Huo Yuhao needed money.
His mother's body was depleted and required various medicinal herbs to nourish and fill the void, which cost no small amount of Gold Soul Coins. Additionally, he himself needed auxiliary items for cultivation.
The rent for the house later, the expenses for the shop he envisioned—all of these required money. A mere few tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins would not be enough.
"This detached villa is in close proximity to Shrek Academy. There are three security teams deployed in the surrounding area, and every member of the security team is at least at the Soul Ancestor level, while the captains are all graduates of the Shrek Outer Courtyard.
"Furthermore, the General Captain and Vice-Captain of the security team are Soul Douluo level experts! They can certainly guarantee the safety of every resident!
"Aside from that, the entire villa is equipped with Soul Tool Technology imported from the Sun Moon Empire, which can provide you with a more convenient and cozy life!
"Additionally..."
The receptionist was talking incessantly. As the top salesperson, his judgment of people was the most accurate.
Although the clothes on the three people before him couldn't be called luxurious, the temperament and facial features of each person couldn't lie.
Especially the youth in the lead and the girl following beside him; one was bright and confident, the other cold and noble—clearly, they were no ordinary people.
And the reality was indeed so.
Huo Yuhao looked at the floor plan of the villa in front of him. Hmm... three floors, plus a basement and an attached small courtyard.
The basement could be converted into a workshop, the courtyard into a training field, and there were nine rooms in total across the three floors... it was indeed quite good.
He nodded and looked at his mother beside him.
"Mom, what do you think?"
Huo Yun'er looked it over and opened her mouth slightly, but in the end, no sound came out. She just reached out to carefully tug at Huo Yuhao's sleeve, leaning down slightly to whisper in his ear:
"Yuhao, will this be too expensive?"
Huo Yuhao smiled and shook his head, speaking softly:
"Mom, it's alright. This is for safety; if a problem arises, this acts as a safeguard."
Huo Yun'er opened her mouth as if to say something, but eventually, she nodded.
She looked at her son, a hint of reflection appearing in her eyes as memories of this recent period surfaced in her mind. In silence, she patted Huo Yuhao's head, her eyes meeting his:
"I believe in Yuhao. We'll do as you say."
"Mhm!"
Huo Yuhao nodded with a smile, then looked at the girl nearby: "Nana-sister, what do you think?"
Gu Yuena nodded calmly, then returned her attention to the pastries Huo Yuhao had just bought for her.
Huo Yuhao nodded, smoothly plucking a bit of "Joy" from Gu Yuena.
"We'll take this one. Help me process the certification."
"Certainly, Sir! Please come this way!"
...
To be honest, the public security of Shrek City is relatively good and can be divided into roughly four levels.
The first, naturally, is the Shrek Inner Courtyard. Not only is it guarded by multiple Titled Douluo, but there are also Inner Courtyard disciples who are at least at the Soul King level. If anything happens, there is an immediate response.
The second is this villa area where Huo Yuhao is now renting.
As a property under the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the personnel guarding this area are all from the sect. If a legitimate tenant were to be harmed in an area under their control, it would be equivalent to a slap in the face for the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
The third rank would be the Shrek Outer Courtyard.
What? You're asking why Huo Yuhao ranked the Shrek Outer Courtyard here?
Heh.
Living a second life allowed Huo Yuhao to see many things clearly, including what the current Shrek truly looks like.
He could not forget that assassination attempt targeted at him in his previous life, and similarly, he could not forget how Shrek handled the aftermath of that assassination.
Elder Mu was very good. If Elder Mu had not been heavily injured but was instead as healthy as Long Xiaoyao or Ye Xishui, perhaps Shrek could have barely continued developing in a positive direction. But unfortunately, there are no "ifs."
When Elder Mu was alive, he endured great pain and sacrificed everything for Shrek; after his death, he gave his all to the Golden Ancient Tree.
He would go to Shrek Academy—after all, Dong'er would be there. Moreover, Dong'er carried the Divine Consciousness of Tang San. If he wanted to deal with Tang San, that Divine Consciousness also had to be resolved.
Huo Yuhao did not know that the entire Douluo World was currently wrapped in a Providence Barrier, preventing the God Realm gods from peering in, but that didn't stop him from plotting against Tang San.
Once he found a way to resolve the hidden danger on Dong'er, he would definitely find a way to take her away. At that time, he would certainly leave Shrek.
After that, the Body Sect, the Illustrious Virtue Hall, or the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect were all places he might go... oh, and now there was a highly probable alternative—the Star Constellation Great Forest, where he could also look for Qiu'er.
In short, he would go to Shrek, but the ultimate purpose of going was to integrate a future core team of his own and then pack them up and leave.
In this life, he did not want to bind himself to Shrek again.
The glory of Shrek? Heh.
Huo Yuhao shook his head, suppressing these thoughts, and began directing a group of people to adjust the furniture placement and the layout of the villa.
The receptionist was very enthusiastic, especially when he paid two years of rent upfront. When he learned that Huo Yuhao also intended to rent a shop, he became even more spirited.
Not only did he finish the procedures quickly, but he also gifted Huo Yuhao a large amount of exquisite furniture—of course, in terms of price, this pile of furniture was only worth dozens of Gold Soul Coins, which was a mere fraction compared to the two years of rent Huo Yuhao paid, but it showed his sincerity.
"Little Mr. Huo, this is my office address. If you have any further housing needs, you can come find me anytime. I guarantee I can secure the best discount terms for you!"
"Thank you."
Huo Yuhao responded with a smile. After chatting briefly with the receptionist, he bid him farewell.
Night fell. Huo Yuhao lay on the bed, not meditating, just staring at the ceiling.
His mother was already resting. Although Huo Yuhao had bought some herbs along the way to begin tentatively nourishing her body, she had been traveling for a month. Combined with walking around all day today, her body simply couldn't take the exhaustion.
As for Huo Yuhao, he was waiting for a certain gluttonous, scrap-tier Dragon King.
Time passed slowly. Suddenly, the space not far away rippled slightly, and Gu Yuena stepped slowly out of the spatial ripples.
She looked at Huo Yuhao and spoke softly:
"Are we leaving now?"
Huo Yuhao sat up and nodded.
"Yes, right now. To avoid any unexpected complications."
Indeed, the one Huo Yuhao was waiting for was Gu Yuena.
On this trip, he was going to the Star Constellation Great Forest to first "abduct" Brother Skydream and Elder Yi.
Over the past month, through his saturated feeding and the sacrifice of his roasted fish, he had finally plucked enough positive emotions from the gluttonous Dragon King, Gu Yuena!
This had also allowed him to reach Level 10 at a speed that felt like using a cheat code.
It could only be said that, as expected of the Co-lord of Soul Beasts, the emotions plucked from her were truly pure!