The next morning,
Su Yunlin and Wang Dong were called out and tasked with taking Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao to hunt for their third Spirit Rings.
Xiao Xiao had actually reached Rank 30 quite a while ago, but she had delayed obtaining a Spirit Ring. Now, once she absorbed one, all the soul power she had accumulated would erupt at once.
But Huo Yuhao? Wasn't he only Rank 28 before? How did he jump to Rank 30 overnight?
Su Yunlin simply couldn't understand this kind of "protagonist cheat-level" advancement.
Huo Yuhao scratched his head awkwardly.
He really had only been Rank 28 before. Those 28 levels came from the deep meditation he experienced upon arriving at Sea God Island. The remaining two levels were gained after refining the Ice Extreme carving knife from earlier.
Who would've thought that the Ice Extreme carving knife had actually been forged from Ice God Crystal? It even contained a strand of Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow. Borrowing the power of that ice marrow, Huo Yuhao directly advanced to Rank 30 in one go.
Fortunately, Huo Yuhao also possessed a tiny piece of Life Gold, which he had picked up in the Extreme North. It was only about half the size of a fingernail, but it was precisely because of this Life Gold that Electrolux's divine consciousness had stabilized.
As for Su Yunlin and Wang Dong, this trip was also a chance for them to get some fresh air and conveniently complete their Outer Court assessment.
The assessment itself was simple: as long as Su Yunlin and Wang Dong successfully helped Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao obtain their third Spirit Rings together, they would pass.
And this time, Elder Xuan was leading the team again.
The moment Su Yunlin heard that Elder Xuan was in charge, he nearly fainted on the spot.
Still, with the Dark Devilgod Tiger around, nothing too dangerous should happen… right?
Afterward, Elder Xuan brought the four of them to the Star Dou Forest. The moment they landed, Elder Xuan disappeared.
…Yeah. They were already used to it.
Su Yunlin looked at Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao.
"Alright, tell me what kind of Spirit Beasts you want."
Xiao Xiao was very easygoing. She didn't have strict requirements for Spirit Beasts and planned to rely on luck instead. After all, her Three Lives Soul Sealing Cauldron was compatible with a wide variety of Spirit Beasts.
But Huo Yuhao immediately went for the ultimate request:
He wanted a ten-thousand-year spiritual-type Spirit Beast.
Su Yunlin instantly smacked him on the head.
"You really dare to ask for that, huh?! A ten-thousand-year spiritual Spirit Beast? Forget it. Since you're pitiful enough already, I won't bully you."
Huo Yuhao looked at Su Yunlin.
"Class Monitor… do you know about my background?"
"Was it really that hard to guess? You lied to me back then. Fine, lying is one thing, but your eyes kept darting around while you did it. Plus the way you reacted when meeting your old man—do I look brain-dead to you?" Su Yunlin replied speechlessly.
Huo Yuhao's expression darkened.
"He's not my father. He doesn't deserve that title."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Let's focus on getting your Spirit Rings first."
Su Yunlin clearly had no intention of continuing that topic. Otherwise Huo Yuhao might explode emotionally.
Xiao Xiao looked utterly confused.
"What are you two talking about?"
Su Yunlin flicked her on the head.
"Kids shouldn't pry into grown-up matters!"
Xiao Xiao held her head indignantly.
"What do you mean 'kids'? I'm your senior sister! I'm older than you—you're the junior disciple!"
Su Yunlin twitched at the corner of his mouth.
So being younger was somehow his fault now?
Wasn't she only slightly older than him?!
Huo Yuhao still looked conflicted.
"Class Monitor… what do you think I should do in the future?"
"What do you want to do?" Su Yunlin asked as he looked at him.
"I want to end his bloodline!" Huo Yuhao declared with a sharp, determined gaze.
"Then you might as well kill yourself on the spot. You're his son too—you can refuse to acknowledge him, but his blood still flows in your veins. Don't say such brainless things," Su Yunlin replied speechlessly. This guy was seriously stubborn.
"Then what should I do? Am I just supposed to ignore my mother's death?" Huo Yuhao asked, breathing heavily.
"How would I know? It's not like I—"
Halfway through his sentence, Su Yunlin suddenly thought of something.
A memory buried deep within him—one he least wanted to recall.
His fists unconsciously clenched tightly.
Seeing this, Wang Dong froze for a moment. She could clearly feel Su Yunlin's emotions violently fluctuating.
Su Yunlin took a deep breath.
"I don't know! Don't ask me! This is something you have to resolve yourself!"
After saying that, he walked ahead alone.
Wang Dong quickly followed after him.
Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao were both confused. They had no idea why their class monitor's tone had suddenly become so heavy.
BOOM—
A towering tree suddenly crashed to the ground as Su Yunlin slowly lowered his fist, barely managing to vent the anger inside him.
"Yunlin, what's wrong?"
Wang Dong hugged his arm tightly.
She could feel all sorts of negative emotions from him—anger, sorrow, pain…
She had never seen Su Yunlin so shaken before.
Su Yunlin shook his head and gently caressed her face.
"It's nothing. I can't tell you about it right now. I'll explain someday."
Wang Dong softly embraced him instead.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. Everyone has secrets. I respect your privacy."
"Tongtong…"
Su Yunlin hugged her back, and the rage in his heart gradually began to fade.
Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao wisely chose not to interrupt them.
After all, the last person who interrupted those two had literally been beaten into the ground.
Once Su Yunlin adjusted his emotions, the group continued onward.
Along the way, they encountered a number of Spirit Beasts.
Most were scared away by Huo Yuhao's simulation soul skill.
The few that weren't frightened off were driven away by Su Yunlin personally.
"Hm? Royal jelly. This stuff's pretty good. It's usually produced by bee-type Spirit Beasts, and it tastes amazing. Let's take some and try it."
Su Yunlin looked tempted as he stared at the large mass of royal jelly.
"Hm?"
Just as he was about to store it away, he suddenly sensed a powerful aura approaching.
A massive figure emerged from the forest.
It was a giant bear!
Apparently, it had also been attracted by the royal jelly.
The enormous bear was covered in dark golden fur, but the most eye-catching feature was its claws.
Its claws were exceptionally long and frighteningly sharp.
"A Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear? Looks around two thousand years old. Xiao Xiao, how about this one?" Su Yunlin was pleasantly surprised. This was his first time encountering a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear.
"Okay!"
"I'll handle this one myself."
Elder Xuan suddenly appeared.
He had actually been following nearby the entire time, not daring to stray too far away.
After all, Shrek Academy currently only had four twin martial soul users. Elder Xuan practically wished he could split himself into four pieces so he could watch each of them individually.
With a single palm strike, Elder Xuan subdued the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear.
Su Yunlin handed Xiao Xiao a sharp close-combat soul tool weapon, and it took her four strikes before she finally killed the bear.
"A two-thousand-year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. Xiao Xiao currently possesses two ten-thousand-year Spirit Bones, so she should be able to absorb it," Elder Xuan observed after a brief inspection.
Why did Xiao Xiao have two ten-thousand-year Spirit Bones? One was the reward Elder Mu had given her.
The other was a meeting gift from Elder Xuan to his little disciple. Elder Xuan quite liked Xiao Xiao, so he had been very generous.
Xiao Xiao immediately sat down to absorb the Spirit Ring.
Meanwhile, Su Yunlin stared thoughtfully at the corpse of the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear.
He vaguely remembered that Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears had a chance to drop external Spirit Bones.
Was that actually true?
Su Yunlin was just about to start dissecting the bear when Elder Xuan moved even faster.
With one swift motion, Elder Xuan sliced off the bear's right foreclaw.
After stripping away the flesh, a dark golden palm bone appeared in his hand.
Five narrow blade-like extensions protruded from it, resembling miniature terror claws.
"An external Spirit Bone? A right palm bone?" Su Yunlin exclaimed in surprise.
So Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears really did always drop right palm bones, huh?!
Elder Xuan then explained the properties of the external Spirit Bone produced by Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears.
Su Yunlin found the Spirit Bone rather interesting.
But only interesting.
He wasn't skilled in claw-type combat, so there was no point absorbing it if he wouldn't use it anyway.
Wang Dong felt the same way. The Darkgolden Terrorclaw was powerful, but she was far more accustomed to using the Clear Sky Hammer.
As for Huo Yuhao, he believed in "ladies first."
In the end, the Spirit Bone was given to Xiao Xiao.
Su Yunlin patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder.
"Yuhao, time to work. Prepare this bear properly. Save the bear paws. Oh, and don't forget the royal jelly! That's premium stuff—perfect for dipping bear meat in."
"Yes!"
The chef, Huo Yuhao, began to work!
...
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