Soul Guidance Department, Dean's Office.
"That Yan Shaozhe is absolutely targeting our Soul Guidance Department!" Xian Lin'er frowned, slamming her fist on the desk.
"Don't even refer to him as human!"
"There was only one spot left for our department in the Shrek Seven Monsters, and he deliberately went after it. This is a direct challenge to our bottom line!" Qian Duoduo slammed his palm onto the alloy desk with such force that cracks spiderwebbed across its surface.
Watching the two deans fume, Luo Sheng shrank back in the corner, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
Moments ago, he had informed Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo of his defeat at the hands of Dai Yueheng, costing him his position among the Shrek Seven Monsters.
The two deans had erupted in fury, listing Yan Shaozhe's "crimes" one by one.
Luo Sheng: I am too weak with no strength.
To be fair, he had given it his all. If he had been matched against a control-type soul master from the Seven Monsters, he might have stood a chance.
But no—Yan Shaozhe had pitted him against Dai Yueheng.
A Soul King against a Soul Emperor—one who wielded the White Tiger, a top-tier beast martial soul!
How was he supposed to win?
'Damn it!'
Even if Dai Yueheng's once-per-day Absolute Defense soul bone skill was on cooldown, it was irrelevant against Luo Sheng.
Once the White Tiger Vajra Transformation and White Tiger Devilgod Transformation soul skill were activated, Luo Sheng had been reduced to a plaything in Dai Yueheng's hands.
'I had no chance at all.'
After venting for a while, the two deans finally calmed down.
Though Xian Lin'er was still seething, she forced herself to reflect. Sipping her tea, she muttered, "The elders did agree to reserve a spot for the Soul Guidance Department in the Shrek Seven Monsters selection, but the truth is… our soul engineers just aren't strong enough."
Her glare shifted to Luo Sheng. "Look at this year's candidates—they're the strongest in the academy's history. Dai Yueheng eliminating Luo Sheng was within the rules. Even if we took this to the Sea God Pavilion, we'd have no justification."
Qian Duoduo sighed. "At least we still have Yuhao. He's technically part of our department, and there's always next year's freshmen. The Soul Guidance Department isn't completely without successors."
He smacked his thigh in frustration. "What we lack isn't resources—it's real talent! Every time a true genius appears in the academy, the Martial Soul Department snatches them up first. We're left picking through the scraps!"
Xian Lin'er nodded angrily. "Exactly! In the past thirty years, soul tools have advanced by leaps and bounds. But our Soul Guidance Department? Compared to the Sun Moon Empire, we're laughably behind! Yan Shaozhe turns a blind eye, but the future of soul masters lies in integrating martial souls with soul tools!"
During the last Continental Elite Young Soul Master Tournament, Shrek had retained its championship—but anyone with eyes could see the terrifying potential of the soul tools wielded by the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.
"Yan Shaozhe isn't ignorant—he's too cunning," Qian Duoduo growled. "He knows the truth but refuses to disrupt Shrek's traditional structure."
'Sigh.' Suppression.
'Sigh.' Shortsightedness.
Under the influence of Yan Shaozhe and other traditionalists, most martial soul disciples clung to outdated pride, rejecting soul tools as if they tarnished Shrek's legacy.
(Though they made exceptions for storage and flight-type soul tools, of course.)
Qian Duoduo's eyes gleamed. "We'll let this go for now. If we want to overturn the Soul Guidance Department's weakness, we must rely on that plan!"
He turned to Luo Sheng. "Find Fan Yu for me. We need to discuss this—urgently."
"Understood!" Luo Sheng bolted from the room.
"The Ultimate Individual Soldier Plan?" Xian Lin'er mused.
Qian Duoduo nodded. "Yes. Yuhao and Caitou—they're our hope for the Soul Guidance Department's resurgence!"
…
Sea God Pavilion
The old man in front of him had no martial integrity—launching a sneak attack!
After witnessing Huo Yuhao's mastery of Judgment, a combat skill akin to his own King of the world, Mu En was both pleased and merciless.
With a slight raise of his hand, Mu En infused his golden will with the primordial power of his martial soul, tilting the stalemate in an instant.
The once-balanced clash of purple and gold collapsed—Huo Yuhao's Judgment Will was compressed into a pitiful two-meter radius around him.
The pressure was suffocating.
Resisting the urge to rely on the Ice Blade Gu, Huo Yuhao sank into contemplation.
'So this is the path to merging martial soul origin power?'
Relying on external tools like the Iceblade Gu would never achieve this seamless harmony.
Mu En smiled, maintaining the pressure without crushing Huo Yuhao entirely.
Initially, he had only matched Huo Yuhao's soul and mental power.
With the tournament approaching, Mu En had intended to teach Huo Yuhao "King of the world"—but the boy had already forged his own Judgment.
So Mu En escalated.
By blending his Holy Dragon's Light and Evil attributes into his will, he demonstrated the next step: awakening martial soul origin power.
Of course, Huo Yuhao's path might differ—martial souls were unique afterall.)
For Mu En, soul power acted as the foundation, mental power as the catalyst.
This was also why Huo Yuhao from the original timeline failed to learn Mu En's techniques—only Beibei, sharing the same dragon lineage, could replicate them.
Huo Yuhao withdrew Judgment, closing his eyes to immerse himself in the Spirit Eye's origin power.
Compared to his second martial soul, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, his understanding of the Spirit Eye ran deeper—especially after its evolution into spacetime attributes, birthing the innate skill: "Moment."
Though the Soul-Soothing Gu and Hope Gu had aided this evolution, the true catalyst was Huo Yuhao's Half Otherworldly Demon Soul, which resonated with spacetime.
"Moment" allowed Huo Yuhao to enter a 4x accelerated state—but with a critical flaw: His consciousness couldn't sync with his body's speed.
Even with his immense mental power, movements felt mechanically sluggish.
The Time-Space Demon Eye Soul Bone later mitigated this, enabling mental acceleration—but at a colossal soul power cost.
Now, Huo Yuhao realized the truth: He had neglected the fusion of mental and soul power.
"Moment" was the Spirit Eye's innate origin power—yet he had been forcing it with raw soul power, like a foal dragging a wagon.
But with mental-soul fusion, true harmony was possible.
Abandoning his old approach, Huo Yuhao recalibrated the ratios on the spot
'Memory Gu, show me your limits!'
As failed attempts piled up, the aura around him grew more terrifying.
Mu En's expression shifted—From pride… to confusion… to disbelief…
'How… is this possible?'
This was martial soul origin awakening!
Something even Soul Sages struggled to achieve!
Huo Yuhao wasn't just creating a skill—he was forging a domain, akin to the Northern Dark Ice Soul Domain!
But it was incomplete.
In his intuition, a martial soul domain, once formed, was nearly immutable.
'If I pursue perfection… I must wait.'
Exhaling, Huo Yuhao rose and bowed.
"Thank you for your guidance, Elder Mu!"
Mu En sighed in relief—he'd nearly intervened when Huo Yuhao overexerted himself.
"Rise, child." A gentle force lifted Huo Yuhao.
With Yuhao here, Shrek's future was secure for 300 years.
After exchanging pleasantries, Huo Yuhao took his leave.
"Rest well. Don't rush your breakthroughs."
"Understood."
…
The selection for the tournament's reserve team unfolded as a free-for-all brawl, supervised by Xuan Zi.
"Last seven standing win. No rules—just no killing."
As expected, the victors were: Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, Tang Ya, Jiang Nannan, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Cai Tou.
Even Dai Huabin's White Tiger fell before the twins' dominance.
As the seven stood triumphant, Xuan Zi turned away, sighing mysteriously.
"Do you know why we used a brawl?"
…
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