The next morning, Huo Yuhao and the others, who had been hiding in an underground secret chamber, were found by Jing Hongchen. Subsequently, Huo Yuhao was taken by Jing Hongchen to the Illustrious Virtue Hall.
Walking slowly through the metal corridor designed for both aesthetics and security, Huo Yuhao observed the staff bustling about—more than twice as busy as usual—and allowed a perfectly timed look of confusion to cross his face.
Jing Hongchen naturally noticed. After a moment's hesitation, he spoke:
"Yuhao, do you know why the Illustrious Virtue Hall is so busy right now?"
"Please enlighten me, Teacher."
"It's because of those three Limit Douluos from last night..." Jing Hongchen briefly recounted the many events that had occurred at the banquet, though he withheld the parts regarding "Gods."
So the information about 'Gods' is considered a secret that cannot be spread?
The thought flashed through Huo Yuhao's mind, but his face showed only a look of profound shock.
Under Jing Hongchen's lead, Huo Yuhao went to meet Kong Deming, who was currently tinkering with a piece of Spirit-Forging metal.
After handing Huo Yuhao a piece of the Spirit-Forging metal and instructing him to study it well and focus on his cultivation, Kong Deming returned to his research.
Escorted back to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Engineer Academy by Jing Hongchen, Huo Yuhao walked through the campus, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Having the top talents of an empire work for me makes things so much easier...
Now, he just had to let the bullet fly for a while.
...
Since the investigation team was led by Zhang Lexuan—who was equipped with a "lie detector" (actually an emotion monitor) given to her by a certain someone—the process was incredibly precise. Not a single culprit was spared.
Suddenly, the entirety of Shrek felt much cleaner. Regarding finances specifically, after the purge, no one dared to stick their hands where they didn't belong, which actually improved Shrek's fiscal health.
Simultaneously, accompanying the internal purge were various institutional reforms.
One such reform was a proposal to use soul tools as aids for soul master cultivation. This proposal was personally approved by the Master of the Sea God Pavilion, Mu En.
Thus, the Soul Tool Martial Soul Class—also known as Class Zero—was born.
At this moment, within Class Zero, a youth with fair skin and a feminine yet slightly sinister appearance was sitting cross-legged, cultivating in a micro-mimicry environment.
This person was none other than Tang San!
Since the traumatic events of a few months ago, Tang San's state of mind had undergone a mysterious, indescribable sublimation.
For instance, when killing evil soul beasts, he had become markedly more brutal. He had developed a strange fondness for using his Eight Spider Lances to repeatedly stab at the beasts' vitals; watching them wail in agony brought an inexplicable sense of satisfaction to his heart.
Furthermore, he had developed a peculiar habit of using Blue Silver Grass to bind himself in specific ways. That sensation reminded him of the crushing pressure he felt when Dao Jie had bound him with ropes.
Specifically, the terrifying sense of suffocation when the Blue Silver Grass tightened around his neck made him feel as if he were dancing back and forth on the line between life and death.
This sense of urgency and the addictive near-death experience allowed his mental focus to become incredibly sharp.
Combined with the mimicry environment of Class Zero and two bottles of Life Essence per day, his cultivation speed was half as fast as it had been when he was absorbing the life force of evil soul beasts!
This made him increasingly addicted to the sensation.
Slowly opening his eyes, Tang San felt his soul power advance another step; he wasn't far from Rank 37 now, and his heart filled with joy.
If his calculations were correct, by the time he reached his second year, he might hit Rank 40!
Given his current physical condition and powerful spirit, adding a 10,000 Year Soul Ring to his Blue Silver King for his fourth ring should not be difficult!
Second year, Rank 40! Possessing a 10,000 Year Soul Ring! What a world-shaking genius!
Tang San believed that like this, he would surely become Shrek's most prominent genius!
Aside from that...
Tang San looked at his Divine Trial.
A few months ago, at the moment Dao Jie had released his pent-up energy, Tang San found an opportunity to use his world-shaking Divine Consciousness to destroy Dao Jie's consciousness.
This powerful feat of a Soul Elder defeating a Soul Emperor caused the Trial to judge that he had passed both the Fourth and Fifth Trials. The Trial mark directly granted him the rewards for both!
Besides two 「God-bestowed soul rings」, there was an even more powerful reward: the 「Celestial Body」!
Once the 「Celestial Body」 reward was issued, it transformed his physical constitution from the inside out. It was like a marrow-cleansing process even more potent than a Mystic Water Pill, even erasing every scar on his body.
Now, there were no more hideous burst wounds down there; instead, it was incredibly smooth.
Tang San didn't care about that; his mind had long since transcended such things.
The powerlessness and humiliation of that time had been entirely converted into an extreme pursuit of strong, domineering, and world-shaking power!
Gwa! Power is everything, period!
As long as he had power, he could do whatever he wanted!
Moreover, once he completed the Divine Trials... once he achieved Godhood... once he ascended to the God Realm and dealt with that other version of himself—ha!
As the saying goes, whoever is stronger is the original! Once he controlled everything, he could completely reconstruct his own body! At that time, he would be the true Tang San!
His naturally twisted personality combined with his even more twisted experiences had caused Tang San to develop a rebellious heart. He had already begun unconsciously plotting how to kill the God Realm Tang San!
Suppressing the surging thoughts in his mind, Tang San slowly stood up, preparing to leave the mimicry room to return to his dorm to see Xiao Wu.
After the agonizing experience of being kidnapped and tortured, Tang San had applied for Xiao Wu to enter Shrek Academy and live in the same dormitory as him—both to prevent the thieves targeting him from kidnapping her and to care for her damaged mental state.
As for the puppet Dao Jie under his control, he had hidden him in the Star Constellation Great Fores
t. When Tang San went out to hunt soul beasts, he would use the puppet to help him hunt evil ones.
As Tang San was thinking, he had only walked a few steps out of the room when a figure who seemed to have been waiting for a long time quickly approached him.
Tang San paused. "Teacher Du."
"Tang San..." Du Weilun paused slightly before speaking seriously, "Regarding the invitation to join the Martial Soul Department I extended last time, have you considered it?"
"The Martial Soul Department..." Tang San's expression remained unchanged, his tone flat. "Apologies, Teacher Du, I'm still a bit undecided. After all, the auxiliary training effects of these soul tools are indeed quite good, but the Martial Soul Department..."
Tang San's tone was regretful, but the corners of his mouth twitched upward in an unconscious smirk.