Chapter 45: The Innately Evil Spirit Hall!
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao opened the lunchbox. He wasn't worried about Juzi drugging him in some kind of "steal the seed" plan. After all, his stance was different from the original Huo Yuhao's he was now a citizen of the Sun Moon Empire. That meant Juzi had plenty of time to win him over, so there was no need for her to rush things.
His gaze fell on the food inside the lunchbox. It looked and smelled delicious, so he picked up the utensils and took a bite.
A moment later, he looked up at Juzi.
"Well?" Juzi asked nervously. To be honest, she hadn't been this tense since rescuing Xu Tianran after all, if that plan had failed, she would have lost her only chance for revenge.
"It tastes great. I think your cooking skills have improved a lot, Senior Juzi!" Huo Yuhao praised.
"That's good." Juzi let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "If you like it, I can cook for you every day. But in exchange, you have to make me more grilled fish."
"Senior Juzi, if I have time, I can cook you extra grilled fish, but I still need to eat the academy's special meals every day," Huo Yuhao replied.
Due to how much the Sun Moon Empire valued him, his meals had been upgraded to the same level as Xiao Hongchen's. The special academy meals helped increase soul power without harming potential, so the academy wouldn't let him eat anything else for his daily meals.
"I see…" Juzi still smiled.
The two chatted for a while before Huo Yuhao turned and left.
Juzi watched his retreating figure, her gaze lingering until he disappeared around the corner.
"Juzi! He's gone already. What are you still looking at?" Keke teased from the side. "Something feels off about your attitude toward Huo Yuhao. Zimu chased after you for so long but never got this kind of treatment!"
"He cooks really well… It reminds me of my father," Juzi admitted without hesitation.
Keke's eyes gleamed with mischief. "So… you're planning to make a move on him?"
Juzi hesitated. Some things were fine to keep in her heart, but if she said them out loud… it would be a different story.
"Hmm… Seems like someone's got a crush," Keke said, crossing her arms. "Well then, since you're not interested, I guess I'll take him for myself!
Think about it he's favored by the Dean and Professor Xuan, and he's close to the Hongchen siblings. His future is limitless.
Plus, he's still young and doesn't have much experience in relationships. If an older, more mature sister like me makes a move, I'd definitely win him over easily!"
Juzi's expression changed immediately. Her lips parted slightly as she blurted out, "Keke, what are you thinking?! He's still so young! You're much older than him! That's basically an old cow eating young grass!"
"Oh? Are you afraid I'll steal your dream guy?" Keke smirked. "I remember you once said you wanted to marry the best chef in the world.
And now, here's Huo Yuhao his cooking skills even earned your approval. Doesn't that mean…"
Keke grinned playfully and trailed off.
"Keke! Stop talking nonsense!" Juzi's face turned slightly red, and she awkwardly averted her gaze.
"Nonsense? Me? Never!" Keke said dramatically. Then, suddenly, she yelped. "Ow! Juzi, you're pinching my waist again! Damn it, now I'm gonna get revenge! Let's see how you like it when I pinch you there!"
"Keke, stop! Not there!"
Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy – Grand Hall
Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen led Huo Yuhao to three empty seats, where they sat together, ready to watch a student theater performance.
Even though Huo Yuhao wanted to grow stronger, he didn't want to stay in a constant state of high tension.
In the original story, Huo Yuhao had stressed himself out so much that he nearly broke down.
Even Xuan Ziwen, a self proclaimed research maniac, knew the importance of balancing work and rest.
Soon, the curtains slowly opened with the help of a specially designed soul tool.
As the play began, a man appeared on stage wielding a black hammer and summoning a Blue Silver Grass martial soul.
Huo Yuhao immediately froze in place.
This setup was just too iconic.
Of course, that black hammer wasn't the Clear Sky Hammer it was probably just a hammer shaped soul tool. There was no way the Clear Sky Sect would come all the way to the Sun Moon Empire just to perform in a play.
And finding a soul master with Blue Silver Grass wasn't exactly difficult.
He turned to Meng Hongchen.
"Senior Meng, is today's play about Tang San?"
"Yep!" Meng Hongchen nodded. "This play was written 7,000 years ago by a former Shrek Academy Headmaster. It's one of the most famous and critically acclaimed plays in Douluo history!
Apparently, all the renowned scholars of Douluo Continent praise it endlessly!"
"Tch! That's just because they support Tang San. Of course, they'd say it's a masterpiece!" Xiao Hongchen sneered.
"In my opinion, it would've been so much better if the Spirit Hall had won instead.
That way, Douluo Continent could have been unified. If there was unification, at least the people wouldn't have suffered from constant wars between the two nations."
Huo Yuhao's thoughts began to race.
To be honest, Tang San really was someone who constantly prevented Douluo Continent from uniting.
And that was suspicious as hell.
In Douluo 1, after defeating Spirit Hall, he still let the two empires remain divided.
In Douluo 2, he personally intervened, performing a god tier deus ex machina to stop the Sun Moon Empire from unifying the continent.
And in Douluo 3… well, by then, Tang San and the Divine Realm had been yeeted into a space time vortex, so he couldn't stop the Sun Moon Empire from taking over.
What exactly was Tang San's issue with a unified continent?
Was he just bored in the Divine Realm and wanted to watch different nations fight for his amusement?
At that moment, a pained, agonized scream echoed from the stage:
"Spirit Hall, the innately evil organization, is responsible for forcing Xiao Wu to sacrifice herself! But the heavens have not forsaken me! I have finally found a way to bring Xiao Wu back! Come back to me, my love!"
Hearing those words, Huo Yuhao instantly understood what kind of play this was.
Sure, Spirit Hall had done some bad things, but calling them innately evil? That was just excessive propaganda.
Most likely, the Shrek Academy Headmaster who wrote this play did it specifically to demonize Spirit Hall.
After all, history is written by the victors, and this principle still applied in Douluo Continent.
Shrek Academy producing something like this wasn't surprising at all.
After thousands of years of development, Shrek Academy had become a breeding ground for the aristocracy.
To enroll in Shrek Academy, aside from meeting the strength requirements, students also needed a letter of recommendation from a city lord.
For commoner soul masters, obtaining such a recommendation was nearly impossible.
Meanwhile, for the noble children of the Three Douluo Nations, entering Shrek Academy was mostly a way to build connections.
After all, most of them wouldn't stay in Shrek Academy forever they would return to inherit their families' legacies, not dedicate their lives to serving the academy.
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