Ye Hao, Tang San, and Xiao Wu had previously advanced to level 20 and arrived at the Soul Hunting Forest under the supervision of the master, school leaders, and the principal.
Returning to this familiar location, the soul beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest, while weak, should not be underestimated.
On the first day, they chose hundred-year-old Ghost Vine as Tang San's second soul ring, granting him the soul skill Parasitism. With the Blue Silver Grass seed left on a target, when Tang San activated his second soul skill, the seed grew instantly, binding the target and achieving complete control.
Tang San, a control-type soul master, knew that this soul skill was the best option available.
Xiao Wu, on the other hand, vanished for a while, going unnoticed by the others before reappearing with her second soul ring. There was also hundred-year-old soul ring. According to Xiao Wu, she had become separated from the group and discovered a dying hundred-year soul beast, which she quickly dealt with before absorbing the soul ring and seeing the others approaching her.
Although Ye Hao was aware of this "excuse," everyone was forced to accept it. As a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast in disguise, Xiao Wu was able to acquire soul rings without having to kill soul beasts. She was just hiding the fact that she was a soul beast, and since only a Title Douluo could see through her disguise, she could act carefree in the backcountry of Notting City.
The source of Ye Hao's second soul ring was a man-faced demon spider that was a thousand years old. In fact, they found a man-faced demon spider that had recently lived for a thousand years in the Soul Hunting Forest. It took all of the group's strength to kill it.
The Man-Faced Demon Spider was the best soul beast for Ye Hao, who had the Death Spider Emperor as his martial soul.
But then he absorbed the soul ring, and something unexpected happened. It was discovered that this man-faced demon spider was not in need of the second soul ring but was just beginning its thousand years. Ye Hao was going to be blocked, but then...
A shiver ran through the master's body. If Ye Hao absorbed a thousand-year soul ring, he would almost certainly die. If anything happened to him, the others would perish as well.
Ye Hao's appearance had changed dramatically as he aged, according to the master, and he now resembled Bibi Dong more and more. This fact strengthened the Master's conviction that Ye Hao was a Bibi Dong agent sent to infiltrate him and exact revenge.
If something happened to Ye Hao, the consequences would be catastrophic...
To everyone's surprise, Ye Hao successfully absorbed the thousand-year soul ring, increasing his soul power to level 22. Seeing this, the Master and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief.
They were secretly pleased because they had just witnessed history: the birth of the first genius in history with a thousand-year soul ring as his second ring.
Everyone was happy for Ye Hao, but Tang San was unable to share in the joy. The gap between them was gradually widening, and Tang San was a highly competitive individual. Ye Hao's terrifying strength was already formidable, and his first thousand-year soul ring as his second ring dealt a significant blow to Tang San.
Years later, the three of them were approaching graduation...
Following that, the Master advised Ye Hao to attend the Shrek Academy in Soto City, where he could fully realize his potential without being overlooked.
However, Ye Hao flatly refused, stating that the atmosphere at Shrek Academy did not suit him. Going to Shrek Academy was undoubtedly following the main character's previous path.
He had come this far, so why not forge his own path?
In the days leading up to graduation, Ye Hao set out on his own to travel to Heaven Dou City.
As for why he would join the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, let Ye Hao absorb the soul ring from the Purple Winged Demon Spider in front of him.
In the Sunset Forest, Ye Hao shed his Death Spider Emperor form and assumed his human form.
The Purple Winged Demon Spider before him had been completely defeated, and purple light spots floated around its body, gradually coalescing into a circle of purple light rings—this was the genuine thousand-year soul ring, Ye Hao's third soul ring.
Ye Hao had inquired about this soul ring for quite some time before learning from the academy's teachers that the Purple Winged Demon Spider appeared in the Sunset Forest.
"Well, well!"
At that point, a girl with blue hair and blue eyes charged over and yanked Ye Hao's ear.
"You could have handled it on your own, but you put us through all of this. Are you deliberately making a fool of us?"
Ye Hao apologized to Dugu Yan and said, "Sister Yan, there was a misunderstanding! How could I have known how weak this Purple Winged Demon Spider was? If I had known..."
"Ow! Ow!!"
In Dugu Yan's ears, it sounded like he was saying that the Purple Winged Demon Spider was weak, and they, as a group, could not handle it, whereas he could simply strike it down with a single blow. The implication was obvious: they were weak.
Of course, this was Dugu Yan's interpretation, not Ye Hao's actual meaning. Ye Hao would have had to put in a lot of effort without the help of the others.
Dugu Yan became enraged and was about to strike Ye Hao the moment those words were spoken. As the granddaughter of Dugu Bo, the notorious poison master, she naturally inherited his eccentric personality.
Speaking of Dugu Bo, Ye Hao had yet to see the renowned title Douluo in his three months at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
"Okay, Yan. Let little Hao absorb the soul ring first. You can teach him a lesson later," said Yu Tianheng, approaching with a bitter smile, followed by Yu Feng, who descended from the sky. The two exchanged glances, chuckling as they gazed at Ye Hao, who was still being pulled by his ear.
Ye Hao was only eleven years old, but he was clearly a genius. An eleven-year-old who had already reached level 30 was extremely rare across the continent.
When Qin Ming first brought Ye Hao to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, not only Dugu Yan and Yu Tianheng but also the academy's three faculty members struggled to believe that an eleven-year-old boy could accomplish this.
However, when Ye Hao demonstrated his martial soul and stated his soul power level, everyone present was taken aback.
Level 29. Ye Hao had a soul power level of 29 when he entered the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. After three months of training, he was able to raise his soul power to level 30, allowing him to successfully hunt the Purple Winged Demon Spider.
The Heaven Dou Royal Academy was a prestigious institution, but on Qin Ming's recommendation, someone like Ye Hao, who had no background but possessed extraordinary strength, was exactly what the academy required. The three faculty members immediately arranged for Ye Hao's enrollment and waived his tuition and other fees.
After all, the Empire established the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and while they had plenty of money, talents like Ye Hao were difficult to find. It would be absurd to force him to pay; that would be equivalent to driving him away!