Xie Xie's eyes were wide open as he looked at Yuanen Yehui, who had suddenly revealed that she was female. He was still finding it hard to believe.
A girl could look this much like a boy?
Huo Yuhao immediately saw that Xie Xie had misunderstood. Amused, he said, "This isn't Yuanen's original appearance. This is her after applying makeup."
Tang Wulin, Wang Jinxi, and Zhang Yangzi also looked at Xie Xie speechlessly.
This guy had definitely been about to say something sharp.
Hearing this, Xie Xie snapped back to the present and gave an awkward laugh. "Sorry. Hearing news like that all of a sudden, anyone would be surprised."
Huo Yuhao smiled and shook his head, then looked at Yuanen Yehui.
"Is this alright?"
"You've all seen my true face. There's no need to hide it anymore."
Yuanen Yehui said, "Besides, I might revert to my original appearance soon anyway."
Seeing that Yuanen Yehui had moved on to serious matters, Tang Wulin and the others simultaneously looked at Huo Yuhao with shining eyes.
"It seems there's another reason you called me here."
Huo Yuhao's gaze swept over everyone. He smiled slightly.
A moment later.
On the training ground, everyone was sprawled on the ground, gasping for air. The air was thick with the intermingled scent of sweat and spirit power. A few scorched marks remained on the floor.
Huo Yuhao stood in the center of the field, seemingly without any expenditure. "Not bad. Everyone's coordination has improved compared to last time."
Tang Wulin struggled to sit up and smiled bitterly. "I just feel the gap has grown even wider." He rubbed his numb arm. The spiritual shock Huo Yuhao had just delivered still left him feeling a bit dazed.
"Exactly, exactly." Xie Xie lay sprawled on the ground, not wanting to move a finger. "Boss, go a little easier on us. Let us see if we've improved."
Yuanen Yehui leaned against the wall, having already removed her disguise. Now, her long hair cascaded down. The heroic spirit between her brows remained, but there was now a touch of feminine softness.
Her purpose in seeking out Huo Yuhao, besides apologizing, was to seek guidance.
As the number one on the Junior Genius Rankings, he was the goal of their generation. Not fighting him, not feeling the gap between themselves and the peak, would have been a pity.
However, the result was obvious. She had lost.
Even fighting together with Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Wang Jinxi, and Zhang Yangzi, she had still lost cleanly and decisively.
Yuanen Yehui's gaze toward Huo Yuhao was complex, mixed with genuine admiration.
Strength like this, ranked number one, was truly deserved.
"I told you so. We're definitely not a match for Yuhao. Why did they have to go seek abuse?"
Watching the battle end, Xu Xiaoyan said to Gu Yuena, "Just coast along..."
She stopped mid-sentence.
Na'er's mood seemed to have soured.
Gu Yuena's expression was dark. She suddenly placed her hand on Xu Xiaoyan's shoulder, her tone slightly cold.
"Xiaoyan, your attitude needs correction."
As her disciple, how could you be so keen on coasting?
Get with the program and work hard with me.
Xu Xiaoyan was startled by Gu Yuena's sudden seriousness. She shrank her neck and said quietly, "Na'er, I was just joking... Nooooo!"
The good days of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's number one slacker were over.
Huo Yuhao walked off the field, watching Gu Yuena drag Xu Xiaoyan off for training, and smiled helplessly.
They had all spoiled Xiaoyan too much, leading her to want to coast completely. She really did need to be straightened out.
"..."
Shen Xing watched Huo Yuhao come off the field. After a moment of silence, she walked over to him. "Student Yuhao, may I be so bold as to ask, do you have any plans to join the military? Your strength far exceeds that of your peers. If you want to gain experience, the military is a good choice."
Huo Yuhao looked at her in surprise. Xu Xiaoyan had already introduced them. When he heard the name Shen Xing, her identity quickly came to mind.
Shen Xing of the Shen family. In the original, when Tang Wulin went to Demon Island, he had some kind of entanglement with her.
Something along the lines of a hostage falling in love with her captor?
But that was not the point.
What mattered was that Demon Island, which possessed the power of the Goddess of Life and the God of Destruction, was located near the North Sea Legion's base. Moreover, Shen Xing's family held an important position in the military and was a representative of the dovish faction.
Thinking this, Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes, guessing her intention. "I don't have any such plans for now."
He paused, then asked, "Miss Shen, when you became friends with Xiaoyan, there were no other motives, were there?"
Shen Xing was taken aback at this. She glanced at Xu Xiaoyan on the stage and shook her head solemnly. "Of course not. I truly wanted to be friends with Xiaoyan."
Huo Yuhao met her eyes for a moment, confirmed her gaze, and nodded. "That's good. For someone your age to be considering your family's interests is admirable. But to calculate everything for that purpose would be too much."
"..."
No, why are you being so direct? I really didn't have that kind of intention.
Shen Xing's face flushed red.
Fortunately, Huo Yuhao then said, "Speak frankly. I've also heard some things about the Federation's internal affairs from my elders. But I don't know the details. Would you tell me some of your family's thoughts?"
Shen Xing calmed her emotions. Seeing that Huo Yuhao had already guessed her intentions, she frowned. Ultimately, after a moment's thought, she decided to explain some of her own and her family's thoughts.
The conversation had come to this. She could only speak openly.
This guy really didn't play by the rules, did he?
Sighing inwardly, Shen Xing said, "All wars are fought for profit. And those who suffer are the ordinary people."
The Federation was increasingly finding itself unable to keep up with resource development. Technology had hit a bottleneck. So their attention had turned to outer space exploration. Both the hawkish and dovish factions supported this, but their philosophies were completely different.
The hawkish faction believed that the universe was not a peaceful paradise but a dark forest full of threats. They advocated opening the star path with force, believing that controlling the resources of Xingluo and Tiandou to build a more powerful soul tool weapon system was necessary to ensure the Federation's footing in the vast sea of stars.
The dovish faction held a completely different view. They opposed war and further believed that overdeveloping soul tool weapons would accelerate resource consumption and might ultimately cripple the entire civilization before it could even enter interstellar society. In their view, such an endless arms race would only trap the Federation in internal strife.
Both sides had their own arguments, each with its own logic. In the council, the hawkish faction had the upper hand. Among the common people, those who desired a stable life were more numerous, giving the dovish faction the upper hand.
But upon hearing the core arguments of both sides, Huo Yuhao thought of Qiangku Dongfeng's restart of source core research.
So that was it. One of Qiangku Dongfeng's purposes in restarting source core research was to silence the dovish faction.
Source research was prohibited by the Federation. After all, it involved dangerous weapons like the God-Slaying Grade shells, and the resource consumption was indeed too great. But if it could be completed, the Federation's technological bottleneck could be broken through.
After all, based on the materials he had obtained from Mingde Hall, they had already developed interstellar spacecraft. However, they lacked a suitable energy source to power it. What they lacked now was energy.
If the core technology for exploring the stars were in the hands of the hawkish faction, the dovish faction would naturally find itself at a disadvantage.
Shen Xing continued, "Moreover, the Xingluo and Tiandou Continents do not have the Spirit Transmission Tower. Their spirit beast resources will eventually disappear one day. As long as we continue to accumulate our foundation, we will eventually win without a fight."
One of the fundamental differences between Xingluo, Tiandou, and the Douluo Continent was Spirit Souls.
Without Spirit Souls, the gap between them and the Federation would only widen year by year.
At this point, Shen Xing looked at Huo Yuhao, waiting to see his reaction.
But Huo Yuhao calmly looked away, toward Tang Wulin and the others as they recovered and walked over.
What to say? The Spirit Transmission Tower had not established branches in Xingluo and Tiandou as in the original. Spirit Souls were being used as a card by the dovish faction. His mood was inexplicably complicated.
Seeing Huo Yuhao look away, Shen Xing frowned.
It seemed she wouldn't get an answer for now.
Thinking this, Shen Xing suggested, "If you have any thoughts later, you can contact me."
Huo Yuhao nodded, but said nothing more.
"..."
The others walking over stopped in their tracks.
Hmm? What was going on? They had just met, and they were already arranging private meetings?
Yuanen Yehui's gaze flicked between Huo Yuhao and Shen Xing. Her peripheral vision caught Gu Yuena, who had also stopped training and was walking toward them.
She remembered that this one was Huo Yuhao's girlfriend, wasn't she?
To do this in front of his girlfriend... was that really okay?
"Is something going to happen?" Xie Xie nudged Tang Wulin's arm.
"Probably not." Tang Wulin shook his head.
Xie Xie wanted to say more, but saw that Gu Yuena had already walked over. He instinctively shut his mouth.
The silver-haired girl acted as if nothing was wrong. It was just that her amethyst eyes were slightly narrowed. To everyone watching, a faint, disquieting chill seemed to radiate from her.
But when she reached Huo Yuhao, a natural smile appeared on Gu Yuena's face. There was not a trace of anger to be seen.
What a joke. Shen Xing was a generation below Yuhao. She didn't seem to have anything special about her either. She wasn't even as useful to Yuhao as that whale. The two were certainly discussing business. How could she possibly be angry?
"Well, it's getting late. Let's call it a day."
Huo Yuhao smiled at Gu Yuena, then looked at the others. "We'll be going now."
Xie Xie nodded dumbly, then realized. "Boss, if you have time in the future, please continue to guide us. We have a match against Shrek Academy at the end of this semester."
Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow, then nodded slightly, agreeing.
Beside him, Gu Yuena also nodded to everyone, then took Huo Yuhao's arm and turned to leave.
At Mingde Hall, Lan Fozi finished her work and returned to her room. Seeing that Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena were not there, she rarely breathed a sigh of relief. She had time to organize the information she had gathered recently.
In recent days, through her relationship with the Holy Spirit Cult and her mother, she had learned some information about deities.
In the Divine Realm, there were many powerful deity couples.
The Sea God Tang San and his wife Xiao Wu. The Life God King and the Destruction God King. The Good God King and the Evil God King. The Fire God and the Water God. And so on.
Which couple among these were Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena?
Among these deities, according to the Holy Spirit Cult's information, Life and Destruction had coincidentally been confirmed dead.
Lan Fozi swallowed.
Was it them? Were those two the supreme gods of the Divine Realm?
It wasn't that she was overthinking. It was simply that the current situation was too coincidental.
It was known that two beings who stood at the apex of the Divine Realm were currently in a state similar to re-cultivation. And in the Divine Realm, there were indeed such deities who had died, and, as she had speculated, they were a couple.
Anyone, any beast, would overthink, wouldn't they?
Later, she could try to see if they displayed authority related to life and destruction. If they did, perhaps she could confirm it.
Lan Fozi's expression was dazed, somewhat lost.
If they truly were God Kings, what should she do in the future?
"Have you been in contact with the Holy Spirit Cult?"
Suddenly, a now-familiar voice sounded behind Lan Fozi, startling her.
Lan Fozi spun around. There stood Huo Yuhao, his eyes flickering with an unfathomable light. Her heartbeat instinctively quickened. Tiny beads of sweat seeped from her palms.
"My lord, I did not reveal any information related to you. I was just..."
Just investigating your identities. She could not bring herself to say the words. Lan Fozi's blue eyes flickered, not daring to meet Huo Yuhao's gaze.
"It doesn't matter if you reveal some information."
Huo Yuhao looked at Lan Fozi, who was even more nervous than before, and smiled faintly. "You can tell the Holy Spirit Cult everything about how you infiltrated the Spirit Transmission Tower and became my assistant."
Lan Fozi's eyes widened.
Huo Yuhao's life in Mingdu gradually stabilized. Day after day passed.
One day, Huo Yuhao arrived at Ling Zichen's research lab as planned, to see their experiment project.
As Huo Yuhao stepped through the doors of the research lab, a faint scent of metal and soul tools unique to them rushed toward him. In the spacious hall, several soul engineers in white research uniforms were busily moving between various experiment tables.
"You're here!"
Ling Zichen walked over quickly from the crowd, an excited smile on her face.
However, her smile was not because Huo Yuhao had arrived, but because of the experiment data she had just completed in her hand.
"Perfect timing. That project just had a breakthrough. We're doing the next experiment now. I'll take you to see it."
Huo Yuhao nodded. He followed Ling Zichen through several spatial doors flickering with soul tool runes, arriving underground at the Spirit Transmission Tower. The walls of the corridor on either side were embedded with complex soul tool devices, from which the faint sound of energy flow could be heard from time to time.
"Our project is source research. It's called the Monomer Forward Circulation Source Core. Oh, you might not know this concept, but source is..."
"A substance extracted from rare metals. It's the material used to manufacture God-Slaying Grade shells."
Ling Zichen raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "You know quite a bit. But our project is slightly different from the technology for God-Slaying Grade shells."
"To amplify the power of the Metal Source and use it as a circulating energy source." Huo Yuhao glanced at Ling Zichen. "It's obvious from the project name. Anyone could figure it out."
"..."
Ling Zichen stopped walking. She narrowed her eyes, looking Huo Yuhao up and down.
Who were you mocking?
And even if someone could figure it out, they wouldn't react so quickly.
"Did you get that information from the higher-ups? Or..."
She stopped mid-sentence.
Impossible. If Huo Yuhao wasn't part of this project, that person wouldn't have told him. She was now telling him about it without authorization, which was, strictly speaking, a violation of the rules. She just didn't care.
Was there someone like her, who had violated the rules to tell Huo Yuhao this information?
Looking at his expression, Ling Zichen felt that the truth was not that simple. An interested look appeared in her eyes.
But she didn't press further. She continued leading the way.
She pushed open the final metal door. The scene before her made Huo Yuhao narrow his eyes.
In the center of the laboratory, inside a three-meter-diameter transparent container, floated a mass of dark red liquid metal. It constantly twisted and deformed, sometimes expanding, sometimes contracting, its surface flickering with a dangerous light. More than a dozen researchers around it were nervously controlling soul tool instruments to stabilize its condition.
There were also two researchers directing the effort.
They were clearly Ling Zichen's parents.
Ling Zichen said, "We have successfully obtained source from Spirit Forged metal. Now we need to cause it to undergo fusion and control it."
"It's going to explode."
Huo Yuhao's words interrupted Ling Zichen's, leaving her stunned.
And the next moment, a blinding white light erupted from the source's location.
BOOM!
***
->Support me with power stone
->for 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!