Unrivaled Tang Sect Volume 20

Book 20: Sparring Competition

Chapter 176: Extortion and Sparring

Huo Yuhao looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, which were brimming with rage, and said angrily, “Does this mean you don’t trust me?”

Lin Jiayi spread his hands open and made a helpless gesture. He said, “It’s not that I don’t trust you. However, reality states otherwise, and that is what we must deal with. Don’t worry, I will inform Teacher Fan Yu. However, you must explain yourself clearly right now.”

Huo Yuhao nodded coldly and said, “Right, since you don’t want ‘face’, there’s no need for me to cover up for you. Let’s go. Bring me to the Hallmaster, and I shall explain it in front of him.”

Lin Jiayi was helpless before Huo Yuhao. Jing Hongchen had told him of his importance many times. Furthermore, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were still at Shrek Academy. While he already had Hongchen’s Blessing as evidence, he could not truly lose his temper at Huo Yuhao or do anything drastic to him! All he suspected was a possible connection between Huo Yuhao and the surprise attack by the Body Sect.

“Alright, I shall bring you to the Hallmaster.” In the end, Lin Jiayi decided to let Jing Hongchen take care of Huo Yuhao.

First, this was because his status was too sensitive. Second, Jing Hongchen had been in a foul mood recently. He had been heavily punished by the imperial family, and that was before news of the loss of Test Subject 1 leaked out.

Right now, in Lab No. 1, some of Jing Hongchen’s confidantes were trying to rebuild Test Subject 1. With their experience, their progress was rather quick. However, the once-vast resources of Illustrious Virtue Hall had been greatly reduced.

In cuffs, Huo Yuhao walked out of the infirmary with his back straight and head held high. A cold smile was plastered on his face. His self-righteous appearance made Lin Jiayi’s heart pound. However, the Rank 9 soul tool, Hongchen’s Blessing, was not something that Shrek Academy could have produced. Furthermore, there were still traces of Jing Hongchen’s aura on it. Those traces could not be faked. Lin Jiayi would never believe that Jing Hongchen would gift a Rank 9 soul tool to an outsider!

He also could not imagine that the revolutionary Test Subject 1 of the Illustrious Virtue Hall was currently located in the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges around Huo Yuhao’s waist. Right now, the teenager’s face was both relaxed and infuriated.

---

Jing Hongchen’s office was no longer in Virtuous Illustrious Hall out of safety considerations, since the underground facility had not yet been fully reinforced. While the new location was not suited for work, Jing Hongchen had no mood to carry out research on soul tools at the moment.

When Huo Yuhao followed Lin Jiayi into Jing Hongchen’s office, he was resting with his eyes closed. In just the span of a few days, the Hallmaster, who previously looked impeccable, appeared to have aged ten years. His face appeared much colder, too.

“What  happened?”  When  he  saw  Lin  Jiayi  bringing  Huo Yuhao into his office in handcuffs, a suspicious look crossed Jing Hongchen’s face.

Lin  Jiayi  said  respectfully,  “Hallmaster,  this  was  what happened. Today, Huo Yuhao woke up in the infirmary and per regulations, we interrogated him and searched him. While nothing appeared to be amiss, we found a Rank 9 soul tool on him that belonged to you. Hence, our suspicions were aroused, and we decided to let you decide his fate.”

“A Rank 9 soul tool that belonged to me?”  Jing Hongchen paused momentarily. Then, his eyes fell on the Hongchen’s Blessing that Lin Jiayi passed him.

When he saw the round soul tool, along with Huo Yuhao smiling coldly, Jing Hongchen felt as if he had been slapped before a crowd by one of his own people.

“Did he not tell you how this Rank 9 soul tool came about?” Jing Hongchen asked in a voice that was a few octaves higher than his normal one, glaring at Lin Jiayi.

When Lin Jiayi saw his face, he knew that something was amiss. He said apologetically, “Yuhao did not want to say, but instead demanded that we bring him to you for interrogation.”

Jing Hongchen slammed his table and cursed, “Bastard, what did I tell you? Not only is he an exchange student from Shrek Academy, but he is also a closed door disciple of the Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion, the Dragon God Douluo, Elder Mu! Elder Mu is a senior whom I respect. This Hongchen’s Blessing was something I personally passed to him when I was still with him. How can you interrogate Huo Yuhao like any other person?! Is your brain damaged?!”

Lin Jiayi was stunned by the scolding. The Hallmaster had given it away, a Rank 9 soul tool!

However, as a confidante of Jing Hongchen, he understood what was going on from his tone when he mentioned Elder Mu, the Dragon God Douluo. The last time he met Elder Mu, it was in the Sea God’s Pavilion in Shrek Academy. Could it be…

“Heh… so that’s the case. It’s all my fault. Hallmaster, I am wrong. I was too brash, but there are really too many things going around recently. Furthermore, I did not dare to act rashly since it was so important! Yuhao, it’s all my fault, please forgive me, please forgive me!”

As he said that, Lin Jiayi walked in front of Huo Yuhao to apologize.

Huo Yuhao stared at him coldly and said, “Director Lin, what mistake did you make? You were doing it for the good of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.

“After all, this is not the first time I’ve had to wear these handcuffs. What a pity Shrek Academy does not have them!”

An ugly looked crossed Jing Hongchen’s face. The last time, he was forced by Huo Yuhao to grant him permission to study in Illustrious Virtue Hall. Over the past few months, he’d heard that Huo Yuhao had used up all of the rare metals that were allocated to him. This time, as Huo Yuhao had been treated unfairly, he would have to make it up to him again.

However, there was really not much he could do. After all, his precious granddaughter and grandson were exchange students at Shrek Academy. A smile crossed his face as he walked in front of Huo Yuhao and said, “This is a mistake they committed in the line of duty, and it is a mistake on my part, too. I will personally un-cuff you. How about this? I shall

double your allotment of precious metals every month from now on. What do you think?”

Huo Yuhao did not dare to continue maintaining this façade. Who knew what high-level soul tools capable of detecting the contents of storage-type soul tools the Hallmaster possessed? If his secret was discovered, he had too much to lose.

Immediately,   his   face   softened   as   he   said,   “Please, Hallmaster.” As he said that, he extended his arms.

Jing Hongchen took the key from Lin Jiayi and personally un-cuffed him while saying, “Jiayi, please remember that you must give Yuhao special treatment. If a problem like this emerges again, you can forget about being a teaching director.”

“Yes, yes.” Lin Jiayi could only chuckle bitterly in his heart. Why was it so difficult to deal with this rascal? He really had to be more careful next time.

Huo Yuhao said, “If there’s no other matter, Hallmaster, I shall head back. Today is the last day of the month, so there’s no need for you to double my allotment for this month.” In the

outside world, the monthly allotment of the Illustrious Virtue Hall was no small sum. Some of the materials could not even be sold on the market.

Jing Hongchen’s facial muscles twitched as he said, “It has to be counted.”

With that, Huo Yuhao nodded in satisfaction and said, “Then I  shall  leave.”  As  he  said  that,  he  turned  to  walk  out,  his tension finally starting to relax. Just because he could control his heartbeat did not mean that he was relaxed! Instead, he was worried sick. If he could not pass this round, he would be in deep trouble.

He made it to the door of the office and was just about to leave when he heard Jing Hongchen say suddenly, “Wait a moment.”

Oh, no. Huo Yuhao felt his pores constricting. He was struck by fear! He almost dropped everything and ran.

Fortunately, he was very mature for his age, probably more mature than some adults. Could he actually run away? Not

only was Jing Hongchen a Rank 9 soul engineer, but he was also a Titled Douluo. How could he escape?

All he could do was turn around and ask, “Do you have a request, Hallmaster?”

Jing Hongchen fell silent for a while, and then said, “Yuhao, if I remember correctly, you were part of the main team in the last Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, right?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “Not the main team. I was only a stand-in.”

The corners of Jing Hongchen’s eyes twitched. A stand-in? A stand-in beat my grandson and granddaughter? Was this not a slap on his face? However, he could not react. He coughed and said, “It’s like this. The incidents a few days ago have affected me greatly. The reason our facility was invaded and we suffered such heavy losses was that our soul engineers did not have a lot of battle experience against soul masters. Normally, they are surrounded by other soul engineers, and hence they will only battle other soul engineers. So I’ve had an idea.”

When he heard that, Huo Yuhao calmed down, thinking, Whatever you say, it’s fine. Just don’t search me.

He walked back into Jing Hongchen’s office and asked obligingly, “What idea did you have, Hallmaster?”

Jing  Hongchen  said,  “Shrek  Academy  is  the  premier academy on the continent, particularly for soul masters. Our Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy is the best school on the continent in terms of soul engineering. You were able to represent Shrek Academy previously, which demonstrates your ability in battling other soul masters. Hence, with you as the lead, I want to let the soul masters and soul engineers in our school spar. This will let our students understand how soul masters fight. Don’t worry, I will only pick opponents whose ages are similar to yours. At best, they would be Rank 5 soul engineers. What do you think?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “No, I am not interested.”

“Why not?”  Jing Hongchen asked, curious. “This is a good chance to increase your combat experience!”

Huo Yuhao smiled slightly and said, “I have enough combat experience, and I don’t need anymore. Hallmaster, please ask someone else. I’m here to study, not to fight.”

Jing Hongchen’s face instantly turned foul as he said, “Fine, state your conditions.”

Huo Yuhao chuckled and said, “You understand me so well.”

Jing Hongchen looked at Huo Yuhao’s change in attitude, and didn’t know if he should cry or laugh. However, he could not deny that this young man was exceptional indeed. Compared to his grandson and granddaughter, he did not think that Huo Yuhao was better than them in terms of battling abilities. However, his people skills surpassed theirs completely.

“Just  state  your  conditions,  but  you  can’t  ask  for  more allotments. Our school’s budget is rather tight,” Jing Hongchen forewarned Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao said, “Hallmaster, is this acceptable to you? You aren’t a stingy person, and I can assure you that in these spars, I will neither severely injure nor kill anyone. If I win, all I want is a prize. I am willing to take on challengers who are Class 6 and below. If I win, you must give me a kilogram of precious metal. I choose the type. What do you think?”

A kilogram of precious metal for a single victory? This condition was indeed not harsh. After all, many precious metals had high densities, and a small chunk would easily weight one kilogram.

After some thought, Jing Hongchen said, “Okay, we shall proceed as you wish. If you lose, I don’t want anything from you. Just don’t ask me for anything.”

Huo Yuhao puffed up his chest and said, “Of course, of course. As long as you keep your promise, I am willing to battle as many rounds as you want. I am very poor, and can only become rich through this. Oh right, I almost forgot. Shouldn’t you return the Hongchen’s Blessing to me?” As he said that, he extended a hand to Jing Hongchen.

Jing Hongchen really did not want to give it to him. However, when he looked at the greedy and uncompromising young boy before him, he found it hard to reject him. After all, he did not bring up that embarrassing incident. Furthermore, as a Titled Douluo and the Hallmaster of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, how could he take back something he had already given out? Elder Mu was generous indeed. He had given Huo Yuhao Shrek Academy’s only Class 9 soul tool.

Jing Hongchen returned the Hongchen’s Blessing to Huo Yuhao. He had a new level of understanding of Huo Yuhao’s position in Shrek Academy. If they could afford to give him a Class 9 soul tool, his importance could not be understated!

“Thank you, Hallmaster. Let me know after you setup the location for the spar. If you decide to sell tickets to outsiders, you don’t need to worry about me asking for a cut.”

Jing Hongchen almost kicked him out of his office as he chided, “Get out!”

Huo Yuhao laughed as he walked out.

“Wait.” Just when he reached the exit, he was called back by Jing Hongchen again.

Huo Yuhao stopped, turned his head and asked, “Hallmaster, didn’t you ask me to get out? Is there something else?” In his heart,  he  thought,  “Are  you  trying  to  scare  me  to  death? There’s no end to this!”

Jing Hongchen said seriously, “Yuhao, if you are willing to come over, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy will double whatever Shrek Academy offers you. Think about it.”

Huo Yuhao was stunned. He could see the sincerity in Jing Hongchen’s eyes. However, they had different aims, and there was no chance this could work! He shook his head gently and said, “Thank you for this recognition. However, I can’t.” Right after he said that, he finally managed to leave Jing Hongchen’s office. This time, a look of disappointment crossed Jing Hongchen’s face, but he did not hold him back.

“Hallmaster, I think it’s a good idea to sell tickets. In our school, no one actually lacks money. Recently, not only has

Huo Yuhao been extorting us, but our expenditures have gone up too. Do you…?” Lin Jiayi asked probingly.

Jing Hongchen’s eyes shone as he nodded and said, “You make the arrangements.”

“Yes.”  Lin Jiayi was full of admiration for Jing Hongchen. This time, despite the incident and the fact that Jing Hongchen was forced by circumstances, he still had the future development of the school in his mind. By allowing Huo Yuhao to compete with their students, it superficially seemed to be giving in to Huo Yuhao’s demands. However, in reality, if the spar was properly organized, they could divert the students’ attention and increase their understanding of soul masters. Not only could it increase their experience against soul masters, but they could further understand Huo Yuhao’s abilities and prepare for the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, which would be held in the Sun Moon Empire. There were many benefits to this arrangement, and making money was just one of them.

After Huo Yuhao returned to his dormitory, he plonked down on his bed immediately. The psychological pressure was too much to bear. Even then, his heart continued to thump

loudly against his chest, as if it wanted to break out from his chest.

Right after he woke up from his sleep, he was faced with an immense challenge. In the end, he was able to turn the situation around. He could more or less guess the reason why Jing Hongchen wanted him to spar with soul engineers from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, but he still agreed to it. He needed to obtain more precious metals, and he needed a chance to release his pent-up emotions.

Ever since he had entered the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, he had been in a state of constant alertness. Regardless of whether it was in his studies or his secret drawing of the map, he was under immense pressure, further exacerbated by this incident.

The Ultimate Soldier Plan had special psychology lessons. His teacher taught him that once his mental pressure reached a certain level, he would need to find a suitable location to vent. If not, it would create psychological problems, especially for someone of his age.

“Knock, knock, knock.” Someone was knocking on his door.

Huo Yuhao stretched out on his bed. In doing so, he allowed himself to calm down. Only then did he walk to his door to open it. Just as he expected, Fan Yu and He Caitou were outside.

When they noticed that he was fine, they evidently became calmer. Quickly, they entered his room. He Caitou closed the door behind him.

“Little Junior, you almost scared teacher and me to death! I heard from other members of our academy that the situation that day was extremely dangerous. You were out for a few days. While the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy allowed us to pay you a visit, we could not tell what was wrong. Luckily, you are fine.” While the Shrek’s Seven Monsters were all ranked, He Caitou was still willing to call Huo Yuhao ‘Little Junior’. After all, only the two of them were soul engineers.

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “I don’t know how I was knocked unconscious. It was really dangerous that day. The Body Sect was too powerful, and they appeared to be very familiar with the interior of the Illustrious Virtue Hall. As the attack came too suddenly, the Illustrious Virtue Hall suffered heavy casualties.”

Then, he recounted the incident of that day simply. However, he did not talk about him entering the interiors of the Illustrious Virtue Hall through the tunnel.

Huo Yuhao had his considerations too. The metal man was extremely important, and it was best for as few people as possible to know about it. It might not be a good idea to tell Teacher Fan Yu and Second Senior. Furthermore, he was also afraid that it would expose his connection to the Snow Lady. All he said was that the Snow Lady blew up and nothing else. As for the metal man, he decided to tell no one before he returned to Shrek Academy. He would say everything back at Shrek Academy.

After he heard Huo Yuhao’s recounting of the events, Fan Yu frowned and said, “Something is wrong here. The price of a hundred thousand year soul beast embryo rivals that of entire cities, but one could only benefit two soul masters at most, and that’s under the condition that the soul ring and the soul bone are separated. This attack by the Body Sect was almost lethal to the Illustrious Virtue Hall, and their losses cannot be calculated. At the same time, they now have a vendetta against the Illustrious Virtue Hall. Is it really worth sacrificing so much for this treasure? After all, the Body Sect does not need

money. I don’t think they are doing it for the 100 million golden soul coins.”

He Caitou said, “Teacher, regardless of what their reasons were, it doesn’t hurt us. The more the Illustrious Virtue Hall loses, the more the Sun Moon Empire loses. Perhaps it’ll delay the onset of war.” When He Caitou talked about the future war, an odd light shone in his eyes. When he mentioned the Sun Moon Empire, it was as if it did not concern him.

Huo Yuhao sighed in his heart. Did Second Senior really manage to emerge from the shadow of hate? Or was the hate buried in an even deeper place? He did not want anything back, all he wanted was to destroy! Ever since he met Ju Zi, Huo Yuhao’s understanding of the hatred in humans’ hearts had increased.

From Ke Ke, he occasionally heard some news about Ju Zi. She seemed to have joined the military, but he did not know what her role was. All he knew was that she went with the military to West Sea of the Sun Moon Empire, where she battled against oceanic soul beasts. Since then, she had not returned.

Fan Yu nodded and said, “That’s right, but as students of Shrek we are in a precarious position. It’s best for us to understand the ties between the two sides. Yuhao, with your analysis, what do you think is going on?”

Huo Yuhao knew that his teacher was testing him by asking this question. He replied after a moment of silence, “The Body Sect attacked suddenly, but they came entirely in black and their faces were masked. They did not reveal their identities. By doing so, while the Illustrious Virtue Hall could guess who did it, the Body Sect could deny their allegations, as they had no solid proof. After keeping silent for so many years, the Body Sect’s sudden action could only have a few objectives.”

“First,  many  might  have  forgotten  the  Body  Sect  because they’ve remained low-profile for too long. They’re trying to enhance their reputation. The Sun Moon Empire and Illustrious Virtue Hall will try to keep their true losses a secret after this incident, but things will always leak out. Once the truth is known, it will be very beneficial for the Body Sect’s reputation. At the very least, they have shown how powerful they can be.

“Secondly, Elder Mu once mentioned that the Body Sect’s priority is always profit, they aren’t really concerned about good or evil. They were extremely invested and meticulous in this ambush, so there must have been huge profits involved. On the surface, it seems like it might be because of the hundred- thousand year soul beast embryo and the hundred-million gold soul coin reward. But those who are sharp know that the huge reward has something to do with the Star Luo Empire. Everyone, including the Sun Moon Empire, might focus on the Star Luo Empire. But in truth, the Body Sect might have other areas of interest, just like you mentioned. It might not be the Star Luo Empire behind it all. After all, the Star Luo Empire has sacrificed too much in this matter, and it would be too obvious. I don’t think that the Star Luo Empire is ready to engage the Sun Moon Empire in a war.”

Elder Mu and Fan Yu were both his teachers. He spoke of Elder Mu this way to prevent confusion.

“The Star Luo Empire is under the greatest immediate threat from the Sun Moon Empire among the three empires on the continent. But they aren’t the only ones in conflict with the Sun Moon Empire. The Heaven Dou Empire also faces threats from the Sun Moon Empire.”

Fan Yu listened to Huo Yuhao’s analysis carefully. He revealed a slight smile on his face as he heard all this, and nodded agreement. But he didn’t appraise Huo Yuhao’s analysis.  He  instead  nodded  and  said,  “What  do  you  think about Jing Hongchen’s proposition for you to spar with the academy’s soul engineers?”

Huo Yuhao answered honestly, “I admire him for maintaining his cool in such a messy situation. He’s able to kill many birds with one stone by asking me to spar with his students. First, he can turn the academy’s attention to something beside their losses, and allow himself more time to rebuild Illustrious Virtue Hall’s underground base. In addition, he must have realized that the academy’s students lack any real experience against soul masters. Many of them don’t even

know the fighting styles of soul masters with a powerful martial soul.

“Illustrious  Virtue  Hall  isn’t  inferior  to  the  Body  Sect  in terms of overall ability. They might even be better. But aside from the fact that their truly powerful soul tools couldn’t be used in an underground base, the soul engineers from the Illustrious Virtue Hall are indeed disappointing in terms of their adaptability, coordination, fighting spirit, and performance in many areas. This might have to do with the fact that they place most of their focus on soul tool research. The Hallmaster might be using me to wake them up. At the same time, he wants to let them witness a soul master with a powerful martial soul, and his fighting style.”

Fan Yu chortled and told him, “You’re not humble at all.”

Huo Yuhao chuckled and replied, “Teacher, didn’t you say that being overly modest is very hypocritical?”

Fan Yu agreed. “You’re right. After some observation, their academy’s soul engineers are much more advanced in terms of soul tools compared to us, but their focus on live experience is greatly inferior to our academy. The Hallmaster evidently

recognizes this point. Illustrious Virtue Hall can have a huge impact in a war, but when it comes to a battle between elites within a restricted area, Illustrious Virtue Hall doesn’t have the confidence to defeat Shrek Academy or the Body Sect. What’re you planning to do for this sparring competition?”

Hearing this question, He Caitou was also interested. He watched Huo Yuhao alertly, waiting for his reply.

A   light   flashed   in   Huo   Yuhao’s   eyes.   “Teacher,   I’m representing Shrek and the Tang Sect! I can’t lose on purpose. I shall let them witness Shrek’s abilities if they want to. I’ll leave a deep impression on all of them this time! They’ll never forget who I am!”

He Caitou laughed loudly and commented happily, “Little junior, you’re awesome!”

Huo Yuhao smiled in reply and said, “Since the Hallmaster promised me a kilogram of rare metal for every round I win, I can’t disappoint him, can I?”

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The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s Teaching Director Lin Jiayi was very efficient. This was especially so after a major incident just happened in Illustrious Virtue Hall, and the entire academy was engulfed in a tense atmosphere.

Jing Hongchen’s instructions were quickly carried out. News of Huo Yuhao’s sparring competition with the academy’s soul engineers quickly reached the entire academy.

The doors of every teaching block and dormitory room were pasted with posters of this latest announcement.

The sparring competition was to be conducted in the academy’s Soul Tool Experimentation Area. The academy demanded that all its students watch the competition unless they had something special going on. Those with four rings of cultivation and above could sign up to compete. The limit was a Class 6 soul engineer or a six-ringed Soul Emperor. Every competing student had to purchase a ticket to watch the competition. If the competing students could defeat Huo Yuhao, they were qualified to enter Illustrious Virtue Hall, and would also be rewarded with a hundred-thousand gold soul coins. In addition, Jing Hongchen would personally make a

soul tool for them. But if they lost, they wouldn’t be given materials to create soul tools for a month.

It was pertinent to note that those materials were actually paid for by the students. The forfeit was literally a fine of their own money!

The rules for the sparring competition were very simple. Beating Huo Yuhao was the only goal. After each round, Huo Yuhao would be given sufficient time to rest based on his physical condition. The entire sparring competition would be held over three days.

Once the announcement was made, there were more students who signed up to compete than expected. Everyone was young, and no one lacked passion. The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy lost to Shrek Academy in practically every meeting of the Elite Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. For most of the students, this was a fantastic opportunity to regain glory for their academy!

But not everyone was qualified to represent the academy in tournaments. They also wanted to know how capable Huo

Yuhao was, since he had represented Shrek Academy before. Furthermore, the omnipresent conflict between soul masters and soul engineers, as well as the rewards for victory, were also contributing factors to the large turnout.

More than three hundred students had signed up in less than a day. Lin Jiayi and his teachers were kept busy. After reporting the situation to Jing Hongchen, they made a decision to increase the requirement to Soul Kings and above. This way, the number of students signing up to compete dropped drastically.

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This matter also garnered a huge reaction from the Shrek exchange students. They only found out about it as the announcement was made. The youngest and seemingly weakest exchange student, Huo Yuhao, had represented the academy in the previous Elite Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.

As Shrek Academy had always been the winners of the tournament, the academy didn’t publicize their victory too much. They only made one announcement after they became

champions, but they didn’t reveal the students who had participated. This was to keep unneeded fame from influencing their studies and cultivation. Very few people from Shrek actually knew who had participated in the tournament.

After learning that Huo Yuhao was going to spar with the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s soul engineers without using soul tools, the rest of the exchange students offered to help him. They even told him that they were willing to join in the sparring.

Huo Yuhao accepted their help, but they couldn’t spar, because they were all soul engineers.

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Two days later, at dawn...

Ye Xiaosheng came to fetch Huo Yuhao at his door. “Yuhao, how're your preparations going? Brother Sheng supports you. This is a huge matter. You must do your best for Shrek’s glory!”

Huo Yuhao chortled and replied, “Thanks, Brother Sheng.

I’ll do my best.”

Ye  Xiaosheng  laughed  and  said,  “I’ve  prepared  the  stuff. They’ll be shocked today. You don’t know how arrogant they are. They claim that they won’t even let you win one round. They even say they’ll step on Shrek.

“They say that you’re here to deliver presents to them, and asked the academy to prepare more rewards. It’s a pity that I can’t compete. Otherwise, I’d teach them a good lesson.”

Huo Yuhao smiled as he said, “Brother Sheng, don’t worry. I’ll help you teach them a lesson. Oh right, how’s the situation regarding that matter?”  As he spoke, he lifted his right hand and rubbed a few of his fingers together.

Ye Xiaosheng immediately understood what he meant. He replied with a grin, “Many started wagering after we opened the plate. I have to admit that these students are very confident in their own people. More than half of them bet that you won’t last ten rounds... I wonder if their brains are empty.

“Only a quarter of them bet that you can’t last more than twenty rounds. The rest bet than you can’t win fifty rounds in three days, they just did it for the odds. Based on what we’ve discussed, rare metals can be used as stakes. We’ve received more than two thousand kilos of rare metals, and five hundred-thousand gold soul coins. These students sure are wealthy!”

Huo Yuhao furrowed his brow and said, “That is indeed quite a lot of rare metals, but not that many gold soul coins. But it’s okay. I believe more and more people will bet after today.”

As the two of them were talking, Fan Yu, He Caitou, and the rest of Shrek’s students also arrived.

Fan Yu looked at Huo Yuhao and asked directly, “Are you ready?”

@Chapter 177: The Tang Sect Completely Dominates Throughout All Eternity

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Teacher, don’t worry. I won’t lose Shrek’s face. I believe that I’ll leave a black mark in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s history in the next three days.”

Fan Yu laughed as he admonished him, “Don’t be too complacent either. With the current stakes, we won’t be able to pay our debts if you lose within ten rounds. We’ll need to request a large amount directly from the academy.”

Huo Yuhao laughed. “Teacher, you’ve given so much effort to nurture me. Aren’t you confident in me?”

Fan Yu smiled and replied, “It’s not that. I’m just warning you not to be careless. A lion only beats the rabbit by using all his strength.”

“Yes.”    Huo   Yuhao   looked   at   Fan   Yu   seriously   and acknowledged his words.

The Soul Tool Experimentation Area was the largest building in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, and could hold more than ten thousand people. It had a similar architectural to the Shrek Academy’s Beast Dueling Arena. There was a huge arena in the building, and was surrounded by seats that extended nearly all the way to back of the building. It was normally used by the Sun Moon Imperial Soul

Engineering Academy’s students for their tests, competitions, and experimenting on large soul tools. Between the spectators’ seats and the central arena, there was a linked defense system that was made up of many defensive soul tools. This linked defense system demonstrated how advanced the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy was in terms of their soul tools. They just needed a sufficiently strong soul master to control the entire defense system. The only prerequisite for the soul master was that his soul power had to be at a certain standard.

Although it was only morning, the entire Soul Tool Experimentation Area was full. There were close to twelve thousand teachers and students present, including some from the Illustrious Virtue Hall.

It wasn’t just the students who wanted to see the differences between how soul masters and soul engineers fought; even the

teachers were curious. The academy had suspended lessons for three days for the sake of this sparring competition.

Jing Hongchen hadn’t attended, as there were too many things that he needed to see to. Lin Jiayi, on the other hand, was responsible for hosting the competition. To Jing Hongchen, it didn’t matter how long Huo Yuhao managed to last in the competition. No matter what, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy was bound to benefit from it. The camaraderie between their students would increase, and they would also learn more about the differences between soul masters and soul engineers. It would be an exciting lesson for the students.

Due to a lack of seats, the students who arrived late had to sit among the aisles, or stand in-between the rows. Fortunately, the arena was large enough to accommodate everyone.

As the referee, Lin Jiayi also made a lot of deliberations. He finally chose to invite Xuan Ziwen, firstly because of Xuan Ziwen’s teacher-student relationship with Huo Yuhao, and secondly because of Xuan Ziwen’s abilities. Initially, Lin Jiayi thought that Xuan Ziwen would decline his offer. However, Xuan Ziwen agreed readily after listening to his proposition. His reasoning was also very simple: He wanted to see how

strong his student was in terms of fighting strength as a soul master.

When Huo Yuhao first came, he’d personally taught a lesson to a few Class 5 soul engineers!

Xuan Ziwen also knew that the students were making their own private bets. The odds were three to one that he couldn’t survive ten rounds, two to one that he couldn’t survive twenty rounds, and thirty to a hundred that he couldn’t survive fifty rounds.

Those who offered such odds were clearly confident that Huo Yuhao could win fifty consecutive rounds! Why were Shrek Academy’s students so confident? It’s important to know that Huo Yuhao only had four rings. Even if he rested between rounds, he still needed to fight for a long period of time.

The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy wasn’t a small academy either. Even if the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s students didn’t participate, Huo Yuhao was bound to collapse from three days of intense fighting. And once he lost one round, he might not have the ability to carry on further.

“Alright,  please  quiet  down.”   Lin  Jiayi’s  imposing  voice resonated throughout the entire arena through a sound- amplifying soul tool. The excited students who were engaged in discussions immediately started to quiet down and turn their attention to him.

Lin Jiayi continued, “For the purpose of strengthening our exchange and interaction, the academy has decided to organize this sparring competition. Shrek is sending out Huo Yuhao, an exchange student who once competed in the Elite Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. I hope that all of you will do your best to observe this competition, even if you aren’t involved in it. Try your best to sense the differences between soul masters and soul engineers, as well as deepen your own understanding of them. The referee for this friendly exchange will be Teacher Xuan Ziwen, and I’ll be the host. Let’s welcome Shrek Academy’s Huo Yuhao onto the stage.”

A tunnel at the side of the arena opened slowly, and students wearing the dark-green uniform of Shrek emerged alongside Teacher Fan Yu.

There was a huge commotion, because Shrek Academy’s ten exchange students had all appeared at this point. Most of the

Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy students had never seen Huo Yuhao before, thus they had to guess who among them was the one who dared to challenge the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy students all by himself.

Rumors often spread the fastest. For example, news of Huo Yuhao’s conflict with the academy’s Class 5 soul engineers and his four-ringed cultivation had already spread like wildfire. Based on these rumours, he sounded capable of representing Shrek Academy in the sparring competition.

Lin Jiayi was also stunned. There weren’t too many rules, since this was just a friendly exchange, and was why he hadn’t communicated too much with Fan Yu beforehand. After all, it was only Huo Yuhao who was competing. Why had the Shrek Academy exchange students changed into Shrek Academy’s uniform? It was clear that they were drawing a line between the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy! Were they deliberately causing trouble?

Lin Jiayi had never thought of this before the competition began. After all, this was the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s territory. There were only eleven Shrek Academy personnel here; what trouble could they

possibly cause? Would they really dare to cause trouble? However, it was a little late for him to realize that something was amiss.

Shrek Academy hadn’t been provided a sound-amplifying soul tool. All the emceeing was to be done by Lin Jiayi, which was also an arrangement that he’d made. If he sensed that something was amiss, he was prepared to ask the irrelevant personnel to leave the arena and immediately begin the competition.

However, what he was worried about happened before he even had the chance to open his mouth.

Fan Yu walked straight over to the resting area, but the other nine students didn’t follow suit. The nine of them divided into three groups and then quickly got into team formations.

There were four to Huo Yuhao’s left and four to his right, while He Caitou stood behind him.

Afterwards, three scrolls drifted into view for all of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering students to see.

The scroll displayed by the students on Huo Yuhao’s left held a  string  of  words  that  said,  “Shrek.  Number  One!  In!  The! World! Invincible!”

The scroll displayed by the students on his right said, “Tang Sect! Complete! Dominance! Throughout! All! Eternity!”

He Caitou stood behind Huo Yuhao and lifted a horizontal scroll that said, “Come fight us if you’re unconvinced!”

A huge uproar ensued after the three scrolls were presented. The nine students in the formation quickly revolved around Huo Yuhao and allowed the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy to clearly see who Huo Yuhao was.

A huge uproar erupted, with some students even wanting to fire their soul tools towards the arena. Expletives rang out across the entire place.

“Silence,  silence!”   Lin  Jiayi  roared  furiously,  “Teachers, please restrain your students. The competition is about to

begin. Irrelevant personnel, please remove yourselves from the arena.”

He felt extremely depressed! He hadn’t expect the Shrek Academy students to pull such a stunt. Weren’t they simply creating a ruckus on purpose? There were only eleven of them, and only Huo Yuhao was competing. Why were they trying to cause such a ruckus? Weren’t they creating trouble out of nothing?

However, things had already happened; the entire atmosphere of the competition was already starting to change. The entire Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy was bursting with emotion now, and the students who’d been seated had all stood up. Things seemed to be going out of control.

However, Huo Yuhao appeared unbothered. He even lifted his right hand and slowly turned his thumb to point towards the ground.

Even though he didn’t mutter a word, his provocation was clear: He was signaling for the other students to challenge him if they were unconvinced!

Arrogant; he was too arrogant!

Fortunately, the teachers managed to control their students well. The students were quickly restrained by the teachers. Furthermore, the entrance of the first Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s student helped stabilize the situation.

“Kill him! Send this Shrek country bumpkin back home!”

“Long   live   the   Sun   Moon   Imperial   Soul   Engineering Academy, long live the Sun Moon Empire! Humiliation like this can only be washed away with blood!”

“I’ll be the girlfriend of whoever beats him!”

All the spectators were causing a racket. But there were also those who remained silent, like Ke Ke and Zi Mu.

Xuan Ziwen had originally had five students. Ke Ke and Zi Mu had entered the Illustrious Virtue Hall when Huo Yuhao

did, while Ju Zi had stopped her studies to join the military, and Wang Shaojie had been expelled.

Thus, there were only three students left out of the original five.

Since Huo Yuhao was the main character in this competition, Ke Ke and Zi Mu also had to come.

Ke Ke was worried, an she said, “Huo Yuhao is too arrogant. Just what does he aim to accomplish? He’s really made things serious, won’t he have a tough time in the academy when this is all over?”

Zi  Mu  said  softly,  “Keep  your  voice  down.  We’ll  get  into trouble if the others hear this. I think Yuhao is doing this on purpose. He just wants to study in the Illustrious Virtue Hall normally. The ordinary students won’t get chances to see him. Not to mention, he’s also an exchange student. If anything happens to him when he’s in the academy, the academy can’t account for it either. He’s doing this to humiliate the academy, and I don’t know why Hallmaster agreed to allow this.”

Ke Ke glanced at him and asked, “Did you register too?”

Zi Mu shook his head and answered, “I won’t humiliate myself.”

Ke Ke twisted her lips and commented, “I didn’t know that you were so self-aware! Didn’t you work very hard over the past half year? Why aren’t you confident in yourself?”

Zi  Mu  laughed  and  replied,  “Confidence  rises  with  one’s abilities. While I don’t want to expose too much of mine right now… I’ll beat him one day. But I can admit that I’m not his match at present. Although my improvement over the past half year has been significant, didn’t he increase his number of rings from three to four? While I don’t understand why a twin martial soul, soul master, is so strong, I know that I’m not his match. I simply need to work harder from now on. Is there news from Ju Zi?”

Ke Ke shook her head and said, “No! Don’t think about her anymore. Didn’t she reject you before leaving?”

Zi Mu chortled. “It’s not that easy to forget someone you love. Moreover, you’ll always have a chance if you work hard enough.”

Ke Ke’s attention was drawn to the arena, and she said, “The competition is about to begin.”

The commotion in the spectators’ stand didn’t seem to affect Huo Yuhao’s concentration. He didn’t even take a look at Xuan Ziwen’s displeased expression before moving to one side of the arena. He closed his eyes and waited.

As a soul master, he greatly desired to fight. When he was immersed in soul tool creation every day and was under a lot of pressure in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, he had a strong urge to vent this built-up pressure. Today was the best opportunity for him to let loose.

He wanted to win this competition and reap the great rewards to prepare for his future research in soul tools. The future of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect was his greatest motivation.

He was only fifteen years old, but he was shouldering a lot of responsibilities. He needed to vent his emotions. He also had another intention—help the Tang Sect gain momentum. Bei Bei had discussed this with Huo Yuhao a couple of times. They reckoned that the Tang Sect’s future development couldn’t be separated from soul tools. But, relying on Huo Yuhao and He Caitou wasn’t going to be enough.

Where could one find plenty of talented soul engineers? The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering academy. Huo Yuhao wanted to leave a deep impression through this competition. At the very least, he wanted all the students to know about him, whether they liked him or not. Rather than being

ignorant to his existence, their knowledge of him would be for the best. Furthermore, his arrogance actually contained a deeper meaning behind it.

“The first round is about to begin. Everyone, please remain silent and give both parties a peaceful competition’s atmosphere. Whoever makes noises will be punished according to the school’s rules and regulations.”  Lin Jiayi’s stern voice reverberated all throughout the surroundings. This would help to contain the slightly messy situation.

Huo Yuhao’s opponent was a youth, one who looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old. The badge on his chest revealed that he was a Class 5 soul engineer. However, he definitely seemed a little nervous now.

While Huo Yuhao’s previous actions had provoked the students from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, they also put a lot of pressure on the competing students. If they won, they would be treated as the heroes of

the academy. But if they lost, they would become sinners! This was even more evident so for the first student to spar with Huo Yuhao.

“Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s Class 5 soul engineer, Xia Xuanchen.” The nervous youth reported his name as he looked at Huo Yuhao. The entire arena was now silent. Everyone’s attention was focused on them.

“Shrek.   Tang   Sect.   Huo   Yuhao.”     Huo   Yuhao   said indifferently.

Xuan Ziwen was unhappy when he looked at Huo Yuhao. He said  in  a  deep  voice,  “This  is  just  for  sparring,  a  friendly competition. Both parties must try to avoid severely hurting each other during the process.”

Huo Yuhao could sense Teacher Xuan staring at him and understood his intention. He nodded and replied, “Noted.”

Xia Xuanchen also nodded. By now, he’d calmed down slightly, and slowly became excited. If he could defeat Huo Yuhao, would his class belle treat him nicer? Maybe he could

even enter the Illustrious Virtue Hall directly. This was a great opportunity for him!

Xuan Ziwen heaved a sigh of relief after receiving Huo Yuhao’s acknowledgement. He was afraid that Huo Yuhao would harm the academy’s students in this competition. A huge problem would arise if that happened. But, for now, it seemed like he had no such intentions.

“Both competitors, please approach the waiting areas.” Xuan Ziwen said loudly. The Soul Tool Experimentation Area had already been marked out yesterday. The waiting areas on both sides were separated by about a hundred and fifty meters. It was also a way for soul engineers to fully unleash their long- range capabilities. But, from what they’d agreed on earlier, Huo Yuhao wouldn’t use any soul tools apart from the Milk Bottle.

Xia Xuanchen turned around and walked away. He only felt his surging blood rushing through his veins. He couldn’t wait.

Huo Yuhao was different from him. He walked backwards and revealed a smirk of contempt. His first opponent really didn’t seem too impressive! Although they were just sparring, he was careless enough to show his opponent his back. He

didn’t have any wariness towards his opponent. It seemed like Jing Hongchen was right, and organizing a sparring competition was necessary for these ordinary students from the academy.

Xuan Ziwen also noticed this problem. That was why when both parties reached their waiting areas, he immediately shouted, “Begin!”

Xia Xuanchen turned around frantically when he heard Xuan Ziwen’s sudden shout.

This was anyone’s natural reaction. However, he wasted two seconds before he could fully turn around and ready his attack. Huo Yuhao burst forth like a panther in these two seconds. He leapt up, and seemed to be flying. When Xia Xuanchen finally reacted, the distance between the two of them had been reduced to a hundred meters already.

Xia Xuanchen displayed his abilities as an elite student of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy even though he was shocked. He lifted his arms and two metal barrels appeared, with metal clanging sounds ringing out. His metal barrels were different from ordinary soul tool cannons and

soul rays. They completely covered his arms, giving off the feeling that he had lost his arms and grown soul cannons in their place.

Two different balls of light suddenly shot out. The left soul tool cannon fired a ball of yellow light, while the right fired a ball of red light. The speeds of the lights were also different, with the yellow light being markedly faster than the red. Before the lights were fired, a beep was heard from Xia Xuanchen’s body.

Huo Yuhao’s spiritual detection had already been activated back when they were preparing for the match. His greatest advantage in this sparring competition was that he was also a soul engineer, even though he was competing as a soul master. Thus, he was very familiar with them. However, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s soul engineers knew nothing about his fighting strategies.

Hence Huo Yuhao could immediately recognized the different effects of the balls of light. The yellow light came from a Class 5 shock cannon; a domain-type offensive soul tool. When their shots exploded at a high velocity, they would cause intense shockwaves. Opponents who weren’t skilled enough could easily be torn apart by the shockwaves. Even if

the opponent could resist them, his movements would be greatly stalled. It was a rather effective Class 5 soul tool, although it was very difficult to create.

The red light, on the other hand, came from the high- powered soul cannon on his other arm. It only had one effect— destroying the opponent. It would lock onto an opponent through the opponent’s soul power, allowing the cannon to track one’s opponent.

The combination of the shock cannon and high-powered soul cannon was effective and powerful. Evidently, Xia Xuanchen had prepared well.

While this combination was effective, Huo Yuhao had expected it. When the soul cannons were fired, Huo Yuhao suddenly changed directions. He moved in a diagonal direction now. It was impressive, and when the shock cannon fired out the ball of yellow light, Huo Yuhao was no longer within the area covered by it.

The ball of red light that came shortly after that. However, it also changed directions quickly, and was in hot pursuit of Huo Yuhao.

But Huo Yuhao didn’t even look at it. He changed directions again and burst towards Xia Xuanchen. They were only fifty meters apart now.

Wasn’t he scared of the high-powered soul cannon? At this point, everyone was puzzled with Huo Yuhao’s intentions.

Even Soul Emperors would find it uncomfortable to deal with high-powered soul cannons. Even a Class 5 protective soul barrier couldn’t resist the elevated temperatures from a high- powered soul cannon.

However, Huo Yuhao acted like it was air. He continued to dash forward and didn’t bother with the assault coming from the high-powered soul cannon. He quickly closed the gap between him and Xia Xuanchen.

The homing red light finally arrived, but Huo Yuhao stopped in the air just as it was about to hit him. Huo Yuhao’s figure turned blurry in that instant, and in the next, the high- powered soul cannon’s attack brushed past Huo Yuhao’s body.

How was that possible? Xia Xuanchen had clearly locked onto him! He was perplexed. A moment later, a loud boom was heard as an orange-red light engulfed the area behind Huo Yuhao. The tremendous explosive force catalyzed the formation of a mushroom cloud in the Soul Tool Experimentation Area.

Huo Yuhao’s body was covered in a layer of diamond crystals. The Ice Empress’ Armor. Intense shockwaves generated by the explosion propelled his body forward at a faster speed. His speed instantly soared, and he quickly arrived in front of Xia Xuanchen.

Everything came too abruptly for Xia Xuanchen. He could only unleash his Class 5 protective soul barrier and frantically retreat.

However, a Class 5 protective soul barrier was completely useless against the Darkgolden Terrorclaws. It was instantly torn apart, and Huo Yuhao destroyed his two soul cannons. Even so, Xia Xuanchen was not physically hurt in the process. The blades of the terrorclaws touched Xia Xuanchen’s shoulders slightly, and their cold aura caused goosebumps to rise.

“You’ve lost.” Huo Yuhao’s Ice Empress’ Armor disappeared. Even so, his calm and emotionless voice caused Xia Xuanchen to feel an extreme chill through his entire body.

Xia Xuanchen was indignant as he exclaimed, “I haven’t unleashed all my soul tools…!”

Piak— Huo Yuhao retracted his terrorclaws and slapped Xia Xuanchen, who spun twice and fell to the floor.

Huo Yuhao said coldly, “If this were a battlefield, you’d already be a corpse. Will your enemies care whether you’ve used all your soul tools?”

Xia Xuanchen was dumbfounded as he sat on the floor. One of his hands was on his cheeks that were just slapped. He seemed to lose his awareness.

Huo Yuhao lifted his right hand and pointed his index finger at the spectators. Following that, he made one revolution before placing his finger on his lips. He was asking everyone to remain quiet. After that, he shouted, “Next!”

It was only at this point that the academy’s teachers and students reacted. A commotion ensued once more.

The first round ended not long after it starting. Approximately ten seconds had passed… It seemed like Huo Yuhao didn’t even do anything. He only burst forward and slapped before he emerged victorious. He didn’t use any dazzling soul skills, and the spectators didn’t even see his soul rings. But, he had won! He won cleanly.

Did he really win that easily? It might appear very simple or easy, but was that really the case?

Only Xuan Ziwen witnessed everything clearly as the referee. Firstly, Huo Yuhao hadn’t wasted any time. When Xuan Ziwen signaled the start of the competition, he was dissatisfied with Xia Xuanchen, and thus didn’t wait for him to turn around or prepare. However, Huo Yuhao burst forward like a fired cannon shell. Undoubtedly, Huo Yuhao was ready.

Xuan Ziwen wasn’t too surprised when Huo Yuhao used the Darkgolden Terrorclaws to tear apart the protective soul barrier and overcome Xia Xuanchen. It was Huo Yuhao’s reaction when the shock cannon was fired that shocked him. His direction changed immediately when the yellow light appeared, allowing him to dodge it effectively. How did he predict it like that? Furthermore, he had even managed to prevent the high-powered soul cannon from locking him onto

him properly, and exploited the shockwave to increase his speed. If all of that was within his calculations, he was indeed to be feared.

“Do you need to rest?” Xuan Ziwen asked Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao shook his head and replied, “No, let’s continue.”

Their gazes met, and Huo Yuhao could tell that Xuan Ziwen was deep in thought. Xuan Ziwen could see Huo Yuhao’s stubbornness in his Spirit Eyes, and sensed the strong competitive will in his body.

“Silence!”   A  voice  that  sounded  like  rumbling  thunder resonated through the Soul Tool Experimentation Arena. This voice greatly eclipsed the commotion that had ensued from Xia Xuanchen’s defeat. Even Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but look into the air.

Jing Hongchen floated in mid-air without using any flying- type soul tools. He was also looking at Huo Yuhao.

Lin Jiayi had sent someone to report to Jing Hongchen when he realized that the situation was getting out of control. After all, the teachers in the audience were all very strong, and he couldn’t really control those from the Illustrious Virtue Hall either.

Jing Hongchen placed his hands behind his back, and his awe-inspiring gaze swept the place. He said coldly, “Are all of you only this good? Besides cursing, what else can you do? It’s better to prove yourself using your abilities, not your mouth. If you’re capable, beat him. If you’re not, then shut up. The purpose of this sparring contest is to show the gap between him and all of you. Don’t think you’re invincible just because you’ve learned how to use some advanced soul tools. This brat from Shrek Academy is only fifteen years old. Failure isn’t scary. The scary thing is inability to accept one’s defeat and remaining ignorant of your failure. If all of you can only whine, when will the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy ever beat Shrek Academy in the Elite Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament?”

Jing Hongchen’s reputation was extremely prominent in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. His appearance silenced crowd instantly.

Huo Yuhao furrowed his brow. Jing Hongchen was indeed a hero of his generation. He used him to motivate these students, which was something that he didn’t want. However, he couldn’t stop him. Jing Hongchen had come much earlier than expected!

Jing  Hongchen  looked  at  Huo  Yuhao  and  said,  “The competition shall continue.”  As he spoke, his figure flashed, and he flew towards the main spectators’ stand.

Huo Yuhao sighed in his heart. Forget it, he couldn’t realize his wish. The real reason why he’d been so arrogant and provoked the crowd, was because he wanted to leave the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.

He had learned enough theoretical knowledge over the past half year. Although Xuan Ziwen never brought him out for any practical experiments, he was now extremely well-versed theoretically. Huo Yuhao combined his own practice and the path that he’d discovered to make significant progress in his study of soul tools.

Don’t misunderstand, Huo Yuhao didn’t intend to leave the academy quickly because he thought that there was nothing

left for him to learn. It was because of the Iron Man, which was like a time bomb! He was certain that it was the core essence of the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s research. With his current theoretical knowledge, he could easily become a top- ranked soul engineer if he could comprehend the Iron Man

completely. It wouldn’t be a problem even if he had to learn on his own. It wasn’t meaningless to remain in the academy—it was dangerous.

That was why Huo Yuhao pretended to be very arrogant. On the surface, it seemed as if he was trying to obtain more rare metals as he invited more opponents to challenge him. But in truth, he wanted to incur everyone’s wrath and end this exchange as soon as possible.

However, Jing Hongchen’s appearance forced him to change his plans. After all, he couldn’t make it too obvious. Otherwise, it would attract the suspicions of others.

The second student sparring with Huo Yuhao entered the arena after being signaled by Xuan Ziwen. Compared to the previous competitor, this student looked much more stable. After he entered the arena, he stopped in his waiting area and watched Huo Yuhao with a vibrant look in his eyes. He seemed like a volcano that could erupt any time.

Huo Yuhao acknowledged him mentally. This fight was highly unlikely to be as easy as the previous one. However, the stronger his opponent, the greater his fighting spirit.

He squinted his eyes and looked at this opponent before returning to his waiting area.

Xuan Ziwen observed both parties and calmed himself down.

“Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, Grade 6 student, Wan Yijun. Please advise me!” The youth who looked older than twenty years shouted. His voice rumbled, and was full of a vigorous aura. His figure wasn’t exactly huge, but he looked very sturdy.

Huo  Yuhao  also  lifted  his  hand  and  shouted,  “Shrek Academy. Huo Yuhao. Please advise me!”

“Begin!”   Xuan  Zimen  gestured  suddenly  and  retreated rapidly.

Huo Yuhao burst forth just like before. The only difference was that a golden light now shone from him as he leapt up. Four white soul rings rose from his feet, one was especially bright.

Wan Yijun had already made sufficient preparations. When Xuan Ziwen signaled the start of the fight, he backed away quickly and two streaks of light shot out from beneath his feet. The lights pushed his body off the ground. More than ten soul tools appeared on his arms, shoulders, chest and other areas.

However, he was stunned when he saw Huo Yuhao’s white soul rings. This was weird… White soul rings? What was going on?

Chapter 178: 'Specter' Na Na

Both soul masters and engineers knew what white meant – a ten-year soul ring!

Even for the worst possible soul master, it was impossible to have only ten-year soul rings with a four-ring cultivation.

Wan Yijun had the same thought, too. He was subconsciously stunned.

However, Wan Yijun was much more agile than Xia Xuanchen, though both of them were Soul Kings and Class 5 soul engineers.

While he was still in a daze, his arms had already lifted. More than ten streaks of colored light shot in Huo Yuhao’s direction.

Compared to other empires’ soul engineers, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s superiority was demonstrated through this simple probing attack. Unleashing streaks of soul rays was something that almost all Class 5 soul

engineers could do. However, Wan Yijun’s soul rays contained four different elements. This wasn’t something that everyone could do.

Wan Yijun had two yellow and three purple soul rings. The lights from his five soul rings intersected where a soul tool was shining brightly behind his back, evidently gathering energy. His five soul rings also all contained auxiliary-type soul skills that helped to enhance his soul power. He could last longer in battle through his energy-gathering soul tool. He also retreated quickly as the soul thruster beneath his feet sent him backward, widening the gap between him and Huo Yuhao.

This series of adaptations impressed all the academy’s students, teachers, and even Xuan Ziwen. As a Class 5 soul engineer, this was already the best he could do.

However, those who were complimenting Wan Yijun mentally were promptly shocked in the next moment.

Huo Yuhao didn’t dodge Wan Yijun’s soul rays. He continued to hurtle forward, and the soul rays seemed to avoid him on purpose. They brushed past his body,

none striking him.

Soul rays were faster than soul cannons, but they were less powerful. However, they were very accurate! With Wan Yijun’s abilities, it wasn’t possible for him to completely miss his target like this.

Wan Yijun’s soul thruster was beneath his feet, he instead used his flying-type soul tool to hover in mid-air. Although he couldn’t fly too high due to the restrictions that were in place, the flying-type soul tool still managed to help him change directions at will.

However, he had only just risen into the air, he had yet to gather speed. He was moving much slower than Huo Yuhao. The gap between the two of them had been reduced to a hundred meters.

Wan Yijun was also appalled that none of his soul rays hit Huo Yuhao. He even thought that he was seeing things. He tried to fire his soul rays once again, and expended a lot of his soul power doing so. He used the soul rays to form a web that engulfed Huo Yuhao. His goal was very simple – delay his opponent. In that way, he could unleash a barrage of attacks at

his foe. He could then employ some of his soul tools that were more powerful.

However, he was immediately shocked again. It wasn’t just him who was seeing things, all the spectators were seeing things, too!

Huo Yuhao had used his Spiritual Interference to avoid the soul rays previously. This time, he used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!

Using his Spiritual Detection as a guide, he slipped through the seemingly impenetrable web like a streak of smoke. He could find even the slightest gap and slip through it before advancing forward, still increasing his speed.

Wan Yijun had no choice but to take a breather, as the depletion of his soul power was too great… and he discovered that Huo Yuhao was only thirty meters away from him! How was this possible?! No matter how calm he appeared, Wan Yijun was still frightened at this point. He couldn’t bother to attack anymore. He quickly fled using his flying-type soul tool. His entire body turned to one side and flew in that direction.

He didn’t forget to fling out more than ten soul bombs, however. These bombs weren’t too powerful, so their shockwaves wouldn’t affect the user.

They could be detonated using a little soul power, but they couldn’t be underestimated, as there were a lot of them. Wan Yijun was only buying time for himself.

Surprisingly, Huo Yuhao stopped. His left foot stomped on the ground, and he leapt up high. This leap allowed him to reach more than ten meters in the air, avoiding all the soul bombs. He then drew his limbs together in mid-air, and something appeared in his right hand.

It was a short spear, around three feet long. The spear was sharp at both ends, the center as thick as a pigeon’s egg. The bright silver spear exuded a metallic glow.

Huo Yuhao straightened his gaze, spinning through a half- turn in mid-air. After that, he threw out the short spear in his hand.

When the spear left his hand, a screeching sound suddenly rose. The spear caught up to Wan Yijun instantly.

Wasn’t he not supposed to use soul tools? This was the first thought in Wan Yijun’s mind as he felt the threat, unleashing his Class 5 protective soul barrier.

Wan Yijun jerked when the short spear stabbed straight through the protective soul barrier. His soul barrier turned extremely bright, before being crushed by the spear. Wan Yijun fell from the air as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning.

What was shocking was that the short spear didn’t stab into him. It changed directions as soon as it touched Wan Yijun’s body, and instead pierced through the wing of his flying-type soul tool. He was nailed to the ground as his body fell to the ground.

Huo Yuhao quickly arrived atop Wan Yijun in a flash of motion.

Wan Yijun’s fighting will didn’t disappear even after he fell from mid-air. He wanted to resist, but he was helpless. When

the spear pierced his flying-type soul tool, he felt a wave of indescribable tyranny smash through his body. He couldn’t even control his body anymore, and his martial soul was forced to retract.

If he described this feeling to Zi Mu, Zi Mu would certainly understand, as he had been through it before. That was also why he didn’t bother to resist Huo Yuhao anymore.

What was in the spear? It contained a powerful fighting skill taught by Elder Mu that was a combination of spiritual power and soul power – the Sovereign's Descent.

That’s right, the Sovereign's Descent couldn’t be used in a long-range attack. However, that didn’t include weapons. When Huo Yuhao threw the spear out, he infused his spiritual and soul power into the throw.

He wouldn’t get the throw wrong. He used the Tang Sect’s methods to change the spear’s direction, since he couldn’t kill here. Even Xuan Ziwen wouldn’t give Wan Yijun a hand, because no one believed that his spear could overcome a Class 5 protective soul barrier. He wasn’t even using a soul skill.

Huo Yuhao chose the Tang Sect when he was still cultivating in the Sea God’s Pavilion as a soul master. In terms of soul tools, he chose the close-combat route. As he combined both together, he slowly formed a path that belonged to him.

He had created this spear for the sake of this competition. It wasn’t a true weapon, but was very suitable for sparring purposes. Huo Yuhao didn’t think that he could beat a Class 5 or 6 soul engineer in terms of speed if they had soul thrusters or flying-type soul tools. However, it was different if he attacked from long-range.

He used his left hand to pull the spear out and pointed its tip at Wan Yijun’s neck. After that, he lifted his right hand and stretched out two fingers.

Second opponent down!

He used very little time in these two rounds. While he held his short spear and walked back towards the waiting area, Wan Yijun struggled to crawl up from the ground. There was a complicated look in his eyes.

He knew that he had lost. However, he didn’t know how Huo Yuhao had won after he was struck by the Sovereign’s Descent. His fighting will had been completely crushed.

Jing Hongchen watched this fight seriously from the main spectator stand. Although he appeared calm, he was troubled internally.

Those who were chosen to spar were the academy’s elites. Initially, students from Illustrious Virtue Hall were restricted from competing. However, Huo Yuhao had asked for Class 6 soul engineers from Illustrious Virtue Hall to be included in the competition. They were going to compete the next day.

Jing Hongchen wasn’t shocked by Huo Yuhao’s performance, but by the way he had beaten his opponent. It was undeniable that Huo Yuhao was capable, since he had represented Shrek Academy in the Elite Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. But he only had a four- ringed cultivation! Even though he had twin martial souls, it wasn’t easy to beat a Class 5 soul engineer. However, Huo Yuhao was completely beyond Jing Hongchen’s imagination.

He had already won twice, even though he hadn’t used too many soul skills. No one even understood how he had gained victory in this round.

Jing Hongchen had been observing Wan Yijun’s performance throughout this match. Although Wan Yijun wasn’t shockingly good, he had performed relatively well. At least he was much more outstanding than Xia Xuanchen.

However, he didn’t last much longer than Xia Xuanchen, even so! Huo Yuhao was just too ridiculous!

Huo Yuhao was walking towards Xuan Ziwen. He passed him the short spear.

Xuan Ziwen understood his intentions. He injected his soul power to analyze the spear. After that, he mentioned over the sound-amplifying soul tool, “Huo Yuhao is only using an ordinary weapon. It’s not a soul tool. Do you need to rest?”

Huo Yuhao nodded. He sat cross-legged beside Xuan Ziwen. He quickly entered deep meditation as everyone watched him.

While the throw appeared very simple, he had used the powers of the Sovereign’s Descent, Spiritual Detection and the Tang Sect’s hidden weapon skills. This undoubtedly expended his spiritual and soul power. He needed to keep himself in the best possible condition for the many remaining fights.

Jing Hongchen said to Lin Jiayi softly, “Send a Class 5 close- combat soul engineer in the next round. Choose someone defensively strong.”

Lin Jiayi acknowledged his instructions and nodded his head. He immediately left to carry them out.

Huo Yuhao didn’t rest for too long. After just ten minutes, he leapt up and nodded towards Xuan Ziwen. Following that, he walked to the waiting area.

Two rounds had ended, and the commotion and noises from the crowd had died off. More and more students were puzzled when they looked at Huo Yuhao.

Was this what a soul master was supposed to be like? Was this a soul master’s fighting style? But he didn’t even use a single soul skill!

So soul masters were that strong… Weren’t soul masters of the same level not supposed to be a match for soul engineers? But why were these soul engineers’ attacks ineffective against Huo Yuhao?

Some intelligent students were pondering in their minds. What Jing Hongchen wanted them to see was finally realized.

Huo Yuhao wanted to at least influence their mindsets, because he hadn’t been able to succeed in the other aspects of his plan.

However, Huo Yuhao wasn’t coming out of this with nothing. Firstly, he won rare metals and some gold soul coins. Next, he’d managed to boost Shrek Academy’s reputation in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. And most importantly, he had managed to fuse the results of his Ultimate Soldier Plan’s training and his experiences with developing soul tools over the past six months.

This was also a fusion of his paths as a soul master and soul engineer.

Even though he couldn’t use soul tools here, it didn’t affect his thinking. The usages of different soul tools under different conditions surfaced in his mind, and his immense spiritual power ensured that he had enough thinking capabilities throughout the fights.

The third student to spar with him had already entered by now. It was a female student this time.

This female student couldn’t be considered very pretty, but she had a healthy complexion. She had a slender figure, and was around a hundred eighty centimeters tall. However, her figure still seemed very proportionate. There was a sharp look in her eyes. She stared at Huo Yuhao, and there appeared to be sparks coming from her eyes.

A Female soul engineer?

Huo Yuhao had sensed a heavy pressure from this young lady. This female soul engineer was definitely stronger than the other two soul engineers earlier. Huo Yuhao had likely met a real match.

The young lady rose while watching Huo Yuhao, and tied her long, dark-red hair up into a ponytail. She looked much neater this way. Her yellow uniform also made her look more valiant and formidable.

“Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, Grade 6.

Active Control Soul Tool Department, Na Na. Please advise.”

“Shrek Academy. Huo Yuhao. Please advise.”

Active Control Soul Tool Department? Huo Yuhao was flabbergasted when he heard her. As a soul engineer, he knew what that meant. He took lessons on it when he was still in Shrek Academy.

The Active Control Soul Tool Department consisted of special close combat-type soul masters who strengthened themselves by using soul tools. They didn’t know how to create soul tools at all, but they were very familiar with all kinds of soul tools. They used soul tools to increase their fighting strength and survivability.

Currently, Shrek Academy’s Soul Tool Department and Martial Soul Department were exploring how to train in this aspect. The Soul Tool Department would provide soul tools and guidance for the Martial Soul Department’s elite soul masters. As Wang Yan put it, this was the future developmental direction of all soul masters.

Soul masters that could create soul tools and soul masters that could use soul tools shouldn’t necessarily be divided into different learning and cultivation paths. This was something Wang Yan had mentioned as he studied in the Library of the Sea God’s Pavilion. This was also affirmed by the Soul Tool

Department. Even Yan Shaozhe and Cai Mei’er from the Martial Soul Department were moved by those words.

The Active Control Soul Tool Department signified that her fighting strength wasn’t just in soul tools. Her martial soul was bound to be powerful too. While there were very few powerful martial souls in the Sun Moon Empire, it didn’t mean that they didn’t exist.

“Let’s go, Na Na. Let’s go, Na Na!” Some spectating students stood up and chanted Na Na’s name. She was apparently very popular among the student population.

Na Na didn’t seem to hear the cheering. She focused her gaze on Huo Yuhao.

She too, was very curious about him. One reason why she was so curious about him was because he might be an opponent in future Elite Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournaments.

Na Na wasn’t part of the back up team in the last edition of the tournament, but she had managed to excel based on her

own capabilities in the academy. After she managed to become a Soul King at the age of seventeen, she was finally confirmed as a member in the next tournament. She would compete along with the Hongchen siblings.

Since Na Na didn’t know how to create soul tools, she was definitely not as familiar with them as normal soul engineers. However, she was much stronger in her combination of soul tools and martial souls than most soul engineers. Furthermore, students from the Active Control Soul Tool Department truly lived to fight. With the academy backing them, they were always exposed to the newest and most suitable combative soul tools. They could also place more attention on fighting, rather than being distracted by the creation of soul tools.

She was one of the best among all the Soul Kings in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. She was far stronger than both Xia Xuanchen and Wan Yijun. Her soul power had reached Rank 54 already. In the next two years, she aimed to reach Rank 60, and become a Soul Emperor before the tournament.

After learning that there was an opportunity to spar with a student from Shrek, she was one of the first few to sign up.

Huo Yuhao’s arrogance roused her fighting spirit, but she didn’t think that Huo Yuhao was very strong. After all, he was only a four-ringed Soul Ancestor. She could certainly defeat him!

Xuan Ziwen nodded in his heart as he observed the intense competitive spirit from both sides. This round was bound to be more intense than the previous two rounds.

He also knew who Na Na was. That was because the academy had once asked him to create soul tools specially for Na Na. Although she couldn’t enter the Illustrious Virtue Hall because she belonged to the Active Control Soul Tool Department, she was still highly valued by the academy.

“Begin!” As Xuan Ziwen shouted, the third round of sparring began.

Both contestants acted immediately. Huo Yuhao wasn’t the only swift attacker now. Na Na immediately burst towards Huo Yuhao, unlike the two soul engineers before her.

A close-combat soul engineer? Huo Yuhao was shocked. He also chose the close-combat path. While Na Na didn’t know how to create soul tools, she was adept at using them. She was very likely to be strong too.

Two yellow, two purple and one black soul ring drifted up from Na Na’s feet. Her entire body transformed as her martial soul was unleashed.

She looked a little illusory now. Her entire body looked very surreal. However, her speed soared as her martial soul was unleashed. She wasn’t any slower than Huo Yuhao.

Agility-type? This was Huo Yuhao’s second judgment of her. She was indeed an active control soul engineer who didn’t lose her abilities as a soul master. With her speed and destructive soul tools, she must be capable of high-frequency attacks.

Huo Yuhao’s guess and judgment were absolutely on point. Lin Jiayi wanted to find a Class 5 close-combat soul engineer that was defensively strong after being instructed to by Jing Hongchen, but Na Na happened to be third on the list. She wouldn’t agree to being substituted no matter what, and with her position in the academy, Lin Jiayi couldn’t persuade her

either. Furthermore, Lin Jiayi really wanted to see how she would fare against Huo Yuhao. They were likely to be opponents in the near future! That was why he didn’t substitute her.

The hundred and fifty meter gap between them was quickly reduced. They were almost in front of each other.

Both of them burst towards each other from the start. It was only when they were finally ten meters apart that the situation changed.

A streak of fiery-red light flashed from Na Na’s body. It was a blade only one foot and two inches in length. She grabbed the hilt of the very weird looking blade.

This blade was different from ordinary blades. It was as wide as palm, and seemed blunt. There were elegant flower patterns carved on it, but Huo Yuhao was unable to tell what materials had been used to make it.

The blade was dark-red, but an almost two foot long scarlet- red radiance flashed on its surface, which appeared to be very

unstable. It was like a flame, one that chose its target carefully.

After unleashing this blade, the surrounding air heated up. Na Na’s surreal-looking body turned even more illusory as the heat caused the air around her to ripple.

The blade instantly turned into a rainbow and the blade light extended from two feet to ten feet. Na Na disappeared amidst the blade light as she unleashed its power. Her body combined with the blade and she slashed at Huo Yuhao. At that moment, the blade light was like the rising sun. Regardless of whether it was her speed, strength, soul master type, or soul tool, she had reached the peak of a Class 5 soul engineer.

When Na Na started her attack, Huo Yuhao started moving. A dark-golden light shone brightly and his Darkgolden Terrorclaws appeared. He stomped to cease all forward momentum. He stabilized himself in place, choosing not to advance further.

The ten-foot-long scarlet-red blade light was extremely terrifying within that patch of red air. However, the scarlet-red light was concealed by Huo Yuhao’s Darkgolden Terrorclaws as they appeared.

They appeared as five enormous dark-golden blade lights. The huge terrorclaws exuded a terrifying killing aura that nearly covered twenty feet. When they came out, they swept aside everything in their path. Huo Yuhao was like a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear in human form. His right arm was dyed completely dark-gold.

Both parties weren’t using any flowery skills against each other when they collided. On one side, there was a combination of woman and weapon aided by a powerful soul tool. On the other side, there was the frightening offense of a person equipped with the Darkgolden Terrorclaws, a rare external soul bone from the overbearing Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear.

When these parties collided, a metallic clanging sound rung out. It sounded like gold and steel had struck each other head on.

Following that, the illusory figure was thrown more than ten meters away.

As this figure was flung back, it unleashed a golden light barrier. This light barrier forcefully dispelled those dark-gold blade lights that pestered Na Na so, but it was also crushed instantly.

Na Na was the one who was flung. While her soul tools were strong, they weren’t destructive enough to compete with the Darkgolden Terrorclaws.

Huo Yuhao didn’t even use all his strength, when he unleashed the Darkgolden Terrorclaws, as he didn’t want to harm her. Otherwise, given his current cultivation, it would’ve been much more powerful had he injected all of his soul power into them.

However, Na Na’s soul tool was of great quality. Only a few flaws appeared after it was struck. But the automatic defensive soul tool barrier on her body had been completely destroyed.

The students supporting Na Na cheered when her scarlet-red blade light appear. However, their cheers were stuck in their throats shortly afterwards, and they were devastated. Na Na, who gave off an extremely powerful seeming gaze, was forced back in one blow. It was evident that she was at a disadvantage.

Na Na’s illusory figure suddenly became a little more realistic. She lifted her head as she landed on the ground, and her eyes met Huo Yuhao’s.

She saw the intense competitive will in Huo Yuhao’s eyes.

Did I just lose to him in a direct confrontation? Na Na was very indignant. However, she managed to keep her cool even under such circumstances. Her body flashed, and she once more burst towards Huo Yuhao. She increased her speed again, then her first and second soul rings flashed sequentially.

Na Na’s figure divided into three, all of them illusory. These three figures separated from one another once they were less than five meters away from Huo Yuhao, before swiftly gathering in towards Huo Yuhao at the center. Three scarlet- red light streaks shot toward Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao grinned. He acted just as the Na Na figures grouped together. His body also turned illusory like Na Na’s, but the illusionary aspect came from the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

In this fight, many of the spectators couldn’t even see what was going on clearly. They could only see Huo Yuhao shuttling between the three figures, and hear clanging or knocking noises resonated continuously.

Sitting in the main spectator stand, Jing Hongchen’s expression turned serious. He naturally knew who Na Na was. He’d been the one to grant approval for her to compete in the next Elite Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.

However, he saw her inferiority compared to Huo Yuhao after just a short bout fighting him.

In terms of absolute speed; Na Na was quicker than Huo Yuhao with the enhancements from her first and second soul skills. However, she was only fast. She wasn’t nearly as accurate as Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao’s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track allowed him to appear at the weaker areas in Na Na’s onslaught. While it seemed like Na Na had encircled him, he was the one attacking her incessantly with his Darkgolden Terrorclaws.

Na Na’s first soul skill increased her speed and made her body more illusory, which meant she would suffer less harm when she was attacked. Her second soul skill allowed her to form doppelgangers. With these abilities and her powerful close- combat type soul tool, she was fighting like an agility-type soul master with the strength of an assault-type.

The doppelgangers weren’t real; they were just her second soul skill. They didn’t possess any offensive strength. They purely used speed to create illusions. These three figures were actually just the one person.

But how could her doppelgangers trick Huo Yuhao, and his spiritual detection? Huo Yuhao could take the initiative easily even if he used less effort than her. While they appeared to be on par with one another, Na Na was actually being suppressed, and was at a disadvantage. This was clear from how relaxed Huo Yuhao was—he didn’t even use his left hand, instead placing it behind his back.

Na Na was panicked as the battle dragged on. She no longer underestimated Huo Yuhao.

Did he really just become a Soul Ancestor? According to the academy’s information, he should be more inclined towards a control-type soul master!

However, she suffered every time she collided with him even though he was just a Soul Ancestor. The Scarletflame Blade she was using, was a brilliant Class 5 close-combat soul tool. It contained a scarlet flame, which had a temperature of one thousand degrees Celsius. She tested it once on a wild beast, and the wild beast had been instantly cooked as she slashed it with the blade. However, the scarlet flames were dissipated before they even touching Huo Yuhao’s body. They couldn’t affect him in the slightest. This also meant that it was completely ineffective against Huo Yuhao.

“Clink!”  A crisp sound resonated. Na Na was forced back again. Huo Yuhao’s strength numbed her right hand.

“Wait a minute!” Huo Yuhao shouted. He stopped Na Na just as she was about to burst towards him again.

“What?” Na Na stared at him warily.

Huo Yuhao said, “This isn’t fair for you. I suggest you change your weapon. I have twin martial souls. My first martial soul is spiritual-type, while my second martial soul is ice-type. Using fire-type or ice-type soul tools against me won’t be very effective.”

Na Na was confused. “Why are you telling me this?”

Huo Yuhao’s eyes flashed with burning light. “Your close- combat strength is impressive. But I can also tell that you haven’t given your all yet. Since this is the case, I want to spar with you in your best condition. That’s the point of sparring, isn’t it? You would’ve already lost if I simply wanted to defeat you.”

Na Na snorted furiously. “Don’t be so arrogant. Let’s go again.” As she spoke, she burst towards Huo Yuhao again. But she didn’t use her second soul skill this time. She only used her first soul skill to increase her speed.

Although she was unconvinced, her soul tool had already changed while she made her move. The Scarletflame Blade disappeared, replaced by a green blade.

She seemed to fancy blades. Huo Yuhao was under greater pressure when this blade appeared.

It was also a Class 5 soul tool, but it was a wind-type soul tool. The blade unleashed six wind blades towards Huo Yuhao, which came from different directions. Huo Yuhao found it tough to navigate even though he had both the spiritual detection and the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

Na Na inched closer to him. She wielded her ‘Swift Blade’, and six more wind blades attacked from different directions towards Huo Yuhao. She also got closer to Huo Yuhao with the speed boost from the blade. She wasn’t slashing the blade anymore, instead she stabbed it towards Huo Yuhao’s chest.

He lifted both his hands, they were instantly covered in diamond ice crystals. He retracted his Darkgolden Terrorclaws and switched to the Ice Empress’ Pincer with Mysterious Jade Hands. He did something else too, something weird. His left hand grabbed forward towards the Swift Blade, while his right arm started to make large revolutions like a huge windmill.

Something even weirder happened. As he revolved his right arm, the six wind blades seemed to be attracted by something,

and changed their direction. They all slashed towards a corner of the arena, leaving several marks. While his left hand touched the Swift Blade.

Both of their bodies jerked. But the Ice Empress’ Pincer couldn’t compare to the Darkgolden Terrorclaws. Even though he managed to block the Swift Blade, there wasn’t enough strength. Huo Yuhao’s staggered two steps back. However, Na Na was forced back too.

How did he deflect the wind blades? Na Na was shocked once again. But the blades were still useful, or at least they were better than the Scarletflame Blade.

Her attacks began anew after her discoveries. She kept on wielding the Swift Blade as she surrounded Huo Yuhao with attacks. Her assault continued swiftly.

Chapter 179: An Avenging Spirit in Front of a Necromancer?

At the start, Huo Yuhao could still accurately judge and adapt using his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. But Na Na was getting faster and faster. The wind blades unleashed from her Swift Blade were also increasing. A new batch of wind blades would appear before he had a chance to dispel the previous batch. The entire place was filled with green lights, and Huo Yuhao had disappeared within them.

Huo Yuhao had no choice but to unleash his Ice Empress’ Armor, as he was under immense pressure. The diamond ice crystals resisted the wind blades, piercingly sharp noises were released when both powers clashed. Huo Yuhao seemed to be at more and more at a disadvantage.

But Na Na was also a little anxious. Huo Yuhao’s defensive soul skills were very strong, and her wind blades had a negligible effect on him. The Swift Blade was much inferior to the Scarletflame Blade in terms of offensive strength, and could be blocked by Huo Yuhao using just his hands. They were stuck in a stalemate. Na Na didn’t really have much of an advantage.

“If this is all you’re capable of, you’re going to lose,”  Huo Yuhao’s voice sounded in her ears. Following that, Huo Yuhao’s footsteps became a little messy, and his speed increased slightly. His Darkgolden Terrorclaws appeared again. However, he wasn’t just resisting the Swift Blade this time. Rather, he was also attacking Na Na.

Na Na’s momentum was such that she couldn’t dodge when Huo Yuhao positioned his terrorclaws right at a specific position that she had to cross. She clashed with them heavily, using her blade to block their attack.

However, it wasn’t just a simple meeting of blades this time. Huo Yuhao’s terrorclaws closed up, and his body was about to ram into Na Na. The two of them were approaching each other rapidly.

Oh no! Na Na’s third soul ring lit up as she reacted, and her body turned illusory. Huo Yuhao brushed past her, and there was no impact between the two of them.

This was Na Na’s third soul skill, Spectre Possession. She could turn her body into a spectre, and not be struck by anything physical, but only for a second. It was a life-saving

technique. She couldn’t attack as this soul skill was unleashed, which was why Na Na hadn’t used it before.

But she couldn’t hold back this skill any longer. When their paths crossed, her fourth soul ring also lit up. Her shadow detached from her body as she paled,and it suddenly landed on Huo Yuhao’s body.

Huo Yuhao was engulfed by a layer of black gas. He couldn’t move even though he struggled mightily.

Na Na suddenly turned back and burst towards him with the Swift Blade. She slashed the blade towards his neck. This was the effect of her fourth soul skill, Avenging Spirit!

Her soul skill had a powerful restraining effect, but it had a lot of restrictions. It was operated using her spiritual power. But if the opponent couldn’t be restricted, she would suffer from the backlash.

I’ve won! Na Na said to herself in her heart. However, she abruptly realized that something was amiss when she saw the

look in Huo Yuhao’s eyes. He was too calm. He didn’t seem to be restrained...

Huo Yuhao was a little amused at this point. In his mind, Elder  Yi  remarked,  “She  must  be  tired  of  living,  using  an Avenging Spirit in front of a necromancer!”

As Na Na realized something was wrong, Huo Yuhao’s eyes turned grey, and an indescribable fear instantly engulfed Na Na. Following this, Huo Yuhao seemed to mutter something. The Avenging Spirit surrounding Huo Yuhao’s body instantly disappeared, seeming to fuse into Huo Yuhao’s body.

No backlash occurred. Na Na only felt a sense of emptiness, and staggered a little, but she still managed to react. Her fifth soul ring lit up, and she reached out with her left hand. A small and short white dagger that was only five inches long was flung towards Huo Yuhao at lightning speed.

This was Na Na’s trump card. She finally used it as she was in deep peril. It was a Class 6 close-combat soul tool, the Blinkknife.

The throwing knife didn’t make a sound, but it instantly reached Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao had been too careless. When he used Elder Yi’s necromancy to deal with the Avenging Spirit, he had the ability to restrain Na Na’s martial soul through their soul connection, and had done so. That’s why Na Na’s fifth soul skill wasn’t really unleashed.

However, the Blinkknife still reached him.

The knife was hidden in a storage ring on Na Na’s left hand. It possessed a tremendous destructive strength. In this critical situation, Huo Yuhao had no choice but to lift his hand to block the knife.

The Ice Empress’ Pincer didn’t completely resist the Blinkknife. His palm was instantly pierced. However, the Ice Empress’ Pincer and Mysterious Jade Hands’ defensive strength managed to buy Huo Yuhao some time. He lifted his hand as he looked backward. The Blinkknife almost kissed Huo Yuhao’s face as it flew past him. It turned into a streak of white light as it went on by, and only stopped when it hit the defensive barrier around the arena.

Huo Yuhao broke out in a cold sweat, even though it was a sudden change. He was too careless, and had almost been killed by the Blinkknife!

Fresh blood flowed from his left hand. His expression also turned colder. He shrugged his left hand and sealed the blood on it, then continued to attack Na Na.

Na Na was indeed resilient. She couldn’t get closer to control the Blinkknife without the help of her martial soul. Otherwise, she believed that she would’ve won. Even so, she continued to wield the Swift Blade and slashed at Huo Yuhao.

But Huo Yuhao’s gaze was extremely cold now.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom…! A series of booms rang out in front of Na Na. Huo Yuhao’s blood also contained soul power! He used his own blood to unleash the Ice Explosion Technique, and forced Na Na back with a series of explosions, and the Swift Blade was also torn from her hand. She couldn’t resist the explosions in such a condition.

Huo Yuhao didn’t chase after her. He only shouted, “Don’t move!”

Na Na’s body suddenly jerked, and she was actually frozen in place. She was horrified. She couldn’t understand why her body didn’t listen to her.

“You’re so intent on killing me? We’re only sparring,”  Huo Yuhao said coldly. He slowly placed the Darkgolden Terrorclaws in front of Na Na. The wound on his left hand had already been sealed by ice, and stopped bleeding.

Na Na couldn’t calm down at this point. This situation that she couldn’t comprehend left her extremely afraid.

“I’ve won.”  Huo Yuhao wasn’t above hitting a woman, but the killing spirit that he restrained wouldn’t be unleashed at this point.

Electrolux taught him that there were different regions in a person’s spirit, even though it was a complete entity. He had also taught Huo Yuhao the different capabilities of a human’s body.

Na Na’s Avenging Spirit aimed to restrain a person’s movements, which was why it now controlled Na Na’s own movements. After her Avenging Spirit was snatched using necromancy, Huo Yuhao easily found the characteristic of her spirit, which was why he could restrain her now. If Huo Yuhao destroyed this part of her spirit, she might be paralyzed. Without her spirit, she would be unable to move.

He relaxed his will and released his control on Na Na before turning around. He walked back towards the waiting area. His energy had been greatly depleted in this battle.

Na Na chased after him and shouted, “What did you do to me?”

If it were somewhere else, others might misunderstand her words. But no one could sense the fear in Na Na’s heart at this moment. When Huo Yuhao had controlled her body, she felt as if she lost something important.

Huo Yuhao said, “You’re the one who’s been attacking me.”

She wanted to question him further, but she realized that she once again couldn’t move. She could only watch as Huo Yuhao walked away.

Her fear grew stronger. She couldn’t sense Huo Yuhao unleashing any undulations of soul power. The force that was restraining her seemed to come from inside her. This also meant that she wasn’t being restrained by one of his soul skills. After she thought of how her Avenging Spirit had disappeared earlier, she roughly guessed that it was a side effect that was more scary than a direct backlash.

While the Avenging Spirit was powerful, it became her nightmare once it met a worthy opponent!

The restraint on Na Na was only removed when Huo Yuhao reached the waiting area, leaving her trembling. At this point, she didn’t dare pester him anymore. As she thought of how completely helpless she was in front of him, that she could only let him do what he wanted, she wanted to kill him!

Huo Yuhao didn’t think about it too much. He was furious, as Na Na had almost killed him. He decided to punish her since she hadn’t treated this as a sparring match. He was going to

keep this spirit with him, and he would only return it to her after some time.

“Do you need a break?” Xuan Ziwen’s voice was gentle.

He had seen Na Na’s actions, but had been too late to stop her. They had clashed at such close range that even the Hallmaster of Illustrious Virtue Hall wouldn’t have been able to separate the two of them if he was the referee.

Xuan Ziwen was surprised when Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “I’m alright, I can keep going.”

“Oh?”   Xuan  Ziwen  was  stunned  and  asked,  “Are  you certain?”

Huo Yuhao nodded and replied, “Yes.”

Although he was curious as to why Huo Yuhao had chosen not to rest, Xuan Ziwen still respected his choice and called for the fourth competitor.

The fourth competitor was nearly two meters tall. He was extremely burly, and his shoulders were very broad, which caused him to appear very tough.

The moment he entered the waiting area, he lifted his right hand and hooked his index finger towards Huo Yuhao. He then

extended his thumb and wriggled them together in front of Huo Yuhao condescendingly.

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh as they saw him doing this, the depressing atmosphere turning rapturous again as they did so. This student evidently wanted to repay Huo Yuhao tit for tat as he tackled Huo Yuhao’s arrogance with his own haughtiness.

Huo Yuhao turned to look towards Xuan Ziwen and then asked, “Teacher Xuan, can we start?”

“Alright. The match begins!” Xuan Ziwen only realized that both parties had forgotten to name themselves after he’d announced the start of the match; he’d made a mistake. However, he soon witnessed the end of this round.

Huo Yuhao’s opponent immediately moved as soon as the round began. A heavy soul shield appeared in his hands, followed by thick armor on his body.

However, Huo Yuhao didn’t burst forward like he had in the previous three rounds this time. Instead, his golden Spirit Eyes

gained a purple hue, and a ray of golden-purple flames were unleashed from them a moment later. Even Xuan Ziwen felt his surroundings light up a little.

A moment later, the previously-conceited student groaned and then collapsed to the ground, along with his soul shield and armor.

Huo Yuhao wriggled his wrist, after which the short spear that had appeared earlier appeared in his palm. He twisted his head towards Xuan Ziwen and asked, “Teacher Xuan, are you confident in my accuracy? I should be able to hit my target accurately within one hundred and fifty meters.”

It’s over?

Xuan Ziwen couldn’t conceal the shock in his eyes. He hadn’t expected Huo Yuhao’s spiritual-type soul skills to be effective over such a long distance. Furthermore, his opponent had been a five-ringed Soul King! Yet, he hadn’t been able to resist at all. Huo Yuhao didn’t even need to throw his spear; this student wasn’t likely to get up anytime soon.

“You’ve won.” Xuan Ziwen said with a little difficulty.

The surrounding commotion instantly turned to silence. Huo Yuhao raised his right hand, and then extended four fingers.

He’d not only completed, but had won four rounds in less than an hour. Aside from his battle with Na Na, he’d overwhelmed all of his opponents up to this point.

Jing Hongchen was a little restless as he sat in the main spectator stand. He’d discovered that, to his horror, Huo Yuhao’s spiritual-type martial soul was actually extremely powerful. A Class 5 soul engineer had been knocked out in a single blow, even though he was a hundred and fifty meters away. Who could challenge him? In the Soul Tool Department, there wasn’t any student who specialized in dealing with spiritual-type soul skills. After all, spiritual-type soul masters were quite rare.

Based on this soul skill, it was evident that Huo Yuhao had been holding back in the previous rounds of the competition. The rest definitely wouldn’t have been able to bear this spiritual-type attack of his.

Huo Yuhao chose to rest after completing the fourth round.

He sat down cross-legged and began to meditate.

He’d wanted to go for one more round in order to deplete more of his energy. This had been to allow his spiritual and soul power to recover together as he meditated.

The first few students to challenge Huo Yuhao had been the best of the Class 5 soul engineers. Thus, the later rounds of the competition were even easier for Huo Yuhao.

After resting for a short while, Huo Yuhao continued with the competition. He completely dominated, and won seventeen rounds in the morning. He only stopped to rest when noon approached. No further cheers were heard from the spectators.

The most shocking thing was that the skills he was using seemed very simple—apart from his Spiritual Shock—but even the spectators couldn’t tell how these simple skills were able to achieve such powerful and shocking effects.

Seventeen consecutive rounds! Huo Yuhao had benefited greatly at this stage. Not only had he won seventeen kilos of

rare metal, but he’d also received the stakes wagered upon earlier.

After stopping for a quick lunch, he didn’t leave the Soul Tool Experimentation Area. He found a resting place and quickly restored his energy and power beneath the protection of the other Shrek students.

Huo Yuhao was still a human, not a God. He’d fought for seventeen rounds straight against the elite Class 5 soul engineers of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy at this point. His opponents had watched his previous rounds and tried to adapt to his changes. However, Huo Yuhao’s fighting strategy had also changed. He’d thought of as many ways as possible to achieve victory without exposing too much of his abilities since he couldn’t use soul tools.

He was already fatigued after a long morning of battling. However, this fatigue was refreshing in a sense. The feeling of venting left Huo Yuhao very refreshed. He also felt that his soul power had increased during his deep meditation.

Lin Jiayi had mentioned that he would only be facing Class 5 soul engineers today. Tomorrow, he would face the Class 6 soul engineers. As for the third day, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy would give Huo Yuhao the authority to choose who he wanted to challenge from the Illustrious Virtue Hall as a form of reward for him. After all, challenging the higher-level soul engineers would be a valuable experience for Huo Yuhao. He would also be able to use his soul tools on the third day.

Fan Yu sat to one side and watched Huo Yuhao. He revealed a slight smile and comforting look on his face.

Although he couldn’t say that the Ultimate Soldier Plan had succeeded yet, he was clearly aware of Huo Yuhao’s performance in the battles today. This was the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, where the most talented soul engineers in the continent resided. And yet, even these soul engineers with higher cultivations than him weren’t able to beat him. He was only fifteen years old! Besides the fact that his soul power increased very slowly, Huo Yuhao was almost perfect.

Huo Yuhao had two hours to rest in the afternoon. After these two hours passed and Huo Yuhao re-appeared in the Soul

Tool Experimentation Arena, he was already full of energy again.

However, he was still a bit fatigued from the morning full of sparring. The time he took rest between each opponent increased with each. Finally, he defeated thirteen more competitors, and ended the day with a total of thirty victories.

When it was close to dark, the students from the Sun Moon Academy walked out of the Soul Tool Experimentation Arena with serious looks on their faces. The looks in their eyes was a little heavy.

Fifteen years old; this was merely a fifteen year-old soul master from Shrek Academy. He’d somehow defeated thirty Class 5 soul engineers, including more than seventy percent of the Grade 6 students, without any soul tools.

This also meant that practically no one could defeat him, apart from those in the Illustrious Virtue Hall. This was a humiliation. Tomorrow, the Class 6 soul engineers from the Illustrious Virtue Hall were going to compete. But… could they really win?

The effect that Jing Hongchen wanted to see had been realized, albeit a little too heavily. Not all the students’ fighting spirits had been motivated. A few of the students were in low spirits and doubted soul tools after witnessing Huo Yuhao’s strong showing. This wasn’t something that Jing Hongchen had wanted to see.

“We’re rich, we’re rich! Hahaha…” Ye Xiaosheng laughed in Huo Yuhao’s room.

Currently, Fan Yu, He Caitou, Huo Yuhao, and Ye Xiaosheng were all standing around. Huo Yuhao had just finished dinner and was about to collapse. If not for the Life Gold’s life power that enabled him to recover faster than an ordinary person, he wouldn’t have been able to last until now.

The Life Gold’s power was indeed quite great. The wound on his left hand had already fully recovered despite the fact that it had only been a day.

Huo Yuhao leaned on his bed and felt very refreshed as his body relaxed. “Brother Sheng, how much did we profit?”

Ye Xiaosheng chortled. “The odds that you wouldn’t clear ten rounds were three to one. Most people wagered on this. Their bets took up more than half of our total bets. With just these alone, we’d already earned quite a lot. Then there’s the odds that you wouldn’t clear twenty rounds, which were one to one. Those’re also in our pockets now. The remaining twenty percent of the wagers are on you not being able to clear fifty rounds. Even if you don’t clear fifty rounds, we’ll only have to pay twenty percent of what we have. We’ve profited a lot, no

matter what happens. I believe that the rare metals we’ve won are equivalent to a year of the Sun Moon Empire’s production of these metals as well.”

Huo Yuhao shook his head and then said, “Brother Sheng, don’t be too delighted. Tomorrow, several people will bet on me not being able to clear fifty rounds.”

“Ugh… surely not?” Ye Xiaosheng was stunned for a moment.

He Caitou added, “Why not? Brother Sheng, think about it. The most talented soul engineers in the Sun Moon Empire are enrolled in this academy. And then there’s the Illustrious Virtue Hall. They’re definitely wealthier than we think they are. Little junior, do you remember the soul tool produced by

the Illustrious Virtue Hall that we saw in the Starlight Auction house? It was extremely costly! It was already extremely tough to survive thirty rounds. Why don’t we cancel betting for tomorrow?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “No, let the betting continue. Otherwise, it’ll affect my fighting spirit. With these odds, we’ll only lose our profits if I eventually lose and they increase their wager, and… I might not lose. I’ll give it my all tomorrow.”

Ye Xiaosheng’s lips twisted a little, and he laughed bitterly, “Talking to you two dampens my spirit. I won't talk to either of you anymore. Teacher Fan Yu, I’m leaving first! You’re just too ferocious today, but it’s not your…  gosh!”  Ye Xiaosheng was depressed, and he walked out with his hands on his forehead.

Huo Yuhao and He Caitou couldn’t help but think of how he’d asked them to call him Brother Sheng as they left the academy. They grinned as that thought crossed their minds.

Fan Yu stood up and said, “Yuhao, take a quick break. I don’t have many instructions for you. Give it your best tomorrow, but safety comes first. You know how important you are to Shrek.”

“Yes, teacher. I won’t be careless like before.” Huo Yuhao sat up straight on the bed and wanted to send them off. However, he was stopped by Fan Yu and He Caitou. After that, the two of them left on their own.

Huo Yuhao forcefully dragged himself into a cross-legged sitting position. He couldn’t just sleep. Otherwise, his efforts for the day would be wasted. It was only through restoring his energy in a cultivation state could he really assimilate the insights he’d made during the sparring today.

The doorbell suddenly rang. Because he was too tired, Huo Yuhao didn’t unleash his spiritual detection. He assumed that it was either Fan Yu or He Caitou, so he took in a deep breath, and walked to the door.

However, it was neither of them. Rather, it was a familiar young lady with a well-proportioned figure. It was Na Na, the Soul King from the Active Control Soul Tool Department he had defeated today.

“Why are you here?” Huo Yuhao furrowed his brows, but he wasn’t too wary of her. Part of Na Na’s spirit was under his

control. If he wanted to, he could restrict her movements and easily harm her.

Na Na furrowed her brows and she said, “Can I come in?” Although she wasn’t that ravishing, her bravery gave her a sense of charm. This charm properly accentuated her well- proportioned figure.

Huo Yuhao opened the door wide and gestured for her to enter.

Na Na entered the room, but Huo Yuhao didn’t close the door. It was late at night, and it wasn’t too appropriate for the two of them to be alone together in the same room, thus it was better for the door to be left ajar.

“What’s up?”  Huo Yuhao was too tired, and went to take a seat on a chair off to the side.

Na Na retorted, “I should be the one asking you that! What did you do to my body? How did you control it?” She was filled with hatred as she demanded an answer.

After she lost to Huo Yuhao, this matter had been bothering her, but she only came to talk to him after the day’s competition was over. She didn’t approach him before as there were others with him, and came to his room after Fan Yu and He Caitou left.

Huo Yuhao answered indifferently, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. If there’s nothing else, please excuse yourself. I still need to spar tomorrow.”

Na Na was enraged. “You don’t have the guts to admit it?”

Huo Yuhao’s brows lifted and he said coldly, “What did I do? You’re the one who unleashed your Avenging Spirit and tried to kill me. It’s a joke that you’re going to interrogate me now. Please see yourself out.”

“You…” Na Na wanted to erupt, but she held it in. She bit her lips until they were red, “I can feel that my Avenging Spirit has been restrained by you. What will it take for you to return my spirit to me?”

Huo Yuhao was stunned by her sensitive judgement.

Na Na continued to say, “Don’t tell me it’s not your doing! If my spirit was dissipated or destroyed by you, I would’ve been critically injured. But I’m fine, except that my body is not under my control. You must’ve done something to my spirit. Return it to me!”

Huo Yuhao laughed and answered, “Alright, even if I did, why should I return it to you? You almost killed me. What right do you have to comment on my actions?”

“You… I’ll report you to the academy!” Na Na was furious.

Huo Yuhao pointed towards the door, “Do what you want. But someone will have to believe you first, and even if someone believes your words, what evidence do you have? To soul masters, our spirit is a mystical thing. Even a Titled Douluo can’t claim to be completely familiarized with their spirit. Moreover, no one can prove that your spirit is with me.”

Na Na’s expression changed. When she saw Huo Yuhao’s calm look, she slowly walked to the door.

Huo Yuhao sniggered to himself. Since he was scared by her this morning, he had to make her pay for it. However, his heart still softened a little. He would return her spirit once the competition was over.

Na Na walked very slowly. But when she reached the door, she stopped in her tracks. She didn’t leave, and shut the door.

“Oh? What are you doing?” Huo Yuhao stood up from his seated position. Even though he was very tired, his soul power was still at peak condition. Furthermore, Na Na’s soul was still under his control.

Na Na turned around, with two streams of tears flowing down her cheeks. Her body shuddered slightly, then her entire figure seemed to become illusory. Her clothing slipped off her body, revealing her naked figure.

Huo Yuhao was flabbergasted. He absolutely didn’t expect her to do that.

“You…” Huo Yuhao was shocked as he looked at her. Her figure was flawless. All women craved a body like hers.

Undoubtedly, Na Na was blessed in this area. There was no excess fat on her body, and her skin was extremely smooth and tender. Although her skin wasn’t snow-white, it had a healthy sense to it.

Her slender waist was springy, and her flawless curves extended all the way down. She wasn’t facing Huo Yuhao directly, so he couldn’t see everything. But he could still see her perky buttocks.

Huo Yuhao couldn’t stand looking any longer. At his age, one was supposed to be extremely curious but unclear about these matters of the heart. He had once sensed feminine beauty from Ma Xiaotao, but he was too young then. That was why he wasn’t as tempted. However, he had also developed in this aspect over the past two years.

He panicked a lot and turned around, flustered. After that, he said, “Put your clothes on! What’re you doing?”

Na Na was teary-eyed as she said, “I know that you’re an elite student from Shrek. I don’t have anything valuable to exchange for my spirit. I only have my body. I’ve never been

touched by a man. If you promise to return my spirit, I’ll give my body to you.”

“I…” Huo Yuhao hadn’t expected something like this. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He was a little anxious as he said, “Put your clothes on and get out immediately. When the matches is over, I’ll return your spirit.”

Na Na was stunned for a moment, and only reacted after a while. Huo Yuhao seemed to be scared of her current self, and looked rather pathetic. He wasn’t nearly as arrogant as he was earlier under everyone’s gazes.

Due to his outstanding performance during the sparring competition, many students now treated him as a target. In their eyes, Huo Yuhao was a powerful soul master. But now Na Na could remember that he was still just a fifteen-year-old youth. It seemed like she was reading too much into things.

She blushed a little before hurriedly dressing herself.

Huo Yuhao was in an awkward position. He felt his nose getting hot as if it were about to start bleeding. Furthermore, he didn’t dare to use his spiritual detection to tell whether she was done. After all, he would definitely still sense her body!

“I’m done.” Na Na said softly.

Huo Yuhao heaved a sigh of relief. He turned back to confirm that Na Na was indeed fully clothed, before turning his whole body around again. His face heated up, and his nose was just as hot as before. He tried to resist his nosebleed. But even though Huo Yuhao tried his best to cover his nosebleed, Na Na still managed to see it.

Na Na broke out into laughter.

“Get out.”  Huo Yuhao snapped. He was still trying to expel the erotic scene from his mind.

Na Na was evidently not as furious as before. “You’ll really return my spirit later? Why not now? Why must it be after the end of the competition?”

Huo Yuhao said, “That’s because I want to guarantee that you won’t find trouble with me in the next two days. Leave already.” Even he felt that his reply was a little incoherent.

Na Na took a deep look at Huo Yuhao and said, “I hope that you will fulfill your promise. Anyway, I have nothing I can use to exchange for it aside from my body. If you back out and want my body again, just tell me.”

Huo Yuhao felt his nose heating up even more, and there seemed to be blood flowing out of it this time.

Na Na opened the door before turning back to look at him. She smiled, “You don’t seem that annoying now. Much better than that arrogant brat this morning.”

Chapter 180: A Sovereign-like Victory

Bang! Huo Yuhao couldn’t help it as he shut the door to his room. After that, he quickly ran to the washroom to clean his face.

Na Na couldn’t help but laugh as she stood outside his room. It seemed like dealing with him was just this simple! She had been overthinking things. How bad could such an innocent young man be?

Suddenly, her body jerked. Since he can restrain my spirit, it means that he can also… As she thought of this point, she started to become excited. She turned around and wanted to knock on his door again.

She lifted her hands, and her breathing became a little rapid. She muttered to herself, “Don’t be anxious, don’t be anxious. I’ll find him when the competition ends. I hope that he can really do it.” As she spoke, she clenched her fists tightly. However, the excitement on her face couldn’t be concealed.

Huo Yuhao sat on his bed for half an hour before he entered his meditative state. He wondered whether he was the one punishing Na Na, or if she was the one punishing him!

------

Morning. Huo Yuhao awoke from his meditation.

He was filled with energy. He opened his windows, and clear air flowed into his room, refreshing him.

After a night of rest, his energy had been restored, and he was in his best condition. His soul power circulated, and streaks of white gas rose from his body before he inhaled them again. Huo Yuhao was delighted to discover that his overnight cultivation was equivalent to ten days of normal cultivation. It seemed like sufficient pressure was beneficial to his cultivation.

I should be under greater pressure today! Let it come then.

The golden light in Huo Yuhao’s Spirit Eyes shone at this moment as the first ray of sunlight shone down. A dim purple appeared in the sky, and Huo Yuhao used his Purple Demon Eyes to absorb this color.

The Soul Tool Experimentation Arena was just as packed as yesterday, but it was much quieter and more peaceful today. Many of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy students sacrificed sleep to watch the competition, and hadn’t had a good night’s rest. Huo Yuhao had shocked them too much with the difference between a soul master and soul engineer’s fighting styles. It was also their first time witnessing the abilities of a powerful soul master. They now understood why Shrek Academy was so dominant on the continent.

The increased use of soul tools represented progress, but soul masters had been around for many generations. It would take a long time before soul tools could suppress soul masters in a battle. At the very least, soul engineers couldn’t do it now.

The Class 6 soul engineers from Illustrious Virtue Hall were going to compete today. Could Huo Yuhao maintain his winning streak?

Wagers were still being accepted, but there was only one choice. The odds were still five to one. However, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy students didn’t think they had a chance to win.

Jing Hongchen also arrived at the main spectator stand early. He had been greatly affected by the competition yesterday. Huo Yuhao was only fifteen years old, but was shockingly rich with actual combat experience. Although he didn’t think Huo Yuhao was that strong, there wasn’t anyone the same age that could match up to him. Were his grandchildren even that capable at his age?

Perhaps the only problem with Huo Yuhao was that his soul power increased very slowly. This was something that Jing Hongchen was slightly comforted by. Otherwise, he would need to come up with ways of dealing with the young man before he became a serious danger to the empire.

After a period of set-up and resolution, the matter regarding the attack on the base of Illustrious Virtue Hall was finally suppressed… but it had also forced Jing Hongchen to join the Crown Prince’s side. With his support, the Crown Prince had now gained an absolute advantage. The two remaining competing princes lost ground immediately. The Sun Moon

Empire Emperor’s condition was worsening, and no one knew how much longer he would live.

Jing Hongchen’s only wish was to restore Test Subject One. After all, it was incomplete. No one besides him knew the password to activate it. Without the password, it was only a stack of rare metals. While dismantling the stack of metal and selling it would definitely be valuable, it was still better than exposing Illustrious Virtue Hall’s greatest secrets.

A dim light flashed, and Huo Yuhao revealed a faint glow on his face. He was much calmer when he arrived at the Soul Tool Experimentation Arena for the second time in two days. He also didn’t provoke anyone today, as he just wanted to use this sparring competition to enhance himself. Since he couldn’t leave, he would use these two years to become even stronger.

In yesterday’s competition, he had intended to suppress his skills to prevent being exposed. But after a night of cultivation, this intention had already disappeared. That’s because he believed that he could only benefit if he gave his all to the fight. There were still two and a half years left until the next Elite Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. Shouldn’t he be trying to become stronger and more capable in these two and a half years? Moreover, most of

his capabilities couldn’t be understood by mere visual observation.

To ensure greater improvement, Huo Yuhao set his mind to not to hold back in today’s competition, he wanted to go all- out. In addition, he also knew that his competitors today were the elites. The Class 6 soul engineers weren’t just one class above Class 5 soul engineers, they were all from Illustrious Virtue Hall. Their understanding of soul tools and excellence in soul tool production was far superior to the students that he sparred with yesterday.

Huo Yuhao was unsure of how many of them he could beat today, but he was determined to give his all.

The referee was still Xuan Ziwen. As he watched Huo Yuhao, he felt slightly envious.

He was young once. When he was young, he was also an outstanding talent. However, he seemed to lack something compared to Huo Yuhao. He lacked the sharpness, as well as the stability to wield that sharpness. His student was only fifteen! However, why did he feel as if he were interacting with

someone of the same age throughout their entire exchange? What price did the young man pay to attain such maturity?

Xuan Ziwen smiled as he asked, “Yuhao, how was your rest last night?”

The first thing that popped up in Huo Yuhao’s mind was Na Na’s body. He forced a smile and replied, “It was rather good.”

Xuan Ziwen said, “That’s great. Today, your opponents are going to be stronger. After discussing things with the Hallmaster yesterday, we’ve agreed to let you use soul tools today. After all, you only have four soul rings. If you’re restricted too much, it’ll be unfair. This isn’t the academy’s style. Do your best to strut your stuff today and unleash your full abilities.”

Huo Yuhao was stunned for a moment. “I’m allowed to use soul tools? The Hallmaster must be interested in how I combine soul tools with my martial souls.”

Xuan Ziwen replied “I don’t know that about that. If you’re absolutely confident in yourself, you don’t have to use them.”

Huo Yuhao laughed, “Why not? It’s nothing anyway. Since we’re sparring, I have to live up to the meaning of it. I just hope that my competitors don’t disappoint me today.”

Xuan Ziwen looked at him with a meaningful gaze and said, “You won’t be disappointed. Go and prepare yourself.”

Huo Yuhao nodded and shut his eyes. He focused, and circulated his Mysterious Heaven Technique. He quickly adjusted his body to its best condition.

In truth, he didn’t think that he could beat twenty-six Class 6 soul engineers from Illustrious Virtue Hall. It was unrealistic to think that he could defeat all of them in one day unless his Light of Destiny could be used continuously. That might give him a glimmer of hope.

But Xuan Ziwen’s words gave him hope again. If he could use soul tools, it was a different matter! In terms of soul tools, Xuan Ziwen recognized his abilities in soul tool use and production, even though his soul power wasn’t up to par yet. This also meant that he wasn’t that inferior to the soul engineers from Illustrious Virtue Hall.

Perhaps this was the first test he had to take after choosing the close-combat path. Huo Yuhao started to become excited as his competitive will was piqued. Fighting was the best way to test his abilities. He became extremely focused now.

After getting approval from Jing Hongchen, Xuan Ziwen returned back to the stage.

Lin Jiayi was still the emcee for the sparring today. His voice boomed out through the sound-amplifying soul tool. “Teachers and students, today is the second day of the sparring against Shrek Academy! It will still be Huo Yuhao competing on behalf of Shrek! After yesterday’s competition, I’m sure all of you have witnessed the difference in fighting style between a soul master and a soul engineer! I hope that all of you can use this chance to discover your own problems, and enhance your real- life experience with soul masters! At the same time, I hope that all of you can work hard and be like Huo Yuhao, achieving glory for your academy!”

“Today, we’ll be sending out Class 6 soul engineers from the Illustrious Virtue Hall. We have twenty of them with us today. We’ll carry out as many rounds as we can until dinnertime. The competition’s about to start. Please observe carefully, and reference what you see with your own abilities. If you can learn something from this, this sparring competition will be a success. Due to the gap in cultivation, Huo Yuhao will be allowed to use his own soul tools today. All of you must also carefully watch how he combines his martial souls with soul tools. This is especially pertinent for students from the Active Control Soul Tool Department. Alright, the competition’s going to start.”

Huo Yuhao was still the center of attention, but he wasn’t treated like an enemy anymore. Whether it was in the world of soul masters or soul engineers, one’s abilities were the most important. Huo Yuhao had already proven that he had true ability by being able to win thirty consecutive rounds against Class 5 soul engineers. Those with true ability were always respected, even in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. Many of the other students were wondering how far Huo Yuhao could progress as he faced the Class 6 soul engineers from the Illustrious Virtue Hall.

Many continued to wager today, but very few wagered on Huo Yuhao. It was just like how Huo Yuhao lacked self- confidence. No one believed that he could win all the way against the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s Class 6 soul engineers. At least, he couldn’t win twenty consecutive rounds.

But there were exceptions. For example, Ke Ke wagered ten kilos of rare metal on Huo Yuhao. Besides her, another female student also bet on Huo Yuhao. She was Na Na.

Even Na Na didn’t understand why she did that. She wasn’t exactly wealthy, and thus she only staked a hundred gold soul coins.

Xuan Ziwen gestured for the first Illustrious Virtue Hall’s Class 6 soul engineer to enter.

He was a youth that looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He was burly. His short hair was brown, and he had a tanned complexion. It was obvious that he was somehow related to the imperial family. His arms were slightly longer than normal, and were thick. As he slowly walked into the Soul Tool Experimentation Area, his aura had already swept over Huo Yuhao. But Huo Yuhao wasn’t fearful. He

watched his opponent calmly, and was ready to enter his fighting mode.

“Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s Illustrious Virtue Hall. Shen Musu.”

“Shrek Academy. Huo Yuhao.”

Xuan Ziwen looked at both parties. He lifted his right arm before slamming it down, “The competition begins.”

As he proclaimed the start of the match, both parties made their move. Shen Musu burst forward just like Huo Yuhao. The gap between them was shrinking quickly.

Shen Musu’s hands were held at his side as he burst forward. He held a long dagger in each hand. These two daggers were the same – they were four inches long, their hilts were thick and their blades were wide.

A dirt-yellow radiance was released. As his soul power was unleashed, there was an overwhelming sense of power.

Earth-type, close-combat soul tool!

Huo Yuhao didn’t unleash any soul tools. He acted the same way he had yesterday. There was helmet on Shen Musu’s head with a colorless ruby mounted on it. This ruby shone weakly under the sun.

There were bound to be heavy sparks in this clash between two close-combat soul engineers.

Both parties were getting closer and closer to each other. Shen Musu shouted, and his third soul ring started to shine. A layer of purplish light engulfed his body, and his aura became even more overwhelming.

He stopped suddenly before leaping forward. He slashed his daggers towards Huo Yuhao.

The yellow daggers didn’t seem to release any force. The air around Shen Musu’s center also started to distort.

Huo Yuhao squinted his eyes. His toes touched the ground, and he sprang up from the ground in a swifter manner compared to Shen Musu. The Darkgolden Terrorclaw appeared once again.

Just as both parties were getting closer and closer to each other, a wing flapped open from Huo Yuhao’s back. After that, he dodged to one side, avoiding Shen Musu’s daggers. This happened instantly, and his Darkgolden Terrorclaw had already clawed towards Shen Musu’s shoulder.

He used this half of his flying-type soul tool to displace his position. The wing of the flying-type soul tool even flashed before disappearing. He must possess immaculate control!

Even a Class 6 protective soul barrier couldn’t resist the destructive force of the Darkgolden Terrorclaw.

But Shen Musu wasn’t an easy target to deal with. He didn’t panic. His sixth soul ring suddenly lit up, and a Boulder Armor surfaced in front of his body.

The appearance of the Boulder Armor greatly increased his weight. He immediately landed back on the ground as he was dragged down by the increased weight. He even bore the attack of the terrorclaw.

Several rocks were peeled off from the armor as a screech was heard. But Shen Musu wasn’t hurt. Huo Yuhao was surprised that Shen Musu’s daggers continued to slash down in the same trajectory. They stabbed into the ground.

“Bang”  A deep rumbling sound was heard, and Huo Yuhao felt a huge rocking motion beneath his feet. This rocking motion sent his body flying through the air. Following that, countless sharp spikes shot out from Shen Musu’s body.

These spikes were shot upwards to a height of three meters. Huo Yuhao couldn’t possibly avoid them. He was in great danger now.

Lin Jiayi had pondered carefully before sending Shen Musu out to spar first. Shen Musu’s helmet had a protective effect against spiritual power, and was designed to withstand attacks like Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Shock, while his martial soul was a Boulder, which wasn’t easily curbed by Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate

Ice. In addition, it was especially useful in close-combat. Shen Musu was both offensively and defensively resolute. He was one of the best among the Class 6 soul engineers in the Illustrious Virtue Hall.

However, they had still underestimated Huo Yuhao.

When he was jerked into the air, Huo Yuhao could already sense the undulation from the ground. His Spiritual Detection accurately sensed the surge of his opponent’s soul power.

Huo Yuhao could sense an immense force from the yellow daggers. Perhaps their speed couldn’t increase by much, but their aura gave off an irresistible feeling.

Huo Yuhao had to be decisive under such a circumstance.

That was why he unleashed the Ice Empress Armor as he was sent flying. He tried to reduce the impact on him. Following that, everyone could see his body lighting up.

An azure-green radiance surged from his backbone. He opened his arms wide and braced his chest. An indescribable, mighty aura was exuded from his body.

No soul rings lit up yet. But one could see the air around Huo Yuhao distorting. After this, an azure-green beam of light shot out from his belly.

Right now, Huo Yuhao was at Shen Musu’s side. Shen Musu couldn’t dodge this strike. He was struck directly.

The heavy impact propelled Huo Yuhao’s body upwards. He avoided the spikes that came towards him, whereas Shen Musu’s body had turned azure-green.

One of the soul skills of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s skeleton, the Ice Empress’ Wrath!

Huo Yuhao had had two choices. Either he unleashed the complete version of the Darkgolden Terrorclaw, or he used the Ice Empress’ Wrath. He made his decision quickly.

These two skills expended roughly the same amount of energy and power, but the Darkgolden Terrorclaw were half a beat slower than the Ice Empress’ Wrath, as he needed to wield his arm.

Huo Yuhao tapped into the impact generated by the Ice Empress’ Wrath to make a revolution in mid-air. When his body unfolded again, his right hand was already out. The complete Darkgolden Terroclaws! He swept it toward his opponent, who was frozen still.

Shen Musu’s Boulder Armor was his sixth soul skill, and was even a ten thousand year soul skill! But Huo Yuhao’s Ice Empress’ Wrath was a four hundred thousand year soul skill. While Huo Yuhao couldn’t unleash its full strength, he had no trouble freezing Shen Musu on the spot.

“Stop.”  A  golden  barrel  lit  up  in  Xuan  Ziwen’s  hands.  A cannon shell accurately landed on Shen Musu’s body and turned into a golden light barrier that protected him.

Huo Yuhao’s terrorclaw didn’t really strike him. They disappeared as a light projection flashed. His toes touched the

golden light barrier, and he landed on the ground after he deflected himself into the air.

Xuan Ziwen was astonished. How’s he able to retract his attack so easily after unleashing it so furiously? How good is his control?

He didn’t know that Huo Yuhao couldn’t retract his terrorclaw if he unleashed the complete version. But it was another matter if he used Imitation to imitate his terrorclaw!

He was going to face a series of tough battles today. Why would he waste his soul power? He could decide victory with the Ice Empress’ Wrath. Since Xuan Ziwen intervened, it meant that he had won.

After ten seconds, Shen Musu’s Boulder Armor was crushed, and his face turned pale. He staggered and almost collapsed to the ground. A layer of golden light flashed continuously on his body. It was evident that some protective soul tool had been activated.

In truth, it was impossible for Huo Yuhao’s Ice Empress’ Wrath to overcome Shen Musu’s Boulder Armor and Class 6 protective soul barrier.

While Shen Musu’s armor was able to Huo Yuhao’s attack, it also restricted his own strength at a critical moment. After the armor was frozen, he couldn’t break free even if he wanted to. Huo Yuhao then used the Darkgolden Terrorclaws to force Xuan Ziwen into intervening. Shen Musu could only concede defeat.

Shen Musu’s brows furrowed as he looked at Huo Yuhao. He was also shivering because of the extreme chill he had felt earlier, “You’ve won. But I’m not convinced.”

Huo Yuhao nodded his head and said, “I know that, I can sense it. Your daggers are indeed powerful, and aren’t easy to deal with. If I’m not wrong, the spikes were supposed to come at me relentlessly after they forced me to divulge my flaws. That’s why I didn’t give you the opportunity to unleash your full fighting strength. Let’s hope I have another opportunity to spar with you again.”

Huo Yuhao was also much more courteous against a worthy opponent. He was indeed impressed by Shen Musu’s abilities.

Shen Musu nodded at Huo Yuhao before turning around. He told himself that he needed to place a protective soul barrier outside the Boulder Armor the next time he sparred with Huo Yuhao. In that way, his defense would be even greater.

Yet another victory? Another commotion ensued. This fight had been very short, and the spectators’ stand was very far away. It was difficult to make out small events.

While Huo Yuhao seemed to win the fight quickly, it wasn’t easy for him. He won because of his Ultimate Ice. The Ice Empress’ Wrath froze his opponent’s earth-type ten-thousand year soul skill. In addition, he had also tricked Xuan Ziwen. Even if he had really used the complete Darkgolden Terrorclaws, he might not even have been able to crush the Boulder Armor.

---

Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged on the ground and meditated as he returned to the waiting area. Although the Ice Empress’ Wrath had depleted some of his soul power, he had no problem continuing.

However, he realized how powerful the Class 6 soul engineers were after fighting Shen Musu. Although he was confident of going against them, he might lose if his focus and energy weren’t at their best.

After fifteen minutes, Huo Yuhao leapt up and nodded towards Xuan Ziwen.

The second soul engineer from the Illustrious Virtue Hall was an ordinary-looking woman with an average figure. She looked to be almost thirty years old.

“Illustrious Virtue Hall, Jing Ziyan.”  This woman was the most concise among those who had competed against Huo Yuhao.

“Shrek, Huo Yuhao.” Huo Yuhao was also concise.

“The competition begins!”

Huo Yuhao burst forward as usual… but this time, he let everyone witness his top speed.

As he burst forward, four semi-circular soul tools appeared behind his back. They revealed four nozzles as they flipped out. The four nozzles started to spurt fire backwards. Four streaks of flames shot out, and Huo Yuhao’s body burst forward like a shooting star.

Those with keen eyes realized that Huo Yuhao was now covered by a layer of diamond ice crystals as the four streaks of bright flames shot out. He had no choice, as without the Ice Empress’ Armor’s protection his body couldn’t tolerate the incredible thrusting force or the wind resistance.

However, Huo Yuhao managed to reach a frightening speed with the explosive thrusting force. He covered a hundred and fifty meters almost instantly, arriving right in front of Jing Ziyan with a terrifying aura.

Jing Ziyan was very calm when she appeared. But when Huo Yuhao’s speed soared and he burst straight towards her, she was slightly surprised.

Huo Yuhao gave off a feeling like he was a powerful soul beast now. The Sovereign's Descent seemed almost unstoppable as Huo Yuhao’s speed increased dramatically.

What greeted Jing Ziyan was Huo Yuhao’s fist. It was covered by diamond ice crystals and combined both the Ice Empress’ Pincer and the Mysterious Jade Hands.

He didn’t use the Darkgolden Terrorclaws because he couldn’t combine both the Sovereign's Descent and Darkgolden Terrorclaws perfectly at such a high speed.

But he still managed to control the speed, strength, intent, energy, angle, and timing of this fist precisely. This was Huo Yuhao’s true ability, as he unleashed an ultimate strike!

Jing Ziyan drifted back instantly, and a layer of intense golden light shone from her body. It was an Invincible Barrier that could last for three seconds. Not only that, but a layer of

thick purplish fog also surged up from her body. More accurately speaking, her entire body seemed to change into a ball of fog. Following this, her fifth soul ring lit up.

She was much stronger than Shen Musu. She had two yellow, two purple and two black soul rings – the perfect combination of soul rings for a Soul Emperor. Huo Yuhao had felt a sense of crisis, thus he unleashed such a powerful attack.

Huo Yuhao’s fist struck the Invincible Barrier heavily. The collision caused the lights in the Soul Tool Experimentation Arena to dim a little. Did the weather change?

The resolute Invincible Barrier started to crack after Huo Yuhao’s fist struck it. This crack started to extend, with his fist at the center of it. But it still looked like it had managed to resist Huo Yuhao’s strike.

But did it really manage to resist his strike?

The purplish fog instantly gathered within the Invincible Barrier and re-adopted human form. Jing Ziyan looked pale.

Yes, the Invincible Barrier could withstand Huo Yuhao’s all- out strike. However, it couldn’t resist the intent of his Sovereign's Descent. Jing Ziyan was forced back into her human form by this intent, and was even spiritually impacted.

Kacha! The Invincible Barrier broke completely.

A purplish light flashed in Huo Yuhao’s eyes before disappearing.

Jing Ziyan groaned. The back of her head seemed to have hit by something extremely strong. Fresh blood started to flow from her nose.

In the next instant, Huo Yuhao’s Darkgolden Terrorclaws were already in front of her. However, he stopped one inch away from her, and watched her as she collapsed to the ground.

She didn’t pass out. She covered her head with her hands and groaned in pain. More blood started to flow out of her eyes, ears, and mouth.

Huo Yuhao braced his chest as he let his Darkgolden Terrorclaws down. The entire place went silent at this point. He was just like a sovereign as he stood there.

“Tyrannical!  He  only  has  four  rings?”   Jing  Hongchen muttered these words. Right now, he was in a daze.

Absolute speed, absolute strength, and absolute dominance.

Huo Yuhao didn’t even give Jing Ziyan a chance to counterattack before he ended the battle.

He returned to the waiting area without uttering a word. He sat where he was originally and started to meditate. Only Xuan Ziwen noticed that he was breathing heavily, and his right arm was trembling slightly. It seemed as if he could collapse.

That strike…

Huo Yuhao must have had suffered a huge price to unleash such a powerful strike.

It wasn’t a speed that a Class 5 or Class 6 soul engineer could reach. With Huo Yuhao’s standard in soul tool production, he couldn’t possibly create a Class 7 soul thruster. But he had used four Class 6 soul thrusters, allowing him to reach a speed equivalent to that of a Class 7 soul thruster.

The impact on his body was very heavy at such a high speed. Moreover, he hadn’t held back at all when he struck the Invincible Barrier. It was no surprise to him that he felt as if he was going to collapse.

It was also no wonder Jing Ziyan lost to him!

Xuan Ziwen was very familiar with Jing Ziyan. That’s because Jing Ziyan was his junior, and was once touted as a genius. The reason why she was only a Class 6 soul engineer now was because she got too greedy. She had researched all types of soul tools without choosing a path for herself. That was why she stagnated as a Class 6 soul engineer. But she still managed to enter Illustrious Virtue Hall, a testament to her talent. She was recognized as the Queen of Class 6 soul engineers in Illustrious Virtue Hall.

Illustrious Virtue Hall sent out Shen Musu and Jing Ziyan first in a bid to regain the face they had lost yesterday. However, both of them had now lost to Huo Yuhao. They even lost very quickly.

Xuan Ziwen was shocked to realize that Huo Yuhao had quickly entered a stable meditative state and stopped trembling after a while. Everything seemed to become calm again. The huge burden and pressure that he was under earlier seemed to have disappeared. His aura and soul power undulations returned to normal once again.

Yes, this was how quickly Huo Yuhao could heal. The immense life power of the Life Gold ensured that his body was very tough. Otherwise, he would’ve died when he saved Ju Zi and Ke Ke. The Ultimate Soldier Plan had proceeded smoothly because of his ability to fight continuously for long periods of time.

Chapter 181: The Sword Fanatic Ji Juechen

After another fifteen minute break, Huo Yuhao leaped up energetically and nodded at Xuan Ziwen, signaling that he was ready to continue.

Xuan Ziwen couldn’t help but wish that there was a metal as resistant as Huo Yuhao after he saw how energetic and competitive Huo Yuhao still was.

The third Class 6 soul engineer appeared. A male soul engineer, who appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. His long, black hair was tied behind his head. He seemed a little pale, but was extremely handsome. However, his eyes lacked energy, and even his movements looked very slow and lethargic.

Among all the guys that Huo Yuhao had ever met, only Wang Dong could match him in terms of charm. However, Wang Dong’s beauty carried a sense of tenderness, while this guy’s beauty stemmed from aloofness. Huo Yuhao couldn’t sense any emotions from this guy.

He held a sword in his hand, around four feet in length. The sword was entirely black, and had a simple pattern. Nothing seemed very special about it, it practically resembled a rod used to control a stove fire.

Huo Yuhao’s got goosebumps when he first saw him. Jing Ziyan posed a danger to him, but Huo Yuhao felt like this guy was even more dangerous.

Huo Yuhao’s spiritual detection was still active, but it seemed to lose its effect on this guy. He couldn’t even sense this guy’s soul power.

“Ji Juechen.” Jing Ziyan’s introduction earlier was extremely concise, but this introduction was even more so.

“Huo Yuhao.” Huo Yuhao nodded as he looked at him.

But Huo Yuhao was surprised when Ji Juechen abruptly said, “I signed up at the last minute because of your fist. I saw something that I’ve been looking for in your fist. Please allow me to sense it fully. Thanks.”

As he spoke, he held his sword with both hands and slowly bowed towards Huo Yuhao. His eyes started to emit a bright light filled with passion. Right now, it seemed like only the sword existed in his eyes.

Two yellow, two purple, and two black soul rings rose from his feet.

When Huo Yuhao saw the look in his eyes, he only had one thought—this guy is crazy. However, his expression turned extremely serious in the next moment. Sometimes, a madman was scarier than a sane man.

“Can you wait an hour for me?” Huo Yuhao asked.

Ji Juechen’s eyes were already focused on his sword, but he shouted, “Please!”

Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged and straightened his body. He entered a meditative state once again.

Neither of them were speaking softly. Those with good ears could listen in on their conversation. Although Xuan Ziwen was the referee, he didn’t speak and stood to one side. He also thought that Ji Juechen was a madman. Even the academy and the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s students thought that way.

Ji Juechen was an anomaly in the Illustrious Virtue Hall. First off, he wasn’t a soul engineer. But neither was he purely a soul master. He was actually the chief disciple in the Active Control Soul Tool Department.

His martial soul was a Sword. Just an ordinary sword. One that didn’t possess any powerful capabilities, and his innate soul power was only Rank 3, he could barely cultivate when he was younger.

However, he fell in love with his sword when his martial soul awakened at age six. There was nothing except the sword in his eyes. He unleashed his martial soul to cultivate tirelessly every day. No one knew how he managed to increase his soul power. But, when he was eight, his soul power reached Rank 10. He entered an area filled with soul beasts alone, with only his sword, and only escaped three days later covered in blood. He obtained a hundred year soul ring from a soul beast that he’d

personally killed. He obtained a soul skill that would help to enhance his soul power like a soul engineer.

The average soul power of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s students was above Shrek’s. That was because most of them consumed all kinds of medicine to increase their soul power. This was extremely effective before they reached six-ringed cultivations. But at least ninety-five percent of them couldn’t reach Rank 70 soul power because they consumed these medicines. Reaching Class 5 or Class 6 was already very sufficient for these soul engineers.

However, Ji Juechen was different from them. He didn’t consume any medicines. He only remained in the academy to challenge others, since there were many strong soul engineers in the academy.

His sword was crafted from a piece of Extraterrestrial Meteoric Steel. After obtaining a piece long ago, he used his own methods to grind and shape the Extraterrestrial Meteoric Steel. After more than ten years, it finally was in the shape of a sword. Using external materials as one’s weapon seemed to be the job of a soul engineer, but he did it anyways, like a blacksmith.

In the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, he was definitely an odd one out. Jing Hongchen had given him special permission to enter the Illustrious Virtue Hall. As the chief disciple of the Active Control Soul Tool Department, he had the right to choose his opponents. However, he was only allowed one challenge a month, because Jing Hongchen didn’t want the Illustrious Virtue Hall or the academy’s daily operations to be disrupted

The students and even the teachers gave him a nickname because of his trait—Sword Fanatic! Sword Fanatic Ji Juechen.

No one was willing to interact with him in the academy. That was because he was very antisocial excluding his challenges. He only cared about the sword. He would even talk to his sword sometimes. He only responded to those who challenged him.

He didn’t come yesterday because such a sparring competition was meaningless to him. But Jing Ziyan was one of the few friends he had. Jing Ziyan had defeated him before. She told him that there was a youth from Shrek Academy who was very strong and dragged him to watch today’s competition. In the end, she had lost. But Ji Juechen decided to sign up when he saw Huo Yuhao’s fist strike.

This wasn’t allowed. But Ji Juechen barged in anyways. The fourth person who was supposed to compete didn’t dare to resist when he saw the Extraterrestrial Meteoric Sword.

Ji Juechen also sat down, and placed his sword across his legs. He pressed his hands against his sword before entering a meditative state too.

The competitors silently meditated across from one another, with a hundred and fifty meter gap between them. The entire Soul Tool Experimentation Area went silent.

A few spectators in the stands, who knew about Ji Juechen, were gloating. To them, a wicked person would be afflicted by a similar personality. Ji Juechen was rumored to have defeated a Class 7 soul engineer! Huo Yuhao was in trouble against Ji Juechen.

Jing Hongchen looked pensive. What did Ji Juechen mean when he referred to Huo Yuhao’s fist?

He shut his eyes, and he recalled Huo Yuhao’s frightening fist. He couldn’t help but exclaim in his heart. No wonder he is

the disciple of the Dragon Douluo, Elder Mu. Although the Dragon Douluo has passed, he left behind someone who could become an Ultimate Douluo. This young man is going to be something amazing in the future. It’s a pity he won’t be of use to me. When this exchange ends, our next encounter will be different.

Jing Hongchen’s eyes flashed with a cold light as he thought this. Shrek Academy’s position on the continent was very prominent. Shrek Academy had played an important role during the war thousands of years ago. If not for their help at the critical moment, everything would be different now. While the Crown Prince was disabled, he was much more capable than the other princes. Since he’d decided to aid the Crown Prince, he needed to do everything in his power to remove any of his obstacles.

“Jiayi, control the crowd.”  After sensing some commotion from the spectators, Jing Hongchen furrowed his brows.

Lin Jiayi quickly picked up the sound-amplifying soul tool and  said,  “Silence.  Please  give  the  competitors  a  quiet audience.”

“This spar will be very exciting. Teachers, please maintain order.”

One hour wasn’t short. A layer of white gas drifted from Huo Yuhao’s body while he cultivated. This white gas was formed by the Mysterious Heaven Technique.

Xuan Ziwen sensed a refreshing coldness from this white gas. He was also wondering who would win between Huo Yuhao and Ji Juechen. If their cultivations were similar, Huo Yuhao would definitely come out ahead. Huo Yuhao’s twin martial souls gave him a huge advantage. Furthermore, he‘d demonstrated his spectacular close-combat abilities in the previous rounds. Xuan Ziwen had seen Ji Juechen’s sword before, and was equally amazed by it. But it was different from the amazement he experienced when he watched Huo Yuhao’s bouts. Ji Juechen wasn’t flexible enough, he only had a sword. He didn’t even possess any long-range capabilities. The soul engineers who have bested him had tried their best to widen the gap with him, and they used long-range soul tools to deplete his soul power. But only those who beat him in close- combat won Ji Juechen’s respect. For example, Jing Ziyan. She was once his target, but he lost to her outright.

Perhaps they were both affected by the air around them, but their eyes opened at the same time. Huo Yuhao’s gaze met Ji Juechen’s, and they leapt up concurrently.

At this point, Xuan Ziwen didn’t need to announce the start of the round.

They didn’t burst towards each other immediately. They stared at each other from a hundred fifty meters away, standing in their positions quietly.

An invisible pressure started to descend on the Soul Tool Experimentation Area. Ji Juechen wielded his sword with both hands, and his six soul rings resurfaced. A streak of sharp aura shot out from his body. His entire person seemed to fuse with the sword in an instant.

Fusing his martial soul into the sword. This was Ji Juechen’s cultivation method. His martial soul was converted completely into force, and was no longer a physical entity. It fused

completely with his Extraterrestrial Meteoric Sword. He was the sword, and the sword was him. They were inseparable.

That sharp aura originated from his swift and fierce sword intent.

The Extraterrestrial Meteoric Sword let out a slight roar as he injected soul power into it. The tip of the sword seemed to be shaking slightly. Ji Juechen’s aura surged. Once this sword attacked, there was bound to be trouble.

Huo Yuhao didn’t move as much. He stood there quietly, with his arms were wide open to his sides. He slowly clenched his fists. Distorted rays of light started to shoot out from his body.

White, yellow, purple, black, red. Five different colored soul rings intersected and flashed on his body. It wasn’t possible to differentiate which colors were real and which were fake.

An azure-green radiance shot out from his backbone. His clothes couldn’t conceal its intense light. Coming from his left arm was also an azure-green light, while his right arm was wreathed in dark-golden radiance.

A bright golden light shone from his eyes, revealing his dominant aura. There was a purple sparkle amidst the gold.

Huo Yuhao unleashed his soul power, soul bones, and soul rings with their highest potential in the face of a strong opponent. The hour of meditation allowed him to unleash his full power right now.

Against Ji Juechen, he had many ways to deal with him. But he wouldn’t use his soul skills. That was because he could clearly sense that this battle with Ji Juechen was his best opportunity to increase his mastery of the skill he’d inherited from Elder Mu—Sovereign’s Descent.

Ji Juechen mentioned that he wanted to see Huo Yuhao’s fist, the one he’d used against Jing Ziyan. He wanted nothing but the fist. Ji Juechen also revealed his sword intent in front of Huo Yuhao without holding back. They were going to decide this duel with the simplest method. They would also compete in the simplest of things.

At this point, Huo Yuhao’s aura was inferior to Ji Juechen’s. His aura wasn’t as condensed as his opponent’s. Against the

sharp sword intent, his aura was easily cut through. Ji Juechen’s aura also ballooned and put a lot of pressure on Huo Yuhao himself.

Huo Yuhao’s left leg made a half-step to the left. Just as the sole of his foot was about to land, a muffled sound was heard. Following that, an extremely frightening aura erupted from his body. This intent was overpoweringly strong, and resisted the sword intent closing in on him. Huo Yuhao managed to counteract the situation immediately.

An illusory light projection also appeared behind Huo Yuhao, and the illusory image of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion surfaced subtly on his back. That’s right, Huo Yuhao used the soul beast aura from the four hundred thousand year Ice Jade Empress Scorpion to make his aura even stronger, and resisted the sharp and swift sword intent.

Ji Juechen’s body jerked slightly, but the look in his eyes only became more resolute. His six soul rings flashed, and he held his sword with both hands. The tip of his sword pointed toward the ground, and one side of his body was slightly tilted forward. His legs were still. He was facing Huo Yuhao laterally.

His sword intent transformed once again. It turned from swift and fierce—to vicious. His aura shrank and clashed again with Huo Yuhao’s aura. It managed to force his aura into retreating slightly.

Intent! Fist intent! I need to use my own intent, not the Ice Empress’.

Huo Yuhao felt something in his mind shattering in the face of this tremendous pressure. A sobering feeling caused him to be jolted awake in an instant.

At the same time, the few powerful beings slumbering in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea woke up. They were shocked as they saw the golden ocean surge. The immense spiritual power released a bright golden light, and the entire spiritual sea was transforming greatly.

“Ice Empress, give me protection.”  The Skydream Iceworm spoke, and golden rings of light started to spread out from his body.

One of his nine golden light rings was crushed. After that, it consolidated again to form an entity that resembled a golden sun. This golden sun directly flew above Huo Yuhao’s spiritual sea and seemed to explode. Golden light expanded in all directions.

The Ice Empress also revealed her original form in the spiritual sea. She lifted her pincers, and a dim azure-green light projection was revealed. She and the Skydream Iceworm were engulfed within this projection. No matter how ferocious Huo Yuhao’s spiritual sea was, it couldn’t impact them.

Electrolux appeared beside them silently. As he saw the combusting golden sun above the spiritual sea, he revealed a slight smile on his face.

“I didn’t expect the change to be so quick and vast. Good, good, good!”

The Skydream Iceworm also appeared to be very excited. His chubby figure twisted while he was protected by the Ice Empress. The remaining eight golden soul rings on his body also flashed with waves of golden light.

A beautiful, white figure flashed into being for a moment.

This figure seemed to mutter something before disappearing.

Huo Yuhao wasn’t clear on everything happening in his spiritual world. He was in a very special state now. He could only feel his soul power and spiritual power, unleashed under the control of his mind, combining at a terrifying speed.

A great teacher could only provide shortcuts for his students. In this world, there was hardly anyone who was a better teacher than Elder Mu; former Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion, Ultimate Douluo, and the Dragon Douluo.

The Sovereign's Descent was the reason why Huo Yuhao’s soul and spiritual power had combined.

Elder Mu once told Huo Yuhao that the Sovereign's Descent was a path of its own. It combines spiritual and soul power; it was a special path that involved creating one’s own soul skill. To an ordinary soul master, they could cultivate it when they became a seven-ringed Soul Douluo. It was only then that their spiritual power could complement their soul power. However, this wasn’t necessarily the case for Huo Yuhao, a spiritual-type soul master. But Elder Mu could only guide him to this path.

He had to decide how he wanted to walk this path, and to what extent he would.

Huo Yuhao used his talent and hard work to use the Sovereign's Descent before Elder Mu passed on. Elder Mu was very comforted by this, but he told Huo Yuhao that combining one’s soul and spiritual power was very rare on the continent. Even he did not know how far Huo Yuhao could progress down this path. He hoped that Huo Yuhao would seize every opportunity to improve. When he could make the Sovereign's Descent into one of his soul skills, he would become one of the best soul masters.

At this point, Huo Yuhao was in a magical power fusion state. The tremendous pressure unlocked his potential and caused him to improve significantly. His Eye of Destiny had already opened on its own. Fortunately for Huo Yuhao, a layer of intense light was already shining around him, so no one could see what he looked like. Otherwise, he would’ve been exposed.

Ji Juechen continued to face Huo Yuhao. Right now, he was extremely shocked. Only he knew how frightening Huo Yuhao’s aura was at this point.

He’d already reached his limit as he unleashed his sword intent at Huo Yuhao, but it was like a moth flying into the flame, likewise, it resembled waves hitting an immovable boulder. His sword intent couldn’t touch Huo Yuhao at all.

Ji Juechen knew he couldn’t wait any longer. His method of using his aura to take Huo Yuhao down was completely useless now. If he waited any longer, his confidence would collapse first, not to mention his aura.

Ji Juechen suddenly lifted his head, and two bolts of lightning in his eyes seemed to be targeted at Huo Yuhao.

In the next instant, his entire body became like an illusory streak of light. He stuck close to the ground as he approached Huo Yuhao.

It was an extremely fast light ray that glided across the arena. Without the help of any soul tool, this was the highest speed any six-ringed Soul Emperor could reach. Even agility-type soul masters couldn’t compare with this speed.

Ji Juechen’s upper body seemed slightly slower than this light.

He continued holding his sword with both hands and turned his body slightly. The sword swept out. While his action seemed very simple, it was very dangerous as he performed it. His motions were very slow, but they were completed in one go.

As the Extraterrestial Meteoric Sword slowly swept forward, a huge depression that was several meters wide was formed. This depression extended with Ji Juechen as he moved, becoming deeper and deeper.

When Ji Juechen’s body shot out, he seemed to be guided by the air around him. Huo Yuhao also moved at this moment.

He took a step forward with his left leg, but didn’t burst out like Ji Juechen. When his left leg landed on the ground, the entire Soul Tool Experimentation Area resonated with a deep rumbling sound. Xuan Ziwen lost his balance, and almost fell down.

Huo Yuhao made a half-turn. He didn’t have a sword, but he had his fist. He didn’t use any soul skill or his Darkgolden Terrorclaws. He relied solely on his right fist.

However, his right fist had turned completely golden at this moment. It was a gold that looked condensed, heavy, all- engulfing, and completely dominant.

The two of them seemed to have practiced together. When the pitch-black sword finished its sweep, Huo Yuhao completed his turn. His golden fist collided with the tip of the Extraterrestrial Meteoric Sword.

Xuan Ziwen staggered back two steps, shocked. When the fist and sword collided, he felt the surrounding air collapse as everything became distorted and unreal. Even though it was only for an instant, he knew he wasn’t seeing things.

Jing Hongchen had already stood up from his seat in the main spectators stand. He was stunned when he realized that he couldn’t understand the true meaning behind the collision. The impact force wasn’t too impressive, but he could sense that it wasn’t just a simple collision, an immense aura had been released. While there weren’t any flashy soul skills shown, there was something unclear and incomprehensible to him in it.

A second after the collision, a reverberating boom sounded out.

BOOM!

Fissures appeared in the ground, which started to collapse. The fissures extended out from the two fighters for almost thirty meters.

Huo Yuhao and Ji Juechen were also thrown back. Ji Juechen held on tightly to his Extraterrestrial Meteoric Sword. The area between his thumb and index finger started bleeding profusely.

Huo Yuhao’s entire right arm was covered in blood. He was thrown back twice as far as Ji Juechen. After landing, he staggered another seven to eight steps before stabilizing himself.

Did he lose? Many of the spectators wondered.

From the verbal abuse on the first day, to the thirty consecutive victories, to today’s defeat of Shen Musu and Jing Ziyan, the students from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy had no choice but to admit that Huo Yuhao was very powerful. They wondered who was strong enough to defeat him. Now, they seemed to have gotten an answer.

But Huo Yuhao wasn’t as frantic as they thought he would be. He didn’t move after he stabilized his body. Although he was breathing rather heavily, his eyes were still filled with golden light. As he lifted his right hand, he quietly looked at his bright golden fist. He didn’t utter a word.

Ji Juechen didn’t move after he landed on the ground. He wasn’t forced as far back as Huo Yuhao. He didn’t stagger or spit out blood, either. However, his gaze wasn’t as sharp as before. He even seemed like he was in a trance. He didn’t even appear to realize that his blood was seeping down his sword from where the skin had split on his hand.

The two of them just stood where they were, neither showing an intent to take action. If not for the fact that the ground between them had cracked almost two meters deep, it would’ve looked like nothing had happened.

Xuan Ziwen slowly recovered from his shock. He was the closest to the two of them, and thus had felt it the most. He had clearly sensed an immense force appear in his mind, threatening to tear his spirit apart. That was why he retreated

in shock. He was a little fearful at this point, even though he was an six-ringed Soul Emperor and a Class 8 soul engineer.

Huo Yuhao and Ji Juechen weren’t powerful enough to give him such a feeling. This meant that it didn’t originate from soul power or pure spiritual power. It was a strange force that Xuan Ziwen had never experienced before, which shocked him the most.

The golden color on Huo Yuhao’s right fist slowly disappeared. At this point, it was possible to see several wounds on his right arm. Once the golden light disappeared, fresh blood could be seen flowing. His entire right arm was stained blood-red.

But Huo Yuhao wasn’t bothered by it. He pressed down on his right arm with his left hand, and the blood flow stopped. He sealed his right arm with ice before sitting down. He shut his eyes and started to meditate.

Jing Hongchen said something to Lin Jiayi softly. Lin Jiayi stood up quickly and rushed to find Xuan Ziwen. He whispered, “Teacher Xuan, who’s the winner? Did Huo Yuhao lose?”

Xuan  Ziwen  laughed  bitterly.  “Honestly  speaking,  I  don’t know. I can’t judge who the winner is.”

At this moment, Ji Juechen’s body trembled a little. After that, he lifted his head and looked over. His face was abnormally pale, but he had an unprecedented look of excitement in his eyes. “I’ve lost.”

After he admitted his loss, he looked at Huo Yuhao once before staggering away. He couldn’t walk straight, and almost fell down as he left the Soul Tool Experimentation Area. He only managed to leave with Jing Ziyan’s support.

Ji Juechen lost? How did he lose? The students in the spectator stands started whispering to one another.

At this point, Teacher Fan Yu walked briskly into the Soul Tool Experimentation Area. He approached Lin Jiayi and Xuan Ziwen and said, “The sparring has to end here.”

Lin Jiayi was a little stunned before he asked, “What? Why?”

Fan Yu pointed at Huo Yuhao and said, “You’re also a Class 8 soul engineer and a Soul Douluo. Didn’t you realize that Huo Yuhao has entered a deep meditative state?”

After Huo Yuhao sat down, he immediately entered deep meditation. As he sat there, he was as still as a sculpture.

“Conscientious  State  of  Deep  Meditation?”   Xuan  Ziwen exclaimed softly.

Fan Yu was a little helpless as he laughed bitterly, “I’m afraid so. This kid can’t be compared to an ordinary soul master. Apologies for causing such trouble. Please help me tell the Hallmaster that the sparring has to cease here. I believe that the Hallmaster has roughly achieved his goals for this competition. But I need to borrow this ground for a while. Yuhao can’t be disturbed during his deep meditation. I’ll stay here to watch over him.”

Xuan Ziwen nodded and replied, “I know about this. I’m his teacher now. I’ll stay with you to watch over him. Director Lin, I’ll need you to deal with Hallmaster.”

Lin Jiayi furrowed his brow, but still nodded. He quickly returned to the main spectator stand. Nothing was going according to plan. Who could have expected Huo Yuhao to experience such changes? He had even entered deep meditation!

Jing Hongchen was also puzzled after receiving this news. However, a tinge of worry rose in his mind after a while. On the surface, he had managed to achieve everything he had in mind for this sparring competition. From the teachers’ feedback, the students’ reaction to the competition was very positive. They were all discussing how they could better defeat soul masters, and how they could deal with soul masters. It was expected that the students would be more motivated to cultivate after this sparring competition was over.

But how much did Huo Yuhao benefit? He must have gained some considerable improvement after clashing with Ji Juechen, which was why he had entered the Conscientious State of Deep Meditation.

Jing Hongchen was a little annoyed as he shook his head. Whatever it was, his grandchildren were still in Shrek Academy. No matter how much he wanted to deal with Huo Yuhao, he still had to consider the safety of his grandchildren.

He could only comfort himself that Huo Yuhao was still young, and wouldn’t affect the future of the empire. Since he could achieve such progress at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, what could Jing Hongchen’s grandchildren achieve at Shrek Academy?

Jing Hongchen felt better after he thought through this point. He quickly instructed Lin Jiayi to announce the end of the sparring competition. Huo Yuhao had ended the competition with thirty-three consecutive victories. No Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy student had managed to beat him. But the rest of the sparring couldn’t continue. The students who had wagered on him losing before the fiftieth round got their money back.

------

After one day, Jing Hongchen received good news. After Ji Juechen left, he had also entered deep meditation. He was in the same Conscientious State of Deep Meditation as Huo Yuhao. At least he had managed to save some face for the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.

But no one expected Huo Yuhao to remain in his meditative state for as long as he did.

When Fan Yu and Xuan Ziwen decided to protect Huo Yuhao, they asked someone to lay the foundation for a huge tent to be pitched. However, Huo Yuhao still hadn’t woken up from his deep meditation after seven days. His entire body was already covered in dust.

The two teachers had no choice to pitch a huge tent around Huo Yuhao without affecting his meditative state.

Chapter 182: Boundless Ocean

Xuan Ziwen was much better off than Fan Yu. When he was tired, he could return to rest or eat, but Fan Yu couldn’t. To ensure Huo Yuhao’s absolute safety, he remained at his side at all times. He slept and ate there. Only occasionally did he allow He Caitou or the rest of Shrek’s students to help him keep watch so that he could settle some personal matters.

Since he was from Shrek Academy, Fan Yu was even more aware of what deep meditation meant. That was why he wasn’t anxious at the start. The circulation of blood and bodily functions would decrease significantly as a soul master entered deep meditation. It was even possible for the meditation to last for a month. Such situations had occurred many times in Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard. The longer the period of deep meditation, the more beneficial it was to a soul master.

However, Fan Yu was a little unsettled when one month passed and Huo Yuhao was still in his deep meditation.

The injury to Huo Yuhao’s right arm had already long since recovered. When a layer of thin ice fell off from it, all his wounds were healed, and no scars remained.

However, Huo Yuhao’s body became a more cold and stiff as time passed. His soul power circulation, breathing and heartbeat were almost undetectable.

Has he lost control? Fan Yu was worried. Because of this matter, he quickly wrote a letter addressed to Elder Xuan and instructed Ye Xiaosheng to rush back to Shrek Academy using a flying-type soul tool to deliver it. In his letter, he detailed the entire process of how Huo Yuhao entered this state.

After that, Elder Xuan came…

However, he didn’t alert the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy with his arrival. He snuck in silently in the dead of night. It was easy for him to escape detection since he was a Rank 98 Transcendent Douluo.

After inspecting Huo Yuhao’s body, Elder Xuan was surprised as  he  told  Fan  Yu,  “He’s  fine,  but  the  level  of  his  deep meditation is very shocking… I’m afraid he’ll need a lot more time before it ends.”  Elder Xuan had seen something similar with Elder Mu before. He instructed Fan Yu to watch Huo

Yuhao carefully. This deep meditation was bound to be beneficial towards Huo Yuhao’s future.

To avoid eliciting undue trouble, Elder Xuan quickly returned to Shrek Academy after inspecting Huo Yuhao. Fan Yu continued to wait—for six whole months.

……

Darkness. Everything was covered in darkness.

A spot of golden light suddenly appeared within the darkness, bringing a precious glow into frame.

The golden light spread, and the entire world seemed to be illuminated. The golden light slowly formed a shape of a ball.

It was a golden sun, but it was on its last remaining twilight. After the brightest light shone forth, the golden glow started to diminish rapidly.

However, the entire world seemed to have been lit up by its golden light, and started to coruscate with bright lights.

It was a sea, an extremely vast sea. The color of the seawater was a dim gold. The gentle light moved with a rhythm that complemented the ripples of the water’s surface, which sparkled.

The sun suddenly detonated and became a ball of fireworks, erupting in the sky. However, the sky didn’t become any dimmer because of this. A huge golden, vertical eye replaced it and watched over the sea in its place. A sovereign-like aura instantly calmed the entire sea.

Someone slowly drifted up to the calm water’s surface.

It was a naked youth. His skin was completely golden. When he appeared, the vertical eye in the sky shone with a golden light. This light gently lifted his body from the water’s surface.

This person slowly stood straight while covered in the light emitted from the vertical eye. He slowly opened his eyes.

When he opened his eyes, the boundless golden ocean dimmed slightly, whereas the brightest light in the world shone before him.

“Where, where is this…?” He exclaimed in puzzlement.

“This is your spiritual sea.” A figure appeared. He appeared out of nowhere in front of this youth, like teleportation. He was Electrolux. And the youth shining with golden light was naturally Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao was still in a trance. “Spiritual sea? My spiritual sea? But this is a real sea!”

His memories were restored quickly, however, he couldn’t help but cry out in confusion. Initially, his spiritual sea was only like a small pond. This small pond had, over time, grown to around the size of a lake.

At this point, his spiritual sea really and truly resembled a sea.

Electrolux smiled as he said, “You should thank the big worm. When your spiritual sea increased a level, he provided you with sufficient, pure spiritual power. That allowed your spiritual power to transform smoothly.”

“Brother Skydream? Where is he?”

The Skydream Iceworm’s lazy voice sounded. “Ugh… I used to be the one sleeping comfortably. But I’ve been watching you sleep comfortably all this time while I couldn't sleep.”

A huge figure, almost a hundred meters in length surfaced from the seawater. His polished body squirmed a little before he floated into the air. He was like a small mountain, and there were seven golden rings of light on his body.

“Brother Skydream.”  Huo Yuhao was surprised. His mind fluttered a little before he appeared in front of the Skydream Iceworm.

Skydream squirmed a little and said, “Don’t fawn over me, I’m embarrassed.”

An indignant voice sounded after that. “Bullshit, you’re so thick-skinned.  How  could  you  possibly  be  embarrassed?” Another huge figure surfaced from the seawater.

Diamond ice crystals and an azure-green tail. It was the Ice Empress.

At this point, the Ice Empress’ body length had also increased, by about thirty meters. Her huge pincers were on display, and she had a majestic aura. However, her appearance didn’t cause a huge uproar in Huo Yuhao’s spiritual sea.

Huo Yuhao was surprised as he asked, “Ice Empress, Brother Skydream, when did your bodies get so big?”

The  Skydream  Iceworm  chortled  and  said,  “When  your spiritual sea transformed, which allowed the strength we can unleash here to increase.”

Huo Yuhao wore a bitter expression as he looked at Electrolux, the Ice Empress, and the Skydream Iceworm. He said, “I’m confused. You guys will have to tell me what happened. I only remember entering deep meditation after I sparred with Ji Juechen. After that, I seemed to think for awhile before I descended into darkness until now.”

The Skydream Iceworm said, “Let Elder Yi tell you. After all, he used to be human too. His words will be clearer to you.”

Electrolux said, “Accurately speaking, your spiritual power underwent a transformation. No one could’ve helped you with that. You could only count on yourself for this. Furthermore, cultivation of one’s spirit and spiritual power is a unique experience. It’s never the same for anyone. That’s why I can only tell you what transformations you’ve experienced.”

“As you can see, your spiritual sea has expanded to the size of an ocean. For such a level of spiritual power, I call it Boundless Ocean. From now on, your spiritual power has reached a level that makes it recyclable, and therefore ceaseless. Although you aren’t at a very high level yet, you’ll experience further

advancements. I think we can say that you have reached an important step in your spiritual cultivation.”

“I didn’t really concur with the opinions of the worm, scorpion and Snow Lady in the past. Although I believed that you’d have many opportunities under my guidance, it was still a little late when you started embarking on the right path of cultivation. I started cultivating necromancy when I was five years old, and built a solid foundation for myself. But after this transformation, I can say that becoming a god isn’t a dream with this boundless spiritual foundation. After all, your main martial soul is spiritual-type. All your spiritually based soul skills will be greatly enhanced due to this transformation of your spiritual sea. Look at the sky.”  As he spoke, Electrolux pointed his finger at the huge vertical eye.

Huo Yuhao was moved, and he was stunned to realize that he seemed to be looking at himself when he peered at the vertical eye.

“After your spiritual sea transformed, your spirit has also made progress. The second mental sea belonging to the Eye of Destiny has completed its connection with your first mental sea. This means that you can directly tap into your spiritual sea to support the use of the Eye of Destiny in the future. You can

even use the Light of Destiny more often. I estimate that it’s around three times a day now, and the restorative abilities of your spiritual power will be around five times stronger. In this way, you can use your spiritual-type soul skills more freely.”

Huo Yuhao was overwhelmed with delight. Although he knew that he would achieve significant advancements after his deep meditation, he didn’t expect it to be so drastic. It was even a little unbelievable. Although the increase was only on the spiritual side of cultivation, and had nothing to do with his soul power, he slowly started to realize that his spiritual and soul powers were just forces presented in different ways. It was just like when he used the Spirit Eyes. If he unleashed more spiritual power, he could conserve soul power. Right now, he felt that he could use his spiritual power as the primary force to activate his spiritual-type soul skills, with his soul power acting as a guide.

Huo Yuhao looked at the Skydream Iceworm with a passionate gaze. “Brother Skydream, thank you.”

The Skydream Iceworm’s chubby body twisted a little, and he said, “Don’t thank me. We’re benefiting from each other. Rather, I should be thanking you. You’ve given me, the Ice Empress, and the Snow Lady hope. The Snow Lady is in a

sealed state. To prevent her sealed origin power from leaking, she can’t come out to greet you. But she has conveyed her thoughts—she’s excited at your progress. She also hopes that you’ll soon be strong enough to accept her strength. When that happens, you’ll be truly powerful.”

Huo Yuhao chortled and said, “Brother Skydream, have I absorbed the spiritual power from three of your seals?”

“Yes!”  the Skydream Iceworm replied. “Initially, I thought that one of them would be sufficient, but I didn’t expect your transformation to be so awesome. You depleted two more of them before you achieved this form of stability. It’s no longer up to me when you unseal my spiritual powers in the future. You can decide by yourself. As your abilities increase, your control of the spiritual seas will also increase. This will be very beneficial for your body. But the effects are only substantial at the start. I’m telling you now that the changes won’t be so drastic in the future. However, you’ll definitely need some time to adapt and consolidate your foundation when you leave. Fortunately, you still have the Life Gold. Otherwise, you’d be in trouble.”

Huo  Yuhao  was  puzzled  as  he  asked,  “Trouble?  What trouble?”

The Ice Empress said, “As your spiritual sea improves and your cultivation increases, your soul power will also spike. However, your second martial soul is my Ultimate Ice. It increases at a very different speed from the Spirit Eyes, which might cause some heavy burdens on your body. Your soul

power will become slightly unstable due to that. You’ll need to cultivate patiently for a period of time after you leave, so that you can consolidate your abilities. But I have some good news for you. That one problem you envisioned earlier has been resolved. We can start whenever you want.”

Huo  Yuhao  chortled  and  said,  “That’s  great.  Thanks,  Ice Empress.”

Electrolux said, “Alright, it’s time for you to return. You’ve been meditating for a long time. They’re right. Once you leave, you will need some time to adapt and readjust. No matter what condition your body is in, you can’t be impatient. With the immense life power from the Life Gold, a slow recovery is your best choice.”

Huo Yuhao nodded. He lifted his hand to scratch his head and asked, “But how do I leave this boundless spiritual sea?”

Electrolux snapped at him, “This is your spiritual world. You can control everything!”

“Oh, that’s simple!” Huo Yuhao was a little embarrassed as he laughed. After waving to Electrolux, the Ice Empress and the Skydream Iceworm, he opened his eyes.

……

It was time to wake up.

Fan Yu sat cross-legged in front of Huo Yuhao. He was getting used to waiting like this after half a year. Every day, he stayed with Huo Yuhao to meditate. At times, He Caitou would replace him. Besides He Caitou, he really couldn’t trust anyone else.

“Oh?” Fan Yu’s gaze flashed as he watched Huo Yuhao. He seems to have moved. Am I seeing things?