Jiang Nannan left, carrying her mother and some luggage that Huo Yuhao had given her, and followed the caravan to Shrek City.
The caravan was very long, much longer than the Dingyi Chamber of Commerce's caravan. At a glance, most of the people were ordinary people with their families.
These people were all heading to Shrek City to seek development and a future.
That place was the holy land of Soul Masters, the center of the continent, and naturally, countless chambers of commerce gathered there.
The chances of making a living there were much greater.
An officer who often came to the clinic had confided to Huo Yuhao that the Heavenly Soul Empire particularly disliked its citizens going to Shrek City.
Shrek City was nominally under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Soul Empire, but it was independent in terms of legislation, law enforcement, and taxation.
To put it bluntly, it was a country within a country, and this miniature country was also siphoning talent from the three major empires.
Although they had many complaints about this, the empires dared not show it openly.
Graduates from Shrek Academy were guaranteed high-ranking positions and generous salaries by the three great empires, leading to Shrek alumni holding many important posts within the empires.
These individuals openly engaged in favoritism, including, but not limited to, signing contracts with promising young talents to help them acquire spirit rings in exchange for attending Shrek Academy.
Huo Yuhao wasn't particularly surprised by this; people naturally gravitate towards higher positions.
This is an age-old truth. Of the three great empires, only the Star Luo Empire was truly changing; the other two were simply doomed, slowly dying.
In this context, the Sun Moon Empire was considered advanced and civilized on the Douluo Continent.
"Purely a competition of who's worse,"
was Huo Yuhao's assessment.
The Douluo Continent was a world of competition; there was no better, only who was worse!
After Jiang Nannan's figure disappeared on the horizon, Huo Yuhao finished packing his things in the clinic.
He put the herbs, a large number of books, and most importantly, the manuscripts into his storage soul tool.
Huo Yuhao walked out of the clinic, and after closing the door, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional. This clinic was the first property he owned in both his lives.
He gently lowered the signboard at the door and then pasted a piece of paper on the door.
"I am Huo Qiqiang, and I will be traveling to the continent to find the best fish. My return date is unknown. Please do not worry."
After posting the notice, Huo Yuhao did not linger in Xuanfeng City and left directly through the south gate of Xuanfeng City under the cover of night.
As for why he had to leave at night, it was because he couldn't leave during the day.
Those soul masters would probably cling to his legs, crying and begging him not to leave. If Huo Yuhao left, where would they find such a cheap and highly skilled doctor?
Huo Yuhao's direction was very clear: head south, following the direction of Shrek Academy into the Star Dou Great Forest.
Nighttime in Douluo Continent is extremely dangerous. Along the way, Huo Yuhao's spiritual power sensed numerous nocturnal soul beasts roaming the roadsides.
These soul beasts, once noticed by Huo Yuhao, would be recorded in his catalog, revealing their habits and abilities.
This made it easy for Huo Yuhao to identify which soul beasts were more dangerous, and he would generally avoid the more dangerous ones.
He didn't want to engage in battle at night.
Fortunately, Xuanfeng City wasn't far. Traveling at high speed, as dawn broke, a vast forest appeared, like a colossal prehistoric beast coiled across the land.
The branches and leaves of unnamed trees intertwined, layer upon layer, making the most of every ray of sunlight.
Each tree recorded countless years of history.
After entering this forest, Huo Yuhao restrained his spiritual power, trying not to disturb the surrounding soul beasts.
He then began to wander the outer perimeter, recording the types of soul beasts to improve his [Understanding] Authority control, while searching for the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's trail.
…
Splash!
A burst of water rose from the river's surface. Huo Yuhao had no idea how many times he had cast his line.
The bait he had prepared nearby had long been used up.
He had prepared so much bait and cast so many lines, yet he hadn't caught a single fish.
If it weren't for the fish blowing bubbles nearby, he would have doubted that there were any fish in the river at all.
He had been in the Star Dou Great Forest for ten days, and his initial curiosity about this primeval forest had turned into near-numbness.
The scenery here was indeed beautiful, but it was truly a torment; damn it, the Star Dou Great Forest even had mosquitoes!
Different kinds of mosquito-like spirit beasts harassed Huo Yuhao in the morning, noon, and night.
Only then did Huo Yuhao remember that the end of summer was the peak season for mosquito-like spirit beasts, and he had just happened to be there.
"The Star Dou Great Forest is so beautiful."
He decided to look towards Shrek Academy, the world's number one city, in the distance. "
Huo Yuhao listlessly mumbled incoherently, his arm swinging the fishing rod again.
"Meow~"
Of course, Huo Yuhao wasn't alone; a ten-year-old Shadow Cat was squatting beside him.
The bond between the man and the beast stemmed from a grilled fish. The cat was injured and lying in a bush.
Huo Yuhao was incredibly bored at the time, so he used a reversal spell to heal it. At first, the cat hissed at Huo Yuhao frantically. It
even instantly activated its Spinosaurus form with zero frames. After eating Huo Yuhao's grilled fish, the cat immediately stood at attention.
It became Huo Yuhao's lackey on the spot, leading him to various rare medicinal herbs.
It even actively lured prey for Huo Yuhao to hunt.
Huo Yuhao looked helplessly at the Shadow Cat beside him, wondering how he should tell a cat that he hadn't caught anything.
Suddenly, the fishing rod moved, and Huo Yuhao's spirits lifted, his spiritual eyes opening.
"Damn, finally a catch!"
"Get up!" "
As the fishing rod left the water, a fish no bigger than the palm of his hand was hooked.
Huo Yuhao grimaced and pulled the fish off the hook.
He slapped the fish's head a few times, then stuffed a bunch of bait into its mouth, saying,
'What are you doing out here, kid?!'
'Go back! Call your parents over here!'
'The local fish are so rude, they don't even know how to offer food!'" Then
he threw it back into the river, and continued fishing as if he were dead.
The Shadow Cat, squatting beside him, grew anxious. It tugged at Huo Yuhao's clothes a few times before leaping into the river.
Then, to Huo Yuhao's incredulous gaze, it brought a fish longer than Huo Yuhao's leg ashore in just one minute.
After placing the fish beside Huo Yuhao's legs, it dove back into the river, soon slapping two even larger fish onto the bank.
Then, the Shadow Cat, as if seeking praise, squatted in front of Huo Yuhao, wagging its tail and staring at him with its obsidian-like eyes.
Huo Yuhao glanced at the fish beside him and gripped his fishing rod tightly.
"I'm so angry! When will this fisherman finally stand up for himself?!" "
Despite his words, Huo Yuhao wisely put away his fishing rod and squatted down on the riverbank to start a fire and grill the fish.
Soon, the unique aroma of grilled fish filled the air, and even the Shadow Cat beside him was drooling.
In the distance, unnoticed by Huo Yuhao, ripples appeared on the river's surface.
A dark golden, triangular pyramid-shaped head emerged from the water.
"What's that smell? It smells so good."
(End of Chapter)