Above the Sky Screen, light and shadow flowed.
[At the foot of the Mingdou Mountain Range, Teacher Wang Yan counted the remaining personnel. Three main team members were dead and four were severely injured; only Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen remained standing. Although most of the reserve team members only had minor injuries, their strength was far inferior to the main team.]
["Let's go, to Star Luo City." Teacher Wang Yan's voice was somewhat hoarse. He pushed up his glasses, trying to make himself look calmer, but his trembling fingers betrayed his inner anxiety.]
[Huo Yuhao followed behind the team, silent. His mind kept replaying the explosion in the cave, those three cold corpses, Chen Zifeng's legs blown off...]
[More importantly, there was Electrolux in his sea of consciousness; that kind of powerful strength was something he had never seen before.]
[The atmosphere of the team was suffocating to the extreme. No one spoke; only the sound of footsteps echoed through the mountains.]
["Elder Xuan will definitely bring new Inner Court students to support us when he returns to the academy, right?" Xiao Xiao couldn't help but speak, her voice filled with a trace of expectation.]
["Certainly." Dai Yueheng said without looking back, "The honor of the Shrek Seven Devils cannot be destroyed in our hands. The academy will definitely send stronger people."]
[Ma Xiaotao snorted coldly and didn't speak. The injuries on her body hadn't fully healed, but that stubborn Spirit of hers hadn't diminished in the slightest.]
[Huo Yuhao did not participate in the discussion. He just walked silently, a faint sense of unease in his heart—if the academy would really send people, why didn't Elder Xuan say anything when he left?]
Black World, Douluo Continent.
In the tavern, the commoners looked at the Sky Screen, discussing fervently.
"Shrek has really suffered a massive setback this time. Three dead and four severely injured; this battle was fought too miserably."
"Dai Yueheng says the academy will send new people? But Xuan Zi didn't say anything when he left..."
"It would be fine if someone really comes, but if no one comes, are they going to let the reserve team fight in the Spirit Fighting Tournament? Isn't that just sending them to their deaths?"
"Shrek's face is more important than anything; they definitely won't let the reserve team go. Just wait and see, there must be a backup plan."
Someone sneered, "Backup plan? I doubt it. Venerable Ming from that World is going to represent the Sun Moon Empire in the competition. Shrek is still waiting for support, while they are already prepared to set off."
The crowd fell silent, their gazes cast simultaneously toward the Sky Screen on the right.
Shrek City, Inner Court.
Xuan Zi looked at the youth moving silently on the Sky Screen, complex emotions flashing in his eyes.
Years ago, when he returned to the academy to request support, Elder Mu made those children fight instead. He originally didn't want to agree, as he valued the honor of Shrek more than anyone.
But he hadn't expected Elder Mu to be so farsighted; that group of children had astonishing willpower, actually making it to the end, and slapped his face hard once again.
Not far from Xuan Zi, several others were also whispering.
Yan Shaozhe said softly, "Those children back then... it wasn't easy."
Qian Duoduo sighed, "Indeed, especially Huo Yuhao, who carried it from beginning to end."
Xuan Zi didn't speak, just stared at the thin back on the Sky Screen, silent for a long time. He truly had no face to speak.
[White World, Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Teacher Xuan's laboratory.]
[Huo Yuhao put down the tool in his hand, looking at the spirit tool core that had just been completed in front of him, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted.]
["Third-Rank spirit tool core, energy conversion rate 94%. Not bad." Teacher Xuan walked over, carefully inspected it, and his eyes were filled with praise, "Yuhao, your current level is already capable of challenging the Fourth-Rank Soul Engineer level."]
["Teacher Xuan, I have a long way to go." Huo Yuhao shook his head, "If my spirit power cannot keep up, no matter how high my theories are, they are just castles in the air."]
[Teacher Xuan patted his shoulder, "Don't rush, take it one step at a time. Your spirit power is already approaching the Third Ring; once you break through to the Third Ring, becoming a Fourth-Rank Soul Engineer will be a natural outcome."]
[Huo Yuhao nodded, his gaze falling on the new types of spirit tools being developed on the laboratory table.]
[In the past days, relying on the knowledge in his mind that did not belong to this World, he had provided many new ideas for Teacher Xuan's research and development. spirit power hand warmers, long-distance voice transmission spirit tools, exoskeleton spirit tools... these things that had never been heard of on the Douluo Continent were turned into reality one by one under his suggestions.]
Black World, Douluo Continent.
In the tavern, the commoners looked at the Sky Screen on the right, their eyes full of complexity.
"spirit power hand warmer? Long-distance voice transmission spirit tool? What are those things?"
"Exoskeleton spirit tool? It sounds amazing just from the name... How many things has Huo Yuhao from that World actually invented?"
"Teacher Xuan didn't take credit for himself and even included Huo Yuhao's name. Where can you find a teacher like that?"
Someone sighed, "Look at the teachers on their side, then look at ours... Sigh, the gap is real."
Others were indignant, "That Huo Yuhao can invent these things, isn't it just because he has knowledge from another World? What's so great about that?"
The person next to them retorted, "Having knowledge doesn't mean you can use it! If I gave you a book from the heavens, could you understand it? He can turn these things into reality; that is real ability!"
Shrek City, Inner Court.
Yan Shaozhe looked at the youth working focusedly in the laboratory on the Sky Screen, and said softly, "Fourth-Rank Soul Engineer... how old is he in that World?"
Qian Duoduo smiled bitterly, "Twelve or thirteen, I suppose. Our Huo Yuhao is still worrying about spirit power at this age."
"Although we have already started key cultivation, the progress is relatively slow!"
Inside the Tang Sect.
Huo Yuhao of the Black World looked at himself working side-by-side with Teacher Xuan on the Sky Screen, complex emotions flashing in his eyes.
Fourth-Rank Soul Engineer, new spirit tools, the respect and recognition of a teacher. He didn't have any of these things at that age.
"If back then..." he murmured. He didn't continue. Because he knew, there were no ifs.
[As the talent Huo Yuhao displayed became higher and higher, the importance the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy placed on him increased day by day. Cultivation resources were sent continuously: pills to consolidate the foundation and cultivate the origin, drugs to improve mental force, rare spirit tool materials... everything was available.]
[The Bright Capital branch of the Holy Spirit Cult was also continuously providing resources. Ever since that Elder was subdued by Huo Yuhao, he had been loyal and devoted, respectfully calling him "Master" every time they met.]
[With the support of abundant resources, Huo Yuhao's physique underwent a transformation. The once frail and weak youth had now grown into a healthy and sturdy young man. His spirit power was also growing rapidly—the cultivation of an Ultimate Spirit should have been extremely slow, but the Necromancy cultivation technique taught by Electrolux forcefully increased the speed of his cultivation by a large margin.]
[In half a semester, he had broken through from the First Ring to the Third Ring. He just hadn't added his spirit rings yet.]
["Enough." Huo Yuhao looked at his own hands and murmured to himself, "Third Ring spirit power is already enough."]