After leaving the Treasure Pavilion, Huo Yuhao and Xie Huanyue strolled leisurely back to the Shrek Academy, chatting happily along the way.
Using conversational techniques from his previous life, Huo Yuhao finally learned about Xie Huanyue's background—details never mentioned in the original story.
Xie Huanyue's father, Xie Long, was a descendant of Ge Long, a famous general from the original Tian Dou Empire. After the empire split, Xie Long joined the Tian Hun Empire's army. When the Tian Hun Empire went to war against the Sun Moon Empire and the original Douluo's three great empires, its national power weakened, and heavy taxation caused widespread suffering among the populace. General Xie Long pleaded for the people but was falsely accused and forced to lead his troops in rebellion, forming a formidable rebel force aiming to overthrow the cruel Tian Hun royal family.
As the son of a famous general, Xie Huanyue's inherited martial soul was supposed to be the powerful Demon Ape, but when his martial soul awakened, it mutated. To develop the potential of this mutated soul, he was sent by his father to study at Shrek Academy.
Due to years of warfare, General Xie Long's military expenses were enormous, so Xie Huanyue's family was not wealthy enough for him to even afford a soul beast corpse.
"That mutation is way too extreme, isn't it?" Huo Yuhao, hearing this, couldn't help but sweat nervously. After all, an elephant and an ape are completely different species.
Xie Huanyue frowned, "I don't understand it myself. My original martial soul was still an ape-type, a rare one called the Gluttonous God Ape."
"At least it was still an ape," Huo Yuhao nodded. "So how did it end up becoming a Pi Pi Elephant?"
"Ah, it's because of my martial soul issue. I'm too hungry, you see. One day, I accidentally ate a fruit my father brought back from the near seas," Xie Huanyue explained gloomily.
"What kind of miraculous fruit could turn your ape-type martial soul into an elephant-type?" Huo Yuhao quickly zeroed in on the key question.
"My martial soul didn't actually change—it's still the Gluttonous God Ape. But that fruit made my body extremely elastic after the martial soul manifested. I can stretch and mold my body parts freely, even shape them to roughly mimic other martial soul appearances, just like rubber," Xie Huanyue helplessly rubbed his belly. "Because of this, my stomach can expand infinitely, which only increased my appetite, and I just kept getting fatter..."
"Since then, I've claimed my martial soul is the Pi Pi Elephant because it's the only soul that can explain these ability changes."
The more Huo Yuhao listened, the more something felt off—this ability seemed oddly familiar! Then he remembered the giant ape corpse Xie Huanyue had bought. "Could that giant ape help restore your martial soul to the original Demon Ape?"
"No, not really. I don't even know where that fruit came from," Xie Huanyue confessed honestly. "But this soul beast corpse carries a trace of ancient Sun God Ape bloodline, which can evolve my Gluttonous God Ape martial soul and finally solve my fat problem."
"I see. Need any help?" Huo Yuhao, now understanding why Xie Huanyue bought the corpse and thinking he might need strong allies in the future, decided to lend a hand.
"If you're a spirit-type soul master, you might be able to help me," Xie Huanyue said straightforwardly, showing no intention of refusing help.
Huo Yuhao smiled and immediately activated his Spirit Eye martial soul, channeling his powerful spiritual energy toward Xie Huanyue.
"Far yet near, fatty," Huo Yuhao teased.
Feeling the overwhelming mental pressure, Xie Huanyue's eyes nearly popped out. He quickly grabbed Huo Yuhao's shoulder and said, "Brother, help me out. If it solves my martial soul problem, I'll follow you through fire and water without hesitation!"
"Aren't we already partners?" Huo Yuhao smiled sincerely.
Xie Huanyue's nose tingled with emotion. Since turning into this mess, no one had truly wanted to be his friend. He said no more; words were unnecessary.
Unconsciously, they arrived back at the academy. Because of his size, Xie Huanyue's dorm was on the third floor, and the academy had arranged a private room for him.
Xie Huanyue eagerly opened his bag and took out the ape corpse. Even with Huo Yuhao's god-like perspective and experience, he sensed nothing unusual about the corpse.
Within minutes, they dissected the ape corpse but found no soul bone. Xie Huanyue wasn't interested in the flesh and immediately pulled out the spine.
"There's a trace of ancient beast bloodline in this spine," Bibi Dong's voice suddenly sounded heavy in Huo Yuhao's mind. "It's an extremely powerful bloodline. Even the Dragon King bloodline in your memories doesn't compare."
"That strong?" Huo Yuhao was stunned. This fatty must have studied ancient texts a lot. Discovering such a miraculous advantage could very well be a fateful opportunity.
Xie Huanyue skillfully snapped off a section of the spine. A drop of milky white bone marrow mixed with blood fell into a prepared container.
Huo Yuhao hurriedly leaned closer. The bone marrow lay quietly inside, radiating a strange glow.
"Yuhao, after I take this, I'll fully relax my mind. You just need to attack me with your spiritual power, preferably to the point I pass out!" Xie Huanyue's face was unusually serious. "Don't worry about the consequences!"
Huo Yuhao understood the gravity of the matter and asked, "This is serious. Should I first get a healer from the academy to be on standby?"
Xie Huanyue shook his head, "I don't want to owe too many favors to the academy. I won't stay long there anyway. The glory and spirit of Shrek will only hold me back."
Huo Yuhao chuckled, "If you succeed, you'll definitely shine in the continent's top soul master academy combat tournament. You'll become the academy's hero, and it wouldn't be surprising if you joined the Shrek Seven Devils. You're already a Level 32 Soul Lord at 12 years old. With your talent, you should become a Soul Emperor before you're 20."
"I don't care about being a hero. The biggest difference is heroes share the meat, and I..." Xie Huanyue said seriously, "want to eat the meat!"
"Hahaha!" Huo Yuhao laughed so hard he nearly convulsed. "Fatty, you really got it!"
"Yuhao, aren't you the same?" Xie Huanyue didn't laugh but looked at him seriously.
Huo Yuhao's smile faded slightly. Xie Huanyue was clearly more than he appeared—wise but simple, an apt description. From their conversation, Xie Huanyue could sense Huo Yuhao's indifference toward Shrek.
"Big brother, one of us."
...
Elsewhere, in the small rented room where the three Wufeng girls lived:
Two beds that were originally separate were pushed together. The three girls' faces were flushed red. They looked at each other but said nothing for a while.
"Tell me about that guy Huo Yuhao," Ning Tian broke the silence first, casually tossing a stack of documents on the bed.
Nanmen Yun'er and Wufeng had read them as well.
Yes, the official records of Huo Yuhao, whose noble bloodline was hidden by the Duchess, had returned.
Huo Yuhao was from the Xingluo Empire, had the Spirit Eye martial soul, and awakened with a Level 1 innate soul power. His mother, Huo Yun'er, was a servant to the White Tiger Duke, born poor and always worked in the duke's mansion until it was mysteriously destroyed a year ago, and she disappeared...
"Looks like Huo Yuhao must have had some kind of opportunity after leaving the duke's mansion," Nanmen Yun'er analyzed. "Someone with only Level 1 innate soul power shouldn't have reached Level 29 by age eleven."
"Maybe he found a lucky soul ring outside, causing his martial soul to mutate. His first soul ring was a thousand years old," Wufeng said casually. "There are many soul beast hunting groups on the continent; maybe some wounded soul beast happened to cross paths with him, and he got lucky."
"Huo Yuhao has too many secrets, and his constitution as well. If he ever showed the ability to absorb life energy, there's no reason for someone not to have tried to capture and control him," Ning Tian summarized. "Including his current wealth, appearance, and noble aura, he doesn't look like a servant's son."
"All I can say is that the year Huo Yuhao disappeared from everyone's sight was probably because some major force noticed him, and then he suddenly rose to prominence."
As for Xie Huanyue, his Pi Pi Elephant martial soul seemed like an overpowered bug early on and left a deep impression on me. His soul power level of 32 before age twelve completely outclassed Tang San back then. I thought it better to give him a full story, truly integrating him into the protagonist group.
(End of Chapter)
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