Huo Yuhao, a Class 1.5 Soul Engineer?

Bei Bei nodded slightly. "Our little junior brother hasn't been in the academy for long, but he's definitely much calmer and more hardworking than his peers. His personality is warm yet stubborn, while his first soul ring's only a ten year one. However, if he can fully develop in the Soul Tool Department, he'll definitely play a crucial role in the revival of our Tang Sect…."

Tang Ya interjected, "The Tang Sect's already fallen to this point in our generation. If it doesn't develop any further, it might really come to an end. If that were to happen, how would we face our ancestors? Wang Dong, since Yuhao's gone to the Soul Tool Department tonight, you should follow me and begin learning the secret techniques of our Tang Sect. Once I teach him the main principles and cultivation techniques of our hidden weapons tomorrow, his studies will improve enormously."

Wang Dong looked towards Tang Ya and Bei Bei with a somewhat helpless expression on his face. He inwardly thought, I'm not a little bee that's as hardworking as Huo Yuhao! I'm being forced to work hard! When he realized that he'd be dragged into cultivating overnight with Huo Yuhao—without sleep—he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

The next day, the teachers of the Martial Soul Department were informed that the first year students Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Huang Chutian, and Wu Feng would be transferred to Class 2 in order to continue their studies.

They'd undoubtedly raised a few appeals. However, Shrek Academy was still Shrek Academy. Regardless of your identity, everyone would be treated equally while studying here. The academy would first and foremost respect the decisions of its teachers, not to mention how Teacher Wang Yan had explained the situation. A few students had been kicked out of Class 1, but they'd still remain in the academy. Furthermore, these core disciples were arrogant due to their outstanding talent, so suffering a setback like this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

After this incident, the atmosphere inside of Class 1 changed into one that was somewhat jittery. Though they didn't tremble the moment they saw Zhou Yi, nobody dared to disobey what she said. When he saw this, Wang Yan had no choice but to respect her; after a ruckus like that, the learning atmosphere in Class 1 had immediately transformed into the best he'd ever seen amongst all the classes he'd taught.

Most of the students' lives in the academy became much calmer after this, but this was only true for a large majority of the students. To a 'diligent little bee' such as Huo Yuhao, his life was filled with vigor every day. Naturally, only he himself felt that it was full of vigor. In Wang Dong's opinion, he was practically a man made of iron…

As soon as he woke up in the morning to train his Purple Demon Eyes, it would mark the beginning of another intense, yet fulfilling day. To Huo Yuhao, his classes in the Martial Soul Department during the day were actually the easiest things that he did during the day, as he only needed to use his brain. Under his teacher's guidance, he learned tactics, cultivation techniques, combination techniques, and all sorts of other things that soul masters used.

He didn't even waste the free time he had during the afternoon. As soon as he finished lunch, he'd drag Wang Dong into cultivating with him for a period of time. Not only did this increase the energy he'd have available during the afternoon, it also improved his cultivation.

This caused Wang Dong to feel that researching the Haodong Power alongside Huo Yuhao had absolutely been a mistake. He wouldn't even need to remember to cultivate, as once it was time, Huo Yuhao would drag him along to begin cultivating. Because of this, the normally-lazy Wang Dong was forced to begin working diligently as well, in turn causing his soul power to increase at a relatively fast pace.

As soon as school ended, Huo Yuhao would rush over to the Soul Tool Department to study soul tools with Fan Yu. The four hours he spent there every night were, to him, the most exhausting period of the day. Fan Yu's way of teaching was extremely strict, and the standards that he held for his last disciple were so high that they were second to none, even in Shrek Academy. When He Caitou had been going through the first stages that Huo Yuhao was currently going through, he'd suffered untold hardships.

However, Fan Yu was astonished by the fact that Huo Yuhao seemed to be a rubber ball filled with elasticity: No matter how hard he pushed him, he'd always bounce back. Not only did he complete the tasks that Fan Yu assigned him in an excellent manner, he was even meticulous to the point that there weren't any flaws in his work at all. Sometimes, Fan Yu even thought that Huo Yuhao was the one being too harsh on himself. However, in the end, Huo Yuhao still managed to conscientiously complete every task he was assigned without any complaints. Even when he was exhausted to the point that he couldn't even return to his room, he didn't grumble at all. There was many times when Fan Yu had to personally send him back, but even when that happened, he wasn't willing to sleep. Instead, he'd have Wang Dong help him into a cross-legged position in order to cultivate.

Of the Tang Sect's secret techniques that were related to hidden weapons, the first that Huo Yuhao used was the forging technique—the Chaotic Wind-Splitting Hammer Technique. This technique borrowed the force generated by his lower body in order to move the hammer he held with his upper body, causing every single strike with a hammer to continuously increase in power. Not only did it save energy, it even managed to increase the quality of his forging. It was a secret technique that the Tang Sect that had never passed on.

Huo Yuhao was entirely relying on his own intuition to learn and utilise the Chaotic Wind-Splitting Hammer Technique. Even though he continuously had the Mysterious Jade Hands active, blisters began to appear on his palms, and a layer of flesh was scraped off his palms as they formed calluses. Those calluses were then scraped off, forming new calluses. However, he didn't slack off for a single day, nor did he grumble. On the contrary, he took pleasure in it, assiduously working hard, like a true ironman.

After three months, Huo Yuhao was able to chain together eighteen consecutive hammer strikes using the Chaotic Wind-Splitting Hammer Technique, and after five months, had increased to thirty six consecutive strikes. The highest realm that one could reach with the Chaotic Wind-Splitting Hammer Technique was only eighty one consecutive strikes, but by the time he could chain thirty six strikes together, he'd already passed the first stage of soul tool creation. In Fan Yu's own words, "The student has surpassed the master."

He Caitou had taken a full year to pass this stage, yet Huo Yuhao had only taken five months. Admittedly, the Tang Sect's Chaotic Wind-Splitting Hammer Technique had played a decent part in this, but Huo Yuhao's fearless tenacity had been the main reason.

In the blink of an eye, autumn had ended, and winter had arrived. And after that, winter ended, and spring arrived. At this point, eight months had passed since the beginning of Huo Yuhao's studies in the Soul Tool Department.

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao, as well as Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, had already reached the end of their first year in Shrek Academy. After this, they had vacation time.

Every year, Shrek Academy would have a month-long vacation. This month naturally wasn't meant for students to relax and tour around during. Instead, it was meant for them to completely digest the things they'd learned during the past eleven months, and for them to continuously cultivate. After this one month rest-period, they'd have to undergo their advancement test. Students that weren't able to pass their advancement test would directly be expelled. Because of that, the holiday period tended to be the most exhausting and busy time for the overwhelming majority of students. Who would dare to truly relax and rest during a time like this!?

—-

Within the Soul Tool Testing Area's Laboratory #12.

Fan Yu and He Caitou both stood beside Huo Yuhao—who was currently working on an enormous metal table—watching him very quietly. Fan Yu had clasped his hands behind his back, but he was watching every move that Huo Yuhao made very attentively. On the other hand, He Caitou had his fists clenched tightly, clearly somewhat nervous.

Huo Yuhao was currently seated in front of the metal table, and was holding a hexagonal piece of metal that was roughly the size of a walnut in his left hand. His right hand gripped a slender, thin knife, which he was using to carefully carve an inscription on a piece of metal.

His movements were extremely slow, but his hands were equally as stable. Every single movement that he made with his knife was made with extreme clarity.

The piece of metal was bluish-gold in color, and released a somewhat peculiar aura. As Huo Yuhao continued to carve with his knife, complicated patterns began to gradually appear on it.

Huo Yuhao's pupils shone with a pale gold luster, and even though he'd been focused for a long period of time, he hadn't blinked once. Time passed second by second, but his body remained unmoving, like a sculpture. Only his fingers—which were controlling the tiny sculpting blade—slowly moved alongside the guidance of his soul power. His tempo didn't waver in the slightest.

An excited light gradually began to appear in He Caitou's eyes, and a strange light appeared in Fan Yu's eyes. Even his clasped hands couldn't help but slowly turn into fists.

Finally, Huo Yuhao slowly carved one final cut, finishing a miniscule engraving on the piece of metal. Afterwards, he finally stopped.

The golden light in his eyes slowly faded away, and a trace of exhaustion appeared on his face. However, a brilliant smile had already appeared on his face by the time he raised his head to look towards Fan Yu and He Caitou.

"Teacher, senior brother, I've succeeded. From now on, I should be a Class 1.5 soul engineer, right?"

He Caitou looked towards him with a blank look in his eyes. "Yuhao, you… you've really succeeded?"

Huo Yuhao carefully raised the piece of metal with his right hand, and a gentle trace of soul power slowly flowed into it. Immediately, the metal piece shone with a clear, blue light, causing the soft halo of light it had originally had to turn into a foot-high pillar that rose into the air. The blue halo of light was straight yet sturdy, and had no signs of flickering. On the other hand, the metal piece itself shone with a penetratingly blue light.

"Good, good, good!" Fan Yu finally said. From the excitement on his face, one could tell that his emotions had been roused.

"Yuhao, good child. You aren't just a Class 1.5 soul engineer. Your cultivation hasn't reached the required level, but other than that, I can tell you that you've already become a fully fledged Class 2 soul engineer. You have an extraordinary amount of talent that ordinary people can't even begin to hope for, and you're incomparably hardworking on top of that. There were no coincidences in your success. This is your reward for the eight months of hard work that you've endured!"

He Caitou cheered, then pounced towards Huo Yuhao. After grabbing ahold of him, he flung him into the air. Huo Yuhao's face was filled with happiness, but he pursed his lips tightly.

Right, the small metal piece he'd just engraved was the core of a Class 2 soul tool!

He'd completed the foundations of forging after five months of hard work, then had taken another month to learn molding, tempering, and polishing, as well as the other necessary procedures. Afterwards, he'd finally begun to learn how to engrave formation arrays. This was also the most important step in creating a soul tool.

If Huo Yuhao's previous learning speed could be described as quick, the main reason behind that was because of his hard work and diligence. However, he'd begun to reveal his true genius in creating soul tools after he'd begun to learn how to engrave formation arrays.

Huo Yuhao was much calmer than his peers, and also had an innate advantage compared to others—his Spirit Eyes. By relying on the Purple Demon Eyes alongside his Spirit Eyes, his visual acuity was several times greater than that of an ordinary person's.

More often than not, students would fail while engraving a formation array due to miniscule errors they'd made. However, a situation like this would almost never occur with Huo Yuhao.

His Spiritual Detection could create a clear, three-dimensional shape of the metallic core in his mind. Because of this, he would basically never make a mistake, regardless of how deeply he had to cut, or how many cuts he had to make. This, combined with Huo Yuhao's seriousness, allowed him to only need a month to finish engraving his first formation array from the time he started memorizing it from theory and putting it into practice.

In other words, Huo Yuhao had taken seven months to formally become a Class 1 soul engineer.

At that time, Fan Yu had told him that, although he wasn't clear what the record in the Sun Moon Empire was, Huo Yuhao was definitely the fastest person to become a Class 1 soul engineer in all of the Heavenly Soul, Dou Ling, and Star Luo empires. He Caitou taking one year and four months to do this had already been considered breathtaking by Fan Yu, but Huo Yuhao had only needed half that!

Huo Yuhao had been extremely concentrated on his studies and practice. In Fan Yu's opinion, he didn't seem to know the meaning of 'dry and dull' at all. Even if it was the exact same Class 1 formation array, he would engrave several hundred of them onto an ordinary piece of metal with gusto.

After another month, Huo Yuhao had attempted to engrave a Class 2 formation array onto a true core. And he'd succeeded; he'd actually succeeded! Though Fan Yu had already predicted it to some extent, he couldn't help but tear up at the sight of his disciple truly succeeding in front of him.

Strong teachers were hard to find, but talented students were just as hard, if not harder to find! That's not mentioning a talented disciple that was also willing to give 200%. Fan Yu was an extremely harsh teacher, but even he hadn't been able to find a single fault with Huo Yuhao.

It should be known that a Class 2 formation array is at least three times more complicated than a Class 1 formation array. Moreover, the requirements towards the usage of soul power are extremely high. Huo Yuhao's success had had no element of luck to it at all; he'd truly controlled everything perfectly.

After Fan Yu waved towards He Caitou, he finally let Huo Yuhao go. Fan Yu couldn't help but be filled with pride when he saw his pleased disciples.

Huo Yuhao had just passed his twelfth birthday, and was now half a head taller than when he'd entered the academy.

The top-ranked food that he'd received from the Martial Soul Department had provided him with more than enough nutrients. Combined with his five months of forging training and enormous activity level, Huo Yuhao's body had become much sturdier. Though his muscles weren't as exaggerated as He Caitou's, he had still become relatively rugged-looking. The lines drawn by his muscles were evident, but they were filled with flexibility. If he were to take off his clothes, he'd look like a small leopard ready to pounce. His gaze had also become much calmer and much more resolute, while his back was naturally straight as he stood there.

Fan Yu beckoned towards his two disciples. "You guys can sit down. Yuhao, give me your completed core. This is the first Class 2 soul tool you've made, so I'll assist you with creating its outer and inner shell as a graduation present for you."

"Thank you, teacher." Huo Yuhao didn't decline as he replied with a smile, then handed the core over to Fan Yu.

Fan Yu continued, "The holidays are about to start. What do you two have in mind?"

He Caitou smiled in a silly manner. "Teacher, I'm an orphan, so I'll just stay in the academy and continue training. My little junior brother's improved too quickly; I already feel threatened by him. I want to become a Class 4 soul engineer by next year. In my opinion, I don't think he'll need long to catch up with me."

Fan Yu smiled. "You don't have to be so humble. The journey of a soul engineer gets tougher and tougher as you move forwards. Your junior brother truly has a monstrous level of talent in the aspect of formation array engraving, but his cultivation is still lacking. If he wants to engrave higher-ranked formation arrays, he'll have to first increase his cultivation rank. If he doesn't, he won't have enough soul power to finish an engraving. Yuhao, this is also something you have to do. You need to work hard to increase your cultivation. If I'm not mistaken, your soul power should've already reached Rank 20. I'll take you to the Great Star Dou Forest, as you need a suitable soul ring to improve even more."

Right, Huo Yuhao's cultivation had already reached Rank 20. Moreover, he'd reached it two months ago. During these past eight months, he'd cultivated incessantly. With the Haodong Power's assistance, the rate at which his soul power increased was no less than his rate of improvement in the creation of soul tools.

When he'd reached Rank 20, there had still been some time left until the holidays. Because of that, Wang Yan had suggested that he not rush to obtain a soul ring. Instead, he'd asked Huo Yuhao to continue cultivating diligently. According to a grandmaster from Shrek Academy's first generation, a soul master's cultivation wouldn't simply halt because of their inability to obtain a soul ring. Instead, the bottleneck would naturally restrict it from exploding upwards. In other words, although Huo Yuhao wouldn't increase in rank after hitting Rank 20, his latent cultivation would still continue to improve. Once he'd obtained his second soul ring however, it would immediately explode upwards.

Because of that, Huo Yuhao had continued to cultivate. Wang Dong's cultivation speed was also extremely quick. Cultivating with the Haodong Power alongside Huo Yuhao had caused his cultivation speed to double. In the past eight months, his soul power had risen by an impressive three ranks; he'd already reached Rank 28. According to Wang Dong's calculations, he'd be able to break through to the three-ringed rank by summer at the latest. This cultivation speed was already fast enough to astonish many people.

Huo Yuhao being treated as core disciple of the Martial Soul Department naturally wasn't limited to food alone. Teachers from the inner courtyard would come over every week to provide them with some pointers as well. Even though a person like him—as someone who could only enjoy the treatment of a core disciple—was only a side character, the number of things he'd learned absolutely wasn't any less than the others.

"Teacher, there's no need. I was one of the champions of the freshmen assessment, and one of the prizes I received was for a teacher to help me obtain the most optimum soul ring I could withstand. You're still busy with your research, so there's no need to trouble yourself."

Fan Yu chuckled. "Right! I forgot about that. You can go find Director Du directly then; he takes care of these things. When do you plan on going?"

Huo Yuhao replied, "The day after tomorrow. I'll leave in the morning. Please don't worry, I'll do my best to come back early. I'll head back as soon as I get my soul ring."

Fan Yu nodded. "Yuhao, if you're just trying to upgrade your martial soul, I suggest that you get an attack-type skill. However, I suggest that you diligently train in your Spiritual Detection if you want to increase your abilities as a soul engineer. However, I can't give you any specifics as to what soul ring you should obtain. Furthermore, the soul ring you obtain also depends on fate. Thus, it'll be up to you to create your soul tools."

"Yes. I'll take note of that, teacher." Huo Yuhao nodded seriously. However, this was the first time he'd told a lie to Fan Yu. He didn't have any plans to ask the Martial Soul Department to help him obtain a second soul ring for his Spirit Eyes. He wanted to do it by himself, as he had the Skydream Iceworm.

Once he thought about how he was finally going to become a Soul Grandmaster, and how he'd formally awaken his second martial soul with the help of the Skydream Iceworm, he couldn't help but inwardly turn fervent.

Fan Yu continued, "We're about to begin vacation, so you don't need to continue working anymore today. Go on, head back to your dorm and pack up. Rest for a bit too."

He Caitou couldn't help but widen his eyes. This was the first time he'd ever heard his teacher say the word 'rest'.

By the time he'd left the Soul Tool Department's Testing Area, the sky had already darkened. The weather today honestly wasn't that great. A light drizzle gradually fell, and the sound of the pattering rain brought a slight chill to the spring night.

However, Huo Yuhao didn't feel that the rain was bad at all. On the contrary, he felt somewhat carefree, as if it were washing away his exhaustion. Just as he was about to step out into the rain and experience this refreshing feeling, he suddenly shifted his gaze towards the left.

An umbrella had already been opened, and beneath it was someone wearing a Year 1 uniform. His short, pinkish-blue hair gave off the beauty of a fairy beneath the rainy night, while his similarly large pinkish-blue eyes were filled with both ingenuity and a slight trace of astonishment.

"Even the ironman is goofing off?" He said as he smiled towards Huo Yuhao.

Astonished, Huo Yuhao looked towards him. "Why'd you come?"

"It's raining. We're gonna be splitting up the day after tomorrow, so I came to get you." The youth flipped his short, pinkish-blue hair, the gaze in his eyes somewhat peculiar.

Huo Yuhao chuckled. "You can't bear to part with me? There's only a month before we'll all be back together. Let's go. We'll head back to our room first. And I'm not goofing off; Teacher Fan Yu specially allowed us to leave early."

The person who'd come to get him was Wang Dong. After eight months, the still-developing Wang Dong had also grown slightly taller. Only, he hadn't grown as much as Huo Yuhao had. Huo Yuhao was now taller than him by a little bit.

The two people slowly walked across the wet ground as they returned to their dorms. Normally, Huo Yuhao would've walked through campus as quickly as possible. Today however, he'd slowed down. With the scenery being as rainy as it was, he'd immediately felt that something was different. Thus, the two of them had deliberately slowed down as they walked back to their dorm.

"Did the Soul Tool Department agree to help you get a soul ring?" Huo Yuhao asked.

Huo Yuhao nodded. "Of course. I'm a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department after all." He couldn't help but feel somewhat apologetic as he said this. In order to keep the Skydream Iceworm a secret, he had no choice but to tell a white lie to both parties.

Wang Dong replied, "I'll be heading back home too. I'm also leaving earlier than you. Thus, you'll have to take care of yourself. It's a pity that I haven't reached Rank 30. Otherwise, I'd come with you to hunt a few soul beasts. That would've been nice."

Huo Yuhao chuckled. "Don't be so discontented. Ever since we got the Haodong Power, hasn't our cultivation speed increased by a large amount? Go ask the other students; who else do you think could improve as much as you after reaching Rank 20? After we get back and pass the advancement test, you'll be able to reach Rank 30 after two or three months at most. I haven't obtained my second soul ring yet, but I reckon that I'm about Rank 22 or so right now. As time passes, the advantage that we get from our Haodong Power will become more and more obvious. Let's try and catch up to Dai Huabin in soul power by the time we're in Year 4."

During the past eight months, Huo Yuhao had dedicated as much of his energy to cultivating as he could. With his current rank, he could calmly face Dai Huabin. However, this didn't mean that his hatred had dissolved; on the contrary, he'd buried it even deeper inside of himself. His hatred had already been deeply rooted inside of him, thus how could he erase it so easily?

He wasn't clear as to just how high Dai Huabin's soul power was compared to his, but he safely estimated it to be around Rank 33 or so. Although the rate at which a person's cultivation improved drastically decreased after crossing the Rank 30 threshold, going up three or four ranks in a year wouldn't be much of a problem with Dai Huabin's level of talent, plus his previous cultivation. Furthermore, it seemed that he'd cultivated diligently after he was kicked out of Class 1.

Wang Dong smiled, but didn't say anything, as a large amount of confidence had begun to emanate from his gaze.

The route they'd taken could easily have been taken in around ten minutes, but they purposefully took much longer. Just as they were about to reach their dorm room, Wang Dong suddenly said, "Let's go sit next to the Sea God's Lake for a while. It's not very easy to find you goofing off. It's also been a long time since I've tasted your roasted fish."

Huo Yuhao was somewhat embarrassed. "I didn't prepare anything. If I'd known you wanted some, I definitely would've roasted some for you."

Wang Dong smiled devilishly and shoved the umbrella into Huo Yuhao's hands as he said, "Just wait here." After saying that, he ran back to their dorm room as fast as he could. A few moments later, he reappeared and gestured with the bright blue bracelet in his left hand towards the Sea God's Lake. "Let's go."

Huo Yuhao's eyes widened. "You planned this in advance!"

Wang Dong didn't deny it. "I was originally planning to wait for you to finish at night and drag you out for a little midnight fun, but I didn't think that you'd finish early. It's perfect timing; we're about to go on vacation, and it's hard to indulge for a bit. In any case, don't even think of sleeping tonight if you don't fill me up."

Huo Yuhao chuckled. "Alright. As long as you have enough ingredients, I'll keep feeding you until you can't move."

Beneath the eaves of the dormitories, the old grandpa who was normally always sleeping couldn't help his eyes from widening slightly. The corner of his mouth curved slightly as he gazed towards Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, who were running into the distance. He thought aloud, "Back then, how many girls said that to me!? And every time they'd say that, I'd be the one to feed them until they were full… These two fellas sure are interesting."

After excitedly running towards the Sea God's Lake, Wang Dong held up the umbrella so that Huo Yuhao could start a fire. The rain wasn't very strong, thus the umbrella was able to cover the entire area they'd chosen. After only a moment's worth of work, a fire had been lit. The unique smell of charcoal began to slowly rise into the air, but didn't disperse due to the rainy weather.

Mist began to appear atop the Sea God's Lake, and slowly enveloped the distant Sea God's Island. The misty lake in turn gave off a cool yet damp feeling, while the now-bonfire gave Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong waves of warmth. The two of them looked towards each other at practically the same instant, their cheeks flushed from the reflection of the bonfire. As they smiled towards each other, a warm feeling seemed to bore into their hearts.

After setting up his stove and placing the raw fish on it, Huo Yuhao began to roast them with his full attention. The concentration on his face was no less than when he'd engraved formation arrays onto the cores of soul tools.

Wang Dong stood next to him, holding the umbrella up. However, instead of looking at the fish that were being roasted, he looked at Huo Yuhao's serious face. The cool air, the hot furnace, and the golden mackerels—which had begun to release a fragrant smell—sketched a moving image as they combined. As Wang Dong gazed at Huo Yuhao, he instinctively knew that he'd never forget this scene. He also quite enjoyed the thought of Huo Yuhao roasting fish for him, and him alone.

Finally, Huo Yuhao finished roasting the first piece of fish. Huo Yuhao immediately handed it to Wang Dong and said, "Eat it while it's hot."

"Yup." Wang Dong took the fish from Huo Yuhao, and ate the fish carefully. The fragrance of Huo Yuhao's roasted fish, which he hadn't tasted in such a long time, caused his eyes to turn somewhat red.

As he roasted some more fish, Huo Yuhao said, "Speaking of roasted fish, we should call Teacher Xiao Ya, senior brother, and Xiao Xiao over. They enjoy it as well."

"No way! You belong to me today!" Wang Dong blurted out.

Astonished, Huo Yuhao raised his head to look towards Wang Dong. When he did, he saw a somewhat stubborn look in Wang Dong's pinkish-blue eyes.

"I mean that your roasted fish belong to me," Wang Dong hurriedly interjected. The contrast between the dark sky and the bonfire caused his face to appear extremely flushed.

Afterwards, they continued to eat roasted fish for so long that they didn't even know how long they'd been eating. Only after they'd gotten full did they return to their dorm room.

Once they got back to their dorm room, Huo Yuhao laid down on his hard, wooden bed. "Ah… it feels so nice to fill myself up. I've decided to just be lazy for the entire day tomorrow, and to have a nice sleep tonight. You're right, we should take a break once in awhile."

"No, get up and cultivate." Wang Dong walked over to him and pulled him up as a sarcastic smile appeared on his face.

"You can't be serious." Huo Yuhao wailed. "It's been so hard for me to rest lately!"

Wang Dong replied, "We're separating the day after tomorrow, thus we should make the most out of the rest of our time left to cultivate together. You can go goof off by yourself when you don't have the Haodong Power. Come on, get up."

"Alright…." With a helpless look on his face, Huo Yuhao slowly got up. Just as he was about to sit down in a cross-legged position on his wooden bed, Wang Dong suddenly said, "Come over here. Seeing that we're about to separate, and that you just roasted so much fish for me, I'll let you sit over here while you cultivate."

"Huh?" Huo Yuhao was stunned. Afterwards, he smiled cunningly as he looked towards Wang Dong's fur-covered mattress, then obediently jumped onto Wang Dong's his bed without any reservations.

"Who said that you could get up here now? Go change into a clean set of clothes!" Wang Dong hurriedly shouted.

However, Huo Yuhao had already sat down in a cross-legged position. "You need to stop having so many bad habits. Quick, the sun's gonna come up if we don't start soon."

Only after hearing Huo Yuhao say this did Wang Dong sit across from Huo Yuhao, a somewhat unwilling expression present on his face. Afterwards, the two pressed their palms against each other's and began to circulate the Haodong Power. The moment they closed their eyes, a faint smile appeared on both of their faces.

The morning of the next day.

Once they got up, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong felt that their minds had been completely refreshed, possibly due to the peaceful night they'd had. Today was the last day of their Year 1 classes, as Shrek Academy's holidays would officially start tomorrow.

After eating breakfast, they headed towards their classroom early. Fan Yu had already begun Huo Yuhao's vacation, thus he didn't need to go and train his soul tool creation today. Eleven months had passed since he'd entered Shrek Academy, yet he'd never been as relaxed as today. The relaxing feeling that enveloped his entire body made him feel warm and comfy.

Huo Yuhao decided that he wouldn't bother with anything else today; he'd have a good rest today.

Zhou Yi and Wang Yan walked into the classroom together. Whenever Zhuo Yi was there, regardless of what time it was, the atmosphere in Class 1 could only be described using the word 'solemn'. Today was no exception, even if the holidays began tomorrow. At this point in time, nobody dared to provoke the hegemonic flower known as Zhou Yi! In the event that her old mind suddenly blew up, none of them would be able to handle it.

Wang Yan walked up to the stage, while Zhou Yi walked towards the back of the classroom and sat down in an empty chair.

"Students, this will be your last day in Year 1. The academy hasn't arranged any assignments for you. I'll be giving you all some parting words, then you can head back and pack up your things."

Once Wang Yan said this, the entire class immediately erupted into cheers. They didn't even care that Zhou Yi was there. Since the holidays were about to start, everyone had their hearts set on going home. After all, who wouldn't want to go home and see their relatives!? Naturally, those with no relatives were an exception to this.

Wang Yan smiled. "We've all worked hard this year. I can say with pride that you've been the most outstanding class I've ever taught. On behalf of Zhou Yi and myself, we thank you all for working hard. Your hard work will bring glory to those of us in Class 1."

"However," Wang Yan said, suddenly shifted the topic of discussion, "unlike the other academies, Shrek Academy doesn't have any final exams. As to why this is the case, I'm sure that everyone already knows. We'll be testing whether or not you're qualified to become a second year student at the start of the next year. Because of that, you can't relax at all, even when you go back home. You'll have to work even harder during the next month. This is the only way that you can continue to study in Shrek Academy next year. I'm fond of every single one of you, thus I hope that we don't have to say farewell to anyone next year."

"Now then, I'll tell you all a few of the main points regarding the advancement test. You'll have to remember this: The first part of the advancement test has no skill requirements. It tests your absolute strength, or in other words, your soul power. If you want to get into Year 2, you'll have to be Rank 20. If you haven't gotten two soul rings by the time we take the advancement test, I suggest that you not bother coming next year. Regardless of how well you perform during the other assessments, it won't be of any use if you haven't gotten two rings. The academy won't change its rules for anyone. As such, if you're a student who hasn't reached Rank 20 yet, you'll have to cultivate for your lives. At the same time, you'll also have to get a second soul ring in order to prove that you've reached the Soul Grandmaster level."

"However, having a two-ringed cultivation doesn't mean that you'll definitely pass the advancement test. Even Teacher Zhou and I don't know the specifics of the advancement test at this point in time. However, I can tell you my advancement test was like. That year, the Year 2 advancement test had every single student challenge a hundred year soul beast under the supervision of a teacher. Remember this—you'll have to do it alone, without any outside assistance. If the supervising teacher makes a move, the assessment will be over. This test is the academy's most-often used assessment. You should be happy if you get this test, as it tests your pure, unadulterated strength. However, there's a chance that they could give you an even more difficult test that requires luck, strength, and intelligence, but these tests normally only appear in upper year tests. At the same time, this advancement test isn't just related to every single one of you; it's related to our class, as Class 1 also has to undergo an advancement test. This assessment is an extra one that you'll have to finish as well."