NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16: The Future is Scary!
The unification of the continent by the Sun Moon Empire was practically inevitable.
Although your son was technically conceived through Ju Zi's plan, he still carried your blood.
The emperor who would unite the continent was of your lineage.
Yet, instead of embracing this, you kept charging into battles, barely managing to hold the line, and ultimately got pushed back.
If it hadn't been for Sea God Tang San's intervention, Douluo Continent would likely bear the surname Huo by now.
If you could unify Douluo and had Electrolux's guidance, what godhood couldn't you create?
But no, you had to inherit the position of the God of Emotions, which has nothing to do with you.
It's evident that the Three Douluo Kingdoms were like mud that couldn't hold up a wall.
By Douluo III, with the disappearance of the Divine Realm, the Sun Moon Continent still rolled over the rest, forming the Douluo Federation.
Unifying earlier would've reduced the wars.
In the end, all those efforts were for nothing, so why not have gone with the flow from the beginning?
Of course, Huo Yuhao's fate was largely shaped by his own opportunities, like his connections with the Skydream Iceworm, Ice Empress, Snow Empress, and Electrolux.
The Tang Sect was merely a burden.
Shrek Academy was much the same, except that Mu En's name and a few self-created spirit techniques were somewhat helpful to Huo Yuhao.
What? Spirit fusion techniques with the Tang Princess, Tang Wutong?
You must be kidding. Wake up!
Jiang Bai, not wanting to envision a battlefield littered with their spirit fusion promptly tossed the Shrek admission voucher to him.
"Let's go."
Huo Yuhao, feeling apologetic, said, "I'm sorry, Sister Tang Ya and Brother Bei Bei. Joining a sect is a big decision, and there's something important I need the support of a strong force behind me to accomplish."
Tang Ya grew anxious immediately.
She needed—no, she wanted to persuade him to become a Tang Sect disciple.
"Yuhao, as long as you join the Tang Sect, we'll be like family from now on. No matter how difficult things get, Bei Bei and I will do everything in our power to help you. And one day, the Tang Sect will rise again to become the top sect in Douluo Continent. What problem could we not solve by then?"
Jiang Bai, with a careless tone, interjected, "What if you're facing a Titled Douluo?"
"Of course!"
Tang Ya was just about to keep painting the picture when Bei Bei stopped her.
Promising too much wasn't wise.
Although Bei Bei was confident he'd reach Titled Douluo one day, it wasn't the right time to make promises that far-reaching. Misleading Huo Yuhao might even lead to resentment later.
Bei Bei quickly softened the tense atmosphere. "Alright, Teacher Xiao Ya. Jiang Bai is right. Right now, it's not the best time for Little Brother Yuhao to join the Tang Sect. Let's first leave the Star Dou Forest. We're heading to Shrek Academy anyway; how about we travel together?"
Jiang Bai and Huo Yuhao nodded in unison. "Alright, thank you, Brother Bei Bei!"
Tang Ya pulled Bei Bei aside, seething, and fumed, "Bei Bei, why didn't you help me convince Yuhao? Do you even love me anymore?"
Bei Bei helplessly ruffled her hair, "Teacher Xiao Ya, of course I love you. But forcing Yuhao into the Tang Sect would be wrong. Even if we convinced him today, he might blame us if he finds out later that we can't meet his expectations."
Tang Ya retorted, "Why wouldn't we be able to meet them? Don't you have confidence in reaching Titled Douluo level, Bei Bei? And there's still Elder Mu!"
Bei Bei sighed, "The Tang Sect is poor and struggling, with enemies lurking around. Yuhao might not have the time to wait for our revival."
"Hmph, so Huo Yuhao doesn't want to share in our struggles, only in our prosperity? Dream on!"
At that, Tang Ya lost patience with Huo Yuhao. She walked in sulky silence the rest of the way, with even Bei Bei unable to cheer her up. All he could do was offer Jiang Bai and Huo Yuhao an apologetic smile.
But Huo Yuhao didn't mind, focused instead on absorbing the soul skill granted by the million-year soul beast.
Meanwhile, Jiang Bai gazed at the Star Dou Forest, reflecting on the journey of the past five years. Now, he was opening a new chapter.
His first objective had been achieved: 'Successfully preventing Huo Yuhao from joining the Tang Sect and avoiding any entanglement with the Sea God!'
As for joining Shrek Academy, well, while the place was as outrageous as ever, it was still the most powerful academy on the continent, rich in resources—which Jiang Bai needed if he was to stay close to Huo Yuhao.
Especially if he wanted to witness the injustice Yuhao would face at Shrek Academy... watching as resentment began to simmer.
Once the time was right, and Jiang Bai was closer with Huo Yuhao, he'd simply convince him to leave and head somewhere better.
After all, the Shrek Academy's outer court was merely a training school; only the inner court meant truly joining Shrek. And in the outer court, leaving partway wasn't unusual.
Especially if Huo Yuhao faced grievances early on at Shrek, Jiang Bai could subtly intervene, securing Yuhao's trust and deepening their bond.
With that, dismantling the so-called "First Trial" would be complete. Tang San's grand millennia-long plan would crumble with just a little push.
As the four of them journeyed on, Bei Bei filled in Huo Yuhao and Jiang Bai about Shrek Academy's history. Founded millennia ago, the original Shrek Seven Monsters had all ascended to godhood.
Shrek's motto was 'only cultivating monsters, not ordinary people' with "monsters" meaning geniuses. Their mission: to uphold peace across the continent.
They had not only subdued the beast tides of the Star Dou Forest but had also, in the past, led the three kingdoms to repel the Sun Moon Empire's invasion.
Jiang Bai couldn't help but roll his eyes at this.
"The three Douluo kingdoms were incompetent," he muttered. "Even after ten thousand years, they were still nothing compared to the Sun Moon Empire, which eventually unified the continent anyway. No wonder Shrek ended up getting blown up."
Bei Bei went on to explain that Shrek Academy was divided into inner and outer courts. Each year, about a thousand new students were admitted, though the total number of students rarely exceeded five thousand.
"If you can't pass Shrek Academy's rigorous assessments, you'll be immediately expelled. Every student who graduates from Shrek Academy is a true genius, renowned across the entire Douluo Continent."
Bei Bei explained, then added with a touch of concern, "With your current strength, Huo Yuhao, it might be hard for you to get accepted into Shrek Academy."
After all, he was already eleven, had only just become a Soul Master, and his first soul skill came from a ten-year soul beast — quite weak by Shrek's standards.
However, because of his spiritual-type martial soul, there was a chance for him in the Soul Tool Department.
"Brother Bei Bei, what's the Soul Tool Department?"
"The Soul Tool Department is dedicated to studying the creation of soul tools — weapons powered by soul energy."
Just as Bei Bei finished, Tang Ya bit her lip and muttered angrily, "If it weren't for soul tools, our Tang Sect wouldn't have fallen so low! It'd be better if soul tools disappeared entirely! Hidden weapons are the strongest; under the first sect master, Lord Sea God himself, hidden weapons could even harm the gods! Can soul tools do that?"
After several hours of travel, the four finally arrived at Shrek Academy.
However, Jiang Bai found himself in an awkward situation — he had no money! Living in the Star Dou Forest, he'd never needed it. He was totally unprepared, realizing he'd left 'home' without a single coin!
With an embarrassed smile, he turned to Huo Yuhao, "Yuhao, um… do you have any money?"
Huo Yuhao was stunned. Money? What's that?