"Oh."
Only then did Huo Yuhao understand the purpose of the badge. He put it away and asked,
"What should I do next? Should I also report to Class 1, Grade 1?"
Xian Liner said coldly,
"No need. You've already wasted enough time. If your body is fine, we will arrange the Extreme Solo Plan for you now."
Qian Duoduo glanced at Huo Yuhao with a bit of sympathy and interjected,
"Yuhao, let me tell you first, once the Extreme Solo Plan begins, you will have absolutely no rest time until the holiday. If you want to rest for a day before starting, I won't blame you."
"No need."
Unexpectedly, Huo Yuhao just shook his head calmly, his eyes filled with determination.
"I want to start now. Two Deans, please take me to the training ground for the plan."
"Good! I like a straightforward and persistent child like you."
Xian Liner nodded in satisfaction, reached out her hand, and grabbed Huo Yuhao.
"Walking is too slow, I'll take you directly."
As soon as her voice fell, Huo Yuhao felt the scenery around him begin to blur.
"!"
Huo Yuhao quickly realized that it wasn't the scenery moving, but Xian Liner moving at high speed while carrying him.
While moving, she also used her soul power to shield Huo Yuhao's body so he wouldn't feel pain.
In less than ten seconds, the rapid journey stopped, and they arrived in front of a tall building.
Huo Yuhao looked back and saw that Sea God Island had become a small dot on the horizon.
This speed... Even if Dean Xian isn't a Titled Douluo, she must be close, right?
Xian Liner put him down and said with a smile,
"Since we didn't know when you would wake up, many projects that needed to be prepared in advance couldn't be carried out temporarily. Fortunately, some projects can be started immediately. Come, you just woke up from deep meditation and haven't eaten for three months. You must be hungry. Let me give you something good to eat."
For some reason, Huo Yuhao felt that Xian Liner's smile was a bit strange, not entirely benevolent.
Soon, Huo Yuhao was led by her into a room. Besides the entrance, there was another door in the room, and a faint aroma wafted from beyond the door.
Xian Liner clapped her hands and called out,
"Xiaoxiao, I notified you before I went to Sea God Pavilion, right? Come out."
"Alright, alright, I know."
A lazy voice came from inside the door, and a woman in a chef's outfit walked out. She glanced at Huo Yuhao indifferently, yawned, and asked,
"Is this the candidate for the Extreme Solo Plan? He's too young."
Xian Liner smiled slightly.
"He might be a bit young, but I believe there is no one in the Soul Engineering Department more suitable for this plan than him right now."
"Oh."
The woman in the chef's outfit responded unenthusiastically, clearly not taking Xian Liner's words to heart, and still didn't have much hope for Huo Yuhao.
Xian Liner wasn't annoyed and explained to Huo Yuhao,
"Yuhao, this is your nutritionist during the Extreme Solo Plan. She is also responsible for teaching you knowledge related to various foods. Her name is Lu Xiaoxiao."
Huo Yuhao quickly bowed to Lu Xiaoxiao.
"Hello, Teacher Lu."
"Okay, okay, hello."
Lu Xiaoxiao waved her hand impatiently and asked,
"Are the introductions finished? If they are, I'll go back to cooking."
"Okay, you go ahead and get busy."
Xian Liner nodded to Lu Xiaoxiao, then instructed Huo Yuhao,
"I'm leaving now. You must listen to Teacher Lu's arrangements for everything from now on, understood?"
"Understood."
Seeing Huo Yuhao nod, Xian Liner left the room with satisfaction.
Lu Xiaoxiao yawned again and went back into the kitchen to cook.
Huo Yuhao waited for about twenty minutes before Lu Xiaoxiao came out carrying several trays.
She placed them on the table in front of Huo Yuhao and opened the lid on the first tray, revealing its contents.
In an instant, even Huo Yuhao, whose mental fortitude far surpassed his peers, couldn't help but twitch his cheek.
"This, this is... insects?"
Just as he said, the plate contained an extremely ugly insect. Although it was cooked now, it was still difficult to look at directly.
Lu Xiaoxiao said flatly,
"That's right, this is your first dish today. Are you going to eat it?"
Huo Yuhao raised his head and looked at her blankly, his gaze seemingly questioning, "Can this thing really be eaten?"
Lu Xiaoxiao didn't say anything, just silently met his gaze.
This staring contest lasted for about ten seconds. Suddenly, Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, picked up the plate, and began shoveling the contents into his mouth.
This even stunned Lu Xiaoxiao. She subconsciously took two steps back and asked,
"Wait, you're really eating it?"
"Cough cough cough!"
Huo Yuhao, who was struggling with the insects, suddenly felt his vision go dark and coughed violently, asking indignantly,
"Didn't you tell me to eat it?!"
There were many reasons why he forced himself to eat the insects despite the feeling of nausea.
First, this was part of the Extreme Solo Plan. He believed that Teacher Lu Xiaoxiao wouldn't harm him. Since that was the case, he didn't need to consider negative effects other than psychological and taste bud discomfort. His goal was to become the Duke of White Tiger and avenge his mother. If he couldn't endure even this small hardship, how could he talk about revenge?
Second, he couldn't rule out that this was a test from Xian Liner and Lu Xiaoxiao. If he missed out on the resource allocation for the Extreme Solo Plan because of hesitation here, he would truly have nowhere to cry.
Finally, before being a student, he was a member of the Duke's Mansion. He had received military education since childhood, and the most important thing for a soldier is to obey orders, no matter how absurd the order is.
All these factors combined led him to choose to eat the plate of insects.
But this didn't mean he was happy eating it. Hearing Lu Xiaoxiao's words at this moment, his temper immediately flared up.
Lu Xiaoxiao coughed awkwardly, shifted her gaze, and said,
"Oh, it's nothing. Go ahead and eat. This dish is indeed edible. It is very beneficial for your spiritual cultivation. I just didn't expect you to be so straightforward about it."
As she said this, Lu Xiaoxiao herself didn't notice that her expression had unconsciously softened quite a bit.
What she didn't say was that Huo Yuhao was the first person she had encountered who could eat such a disgusting dish without any resistance.
This courage significantly improved Lu Xiaoxiao's evaluation of him. At least, he went from being a pampered young master to someone with potential.
Huo Yuhao twitched his mouth speechlessly, but in the end, he didn't make any further complaints. After sighing, he lowered his head again and continued to battle with the disgusting ingredient.