Douluo: The True Eye

In the remaining semester after the official class assignments, Huo Yuhao's cultivation also gradually began to get on track. Apart from daily trivial matters and unavoidable courses, Huo Yuhao spent almost all of his time in Shrek Academy's Soul Arena.

This was because, although only second-year students and above could participate in Shrek Academy's Soul Arena competitions, first-year students could not freely enter to challenge or make appointments to fight others in practical combat.

However, the spectator seats were equally open to students of all grades, with the only requirement being the payment of a certain amount of Gold Soul Coins as a viewing fee.

And this fee, Huo Yuhao could directly waive by using his status as a Core Disciple.

As a Core Disciple, he was one of the few in each graduating class.

With this status, Huo Yuhao could freely enjoy a series of benefits within Shrek Academy, such as consuming nourishing foods made from the flesh and blood of low-level Soul Beasts, or exchanging for some cultivation equipment, and seeking special guidance from teachers.

There were also some additional privileges, such as the academy awarding a certain amount of scholarship to students every month. Although the amount of the scholarship was not much, it could be regarded as an encouragement.

At the same time, some fixed facilities within the academy, such as the Soul Arena and the Beast Fighting Arena, could be freely accessed or entered in advance by students with Core Disciple status, without having to pay admission fees or make reservations, etc.

Overall, having the status of a Core Disciple was quite convenient within Shrek Academy. Anyway, since the original owner had already been targeted by Tang Fozu, Huo Yuhao didn't bother to care so much anymore, because what he could get his hands on was what truly belonged to him.

For eight months, Huo Yuhao spent every day in the Soul Arena, but he didn't participate in actual combat. Of course, due to the regulations, Huo Yuhao himself was unable to participate in the Soul Arena battles anyway.

However, most of the students in each grade knew about Huo Yuhao as a person. After all, Huo Yuhao was the only idler who came to the Soul Arena to squat as soon as school was over, and he only watched and never fought, nor did he participate in betting, which was very noticeable.

And after being nourished by the flesh and blood of Soul Beasts, combined with the improved cultivation method, and with the help of the continuous operation of Soul Power, Huo Yuhao’s original thin and short body, which was caused by malnutrition, had now been successfully conditioned, and had even surpassed most of his peers under the nourishment of sufficient nutrition and energy.

After all, ordinary people don't have the ability to open up the meridians of their whole body with Soul Power, achieving a completely integrated, self-circulating, and uninterrupted operation of Soul Power to nourish their bodies 24 hours a day.

And with the widening and strengthening of the meridians, Huo Yuhao's cultivation talent had also been greatly enhanced. In addition, with the existence of the Soul Power circuit, Huo Yuhao's current cultivation speed was no lower than the efficiency of those Soul Masters with Martial Soul Fusion Skills.

After all, even the so-called Profound Water Pill, which was said to be able to speed up the cultivation of Soul Masters, was actually only achieving the effect of smoother, more efficient, and faster Soul Power operation by reducing the impurities in the Soul Master's body through marrow washing.

After all the meridians were opened, Huo Yuhao's cultivation speed had already completely broken away from the disadvantage brought about by the first-level Innate Soul Power of the original body's congenital defects.

Of course, during this period, Huo Yuhao still took the time to pawn off the fifth-level Soul Tool, the White Tiger Dagger, in his hand, and with the funds from the pawn, he exchanged a Profound Water Pill from Xu Sanshi through Bei Bei's connections.

Although Huo Yuhao didn't actually need this so-called Profound Water Pill to assist him in his cultivation now, Huo Yuhao still needed to find a suitable reason and excuse for his cultivation speed.

With his current cultivation speed, it was completely impossible to hide it by relying solely on the Mysterious Heaven Skill itself and the singularity of the Body Martial Soul, so he still needed some pills as a cover, as for whether others would feel suspicious, at least there was a reason to shirk.

Of course, Huo Yuhao himself would naturally not eat this Profound Water Pill, because it was no longer necessary, and also because medicine was three parts poison, and Huo Yuhao was not sure whether the incomplete pill system of the Douluo Continent had other hidden dangers.

However, although he wouldn't eat it, it was still possible to take it for research. Through the analysis of the Eye of Reality, Huo Yuhao easily analyzed the ingredients and effects of the Profound Water Pill.

Deducing the refining method of the Profound Water Pill, while also getting a glimpse of the original pill system of the Douluo Continent, and then finding a chance to sell this Profound Water Pill elsewhere, could be regarded as a way for Huo Yuhao to get his money back.

Although the Profound Water Pill was a unique pill of the Profound Nether Sect and was extremely precious, it was only worth ten thousand gold coins. Every year, many of them were scattered in major auction houses on the mainland, but the output was very scarce.

As for why the White Tiger Dagger was only pawned off, but not sold, it was because the large and small shops in Shrek City were actually the property of Shrek Academy.

And Huo Yuhao's status as a Core Disciple could be used to inquire about some Soul Master-related industries, such as auction houses or pawnshops.

Therefore, considering the face of the Core Disciple status, the people in the pawnshop gave Huo Yuhao a lot of discounts, and in essence, the White Tiger Dagger was only mortgaged in the pawnshop. As long as Huo Yuhao collected the principal and interest in the future, he could still retrieve it.

Because the Soul Power runs through the whole body, and completing the Soul Power cycle was only the first step. With the smooth operation of Soul Power, the meridians attached to the Soul Power would become more and more solid, and at the same time, more suitable for the circulation of Soul Power.

Moreover, the level of the Soul Power circuit constructed by Huo Yuhao would also become higher and higher, and the effect would become better and better.

At least before level seventy, Huo Yuhao believed that his cultivation speed would only be faster than the same level of Innate Full Soul Power Soul Master, and would not be slower than the Innate Full Soul Power Soul Master.

As for what would happen after that, it was really hard to say. After all, the next step after the meridians were connected was to condense the Soul Core, but the Soul Core was definitely not something that could be touched at present. Therefore, how to transition before condensing the Soul Core was what Huo Yuhao had to continue to study.

After watching another boring battle under the stage, Huo Yuhao stretched his waist, stood up and prepared to leave.

Having been immersed in the Soul Arena for several months, Huo Yuhao had thoroughly analyzed the martial soul structure, physical composition, soul power circulation routes, and soul skill formations of most soul masters participating in the battles through his Eye of Reality.

This included some soul masters who only spectated and did not personally enter the arena.

Although they didn't use their soul skills, the soul skills themselves were integrated into their martial souls in the form of soul rings. By seeing through their martial souls, Huo Yuhao spent some effort and 'disassembled' their soul skills.

However, Huo Yuhao didn't have much expectation for the students in the Soul Arena this time, as the end of the semester was approaching.

Most students were preparing for their post-holiday plans, so they naturally had no intention of staying in the academy to participate in soul battles. These days, only familiar faces could be seen in the Soul Arena.

Whether it was their physical skills or self-created soul skills, Huo Yuhao had already recorded them, making it difficult to innovate.

"Yuhao, why are you here alone again? Aren't you tired of watching soul battles every day?"

Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong's voices came. The two of them were carrying loads of food and snacks, clearly having just returned from strolling the snack street outside Shrek Academy.

Wang Dong naturally handed the snacks in his hand to Huo Yuhao, who casually took them and ate a few bites, saying, "Even the slightest tactical change could potentially broaden new directions and possibilities. How could coming here for inspiration be considered tiring for me?"

As members of the same team in the previous freshman assessment, and having joined the Tang Sect together, Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong's friendship had grown even closer over these eight months.

"Yuhao, you're already at level 20. Have you submitted a request to Director Du for hunting soul beasts? What's your target soul beast?" Wang Dong asked curiously.

"I submitted it a few days ago, but because the end of the semester is approaching, Director Du assigned me to the end-of-semester soul beast hunting team."

"Let's see how it goes. The current targets are the Illusory Moth, whose innate soul skill is a mental-type illusion, or the Big-Headed Spirit Ape, which possesses soul skills like mental amplification and concentration. For the first few soul skills, I prefer amplification-type soul skills."

"It's just that mental-attribute soul beasts are really rare. If I really encounter a suitable one, I might not be too picky," Huo Yuhao shrugged, saying nonchalantly.

For him, the choice of soul skills wasn't that important, because from the beginning, he didn't intend to rely on the nine soul skills of a soul master, who at most could only become a Titled Douluo, to form his combat system.

In the early stages, before he had the ability to condense soul rings himself, or wasn't qualified to display the self-condensed soul ring technique, he could just follow the laws of Douluo Star and randomly select a few mental-attribute soul beast soul rings that weren't too outrageous to break through.

For Huo Yuhao, as long as his mental power and soul power were sufficient, he could completely create various soul power circuits and construct skill systems suitable for different battles by analyzing soul skills and soul-guided core arrays.

So, if he had to say, soul rings and soul skills attached to his original martial soul would be more suitable for Huo Yuhao himself if they were amplification-type rather than functional-type soul skills.

Hearing this, Wang Dong nodded: "But the second-year promotion exam is a practical battle. Is it really okay if your second soul skill is an amplification type?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head: "If you choose your future just for the sake of an exam, then it can only be said that you're putting the cart before the horse. The exam can at most be regarded as a verification of your own path."

"And if you already have a clear plan for your future, you shouldn't use the so-called exam to restrain yourself, or even tamper with your direction of progress."

"Everyone knows that the attack-type and defense-type soul skills attached to hundred-year and thousand-year soul rings will greatly decline in the later stages of soul master cultivation, and even start to become useless."

"On the contrary, amplification soul skills, which are not very useful or functional in the early stage, may shine brightly, after all, the soul skills themselves will also be strengthened to a certain extent as the user's soul power increases."

"And for Soul Saints, Soul Douluos, and Titled Douluos, their ten-thousand-year soul skills often have better superior replacements, so they naturally won't waste soul power to use those low-level soul skills."

"But amplification soul skills are different. The more you go on, every bit of amplification can greatly widen the gap in strength between soul masters."

"And what this requires is only a relatively weak transition period in the early stage. Now, with the advent of soul-guided devices, think carefully, is it really necessary to choose a hundred-year or thousand-year-level attack or defense soul skill in order to pursue immediate combat power?"

"Wouldn't it be better to spend a little money to buy a decent soul-guided device to arm yourself as a transition?"

"Although the acquisition of soul skills depends on luck to a certain extent, the source of the soul beasts can most likely determine the soul skills that the soul master obtains, which can be proven by a large amount of data."

"In short, this is my view. It's getting late, let's go back early, or do you want to go out to eat?"

"The holiday is coming soon, and we have to separate. In short, I have a good idea about the second semester's promotion exam. No matter what, passing shouldn't be a problem."

"Let's go, let's go, of course we have to go out to eat! Since it's almost the holiday, Huo Yuhao, you have to treat this time!" Wang Dong's eyes lit up, and he immediately pushed Huo Yuhao towards the brightly lit streets outside Shrek Academy.

Xiao Xiao also hurriedly followed, walking alongside them.

"Finally, I have a chance to fleece you! Wahahaha, this time I must eat my fill!"

"Wang Dong, you never eat as much as Yuhao. Yuhao is already a head taller than you now, how can you still say that?"

"What are you talking about! I just haven't shown my true strength before!"

As the sun set, the figures of the three gradually disappeared into the brightly lit streets of Shrek City.

Now, the three of them, including Huo Yuhao, are only twelve years old, just carefree teenagers. This youthful time is only a few years, and it will pass in the blink of an eye if they are not careful.

It's just that now, the three of them are cherishing this hard-won youthful time and the pure friendship between them.