"Not going? Why?"
Tang San was puzzled. After all, his plan was to head to the outskirts of the Star Constellation Great Forest to hunt for a suitable soul ring once he reached rank ten. Ideally, it would be a venomous snake-type soul beast like the Datura Snake, or perhaps a spider-type soul beast.
Yet now, this waiter was actually telling him not to go hunt for a soul ring?
"It's like this, Guest. You've just arrived in Shrek City, so you might not know, but for the past two months, the soul beasts in the Star Constellation Great Forest have stopped producing soul rings.
"No, I should say, the soul ring dropped by each soul beast lasts for ten minutes at most before rapidly vanishing. Many soul masters have had their soul rings dissipate right in the middle of the absorption process.
"I heard that recently, a powerhouse who had just broken through to Soul Emperor started absorbing a ring, but it suddenly vanished. That Soul Emperor's sixth ring ended up being a mere ten-year soul ring."
As a Soul Emperor, one naturally hopes for a powerful sixth soul ring. To joyfully slay a soul beast only to end up with a ten-year lifespan ring—that Soul Emperor probably felt like dying, didn't he?
The waiter shook his head and sighed softly, seemingly pitying the Soul Emperor's tragic encounter.
Meanwhile, Tang San fell into deep thought.
Soul beast soul rings are vanishing? How could this be? Could it be... the World Will is playing tricks?
Does it know that my remnant soul has descended to this lower realm? Is it afraid I will attain godhood again and slay it with world-shaking power, so it's directly interfering with the laws of the world?
Tang San thought contemplatively. In his view, to be able to accelerate the dissipation of all soul beast rings on such a scale, only the World Will was likely capable of such a feat.
So... he could only go to that "Spirit Transmission Pagoda" to purchase a "man-made soul ring"?
Tang San hesitated; after all, he still wanted a soul ring with poison attributes, as that would suit him best. After a moment's hesitation, Tang San thought of something and looked at the waiter.
"What about the Sunset Forest or other soul beast gathering points?"
"Ah, I haven't heard of soul rings vanishing instantly upon death in other gathering points like they do in the Star Constellation Great Forest... but we have 'man-made soul rings' now! In terms of quality, 'man-made soul rings' are almost equivalent to rings dropped by medium-to-high quality soul beasts. That's already very good.
"Plus, I heard that if Shrek students buy soul rings at the Spirit Transmission Pagoda, there are options for specially customized high-grade soul rings!"
Tang San nodded, his mind made up. Without staying longer, he led Xiao Wu away.
His cultivation speed in this life was slightly slower than his previous one, but not by much. After all, he essentially relied on the Mysterious Heaven Skill to cultivate soul power.
However, because his innate soul power was too low, he wasn't even a one-ring soul master yet...
With these thoughts, Tang San changed direction and led Xiao Wu toward a nearby pharmacy.
Medicated baths and the like... it was time to get those arranged.
...
While the "man-made soul ring" business was in full swing, the creator of these rings, the current Pagoda Master of the Spirit Transmission Pagoda, and Shrek's high-priority protected asset, Huo Yuhao, was currently standing with arms crossed. He frowned slightly at the two girls before him, his expression one of slight helplessness.
"Can't you two give me a break? One of you—an ice seal that should have lasted at least ten days was exhausted by you in just five! And the other—I just filled your reserves with enough soul power the day before yesterday, and you've already used it all up today!"
The two were Ms. Ma Xiaotao and Ms. Ling Luochen.
Ever since the day he left a mark on Ms. Ling Luochen, she had gone straight to Ms. Ma Xiaotao to pick a fight at the Soul Arena.
Then, these two had become completely locked in a rivalry.
Ms. Ling Luochen could temporarily manifest the "lite version" of Ultimate Ice given to her by Huo Yuhao, while Ms. Ma Xiaotao temporarily had no evil fire to suppress and possessed a higher soul power rank. The two maintained a strange, precarious balance.
In one month, one had come to him seven times to repair the evil fire seal, and the other had come thirteen times for a recharge!
Similarly, during this month, the Shrek Academy Soul Arena had undergone six rounds of repairs and reinforcements. The teachers responsible for maintaining the arena had sent complaint letters directly to his office!
Huo Yuhao stared at Ms. Ma Xiaotao and Ms. Ling Luochen. Feeling guilty, the two didn't dare look at him, keeping their heads down in silence.
The atmosphere gradually froze. Suddenly, a weak voice rang out:
"Um... Mister... there is a... letter for you..."
It was Ms. Jiang Nannan.
The little rabbit felt the unpleasant atmosphere the moment she stepped into the lab. Especially when she realized the source of that unpleasantness was Huo Yuhao, her ears instantly drooped. Even the speech she had rehearsed countless times became stumbling and hesitant.
"A letter for me?"
"Ah, yes. Someone from the Spirit Transmission Pagoda sent it over," Ms. Jiang Nannan answered quickly.
Huo Yuhao nodded, took the letter, and glanced through it. Seeing it wasn't an emergency, he turned back to the two women and spoke directly:
"I have many things to do and no time to lecture you constantly. I'll let you off this time. Reflect on yourselves, and then... hand in a 4,000-word self-reflection essay to me. I want to see it on my desk tomorrow morning."
Leaving behind this mild punishment, Huo Yuhao turned and left.
He left Ms. Ma Xiaotao and Ms. Ling Luochen staring at each other, while a helpless Ms. Jiang Nannan stood by, watching the two seniors look as if they were about to fight again.
...
"Yuhao!!!"
On the other side, just as Huo Yuhao stepped out of a teleportation portal, a voice full of fury erupted. Immediately, a blonde girl rushed forward, hooked her arms around his neck, and began playfully "gnawing" on him—it was Ms. Skydream.
The work at the Spirit Transmission Pagoda was still in its infancy, so someone had to watch over it. Since Huo Yuhao had to run between Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Engineer Academy, he didn't have much time.
Naturally, he had to find someone he trusted to ensure operations stayed on track. Thus, Huo Yuhao had naturally turned to Ms. Skydream.
"Alright, Sister Skydream... I had no choice. Who else can I trust 100% besides you?"
Huo Yuhao gently patted the girl hanging off him, then waved his hand to deactivate his disguise, revealing his original face.
Hearing the phrase "trust 100% besides you," Ms. Skydream blinked, then slowly let go.
"Hmph... I suppose I forgive you..."
Sister Skydream is so easy to coax... Huo Yuhao thought silently. He looked around and, noticing the absence of a certain emerald-green figure, asked, "Where is the Ice Emperor?"
"Bingbing said she was going out for a stroll. Now that her body is newly nourished, she wanted to walk around and see the human world," Ms. Skydream answered softly, though her tone carried a hint of regret.
If Huo Yuhao hadn't told her to watch the shop, she definitely would have shamelessly followed the Ice Emperor out for a shopping trip.
Well... although Bingbing is important, Yuhao's hugs really do smell wonderful!