Upon returning home, Gu Yuena tossed Huo Yuhao directly onto the bed and then swiftly departed.
On the bed, a slightly recovered Huo Yuhao slowly sat up. Recalling the warmth of the girl's embrace just moments ago, Huo Yuhao let out a sigh.
"What a mess this is..."
Life is not easy; Huo Yuhao sighed.
Huo Yuhao wanted to indulge in a bit more sentimentality, but in the next instant, a girl dressed in pajamas suddenly appeared and landed directly in Huo Yuhao's arms.
—The Skydream Ice Silkworm.
Skydream looked around warily, activating her Spiritual Detection to observe the surroundings with meticulous detail.
After a long while, once she was certain that a "certain someone" was gone, Skydream finally breathed a sigh of relief: "That wicked woman is finally gone. She scared me to death!"
She habitually hooked her arms around Huo Yuhao's neck and leaned in close. Her delicate, small nose twitched as she sniffed slightly; then, Skydream unconsciously furrowed her brows.
"Yuhao! You have that wicked woman's scent on you again!"
"I lost my strength during training, so she carried me back. It's normal to have a scent."
Huo Yuhao spoke without his heart skipping a beat or his face reddening.
Ever since Skydream was discovered by Gu Yuena two years ago and subsequently given a severe beating, Skydream basically hid whenever she saw Gu Yuena.
She would completely conceal herself within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, only sneaking out after Gu Yuena had left.
Oh, right—when Huo Yuhao's mother was around, she would choose to hide behind Huo Yun'er. In that case, Gu Yuena wouldn't act rashly. This was an even more effective method than hiding behind Huo Yuhao.
"Alright, Sister Skydream, get down first."
Huo Yuhao patted the girl in his arms. Hearing this, the hands she used to cling to him tightly loosened slightly with lingering reluctance.
Her eyes, which contained a golden ring, stared fixedly into Huo Yuhao's eyes, and she unconsciously licked her lips.
"Yuhao, you seem to have become even more fragrant..."
Huo Yuhao's expression stiffened slightly but returned to normal in a flash.
Currently, because of the excessively high-quality positive emotions provided by Gu Yuena, the side effect of the Seed of Emotions causing emotional imbalance was beginning to manifest slightly, though fortunately, it remained within a controllable range.
Huo Yuhao stood up, and Skydream, who had been hanging on him, finally let go with reluctance.
Two silver-glow soul rings manifested. In the next moment, one of the soul rings flashed with light. Then, the two soul rings disappeared, replaced by a standard configuration of two yellow, two purple, and four black rings.
Simultaneously, Huo Yuhao's stature grew and shifted, transforming into the likeness of a strange middle-aged man.
His two silver-glow soul rings could host a total of eight soul skills, but so far, Huo Yuhao had only mounted three: Spiritual Detection, Spiritual Sharing, and Simulation.
These were all auxiliary skills, but for Huo Yuhao, they were enough. With the enhancement of two spiritual soul cores, while his soul power quality was not yet comparable to a Limit Douluo, it far surpassed that of an average Titled Douluo.
Fighting anyone below the level of a Soul Douluo was no problem at all.
If he encountered a Titled Douluo, Huo Yuhao would simply throw Skydream out; he wasn't worried in the slightest.
Huo Yuhao was currently at Rank 21. From his initial Rank 1 when his martial soul first awakened until now, Huo Yuhao had only taken two years.
If such a speed were made public, anyone's jaw would drop in shock, yet Huo Yuhao was not satisfied.
In his original life, going from Rank 1 to Rank 10 had only taken him one month.
However, going from Rank 10 to Rank 20 had taken Huo Yuhao nearly two years.
Though this was partly due to the time spent deducing subsequent cultivation methods, the cultivation speed was indeed too slow.
Specifically, after the second spiritual soul core condensed, he found that his normal cultivation speed had dropped significantly.
Rather than improving his cultivation through normal meditation, it was faster to spend time making delicious food for Gu Yuena, then absorbing the emotions from her and letting the Seed of Emotions convert that into power.
Of course, regarding this, Huo Yuhao already had a solution.
Donning a cloak and putting on a hood, Huo Yuhao and Skydream's figures slowly vanished from the room.
...
Shrek City.
Treasure Pavilion.
As a commercial center, Shrek City naturally gathered countless powers, and standing behind the Treasure Pavilion was the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
As a legendary sect with a ten-thousand-year heritage, the inherent image of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was wealth—immense wealth. Only secondary to that was the top-tier auxiliary capability of their ancestral martial soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
However, seemingly because of this, some top-tier powers did not pay too much attention to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, mostly ignoring them and turning their gaze toward Shrek Academy.
Perhaps this was some sort of strategy?
Back to the topic.
Shrek City, located at the junction of the three great empires, possessed a massive economic trade system. Shrek Academy naturally couldn't swallow such a large cake alone.
The Treasure Pavilion, in a sense, was the Shrek City branch of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Huo Yuhao, dressed in black robes with the invisible Skydream floating beside him, stepped slowly into the Treasure Pavilion.
Stepping into the Treasure Pavilion was like entering a magnificent hall of art. Brilliant crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceiling like stars, shining with a hazy light that illuminated the entire space.
The floor was covered with expensive hand-woven carpets, soft and thick—every step felt like walking on clouds. Meanwhile, various display stands were set up around the room, specifically showcasing items such as medicinal pills, natural treasures, and soul tools.
Huo Yuhao's gaze swept across the room. He took a calm look around and then withdrew his gaze. Just as he was about to head upstairs, a receptionist dressed in a cheongsam approached him and spoke sweetly:
"May I ask if this is Grandmaster Skydream?"
Huo Yuhao paused. His disguised grey eyes stared emotionlessly at the receptionist from beneath his hood, as if scrutinizing her. After a brief pause, he nodded slightly.
The receptionist breathed a small sigh of relief. She had heard that this "Grandmaster Skydream" was moody and often walked out on business deals halfway through if his mood soured. Furthermore, the higher-ups said that this "Grandmaster Skydream" was a genius! He had to be won over at all costs!
If she messed up the reception, she might lose her job!
"Greetings, Grandmaster Skydream. I am Bai Yao. Please follow me to the fifth floor."
Huo Yuhao nodded slightly without speaking, maintaining the taciturn persona he had set for himself.
Soon, under the guidance of the receptionist named Bai Yao, Huo Yuhao reached a room on the fifth floor.
"Grandmaster Skydream, please."
Huo Yuhao did not respond and stepped calmly into the room.
His Spiritual Detection had already silently enveloped the entire Treasure Pavilion the moment he stepped inside.
Naturally, Huo Yuhao had already clearly seen the several people invited to meet him this time.
One young girl, one beautiful woman, and two Titled Douluos.
Heh... it seems the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect truly cannot sit still any longer.