After the dinner, the group parted ways at the entrance of Shrek Academy.
Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan returned to the Inner Courtyard.
"Brother, you seem very interested in that Huo Yuhao, aren't you?" On the way, Jiang Nannan finally couldn't hold back her curiosity and doubt, asking, "Why is that?"
"Because I find him very interesting," Zhu Ziyang explained. "I have a hunch that Huo Yuhao's future will be brilliant."
"Ah, you think so highly of him? But why?" Jiang Nannan was somewhat confused and said, "Although he has a Body Spirit, his aptitude is very poor. At eleven years old, his spirit power is only level thirteen. If he hadn't joined the Tang Sect, he wouldn't even have been able to enter the academy!"
"No reason, just a simple intuition," Zhu Ziyang smiled and explained. He couldn't tell Jiang Nannan that he had read a book that said Huo Yuhao would become successful. So, he could only leave it to time.
"I see, alright," Jiang Nannan said, no longer dwelling on it. "I hope Huo Yuhao really lives up to your expectations, Brother. Otherwise, Xiaoya might be heartbroken."
"Hahahaha, he will," Zhu Ziyang said with a smile.
Jiang Nannan no longer focused on Huo Yuhao and instead excitedly said, "Brother, I heard that among this year's new students, three Spirit Elders have appeared!"
"Three Spirit Elders?!" Zhu Ziyang was very surprised, his tone somewhat astonished. He said, "That's quite interesting! Do you know the origins of these three Spirit Elders?"
"I don't know, Xiaoya doesn't either," Jiang Nannan shook her head.
"Oh!" Zhu Ziyang pondered upon hearing this. In previous years, one Spirit Elder among new students was already a groundbreaking event, but this year there were three. This made Zhu Ziyang suspicious. Could these three new Spirit Elders be stepping stones for Huo Yuhao? Using widely recognized geniuses to highlight an extraordinary prodigy—isn't that a common trope in adventure novels?
On the other side, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong also returned to their dorm room.
"Wang Dong, I'm going to cultivate!" Huo Yuhao was full of fighting Spirit. Zhu Ziyang's words filled him with motivation. As soon as he returned to the dorm, he eagerly sat on his bed, ready to cultivate.
"So early?" Wang Dong was a little surprised, but then he understood. After all, Huo Yuhao was a famous cultivation fanatic. He said, "Then you cultivate. I'm going to sleep for a bit, and then I'll cultivate after I wake up."
"Mhm!" Huo Yuhao ignored Wang Dong, closing his eyes and starting to cultivate.
"Brother Tianmeng, Brother Tianmeng!" In Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, Huo Yuhao called out.
"What do you want, little Yu Hao?" A chubby, snow-white worm appeared, its voice lazy.
"Did you hear what Big Brother Ziyang said at the dinner table?" Huo Yuhao asked expectantly. His trust in Brother Tianmeng surpassed anyone else's, so he eagerly wanted to know his opinion of Zhu Ziyang. "Is it true?"
"How would I know if it's true?" Brother Tianmeng's voice carried a hint of exasperation. He said, "I'm not one of you humans. How would I know that your human Spirits have so many intricacies?"
"Ah! Is that so!" Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel a little disappointed upon hearing this.
"However," Brother Tianmeng noticed Huo Yuhao's dejection and immediately changed the subject, saying, "What that human named Zhu Ziyang said should be correct. Your Spiritual Eye Spirit can indeed be nurtured with spirit power. The Evil Eye Tyrant Spirit Beast he mentioned is indeed very suitable to become your spirit ring. If possible, your third spirit ring or subsequent spirit rings could absorb this Spirit Beast."
"Really, that's great!" Huo Yuhao immediately said happily after hearing Brother Tianmeng's affirmation. "I knew it, Big Brother Ziyang looks so kind and friendly, how could he lie to me?"
"You, you just met him for the first time, and you trust him so much?" Brother Tianmeng was speechless and said, "However, that human is not simple. It's not a bad thing for you to get closer to him. I sensed the aura of a true dragon from him, how annoying!"
The big worm, Brother Tianmeng, recalled the fear of being dominated by Ditian over tens of thousands of years.
"True Dragon aura?" Huo Yuhao tilted his head, looking at Brother Tianmeng with some confusion.
"It's the True Dragon Spirit!" Brother Tianmeng said, "Isn't your Senior Brother Bei Bei's Spirit the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? That belongs to the True Dragon Spirit, but it's a common True Dragon. From its aura, Zhu Ziyang's Spirit seems to be a pure True Dragon, just like that hateful fellow Ditian!"
"What's a common True Dragon? A pure True Dragon?" Huo Yuhao was even more confused. Though not illiterate, his knowledge of Spirits was definitely lacking, so he didn't understand Brother Tianmeng's words.
"Uh, I can't explain it clearly either. In short, you just need to know that Zhu Ziyang is stronger than Bei Bei, that's enough," Brother Tianmeng himself was only half-understood, so he naturally couldn't explain it to Huo Yuhao and simply glossed over it.
"Oh, I see!" Huo Yuhao nodded, then asked again, "Brother Tianmeng, do you know about the Evil Eye Tyrant Spirit Beast? What kind of Spirit Beast is it?"
"If you're asking about that, then I'm not sleepy anymore!" As soon as Brother Tianmeng heard Huo Yuhao ask about the Evil Eye Tyrant, he immediately perked up, saying excitedly, "The Evil Eye Tyrant is a unique Spirit Beast on the Sun Moon Continent. That entire race consists of mental-type Spirit Beasts. Because of their peculiar appearance, with a body that looks like a single eye, they are also called 'Big Eyeballs' by the Spirit Beasts of the Star Dou Forest. I have to admit, they are very suitable to be your spirit ring!"
"Big Eyeballs?" Huo Yuhao immediately had a visual image, his expression strange.
"The patriarch of the Evil Eye Tyrant race, the Evil Eye Tyrant Overlord, is known as the Evil Emperor. He is the second-ranked terrifying existence among the Ten Great Fierce Beasts, with a cultivation of up to seven hundred thousand years!" Brother Tianmeng's tone became even more excited, saying, "The reason I know about the Evil Eye Tyrant Spirit Beast is because the Evil Emperor is one of the few beings who can make Ditian suffer a setback! I still remember the scene when that guy challenged Ditian back then. Tsk tsk tsk, it's truly exciting!"
"A seven hundred thousand-year Spirit Beast!" Huo Yuhao felt a great shock, yet not so great, because without any reference, he didn't understand what a seven hundred thousand-year Spirit Beast meant, only simply feeling that it was powerful.
"In that case, the Evil Emperor would be very suitable to be the ninth spirit ring for your Spiritual Eye Spirit, Yu Hao!" Brother Tianmeng suddenly said, thinking ambitiously, "If we could obtain the Evil Emperor's ultimate move—the Light of Time and Space—that would be even better. This is a powerful skill that even made Ditian change his expression!"
"Uh~" Huo Yuhao was stunned, shaking his head helplessly, and said, "Brother Tianmeng, you're thinking a bit too far ahead!"
"How could I be?" Brother Tianmeng said with immense confidence, "Once you reach two rings and fuse with the second Spirit I've chosen for you, you will definitely soar. By then, with us, let alone the Evil Emperor, we won't even put Ditian in our eyes!"
"Hahahaha!" Huo Yuhao just laughed and didn't pay attention to Brother Tianmeng's words.
---
Zhu Ziyang returned to his wooden house and prepared to cultivate.
He took out a deep purple Spirit Bone from his star flame ring and examined it carefully, hesitating whether to absorb this left arm bone.
This left arm bone, fully named the Death Magic Puppet Left Arm Bone, came from a fifty-thousand-year Death Magic Puppet and was a compensatory gift given to him by Yan Shaozhe before he went into seclusion.
Why Yan Shaozhe wanted to compensate him, Zhu Ziyang naturally knew. Yan Shaozhe had been severely criticized by Mu En, who then ordered him to go into seclusion in the Golden Ancient Tree underground World. He was not allowed to come out until he broke through to level 97. Zhu Ziyang felt that it would probably be ten or eight years before they would see Yan Shaozhe again. As a light-type Spirit Master, excessive scheming was a very serious constraint for him. It was already a fluke that he broke through to level 96. To break through to level 97, he would have to thoroughly clear the dust from his heart and rediscover his 'Heart of Light'; otherwise, he would never break through in this life!
Mu En's strict demands on him showed that Mu En had reached a point of utter disappointment and unbearable frustration with Yan Shaozhe. And Yan Shaozhe also understood that he had indeed let Mu En down, agreeing to Mu En's demands without any rebuttal.
The Death Magic Puppet Left Arm Bone in Zhu Ziyang's hand was the apology gift Yan Shaozhe gave him before his seclusion.
Looking at the Spirit Bone in his hand, Zhu Ziyang was somewhat silent.
The Death Magic Puppet, a type of extremely rare and powerful Death-attribute Spirit Beast, similar in appearance to humans, capable of manipulating corpses and souls in battle. Mu En's initial intention was to find this type of Spirit Beast for Zhu Ziyang's fifth spirit ring.
This Death Magic Puppet Left Arm Bone, according to Mu En's inspection, was a Spirit Bone with a fixed Spirit Ability, and its fixed Spirit Ability was Death Puppet.
Death Puppet, this is one of the Death Magic Puppet's ultimate moves, and also a very powerful life-saving skill. It can generate a puppet that can take one fatal attack in place of the user.
Zhu Ziyang thought for a long time and finally decided to absorb this left arm bone. After all, the more life-saving methods, the better!
What's more, this was a fifty-thousand-year Spirit Bone, and it was so compatible with his attributes. Zhu Ziyang would be foolish not to absorb this Spirit Bone. Even as a Shrek Inner Courtyard student and a disciple of the Sea God Pavilion Master, his opportunities to obtain such high-quality Spirit Bones were very limited!