"Not bad."
Zhuge Lan nodded and said,
"Although we could spend points, condensing an external spirit bone costs at least 10,000 Fortune Points to start, and raising its age would be ten times that cost. The efficiency is way too low."
"Getting an external spirit bone for free, one that evolves on its own? That saves a huge sum of Fortune Points. Just that alone is worth half the value of that torso bone."
Huo Yuhao was secretly pleased, but then noticed Wang Dong looking like he had more to say.
"What is it? Something else?"
"Uh… sort of." Wang Dong hesitated, a rare shyness crossing his face. "But you'll only know once you reach level 50. Depending on certain conditions you meet, you might be able to learn the Great Sumeru Hammer… even if not, you'll still be taken to hunt a 300,000-year soul beast. Just… not in the Star Dou Forest. The Extreme North looks promising."
Huo Yuhao felt a bit lost in the clouds.
What "certain conditions"?
Just as he was about to ask, the Skydream Iceworm exploded first!
"The Extreme North? A 300,000-year soul beast?"
"This is clearly aimed at Bing Bing!"
"No way!"
"Little Yuhao, ask for leave! I'll take you to the Extreme North to seize the opportunity myself!"
Before Huo Yuhao could respond, Zhuge Lan had already snared the Iceworm in place, tying it up in a spiritual knot.
"Are you stupid?"
"According to the plan, Yuhao was going to the Extreme North at level 30 anyway. Why would we need the Clear Sky Sect for that?"
"When the time comes, we'll fleece the Sun–Moon Empire a bit, maybe capture a sea spirit beast or two."
The Iceworm, struggling to untangle itself, suddenly froze.
Right! That made sense. It was just too anxious, forgetting the timeline!
"Hey! Let me go!"
"Figure it out yourself. Crawl out of your cocoon slowly. Off you go!"
Zhuge Lan punted the Iceworm aside, then reminded Yuhao not to rush in absorbing the spirit bones.
"Hold off for now. I'll arrange it later. You might even get a nice surprise."
Yuhao nodded, storing away the two spirit bones Wang Dong had proudly gifted him into the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges.
Then he turned, staring at Wang Dong with a hungry, almost desperate gaze.
"It's been a month since the last time. Hurry up and give it to me!"
Wang Dong: "..."
What kind of ambigous words are those?!
But his body betrayed him—he raised his hand, pressing palms with Huo Yuhao as their soul power merged.
The Haodong Power surged forth.
"Hiss—"
"Ah~"
And so, their joyful dual cultivation began again!
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )
---
The next morning.
Huo Yuhao, unusually, didn't wake up on time—lingering in the comfort of Wang Dong's aura.
The speed of cultivation had nearly doubled. Who would want to wake up from that?
Wang Dong wasn't much better, reluctant to open his eyes either.
Until..
"Yah!!"
A sharp scream snapped them awake.
The two realized they'd somehow fallen asleep still holding each other, face-to-face no less, bodies intimately close.
The air was thick with ambiguity.
At the dorm entrance stood Xiao Xiao, her expression torn between amusement and turmoil.
Good news: she'd just witnessed a BL couple moment.
Bad news: one of them was her crush!
That bittersweet feeling left her utterly conflicted.
Seeing her, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong instantly sprang apart like startled rabbits, though Xiao Xiao still looked as if she wanted more.
"Xiao Xiao, don't misunderstand—we were just dual cultivating," Huo Yuhao explained.
"Dual cultivating? Heheheh—" Xiao Xiao giggled foolishly.
"What nonsense are you spouting!" Wang Dong snapped, blushing furiously.
"It's just fusing soul power to speed up cultivation, you idiot! Not that dual cultivation!"
"Isn't that the same thing?" Huo Yuhao scratched his head, genuinely puzzled.
Rolling his eyes, Wang Dong shoved Huo Yuhao out the door.
"I'm taking a bath! Get lost!"
Huo Yuhao, long used to this treatment, didn't mind. He told Xiao Xiao to go ready for a while, then headed for the bathhouse.
Xiao Xiao, however, was left frowning.
Wait, they even bathe separately? Could it be they really weren't… together?
But Wang Dong's red face clearly said otherwise.
Her brain felt like it was overheating.
---
Later, after the fuss had settled down, the three gathered under the big tree to hear Mu En's guidance.
"Your previous training rhythm was fine. Yuhao, keep leading them." Mu En said casually.
What needed to be taught, he'd already explained yesterday. From here on, it was up to their own diligence and talent.
"Yes, Teacher."
"You're just lazy, Teacher."
"Got it, Grandmaster."
Huo Yuhao then led the group under another tree.
"The freshman assessment is about to begin. Let me walk you both through a few rounds of Taichi."
He was mainly looking after Wang Dong, who had only studied Taichi for a single day.
"I'm fine with that," Xiao Xiao said briskly.
"Every time Class Monitor teaches Taichi, I gain new insights. I couldn't be happier!"
Huo Yuhao nodded, pleased. Having obedient teammates really made things easier.
He opened up his Spiritual Detection sharing and guided them carefully through two rounds of Taichi.
By then, it was about time, so they headed toward the Soul-Dueling Platform.
___
In the waiting area, they ran into students from Class One.
"Class Monitor, we saw your battle yesterday. Amazing!"
"Xiao Xiao's a control-type, but she fought fiercer than an assault-type!"
"Two versus three? More like one versus three!"
"Class Monitor, I want to learn your martial arts too!"
Huo Yuhao smiled and answered them one by one.
As for learning Taichi, he politely declined.
The essence of Taichi lay in its artistic conception, and required even more innate talent than the Muscle Transformation Manual. They wouldn't be able to grasp it.
When the match was about to start, he finally said, "I don't want to fight in today's battle. Do you two mind?"
"Perfect!" Xiao Xiao said excitedly. "I'll one-versus-three again!"
"Don't be greedy, I just got my third soul ring—I'm itching to test it!" Wang Dong was eager too.
"Then… one fight each?"
"I'll take the first round!"
"Fine."
Thus, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao stood back, while Wang Dong alone stepped forward to face the three waiting opponents.
"Don't underestimate us!" the opposing captain shouted. "We're not like the three one-ring rookies from yesterday. We've got two two-ring Soul Grandmasters here!"
The three of them released five yellow soul rings in total, a decent display of momentum.
Wang Dong's lips curled into a smile.
What a perfect setup for him to show off.
The radiant Light Butterfly Goddess spirit flared into view.
His first yellow soul ring—ordinary.
His second purple soul ring—made the other side blink.
But when the third black soul ring emerged, their minds shattered.
Σ(っQДQ;)っ
What the—?!
A black one? Maybe it was just a dark-purple ring that looked black…?
o(╥﹏╥)o
Nope. It was really a black ten-thousand-year soul ring!!!
The captain's defiance vanished instantly. He turned on his heel and left without hesitation.
What was the point of fighting?!
Xiao Xiao had already one-versus-three.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were disciples of Elder Mu, and now Wang Dong had a ten-thousand-year third ring.
One skill from him would be enough to blow them to ashes!
Better to forfeit and save strength for later.
"Eh?" Wang Dong looked bewildered. "Don't run! Come back! I won't even use soul skills… fine, I won't use my martial spirit either, okay?!"
But hearing that, the three bolted faster.
What, you want to use us as props for your showboating? In your dreams!
At the perfect moment, Wang Yan announced:
"Freshman Class One, Huo Yuhao's team, wins!"
"A ten-thousand-year third soul ring, so amazing!" Xiao Xiao laughed happily. "That counts as one round for you, so the next is mine!"
Wang Dong could only wave his hand weakly.
Fine, whatever. He had no interest in bullying weaklings anyway.
But soon, Xiao Xiao's smile would vanish—becau
___
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