Peerless: Tang San, this time Huo Yuhao is the attacker.

"Of course your apology is sincere. How could it not be sincere when you're about to die?" Wang Dong said with his arms crossed, his tone full of disdain.

Huo Yuhao looked at Ma Xiaotao, who was arguing with Wang Dong, with a strange expression, and a scene suddenly flashed into his mind.

A junior sister in the Qi Refining stage slandered her senior sister in the Mahayana stage for stealing her Foundation Establishment Pill.

It's quite remarkable that Ma Xiaotao, a Soul Emperor, is so polite to Wang Dong, a Great Soul Master.

That's normal, though. With Wang Dong's background, she wouldn't be intimidated by even a Soul Emperor or a Soul Douluo, let alone a Soul Emperor. Niu Tian and Titan are no joke.

Ma Xiaotao must also know that Wang Dong has an extraordinary background, since the entire Shrek Academy leadership knew about Wang Dong's identity from the moment he enrolled.

After Ma Xiaotao was knocked unconscious by Tianmeng, Yan Shaozhe even gave her information about Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.

That's why Ma Xiaotao only argued with Wang Dong, a Great Soul Master. She felt that if Xiao Xiao had spoken to her like that, she might already be lying on the ground.

"Alright," Huo Yuhao said, interrupting Wang Dong and Ma Xiaotao, who were arguing about whether it was genuine.

Both of them turned their gazes to Huo Yuhao. Ma Xiaotao gripped the hem of her uniform tightly with both hands, her breathing quickened, and her face showed visible tension and anticipation.

"Senior, I'm sorry, I can't help you with this."

After saying these words, Huo Yuhao could clearly see the disappointment and sadness in Ma Xiaotao's eyes. She suddenly exerted force with both hands, and then let go weakly, leaving deep wrinkles at the hem of her clothes.

It's alright, it's alright, I expected this...

Ma Xiaotao forced herself to calm down, hiding the disappointment on her face, and gave a somewhat forced smile.

"Excuse me, I've disturbed you. I'll be going now."

Ma Xiaotao didn't stay to continue proving her sincerity. She knew that doing so would not only fail to prove herself but would also annoy others.

She was prepared for a long battle, and although she would inevitably feel down after being rejected, she could accept it completely.

It was nothing but a few hardships. She had survived twenty years of being plagued by evil spirits, so a temporary setback was nothing to her.

Ma Xiaotao left, but Wang Dong was clearly still angry. She looked at Huo Yuhao and said earnestly:

"Yuhao, you absolutely mustn't be soft-hearted. Look at her, she only apologized because she knew you, the Ultimate Ice, could help her. She's just using you as a gold coin card, so selfish! Humph!"

Watching the direction Ma Xiaotao left in, Huo Yuhao fell into deep thought.

He currently has two entries: [Lord of the Spirit] and [Ice Emperor]. The former is formed from Tianmeng's spiritual essence when he is charging.

The latter appeared on its own after merging with Hyotei.

Huo Yuhao now has two questions: one is why Wang Dong is not a contributor, and the other is why there are no advancement requirements for [Ice Emperor].

Firstly, the question is, even Ma Xiaotao can have a keyword, so why doesn't Wang Dong, the undisputed female lead, have one?

This is completely illogical, but since the entry itself is illogical, Huo Yuhao chose to put the issue aside for the time being.

But the second problem cannot be ignored.

The currently known terms are purple, red, and gold, which seem to be classified according to the grade of the soul ring.

More entries are needed to support this claim, and we will know for sure in the future.

What truly concerned Huo Yuhao was the advancement of the terms, judging from the effects of the three terms.

Purple corresponds to 30%, red corresponds to 100%, and gold corresponds to 300%.

If purple can advance to a higher level, there's no reason why red can't.

The sheer power represented by a 100% increase in ice attribute and a 300% increase in ice attribute is self-evident.

However, the fact is that Ma Xiaotao's purple entry shows the advancement conditions, while Hyotei's red entry does not.

Huo Yuhao had two guesses about this: either the red-level entries couldn't be upgraded, or the upgrade of high-quality entries required exploration.

Huo Yuhao personally prefers the latter, since it is more beneficial to his strength. It is better not to reveal the conditions than not to be able to advance.

"Yuhao? Yuhao?" Seeing that Huo Yuhao did not respond, Wang Dong called out with some dissatisfaction.

"What's wrong?" Huo Yuhao asked instinctively, snapping out of his daze.

"Were you even listening to me?" Wang Dong's tone immediately became resentful upon hearing this.

"Alright, alright, I really don't know why you're so angry. He's just a stranger, it's not worth wasting so much emotion on him."

Sensing Wang Dong's genuine concern and displeasure at his distraction, Huo Yuhao smiled and comforted him.

"That's true. Come on, let's continue our cultivation."

……

Shrek City, Treasure Pavilion.

Ma Xiaotao strode in, and the hostesses, seeing her blood-red dress, all bowed and greeted her with sweet smiles.

The biggest audience of the Treasure Pavilion, located in Shrek City, is undoubtedly the students of Shrek Academy.

These hostesses receive training upon joining the company, and distinguishing trainees by their uniforms is just one of the most basic courses.

Ma Xiaotao did not pause at all, and walked straight to the stairs. After showing her token to the waiter guarding the stairwell, she went up to the third floor without any hindrance.

Ma Xiaotao came here for a simple purpose: to buy things for Huo Yuhao as an apology.

This was the first time in her life that Ma Xiaotao had to try to please someone, but it was her own mistake.

"What should we send him? With the talent he has shown, he certainly won't lack cultivation resources."

A soul bone? But I can't afford a high-quality soul bone, and a regular one isn't good enough for his talent.

Looking at the rows of display cases around her, Ma Xiaotao was distressed because none of the dazzling goods caught her eye.

"That's right! He's a Soul Master, and making Soul Tools requires metal, so buying these for him shouldn't be a problem."

The low-to-mid-level ones are for practice, the high-level ones are to show my sincerity, and then I'll give him a few suitable soul tools for self-defense—it's perfect!

Ma Xiaotao's dark red eyes suddenly lit up, and she fixed her gaze firmly on the soul tool area.

"Celestial Copper, the best soul power conduction metal among level-five soul tools? Buy it!"

"The Frost Vein Tungsten can amplify ice-attribute soul power, which is quite suitable for Huo Yuhao. Buy it!"

"Blazing Rock Wood, wait, can wood be used to make soul tools? Never mind, I'll buy it!"

"Jade Silver, commonly used in level two soul tools, thirty gold soul coins per kilogram, so cheap, buy it!"

……

Ma Xiaotao shopped from the third floor to the first floor and bought a rare metal weighing 100 kilograms and two soul-guided shields.

Both soul-guided shields are level three, prepared for Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.

She realized that Wang Dong was Huo Yuhao's good friend, so if she wanted to get along well with Huo Yuhao, she had to get along well with Wang Dong as well.

As for why Huo Yuhao, a great soul master, was given a level 3 soul guide shield, it's because he has twin martial souls, and his total soul power is already greater than that of ordinary soul masters.

Moreover, his second spirit is an ultimate attribute, and with the quality and quantity of Huo Yuhao's spirit power, using a level three spirit guide shield is absolutely no problem.

"This should be enough, right?"