Empire for countless years. The name Dai Hao was not unfamiliar to most people on the Douluo Continent.
"That's right. You don't need to concern yourself with my true identity, nor why I want to deal with the White Tiger Duke's mansion. All you need to do is help me kill the White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao, at the appropriate time," Huo Yuhao said indifferently.
"This shouldn't be a big deal for you. After all, in the future, you will avenge your parents and siblings. You will reclaim everything you once deserved. You will no longer be the insignificant student He Caitou in Shrek Academy but the Sun Moon Emperor, Xu He!"
"And by then, Dai Hao, who guards the Mingdou Mountain Range, will be a thorn in your side. All I want is for you to help me kill him. As for what you do afterward—whether you unify the four seas and become the supreme ruler or keep a low profile and let the Sun Moon Empire recuperate—I won't interfere."
Dazed by Huo Yuhao's persuasive words, He Caitou seemed to see himself dressed in the imperial robes of black and red, standing on a high platform in Mingdu, receiving the homage of his ministers. The thought made him tremble with excitement.
"Huo Yuhao, do you really want to help me avenge? If you truly are the young master of the Body Sect, I have no doubt you can accomplish this. But why do you want to help me after our previous conflicts?" He Caitou asked suddenly.
"Because I have reasons not to kill Dai Hao myself," Huo Yuhao replied with a faint smile. "And you're mistaken; I'm not helping you. This is a transaction. With your abilities, you can only help me deal with the White Tiger Duke. The other enemies I face are far stronger than you can imagine."
After pondering for a while, He Caitou couldn't refuse Huo Yuhao's olive branch. He nodded solemnly at Huo Yuhao.
"Alright, we have a deal!"
Two weeks flew by, and Elder Xuan provided some guidance to the reserve team members, except for Huo Yuhao.
Elder Xuan's teaching method could only be described as primitive and mindless—no physical training, no technique instruction, only relentless combat. The only rule was not to hold back.
With Elder Xuan, a super expert, supervising, there was no fear of danger. Of course, this was only within Shrek Academy.
Huo Yuhao, uninterested in such combat training, found none of his peers, not even Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, or Jiang Nannan, worthy of being his imaginary foes.
Having once single-handedly defeated over a dozen core disciples of the outer court, Huo Yuhao's absolute strength was undeniable.
Including him in battles would render them meaningless unless it was two against five or one against six. So Elder Xuan let him do as he pleased, not interfering with his life or training.
Recently, Huo Yuhao's focus was on mastering the Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler and beginning to dabble in alchemy. With the guidance of the knowledgeable Yao Lao, Huo Yuhao's formidable spiritual power and the bug-like Spiritual Detection skill, he quickly grasped the basics of alchemy, producing some fundamental medicines.
During these two weeks, the Treasure Pavilion also delivered the materials they had collected for refining the sixth-grade pill, Earth Spirit Pill, to Huo Yuhao. As expected, despite the Treasure Pavilion's connection to Shrek Academy, they couldn't gather all four ingredients.
Among the four materials required for the Earth Spirit Pill, besides the Earth Heart Fire Mushroom and Green Wood Immortal Vine provided by the Treasure Pavilion, and the ten-thousand-year water attribute soul bone already given to Huo Yuhao by Old Mo, the Dragon Beard Ice Fire Fruit was still missing.
According to the Treasure Pavilion, they had heard about the Dragon Beard Ice Fire Fruit from a merchant from Star Luo City years ago. So if Huo Yuhao really wanted it, he might find it in Star Luo City.
Without the Earth Spirit Pill, Huo Yuhao couldn't absorb the silver Heavenly Flame. The attributes of this flame clashed with his current powers, and even with Yao Lao's soul power, absorption was unlikely to succeed.
During this period of training, Huo Yuhao's power had reached the peak of level twenty-nine, just a step away from the Soul Elder realm.
Ning Tian's power had reached level thirty-five, not much different from Dai Huabin. For an auxiliary system soul master, this was an exceptional rate of cultivation, showing Ning Tian's extraordinary talent.
Of course, this was also due to the head soul bone Huo Yuhao had given her, which improved her physique and enhanced her spiritual power, greatly aiding low-level soul masters' cultivation.
Today was another day of Elder Xuan's teachings. As usual, Ning Tian and Wang Dong would pause their class studies to wait in the assessment area for Elder Xuan's guidance.
However, upon entering the assessment area, they saw some unfamiliar faces. These students wore the blood-red uniforms of the inner court.
Among them, they recognized Ma Xiaotao, the Flaming Devil, as well as Dai Yueheng and Gongyang Mo. The rest of the inner court disciples were unfamiliar.
"With only ten days left before the new All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, I'm sure you can guess each other's identities."
"That's right, you are the main and substitute members of this tournament, the new and old Shrek Seven Devils. Today, you will get to know each other and familiarize yourselves with each other's abilities."
"You reserve members mustn't think you'll just be spectators this time. On the contrary, you'll likely participate unless we face particularly strong opponents. This way, we can better hide the true strength of the main team members."
Ma Xiaotao, puzzled, asked, "Elder Xuan, why are there only six members of the next generation of Shrek Seven Devils? Is someone missing?"
Elder Xuan was about to speak when a familiar laugh came from nearby.
"Sorry everyone, I'm late."