Several days later, two figures walked out of the gates of Shrek Academy together.
"Young Master Yuhao, Miss Zhu Yun, over here."
Seeing them emerge, the people from the Zhu family quickly waved them over.
A few days prior, Huo Yuhao and Zhu Yun had written home to inform their families that Huo Yuhao would be returning in the Zhu family's carriage.
While the families hadn't expected this turn of events, considering Huo Yuhao's awkward status in the Duke's mansion, they weren't overly surprised and readily agreed.
However, upon seeing the two of them, the servant responsible for receiving them suddenly felt something was off.
He couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong, but as someone who had served Zhu Yun for many years, he instinctively felt a sense of incongruity.
"Um, Young Master, Miss, did something unexpected happen?"
Zhu Yun nodded slightly and said calmly,
"Brother Hao accidentally bit his tongue badly while eating a couple of days ago."
"Uh..."
The servant looked at Huo Yuhao in surprise.
Do Soul Masters also bite their tongues badly while eating?
Seeing the servant's questioning gaze, Huo Yuhao nodded slightly with an expressionless face, confirming Zhu Yun's words.
Since the person involved had no objection, the servant found it difficult to say anything else and had to accept the explanation.
He gestured to the two of them and said respectfully,
"Then please get in the carriage, both of you. We're returning to Star Luo City."
Huo Yuhao and Zhu Yun nodded together and got into the carriage.
The servant drove the carriage, heading in the direction of the Star Luo Empire.
What he didn't know was that the moment the carriage started moving, Zhu Yun inside the carriage instantly vanished. The remaining "Huo Yuhao" slowly let out a breath, his eyes filled with solemnity.
Her soul power was limited. To ensure the plan executed smoothly without any hitches, she had to carefully plan the use of her soul power.
At the very least, the illusion had to be maintained until they returned to Star Luo City.
Meanwhile, at the entrance of Shrek Academy, the real Huo Yuhao walked out of the academy gates.
"Sigh, I wonder if Little Yun has been exposed."
He squeezed his disguised ordinary face, looking towards the direction the carriage had departed with some worry.
He had now reached level 30, and it was time to acquire his third soul ring and the second martial soul that the Heavenly Dream Iceworm had mentioned.
To obtain the second martial soul, he couldn't have the people from the Duke's mansion following him.
However, given his status, it wouldn't be easy to shake them off. Those stubborn fellows definitely wouldn't let him act alone.
Directly disguising himself and running away was certainly one method, but he hadn't fully mastered the essence of disguise yet, and there were still slight flaws, so he couldn't be completely sure he could escape.
Acquiring the second martial soul was simply too important; no mistakes could be made.
So, in the end, he and Zhu Yun came up with this plan of substituting the beams and pillars.
As the champions of the freshman assessment, Huo Yuhao's team had received a soul bone.
This soul bone was ultimately absorbed by Zhu Yun, and the ability it granted her was "Shadow Clone".
Its effect wasn't particularly powerful; it could create one clone, and this clone could also use soul skills, but their effect was only sixty percent of the main body's.
But this time, it had a unique and clever use.
Huo Yuhao used the makeup techniques he learned from Gao Sheng to disguise Zhu Yun as himself. This way, when she and her shadow clone stood together, it created the illusion of Huo Yuhao and Zhu Yun leaving together.
The disguised Zhu Yun would replace Huo Yuhao and return to Star Luo City with the Zhu family's people. This way, even if they noticed something was wrong, Huo Yuhao would have already run to a place they couldn't catch him.
Huo Yuhao wrote a letter and gave it to Zhu Yun, taking full responsibility for the escape onto himself, so Zhu Yun wouldn't have to worry about being punished.
To be honest, he truly admired her. He hadn't explained the matter of the Heavenly Dream Iceworm to her, nor had he mentioned acquiring a second martial soul. He only said that he wanted to leave the Duke's mansion and act alone during the holiday, and she chose to unconditionally support his decision.
If their roles were reversed, Huo Yuhao didn't think he would agree to the other person being so reckless.
Precisely because of this, he absolutely couldn't betray her trust.
Huo Yuhao sighed in his heart and asked,
"Brother Tian Meng, is the second martial soul you mentioned definitely real? I've done something like this, don't tell me it's just a prank."
"Don't worry, not only is it real, it will even greatly exceed your expectations!"
Hearing his voice, the Heavenly Dream Iceworm materialized into a humanoid phantom and appeared beside him.
He winked at Huo Yuhao proudly.
"The second martial soul Brother prepared for you is absolutely guaranteed in strength!"
"That's good."
Huo Yuhao breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked curiously,
"Brother Tian Meng, can't others see you? How did you do that?"
The current Heavenly Dream Iceworm had only materialized the upper half of a human figure and was suspended in the air, yet the people around him didn't show any surprise at his presence, clearly unable to perceive him.
The Heavenly Dream Iceworm laughed proudly,
"Of course they can't see me. As for the specific method, I'll consider teaching you after you reach the 'Formless and Immaterial' spiritual realm. It's too early for you now."
"Formless and Immaterial?"
Another new term.
The Heavenly Dream Iceworm patiently explained,
"The total amount of spiritual power isn't the only important thing; the realm of spiritual power is equally important. And the two major realms of spiritual power are 'Formless and Immaterial' and 'Formed and Material'. Let's put it this way, with your current total spiritual power, if you can break through to the 'Formless and Immaterial' realm, your combat power can at least quintuple. If you can break through the 'Formed and Material' realm, it can even increase tenfold or more."
"That exaggerated?"
Huo Yuhao's eyes widened.
According to the Heavenly Dream Iceworm's statement, if his spiritual power could reach the 'Formless and Immaterial' realm, he would have at least the combat power of a Soul Emperor now.
The Heavenly Dream Iceworm snorted,
"Not exaggerated at all. After all, ninety-nine percent of spiritual type Soul Masters can never break through the 'Formless and Immaterial' spiritual power realm in their lifetime. I have such confidence in you because I am with you; my spiritual origin can subtly improve your spiritual power realm. But even so, I estimate it's impossible for you to reach this realm within ten years."
"Alright."
Huo Yuhao took the Heavenly Dream Iceworm's words to heart and adjusted his mood.
Since the Heavenly Dream Iceworm said he couldn't reach it yet, he wouldn't dwell on it. It was better to focus on the matter at hand.
He asked seriously,
"Then, Brother Tian Meng, where are we going next?"
"Does that even need to be asked?"
The Heavenly Dream Iceworm chuckled and pointed north.
"Of course, we're going to my homeland, the paradise for ice-attribute soul beasts, and the forbidden zone for humans—the Extreme North!"