Bonus Chapter. Enjoy!
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Shrek Academy, first-year classroom.
Over a hundred Students were scattered in their seats, most of them looking dutifully toward the podium at the front.
On the podium, the teacher Shen Yi was announcing matters regarding the final exam.
In the back row, by the window, Huo Yuhao propped his chin on one hand, but his gaze didn't fall on Shen Yi at all. His vision passed through that thin layer of window glass, as if piercing through time and space itself, his thoughts having already drifted back to that world from Ten Thousand Years ago.
Just as the vacation was halfway through, he had once again transmigrated Ten Thousand Years into the future without any warning.
Princess Xu Jiujiu certainly didn't make him wait long; she appeared at the Starlight Auction House again that same night.
Her royal brother, Emperor Xu Jiawei of the Star Luo Empire, had agreed to all the conditions Huo Yuhao proposed.
From that moment on, building upon their previous cooperation regarding Spirit Tools, the two parties officially reached an alliance regarding the establishment of the Spirit Pagoda.
After that, Huo Yuhao lingered in Star Luo City for quite a few more days.
The site selection criteria for the Spirit Pagoda, the construction cycle, the list of resources provided by the Imperial Family and the schedule for staged delivery, the specific scope and quota allocation for priority Spirit Soul Fusion, the nomination methods and term rotation rules for the two council seats; every item needed to be put on paper, becoming a contract in black and white.
Over ten days later, Huo Yuhao finally set off to leave Star Luo City.
This time, however, Gongyang Mo was left behind by him.
Matters regarding the construction of the first Spirit Pagoda would now require him to communicate with the Star Luo Imperial Family.
With the support of the Star Luo Imperial Family, at least for now, everything seemed to be moving in a smooth direction, marking a good start.
A faint curve unconsciously formed at the corner of Huo Yuhao's lips, his mood feeling uncharacteristically relaxed and pleasant.
He gently exhaled a breath of turbid air, gathering and pulling back those scattered thoughts one by one.
Then, he blinked, his gaze refocusing and turning toward the podium ahead.
"The final exam will last for a total of fifteen days. Within fifteen days, you must depart from the academy and head to Heaven Dou City."
"Along the way, you need to pass through at least ten cities."
"In each city you pass through, you must defeat one opponent whose cultivation must be at least five levels higher than your own."
"Furthermore, no external assistance may be used throughout the process."
She paused slightly, glancing at the Students below with their varying expressions, and added in a flat tone: "As for how to find opponents, how to defeat them, and how to get to Heaven Dou City, those are all your own business. The academy only looks at the results, not the process."
As her words fell, the classroom below immediately erupted into a commotion.
Students whispered and discussed animatedly; some had faces full of worry, while others were rubbing their palms in anticipation. A cacophony of voices rose and fell, turning the entire classroom into a boiling pot of porridge.
Huo Yuhao sat there with one hand on the desk, but his brow gradually furrowed as Shen Yi spoke. He had, of course, heard about the content of Shrek Academy's final exams long ago.
Years ago in Wanxing City, he had even personally 'taught a lesson' to a team of Shrek Students who were carrying out their final exam mission.
He hadn't expected that after so many years, Shrek Academy's final exam rules hadn't changed at all.
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, braced his hands on the desk, and stood up directly. The chair legs scraped against the floor with a soft sound; it wasn't particularly loud in the noisy classroom, but because his movement was so abrupt, the surrounding noise came to a sudden halt.
"Teacher." His voice wasn't loud, yet it was exceptionally clear. The Students who were still immersed in their own discussions turned their heads one after another, casting their gazes toward the figure standing in the back row.
Huo Yuhao looked directly at Shen Yi on the podium: "I will not participate in this final exam."
His tone was so certain it didn't sound like he was negotiating at all, but rather stating a decision that had already been made. The classroom fell into a dead silence, as if even the sound of breathing had been collectively paused at that moment.
Had it been any other Student, the crowd would have likely exploded, thinking the person had gone mad.
But the person saying this just happened to be Huo Yuhao.
Beyond their astonishment, a subtle thought simultaneously surfaced in everyone's hearts.
'If it was him, it seemed only natural.'
Not because he had some special privilege, but because the three words 'Huo Yuhao' themselves seemed to represent being 'extraordinary.'
Shen Yi stood on the podium, her gaze passing through the rows of Students to land on the youth in the back; her expression gradually became solemn.
A headache, a real headache.
Regarding a Student like Huo Yuhao, she, as a teacher, had to admit that she really didn't have any good solutions.
The rules and regulations used to restrain ordinary Students were, when applied to him, like a paper fence—looking proper enough, but crumbling at the slightest touch.
Expulsion?
What a joke; that couldn't threaten Huo Yuhao at all.
Regarding that incident not long ago, although the academy's higher-ups had issued a strict order forbidding it from being spread, too many teachers and Students had witnessed everything that day.
The information was like water leaking through fingers; no matter how one tried to block it, it couldn't be stopped.
Huo Yuhao was not just a rising Genius from the Spirit Pagoda's side; standing behind him were also the Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua and the Sect Master of the Body Sect.
Furthermore, at the very end of that day, many teachers and Students had seen with their own eyes that domineering figure who had suddenly descended into the sky above Shrek Academy.
That kind of pressure, that kind of might that made people not even dare to breathe loudly, still made one's heart tremble upon recollection.
No one knew exactly who that existence was, but everyone knew that person had come for Huo Yuhao.
Shen Yi stood on the podium, her fingers unconsciously tapping the edge of the desk. Countless thoughts turned in her mind, yet she couldn't find a suitable way to handle this.
However, just as Shen Yi fell into a dilemma, Huo Yuhao's voice rang out again.
"Teacher, I feel that the content of the final exam has significant unreasonable aspects."
"We are all only first-year Students. According to the final exam requirements, it's almost impossible for us to find people we know to spar with."
"So, to complete the exam, we can only go around like headless flies, looking for strange Spirit Masters one by one."
"Setting aside the fact that such sparring could cause casualties, the more critical point is: on what grounds does Shrek Academy's final exam get to harass other Spirit Masters?"
"On what grounds does the academy, with a single sentence, drag in those completely unsuspecting Spirit Masters to become the 'content' of our exam?"
"Why should they be disturbed, challenged, or even embroiled in a battle that shouldn't have happened because of this?"
As his words fell, the classroom became so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Many Students stared blankly with their mouths open, their eyes carrying a hint of daze; they had never thought about these things before.
But now that Huo Yuhao had put it this way, they realized it in hindsight.
Yeah, on what grounds?
Why should a Spirit Master who is a total stranger have to put aside their own business to accompany a Student in a fight just because of Shrek Academy's exam requirements?
There's no benefit in winning, and it's even more embarrassing to lose. If both sides get heated and blood is drawn, it's an even greater undeserved disaster.
How is this an exam?
This is clearly treating the Spirit Masters of the entire continent as the academy's own backyard.
And the most shocked person was the one standing on the podium.
Shen Yi's pupils constricted violently. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out.
It was as if a window that had been tightly shut for years in her mind had been blown open, and blinding light suddenly flooded in, forcing her to face the things that had once been hidden in the shadows.
She really had never thought about the issues Huo Yuhao mentioned.
It wasn't that she couldn't understand or couldn't think of it, but because everyone around her had accepted all of this as a matter of course, leading her to treat it as natural from the day she entered Shrek.
But now, having it pointed out to her face by Huo Yuhao, she suddenly realized what deep arrogance lay behind this 'matter of course.'
Shen Yi lowered her eyelashes and remained silent for a long while.
Those Students who had just been eagerly discussing the final exam now lowered their heads one by one, showing thoughtful expressions.
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A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
2 Reviews = 1 Extra Chapter
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