Unrivaled Tang Sect Volume 25

Book 25: Soul Ring Expedition

Chapter 221: Heir to the Sea God's Pavilion

Yan Shaozhe snapped, “Of course we’re waiting for you. Didn’t you display everything yesterday because you wanted all of us to know? Go and wash up, I’ll be waiting for you on the ﬁrst level. Elder Xuan called a conference speciﬁcally for you today. All the elders of the Sea God’s Pavilion will be there. Think about how you’re going to introduce Spirit to them.”

Huo Yuhao suddenly remembered. He’d been too focused on Wang Dong’er last night, and forgot this matter from before. Now, he was immediately jolted awake and acknowledged Yan Shaozhe’s words. He quickly went to wash up.

Yan Shaozhe smiled and shook his head as he looked at Huo Yuhao. However, he didn’t hide the blatant look of admiration on his face. He seemed to have been reminded of something. He sighed, then he turned and left.

After washing up, Huo Yuhao couldn’t be bothered to eat breakfast, and quickly rushed down. Just like Yan Shaozhe had said, both sides of the long table were now seated with elders. With Elder Xuan sitting in the main seat. Ever since Elder Xuan became the Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion, he had stopped acting so sloppily. He was now dressed simply, and his hair was properly combed. There was a gentle, smiling light in his eyes.

“Apologies, elders, for making all of you wait.” Huo Yuhao rushed over and lowered his head in guilt.

Elder Xuan smiled and said, “It should’ve been a good night for you. You and Dong’er are ﬁnally together, but we didn’t sleep well last night. We were played with like little kids that don’t know anything about this world. You should know that you’re a part of us now after special permission was granted to you. You broke the age record to be a part of the Sea God’s Pavilion.”

After hearing Elder Xuan mentioning Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er, the elders all started to smile. Huo Yuhao lifted his head up at this moment and saw Teacher Fan Yu and Zhang Lexuan, as well as a few familiar elders. As they saw him looking over, they nodded to acknowledge him.

The vice-dean of the Soul Tool Department, Qian Duoduo, laughed. “Huo Yuhao, come over here. Sit beside me.”

As he spoke, he pointed to an empty seat next to him, and even shot Yan Shaozhe a provocative look.

Yan Shaozhe was unmoved as he turned his attention elsewhere, as if he didn’t care about Qian Duoduo’s attempt to assert his authority over him.

Huo Yuhao rushed beside Qian Duoduo and sat down. Zhang Lexuan was opposite to him. The two of them were seated close to the main seat.

Elder Xuan said, “Shaozhe, host the conference. Let Yuhao settle down ﬁrst. I don’t think he can explain clearly given how anxious he looks.”

“Yes.” Yan Shaozhe acknowledged his words respectfully and replied, “Elders, we called for this conference today because of Huo Yuhao’s unprecedented orange soul rings and the special abilities he demonstrated yesterday. At the same time, there are some things we need all of you to decide together.” Yan Shaozhe repeated a list of important matters to tend to. After a simple discussion, the elders made their decisions. The conference was proceeding very smoothly and efﬁciently thus far.

Huo Yuhao was still a little ﬂustered at this point, as he was technically considered of equal standing to these various elders. Fortunately, he was spiritually strong. After a short period of tension, he ﬁnally calmed down and forgot all about Wang Dong’er temporarily. He thought about what he wanted to say.

“Yuhao, are you ready? Can you introduce your special soul rings to us now?” After they ﬁnalized the other matters he had addressed earlier, Yan Shaozhe turned his attention to Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao stood up immediately and said, “Dean Yan, Elder Xuan and elders, let me demonstrate my abilities to all of you again.”

He stood up from his seat and came to a spacious spot to one side of the long table. With but a thought, the Snow Lady crawled out from his body.

When she looked at everyone in front of her, her beautiful, deep blue eyes blinked. She wasn’t afraid of strangers, but was slightly curious as she lifted her hand to point in Elder Xuan’s direction.

Huo Yuhao was stunned and quickly tried to stop her from pointing. He was afraid that she would harm Elder Xuan. After all, she was very unpredictable. Even Uncle Tai Tan was once taken advantage of by her.

“I call her the Snow Lady. My orange-gold soul rings came from her. If we have to categorize her kind, I call her Spirit. She’s a special existence that’s independent of soul rings, soul bones and martial souls.”

Huo Yuhao’s ﬁrst sentence immediately attracted the attention of the elders. As they looked at the Snow Lady from such a close distance, the elders started to reveal benevolent looks in their eyes.

After pondering for a moment, Huo Yuhao said, “Talking about Spirits, I need to start from the beginning. That’s because this is related to a secret that I’ve kept for a long time. That’s why I’ve never told anyone about it in the past. Only Elder Mu knew a little, but he didn’t know the full story either. To tell the truth, there was another teacher in my spiritual sea.”

As he said this, he shocked everyone present. While the elders weren’t young, their curiosity was greater than most youths. This was especially because there was hardly anything in this world that could arouse it anymore.

When Huo Yuhao decided to develop Spirits, he knew that he couldn’t conceal the secret regarding Electrolux anymore. Otherwise, he couldn’t recount everything in enough detail or explain the history of his seal.

“Before I entered the academy, I left my original family when my soul power reached Rank 10. I headed toward the Great Star Dou Forest on my own. Around the perimeter of the Great Star Dou Forest, I met eldest senior Bei Bei and Teacher Xiao Ya, who has already left the academy.”

“After that, I went into the forest on my own. On the way, I was attacked by a soul beast. It was a ten year soul beast, and I was fortunate enough to kill it. However, I was critically injured too. But then, the sky turned dreary, and a special strength entered my spiritual sea. After that, I was rescued by Bei Bei and Teacher Xiao Ya.”

Huo Yuhao told the truth about Electrolux’s background. Aside from the Skydream Iceworm, he recounted everything. He also mentioned how Electrolux had guided him in his spiritual cultivation and passed on some skills to him.

Of course, he only talked about how Electrolux was a light- type entity. He didn’t mention anything about necromancy. He was certain that the elders would call him an evil soul master if he mentioned Electrolux’s title as the Calamity Necromancer and told them that Electrolux had passed down necromancy to him. He didn’t want that to happen. He only claimed that Electrolux was a spiritual and light-type archmage.

After he ﬁnished imparting Electrolux’s background, Huo Yuhao started to talk about the Snow Empress’ Embryo that was auctioned during the last edition of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, as well as how the Body Sect had attacked the Illustrious Virtue Hall. That was how he had managed to fuse with the Snow Empress’ Embryo, and how Electrolux had helped to seal the Snow Empress.

After that, he talked about how he and Wang Dong’er went to the Clear Sky Sect, and how he met with danger on the Frigid Jade Essence Bed. He also detailed how Electrolux had burned the last shred of his divine sense to help him fuse with the Snow Empress, which gave birth to this Spirit.

Even with the elders’ wealth of experience, they were stunned after hearing his unbelievable stories. Whether it was the remnants of a powerful archmage’s divine sense, the fusion process between the Snow Empress and Huo Yuhao or the appearance of the Spirit, it was beyond the knowledge of ordinary soul masters.

“This was how I came to possess the Snow Empress’ Spirit. I call her the Snow Lady. Her look now should resemble an Icesky Snow Lady’s appearance when they’re younger. Her abilities are closely related to mine, but she has her own independent thinking. She can coordinate with me in a ﬁght, as well as use my soul power and her spiritual power. From a certain standpoint, she’s a completely independent lifeform. With my help, her ﬁghting abilities are able to increase signiﬁcantly. Perhaps it’s because the Snow Empress is too strong. There’s also Teacher Electrolux’s divine sense that he combusted. After she fused with me, four soul rings were created. At that point in time, Clear Sky sect master Niu Tian mentioned that it was because the Snow Empress’ strength needed to take up several soul ring spots, and she had many powerful soul skills that could be bestowed upon me. I’m able to tap into the powers of three of these four soul rings now. However, I still have no idea how to activate the power of the last soul ring.”

“After possessing the Snow Empress’ Spirit, I thought about it carefully. Our situation was very special—we encountered the sudden change after the Snow Empress’ strength was sealed. However, what if soul masters fused with the spiritual imprint and soul power of a normal soul beast? It won’t be so dangerous. If the soul beasts are willing, I’m seventy percent conﬁdent of completing the seal and creating another Spirit. If the soul master’s cultivation is below mine, my conﬁdence will be even higher.”

He stopped speaking here. Then he signaled, and the Snow Lady made one revolution around the elders. She stopped for a moment in front of every elder and allowed them to sense how magical she was.

Finally, the Snow Lady returned to his shoulder. She remained as excited and curious as ever. Evidently, she was more than willing to stay outside Huo Yuhao’s body instead of sleeping inside of it.

The elders were silent. The things Huo Yuhao had just recounted were too special. Their eye shone brighter and brighter. Their heartbeats also became faster and faster as they realized how special of an existence a Spirit was. Huo Yuhao and Electrolux had created it together, and Huo Yuhao was the only one who could seal the pact. This also meant that Spirits could exist in Shrek Academy if the situation was controlled well. This was an extremely miraculous thing to soul masters.

While Spirits were still reliant on soul rings, they possessed their own intelligence that soul rings couldn’t compare to. Moreover, Spirits had a special characteristic that soul rings didn’t have – if the soul beasts were willing, the tolerance of a soul master would greatly increase during the fusion process. For example, would Huo Yuhao be able to fuse the seven hundred thousand year Icesky Snow Lady into a soul ring, even with Electrolux’s divine sense, if the Snow Empress wasn’t willing? A large portion of the Snow empress’ strength was still accumulated in his body under the Snow Lady’s control. As his cultivation increased, he would be able to absorb this strength. This was undoubtedly very beneﬁcial for a soul master’s cultivation. If this spread, Spirits were bound to be the common target of all soul masters on the continent! They could possibly change the entire situation in the world of soul masters, even with the appearance of soul tools.

Elder Xuan looked at the elders, who looked very pensive, and asked Huo Yuhao, “What preparations do other soul masters need to make if they want to fuse with a Spirit? How many Spirits can one soul master have? What are the difﬁculties in the fusion process?”

Huo Yuhao had thought of these problems for a long time. He replied without hesitation, “Firstly, a soul master must have an empty soul ring spot if he wants to fuse with a Spirit – that’s absolutely necessary. If the Spirit he is fusing with is within his tolerance limit, he can fuse with it normally. However, he needs to consider the problem of insufﬁcient soul ring spots if the Spirit’s cultivation is way above his. This was what happened to me – four empty soul ring spots were taken up by the Snow Lady. Of course, this was because the Snow Empress was too strong.”

Elder Xuan furrowed his brow and said, “However, most soul masters only have one empty soul ring spot.” Huo Yuhao nodded and replied, “That’s why I believe that it’s better for one to be a seven-ringed Soul Sage ﬁrst. In that way, their tolerance will be better, and they can fuse with stronger Spirits. Soul beasts of higher cultivations are also more intelligent. They will be more helpful after the fusion.”

“Furthermore, there’s one more special situation where there is more than one soul ring spot – twin martial souls.”

Elder Xuan’s eyes brightened and he said, “That makes sense. Twin martial souls are normally divided into the main and accessory martial soul. A soul master with twin martial souls won’t add rings to his accessory martial soul so easily.”

Huo Yuhao replied, “Exactly, this was what happened to me. Twin martial souls are very rare in other places, but in our academy, it’s not just me that has twin martial souls. That’s why we can let soul masters with twin martial souls try out stronger Spirits. However, the soul beasts must be willing ﬁrst, and elders are also required to protect them during the fusion process to ensure their safety.”

Elder Xuan nodded and replied, “Continue.” Huo Yuhao said, “As for how many Spirits one can fuse with, I believe that one is the most appropriate. Spirits can greatly increase the abilities of a soul master, and they can also coordinate with soul masters using their intelligence. However, the absorption of a soul master’s spiritual power by a Spirit when it ﬁrst develops is very terrifying. I’m a spiritual- type soul master, but my spiritual power was almost sucked dry by the Snow Empress’ Spirit. If not for a fortunate encounter, I would have needed at least three years to fully recover.”

“Although most soul beasts won’t absorb as much spiritual power as the Snow Empress, they must be able to do so to some extent. That’s why I believe that soul masters must have sufﬁciently strong spiritual power ﬁrst before they fuse with a Spirit. Their spiritual power will likely be over-drafted after fusing with a single soul beast, so it would be very dangerous for them to fuse with more. However, this will require multiple tests and sufﬁcient experience. If the fused Spirit is weak, it might be possible to fuse with more than one soul beast. However, I’m not sure if the soul beasts will clash if there are more than one of them. After all, every Spirit possesses its own intelligence. That’s why I believe a decently strong and compatible Spirit is the best choice a soul master can make.” Huo Yuhao was completely in the mood after seeing the elders focused on his description. He said in a deep voice, “The biggest problem still lies in soul beasts if we want to try the fusion of Spirits. I’m fairly certain about one point – the difference between Spirits and soul rings mean that the soul beasts have to be willing. It’s very difﬁcult to make them willing. Most soul beasts hate humans. It’ll only be those that are old and weak that are willing to fuse in order to extend their lives. It’ll be very difﬁcult to ﬁnd such soul beasts. That’s why we need the academy to think of a solution.”

Elder Xuan nodded and said, “This is indeed a pressing problem. Although we have our own soul beasts, they are different from humans. Even for the most intelligent soul beasts, their way of thinking is very different from humans. It’s very difﬁcult to convince them. However, it’s still worth a try. Only the most outstanding soul masters can try fusing with a Spirit. Shaozhe.”

“Yes.” Yan Shaozhe stood up.

Elder Xuan said in a deep voice, “From now on, the academy will carry out code-red secret research on Spirits. You need to coordinate with Yuhao. If you need special help, you can request it from the Sea God’s Pavilion. Safety must come ﬁrst. After ﬁnding suitable soul beasts, you’ll need to pick the best among those in the inner courtyard. They must be willing to try the fusion. This must be carried out immediately.”

Zhang Lexuan suddenly opened her mouth. “Elder Xuan, do you think there’s a possibility that we can contact the core circle of the Great Star Dou Forest and negotiate with them? It’s not easy to ﬁnd an old soul beast, but if it’s from their side…”

Elder Xuan shook his head, and the other elders also furrowed their brows.

“Lexuan, your idea is very good, but it’s a little wild. We’ve been enemies for quite some time, and things haven’t cooled down even after so many years. It won’t be easy to discuss it with them. They won’t give us a chance.”

“We can only count on ourselves regarding his matter. We can’t take the risk. If those fellows from the Great Star Dou Forest discover the existence of Spirits, their misunderstandings might deepen. Shrek City is too close to the forest. Don’t forget the wave of soul beasts then. We have to research and experiment, but it has to be done very prudently.

Zhang Lexuan nodded and didn’t say anything else.

The rest of the elders agreed with Elder Xuan. Only Huo Yuhao was slightly moved after hearing Zhang Lexuan’s words. He understood what she was trying to say – she meant that the academy could negotiate with the soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest. The strongest savage beasts were as intelligent as humans. If they were willing to try, it would be much more convenient for their research of Spirits.

Of course, he couldn’t help but comment even though it was a little inappropriate, “Elder Xuan, elders, I think eldest senior sister has a point. If we make progress in our research, it could be an opportunity to dispel our hatred with the soul beasts from the Great Star Dou Forest! If we succeed in our research, we can negotiate with them, and we wouldn’t need to hunt soul beasts in the future. We can work with the older soul beasts. They can live longer, and both parties will beneﬁt from this deal. No matter what their style of thinking is, I think it’s unlikely that they’ll reject such a proposition.”

Elder Xuan laughed and looked at Huo Yuhao. He said, “Young people are indeed very rash! However, your thinking is not mature enough. Why did I ask you how many Spirits one person can possess? If a soul master can only fuse with one Spirit like you say, how many soul rings does a soul master need? Nine. Do you think those top-ranked soul beasts from the Star Dou Forest would give us a chance to negotiate knowing that they’d be offering us greater strength to hunt

even more soul beasts and add even more soul rings?”

Elder Xuan’s words left Huo Yuhao in a daze. Yes! He had been too focused on the beneﬁts for soul beasts, but soul masters didn’t need Spirits. Without soul rings, how was a soul master’s cultivation going to increase? Just like Elder Xuan had mentioned, he was too focused on things on the surface.

This time, Zhang Lexuan also nodded silently and didn’t say anything else.

Huo Yuhao sighed in his heart. He knew that Spirits couldn’t possibly replace soul rings, at least with the knowledge that he had.

Elder Xuan said, “Yuhao, you don’t have to think too much now either. Whatever it is, this Snow Empress’ Spirit was formed under very special circumstances. We don’t know what a Spirit will look like if it’s formed for ordinary soul masters. If we discover that Spirits can replace soul rings after further research, it’ll deﬁnitely improve the relationship between soul masters and soul beasts.”

“I suggest that you work towards a single direction. If the strength of a Spirit can be sealed during the fusion process, a soul master can add another soul skill when he reaches the next bottleneck and undergo a second fusion. If this continues, a Spirit can add many soul skills to a soul master. Our hunting of soul beasts can naturally be greatly reduced like that. You’ve already proved that a soul master can obtain many soul rings from one Spirit.”

Huo Yuhao was in awe. Elder Xuan was indeed deserving of his title as the Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion. He managed to point out a clear path for Huo Yuhao using simple words. Huo Yuhao was sorely lacking in terms of experience.

Huo Yuhao nodded and replied, “I will do my best. In addition, I’m willing to contribute the Pact-Sealing Spell to the academy.”

“What?” As Huo Yuhao spoke, everyone was stunned. All the elders had a shocked look in their eyes. As they looked at each other, they could see the amazement in each other’s eyes. Elder Xuan had been ready to dismiss the meeting, but after hearing his words, he sat down again and said, “Yuhao, you have to think this over carefully.”

Elder Xuan’s expression was very serious as he said this. All the elders focused their attention on Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao replied with a sincere look on his face. “Elder Xuan, elders, I’ve thought over this carefully. I’m an orphan with no family. Everything that I have now was given to me by the academy. I would not be where I am today if the academy didn’t nurture me. I received the best education and care here. It’s also here that I felt familial warmth. The results of the research will be very beneﬁcial in settling the conﬂict between soul masters and soul beasts. If it really succeeds, it’ll deﬁnitely alleviate the dispute between us and soul beasts. How can I do this alone? I don’t only wish to offer the academy the Pact- Sealing Spell. I also hope that the academy can develop Spirits and make it a future developmental path for all soul masters.”

Elder Xuan said, “Yuhao, you have to understand that it’ll no longer be yours once you give it up. Furthermore, have you thought of how valuable it is? I can tell you that it’s priceless. The academy can complete it for you, but we can’t repay you for such valuable research. I’ll feel uncomfortable! You’ve already contributed countless valuable blueprints for soul tools to the academy. How can we still take something so valuable from you?”

Huo Yuhao smiled and replied, “Elder Xuan, I don’t know what to say. However, I believe that it’s a good thing for the academy to control the method of developing Spirits. If it’s only in my hands, it might be a bad thing for me. That’s why I don’t just hope to give it to the academy. I further wish that the academy can announce it to the world in the near future. The research of Spirits will be completed by the academy, and not by me alone. I can avoid a lot of trouble this way! The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament is about to begin in a few months. I’m going to compete in it with the team, and I’ll need to use my Spirit then. If any outsiders know that I control the sole method of their creation, it might be very dangerous for me. I still want to contribute more to the academy and the Tang Sect. I’m sure you and the other elders won’t watch as I put myself in a perilous spot, right? The academy can take this burden for me.”

All the elders started to smile as he sounded very relaxed with his words. However, they couldn’t hide their admiration for him. Before Huo Yuhao had proposed to give the spell to the school, none of the elders had asked him to hand his research over. Why? It was too valuable!

Just like Elder Xuan had mentioned, Spirits were priceless in the eyes of soul masters. With such a secret, Huo Yuhao could become a master of his time no matter where he went. Even though what he said was true, how difﬁcult would it be to ﬁnd a strong backer with such valuable research?

Elder Xuan looked at all the elders and asked, “What do all of you think? I can only say that the academy did nurture Yuhao, but the contributions that he has made to the academy have far superseded what the academy has given him. Right now, he still wants to offer such valuable research to the academy. Truthfully, I feel very pressured as the Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion!” After he ﬁnished speaking, Elder Xuan also couldn’t help but smile. However, he seemed very comforted as he looked at Huo Yuhao.

All the elders were also silent at this point. For such valuable research, it was really too much to take it for nothing. However, what could the academy give Huo Yuhao? He didn’t lack for anything now, since he possessed an Ultimate martial soul and was an advanced-level soul engineer.

Huo Yuhao thought of something quickly and said, “Elder Xuan, we can do it this way. I’ll give this research to the academy, and I’ll give it directly to my benefactor, Teacher Mu En. I’ll represent Elder Mu as the previous Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion and pass this information down to the academy. Since teacher has already passed away, the academy should

naturally inherit everything that he’s left behind. I’m sure this works, right?”

Elder Xuan waved his hand and said, “Isn’t that just self- deceiving? Alright, you don’t have to say anything more. I’ll accept your gift on behalf of the academy. However, this research will always be recognized as yours inside the Library of the Sea God’s Pavilion even though we’ll claim it to be the academy’s research to the outside world. Furthermore, I’ll conﬁrm you as the Heir to the Sea God’s Pavilion with my current identity as the Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion. Does anyone have any objection?”

Huo Yuhao was shocked. Heir to the Sea God’s Pavilion? This also meant that Huo Yuhao would succeed Elder Xuan when he left his position as the Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion. The Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion held the highest authority in Shrek Academy! “Elder Xuan, you shouldn’t do this. I’m not qualiﬁed…” Huo Yuhao said anxiously.

Considering how old Elder Xuan was, he only had at most twenty years left as the Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion. The person who was most likely to succeed his position as the Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion was Yan Shaozhe. Yan Shaozhe was also more than a hundred years old. It was going to be Huo Yuhao’s turn a few decades after him. Huo Yuhao would only be ﬁfty or sixty years old then.

Elder Xuan smiled and answered, “Why would you not be qualiﬁed? Ask all the elders about your contributions to the academy and whether they think you’re qualiﬁed. I’m sure that no one around has contributed to the academy more than you. Even in terms of reward, you should be getting more than anyone. Furthermore, I haven’t told you one thing. When Elder Mu was still around, he already conﬁrmed you as the Heir to the Sea God’s Pavilion. I didn’t announce it because you were still too young. However, you forced my hand this time!”

Huo Yuhao subconsciously took a look at Zhang Lexuan. He had always thought that she would be the Heir to the Sea God’s Pavilion. She wasn’t recognized as the top talent in the inner courtyard for nothing. Although she had just passed thirty, she already had eight rings. She wasn’t far from a Titled Douluo either. Why were the internal courtyard students so submissive towards her? It wasn’t because she was pretty, but because she was truly capable!

Elder Xuan smiled. “You don’t have to look at Lexuan. Lexuan will be nurtured as a substitute Heir to the Sea God’s Pavilion. While the position of the Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion is very important, he doesn’t have the right to decide everything.”

Zhang Lexuan smiled at Huo Yuhao, but her expression didn’t seem to change at all. Huo Yuhao’s spiritual senses were very acute. He could sense that there was indeed no change in her emotions.

“Does anyone have any objections?” Elder Xuan turned to the elders.

There were none.

Huo Yuhao had already demonstrated his abilities in the Sea God’s Fate. As he teamed up with Wang Dong’er, they managed to suppress ﬁve inner courtyard students. Even though there was some kind of elemental suppression, the elders still recognized his abilities.

Twin martial souls and an Ultimate martial soul. He was a true talent. He even treated the academy as his family and gave such an important research to the academy. Even the strict elders couldn’t ﬁnd any fault with him.

Elder Xuan said, “Alright, since there are no alternative propositions, we shall vote. Those who agree with me, please raise your hand.”

Besides Huo Yuhao, the rest of the Sea God’s Pavilion’s members raised their right hands. This meant that Elder Xuan’s proposition had their unanimous approval. From the start, Huo Yuhao wasn’t just a simple member of the Sea God’s Pavilion. Although his identity wasn’t announced outside of the Sea God’s Pavilion, his position in the academy was still enhanced signiﬁcantly.

Elder Xuan said, “Yuhao, you can pass your research to me directly after you record it. I’ll keep it in the Library of the Sea God’s Pavilion as a code-red secret document. Whoever wants to read it in the future must seek permission through a conference ﬁrst.”

All the elders agreed with Elder Xuan’s suggestion. This research was too important, while the Library of the Sea God’s Pavilion was the most tightly-guarded place in the academy. It was the most appropriate place to store the research.

Huo Yuhao nodded immediately and felt more relieved. He only had one feeling at this point – it was good to have a family. With the academy around, he wasn’t alone. He had been under alot of pressure because this research was too valuable! It was undoubtedly the best choice to pass it to the academy.

“Dismissed.” Elder Xuan dismissed the conference.

Huo Yuhao stood up hurriedly and watched as the elders left.

He only left after them.

Chapter 222: Two Goddesses?

Yan Shaozhe was the last to leave. He patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder and said, “Yuhao, you should take this time to ﬁnd suitable soul beasts. We can start our trials once you do. You have to be prepared, we have to try our best to prevent any dangers. Even though I can imagine the inner courtyard’s students will be enthusiastic, this is ultimately just a trial.”

“Yes.” Huo Yuhao nodded his head seriously. The danger with contracting Spirits was self-evident, and the most important part would be the soul master’s spiritual power that the pact would absorb when it was being formed. They would have to be extremely careful.

Huo Yuhao suddenly felt something at this moment, and he glanced sideways. He saw Wang Dong’er, who was looking around as she walked in his direction from the staircase.

Huo Yuhao felt a wave of warmth course over his body when he saw her, and his gaze met those huge powdery-blue eyes as he pointed outside. The Sea God’s Pavilion wasn’t a place for billing and cooing. The elders’ senses were extremely powerful, and they would probably be aware of any disturbance, no matter how minor.

Wang Dong’er nodded in understanding, and tiptoed out of the Sea God’s Pavilion ﬁrst.

Yan Shaozhe was naturally aware of this, and he smiled as he said, “Go. Wang Dong’er is powerful, she’s the future heir to the Clear Sky Sect, and that’s enough to match you. You have to be good to her.”

Huo Yuhao blushed a little, and he nodded hurriedly before bidding farewell and stepping outside.

Wang Dong’er was waiting at the entrance. She wore a long light-blue dress today, which matched her ﬂowing blue hair. Her exceptional beauty caused the Sea God’s Pavilion’s originally enchanting scenery to lose its splendor. She was like the brilliant and riveting sun, and even just standing there, she could dim all the light in the world. “You’re just so pretty, Dong’er,” Huo Yuhao blurted out in admiration.

Wang Dong’er rolled her eyes and said, “Did you only realize that today?”

Huo Yuhao chuckled and replied, “Of course not, except you’ve been calling yourself a guy before this, so how could I have such reveries? It’s different now.”

“Here.” Wang Dong’er took out a small cloth bag from somewhere. The outer layer was white, and it was clean and spotless.

Huo Yuhao took the bag, and realized it was warm. He opened it and saw two steamed buns inside, along with two deshelled eggs. The eggs were from a bird-type soul beast, with completely transparent egg-whites, looking like frozen water crystals. They were extremely nutritious, while the two steamed buns had vegetables and pieces of meat inside.

“Go ahead. I know you haven’t eaten yet,” Wang Dong’er whispered.

Huo Yuhao didn’t restrain himself, and he picked up an egg and popped it into his mouth. What he ate wasn’t important; it was the thought that was important. Wang Dong’er’s scrupulousness made him warm all over, and whatever he ate tasted as delicious as could be.

They gobbled down the food in a few mouthfuls, and drank some water from a waterskin Wang Dong’er handed him. Huo Yuhao immediately felt better and more relaxed with food in his stomach.

“You’re so nice, Dong’er.”

Wang Dong’er giggled and said, “Why do I feel like you’re so stupid?”

Huo Yuhao said indifferently, “It doesn’t matter if I’m stupid, as long as you don’t turn your back on me because of that.”

“No, no, I won’t. Let’s go.” Wang Dong’er grasped his hand and started walking away. “Where are we going?” Huo Yuhao asked, confused at the sudden switch.

Wang Dong’er said, “We are going to look for that Wang Qiu’er! I asked about it when I woke up this morning. Today is the reporting day for the new batch of inner courtyard students who have just passed the examination, so she will deﬁnitely show up if she managed to pass the assessment.”

“Ugh… You still remember that? I’d already forgotten about it.” Huo Yuhao actually had forgotten about it; Wang Dong’er was all that was in his mind last night. He had then been called out early in the morning for a conference, so he couldn’t really be bothered about anything else.

Wang Dong’er replied, “You can’t just forget about something like that. We have to ﬁgure it out before anything else.”

Huo Yuhao naturally followed her, and the two of them walked on. Wang Dong’er lowered her voice and asked as they strolled along, “You guys were talking about Spirits during the conference held inside the Sea God’s Pavilion?” “Yes,” Huo Yuhao nodded as he answered. “I discussed and detailed the identity of Spirits during the conference, and I gave the Spirit Pact Sealing Spell to the academy.”

“You passed it on to the academy?” Wang Dong’er was taken aback, but she quickly recovered and nodded. “It’s better if you pass it to the academy. Our academy is trustworthy, and I think it will help lift the pressure off your shoulders.”

Huo Yuhao stared at her with a look of pleasant surprise. “You’re really the roundworm inside my stomach! How did you know that was what I thought, too?”

“Psh, you’re so disgusting. You’re the roundworm!” Wang Dong’er smiled radiantly, and the dimples on her face bloomed like ﬂowers. Her bright smile was ﬁlled with pride.

Huo Yuhao gasped in amazement “This is chemistry! What more can a husband ask for in his wife?”

“Who’s your wife?” “Who do you think?”

“Hmph!”

They were bickering, but their hands had been tightly wound around each other from the beginning to the end. Huo Yuhao hadn’t slept properly last night, but neither had Wang Dong’er. After the night, they still felt a little unfamiliar with their current statuses, but they were starting to get closer to the chemistry that they used to have. Their bodies were becoming closer, and so were their hearts. The feeling where the results ﬂowed naturally when circumstances were right seemed to have arrived.

The new inner courtyard students were supposed to report to the outer courtyard rather than the inner courtyard. In the end, only those students whose identities had been conﬁrmed could be brought into the inner courtyard.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er didn’t need the ferry. They soared into the sky, and the wings of Wang Dong’s Radiant Butterﬂy Goddess extended outwards while Huo Yuhao stepped on the lake’s surface and pushed off from it to propel them forward.

What made him a little surprised was that the ice formed from last night’s Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice hadn’t melted completely, and the two of them crossed the Sea God’s Lake in no time. However, Huo Yuhao’s expression became a little dull.

They were just starting out in their relationship, so their thoughts and senses were the most sensitive. Wang Dong’er immediately detected the change in his emotions and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Huo Yuhao heaved a faint sigh and said, “Do you still remember when we met her on the shore? She ﬂew across Sea God’s Lake from the inner courtyard just like that, and now we have the same ability. She’s been missing for such a long time. There’re still no news about her.”

Wang Dong’er’s expression grew a little sullen when she heard Huo Yuhao mention Ma Xiaotao. She sighed and said, “Yes! I wonder how she’s doing. I’m afraid she…”

Huo Yuhao raised his hand to signal her to stop talking. He had the same intense anxiety and worry in his heart, but he truly didn’t want to hear about that possibility.

Wang Dong’er knew where the new inner courtyard students were supposed to report, and she brought Huo Yuhao to the outer courtyard’s senior grade school block, where they proceeded straight to a large classroom.

It was already lesson time. The outer courtyard looked extremely tranquil, and most of the students were currently taking lessons. However, there were some who were still outside.

There was a class currently having a sparring session in Shrek Plaza. As Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er held hands and walked across the plaza, the students that were only twelve or thirteen years old stared and ogled Wang Dong’er.

“Wow, she’s so pretty! She’s so pretty! Guys, look!”

“Eh, why are they holding hands? They must be seniors.”

“She’s just so beautiful. The color of her hair is so nice.” Huo Yuhao could naturally hear their discussions, and he chuckled as he said, “Dong’er, I think you should wear a veil over your face the next time you come out. You’re already so stunning and enchanting inside the academy. If we go outside, we might even attract some trouble.”

Wang Dong’er laughed and said, “You’ll be around even if there’s trouble, no? What, you don’t like that I’m so pretty?”

Huo Yuhao stared at the mischievous smile on her face, and he really wanted to kiss her.

“Stop right there! I’m talking about the two of you!” A deep and serious voice suddenly rang out, which actually shocked both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er. When they looked up, they could see a teacher that was about ﬁfty years old blocking their way, and he was currently glaring at them with a draconian expression.

“Greetings, teacher. What’s the problem?” Huo Yuhao hurriedly asked politely. The male teacher pointed at their connected hands and lowered his voice as he said, “What year are you from? What class are you from? Look at you guys, what is this? We’re still inside the academy, and this is the example you want to set for the younger students? What if you teach them the wrong things? I will report this to the teachers, so that you will be punished accordingly.”

“Uh!” Both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were rooted to the spot. They were still bickering like lovebirds before this, and hadn’t noticed this point at all. Yes! Most of the outer courtyard’s students were still kids.

Huo Yuhao hurriedly released Wang Dong’er’s hand and bowed respectfully to the teacher before he wore an apologetic look and said, “I’m sorry, teacher. We are in the wrong, and we promise that this won’t happen again in the future. Please forgive us.”

The teacher’s dark and gloomy face regained some color as he said, “You guys are too brazen. This is Shrek Academy, and I imagine it’s not your ﬁrst or second day at the academy judging by your age. How can you be so unruly? You have to be punished. Tell me, what class are you two from? Send someone to ﬁnd your teacher, and only then can you leave. Your teacher will bring you back.”

Perhaps it was because of teacher Zhou Yi, but even though this male teacher was strict and unforgiving, Huo Yuhao could feel an unspeakable closeness. Furthermore, this teacher was right. He didn’t talk further about punishment after Huo Yuhao’s apology, so that meant he was cold on the outside, but warm on the inside.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er hadn’t had any lessons in the outer courtyard since the last big competition. They felt extremely nostalgic when they suddenly “felt” the outer courtyard once again.

Wang Dong’er touched Huo Yuhao and asked, “I’ll go?”

Huo Yuhao nodded, and made a gesture with his chin. Wang Dong’er immediately understood, and she bowed lightly to the male teacher before she walked away briskly.

The male teacher noticed that their attitudes were not bad, and his temper had calmed down considerably. He shouted at the students watching the show from the side. “What are you looking at?! Continue sparring! Don’t let me catch anyone slacking off!”

The young students were clearly afraid of him, and everyone began to get back to work, with only a handful still casting curious gazes over from time to time.

Huo Yuhao asked politely, “May I know your name, teacher?”

The male teacher said with a deep voice, “My name is Zheng Zhan.”

“Greetings, teacher Zheng. I’m really sorry about what just happened, and I promise we will never do it again. My name is Huo Yuhao.”

Zheng Zhan nodded to acknowledge his name, and said earnestly, “All you teenagers! Once you reach adolescence, it’s natural for guys and girls to feel good about each other. However, you have to remember this is an academy, and while us teachers can’t control how you develop after graduation, you need to watch your behavior and your words when you’re still inside the academy. Furthermore, it’s not an easy task to join Shrek Academy. You need to work hard when you’re here; you can’t waste your youth. Even if you can’t join the inner courtyard, you should at least aim to graduate smoothly from the outer courtyard. I can understand youths dating each other, but you guys need to have moderation, and you can’t overdo it. Do you understand?”

Huo Yuhao nodded guiltily as Zheng Zhan chided him. Zheng Zhan’s words whipped him until his face started to blush, but he began to have an even better impression of this teacher.

“Oh, yes, you haven’t told me which class you’re from. Judging by your age, you should in Year 5, give or take. Let me think, which teachers are in charge of Year 5’s classes?...”

Huo Yuhao quickly explained, “Don’t trouble yourself, sir.

I’m from teacher Zhou Yi’s class.”

“Oh, teacher Zhou!” Zheng Zhan carried on naturally, but then his eyes widened in the next moment, while his voice seemed to become an octave higher. “What? You’re from Zhou Yi’s class?” “Yes! What’s the matter?” It was Huo Yuhao’s turn to be a little confused.

Zheng Zhan said with a worried look on his face. “You silly boy, why didn’t you say so earlier? If you had told me you were from Zhou Yi’s class, I wouldn’t have asked you to go ﬁnd her. Aren’t you digging your own grave? Do you not know about old lady Zhou’s temper? If she gets angry, she may just expel the two of you! Oh man, you should really have told me earlier! Tsk...”

Huo Yuhao felt more heat rush to his head as he saw Zheng Zhan’s troubled look, and his nose began to feel a little sour. This teacher is so cute! We’ve never met before, and he’s already so concerned when he learned that I’m teacher Zhou’s student. However, teacher Zhou’s terrifying reputation… seems like it’s still quite well-known...

Zheng Zhan suddenly seemed like he had found a solution, and said seriously, “Seems like you guys are late today. I will be a good Samaritan. When Zhou Yi arrives, don’t speak. I’ll tell her that I was the one who got the two of you to do some ofﬁcial business. That girl of yours won’t spill the beans, will she? What did you say your name was? Huo Yuhao, right? What’s the girl’s name? I should at least know your names.”

“Her name is Wang Dong’er. Actually, teacher Zheng-”

Huo Yuhao wanted to explain, but teacher Zhou and Wang Dong’er arrived right at that time. Zhou Yi still had the same elderly made-up face, while Wang Dong’er followed beside her. There was a mischievous smile on her face.

Zhou Yi’s deafening voice could already be heard before she even reached them. “Who? Who is it? I want to see which blind man dares to detain my students.”

Zheng Zhan was dumbfounded. He turned towards Huo Yuhao and forced a laugh as he said, “I think that girl has spilled the beans!”

There was no need to mention the intimacy Huo Yuhao felt when he saw Zhou Yi, and he hurriedly explained, “Don’t worry, teacher Zheng. It’s alright.” He darted out as he spoke and came in front of Zhou Yi before he bowed deeply. His voice was quivering faintly as he said, “Teacher Zhou.” Zhou Yi halted abruptly. She seemed to be overcome with astonishment, and tears glimmered in her eyes. However, Zhou Yi was Zhou Yi after all, and the way she expressed intimacy and affection was different from normal people. She raised her leg and immediately kicked Huo Yuhao on the side of his thigh.

“Huo Yuhao, you still know to come back!? You didn’t visit me even when you returned! I wouldn’t have known at all if I didn’t hear it from Fan Yu. And you, Wang Dong, you’ve deceived me! So, you’re a girl, and you’re so pretty! You two people, what am I supposed to say about the two of you? Eh?”

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’s eyes turned red as they listened to Zhou Yi’s ﬁerce and furious speech, and tears poured from their eyes. They would never forget the two years they had spent under Zhou Yi’s guidance. Zhou Yi was strict, but she was also really nice to them. Everything felt so familiar when they listened to her voice. This was especially true for Huo Yuhao, as it had been two years since he had last seen Zhou Yi. He reminisced about the old days nostalgically, and his emotions were all tumbling over themselves inside him.

However, teacher Zheng didn’t know what they were feeling inside. He could only see Zhou Yi kick Huo Yuhao, so he briskly came forward and said, “Don’t misunderstand, teacher Zhou. Calm down, calm down.”

Zhou Yi was slightly taken aback as she turned towards Zheng Zhan and asked confusedly, “What’s the situation, teacher Zheng? Were you the one who detained my students?”

Zheng Zhan forced a laugh and said, “I didn’t! This…” He didn’t know how to explain.

Huo Yuhao said hurriedly, “We were the ones at fault, teacher Zhou. We’ve already apologized to teacher Zheng, and obtained his forgiveness.”

Zhou Yi turned back towards Huo Yuhao. She was exceptionally high-spirited at this moment, so she nodded in Zheng Zhan’s direction as she said, “Thank you, then. Can I take these two kids away?”

Zheng Zhan came beside Zhou Yi and spoke softly in earnest. “Teacher Zhou, you should restrain your temper a little. You can’t keep doing this. These kids toil so much from day do day in their cultivation, so you shouldn’t be too ﬁerce towards them. This may cause reverse psychology and incur rebellious behavior, and that’s not good.”

Everyone knew that Zhou Yi’s classes had the highest expulsion and quitting rates. However, her class also produced the best and the most prodigious students. There was hardly anybody else who agreed with her pedagogy and teaching method.

Zhou Yi ﬁnally realized that Zheng Zhan misunderstood her, and she snapped, “What’s wrong with my temper? Am I not being nice to them? That’s a gesture of affection, teacher Zheng! Have you not heard of the saying that beating and scolding are signs of love and intimacy? They won’t succeed if we don’t beat them! This is for their own good!”

“Ahem.” Zheng Zhan’s expression became a little dark. He replied solemnly, “If you keep doing this teacher Zhou, then I’m going to have to bring it up to the academy.”

Zhou Yi realized that this teacher was really about to get angry. She smiled hastily and said, “Alright, teacher Zheng, don’t be so serious. I’m just fooling around. These two are my students from years ago, and they’re here to visit me. They’re now students from the inner courtyard, I haven’t seen them for a long time, and I’m just too happy.”

“Students from the inner courtyard?” Zheng Zhan felt his heart skip a beat. When he turned to look at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong once more, his expression was different from before. What did inner courtyard students mean to Shrek Academy? Sometimes even the teachers from the outer courtyard had a lower status than the inner courtyard students. They weren’t allowed to set foot on Sea God’s Island without express permission, after all.

“That doesn’t sound right, teacher Zhou.” Zheng Zhan suddenly thought of something, and immediately continued, “I’ve seen the new batch of students who’ve just entered the inner courtyard. I didn’t see the two of them, they look very unfamiliar to me.”

Zhou Yi was a little exasperated as she watched teacher Zheng’s serious and solemn look. She explained, “They didn’t join the inner courtyard this year, they entered the inner courtyard two years ago! They were reserve team members representing Shrek Academy in last season’s Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, and they are members of this season’s ofﬁcial team. They are also outstanding prodigies from the inner courtyard who have been through special training!”

Zheng Zhan ﬁnally understood after listening to her explanation. A look of envy came across his eyes as he said, “So they are the exemplary students that you’ve brought up, teacher Zhou!”

Zhou Yi chortled and said, “Are you still going to report me to the academy?”

Zheng Zhan laughed along and replied, “Of course not. But they are really so young!”

There was only pride in Zhou Yi’s eyes. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong could be said to be the most outstanding students that she had ever taken on. Even though she wasn’t one to brag, she was all joy and smiles when she saw her two lovely students. There wasn’t a trace of her typical strictness and usual monster-like attitude.

“Alright, we’ll take our leave ﬁrst, Teacher Zheng. I haven’t seen them in a long time, and we’re going to have a chat.” Zhou Yi gestured towards Zheng Zhan and started to bring Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong away.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong bowed towards teacher Zheng respectfully. Huo Yuhao said softly, “Don’t worry, Teacher Zheng. What happened today will never happen again. Sorry!”

Zhou Yi had heard about the situation from Wang Dong before this. She stopped and turned back as she said, “Actually, their circumstances are relatively unique. If those little people have something to say, you can tell them this...” She whispered something to Zheng Zhan after this, and then she brought Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong away.

Zheng Zhan’s eyes became a little lackadaisical, and he only recovered after a long while.

He returned to his own students. “What are you looking at? How’s your training going? Did you see those two seniors just now? They are your seniors from the inner courtyard! Do you know why they’re holding hands? That’s not because they’re trying to break the academy’s rules, I misunderstood them earlier. They’re holding hands because they’re cultivating – they’re cultivating every single possible second. The two of them can use martial soul fusion skills, and only when they’re bodies are in physical contact can they unleash their full power. The two of them are always vigilant and prepared, and this is something every one of you should learn from them!”

Fortunately, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were quite a distance away. Otherwise, they would have probably blushed from Teacher Zheng’s speech.

They entered the senior grade school block, and Huo Yuhao asked Zhou Yi, “How are the students from our class doing, Teacher Zhou?”

Zhou Yi answered, “They’re doing pretty ﬁne. However, ever since the two of you left, Class 2 has been stronger than us in terms of overall strength. Mu Jin was extremely proud of that for a long time. However, Dai Huabin and the others are in the inner courtyard now, so Class 1 has become the strongest again. I heard the two of you gave them a good beating yesterday? That’s great! You’ve vented my anger for me!”

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong began to smile as they listened to Zhou Yi’s familiar tone. This was the teacher Zhou they liked the most!

“Oh, yes! Teacher Zhou, the new inner courtyard students are supposed to report to this school block, right? We want to take a look. Can we ﬁnd you later?” Wang Dong’er asked.

Zhou Yi answered, “Let me take you there to avoid both of you being detained by other teachers again. Tsk, the two of you… do you really have to be so intimate all the time?”

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er instantly blushed and exchanged a look. They didn’t dare to hold hands in the academy anymore.

Zhou Yi was much more familiar with the senior grade school block than they were. They twisted and turned around the corridors, and Zhou Yi brought them to their destination. Huo Yuhao could already hear voices before they reached the room that new inner courtyard students were supposed to report to.

“You can’t wear a veil like that. If I remember correctly, you were like that during the assessment. You had a recommendation letter back then, so we didn’t say much. However, you’re about to join the academy soon, are you really going to wear that veil around every single day? Even if you have some troubles deep in your heart that you can’t discuss, the teachers responsible for registering you have to know so that we can record it. This is our duty and responsibility. If you refuse to take down your veil, then I’m sorry, you can’t be allowed to join the academy.”

“Do I really have to take it down?” An enchanting voice could be heard, and Huo Yuhao trembled when he heard it. A look of astonishment ﬂowed from his eyes. Isn’t this the voice I heard the other day? He picked up his pace and walked forward quickly.

When Huo Yuhao successfully took Wang Dong’er’s hand during the Sea God’s Fate, Huo Yuhao thought that the Wang Qiu’er that he had met was just an illusion and his hallucination, or it was just Wang Dong’er deliberately fooling around with him. However, the voice that fell into his ears now was just so real and true.

“Ah!” He gasped in surprise before they even walked into the room.

Wang Dong tugged on Huo Yuhao’s sleeve and whispered, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you in such a hurry?”

Huo Yuhao lowered his voice and said, “The voice I just heard was extremely familiar. It was just like that Wang Qiu’er I met the other day.”

They arrived at the room as they spoke. The room’s door was open, and they could see what was happening inside.

The ﬁrst thing they saw were long locks of powdery-blue hair. Both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er were stunned on the spot when the ﬂowing hair fell into their eyes.

She had a lengthy white dress, long light-blue hair, and her proﬁle appeared identical to Wang Dong’er, except she was a little taller.

Most of the people in the room were teachers at this moment, and there were about four to ﬁve of them. Their eyes seemed a little lackluster as they stared at the young woman.

“Ah?” Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Zhou Yi were at the door, and the teachers could naturally see them. When they turned to look at Wang Dong’er’s face, high-pitched gasps of surprise could be heard yet again. The young girl with wave-like hair turned around at this moment.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er felt as if they had been struck by lightning. They stood there with sluggish eyes, their expressions completely frozen.

The long-haired girl who had turned around also had a pair of huge blue eyes… and her gorgeous looks were identical to Wang Dong’er’s. Besides the fact that she was slightly taller and more well-developed, there were hardly any differences between her and Wang Dong’er at all! The young woman was also shocked speechless when she saw Wang Dong’er and Huo Yuhao. She even raised her hands to rub her eyes, before she ﬁxed her gaze upon Wang Dong’er once more.

The two girls hollered at the same time, “Why do you look exactly like me?!”

Yes, they were the same – exactly the same. Furthermore, their beauty was unrivaled. All the teachers in the room were overcome with amazement as they stared dumbly.

Zhou Yi’s eyes moved between Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er. She couldn’t help but ask, “Wang Dong, is that your sister?”

Wang Dong’er shook her head stifﬂy. Her mind was a complete blank as she said, “I… I don’t have a sister! It’s just me...”

Wang Qiu’er was the ﬁrst to reorient herself, and she shook her head decisively. “I don’t have a younger sister, either. But how do we look so alike?”

Huo Yuhao forced a laugh and said, “You two look alike, and even your names are extremely similar. Nice to meet you – do you remember me?

Wang Qiu’er glanced at Huo Yuhao, and a strange look ﬂashed in the depths of her eyes. She muttered coldly “So you’re the lecher. What did you want to do when you chased me that day?”

Huo Yuhao’s face froze. Did he just become a sexual predator?

“Don’t misunderstand me, Wang Qiu’er. I thought you were Dong’er when I saw you the other day, and I recognized the wrong person, so I decided to follow you. I lost you when we reached the city.”

Wang Qiu’er said plainly, “What else do you want?”

Huo Yuhao snapped his eyes around to Wang Dong’er. Wang Dong’er had recovered by now, but seemed like she was deep in thought.

“Nothing. Sorry to disturb you,” Huo Yuhao replied to Wang Qiu’er before he dragged Wang Dong’er out of the room.

“Something’s not right, Yuhao.” Wang Dong’er looked up and stared at Huo Yuhao with pondering eyes.

Huo Yuhao frowned faintly and said, “Yes, something’s not right. How can the two of you look so similar? It’s unbelievable that the two of you aren’t siblings. Why don’t you send a letter to Uncle Niu and Uncle Tai, and ask them if you actually do have a sister?”

Wang Dong’er shook her head and replied, “No, I’m sure I don’t have a sister. When I looked at her just now, I felt like something was off. It’s not a feeling caused by blood relations. Her soul power undulations are vastly different from mine, and I can feel that her blood essence is exceptionally vigorous, possibly stronger than mine. However, she’s not light-type like me. Except for our looks, I don’t think there’s any other similarity between the two of us.”

Zhou Yi had a skeptical expression as she asked, “What’s going on? Dong’er, I remember you’ve always been dressed like a guy. Perhaps Wang Qiu’er made herself up to match your appearance? But what is her motive, then?”

All three of them were clueless, and nobody knew what was going on.

Huo Yuhao’s reaction was slightly faster. He contemplated momentarily and said, “How about I go look for Dean Yan, and ask him to investigate her identity and background, along with her martial soul and her examination situation. It’s truly difﬁcult to believe that two people in the world can look so alike, but not be related by blood.”

Zhou Yi snorted, “You can’t be so sure. The Douluo Continent is vast, and there are all sorts of miracles and strange things. It’s not as if two people who look so alike but are not related by blood have never been seen before. You two keep your cool. We will analyze this in more detail, and if we don’t ﬁnd anything amiss, then you two don’t have to entangle yourselves with her anymore, you can treat her like a normal student. If she does have a motive, she will give the game away at some point.” Wang Dong’er said, “Yes, that’s all we can do. Yuhao, you haven’t seen teacher Zhou for so long, you should stay and accompany her. I’ll go look for Dean Yan. It’s a good opportunity for me to compare her abilities and mine.”

Huo Yuhao nodded as he replied, “Alright!”

Wang Dong’er walked away briskly, and Huo Yuhao turned back towards Wang Qiu’er in the room, who was wearing her veil again and carrying on with the registration.

It was possible for two people who were not related by blood to look alike, but such identical appearances were truly extraordinary and unbelievable.

Huo Yuhao took his doubts away and followed Zhou Yi back to her ofﬁce. He had no choice but to push his misgivings to the back to his mind as he sat down with teacher Zhou. He began to describe his various encounters over the past two years after they were separated from each other. Fan Yu had probably conveyed Huo Yuhao’s general situation to Zhou Yi, but he still recounted his life in detail to her, while he also asked about his classmates from before. Too many things had happened to him over the past two years, and it took a long time for him to recount everything.

They were still talking when Wang Dong’er returned.

“Dong’er.” Huo Yuhao stood up hurriedly when he saw her.

Wang Dong’er said, “I got the information. We are indeed different.”

Huo Yuhao gave her some space to sit down. Wang Dong’er’s face was a little lost, and it was clear that she had run into a conundrum.

“What’s the situation?” Zhou Yi asked.

Wang Dong’er answered, “Her name is Wang Qiu’er, and she’s nineteen years old, so she’s slightly older than I am. She only has one martial soul, but it’s an extremely rare pureblood dragon-type martial soul. Furthermore, it’s a martial soul that’s rarely seen even amongst dragon-type martial souls: the Golden Dragon.”

Huo Yuhao and Zhou Yi exclaimed in astonishment at the same time, “The Ancestor of Strength, the Golden Dragon?”

Wang Dong’er nodded.

Both Huo Yuhao and Zhou Yi were even more bewildered.

Gold and Silver had special meanings amongst top-tier soul beasts. Silver represented multiple elements, or that one possessed a formidable element. Such soul beasts could evolve, or they possessed a powerful innate ability. It was similar to the Silvermoon Wolf King that Huo Yuhao had come across back then.

On the other hand, Gold represented extreme bodily strength and power. Silver soul beasts were already extremely rare, but Golden soul beasts were even more uncommon and exotic. It was hard to come by even a single one for many years, and some people had already claimed that Golden soul beasts were long extinct. There wasn’t a single Golden soul beast amongst the known Ten Great Savage Beasts in the world of soul beasts. Amongst the known Golden soul beasts, the most reputable one was deﬁnitely this Golden Dragon.

Legend had it that the Dragon God had two children: one was the Golden Dragon who controlled strength and power, while the other was the Silver Dragon who controlled elemental laws and rules. The two of them had inherited a portion of the Dragon God’s powers.

Over the passage of time, the Golden Dragon and the Silver Dragon gave birth to offspring, and their descendants gradually formed the entire Dragon race…

Chapter 223: Intimacy

Dragons were almost extinct today, and few people alive had actually seen a real dragon on the Douluo Continent. However, the legends and chronicles had always been there.

The dragons who descended directly from the Golden Dragon and the Silver Dragon were the rarest amongst the dragons, but they were touted as the most pure-blooded species, and also known as the strongest of the dragons.

Elder Mu’s Radiant Holy Dragon was only a subspecies of the Silver Dragon, a dragon that controlled the power of light.

The Golden Dragon didn’t have the all-inclusive elemental prowess that the Silver Dragon did, but the Golden Dragon possessed a strange power that could break through all things, and this was how its title, Ancestor of Strength, came about.

Wang Dong’s Radiant Butterﬂy Goddess and Huo Yuhao’s Spirit Eyes were already considered exceptionally rare. However, even Huo Yuhao’s Ice Jade Empress Scorpion was inferior when compared to the Golden Dragon. This was because the Golden Dragon was also an Ultimate martial soul, and its Ultimate factor was Strength. Ultimate Strength was more powerful than a single Ultimate Element in the end.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er could guess that Wang Qiu’er was probably quite powerful, as she was able to join the inner courtyard as a student from another academy, but they hadn’t expected her to be that powerful. Even though she didn’t have twin martial souls, her martial soul was the strongest among all the martial souls that both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had ever seen.

Zhou Yi was full of admiration as she said, “So someone on the Continent actually inherited the Golden Dragon martial soul!” She was a teacher from Shrek Academy, so she had the same intense longing for the Golden Dragon. If she hadn’t been in front of her two students, she would have probably gone to check it out herself.

Huo Yuhao quickly calmed down and said to Wang Dong, “In that case, her martial soul has nothing to do with you. We should just treat her like a normal student.” Wang Dong’er pouted and said, “But...she looks just like me, what if you recognize the wrong person?”

Huo Yuhao smiled and said consolingly, “It will be ﬁne as long as that doesn’t happen. We have the Haodong power, and we will feel it the moment we touch each other. No matter how powerful Wang Qiu’er is, she doesn’t share martial soul fusion skills with me, and she doesn’t have our Haodong power. Don’t think too much. We have to work a little harder now, we’re not far from the start of the competition.”

Wang Dong’er nodded, she knew that Huo Yuhao was right. Wang Qiu’er looked exactly like her, but even something was miraculous as this didn’t prove anything. However, she still felt as if something was amiss from beginning to end. She could conﬁrm that she wasn’t related to Wang Qiu’er by blood, but ever since she ﬁrst laid eyes on her, and especially when she saw her eyes, Wang Dong’er still had that familiar feeling.

They chatted idly with Zhou Yi for a while longer before Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er bid their farewells. They had to pick up the pace when it came to their cultivation, and Huo Yuhao also had to swiftly conclude the situation with the Spirits and hand the entire issue over to the Sea God’s Pavilion. On their way back to the Sea God’s Island, Wang Dong’er lowered her voice and said, “Yuhao... what you said yesterday was right. She does look more like the Goddess of Light in the Raiment of Light than I do. Do you think she’s been sent by the heavens to steal you from me? Did you not say that the Goddess of Light was the image you fell in love at ﬁrst sight with?”

Huo Yuhao caressed her ﬂowing hair, and he said in amusement, “Stop thinking about it. Have I not said this before? The goddess is right beside me. She will never be you, no matter how identical the two of you look. There’s nothing at all between me and her... but we have been living together ever since we joined the academy. I’ve hugged you to sleep before, so you can’t recant!”

“Psh! Hugged you to sleep, that sounds disgusting! I don’t care, you have to stay away from her next time, alright?” Wang Dong’er spoke with a look of stubbornness and determination.

Huo Yuhao chuckled and said, “Alright, alright! I can promise you that. You’re quite possessive, huh... but that proves you care about me! From today onwards, we should move back in together. Of course, we’ll only be cultivating, and only then can we be together at all times. That should work, eh?”

Wang Dong’er thought about it for a moment before saying, “Alright.”

“Eh? You’re really agreeing to that?” Huo Yuhao stared at her in surprise. “You’re not afraid of the differences between guys and girls anymore?”

A radiant smile ﬂashed across Wang Dong’er’s face. “We’ll only be cultivating together. Furthermore, even if you want to do something mean to me, you might not even be able to take me down. Don’t forget, you’re just a Soul King, while I’m a Soul Emperor.”

“This… are you trying to be a bully?”

“Yes! I want to bully you. I can’t do that?” Wang Dong’er spoke with a sweet smile on her face. They were now by the shore, and she grabbed Huo Yuhao’s hand. The Haodong power began to circulate, and the two of them soared into the sky as they ﬂew towards the Sea God’s Island at the lake’s center.

---

There was a pair of pretty eyes staring slackly at their shadows in midair not far from where they left the ground. There was a clear look of confusion in those eyes. “How can this be? Why is there a girl that looks exactly like me? What’s going on?”

The owner of these enchanting eyes was Wang Qiu’er. She had just completed her registration, and she watched Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er hold hands as they ﬂew away. She frowned faintly and walked towards the shore. It was also time for her to enter the Sea God’s Island.

------

Huo Yuhao returned directly to his room once they reached the Sea God’s Island, and began to write down the steps to create Spirits, along with the Pact Sealing Spell. This was the most important thing at hand to him.

Wang Dong’er didn’t disturb him, and cultivated by herself to one side. Huo Yuhao took an entire day to pen down the method of creating Spirits, and added “to be veriﬁed” at the end. There hadn’t been enough experiments or trials on Spirits yet, and it couldn’t be pushed out as the norm. There was far too much to do; reﬁning, perfecting, and making the creation process as

safe as it could be wasn’t something that could be done in a year or two. No matter how wealthy Shrek Academy was and how many resources they possessed, there was still a lot of work to be done. The hardest component to settle was searching for soul beasts in their declining years for

negotiation and discussions.

It was already difﬁcult to ﬁnd old soul beasts, and it was even harder to ﬁnd intelligent ones. Shrek Academy would have to ﬁnd old soul beasts with intelligence, and those with a mentality that leaned towards a fear of death, because only then would they choose the path of a Spirit.

The most troublesome part about creating a Spirit pact was that these soul beasts had to volunteer, and they had to be entirely agreeable. The Spirit pact would transcend soul rings, and the soul beast’s acceptance was probably the most important part of that process. Huo Yuhao recorded everything down, then sought out Yan Shaozhe and showed it to him before anything else. He described everything in detail, and went over it several times before he rearranged his draft and handed it over to Elder Xuan.

Elder Xuan immediately sealed the ﬁnal draft into the Library of the Sea God’s Pavilion. According to Elder Xuan, the Library of the Sea God’s Pavilion was well-fortiﬁed, and Shrek Academy would probably have ceased to exist if this place was broken into.

It was late into the night by the time everything was settled. Even with Huo Yuhao’s vitality and endurance, he could still feel intense exhaustion and fatigue.

Staying inside the Sea God’s Pavilion was convenient. After he ﬁnished the job with Elder Xuan, he returned to his room directly.

--- Wang Dong’er was not yet asleep, but neither was she cultivating. Instead, she was quietly waiting for him by the table. There were four exquisite dishes laid out there, along with a bowl of porridge.

“You’re back! Let me heat it up.” Wang Dong’er immediately stood up and started to pour the food into boxes.

Huo Yuhao stepped forward hurriedly and said, “There’s no need, I like to eat cold food. I’m sorry, Dong’er, it’s my fault for being late, you must have been waiting anxiously for a long time. You should go ahead and rest ﬁrst. If something like this happens again, you don’t have to wait for me.”

Wang Dong’er looked up and stared at Huo Yuhao with a slightly dazed look. She could tell that he was a little exhausted, but his eyes were still ﬁlled with warmth, and his gaze was just so serene and tender. She told herself in her heart, This man is mine! Why do I love waiting for him, and why do I enjoy the feeling of waiting for him to return so much?

Huo Yuhao stared into Wang Dong’er’s blue eyes, and pulled her back down onto her seat. “What’s wrong? What are you thinking about? Are you still thinking about that Wang Qiu’er?” He ﬁlled a bowl of porridge for Wang Dong’er as he spoke.

Wang Dong’er hurriedly pushed it back to him. “I’ve already eaten. You should eat quickly; fortunately, the porridge is still warm. You should teach me how to cook! That way, I don’t have to ﬁnd food for you from the canteen, and I can make a meal for you myself.”

Huo Yuhao shook his head without hesitation. “No.”

Wang Dong’er was perplexed as she exclaimed, “Why not?

Sentimental attachment?”

Huo Yuhao stared at her white and pale hands and said, “I don’t want you to worry about any day-to-day things at all; I want you to live like a queen. I should be the one cooking for you every day! I will take care of you, I will shower you with love, and I will stay by your side for eternity.”

He said all this while he was still eating. However, the way he said was so natural, as if everything had long been engraved into his bones, and he was simply expressing everything matter-of-factly.

Faint tears began to well up in Wang Dong’er’s charming eyes. “You’re so good to me, Yuhao.”

Huo Yuhao laughed and said, “Why are you crying when I’m being nice to you? Stop crying. It’s useless to just say these things. I will prove my words with actions.” He ﬂexed his lean right arm as he spoke.

Wang Dong’er giggled and said, “Don’t forget, you’re still a Soul King.”

Huo Yuhao said, “This has nothing to do with strength, mentality is the key!”

Wang Dong’er laughed and said, “Let’s not talk about all that. The Sea God’s Fate concluded soon after we left. He Caitou and Xiao Xiao ﬁnally got together! They didn’t have it easy, and the truth is that I could tell ﬁfth senior sister was conﬂicted inside, but she chose him in the end. What’s inside is far more important than appearance! Second senior brother may be a little ugly, and he’s a little too dark-skinned, but he’s truly very good to her.”

Huo Yuhao laughed and said, “Yes—what’s inside is absolutely more important than your beauty. I’ll still love you even if you become ugly in the future.”

Wang Dong’er rebuked him. “You’re the one that’s going to get ugly.” Even though her tone sounded angry, there was only sweetness and warmth in her eyes.

There wasn’t much light in the room. She rested her cheeks in her hands and planted her elbows on the table while she watched Huo Yuhao eat.

“I investigated Wang Qiu’er’s situation a little more. Her soul power is around Rank 60, which is quite impressive, considering she isn’t even twenty yet. She doesn’t have her sixth soul ring yet, and I’ve heard from vice-Dean Cai that the inner courtyard will organize a soul beast hunt soon, where they’ll gather all the inner courtyard students at a bottleneck and venture into the Great Star Dou Forest. I imagine she will be participating—don’t you need your ﬁfth soul ring for your Spirit Eyes? Let’s tag along.” Huo Yuhao glanced at her suspiciously and said, “Tag along?

What for? Do you still want to spy on her?”

Wang Dong’er said determinedly, “I still feel like there’s something wrong with her, but I can’t put my ﬁnger on it. Maybe it’s just because we look too alike—we’re almost carbon copies! It wouldn’t hurt to monitor her for a little bit longer, and I also want to see how she’s like as a person.”

Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “It’s me who has to go anyway.

You don’t even need a soul ring, why do you want to go?”

Wang Dong’er giggled and said, “I have to protect you! We have martial soul fusion skills, so we’ll be a lot safer that way. Furthermore, you’re a member of the Sea God’s Pavilion now, and you’re the future heir of the academy. Shouldn’t we be protecting you with everything we have? I’m going to risk my own safety to protect you.”

Huo Yuhao had ﬁnished two bowls of porridge by now. “Alright, alright. It’s always nice to have a pretty girl to protect me. We can go, but it’s not easy to ﬁnd a soul beast suitable for my Spirit Eyes! You know how difﬁcult it’s always been to ﬁnd spiritual-type soul beasts in the past, and I think we might just waste our time. My Ultimate Ice martial soul has ﬁve soul rings now, and if I can’t ﬁnd a suitable spiritual-type soul ring, my Ice Jade Empress Scorpion might just become my main martial soul, so I’ll have to try my luck with my Spirit Eyes to ﬁnd a suitable soul ring.”

Wang Dong’er nodded and said, “That’s not a bad idea. However, we still have to try. The competition will be upon us in a few months, and another soul ring is another layer of protection.”

Huo Yuhao wiped his mouth, and swiftly put the bowls and plates back inside the lunchbox. He made an “after you” gesture to Wang Dong’er and said, “Wifey, come onto the bed to rest.”

“Psh! Go and take a shower.” Wang Dong’er slapped his hand away, and evaded him as quickly as she could. Her pretty face was blushing.

Huo Yuhao’s eyes sparkled and said, “Take a shower? I’ll be clean then, and we can…” Wang Dong’er snapped, “Then we’ll cultivate! I’m warning you, if you dare to mess around, don’t blame me for what comes next. Hmph.” She waved her little ﬁst in front of Huo Yuhao as she spoke.

Huo Yuhao was full of exasperation. “Why should I bathe if we want to cultivate…? We’re not going to hug each other to sleep, anyway. The truth is, we’ve never slept together ever since that night before I left for the exchange program. Didn’t you say that I should learn how to relax? I think there’s nothing more relaxing than hugging you to sleep. Do you think we…?”

Wang Dong’er’s face blackened, and she snapped her head around before she strode towards the door and said, “I’m leaving.”

“Ugh… Sorry, I messed up.” Huo Yuhao hurriedly grabbed her as she was slowly walking away, and gave her a warm smile as he said, “Alright, alright. You should get ready on the bed ﬁrst, and I’ll take a shower now, and then we’ll cultivate. Cultivation is too important, and every ounce of soul power that we gather will be imperative for our victory during the competition.” He suddenly acted like he had a strong sense of justice, and Wang Dong’er reached out and pinched him on the waist. Huo Yuhao ﬂinched from the pain and hurriedly went ahead to the bathroom.

Guys bathed a lot faster than girls, and a wet Huo Yuhao was back on the bed after a few minutes.

He was always teasing Wang Dong’er, but he didn’t dare to be a nuisance physically. He sat across from her, obedient and well-behaved, and they placed their palms against each other while the Haodong power began to circulate.

Wang Dong’s soul bones ﬂickered with golden light, catalyzing their soul power recovery.

They were a little unsettled in the beginning. In the end, this was the ﬁrst time they had cultivated on the same bed after their relationship status had changed.

But the gentle Haodong power gradually became stronger, and they had no choice but to ﬁx their state of mind and focus on cultivation. It didn’t take long before they ﬁnally entered meditation.

……

Dawn was breaking, and the sun peeked out from the eastern horizon in the distance. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er opened their eyes at almost the same time.

Soul power surged within their bodies, and they were both pleasantly surprised when they felt the progress in their cultivation. Ever since Huo Yuhao fused with the Snow Empress, the repression he felt from his Ultimate Ice’s cultivation speed became less and less obvious. His cultivation speed was also greatly boosted with the help of the Haodong power.

Huo Yuhao got off the bed ﬁrst with a faint smile on his face, and he gestured politely to Wang Dong’er to follow suit. Wang Dong’er was smiling too and leapt off the bed before they walked towards the window together.

They stared towards the east as they waited patiently for the dash of purple to arrive. They listened to the symphony of bird calls and the other peaceful sounds of nature that pulsed with life and vitality, and they felt the tranquility of this moment.

The crisp fragrance of plants and vegetation wafted in, and the clean and fresh feelings seemed to lift their spirits.

How comfortable!

When the sun rose in the east, the pinch of purple came as it always did. Their eyes sparkled as they absorbed the purple energy, and purple hues glimmered in their eyes.

One could tell the clear difference in the level of their Purple Demon Eyes. Huo Yuhao’s eyes became like purple crystals, while Wang Dong’s light-blue eyes were only masked with a faint purple layer. The difference in their martial souls meant there would be quite a gap in their mastery of the Tang Sect Secret Techniques.

They took a deep breath at the same time and gradually exhaled. Their routine Purple Demon Eyes cultivation came to an end.

They were both revitalized and in high spirits after a night of cultivation. This wasn’t just because of the increase in soul power—they had rediscovered their mutual feelings of familiarity. The unfamiliarity and that invisible barrier brought about by Wang Dong’s change in gender gradually disappeared, and their friendship was slowly and imperceptibly converting to a romantic relationship.

“Do you have anything to do today?” Wang Dong’er asked Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao shook his head and replied, “No, I don’t. I’ve settled the materials regarding Spirits yesterday, and Elder Xuan has stored it away in the Library. I think I’m going to focus on cultivating over the next few days to prepare for the big competition.”

They didn’t really feel any pressure at all when they talked about the competition. They were so much stronger compared to ﬁve years ago, and others of the same age group would have a very tough time challenging them and Shrek’s Seven Monsters. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had claimed the championship ﬁve years ago, so it was natural that they didn’t think anybody could threaten their dominance today.

Wang Dong’er thought for a moment, then said, “We should register for the hunting expedition. If not, they may leave us behind, still in the dark.”

Huo Yuhao said amusingly, “You’re still thinking about that? Alright, I’ll listen to you. Let’s look for eldest senior brother and the others afterwards—I met him yesterday, and he said that everyone is here now, and we should temporarily lay our responsibilities in the Tang Sect aside. Everyone should come together to train and practice our coordination, as we have a lot more soul skills now than before.”

“Okay.”

They washed up and got some breakfast before they arrived in the outer courtyard once more. They would have to look for the Martial Soul Department’s vice-Dean Cai Mei’er for registration, as she was in charge of the expedition, and her ofﬁce was in the outer courtyard’s Martial Soul Department.

“What? You guys want to participate in this hunting expedition?” Cai Mei’er looked astonished as she stared at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er.

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Dean Cai, I have serendipitously obtained a ﬁfth soul ring for my secondary martial soul, but my main martial soul still only has four soul rings. I am mainly a spiritual-type soul master, so I want to take this chance to add a ﬁfth soul ring. This will be extremely beneﬁcial for us during the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.”

Cai Mei’er’s eyebrows were tightly knitted together, and she began to contemplate the matter.

Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but feel a little surprised. He didn’t think his request was outrageous at all—it was just him and Wang Dong’er, and he was conﬁdent that they wouldn’t become a burden to the group. Wang Dong’er asked, “Dean Cai, does this expedition have a restriction on the number of people who are allowed to participate?”

Cai Mei’er shook her head and said, “There’s no limit. However, it’s a bit troublesome if you two want to go, I can’t make this decision. Don’t forget, Yuhao, Elder Xuan has ofﬁcially announced that you’re the heir to the position of Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion, your status is now drastically different from before. No matter what activity you wish to participate in, we have to ensure your safety before anything else.”

Huo Yuhao ﬁnally realized what was going on—so, Dean Cai was actually feeling conﬂicted about that.

“Dean Cai, there will be so many people moving together, and everyone is a member of the inner courtyard. There shouldn’t much risk or danger.”

Cai Mei’er answered, “You’re wrong—it’s dangerous because of the fact that you guys are all students from the inner courtyard. If everyone were from the outer courtyard, we would only be hunting soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest’s Peripheral Regions. There would be a low chance for things to go awry as long there were teachers who were powerful enough leading the group. However, it’s different for you guys. All of you are ﬁve-ringed and six-ringed, and all of you have high standards for soul rings. We’ll have to venture

deeper into the Great Star Dou Forest to ﬁnd suitable soul rings for you guys, and under such circumstances, even the teachers- in-charge cannot guarantee absolute safety for everyone. The further we go into the Great Star Dou Forest, the more perilous it gets—I’m sure you’re both aware of that.”

Huo Yuhao didn’t know what to say anymore. The academy was concerned for his safety, so it was hard for him to object to that. However, he actually needed a soul ring, and Wang Dong’er still wanted to monitor and investigate Wang Qiu’er.

Cai Mei’er pondered momentarily before saying, “Alright, let’s do it this way. I will report this to Elder Xuan after I return to the Sea God’s Island, and it should be ﬁne as long as Elder Xuan agrees. Lexuan is leading this group, but if the two of you do participate in the end, we might have to add one or two more teachers to tag along.”

They left Cai Mei’er’s ofﬁce, and Wang Dong’er couldn’t help but laugh and comment, “See, you’re now a VIP. The academy is making a big fuss about this, but it’s not about me! It’s clear that this is all about you.”

Huo Yuhao laughed along and said, “Don’t undervalue yourself. Don’t forget that you’re also the heir to the Clear Sky Sect, and the academy must ensure your safety as well. Dean Cai is trying to guard against surprises. We have been to the Great Star Dou Forest many times, and if we don’t meet hundred-thousand year soul beasts, we will deﬁnitely be able to escape with our lives with our current cultivation.”

They returned to the Sea God’s Island, where they went straight to Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi’s dorm.

They could hear the cacophony of laughter and banter as soon as they walked through the door.

“You have to treat everyone, Caitou. I wonder how a pretty ﬂower like Xiao Xiao could have chosen you.” Xu Sanshi’s hearty laughter could be heard.

He Caitou didn’t back down at all. “That’s right, a pretty ﬂower like Nannan has chosen to plant herself on a pile of shit like you. You shouldn’t have walked away with him that day, Nannan! Look at him – he’s so proud and happy that his eyes have almost grown to the top of his head.”

Xu Sanshi was sprawled out inside the living room, while He Caitou was sitting on a chair not far from him, bickering with him. Jiang Nannan and Xiao Xiao were cleaning up the room on the other side, and they casually ignored the banter as they whispered into each other’s ears.

“Second senior brother, third senior brother. Fourth senior sister, ﬁfth senior sister!” Huo Yuhao called out the moment he walked in.

All four of them looked over, but the ﬁrst person they looked at was Wang Dong’er.

Wang Dong’er evaded everyone’s gazes and hid behind Huo Yuhao. “What are you looking at? Have you never seen me before?”

Xu Sanshi laughed out loud and said, “We’ve seen you before, but we only recognize Wang Dong, and not Wang Dong’er. Where’s this pretty lady from? Come on out, let me tease you a little… Aiyo!”

“Your skin must be itchy,” Jiang Nannan said as she withdrew the duster she had just whipped across Xu Sanshi’s back. Xu Sanshi hurriedly smiled at her and said, “Wang Dong has lied to us for so long, don’t you think she deserves to be teased? I don’t mean anything else, you’re the only one I love in this entire world.”

“Get lost.” Jiang Nannan kicked him angrily, and then circled behind Huo Yuhao and dragged Wang Dong’er out.

“You’re so beautiful, Dong’er. Everyone will fall in love with you when they see you! Why are you hiding?” Jiang Nannan laughed as she spoke softly.

Wang Dong’er lowered her head and said, “You’re mocking me too, fourth senior sister.”

Jiang Nannan said, “The truth has been revealed, and the two of you are truly fated. Love will be victorious in the end. What a fantastic outcome! You have to be nice to our Dong’er, Yuhao. She’s so pretty... if you are not nice to her, she might just run away, and you’re going to regret that.”

Huo Yuhao could only laugh along foolishly, and say nothing. No answer was better than him just keeping quiet and giving his silent consent.

Bei Bei’s voice could be heard from upstairs at this moment. “That must be Yuhao and Wang Dong’er! Alright, everyone’s here.”

Bei Bei came down from upstairs. He was still dressed like he had always been, and one couldn’t tell anything was different from his expression. However, everybody else’s expressions changed a little, and the three couples toned down their intimacy and affection.

There was still no news about Xiao Ya, even today. Everyone knew how painful Bei Bei’s heartache was, so nobody wanted to provoke him or upset him in that way.

Bei Bei walked down the stairs and came before everyone. “It’s been more than two years, and we’re all ﬁnally back together again. It hasn’t been easy! We have a few more months before the next season’s competition will begin. I know we are all very conﬁdent, but we cannot be too complacent and careless. We have to look down on our opponents as part of our strategy, but we have to be careful with our battle tactics. Come, let’s ﬁnd a place to exercise a little. Everyone will take this chance to show each other how we have improved over the years.”

Xu Sanshi jumped to his feet and said, “I’m with Huo Yuhao and Nannan! You can pick the rest however you like.”

These two equally reputable prodigies would lead one team respectively during every one of their sparring sessions. Xu Sanshi didn’t forget to make the ﬁrst move to gain the upper hand. Eeveryone had seen Huo Yuhao’s display of prowess during Sea God’s Fate, and his Spirit Eyes naturally provided extremely formidable support. The presence or absence of Huo Yuhao’s support would determine which side would win the ﬁght.

Bei Bei snapped, “You think you’re clever? Let’s go, we’ll talk about it later.”

The inner courtyard students had a place set aside speciﬁcally for sparring; they didn’t have to go to the outer courtyard. They couldn’t be vying with the outer courtyard students for a sparring venue. The inner courtyard’s venue for practice battles was located on a hill that was roughly a hundred meters high, near the eastern side of the Sea God’s Island.

The top of this hill seemed like it had been shaved and ﬂattened. Besides the Sea God’s Pavilion itself, this was the highest location in the entire Sea God’s Island. There was a patch of ﬂat irregular land on the hilltop that was about a hundred meters in diameter. Tough but uneven granite of stunning durability was laid out over the ground. It was connected to the hill itself, and thus the ﬂooring was exceptionally tough.

The inner courtyard had its own rules. If the inner courtyard’s Sparring Arena was damaged or destroyed, whoever did it would be responsible for getting more granite and repairing it. For this reason, the inner courtyard students were quite careful when they sparred in this area, and they typically only came to this place to test out or demonstrate new soul skills. Everyone would rather leave the city if they wanted to spar properly.

When the seven of them climbed up to the inner courtyard’s Sparring Arena, they realized to their surprise that were already people there, even though people rarely came here.

There were four of them, and everyone knew one another.

Two people were having a practice battle. More accurately, one was chasing the other, while the other was trying to escape.

“Hey, are you even a man? All you know how to do is run! Can you ﬁght me head-on?” Wu Ming exclaimed as she raised her hand and ﬁred off a stream of Golden Crow Primordial Fire. A pillar of ﬁre swept across the entire arena, and lightning sparkled as it nimbly evaded this attack…

Chu Qingtian’s voice could be heard in response. “You want to talk about reason, eh? You’re an assault-type soul master, and your Golden Crow Primordial Fire is not far from Ultimate Fire. I’m an agility-type soul master, so how can I face you head-on? If I make a go for it, then it won’t be a practice battle anymore, but suicide. You can’t murder your own husband, can you?”

“What husband? Are we married?” The sparring pair were Chu Qingtian and Wu Ming. After Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er left the other day, the two of them also successfully completed the last segment, Eternal Love. With Wu Ming around, who would want to ﬁght her for her man? That person would have been asking for trouble.

Wang Yan and Han Ruoruo were spectating on the other side. They watched Wu Ming and Chu Qingtian, and they smiled faintly from time to time while they occasionally glanced at each other, at which point their smiles would become a little warmer. It was apparent that they were having a good time together.

“Teacher Wang, senior sister Han!” Bei Bei took the lead as he greeted them both.

Wang Yan and Han Ruoruo naturally saw them as well, and they both stood up to greet everyone.

Han Ruoruo didn’t have an obvious reaction, but Wang Yan began to feel a bit surreal. He knew the Shrek’s Seven Monsters too well, after all, and the entire process of him courting and wooing Han Ruoruo had fallen into these little fellas’ eyes. But Wang Yan quickly returned to normal, however, and he asked with a subtle smile on his face, “Why are you guys here?”

Bei Bei said, “The competition is going to start, and everyone is here. We should take this chance to spar and practice, so we can all see how we have improved over the years. We can also take this chance to train our coordination and teamwork.”

Wang Yan had a look of revelation on his face as he said, “Yes! Time really ﬂies. It’s been ﬁve years in the blink of an eye, and everyone has grown up. I still remember Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were only this tall during the last competition.” He gestured with his hand to show height as he spoke, and he turned towards Wang Dong’er. “I have only just found out that you are a girl, and you’re so pretty. Did you know about this before, Yuhao, and you’ve been hiding it from us? Puppy love is not right.”

Huo Yuhao blushed and forced a laugh as he said, “I’m also a victim!”

Wang Dong’er shot a glare in his direction and whispered, “How are you the victim?” “Alright, you’re the victim!” Huo Yuhao changed tack as quickly as he could.

Beside Wang Yan, Han Ruoruo was amused by their bickering as she laughed and said, “Don’t forget about the Spirit that you’re supposed to explain to everyone, Huo Yuhao.”

Huo Yuhao replied, “Don’t worry, senior sister. I’ve already reported the business with Spirits in detail to the Sea God’s Pavilion, and I believe it won’t take long before the inner courtyard disciples will be setting up for trials and experimentation. However, how it’s going to be carried out exactly is still up to the academy. Dean Yan is directly responsible for this.”

Wang Yan’s eyes sparkled. “That’s going to be a new topic for our curriculum. Dean Yan has told me to look for him tonight about this matter. That was an impressive innovation, Yuhao!”

Huo Yuhao chortled and said, “That has nothing to do with me, it’s the academy’s research. I’m just the ﬁrst guinea pig.” He had already thought this through. Since he had announced that he would give everything to do with Spirits to the academy, then the way he discussed it would also have to change. He would rather accord all research credit to the academy as a way of him giving back to the academy.

Wang Yan stared deeply into his eyes. He was the vice-head of Shrek Academy’s Martial Soul Research Institute, and was extremely clear about what direction the academy’s research had taken in recent years. However, he didn’t question how Huo Yuhao had explained things.

On the other side, Wu Ming and Chu Qingtian stopped when they saw everyone. Chu Qingtian seemed like he was drenched with sweat, and he wore an expression as if he had been liberated while he walked over with Wu Ming.

@Chapter 224: Fighting Intent Surges During the Meeting of the Seven Monsters

When Wu Ming saw Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, her eyes brightened. “Oh, you two are here! You’re here to practice for the competition, right? Come, come, come! Spar with me! I had a good time watching that ﬁght on the Sea God’s Lake! Let me experience the strength of your ice-type domain at close range. How about it?”

Han Ruoruo was a little annoyed as she said, “Ming’er, they just arrived. Can’t you act more like a senior?”

Wu Ming just answered excitedly, “Sister Ruoruo, you don’t know how great they were that day, even though they are young, they’re worthy of respect! You should know Ling Luochen, if I’m not wrong. Under Ling Luochen’s leadership, one Soul Emperor and four Soul Kings fought them. Guess what happened? Total suppression. The two of them suppressed the other ﬁve, who had no chance at all. They overwhelmed them right from the start. Between them, one’s a Soul King and the other’s a Soul Emperor. Tell me, how can I not spar with them?” Han Ruoruo hadn’t stayed long enough to watch Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er’s ﬁght that day, but she had heard about what had ensued in that particular ﬁght. And listening to Wu Ming’s detailed description, she was also quite shocked.

Wang Yan was very familiar with Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er. But he hadn’t mentioned them to her, even though he had been conﬁding a lot in Han Ruoruo over the past few days.

At this moment, Han Ruoruo demonstrated how sweet- tempered she was. She turned her attention to Wang Yan and gave him a probing look.

After two days of interaction, Wang Yan’s love for Han Ruoruo had grown to an all time high. Why did he like Han Ruoruo in the ﬁrst place? Through all these years, he had deﬁnitely had his chances to ﬁnd a partner. However, his requirements were very demanding. The greatest thing he liked about Han Ruoruo was the chemistry between them. He could understand what she was thinking with just the look in her eyes, or a simple gesture.

Wang Yan laughed and replied, “It’s ﬁne to let them spar. Why don’t all of you join? I don’t think you know each other well. Let me give all of you a chance to ofﬁcially get to know one another.”

“The seven of them are Bei Bei, He Caitou, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, Xiao Xiao, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong’er. They entered the inner courtyard later than the three of you. However, they hold a title that I’m sure will make the three of you surprised. They were given the title of Shrek’s Seven Monsters by the Sea God’s Pavilion. This title will remain with them for life.”

As Wang Yan said this, Han Ruoruo, Wu Ming and Chu Qingtian were all shocked. They looked at the seven of them with a differently now.

Shrek’s Seven Monsters for life? What did that mean? The Sea God’s Pavilion always adopted the principles of fairness and justice, and these seven were awarded such a prestigious title. Before the seven of them came around, this title had only belonged to the main competing members of the academy that took part in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament each time around. After the tournament was over, these members could retain this title for ﬁve years before it was taken back before the next edition of the tournament.

Thus, they were extremely shocked when they heard from Wang Yan that the seven of them had been given this title for life.

Chu Qingtian was still ﬁne with it, but Han Ruoruo and Wu Ming were once members of a team that had participated in the tournament. They were once holders of that same title, and thus they were well aware of how valuable this title was.

Wu Ming was a very direct person, so she couldn’t help but ask, “What did they do? The academy…”

Wang Yan was very proud, and he replied, “Five years ago, they were all substitutes for the tournament. But before the tournament, something terrible happened. In a tragic event, one of the ofﬁcial team members was killed while pursuing an evil soul master. The rest were also injured to varying extents. Eventually, only Ma Xiaotao, Ling Luochen, and Dai Yueheng competed with injuries. Besides the three of them, it was only Bei Bei and the other six.”

Wu Ming lost her voice. “Don’t tell me that they won the tournament even though they were just ﬁfteen years old then?”

Han Ruoruo was calm as she replied, “If I’m not wrong, our academy was the champion during the last edition of the tournament, as always.”

Wang Yan nodded and said, “She’s right. During that tournament, they played the part of the main team, where not only did they obtain victory through their own abilities during the earlier rounds of the tournament, but they even gritted their teeth and emerged as the eventual champions in the later stages of the tournament. They didn’t give up, and upheld our glory. They went through a lot, and brought home the title of champions. I was their teacher back then. The difﬁculties they went through can’t be described with words.”

After Huo Yuhao and the rest heard his words, they looked at each other, and their eyes once again burned with reminiscent passion. It was as if they had returned to the tournament and teamed up with one another once again. They had given their best in every round. Even when they sustained critical injuries, they still gave everything they had for Shrek’s glory! It was too memorable! Wang Yan continued, “When they obtained the title of champions, they were all hurt to varying extents. Some of them were even gravely injured. However, Shrek’s glory was preserved. Eventually, the Sea God’s Pavilion decided to award them the title of Shrek’s Seven Monsters for life when they

returned to the academy, after a conference was held. This matter is only known internally, but this glory belongs to them forever. If I don’t remember wrongly, Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong’er, and Huo Yuhao were only twelve back then. Huo Yuhao only even had two rings then, but the three of them possess twin

martial souls. That was why they were selected by the academy.”

Wu Ming and Han Ruoruo looked at each other and saw the shock in each other’s eyes. Those three had competed in the tournament at the age of twelve! Wasn’t that a record? Furthermore, they didn’t sound like they were sent to compete as substitutes. They really competed!

Wu Ming spoke up, “Teacher Wang, I should seek more advice from the few of them after what you’ve mentioned. Let’s see how strong they are.”

Wang Yan smiled and replied, “I would also like to see how much they’ve grown after ﬁve years. I won’t be leading the team in the upcoming tournament, so I can only see their abilities now.

“Bei Bei, what do you guys think?”

Bei Bei smiled and replied, “It’s our honor to receive your guidance. Teacher Wang, how do you think this sparring should be carried out?”

After pondering for a moment, Wang Yan said, “In terms of raw ability, Ruoruo and Wu Ming have a deﬁnite advantage over you guys. Don’t think that the seven of you have an advantage just because you outnumber them. Ruoruo is a control-type Soul Douluo, and her control abilities are extremely strong. Let’s do it this way. Ruoruo, Wu Ming, Qingtian, the three of you can ﬁght together. Bei Bei, the seven of you can team up together. What do you think?”

Bei Bei laughed bitterly. “Senior Han is also ﬁghting? That puts a lot of pressure on us!”

Han Ruoruo was an eight-ringed Soul Douluo. Furthermore, she wasn’t some lowly soul master, but a tried and true Soul Douluo from the inner courtyard of Shrek Academy! She wouldn’t be at a disadvantage even against any ordinary Titled Douluo. Among the inner courtyard students, Han Ruoruo was the strongest apart from Zhang Lexuan. She was even recognized as the best at control in the inner courtyard. She

had once competed in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament with Zhang Lexuan, and her current status in the academy was deﬁnitely not inferior to Wang Yan, an inner courtyard teacher.

The strongest among the current Shrek’s Seven Monsters was only a six-ringed Soul Emperor. While it was seven versus three, the opposing party had a Soul Douluo, a Soul Sage, and a Soul Emperor. They weren’t easy opponents to deal with!

Wang Yan smiled and said, “How can we test how your cultivations have improved without any pressure? It’s only a spar. Why? Are you claiming that you’re really weaker?”

Bei Bei laughed and turned to his compatriots. He saw the burning will to compete in their eyes. Wang Yan’s words hadn’t been just to shock Ruoruo, Wu Ming, and Chu Qingtian. At the same time, they had reminded Shrek’s Seven Monsters of their memories together. Eight-ringed Soul Douluo? Does that mean we can’t win against them?

“Alright, let’s give it a try. Seniors, please show mercy on us.” Bei Bei said to Wang Yan as he smiled.

Wang Yan replied, “Alright, I’ll be the referee then.

Remember to stop when I call for it.”

“Yes.” The seven of them acknowledged his words politely at the same time, demonstrating their respect for Wang Yan.

Wang Yan turned to Han Ruoruo, and she nodded at him. From the look in her eyes, he could tell that she understood him.

Wu Ming was already raring to go. “Come on, come on, let’s ﬁght.”

Wang Yan said, “Although it’s only a spar, it must be slightly formal. Please retreat to either side of the arena. I’ll give both parties three minutes to discuss your team strategy before the sparring begins.”

Wu Ming wanted to say something else, but she was stopped by Han Ruoruo. She dragged Chu Qingtian with her as they moved back. Chu Qingtian’s lethargic look seemed to have disappeared at this point. He was a little eager now, too. It was evident that his prior lethargy had been an act. However, Wu Ming was too excited now, and didn’t notice his change.

Both parties retreated to their positions. Bei Bei and the rest moved to the left of the arena. Han Ruoruo, Wu Ming, and Chu Qingtian retreated to the right of the arena.

Bei Bei immediately arranged a set-up as he looked at his compatriots.

“Sanshi, the two of us will be at the front. Nannan will react from one side. He Caitou will be located in the center to send out long-range attacks. Xiao Xiao, you’ll be in charge of helping the rest and providing control along with Yuhao. Dong’er, you’ll team up with Yuhao to react to any changes. Yuhao, you’ll be the main controller. You’ll guide us all in the arena. Does everyone understand the plan?”

Even though it had been two years since they had last teamed up together, their chemistry hadn’t waned. This was especially evident as they were all eager to ﬁght together. The young and inexperienced often lacked fear. Against a senior who was a Soul Douluo, it wasn’t embarrassing even if they lost! Moreover, they were more likely to show their true abilities under pressure. Challenging Han Ruoruo and the other two was much more beneﬁcial for them than ﬁghting each other, and they could also practice all together.

As they spoke, the seven of them were already lining up in their formation.

Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi were in front. Jiang Nannan was to the right and slightly behind them. He Caitou was in the middle further behind. Xiao Xiao, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong formed one line with Huo Yuhao in the center. He was already holding Wang Dong’er’s hand at this point.

This wasn’t a very neat formation, but they looked mighty as they stood in their positions. When Han Ruoruo and the other two turned their attention to the seven of them, they didn’t see seven people, but a single entity. It was a complete unit.

Wu Ming was already ready to ﬁght, and she leapt excitedly to the front. Chu Qingtian followed beside and slightly behind her, doing what Jiang Nannan did. This was the most common spot adopted by an agility-type soul master. Han Ruoruo stood at the back. The three of them formed a simple, yet effective formation.

Seeing that both parties were ready, Wang Yan shouted, “Both parties, please get ready.”

Suddenly, the soul rings from both parties started to rise. Blinding light started to illuminate their surroundings, and intense undulations of soul power caused the air above the Sparring Arena to distort.

At this point, the differences in their cultivations became evident. While there were only three people on Han Ruoruo’s side, their aura was far more overwhelming. Han Ruoruo only stood silently in place, but she gave everyone the feeling that she was the anchor of the team. Her eyes started to shine brightly. She didn’t look at Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi, but turned her attention directly to Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao only felt a strong spiritual pressure approaching him. He could clearly tell that Han Ruoruo was locking onto him.

Yes, she was locking onto him. She wasn’t locking onto him using a soul skill, just with her spirit. Only a control-type soul master who was at least a Soul Sage could perform such a Spiritual Lock.

Under the effect of this Spiritual Lock, she was able to accurately predict her opponent’s moves and exert immense spiritual pressure on her opponent’s spiritual sea. This helped her suppress her opponent. When there was a huge gap in cultivation, the effect of her Spiritual Lock was even greater. Not only did it restrict her opponents, but she could even enhance the results of her own abilities.

Of course, it wasn’t without any limitations. Once she used her Spiritual Lock, it also meant that her main target was Huo Yuhao. He would become her sole priority.

A control-type soul master against a control-type soul master. When one side was outnumbered, it was best for them to target the control-type soul master on the opposing side ﬁrst. As a top-ranked student in the inner courtyard, Han Ruoruo’s abilities were undoubtedly outstanding.

However, Huo Yuhao wouldn’t have been specially promoted to membership in the Sea God’s Pavilion if he were that easy to deal with.

Chapter 225: Golden Crow True Body

Huo Yuhao’s eyes shone with golden light as he faced the immense spiritual pressure placed on him by Han Ruoruo. A layer of golden light soon engulfed his entire body.

When the golden light shone, a dim golden fog also rose from his body.

“What?” Han Ruoruo exclaimed slightly. She was stunned to discover that her Spiritual Lock had lost its effect, or rather, it had been isolated. She hadn’t expected such a thing to occur, especially considering that she had eight rings and was facing a ﬁve-ringed opponent.

“Ming’er, be careful. Huo Yuhao’s spiritual cultivation isn’t below mine. How could his spiritual power be so strong?”

Just as Han Ruoruo was becoming perplexed, Wang Yan watched as both parties unleashed their martial souls. He shouted, “Begin!” Both parties acted immediately. Wu Ming was the fastest. As she tipped her toes to the ground, she leapt forward. Her Golden Crow Primordial Fire was unleashed, and intense sparks started to illuminate the entire arena. Han Ruoruo and Chu Qingtian were completely concealed by the sparks.

As she shouted and burst forward, she pointed her right hand toward the sky. Her fourth soul ring shone brightly, and a ruby ball of light the size of a longan shot into the sky.

This ball of light was very small when it appeared, but it grew continuously as it ascended. When it was thirty meters from the ground, it had already grown to the size of a head. After this, it started to crash down towards Shrek’s Seven Monsters like a meteorite.

Shrek’s Seven Monsters were mostly unfamiliar with Wu Ming’s soul skills. Xu Sanshi took a step forward and lifted his Shield of the Xuanming Turtle up high, preparing to resist Wu Ming’s attack.

Ripples spread out across the pitch-black shield. Among Shrek’s Seven Monsters, Huo Yuhao was an ice-type, while Xu Sanshi was truly water-type. His defense didn’t just possess the resilience of his shield, but also the gentleness of water. At least in terms of element, his shield wasn’t inferior to the Golden Crow Primordial Fire.

However, something weird suddenly occurred. The scarlet- red ﬁreball that was moving extremely quickly stopped in the air just as it was about to crash against the shield. After that, it made a turn and glided past it. It seemed to sweep past Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan, and started to crash down towards He Caitou at the center of the formation.

Her control over this soul skill was immaculate. If Wu Ming only attacked with brute force, how would she be able to reign with terror in the inner courtyard? She was truly capable.

Even with Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection, he could only judge that Wu Ming was controlling her soul skill. However, he didn’t know what transformation was going to happen to her soul skill.

Wu Ming revealed a smile on her face. Her fourth soul skill was called the Golden Crow Primordial Fire Ring. Once it blew apart in the center of the opponents’ formation, it would cause a tremendous impact and scorching effect. Even if it couldn’t harm them, it could at least destroy their formation and separate them. Once their formation was disrupted, they could be dealt with individually using Han Ruoruo’s control.

In such a perilous situation, Shrek’s Seven Monsters were indeed quite frantic. After all, the seven of them hadn’t teamed up with one another for more than two years. All seven of them wanted to attack at the same time, but they were lacking slightly in chemistry.

However, this lack of cooperation could be made up for using their capabilities.

Xiao Xiao shouted, “Let me handle it!”

Chemistry was built on trust. When she shouted this, the rest of the six didn’t bother with the Golden Crow Primordial Fire Ring and continued to burst forward.

A ball of black light appeared just as the Golden Crow Primordial Fire Ring crashed down. It was a huge cauldron. The cauldron was around one-and-a-half meters high, one- and-a-half meters across, and it was as heavy as a mountain.

From the looks of it, the Golden Crow Primordial Fire Ring was going to crash into this cauldron. Its strength was undoubtedly going to be contained by it.

However, Wu Ming controlled her soul skill again.

The crashing Golden Crow Primordial Fire Ring moved three inches laterally before it continued to descend.

This was the second shift of her soul skill. As a Soul Sage from Shrek Academy, Wu Ming’s spiritual power was superior to most other ordinary Soul Sages.

However, her smile froze just as she revealed it on her face.

The cauldron divided into three components just as the Golden Crow Primordial Fire Ring moved. Wu Ming’s control was limited, and so, her ring landed in one of the cauldrons. Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection couldn’t judge how Wu Ming was going to control her soul skill, but he could accurately grasp the timing of her actions.

Xiao Xiao’s Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron divided at that timing, and the Golden Crow Primordial Fire Ring was caught in one of them.

A loud boom resonated from the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron, and the entire cauldron turned golden-red. But no heat seeped out because Xiao Xiao contained Wu Ming’s soul skill completely. It wasn’t just one cauldron that turned red; all three changed color at the same time. The attack’s was distributed evenly across all three cauldrons. Although Wu Ming’s cultivation was far superior to Xiao Xiao’s, it wasn’t easy for her to overcome the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron.

Xiao Xiao’s expression changed slightly before it returned to normal. As long as the Threeelives Soulcrush Cauldron wasn’t destroyed, only her soul power would be depleted. She wouldn’t be hurt.

She was delayed for a moment, however, and thus was now slightly behind Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er. She pointed her ﬁngers at the three cauldrons, and they started to revolve rapidly. The golden-red color emanating from the cauldrons also started to quickly disappear.

Wu Ming’s name was built on her offense. She was shocked that her fourth soul skill was resisted so easily. However, she didn’t stop given her wealth of experience.

As she lifted her right hand, her second soul ring started to shine brightly. A golden-red ﬂame started to dance above her palm. In the next instant, an intense golden-red spark started to burn around her body, bathing the entire Sparring Arena in a golden-red light.

This was Wu Ming’s second soul skill—Golden Crow Primordial Fire Combustion!

Both parties were now only a hundred meters apart. After the initial attack, the gap between both parties had been pulled closer.

Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi didn’t rush forward recklessly. They maintained their formation with the rest behind them. From the side, Jiang Nannan had vanished directly behind Xu Sanshi. She couldn’t be located anymore.

On their side, the agility-type soul master had disappeared behind their defense-type soul master. On their opponent’s side, Chu Qingtian also hid behind Wu Ming.

Wu Ming clasped her hands in front of her. Since her soul skills wouldn’t work, she changed her strategy. A beam of golden-red ﬁre instantly shot out from her hands. This beam of ﬁre was almost a meter across, and shot straight towards Shrek’s Seven Monsters. It was a direct confrontation.

At this point, Huo Yuhao ﬁnally made his move. He quickly took a step forward, coming beside He Caitou. Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi moved to either side of him.

With Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection, they didn’t need to rely on sound to warn one another. The entire process proceeded smoothly, and their cohesion was great.

An azure-green light started to shine from Huo Yuhao’s chest and belly. In the next moment, a huge beam of azure-green light shot out towards Wu Ming’s ﬁrst soul skill, the Golden Crow Primordial Fire.

While it was only Wu Ming’s ﬁrst soul skill, it was enhanced by her second soul skill. As both soul skills complemented each other, the air seemed to be scorched as the golden-red beam of ﬁre passed. The air started to distort, and revealed ripple-like patterns.

However, this was the complete opposite of what was happening on Huo Yuhao’s side. The azure-green beam of light caused all the heat to be replaced with a chill. His attack clashed directly with the Golden Crow Primordial Fire.

It was the Ice Empress’ Wrath.

This was once Huo Yuhao’s strongest soul skills, and it was still very effective now. Under the effect of his Haodong Power and with help from Wang Dong’er, the depletion of his soul power was negligible.

The contrasting beams of light clashed together in the air.

This was also the ﬁrst direct clash of abilities.

Dense fog started to diffuse from the center of the collision. A piercing sound reverberated, and the two beams of light were destroyed at the same time. Neither party gained an advantage.

“Impressive. It earns its name as the Ultimate Ice!” Wu Ming shouted as she jumped up high. A pair of golden-red wings ﬂapped open behind her back. Her martial soul was the Golden Crow, and possessed ﬂying abilities. It wasn’t a soul skill or soul tool.

The Golden Crow Primordial Fire continued to be unleashed. As she ﬂew into the air, a streak of dim-golden light also ﬂashed across. It was unleashed quickly beneath her feet towards Shrek’s Seven Monsters—Han Ruoruo had ﬁnally acted.

When Han Ruoruo made her move, all seven of her foes turned serious. She was an eight-ringed Soul Douluo, the strongest opponent they had ever faced.

Han Ruoruo’s ﬁrst soul ring lit up, and the streak of golden light that came from it was like a golden line that stretched into inﬁnity. It was like a spiritual snake that slithered forward. After it ﬂashed beneath Wu Ming’s feet, it reached Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi in the next moment. This was Han Ruoruo’s control-type tool soul, the Dazzling Golden Rope.

The Dazzling Golden Rope was like living matter, and started to quiver towards both sides. At the same time, two golden rings arced out towards Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi.

Bei Bei pressed his hands down, and two Thunderous Dragon Claws were unleashed.

Amid reverberating booms, two huge claw prints were left behind on the granite ﬂooring where the Thunderous Dragon Claws struck. However, the Dazzling Golden Rope twisted slightly before it managed to circumvent them. It seemed to have eyes. At the same time, its speed didn’t drop at all as it continued to loop towards Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi.

Huo Yuhao made a move again. He didn’t know how strong a control-type Soul Douluo was, but he was certain that this sparring match would end very quickly if he allowed Han Ruoruo to gain the upper hand.

Purple light ﬂashed across Huo Yuhao’s eyes. Han Ruoruo’s body jerked slightly, and she took a step back. Her Dazzling Golden Rope was also retracted, and arced out in a huge golden ring in the air.

Yes, it was Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Shock, one of the few offensive soul skills of his Spirit Eyes. A control-type soul master against another control-type soul master. Huo Yuhao managed to gain a slight advantage over Han Ruoruo as she was caught off-guard.

However, her spiritual power was indeed powerful. Although she was a little lost for a moment, her eyes then started to shine brightly.

A faint silvery glow shot out of her eyes, engulﬁng her entire body. It was yet another embodiment of her spiritual power, although it was a different color. When this layer of silvery spiritual power ﬂowed out, Huo Yuhao felt as if she were unstoppable.

However, he had still managed to buy some time for the rest. As Han Ruoruo’s Dazzling Golden Rope was restricted, Shrek’s Seven Monsters unleashed their full-out attacks.

Xu Sanshi was the ﬁrst to make a move. He took a big step forward, and his shield lit up with a weird black glow. In the next instant, he ﬂew into the air. Wu Ming was about to unleash a strike towards him when he suddenly disappeared. Xu Sanshi was displaced to her position. Mysterious Underworld Displacement. This was the soul skill that stole the limelight during the last edition of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.

The most unique trait of this Mysterious Underworld Displacement was its element of surprise. If one was caught off-guard, it was impossible to break free once it was locked on. That was why it became one of Xu Sanshi’s strongest soul skills as a defense-type soul master. For defense-type soul masters, this was a divine skill. At certain times, the Mysterious Underworld Displacement could change the outcome of a situation entirely. Unless the opponent’s soul power and spiritual power completely overwhelmed his own, then his Mysterious Underworld Displacement would never fail.

Even though Wu Ming was a Soul Sage, Xu Sanshi was a Soul Emperor! He wouldn’t have any conﬁdence if he used it against Han Ruoruo, but it shouldn’t be resisted easily by Wu Ming, considering her cultivation.

As he was displaced, Xu Sanshi faced an unprotected Chu Qingtian. Chu Qingtian saw a sly smile on his face before gloomy clouds starting to appear.

The light coming off his shield formed a wall of shields. Following this, a huge illusory projection of a Xuanwu surfaced. In the next instant, the shield wall had converted into the shape of a turtle shell. It had a diameter of over ten meters, and it started to crash down towards Chu Qingtian.

The terrifying thing about it was that it caused Chu Qingtian to feel as if there was a black whirlpool in the center of the shield. A strong suction force was unleashed from this whirlpool, dragging his body towards it, and causing his speed to fall tremendously.

Right now, more than one of Xu Sanshi’s soul rings had lit up. Besides his second soul ring, his pitch-black ﬁfth soul ring was also shining.

His ﬁfth soul skill was called Turtle God’s Strike. This soul skill was different in that it couldn’t be used on its own. This also meant that Xu Sanshi’s ﬁfth soul skill was useless without other soul skills. It needed to coordinate with his second skill. He could only complete this blow by using the soul power needed to unleash these two soul skills at once.

However, it was also because of this that this blow was very strong. If not for the fact that Xu Sanshi had the Xuanwu’s blood lineage in his martial soul, it deﬁnitely wouldn’t have been so strong.

Wu Ming was also in a crisis on the other side.

When Xu Sanshi struck, Bei Bei also burst forward. However, he turned back immediately after bursting a few meters out. Jiang Nannan did almost exactly the same thing as him, while Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong’er, Xiao Xiao, and He Caitou completed an arc-shaped formation.

When Wu Ming was displaced, she was already completely surrounded by the six of them.

Wu Ming was in a daze as she was encircled. Shrek’s Seven Monsters were familiar with such a strategy and coordination. Their chemistry hadn’t seemed to fade even after more than two years.

Huo Yuhao struck her just as Wu Ming landed. He unleashed the complete version of the Darkgolden Terrorclaws supported by the Ice Empress’ Pincer.

Xiao Xiao changed to her second martial soul, the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute. Even though it only had one soul ring, her soul power was far superior to before. The pleasant sounds of the ﬂute rendered Wu Ming dizzy, and her speed dropped signiﬁcantly.

Bei Bei let out a huge amount of electricity. As the Vigorous Thunderbolt was unleashed, it turned into an electric web that engulfed her.

Wang Dong’er ﬂapped her wings, and the Light of the Butterﬂy Goddess ﬂowed towards Wu Ming. Huge amounts of golden light started to wash over her body.

Four out of the six surrounding her attacked. Only Jiang Nannan and He Caitou remained where they were. Jiang Nannan was waiting for an opportunity, while He Caitou was lifting a heavy cannon to his shoulder. His target was Han Ruoruo. An intense red light ﬂashed, and a huge ball of red light shot out into the air towards Han Ruoruo.

This was a Class 6 high-power cannon shell. This kind of high-power cannon shell was extremely explosive and ﬁery. It could only be ﬁred by a Class 6 high-power soul cannon, and even then, it could only be ﬁred three times consecutively. The Class 6 high-powered soul cannon could only be used again after a two hour cooldown period, otherwise it might overheat and explode. Aside from its obvious drawbacks, its offensive strength was one of the best among Class 6 soul tools.

Moreover, He Caitou still had Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection to guide him. He didn’t need to worry about his accuracy.

Shrek’s Seven Monsters were spiritually connected at this point. Xu Sanshi had ﬂown out and used his strong domain- type soul skill. He didn’t just want to stop Chu Qingtian in his tracks; he also wanted to trap Han Ruoruo. Along with He Caitou’s cannon shell, their aim was not to kill or hurt their opponents. Rather, they wanted to delay Han Ruoruo or Chu Qingtian’s assistance to Wu Ming. On the other side, four of them had teamed up to attack Wu Ming. However, Wu Ming wasn’t easy to deal with, either!

At such a critical moment, Wu Ming demonstrated her outstanding abilities.

Her seventh soul ring lit up at this point. Instantly, she turned into a ﬁery golden-red lady. She let out a sonorous whistle, and her wings beat once, propelling her upwards. She clashed head-on with Huo Yuhao’s Darkgolden Terrorclaws.

As reverberating booms sounded, the granite under Wu Ming’s feet started to crack. However, she had ﬁrst managed to resist the delay that the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute had imposed on her as she unleashed her Golden Crow True Body. Bei Bei’s Vigorous Thunderbolt was also resisted by the Golden Crow True Body.

As the Light of the Butterﬂy Goddess landed on the Golden Crow True Body, it caused huge ripples on the surface. However, it couldn’t force Wu Ming back. Only the Darkgolden Terrorclaws had some effect on her. Yes, this was her Martial Soul True Body, a powerful skill that only a Soul Sage or higher possessed!

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er had once faced Zhao Yang’s Martial Soul True Body. His Violet Goldbear had left a deep impression on them. But at this point, they realized the true terror of a Martial Soul True Body as Wu Ming unleashed her Golden Crow True Body.

Wu Ming’s aura soared, and her scorching Golden Crow Primordial Fire forced Bei Bei and Jiang Nannan to retreat a few steps.

Even as she withstood the attacks of several soul skills, she wasn't at any kind of disadvantage. Although she was surrounded, she still seemed to be counterattacking.

“Open up!” Wu Ming shouted as she revealed her strong side. Her third soul ring lit up, and she pressed her hands downward.

She was about to unleash her third soul skill, the Golden Crow Primordial Fire Explosion. It was a soul skill that caused immense destruction, and when one was trapped in an enemy encirclement, it was highly effective.

However, Jiang Nannan started to act at this point.

When she leapt into the air, she had already arrived behind Wu Ming. A dark-golden glow lit up on her body.

Wu Ming was very conﬁdent in her Golden Crow True Body, and thus didn’t bother with Jiang Nannan’s actions at all. She believed that she wouldn’t be hurt even if Jiang Nannan struck her, since she only possessed a ﬁve-ringed cultivation. As her Golden Crow Primordial Fire Explosion was about to erupt, they were deﬁnitely going to be blown away. Their encirclement would also be overcome, and it would be time to chase after victory once she was freed.

However, Wu Ming felt something amiss as Jiang Nannan stuck close to her.

The heat from the Golden Crow Primordial Fire was useless against Jiang Nannan. But she didn’t attack either, and only stuck close to Wu Ming. Her hands and even her legs were wrapped around Wu Ming. The dark-golden glow turned into an intense bright gold. After this, Wu Ming’s third soul ring was extinguished. The Golden Crow Primordial Fire Explosion wasn’t unleashed…

Jiang Nannan’s fourth and ﬁfth soul rings shone. Yes, it was the result of her fourth soul skill, Invincible Golden Body, and her ﬁfth soul skill, Soft Bone Lock.

The defensive strength of the Invincible Golden Body had increased greatly, but it still only lasted for a few seconds. As her cultivation increased, it was currently able to last for seven seconds. The Soft Bone Lock could also seal all non-Martial Soul True Body soul skills once the opponent was locked on, at the cost of her own mobility.

Due to the gap in their abilities, Jiang Nannan couldn’t possibly stay on Wu Ming forever. After all, the Golden Crow Primordial Fire would still burn her once her Invincible Golden Body disappeared.

But as a result of her actions, the Golden Crow Primordial Fire Combustion and Golden Crow Primordial Fire Explosion that Wu Ming was going to unleash were sealed, even though her Martial Soul True Body was still active. Jiang Nannan was ﬁghting for this little bit of time for the rest to attack again.

An orange-gold ﬁgure ﬂew out from Huo Yuhao’s body at this point. In the next moment, Huo Yuhao arrived in front of Wu Ming. He gently tapped her shoulder. At the same time, Huo Yuhao’s Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s third soul ring, the second of his four orange-gold soul rings lit up.

Jiang Nannan disappeared just as Huo Yuhao tapped Wu Ming’s shoulder. Her third soul skill helped her to escape after she bought enough time for Huo Yuhao. His palm was gentle, smooth, and spotless.

As his palm struck Wu Ming’s shoulder, her entire body started to tremble. The ferocious Golden Crow Primordial Fire that had broken free from the restraint of the Soft Bone Lock was instantly extinguished, as if a basin of ice water had been poured over it. Wu Ming’s body also froze. The golden-red faded from her body, and her Golden Crow True Body seemed to have been dissipated by Huo Yuhao’s gentle palm.

Empress’ Palm, Snowless Glacier!

Niu Tian, the Clear Sky Sect’s sectmaster had once mentioned that the only way to avoid the Snowless Glacier was to avoid being struck by it. The Empress’ Palm had to make contact before it could take effect.

Considering his status, his appraisal of the Snow Empress’ Snowless Glacier showed how strong it was.

Sword and Palm sends the sky into a Chill, the Empress’ Sword, Palm, and Chill. Among these three soul skills, the Empress’ Palm was ranked second. However, it was the strongest of the three in terms of its direct offensive strength. After fusing with the Snow Empress’ Spirit, Huo Yuhao no longer possessed solely Ultimate Ice, but Ultimate Ice and Snow. Among all cold-type soul masters, no one could compare to him.

Even without the enhancement of the Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice, Huo Yuhao’s Snowless Glacier still managed to achieve a temperature of absolute zero. While the Golden Crow True Body was very strong, the strength of Huo Yuhao’s Snowless Glacier was on display as it struck at such close quarters.

Wu Ming felt her shoulder turning numb as it was hit. In the next moment, she discovered that her soul power seemed to have solidiﬁed. Her Martial Soul True Body disintegrated instantly, and her entire right arm went numb. Suddenly, a lukewarm feeling started to gush from her shoulder to the rest of her body.

Yes, it was a lukewarm feeling. However, it gave her chills!

Reversal! Even though Huo Yuhao’s palm wasn’t enhanced by the Sovereign’s Descent, it still managed to surprisingly turn the chill into a warm feeling.

After Huo Yuhao struck Wu Ming, he also felt something amiss, and pressed his palm down again. But as the warm ﬂow returned to his body, and both he and the Snow Lady started to shine with bright orange light.

The attack was absorbed back into Huo Yuhao. Not only was his soul power restored, even the Snow Lady beneﬁted greatly.

Wu Ming unleashed her Golden Crow Primordial Fire once again, but her face had turned pale-white.

She didn’t know if she would have survived if Huo Yuhao hadn’t absorbed the warm ﬂow in time. However, she knew that it had been gushing straight towards her heart.

What soul skill was that? Wu Ming was stunned. The rest of Shrek’s Seven Monsters didn’t continue to attack her after they were informed through Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection. However, the sparring still continued.

Just as Wu Ming was struck by the Snowless Glacier, Xu Sanshi ran into trouble…

Chu Qingtian couldn’t handle the Turtle God’s Strike, and was forced back. However, there was still a Han Ruoruo behind him.

Han Ruoruo lifted her hand as she faced the Turtle God’s Strike and He Caitou’s high-power cannon shell. A golden ring light was unleashed with her body in the center.

She didn’t rush to save Wu Ming, as she knew Wu Ming well, and had absolute conﬁdence in her power. Han Ruoruo believed that Shrek’s Seven Monsters couldn’t defeat Wu Ming easily since she had unleashed her Martial Soul True Body, even if they encircled her. Xu Sanshi didn’t have to bother helping them defeat her, either. The golden ring looked very simple, as if it were a thick arm. It had a diameter of around ﬁve meters. However, a shocking scene appeared when the golden ring collided with the Turtle God’s Strike and He Caitou’s high-power cannon shell.

Boom, boom…

Two loud booms sounded at the same time. The ﬁrst to blow apart was the high-power cannon shell. He Caitou chose to ﬁre at this time in order to coordinate with Xu Sanshi. As an advanced-level soul engineer, he had great awareness. In addition, he had Huo Yuhao’s help.

However, the golden ring appeared to be impenetrable.

The terrifying impact generated by the high-power cannon shell affected the entire Sparring Arena. A mushroom cloud rose over the entire arena, but Han Ruoruo didn’t move a single step. The golden ring only shook slightly before it collided with the Turtle God’s Strike as well.

The Turtle God’s Strike was a combination of two soul skills, and was unleashed by Xu Sanshi, who possessed the Xuanwu’s blood lineage. As it collided with the golden ring, it created an intense whirlpool that generated a suction force. This whirlpool wasn’t simple, as it could continuously deplete the opponent’s soul power.

However, the golden ring suddenly divided into three when the Turtle God’s Strike collided with it. They intersected and connected together. As a buzz sounded, they started to pull in three different directions.

The instant they collided, and as the boom from their collision echoed out, the Turtle God’s Strike was overcome and converted back into countless projections of shields. Eventually, it returned to Xu Sanshi’s shield.

Xu Sanshi cursed, but before he could react further, a streak of golden light had already entangled him. No matter how he tried to struggle and resist with his shield, the Dazzling Golden Rope still dragged him down. He was restrained like a plump dumpling.

Chu Qingtian couldn’t give up such a perfect opportunity. He snuck up behind Xu Sanshi, and a panther projection formed by lightning shone brightly before striking Xu Sanshi’s body forcefully. Suddenly, Xu Sanshi’s body started to ﬂash with lightning. He appeared to be convulsing.

As Han Ruoruo ﬂung her right hand, Xu Sanshi was thrown forward. Wang Yan made his judgment right there, Xu Sanshi had been eliminated!

This was the ﬁrst time the Shrek’s Seven Monsters’ attack had ever been stopped once the Mysterious Underworld Displacement was used. Xu Sanshi just didn’t stand a chance against Han Ruoruo. The rest also started to feel that the Dazzling Golden Rope was going to be difﬁcult to deal with.

The rope could loosen, tighten, whip, and block. Even when it was tangled, it was ﬂexible. However, it seemed indestructible when it tightened.

Han Ruoruo controlled her martial soul very well. Xu Sanshi was defeated before he could unleash his full strength. Although that was partly due to the fact that Han Ruoruo’s martial soul was very effective at curbing Xu Sanshi’s, it was also undeniable that the gap in their cultivations played a huge part in his defeat. Shrek’s Seven Monsters were stunned, but Han Ruoruo was equally shocked. She had defeated Xu Sanshi in the shortest time possible. However, she was appalled to discover that the remaining six were all rushing towards her, while Wu Ming didn’t move from her spot. What did it mean for the six of them to turn their backs on her? It meant that she had been defeated.

So quickly? Ming’er only just showed her Golden Crow True Body! While she was quite puzzled, she also became warier. Her eyes gave off a ﬁerce light, and she snorted. The Dazzling Golden Rope struck forward towards the six of them. She was aiming for Huo Yuhao.

He Caitou, who was in front of the rest, suddenly stopped. A crisp, clanging sound rang out as he stood ﬁrmly rooted to the ground.

A circular metal disc appeared beneath his feet. The bottom of the disc was conical, and stabbed right into the granite below. He Caitou stood above this disc. Following this, a large number of soul tools started to combine with his body. In a matter of seconds, he had become a metal monster with countless barrels pointing outwards, all aimed at Han Ruoruo. Among Shrek’s Seven Monsters, who had the greatest destructive abilities? In terms of direct power, it wasn’t Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Huo Yuhao, or Wang Dong’er. It was He Caitou.

He Caitou was already a Class 7 soul engineer, which was equivalent to a Soul Sage! Although a Class 7 soul engineer was still some ways off from a Soul Sage’s Martial Soul True Body, the gap was still manageable.

After ﬁve years, He Caitou once again used the soul tool fort strategy. However, it was on a completely different level compared to ﬁve years ago.

He lifted a huge, heavy dark-gold cannon that was more than two-and-a-half meters long onto his shoulder. He used the rest of his soul tools to support the weight of this cannon. When the cannon was unleashed, even Han Ruoruo felt a shiver run down her spine.

Chapter 226: Dazzling Golden True Body

Other than this heavy cannon, He Caitou looked just like a steel porcupine, as uncountable cannon barrels emerged all over his body. He was practically a metal monster! He Caitou’s entire body was completely covered by this soul tool fortress.

He Caitou and Huo Yuhao were the only soul engineers among the Shrek’s Seven Monsters. Huo Yuhao was both a soul engineer and a soul master, while He Caitou was a pure soul engineer. Most of the time, Huo Yuhao was far too outstanding, to the point where he would steal all the limelight away from He Caitou. However, He Caitou had been working hard this whole time, and had been able to casually focus on his own cultivation and research with Huo Yuhao’s halo masking him. His improvements and advancements with soul tools over the past two years in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy were deﬁnitely comparable to Huo Yuhao’s.

The other ﬁve immediately separated, and He Caitou was all by himself as his body ﬂickered before countless beams of light erupted and went straight for Han Ruoruo. Wang Yan was the referee, but even his jaw hung slack at this moment. This explosive attack from He Caitou is way too powerful!

Han Ruoruo could feel the imminent threat from her opponent acutely. She ﬁnally chose to avoid meeting this force head-on, and opted to evade this attack instead. The Dazzling Golden Rope that was soaring forward suddenly changed direction and plummeted downwards before it planted itself steadily onto the ground, while Han Ruoruo’s shook her body subtly before she propelled herself away.

One could see from a distance that there was an enormous pillar of light surging forward like a shooting star somewhere high up on the Sea God’s Island. This was the effect of He Caitou’s soul tool fortress being used at full power. Juxtaposed with the disturbance caused by his explosive shell, the academy was ﬁnally riled up.

Everybody else began to move when He Caitou launched this attack. Xiao Xiao began to blow her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute once more, and one soul ring sparkled on her body as light rippled outward. However, these circles weren’t targeting Han Ruoruo, they were going for the Berserk Lightning Panther, Chu Qingtian, who was evading the attack on one side and currently watching He Caitou with a look of astonishment.

Chu Qingtian had truly been frightened. He was part of the Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard, but this was the ﬁrst time he had seen a high-level soul engineer’s prowess.

Another person slunk out when He Caitou ﬁred his attack… Jiang Nannan.

Jiang Nannan was an agility-type soul master, and her lean and slender thighs pushed off the ground and jumped more than ten meters horizontally. She arrived next to Chu Qingtian after another bounce.

Chu Qingtian was also an agility-type soul master, and he was even known as the fastest person in the inner courtyard, so his reaction wasn’t slow at all. Even though Jiang Nannan had a weaker cultivation, he had already seen the Shrek’s Seven Monsters’ prowess, and he didn’t dare to be complacent at all. His body image ﬂashed as he attempted to escape the battleﬁeld. He was still conﬁdent in his own speed. However, a dash of golden light suddenly ﬂickered across his eyes right at this moment, and another streak of white light ﬂashed by immediately afterwards. His mind was instantly thrown into a complete blank, while everything around him became blurry. The sky around him seemed like it was spinning round and round, and his body had only just left the ground before he touched down once more.

Huo Yuhao’s fourth soul ring was sparkling; it was his Spirit Eyes’ fourth soul skill, Spiritual Confusion!

All Jiang Nannan needed was this little bit of time. Han Ruoruo had been forced away by He Caitou’s assault, who had been positioned towards her right side. This forced Han Rourou to dodge towards the left, while Chu Qingtian was already on the right. This meant Han Rourou and Chu Qingtian were separated the moment He Caitou launched his attack.

Han Ruoruo knew that he was in trouble, but it was too late to help him. On the other side, Jiang Nannan had arrived right next to Chu Qingtian. She planted her right foot on Chu Qingtian’s abdomen and kicked Chu Qingtian’s body until his back arched upwards. Jiang Nannan grabbed Chu Qingtian’s shoulder immediately afterwards, while her soft and tender waist ﬂipped backwards, tossing Chu Qingtian heavily onto the ground.

There was no need to see what happened next. Their cultivations were similar enough, and Chu Qingtian was disoriented because of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Confusion. Jiang Nannan threw another right kick before she used Waist Bow and threw him into the air.

He Caitou’s soul tool fortress rapidly turned towards him, terrifying Chu Qingtian, who had just recovered his senses.

Fortunately, this was just a practice battle. He Caitou’s petrifying cannon barrels ﬂickered once before they returned to normal.

Han Ruoruo had been forced backwards, but she responded immediately. Another golden soul ring sparkled as her elegant ﬁgure bounced off the ground, and circles of light waved outward. While she defended herself in every possible way, her Dazzling Golden Rope snaked with lightning speed towards Jiang Nannan and Chu Qingtian.

Providing aid to their compatriots was the most important role of control-type soul masters.

However, Huo Yuhao was also the main control-type soul master of his team. How could he give her this chance?

He channeled his Spiritual Confusion as he reached out with his right hand, and Wang Dong’er slid into his embrace. She hadn’t been doing much throughout the entire battle.

An enormous eye with a vertical pupil and tinged with incredibly beautiful colors instantly appeared on the battleﬁeld.

This vertical eye’s brilliance was far too illustrious, to the point where Han Ruoruo couldn’t ignore it. The alarm in her heart paused her forward momentum momentarily, and a golden road immediately stretched out before her. If she hadn’t stopped in her tracks, then that golden road would have shone directly upon her.

The three-colored radiance ﬂickered, and the dazzling Golden Road sprawled horizontally in front of her eyes.

The Golden Road didn’t touch Han Ruoruo at all... but it struck her Dazzling Golden Rope!

The Dazzling Golden Rope’s forward movement ceased, and it grew soft and slack, as if it had lost all vitality. It couldn’t complete its rescue mission for Chu Qingtian. Thus, Wang Yan had already ruled Chu Qingtian out of the battle at this point. If He Caitou hadn’t shown mercy, this Berserk Lightning Panther would have been cooked.

Shrek’s Seven Monsters chose to divide and conquer even when they were seven versus three against a Soul Emperor, a Soul Sage, and a Soul Douluo, and their plan succeeded.

Even Han Ruoruo was unable to save her two comrades in time. Even though Xu Sanshi had been kicked out, this exchange of one for two was worth it for Shrek’s Seven Monsters. Han Ruoruo paused and stared at the ﬁve of them who were still maintaining their complete formation, and didn’t prevent Jiang Nannan from jumping back to rejoin them.

She nodded softly and said, “It’s no wonder the academy granted you all the title of Shrek’s Seven Monsters for life. We were not nearly as powerful as you guys when we were your age. However, you guys are still young. Let me teach you a lesson.”

She made this statement very casually, and there wasn’t a tinge of outrageousness or arrogance in it at all. It felt as if it was a simple statement of fact, but immense pressure began to rise in the Shrek’s Seven Monsters’ hearts at this moment.

Han Ruoruo raised both arms at the same time, and silver light burst forth from her eyes again. The Dazzling Golden Rope spun around her petite frame rapidly, and began to dance.

The light became increasingly blurry, and Huo Yuhao realized to his shock that his Spiritual Detection couldn’t reach her anymore, it couldn’t pierce those golden circles. Han Ruoruo’s Dazzling Golden Rope was charged with spiritual undulations; this was an effect obtained by fusing spiritual power and soul power together.

He Caitou’s dark golden cannon barrel sparkled, and golden lights spurted continually. However, he had lost Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection lock-on, and thus wasn’t so conﬁdent in his shot’s accuracy anymore.

He was a Class 7 soul engineer, but he was ultimately still a Soul Emperor. The heavy cannon on his shoulder was a Class 7 soul tool, but one more blast would consume too much of his soul power, possibly more than it had in the previous strike.

A pale silver light covered Han Ruoruo’s body, and she stared at Huo Yuhao meaningfully before she vanished entirely, along with the mix of gold and silver lights.

Countless Dazzling Golden Ropes that were both gold and silver erupted in all directions when she disappeared, blanketing the entire battleﬁeld in an instant.

Circles of the same colors rapidly appeared on the ground, and bore towards Shrek’s Seven Monsters with blinding speed.

The Dazzling Golden True Body! Faced with the pressure of Shrek’s Seven Monsters, Han Ruoruo had ﬁnally used her martial soul true body.

This was also a martial soul true body, but the feeling she gave the six of them was vastly different from before. What was different? There was no longer a single target!

Wu Ming’s martial soul true body was charged with high- temperature Golden Crow Primordial Fire, but her original body was still there. However, Han Ruoruo’s Dazzling Golden True Body was similar to Chu Qingtian’s Lightning Transformation; she transformed into innumerable Dazzling Golden Ropes, how were they supposed to assault them?

Bei Bei was the ﬁrst to suffer.

Bei Bei planted his right foot heavily onto the ground when he realized things were going wrong, then he activated his Thunderous Dragon Head toward the ground. Large patches of lightning spread across the ground as he attempted to impede the Dazzling Golden True Body’s advance. However, his attack was completely futile. The Dazzling Golden True Body didn’t even pause for a moment amongst the ﬂickering streaks of lightning, and it continued to surge forward. A gold and silver circle of light soundlessly appeared beneath Bei Bei’s feet, and a gold and silver beam of light rose into the sky immediately afterwards, sending Bei Bei ﬂying through the air.

All his soul power and his soul skills were sealed once he was struck. He was completely wrapped up by the Dazzling Golden Rope once he was tossed into the sky.

Han Ruoruo didn’t just use her Dazzling Golden True Body. She was their senior sister, and the arrogance and pride in her heart was triggered when Shrek’s Seven Monsters displayed their prowess. She had also used her eighth and most powerful soul skill: Golden Skysurge.

This was an incredibly powerful domain-like soul skill that could be used on a group of targets or a single target!

Jiang Nannan almost instantly followed Bei Bei’s footsteps, and was hurled into the air.

Xiao Xiao had already laid down her Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron and attempted to shake off Han Ruoruo’s Dazzling Golden True Body. However, her actions were to no avail as well, and in the end, both her and her Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron were sent into the sky.

Han Ruoruo had erupted with her seventh and eighth soul skills at the same time. She was a powerful Soul Douluo after all, and Shrek’s Seven Monsters didn’t stand any chance if she purely used her strength to overpower them.

Huo Yuhao felt trouble coming the moment she made her move. He still couldn’t ﬁnd out where she really was, since Han Ruoruo’s spiritual power was comparable to his, and her soul power was so much stronger, in addition to the fact that she was using her martial soul true body. Huo Yuhao needed a cultivation of seven soul rings to suppress her with spiritual power at the least; anything else was impossible. He stretched his arms out wide and hugged Wang Dong’er while his eyes lit up at the same time. Another pair of huge dark blue eyes sparkled along with his.

The Snow Lady’s petite frame instantly enlarged, and the Snow Empress’ virtual projection appeared behind Huo Yuhao’s back. The water around the Sea God’s Island began to ripple torrentially after it appeared.

The air grew moist as enormous snowﬂakes drifted down from the sky. Huo Yuhao gradually masked his own ﬁgure among all those snowﬂakes.

The Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice had ﬁnally descended upon the world once more!

This was the fusion between the Ice Empress’ Domain of Perpetual Ice and the Snow Empress’ Snowy Dance of the Brilliant Sun. Both were incredibly powerful soul skills in their own right.

The temperature across the entire battleground began to plummet. Wu Ming had long since backed out of the battleﬁeld, and was back to normal, but her expression changed in an instant.

This was because she was a ﬁre-type soul master, so her perception of this extreme chill was far more conspicuous. She could clearly feel how low the battleﬁeld’s temperature had dropped.

Bei Bei, Xiao Xiao, and Jiang Nannan had been thrown out of the circle after they were tossed into the air one after another. This was a practice battle after all, and Han Ruoruo deﬁnitely didn’t want to hurt them.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er’s ﬁgures vanished within the tremendous patches of ice and frost, and even He Caitou’s disappeared as well. The ground was covered with gold and silver circles of light in the same instant.

Streak after streak of dual-colored light surged up from the ground and stirred the waltzing snowﬂakes in the sky, attempting to ﬁnd the three of them. However, just like how Huo Yuhao couldn’t determine Han Ruoruo’s location, Han Ruoruo couldn’t ﬁnd Huo Yuhao either, not within his Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice.

Wu Ming’s expression was a little sullen. She knew that she had already lost to Huo Yuhao in terms of elements, the palm she took before this was based on that elemental difference. Her Golden Crow Primordial Fire was strong, but it was nowhere near as extreme as Huo Yuhao’s ice and snow. Her element had been overpowered, and the formidable chill from that simple-looking strike had defeated her.

“Go, Ruoruo!” While Wu Ming’s despondence was extremely ephemeral, her mentality was very strong, and she immediately began to cheer for Han Ruoruo.

The gold and silver circles started to transform on the ground. They gradually dissipated, and everything changed into horizontal patterns of light. These patterns began to ripple immediately afterwards, and they swept up into the sky like tidal waves. The turbulent ice and snow was stirred up even more vigorously, and the air was ﬁlled with dense, extremely powerful soul power undulations.

The ice and snow that were originally concentrated inside the Sparring Arena were whipped into pieces, and they gradually drifted into the air outside. Han Ruoruo had unleashed her sixth soul skill, Golden Wave. This was an area- of-effect control-type soul skill, and its main function was to dispel.

She naturally couldn’t dispel Huo Yuhao’s domain, but she could still dispel the ice and snow that Huo Yuhao had formed inside this domain with his soul power.

The situation immediately descended into an impasse.

It was alright if she couldn’t ﬁnd Huo Yuhao, as Han Ruoruo had absolute conﬁdence that he would still be the ﬁrst to drop if this stalemate was allowed to continue. He was only a Soul King after all, and their cultivations were ultimately still worlds apart.

Furthermore, Han Ruoruo’s Golden Wave meant that Huo Yuhao’s snowﬂakes were also within the area of effect. This combat practice would be over the moment she discovered Huo Yuhao.

“We’ve lost, senior sister.” Huo Yuhao didn’t attempt to keep this up, and his voice resonated through the air. It was almost like an instant reaction to opportunity. Han Ruoruo’s Dazzling Golden True Body immediately pinpointed his location when his voice rang out, and her Golden Wave transformed back into the Golden Skysurge and barreled towards them.

However, a dark blue streak ﬂickered once in midair, and a crack slashed through her Golden Skysurge. Three snowﬂakes rapidly drifted down outside the Sparring Arena as they revealed their human forms: Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong’er, and He Caitou.

Huo Yuhao’s face was a little pale, and it was apparent that this was caused by expending too much soul power. The ice and snow swiftly disappeared from the mountaintop, while the gold and silver colors receded Han Ruoruo stood all by herself in center of the Sparring Arena.

However, she didn’t have the look of elation that she was supposed to have after certain victory; there was only astonishment.

“You… you can break through my Golden Skysurge?” Huo Yuhao’s sword naturally wasn’t able to break through completely, but this was only because there was a tremendous gap between their cultivations. Han Ruoruo was absolutely certain that her Golden Skysurge wouldn’t have been able to withstand Huo Yuhao’s dark blue sword radiance if they had the same cultivation. That sword had possessed both extreme chill and incredible sharpness.

Huo Yuhao forced a laugh and said, “I did no such thing.

You’re too powerful, senior sister.”

Yes, Han Ruoruo was too powerful. She had practically defeated Shrek’s Seven Monsters with a single strike.

Han Ruoruo, Wu Ming, and Chu Qingtian were still shaken by the Shrek’s Seven Monsters’ prowess. However, the seven of them seemed a little dull… they had been defeated, after all.

This was what a gap in ability and cultivation meant, and perhaps also what a gap in battle experience meant. Han Ruoruo had been one versus six, but they had had no chance at all. Wu Ming was only knocked out because her element was countered, and she wasn’t familiar with Huo Yuhao’s abilities. The temperature of the Sparring Arena had dropped from all the ice and snow strewn across the ground. The teachers that came from elsewhere to watch were both stunned and slack- jawed. They came over to emphasize the importance of safety, and they inspected the grounds to ensure that they hadn’t been

overly damaged before they walked away.

Xu Sanshi grumbled, “Senior sister Han, you’re too brutal. I didn’t even get to use my real abilities before I was thrown out of the ﬁght.”

Han Ruoruo snapped, “You didn’t get to use your abilities? You managed to swap Ming’er away. What’s up with you, Ming’er? You couldn’t even last a little while longer?”

Wu Ming was even more despondent than Xu Sanshi was. “I couldn’t take it, Ruoruo! I don’t even know what soul skill Huo Yuhao used when he hit me with his palm, but my martial soul true body was instantly dispelled. If he hadn’t withdrawn his soul power in time, I might’ve been severely wounded. His Ultimate Ice is powerful… his element completely overpowered mine.” Han Ruoruo’s gaze changed a little when she turned towards Huo Yuhao again. Han Ruoruo hadn’t felt comfortable inside his Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice either. She was fettered by the low temperature and extreme chill even under the effects of her Dazzling Golden True Body. The snowﬂakes that fell from the sky possessed formidable offensive strength at the same time, and she had consumed a lot of soul power. Not to mention the stunning sword that sliced open her Golden Skysurge at the end, which left an exceptionally strong impression.

“Stop complaining, everyone.” Wang Yan came over with a smile on his face. “This sparring match was short, but it was spectacular. Bei Bei, Yuhao, you guys lost the ﬁght, but you guys were still glorious in defeat. You guys have to know that Ruoruo is considered one of the strongest students in the inner courtyard, and the cultivation difference isn’t something that can be made up with numbers.

“This was a practice battle after all, so it’s natural for everyone to feel a little restrained. You guys have already adjusted extremely well. It seems like the two years that the few of you have spent apart didn’t diminish your teamwork or your tacit understandings. In fact, it was Han Ruoruo, Wu Ming, and Qingtian who were lacking rapport. Ruoruo, you underestimated your opponents from the very beginning, right?”

Han Ruoruo blushed a little when she met Wang Yan’s intense gaze, and nodded slightly. She had indeed underestimated her adversaries; the gap in their cultivations was simply too great, and she possessed a martial soul true body while they didn’t, which meant a world of difference. Otherwise, assault-type soul masters would never make the ﬁrst move in a group battle; it was always the control-type soul masters who unleashed their soul skills ﬁrst. If she shared a better coordination or chemistry with Wu Ming, then Wu Ming wouldn’t have landed herself in that awkward situation.

Wang Yan chuckled and said, “And you, Qingtian, you weren’t able to display your full power, and your reactions were a little slow. If you had used your Lightning Transformation the moment Ming’er was swapped away by that Mysterious Underworld Displacement, she might have been able to escape the soul skills that came right after.”

Chu Qingtian nodded as Wu Ming shot a ﬁerce glare in his direction. It was clear that she wasn’t very pleased with his performance. Wang Yan turned towards Wu Ming and said, “Actually, you did a good job. A ﬁght between soul masters means both sides must try their best to suppress each other by maximizing their respective strengths and fortes. However, you have to be clear about what’s up with your opponents. Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice isn’t a secret, and I know you wanted to ﬁght against it in your heart. The fact that it can be described as an Ultimate element already proves his elemental advantage. However, even I didn’t expect Huo Yuhao to be able to break your martial soul true body. Still, your defeat isn’t unfair at all. Even though you’re a Soul Sage, it’s not easy to defend yourself against six people barraging you at the same time. The only problem was with your mentality. You must have thought that the others wouldn’t be able to do anything to you if you unleashed your martial soul true body, so breaking through their siege wouldn’t be too difﬁcult, and you could possibly turn the tables on them instead. If you had opted to break through their encirclement instead of facing them head-on, you might have had a different outcome.”

Wu Ming was initially astonished as she listened to Wang Yan’s analysis, but this quickly transformed into admiration and respect. She had felt that it wasn’t worth it when Han Ruoruo walked away with Wang Yan that day. Wang Yan was a teacher, but he only had six rings, and he was more than forty years old. It was hard to say whether he could become a Titled Douluo in his lifetime. In contrast, Han Ruoruo had already become a powerful Soul Douluo at the age of a little more than thirty, so she was bound to become a Titled Douluo in the future. There was an immense distance between their power and potential.

But she had to admit that Wang Yan’s observation skills, his perception of people, and his ability to judge abilities were exceptional as she continued listening to his analysis. He was almost able to describe her exact mentality and thoughts.

Wang Yan turned towards Shrek’s Seven Monsters after he was done with the three of them. “You guys did alright just now, and your teamwork was a lot better in comparison. However, there were many problems as well. Bei Bei, Sanshi, have you guys tried your best?” Bei Bei exchanged a look with Xu Sanshi. Wang Yan hadn’t given them pointers in a long time, and he hit the right note in his ﬁrst statement.

Wu Ming’s eyes widened, and she exclaimed, “Ah, you guys dared to hold back in a practice battle against us?”

Bei Bei pulled a long face and replied, “How can we hold anything back, teacher Wang? Aren’t you clear about our abilities?”

Wang Yan smiled and said, “You are also clear about whether you held back or not. Let’s not talk about the fact that your martial souls can mutate, the things you two did on the battleﬁeld were far from the level that your abilities can normally achieve. The two of you have the most experience, and have the highest cultivation amongst the seven of you. Your element might not be as strong as Yuhao’s, but the chemistry between the two of you is comparable to that between Yuhao and Wang Dong’er. Sanshi used the Mysterious Underworld Displacement during the previous battle, but what about you, Bei Bei? You were treading water from beginning to end. If I’m not wrong, Sanshi had the ability to break free when he was entangled. Even though your cultivation is a world apart from Ruoruo’s, you shouldn’t have lost so easily. I’m fairly certain that you have other moves you didn’t use.”

“Uh…”

Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei were chided until they could only exchange foolish looks with one another. They really had to respect and admire Wang Yan!

Wang Yan smiled and said, “Let me guess what you guys were thinking. I believe you guys wanted to see how everyone has improved, and how their chemistry is like. Not giving your all is also reasonable, as this is a practice combat, after all. I can understand that there are some abilities that are difﬁcult to control once you guys use them, right?”

“You’re way too perceptive, teacher Wang,” Xu Sanshi spoke sincerely.

Wang Yan laughed and replied, “I can only see clearer than most. I’m not sure why the two of you decided to tread water, but you guys didn’t put in as much effort as Yuhao did in terms of cooperating with the team.

“It’s your turn, Xiao Xiao. Your performance wasn’t good except for the moment when you blocked Wu Ming’s attack by displaying impressive controlling capabilities. Your cooperation with the rest was the most insufﬁcient of the entire team. It’s clear that you felt like there was nothing much

to do during the later parts of the battle, and you hadn’t completely integrated into the group, so you didn’t unleash your abilities properly. Therefore, the seven of you practicing together is the right thing to do.”

“Yes, teacher Wang.” Xiao Xiao responded with a red tinge in her cheeks. She had toiled in her cultivation over the years, and she had learned so much from Elder Xuan. But during last season’s big competition, her abilities weren’t strong enough and so she didn’t have much chemistry or teamwork with her team in the ﬁrst place. And over the past few years, she had been focusing on increasing her own strength. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao was their main control-type soul master, and he wasn’t familiar with her abilities either, so Xiao Xiao was a lot more ineffective with Huo Yuhao at the helm.

Wang Yan turned towards He Caitou with a faint smile. “Caitou, both you and Nannan have given me the most pleasant of surprises. It’s clear that you have achieved great success with soul tools, and I am certain that you have other even more powerful abilities, but you didn’t channel all your energy for safety reasons.”

Han Ruoruo chimed in and said, “Yes, he made me feel very threatened. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have used Golden Skysurge directly after using my Dazzling Golden True Body.”

He Caitou smiled sheepishly, but didn’t say anything.

Wang Yan then turned towards Jiang Nannan. “Nannan, your abilities are becoming a lot more mature. Even though you’re not a Soul Emperor yet, you are no longer just an agility- type soul master on the battleﬁeld, you are also accomplishing certain controlling functions and capabilities. The person who had the best performance was actually you, and not Yuhao. The reason is because everyone has a different role in a team, and you fulﬁlled your role exceptionally well.”

Jiang Nannan ﬂashed a faint smile, and her enchanting beauty made Xu Sanshi exclaim out loud…

Wang Yan ﬁnally looked at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er, but he heaved a faint sigh instead of anything else.

Huo Yuhao said, “You can speak easy, teacher Wang. I can take it. I know my performance wasn’t good just now.”

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled. “I’m not sighing because your performance wasn’t good, I’m sighing because I’m full of awe and admiration.

“Your abilities are just too incredible. I never thought that you would improve to such a level after ﬁve years. Even though your performance did have its blemishes, it can be considered quite excellent on the whole. There are a few issues you have to pay attention to. If I’m not wrong, your Domain will also affect your teammates, and the most you can do is prevent them from being injured inside, but it will greatly restrict them and their ability to use their own skills. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have used that Domain so late in the battle, correct?”

Huo Yuhao nodded. Niu Tian told him back then that his Domain was good, but it had an all-around impact, and that extreme chill would affect everything within the domain. He could protect the people inside, but the people under his protection would be restricted to some extent, and they wouldn’t be able to exercise their own abilities. Wang Yan continued, “I’ve considered that you guys haven’t worked together for a long time, and everyone isn’t that familiar with each other’s soul skills yet, so your performance can still be considered good. This was especially true when you attempted to suppress Ruoruo in the beginning, and you proved the advantage of having spiritual control. You were also holding back, because I vaguely remember that you have a third eye...”

Wang Yan turned to Wang Dong’er afterwards and said, “Dong’er, I want to remind you that you are ranked number three in terms of cultivation amongst the entire team. You’re a Soul Emperor, and even though you have the advantage of a martial soul fusion with Huo Yuhao, you’re not his appendage. During the practice combat, you didn’t really use your own abilities at all besides providing support for Huo Yuhao. You also have twin martial souls, and I’m absolutely certain that your six soul skills are not useless. Furthermore, you still have your soul bones, and their attached abilities. You should have been able to accomplish much more. Perhaps you wish to assist Yuhao, but please don’t attach yourself to him.”

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er smiled at each other as they listened to Wang Yan’s comments. Wang Dong’er giggled and said, “You’ve ﬁnally said something wrong, teacher Wang. That is hard to come by indeed.”

“Eh?” Wang Yan was slightly taken aback, but he quickly understood what was going on. There was a look of revelation on his face as he said, “I understand now. You guys were doing all that on purpose? Is Wang Dong’er supposed to come out only for killer moves and ﬁnal blows?”

Wang Dong’er giggled once more, but didn’t say anything else.

Han Ruoruo, Wu Ming, and Chu Qingtian felt even more incredulous as they listened to Wang Yan’s analysis. These Shrek’s Seven Monsters had already shaken them up during the previous sparring session... and yet, they hadn’t given everything they had. What level would they reach if they were allowed to exercise all their abilities properly?

Wang Yan said, “Alright, you guys can continue to practice. I trust that you guys can do better. Ruoruo, Wu Ming, Qingtian, let’s give the place over to them. We’ve been here for quite a while.”

“Okay.” Han Ruoruo nodded agreement. Wu Ming and Chu Qingtian didn’t object either, and they bid their farewells to Shrek’s Seven Monsters before they departed the Sparring Arena.

They hadn’t walked too far when Han Ruouruo whispered to Wang Yan, “You said they were all holding back. If they had better teamwork and could exercise all their abilities properly, would they be able to defeat me?”

Wang Yan laughed and stole a glimpse at her. “It’s not like you to lack self-conﬁdence! They will probably need another ﬁve years to defeat you. At the very least, most of them have to have their martial soul true bodies before they can accomplish that feat. Defeating you is not possible at the moment. I did point out that they were holding back, but they were also holding back because you were simply too powerful, and you suppressed them to the point where they couldn’t really exercise their strengths. The gap between your cultivations is simply too great.

“Everything I said before was mainly to give them more conﬁdence.”

Wu Ming slid in from the side and said, “Teacher Wang, why didn’t you ask Huo Yuhao about that palm of his? I still don’t understand it even now.”

Wang Yan smiled and replied, “That palm is extremely sophisticated. When he reached out with that palm, I could feel that even time itself seemed to freeze. He was even able to dispel your martial soul true body... what level of power is that? That means he must be heavily restricted by something. If I’m not wrong, distance is one of the things restricting him, and that palm of his can only take effect within a certain distance. You have to ﬂex your own strengths if you wish to ﬁght against him, and you will be able to use your martial soul true body to the best of its ability if you use your Golden Crow Primordial Fire at long range. With Huo Yuhao’s current cultivation, I don’t think he can beat you yet if it’s one-on-one.”

Han Ruoruo thought of something and said, “One-on-one? What if it’s two-versus-one? If Wang Dong’er is added to the mix…”

Wang Yan shook his head and said, “That, I don’t know. All I can tell you is that during the last Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, one of them only had three rings, while the other was only had two, and they still managed to unleash four martial soul fusion skills during their ﬁnal battle.”

Chapter 227: Two Women Fighting For Glory

“What? Four?!” Han Ruoruo and the others exclaimed at almost the same time.

Wang Yan nodded and said, “Four, indeed. They both have twin martial souls, and my surprise and awe back then was even stronger than yours is now. According to my knowledge, they might be the ﬁrst pair of soul masters who both have twin martial souls and martial soul fusion skills, and that’s probably how the miraculous four fusion skills came about. The skill that blocked Ruoruo’s path forward was one of their four martial soul fusion skills, called The Golden Road Amidst Withering Resplendence. Their three other martial soul fusion skills are equally powerful… oh, Wu Ming, didn’t you say that they transformed into Wang Dong’er, who was bathed in golden light, during the Sea God’s Fate? That’s also one of their fusion skills.”

Han Ruoruo heaved a faint sigh after listening to Wang Yan’s explanation and she said, “I’m ﬁnally convinced.” Wang Yan smiled and smoothly clasped her hands within his. “You don’t have to think badly of yourself. They have a very long road ahead of them to reach your level. Furthermore, it’s easy to envy someone exceptional, and this may even affect them in the end. I just hope that all will be well during the next competition.”

Han Ruoruo reacted in shock. “Will they even have a problem during the next competition with their current standards? I’ve interacted with Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen before. Even though I don’t know what level they can reach with their soul tools, and their soul master abilities are not bad, they are far inferior in terms of ﬁghting strength.”

Wang Yan’s eyes were overcome with a look of solemnity as he lowered his voice and said, “This season is different from the previous one. Some things might be changed. The academy is waiting for more accurate information.”

Wang Yan and the others departed, while Shrek’s Seven Monsters began their post-mortem and discussed the salient points and shortcomings from the practice battle as they displayed their various soul skills to each other. They didn’t spar against one another anymore, and everyone just respectively demonstrated their soul skills and improved ﬁghting styles over the past two years so that everyone knew and could see them clearly. Afterwards, they spent another two hours rehearsing and working on their teamwork and cooperation.

With Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing, teamwork and command had never really been a problem. They worked all the way to lunchtime before they stopped, and it was clear that everyone was now much more familiar with one another than before.

Bei Bei immediately made the decision that everyone would proceed to the Sparring Arena to practice in the morning from today onwards, and practice their own respective cultivations in the afternoon and at night.

…...

That night, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er received news about their registration to participate in the hunting party heading towards the Great Star Dou Forest. The Sea God’s Pavilion allowed their participation in the end, but two more people were added to lead the group in addition to Zhang Lexuan. One was Han Ruoruo, who had just crossed paths with Huo Yuhao, and the other was the Martial Soul Department’s vice-Dean, Cai Mei’er.

Cai Mei’er naturally became the operation’s main commander.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er immediately received the name list for this operation after they asked for it.

Cai Mei’er, Zhang Lexuan, and Han Ruoruo were heading the operation. They didn’t require soul rings, and their main responsibility was to protect the other inner courtyard students. One was a Titled Douluo, and the two others were Soul Douluos. They were leading a team of advanced students on a hunting expedition; perhaps only Shrek Academy could make this such a smooth operation.

There were two guys on the name list that required new soul rings that Huo Yuhao didn’t recognize, and Wang Qiu’er was also on the list. There were four members from the inner courtyard who needed soul rings, and in addition to Wang Dong’er who was just tagging along, the entire group was comprised of eight people.

Their departure time was the morning the day after the next.

…...

On the second day, Shrek’s Seven Monsters continued to rehearse and practice their formation and their teamwork. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er left the Sea God’s Pavilion in the morning on the third day, and they were early as they waited outside the academy’s main gate.

It didn’t take long before the students from the inner courtyard who were participating in this expedition gathered.

Wang Qiu’er was still dressed like she had always been: a long veil covered her extraordinary beauty, and her blue wave-like hair was tied into a ponytail behind her head. She wore a pale green warrior’s robe that formed an amusing color combination with her hair; there was a bit too much contrast between the colors. Wang Dong’er was clad in a white warrior robe, while her long hair was combed into a relatively more complicated scorpion braid while she wore a similar veil over her face.

The two girls’ gazes met when they ﬁrst saw each other, and it immediately felt as if sparks were going to erupt from the collision. They exchanged one look before they turned back around.

Huo Yuhao felt a little strange inside. They clearly looked exactly like each other, and they should thus logically be a lot closer and more intimate with each other. He didn’t know why, but Wang Dong’er seemed to marginalize Wang Qiu’er. While this could be explained by the fact that Wang Qiu’er looked more like the Goddess of Light, it was also apparent that Wang Qiu’er wasn’t being friendly towards Wang Dong’er either, as her eyes were exceptionally cold.

Cai Mei’er was the last to arrive, wearing a simple grey shirt. She had passed nine decades of life long ago, but she looked like she was only a little more than ﬁfty on the outside. managing to maintain her appearance. Huo Yuhao had the least interaction with this vice-Dean. All he knew was that she seemed to have some problems with Dean Xian, but he wasn’t sure about the details.

Cai Mei’er clapped her hands when everyone gathered, and everyone turned to look at her.

Cai Mei’er smiled and said, “Everyone here is from the inner courtyard, and it’s not the ﬁrst time we’ve entered the Great Star Dou Forest. We have new participants in our expedition, so we should introduce ourselves to each other. Take turns to brief everyone about your name, your martial soul, your cultivation level, and whatnot so that we can cooperate better in the Great Star Dou Forest.”

She nodded in Zhang Lexuan’s direction as she ﬁnished speaking. Zhang Lexuan responded immediately, going ﬁrst. “My name is Zhang Lexuan, and I’m an assistant teacher from the inner courtyard and a student at the same time. My martial soul is the Moon, and I’m an assault-type soul master. I’m responsible for leading the team, and I don’t require any soul rings. My soul power is at Rank 86.” Everyone began to stir when they heard her say “Rank 86”.

This included Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er.

Han Ruoruo continued immediately after her and said, “Han Ruoruo, assistant teacher and student of the inner courtyard. My martial soul is the Dazzling Golden Rope, and I’m a control- type soul master. I’m the main control soul master for this operation, and I don’t require any soul rings. My soul power is Rank 82.”

After they completed their introductions, Cai Mei’er interrupted them and said, “I’m just tagging along in this operation. Lexuan and Ruoruo will be doing the commanding and whatnot. They have ample experience, so everyone has to listen to them, and nobody is allowed to do anything on their own. This is all for your personal safety, and it’s also for the team’s safety. Our expedition’s destination will be the border of the Greater Star Dou Forest’s Hybrid Region crossing over into the Core Region. We can run into very powerful soul beasts at any time in that area. All right, continue. Your turn, Yuhao.”

Huo Yuhao hurriedly nodded when he heard Cai Mei’er point him out. “My name is Huo Yuhao, and I’m a student from the inner courtyard. I’m both control-type and assault-type, and I have twin martial souls: Spirit Eyes and the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion. My soul power is Rank 52, and I need a ﬁfth soul ring for my spiritual-type martial soul, the Spirit Eyes.”

Wang Dong’er continued beside him. “Wang Dong’er, student from the inner courtyard. I’m an assault-type soul master, and my martial soul is the Radiant Butterﬂy Goddess. I’m a Rank 61 Soul Emperor, and I don’t need a soul ring. I can unleash martial soul fusion skills with Huo Yuhao, and I’m here to accompany him on this expedition.”

Their introductions were extremely brief, but they didn’t feel ordinary at all to the other students. The other three students in this operation who had participated in the Sea God’s Fate had personally witnessed Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er’s incredible prowess. They were two against ﬁve, and everyone was around the same level, and all seven were students from the inner courtyard. Yet, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er had won a dominating victory.

However, they were a little confused about Huo Yuhao’s introduction. He needed a ﬁfth soul ring at Rank 52? What circumstance was that? Could it be that he was adding soul rings to both of his martial souls at the same time? Twin martial souls shouldn’t be cultivated like that. This was Shrek Academy, and there were so many veteran teachers around here. How could they let him make this mistake?

Another male student said, “My name is Li Yongyue, a student from the inner courtyard. I’m an agility-type Soul King at Rank 60, and I need my sixth soul ring. My martial soul is the Moonblade… do you remember me, eldest senior sister? When you unleash your martial soul, I will be naturally ampliﬁed.” He was probably around twenty-six to twenty-seven years of age, but the admiration he displayed towards Zhang Lexuan represented her status in the inner courtyard as everyone’s eldest senior sister.

Zhang Lexuan nodded in his direction with a faint smile on her face, but she didn’t say anything and gestured to the other male student to introduce himself.

“My name is Mo Xuan, and I’m a long-range all-around auxiliary-type Soul King at Rank 60, and I need a sixth soul ring. My martial soul is the Halo. My close-combat abilities are weak, so you have to help me out, everyone! Thanks!”

Li Yongyue’s looks were average, and he was the kind that was hard to spot in a throng of people. Mo Xuan seemed a little more shy; he was probably at least twenty-ﬁve years old, but his face would blush a little as he spoke.

A long-range all-around auxiliary-type soul master? This was the ﬁrst time Huo Yuhao had heard of such a description, and he couldn’t help but throw a few more glances in his direction.

Cai Mei’er helped alleviate everyone’s doubts. “You guys probably haven’t seen Mo Xuan before. He’s a unique talent that’s being specially nurtured by the inner courtyard. His ﬁghting strength is weak, so Lexuan, you have to pay special attention to protect him. Mo Xuan’s auxiliary abilities cannot be considered outstanding during single and group battles, but he’s the ﬁrst and only long-range all-around auxiliary-type soul master in the academy’s most recent thousand years of history. His auxiliary prowess on the battleﬁeld isn’t something that normal auxiliary-type soul masters can compare to. You guys will experience it once we’re inside the forest.”

Everyone except Wang Qiu’er had completed their introductions, so their eyes all turned towards her.

Wang Qiu’er’s voice was a little cold as she said indifferently, “My name is Wang Qiu’er. Assault-type. My martial soul is the Golden Dragon. I’m Rank 60, and I need a sixth soul ring.”

Her speech was the simplest amongst everyone’s introductions, and her eyes were staring into the sky as she spoke. She gave everyone a feeling of arrogance and aloofness.

Wang Dong’er pouted with displeasure as she saw that look. Fortunately, she was wearing a veil over her face, so nobody could see her reaction.

Zhang Lexuan said, “Alright, everyone has ﬁnished their introductions, so let me allocate our formation once we enter the Great Star Dou Forest. I will be scouting the path ahead, and Li Yongyue and Wang Qiu’er are responsible for the left and right ﬂanks, respectively. Ruoruo will be positioned in the center towards the front right behind me, and she’ll be the main control-type soul master. Mo Xuan will be positioned behind Han Ruoruo, which means you’ll be near the center... pay attention to cooperate with everyone’s movements. Huo Yuhao, you’re the secondary control for ﬂexibility, and you will be behind Mo Xuan. You’re responsible for providing support for whoever needs help. Wang Dong’er, you’ll be all the way at the back, and you’re responsible for sweeping. Dean Cai will be following behind the group, and she won’t make a move other than as a last resort. We’re all students from the inner courtyard, and it will extremely humiliating if we need a teacher’s help to obtain our own soul rings, so I hope that doesn’t happen. Alright, let’s proceed, if nobody has any more questions or objections?”

Nobody had anything to dispute about her arrangement. There was no doubt that the central and anchoring positions were relatively safer. There was no need to mention the center, and Cai Mei’er was all the way at the back.

There was a deeper meaning to arranging Wang Qiu’er and Li Yongyue on the two ﬂanks. Wang Qiu’er’s martial soul was the Golden Dragon, and she stirred up quite some disturbance when she successfully enrolled in the inner courtyard. She was said to have impressive ﬁghting strength, as the Golden Dragon was the Ancestor of Strength, and thus assigning her to one ﬂank was also a test. Li Yongyue’s strength would also be greatly boosted with Zhang Lexuan around, so assigning him to guard the other ﬂank was the optimal choice. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er’s positions, along with Mo Xuan’s, were considered protected. The academy still had some bias, after all. The truth was, Cai Mei’er wouldn’t have been with them for this operation if Huo Yuhao hadn’t registered for it.

Everyone belonged to the inner courtyard. Even if they weren’t that familiar with each other, they would deﬁnitely not hold one another back. They got into Zhang Lexuan’s formation once they left Shrek City, and headed straight for the Great Star Dou Forest.

Nobody deliberately attempted to display his or her speed on the way, and the formation was maintained impeccably under Zhang Lexuan’s deliberate control.

Just as Cai Mei’er had said, this wasn’t the ﬁrst time these students had gone inside the Great Star Dou Forest. Everyone was extremely familiar was this place, and nobody really interacted with each other along the way. Everyone just hurried onward.

Wang Dong’er glanced at Wang Qiu’er beside her from time to time, and even Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but throw a few glimpses in her direction.

Wang Qiu’er looked very quiet, but one could see from the side that her eyes were exceedingly cold and plain, as if she were wearing an outer layer over herself at all times. She could deﬁnitely feel Wang Dong’er’s stares, but she never once looked back to return her gaze.

She didn’t release her martial soul when they travelled, she just simply ran along. However, she bounced up with bewildering speed every time she touched the ground with her feet, and one could tell upon closer inspection that there was an imprint in the ground after every step she took, while the ground around her footprint seemed to have cracked. She was dashing forward with pure strength, yet she looked like she was ﬂoating. She lived up to her name as the Ancestor of Strength, and the owner of the Golden Dragon martial soul!

Shrek City was quite close to the Great Star Dou Forest. They didn’t unleash their full speed, but still reached the forest before midday.

“Let’s take a break and grab something to eat, everyone. Adjust yourselves to your optimum condition and states. We will proceed into the forest after one hour.” Zhang Lexuan’s instructions were short and concise.

They were near the Great Star Dou Forest’s Peripheral Region. They would be inside the forest once they passed the danger signs that dotted the road.

Huo Yuhao felt a sense of nostalgia as he stared at a danger sign hanging from a tree not far from him. He could clearly remember what it was like during his ﬁrst trip here, as that expedition had changed his destiny. He had met the Skydream Iceworm, Electrolux, his senior brother Bei Bei, and Xiao Ya. Following the passage of time, Electrolux was gone, and there was no news about teacher Xiao Ya, while he had also grown up.

Everyone moved off to the roadside. Their cultivations meant they were far from fatigued, but slowing down and relaxing still felt good anyway. Zhang Lexuan said to Huo Yuhao with a smile on her face, “I hear from Bei Bei that your culinary skills are exceptional, Yuhao. I remember you selling grilled ﬁsh outside the academy a long time ago. What do you think about showing us your skills?”

A thought came to Huo Yuhao’s mind as he said, “There’s a small river nearby, eldest senior sister.” This place was close to the small stream where he had ﬁrst met Bei Bei and Tang Ya.

Zhang Lexuan smiled and said, “I know. I’m not sure how many days we’ll be spending in there once we head in, and the living conditions are going to be harsh inside. We won’t get good food, and we’ll have to sleep in the open. Everyone should enjoy a good meal before we enter. How about this: Li Yongyue will follow me to catch some ﬁsh, and Yuhao will be responsible for preparing and cooking them. Are you two okay with that?” She was a lot more familiar with the landscape of the Great Star Dou Forest’s Peripheral Region than Huo Yuhao was.

“Yes!” the two of them acknowledged at once.

Zhang Lexuan stood up and said, “The others will help Yuhao prepare the ﬁrewood needed for the grilled ﬁsh. We will get to enjoy our food earlier if we work together.”

Cai Mei’er didn’t hide herself as she followed behind the students. She came forward at this moment, and a faint smile appeared on her face as she watched the students bustle around. She thought to herself, These youngsters are so full of life and energy! It’s nice to be out here and walk around.

They were all high-level soul masters, so how difﬁcult was it for them to collect ﬁrewood and catch a few ﬁsh?

It didn’t take long before Zhang Lexuan and Li Yongyue returned with more than ten huge ﬁsh skewered on vines. It was clear that these two didn’t really know how to cook, and Huo Yuhao immediately returned to the riverside with the ﬁsh that they had brought back.

The ﬁrst step to grilling ﬁsh was to process the ﬁsh properly, and then to grill it directly – would that actually work?

Zhang Lexuan followed Huo Yuhao back to the riverside with a tinge of curiosity as she watched him take the ﬁsh from the vines. He washed them again inside the crystal-clear river as he cut them open, took out their organs, peeled off the scales, and extracted the tendons.

Extracting ﬁsh tendons was a special technique, as most people who steamed ﬁsh didn’t do that, so the ﬁsh they made would have a strong ﬁshy smell. It wasn’t hard to remove the tendons – one would use a sharp blade to cut the ﬁsh below the gills before cutting the ﬁsh near the tail, and then one would look carefully look for a small white dot on the wound’s cross- section before using the back of the blade to tap lightly on the ﬁsh’s body. If appropriate strength was applied, it wouldn’t take too many hits before a small white tip that looked like the tip of a needle would emerge, and then one would pinch it and pluck it out, and the tendons on that side would be extracted.

Every ﬁsh had two long tendons, and one would have to follow all these steps to consider even simple preparations complete.

Both Zhang Lexuan and Wang Dong’er were watching by the side. They wanted to help, but they were clumsy and confused when they actually tried. Their formidable cultivations were useless at times like these, and they could only sit by and watch.

Huo Yuhao picked the things he needed from his surroundings. He found some spices and herbs that he was relatively familiar with and picked a pile before he returned to camp. He placed the washed ﬁsh and the herbs onto some large clean leaves, and Chef Huo ﬁnally got to work.

Perhaps it was because his life had been tough and difﬁcult as a kid, but he always carried his cooking tools with him: bowls, ladles, tubs, all sorts of seasonings, he had everything. When he took out all these things from his Starlight Sapphire storage ring, the other students stared unblinkingly.

Han Ruoruo couldn’t help but laugh as she said, “Are you preparing to be a chef in the future, Yuhao? This is the ﬁrst time I’ve seen someone place cooking utensils inside a top-tier storage item such as the Starlight Sapphire.” Huo Yuhao chortled and said, “I used to be very poor, and it wasn’t easy for me to ﬁll my stomach. It’s become a habit for me to bring these things with me when I go out; even non-soul masters go hungry.”

These simple sentences embodied his childhood experiences. Everybody else was relatively well off, so everyone grew silent for a moment after listening to his words. Even Wang Qiu’er glanced at him a few times.

Huo Yuhao was explaining with his mouth, but his hands didn’t stop. He laid the ﬁrewood that everyone had brought back out in two piles before he lit one pile, planted four thick branches in the ground, and hung a large wok over the top. The wok contained clear water that had previously been collected from the small stream.

He ﬁnished setting up the wok on one side, and the grill that he always used, supported on both sides, was set up on the other side. He was even more familiar with this thing.

He applied and stuffed all kinds of seasoning and spices into the ﬁsh’s stomachs. He opened a hole on both sides of the ﬁsh’s bodies before skewering them with a clean wooden stick, and began to grill them.

He began to slather oil on both sides of the ﬁsh. This would give the ﬁsh a denser taste, and they wouldn’t burn so easily.

The fragrant smell of grilled ﬁsh wafted over in no time. Everyone retrieved their rations and were sitting around, but they stared at the dry rations in their hands while they smelled the aroma, and suddenly everyone didn’t feel like eating their rations anymore. Only Wang Qiu’er was sitting to one side as she nibbled quietly on her rations. She didn’t even look at Huo Yuhao.

Zhang Lexuan was also sitting nearby as she watched Huo Yuhao. Her eyes rotated to the other students, and a subtle smile appeared on her face. She was the team leader, and her task was not only to command and protect her teammates. More importantly, she had to break the ice between this impromptu group and to glue them together, so that everyone would feel closer to one another, and more like a team. This was the only way she could enhance their chemistry in the ﬁghts that were to come, and this was the only way to make them feel more intimate. Her choice to ask Huo Yuhao to grill ﬁsh was partially because of this, as a nice meal would easily pull everyone closer together.

He was closely monitoring the grilling process with his spiritual power, and the ﬁrst grilled ﬁsh was ﬁnished in no time. There was no question that seniors had priority, so Huo Yuhao took this ﬁrst grilled ﬁsh to Cai Mei’er.

“Thank you.” Cai Mei’er took the ﬁsh with a smile on her face as she took a huge bite. The yellowish-golden ﬁsh skin was crispy and slightly salty, and there was also a tinge of spiciness. The ﬁsh was tender and juicy, and just one bite left a delicious aftertaste behind.

Dean Cai’s face was overcome with astonishment, and she wasn’t stingy with her praise. “Yuhao, you have the standards to become a professional chef! It’s no wonder I remember your business ﬂourishing when you used to sell grilled ﬁsh outside the academy’s main gate. This is the best grilled ﬁsh I’ve ever eaten.”

Huo Yuhao chuckled, but he didn’t continue grilling his ﬁsh, and instead walked over to the wok steaming over the other ﬁre. He put some wild vegetables in before he added another can of seasoning. The water was boiling by this time, and his seasonings had just been added when another fragrance permeated the air, and the soup turned a light red color.

He returned to the grill to continue his grilling. The ﬁsh Zhang Lexuan and Li Yongyue had caught were quite large; every single one weighed more than a kilogram, while the biggest ones were around two to two and a half kilograms. There were only a little more than ten ﬁsh, but they were enough to feed everyone here. The ﬁsh were grilled one after another, and Huo Yuhao’s allocation was simple: he went according to age, and the eldest came ﬁrst.

Zhang Lexuan was naturally the second one in line after Cai Mei’er. Even though Zhang Lexuan jokingly remarked on the fact that she was the second oldest, she was still immensely attracted by the grilled ﬁsh’s aroma.

Han Ruoruo, Li Yongyue, and Mo Xuan were next.

Wang Dong’er was almost drooling as she stood beside Huo Yuhao. She watched as the seventh ﬁsh was almost ready, and a threatening look ﬂowed from her eyes as she stared at him. Her rosy lips curled upward, as if she were saying, “This one must be mine.”

Huo Yuhao whispered, “Others before self. You have to wait for a while longer, and I will pick a large one for you.”

Wang Dong’er grimaced when she heard him say “others before self”, but she didn’t stop Huo Yuhao as he walked towards Wang Qiu’er.

Wang Qiu’er was seated furthest away from the bonﬁre, and she wasn’t interacting with the others either. She was just quietly munching on her dried rations, and she only lifted her head subconsciously when Huo Yuhao arrived in front of her.

“This is for you.” Huo Yuhao handed her the ﬁsh in his hands. The grilled ﬁsh skin was glowing as an alluring aroma wafted through the air.

“For me? Aren’t you afraid of your little girlfriend becoming upset?” Wang Qiu’er didn’t take the ﬁsh, but questioned him as she stared into his eyes.

Their gazes met, and for some reason, Huo Yuhao felt a delicate dizziness in his mind when he stared into those powdery-blue eyes, even though the mysteries in those eyes were absolutely different from Wang Dong’er’s eyes. The moment was ﬂeeting, but it was enough to surprise him.

Wang Qiu’er took the grilled ﬁsh that he handed over as she lowered her head and said, “Thank you.” “Have we met before?” Huo Yuhao asked curiously.

Wang Qiu’er answered matter-of-factly, “I think this is our third meeting. If you don’t want your little girlfriend to think you’re ﬂirting with me, you should go back.” She took a bite of the grilled ﬁsh in her hands as she spoke. She was momentarily stunned when the delicious ﬂavor entered her mouth, and a peculiar light ﬂickered across her eyes.

Wang Dong’er was still hungry, so Huo Yuhao didn’t dally. However, he was starting to believe Wang Dong’er’s judgment that Wang Qiu’er wasn’t simple at all, and she deﬁnitely had to have some secret. He instinctively developed an increased sense of wariness as these thoughts ran through his head.

He returned to the campﬁre and picked a bigger ﬁsh for Wang Dong’er. She was already waiting eagerly, and soon the grilled ﬁsh was ﬁnally done.

“Here you go. Careful, it’s hot.” Huo Yuhao passed the grilled ﬁsh to Wang Dong’er. A soothing smile unwittingly appeared on his face as he watched her excitement. Wang Dong’er couldn’t be bothered with her image anymore as she sat right there and began to eat. She was almost burned, but she just kept going on about how tasty the grilled ﬁsh was.

Huo Yuhao chuckled softly. “This ﬁsh must be the most delicious one.”

Wang Dong’er continued nibbling away at her ﬁsh as she asked a little fuzzily, “Why?”

Huo Yuhao laughed and said, “There’s an added spice in this one, a kind that the other ﬁsh don’t have.”

Wang Dong’er was surprised, and said, “You actually hid something from the others? Aren’t you afraid of them calling you stingy?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head. “No, I’m not. This spice can only be used when grilling for you, because it’s called fondness.”

Wang Dong’er was slightly taken aback, but she quickly recovered as her cheeks immediately turned rosy. She whispered, “Is it just fondness?”

Huo Yuhao ﬁddled with the next grilled ﬁsh in his hands as he smiled and said, “Love comprises a lot of fondness. The spices next time will taste even richer.”

Wang Dong’er didn’t pursue the matter further as she chomped on the grilled ﬁsh in her hands, before she ﬂashed a sweet smile at Huo Yuhao. She had already removed her veil at this point, and her enchanting beauty dazed Huo Yuhao to the point where he forgot to ﬂip the grilled ﬁsh he was working on, and the ﬁsh he made for himself was a little burnt.

“Ah, it’s burnt. The taste will be a lot denser, even if that wasn’t what I wanted.”

The grilled ﬁsh was rich and fragrant, while the wild vegetable soup was sweet and refreshing. This meal couldn’t be considered nutritious or luxuriant, but it had the appeal of the mountains and the wilderness, and with that, in addition to the delicious ﬂavor, everyone was happy with it. Some people even fought a little over the last few pieces, and their method naturally came down to rock-paper-scissors. Everyone became a lot closer than before from all this interaction, and only Wang Qiu’er remained quiet and isolated.

In the end, one hour of rest became two hours before they ﬁnished up. After the delectable meal, everyone began to meditate while Dean Cai protected them so that they could be at their peak conditions.

Huo Yuhao felt a sense of detachment, as if he were separated from the world, every time he entered the lush Great Star Dou Forest. The truth was that the Great Star Dou Forest was like an independent nation, the country of soul beasts.

Everyone here was a high-level soul master, and everyone pushed forward toward the deeper regions at full speed after entering the Peripheral Region under Zhang Lexuan’s leadership as they ventured on.

This time was vastly different from the previous times Huo Yuhao had entered the forest. Zhang Lexuan was leading the group, and she had no intention of scouting carefully; they just proceeded forward at full speed. Her body glowed with brilliant white light, and the trees and logs on the ground opened up wherever she walked, while her body emanated a powerful aura. The lower-tier soul beasts didn’t dare to come near her, and their speed was at least three times faster than when Huo Yuhao and the others were last here.

This was the meaning of strength; they relied on pure power to force their way forward, and would rest for ﬁfteen minutes after travelling for two hours. They could tell they when they left the Peripheral Region by judging the strength of the soul beasts around them. As the sky gradually turned dark, they were slowly crossing into the Hybrid Region.

“Maintain the formation, everyone. Pay attention, main control-type soul masters and secondary control-type soul masters.” Zhang Lexuan slowed down conspicuously. The soul beasts around them would be mostly thousand-year soul beasts once they entered the Hybrid Region, and there would probably also be ten-thousand year soul beasts, which were strong enough to threaten everyone. Ten-thousand year soul beasts were also precisely what everyone had come here for.

Huo Yuhao’s eyes lit up as he gripped Wang Dong’er’s hand subconsciously. The Haodong power circulated between them as golden light ﬂowed from his eyes. His Spiritual Detection was passed to everyone on the team, and it extended outward with astounding speed, covering a radius of six hundred meters around them in the blink of an eye.

All the plants and trees, the landscape, and various other parameters quickly surfaced in everyone’s minds.

Huo Yuhao had no problem assisting seven people at the same time via Spiritual Detection with his current spiritual power, and his detection range far exceeded his past limits.

However, other than Wang Dong, everyone was clearly not used to his Spiritual Detection. They couldn’t help but pause in their tracks when Huo Yuhao activated his soul skill, to the point where Huo Yuhao almost slammed into Mo Xuan, who was walking in front of him.

Everyone sent their gazes backward, and Huo Yuhao immediately became the center of attention. This was especially so for Zhang Lexuan, who was right at the front. Her eyes were ﬁlled with astonishment. It didn’t need to be said what the effect of such immense scouting power would be like for the team. Zhang Lexuan was team leader, an assault-type soul master, and she instantly felt as if the burden on her shoulders had been greatly eased.

“How’s the consumption of your soul power, Yuhao?” Zhang Lexuan asked immediately.

Huo Yuhao answered without hesitation, “I can recover as we travel. I can maintain this for a very long time as long as I don’t expand the area of effect.”

Zhang Lexuan asked in surprise, “You can expand the area of effect? What’s the limit?”

Huo Yuhao immediately gave her the numerical details. “I can reach an area of around ﬁfteen hundred meters in radius, while my unidirectional detection limit can reach around three thousand meters. I can double the precision and clarity, but I will consume a lot more soul power if I do that, so I can’t keep it up for a long period of time.” Everyone could be heard drawing in cold breaths. This soul skill didn’t come with any offensive or defensive capabilities, but it was exceptionally useful for detection and exploration. Having this skill was equivalent to being able to predict dangers, and thus could be considered a super soul skill in the peril-ﬁlled Great Star Dou Forest.

Zhang Lexuan said decisively, “Maintaining this area of effect is enough. From now onwards, Huo Yuhao will be the main control and Ruoruo will be switched to secondary control. Any objections?”

Han Ruoruo had known her and coordinated with her for many years, and she answered without hesitation, “No problem!”

Huo Yuhao paused momentarily, but ﬁnally answered, “I’m okay with that.”

Nobody had any disputes about him taking over that role, because every single person who wasn’t a fool could tell how useful his Spiritual Detection was. With his Spiritual Detection active, Zhang Lexuan picked up the pace once more, and they went straight for the inner circle.

However, once they entered the Hybrid Region, not all the soul beasts in the area would be terriﬁed by her aura.

They didn’t travel for long before everyone received an alarm signal in their minds. Zhang Lexuan immediately halted everyone, and followed the Spiritual Detection’s guidance to gaze in a certain direction.

There was a soul beast crouching on a thick branch about two hundred meters away from them.

Chapter 228: Jade Ocean Spirit Ape

This soul beast was green all over, and was hard to see it in the green jungle if one didn’t look closely. Furthermore, it was covered by the trees and branches in the two hundred meters between them. However, Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection could clearly lock onto its position.

Huo Yuhao didn’t lock onto all the soul beasts around him after he activated it. However, his Spiritual Detection could reach a heightened level of precision even at a distance, and he could tell if it was hostile towards them from the soul beast’s blood essence, soul power, and spiritual power.

They had come across quite a few soul beasts before this, but most of them kept their distance and avoided the group. Some displayed hostility, but they were just trying to intimidate the group, and didn’t come near at all. The soul beast before them was different. Once it discovered Huo Yuhao’s group, it didn’t evade at all, and swiftly came nearer instead. There was a strong aura of hostility and murderous intent around it.

There were several typical circumstances with soul beasts like these. First, they could be meeting a belligerent and aggressive soul beast that would attack no matter who its adversaries were. Second, they could encounter a hungry or starving soul beast that had a particular preference for humans. Humans were considered as delicious as meals could get, and these soul beasts would deﬁnitely not let go of an

opportunity like this. Soul masters were nutritious and

extremely beneﬁcial for soul beasts!. A soul master’s tendons, ﬂesh, blood, and veins were perennially nourished by soul power, and the nutrition contained within them was far superior to normal soul beasts. The higher level these soul beasts were, the more interested they would be in high-level soul masters. There were some soul beasts that could directly absorb a soul master’s soul power to boost themselves!

The last situation was territory. Some relatively stronger soul beasts would mark out their own territories due to their predatory and dietary needs, and these territories were not restricted to soul beasts! Humans would deﬁnitely be assaulted if they trespassed. After all, soul beasts that could mark their own territories were stronger than most of their kind.

The soul beast in front of them belonged to the third situation, as they hadn’t encountered any other soul beasts in the minutes before they had discovered this one. “That looks like a Jade Ocean Spirit Ape, and it’s probably above ten thousand years in cultivation.” Huo Yuhao was the owner of the Spiritual Detection, and thus immediately reported this soul beast’s strength.

The Jade Ocean Spirit Ape was an ape-type soul beast, and it fed upon the venomous Spiritjade Fruits. It was a wood-type soul beast, could control plants within a small radius, and was adept with poisonous attacks. It was a soul beast that was hard to deal with.

“Does anybody need this?” Zhang Lexuan asked immediately. Everyone wanted ten thousand year soul rings, while the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape was a comparatively rare soul beast.

Mo Xuan hesitated momentarily before he said, “I’ll take it, eldest senior sister. I hope this Jade Ocean Spirit Ape is a little stronger… It would be best if it was twenty thousand years.”

Six-ringed Soul Emperors normally found it challenging to absorb twenty-thousand year soul rings, but students from Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard were deﬁnitely not normal. They feasted on nutritious and sumptuous meals provided by the canteen every single day, and their bodies were tough and resilient to an extent that normal soul masters couldn’t possibly compare with.

Zhang Lexuan smiled and said, “I guess we’re lucky that we found something we need so quickly.”

“It’s coming!” Huo Yuhao instantly reminded her.

Zhang Lexuan immediately said, “Yuhao, Wang Dong’er, and Wang Qiu’er, you guys are up. Capture it alive, Ruoruo and I will back you up.”

All three of them were slightly taken aback by Zhang Lexuan’s command. Ten-thousand year soul beasts were a piece of cake for their eight-ringed eldest senior sister, and everyone had assumed she was going to take point.

Cai Mei’er’s aura was not far behind everyone, and she subtly nodded her head. Zhang Lexuan could tell that Wang Qiu’er hadn’t really gelled with the team, and Zhang Lexuan wanted her to be included as quickly as possible. There were already rumors going around in the academy about Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er, the two people who shared almost the same name and who looked almost identical. Nobody would know how they were related to each other if they didn’t tell.

The green shadow was bouncing forward rapidly. It jumped directly from tree to tree, and its green radiance grew stronger with every jump. It covered the two hundred meters between them in no time.

Everyone could clearly see what this ten thousand year soul beast looked like when it got close. The Jade Ocean Spirit Ape was about one and a half meters tall, and it had an extremely lean and muscular body. Its entire body was covered by green fur, and one could feel that its relatively small frame was ﬁlled with strength and power. Its eyes were dark green and ferocious, and two enormous fangs protruded from its lips. The ape’s abdominal area swelled continuously as the green light on its body became stronger.

Huo Yuhao pulled Wang Dong’er along and left the formation after Zhang Lexuan’s command. Wang Qiu’er followed behind, still maintaining that quiet look.

Huo Yuhao still shared his Spiritual Detection with her no matter what she was like.

He had encountered many ten-thousand year soul beasts before, so he naturally wasn’t nervous at all. A dash of orange- gold light ﬂew from his body, and the tiny Snow Lady was already in midair.

Wang Qiu’er was momentarily stunned when she saw the little Snow Lady, and her footsteps became even slower than before. She was even more out of rhythm with the pair in front of her.

Huo Yuhao had already made his move. A purple-gold light immediately erupted from his eyes and ﬂickered once before the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape that was still bounding forward howled agonizingly, and large swathes of green fog started to pour from its body.

“Watch out, that’s its Spiritjade Poison Fog!” Zhang Lexuan reminded everyone.

Huo Yuhao naturally knew that this was Spiritjade Poison Fog, and he had already prepared to react. His Spiritual Shock had been ﬁred off precisely. Otherwise, that poisonous fog wouldn’t have been coming toward them from a distance, it would have instead spurted directly on top of them!

The ape’s soul skill was interrupted, and it broke the branch it was hopping on and plummeted from the trees. However, ten-thousand year soul beasts were not that easy to handle, and it recovered a little even as it fell to the ground. It roared into the sky, and opened its mouth once more as another stream of green fog ﬁred out, blowing the denser poison fog from before towards the Shrek students.

However, a dark blue light resembling a sprawling arch now struck out with lightning speed. The green fog immediately turned into ice and dissipated wherever this light touched, frozen in that very moment, and every piece ﬂuttered to the ground.

The fog itself was made from very tiny particles, and it contained smoke, mist, and water vapor. No matter how strong the Spirit Ape’s poison element was, the venomous air that its body generated would naturally carry some water particles, which ultimately meant that the fog was more like mist. The tiny Snow Lady’s tiny hand pointed forward; that was the Ultimate Ice Light Beam, and all the water that this light touched instantly became ice crystals. The venomous fog broke apart by itself, and was dispelled by the extreme chill.

The ape evaded the beam of light in a ﬂash, but its ferocious eyes became a little doubtful and unsettled. The temperature around it was starting to plummet, while its poisonous fog was dispelled in an instant. This made the soul beast, which had a certain level of intelligence, a little afraid.

Describing the process was slow, but everything happened in a single instant. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er darted forward the moment the Snow Lady ﬁred the beam, and the two of them surged into the sky. The golden light in Huo Yuhao’s eyes ﬂickered once more as his fourth soul ring sparkled, and a pale golden whirlpool instantly appeared above the Spirit Ape’s head.

This ten-thousand year soul beast’s spiritual cultivation wasn’t weak, but it was far inferior to Huo Yuhao. Spiritual Confusion immediately took effect on the Spirit Ape, and the dazed and confused soul beast immediately used the same attack. Huo Yuhao was holding onto Wang Dong’er with his right hand, but he released her hand as they raced forward. Wang Dong’er telepathically understood his intentions as she grabbed his arm and shifted behind his back before she grabbed his shoulders. The Radiant Butterﬂy Goddess’ wings extended outward, and the brilliant Light of the Butterﬂy Goddess burst toward the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape.

This was only Wang Dong’er’s second soul skill, but it was both completely charged with the power of light and ampliﬁed by her Golden Light Left Arm Bone at the same time.

The Spirit Ape was still struck by Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Confusion, so it couldn’t even evade those golden spheres. It was battered until it began to chitter, and streak after streak of ﬁre ignited on the ground. All the venomous particles that had drifted to the ground before were cleansed by the light.

However, the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape had to be relatively formidable for it to reign supreme in its territory inside the Hybrid Region. Its green fur radiated with pale colors as most of the attacks that hammered into its body were dispelled. It was continually forced backward from the onslaught, but it hadn’t really been wounded yet. “Eeeee...” the Spirit Ape howled furiously as the green light on its body immediately became stronger. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er were ten meters away from it at this point, and Wang Dong’ers wings spread apart and beat heavily as she lifted Huo Yuhao back into the sky.

The dense vegetation on the ground began to radiate with powerful green light, with the Spirit Ape at the center. Green light waves that resembled sharp swords moved outward and shot more than ﬁve meters high. They covered almost thirty meters in diameter around the Ape.

Wang Qiu’er was originally following behind Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er. She paused in her tracks when the ape suddenly exploded with light, then took a small step forward with her left leg to plant herself stably before punching out with her right ﬁst.

Her right ﬁst became completely golden when she punched forward, and a deep dragon roar could be heard that caused all the trees around her to tremble.

The green waves that were pushing forward split open in two as they hit the golden luster, and not a single one struck Wang Qiu’er.

Right when she punched out, the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape in the distance suddenly quivered vigorously. It had ﬁnally recovered from Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Confusion, and it turned to ﬂee without hesitation.

The dense vegetation that had previously burst with surging green light all wilted, as if their vitality had been sucked away.

Right when the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape was turning to run, a golden patch of light suddenly glowed on the ground in front of it. The golden radiance wasn’t that brilliant, but it was ﬁlled with the gentle power of light. There was another golden hexagram on the ground, but it wasn’t very conspicuous, as it was covered by all the vegetation. However, it was quite large, with a diameter of around three meters, so it extended horizontally across quite a large area.

The Spirit Ape was escaping in a panic. Even though it saw the golden hexagram, it didn’t feel any threat from it, so it leapt forward in an attempt to jump right over it.

However, just as it was in midair, the hexagram was triggered. A similar golden pillar surged into the sky and completely enveloped the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape. The Spirit Ape was propelled at least three meters into the air by this pillar of light. The intense golden light ﬁxed it in place in the air and completely immobilized it, while scorching golden ﬂames incinerated its body. The ape howled painfully and desperately as it struggled as hard as it could, and layer after layer of green soul power undulations ﬂowed from its body.

Wang Dong’er’s black fourth soul ring was glowing; this was her fourth soul skill, Hexagram Array.

The Hexagram Array was remarkably powerful. Anything that it struck would immediately be trapped by the power of light contained within, and would have to withstand intense searing ﬁre from the pillar of light. The only way to resist the ﬁre was to continually release soul power, as one couldn’t use any soul skills at all once struck by the Hexagram Array; all one could do was release soul power to ﬁght against it. This would naturally consume a lot of soul power, and the duration was closely related to the target’s cultivation. However, if the target’s cultivation was within two ranks, the shortest duration of the trap would still be at least three seconds.

This was a powerful offensive soul skill and a formidable controlling soul skill at the same time. It trapped and hurt the opponent, and it greatly consumed the opponent’s soul power! Truly a forceful and well-rounded soul skill.

Of course, this soul skill naturally had its weaknesses amidst all of its strengths. There could only be one active Hexagram Array at any one point in time, and the array had a one second delay to take effect after it had been unleashed. The target also had to cross over it for it to take effect. The limitations rendered this powerful soul skill not so excessively terrifying.

The Jade Ocean Spirit Ape obviously didn’t know that the seemingly unthreatening Hexagram Array would be this potent, or that it would have to ﬁght for dear life inside Wang Dong’s fourth soul skill.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er had already descended again from the sky, and he had already swapped positions with Wang Dong’er in midair.

Wang Dong’er’s bluish-golden wings became completely golden, and plunged from the sky like two giant scythes. Her wings crossed one another continuously as they slashed the immobilized Spirit Ape, and it was hurled into the sky once more as it howled in excruciating pain.

The original Hexagram Array instantly vanished, and another Hexagram Array glowed in the spot where the Spirit Ape would land after it was hurtled away.

The one second that the Hexagram Array required had already passed when the Spirit Ape crashed heavily to the ground. It was thrown into the air once more, and torched by the ﬁre of light yet again.

Wang Dong’er had rarely launched attacks ever since she reunited with Huo Yuhao, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t powerful enough. It simply meant she gave Huo Yuhao more chances to perform. She was willing to be the woman behind his limelight, while the reason why she took the initiative this time was to put on a display for a certain someone.

The two Hexagram Arrays that came one after another, in addition to the mighty slashing wing-blades boosted by her Golden Light Left Arm Bone, severely wounded the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape. The green light that the ape released while it was being scorched within the Hexagram Array was a lot dimmer than before, and two huge gashes crossed both of its shoulders. Wang Dong’er exclaimed as she extended her wings, and she bounced off Huo Yuhao’s palms, which were stretched out to give her a boost. She ﬂew about six or seven meters into the sky, and searing bluish-golden ﬂames lit up on her. In the next moment, her ﬁfth soul ring began to glow and she phased into an elegant and graceful bluish-golden butterﬂy for a single instant. The area for several hundred meters all around her

was painted with bluish-gold hues when she unleashed her attack, as if there were countless bluish-gold butterﬂies ﬂickering in the sky. Wang Dong’er had already ﬁnished her soul skill even as everyone saw a blinding ﬂash.

This was clearly a shock-type offensive soul skill, but Wang Dong’er was simply too fast. The bluish-gold light only seemed to ﬂash once, and she was behind the Spirit Ape in the next moment.

The Hexagram Array’s light was instantly withdrawn as the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape plummeted from the sky. It was still trembling vigorously, and everyone could clearly see that it had multiple bluish-golden light patterns plastered all over its body… or, one could describe them as wounds.

“Quickly, Mo Xuan!” Zhang Lexuan shouted. Mo Xuan wouldn’t let an opportunity like this slip away. He darted out with a ﬂash, and arrived before the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape as Zhang Lexuan followed behind him and gave it a ﬁnal blow.

The Spirit Ape’s life force was reaching its end, and it felt as if the power of light was forcibly maintaining its last breath.

Butterﬂy Goddess’ Meteor, Wang Dong’er’s fearsome ﬁfth soul skill. Its offensive power was so strong that even Cai Mei’er, who was watching the battle from the side, reacted in shock. The air was ﬁlled with the smell of sunshine that was created after everything was incinerated by the ﬁery light.

A black soul ring rose from the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape’s body, and Mo Xuan immediately sat down cross-legged beside it without hesitation. He began to absorb the soul ring with the guidance of his soul power.

Everyone naturally surrounded him for protection.

Zhang Lexuan turned to look at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er, and then at Wang Qiu’er, who had done nothing at all except punching out with that one ﬁst. She frowned delicately and said, “I’ll have to criticize you ﬁrst, Yuhao. You’re the main control-type soul master… how did you lead your companions? Why didn’t Wang Qiu’er truly participate in the battle from beginning to end? While it’s true that you and Wang Dong’er were enough to defeat this Jade Ocean Spirit Ape, wouldn’t Qiu’er’s participation have made it a lot easier, and you would have expended a lot less soul power?”

Wang Dong’er didn’t even wait for Huo Yuhao to respond. She exclaimed unhappily, “We don’t know what she can do, and neither do we know what soul skills she possesses or how powerful she is. What if she drags us down when we delegate something to her and ask her to cooperate? Furthermore, we are also concerned about her safety!”

Zhang Lexuan’s expression grew dark. “Do you know what being on a team means, Wang Dong’er? If everyone on the team shares your opinion, then the team will crumble sooner or later. You’re also from the inner courtyard, and you’re Elder Mu’s disciple, don’t you understand simple reason? Our ﬁght has only just begun, and what we need right now is mutual cooperation and understanding. I don’t care about what problems you have with Wang Qiu’er, but you can’t act on them on this expedition, as everyone’s safety is concerned! From now on, you will temporarily stop your coordination with Huo Yuhao. You will stand guard at the back.”

Light ﬂashed across Wang Dong’er’s eyes, and she wanted to continue arguing, but Huo Yuhao held her back. Huo Yuhao muttered softly, “Eldest senior sister is right. We are a team, and we are one body. It’s my fault, eldest senior sister.”

Wang Dong’er also calmed down at this moment. She knew that Zhang Lexuan was right, but she said nothing more even though she still felt a little aggrieved and unconvinced.

Zhang Lexuan’s eyes turned towards Wang Qiu’er, and her voice was clearly harsher. “What about you, Wang Qiu’er? What did you do? Why didn’t you take the initiative to cooperate? It’s understandable why you fell behind in the beginning, but you could have caught up when Wang Dong’er released the ﬁrst Hexagram Array. Why did you stop? The three of you are working together, do you even have a single inkling of cooperation? You were cowering at the back as you watched your comrades ﬁght. Are you even worthy of becoming part of Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard?” Wang Qiu’er shot her a glare and said coldly, “You are not qualiﬁed to decide whether I’m part of the inner courtyard or not. Why do I have to ﬁght if the two of them are enough? It would even have been enough if I had been by myself. Furthermore, I have never cowered in the face of an adversary. If you don’t believe that, we can switch positions, and I’ll take point.”

Eldest senior sister’s awe-inspiring aura had been challenged, and the other inner courtyard students were stunned as they looked on, slack-jawed. They had never ever seen anyone talk back to Zhang Lexuan like that.

Zhang Lexuan smiled plainly and said, “I’m sorry, but I am actually qualiﬁed to decide whether you’re part of Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard. I’m part of Shrek Academy’s Sea God’s Pavilion, and I have the right to ask to the academy to expel any member from the inner courtyard. What you have done violates school rules, so nobody will protect you. If you are unconvinced about my ability, you can challenge me after the expedition. But I am the team leader for now, and I will give you one last chance. Answer me: are you willing to follow my orders and cooperate with the team?” Wang Qiu’er’s eyes turned cold as she listened to Zhang Lexuan, as if she were about to explode. Everyone else was looking at her. Nobody expected that Wang Qiu’er, who was still new, would dare to antagonize their eldest senior sister, who was the team leader. This was the Great Star Dou Forest’s inner region, and Zhang Lexuan’s actions were indisputable. She had to ensure that the team had only one voice, and that everyone would listen to her commands and her delegations. That was the only way for her to ensure everyone’s safety.

The light in Wang Qiu’er’s eyes receded, and she answered plainly, “Alright, as you wish. I will listen to your orders.”

Zhang Lexuan didn’t look proud at all, and she muttered solemnly, “You’ve made the right choice. The reason is because this doesn’t just concern your own safety. The entire team’s safety is at stake. I hope you won’t do anything foolish in our subsequent ventures. From now on, you will be cooperating with Huo Yuhao.”

She returned to the formation after speaking these words, and the initial tension and instability was instantly resolved by her timely handling of the situation. She had temporarily severed Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er’s partnership and paired Huo Yuhao with Wang Qiu’er. This move had a deeper meaning, and she wanted to break the ice and the barriers between the two of them through battle and helping each other out. They had just entered the Hybrid Region, and were still far from actual danger. It was better to resolve these issues right now than when the real problems came around, and she targeted both parties at the same time so nobody would feel aggrieved or wronged.

Wang Dong’er took a few steps back reluctantly. She followed behind Huo Yuhao, but was still quite near. Wang Qiu’er was perhaps deliberately trying to upset her as she walked up to Wang Dong’er’s original spot. She was standing extremely close to Huo Yuhao, except she wasn’t holding hands with him.

Wang Dong’er nudged Huo Yuhao from behind, and Huo Yuhao hurriedly waved his hands behind her and clasped her hands once to tell her to relax and not to worry.

Wang Dong’er was still a little reluctant, but she had to get used to it, as she couldn’t just ignore Zhang Lexuan’s orders.

Wang Qiu’er was still quiet like she had always been. She was just standing there and staring into the distance, and her large blue eyes looked a little empty. Nobody knew what she was thinking about.

Huo Yuhao was also contemplating something... he was thinking about Wang Qiu’er’s punch from before.

He had been engaged in battle, but he was still observing and monitoring the entire battleﬁeld through his Spiritual Detection. Wang Qiu’er’s punch had looked as simple as a punch could be, but the power that had erupted in that moment had astonished Huo Yuhao.

There was a hint of unrivaled power and prestige within that punch. It was accompanied by that deep dragon’s roar, which had momentarily dazed Huo Yuhao while he was monitoring the battleﬁeld.

Furthermore, Wang Qiu’er’s punch was only intended to protect herself, and she didn’t attack the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape directly. The truth was that her punch had quite an effect, as Huo Yuhao could clearly feel the intense fear that rose from the ape, and the ape ﬂed into the trap that he and Wang Dong’er had set up immediately afterwards.

Pure strength could actually reach a level such as this. Furthermore, Wang Qiu’er’s spiritual power had to be quite formidable as well. At least, her ability to fuse spiritual power and soul power was deﬁnitely equal to his own, if not better.

This was the judgment that Huo Yuhao had made about her in this short period of time. However, Wang Qiu’er only made that one attack, and he didn’t have enough information to make even more deductions. He was becoming increasingly interested in this Golden Dragon martial soul. This Jade Ocean Spirit Ape was only around ﬁfteen thousand years old, so Mo Xuan didn’t have too much difﬁculty absorbing it. An hour passed before he ﬁnally ﬁnished absorbing his sixth soul ring, and he leapt to his feet happily.

“Thank you.” Mo Xuan walked to Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong’er, and Wang Qiu’er and thanked them with a grateful look.

Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er remained silent as Huo Yuhao replied, “You’re welcome. We’re a team anyway, it’s good that it was suitable for you.”

Mo Xuan glanced at him and then at the masked beauties beside him. His face suddenly had an added drop of amusement as he said, “Good luck, brother.”

Huo Yuhao could obviously see the teasing and mocking expression in his eyes, and he suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

At this point, Zhang Lexuan called everyone up to keep moving. Everyone became more vigilant after their encounter with the Jade Ocean Spirit Ape. However, they didn’t feel much pressure with Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection.

They fought back or chased away several unsuitable soul beasts as they moved forward, and ventured deeper and deeper into the Hybrid Region.

Huo Yuhao could tell from the distance they had traveled that the area they were in had surpassed his previous expeditions into the Great Star Dou Forest. He felt both nervous and excited at the same time, as every soul master wanted to see the Great Star Dou Forest’s mysterious Slaughter Grounds!

Moving inward from the Hybrid Region would take them into the Core Region, and the Slaughter Grounds were at the center of the Core Region. They were travelling closer and closer to that area.

The forest’s Peripheral Region and Hybrid Regions had the largest surface area of the four main regions. The Core Region was comparatively smaller, but the soul beasts residing within the Core Region naturally had incredibly frightening abilities. How could any soul beast enter and live within the Core Region without some ability?

The Great Star Dou Forest’s layout, where the inner regions were more dangerous while the weaker soul beasts resided in the outer regions, was logical. Huo Yuhao could feel the life energy in the air becoming increasingly dense as they moved further in, something beneﬁcial for any living being. He could only imagine that the Slaughter Grounds at the Core Region’s center was probably a paradise, and it was probably the best place for soul beasts to cultivate.

The sky had gone dark by now, and it was night time. Roars and howls could be heard from time to time, along with a cacophony of bird calls and insect chirps in the area all around them.

Zhang Lexuan paused and took a look at the sky through the canopy. She lowered her voice and said, “We should be inside the Core Region’s central areas. It’s not good to move during the night, so we shall rest here today. Huo Yuhao, can you expand your detection area so that we can ﬁnd a suitable place to make camp?” “Alright.” Huo Yuhao raised his spiritual power and swiftly expanded his Spiritual Detection. The radius reached a thousand meters in an instant, but he stopped at this distance, as expanding it further would require his Eye of Destiny.

Zhang Lexuan pointed in one direction after a moment, and led everyone there.

It was a place that was relatively higher than the area around it, with dense vegetation and tall trees surrounding it.

Li Yongyue released his martial soul. A moonblade shaped like a beautiful crescent and ﬂickering with a chilly light appeared, and it swept around as it unleashed several blade rays that cleared away all the undergrowth around this area.

Just like Zhang Lexuan had said during their picnic before this, they would have to take shelter in the open air as they travelled into the Great Star Dou Forest’s inner regions. This place would be their camp tonight. Sleeping in tents was an impossibility, as they had to be ready for any changes or unforeseen circumstances. Zhang Lexuan glanced around and surveyed her surroundings via Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection before she lowered her voice and said, “There are many soul beasts in the area. However, I could sense during our journey here that there are hardly any powerful soul beasts that have claimed this area as part of their territory. Thanks to Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection, our progress today has been swift, and we have reached such a deep position after just eight hours. We will encounter a lot more trouble from tomorrow onwards, and our forward movement will be much slower. We will have sentries tonight, and everyone will rotate shifts. Those who are resting will meditate where they are. I’ll take ﬁrst watch, and Ruoruo will go next. Everyone will keep watch for two hours. Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er will take the third shift. Wang Dong’er, Li Yongyue, and Mo Xuan are not suitable for keeping watch, so the three of you will relax and rest.”

Even though Wang Dong’er didn’t feel comfortable about not keeping watch with Huo Yuhao throughout the night, she didn’t raise any objections. Her abilities were not suitable for keeping a stealthy watch during the night. The Radiant Butterﬂy Goddess was too brilliant, too obvious, and she would easily attract soul beasts in the area. She would probably bring great trouble to everyone if she attracted a lot of soul beasts to where their camp was located. Wang Qiu’er glanced at Huo Yuhao, and realized that Huo Yuhao was also staring at her as their gazes met. Wang Qiu’er snapped her head away, and Huo Yuhao was slightly taken aback as he realized that Wang Qiu’er’s eyes were a little different from before… they seemed a little more amiable than

they were during the day.

They absolutely couldn't start a ﬁre inside the Great Star Dou Forest. Soul beasts weren't like typical wild beasts; many of them were instead attracted to ﬂames and ﬁre. As such, enjoying a meal as they travelled was the closest to normal they could get.

Everybody was feeling fortunate about having had a nice meal at lunchtime. Even though they were quite exhausted from their journey, everyone at least had sufﬁcient psychological comfort and satisfaction.

They munched on some simple dry rations and drank a few mouthfuls from their water bottles before everyone sat down in their respective spots and began to cultivate.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er were different from the rest. They sat facing each other with their palms raised and in contact as they began to circulate their Haodong power.

They were deliberately suppressing it, but their bodies were still shining with pale light. This couldn’t be helped, as soul power circulation during cultivation would always release light to a certain extent.

Zhang Lexuan was still standing there as she gazed into the horizon. She no longer had Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection to support her, so she could only rely on her own abilities to stand guard for now.

Wang Qiu’er sat in a spot not far from Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er, and her alluring eyes showed thoughtfulness as she watched them with their palms together.

Everyone was part of the inner courtyard, and they were all extremely qualiﬁed and outstanding. They quickly entered meditation even though they were in a perilous area, and not a single one of them couldn’t adapt.

They swiftly recovered their soul power, and their fatigue was also eased in the process. They would probably need about two hours to return to their peak condition, but they took a longer time to rest to recover from physical fatigue and mental exhaustion, so that everyone would be in an even better state.

Two hours quickly passed. Han Ruoruo rose when the time was up and took over Zhang Lexuan’s shift.

Zhang Lexuan’s arrangements left no room for dispute, and everyone had no choice but to obey. The whole night would be about ten hours long: she took the ﬁrst two hours, Han Ruoruo took the next two, while Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er would stand guard for the next two hours. The last four hours would deﬁnitely still fall to her and Han Ruoruo, which was equivalent to the two team leaders bearing most of the responsibility to stand guard for the night.

The forest appeared tranquil and undisturbed. It was as if they were blessed by the heavens, and four hours passed without encountering any soul beasts passing by.

Huo Yuhao woke up when his time came. He withdrew his hands that were still pressed against Wang Dong’er’s hands, and Wang Dong’er opened her eyes at the same time, before sticking out her tongue. She glanced at Wang Qiu’er not far from their position as she gestured at Huo Yuhao to be careful.

Huo Yuhao gave her a thumbs-up to show that he had no problems, and then he stood up and walked over to Wang Qiu’er.

Chapter 229: The Story Behind the Baked Bread

Han Ruoruo smiled and whispered, “It’s up to the two of you now. Do warn everyone in time if you discover anything.”

“Alright. Hurry and rest, senior sister,” Huo Yuhao answered politely, while Wang Qiu’er didn’t respond at all.

The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder, and Wang Qiu’er was still as cold as she had always been. However, she actually removed her veil at this moment for some reason.

The forest night wasn’t an absolute darkness where one couldn’t see anything at all. Moonlight cascaded through the canopy and showered onto the forest through the shadows of the trees, and there were some tiny insects around that gave off light as well. The light was weak, but they could still see.

Huo Yuhao Looked at her proﬁle when he turned towards Wang Qiu’er… it was just so familiar and beautiful. If he hadn’t known better, he wouldn’t have been able to tell whether the person beside him was Wang Qiu’er or Wang Dong’er.

She’s so pretty!, Huo Yuhao exclaimed in admiration inside, before he hurriedly turned back around and activated his Spiritual Detection before he shared it with her.

Wang Qiu’er glanced in his direction and muttered, “Your soul skill is good.”

She had a charming voice, but it still sounded a little cold and forced no matter how one heard it.

Huo Yuhao retrieved some dry rations and asked, “Do you want some?” The rations he took out were meat sandwiches he had prepared earlier. Baked bread was food that didn’t spoil easily, and there was some meat packed inside. It was a little dry, but it still tasted alright.

Huo Yuhao was just being courteous and polite, but he didn’t think that Wang Qiu’er would ask, “Did you make that yourself?”

Huo Yuhao nodded and replied, “Dong’er is a little picky with her food. I made some braised meat before this, and the baked bread was taken from the canteen. It tastes alright.”

Wang Qiu’er glanced at him and said, “You’re really good to her.”

Huo Yuhao smiled and gestured towards her with the meat sandwich in his hands.

Wang Qiu’er took two pieces from him. Huo Yuhao realized to his surprise that her hands were covered with a faint golden aura. That layer was dark golden in color, and it was surprisingly inconspicuous in the darkness of the night. She passed the sandwiches back in the next moment.

“Hand me another two,” Wang Qiu’er said plainly

Huo Yuhao took the two sandwiches back suspiciously, but he had a revelation once he held them in his hands. The two sandwiches were now warm, and they carried delicate wafts of cooking meat. Her soul power can even be used for grilling? Huo Yuhao hurriedly passed her another two sandwiches, while he took a bite from the one already in his hands.

The sandwich tasted different when it was warm – the braised meat became a lot more tender, while the tendons in the meat were half-melted. The fresh and salty juice that diffused into the bread had been warmed up, and the sandwich truly tasted a lot better than it did when it was cold.

Wang Qiu’er did the same thing and heated up her own sandwich before she started nibbling away.

“I didn’t expect you to have an ability like this! We don’t have to eat cold rations anymore!” Huo Yuhao said with a smile on his face.

Wang Qiu’er seemed to have recovered her coldness as she said, “Just this once. Consider this a gesture of appreciation for your grilled ﬁsh and soup in the afternoon.”

Huo Yuhao wasn’t upset at all. He chuckled and said, “Do you really have to reject everyone and close yourself off like that? We’re teammates now.”

Wang Qiu’er snapped her head around and stared into his eyes as she asked, “Do you guys really treat me like your teammates? Then why do I feel a sense of hostility from her?”

Huo Yuhao was rendered speechless by her question. The truth was that he could also feel the hostility that Wang Dong’er harbored against Wang Qiu’er. He forced a laugh and said, “The truth is that I don’t understand it, either. The two of you look too similar, and Dong’er insists that she doesn’t have a twin sister. Perhaps that’s why she’s suspicious of you.”

“I trust that time will serve to prove everything.” There was a look of profoundness in his eyes when he uttered this last sentence.

Wang Qiu’er turned back around and continued eating the sandwich in her hands. She said coldly, “I have never had to prove anything to anyone.”

Huo Yuhao had already ﬁnished the food in his hands by now. He retrieved his water bag and took a few gulps as he smiled and said, “That’s not a good attitude. First, we live in the same world, and you can’t possibly reject and forsake everything in the world. You can’t decide how people look at you. Since that’s the case, why don’t you try to ﬁt in? Will being so reticent and aloof bring you happiness?”

“Fit in? Do you really think I can ﬁt in? Ever since I left… I left home, everyone outside has been attracted by my looks. Do you know how many people come forward to ﬂirt with me in a single day? I’ve even met some people who would do anything to get to me. I do want to ﬁt in, but the process of ﬁtting in will have to rely on my ﬁsts. That is the reason I wear the veil, and it has alleviated much of my troubles.”

Huo Yuhao said exasperatedly, “That’s because you’re too good-looking. Perhaps this is the negative effect of being so blessed with beauty by the heavens. However, I can guarantee that you won’t run into such problems within Shrek Academy.”

Wang Qiu’er muttered disdainfully, “You can only speak for yourself.” She suddenly tossed the baked bread in her hands as she said, “It’s disgusting. I’m not eating that anymore.” Huo Yuhao was momentarily stunned, before his eyes suddenly became ice-cold in the next moment. Wang Qiu’er felt a slight chill, and turned around subconsciously to look at him. She met Huo Yuhao’s eyes, and his eyes ﬂickered with chilly light as she felt a tidal wave of animosity.

However, this hostility didn’t continue, and the coldness receded. Huo Yuhao walked over to where she threw the baked bread as he bent down and picked it up. “Do you want to ﬁght?” Wang Qiu’er raised her chin and stared at Huo Yuhao provocatively.

Huo Yuhao shot a cold look at her. “I would have if we were elsewhere. Have your family never taught you to treasure your food? Do you know that a small piece of baked bread like this can save a life?”

Wang Qiu’er twitched her lips contemptuously.

Huo Yuhao continued, “Have you ever felt hunger?”

Wang Qiu’er answered coldly, “Powerful people will never feel hungry.”

Huo Yuhao laughed scornfully and said, “Powerful people? Have you been a powerful individual since the moment you were born? The only powerful people were your parents back then. You’ve never tasted hunger, so you naturally have no idea how precious food is.”

The truth was that he didn’t laugh because he despised Wang Qiu’er, he just couldn’t control himself. He was infuriated when Wang Qiu’er tossed the baked bread onto the ground, as he hated people that didn’t respect and appreciate food the most. Furthermore, it was something he had made himself, so she was throwing away his hard work.

However, when he picked up the baked bread from the ground, he couldn’t help but laugh. Only one bite was taken, but the teeth marks were still there, while all the braised meat was gone. Not even a single bit was left. This girl is really picky with her food! She was just calling the baked bread disgusting.

Wang Qiu’er puffed up her ﬁrm chest that was more developed than Wang Dong’er’s and said, “How do you know I wasn’t a powerful being when I was born? It’s just a wretched piece of baked bread.” Huo Yuhao turned his head around. He didn’t want to see the coldness and disdain on her face as he gazed into the darkness and said, “Yes, it’s just a piece of baked bread. However, a piece of baked bread like this means the opportunity to continue surviving to me.”

He held onto the baked bread that was just thrown onto the ground as he spoke, and he actually bit down on the bread that Wang Qiu’er had just eaten from and began to chew.

Wang Qiu’er was still upset, and she was still wearing that look of contempt, but she was dazed when she saw his actions.

He’s… he’s eating the baked bread that I’ve just eaten from.

That was the only thought running through her head.

And Huo Yuhao? Huo Yuhao’s mind was only ﬁlled with precious memories.

“I was only ﬁve years old back then, and I was still a skinny little kid. My mother and I had to live under someone else’s roof, and my mother would feed me everyday with her meager salary. My mother still had to wash clothes outside even in the bitter chill of winter, and her hands were covered by wounds and scars.

“My mother loved me so much. She always told me that I was the only thing that mattered in her life. I still remember that day... the sky had turned dark, and my mother came running in elatedly from outside. It was hard to see her smile through all the excruciating toil of her daily life, but she was just so happy that day.

“Do you know why?”

He turned back around and stared into Wang Qiu’er’s eyes. At this moment, tears had already welled up in his eyes.

He took another bite from the piece of baked bread. He munched and chewed vigorously, and his tears trickled down his cheeks uncontrollably.

“Why?” The cold expression on Wang Qiu’er’s face had vanished, she was at a loss. Huo Yuhao continued chewing on the baked bread as he said with a quivering voice, “The reason was because my mother was working in the kitchen that day, and the chef in the kitchen had given her a piece of baked bread that was fresh from the wok after she had ﬁnished. It was still hot and fragrant, and my mother thought about me. I wouldn’t have to eat that cornbread anymore, and I could ﬁnally have some bread made from white ﬂour! That was the reason she was so happy and excited!

“She didn’t want the baked bread to go cold, so she stuffed and hugged the steaming bread in her chest. When she took out the baked bread and handed it to me, her chest had turned red from all that heat. I was still young. I still didn’t know anything back then. All I knew was to nibble on that warm baked bread.”

At this point, Huo Yuhao was sobbing and snifﬂing.

He normally wouldn’t reveal his emotions so easily in front of outsiders. However, he began to reminisce about his childhood when Wang Qiu’er heated up the baked bread for him. His mind was ﬁlled with images of his mother’s satisﬁed smile, but his heart was ﬁlled with suffocating pain. Mom, mom! If only you were still alive. I have the ability to take care of you now, and I have the ability to protect you now!

Everyone else was still meditating. Huo Yuhao was squatting down as he forcibly suppressed his sobbing sounds in the quiet night as he released the dejection and grief in his heart.

Wang Qiu’er was still standing beside him, but she was completely rooted to the ground at this moment. She had never expected a single piece of baked bread could have a story like that.

Huo Yuhao was choking a little on the baked bread because of his tears, and his sobbing instantly stopped, and became some unnatural sounds.

Wang Qiu’er recovered and hurriedly squatted down beside him as she patted his back gently to help him get his breath back.

It took some effort, but this mouthful ﬁnally went down. Huo Yuhao wiped the tears from his face as he lowered his head and said, “Thank you.”

Wang Qiu’er reached out and snatched the remaining half from his hands. Huo Yuhao snapped back around at her with a look of astonishment and a little bit of anger, but he then realized that the girl was stufﬁng the entire piece of baked bread into her mouth as if she wanted to swallow it whole. Her tender and pretty cheeks instantly puffed out as she struggled to chew. Their gazes met once more, and Huo Yuhao laughed through his tears and snifﬂing as he watched her swallowing furiously. He handed her the water bag in his hands.

It wasn’t easy, but Wang Qiu’er ﬁnally swallowed the baked bread in her mouth with the help of some water.

“Ugh…” Wang Qiu’er took a deep breath, and she couldn’t help but whisper, “It tastes terrible.”

Huo Yuhao chortled and said, “It’s not so bad. It’s not terrible to the point where it’s inedible, at least.”

Wang Qiu’er snapped, “I’m talking about your saliva.”

Huo Yuhao was stunned momentarily. Right! They had both taken turns to bite into this baked bread, and it could be said that they were swallowing each other’s saliva. There was a little bit of awkwardness amongst all this, and he subconsciously turned to look at Wang Dong’er, who was still meditating, a feeling of guilt surging up from the bottom of his heart. Wang Qiu’er grunted contemptuously and said, “Men who are afraid of women are good for nothing. You’re a grown man now, and you’re still sobbing and crying like that. That’s even worse.” She handed the water bag back to Huo Yuhao and stood up.

Huo Yuhao didn’t get angry at all as he put the water bag away. He didn’t follow Wang Qiu’er, but remained where he was. He made a mental note that had to maintain his distance from Wang Qiu’er, and he couldn’t let Wang Dong’er misunderstand.

However, he swiftly raised his head at this moment. His eyes were still ﬁlled with tears, but they suddenly froze as he stared in one particular direction. His Spiritual Detection was initially working in an area around him, but he instantly switched to a particular direction in front of him.

Wang Qiu’er was also part of his Spiritual Detection, and she naturally gazed over at the ﬁrst possible moment. Both of them felt their hearts skip a beat.

The ﬁrst feeling that Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection gave them was an aura that seemed to blanket the entire world: it didn’t come from a single soul beast, it was from a group, and one that was charged with power.

Pair after pair of dark red eyes glowed faintly in the darkness of the night, and their muscular bodies didn’t make a sound at all as they traversed the forest. They were like specters of the night as they gradually moved closer.

Huo Yuhao instantly warned everyone who was still cultivating with his Spiritual Detection. He didn’t make a sound at all, and he made a gesture to Wang Qiu’er to keep quiet at the same time.

He still didn’t know whether these soul beasts were coming after them, or if they were just passing by. These soul beasts were about eight hundred meters away, and they were gradually pushing forward.

Everyone woke up one after another. They didn’t need Huo Yuhao to tell them verbally, they could “see” the soul beasts that were coming closer through Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection. At this moment, the students from the inner courtyard displayed their exemplary qualities. Nobody made a sound as they swiftly started to move, and they relied on their geographical advantage to ﬁnd a spot where they could best defend themselves.

Zhang Lexuan came next to Huo Yuhao swiftly, her pretty eyes sparkling. She didn’t look a single bit like she did when she was meditating.

She made an inquisitive gesture toward Huo Yuhao, and Huo Yuhao responded with a subtle shake of his head to signal that he didn’t know what these soul beasts were after.

Zhang Lexuan waved her hands for everyone to maintain their formation.

There were quite a few soul beasts in this pack, at least a few hundred. Soul beasts that lived in the Hybrid Region had at least a thousand years of cultivation, and several hundred of them would be extremely difﬁcult to deal with. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection told him that there were more than just thousand-year soul beasts among the pack they were facing. It was better not to provoke this pack if they could help it.

The soul beasts didn’t seem like they had discovered the company, and were just gradually moving towards the humans’ position.

Zhang Lexuan’s eyebrows knit together. She was a little conﬂicted at this moment; she felt like these soul beasts weren’t coming after them, but the marks they would leave behind if they left this location now would deﬁnitely be discovered. However, they would deﬁnitely meet up with these soul beasts if they didn’t move away. Such an enormous pack would undoubtedly assault them if they saw them.

Zhang Lexuan glanced at Huo Yuhao subconsciously, but right at this moment, Huo Yuhao suddenly used his spiritual power to signal in everyone’s minds, “Prepare for battle!”

Just when he gave out the signal, the soul beasts that seemed like they had no target all suddenly picked up speed, and split into two groups as they ﬂanked the Shrek band from both sides. The seven or eight soul beasts that were charging at the front were the leanest and most robust ones.

They were simply too quick – the forest’s complicated landscape didn’t seem to impede them at all. They separated and ﬂanked, and it was obvious that these soul beasts had premeditated their battle strategy. They had clearly discovered the company way earlier, and treated them like prey.

Zhang Lexuan growled softly, “Prepare for battle, everyone! Maintain the original formation – these soul beasts are very hard to handle, so everyone is to go straight for the kill! Give your all in this ﬁght! Mo Xuan, unleash your Halo!”

“Yes!” Mo Xuan acknowledged as two yellow, two purple, and two black soul rings rose up from his feet. In the next moment, halo after halo rippled from his body, enveloping everyone.

Huo Yuhao could clearly feel that his strength and speed had been ampliﬁed in tandem, and his spiritual focus became a little stronger. Mo Xuan had unleashed his ﬁrst three halos, but the strength of his ampliﬁcation couldn’t really be complimented, as its effects couldn’t even reach a ﬁfth of Ning Tian’s Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda. The soul beasts arrived right when Mo Xuan activated his halos. The seven or eight burliest soul beasts were in the vanguard.

Everyone could clearly see that the soul beasts were a bunch of baboons when they came nearer. They were huge and tall, and could even be compared to a normal bear species. Their muscles were tight and bulging, and their lean and mean appearance instilled a sense of fear in people’s hearts. Their faces were ghastly white, in strong contrast to their black fur. Their blood-red eyes in their white faces were daunting, and this appearance was especially petrifying in the darkness of the night.

“These are Bloody Baboons. Be careful, everyone – Bloody Baboons have powerful physical strength, and Bloodlust is their innate skill. Bloodlust allows them to immediately boost their offensive and defensive capabilities. Their heads are their vital point, so everyone should go for their heads.”

Zhang Lexuan didn’t panic at all as they faced this siege from a pack of high-level soul beasts. She rapidly gave the necessary commands while she released her martial soul at the same time. Huo Yuhao was standing behind her, and he could see two yellow, two purple, three black, and one red soul ring rise from beneath her feet. The pack of Bloody Baboons paused momentarily when her red soul ring appeared, as if they were a little hesitant.

Bloody Baboons were soul beasts that were extremely hard to deal with. They moved in packs, even as their individual ﬁghting strength was also relatively formidable. They were known as beings who had bronze skin and steel bones. They had strong defensive capabilities, and they had immense strength powerful enough to strangle a tiger to death with their bare hands. They were highly resistant to soul power of any element, and their black fur, which was as tough as metal, was their best defensive trait. What was even more frightening was their innate skill, Bloodlust: once it was used, their defensive and offensive capabilities would be boosted exponentially, while they would lose the ability to feel pain and would no longer fear death.

Bloody Baboons were naturally cruel and ﬁerce, and they were also very intelligent. They were clearly trying not to be discovered when they were coming forward slowly. Fortunately, Huo Yuhao could tell through his Spiritual Detection that their blood essences were changing, and he was able to warn everyone to get ready in advance.

The tallest Bloody Baboon at the very front had a conspicuous lock of golden fur on its forehead. It howled into the sky, more than three meters tall when it stood up straight as it hammered its chests heavily with its ﬁsts, which it sounded like deafening drums. A circle of golden light radiated

from its body, and the Bloody Baboons around him were covered with a pale golden layer. Their auras became even more fearsome than before, and the fear that had ﬂashed across their eyes before vanished into thin air. Murderous looks exploded from their eyes as they snarled and charged

forward.

Zhang Lexuan lowered her voice and said, “That’s the Baboon King. He’s a ﬁfty-thousand year soul beast! Be careful, everyone – this is Mass Berserk!”

Something glowed behind Zhang Lexuan’s back as she spoke: it was a crescent moon that seemed like it was hanging off a tree as everything lit up after its appearance.

Zhang Lexuan’s skin looked pale and translucent under the moonlight. She pointed forward with her right hand, and moonlight immediately erupted from the crescent moon above her. The baboons that came forward ﬁrst were immediately smashed away wherever the moonlight fell.

However, the Bloody Baboons’ defensive capabilities were boosted under the effects of Mass Berserk, and they just rolled around on the ground before they got back to their feet, mostly unharmed.

The group from Shrek Academy had been surrounded at this moment. Large throngs of baboons leapt out from their surroundings, but they didn’t come any closer, forming a tight and compact circle around the humans.

The company could tell from their movements that these baboons had between two to three thousand years of cultivation. The Baboon King was undoubtedly the strongest one, and there were several other ten-thousand year baboons beside him. There were also several other ten-thousand year baboons in the packs that had ﬂanked them to either side.

The Baboon King continued hammering his chest. His Mass Berserk continued to spread, and quickly encompassed all the baboons around him. However, the baboons were not hasty with their attack, and only pushed forward gradually.

The air immediately became extremely tense.

The students from Shrek weren’t panicky or ﬂustered in the least, even though they were facing such a hazardous situation. The Baboon King had ﬁfty thousand years of cultivation, which meant that he was almost equivalent to an eight-ringed Soul Douluo. The humans had two Soul Douluo on their side, and they even had Dean Cai, who was a Titled Douluo, to hold the fort. These Bloody Baboons were difﬁcult to deal with, but it wouldn’t be easy for them to threaten their company.

Han Ruoruo had shifted behind Zhang Lexuan at this moment. Her Dazzling Golden Rope shimmered into view. However, she didn’t attack her enemies, but wrapped the rope once around her companions’ waists. A powerful control-type soul master didn’t just control his or her enemies, but also had to take care of his or her own people.

The Baboon King stared at Zhang Lexuan with those ferocious eyes of his, while Zhang Lexuan returned his gaze with a calm expression.

All of a sudden, the Baboon King roared as he applied strength to his thick and strong lower limbs. His incredibly muscular body immediately barreled towards Zhang Lexuan, while a layer of golden light glimmered on his body. His tremendous forward-moving ﬁgure actually appeared faintly surreal and illusory.

Zhang Lexuan’s ﬁrst and third soul rings lit up at the same time. A streak of moonlight ﬁrst descended on her body, and she was completely encircled by the radiance, before another beam of moonlight shone on the Baboon King’s body immediately afterwards.

There was a loud boom, and the Baboon King’s momentum paused, but he still continued his charge at Zhang Lexuan. The other baboons charged forward when the Baboon King made his move, and the ten-thousand year Bloody Baboons immediately launched their hysterical assault.

Zhang Lexuan placed her hands in front of her chest. The crescent moon behind her burst with light as streak after streak of moonlight blasted down from the sky. She blocked the Baboon King’s forward momentum and four other ten- thousand year baboons at the same time.

Of course, she wasn’t the only target, and enemies circled in from all sides.

Two of the ten-thousand year baboons charged toward Huo Yuhao and the others. At this moment, Wang Dong’er was on Huo Yuhao’s right, while Wang Qiu’er was on his left, both of them having removed their veils for the night’s rest.

The two baboons leapt into the sky at the same time, and one of them went straight for Huo Yuhao. It raised placed its elongated hands above its head and clenched them into ﬁsts before slamming them straight down. Huo Yuhao was young, but he was an experienced ﬁghter. Cold light ﬂickered in his eyes as four soul rings rose from beneath him.

His eyes instantly turned white as a white light circle spread in all directions: Mass Enfeeblement!

Huo Yuhao’s Mass Enfeeblement was also like a halo, but it was far stronger than Mo Xuan’s halos. Almost all the Bloody Baboons slowed down in that instant, and the ferocity of their forward momentum was greatly reduced.

The Bloody Baboons were adept with physical attacks, while Mass Enfeeblement targeted physical bodies, so it could be considered a counter. Mass Berserk had just taken effect on these baboons, but its effects were immediately countered and offset by Mass Enfeeblement.

Huo Yuhao was taking care of the whole battleﬁeld, but he chose to advance instead of retreat as he slipped forward in a ﬂash. His body slid just underneath the ten thousand year baboon’s armpits as he slapped his right hand toward the other one. The Bloody Baboons’ tactic of choice was to meet force with force. The baboon didn’t even bother evading Huo Yuhao’s attack as it swung its arms out and swept them towards Huo Yuhao.

However, was Huo Yuhao’s right hand that easy to ﬁght against? When his right hand pressed against the baboon, the Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon was immediately used. He didn’t pull, but pushed instead, and he borrowed the baboon’s own strength to bounce backwards rapidly. Five streams of blood spurted out as that ten thousand year Bloody Baboon howled ferociously.

A dark golden blade glimmered in Huo Yuhao’s right hand; the foot-long blade had been buried entirely in the baboon’s body. Its fur was tough, but it was still a far cry from Huo Yuhao’s Darkgolden Terrorclaw.

Still, this baboon was truly fearsome – its ribs were heinously injured, but it hadn’t lost its ability to ﬁght. It began to roar hysterically on the spot while a dense blood essence erupted from its body. It was about to enter Bloodlust mode. Huo Yuhao had singled out one of the two ten-thousand year Bloody Baboons, so the other one naturally went for Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er.

Wang Dong’er was focused on Huo Yuhao, and she immediately followed up after Huo Yuhao launched his attack. The Radiant Butterﬂy Goddess’ wings stretched out behind her back as the voluminous Light of the Butterﬂy Goddess burst forward.

The Light of the Butterﬂy Goddess wasn’t weak, but it was deﬁnitely not strong enough to break through the Bloody Baboon’s defenses. All it could do was hinder the baboon’s forward movement.

Wang Qiu’er made her move at this moment. A crisp dragon roar could be heard as Wang Qiu’er’s body ﬂared up with riveting and brilliant golden light.

She arrived before the baboon in an instant.

The baboon swung its ﬁst at her without hesitation. A stunning scene occurred. Wang Qiu’er was such a pretty little lady, but she didn’t use any soul skills at this moment, choosing to meet force with force instead. Her small white ﬁst clashed with the baboon’s dustpan-sized ﬁst in the air, just like that.

Wang Qiu’er’s ﬁst turned golden in an instant. Her eyes were incredibly determined and unwavering, and the Bloody Baboon actually halted in its tracks after colliding with her simple punch.

Golden light burst out as a shrill cracking sound could be heard. That Bloody Baboon’s arm arched backward in the instant after the collision, but only half of its arm moved. It had such a thick and tough arm, and yet it broke, just like that! The ten-thousand year Bloody Baboon’s forte was meeting force with force, and yet it actually lost the ﬁght, and absolutely so!

Wang Qiu’er seemed to have expected this, and she didn’t pause after launching her ﬁst. She tapped on the ground with the tip of her foot, and her entire body was propelled forward with a boom, as if she were a golden cannon shell! The Bloody Baboon wanted to use Bloodlust as it howled in agony, while extending the ﬁngers of its other hand to make a grab at Wang Qiu’er.

Wang Qiu’er’s body was still in midair, but she didn’t dodge or evade the attack, making the exact same grabbing action.

Behind her, Wang Dong’er didn’t even see how she did it; all she saw was Wang Qiu’er grabbing one of the baboon’s ﬁngers. In the next moment, her forward-moving body suddenly plummeted toward the ground, and she touched down like a ﬁve-hundred-kilogram sluice.

Boom! An even more violent impact could be heard this time, and an intense shockwave erupted from where Wang Qiu’er landed on the ground. She ﬂipped over several other Bloody Baboons that were charging behind her.

Afterwards, she was still grabbing onto that Bloody Baboon’s ﬁnger as she hurled its two-meter tall, muscular, and lean body into the air.

Yes, she hurled it into the air.

Boom! The ten-thousand year Bloody Baboon was slammed forcefully into the ground, the force of the impact knocking over two other baboons. Wang Qiu’er released that ﬁnger, which was broken until it couldn’t be broken any further, and she raised her right ﬁst as two yellow, two purple, and one black soul rings rose from her body. Her ﬁrst purple soul ring sparkled, and she punched out as a dragon head seemed to ﬂash by in midair and integrate itself into this ﬁst… and this ﬁst rained down onto the Bloody Baboon’s tough skull.

Boom! The Bloody Baboon’s head was driven directly into the ground. Its enormous body was still exuding blood energy as it suddenly stopped, and its legs curved upward before they crashed down heavily once more. The baboon was no longer moving.

This…

Wang Dong’er held herself in high regard, but even so, she couldn’t help but draw in a cold breath as she watched. So violent! Wang Qiu’er is just so violent! From beginning to end, Wang Qiu’er had relied entirely upon her fearsome and ferocious strength to ﬁght, but this seemingly simple brutality and ﬁghting style actually killed a ten-thousand year Bloody Baboon in such a short period of time.

Huo Yuhao’s ﬁght was also ending on the other side.

The Bloody Baboon had just unleashed Bloodlust, but it couldn’t really use it before it landed heavily onto its own kin.

Huo Yuhao used Spiritual Confusion, and it hit the baboon right at the time when it had raised its Bloodlust to the highest possible level.

The ten-thousand year Bloody Baboon was experiencing pain, hysteria, weakness, and bloodlust at the same time, and it ﬁnally went insane. It began to wave its ﬁsts around with all its strength like a windmill, and the ﬁrst two targets were its partners beside it as it knocked them into the sky.

It began to whirl its arms around even more crazily in the next moment. Huo Yuhao was a member of Shrek Academy, and he

naturally had some knowledge about soul beasts in their

Bloodlust state. Soul beasts that were under the effects of

Bloodlust had their strength greatly ampliﬁed, but their

intelligence would also be lowered to the minimum; that was the price of Bloodlust. It was easy to imagine how soul beasts would react to Spiritual Confusion when they could no longer maintain their rationality and intelligence.

It was easy to see that Huo Yuhao’s Mass Enfeeblement and Spiritual Confusion were exceptionally effective against Bloody Baboons.

Huo Yuhao didn’t pursue his target as faint lights ﬂickered. He was a control-type soul master, so his main role was to assert control over the entire battleﬁeld and protect his companions at the same time, thus eventually achieving victory.

He turned around after unleashing Spiritual Confusion, and he caught the scene where Wang Qiu’er hurled the other Bloody Baboon into the sky and slammed it into the ground. Huo Yuhao’s mouth opened so wide a duck egg could probably ﬁt inside. This… isn’t this the girl that snatched the baked bread from me? This strength is a little too terrifying...

Huo Yuhao’s strength was relatively formidable, but he knew that he could not reach that level of brutality and explosiveness. But she had managed to do it; the Golden Dragon truly lived up to its name as the Ancestor of Strength! Furthermore, her strength seemed to be even higher than his previous speculations. Faced with this fearsome draconic prestige, the savage Bloody Baboons seemed a little afraid to come forward...

Chapter 230: Snatching Soul Ring?

They were very successful on this side, but there weren’t many problems on the other side either. Under the light of the moon, Li Yongyue’s Moonblade demonstrated the great offensive strength that an agility-type soul master should possess.

Han Ruoruo had been observing everything. After seeing that things were ﬁne on Huo Yuhao’s side, she turned her attention to the other side. As she unleashed her Dazzling Golden Rope, the strongest few baboons were sent ﬂying away. Only the weaker ones were left behind, but they were still tangled and restrained by the rope. Li Yongyue’s only job was to kill them.

At the front, the strongest ﬁve or six baboons couldn’t inch any closer as they were facing the bright moon in the sky. They roared furiously, but were helpless.

Zhang Lexuan was calm from the very start. She was also observing everything. Dean Cai was missing at this point. Her whereabouts were unknown. But even though she didn’t ﬁght, she was the backbone. Everyone was conﬁdent that she was around.

At this point, a large number of baboons were rushing toward them from all directions. Although they were entrenched atop the slope, it wasn’t a one versus one duel anymore. The pressure on them increased greatly, and Han Ruoruo’s immense ﬁghting strength was demonstrated.

This time, Han Ruoruo was Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er’s team member. It was also because of her presence that there was a sudden change in the soaring pressure.

Han Ruoruo pointed up, and her Dazzling Golden Rope shot into the sky, forming a golden halo in the air before it abruptly descended. As the halo descended, no one felt any threat from it. When it ﬁnally landed, four baboons were caught within it. The rest of the baboons, including the Bloody Baboon King, were located outside of the halo. The Baboon King had been struck by Zhang Lexuan earlier, and blasted out of the region of the halo. In the next instant, the bright-golden halo blew apart and unleashed an immense explosive force. This explosive force didn’t possess tremendous destructive abilities. However, its impact was great. Countless baboons were sent ﬂying, and they nocked down the rest of the baboons that were rushing up the slope. Only the four baboons within the halo remained there. The rest of the area was temporarily cleared of baboons.

Everyone else was highly skilled, so they wouldn’t let such a great opportunity slip. Zhang Lexuan’s ﬁfth soul ring shone brightly, and the crescent in the sky turned golden. Instantly, this crescent started to divide and form equally huge crescents that eventually streaked down.

Moonfall!

The golden-yellow crescents turned into reaper’s scythes. Two baboons in the ten-thousand year level were chopped in half as the moonlight crossed them. They didn’t even have a chance to unleash their Bloodlust.

Zhang Lexuan wasn’t the only one who attacked. Li Yongyue also leapt up, and gestured towards the crescents above Zhang Lexuan. Suddenly, the surface of his Moonblade was covered in a layer of golden light. No one saw him using any soul skills. His ﬁgure only ﬂashed by his target as his Moonblade displayed countless forms. In the next instant, one baboon froze in place, and several fresh wounds appeared on its body before it collapsed to the ground.

The fourth baboon was taken down by Wang Qiu’er’s ﬁst. The ﬁght was simpler this time. After the golden halo toppled the other baboons, the Dazzling Golden Rope tangled that baboon. As Wang Qiu’er turned around, she jumped into the air, and her body was covered by a dim-golden light as she punched half the baboon’s body into the ground with her landing. It was unlikely to be alive after the blow.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er became bystanders as these few exchanges occurred. The two of them had reunited at this point. As they held hands, the Haodong Power circulated, and brought them to their strongest state.

“Wang Qiu’er is very strong.” Huo Yuhao whispered.

Wang Dong’er nodded and replied, “She’s too wild. Turns out she’s one violent lady.” Huo Yuhao grinned without speaking. He had a deeper impression of Wang Qiu’er eating a baked biscuit.

An orange-gold light ﬂashed, and the Snow Lady came out of Huo Yuhao’s body. Her deep blue eyes blinked as she watched the baboons reorganizing. After that, she turned to Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er only interacted brieﬂy before they started to attack. They moved up to the baboon that was pushed into the ground by Wang Qiu’er, and Huo Yuhao pressed his left hand on its body.

Wang Dong’er wasn’t idling either. With the support of their Haodong Power, both of them were surging with soul power. Wang Dong’er was a six-ringed Soul Emperor, and her cultivation was one level above Li Yongyue, Wang Qiu’er, and Mo Xuan. Her fourth soul ring lit up, and her two hands pointed forward successively. Hexagram Arrays started to rapidly appear on the ground.

These Hexagram Arrays were lined up in a speciﬁc way. Each array was ﬁve meters from the next array, but their colors were varied. Apart from one at the front that was golden, the rest ﬂashed before disappearing.

Hexagram Arrays were very restrictive, but only one could be used at a time. However, there was a technique in unleashing this soul skill. Although only one Hexagram Array could be used at a time, the position of multiple arrays could be set up beforehand.

There wasn’t such a need for such a setup in a duel. However, she could set up multiple arrays according to the geographical conditions if they were encircled.

The Baboon King had a ﬁfty-thousand year cultivation. Seeing his own tribe members being massacred, he didn’t command them to rush up the slope. Instead, he roared furiously, and continued to unleash his Mass Berserk in a bid to neutralize Huo Yuhao’s Mass Enfeeblement. Following this, he roared three more times.

Suddenly, the Bloody Baboons started to cry out, and thick blood fog was released from their bodies. All the baboons were in a Bloodlust state now! Even Zhang Lexuan’s expression turned serious at this point. It was very difﬁcult to deal with these baboons in their Bloodlust state.

Zhang Lexuan turned and asked Huo Yuhao, “Yuhao, can your domain avoid harming those on your side?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head and replied, “No. I can only prevent everyone from being attacked, but the low temperature is unavoidable. Eldest senior sister, why don’t Wang Dong and I charge ahead? I don’t think it’s too dangerous if we use my domain.”

“No.” Zhang Lexuan rejected his proposition. He had to be joking. She was supposed to protect Huo Yuhao on this mission. How could she let him subject himself to danger?

Han Ruoruo said, “Then let’s stick to the original plan. Lexuan, we won’t hold back anymore if we really have no choice.”

Zhang Lexuan nodded slightly. Her eight soul rings shone, and a dim silvery fog rose from her feet. Her body was covered by the fog, but she appeared indistinctly beautiful at this moment.

This was…

Huo Yuhao was shocked. Zhang Lexuan wasn’t using any soul skills now, but what was this silvery fog she had released?

Through his Spiritual Detection, he could clearly sense Zhang Lexuan’s soul power and aura rising rapidly under the effect of the fog. It felt as if she was accumulating her strength. The crescent above her head grew larger and larger, and started to expand into a full moon. Zhang Lexuan’s eyes also shone with silver light at this point.

Wang Dong’er said softly, “Eldest senior sister seems to be using a secret technique to ignite her own strength. It feels similar to the baboons’ Bloodlust, only without the mania. If her soul power can be likened to water, then it must be boiling right now.”

Wang Dong’er’s explanation was very apt, and Huo Yuhao agreed with her assessment. However, this was evidently not the time to be bothered about this. Huo Yuhao didn’t hold back any further as he faced these strong enemies.

A dim golden streak of light shone from his forehead. Following this, a weird golden vertical eye slowly opened. When his eye opened, all the surrounding lights seemed to turn dark. Everyone, including the baboons, turned their attention to Huo Yuhao.

Third eye? He actually has a third eye!

Wang Qiu’er was also looking at Huo Yuhao at this point. She wasn’t stunned, but showed a peculiar look instead. She could clearly sense his aura soaring. In terms of scale, he wasn’t weaker than Zhang Lexuan.

“Eldest senior sister, we have to capture the king if we want to take all of them down. I’ll help you control the Baboon King. Senior Han, you can control the entire battleﬁeld.” Huo Yuhao pulled Wang Dong’er to him and came beside Zhang Lexuan.

Zhang Lexuan didn’t say anything, and only nodded at him. At this point, the congress of baboons started to exhibit their Bloodlust state.

The baboons started to grow larger. A layer of dark-red light had appeared over their pitch-black hair. A thick, ﬁshy smell spread out in a nauseating miasma. Their eyes seemed to be dancing with blood-red light. Instantly, the surrounding trees were layered with a dark-red color that exuded a dangerous aura.

The Bloody Baboon King roared into the sky. It straightened its body and lifted its thick arms up high. Suddenly, its ﬁgure ballooned in size, and every inch of its muscles bulked up massively as its huge fangs grew in length. Even the surrounding air started shaking!

The Bloody Baboon King signaled an attack with an earsplitting roar. Its speed soared as it targeted Zhang Lexuan. Evidently, it had a lot of hatred for her. It even understood that Zhang Lexuan was the leader of this team.

The Baboon King was very different after it entered the Bloodlust state. As it burst forward, it left a blood-red wake behind it.

Before it, a full moon shone, and a streak of silver light shot down towards the Baboon King.

The Baboon King glared. As it roared furiously, it punched its ﬁst out and forcefully crushed the moonlight that was descending towards it.

When it unleashed its ﬁst, Huo Yuhao could clearly sense that its attack resembled a soul masters’ offense when they combined their spiritual and soul power. It wasn’t a skill, but an innate ability. It was the combination of a Bloody Baboon’s maniacal ﬁghting will and ﬁghting strength as it entered the Bloodlust state.

Zhang Lexuan’s eyes shone with silver light. Her ﬁrst, second, and third soul rings lit up at the same time. The full moon in the air was like a soul tool shooting out soul rays, streaks of moonlight were ﬁred continuously, all targeting the Bloody Baboon King.

The Baboon King seemed to have gone mad too. Although it was unable to charge forward as quickly as before, it still advanced with solid steps. As it moved forward, it destroyed a streak of moonlight every time it waved its ﬁst. Even when the streaks of moonlight struck it, they only reduced its speed, and couldn’t force it back.

At this point, all the Bloody Baboons in the Bloodlust state started to attack all-out. Their speed, strength, offense, and defense were all greatly enhanced by their Bloodlust state, and they all rushed up the slope.

Han Ruoruo was undoubtedly the one under the greatest pressure. Her golden halo was put to use again. However, it couldn’t topple the baboons like before. The baboons could only be pushed back slightly. Following that, more and more baboons continued to rush up the slope.

Wang Qiu’er’s performance was the most eye-catching. The baboons’ Bloodlust didn’t seem to have any effect on her. Her ﬁghting style was also very uncouth and violent. Her body was completely engulfed by golden light. As dragon roars echoed, every baboon that collided with her was ﬂung into the air. She guarded her area so well that it was seemingly impregnable. Not far from her was the baboon corpse that Huo Yuhao had previously grabbed with his left hand.

Wang Dong’er’s Hexagram Array also started to take effect. The Hexagram Array sent two baboons into the air the moment it was activated. They screamed pathetically amidst the ﬁery light.

Each Hexagram Array only lasted for about ten seconds before it would change locations and rise again. The magical thing was that the baboon’s Bloodlust state would be lost once they were burned by the ﬁery light. It was as if they were being cleansed. However, everyone was still under great pressure. There were simply too many baboons in the Bloodlust state, attacking ceaselessly. Han Ruoruo’s soul power was also being depleted quickly as she kept on using her golden halo.

At this moment, Huo Yuhao ﬁnally acted.

A white halo that was much stronger than before started to spread from his head. The bodies of the baboons were covered by a layer of pale-white light as the halo passed them, repressing their auras considerably.

The white light from the Eye of Destiny was retracted. In the next moment, a purplish-gold light surfaced within it. The purplish-gold glow in the Eye of Destiny ﬂashed once before disappearing. Suddenly, the Bloody Baboon King screamed in horror. It grabbed onto its head and shrieked in pain.

Zhang Lexuan exploited this opportunity. Her sixth soul ring suddenly lit up, and it rose into the air before fusing with the full moon. The full moon transformed – its original silvery-white color turned dim. Following that, it turned completely black, with a ringlike layer of silver surrounding it.

Following this, a silvery halo descended from the sky. Huo Yuhao could feel that it wasn’t actually a silver halo, it was just that the light that it contained was black, making it nigh- invisible in the darkness.

As the black light ﬂashed, it struck the Baboon King, who had been hurt by the Eye of Destiny’s Spiritual Shock.

The Baboon King’s body stiffened. Following this, a streak of moonlight shot straight down from the sky and engulfed its body. A frightening explosion occured, and the Baboon King collapsed.

Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection lost its detection abilities in that direction. He only saw moonlight crashing down after the black light. After that, he couldn’t see clearly. The Bloody Baboon King had already been blown apart and collapsed to the ground. There was a huge stab wound around half a meter in diameter in the center of the Baboon King’s chest. Its body had been pierced through. More terrifyingly, its hair had turned silver, and was melting at an alarming speed.

What soul skill was this? It was extremely strong. Huo Yuhao suspected that the effect of this strike wouldn’t change much even without the aid of his Spiritual Shock! Zhang Lexuan was extremely strong. At this point, neither Zhang Lexuan nor Han Ruoruo had unleashed their Martial Soul True Bodies.

Zhang Lexuan remained calm as she looked at the Baboon King that had collapsed. In mid-air, the black moon had turned into a silver moon again. Streaks of bright silver light descended from the sky and ﬂung the baboons into the air.

If it were any other soul beast tribe, the death of the king would cause a large drop in morale, and might even cause the rest to retreat. However, the baboons were in their Bloodlust state, and were far too bloodthirsty now, their intensity didn’t waver at all.

“Ruoruo, come on! It’s not early anymore,” Zhang Lexuan said calmly.

“Alright!” Han Ruoruo acknowledged. In the next moment, her body also turned bright-golden. Dazzling Golden True Body!

Countless strips of Dazzling Golden Ropes started to extend in all directions. Following this, the ground turned golden, and Han Ruoruo disappeared. However, the ground of the dense forest was shaking tremendously.

The baboons seemed to have stepped into a swamp, ﬁnding it difﬁcult to move forward. Following this, streaks of golden light shot out from the ground and sent their bodies into the air.

Golden Skysurge! It was Han Ruoruo’s eighth soul skill.

At this point, there were around a hundred baboons left. They were all sent into the air by Han Ruoruo’s Golden Skysurge.

After this, the bright moon in the sky expanded. Zhang Lexuan’s body turned silvery-white. The burning white light illuminated her surroundings. In the sky, the bright moon expanded at a terrifyingly quick speed. It reached more than a hundred meters instantly, and engulfed all the baboons that had been thrown into the air.

“Moonlight!” Li Yongyue exclaimed.

Following this, everyone from Shrek Academy felt their surroundings turning blurry-white. Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection lost its effect underneath this terrifying white light.

The gold from the Golden Skysurge and the silvery-white from the Moonlight fused together completely. A bright radiance lasted for close to ﬁve seconds before it faded away.

Plop, plop, plop, plop… A series of heavy impacts sounded out. When everyone regained their vision, they saw many Bloody Baboon corpses falling from the sky.

No, they should be called Silvery-white Baboons instead. The hair of every baboon had turned silvery-white, while their bodies were slowly but steadily melting.

Zhang Lexuan had already returned to her normal state. Her expression was calm, as if nothing had happened. This ﬁght didn’t seem to have taken much of a toll on her at all.

Not a single baboon could move at this point. The surroundings started to turn abnormally quiet. Even the sounds made by birds and bugs ceased to exist. The night turned terrifyingly silent.

Wang Qiu’er’s pupils shrank. As she looked at Zhang Lexuan, she furrowed her brow. She was considering how far her abilities were from Zhang Lexuan’s.

This was a Soul Douluo’s ability. Zhang Lexuan had turned into a bright moon with the help of Han Ruoruo’s controlling ability as they faced the Bloody Baboons. As her Moonlight was unleashed, all the baboons were defeated.

The corpses that Huo Yuhao had prepared using his Ice Explosion Technique were not put to use at all. The ﬁght had already ended before he could pull that move. He had thought that it was going to be a tough ﬁght, but it ended so quickly. “The Bloody Baboon King’s cultivation is around ﬁfty thousand years. Is there anyone who needs and can absorb its soul ring? Its Bloodlust is rather effective for close-combat soul engineers. The Mass Berserk isn’t too bad, either. Furthermore, it’ll be good for your body if you absorb its soul ring. Your strength, tenacity, and defense will all be enhanced.” Zhang Lexuan seemed to have just performed something insigniﬁcant. She ﬁrst overcame the obstacle before explaining the use of this Bloody Baboon King.

Huo Yuhao thought of something and said, “Eldest senior sister, I’m a spiritual-type soul master. Can I absorb this Bloody Baboon King?” He was conﬁdent in his own physical strength. He had twin martial souls, and now had more than nine soul rings in total. His was much stronger physically than most other Soul Kings. After he fused with the Snow Empress’ Spirit, his spiritual power also became a part of why his body was so resilient. He had conﬁdence in absorbing a ﬁfty- thousand year soul ring. Moreover, Wang Dong’er could protect him as he did so!

The Bloody Baboon King wasn’t dead yet. Its chest was still moving as it lay on the ground. However, the silvery-white light was disintegrating its body. The fatal wound on its chest had also turned black and started to decay, the wound expanding in size. The Baboon King didn’t have long to live.

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Lexuan replied, “I think it’s possible. Although the spiritual power of the Baboon King isn’t very outstanding, it uses its spiritual power when it initiates its Mass Berserk and Bloodlust. It isn’t easy for your spiritual-type martial soul to ﬁnd a suitable soul ring. If you think that its Mass Berserk or Bloodlust can help you, you can absorb its soul ring. After all, it can enhance your physical strength.”

Huo Yuhao didn’t even think any further, “Give it to me.” Indeed, he was very familiar with how difﬁcult it was to ﬁnd a spiritual-type soul ring. He could accept both the effects of Mass Berserk and Bloodlust. Moreover, this Baboon King’s cultivation was ﬁfty thousand years! He was more than satisﬁed if his ﬁfth soul ring could be a ﬁfty-thousand year one. It could also make up for some of his deﬁciencies in terms of soul skills.

In addition, Huo Yuhao had his own plan. After the tournament was over, he had some plans for himself. He still desired to improve his physical strength. Whether it was on the battleﬁeld or exhibiting stronger soul tools, he needed a strong physical body.

Just as Huo Yuhao was ready to walk towards the Bloody Baboon King, he was stopped by someone.

“It doesn’t suit you. Give it to me instead.” This sudden voice caused great disharmony within the team.

He was stunned to ﬁnd out that it was Wang Qiu’er who was blocking him.

Wang Qiu’er wore a cold look on her face as she spoke to Huo Yuhao. After ﬁnishing her sentence, she immediately walked towards the Bloody Baboon King.

Snatching a soul ring? This was a despicable act under any circumstance, but they were even teammates. A golden light ﬂashed. Wang Dong’er ﬂapped open her Radiant Butterﬂy Goddess’ wings in front of Wang Qiu’er and raged, “Do you know what ﬁrst come ﬁrst served means? Are we supposed to follow your words just because you said it’s not suitable for him?”

Neither of them were wearing veils at this point. As they clashed, everyone was in a daze, since they both had the same appearance.

Wang Qiu’er said coldly, “Get lost! I’ve said it. This soul beast doesn’t suit him.”

Wang Dong’er also wore a cold look on her face as she retorted, “Don’t think you’re great just because you’re strong. I’ll let you fuse with this soul ring, but only if you beat me in a ﬁght.”

Wang Qiu’er snorted, “That’s easy.” Golden lights started to rise and dragon roars echoed.

“Stop it!” A furious voice sounded. As silver light ﬂashed, Zhang Lexuan had already stepped in between both ladies. Her expression was very cold.

Wang Qiu’er’s golden light faded, but the arrogance in her eyes didn’t disappear. There was a wintry look in her eyes. Even facing Zhang Lexuan, she had no intention of giving way.

Zhang Lexuan was cross as she said, “What are the two of you doing? Look at the both of you. What is this? Are you still schoolmates from the same academy? In the Great Star Dou Forest, you’re not just schoolmates, but fellow warriors too! If the two of you continue to bicker, will you still trust each other? Not only are the both of you lookalikes, but you even have similar names. However, you have been at odds since the start. Tell me, what’s going on? I’ll give you a chance to explain yourselves! Tell me now.”

Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er were silent. Wang Dong’er turned her head away while Wang Qiu’er lifted her head towards the sky. Both of them were speechless.

“Tell me! Say something! Whatever problem you have with each other, lay it out now. Otherwise, both of you should return to the academy immediately. I’ve led many teams in my time, but I’ve never seen anything like this! What are the two of you planning to do?” Zhang Lexuan was furious. The further they went into the forest, the more dangerous it was. Even though she had teamed up with Han Ruoruo to defeat the Bloody Baboons earlier, it had taken their all. Even so, there was still some disharmony within the team. How could they venture further in given this situation?

Wang Dong’er replied, “Eldest senior sister, Yuhao said he wanted the soul ring ﬁrst, but she tried to snatch it from him. How despicable can she get? Am I wrong to stop her?”

Wang Qiu’er groaned, “I told him that this soul beast doesn’t suit him.”

Wang Dong’er raged, “Are your words ﬁnal? Do you know how difﬁcult it is for Yuhao to ﬁnd soul rings given that he’s a spiritual-type soul master? He ﬁnally found one that’s suitable, but you want to snatch it from him? I won’t let you.”

Zhang Lexuan also looked at Wang Qiu’er and asked, “When I asked everyone just now, why didn’t you speak up? You only said something after Yuhao made his decision. Explain your actions.” Wang Qiu’er replied indifferently, “I’ve said that this soul ring doesn’t suit him. It’s still slightly suitable for me. I’m doing this for his own good.”

Zhang Lexuan replied, “Although you just joined Shrek, your understanding of martial souls should be quite good considering your cultivation. I’m sure you know how rare spiritual-type soul beasts are. To ﬁnd one that ﬁts Huo Yuhao’s cultivation is also very difﬁcult. If you can tell me a soul beast that ﬁts him in this forest and point out roughly where it can be located, I’ll allow you to absorb this soul ring.”

Wang Qiu’er turned to Huo Yuhao and asked, “Huo Yuhao, do you trust me? If you do, give me this soul ring. I’ll lead the way from now on. It’s not my ﬁrst time entering the forest. If I’m not remember wrongly, I can bring you somewhere to ﬁnd a suitable soul ring. Otherwise, you can take my life.”

Her words sounded very serious. As she said this, even Wang Dong’er’s fury dissipated. Although the Bloody Baboon King’s soul ring was very valuable, it was too much to lay down one’s life for it. Furthermore, it wasn’t difﬁcult for Wang Qiu’er to ﬁnd a suitable soul ring given her abilities. Her words proved that she was conﬁdent in helping Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao walked up to Wang Dong’er and grabbed her hands before nodding his head at Wang Qiu’er, “I trust you. You can absorb it, but you’re running out of time.”

Wang Qiu’er didn’t waste any more time. She quickly made her way to the Baboon King. Wang Dong’er wanted to say something, but Huo Yuhao gripped her hands tightly, and she held her indignation.

Zhang Lexuan turned to Huo Yuhao, and he nodded at her. She didn’t say anything else, but followed Wang Qiu’er with the rest. Wang Qiu’er and the Baboon King were surrounded by the rest of the team.

Wang Qiu’er’s palm was already resting on the Baboon King’s forehead, and she ended its life. After that, she sat cross- legged, and a black soul ring drifted up from the Baboon King’s body.

It was deﬁnitely a ﬁfty-thousand year soul ring. When it appeared, the air seemed to become viscous, and a ferocious aura was exuded from it. Zhang Lexuan asked, “Wang Qiu’er, are you conﬁdent? This ﬁfty-thousand year soul ring is far above your cultivation limit.”

Wang Qiu’er shook her head and used her actions to provide the answer to the question. As golden light ﬂashed, an image of a golden dragon appeared on her back. The size of this golden dragon wasn’t very large, but it was clear, and seemed almost alive. Its wings ﬂapped open, and it lifted its head proudly. It seemed a little scornful as it looked at the Baboon King before opening its mouth to absorb it. The black soul ring started to be engulfed by the golden dragon.

The golden light then returned to Wang Qiu’er’s body.

Wang Qiu’er sat there and didn’t move a single inch. A dim golden halo started to emanate from her body. As the golden light surged, it looked like a gentle fog. While her soul power experienced intense undulations, they didn’t seem violent. It was plain to see that Wang Qiu’er had suppressed the aura of the Baboon King’s soul ring, as no sign of it leaked out.

Zhang Lexuan was stunned. She knew that she had to look at Wang Qiu’er in a different light from now on. She had thought that her appraisal of Wang Qiu’er was already very high, but right now it didn’t seem high enough.

It wasn’t simple to absorb a ﬁfty-thousand year soul ring. At least, Zhang Lexuan wasn’t certain that she could do it before she became a Soul Emperor. Even when she absorbed her hundred-thousand year soul ring, it had been a stroke of fate, and she had had the protection of other, stronger individuals. After that absorption, she had to rest for half a year before she fully recovered.

Thus, she was stunned to seeing Wang Qiu’er absorbing the soul ring effortlessly. This was evidently not because of her cultivation, but the strength of her body. Her martial soul also completely suppressed the Bloody Baboon King. On a spiritual level, the soul ring couldn’t struggle at all. She completely overwhelmed the Baboon King to complete this fusion.

“Everyone, please be careful. The smell of blood is very strong, and might attract other soul beasts.” Zhang Lexuan warned the rest, and also gestured for Huo Yuhao to activate his Spiritual Detection. Huo Yuhao took this chance to get busy. First, he moved the baboon corpses ﬁve hundred meters from where they were. The corpses formed a circle that surrounded all of them.

He took an hour to ﬁnish this task. Wang Qiu’er’s soul power was rising quickly the whole time. As her aura grew stronger and stronger, she evidently reached a critical stage in her fusion.

Huo Yuhao was slightly fatigued, and sat cross-legged before he started to meditate. Wang Dong’er sat opposite him and cultivated with him.

Chapter 231: Purpleshadow Lion

Even though Huo Yuhao didn’t say anything to Zhang Lexuan, he was sharing his Spiritual Detection with her, and though the others didn’t really understand what Huo Yuhao did, Zhang Lexuan could feel it.

There were more than a hundred Bloody Baboons, each of which was about ﬁfty meters apart. Together, they formed a circle about ﬁve hundred meters in diameter. The distance wasn’t that balanced or perfectly even, but it was good enough. These baboons were now frozen corpses, and the smell of fresh blood was a lot weaker than before. Furthermore, they served another purposes.

Huo Yuhao told Zhang Lexuan before he sat down to cultivate that they could rest here peacefully tonight.

“Roar!” A deafening and furious roar could be heard in the distance. It sounded like rumbling thunder as it echoed out vigorously. Everyone was circling Wang Qiu’er and resting at this moment, and they were all in a half-meditative state, which they could get out of at any time. Besides Huo Yuhao, who had yet to recover all his soul power, everyone else had replenished most of their soul power from the battle with the Bloody

Baboons.

Zhang Lexuan sprang to her feet and gazed in the direction of that ear-splitting roar. She could tell from how the sound changed that this soul beast was probably charging right towards them. This night was turning out to be really hectic!

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes. He didn’t get to his feet, his eyes turning a bright golden color. He activated Spiritual Detection once more, but he only shared it with Zhang Lexuan in order to save soul power before he focused in a certain direction.

A purple shadow quickly appeared within Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection.

It was a lion that had purple fur all over its body. It was a little petite compared to typical lion-type soul beasts, and it was only about one and a half meters long, while its shoulders were only about sixty to seventy centimeters above the ground. However, its purple mane was gorgeous, and its fur was a shiny purple color as well. Its entire body shone with faint purple light, and its huge tail swung left and right behind it as its nose quivered subtly, clearly trying to distinguish the scents about.

This purple lion paused momentarily to assess things, than started to move once more. It moved with incredible speed, and left a series of afterimages behind as it darted forward in a ﬂash. It covered two kilometers in the time needed for one or two breaths, and it was coming exceedingly close to the baboon corpses that Huo Yuhao had laid out around them.

This purple lion was apparently attracted by the smell of blood coming from the Bloody Baboons.

Zhang Lexuan’s expression changed slightly. “That’s a Purpleshadow Lion. Watch out, everyone, it’s just too quick. We might have to rely on you now, Ruoruo. Get ready for battle, Yuhao, you’ll have to use your spiritual-type soul skills to impede its speed. This Purpleshadow Lion has at least ten thousand years of cultivation.”

They had just slain a bunch of ten-thousand year Bloody Baboons, but Zhang Lexuan hadn’t been as nervous facing the Bloody Baboons as she was now against the Purpleshadow Lion.

Cultivation played an important part in distinguishing a soul beast’s strength, and therefore there was a separation between ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, and one hundred thousand years. However, a mere difference in cultivation didn’t represent absolute superiority and strength.

Why were the Ten Great Savage Beasts so formidable? It wasn’t only because their cultivation levels were exceptionally high, but it was also because they belonged to extremely powerful species. It was also because they contained so much strength in their bloodline that they could live for such a long time.

The pack of Bloody Baboons wasn’t weak, but even the Baboon King wasn’t as terrifying as this Purpleshadow Lion.

The Purpleshadow Lion was one of the most frightening species amongst speed-type soul beasts. They were unbelievably quick, and they had a strong preference for eating the hearts of fresh corpses. The lion itself wielded potent venom, and possessed several innate skills.

If a ten-thousand year Purpleshadow Lion faced off against the pack of Bloody Baboons, it would perhaps be defeated in the end, but it would deﬁnitely be able to escape with its life. It would also take the lives of at least a third of the pack. If it was belligerent or determined enough to ﬁght to the end, the Bloody Baboon pack would be completely vanquished.

Li Yongyue’s eyes sparkled when he heard Zhang Lexuan mention the Purpleshadow Lion. A ten-thousand year Purpleshadow Lion could be considered a top-quality gain for him if he could absorb it. He knew the ﬁfty-thousand year Bloody Baboon King was too strong, and he didn’t have the ability to absorb it, but he was conﬁdent in absorbing this Purpleshadow Lion. It was lower in cultivation compared to the Baboon King, but the speed and offense ampliﬁcations were something he needed.

The only problem was that the Purpleshadow Lion would deﬁnitely tear him to pieces if he were to ﬁght it one-on-one.

The lion halted at around ﬁve hundred meters away from the group. There was a ten-thousand year Bloody Baboon’s corpse laid out right in front of it. The lion raised its front paw and immediately hacked at the baboon’s chest. Its sense of smell was very sensitive, and it was could obviously tell that this Bloody Baboon had just died not too long ago, and its heart was still fresh.

However, right at this moment, a terrifying aura exploded from the baboon’s corpse.

Boom, boom, boom…!

A frightening explosion detonated, and the vigorous booming sounds travelled at least ten kilometers away. A deep crater that was ﬁve meters deep and more than thirty meters in diameter appeared in the middle of the series of explosions where the Purpleshadow Lion and the baboon’s corpse had been located.

The lion was indeed quick, and had turned to run when it realized something was amiss. However, no matter how fast it was, it couldn’t be faster than the instantaneous explosion. Its frame had just darted out when it was swept away by the terrifying blast, and it hurtled through the air as it ﬂattened countless trees and plants before it ﬁnally landed on the ground with a crash.

The Purpleshadow Lion was a speed-type soul beast, so its defensive capabilities weren’t that great, deﬁnitely far inferior to the Bloody Baboon. This explosion had seared and torn through its ﬂesh to the point where its entire body was badly mangled and mutilated. Everyone came forward to check it out, but this fearsome ten thousand year Purpleshadow Lion was already dead. This meant it was killed by that Bloody Baboon, and nobody could absorb the soul ring that it produced.

Li Yongyue’s face was full of regret and a little sad, and everyone’s eyes turned toward Huo Yuhao, who still hadn’t moved from his original position.

They stared at the enormous crater on the ground, and then at the Purpleshadow Lion’s outcome. Everyone drew a cold breath at the same time. What kind of soul skill is this? How can it be so powerful?

Everyone’s eyes were different when they came back beside him. Li Yongyue and Mo Xuan’s eyes even carried a tinge of admiration and reverence. Li Yongyue had missed the chance to absorb a soul beast suitable for him, but he didn’t display a single hint of displeasure.

Han Ruoruo was relatively more familiar with Huo Yuhao because of his relationship with Wang Yan, and she immediately asked, “What method did you use, Yuhao? How did you trigger such a violent explosion from a few hundred meters away? It was a soul tool, wasn’t it?”

Certain powerful soul bombs could achieve that. Han Ruoruo had also heard from Wang Yan that Huo Yuhao wasn’t just a soul master, he was also a soul engineer!

Huo Yuhao shook his head and replied, “That wasn’t a soul tool. It was my soul skill, called Ice Explosion. This soul skill is quite unique, and can only be used when I come into contact with the target. I can fuse my soul power with the ice after I freeze the target. Normally, it’s quite difﬁcult to freeze my opponent over, as that requires a long process, unless my opponent is lower in cultivation than I am. However, it’s different for corpses. The Bloody Baboon’s soul power hadn’t dissipated yet after it had just died, so I took this chance to use Ice Explosion to seal their soul power inside, equivalent to me creating a bomb. I used almost all my soul power just now to turn all these corpses into similar bombs.” Zhang Lexuan had a look of revelation as she said, “No wonder you told me that we can rest here in peace tonight. The force of your Ice Explosion must be related to the frozen body’s strength, yes?”

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “That Purpleshadow Lion was unlucky because it came up to a ten-thousand year Bloody Baboon. I reckon that a thousand-year baboon’s corpse wouldn’t be able to kill it. But it’s a pity, because that Purpleshadow Lion was quite suitable for senior Li.”

Li Yongyue hurriedly said, “It’s alright! The Great Star Dou Forest only has soul beasts inside and nothing else, and we can slowly look for more.”

After a day’s worth of interaction, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong’er, and Wang Qiu’er had given both him and Mo Xuan a strong and lasting impression. It was needless to discuss Wang Qiu’er, her violent and brutal ﬁghting style petriﬁed the both of them. The girl was pretty, but they would only want to look at her in admiration from a distance. She was just too powerful!

Huo Yuhao’s display of his all-around abilities awed them both. He had formidable ﬁghting strength, and his ability to control his Spiritual Detection truly broadened their horizons. He had even taken over Han Ruoruo’s position as main control, so it was needless to say how advantageous and superior his martial soul was.

Li Yongyue naturally wanted to have a good relationship with a junior like Huo Yuhao. There was no doubt that Huo Yuhao was one of the core students of the inner courtyard’s next generation. And he had two martial souls, as well!

Han Ruoruo blurted out, “Your Ice Explosion is exceptionally ferocious! I’m never coming close to you if we ever have another practice combat. I imagine it’s not difﬁcult for you to freeze someone over with the power of your Ultimate Ice!”

Huo Yuhao smiled and didn’t explain any further. Ice Explosion wasn’t that powerful if it was triggered without anything else. It was most powerful when he touched his opponent with his left hand, which contained the skill, and when he infused Ice Explosion into his opponent’s body the moment he or she was frozen.

Doing so was actually relatively difﬁcult. However, ever since Huo Yuhao had inherited the Ice Empress’ three ultimate skills, pairing up the Snowless Glacier and Ice Explosion had risen to a drastically different level, but he couldn’t use this combination easily.

Zhang Lexuan clapped and said, “Alright, since we have Huo Yuhao’s Ice Explosion to protect us, we should all take this chance to rest. Wang Qiu’er will probably need until daybreak to absorb her soul ring, and we will continue on our journey after she’s done. We are quite fortunate, as we have already found two soul rings for absorption within such a short period of time. I hope we will have similar good fortune in the days to come.”

The night indeed passed peacefully with Ice Explosion to protect everyone. Some soul beasts did attempt to come near from time to time, but they didn’t even have to trigger the Ice Explosion, as the beasts scampered away after seeing the Bloody Baboons’ corpses. Not every soul beast was as powerful as the Purpleshadow Lion after all. This was the Hybrid Region’s central area, and there were ten-thousand year soul beasts around, but they were ultimately not the main body. Most of the soul beasts around were only thousand year soul beasts.

------

Daybreak...

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, and he immediately felt some dampness on his body. It was the forest’s morning dew, and the damp and refreshing air was ﬁlled with nutrition and life energy.

Wang Dong’er opposite him naturally opened her eyes at the same time, and they exchanged a smile. Their cultivation before this had yielded impressive results, and Huo Yuhao had almost completely restored his soul power.

Wang Dong’er surveyed her surroundings. Wang Qiu’er was still absorbing her soul ring, while the others were still cultivating, and nobody else had woken yet.

She stood up quietly and sat down beside Huo Yuhao. She used her mouth to gesture at Wang Qiu’er and whispered, “Do you really believe that she can ﬁnd a more suitable soul ring for you?” Huo Yuhao nodded lightly and said, “Wang Qiu’er is a little arrogant and aloof, but do you think she looks like the kind to tell lies? Her arrogance means she can’t even be bothered with telling lies.”

Wang Dong’er grunted and said, “You seem to have a high opinion of her.”

Huo Yuhao smiled as he clasped her tender little hands and brought them before him as he caressed them gently. His hands were warm, and Wang Dong’er felt incredibly comfortable as he rubbed her hands, and she subconsciously leaned her head on his shoulder.

Wang Dong’er whispered, “You’re not allowed to get too close to her.”

Huo Yuhao chortled and said, “Why not? You’re not conﬁdent of yourself anymore?”

Wang Dong’er snapped, “It’s not about conﬁdence – you’re so ugly, it’s already your good fortune that I’m willing to keep you! Wang Qiu’er is so arrogant, so how can she be interested in you? I’m just afraid that you’ll waste your time and snub yourself out.”

Huo Yuhao laughed softly and said, “It doesn’t matter whether she’s interested in me, it’s alright as long as you are.”

Wang Dong’er snapped her head around and stared into his eyes as she asked, “Then tell me, is she prettier, or am I prettier?”

Huo Yuhao answered without hesitation. “You’re the prettier one, of course. All the women in the world are separated into two categories in my eyes: one of them is you, and the other category is where the other women belong. Only you are pretty in my eyes, and no matter how the other girls look like, they will all look the same to me.”

Wang Dong’er laughed. Her huge and pretty eyes were droopy as she grinned, and she wrapped herself around Huo Yuhao’s arm. She didn’t bother to hide how she liked all this sweet talk.

“You have to mean what you say.”

“Yes.”

Huo Yuhao could feel the warmth and tenderness beside him, and his heart was unnaturally quiet and peaceful. Soul masters treated the Great Star Dou Forest as a place of many dangers, but this place had a taste of paradise to him.

A light fog permeated the forest. The air was humid, but that also made that life energy even denser. He had the girl he loved by his side, and his heart was just so warm… It was difﬁcult to describe this contentment that he felt, and he just wanted to sit here like this for a few days without having to move an inch.

Chapter 232: Golden Dragon Spear

Wang Dong’er gave Huo Yuhao this fantastic feeling not because she was pretty, but because their hearts were so close together. Huo Yuhao had only gradually developed this romantic feeling after the Sea God’s Fate, but discovered that he was improving very quickly in this aspect. He was always so happy, and he always felt so fortunate when Wang Dong’er was with him.

Perhaps Wang Qiu’er looked more like the Goddess of Light, and perhaps she also gave him a strong sense of familiarity. However, she couldn’t be compared to Wang Dong’er at all, who occupied all the space in Huo Yuhao’s heart at this moment.

The golden light radiating from Wang Qiu’er not far from them began to recede at this moment, and one soul ring after another began to rise from her body.

Two yellow, two purple, and two black soul rings! When her sixth and ﬁnal soul ring rose up, the golden hues around her had completely withdrawn into her body. It was complete!

Wang Qiu’er had completely absorbed the ﬁfty-thousand year Bloody Baboon King’s soul ring. The entire process only took roughly six hours; it was an incredible and frightening speed for a Soul Emperor, and yet, she had accomplished it so easily!

Wang Dong’er whispered, “Her body is so ferocious. She can actually absorb a ﬁfty-thousand year soul ring so quickly. Since that’s the case, why does she have two hundred-year and two thousand-year soul rings before that?”

Huo Yuhao paused to think. Wang Dong’er was just making a casual comment, but it made a lot of sense. Wang Qiu’er’s Golden Dragon martial soul had to be the reason for her toughness and ferocity, but since that was the case, why did she have two hundred-year soul rings?

Wang Dong’er could absorb a thousand-year soul ring as her second ring, and the main reason for that was because she had twin martial souls. She had mentioned to Huo Yuhao before that her second martial soul was the Clear Sky Hammer, which greatly strengthened her body and was the reason why she could absorb a thousand-year soul ring as her second ring. Wang Qiu’er only had one martial soul, but it was apparent that her body was probably tougher than his own and Wang Dong’er’s, too! Did she have some hidden troubles she hadn’t voiced?

They were observing Wang Qiu’er at the same time. Wang Qiu’er concluded the absorption process and looked over towards them. When her eyes met Huo Yuhao’s gaze, she nodded her head faintly, but she didn’t look at Wang Dong’er at all.

Her action naturally fell into Wang Dong’er’s eyes, and a look of surprise ﬂowed from her eyes. She snapped her head back around at Huo Yuhao and said, “Why did she nod at you?”

Huo Yuhao didn’t hide anything from Wang Dong’er, and he told her about when he gave Wang Qiu’er the meat sandwich, and how he was infuriated after she had tossed the baked bread onto the ground. The only thing he didn’t say was that he and Wang Qiu’er had alternately eaten from the piece of baked bread. Sometimes, white lies could avoid a lot of trouble... Wang Dong’er’s eyes seemed to melt after Huo Yuhao told her about the story of the baked bread and of him and his mother. She didn’t care about the others around her, and cuddled deeper into his embrace as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

“Auntie is so nice. I wonder if I can be as good as she was. However, if the day comes when we are about die from starvation and there’s only one piece of baked bread, then I will deﬁnitely eat it.”

“Eh?” Huo Yuhao stared at the girl in his embrace in faint astonishment.

Wang Dong’er had closed her eyes by now. She used a voice that only the two of them could hear and said, “Because, I hope you will have me by your side in your last moments. I don’t wish to see you hurt because of my death, and I want to die after you so that I can take another look at you…”

Her gentle words instantly ﬁlled every corner of Huo Yuhao’s heart. He never thought that a person would express his or her love for another like that. Wang Dong’er made his heart overﬂow with happiness.

He subconsciously hugged her even tighter, but his throat seemed to be tied into a knot, and he couldn’t speak a single word.

Wang Dong’er could feel his excitement, and the feeling of being in his embrace became very real and exceptionally warm.

Wang Qiu’er stood not far from them as she stared at them blankly. She felt a sensation that she had never felt before at the break of dawn in this dimly-lit forest. The two of them were leaning against each other, and they seemed to fuse into each other to become one, and what astounded her was the emotions that ﬂowed between them.

The group woke up from their meditation one after another, and everyone could see the two lovebirds in an embrace. The two of them had their eyes closed at this moment, as if they had fallen asleep.

Nobody disturbed them. The forest was full of life energy at this moment, and the two of them just sitting there was so harmonious with their surroundings, as if everything was just a masterful painting.

Wang Qiu’er ﬁnally turned her eyes away from them and walked up to Zhang Lexuan.

“How’s it looking, Qiu’er?” Zhang Lexuan asked.

Wang Qiu’er answered, “It’s alright. I know where to ﬁnd soul beasts suitable for him, shall I lead the way?”

Zhang Lexuan asked, “Are you very familiar with the Great Star Dou Forest? Where is this place?”

Wang Qiu’er turned around and gazed into the distance, before she turned towards the sun that was gradually rising from beyond the horizon. “I once trained in the Great Star Dou Forest for an entire year. I’ve been to the Peripheral Regions, the Hybrid Regions, and the outer areas of the Core Region.”

“One year, continuously?” Zhang Lexuan asked again, surprised. This was the Great Star Dou Forest, the residence of the most famous soul beasts on the Continent! More than half of the Ten Great Savage Beasts resided here, and this was not a place that could be described as peaceful or quiet.

Soul masters adventuring into the Great Star Dou Forest were normal, as this place had the most soul beast species, and the most powerful ones. This place by itself was almost enough to generate soul rings suitable for every single soul master.

However, using this place for training, and this training lasting for an entire year, was something that was almost unimaginable. It didn’t mean that Zhang Lexuan didn’t have the ability, or that she wouldn’t have a problem living in the Peripheral Region with her cultivation. However, encountering soul beasts every single day continuously without a chance to rest or relax was just so insufferable...

Spending one or two days like this was still reasonable, but wouldn’t one’s mind just collapse if this continued for an entire year? Furthermore, higher-level soul beasts might appear in the lower-level regions; anything was possible if one lived there for an entire year. Wang Qiu’er was such a delicate and pretty lady, and yet she was able to live in this place for an entire year... it wasn’t hard to imagine the effort she had to put in.

Wang Qiu’er nodded and said, “One year by myself.”

Zhang Lexuan took a deep breath and said, “Your success hasn’t come about without good reason, then. It seems like that you’re probably more familiar with the forest than every one of us here. Which soul beasts are suitable for Yuhao?”

Wang Qiu’er contemplated momentarily before she said, “There are several species that ﬁt the description. At least, these species are more suitable for him than the Bloody Baboon. However, these soul beasts almost all live within the Core Region, and every single one is extremely powerful. We’ll have to be very careful.”

Zhang Lexuan pondered for a while. “Alright, you take point.” Even though Wang Qiu’er had just joined the academy, she was still part of the inner courtyard. She had to have seen some things if she spoke with such conﬁdence. The Core Region was much more perilous than the Hybrid Region, and there would be a lot more pressure on everyone’s shoulders. However, this team at their strength could deﬁnitely venture inside for a little while, and they should be ﬁne as long as they didn’t enter the Slaughtering Grounds. The truth was that there were hardly any soul masters who had walked into the Slaughtering Grounds and returned alive. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er ﬁnally woke up from their sweet moment. They were a little embarrassed when they noticed everyone’s stares, but when they looked back into each other’s eyes and they saw their own reﬂections, all that unspoken love and affection returned.

Zhang Lexuan altered the formation when they got back on the road. Everybody was astounded when they saw that Wang Qiu’er was now standing in front of the group. She had taken over Zhang Lexuan’s position, while Zhang Lexuan took over Wang Qiu’er’s initial position.

In terms of martial souls, Zhang Lexuan was an assault-type soul master, but she was most adept with mid-range to long- range attacks, and close-combat wasn’t her forte. Not even Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate martial soul could compare with Wang Qiu’er’s Golden Dragon in terms of close-combat. Of course, the Golden Dragon’s element was pure strength, and the Golden Dragon itself was thus an Ultimate martial soul. If Wang Qiu’er’s cultivation was the same as Zhang Lexuan’s, she would undoubtedly be the most suitable person to be standing in front.

Nobody objected to Zhang Lexuan’s new arrangement, and everyone was more careful and vigilant when they got back on the road. The previous night’s problems and disturbances gave them personal experience with the Hybrid Region’s dangers and perils, while what they had to do next was to proceed forward and venture deeper into even more hazardous areas.

Wang Qiu’er walked in front of the group. She had taken down her veil, and her blue wave-like hair was woven into a ponytail. Everyone looked on in surprise as she retrieved a weapon from her storage-type soul tool.

A soul master’s best weapon was his or her own martial soul. Soul engineers typically used weapons, but soul masters hardly used any. In the end, weapons weren’t a part of one’s body like a martial soul was, and there would be a negative backlash if one didn’t have complete control or coordination with his or her martial soul.

Wang Qiu’er’s weapon was a long spear. It was about 3.6 meters long, and had a brilliant golden color that was identical to her martial soul. However, her weapon didn’t contain any metal at all, it seemed to be made from wood. The spear emanated a life energy so dense and strong that the feeling was comparable to Huo Yuhao’s Life Gold. Even though it wasn’t as strong as the Life Gold’s life energy, it contained a stranger and more peculiar element.

Wang Qiu’er’s spear was different from typical spears. It was sharpened on both ends, and its entire body was like a long and narrow shuttle, while Wang Qiu’er’s hands were gripping it in the center.

Wang Qiu’er’s icy aura became even sharper when she took out the spear. She stood at the very front of the group and raced forward, and didn’t seem like she had any intention of slowing down.

Huo Yuhao activated Spiritual Detection and shared it with his teammates, everyone maintaining their formation as they pushed forward.

They didn’t go very far before they met a pack of soul beasts.

They were six leopards that were entirely black.

Huo Yuhao warned everyone at once through Spiritual Detection, and Wang Qiu’er at the vanguard immediately slowed down as her eyes grew sharper and ﬁercer.

Six could only be considered a small pack in the Great Star Dou Forest, and they were far fewer in number compared to the Bloody Baboons from the previous night. However, this didn’t mean that they were any less dangerous.

These six black leopards were known as Ink Leopards, and leopard-type soul beasts were generally adept at speed, especially their short-distance sprinting speed. There were many leopard-type soul beasts that were on the same speed tier as the Purpleshadow Lion, but the main difference was they couldn’t keep it up over long distances.

Shrek Academy had a special lesson to teach its students about the Ink Leopard. They were a special species of leopard- type soul beasts, as they were more proﬁcient with offense rather than speed.

The Ink Leopard’s limbs were thicker and larger than most leopard-type soul beasts. Its four paws were as big as a lion or a tiger’s paws, and their paws could extend claws fully a foot long if they desired. Combining this destructive power with its incredible speed, even though speed wasn’t its best attribute, made the Ink Leopard extremely difﬁcult to deal with. The Ink Leopard was considered an exceptionally cunning soul beast, possessing several formidable darkness-type soul skills.

These six Ink Leopards had clearly discovered them, as the smell of humans was relatively unique within the great forest.

Everyone could see through Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection that the leopards were gradually splitting up and circling the company in a fan-like formation.

Zhang Lexuan lowered her voice and said, “Pay attention to defense. Control their speed, Ruoruo.”

The company’s formation became a little more compact. They couldn’t allow soul beasts that were proﬁcient in both speed and offense to cut through their ranks. This was common sense for soul masters dealing with soul beasts.

The six leopards quickly came close, but they weren’t quick to attack. They slowed down about a hundred meters away from everyone as they stared with their ice-cold eyes while they gradually shifted horizontally. One hundred meters could be covered in the blink of an eye by speedy soul beasts like them, and they were looking for an opportunity.

Wang Qiu’er suddenly turned around and looked at Zhang Lexuan as she said, “These Ink Leopards are very troublesome. If we engage them in battle, it will never end. These soul beasts are extremely patient, I’ve encountered them before. Let me go out to draw them in, and then we can take them all down at once.” Zhang Lexuan said, “No, that’s too dangerous.” She was clear that the only way to draw the Ink Leopards in was to create an illusion that somebody had broken off from the group, but it would be too late to save that person if it actually happened.

Wang Qiu’er thought for a moment, then said, “Huo Yuhao can support me. His spiritual-type martial soul can hold at least two of them back in an instant, and that will be enough to save me. There is only one ten thousand year Ink Leopard, and we will slowed down by at least eighty percent if they keep stalking us. I’m conﬁdent of this.”

If this came from someone that Zhang Lexuan was familiar with, then she would opt to trust this person without hesitation. But in the end, she wasn’t familiar enough with Wang Qiu’er.

Han Ruoruo said, “Let her go. I’ll give her one Dazzling Golden Rope, and even though she can’t move too far from us, we will be a lot closer if we need to save her as long as my Dazzling Golden Rope is in play.”

Zhang Lexuan wasn’t the indecisive kind, and she immediately made up her mind. “Alright. Get ready, everyone. Huo Yuhao, you’ll go to the front and prepare to rescue her at any time. We also need your auxiliary and control abilities if those Ink Leopards gather around us.”

“Alright.” Huo Yuhao took a few steps forward and stood right next to Wang Qiu’er as he shot her an inquisitive look.

Wang Qiu’er’s head was slightly tilted upwards, and there was only arrogance and pride in her charming powdery-blue eyes. She was already moving as she gripped her spear and strode forward.

A pale, lightless golden line wrapped itself soundlessly around Wang Qiu’er’s waist. Han Ruoruo took over her vanguard spot once again, standing beside Huo Yuhao.

Han Ruoruo’s Dazzling Golden Rope could reach up to eighty meters with her current cultivation. This was the limit of her control. If this distance was used as a radius, she would be able to reach a hundred and sixty meter-wide circle around her, which was a remarkable range for a control-type soul master. She couldn’t reach as far as Huo Yuhao could, but her controlling abilities were a lot more powerful. Wang Qiu’er stepped forward steadily, moving further and further away. Huo Yuhao found himself wanting to see what the golden spear in her hands could do.

Wang Qiu’er moved further and further away.

The Ink Leopards that were hidden a hundred meters away from them were naturally unaware that they were being monitored by Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection this entire time, and they were still concealing themselves. When Wang Qiu’er walked further and further away from the group, everyone could see through Spiritual Detection that these Ink Leopards’ blood ﬂow and soul undulations began to speed up. They were getting ready to pounce!

“Pay attention, Yuhao.” Zhang Lexuan immediately reminded him. She made her own preparations as well. They couldn’t release their soul rings right now, as that would alert the Ink Leopards that something was going on. Han Ruoruo released her martial soul, but hid her soul rings. That was the best she could do, as her soul rings would immediately appear if she used her soul skills.

“They’re coming!” Huo Yuhao growled.

Just as Wang Qiu’er was more than a hundred meters away from everyone, the six Ink Leopards pounced. They felt like they didn’t have a choice, as Wang Qiu’er’s position was just too advantageous for them – she was right in the middle of all of them!

Six black shadows burst forward like dark lightning and surged right toward Wang Qiu’er. Their talons swiftly extended as they leapt, and a dark green fog surged out from their bodies. This was Corrosive Mist, an attack that wasn’t that destructive, but known for its continuous strength. This fog would stick to their opponents like a parasite if it touched them, and was one of the Ink Leopard’s innate skills.

Wang Qiu’er’s footsteps paused right at that moment. She pointed her spear forward as it slid through her hands, and her right hand swiftly gripped her left. This meant the golden spear in her hands was extended as far forward as it could be.

A bright dragon roar could be heard in the next moment. Wang Qiu’er’s body erupted with golden light and the spear extended forward as a golden beam of light. Wang Qiu’er began to rotate on the spot, and swung her spear in a circle around her. The radiant golden light seemed like a halo that expanded from her body as it quickly created a golden screen.

Huo Yuhao made his move at the same time, and released his soul skills one after another. Spiritual Shock hit the largest and fastest Ink Leopard that was in front of the others, and the only one in the pack that had ten-thousand years of cultivation.

His fourth soul ring sparkled, and Spiritual Confusion struck the Ink Leopard right behind the ﬁrst one.

He wasn’t worried at all that he wouldn’t have good cordination with Wang Qiu’er with Spiritual Detection active.

The Ink Leopards pounced forward extremely quickly. The ten-thousand year Ink Leopard lost its balance when Huo Yuhao’s soul skill hit it, but its cultivation level meant it wouldn’t be severely wounded after being struck by Spiritual Shock at such a long distance. Still, it felt an intense headache, and it couldn’t avoid the blankness in its mind. It was still rushing forward under such circumstances, however, and it was the ﬁrst to come in contact with Wang Qiu’er’s golden spear.

Its body froze at the exact same moment that it came into contact with the golden spear, and its four limbs splayed out as its body quivered violently at the same time. The golden spear only swiped across it and it didn’t knock the leopard away, but it left a gaping wound across the leopard’s abdominal region as its internal organs instantly poured out from the wound.

That ten-thousand year Ink Leopard wasn’t the ﬁrst to meet its demise. The other leopard that was struck by Spiritual Confusion ended up in the exact same situation, except it was hit in the neck, and was struck by the spear’s actual haft.

Even though they were a hundred meters away, everyone could hear a ear-splitting crack from that Ink Leopard with at least six thousand years of cultivation. Its neck broke just like that, and its white bones were blown out and ﬂew into the distance before they slammed against a large tree.

The other four leopards that Huo Yuhao didn’t attack could see how petrifying this golden spear was. There was no doubting the fear that appeared in their eyes. These humans were a lot more difﬁcult to deal with than they had thought! The other four leopards responded accordingly. Black light ﬂashed across the skies as the four leopards disappeared, and appeared again one after another as they forcibly rolled on the ground to avoid \ the golden spear’s swing.

Instant Shift – the Ink Leopard’s innate skill, which could be used within a radius of ten meters. However, it could only be used once a day.

The company didn’t sit around idly, and everyone began to move when Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er attacked.

Han Ruoruo tapped her foot on the ground as she propelled herself into the sky. A beam of moonlight shone onto her back and became a strong propelling force as she was shot forward like a shooting star. She just had so much coordination and chemistry with Zhang Lexuan.

The second person behind her wasn’t the agility-type Li Yongyue, it was Huo Yuhao! Four soul thrusters were activated at the same time, explosively raising his speed to the maximum level. Even though he was a beat slower because he had used two soul skills before this, he was still moving forward close behind Han Ruoruo.

Han Ruoruo had left a Dazzling Golden Rope around Wang Qiu’er’s waist so that she could swiftly pull her back if she was in danger. However, she knew now that she probably wouldn’t have to do that, and also realized that Wang Qiu’er’s golden spear was a lot more powerful than they had thought.

Soul beasts’ bodies were a lot tougher than those of humans. However, the golden spear sliced the ten-thousand year Ink Leopard’s gut right open and then crushed the other thousand- year leopard’s neck. What kind of power was this? How could the other four Ink Leopards dare to come near when faced with a spear that possessed such formidable close-combat strength? These leopards were like ghosts haunting them, and they hurtled over because they couldn’t let thegreat cats go.

Wang Qiu’er didn’t pause for a single second after she succeeded on her ﬁrst strike. She dragged the spear along as she darted after another leopard, and a dragon’s roar could be heard once more as everyone saw the faint glimmer of a golden dragon’s projection on her spear. Everything in front of her was lit up in that moment with a radiant golden color as she charged forward.

The Ink Leopard that she had chosen had no intentions of ﬁghting force with force, and it immediately turned to escape once it rolled on the ground as it gathered as much speed as it could. “Hah!” Wang Qiu’er released a shrill cry right at this moment, and the accelerating leopard trembled as its speed was impeded for a second before the golden spear pierced through its entire body.

Everyone could see the virtual golden dragon suddenly materialize a little when the golden spear bore through the leopard’s body, as an enormous dragon’s maw swallowed the entire leopard and caused it to turn golden all over.

Wang Qiu’er’s body shifted once more as she swept the spear in her hands sideways. The golden Ink Leopard impaled on her spear was hurled like a cannon shell at another leopard that was attempting to run away, while the spear in her hands ﬂew towards the third Ink Leopard as another rousing dragon’s roar was heard.

Boom!

Striking large bodies like Ink Leopards wasn’t too difﬁcult with Spiritual Detection around. Two leopards collided with each other, and the second one was also tainted golden as golden streaks of lightning danced across its entire body while it twisted and rolled on the ground.

The golden spear was hurtling forward on the other side. The leopard knew it couldn’t meet force with force, and it nimbly changed directions in the air as it spit out a black beam of light from its mouth. This was another of their innate skills, called the Divine Light of Darkness. This innate skill was a

mid-range offensive skill, and it was extremely powerful, but consumed a lot of soul power. The leopards didn’t want to use their last resorts, but several didn’t even have the chance to do so!

It was a pity that its Divine Light of Darkness wasn’t fully expelled from its mouth before the golden spear pierced right through its skull. The same golden maw consumed it as the dragon projection ﬂickered, and this Ink Leopard was nailed to the ground just like that.

Huo Yuhao and Han Ruoruo faced the ﬁnal Ink Leopard. How could they have any problems at all against a thousand- year Ink Leopard with their current cultivations?

Han Ruoruo’s Dazzling Golden Rope arrested and immobilized it in an instant, while Huo Yuhao’s Darkgolden Terrorclaw lashed out, and the leopard was immediately eliminated. The chilly air released from Huo Yuhao’s body also turned the leopard’s Corrosive Mist into dust and dispelled it.

Wang Qiu’er didn’t stop at all on her side. She raced forward to the leopard that had crashed onto the ground after being struck by the hurled leopard corpse. That leopard was still ﬂickering with golden light as it struggled back to its feet, but Wang Qiu’er kicked it right in the head, and there was another cracking sound…

Everyone was still rushing forward at that moment, but they began to slow down.

Too quick... it was just too quick. The time needed for three breaths had passed from the beginning of the battle to the end, from when the six Ink Leopards pounced forward to the moment when the last leopard was killed. Ink Leopards possessed multiple soul skills, and the fact that they could survive deep within the Hybrid Region meant that they were relatively formidable soul beasts. However, Wang Qiu’er cut through them as easily as a hot knife through butter. This ﬁght wasn’t a showdown… it was just a pure massacre. Wang Qiu’er retrieved her golden spear. The spear only had brilliant golden hues; not a single drop of blood clung to it.

She grasped her spear naturally and sauntered back to the group.

She had mentioned that she was conﬁdent in holding them back, but she was just being humble! It was clear from her performance that even if she were one versus six, the worst outcome would be that a few of the leopards would get to escape. Her ferocity and brutal ﬁghting style were present once more throughout the entire battle, and were so overwhelming, while proving to everyone once more how powerful she actually was.

Even Huo Yuhao was ﬁlled with awe and astonishment. He had no idea what the outcome would be if he faced off against Wang Qiu’er, and he actually didn’t have any conﬁdence at all.

Huo Yuhao had been using Spiritual Detection throughout the ﬁght, so he could clearly feel how Wang Qiu’er’s body had transformed during the battle. Wang Qiu’er’s blood essence would surge every time she launched an attack, and she would unleash a formidable strength that didn’t come from soul power. That strength was released explosively every time the dragon roar appeared, and it fused seamlessly with her personal soul power. The golden spear was clearly like a part of her body, and could impeccably amplify her own strength and soul power. Otherwise, how could she break through the ten-thousand year Ink Leopard’s defenses on the ﬁrst strike and slay it with a single hit?

Huo Yuhao and Han Ruoruo had contributed to the effort that laid waste to the six leopards in the blink of an eye, but Wang Qiu’er was the main attacker, and her performance was undoubtedly much more outstanding and riveting.

Li Yongyue had stopped running at this moment. He exchanged a look with Mo Xuan, and the two of them swallowed at almost the same time and muttered, “She’s so powerful.”

It was easy to say what Mo Xuan was thinking, as he was almost a pure auxiliary-type soul master that the academy was nurturing. But Li Yongyue? Fighting was his department; he was an agility-type Soul Emperor, and also part of Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard. He was deﬁnitely not considered weak, but he didn’t even dare to compare himself when he witnessed Wang Qiu’er’s frightening explosive strength, she was just too dominant and intimidating!

Mo Xuan whispered to Li Yongyue, “Do you think she has any weaknesses at all?”

Li Yongyue contemplated for a moment before saying, “Perhaps she’s not that good with ranged attacks. She is extremely strong, so she should be only good in close-combat battles.”

Mo Xuan’s mouth twitched as he said, “Did you consider her throwing the spear?”

“Ahem, that should be considered a weapon.” Li Yongyue was in a daze at this point.

Mo Xuan patted him on the shoulder and said, “I think we should just pray hard that we will never be standing on the other side from her. Let’s go.” Wang Qiu’er had astounded the whole company twice in two battles, and there was no question that she had left a deep and lasting impression in everyone’s minds. She had just obtained her sixth soul ring, but her strength was not something that normal Soul Emperors could possibly have.

Zhang Lexuan came before Wang Qiu’er and stared at the spear in her hands deeply as she asked, “Do you need to rest?”

Wang Qiu’er shook her head quietly. She had just killed ﬁve Ink Leopards. It seemed to be something that couldn’t be any more normal to her, and didn’t seem like she wanted to ﬂaunt or brag at all.

Zhang Lexuan said, “Alright, let’s continue then.”

“Yes.” Wang Qiu’er turned and was about to leave when Zhang Lexuan suddenly asked, “May I ask if your weapon is related to your martial soul?”

Wang Qiu’er paused momentarily, then nodded. “It’s passed down from my family, and it’s called the Golden Dragon Spear.”

Zhang Lexuan’s body quivered, and everyone else heard Wang Qiu’er’s words too, as she didn’t deliberately lower her voice. The Golden Dragon Spear that seemed like it was made from wood, but shone with brilliant golden light… could it have something to do with the Golden Dragon?

Huo Yuhao blurted out, “Legend has it that the Golden Dragon had forty-nine ribs, but its descendants only had forty- eight. The ﬁrst generation Golden Dragon’s forty-ninth rib bone is claimed to be the key for evolution into the Dragon God. Is this actually the…?”

Wang Qiu’er turned around and shot him a glance as astonishment ﬂowed from her enchanting eyes. “I didn’t expect you to know so much. Yes, this spear was forged from the ﬁrst generation Golden Dragon’s forty-ninth rib.”

Silence.

Huo Yuhao was also dumbfounded. He actually wanted to say this Golden Dragon Spear couldn’t have been forged from the Golden Dragon’s rib bone, could it? He had learned all those things about the Golden Dragon’s forty-ninth rib bone and whatnot from Wang Yan as a fun fact during his lessons a long time ago, and had only uttered it subconsciously.

However, he had not imagined that Wang Qiu’er’s spear could have such an extraordinary origin! It was known that the ﬁrst generation Golden Dragon’s forty-ninth rib was also touted as the secret to becoming the Dragon God!

“Eh, look at those Ink Leopards...” Mo Xuan’s voice broke the silence.

Everyone noticed that the leopards on the ground that had been impaled and turned golden by the Golden Dragon Spear were quickly drying up and disintegrating. It was as if all the nutrients that they possessed were swiftly dissipating into the air.

Wang Qiu’er said plainly, “That’s nothing. My Golden Dragon Spear has a special effect of absorbing life energy, and every organism that it kills will instantly be converted into nutrients for the Golden Dragon Spear, which will feed a portion of it back to me.” Silence… Everyone glanced at each other, and the same term appeared in their minds. Divine Weapon.

Zhang Lexuan was the ﬁrst to recover. She lowered her voice and said, “Qiu’er, you shouldn’t use the Golden Dragon Spear so casually in the future. You can’t tell anyone about what it can do.”

Wang Qiu’er seemed indifferent as she replied, “It’s ﬁne. The Golden Dragon Spear is the Dragon God’s pride, and nobody can use it except the person that possesses the Golden Dragon martial soul. The spear will absorb life energy from anything else that touches it. Without my control, everything would be barren within a radius of one hundred meters around it, as it will continuously absorb life energy from all things around it, and nothing material can block the effect. Once it has absorbed enough life energy, the Golden Dragon’s soul within the spear will be triggered, and it will take it far and wide until it ﬁnds the person that possesses the Golden Dragon martial soul, or someone with the Golden Dragon’s blood. If the spear reaches a living Golden Dragon, then it will integrate into the dragon as its forty-ninth rib bone and give the Golden Dragon the chance to evolve into the Dragon God.” Everyone suddenly understood what was going on. It was no wonder she could use this Divine Weapon of a spear so calmly, as there were so many profound secrets and nuances embodied within it. This also meant that there was probably nobody else in the world that could use this weapon besides Wang Qiu’er

herself!

Chapter 233: The Three Evil Soul Master Brothers

After Wang Qiu’er explained the secret behind the Golden Dragon Spear, even Wang Dong’er didn’t think that she had taken advantage of Huo Yuhao by fusing with the Bloody Baboon King’s soul ring. However, Huo Yuhao could tell from the look in Wang Dong’er’s eyes that she was still unconvinced by Wang Qiu’er.

Just when everyone was about to carry on with their journey, they all came alert again. They all turned in one direction, alerted by Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection.

Three ﬁgures had entered Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection, but they weren’t soul beasts, they were humans. Without a doubt, they must be soul masters, since they could venture so deep into the Great Star Dou Forest.

But the group from Shrek didn’t feel any sense of camaraderie even though they had met fellow soul masters. In this forest, it might not be a good thing to meet other soul masters. Everyone who came here was hunting soul beasts to obtain soul rings. Conﬂicts might arise if they targeted the same soul beasts.

At this point, Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo demonstrated their rich wealth of experience. A depression was formed in the ground as moonlight ﬂashed. Streaks of Dazzling Golden Ropes ﬂashed past, and the corpses of the Ink Leopards were dragged into the depression. Moonlight blinked again, and the ground was leveled. The entire process was completed in a few seconds.

Huo Yuhao only realized what was happening after a moment. The corpses were buried in order to prevent the other party from deducing the extent of their abilities.

Just as they ﬁnished concealing the Ink Leopards, the three strangers arrived in front of them.

When Huo Yuhao saw them for the ﬁrst time, he was slightly stunned. A strong sense of crisis started to ﬁll him.

They were three elders that looked at least seventy years old. The shocking thing was that they looked exactly the same. They were even dressed the same way.

They were all very thin, but they had lots of wrinkles on their faces. Their greyish-white hair ﬂowed behind their backs. Their eyes were a dim yellow, and gave off a lifeless feeling. The only special trait about them was that they all had aquiline noses and thin lips.

They were dressed in a long, greyish robes and each held a walking staff. Their walking staves were entirely black, and were fully ten feet long. At the top of each staff was a greyish gem the size of a human head.

Once they appeared, they turned their attention on everyone from Shrek. Their actions were in eerie tandem. They tapped their walking staves on the ground before their bodies drifted forward. They lifted off and landed at the same time. In just a matter of seconds, they had already arrived in front of them.

Everyone from Shrek went into their previous formation. The only difference was that Zhang Lexuan came up beside Wang Qiu’er and stood side by side with her. The elder in the center furrowed his brow slightly and muttered, “A bunch of dolls.” His voice was hoarse, as if his larynx was damaged. It was extremely awful to listen to.

The elder on the left said, “There seems to be a bloody smell here.”

The elder on the right directly asked them, “Who are you people? Where are all of you from?”

Zhang Lexuan smiled slightly and stepped forward. She bowed slightly and said, “Greetings, elders. We’re from the Moonlight Sect in the Heavenly Soul Empire.”

The elder on the right commented, “All of you seem young, but you’re able to venture so deep into the Great Star Dou Forest. It seems like your cultivations are not low! Unleash your soul rings for us to see.” The three elders weren’t just alike in terms of their appearance and dress. Even their voices were equally awful.

“Elders, it might be a little overboard to bully us like that.” A gentle voice sounded from afar before vice-Dean Cai Mei’er walked forward slowly. She seemed very slow, but her movement was instantaneous. She only took a few steps before she was in front of the rest and stood beside Zhang Lexuan.

The elder on the right chortled and replied, “See, I was right. These little dolls couldn’t have ventured so far into the forest on their own. They have an elder here. Very well, you shall unleash your martial soul and soul rings for us to see.”

Cai Mei’er laughed slightly and replied, “The three of you must be qualiﬁed before you can make me unleash my martial soul.” As she spoke, she lifted her right hand up and pushed it forward.

The elder on the right glared, and his dim yellow eyes brightened. He also lifted his right hand to strike Cai Mei’er.

Bang! As a deep, mufﬂed sound echoed out, a thick cloud of gas burst forth. This stream of gas shot into the sky and caused the crown of the tree above them to shake tremendously. Countless leaves started to descend from the sky. “Wow, an eight-ringed cultivation.” The elder on the right was a little stunned as he looked at Cai Mei’er. He twisted his lips and said, “No wonder you dare to act so big in front of me.”

Eight-ringed cultivation? Huo Yuhao observed silently from one side and nodded his head in approval. Whether it was Zhang Lexuan or Cai Mei’er, they had revealed their eight- ringed cultivation to confuse their opponents. However, he was also shocked. The three elders’ ability to tell Cai Mei’er’s cultivation meant that their own cultivations were not below eight rings! Three Soul Douluo who appeared hostile… they weren’t going to be easy to deal with...

Cai Mei’er remained calm. “It seems like you’re also a Soul Douluo. Why do you have to bully us, then? I’m only bringing these kids to obtain some soul rings. The forest is so huge. I’m sure we won’t obstruct the three of you.”

The elder on the right laughed and replied, “Whether you obstruct me is not up to you to comment. Let’s do it this way. Help us do something, and we’ll set you free. You should know that it’s impossible for you to deal with the three of us if there’s only one Soul Douluo on your side.” The elder in the center said, “Yes, all of you can go after you help us complete this task.”

The elder on the left followed with, “It might even be beneﬁcial for all of you. If the soul beasts that you hunt along the way are suitable for you, you can absorb their soul rings after everything is over.”

Cai Mei’er was moved as she said, “Considering your cultivations, I’m afraid what you want us to complete isn’t an easy task. Furthermore, we don’t have many resources with us, and we’re pressed for time.”

The elder on the right said, “I don’t think you have a choice. If you wish to remain here forever, I don’t mind wasting more effort. Furthermore, it’s not far from here.”

The elder in the center said, “Let’s cut the nonsense. Follow us.”

As he spoke, the three elders unleashed their martial souls at the same time. Something strange happened. Their right hands that were holding their staves turned greyish and were engulfed by a layer of greyish scales. These scales quickly spread to the rest of their bodies, including their faces. Their staffs even emanated intense greyish light. The gems also lit up, and started to glow with a fresh red color.

Soul tool! Huo Yuhao already made his judgment when he saw the three staves earlier. They were different from the Golden Dragon Spear. The metallic feeling and undulations that were speciﬁc to soul tools couldn’t be concealed from Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection. Huo Yuhao was even more stunned after realizing they were soul tools. He believed that they were Class 8 soul tools!

Eight-ringed Soul Douluo who possessed Class 8 soul tools. Were they Class 8 soul engineers? However, they didn’t simply look like soul engineers, considering the intensity of their soul power undulations. More accurately speaking, they were more like soul masters equipped with soul tools.

They were extremely strong triplets. No wonder they were so arrogant and self-conﬁdent. This was a demonstration of their immense abilities. Cai Mei’er hesitated slightly before nodding. She said, “Alright. However, how can I trust the three of you to keep your promise and release us after we complete this task?”

The voice of the elder on the left became slightly gentler, and he said, “We’ll make a vow then. With our statuses, do you really think we’ll go back on our promise?”

After he ﬁnished speaking, the three of them said in unison, “I, Zhong Litian/Zhong Lidi/Zhong Liren hereby swear that we’ll not put these people in front of us in a spot after they complete our task, and release them. If we betray this vow, let us die horrible deaths.”

The vow sounded very normal and ordinary. There weren’t any problems with it. The only weird thing was that the uniﬁed way in which they made their vow, which suggested that they were very used to making it.

Cai Mei’er stopped hesitating and nodded. She said, “Alright. Will the three of you lead the way for us and tell us about what you want us to do in detail along the way?” The elder on the right was Zhong Litian, the one in the center was Zhong Liren, and the one on the left was Zhong Lidi. They were named Heaven (tian), Earth (di) and Man (ren). Their surname was also very weird. Cai Mei’er had no recollection of them. They were Soul Douluos, and should be renowned on the continent, but Cai Mei’er had never heard of them. This showed that they deliberately tried not to leave an impression behind them.

Cai Mei’er glanced over at Zhang Lexuan and said, “Everyone, follow them. Maintain the formation. We’ll help the three of them complete their task before we continue to search for soul beasts.”

Cai Mei’er and Zhang Lexuan’s gazes met, and Zhang Lexuan immediately understood her intention. How would this Shrek Academy team be afraid of three Soul Douluo given their makeup? Cai Mei’er didn’t choose to conﬂict with the three elders because she wanted to ﬁnd out their true intentions, and was also waiting to exploit a better opportunity.

The three elders walked in front in exactly the same way. They retracted their martial souls, and their staves regained their original looks. However, the intense undulations from these Class 8 soul tools still left a deep impression on Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao could clearly sense that the most important part of the staves were the gems at the top. The gems were empty, but there seemed to be extremely intricate formation arrays within them. It was just that the strong undulations of soul power released by the formation arrays prevented Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection from looking into them. However, he could still subtly sense that they were similar to Electrolux’s staff.

The three elders were very quick, but they weren’t too far in front of the rest. When the gap grew, they would stop to wait, and weren’t exactly impatient.

Cai Mei’er reduced her speed as she led the team. When Zhang Lexuan started to move, she signaled ‘four’ with her hand. Her instructions were clear – everyone was supposed to maintain their speed at a four-ringed cultivation level.

Their speed was still quite fast even at this level. The three elders had mentioned that it wasn’t very far, but they still took two hours before reaching their destination. The three of them stopped, and Zhong Litian turned back to look at the Shrek group. He gestured for everyone to maintain their silence.

The three brothers were cautious at this point. They were even slightly tense.

Cai Mei’er came up beside the three of them and asked softly, “Elders, can you tell us what we’re supposed to do?”

Zhong Litian said softly, “There’s a cave not far from here. There’s a living soul beast inside the cave. We’ll try to draw it out later. What you have to do is to attack it and kill it.”

“Just like that?” Cai Mei’er was a little doubtful as she asked. The three of them lack offensive strength? It can’t be this simple.

Zhong Litian was certain as he said, “Just like that. That fellow is very cunning. We’re not scared of it, and you don’t have to unleash an all-out attack against it intentionally. Just don’t let it run away. It’s very fast, and can be considered an agility-type soul beast. Form a semicircle ﬁrst. Liren, go and draw it out.”

Zhong Liren acknowledged his words. He tapped his staff on the ground and passed through the shrubs in front of them.

Huo Yuhao changed his Spiritual Detection to make it all- around. He also shared it with Cai Mei’er and Zhang Lexuan at the same time.

Zhong Liren was very quick. After advancing forward for around a kilometer, he started to slow down. His actions also became much more cautious.

After passing a few trees, he ﬁnally stopped. He looked at an ancient tree not far in front of him and slowly lifted his staff.

The greyish scales engulfed his body once again. A thick greyish radiance also lit up the gem on his staff, which glowed with a projection. It seemed to be a soul beast that looked like a rat, but it was made completely from red light. This projection ﬂew towards the ancient tree quickly and started to dig into the ground several meters away from the tree. It dug all the way to the cave.

Huo Yuhao, Cai Mei’er, and Zhang Lexuan became nervous as they reached this point. Even Cai Mei’er’s self-conﬁdence wavered slightly.

Why?

Evil soul masters!

Zhong Liren’s ability could only come from an evil soul master. It wasn’t just red, but the color of blood. Huo Yuhao projected the aura of desolation exuded by the rat-like soul beast using his Spiritual Detection in their minds. The thick, bloody sense and quivering spirit were characteristics special to evil soul masters. Huo Yuhao ﬁnally understood what the Class 8 walking staffs were for. They were used to seal the spirits of soul beasts! Zhong Liren was summoning a soul beast’s spirit to achieve his goal. The blood-red light ﬂashed before disappearing, and the earth started to shake.

A furious roar sounded from the cave in front of the ancient tree. A head popped out from the cave.

Huo Yuhao was shocked when he saw this head. It was a soul beast that he recognized. It had dark golden fur and ferocious- looking eyes. There was also its terrifying aura. It was undoubtedly an extremely strong Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear! From the size of its head, Huo Yuhao could tell that it was much stronger than the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear he had met earlier.

Is this a ten thousand year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear?

A Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear with a ten thousand year cultivation could challenge an ordinary hundred thousand year soul beast. If this was a ten thousand year Terrorclaw Bear, it was as dangerous as a Titled Douluo.

The three elders wanted to deal with a ten thousand year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. No wonder they couldn’t kill it on their own.

After provoking the bear, Zhong Liren retreated swiftly. As he retreated, a frightening light projection ﬂashed before disappearing.

The Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear reached out its right arm from the cave. The terrifying dark golden light from it covered more than ﬁfty meters and a hundred-and-ﬁfty-degree region in front of it.

Wherever the dark golden light passed, all the plants were instantly torn apart. Its sharp and vicious aura even left ﬁve streaks of pitch-black marks in the air – the air had been clawed apart by it.

It was simply too strong.

This was the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear! A transcendent soul beast that was equally powerful in offense and defense. If Zhong Liren hadn’t retreated quickly, he might not have survived the bear’s attack. A surprising scene occurred. The bear didn’t rush out of its cave, and only let out a deafening and furious roar.

Following this, Zhong Liren let out a piercing scream.

After hearing his piercing scream, Zhong Litian and Zhong Lidi were both delighted. Zhong Lidi couldn’t help but say, “I want…”

Zhong Litian glared at him and interrupted his words. After that, he turned to Cai Mei’er and said, “Let’s go, my third brother has discovered the soul beast. Let’s go and trap it. Just attack it as much as you want.”

Cai Mei’er was also conﬂicted at this point. They had met evil soul masters who were all Soul Douluo. She wasn’t thinking of how to kill the three of them, but how to retreat with all the inner courtyard students.

Even though these three evil soul masters only had eight rings, they were each capable of ﬁghting a Titled Douluo. While these inner courtyard students were outstanding, the powers of evil soul masters weren’t just evil. They were also very difﬁcult to defend against. Since Cai Mei’er didn’t know what their abilities were, she didn’t want to take any risks.

“Okay.” Cai Mei’er didn’t want to fall out with them at this point, and led the rest as they followed behind. With Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection as a guide, they knew what to do. A ten thousand year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear! Its soul ring was a treasure that couldn’t be forgone. Li Yongyue hadn’t added a soul ring, and its soul ring was undoubtedly suitable for him. However, they had to resolve this crisis ﬁrst.

Zhong Litian and Zhong Lidi didn’t monitor them too much.

They only gestured for them to move to the front faster.

Very soon, everyone converged with Zhong Liren. Zhong Liren nodded at his two elder brothers, as if he were telling them something. Zhong Litian and Zhong Lidi also exchanged glances.

Zhong Litian turned to Cai Mei’er and said, “That soul beast is very sly. We’ll do it this way later. I’ll attack from the front and coordinate with all of you to stop it. My two brothers will ambush it from the back. Once it bursts over, we’ll team up to block it. Do you understand?”

Cai Mei’er nodded and asked, “What kind of soul beast is it?”

Zhong Litian glanced at her and said coldly, “You’ll know when it comes over. Relax, I’ll be ﬁghting with you. Your disciples can get ready.”

Cai Mei’er said, “Alright, I’ll devise a strategy.” Just as she spoke, the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear roared furiously again. No, it was actually screaming in pain.

Cai Mei’er was slightly stunned. In the next moment, she sensed the good news that Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection brought.

The previous changes eventually still kindled Huo Yuhao’s suspicions. It was understandable for three Soul Douluo to be nervous against a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, but why did they need so many people to help them? Capturing the attention of this Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear wasn’t going to help them in hunting and killing it! With their abilities, they could easily kill the bear. Why did they have to drag them along? What was the reason? Huo Yuhao discovered the reason when he heard the bear screaming in pain.

At this point, Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren had just left, but they didn’t attack the bear. When it screamed, the two of them stepped back deliberately.

What about the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear? Its head and arm were still outside, but it didn’t leave the cave as it screamed.

Huo Yuhao started to explore further into the cave using his Spiritual Detection even at the expense of depleting more soul power. There must be something in the cave that the bear couldn’t give up.

He saw it very soon. The cave wasn’t very big, and it was also not level. Evidently, the bear had dug it out with its own claws. Inside the cave, there was a huge amount of black blood. The bear’s legs were actually trembling slightly.

Within this pool of dark blood, there were two smaller fellows that were less than a meter long, gnawing on their fur. Their eyes weren’t even open yet.

This was actually a ten thousand year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear that had just given birth, and was in a weakened state. It didn’t leave its cave because it was too weak. At the same time, it was also trying to protect its two kids!

Huo Yuhao’s heart softened when he sensed this. That was because he immediately recalled how his mother had protected him.

Without a doubt, the three evil soul masters’ target wasn’t just the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. They were targeting its two kids too! With their abilities, no one knew how these two infant Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears were going to be exploited if they were captured.

We have to stop them! The same thought arose in Cai Mei’er, Zhang Lexuan, and Huo Yuhao’s minds.

At this point, Zhong Litian said, “Watch me. I’m going to make a move.”

Cai Mei’er nodded and turned around at the same time before gesturing to the group from Shrek.

Her gesture seemed very simple, but every inner courtyard disciple knew what she meant... all-out attack!

Undoubtedly, their target wasn’t the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear!

Zhong Litian’s back was facing everyone. He didn’t seem to realize anything, or perhaps he was too self-conﬁdent. He lifted his staff slowly, and greyish scales started to engulf his body once again. His soul rings also drifted into everyone’s view for the ﬁrst time.

Everyone was left with a deep impression as they sensed the capabilities of this evil soul master from a close distance. A thick bloody aura swept over them, and everyone felt as if they were surrounded by corpses. The awful smell left them nauseous, and it was even getting difﬁcult to breathe. A piercing scream suddenly resonated. This scream was similar to that of the Darkgolden Terroclaw Bear’s screams earlier. The only difference was that this scream was louder, and sounded more furious. It also seemed to contain a sense of unbearable pain. A huge bloody light projection surfaced from

Zhong Litian’s body.

It was a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. Its terrifying ﬁgure was greater than seven meters in height. When it appeared, its aura shook the surrounding trees and plants. However, it wasn’t a solid entity. Its ﬁgure was half-transparent, and its frightening aura revealed an indescribable pain. Its spirit was even trembling, distorting, and trying to struggle. However, it couldn’t break free. It could only vent its torment by screaming pathetically.

When the red Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear’s spirit started to roar, Huo Yuhao could sense that the body of the bear that had just given birth turned rigid. In the next moment, a hysterical and forlorn roar was released from this female bear. She couldn’t be bothered about her kids in the cave anymore. As her huge palm pressed onto the ground, she exited the cave and started to burst forward rapidly.

Too despicable!

Huo Yuhao understood everything soon after. The spirit that Zhong Litian revealed must have had some close connection to the female bear in the cave. It might even have been her partner, and the father of the two infant bears!

However, why did he do that? The male bear was likely to be stronger considering the strength of its spirit. Since the three of them could kill the male bear, why couldn’t they deal with the female bear?

Suddenly, a thought ﬂashed across Huo Yuhao’s mind. He was reminded of what Wang Yan had mentioned before.

There were very few Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears. That was why they couldn’t use the strength of their species to rule the world of soul beasts even though they were individually very strong. However, why were there so few of them? Logically speaking, they should be better able to survive considering their immensely strong abilities.

There was only one reason – their reproductive capabilities. They were bestowed with great strength, but were devoid of reproductive capabilities. Generally speaking, it was very difﬁcult for a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear to ﬁnd a partner. That was because they would roam the world of soul beasts alone after they matured. They would also be invincible among all soul beasts of the same level. This characteristic was also a reason why it was difﬁcult for them to carry on their lineage.

Even when a male and female Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear met, they had to be interested in each other before they could mate. Wang Yan joked that Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears had different aesthetic standards compared to humans. It was very unlikely for two bears of opposing genders to fall for each other. If it was one-sided, violence might be a means to earn the rights to copulation. However, a female bear might still be able to resist a male bear even if she couldn’t beat him. Both parties would be hurt as a result. Even if a male bear got his way, he might not be able to carry on his lineage. That was because the male and female beasts might not be sexually compatible, and thus the male bear’s genes would be unable to be passed down.

Furthermore, a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear’s estrus cycle was only once every ten years… Each female bear could only bear one to two kids. Under such a situation, it was very difﬁcult for them to prosper. Once every ten years! It wasn’t even a certainty. Some male bears might not even have their own kids for their entire life. This was the sad truth that Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears had to face.

The sadder thing was that they belonged in the same world as humans. Legend had it that a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear’s cub could be tamed by humans. If they could be successfully tamed, the owner would possess terrifying ﬁghting strength. Humans had also been trying their best to ﬁnd their own cubs.

It wasn’t just humans either. Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear cubs would treat all females as their mother due to their strong survival abilities and unyielding desire to survive. No matter who they were captured by, they treated them as their kin as long as they were nurtured properly. That was why some highly intelligent creatures would try to lay their hands on Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears.

Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears were also very proud creatures. When they discovered that they couldn’t overcome their opponent using their own abilities, they would carry out an unthinkable and cruel action… killing their own cubs! They would rather let their kids cubs than let the enemy beneﬁt. This made it even more difﬁcult for the lineage of Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears to be passed down. When Wang Yan had recounted this, his emotions had ﬂowed. However, Huo Yuhao ﬁnally understood the three Zhong Li brothers’ intention when he recalled all this.

They could certainly overcome the weakened female bear, but their targets were the two cubs. At this point, they were drawing the mother bear out using the male bear before Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren went and kidnapped the two cubs. This would help them complete this task successfully, while those from Shrek Academy were just cannon fodder.

Without a doubt, the three brothers had planned this out from the start. The female bear was in a maniacal state right now. As she approached, she would most certainly turn violent when she saw humans. Zhong Litian could also exploit this opportunity to escape. Zhong Litian could tell that there was at least a Soul Douluo among them. After they depleted some of the mother bear’s energy, she wouldn’t be able to escape once the three brothers attacked her. It was a perfect plan! While it was a coincidence that the three brothers met them, they wanted to exploit this coincidence to achieve their goals.

Huo Yuhao ﬁgured all this out in an instant. He also activated his Spiritual Detection at the ﬁrst instant and shared his thoughts with everyone else.

“Attack now.” Cai Mei’er reacted decisively, and didn’t hesitate any further. She lifted her right hand, and a gust of strong wind burst from her hand. It was aimed towards Zhong Litian.

However, Zhong Litian turned into a waft of green smoke at this moment. He disappeared into the brutal winds, while the bloody male bear turned back. As he roared furiously, he clawed towards them with a tormented look in his eyes.

It was his spiritual power. Although his spiritual power had been enhanced by the evil soul masters, it wasn’t as strong as it was when he was still alive.

At this point, the female bear had crawled out of her cave and was rushing forward with big steps. Her husband’s voice was too familiar. His tormented screams and her yearning for him overcame her will to protect her kids. The three brothers exploited her feelings. Even though they were despicable, their evil thoughts were very unpredictable.

Even Cai Mei’er hadn’t expected such a disadvantageous situation. The strength of these two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears was already very great. However, they were still strong enough to deal with these two bears. After all, Cai Mei’er was a Titled Douluo. The missing three brothers were the problem. How long would they take to capture the two cubs? Would mercy be shown when they returned? By then, everyone from

Shrek would have been weakened by these two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears. Today’s ﬁght was very perilous.

What do we do?

This same thought appeared in everyone’s minds. The ﬁrst person to react was Huo Yuhao.

Chapter 234: Lightning God's Fury

After he shared everything with everyone through his Spiritual Detection, he started to act. As his ﬁgure ﬂashed, he disappeared into the air. At this point, he wasn’t standing beside Wang Dong’er. However, he had already shared his plan with everyone. He was going to stop the three brothers and take the two cubs away!

Wang Dong’er quickly followed him. Huo Yuhao was the most important to her. Furthermore, their abilities were greatly enhanced when they were together.

However, it was also at this moment that the male bear’s attack arrived. His sharp, bloody claws descended from the sky, and his terrifying aura swept over everyone. The thick, bloody smell was nauseating.

Wang Dong’er was about to advance, but she sensed the lethal threat and had no choice but to stop. Her wings beat, and she retreated quickly. At this point, Huo Yuhao had disappeared. Even his Spiritual Detection had disappeared. The last information Wang Dong’er received from him was to stay where she was to help the rest and not to follow him. He wanted to use a special method to deal with the three brothers.

Even though Huo Yuhao was credible, Wang Dong’er was still a little frantic at this point. However, the male bear’s attack was like a dancing, bloody cyclone as it swept towards everyone. Wang Dong’er was also one of its targets, and she couldn’t escape.

However, Huo Yuhao wasn’t the only one who had moved away from the team. As Huo Yuhao moved, someone else also moved. As her slender ﬁgure ﬂashed, she turned into a golden light projection that was faded into the forest. She moved in the same direction as Huo Yuhao.

It was Wang Qiu’er.

Cai Mei’er led the team as Zhang Lexuan, Han Ruoruo, Wang Dong’er, Li Yongyue, and Mo Xuan worked together to resist the male bear’s attack. The strength of the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear was explosive. Even though this ten-thousand year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear was only left with his spirit, his ﬁghting style didn’t change at all. His terrifying ﬁghting strength erupted and suppressed everyone.

With Cai Mei’er’s cultivation, it wasn’t difﬁcult for her to escape. However, she needed to protect her students! This was especially true for students like Mo Xuan, who didn’t possess any real ﬁghting strength.

---

Huo Yuhao didn’t bother about the ﬁght on the other side right now. He knew that the two bears couldn’t kill them with Dean Cai around. What he had to do now was turn the situation around. It was only this way that his friends could escape from danger.

Why didn’t he drag Wang Dong’er along? That was because he wasn’t conﬁdent. Even with Wang Dong’er, could he possibly challenge three Soul Douluo? He decided to act alone because he would be completely disregarding any danger. As he burst forward, his third eye opened. His soul thrusters and Spiritual Detection were also initiated.

At this point, he heard a sonorous dragon’s roar.

It was very unexpected, but it was ﬁlled with rage. Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection covered a large area. He immediately turned his head in the direction of the roar. He was appalled to discover that Wang Qiu’er had also separated from the team. Furthermore, her target was the female bear!

Not good!

Even though Wang Qiu’er had demonstrated great abilities, Huo Yuhao didn’t believe that she could ﬁght a ten-thousand year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear by herself. Even Elder Xuan had once mentioned how strong a ten-thousand year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear was. At the ten-thousand year level, it was one of the best among the savage beasts.

However, it was too late for Huo Yuhao to help Wang Qiu’er at this point. Furthermore, could he even do anything with his current strength?

It was time to make a decision. Huo Yuhao grit his teeth, and a huge cannon barrel was lifted onto his shoulder. This cannon was dark blue, and there were countless rose patterns on its body.

If Ke Ke were here, she would deﬁnitely recognize it as a Giant Lightning Cannon. However, Huo Yuhao’s cannon was covered by a mysterious glow. Whether it was the size or the number of formation arrays, Ke Ke’s cannon couldn’t compare to this one.

This was a Giant Lightning Cannon, but it was also a Class 7 heavy cannon called the Lightning God’s Fury. He Caitou was the one who had developed it.

Before they set off on this journey, Huo Yuhao had naturally told his partners where he was going. He Caitou passed his Lightning God’s Fury to him, and also gave him three compatible stationary soul cannon shells.

However, this heavy cannon was different from the one He Caitou had used previously. He Caitou had never used a stationary soul cannon before. This modiﬁed Class 7 cannon possessed the strongest offensive strength among all the soul tools that He Caitou possessed. That was why he passed it to Huo Yuhao.

Intense bolts of lightning were unleashed, and the Lightning God’s Fury revealed layers and layers of bluish-purple halos. Huo Yuhao’s speed didn’t decrease as he burst forward, but his charging of the cannon persisted. The strongest aspect of a stationary soul cannon was that its might didn’t lie in the cannon itself, but the cannon shell. Firing the cannon didn’t expend a lot of soul power. Although it was costly to make, it was undoubtedly more terrifying than a soul cannon that was ﬁred purely using soul power. Huo Yuhao didn’t dare to waste his soul power, and thus he chose this cannon.

Rumbling sounds rolled forth, and Huo Yuhao ﬂew back due to the recoil, knocking into two huge trees. A bolt of bluish- purple lightning ﬂashed in the air before disappearing.

Why did Huo Yuhao charge his cannon while bursting forward earlier? He was ﬂung back to where he wanted to go. He exploited the burst of speed brought about by this recoil. He didn’t even bother with the female bear and Wang Qiu’er, who were both on the other side. He did whatever he needed to the best of his abilities

Huo Yuhao was aware that this cannon couldn’t possibly kill the female bear, but it could at least stall her, given the strength of a Class 7 stationary soul cannon shell. Wang Qiu’er would then be afforded time to escape… At the same time, stalling the female bear would be very helpful for his side. Dealing with the male bear’s spirit and preventing both bears from teaming up together was the key to resolving the problem.

Huo Yuhao burst forward after he did what he needed to do. The light from his Eye of Destiny shone brightly, and layers of distorted ripples started to appear on his body. He instantly disappeared into the forest.

Wang Qiu’er wasn’t slower than Huo Yuhao. Suddenly, an indescribable feeling caused her to stop. At this point, she already saw the hysterical female bear rushing over. In the next instant, she saw something unforgettable. A streak of intense, bluish-purple light swept by. It was so bright that the entire forest turned bluish-purple. All the plants and trees were illuminated with the same color.

Following this, the female bear was swallowed by the bluish- purple light. The terrifying lightning was changed into a shocking beam of light that shot into the sky. Rumbling thunder echoed in three waves, and the immense impact swept the entire area that the bluish-purple light had covered earlier. All the plants and trees were turned into ash by the terrifying impact and destructive force.

Wang Qiu’er crossed her arms in front of her body, and a layer of thick golden light emanated from her body. However, her body was still ﬂung backward by the force. She ﬂew close to hundred meters before she managed to stabilize her body. However, an intense numbness was running through her body.

Yes, this was how terrifying a Class 7 stationary soul cannon was. Everything in front of Wang Qiu’er had turned to ash. The female bear was smashed down, and her dark-golden hide had turned charcoal black. Gusts of thick smoke rose from her fur as she collapsed to the ground in pain, lightning crackling around her. Even the Sun Moon Empire, which possessed the strongest soul tools, classiﬁed stationary soul cannons that were at Class 7 as weapons of mass destruction. They couldn’t be sold. No one knew how many Class 7 stationary soul cannons the Sun Moon Empire possessed, but they had already become the biggest threat to the rest of the empires on the continent because of them.

The cannon shell that Huo Yuhao just ﬁred was worth eight hundred thousand gold soul coins. That wasn’t even including the time that He Caitou had spent on developing it. If it were auctioned off, the cannon would be worth more than three million gold soul coins. What if was ﬁred towards an elite team of soldiers? Everything in a three hundred meter radius would be turned to ash. Any soul master below a six-ringed cultivation could forget about escaping. How many people possessed strength as immense as Wang Qiu’er? That was the reason why Huo Yuhao had dared to ﬁre that cannon shell!

At this point, the air was ﬁlled with intense undulations of lightning. The frightening explosive force shocked everyone. Even though the shockwave only generated a surging gust of air when it reached them, this sudden explosion changed the situation for Shrek Academy’s team.

Huo Yuhao retracted his Spiritual Detection after he ﬁred his cannon. The terrifying bolts of lightning were too much for his spiritual power to handle. The huge explosion sounded behind him, but he continued to dart forward. At this point, he placed the second cannon shell into the Giant Lightning Cannon on his shoulder.

As the surging gust of air reached him, he initiated his Spiritual Detection again. This time, his target was the cave.

The three brothers weren’t affected even after the ﬁrst cannon shell exploded. However, the explosion still caught their attention. Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren drifted towards the cave as they tapped their staves on the ground. Zhong Litian didn’t appear, and no one knew where he was hiding. However, it wasn’t difﬁcult to guess that he had focused most of his energy on everyone from Shrek Academy.

Huo Yuhao’s second cannon shell was ﬁred at this time. When the cannon was ﬁred, he revealed his concealed ﬁgure. A horrifying bluish-purple radiance was unleashed, and its targets were the two cubs in the cave.

What were Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren’s cultivations? They were evil Soul Douluo. In a duel, their abilities weren’t inferior to a Titled Douluo. Their spiritual power and senses were very strong. They immediately sensed the threat that was coming.

At this point, they had already arrived at the cave. Any normal person wouldn’t enter the cave even if he was threatened. However, they couldn’t give up on the two cubs in the cave! The cubs were the most important reason they were here.

Huo Yuhao had experienced many live ﬁghts during his training in the Ultimate Soldier Plan. Both his situational judgment and understanding of a human’s psychological mindset had reached a high standard. Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren made their choice immediately. They only had one choice… defend! They could only defend against the attack unleashed towards the cave and protect the two cubs.

They lifted their staves at the same time, and bloody light started to spread out again. In such a situation, all they could do was pour out all their soul power. Two beams of sanguine light were converted into a huge, bloody red protective barrier. The entire cave was covered by this barrier.

Boom!

If He Caitou knew that someone was trying to resist his Class

7 stationary soul cannon shell directly, he would be elated. Why were stationary soul cannons so powerful? It was because their explosive strength could match the all-out attack of a Rank 80 soul master the moment they were ﬁred!

While Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren were very strong, evil soul masters were only strong because they were evil. In terms of cultivation, they were still eight-ringed Soul Douluo. They were conﬁdent of success, but were faced with a sudden attack. In a state of panic, they weren’t able to unleash their all-out defense. In addition, they weren’t skilled at defending, either. As the terrifying sounds of crackling lightning echoed out, countless bolts of lightning struck, and the two elders were appalled to discover that the intimidating explosive force had torn apart their defense.

The bloody barrier dissipated. As lightning ﬂashed, the thick protective barrier was forcefully torn apart. The horrifying explosive force also swept the two of them up.

Lightning was formed by the vital energy of heaven and earth.

This was what Electrolux had told Huo Yuhao. Any form of undead would be harmed far more greatly than normal, regardless of what element they once were, if they were struck by lightning, because lightning contained the vital energy of heaven and earth.

When some undead became too strong, they might attract lightning from the sky due to their evil aura. This was called a Lightning Catastrophe. Why was Electrolux so strong in his original world? One important reason was that he was an unprecedented light-type necromancer. He used his own body to summon the light element of the undead, thus removing any evil energy from them. In this way, they wouldn’t attract the Lightning

Catastrophe.

Huo Yuhao had guessed some of the abilities that the three evil soul masters possessed. It had to be something related to summoning soul beasts’ spirits. They were even able to summon the spirit of a ten-thousand year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. If this wasn’t their main ability, they probably weren’t Soul Douluo, but Titled Douluo.

That was why Huo Yuhao used the Giant Lightning Cannon. The power of lightning was more effective against these two evil soul masters.

Anyone whose life was under threat would deﬁnitely use whatever treasures they had without any hesitation as long as they could protect their life.

The two brothers weren’t exceptions either. When they realized something was amiss, they immediately unleashed their all.

A huge number of bloody spirits surged out from their staves and protected their bodies, resisting the power of lightning. At the same time, they also revealed their Martial Soul True Bodies.

In this state, Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren’s bodies started to distort. The greyish scales became ﬁner, and even their eyes turned blood-red. They turned and curled up into two huge greyish snakes.

Shrek Academy’s research into martial souls was very advanced. Huo Yuhao could immediately recognize what their martial souls were.

Underworld Snake, a classic evil soul master’s martial soul. It had existed for a long time, and was a very strong soul among evil soul masters.

Furthermore, Huo Yuhao could vaguely recall Elder Mu emphasizing how special an Underworld Snake was. However, he had no time to think about it at this point.

The beast spirits were immediately destroyed in the face of lightning. However, these beast spirits appeared freer and relieved when they were killed. Even their indignation was dispelled as they were killed. They were like the Avenging Spirits that Huo Yuhao had once cleansed before.

Huo Yuhao couldn’t be bothered with the remaining cannon shell at this point. He unleashed his Imitation with the enhancement of his Eye of Destiny.

After his soul power reached Rank 50, all his Spirit Eyes’ soul skills were enhanced. This was his strongest advantage from the million-year Skydream Iceworm. He had not used Imitation for a long time, not because it wasn’t strong enough, but because he hid it due to the surprises it brought him after it was enhanced. He tried his best not to use it.

Imitation wasn’t an offensive or defensive soul skill. Compared to the Snow Empress’ Three Ultimate Techniques, the Darkgolden Terrorclaws, the Ice Explosion Technique, Spiritual Shock, and other powerful soul skills, it didn’t seem very eye-catching. Even Huo Yuhao’s partners didn’t really pay attention to this soul skill. However, it had become an extremely strong soul skill after it evolved. The only drawback was that his opponents might be prepared if he kept using it.

As it became stronger, Huo Yuhao could extend its use to a greater region. Right now, the region it could cover was around ten meters in diameter. At the same time, he also possessed a special form of this soul skill that allowed him to carry out continuous assimilation. To put it more aptly, it allowed him to assimilate into the environment like a chameleon.

Environmental assimilation became more and more effective as an environment became more complex and colorful. Huo Yuhao couldn’t conceal himself, but he could make it seem as if he were hidden as he imitated his surroundings. However, he could still be discovered through meticulous observation or detected through spiritual power.

His ability to assimilate into the environment was directly related to his soul power. As his Eye of Destiny was activated, his Imitation had entered its strongest state. So, he appeared to disappear earlier.

If Huo Yuhao stayed completely still, it wasn’t possible to spot him with one’s naked eyes. However, any movement would cause a change in the color patterns in the air, which would be detectable if one was sharp enough.

In fact, Huo Yuhao didn’t know how much further his Imitation could evolve. It was closely related to the Skydream Iceworm.

Imitation wasn’t a particularly strong soul skill even in the world of soul beasts, or the Iceworm species wouldn’t be so weak. After all, it was only projecting an illusion, there wasn’t any offensive side to it. In addition, the region that it covered was also limited.

When the Skydream Iceworm allowed Huo Yuhao to choose Imitation as his second soul skill, there was a reason behind his decision. Even a weak soul skill could become strong through ceaseless cultivation. Huo Yuhao couldn’t cultivate this soul skill directly. However, he possessed the Skydream Iceworm’s spiritual cultivation! As Skydream’s spiritual cultivation continued to fuse with him, it also meant that Imitation was being cultivated, making it stronger and stronger.

Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren were in extreme pain as they were struck by the cannon shell’s lightning blast. While their lives were not in danger, it had taken them a lot of effort to gather all their beast spirits! The deaths of those spirits meant that their abilities were greatly weakened. As a result, the two of them had to use all their soul power to resist so that fewer of their slave-spirits would perish. Naturally, they weren’t able to observe what was going on around them as they fought off the lightning attack!

Huo Yuhao exploited this opportunity to increase his speed signiﬁcantly. As his body burst forward, he leapt into the air and entered the cave, leaving a gentle undulation behind.

As he entered the cave, a thick smell of blood immediately ﬁlled his nostrils. He tried to hold his breath and unleashed his Darkgolden Terrorclaws. He stabbed his claws into the wall of the cave as his body remained in the air.

Using his Spiritual Detection, he had already ﬁgured out the layout of the cave. Otherwise, his judgment wouldn’t have been so accurate.

The cave was around ﬁve meters high, and extremely wide. It was just that the ground was covered in bloodstains left behind by the female bear while giving birth to her kids.

In the corner, two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear cubs not even a meter tall were curled up with their eyes closed. Occasionally, they would squirm in place.

Their fur was pitch-black, and hadn’t turned dark-golden yet. From the looks of it, they were like two oversized and chubby puppies. At times, they would extend their pinkish-red tongues to lick their lips.

Huo Yuhao didn’t delay any further. His body swayed in the air before he did a forward somersault. At the same time, he had already unleashed his Snow Empress’ Spirit. The Snow Lady pointed to the two cubs, and two deep blue beams of light were shot out. The cubs were engulfed by these beams of light, and were enclosed inside two blocks of ice.

While mature Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears were huge, their cubs were very small in comparison, just like the cubs of any other soul beast.

Huo Yuhao drifted down, his hands were covered in blue light. He touched the bodies of the two frozen cubs, and they instantly disappeared, swept inside his Starlight Sapphire ring.

Spatial-type soul tools couldn’t contain living beings; there was no air inside, so they would suffocate. Another reason was that it might lead to spatial instability, damaging the space inside the soul tool, which would lead to damage to the soul tool itself.

But Huo Yuhao currently had no other choice. He tapped into the Snow Empress’ Spirit’s low temperature to freeze the two cubs temporarily. With the strength of Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears, they wouldn’t die quickly. After that, they were stored inside his ring before he brought them away. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so easy for him to escape with these two cubs!

He didn’t touch the ground throughout the entire process. As he smacked his right hand down, he used the power of his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to push himself back before he exerted force on the wall with his toes. He propelled himself forward and rushed for the exit. However, his claws stabbed into the wall when he was just a couple steps from the exit. He also stuck his body to the wall like an octopus, and his Imitation activated again. He seemed to have disappeared, and was completely traceless in the dark cave.

Whoosh! A ﬁgure entered the cave… it was Zhong Lidi. His ﬁgure was covered by a thick, bloody radiance. Right now, the strong evil soul master’s appearance was quite unpresentable.

Even with his cultivation, it was still a horrible thing to be struck by a Class 7 stationary soul cannon shell off-guard. His long robe was torn and tattered, revealing his skin in many areas. His hair was also standing on end. While his staff was still shining, it was no longer as bright as before. The gem at the top of his staff had even cracked slightly.

Zhong Lidi’s expression was extremely ghastly, and he even appeared to be on the verge of crying. When he unleashed bright, bloody light to illuminate the entire cave, his face turned even more dismal.

“Liren, someone has beaten us to it! Bastard!” Zhong Lidi shouted in fury. His ﬁgure ﬂashed as he rushed out of the cave. An eight-ringed Soul Douluo was able to ﬂy temporarily.

Zhong Liren’s voice sounded, “That cannon shell earlier must have been at least Class 7. Don’t tell me that there are Sun Moon Empire people here? They can’t be missing! The female bear was even guarding the cave earlier! How could they have disappeared just like that? Can they ﬂy?”

Huo Yuhao was completely still as he stuck himself to the wall. He was even holding his breath. He was clear that he would be a dead man if he moved in front of these two evil soul masters. Unless it was completely safe, he wouldn’t move recklessly.

As he maintained his continuous Imitation, Zhong Lidi returned again. As he returned, a huge number of beast spirits were released from his staff. They quickly ﬁlled the cave.

Vicious!, Huo Yuhao cursed.

As the spirits ﬂew out, a tiger-type beast spirit came straight towards Huo Yuhao. His Imitation was indeed strong, and could even imitate the surrounding aura. However, these beast spirits had acute senses. From the change in the tiger-type beast spirit’s energy, Huo Yuhao could subtly feel that it had discovered something in his direction.

What should he do? He had two choices now: bet on his luck that the beast spirit wouldn’t discover him, or act decisively and take the initiative to escape the cave.

If he had no luck, this cave would become his burial ground. However, Zhong Liren was guarding the cave outside if he went for the latter option.

At this point, a deafening roar came from outside the cave. Following this, the ground started to shake. A ferocious, mighty aura could be felt even from inside the cave.

Yes, the female Darkgolden Terrowclaw Bear had given up on ﬁnding her mate and returned!

Zhong Lidi’s expression changed. Even with their cultivation level, they couldn’t underestimate this ten-thousand year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. When the three of them had encircled the male Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear earlier, they had needed three days to kill him. Although this female bear was in a weakened state now, she might be very explosive if she was provoked.

Zhong Lidi scanned the cave once more, then immediately rushed out, worried about Zhong Liren.

The tiger-type beast spirit that was closing in on Huo Yuhao was pulled back into the staff.

Huo Yuhao was intelligent. When he heard the female bear roaring, he gave up his plan of escaping. He reaped the rewards of his patience – Zhong Lidi was ﬁnally gone.

However, he couldn’t escape, either. The ﬁght outside had already begun.

The clash of soul powers caused the ground to shake amidst deafening booms. Intense shockwaves struck the cave and caused echoes to ring out within it. Although Huo Yuhao couldn’t see with his eyes, he still had his Spiritual Detection! As he activated his Spiritual Detection, he sensed what was going on outside and tried to ﬁnd an opportunity to escape.

The female bear had indeed returned. Her lower body was covered in bloodstains while her upper body was charred. Evidently, she was in great pain after being struck by the cannon shell earlier. However, why did she forsake her mate and return?

The three brothers had no intention of letting her off. Not only was she strong, but her spirit was also quite valuable.

On the other side, the male bear’s spirit had managed to tackle almost the entire team from Shrek! This included Cai Mei’er, who was a Titled Douluo!

The three brothers had drawn the female bear away so that they could capture the cubs. However, they hadn’t expected to fail. Now that the female bear had returned, Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren vented their anger on her. They released many spirits from their staves. At the same time, their bodies also formed greyish light projections. These projections ﬂoated in mid-air and looked like balls of greyish fog. It was Huo Yuhao’s ﬁrst time seeing such martial souls.

After turning into fog, Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren’s speed soared rapidly. As their ﬁgures ﬂashed, they separated to either side, avoiding the female bear’s claws. The spirits also started to swarm the bear.

At this point, a streak of golden light shone from the female bear’s back. The bright light was ﬁlled with the might of a king, and a terrifying aura was unleashed. It felt very real, and exuded golden patterns as it spread.

After being inﬂuenced by this aura, the bear’s eyes shone brightly with golden light, and her own aura soared. The spirits that swarmed her started to disperse as they let out pathetic screams. Although they weren’t completely destroyed, their powers were weakened considerably.

“What is this?” Zhong Liren shouted, his facial muscles distorted greatly due to his fury. Undoubtedly, the force that had dispersed the spirits didn’t come from the female bear. But since it had come, the strength of the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear was bound to increase greatly. More importantly, the three brothers had lost many of their spirits today! They were extremely furious!

A golden ﬁgure ﬂipped up onto the bear’s back and stood on her wide shoulders.

When Huo Yuhao used his Spiritual Detection to sense this person’s presence, he was so shocked that he almost muttered a sound.

That person was Wang Qiu’er, wielding the Golden Dragon Spear!

Chapter 235: Rescuing and Escaping

Wang Qiu’er’s face was as cold as ever as she raised the Golden Dragon Spear high above her head. She released the powerful golden aura from before, riveting golden light radiating from her body. The cutting aura was like the sharp edge of a blade as it forced the large mass of beast souls back.

What’s going on? Huo Yuhao was astonished and amazed and doubtful at the same time. Never in his wildest dreams would he have expected that Wang Qiu’er could form an alliance with this female Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear in battle. It seemed like she didn’t intend to block the bear when she charged in its direction, and was trying to direct it instead. What kind of ability was this? It was simply too terrifying! Did that mean that someone who possessed the Golden Dragon martial soul had the ability to command Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears? The Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear’s existence was actually comparable to the Golden Dragon in terms of lineage!

Right when Huo Yuhao was still feeling shocked, the female bear stomped her enormous paws as she charged towards the three brothers. Her body erupted with intense dark golden light as her fur stood on end. Her talons extended from her paws, and huge claws that were at least two meters long ﬂickered with chilly light. Her claws crossed each other through the air as countless blade shadows ﬂashed by and reached every corner in a hundred-meter radius around her.

The beast souls were highly resistant to physical attacks, but the bear’s attacks were simply too sharp, and the beast souls were weakened wherever the blades crossed.

The three brothers immediately felt an agonizing heartache. They had already lost many beast souls when they came to hunt and slay the male bear, but the male bear’s addition had made up for their losses in the end. This continuous battering caused them great suffering, as every beast soul was ultimately part of their strength and ﬁghting ability.

Two grey clouds moved out in an instant, and the beast souls retreated along with them to the periphery. Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren glared at Wang Qiu’er, who was still sitting on the female bear’s shoulders. The bear couldn’t have broken through their siege so easily if it hadn’t been for her!

The bear didn’t care about all this at this moment as she strode towards her lair. There was nothing more important to her than her cubs.

All of a sudden, a scarlet-golden beam of light arrived on the scene in a ﬂash, and a majestic scarlet-gold lion intercepted her.

This mighty lion seemed like it was sculpted from scarlet-red crystal, and it ﬂickered with brilliant colors. Even the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear’s fearsome aura was weakened the moment it appeared.

A beast soul – this was actually a beast soul! However, it was so much more powerful and formidable than the other beast souls.

Huo Yuhao had wanted to ﬁnd an opportunity to escape, but this lion’s appearance made him settle down once again.

This… this looks like the Scarletgolden Lion!

The Scarletgolden Lion’s status amongst soul beasts was a little inferior to the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. However, it could be considered a subspecies of Golden soul beasts, and was a mutated form of the Golden Lion King. A Scarletgolden Lion’s power was comparable to a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear if both soul beasts had similar cultivation levels. At least, it had enough strength to ﬁght against the bear.

The Scarletgolden Lion was just a beast soul, but one could tell from its aura that it had possessed at least thirty thousand years of cultivation. Of all the soul beasts that Huo Yuhao had seen, besides the several mighty ones that had more than a hundred thousand years of cultivation, this Scarletgolden Lion was probably the strongest one in terms of ﬁghting ability.

The Scarletgolden Lion roared into the sky the moment it appeared. Its muscular body that seemed almost material proved how drastically different it was from normal beast souls.

The Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear paused momentarily, but anything that prevented her from protecting her children was considered an enemy at this moment.

She lashed out ferociously with her right claw, and it was a Darkgolden Terrorclaw that contained every ounce of her strength. The colossal claw seemed like it was going to tear the sky apart as it descended from the sky and slapped down ﬁercely.

The lion wasn’t weak, and it shook its head as a large spherical light projection emanated from its head and immediately expanded to a diameter of more than ten meters – this light projection was actually the enlarged image of its own head.

Clang! The bear’s claw was bounced back after the sharp collision, and an intense tremor almost shook Huo Yuhao off of the cave wall.

The lion’s radiance dimmed for a moment, but quickly returned to normal, and it roared ferociously once more.

This lion could actually take a hit from her! It lived up to its name as an entity that was comparable to the Darkgolden Terrorclaw!

Huo Yuhao had been observing the brothers’ beast souls this whole time. He realized that most of these beast souls could only use spiritual attacks, and they used spiritual power to get through to their opponents. However, there were several relatively formidable ones that retained the ability to attack with soul power, and this Scarletgolden Lion was undoubtedly the best of the best in this category. Huo Yuhao even felt that this lion probably still had almost as much strength as it had when it was still alive.

Another sphere of gray fog separated from the lion while Huo Yuhao was still feeling astounded. It transformed into a shadow riding on the Scarletgolden Lion’s back: the eldest of the brothers, Zhong Litian!

Zhong Litian’s expression wasn’t much better than those of his brothers. He had never thought that his plan could be ruined like that, at the hands of a young woman!

“Who are you?” Zhong Litian exclaimed as he raised the staff in his hands. The lion charged forward ferociously, and it engaged in battle with the bear as he levitated in midair and gazed at Wang Qiu’er in the distance.

Wang Qiu’er said coldly, “Someone that wants your life.” Her six soul rings sparkled brilliantly as she spoke. Zhong Litian snapped his head around at Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren. “Have we succeeded?”

Zhong Lidi’s face was black as he replied, “All gone, there’s nothing left. It seems like this company isn’t that easy to deal with. What should be do?”

Zhong Litian’s eyes narrowed as a savage aura burst from his body. He said coldly, “Release our origin beast souls. Every single one of them has to die. We won’t have to worry about getting what we want as long as they’re dead.”

Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren began to move right when his voice dropped, and two beams of light glowed from their bodies. The jewels at the tips of their staves erupted with brilliant and blinding light.

Zhong Lidi unleashed a fearsome tiger. This tiger exuded dark green light; it was a Netherworld Ghost Tiger, which was also an entity that stood at the top of the world of soul beasts. Its body looked even more illusory than normal beast souls, but it charged the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear the moment it made a move, and gave the Scarletgolden Lion more chances to attack.

Zhong Liren unleashed a ferocious leopard that shone with brown light. Its skin was also brown, with patterns like golden coins all over its body. It was the smallest of the three origin beast souls, but it vanished into the air the moment it appeared, and a brown streak ﬂashed by in the next moment.

The fur on the bear’s back ﬂew into the sky as part of it was

shaved off. Even though she wasn’t hurt, the intense pain made her even more hysterical and crazed than before.

Huo Yuhao saw the brothers’ abilities as evil soul masters with more clarity now after observing them. Their main strength was their enslaved beast souls, which were separated into various categories. The strongest of those souls were probably the origin beast souls that they had just released, and each of them probably only had one, while all the others were just normal beast souls.

The female bear was already weak, and she was immediately at a disadvantage and beaten back as the three origin soul beasts joined up and assaulted her.

Wang Qiu’er made her move right at this moment. She swung the Golden Dragon Spear in her hands and pierced in a certain direction without warning. An indescribable and shrill tearing sound could be heard, and a black gash appeared in the air from this single strike.

A brown shadow ﬂickered once and an infuriated roar was heard immediately afterwards. She had actually captured the Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor’s movements, and wounded it with just one attack!

However, Wang Qiu’er’s action also immediately triggered the Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor’s wrath. A streak of brown light instantly circled and ﬂickered around the bear crazily.

The spear in Wang Qiu’er’s hands waltzed continuously. Even though she could accurately predict and grasp the opportunity to defend against the leopard’s attacks every time and she was able to hold on with her own fearsome strength, she only had six rings.

It was not difﬁcult to imagine how powerful these beast souls were since they were these three brothers’ origin beast souls. Their soul skills were all meant to amplify their beast souls, and their martial soul true bodies in the fog made them incredibly fast, while most physical attacks simply couldn’t hurt them at all. The three brothers separated in three directions as circle after circle of light expanded and continuously ampliﬁed their origin beast souls.

The truth was that the three brothers had no choice but to release their origin beast souls. They would never use their origin beast souls under normal circumstances, as these origin beast souls were tied to their own spirits even though they were extremely powerful. They would also be wounded if any harm came to their origin soul beasts.

But Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren had lost too many beast souls. When Zhong Litian witnessed Wang Qiu’er’s abilities, he became a little worried about the other members from Shrek Academy, and so he opted to give everything he had so that he could defeat and kill both the female Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear and Wang Qiu’er as quickly as possible. Afterwards, he would take care of the other members from Shrek, as they were absolutely unwilling to let go of the male Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear’s beast soul.

Wang Qiu’er and the female Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear were starting to look a little desperate and unable to keep up under the circumstances.

The Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor would produce a mighty impact every time it appeared, and it was so strong and terrifying that Wang Qiu’er was starting to lose her balance. Her six soul rings sparkled continuously as she ampliﬁed herself, and she tried to retaliate forcefully with her Golden Dragon Spear. The ﬁght became increasingly tiring for her, and if not for the fact that the Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor was afraid of the Golden Dragon Spear’s frightening draconic majesty, she would have probably fallen a long time ago.

The female bear’s situation was even more dire. She lashed out ferociously with her razor-sharp claws, but she couldn’t fend off the two incredibly formidable beast souls. She was weakened from the start, and she had also taken a hit from the stationary soul cannon shell, so she was far from her peak condition. Dark golden fur ﬂew into the sky as wounds that went down to the bone appeared on her body continuously. They can’t hold on for much longer! Huo Yuhao called out in his mind. He could see with Spiritual Detection that the battle on the other side was still ongoing. The male Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear beast soul was exceptionally powerful, and it could still launch its own menacing attacks despite being

outnumbered and besieged. Cai Mei’er was a Titled Douluo, but she had to be a little more reserved in her battle in the interest of her students’ safety. They were weakening it continuously, but they would still need a while longer before they could hurry over, while Wang Qiu’er’s situation had become urgently perilous.

How can I save her? Thoughts and ideas spun in Huo Yuhao’s head as he raced to ﬁnd a solution. They were three eight- ringed evil soul masters, and he had no chance if he fought them face-to-face. He could just continue hiding himself like he was, but the three brothers would proceed to the other battleﬁeld once they took care of Wang Qiu’er and the female bear. Huo Yuhao would then be safe and he could rendezvous with his companions. However, this thought never once occurred to him, and he never considered deserting his companion, even though he had only met Wang Qiu’er a few times before.

Clang! Wang Qiu’er collided once more with the Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor’s sudden attack. She wasn’t able to maintain her balance this time, and fell off the female bear’s back, while her Golden Dragon Spear stabbed into the air at nothing at all. She was immediately in extreme danger.

The female bear’s enormous body was covering her as Wang Qiu’er’s eyes suddenly sparkled with strange light. Right when she was in immense peril, she swung her Golden Dragon Spear horizontally as she grabbed the fur on the female bear’s back. An intense hostility erupted from her body, and a formless aura surged into the sky.

The female bear seemed to have been acutely provoked in some way, and she knocked the Scarletgolden Lion and the Netherworld Ghost Tiger away with two continuous paw swipes, while her body seemed to swell a little. Berserk! This was the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear’s frightening soul skill. But her body was already extremely weak at this point, so how could she maximize and unleash this soul skill’s true power?

Wang Qiu’er was still grabbing onto her fur with her right hand, while circle after circle of golden light expanded outward like spinning tops. A dash of grief ﬂickered in her eyes, and she muttered, “I will avenge you.” The bear released intense dark golden light, and these colors ﬂowed through Wang Qiu’er’s palm and into her body…

Right at this moment, both Wang Qiu’er and the three brothers suddenly felt as if the weather had turned cold, and an exceedingly sharp aura erupted without warning in the next second.

Wang Qiu’er, the three brothers, the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, and the three beast souls that were locked in a bitter ﬁght all developed palpitations in the moment when this razor- sharp aura emerged. This felt a frightening pressure from a superior being, as if both heaven and earth were about to collapse.

This chill didn’t just appear in the air, it surfaced in their hearts. That petrifying chilly feeling, along with that boundless majestic intimidation, immediately made everyone on the battleﬁeld feel a horrifying, surging pressure from the air.

The reactions of the three brothers were very quick. They immediately responded when they realized something was wrong, and they called their origin soul beasts back at the ﬁrst possible moment. What was more important than protecting themselves?

The sky turned dark and gloomy without warning in the next moment, and a strong gust of wind swept across the earth as countless snowﬂakes danced through the sky, while everyone’s vision became extremely blurry.

The terrifying blizzard instantly caused the temperature to plummet, and the Great Star Dou Forest’s landscape seemed to have transformed completely.

The three brothers’ eyes ﬂowed with suspicion and uncertainty. Their main powers as evil soul masters originated from their beast souls, and they had slain innumerable soul beasts during their lives. They were also exceptionally sensitive towards soul beasts’ auras.

They could clearly feel that this terrifying pressure came from a soul beast. However, they had never seen such a mighty and formidable ice-type soul beast within the Great Star Dou Forest in all their days. This place wasn’t the Extreme North! Still, this aura of Ultimate Ice and snow told them that they were in the presence of a soul beast that was ranked among the Ten Great Savage Beasts.

The three brothers were initially separated, and they realized in the next moment that they were lost. What astounded them even more was that they couldn’t even feel each other’s presence anymore. The ice and snow had sealed off their powerful senses, and the snowﬂakes sliced against their bodies constantly like sharp blades, attempting to tear them into pieces. This Ultimate ice and frost was starting to consume their soul power!

The radiance on Wang Qiu’er’s right hand receded the moment this ﬂurry of ice and snow appeared, and she felt a spiritual connection in the next moment.

It’s him!

Wang Qiu’er immediately understood where all this ice and snow came from, and a shadow arrived next to her in the next moment. This person tugged on her hand and whispered, “Let’s go. Quickly!” Yes, the Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice!

Huo Yuhao’s Empress’ Chill of the Snow Empress’ Three Ultimate Techniques fused with his own Domain of Perpetual Ice!

Huo Yuhao didn’t just release the domain’s power, he Imitated the Snow Empress’ aura as well. He relied on the domain’s concealment to swiftly come to Wang Qiu’er’s side. How could he just watch Wang Qiu’er meet her demise?

The Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice’s area of effect wasn’t that large. However, arresting his opponents’ senses within the domain was the most important thing to Huo Yuhao at this moment. However, he was clear that the three brothers wouldn’t be controlled like this for long, and they would soar into the sky when they realized that they couldn’t ﬁnd their way around inside the domain. The domain’s strength would gradually decline the further up they went until the point where it vanished, so Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er didn’t have much time.

Wang Qiu’er glanced at the female Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear as if she couldn’t bear to leave her behind. Her eyes sparkled as she soared into the air, and Huo Yuhao reacted with astonishment as her Golden Dragon Spear shone with brilliant golden light before it drilled right through the back of the female bear’s brain.

The female bear fell to the ground in the next moment, and large patches of dark golden light immediately surged through the Golden Dragon Spear and into Wang Qiu’er’s body.

“You…” Huo Yuhao truly experienced Wang Qiu’er’s formidable strength at this moment. The girl dragged him along when she leapt into the air, not burdened by his weight at all. That strength gave Huo Yuhao a feeling that he had no chance of ﬁghting against it at all.

Wang Qiu’er muttered coldly, “I would rather she die at my hands than end up in those three bastards’ hands and become a tortured soul.”

“Let’s go.” Huo Yuhao tugged on her once more. They used the domain as cover as they briskly proceeded towards the others from Shrek Academy. However, Huo Yuhao suddenly paused in his tracks at this moment.

The three brothers were controlled for a far shorter time than he had thought they would be. They had already soared into the sky, and they now ﬂew directly towards a location that Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er would deﬁnitely pass on their way back to meet up with the others.

Huo Yuhao hesitated momentarily before he pulled Wang Qiu’er in the other direction. He couldn’t shift the domain according to his own movements at this moment; he could only maintain the domain at its original location. He pulled Wang Qiu’er as he raced out of the domain and they began to run for their lives.

“Over there!” Someone shouted, and Huo Yuhao immediately felt his breath shorten as he could feel a terrifying aura behind him. It was clear that they had been discovered, it was exceedingly difﬁcult to run away from the grasp of a group of Soul Douluo!

Huo Yuhao had his own plans and preparations since he came out to save Wang Qiu’er. The Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice was originally intended for him to meet up with Wang Qiu’er before anything else.

He pounced forward explosively, and let go of Wang Qiu’er’s hand as he tapped his foot on the ground and his body spun around in midair. The heavy cannon that had left a deep and lasting impression in Zhong Lidi and Zhong Liren’s minds appeared once more, and a horrifying bluish-purple light erupted while Huo Yuhao was sent hurtling backward by the incredibly powerful recoil.

He displayed his impeccable calculation skills at this moment. His body crashed into Wang Qiu’er as he was sent ﬂying backwards. Wang Qiu’er subconsciously hugged him around the waist as they were blown backwards at breakneck speed, while the terrifying Class 7 stationary soul cannon shell ﬂew directly towards the brothers who were pursuing them.

The sky was tainted bluish-purple by the deafening and violent explosions. Fan Yu had favored Huo Yuhao, and he had seen Huo Yuhao’s potential for the Soul Tool Department back then. His Spiritual Detection combined with stationary soul cannons unleashed their fearsome power once more. This cannon shell was ﬁred right at a spot that the three brothers would cross on their way to him under Huo Yuhao’s accurate calculations. It gave the three evil Soul Douluo the feeling that they had walked right into the cannon shell. Explosions shook the forest, and even Soul Duoluo couldn’t just disregard a Class 7 stationary soul cannon’s might. Huo Yuhao took this opportunity and dragged Wang Qiu’er along as they disappeared into the forest.

The three brothers struggled out from the explosion’s aftershocks after a few seconds, their faces were as black as could be. Zhong Litian was raging as he said, “Bastard! They’ve killed that Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear sow, too! Liren, go after those two little rascals. Lidi, go check out that bear and see if her beast soul is still intact. I’ll go back for the male bear’s beast soul.”

“Alright.” Zhong Liren transformed into a cloud as he raced in pursuit of Wang Qiu’er and Huo Yuhao. He activated his senses to the highest possible level as his Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor followed closely behind him.

Huo Yuhao had borrowed the cannon’s recoil to propel himself backward. He had crashed into Wang Qiu’er, and had meant for her to use this force to escape as quickly as they could. However, when their momentum was about to come to an end, he realized something wasn’t right.

Wang Qiu’er’s body wasn’t as tough as her strength made it seem. Rather, it was exceptionally soft and tender. Huo Yuhao had hugged Wang Dong’er before, and Wang Dong’er’s body was a little bouncier, and the faint fragrance that a girl had would enchant him.

Huo Yuhao felt a lot different as he came into contact with Wang Qiu’er at such a close distance. Wang Qiu’er’s body was actually much softer than Wang Dong’er’s body, and her aroma wasn’t the fresh fragrance that young girls normally had. Instead, she smelled like... sunlight? It was equally fragrant, but it a completely different style altogether.

They landed onto the ground at the same time, and didn’t even bother saying a word to each other as they turned around to run. They realized that they couldn’t meet up with their companions anymore, and the only thing they could do was run, as the brothers’ reach covered the entire region. They no longer had that Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear’s aid, and their only outcome was death if this Soul Douluo caught up with them.

They turned around to run. Wang Qiu’er’s right foot pushed off heavily against the ground, and a crack like an explosion was audible as she pulled Huo Yuhao along, and the two of them surged forward as if they were riding the clouds. This strength is just so fearsome!, Huo Yuhao was thought, but he didn’t stop moving. Right when their momentum was slowing down, he activated the soul thrusters on his back as he held onto her and raced forward once more. Their coordination was seamless.

The two of them relied on this coordination as they meandered through the forest with lightning speed. Huo Yuhao’s judgment was as accurate as ever, and they avoided all the vegetation as much as they could while they pushed forward frantically.

“Let’s split up.” Wang Qiu’er suddenly blurted.

Huo Yuhao snapped around towards her and said solemnly, “No. Those evil soul masters have beast souls, and us splitting up will be equally futile. We can only run faster if we work together, and we will have a higher chance of survival.”

Wang Qiu’er stared at him as she asked, “Why did you come to save me? Can’t you tell that your girlfriend doesn’t like me?” Huo Yuhao gazed straight ahead as they continued coordinating to push forward. He gave a very natural answer, “We’re schoolmates, how can I just let you die?”

Wang Qiu’er’s mouth twitched, and she said arrogantly, “I wouldn’t have died.”

Huo Yuhao said exasperatedly, “Is your pride more important, or is your life more important? Let’s not talk about all that and focus on running away.”

Wang Qiu’er turned back around at him and took a deep breath before she said, “Thank you.”

“Heheh,” Huo Yuhao chuckled. He couldn’t relax even for a little bit, and all his focus and concentration was on blitzing forward. He didn’t pay attention to something that Wang Qiu’er mumbled under her breath.

“What did you say?” Huo Yuhao asked subconsciously. Wang Qiu’er shook her head and said, “Nothing. That bastard seems to have caught up.”

Yes, Zhong Liren had caught up with them.

It didn’t take them very long to run several kilometers away, but Zhong Liren still caught up with them in the end. He was just so much stronger than Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er in terms of cultivation.

“Watch out!” Wang Qiu’er suddenly moved as she pushed Huo Yuhao away heavily with her right hand before she turned around and thrust her Golden Dragon Spear into the air.

“Ding!” Wang Qiu’er’s body was tossed away with the crisp sound of a collision, and the Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor revealed itself. Not even Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection could capture its ambush!

That’s it! Huo Yuhao grit his teeth as he planted his foot on a tall tree in front of him, turning around and charging back. Zhong Liren and that Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor were just too quick, to the point where they had no chance of escaping. Under such circumstances, their only chance to survive was to ﬁght with everything they had.

Huo Yuhao’s body erupted once more with intense chill when he turned back around. A golden vertical eye opened on his forehead at the same time, and his Spiritual Detection received a great boost. He shared his Spiritual Detection with Wang Qiu’er as they were ﬁnally able to capture the leopard’s movements.

Huo Yuhao raised his right hand and lashed out with his Darkgolden Terrorclaw. He collided with the leopard in midair with a shrill clanging sound, but the Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor was forced to stop in midair.

Wang Qiu’er was extremely ferocious as her Golden Dragon Spear transformed into a golden lightning bolt and arrived before the leopard.

With Spiritual Detection, their cooperation was as seamless as if Wang Qiu’er had been working together with Huo Yuhao for many years.

The Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor was formidable, but it was still a little fearful of Wang Qiu’er’s Golden Dragon Spear. Its body suddenly became illusory when the brilliant golden light was about to hit, and all Wang Qiu’er struck was a shadow.

Huo Yuhao’s soul thrusters activated as they propelled him back to Wang Qiu’er’s position. He didn’t use the Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice. The domain was mighty, but it also limited their movement and freedom. This was especially true since this domain didn’t distinguish between friends and enemies, so Wang Qiu’er would also be affected inside this domain. Huo Yuhao believed that the domain would end up affecting their abilities and autonomy, and it would be over for them as long as Zhong Liren had some patience, or if he had some attack that covered an area

Zhong Liren was only one beat behind the leopard, and his poisonous gaze seemed like it was piercing right into Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er’s souls. The Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor appeared next to him, and even though it was a beast soul, its brown body continuously emanated an intense pressure. “Run! Why aren’t you guys running anymore? You think you can outrun my Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor with your speed? I originally believed that we had sustained heavy losses, but now my mind has changed. A Darkgolden Terrorclaw soul bone… very good, that soul bone shall be mine! You guys have such power at such a young age, and it seems like your identities and experiences are quite extraordinary. It’s a pity, because today will be the day you die. I will torture the two of you and listen to your agonizing wails for seven days before I’ll let the two of you die, to make up for my losses!”

Zhong Liren had reverted back from his martial soul true body as he spoke. He was only faced with two young soul masters, and he didn’t believe he would need his martial soul true body to ﬁght. Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er were already dead in his eyes.

Huo Yuhao’s eyes sparkled as he took a deep breath. He knew that this would probably be the most difﬁcult battle of his life, and possibly even his last battle. His ﬁghting will wasn’t weakened at all in the face of such a mighty adversary. Instead, it was slowly rising, and he felt stronger the more powerful his opponent was. This was the profundity of the Sovereign’s Descent! A layer of golden light gradually shimmered on his body, and he subconsciously grasped Wang Qiu’er’s hand as he infused his soul power into her.

“Eh?” Wang Qiu’er exclaimed softly.

Huo Yuhao was also momentarily stunned, and he interrupted the process. What am I doing? She’s Wang Qiu’er, not Wang Dong’er. She doesn’t have any martial soul fusion skills with me.

However, right when he was withdrawing his soul power, an intense pulling force emerged in his body, and a powerful stream of soul power that was charged with arrogance ﬂowed swiftly into his body.

Intense golden light immediately erupted from both of their bodies.

Huo Yuhao’s eyes grew slack, and he would have shouted out loud if they weren’t facing a powerful enemy.

This is not possible! Yes, his soul power had fused with Wang Qiu’er’s soul power, just like that, through that instant of connection. This fusion was something that he had never felt before.

He wouldn’t have been too surprised if he had fused with Wang Qiu’er’s soul power to produce something like the Haodong power that he shared with Wang Dong’er, and all he would have suspected was whether Wang Qiu’er was related to Wang Dong’er by blood.

However, their soul power fusion was nothing of the sort. The ﬁrst thing that fused when their soul power touched wasn’t the soul power itself, it was the spiritual power contained within their respective soul powers! Their spiritual power was fused to such an extent that Huo Yuhao felt as if he was Wang Qiu’er, and Wang Qiu’er was him in that instant.

Spiritual power guided Huo Yuhao’s soul power to fuse with Wang Qiu’er’s soul power as he had that momentary befuddlement, and they completed a process that should have taken a much longer time to ﬁnish.

Huo Yuhao was absolutely sure that his martial soul fusion with Wang Qiu’er was a hundred percent compatible. That instance of connection charged his entire body with strength.

A layer of golden dragon scales started to appear over Huo Yuhao’s body after their martial souls’ connection, very different from his martial soul fusion with Wang Dong’er. He could feel that his strength was climbing exponentially, and even his spiritual power felt the same way. Wang Qiu’er seemed to have fused with him completely.

Wang Qiu’er was a lot calmer in comparison to Huo Yuhao’s astonishment. She gripped Huo Yuhao’s hands tightly, and she raised her Golden Dragon Spear with her left hand, which shone with intense golden light and pierced straight toward Zhong Liren.

Zhong Liren was equally astounded as he saw their martial souls fuse, and his expression became a little more solemn than before.

He hadn’t seen Huo Yuhao release his soul rings yet, but he could tell from his soul power undulations that Huo Yuhao was just a ﬁve-ringed Soul King, and Wang Qiu’er only had six rings.

Chapter 236: Martial Soul Fusion, Dragon Cry of Destiny

Their martial souls seemed powerful, but that was nothing compared to his eight-ringed self. This was especially so because Zhong Liren was an evil soul master, and had the strength to challenge even a normal Titled Douluo.

However, Zhong Liren began to feel that something was amiss from the moment their hands clasped together. Their auras were starting to rise exponentially, and the blinding golden light bursting from their bodies was tinged with faint dragon roars.

Wang Qiu’er’s eyes had become entirely golden at this point. Huo Yuhao’s Eye of Destiny was golden, but his own eyes had become dark blue in color, a hue that was ﬁlled with a chilling eeriness.

How could this aura belong to two people who only had ﬁve and six soul rings? Their soul power undulations were close to, or had already reached that of a seven-ringed Soul Sage! Huo Yuhao quickly calmed down after his momentary shock. He was very experienced with martial soul fusion, and he swiftly analyzed their martial soul fusion’s strengths and weaknesses.

Relative to his martial soul fusion with Wang Dong’er, their current fusion greatly ampliﬁed each other in terms of both strength and soul power, to the point where it exceeded his connection with Wang Dong’er through the Haodong power. However, he had no idea what kind of martial soul fusion skills he would create with Wang Qiu’er, but there could only be two. He was also positive that these martial soul fusion skills would absolutely be assault-based. He had four martial soul fusion skills with Wang Dong’er, and that was considered a lot more versatile.

Huo Yuhao analyzed the pros and cons, but he couldn’t be sure. However, he was sure that his fusion with Wang Qiu’er wasn’t that far off from his fusion with Wang Dong’er. This was an unexpected surprise, his conﬁdence to survive this ordeal was greatly boosted with this martial soul fusion, as Zhong Liren had lost many beast souls during his previous battle! Zhong Liren grunted coldly and raised his staff into the air as a horde of beast souls swarmed out in an instant, pouncing right towards Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er. His Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor vanished soundlessly into the air… or rather, it disappeared within the mass of beast souls.

Huo Yuhao raised his right hand, and a dark blue longsword appeared in his palms.

Unparalleled Chill, Empress’ Sword!

Initially, he would have to adjust his soul power and wait for a while after he unleashed his Empress’ Sword for a single strike, while this move consumed much of his soul power. However, his martial soul fusion with Wang Qiu’er allowed him to nearly solidify his Empress’ Sword to the point where it was almost physically material.

Three beams of light erupted from Huo Yuhao’s three eyes at the same time. His Light of Destiny felt as if it was going to absorb all light around it, and his purplish-golden Spiritual Shock struck Zhong Liren at almost the same time. Zhong Liren had already been wary of the vertical eye on Huo Yuhao’s head, hence he had been preparing to defend himself against it this entire time.

His body transformed into gray mist as these three beams appeared, as he released his martial soul true body yet again.

However, he didn’t understand Huo Yuhao’s abilities at all.

His transformation into mist could weaken normal attacks against him greatly, but Huo Yuhao’s three beams of light weren’t normal attacks at all.

Zhong Liren’s mist was formidable, but it defended against physical attacks in the end, and could partially protect him against soul power attacks at most. However, there was no way he could defend himself against spiritual attacks.

The Light of Destiny was the ﬁrst to reach him, and it instantly tainted his gray mist golden. His martial soul true body froze in an instant. He didn’t feel like he was hit at all, but an intense insecurity and uneasiness surfaced in his heart. The two streaks of Spiritual Shock came immediately afterwards.

Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power was his strongest ability. His martial soul was fused with Wang Qiu’er’s at this moment, and this spiritual power ampliﬁcation caused his spiritual power to rise by yet another level. Those two purplish-golden beams of light were almost material.

Zhong Liren was momentarily dazed when he was struck by the Light of Destiny, and his descent into bad fortune immediately took effect. He felt as if two tremendous hammers had crashed against the deepest parts of his spirit while he was in his weakest state. He released a stiﬂed grunt, and was directly knocked out of his martial soul true body form. He changed back into human form and plummeted onto the ground as his mind became temporarily empty and blank.

Zhong Liren’s spirit had sustained an acute shock, and this meant his control over his beast souls was hindered. The beast souls lunging towards Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er became disorganized and chaotic. Huo Yuhao was clear that this was a ﬁght to the death, so he didn’t hold back at all. The vertical eye on his forehead ﬂickered with brilliant light before the light receded.

The beast souls that were in front of them interacted with this light when it appeared, and every single one was dispelled. The aura was so brilliant that everything else around it dimmed for a moment.

It was a spectacular sight. Intense golden lights were surrounded and orbited by specks of purple-colored starlight, and only ﬂashed once before Zhong Liren howled agonizingly. He was an eight-rined Soul Douluo, and he had already suffered a shock before this; he arched his head backwards and placed his hands on his skull in pain.

Yes, Huo Yuhao had connected a second Spiritual Shock to his ﬁrst one. However, this was different from the ﬁrst, as his second strike came from his Eye of Destiny.

He was ampliﬁed by his martial soul fusion with Wang Qiu’er, and Huo Yuhao had explosively unleashed his overloaded spiritual power. The Eye of Destiny closed by itself after this hit, while Huo Yuhao’s face turned ghastly pale.

He had used Spiritual Shock two times in a row and at such intensity, it caused an acute negative backlash to his spiritual sea.

However, reality proved that his method was effective. Zhong Liren took the second hit from Spiritual Shock, and he could no longer control his beast souls. The swarming beast souls immediately became disorganized and aimless as they scattered in all directions, alleviating much of the pressure on Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er.

Wang Qiu’er’s Golden Dragon Spear swung out and glowed with endless golden light as every single beast soul was forced back. Her Golden Dragon Spear released a spear light that was almost a meter long because of the martial soul fusion, and there was a feeling like she represented a force of justice so strong that no unholy beings dared to come near. The Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor ambushed her from the darkness, but even it was repelled, and the two of them only took several steps back this time.

Huo Yuhao unleashed his Empress’ Sword. He supported Wang Qiu’er’s efforts with streak after streak of sword light, and he began to chant a curse that was impossible to discern before peculiar spiritual undulations began to ripple from his body.

Wang Qiu’er continued slashing around with her Golden Dragon Spear as she turned around towards him. Her eyes were ﬁlled with astonishment – she could clearly feel that Huo Yuhao’s spiritual undulations were extremely sinister, and so strong that they seemed to resonate with her very soul.

The dark blue light receded, and Huo Yuhao’s Empress’ Sword vanished at the same time, while his eyes were replaced with a dash of gray. It was a color ﬁlled with barrenness and emptiness, but this grayness only ﬂashed once and disappeared before his eyes sparkled and turned white. This was a hue that was charged with a saintly aura, and his incantations became hastier and more hurried. The beast souls that were already disorganized in the sky gradually slowed down as they heard this chant, and every single one turned their eyes toward him.

The beast souls’ eyes no longer seemed hysterical or violent. Instead, their eyes were ﬁlled with an indescribable delight, and this included even that Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor, which slowed down and no longer attacked. It was different from the other beast souls, as the Leopard Emperor still retained some of its original willpower, and its eyes sparkled with uncertainty and doubt.

Wang Qiu’er didn’t know what Huo Yuhao was doing, but he could tell that this was advantageous for them. Right at this moment, Zhong Liren recovered on the other side.

Two Spiritual Shocks, one after another, and the bad luck that plagued his body affected him severely, and blood was pourng from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Wounds on a spiritual level were much more frightening than physical wounds, and Zhong Liren had never expected a youngster like Huo Yuhao to possess such incredible power. He had been wary and vigilant, but he was still struck anyway.

He had recovered by now, and he immediately felt something was wrong. He glanced at Huo Yuhao while his body glowed with a grey layer of light. This was a type of spiritual protection barrier, and it was typically used when capturing beast souls to prevent a backlash, but he still activated it at this moment.

Zhong Liren’s eyes met Huo Yuhao’s white eyes, and he suddenly felt his spirit quiver as an intensely ominous feeling rose from his heart.

“Shit.” He immediately raised the staff the in his hands subconsciously, and relied on his powerful senses to withdraw all the beast souls that he had released as fast as he could.

Perhaps he was affected by bad luck, but he was just that one instant too slow.

A circle of pure white light rippled from Huo Yuhao’s head. A strange chittering could be heard from the beast souls wherever this light reached.

This white radiance brushed past their bodies, but it didn’t harm them at all. These beast souls were originally blood- colored, but they quickly turned white before they turned pale and dissipated into the air.

Huo Yuhao’s face was paper pale at this point. He stumbled backwards, and would have crumbled to the ground if Wang Qiu’er hadn’t been holding onto him. The only beast soul that wasn’t puriﬁed from the white light was Zhong Liren’s origin beast soul, the Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor.

However, the Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor began to exude large amounts of brown mist as the white light shone upon it, and it howled painfully as it was drawn back into Zhong Liren’s staff.

Zhong Liren howled agonizingly as well, and vomited a huge pool of blood. There was only fear in his eyes as he stared at Huo Yuhao, as if he were staring at the devil.

“You… you’re also an evil soul master! How is that possible? How can you purify the power of spirits? Who are you? Are you the Holy Son?”

Huo Yuhao was in such a feeble state that he couldn’t really talk anymore. What he had unleashed was the Light of Puriﬁcation that he had inherited from Electrolux’s Necromancy.

The previous two strikes were meant to give him time, and the Light of Destiny was to curse the opponent with bad fortune… which was also equivalent to bestowing good fortune upon himself.

If the beasts had been under Zhong Liren’s control, his Light of Destiny probably wouldn’t have worked. In the end, the gap in their cultivations was still huge, and Huo Yuhao deﬁnitely didn’t have an advantage even in terms of spiritual power. He had succeeded, relying on the fact that his opponent didn’t really understand his abilities, and exerting himself far beyond his usual standards. He had relied on his boosted spiritual power from the fusion with Wang Qiu’er to forcibly cleanse the great majority of Zhong Liren’s beast souls.

There had been multiple ten-thousand year beast souls among that group. If he hadn’t been successful, there would have been no way he or Wang Qiu’er could defend themselves against frightening attacks from so many beast souls.

The Light of Destiny’s judgement had aided him yet again. Zhong Liren was completely rooted to the spot in fright at this moment.

“I’m not an evil soul master. I’ve been sent by the heavens to take care of evil soul masters like you.” Huo Yuhao forcibly stabilized himself, and tried his best to keep his balance with the spiritual power that Wang Qiu’er was sending over. He couldn’t display any weakness at this point.

Wang Qiu’er raised the Golden Dragon Spear high into the air; the spearhead burst with golden light and her six soul rings sparkled alternately.

The identical golden light on both their bodies suddenly became intense, and she turned sideways and leaned into Huo Yuhao’s embrace.

A miraculous scene happened. Peculiar lights began to contort the moment their bodies were plastered together, and everything within a hundred meters around them became golden in color, while an enormous golden vertical eye hovered in midair. Huo Yuhao’s body seemed to disintegrate into a million golden beams that swept onto Wang Qiu’er’s body. Every single beam would leave a brilliant and colorful streak on Wang Qiu’er’s body, while a suit of armor gradually appeared on Wang Qiu’er’s body wherever they passed.

The chest plate appeared ﬁrst. Radiant ice crystal patterns shimmered on the chest plate, and began to extend all around her. What was even more peculiar was that a vertical eye actually emerged on Wang Qiu’er’s forehead: it was the Eye of Destiny, identical to the one that belonged to Huo Yuhao. The eye sparkled with golden light, and one could tell upon closer inspection that the golden vertical eye’s lights belonged to Huo Yuhao. The golden armor with ice crystal patterns swiftly covered Wang Qiu’er’s entire body, and her aura climbed exponentially. Bright dragon roars could be heard continuously as a projection of a golden dragon began circling around her body. The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion was imprinted on her back,

and this picture was identical to the tattoo that usually appeared on Huo Yuhao’s body, where the scorpion’s tail reached her hip.

Wang Qiu’er was like a war goddess as she stood there clad in armor. She pointed her Golden Dragon Spear forward, and the tremendous golden vertical eye in the sky descended as a beam of golden light. Wang Qiu’er’s body grew larger by about thirty percent under the golden light’s radiance, while the golden dragon orbiting her immediately became almost material. Wang Qiu’er tapped on the ground with her foot as dragon roars rang out, and she left a series of afterimages behind as she rushed Zhong Liren.

Her Golden Dragon Spear stabbed out in the middle of a deafening dragon’s roar. The golden radiance suddenly withdrew as she lashed out, and the Golden Dragon Spear’s tip became an elegant and transparent rose-gold color as space split like two lines of water as the spear tore through the air, arriving before Zhong Liren in the blink of an eye. There was only one thought in Zhong Liren’s head at this moment, after he had suffered great losses and the psychological impact of the Light of Puriﬁcation: these two youngsters were here to ruin everything that he had!

The Light of Puriﬁcation was like a calamity to him. Furthermore, he was still plagued with the Light of Destiny that had brought him great misfortune. Then there was this martial soul fusion skill that looked as formidable as a king! All this came together to ﬁll Zhong Liren’s heart with fear. Even evil soul masters feared death. He had lost so many beast souls in this ordeal, and his strength had been massively reduced.

He didn’t dare to meet Wang Qiu’er with force anymore. Zhong Liren transformed into a ball of mist in a ﬂash, and he bolted into the distance at lightning speed as he released his martial soul true body. He was admittedly incredibly quick in this mist form.

The spear’s rose-gold light gradually receded, and the armor on Wang Qiu’er’s body slowly broke down and reverted into ﬂowing streaks of light. The space around her began to contort as these streaks transformed back into Huo Yuhao once more. Huo Yuhao trembled when he reappeared, and began to fall. Wang Qiu’er hurriedly went to support him and whispered, “How are you feeling?”

Zhong Liren had been frightened away, but the truth was that Huo Yuhao was now extremely weak, and had overdrafted his spirit and soul power. He had practically raced against time with his three strikes of Spiritual Shock. To him, spiritual power consumption wasn’t a problem, but the problem was how quickly he used it in succession. Three continuous instances drew too much from his spiritual sea, to the point where a crack seemed like it was going to appear, and Huo Yuhao’s own spirit had sustained a powerful impact.

He had greatly ampliﬁed Wang Qiu’er’s abilities when he transformed into that armor, and there was no doubt that this was a martial soul fusion skill that they had yet to give a name to. However, could they face off against an eight-ringed Soul Douluo with just that martial soul fusion skill?

The answer was no. Huo Yuhao was too weak at this point, and their martial soul fusion skill’s ampliﬁcation wasn’t as powerful as it looked on the outside. Wang Qiu’er contributed most of it. Furthermore, they realized that their soul power was consumed at an alarming rate when they unleashed this martial soul fusion skill. That single transformation and strike had consumed roughly thirty percent of their soul power!

This meant that they could only use this martial soul fusion skill three times, and they would revert to normal after three strikes. Zhong Liren didn’t have his beast souls to assist him, but he could probably take three hits with his cultivation.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er had astonished him too much, and his underestimation from the start became overestimation in the end, and he let this opportunity to kill them slip away.

“I’m alright. Let’s get out of here,” Huo Yuhao spoke softly as he closed his eyes. He didn’t know if Zhong Liren would suddenly think it through and make his way back here, so leaving this place was something they absolutely had to do.

“Okay.” Wang Qiu’er acknowledged. She carried Huo Yuhao and lengthened her stride as she sped in a certain direction. What made Huo Yuhao angsty was that he was a man, but Wang Qiu’er was carrying him on her shoulders. This girl was just too strong, to the point where he felt as light as a feather. The ride wasn’t that turbulent, and Huo Yuhao was gradually recovering, but he still didn’t feel so good inside.

He tried his best to stabilize his spiritual sea. His spirit had been wounded to a certain degree, and he would need about half a month to return to normal.

Zhong Liren is gone. I wonder how Wang Dong’er and the others are doing? Huo Yuhao closed his eyes and tried to picture Wang Dong’er. Wang Qiu’er’s image suddenly surfaced from the deepest parts of his mind.

Their martial soul fusion was the most substantial reason why they managed to scare Zhong Liren away before. Without their martial soul fusion and without Wang Qiu’er’s support and ampliﬁcation, Huo Yuhao wouldn’t have received such an intense negative backlash, while his two Spiritual Shocks wouldn’t have been so powerful. The ﬁnal move that made Zhong Liren turn tail and run was their martial soul fusion skill.

How can my martial soul fuse with hers? Even though this fusion is different from my fusion with Dong’er, she’s still a little too similar to Dong’er. They look so alike, and they can both fuse their martial souls with mine. Huo Yuhao had never heard of a soul master who was able to undergo martial soul fusion with two other soul masters at the same time from all his lessons at Shrek Academy. There was no question that he had invented something new once again.

Thoughts were spinning in Huo Yuhao’s head, and Wang Qiu’er felt the same way. She had always believed that she was the strongest amongst all the students in Shrek Academy that were around her level, and she included all the students from the inner courtyard who had less than seven rings in this analysis.

However, Huo Yuhao had executed three Spiritual Shocks in a row, and triggered the Halo of Puriﬁcation with an incantation. Her mentality had changed a little because of these things.

Would I be able to take those three Spiritual Shocks if I were Zhong Liren? Wang Qiu’er didn’t know the answer to that. However, she realized that Huo Yuhao was far more powerful than she had thought. He was still a distance away from her in terms of soul power, and only had ﬁve soul rings, but despite all that, his overall abilities weren’t weak at all. Wang Qiu’er hadn’t forgotten about those three stationary soul cannon shells, and she had personally witnessed the immense power that two of those shells possessed. At least, she understood that while she had mighty offensive capabilities, there was no way she could launch an attack at that degree of

strength.

---

Wang Qiu’er ran ﬁve kilometers in one go. They encountered some soul beasts along the way, but these soul beasts didn’t attack them, scampering away to avoid the two of them. Perhaps they were frightened away by Wang Qiu’er’s intimidating aura...

“Alright, let’s take a break. Put me down.” Huo Yuhao had recovered some of his spiritual power, and the intense headache had receded.

Wang Qiu’er put him down as she grabbed her Golden Dragon Spear and surveyed her surroundings with razor-sharp eyes to make sure that this location was safe. Huo Yuhao laid down on the ground and exhaled deeply. It didn’t feel so good to be carried on someone’s shoulders, after all.

“Wang Qiu’er, can you still ﬁnd the way back? We have to rendezvous with our companions. The company will be in trouble if the three brothers decide to gang up on them.”

Wang Qiu’er turned and glanced at him as she said, “It doesn’t make a difference even if we meet up with the others in your current state. You should try to recover ﬁrst. Plus, I can’t remember the way back, so we can only ﬁnd our way slowly.”

Huo Yuhao naturally knew that her words made a lot of sense, and nodded while sitting down cross-legged and beginning to replenish his soul power.

Wang Qiu’er stood by his side and protected him.

Huo Yuhao hadn’t consumed that much soul power, so it didn’t take long for him to recover. However, his spiritual wound had to be nurtured slowly. Huo Yuhao managed to completely stabilize his spiritual sea and regain all his soul power, and he leapt to his feet at once.

“Do you need to rest?” he asked Wang Qiu’er. Wang Qiu’er shook her head.

Huo Yuhao said, “Let’s go, then. Let’s get back to the others as fast as we can.” He immediately began racing in the direction that they came from as he spoke.

Wang Qiu’er caught up to him quickly.

“Huo Yuhao, are you in such a hurry to return to the others because of the company, or because of her?” Wang Qiu’er suddenly asked as they ran.

Huo Yuhao naturally knew which “her” she was referring to, and he shot an astonished glance at Wang Qiu’er. This question totally didn’t conform with her typical style!

“A little bit of both. I want to get back for the company, and also for Dong’er. These two things aren’t mutually exclusive,” Huo Yuhao answered.

Wang Qiu’er pursued the issue and said, “The main reason is still her, right?”

Huo Yuhao frowned and said, “Why do you ask?”

Wang Qiu’er changed tack and said, “Let’s give it a name.”

Huo Yuhao wasn’t used to her style of suddenly changing topics, and was momentarily at a loss as he said, “Give what a name?”

Wang Qiu’er said, “Let’s give our martial soul fusion skill a name.”

Huo Yuhao ﬁnally realized what she was referring to and said, “Ah, yes. We should give it a name. I didn’t expect the two of us to have a martial soul fusion skill, and our martial souls fused after the ﬁrst time our soul powers came into contact. That’s unimaginable.”

Wang Qiu’er replied coldly, “What’s so unimaginable about that? Are you telling me that only you and her can have martial soul fusion skills?” Huo Yuhao was a little speechless as he said, “And yet you tell me that Dong’er feels hostile toward you; aren’t you the same toward her? I really don’t understand. The two of you look so similar, but you guys aren’t more intimate because of that. Instead, the two of you start antagonizing each other. You

girls, what are you thinking about?”

Wang Qiu’er’s eyes became a little more tender as she gazed into the distance and said, “You will understand one day.”

Huo Yuhao shook his head in exasperation. The two of them quieted down and continued on their way.

After a few minutes, Huo Yuhao said, “Our martial soul fusion skill can be called the Dragon Roar of Destiny, how about that? I originally thought that my twin martial souls would create two martial soul fusion skills with you, but I didn’t expect all three martial souls to fuse together. I can feel that our fusion skill is more powerful than any one of my four fusion skills with Dong’er. However, just one instance consumes too much soul power, and Zhong Liren escaped too quickly, so we didn’t get to test its true strength.” Wang Qiu’er muttered the name that Huo Yuhao had suggested over and over again. “Dragon Roar of Destiny, Dragon Roar of Destiny… Can it be that this is my destiny? I didn’t think…”

She ﬁnally paused when she said those words, as if she realized she had said something she wasn’t supposed to say.

“You didn’t think about what?” Huo Yuhao continued asking.

Wang Qiu’er shook her head and said, “Nothing. Let’s just call it the Dragon Roar of Destiny. The reason why we consume so much soul power is because every strike after our fusion carries a peculiar power, and I’m willing to call that judgment Destiny’s Judgment. The effects will be extremely terrifying if someone is struck by Destiny’s Judgement. That evil soul master has eight soul rings, but I know that we would probably have taken half his life away if I had managed to stab him.”

Huo Yuhao asked suspiciously, “Destiny’s Judgment? That may be the effect that my Eye of Destiny carries. But how different is it when it’s used along with your attacks?” Wang Qiu’er said plainly, “I can feel it. That power of judgement is awakened by the Dragon Roar of Destiny, and its effects will remain on the target for eternity if it strikes someone. Furthermore, it can only be misfortune.”

“That…” Huo Yuhao drew a cold breath.

Misfortune for the rest of one’s life… no wonder Wang Qiu’er thinks that Destiny’s Judgement is exceedingly formidable when used with her Golden Dragon Spear! Having to live with terribly bad luck for the rest of one’s life is more painful than death! If Zhong Liren hadn’t run away fast enough, he would probably have been the ﬁrst person to have a taste of a lifetime of misfortune!

Wang Qiu’er said, “The truth is that I don’t think we only have one martial soul fusion skill. The Dragon Roar of Destiny can work in reverse. If you have enough spiritual power, you can become the main attacking strength. That way, I will transform into armor on your body, and I will amplify all your abilities while passing some of my own to you. I believe your attacks would also contain Destiny’s Judgment.” Huo Yuhao stared at her with a strange look and said, “How do you know all this? We have never experimented before!”

Wang Qiu’er glanced at him, but there was a tinge of doubt in her eyes. “You also possess an Ultimate martial soul. Do you not know about Ultimate innate skills?”

Huo Yuhao was momentarily stunned. “Ultimate innate skills? What’s that?”

Wang Qiu’er seemed like she had a revelation as she said, “I understand now. Your Ultimate innate skill is the extreme cold from your ice element. It seems like your martial soul is still slightly inferior to mine. We who possess Ultimate martial souls will normally have innate skills like soul beasts sometimes do. Your Ultimate innate skill must be the pure and extreme cold. Or, you haven’t unlocked it yet.”

Huo Yuhao was even more confused. “Your ability to immediately understand the profundities of our martial soul fusion is related to your Ultimate innate skill?” Wang Qiu’er nodded and said, “I have three innate skills: Golden Dragon’s Pride, Golden Dragon’s Perception, and the…” She stopped talking, and didn’t reveal her last innate skill.

“With Golden Dragon’s Perception, I possess an almost three- dimensional perception. It’s a little bit difﬁcult to understand when I talk about it, but simply put, it just means that I can perceive some things that you’re unable to see, and I will develop a deep understanding of the things that I perceive.

“You’ve already seen what the Golden Dragon’s Pride is and what it does. It relies on the energies of the Golden Dragon’s lineage, and I am able to temporarily control a single soul beast when I’m using Golden Dragon’s Pride. I can maintain it for a certain period of time as long as I don’t attack it.”

Huo Yuhao was astonished. “Even a soul beast at the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear’s level can be controlled through Golden Dragon’s Pride?”

Wang Qiu’er nodded and said, “I know you would doubt me if I didn’t explain this to you. Please keep my secret.” “Alright.” Huo Yuhao immediately agreed. He had a lot of secrets himself, and Wang Qiu’er telling him about it meant she had decided to trust him. Their relationship had clearly become a lot more intimate after this battle. It wasn’t just because the strange martial soul fusion between them had occurred. More importantly, Huo Yuhao had reached out to save her, and that melted the iciness in her heart, so they could become even closer.

Their intimacy was developing purely as friends, and there wasn’t anything else.

They both had exceptional memories. Huo Yuhao had Spiritual Detection, while Wang Qiu’er had her Golden Dragon’s Perception. As they darted through the forest, they actually managed to follow their original path as they gradually came back to where they had last clashed with the three brothers.

“Wait.” Huo Yuhao called out to Wang Qiu’er, and paused in his tracks.

Wang Qiu’er stopped when she heard his voice, and gave him an inquiring look.

“Help me use Spiritual Detection to search for them. I have a feeling we are very close.” He grabbed Wang Qiu’er naturally as he spoke, as if he were grabbing Wang Dong’er’s hands on a normal day.

They had already done this not too long ago. However, Huo Yuhao felt his heart skip a beat when he clasped Wang Qiu’er’s hands once more. He turned towards Wang Qiu’er subconsciously and realized that she was staring right back at him.

Wang Qiu’er and Wang Dong’er’s looked almost identical, but there were many things about them that were vastly different. For example, their hands were very distinct.

They both had slim and tender hands, but Wang Dong’er’s hands were always so cold and icy, and she gave him a feeling as if he had to take care of her. Wang Qiu’er’s hands were warm, possibly even warmer than Huo Yuhao’s own hands, and he felt as if he were holding onto a gentle oven and being warmed up. Huo Yuhao found it hard to imagine that these warm, tender, and petite hands could possess such frightening explosive power, and this feeling intensiﬁed the more he held on to her.

They had held hands before, when they were ﬁghting Zhong Liren. However, they had been facing a powerful enemy, and they didn’t have time to think about all this; all they thought about was how to give everything they had to defeat their adversary. At this moment, Huo Yuhao only wanted to borrow Wang Qiu’er’s strength to boost his Spiritual Detection’s strength, but there was an indescribable feeling that rose from his heart when they actually held hands once more.

Huo Yuhao almost let go of her hand subconsciously. He already had Dong’er, so how could he lead other girls on? Even though he was true to his conscience, he didn’t want other girls to misunderstand. Perhaps he was just thinking too much, but he wanted to prevent anything that could affect his relationship with Dong’er.

However, just when he wanted to let go, Wang Qiu’er grabbed his hand tighter and infused her fearsome Golden Dragon’s soul power into his body. Their soul power immediately fused, and Huo Yuhao’s abilities were instantly ampliﬁed. “Don’t think so much. Let’s ﬁnd them as soon as possible,” Wang Qiu’er muttered coldly, as if she could see into Huo Yuhao’s inner thoughts.

Huo Yuhao felt a blush come over his face. Perhaps he really was thinking too much...

Chapter 237: Three-way Fusion Skill of the Three Wolf-apes

The Eye of Destiny opened again, and Huo Yuhao activated his Spiritual Detection once again.

With Wang Qiu’er’s help, his spiritual powers were greatly enhanced. During the process of detection his senses continued to extend three kilometers past his previous limit.

Huo Yuhao’s body turned slowly, and his vertical eye shone with golden light. The light illuminated everything.

He didn’t harbor any hopes of ﬁnding his companions directly. However, obtaining clues would make it easier for him to track them down.

Very soon, Huo Yuhao’s gaze ﬁxed in a certain direction.

“Let’s go.” Huo Yuhao lifted his feet and dragged Wang Qiu’er along with him. Wang Qiu’er had no intention of letting go of his hand. When their martial souls fused together, their speed greatly increased.

Huo Yuhao continued to use his Spiritual Detection to search for clues, and ﬁnally found the place that they originally fought at.

The female bear’s corpse had disappeared, but there were still large patches of bloodstains and marks on the ground. When they followed the trail back to the place where they had been separated from the rest, they didn’t ﬁnd the Shrek team there.

Wang Qiu’er furrowed her brow and said, “What do we do now? We don’t know where they’ve gone, and the forest is so huge. Why don’t we ﬁnd a suitable soul beast for you ﬁrst? With our strength, we should be able to handle things.”

Huo Yuhao shook his head. His eyes were ﬁlled with golden light, as if he was searching for something. Very soon, his gaze ﬁxed on a large tree not far away. He walked quickly up to the tree and squatted down to take a closer look at it. Wang Qiu’er had just joined Shrek Academy, and hadn’t been inﬂuenced by Shrek Academy’s culture yet. Huo Yuhao was different. He had been in the academy for a long time, and even gone through the Ultimate Soldier Plan! He naturally recognized some of Shrek Academy’s speciﬁc markings.

After heaving a sigh of relief, Huo Yuhao stood straight and said, “They’re alright. The three brothers should have left. This marking was left by eldest senior sister, which indicates that they’re safe. They went in that direction to ﬁnd us.” As he spoke, he pointed ahead.

Wang Qiu’er nodded and didn’t say anything more.

The two of them continued on their way. On the way, Huo Yuhao used his Spiritual Detection to look for more markings left behind by Zhang Lexuan. His luck was pretty good, as he kept ﬁnding them.

At this point, the sun was already high in the sky, it had just hit noon. Huo Yuhao didn’t borrow Wang Qiu’er’s strength anymore, and thus he no longer held her hand. The two of them didn’t speak to each other along the way, and barely had any interaction. Huo Yuhao walked in front, while Wang Qiu’er followed silently behind him. Everything seemed very simple and calm.

------

At this point, they were slowly venturing deep into the Hybrid Region. Huo Yuhao didn’t move quickly. Whenever he discovered a strong soul beast, he would wait cautiously. He tried his best to avoid ﬁghting.

Wang Qiu’er followed behind him, concealing her surprise. Zhang Lexuan had led the team earlier, and thus Huo Yuhao hadn’t had a chance to lead. However, only the two of them were left now. He demonstrated his rich wealth of experience and composure by exploiting the terrain, using his Spiritual Detection well, and demonstrating his familiarity with the habits of various types of soul beasts.

They rarely fought along the way. Most of the time, he avoided the aggressive soul beasts using his Spiritual Detection. Although it was also slightly related to the fact that there were only the two of them, it was mostly because of Huo Yuhao’s control.

“Let’s rest for awhile before eating.” After walking for almost four hours, it was already close to evening. Apart from ﬁghting, the two of them were rushing to locate the rest of the team the whole day. They were naturally fatigued, so Huo Yuhao suggested they rest for a while.

Wang Qiu’er shot him a look and said, “I thought you were a machine who doesn’t know what being tired is.”

Huo Yuhao was a little apologetic as he replied, “I’m sorry. I’m just anxious to ﬁnd the rest in case they’re worried about us.”

Wang Qiu’er found a spot on higher ground for them to rest at. Huo Yuhao took out some dry rations and water for her from his storage-type soul tool.

Wang Qiu’er took the baked bun from him and heated it up with her palm before returning it to him. After that, she also started to eat.

This was her second time eating his food. This time, she didn’t waste any of it. Although she didn’t eat quickly, she still managed to consume two baked buns.

Huo Yuhao ate four of them. Since he was still growing, he naturally ate more.

After drinking some water, Huo Yuhao said, “Wait for me here. I’ll be back soon.” He didn’t tell Wang Qiu’er where he was going, and ran into the forest.

She was slightly stunned, and was in a daze as she watched him leave. She placed her spear on her legs and caressed its haft softly. Her eyes ﬂashed with light as she was lost in thought.

Is he going to return? For some reason, she thought of this even though she shouldn’t need to. She didn’t even know why she was doing this. However, she was afraid when she imagined that Huo Yuhao might not return. Fear was an emotion that had never appeared in her heart before!

Fortunately, this fear didn’t last for long. Huo Yuhao returned after a while, and he seemed to be carrying something in his clothes.

“Come, eat this.” Huo Yuhao squatted down in front of Wang Qiu’er. He took out a bunch of purple fruit.

The fruit looked extremely plump, and each was the size of a kid’s ﬁst. The juices from the fruit seeped from their skins. Even though it was evening and the sunlight was getting dim, the juices could still be seen glistening on them.

Seeing that Wang Qiu’er was in a daze, Huo Yuhao asked, “We can’t always eat dry rations. This type of purple fruit tastes pretty nice. They taste sweet and sour, and are also quite nutritious. I discovered them when I used my Spiritual Detection earlier.”

Wang Qiu’er seemed to only recover from her daze at this moment. She took one of the fruits and bit into it. She tasted a very strong sourness when she took the ﬁrst bite. She felt that her teeth were going to fall off, and groaned slightly. She shot Huo Yuhao a protesting look as she lifted her head.

Huo Yuhao continued to smile as he looked at her. There was a look of eagerness in his eyes.

Indeed, her look disappeared in a moment. The taste of this purple fruit was very weird. It was very sour as it ﬁrst entered one’s mouth, but this sour taste soon disappeared. What replaced it was a refreshingly sweet taste. As the juices entered one’s stomach, the refreshing feeling helped wash away one’s fatigue.

Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “The teacher who taught us about nutrition told us that the taste of this purple fruit is like life, there’s always a sour and sweet part to it. How is it? It’s pretty good, right?”

Wang Qiu’er glared at him and answered, “I’m actually a carnivore. As long as there’s meat, I’m okay.” Although she said this, he reached out both her hands to grab two more fruits from Huo Yuhao’s sleeves. She took half of what he had plucked.

Huo Yuhao smiled but didn’t mock her. He sat to one side and started to eat. He left some at the end before wrapping it up.

“For her?” Wang Qiu’er asked.

“Yes. Dong’er hasn’t had these purple fruits before. It’s a pity that these were the only ones that were ripe. Otherwise, we could share them with everyone.” Huo Yuhao answered. How could he forget Wang Dong’er as he tasted such a delicacy?

At this point, a streak of golden light suddenly ﬂashed. A sudden threat surfaced. Huo Yuhao moved his body subconsciously.

He heard a pufﬁng sound, and the handkerchief used to wrap the fruits was torn open by the streak of golden light. After that, the bag of fruits burst open as the golden light scattered, and the fruits were turned into juice before scattering on the ground. “What are you doing?” Huo Yuhao was furious as he looked at Wang Qiu’er.

She lifted her head and said arrogantly, “I won’t allow you to share what I’ve eaten with the rest.”

“You… you’re crazy.” Huo Yuhao clenched his ﬁst. As he looked at the juice on the ground, he had the impulse to ﬁght her.

Wang Qiu’er said proudly, “If you’re unconvinced, you can try. However, you won’t get the fruits back even if you beat me.”

Huo Yuhao took in a deep breath and glared at her. After a while, he said, “When we return to the academy, I’ll challenge you.”

After he ﬁnished speaking, he turned around and left. He stopped resting and continued on with the journey. Wang Qiu’er, who had gone through thick and thin with him earlier, actually did such an unreasonable thing. His impression of her dipped signiﬁcantly. However, they were in the Great Star Dou Forest, and it wasn’t the place for him to rage.

Wang Qiu’er revealed a slightly lonely look in her eyes as she watched Huo Yuhao’s back. She clenched her lips as she glanced at the juice on the ground. She lifted her Golden Dragon Spear and chased after him.

After this confrontation, they spoke even less to each other. Huo Yuhao explored the way seriously in front, while Wang Qiu’er followed silently behind him.

------

The sky was gradually getting darker.

The Great Star Dou Forest was much more dangerous at night. Many soul beasts would appear during the night, while to humans, nighttime was the time when they would feel tired.

From the markings left behind, they shouldn’t be too far from the rest of the team. However, they couldn’t verify this conjecture. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao had also discovered that the rest of the group hadn’t ventured deeper into the Great Star Dou Forest, but were moving up and down within the Hybrid Region. Evidently, they were looking for him and Wang Qiu’er. In addition, their anxiety was evident from the markings they left behind as they searched for them. If they slowed down a little right now, Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er would be able to catch up to them.

“I’m tired!” As the sky gradually turned dark, Wang Qiu’er suddenly shouted from behind him.

Huo Yuhao turned to look at her.

After two more hours of rushing, he had ﬁnally calmed down. He walked back to Wang Qiu’er and said, “Then let’s rest. The others should be looking for us. They should be resting as night falls. We can rest for two hours before moving off again. We must ﬁnd them tonight. Otherwise, it’ll be much more difﬁcult to ﬁnd them when they move off again tomorrow morning.”

Wang Qiu’er nodded and said, “Okay.”

The two of them sat down, and Huo Yuhao retrieved some dry rations for her.

Wang Qiu’er asked, “I damaged your fruits, but you’re still giving me dry rations?”

Huo Yuhao stuffed the rations into her hands and replied, “We’re not kids anymore. Don’t throw a tantrum again.”

Wang Qiu’er was stunned by his words. Even though she was older than him, she felt like she was being lectured by an elder brother at this point.

She couldn’t help but clench her ﬁsts as she looked at Huo Yuhao’s proﬁle. She wanted to ask him what right he had to lecture her-! However, she couldn’t spit the words out, and only heated up the dry rations quietly before giving him some.

Huo Yuhao said, “After you ﬁnish eating, carry on with your deep meditation. You’ve never really rested properly today. I can meditate after you recover.”

As he spoke, he took the dry rations and walked to one side. His Spiritual Detection was still activated as he surveyed his surroundings for any potential threats.

Wang Qiu’er felt a little regretful as she consumed the dry rations. She regretted her impulsiveness, and could sense that her relationship with Huo Yuhao had grown more distant because of what she had done earlier.

There hadn’t been any reason for it. She had just done what she wanted to do.

Her eyes were ﬁlled with a proud yet stubborn look. She even had the urge to throw the baked bun in her hand away before telling Huo Yuhao that she didn’t need him to show her any mercy or lecture her. However, she was reminded of his teary look when she lifted her right hand. He was crying as he recounted the story of his mother and the baked bun.

The pride in her eyes disappeared, and she stuffed the baked bun back into her mouth again. Her proud gaze slowly faded, and she seemed slightly lost.

“Be careful.” At this point, Huo Yuhao’s voice sounded.

Following this, he shared his Spiritual Detection with her.

Wang Qiu’er’s lost gaze focused once again. She lifted her Golden Dragon Spear as she jumped up.

She had also discovered the presence of a threat without Huo Yuhao’s verbal warning. Three pitch-black wolf-type soul beasts were coming in their direction at an alarming speed.

These soul beasts were all more than ﬁve meters long, and around one and a half meters at the shoulder. They were the size of huge soul beasts such as tigers and lions! It was very rare for wolf-type soul beasts to be so huge. “Mutants!” Huo Yuhao shouted. A white halo had already spread from his body. It was the halo of Enfeeblement.

The only reason why wolf-type soul beasts could be so huge was because they were mutants. They were even very strong mutants.

Mutant soul beasts were a very important research topic in the academy. They were like mutated martial souls. After the mutation, they could become stronger or weaker. These three wolf-type soul beasts were evidently some of the stronger ones.

Their cultivations couldn’t even be clearly distinguished before they arrived in front of Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er.

Huo Yuhao’s Mass Enfeeblement was unleashed appropriately as it engulfed these three huge wolves.

The three wolves weren’t shocked by his Mass Enfeeblement. Rather, they seemed to have been provoked instead. A huge wolf at the front roared, and a layer of purple light started to rise from its burly body. It lifted its claws and stood just like that.

Huo Yuhao was frightened. That was because the wolf looked like a human as it stood in that way. Only its head resembled that of a wolf. The protruding muscles on its body were ﬁlled with explosive strength.

The unknown was scary. The three wolves discovered them just as Huo Yuhao sensed their presence through his Spiritual Detection. Huo Yuhao could clearly tell that they had found them by snifﬁng them out.

The other two wolves also stood up, resembling the ﬁrst wolf.

“They are mutants between wolves and apes,” Wang Qiu’er said calmly.

Huo Yuhao was enlightened – no wonder their physiology is so special. Undoubtedly, these three soul beasts must have come from the same mother. Otherwise, they wouldn’t look so similar. As he thought of this, Huo Yuhao suddenly realized something. The two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear cubs were still frozen. Huo Yuhao had forgotten about them after his ﬁght Zhong Liren, and he had since been focused on rendezvousing with the rest of his teammates.

However, it wasn’t a good time to release them now.

These three wolf-apes didn’t rush to attack them. They ﬁrst circled around them slowly. Not only did they possess physically strong bodies, but their intelligence was also rather high.

This was also a very knotty situation for Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er. Such opponents were very difﬁcult to deal with.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er stood back to back. They didn’t stretch out their hands to fuse their martial souls. Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection engulfed the entire battleﬁeld, and a layer of golden light also covered his entire body.

These three huge wolves were at least at the ten-thousand year level. They couldn’t afford to be careless.

Suddenly, the wolf at the front moved, his body ﬂashing slightly. Following this, a thick aura of darkness was released from its body. Purplish-black bubbles started to spread and approach Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er.

“A darkness-type soul skill!” Wang Qiu’er shouted. Seeing that the purplish-black bubbles spreading towards her and Huo Yuhao, she stomped her right foot on the ground, and a terrifying golden wave was unleashed.

In terms of strength, Wang Qiu’er’s control was very strong. As she stomped, the immense quake avoided Huo Yuhao and didn’t impact him at all.

Some purplish-black bubbles were destroyed by this quake, but they still continued to force their way forward.

Wang Qiu’er lifted her Golden Dragon Spear, and a sonorous dragon roar sounded. Her six soul rings - two yellow, two purple and two black - rose from her feet. Her ﬁrst soul ring started to shine brightly, and a layer of thick golden light instantly covered every part of her body. This was her ﬁrst soul skill, the Golden Dragon Body.

Wang Qiu’er didn’t say anything to Huo Yuhao as she stomped her foot before she burst forward. She targeted the wolf-ape standing at the front. Her spear carried a piercing whizzing sound as it struck towards the wolf-apes’ eyes.

Just as she attacked, the other two wolf-apes also moved at the same time. They didn’t try to aid their partner, but leapt towards Huo Yuhao. Evidently, they wanted to kill Huo Yuhao ﬁrst by outnumbering him.

Huo Yuhao’s eyes shone, and he leapt forward as he used his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, following Wang Qiu’er. In this direction, the bubbles that had spread all over had been dissipated by Wang Qiu’er’s Golden Dragon soul power.

He turned in mid-air, and a layer of diamond ice crystals covered his body. It was the Ice Empress’ Armor. His orange soul rings also rose from his feet.

A blade light that carried an ultimate chill ﬂashed before disappearing. The light projection that was formed engulfed the wolf-apes that had burst over. Unparalleled Chill, Empress Sword!

This sword didn’t move smoothly. When Huo Yuhao wielded it, his wrist jerked slightly. This caused the sword to move in a beautiful arc. The chilly aura of his Ultimate Ice struck the throats of the two wolf-apes. This slowed them down.

The three wolf-apes were very cunning. However, Huo Yuhao also had his own plan of attack.

After teaming up with Wang Qiu’er for a few ﬁghts, he had a deeper understanding and greater conﬁdence in her. If she couldn’t take care of the wolf-ape in a duel, then they had no chance in a two versus three ﬁght. That was why Huo Yuhao’s goal was very simple: stall these two wolf-apes in front of him and buy some time for Wang Qiu’er. While they shared a tense relationship, Huo Yuhao didn’t dare to abandon her as they faced common enemies.

The two wolf-apes stopped in mid-air. They seemed to have developed the same feeling, that if they proceeded any further, their throats would be hit by the terrifying chill. Even though they hadn’t been struck by it yet, they were already shivering.

However, a surprising situation occurred. As his Unparalleled Chill, Empress Sword stopped the two wolf-apes, they suddenly disappeared at the same time, the instant they stopped in front of his chilly sword light.

Shit!, Huo Yuhao cursed in his heart. His Spiritual Detection could predict his opponent’s moves, but he couldn’t predict what their soul skills were. Both he and Wang Qiu’er didn’t have a sufﬁcient understanding of these three wolf-apes. He didn’t expect these wolf-apes to be able to unleash a skill like Instant Teleportation.

Huo Yuhao didn’t hesitate as he pressed his toes against the ground before ﬂipping his body over in the air.

Indeed, the two wolf-apes didn’t just avoid his Empress Sword with their Instant Teleportation. They even landed behind him and started to encircle Wang Qiu’er along with the other wolf-ape.

At this point, it was three wolf-apes against Wang Qiu’er!

Wang Qiu’er had stabbed the middle wolf-ape with her spear earlier, but it was too quick. It had retreated instantly, and widened its gap with the Golden Dragon Spear. At the same time, its body swayed, and two illusory doubles of it formed. This soul skill reminded Wang Qiu’er of Spectre Wolves. Undoubtedly, these few wolf-apes must have some kind of blood relation to Spectre Wolves.

The two spectres leapt forward and resisted Wang Qiu’er’s attack. She kept on swinging her spear, creating countless streaks of spear light. Perhaps she had been holding in her anger after her falling out with Huo Yuhao, but right now, she vented all her anger. The two spectral wolves that leapt towards her were torn to pieces.

However, the other two wolf-apes that had teleported behind her and the wolf-ape in front of her all leapt at her at the same time. They all released an intense, purplish-black glow from their bodies.

They ﬁrst unleashed purplish-black projections that were roughly the same size as them. Three projections rushed out at the same time and burst towards Wang Qiu’er.

Wang Qiu’er roared into the sky, and a golden dragon projection appeared. She started to combust like a small sun. It was her second soul skill, Dragon’s Strength!

As her ﬁgure spun around, she stabbed her spear into the ground, and her fourth soul ring lit up. Her dragon roars were even more spirited. The head of the projection started to expand and swallowed Wang Qiu’er. Following this, a frightening explosion occurred.

Boom! Wang Qiu’er’s ﬁghting style was always so forceful. The tremendous explosion caused the three projections to be blown to pieces. Everything within a ten-meter radius was blown to pieces.

However, the three wolf-apes were too cunning. As the explosion happened, their bodies disappeared at the same time. They couldn’t withstand the explosive force of Wang Qiu’er’s fourth soul skill, the Golden Dragon’s Explosion. When they appeared again, they were divided once again. This time, they were encircling Huo Yuhao!

The three wolf-apes combined into one entity, and purplish- black halos started to light up from their feet. The three purplish-black halos that lit up started to expand in size. When they combined together, Huo Yuhao was trapped. Instantly, Huo Yuhao felt that he was restrained by an immense strength. He tried to activate his soul power, but it stiffened up. An indescribable, terrifying wave of pressure dragged him down from the air.

At this point, the three wolf-apes had almost turned a transparent purplish-black. A formidable, purplish-black fog started to rise. The intersecting halos shone brightly and trapped Huo Yuhao ﬁrmly within.

This wasn’t good!

Was this the legendary three-way martial soul fusion skill?

There were two types of martial soul fusion skills. The ﬁrst type was formed when many soul masters exhibited their compatible martial souls at the same time. While this kind of soul skill could be considered a martial soul fusion skill, they were enhanced only because the soul masters complemented one another. Real martial soul fusion skills were like Huo Yuhao with Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er. Their martial souls fused within their bodies, generating huge strength and causing transformations. This kind of transformation usually only occurred with two people at one time.

Shrek Academy had a record of a three-way martial soul fusion skill. It was formed by the Golden Iron Triangle, which consisted of Liu Erlong, the Grandmaster and the Four-Eyed Eaglecat Flounders; Shrek Academy’s founder. It was called the Golden Holy Dragon’s Call.

That wasn’t a Golden Dragon, but a Golden Holy Dragon, which was light-type. It was different from Wang Qiu’er, who was pure strength-type. It could be considered an enhancement of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. The Grandmaster had been a descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Due to their three-way martial soul fusion skill, they were called the Golden Iron Triangle.

However, there had been no further occurrences of a three- way martial soul fusion skills in Shrek Academy’s history apart from the three of them. This showed how difﬁcult it was for such an occurrence and to achieve compatibility.

At this moment, this legendary ability was used by these three soul beasts. Furthermore, they used this martial soul fusion skill very aptly and trapped Huo Yuhao, who was completely unprepared for this. Right now, Huo Yuhao only felt that it was very difﬁcult to breathe. The immense pressure completely suppressed his spiritual and soul power. Even the Eye of Destiny was suppressed until it couldn’t open.

As the three of them combined into one entity, their powers increased exponentially! As a dark purplish radiance rose from the ground, Huo Yuhao felt that his body was about to dissolve.

Huo Yuhao wasn’t the only shocked one. Wang Qiu’er was equally stunned. She was as unfamiliar with these three wolf- apes as he was. Seeing that Huo Yuhao was in danger, she didn’t hesitate as she threw her Golden Dragon Spear out.

Amidst a piercing whizz, the spear carried the golden dragon projection and tore through space before landing on one wolf- ape’s body.

However, that wolf-ape only glanced at Wang Qiu’er. There was a scornful look in its eyes. Yes, it was a scornful look!

Clang! The spear rebounded as if it had struck an indestructible wall. It didn’t cause any harm to the wolf-ape, while the dark purplish radiance had already risen from the ground.

“No!” Wang Qiu’er shouted, and an unprecedented, intense golden light rose from her body. Her eyes turned blood-red as her sixth soul ring was activated. Golden Dragon’s Bloodlust!

At this point, she was already shining like a small sun. No one could see her ﬁgure clearly anymore.

A ball of orange-gold light separated from Huo Yuhao’s body.

It was the Snow Lady.

She wore a solemn expression on her face. As her ﬁgure ﬂashed, she appeared behind Huo Yuhao. She rapidly grew larger and larger, and regained the original look of the Snow Empress. As she pointed one hand into the sky and one hand to the ground, an orange-gold glow started to expand. Huo Yuhao’s body was engulfed within it.

However, the Snow Lady’s strength belonged to Huo Yuhao. She normally absorbed her strength from him. But there was an even greater strength suppressing him! Although she had given it her all already, it was only barely effective for Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao took a deep breath. He knew that it was impossible for him to retreat this time. However, he wasn’t afraid at this point. With the Snow Lady’s help, he had managed to suppress the rising dark-purplish radiance. He was also able to exhibit some of his abilities at this moment.

He ﬁrst unleashed the Ice Empress’ Armor. At this point, the Snow Empress’ Three Ultimate Techniques couldn’t be used, as the Snow Lady was giving her all to resist the three-way martial fusion soul skill. Huo Yuhao’s Eye of Destiny opened. His damaged spiritual origin was mobilized.

His terrifying spiritual power started to combine with his soul power at a rapid rate. The aura of the Sovereign’s Descent started to soar. He wanted to use his cultivation to resist the martial fusion soul skill with the Snow Empress’ help. He believed that Wang Qiu’er wouldn’t let these three wolf-apes off after they had used such a powerful skill if he could survive their attack. Just as Huo Yuhao was determined to ﬁght his way out of this, a golden projection suddenly appeared in front of him. Following this, this ﬁgure went into his arms. Their foreheads met, and he could smell her breath. A vigorous strength engulfed every part of his body.

The bright gold turned into thick scales that covered Huo Yuhao’s chest and head ﬁrst. Following this, they extended to every part of his body.

An indescribable, tremendous strength circulated through his entire body. The terrifying suppression from before seemed unable to stop him at this point.

Huo Yuhao was covered by a suit of golden armor. There was a huge image of a golden dragon head on his chest. His entire head was covered by a helmet, which also had the appearance of a dragon’s head. The dragon scales engulfed his body perfectly, absolutely no skin was exposed.

Huo Yuhao roared as an unprecedented force ﬁlled him. The Snow Lady returned to his body immediately. Before Huo Yuhao could react, his new armor had already unleashed a layer of intense golden light as a defense. The suppressive force was resisted, and dragon roars didn’t just echo in the outside world; they also sounded repeatedly in Huo Yuhao’s head. He could clearly recall that he was looking at Wang Qiu’er’s eyes with their foreheads touching when the dragon scales engulfed his body.

Her eyes weren’t turquoise at that moment anymore, but a clear gold. It was the purest and most primitive type of gold that could illuminate the depths of everyone’s heart.

Chapter 238: Sharing Life and Death Together

At this point, the three wolf-apes’ martial soul fusion skill was completed. The dark-purplish radiance changed into a three-part beam of light that shot into the sky. Huo Yuhao’s body was completely engulfed.

Instantly, Huo Yuhao felt as if the horrifying pressure that was suppressing his body was about to tear him apart. At this point, he ﬁnally understood. If Wang Qiu’er hadn’t rushed here in time, he would still be suppressed even if he activated his Sovereign’s Descent to its fullest and had the Snow Lady’s help! These three wolf-apes were much stronger than he had expected. Their martial soul fusion skill was scary beyond his imagination!

The Golden Dragon Armor started to let out piercing, grinding sounds. It was extremely awful, but it sounded like Wang Qiu’er was struggling unyieldingly to him.

The dark-purplish world seemed to have been there for all eternity. The wolf-apes revealed vicious looks in their eyes. They had used this skill to kill many soul beasts and soul masters in the past. Even though their cultivations were only at ten thousand years, this three-way martial soul fusion skill was their strongest weapon. Along with their Instant Teleportation, they formed a team that couldn’t be overcome!

The dark-purplish color faded from the wolf-apes’ bodies. Just like Huo Yuhao had expected, their bodies entered a temporary state of weakness as they ended this martial soul fusion skill. They still had to be wary of Wang Qiu’er, and thus they were prepared to escape once they ﬁnished their martial soul fusion skill. However, Wang Qiu’er had used some method to get herself involved in their soul skill earlier. Soul beasts were soul beasts, after all. No matter how cunning they were, their intelligence wasn’t as high as humans. They believed that their soul skill would be able to kill Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er, and they would have their corpses to feast on after that. While there wasn’t much to go around, the taste of human corpses was still better than that of soul beasts. This was especially true if the corpses’ soul power hadn’t completely dissipated.

Just as the three wolf-apes were relaxing, one of them stiffened up suddenly and lowered its head. It was looking at its chest. Five sharp blades were stabbed inside it, exuding a dark-golden light. Following this, a sonorous dragon roar reverberated. The wolf-ape’s body was blown apart, and there was a huge hole in its chest. It screamed pathetically, not expecting such a sudden change just as it was expecting to feast on human corpses.

The other two wolf-apes realized that things were going wrong. However, a bright-golden ﬁgure had already appeared in front of them just as the ground shook with a deep rumbling sound.

In the middle of the dragon’s roar, two bright purple-gold lights shot out. They struck the wolf-apes’ heads at the same time, and the two wolf-apes stood frozen in place.

Yes, it was Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er who burst out just before the three-way martial soul fusion skill was about to end. They exhibited their own martial soul fusion skill, the Dragon Roar of Destiny

Using Wang Qiu’er’s Golden Dragon Armor, they managed to resist the strength of the three-way martial soul fusion skill.

At this point, the Golden Dragon Armor was already covered with rusty stains, and there were even cracks in many parts of it. Golden ﬂuid seeped out from these cracks.

Huo Yuhao didn’t just use his own abilities at this point; he also possessed the great strength of the Golden Dragon! His soul power had increased until it was equivalent to Rank 70.

This frightening strength greatly enhanced his speed, too! As he pointed his toes toward the ground, he moved and arrived in front of a wolf-ape who had been struck by his Spiritual Shock.

These three wolf-apes had defeated many opponents before now, but they ﬁnally slipped up today. They were in a weakened state, and thus were controlled before they could recover. It was destined to be a tragedy for them.

Huo Yuhao’s right hand reached out for the wolf-ape and grabbed its chest hair before ﬂinging it away towards the next wolf-ape.

While these three wolf-apes were soul beasts, they had grown up together since they were born. With their highly compatible three-way martial soul fusion skill, it was easy to tell how close they were to one another.

Seeing that its brother was ﬂung towards it, it subconsciously lifted its claws to grab hold of him.

However, it saw the look in its brother’s eyes that warned him to escape!

But it was too late. The conclusion was already decided as a frightening boom sounded. As the two wolf-apes collided, a deafening and earth-shaking explosion erupted.

The Snowless Glacier had long since killed the second wolf- ape, while the ultimate chill enabled it to be converted into the sacriﬁcial offering of Huo Yuhao’s Ice Explosion Technique. Huo Yuhao unleashed both the Snowless Glacier and Ice Explosion Technique amidst the Dragon Roar of Destiny, which led to such a shocking situation.

It proved that Huo Yuhao’s abilities would stun the entire continent when he reached a seven-ringed cultivation. All of his soul skills would be enhanced as his cultivation increased.

After completing this last strike, Huo Yuhao’s legs turned to jelly, and he couldn’t help but fall to his knees. He was exhausted. Although the Golden Dragon Armor helped him resist much of the attack from the three-way martial soul fusion skill, his soul power was also depleted in the process. The last few bursts had completely exhausted his soul and spiritual power. Even the ability to judge of the Dragon Roar of Destiny wasn’t activated before the three wolf-apes were killed.

Golden light dripped from Huo Yuhao’s body like ﬂuid and slowly took form, reforming into Wang Qiu’er.

All this while, Huo Yuhao had always seen a tough Wang Qiu’er. However, her appearance had changed at this moment. Her clothes were torn, and her face was pale. Fresh blood also ﬂowed out from her nose, and her eyes looked very dull. Her body turned soft, and she fell into Huo Yuhao’s arms.

“Qiu’er.” Huo Yuhao called and quickly grabbed hold of her. At this moment, he was no longer as furious as he was before. Huo Yuhao believed that Wang Qiu’er would have been capable of killing the three wolf-apes if he suffered from the three-way martial soul fusion skill alone. However, he would have most likely perished.

At that point, Wang Qiu’er didn’t choose her own safety but rushed to the core position of their martial soul fusion skill. Using the Dragon Roar of Destiny, she resisted the attack by turning into armor. She must have absorbed almost seventy percent of the attacks made by the wolf-apes’ attack!

Huo Yuhao was touched by her actions. She had saved his life. He ﬁnally addressed her less formally at this point.

Wang Qiu’er struggled to open her eyes and muttered, “You saved me once. I’m returning that favor. I don’t owe you anymore.”

“You don’t owe me anything, you don’t owe me anything. Don’t talk. Rest.” As they were able to unleash their martial soul fusion skill together, Huo Yuhao could sense that Wang Qiu’er’s life power was depleting quickly at this point. Her body was also exuding a weird, dim golden glow. There was a wound on her body that was bleeding heavily. If this continued, she would die from blood loss!

He had to adapt, and couldn’t watch as she died. He took in a deep breath and said softly, “Qiu’er, I might violate you. However, your injuries are too serious, and I need to treat you now. Otherwise, your life will be in danger. Forgive me.”

After he ﬁnished speaking, he bit the tip of his tongue. The intense, prickling pain jolted him awake. He placed Wang Qiu’er on the ground. As she exclaimed softly, he tore her clothes around her waist, where the largest wound was.

Wang Qiu’er’s body was already stained red with blood. Her blood was a little weird. There was a little dim gold mixed with the fresh-red blood.

Seeing that the wound that was almost an inch deep and four inches long, Huo Yuhao sealed her blood vessels before retrieving the emergency kit that the academy prepared for all of its students. He took out a needle and started to stitch up her wound.

Wang Qiu’er was indeed very tough. It was even slightly difﬁcult to prick the needle into her skin. This resistance meant it was easy to make mistakes. If he were an ordinary doctor, this might have been very challenging. Fortunately, Huo Yuhao was a soul engineer. With the help of his Spiritual Detection, he poured his soul power into the needle before pouring some of the strength of his Ultimate Ice into her wound. This reduced her blood loss and the pain that she felt.

As he stitched her wounds up, Huo Yuhao also slightly activated the Domain of Perpetual Ice. He used its ultimate chill to delay Wang Qiu’er’s blood loss. He was stitching up her wound very quickly, and soon it was closed completely.

After the wound was dealt with, Huo Yuhao quickly shifted to the other side. This time, it was Wang Qiu’er’s right thigh. When Huo Yuhao was ready to tear her clothing, he stopped slightly. He lifted his head to look at her.

At this point, her eyes were already completely closed. It seemed as if she had completely handed herself over to be treated by Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao grit his teeth and tore her clothing apart forcefully. A shocking wound was revealed on her thigh.

Her white thighs were smooth, long, and very gentle to the touch. Huo Yuhao’s heart quivered slightly, and he lifted his left arm before biting down onto it. The prickling pain enabled him to focus again.

He stitched her up again.

Using his Spiritual Detection as a guide, he kept dealing with the most serious wounds as he treated Wang Qiu’er. Wang Qiu’er’s torn and tattered clothing was slowly turned into cloth fragments. Less and less of her body remained covered.

Her ﬁgure was perfect! When Huo Yuhao ﬁnished treating her last wound, he was dazed as he looked at her. Right now, she was almost completely naked. She was only covered in certain private areas. Her turquoise hair was messily swept to one side, and her pale-looking face made her look weak.

Something’s not right!

Huo Yuhao’s daze only lasted for an instant. He immediately realized something was amiss. For a single young lady liker her, she should be feeling shy that her body was almost completely exposed to a guy that she barely knew. She shouldn’t be immobile as she laid on the ground.

Huo Yuhao rushed to press Wang Qiu’er’s pulse and slowly poured his soul power into her.

He soon discovered the problem. Wang Qiu’er had lost too much blood, and her life force was still dropping. She seemed to be very reliant on her blood. Even though her wounds had been stitched up and the blood loss had been stopped, her life force was still failing. Her condition even seemed to have been aggravated.

At this point, the sky had turned completely dark. The sky above the forest seemed to have been suppressed. Large patches of gloomy clouds drifted over. Bolts of lightning ﬂashed, and thunder rumbled. It seemed like it was about to rain.

In the end, Huo Yuhao wasn’t a professional doctor! He had done his best to stitch up whatever wounds there were, but he was now at a loss as to how to deal with Wang Qiu’er’s injuries. He couldn’t treat her blood loss with his soul power.

Blood, life force?

Suddenly, he thought of something. He focused slightly before retrieving a set of his clothing from his storage-type soul tool. After that, he quickly removed the cloth fragments and cleaned her body with a towel and clean water. After that, he dressed her up with his own clothing.

Wang Qiu’er’s ﬁgure was extremely slender. His clothes seemed a little loose, but they still ﬁt on her body.

After completing all this, Huo Yuhao discovered that he was perspiring profusely. He didn’t know if it was because of his fatigue, or because of Wang Qiu’er’s tempting ﬁgure.

He carried her to a spot at a higher elevation. He retrieved his portable tent before placing her inside. Only her head was left outside of the tent. He sat cross-legged in front of the tent and helped her head onto his thighs. As he took in a deep breath, Huo Yuhao retrieved his White Tiger Dagger. As he looked at Wang Qiu’er’s pale-looking face, he cut his left wrist.

Blood shone. Huo Yuhao used his right hand to open Wang Qiu’er’s mouth and placed his left wrist over it. His blood started to drip into her mouth.

Huo Yuhao’s life power was too strong. Ten seconds after he opened this wound, it started to heal by itself.

Yes, there was only one method he could think of that could save Wang Qiu’er. He wanted to use his blood, which contained the immense life power of the Life Gold, to restore her life power and blood formation abilities.

As his blood clotted, Huo Yuhao immediately cut his wrist again to release more. He continued to drip blood into her mouth.

Just like that, he fed her his blood and continued to cut his wrist every time the blood ﬂow stopped. His surging life power slowly circulated through her body.

Chapter 239: I Trust Him

Thunder continued to rumble through the sky. However, oddly, it wasn’t raining at all.

Huo Yuhao continued to repeat his actions like a machine, despite his body being on the verge of collapse.

Even though he’d suffered less from the martial soul fusion skill, he’d still almost entirely exhausted his soul power when he used everything he had at the end. Furthermore, he’d treated Wang Qiu’er and used his blood as medicine for her; his body was truly about to burn out.

When he felt that Wang Qiu’er’s life power had ﬁnally stopped depleting, and was beginning to recover, he ﬁnally relaxed. As soon as he did so, an intense wave of fatigue and weakness engulfed his body. Even though this was the Great Star Dou Forest, Huo Yuhao couldn’t be bothered to care anymore. After holding on for so long, he ﬁnally collapsed. He was still holding his White Tiger Dagger tightly, his other wrist marred with countless cuts. Once he passed out, they both maintained weird postures. Huo Yuhao lay ﬂat on the ground, while Wang Qiu’er laid in the tent. However, her head was still resting on his legs, her mouth still stained with some of Huo Yuhao’s blood.

The two of them fell into a deep sleep just like that. Perhaps they were blessed, but no soul beasts attacked them in their weakened states. Not far from them, the soul rings released from the wolf-apes’ corpses slowly started to dissipate as time passed.

An hour later…

“It should’ve come from this direction. I’m very sensitive to sounds. I’m sure I’m right.” Li Yongyue said conﬁdently.

They quickly made their way through the forest. Li Yongyue led the team and waved his Moonblade continuously, carving a path forward for them.

Zhang Lexuan was right behind Li Yongyue. Behind her were Han Ruoruo, Wang Dong’er, Mo Xuan, and the pale-faced Dean Cai Mei’er.

Just like Huo Yuhao had expected, they’d fought with the male Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. In order to protect everyone, Cai Mei’er hadn’t dared to overuse her powers. Right when they’d been about to end the ﬁght, Zhong Litian and Zhong Liren had suddenly intervened. As such, Cai Mei’er had

retracted her powers just before they killed the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear.

Another epic ﬁght had ensued! Cai Mei’er had demonstrated great abilities, resulting in Zhong Litian and Zhong Lidi being unable to gain the upper hand as they were resisted by everyone from Shrek Academy. After all, some of their energy had been depleted earlier from using their beast spirits.

However, when Zhong Liren appeared, even Cai Mei’er’s heart sank. She knew that it would be very difﬁcult to completely retreat.

However, Zhong Liren said something to Zhong Litian that changed his expression. The three brothers attacked them for awhile, then ﬂed. Their crisis had been averted in this way. They roughly knew what Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er had gone to do; Zhong Liren’s expression had changed when he returned. Evidently, it had something to do with the both of them.

Wang Qiu’er alone was ﬁne. After all, she was a new student of the academy. However, Huo Yuhao was different! He wasn’t just a part of the inner courtyard. He was also part of the Sea God’s Pavilion! If something happened to him, Cai Mei’er couldn’t imagine what kind of problems it would cause when they returned to the academy. Huo Yuhao was the Heir to the Sea God’s Pavilion! He was deﬁnitely the future hope of the academy.

Right now, none of them dared to delay any further. They immediately started looking for Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er, but weren’t able to ﬁnd them. Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er were completely missing.

They couldn’t even be bothered to rest. Cai Mei’er also joined the team and used her fastest speed to search for the two of them. They also left markings behind just in case. However, right as they’d been about to rest for the night, a loud sound had surprised all of them from afar. The tremendous explosion had sounded extremely clear, even though it came from afar.

Wang Dong’er was extremely anxious; Huo Yuhao’s disappearance made her feel as if her heart had left with him. After hearing the explosion, she couldn’t help but rush towards it. Zhang Lexuan wanted to stop her, but Wang Dong nearly attacked her in retaliation. Left with no other option, Cai Mei’er could only try and trace the source of the explosion.

Wang Dong’er’s expression was extremely pale at this point. Her big turquoise eyes were ﬁlled with anxiety, and she could even be seen tearing up from time to time.

She only sensed how strong her enemies were after ﬁghting the evil soul masters. After Huo Yuhao left, she’d heard a few booms, but didn’t know other news about him. Even though she was conﬁdent in him, she knew that he couldn’t defeat an eight-ringed evil soul master with his current cultivation! How could she not be anxious? However, Wang Dong’er conﬁdently told everyone that Huo Yuhao wasn’t in any danger. Due to their martial fusion soul skill, the two of them were already slightly connected. If something had really happened to Huo Yuhao, she’d deﬁnitely feel it. Even though she’d had a few scares along the way, the

situation that she’d feared most hadn’t occured.

Her senses had naturally been aroused by the reverberating booms because Huo Yuhao had once ﬁred cannon shells using the Lightning God’s Fury.

They searched for close to two hours, but the geography of the forest was simply too complex, thus they had to walk around some small canyons. They only got close to their target because of Li Yongyue’s memory.

Yuhao, is it you? Wang Dong’er thought in her heart, her tears starting to ﬂow. She’d gone through a tough ﬁght, and had been searching for him for an entire day. Furthermore, the sky was already completely dark now. Her feminine fragility left her unable to withstand any further disappointment.

Yuhao, nothing must happen to you! After passing through a patch of forest, Li Yongyue was surprised and shouted, “There’s a tent there!”

Before he could continue, a streak of golden light had already rushed forward from behind him. Wang Dong’er barrelled past him as she beat her Radiant Butterﬂy Goddess’ wings and ﬂew in the direction of the tent.

The golden light looked extremely bright in the pitch-dark night. Wang Dong’er burst forward with all her strength; at this point, she felt as if she’d expended all of her energy.

Tent, it’s a tent. It’s his tent!

Wang Dong’er was able to immediately recognize Huo Yuhao’s tent. Since he could use his tent, that meant that he should ﬁne. The surprise jolted her fatigued body. She ﬂapped her wings with renewed vigor and reached above the tent within a few seconds.

“Yuhao!” Wang Dong’er shouted anxiously. She couldn’t be bothered with the fact that this was the Great Star Dou Forest that was ﬁlled with soul beasts at the moment.

However, she stopped shouting after an instant. Since the golden-blue light from her wings was illuminating her surroundings, everything below her was visible for her to see. She saw him lying on the ground with a pale expression on his face, as well as Wang Qiu’er lying on his lap.

They’re together? This was the ﬁrst thought that ﬂashed through Wang Dong’er’s mind. However, she was instantly jolted from her daze. She retracted her wings and quickly descended, then came up to Huo Yuhao and pressed her hand to his chest.

Wang Dong’er felt dizzy when she felt his heart beating, and became less tense. She was panting.

He’s alright, he’s alright. He’s still alive! Tears started to ﬂow down her face uncontrollably and she started to bawl as she leapt onto his body.

Her cries scared everyone who arrived after her. Cai Mei’er was naturally the most anxious. When she arrived beside Wang Qiu’er, it was almost as if she’d used an Instant Shift. She grabbed Huo Yuhao’s hand and read his pulse. When she conﬁrmed its presence, she heaved a sigh of relief.

Even though she normally had a good temper, she snapped, “Dong’er, why are you crying? You almost scared me to death.” She was extremely relieved now that they’d found Huo Yuhao. Everything would be much easier so long as Huo Yuhao was alive.

After speaking, she quickly retrieved a bottle of medicine and poured out two white pills before stufﬁng one into both Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er’s mouths.

Zhang Lexuan demonstrated her leadership skills at this point. She didn’t crowd around Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er, but rather instructed everyone else to spread out to guard the tent against any potential soul beasts.

After a simple observation, everyone discovered the corpses on the ground and the bloodstained fragments of cloth that belonged to Wang Qiu’er’s clothing. Everyone was shocked to see the three wolf-ape corpses. They’d never seen such soul beasts before. When they looked at Wang Qiu’er’s bloodstained clothing again, their expressions turned even weirder. Wang Qiu’er was in the tent, but her clothing was outside. What exactly was going on?

Wang Dong’er vented by crying before calming down. Once she’d calmed down, she hurriedly stood up and let Cai Mei’er treat Huo Yuhao.

Right now, she was more concerned about Wang Qiu’er’s situation. Wang Qiu’er continued to look better and better as she laid on Huo Yuhao’s legs; her face expression was very calm.

Wang Dong’er was in a daze, and felt bitter in her heart. From the looks of it, they’ve been together ever since they separated from the team. Why did Huo Yuhao choose to ﬁght with her instead of me? Why didn’t he bring me along?

Girls were much more meticulous than guys, especially those that had just fallen in love. Wang Dong’er discriminated against Wang Qiu’er and her identical looks. Right now, this discrimination grew even deeper.

She lowered her head subconsciously, and her body turned slightly rigid. That was because she saw Wang Qiu’er’s bloodstained clothing strewn all over her place.

Those fragments were once part of her clothing? Then she’s…

As she thought till here, she couldn’t take it anymore. She walked in front of the test and took a peek.

As she peeked in, she bit her lower lip with her teeth and her face turned even paler.

Han Ruoruo was also beside the tent. She was a control-type soul master, so naturally she couldn’t be guarding the perimeter. She clearly saw what Wang Dong’er did. She rushed up a few steps and whispered, “Dong’er, don’t think blindly. The matter was critical, and he had to adapt. It seems that they’ve gone through more than one ﬁght. I believe those ﬁghts were quite intense too. Wang Qiu’er must have suffered

injuries. Look at how bloody her clothing is. A normal person would have died from such extreme blood loss.”

Wang Dong’er shook her head slightly and glanced at Huo Yuhao before she replied, “Sister Ruoruo, I’m not thinking blindly. I believe in Yuhao. He’s not that kind of person.”

Han Ruoruo looked into her eyes and was stunned to realize that she wore a clear and serious expression as she said that. Her light blue eyes were extremely beautiful.

She couldn’t help but caress the younger woman’s head and smile, “Huo Yuhao is really lucky to have such a girlfriend like you. If I were a guy, I would’ve given up everything to challenge him for you. However, you need to watch your man at times. While Yuhao isn’t some handsome bloke, his talents cannot be matched by most people. There are many girls that he’ll attract.” Wang Dong’er shook her head and looked at Huo Yuhao. She said gently, “I trust him.”

Han Ruoruo hugged her and didn’t say anything else.

Wang Dong’er squatted down beside Huo Yuhao again and said to Cai Mei’er softly. “Dean Cai, how’s Yuhao?”

Cai Mei’er was completely relaxed at this point, and replied, “He’s ﬁne. His body is just a little weak, and his soul power has almost been completely exhausted. However, there aren’t really any injuries on him. There shouldn’t be any problems. He just needs some time to rest before he’ll recover.”

Wang Dong’er twisted her head to look at Wang Qiu’er. She said, “Take a look at her too.”

Cai Mei’er was stunned. Even though she wasn’t with the team earlier, she knew about the conﬂict between Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er. For Wang Dong’er to spout such words revealed her kindness. “Alright.”

Cai Mei’er came to Wang Qiu’er and shifted her further into the tent, away from Huo Yuhao’s legs. After that, she crawled into the tent and lifted Wang Qiu’er’s body.

Wang Dong’er retrieved her own portable tent and moved Huo Yuhao inside so that he could sleep more comfortably. After ﬁnishing this, she also felt a wave of fatigue.

“Ah!” Cai Mei’er’s exclamation shocked everyone.

Wang Dong’er rushed into the tent to ﬁnd out what was going on.

She only heard Cai Mei’er shouting, “Her injuries are serious. These wounds were all fatal! But they were stitched up well, and the blood loss was stopped in time. Her body signs are normal. Fortunately, the wounds are no longer fatal, even though her injuries are still serious.” After some time, Cai Mei’er exited the tent. She said, “They indeed met strong enemies. However, I don’t know if that was the work of those evil soul masters. This place is quite far from where we were. I’m guessing that these dead soul beasts should have fought them. Wang Qiu’er suffered several deadly

wounds. Fortunately, her blood loss was stopped in time, and she managed to preserve her life. Furthermore, there seems to be a strong life power in her body that’s supporting her recovery, and she’s very tough physically. With sufﬁcient rest, she can recover. She’s been changed into Huo Yuhao’s clothing. I guess he helped stitch up her wounds. This kid is really meticulous. He’s indeed a soul engineer, the wounds were bound nicely. Dong’er, he had to adapt given the situation. Don’t think too much into it.”

Wang Dong’er shook her head slightly and smiled, “I overthought things when I saw them before, but I’m ﬁne now. I trust Yuhao. He’s not that kind of person.”

Cai Mei’er smiled before she said, “Alright. Guys, take this opportunity to rest. I’ll guard this place tonight. Today has really been taxing on all of us.”

Zhang Lexuan smiled and replied, “Fortunately, you’re around, and everyone’s safe.”

Cai Mei’er answered, “The most important thing is that everyone’s safe. Lexuan, you’re tired, too. Go and rest.”

Zhang Lexuan acknowledged her words and replied, “Alright. I’ll take over for you in two hours.”

Everyone surrounded the two tents and sat down before entering their cultivation states. Wang Dong’er guarded Huo Yuhao’s tent. She didn’t look at Wang Qiu’er’s tent anymore. In her heart, she was really not bothered by what she had seen earlier.

Wang Dong’er was a clever lady. The greatest strength of an intelligent woman was that she wouldn’t ﬁnd problems for herself. She knew that many things must have happened between Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er throughout the day, and they must have gone through many intense ﬁghts. However, she was just delighted that he had managed to survive. Furthermore, she had spoken from the bottom of her heart just now. Since she understood Huo Yuhao, she trusted him completely. With this trust, she naturally didn’t need to think too much. She also didn’t want to know what had happened between Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er earlier. As long as he was ﬁne, she was satisﬁed.

It was inevitable for women to feel jealous. However, the smart and conﬁdent ones were more resistant in this aspect.

For some reason, Wang Dong’er felt more open-minded following a temporary heartache after she saw Wang Qiu’er in Huo Yuhao’s clothes.

She knew that she had been very mindful of Wang Qiu’er earlier because they looked identical. She had the appearance of the Goddess of Light that Huo Yuhao had fallen in love with at ﬁrst sight.

However, there could only be one Goddess of Light, which was the one developed from her martial soul fusion skill with Huo Yuhao. Was appearance really so important? If that was the case, the equally ravishing Ju Zi would have captured Huo Yuhao’s heart before he knew about her identity as the Goddess of Light. However, he still remained very prim and proper with her.

He didn’t start anything with her. After two and a half years, his heart was still with Wang Dong’er. What did she have to worry about?

It had to be the intense jealousy, or perhaps even the discomfort that enabled her to resolve her dilemma. She didn’t suspect anything, and even accepted Wang Qiu’er now. At least, she didn’t feel the same hostility towards Qiu’er that she had before.

Wang Dong’er also slowly entered deep meditation with her newfound acceptance. A slight undulation of the aura of light surrounded the tent and made the temperature inside it warmer.

They were ﬁnally rid of troubles. This night was especially peaceful.

In the meantime, Cai Mei’er, Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo took turns standing guard. They didn’t wake anyone else up.

------

When Huo Yuhao woke up from his deep sleep, he felt extremely sore, and had a splitting headache. His soul power had only recovered by thirty percent, but he was no longer as weak as before.

As he opened his eyes, he was a little lost as he looked at the dim blue ceiling of the tent. Where, where am I?

He didn’t want to move because of his aches, but the scent in the tent reminded him of someone, because it was too familiar.

“Dong’er, Dong’er!” Huo Yuhao shouted almost immediately, and struggled to sit up.

Even though he didn’t have any injuries, he was still very dizzy as he sat up. He almost fell back down.

The curtains to the tent opened, and a surprised face peeked in. “Yuhao, you’re ﬁnally awake!”

Wang Dong’er bent her waist and entered the tent. She was secretly delighted. Yuhao called my name ﬁrst after he awoke. After seeing Wang Dong’er, Huo Yuhao didn’t even think, and reached out for her. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.

Wang Dong’er was also stunned by his passion. However, she hugged him back with even more force after she froze momentarily.

“Dong’er, do you know something? I’m really scared.” Huo Yuhao muttered softly.

Wang Dong’er was stunned. She felt a little weird. I should be the one who’s scared, right?

“I was scared that I wouldn’t see you again. I was almost on the verge of death twice, but I managed to survive in the end. Dong’er, I really missed you.” As he spoke, he hugged her even tighter.

No matter what strong enemies he faced, he had always managed to maintain his composure. However, he was ﬁlled with an indescribable sense of happiness and bliss when he saw Wang Dong’er again after narrowly avoiding death. He also recited his deepest feelings to her.

Wang Dong’er smacked his shoulder, “Idiot, why did you take that risk? Why didn’t you stay with the rest of us? Why didn’t you bring me along?”

Huo Yuhao didn’t answer her questions. That was because he knew that she knew the answer.

The two of them hugged tightly just like that and felt each other’s heartbeat. Their hearts were ﬁnally together after they reunited and established their relationship. In Huo Yuhao’s heart, the ﬁgure that belonged to Goddess of Light now ﬁnally and completely belonged to her.

Some time later...

“It’s been some time. How’s Yuhao’s body?” Cai Mei’er’s voice sounded outside after a cough.

Wang Dong’er recalled that there were others outside, and her face started to blush, while her ears turned red, too. She quickly let go of him and glanced at Huo Yuhao with a displeased look on her face.

Huo Yuhao reached forward subconsciously and poked her.

Her skin was soft and delicate, like almond beancurd. Her fresh scent was calming, and Huo Yuhao felt intoxicated at this moment. If not for the fact that there were many people waiting for him outside, he would have kissed her countless times…

When the two of them exited the tent, everyone else was amused as they surrounded the two of them.

They were both blushing at this point.

Wang Dong’er turned around and leaned on Huo Yuhao’s shoulder. She pounded him lightly a few times.

A guy was more thick-skinned. Although Huo Yuhao’s face was red, he soon recovered from the embarrassment and said, “Dean Cai, eldest senior sister, sister Ruoruo, Yongyue, Mo Xuan. It’s great that all of you are ﬁne.”

Cai Mei’er smiled and asked, “How’s your body?”

Huo Yuhao replied, “I’m still a little weak. Yesterday’s ﬁght was too intense. If not for Qiu’er’s help, we would’ve died. Yes, how is she? Is she alright?”

Cai Mei’er replied, “She’s still sleeping. Fortunately, her life wasn’t in danger after you treated her. She’s indeed the possessor of the Golden Dragon. She is recovering quickly even though she’s suffered critical injuries. There have been no relapses, either. What happened to the both of you yesterday?” Huo Yuhao was still a little afraid as he thought of yesterday’s experience.

They had been extremely unlucky. Firstly, they had met the three evil soul masters. After that, they met the three mutant soul beasts. Their misfortune wasn’t normal.

He recounted how he had acted alone after he realized something was wrong using his Spiritual Detection, and how he and Wang Qiu’er had contended with and trapped Zhong Liren. He also repeated what had happened to them after that. He told them almost everything that had happened, but concealed two things. First, he didn’t talk about his Light of Puriﬁcation. He wove a lie and said he used his Spiritual Shock twice consecutively, managing to destroy Zhong Liren’s beast spirits.

When he talked about how he teamed up with Wang Qiu’er, he also hid the fact that he had unleashed a martial soul fusion skill with her. This martial soul fusion skill wasn’t really anything worth concealing. However, he decided to conceal it as he recalled what he and Wang Qiu’er had experienced yesterday, and when he saw the worried and even terriﬁed Wang Dong’er. For the same reason, he also hid how he had used his own blood to save Wang Qiu’er’s life. The former two lies could still be exposed by Wang Qiu’er, but he was afraid of the last lie. After all, only he knew about it. The cuts on his wrist had also been healed by the immense life power of his Life Gold after one night of rest.

After hearing Huo Yuhao’s explanation, everyone was shocked even though they hadn’t experienced it themselves. A three-way martial soul fusion skill was too dangerous.

Wang Dong’er was slightly dazed after hearing his words. After Huo Yuhao recounted how Wang Qiu’er had saved him, and how it had led to her grave injuries, the look Wang Dong’er’s eyes changed. Her eyes were moving, as if she was thinking of something. However, she subconsciously clenched Huo Yuhao’s arm tightly.

After listening to Huo Yuhao, Cai Mei’er was stunned. “The two of you were too brazen. Even with your exceptional talents, he was an eight-ringed evil soul master! Even in a duel, I wasn’t able to capture him! However, the two of you thwarted his plans. What about the two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear cubs that you talked about? Let them out! Don’t freeze them to death.”

Huo Yuhao acknowledged her words and released the two cubs from his storage-type soul tool.

They were still frozen, but Huo Yuhao could sense their thriving life through his Spiritual Detection. His Ultimate Ice wasn’t just used to hurt. It had a preservation effect which was rather strong, too.

Huo Yuhao pressed both hands on the two cubs and slowly retracted his ultimate ice-type aura. He also slightly activated his soul power and used his Mysterious Heaven Technique to increase their blood ﬂow circulation.

The two cubs stood there in a daze, but they remained immobile. Since Huo Yuhao dared to freeze them, it meant that he had considered this aspect. In the Ultimate Soldier Plan, he had taken a special lesson on cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Thump and exert pressure before agitating with soul power. With the control of his Spiritual Detection, Huo Yuhao restored the two cubs perfectly. Finally, they started to breathe after ten minutes. Their chests could also be seen rising and falling.

These two cubs looked very cute. They had just been born, and hadn’t even opened their eyes yet.

Cai Mei’er said, “Yuhao, what do you plan to do with them?”

Huo Yuhao said, “If the academy needs them, we can bring them back. I believe the Beast Dueling Area should need them. After all, Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear cubs are very difﬁcult to capture.”

Cai Mei’er didn’t stand on ceremony either. She nodded and replied, “Let’s bring them back to the academy ﬁrst. However, I don’t think the Beast Dueling Area is suitable for them. With the current situation in the academy’s Beast Dueling Area, the two of them might frighten the rest of the ordinary soul beasts when they develop after a few months.”

After hearing Cai Mei’er’s words, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er looked at each other. They were reminded of the time when Huo Yuhao released the aura of a hundred-thousand year soul beast and frightened the entire Beast Dueling Area. They were both amused at this point. Zhang Lexuan interrupted, “Let’s raise them in the inner courtyard ﬁrst. Everyone will take care of them if they’re in the inner courtyard.”

Cai Mei’er nodded and said, “We can only do it this way.”

The two cubs slowly recovered, and even started to cry. Their cries sounded rather pathetic, just like infants that were bawling.

Everyone present was the best in Shrek Academy, but none of them had helped raise Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears before! They looked at each other and didn’t know what to do.

Huo Yuhao had a bright idea and said, “The two of them must be hungry. Ah, it’s a pity that their mother has been killed. Her corpse must have been taken by those vicious evil soul masters too. Dean Cai, do you know what Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears eat?”

Cai Mei’er was stumped by this question. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Mature Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears eat meat, but such young cubs should feed on milk, right?”

Milk…

A few guys lowered their heads, as they were afraid of causing misunderstandings if they looked at the ladies. There were many more guys than ladies on their team! Besides Dean Cai, they couldn’t offend Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo either! There was also Wang Qiu’er, whose ﬁghting abilities had been witnessed by everyone before.

At this moment, a weak voice sounded, “No, they don’t feed on milk. They consume meat from the moment they’re born. Their ﬁrst meal should be their mother’s placenta and umbilical cord. For such strong soul beasts, they are born with teeth.”

They ate meat from the moment they were born! They were indeed very strong! Everyone turned to the direction where the voice came from.

They saw Wang Qiu’er struggling as she exited her tent.

Her face was very pale, and she looked dismal. However, that was understandable, given that she had suffered such grave injuries! She was able to stand up after just one night, which demonstrated how tough she was.

Meat? If they consumed meat, then it was much easier.

Li Yongyue and Mo Xuan volunteered to go get meat. The three wolf-apes were extremely large, and packed with meat.

Wang Qiu’er walked slowly over to the rest of them. Zhang Lexuan walked up to support her.

Wang Qiu’er took a look at her and said softly, “Thanks.”

Zhang Lexuan shook her head and replied, “We should be the ones thanking you. If you and Yuhao hadn’t drawn the evil soul masters away, we would have been in trouble. Can you walk? If you can’t, don’t force yourself.”

Wang Qiu’er shook her head and replied, “I’m ﬁne. Just a little weak.”

As she spoke, she turned her attention to Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao was also looking at her with a concerned expression.

Yesterday’s ﬁght had dispelled any conﬂict between the two of them. When Wang Qiu’er awoke, she discovered that her clothing had been changed. Undoubtedly, it belonged to Huo Yuhao. His aura was even on it. After that, she recalled what had happened yesterday.

Huo Yuhao thought that no one would know about him feeding blood to her, but it still surfaced in Wang Qiu’er’s mind. She hadn’t revealed the last ability of the three innate abilities bestowed upon her by her Golden Dragon. It was that she could record everything that happened after she was unconscious in her mind. Right now, the cold look in her eyes had become much less prevalent.

Wang Dong’er let go of Huo Yuhao’s arm and walked towards Wang Qiu’er. Huo Yuhao was frightened and hurriedly said, “Dong’er, you…”

Chapter 240: Three Completely Identical Soul Bones

Wang Dong’er turned around and rolled her eyes at him. That sassiness was so enchanting it was suffocating. “Are you that unconﬁdent in me? I have absolute faith in you, though. If you don’t believe me, you can ask everyone.” She smiled faintly after she spoke, and continued walking towards Wang Qiu’er.

Wang Dong’er stopped walking in before Wang Qiu’er.

Wang Qiu’er’s eyes seemed like they had melted before this, but they were instantly sealed in ice once more as she stared coldly at Wang Dong’er and remained silent.

Wang Dong’er was also staring back at her. She gradually bent down and bowed like that at Wang Qiu’er in front of everyone’s watchful eyes.

“I’m sorry, Qiu’er. I am apologizing to you sincerely for how unreasonable I was before this and how I’ve antagonized you. Everything was my fault, and I hope you can forgive me.” “Tsk…” Huo Yuhao drew in a cold breath as he thought to himself, Dong’er, Dong’er, what game are you trying to play?

Huo Yuhao had known how arrogant and prideful Wang Dong’er was ever since the ﬁrst day they had met. Even though this pride was rarely displayed as they grew older, it was still deeply imprinted into her bones. Yet, she was willing to bow toward Wang Qiu’er for forgiveness at this moment, willing to bow to a girl that she had perceived with so much hostility before. What was happening?

Huo Yuhao wasn’t the only one who was astounded. Everyone in Shrek Academy shared the same surprise, but only Cai Mei’er gave Wang Dong’er her silent approval. This girl is indeed smart!

Wang Qiu’er stared at the bowing Wang Dong’er and was equally shocked. She was momentarily stunned before she said, “You’ve never done anything to me, and you don’t need to ask me for forgiveness. If you are doing this because I saved his life, then it’s even more unnecessary. He saved me before, and I was just returning the favor.” Wang Dong’er said sincerely, “No. I’ve always been rejecting you in my heart, and I’m apologizing to you because of that. This has nothing to do with Huo Yuhao. Of course, you saved his life, and I am extremely thankful for what you did, as his girlfriend. If there’s anything you need us to do in the future, we will help you out to the best of our ability, no matter what.”

Wang Qiu’er waved her hand and said, “It’s alright, let bygones be bygones. I’ve said this already, he doesn’t owe me anything.”

Wang Dong’er came up beside her and touched her arm as she said softly, “If you’re willing to listen, I can tell you our story, and then you will understand why I harbored that hostility against you before this. Let me escort you back to rest.”

Wang Qiu’er hesitated for a moment before nodding softly.

Huo Yuhao looked on with slack jaw and stunned eyes as Wang Dong’er helped Wang Qiu’er back into his tent, and even sealed the tent’s entrance. “Uh…” Huo Yuhao didn’t know what to do.

Han Ruoruo came up beside him and giggled. “So? Are you nervous? Does it feel exciting?”

Huo Yuhao forced a laugh and said, “I’m absolutely nervous, but excitement… maybe a little too overwhelming. The two of them…”

Han Ruoruo laughed and said, “That’s what you get for ﬂirting with girls everywhere. You’re not satisﬁed with Dong’er, and you end up ﬂirting with Qiu’er as well! Dong’er really has a big heart! When we were searching for the two of you yesterday, you were lying on the ground so unglamorously, while Wang Qiu’er was lying on your thighs. Her clothes had been torn to pieces, and she was wearing your clothes. If Dong’er had been someone else, that person would probably have been infuriated. Do you know what she said?”

Huo Yuhao’s curiosity was immediately piqued. “What did she say?” Han Ruoruo said, “Dong’er said she trusts you. The truth is that I could tell that she was extremely sad because you were hurt, and because you were with Wang Qiu’er. I could read the look in her eyes, she would rather she herself be the one that was heinously wounded rather than see you with another woman in your most difﬁcult of times. She must be feeling very dejected inside. This isn’t about envy or jealousy, this is about her not being able to help you.”

Huo Yuhao’s eyes grew solemn. Dong’er, Dong’er! How can I love you to return the affection you have for me?

Han Ruoruo whispered, “Hey! You haven’t actually done anything to betray Dong’er, have you?”

Huo Yuhao immediately tossed his head from side to side without hesitation. “Absolutely not! She’s the only girl in my heart. No matter how much Wang Qiu’er looks like her, Dong’er will always be Dong’er in my heart, and Qiu’er will always be Qiu’er.”

Han Ruoruo laughed and said, “Heh, righteous words! It seems like Dong’er’s decision to trust you isn’t wrong. In the end, you have to treat Dong’er as nicely as you can, and even I won’t let this go if you don’t. Dong’er is such a good girl!”

“Yes,” Huo Yuhao nodded in vigorous agreement.

An exclamation could be heard not far from where they were.

This was the Great Star Dou Forest, and danger could arrive at any moment. Han Ruoruo was still talking to Huo Yuhao in the previous moment, but a golden beam of light stretched out in the next and immediately wrapped around Li Yongyue and Mo Xuan, who were not too far away.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. It’s good news!” Li Yongyue shouted.

Mo Xuan turned around with a look of excitement. “We’ve discovered soul bones! Real soul bones! It’s a left thigh bone.”

He raised a shiny purple thigh bone into the air as he spoke and waved it in the sky. A dark purple color released brilliant shadows as it sparkled.

Mo Xuan and Li Yongyue had been going through the wolf- apes’ corpses for the two little Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears when they discovered intense soul power undulations. They were both elites from Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard, and they immediately realized what was going on. They followed the soul power undulations and quickly discovered this wolf- ape’s left thigh bone.

Soul bones were extremely rare treasures, much more valuable compared to soul rings. The three wolf-apes were mutants, but they were still soul beasts with at least ten thousand years of cultivation. Every soul bone had a single soul skill, except for hundred thousand year soul bones, but soul beasts would always produce stronger soul bones the more powerful they were. Even a single soul bone like that had immeasurable value.

Li Yongyue handed the soul bone to Cai Mei’er after returning to the company, and everyone’s eyes glazed over.

This left thigh bone was emanating a faint purplish-black light, and there were hints of silver light ﬂickering within. Huo Yuhao was the most surprised when he saw it. He realized, to his intense surprise, that this left thigh bone wasn’t a darkness-type. The soul bone was releasing purplish-black colors, but there was a stronger aura on top of that, and it belonged to spatial undulations. This meant that the left thigh

bone’s element was in line with the three wolf-ape’s spatial element. He thought about their Instant Teleportation ability, and Huo Yuhao’s heart began to palpitate. If this soul bone contained that ability… a thought crossed his mind when he thought about this, and he said, “What about the other two?

Have you checked them out, seniors?” Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er were the youngest in the company, so everyone else was a senior to them.

Li Yongyue and Mo Xuan immediately understood what he was trying to say. They exchanged a look and said, “We can’t be that lucky, can we?”

Huo Yuhao replied meaningfully, “Three-way martial soul fusion skill!”

They didn’t need Cai Mei’er to instruct them, and they exclaimed at almost the same time as they separately pounced on the other two carcasses. Huo Yuhao had already blown one of them into smithereens before this.

“Yes! There’s actually another one!” Li Yongyue was the ﬁrst to declare the good news. He didn’t have to check the other carcass, but instead found the second soul bone among the bloody parts in the vegetation. Furthermore, it was another left thigh bone, identical to the previous one.

It didn’t take long before Mo Xuan exclaimed excitedly, “I also have one. This is just great, it’s a left thigh bone too!”

After another moment, three identical soul bones that released purplish-black auras and ﬂickering with silver light appeared before Cai Mei’er.

Cai Mei’er was full of awe as she stared at these three identical soul bones. Even though she wasn’t like Huo Yuhao, and hadn’t guessed the soul skills that these soul bones contained, she knew that these identical soul bones could be fused together to forge an entirely new soul bone. Three together would be a lot more valuable than they were alone, and even she couldn’t value these three bones. Furthermore, there was no need to give that estimate.

“Yuhao!” Cai Mei’er called out.

“I’m here!” Huo Yuhao hurriedly acknowledged. He was starting to feel waves of weakness once more, especially about what Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er were whispering in the tent on the other side. That gave him a lot of psychological pressure, and the distraction made him even weaker.

Cai Mei’er passed the three soul bones to him and said, “Keep them.”

“Ah?” Huo Yuhao was taken aback. “What are you doing, Dean Cai? These soul bones belong to everyone. How can you give them all to me?”

Cai Mei’er shook her head and said, “This is not a group prize. They belong to you and Wang Qiu’er. You two were the ones that killed those wolf-apes. We didn’t do a single thing.”

Huo Yuhao hurriedly tried to dispute her words. “But if not for your protection and the help of the company, we wouldn’t have been able to venture so deep into the Great Star Dou Forest! Naturally-” Cai Mei’er stuffed the three soul bones into his hands. “Stop talking about all that. If not for you and Qiu’er, I’m not even sure what the ﬁnal outcome would have been like. The two of you are the academy’s prized students, so these three soul bones belong to you in the ﬁrst place.”

Huo Yuhao thought for a moment, then said, “How about this. I’ll keep one soul bone, and I’ll give one to Wang Qiu’er. We will donate the remaining one to the academy.”

It could be said that Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er had risked their lives to kill the three wolf-apes to obtain these soul bones, but Huo Yuhao knew better than to be selﬁsh and take everything for himself. It was better with Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo, but Li Yongyue and Mo Xuan had a look of envy on their faces.

Cai Mei’er hesitated for a while before she nodded and said, “Alright. You can keep them for now, and you can donate the last one directly to the Martial Soul Department after we return to the academy. You don’t have to give it to me.”

“Alright.” Huo Yuhao acknowledged her words before he put the three soul bones away. He had something to eat before he drank a few gulps of water and returned to the tent.

Cai Mei’er had already made her decision – everyone was to stay here for an entire day so that everyone could adjust themselves and rest up, and everyone was to wait for Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er to recover before continuing on their journey. There was nothing more important than her students’ safety.

Cai Mei’er was a little hasty to return to the academy after what had just happened so that she could report this issue with the three brothers to Shrek’s Guardians. The three brothers’ existence was an unimaginable threat to the world of soul masters, and they would deﬁnitely ascend to become Titled Douluo in the future. In addition to their abilities to manipulate and imprison beast souls, they were likely to become a great calamity for the world of soul masters. This was the reason Cai Mei’er had decided to join the operation initially. She was going to try her best to help Huo Yuhao and Li Yongyue obtain soul rings suitable for them before they returned to Shrek Academy as quickly as possible. Her students had been tested too many times on this

expedition.

---

Huo Yuhao was sitting cross-legged in his tent. He would have long gone into meditation by now if it had just been a normal day, but he was a little unsettled because Wang Dong’er still hadn’t returned. He kept thinking to himself – what will Wang Dong’er say to Wang Qiu’er? What will Wang Qiu’er say to Wang Dong’er?

He had avoided relaying some key facts when he had recounted his experience the previous day. What if Wang Qiu’er spills the beans? What will Dong’er think?

There so many complicated and intertwined emotions. How could he enter meditation like that? ---

On the other side, inside Huo Yuhao’s tent...

“…during the Sea God’s Fate on Sea God’s Lake. It was so beautiful! Did you know? I was so nervous back then.” Wang Dong’er vividly described her experiences with Huo Yuhao and what the two of them had gone through.

Wang Qiu’er was lying on her side and listening to Wang Dong’er. She didn’t talk much, but she was listening very intently.

“What were you nervous about?” Wang Qiu’er suddenly asked.

Wang Dong’er answered, “How could I not be nervous? That fool had been with me for so many years, but he never knew that I was a girl. If he had known that I was a girl, who knows what he would have thought back then? What if, what if he felt that I had been lying to him this whole time? What if he didn’t like me? There were so many people back then, so how could I not be nervous? However, it was still quite exciting.”

“What happened next?”

“And then…”

Wang Dong’er recounted the events on the Sea God’s Lake in detail, and Wang Qiu’er’s expressions would change at crucial parts.

“So, now you know. Our Raiment of Light was originally meant to be how I looked when I grew up, and he calls it the Goddess of Light. You look so much like me, and I was afraid that he only remembered this look, and not the person. This was the reason why I developed such intense hostility when I ﬁrst met you… in the end, you look more like the Goddess of Light than I do.

“I only thought it out yesterday. If he only liked me because of my looks, then what meaning is there in his affection? Furthermore, I have faith in him, I should have faith in him. Will it not look like I’m insecure and I don’t have any self- conﬁdence otherwise? Therefore, I am truly sorry, and I am apologizing sincerely for all my childishness before this.” Wang Qiu’er’s eyes changed a little as she stared at Wang Dong’er. Her eyebrows knitted, and emotions began to shift in her eyes. Only she knew what she was thinking.

Wang Dong’er stared at her solemnly and said, “Are you willing to forgive me, Qiu’er? Even though I have no clue why we look so alike, this is a form of fate in the end. I am sure that I don’t have a sister that’s living outside. However, we look so alike, and our names are so similar... why don’t we address each other as sister from now on?”

Wang Qiu’er muttered coldly, “That’s not necessary. There’s nothing for me to forgive, and neither are we sisters. If you have nothing else to tell me, I want to rest.”

Wang Dong’er was slightly taken aback. She hadn’t expected Wang Qiu’er to be so cold, she had apologized sincerely with all her heart, but Wang Qiu’er didn’t seem like she wanted to accept it at all. However, she no longer harbored any hostility against Wang Qiu’er, and so she stood up and said, “Alright. Even if we’re not sisters, we’re still schoolmates, and that’s a fact that you can’t change. You should have a good rest and take care of your body. I will take good care of Huo Yuhao, and thank you once more for saving him.” She didn’t wait for Wang Qiu’er to rebutt her, but pulled open the tent and slipped out before she closed it from the outside.

Wang Qiu’er’s eyes suddenly became a little lost as she stared at the closed veil. She mumbled to herself, “Did she come to show her dominance? Does she really think that he belongs to her already?”

“One hundred and seventeen cuts.” She suddenly blurted out a number. When she said this number, this girl that was always so tough and cold suddenly softened, and her eyes turned red as tears welled up in her eyes. Her tears ﬁnally trickled down her pale but incredibly beautiful face.

“I have his blood in my veins now. Huo Yuhao, you…”

Wang Dong’er came out of the tent and greeted her companions with a faint smile on her face before she arrived at Huo Yuhao’s tent. When she lifted the veil and climbed in, she was met with Huo Yuhao’s suspicious and doubtful eyes.

Wang Dong’er smiled and said, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Huo Yuhao coughed awkwardly and said, “I am just wondering why you went to look for Wang Qiu’er.”

Wang Dong’er answered, “I was apologizing to her! I’ve thought it through. I don’t have enough conﬁdence in myself, and that’s why I subconsciously developed this hostility towards her. However, I ﬁnally understood after you guys came back. I am so pretty... how can I be insecure, and how can I not have conﬁdence in myself? You should be the one that should be insecure. Wang Qiu’er also doesn’t have anything for you at all.”

“Uh… you don’t have to make it sound so hurtful.” Huo Yuhao muttered as he pulled a long face. The truth was that he didn’t have much conﬁdence in his looks, at least in comparison to Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er.

Wang Dong’er spoke matter-of-factly, “Am I wrong? Stop trying to dispute it, this is the truth. You should hurry up and cultivate. I’ll help you, so that you can recover as quickly as possible. Truth be told, I don’t want to stay in this Great Star Dou Forest for a second longer.” Her eyes suddenly turned red as she said this. She stared at Huo Yuhao’s feeble face, and she couldn’t resist anymore as she slid gently into his embrace.

Her soft body fell into his arms, and that faint fragrance that belonged to a young girl ﬁlled every corner of Huo Yuhao’s heart and soul. It’s so nice to have someone be concerned about you!

Huo Yuhao hugged her tightly and whispered, “I’m sorry, Dong’er. I will never make you so worried in the future.”

Wang Dong’er replied softly, “You may not ﬁnd yourself in such a dire situation anymore with your talent and your abilities. Your abilities determine your responsibility, and I know I can’t stop you from doing some things that you must. However, I’m not a fragile porcelain vase! My only wish is that you will bring me along when you have to face danger and peril, and we will face them together. Okay?”

“Yes.” Huo Yuhao acknowledged softly. He knew that it was unlikely that he would do so, but he still chose white lies and kind words during this heartwarming moment, as he couldn’t bear to see her sad, not even a little bit.

They rested for the entire day. Huo Yuhao recovered completely, and besides his spirit that still needed nurturing and repairing, everything else was back to normal.

Wang Qiu’er’s recovery speed was equally impressive, possibly even more impressive than Huo Yuhao’s. It was as if they were in a competition to see who could recover the fastest.

When Wang Qiu’er grasped her Golden Dragon Spear and stood in front of the company, everyone was under the illusion that this girl had not been injured before. Whether or not she had recovered from her injuries, they couldn’t tell from the outside anymore.

They cleaned the campsite and packed up. It was time to move out again, and only Huo Yuhao and Li Yongyue needed more soul rings.

Huo Yuhao’s gaze met Wang Qiu’er’s when they saw each other again, and he nodded in her direction with a faint smile on his face. Wang Qiu’er was expressionless, but she wasn’t as cold as she had been before this, and she responded with a nod before she walked up to the vanguard.

“Stay in the center, Qiu’er. Your injuries…” Zhang Lexuan spoke up concernedly.

Wang Qiu’er shook her head and said, “I’m ﬁne. You need me to lead the way. I will stick closer to everyone.” She still insisted that she had to lead the way, but one could tell from her tone that she hadn’t fully recovered from her injuries.

The formation didn’t change, except Cai Mei’er was now openly anchoring the company at the back, so the group’s overall strength had become a lot stronger.

Wang Qiu’er still took the lead as they resumed their journey. However, she was conspicuously slower than the past few days, and nobody urged her to go faster. They ventured deeper into the Hybrid Region, and were moving closer and closer to the Core Region, so slowing down wasn’t a bad idea.

Huo Yuhao activated his Spiritual Detection once more, and he continued with his responsibilities as the main control soul master.

They had encountered many perils and dangers during this expedition into the Great Star Dou Forest, but this adventure had sufﬁciently tested the students’ abilities.

It was needless to discuss Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo. They were the oldest here, and they were no longer in the same age group as their juniors. Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er were undoubtedly the most outstanding ones among the others.

Wang Qiu’er’s abilities seemed to be stronger, but everyone knew that they would have died without Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection. For example, when they were faced with the three brothers, the situation would have been drastically different if Huo Yuhao hadn’t risked his life to steal the two baby Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears.

Those two little fellows were also part of the company at this moment. However, they were treated very nicely. Huo Yuhao was carrying them both, one in each arm.

It was a strange story. These two little bears ate enough meat and began to sleep, and they only woke up the next morning. They went to look for Huo Yuhao when they woke up, and climbed all over him as each one hugged one of his legs and just wouldn’t let go. Their eyes that were like yellow beans rolling around in their sockets, and they were as stubborn as could be.

Everybody thought that these two little bears treated Huo Yuhao like their father. Huo Yuhao had no choice but to take responsibility for taking care of them, and he became the temporary “bear nanny”. He carried a bear in each arm, but it was a little inconvenient even though it wasn’t tiring. How could carrying two little bears compare to holding Wang Dong’er’s hand?

The little bears had black fur at the start, but their fur was already tinged with dark golden colors. They were extremely strong, but they didn’t do anything at all when they were in Huo Yuhao’s embrace. They were meaty and pudgy, and it didn’t feel that bad to carry them around. Their luck ﬁnally turned for the better as they ventured deeper into the Great Star Dou Forest. They met the occasional soul beast on their journey in, some relatively powerful. However, most of them weren’t aggressive, and Huo Yuhao directed everyone to deliberately evade those soul beasts with Spiritual Detection. They didn’t encounter much trouble along the way.

---

They travelled for six hours, and it was almost midday before everyone stopped to rest.

Wang Qiu’er was still at the front, and her face had become a little pale. She was still quite a ways away from her peak condition.

Wang Dong’er took the initiative to pass her the rations that Huo Yuhao and she had brought. Wang Qiu’er didn’t reject it, and she had a few bites before she began to rest on the ground with her legs crossed. Huo Yuhao remained on the spot and scanned the vegetation around him as a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.

“What can you see?” Cai Mei’er came beside him with a smile on her face.

Huo Yuhao answered, “The vegetation here is denser than before. Furthermore, I can tell that it is quite old, far more primitive than the vegetation outside. This place is truly uninhabited and untainted by humans! If I’m not wrong, we should be extremely close to the Great Star Dou Forest’s Core Region. Am I right?”

Cai Mei’er nodded approvingly and said, “Yes, we are nearing the Core Region’s outer areas. We will be heading inside the Core Region if we move forward, the Great Star Dou Forest’s most dangerous region. The fearsome beasts residing within the Slaughtering Grounds will occasionally roam the Core Region, and that’s why everyone has to be as careful as you guys can be. Qiu’er is doing a good job leading the way, and we are moving faster than I thought. We will reach the Core Region within two hours. Look at this Snakedragon Orchid, it’s at least a few thousand years old, and it deﬁnitely won’t appear in the relatively deeper areas. The reason for that is because low-tier soul beasts are very drawn to the Snakedragon Orchid, and they will all deﬁnitely be eaten. The fact that they’re still around in these parts proves that nobody here needs them, while the soul beasts that need them don’t dare to come into this region.”

Everyone except for Wang Qiu’er took turns resting and standing guard after they ﬁnished their meals. They rested for an especially long time, as their subsequent journey would be even harder than before. Everyone took about an hour to return to their peak condition before Cai Mei’er gave the order to continue.

---

The vegetation became denser and more obvious the deeper they went. Because of the towering ancient trees, some of the canopies were so compact that it felt like nighttime, while the life energy in the air became conspicuously thicker. Huo Yuhao could clearly feel that the energy of Heaven and Earth was vaster here; any soul master would boost their cultivation to the best possible state if they could cultivate in this place for a sufﬁcient period of time. It was a pity that nobody chose this area to cultivate, as it was simply too dangerous. Wang Qiu’er began to slow down even more than before. She scanned the plants and vegetation around her from time to time, as if she were looking for something.

Huo Yuhao hugged the two little bears as he raised Spiritual Detection to the largest possible area without using his Eye of Destiny.

“Woo, woo!” One of the small bears rubbed itself against his chest and moaned as if it were trying to be sassy. It was sleeping extremely soundly.

Huo Yuhao was a little exasperated with these two fellows. He was almost convinced that they shouldn’t be Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears, but pigs.

During their midday rest, the two bears ﬁnished the same amount of food as everyone else combined. Fortunately, the company had brought along the Wolf-Ape’s meat that had been processed properly for the bears. The two bears climbed unglamorously all over Huo Yuhao once they ﬁnished their meal, and started drooling as they fell sound asleep again. It felt as if they were trying to rely on Huo Yuhao as much as they could. It was fortunate that their saliva didn’t smell strange, or not even Wang Dong’er would want to come near him.

Huo Yuhao had been observing their transformations this whole time. He had to admit that it wasn’t just luck that Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears reached the apex of the soul beast hierarchy.

These two bears were born not too long ago, but their rate of growth outstripped that of humans. They began to take longer and more drawn-out breaths after just one day, and managed to open their eyes, while their strength increased continuously. Furthermore, the immense life energy in their bodies nourished their bodies like a spouting geyser.

According to Shrek Academy’s records, Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears grew up the fastest during their ﬁrst year. They would grow to about two meters tall after their ﬁrst year, and would possess fearsome ﬁghting strength. They would enter a plateau in growth afterwards, and their growth speed would be normal. However, they were complete carnivores, and their abilities would be boosted in tandem with the strength of the soul beasts they consumed. A Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear with three thousand years of cultivation was often not even a thousand years old, because it relied on consuming other soul beasts to boost its own strength. Naturally, the prerequisite was that they didn’t meet any soul beasts more powerful than they were, as there were

hardly any mighty soul beasts that would just let them grow up.

Huo Yuhao hadn’t thought about how he was going to settle these two fellows. He was probably going to let them live in Shrek Academy, and perhaps they could even become Shrek Academy’s secret weapons. Of course, that meant they had to be obedient enough.

The two bears slept even better and more deeply than before once they ofﬁcially entered the Core Region. If their parents had been alive, this would have been the place where they should have resided. They were deﬁnitely more comfortable in this place, and these fellow’s life energies were greatly boosted as they were baptized by the Great Star Dou Forest’s Core Region and the ample life energy contained within.

There were far fewer soul beasts in the Core Region, compared to the Hybrid Region. The soul beasts that could inhabit the Core Region were almost all top-tier ones, and most of these soul beasts either lived alone or with a small family. These soul beasts were typically formidable and arrogant at the same time, and hardly any would choose to live in a group.

Several relatively powerful soul beasts would mark their own territories within the Core Region, and both humans and soul beasts that dared to enter their territory would be deemed enemies and assaulted instantly.

This was the reason why most soul beasts rarely entered the Core Region unless they believed they were powerful enough, as they could easily ﬁnd themselves in fatal trouble.

Wang Qiu’er continued in for roughly an hour before she switched directions. She didn’t move deeper into the Core Region anymore, and started moving horizontally.

The area of the Core Region was far smaller than the Hybrid Region. With this company’s abilities, they wouldn’t even need half a day to reach the Slaughtering Grounds if they ran with all they had. This was naturally just a hypothetical situation, and would only happen in theory. The humans that dared to try this all became part of the forest’s nutrients.

A deep and angry roar rang out in the distance. Wang Qiu’er immediately halted in her tracks and listened intently.

Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection had yet to reach where this roar came from, so nobody could see anything through it.

A bright chirp followed immediately afterward. This chirp was a lot sharper and shriller than the previous roar.

Huo Yuhao did a quick calculation and said, “Fifteen degrees to the left in front of us. They’re about four to ﬁve kilometers away.”

The two soul beasts’ roaring and chirping became more frequent and frustrated as he spoke.

A look of delight came over Wang Qiu’er’s face. “We’re lucky! I think we’ve found what we’re looking for. The soul beast making those shrill chirping sounds is our target. I am conﬁdent that my ears haven’t failed me, and I also believe that it’s in conﬂict with another extremely formidable soul beast. This opportunity is just too advantageous for us.”

Zhang Lexuan turned around and looked at Cai Mei’er. The team’s leadership naturally shifted to her with a Title Duoluo around in the company.

Cai Mei’er said, “Let’s not be hasty, we will keep our distance for now. Their battle has yet to begin. We will wait for a while longer so that we don’t get caught in the fray.”

She walked in front of the company as she spoke while her eyes closed into a squint in the direction of those sounds, and she began to listen intently.

Boom... The battle had ﬁnally begun, and the vigorous explosion could still be clearly heard even though it came from over four kilometers away. What was strange was that this sound didn’t trigger any hysteria or panic in the area around them. The soul beasts that could live within the Core Region were not the kind to scurry away in fright. Boom, boom, boom… A series of deep rumbles could be heard.

Huo Yuhao glanced at Wang Qiu’er, who wasn’t far from his position. Huo Yuhao knew that he could reach that distance with his Spiritual Detection if he fused his martial soul with Wang Qiu’er’s martial soul, and if he also used his Eye of Destiny.

Chapter 241: Skyshaking Roar and Silverbrave Beast

Wang Qiu’er also sensed his thoughts and glanced at him, seemingly asking him if he’d really expose their martial soul fusion.

Huo Yuhao couldn’t decide. Even though Wang Dong’er was extremely magnanimous, he also understood her very well. Although she’d been convinced, was she really not bothered? As a normal girl, how could she not be? She simply didn’t want to put him in a bad position, thus she acted like she wasn’t. This was heart wrenching for her! Huo Yuhao naturally didn’t want anything else to affect his relationship with Wang Dong’er.

The noises of battle became louder and louder. Fortunately, the echoes that they heard relayed that the two unknown soul beasts weren’t moving around much as they fought.

Cai Mei’er shut her eyes and listened quietly. After a brief moment, she said, “They have roughly between thirty thousand and thirty-ﬁve thousand years of cultivation; they’re at least second-grade soul beasts.”

Soul beasts weren’t distinctly separated into grades. It was more-so just an appraisal of their innate abilities. Simply put, Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears were a clear example of ﬁrst- grade soul beasts, whereas second-grade soul beasts were still pretty outstanding despite not being the strongest.

The wolf-apes that Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu’er had met earlier had possessed great ﬁghting strength. However, they were only truly strong because of their three-way martial soul fusion skill. Solely based on their individual abilities, they were only barely second-grade, even with their Instant Teleportation factored in.

Since Cai Mei’er had claimed that these two soul beasts were second-grade, and that they also possessed thirty to thirty-ﬁve thousand year cultivations, it meant that their cultivations were equivalent to experienced Soul Sages from the inner courtyard.

Even though soul beasts with cultivations from ten thousand to ninety thousand years were collectively categorized as ten thousand year soul beasts, there was still a huge gap in their cultivations. The ten thousandth, thirty thousandth, ﬁfty thousandth, and seventy thousandth year all represented barriers that soul beasts had to cross. Their abilities also improved signiﬁcantly when they did so. If these two soul beasts managed to reach ﬁfty thousand years of cultivation, they’d be equivalent in strength to Soul Douluos. Furthermore, soul beasts were physically stronger than humans. As such, even a Soul Douluo would ﬁnd it difﬁcult to challenge them.

Cai Mei’er said, “Let’s not rush. If I’m not wrong, this is probably a ﬁght for territory. Such a ﬁght will usually last for quite some time. However, it’s not a life-and-death battle; they’ll probably hold back. We’ll head over when they’ve depleted more of their strength.”

They could handle the two soul beasts, but this was still the Core Region of the Great Star Dou Forest. Who knew if a hundred thousand year soul beast would suddenly fall from the sky? If something like that happened, they might all die! That was why it was imperative that they ensure everyone was in top condition.

Since they were waiting, everyone quickly adjusted their condition.

Wang Dong’er walked up to Wang Qiu’er and smiled at her.

Wang Qiu’er thought to herself, Why’re you smiling at me?

She said coldly, “Is something the matter?”

Wang Dong’er shook her head and replied, “No, I just wanted to thank you for helping Yuhao ﬁnd a suitable soul ring. I would also like to apologize for being rude towards you in the past.”

Wang Qiu’er snorted and said, “Can’t he thank me himself?

Are you saying that he needs you to thank me instead?”

Wang Dong’er wasn’t bothered by her words. She simply chortled and didn’t say anything else.

Wang Qiu’er naturally stopped talking to her as well. She glanced at Huo Yuhao again, who was standing a short distance away.

Currently, Huo Yuhao didn’t have the time to thank her. He’d unleashed his Spiritual Detection and was trying to detect any movement around him. As the team’s main control-type soul master, he’d been the busiest person since entering the Core Region.

The two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear cubs were a little clingy. Although Huo Yuhao had put them down, they were now sleeping very comfortably while hugging his thighs.

Huo Yuhao was helpless to do anything about it. When he fought later on, he’d have no choice but to treat them as burdens.

After pondering for a moment, Huo Yuhao said to Cai Mei’er, “Dean Cai, it shouldn’t be a problem if I take out a slightly larger soul tool here, right?”

Cai Mei’er was stunned for a moment. Even though she was the dean of the Martial Soul Department, she didn’t know much about soul tools.

“What do you want to take out?” Huo Yuhao glanced down and said, “These two fellows are too clingy; it won’t be convenient if I bring both of them along for the ﬁght later on. We can’t freeze them again either. Even if they can recover from it, it’ll still be harmful to them. I’d like to put them inside a soul tool and prevent them from running about when they wake up. At the same time, the soul tool will also protect them.”

Cai Mei’er said, “It shouldn’t be a problem as long as you’re sure that the soul tool is safe enough. It’s also very dangerous for them to be here. Any soul beast that sees them will deﬁnitely attack and eat them.”

Huo Yuhao nodded and replied, “Don’t worry, I won’t let them get too far away from me.”

Once he’d ﬁnished speaking, he took a few steps to the side and lifted his left hand towards a slightly spacious area. His Starlight Sapphire ring shone brightly, and a dim blue light spread through the air. Following this, something huge appeared in front of everyone.

It was a huge ball-shaped entity with eight long legs. The ball-shaped entity was two meters in diameter, and had a very strange metallic luster on its golden body.

What’s this? Everyone present was stunned by its appearance; they’d never seen a soul tool of this scale before.

Huo Yuhao smiled slightly and said, “This is called an all- terrain exploration soul tool. I learned how to use it in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. Our academy has the blueprint for it too. However, I also made one for myself, and added some stuff that I’ve personally researched to it.”

He grabbed the two cubs and walked towards the all-terrain exploration soul tool after he’d ﬁnished explaining.

When he looked at it, Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but think of Ju Zi and Ke Ke. All three of them had sat in a similar soul tool to explore the Jing Yang Mountain Range before!

This all-terrain exploration soul tool had been completed by Huo Yuhao and included some of the elements of the Tang Sect’s hidden weapons. Not only did that mean it less formation arrays were required, but it also meant that it was more ﬂexible when controlled. Huo Yuhao had also used the best materials he had to create it. It was now at the standard of a Class 6 soul tool, with its defense close to that of a Class 7 soul tool.

Huo Yuhao leapt into the soul tool and the opening closed behind him. When he poured his soul power into it, the soul tool stood up, its legs extending and retracting a few times. A barrier then shone around it as he continued to pour his soul power into it.

Everyone present was curious when they saw this interesting soul tool. They’d seen soul tools used to carry people before, but this was the ﬁrst time they’d seen a soul tool that both completely covered a soul master and appeared mobile.

Huo Yuhao’s voice resonated from the soul tool, “When this ﬁght is over, whoever’s interested in the all-terrain exploration soul tool can come try it out. It can hold three people.”

It was evidently not suitable for them to try it out right now. After all, they were soul masters. It would be easier for them to show off their abilities outside of it. The soul tool’s legs started to move under Huo Yuhao’s control. It only took a few steps for it to reach the spot where Huo Yuhao had been initially. Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection hadn’t been affected at all; he was still using it from inside.

Cai Mei’er sighed in her heart. It seems like the era of soul tools is about to arrive!

In fact, both she and Yan Shaozhe had known that soul tools were bound to come into the limelight as advancements and developments continued to be made. However, that didn’t mean they were willing to be replaced by soul tools. This was also what many soul masters thought. Soul engineers were simply going to become more and more powerful as soul tools evolved. In the near future, the world might belong to soul engineers. As for pure soul masters like them? They were likely to be eliminated.

Before the Sun Moon Continent had arrived, the Douluo Continent had measured an empire’s strength based on the number of soul masters and Titled Douluos it had. However, the use of soul masters on a battleﬁeld had diminished greatly as soul engineers demonstrated their power. Long-range soul tools were particularly problematic for soul masters. No matter how strong a soul master was, he couldn’t deal with long-range attacks if they were too overwhelming. This was the key difference between cold weapons and ﬁrearms.

The Heavenly Soul Empire, Dou Ling Empire, and Star Luo Empires were all very strong. Yet, why had their progress in developing soul tools been so slow over the last few thousand years? Was it because their resources weren’t as vast as the Sun Moon Empire’s? The Sun Moon Empire was around the same size as the Star Luo Empire. Furthermore, resources could be bought even if they couldn’t be snatched!

In reality, the three empires had lagged behind the Sun Moon Empire in terms of soul tool development because their respected soul masters had mounted too much pressure and affected the development of soul tools and engineers in their respective empires.

This had also been the case for Shrek Academy. It was like a small empire that held an enormously respectable position on the continent. If Elder Mu hadn’t decided that Shrek Academy should start putting more focus on its Soul Tool Department before he passed away, the development of soul tools in the academy was likely to have stalled even longer.

As she thought of all this, Cai Mei’er had to admit that Elder Mu had foresight. Perhaps it really was time for soul masters to make way.

Everyone was observing the ball-shaped glowing entity, and Wang Dong’er even walked forward to knock on it curiously.

Huo Yuhao laughed. “Don’t knock, don’t knock. It might become angry.”

Wang Dong’er chuckled and replied, “It’s an iron blotch. How can it get angry?”

As she was speaking, a series of clanging noises sounded. Metal barrels started to ﬂip out from the soul tool and pointed towards Wang Dong’er. Undulations of soul power could be felt clearly from every barrel. “Ah!” Wang Dong’er was shocked, and jumped backward subconsciously. The instantaneous feeling of being locked on even caused her to unleash her martial soul.

The formerly shiny, spotless soul tool seemed to have instantly turned into a porcupine. There were close to a hundred metal barrels on it, of all different sizes and colors. Evidently, they were used for different purposes.

The most eye-catching of them all was an extremely large soul cannon. This soul cannon had a diameter of around twenty centimeters. The base of the barrel was semi-circular, like a small hat attached to the top of the soul vehicle. The barrel could rotate on its own, and brought the greatest pressure to Wang Dong’er.

This soul tool wasn’t created by Huo Yuhao. He wasn’t so good. This had been a gift from Xuan Ziwen before he left.

These barrels were installed by Xuan Ziwen. The one at the highest point was a stationary soul cannon. It wasn’t very large, and even tapped into the size of the all-terrain exploration vehicle to resist the recoil as it was ﬁred. In terms of structure, it could be considered a Class 6 stationary soul cannon. However, it could ﬁre Class 8 and below stationary soul cannon shells as it was stabilized by its base. Of course, those cannon shells had to be available ﬁrst!

After obtaining this soul tool, Huo Yuhao made some modiﬁcations to it, mainly in terms of its movement. He simpliﬁed a few things and added some elements to it, making it more ﬂexible.

Xuan Ziwen had told Huo Yuhao that such brand-new stationary soul cannons were the latest research product of the Illustrious Virtue Hall. Their offensive strength could even compare to the soul fort strategies used by Class 6 soul engineers. These new soul forts were even mobile, and were notable because soul engineers could greatly increase their survivability inside them.

In the end, it was very difﬁcult to research true robots. Thus, the Illustrious Virtue Hall became less demanding, and tried their best to complete this all-terrain exploration soul tool. They even gave it a new name – all-terrain self-driving fort.

When Xuan Ziwen passed it to Huo Yuhao, the all-terrain self-driving fort had already been pushed to its production phase.

After production, the use of certain rare materials would decline. The overall quality would drop to the level of a Class 5 soul tool. However, the ﬁghting strength of the Sun Moon Empire’s soul engineers would still be enhanced if they were equipped with these forts.

Fortunately, Xuan Ziwen had told Huo Yuhao about it. Even after the quality of the materials used dropped, these forts were still very expensive. They couldn’t be mass-produced as of yet.

Everyone from Shrek was stunned when they saw the “porcupine”. It really resembled a porcupine!

Huo Yuhao told them, “This all-terrain exploration soul tool has become an all-terrain self-driving fort after it was modiﬁed. In the near future, the Sun Moon Empire’s soul engineers will be equipped with vehicles like this.”

Cai Mei’er laughed bitterly. “Yuhao, are you trying to tell me something?”

Huo Yuhao was impressed. Dean Cai is indeed smart! She can tell that I’m trying to hint at something.

“Dean Cai, I wish to propose to the Sea God’s Pavilion that all the academy’s students learn how to use soul tools after we return. They don’t have to learn how to create soul tools, but they must at least know how to use them. If possible, we can start with the inner courtyard. I hope that you can help me with this.”

Cai Mei’er laughed helplessly. “I knew that you didn’t show this soul tool off for no reason. Let’s talk when we return. I’ll need to discuss it with Shaozhe. However, I think you’ll need to convince Elder Xuan ﬁrst.”

“Okay.” Huo Yuhao also knew that he couldn’t be impatient. He should wait until they returned ﬁrst. However, he couldn’t help but add, “Dean Cai, we’ve actually been holding to a misconception.”

“What?” Cai Mei’er was stunned. After pondering for a while, Huo Yuhao said, “All this while, our academy and the three empires on the continent have been progressing very slowly in terms of soul tool development. It’s greatly related to the reluctance of soul masters to accept the rise of soul tools. However, soul masters are the ones who can truly unleash the full power of soul tools. Soul engineers aren’t called that because they can produce soul tools. I believe that anyone who can use soul tools can be considered a soul engineer. A soul engineer will be better than a soul master if they both use the same soul tool for the ﬁrst time. That’s because he’s more familiar with soul tools in general. However, I’m absolutely certain that soul masters will have a greater advantage given enough practice and familiarization. This also means that I believe that every soul master can become an outstanding soul engineer, whereas soul engineers might not necessarily be able to unlock the full potential of soul tools on their own.

“In fact, I’ve always reckoned that our Ultimate Soldier Plan is a test of this theory. I’ve already come up with a conclusion. So…”

Cai Mei’er was completely moved at this point. She couldn’t help but interrupt Huo Yuhao, “Are you saying that soul masters will be much stronger if we ﬁght using soul tools?” Huo Yuhao answered, “Yes, that’s what I mean. I’m very sure of that. I believe that the future trend will be soul masters equipped with custom-made soul tools along with their own martial souls. Our academy is the best academy on the continent. Why don’t we kickstart this trend? Soul tools aren’t monsters. They are only weapons that we use! They are like Qiu’er’s Golden Dragon Spear.”

Cai Mei’er nodded, and looked pensive. “Yuhao, I have to admit that you’ve moved me. After we return, we must discuss this in detail. This concerns the future development path of the academy. I seem to have a rough idea of what you mean.”

Huo Yuhao said respectfully, “Dean Cai, thanks for supporting me.” He was a person who knew his limits. At this point, Cai Mei’er was already receptive to his suggestion. If he nagged any further, she might become annoyed.

At this point, a deafening roar sounded from afar. The soundwaves were so strong that everyone subconsciously covered their ears and retreated a few steps.

“A Skyshaking Roar?” Cai Mei’er was stunned. She ﬁnally realized what one of the two soul beasts that were ﬁghting was.

“It should be the Skyshaking Roar. It has also unleashed its strongest innate ability. Let’s go.” Cai Mei’er addressed the others, then quickly dashed forward.

Zhang Lexuan quickly took up her previous position and covered everyone’s back.

Huo Yuhao controlled his soul tool forwards. The rest followed beside him, moving quickly towards the two soul beasts.

Even if it was the Great Star Dou Forest, a few kilometers wasn’t too far for them.

The Skyshaking Roar had shocked all of them earlier. They were still several kilometers away! The roar was so deafening that their ears were still ringing. As they got closer, they were practically being attacked by the soundwaves. It had to be the Skyshaking Roar.

The clash between the two soul beasts continued. They were ﬁghting more and more intensely. Finally, Huo Yuhao was able to detect them.

The soul power undulations from these two soul beasts were very strong, such that Huo Yuhao couldn’t cover their entire bodies with his Spiritual Detection. He could only observe from nearby.

The forms of the two soul beasts also surfaced in everyone’s minds.

One of them resembled a lion. Since he was seeing it through his Spiritual Detection, the color of the lion’s hair couldn’t be distinguished. In terms of appearance, it looked like a small lion. It was only a meter long, its shoulder height below sixty centimeters. However, it was fast, and emitted the deep, furious roars they had heard.

That’s right, this soul beast was the Skyshaking Roar, the origin of that deafening roar!

While it was small, its voice was unbelievably loud, and could easily qualify as a deadly weapon. All the ﬂora within a three hundred-meter radius of the area where the two soul beasts were ﬁghting had disappeared. More accurately speaking, it had been shredded into powder by the deafening roar!

The strongest innate ability of the Skyshaking Roar was the same as its name. Even a hundred-thousand year soul beast would ﬁnd it difﬁcult to deal with this soul skill. The frightening soundwaves couldn’t be resisted just by covering one’s ears. The soundwaves were both domain-type attacks and a domain-type control skill.

Even if one could handle the destructive power of these soundwaves, their hearing would still be greatly affected. The ringing that ensued could introduce severe vertigo. It was an extremely strong ability that combined both control and offense, and it was precisely because of this ability that the Skyshaking Roar was considered a second-grade soul beast!

The Skyshaking Roar’s opponent wasn’t ordinary, either. The Skyshaking Roar wasn’t huge, but its opponent was even smaller. It resembled a dog, but its limbs were extremely thick, and its shape was a little weird. There wasn’t any hair on its body, and it was covered with scales. Huo Yuhao could sense soul power undulations coming from its scales using his Spiritual Detection, but didn’t know the purpose of it. While it was small, it looked very ﬁerce. Its face was long and ugly, while its fangs poked out past its lips.

What soul beast is this? A huge question mark appeared in Huo Yuhao’s mind. He had never seen such a soul beast before!

Cai Mei’er was stunned as she said, “Eh? Is this a Silverbrave Beast?”

After hearing the words “Silverbrave Beast”, Huo Yuhao was lost. Even Zhang Lexuan was doubtful. Evidently, she didn’t know anything about this soul beast either. Wang Qiu’er looked at Cai Mei’er and nodded. She said, “It is a Silverbrave Beast.”

Cai Mei’er was stunned, and lost her voice as she asked, “Isn’t the Silverbrave Beast extinct? Why is it still present in the Great Star Dou Forest? If it’s the Silverbrave Beast, it can’t easily be killed by the Skyshaking Roar. The situation is bound to change again. Let’s not get close to it. Yuhao, continue to monitor them.”

After she whispered her instructions, she led the rest of them to hide behind a huge tree.

Zhang Lexuan asked, “What kind of soul beast is the Silverbrave Beast? The academy doesn’t seem to have taught us about it in the curriculum.”

Cai Mei’er nodded and answered, “Yes, it isn’t taught. While the academy does teach you about ancient existences and extinct soul beasts, it will only choose those that are representative. We usually won’t talk about the other extinct soul beasts. After all, they don’t have any real meaning. The Silverbrave Beast is also rarely found in ancient collections. It has been extinct for a long time! It is similar to the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, in that it has poor reproductive capabilities.”

Huo Yuhao was still in the all-terrain self-driving fort, but he could hear Cai Mei’er clearly. An extinct soul beast? The Skyshaking Roar was evidently not the choice Wang Qiu’er had in mind for him. This meant that she had found the Silverbrave Beast for him.

Cai Mei’er continued. “Strictly speaking, the Silverbrave Beast is only considered a third-grade soul beast. However, it possesses an extremely strong innate soul skill which bumps them up to second-grade. Qiu’er, you’ve seen it before?”

Wang Qiu’er nodded and answered, “Yes. I even suffered under its hands. If not for my fortune, I would have… That’s why it left a deep impression in my mind. The Silverbrave Beast is an agile twin elemental soul beast. While its twin elements aren’t particularly strong, its innate soul skill is extremely powerful. If one is careless, they will suffer greatly under its hands.”

Cai Mei’er nodded and said, “Seems like Huo Yuhao’s luck is great today! These two soul beasts are great choices. Yongyue, while you are an agility-type soul master, the Skyshaking Roar’s all-around control and ﬁghting talents will be very beneﬁcial for your future development if you fuse with it. What do you think?”

Li Yongyue was already getting excited. When he discovered the Skyshaking Roar, he was already moved. That was because he could roughly guess that its soul skill wasn’t suitable for Huo Yuhao. The Skyshaking Roar only appeared in the Core Region! Without Dean Cai accompanying them, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to encounter it. Although his martial soul wasn’t fully compatible with it, the Skyshaking Roar’s abilities could compensate for this shortfall.

He nodded without any hesitation as he agreed wholeheartedly!

Han Ruoruo asked, “Dean Cai, what’s the Silverbrave Beast’s soul skill? Tell us.”

Cai Mei’er replied, “I deﬁnitely meant to tell all of you, or I wouldn’t have stopped you. The Silverbrave Beast’s innate soul skill is called Inscription, an extremely strong ability. It’s able to inscribe its opponent’s soul skill and store it in its mind. When it needs it, it can use it. The most terrifying thing is that this Silverbrave Beast’s Inscription is completely done through its divine energy, and thus it won’t be affected by anything. When it unleashes its Inscription, it’ll only be restricted by its own cultivation. The power of its soul skill is able to be unleashed completely.

“Let me give an example. If the Silverbrave Beast were ﬁght against us, it would be able to inscribe Ruoruo’s Golden Skysurge and use it against her. If its cultivation were the same as Ruoruo’s, the strength of its Golden Skysurge wouldn’t be any different from Ruoruo’s Golden Skysurge. If its cultivation were above hers, then the strength of its Golden Skysurge would actually be better! Against the Silverbrave Beast, it’s common to see your own soul skills used against you, and you’ll be caught off-guard. That’s why I hope none of you use your fourth or above soul skills when you ﬁght later, to prevent its Inscription from succeeding.”

After hearing Cai Mei’er’s explanation, Huo Yuhao felt his heart rate increasing. This Inscription was too powerful! This also meant that he could obtain this powerful soul skill if he managed to obtain the Silverbrave Beast’s soul ring. He could do the same thing as it then! As he thought until this point, he quickly asked, “Dean Cai, what is its Inscription limited by?”

Cai Mei’er looked at the huge metallic ball and nodded in her heart. Huo Yuhao didn’t lose his composure because he was excited, but thought of a question instead.

“There are indeed restrictions. It can only be used to inscribe one soul skill at a time. This also means that the Silverbrave Beast has to unleash the soul skill that it inscribed before it can inscribe another soul skill. According to historical records, there are also a limited number of times that it can use its Inscription. However, no one knows how many times that is. The only certainty is that it won’t be below three.”

That’s enough!, Huo Yuhao exclaimed in his heart.

Of course its Inscription had limitations. If the opponent wasn’t strong enough, the ability that was inscribed wouldn’t be outstanding anyway. It would be useless in a ﬁght then.

However, humans were different from soul beasts! The Silverbrave Beast had to ﬁght other soul beasts before it could complete an inscription. However, soul masters could communicate with their partners and inscribe their soul skills. The situation was different.

Huo Yuhao grew more excited as he thought of this. If he used it well, it could bring about surprising effects on his opponents.

Cai Mei’er added, “The Silverbrave Beast’s Inscription isn’t effective on everything. Unless its cultivation reaches a hundred thousand years, it won’t be able to inscribe the soul skills of a hundred-thousand year soul beast. Of course, this problem won’t exist once you become a Titled Douluo, if you manage to obtain this soul skill. You should really thank Qiu’er! This is a huge gift. No one knows whether a second Silverbrave Beast will appear on the continent ever again.”

Wang Qiu’er said, “There should be more than one in the Great Star Dou Forest, but they are very rare. They all live in the Core Region. I’ve seen them twice nearby. There should be more than one.”

Cai Mei’er revealed a smile on her face and said, “That’s great! Honestly speaking, I don’t wish to see soul beasts go extinct even though there’s conﬂict between us and them. If the proposition on Spirits that Huo Yuhao mentioned can be realized in the future…”

As she spoke until this point, she paused for a moment and looked at Wang Qiu’er. She said, “Regarding Spirits, you’ll know when you return to the academy. They will be tested on the inner courtyard students ﬁrst.”

Wang Qiu’er revealed a stunned look on her face and said, “The academy has found something to replace soul rings?”

Cai Mei’er shook her head and said, “It’s not the time to talk about that now. Although it isn’t a complete substitution, it can possibly mediate our relationship with soul beasts if it succeeds. It’s about time. Let’s get ready to ﬁght.”

On the other side, the intensity of the ﬁght between the two soul beasts had reached its peak. Even though they were around two kilometers away, they could still sense waves of soul power undulations coming from afar. Wang Qiu’er was slightly astonished at this point. Replacing soul rings? What kind of ability is that? It sounds like it’s related to Yuhao...

However, the main mission for everyone now was to take care of these two soul beasts. No one would bother answering her questions.

Cai Mei’er whispered, “I’ll move forward later. Lexuan, bring Li Yongyue along with you and make a roundabout through the left. Ruoruo, proceed from the right to cut off their escape route. Yuhao, can Mo Xuan enter your soul tool? You, Dong’er, and Qiu’er will be responsible for the left side.”

“No problem.” Huo Yuhao opened the vehicle, and Mo Xuan got in.

Mo Xuan was ﬁlled with curiosity when he entered the self- driving fort.

Huo Yuhao turned to smile at him and said, “Brother Mo, I can teach you how to control it in the future if you are interested. The most attractive part about changing from a soul master to a soul engineer is that it can make someone like you, who isn’t very offensively inclined, much stronger.”

“I’m interested. I’m very interested!” Mo Xuan replied without any hesitation. There was a burning look in his eyes.

When Huo Yuhao spoke to Cai Mei’er earlier, she wasn’t the only one who was moved. Mo Xuan was the one who was the most agitated.

As an auxiliary-type soul master, he was protected on the battleﬁeld by the rest of his teammates. When he saw the countless barrels that appeared on the self-driving fort earlier, he was completely roused. If there was something like this to protect him, he would no longer be a burden to the rest of his teammates on the battleﬁeld!

Chapter 242: Fifth Soul Ring!

While Mo Xuan wasn’t a soul engineer, he was still clear about some of the principles of soul tools. He clearly knew that soul tools could be controlled using soul power. However, he joined the Martial Soul Department ﬁrst, and was also highly valued by that department. Even though he was interested in soul tools, he never dared to show his interest. But Huo Yuhao’s words struck a chord with him. With such an opportunity, he accepted Huo Yuhao’s offer without any hesitation.

Huo Yuhao was slightly moved when he saw the burning look in Mo Xuan’s eyes and said, “I’ll teach you when we return. You can be the pilot for my plan.”

Even though he was talking to Mo Xuan, Huo Yuhao wasn’t slow in his actions. He poured in soul power with his left hand and controlled the soul tool with his right hand. The self- driving fort started to move ﬂexibly, its legs unobstructed on most surfaces. Wang Qiu’er and Wang Dong’er followed behind him, quickly getting into position. Defeating the two soul beasts wasn’t a problem. They only had to be wary of the two soul beasts escaping.

Very soon, the encirclement was completed with the help of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection.

The Skyshaking Roar had gained the upper hand near the end of the battle as it roared. While it wasn’t very large, its strength was as terrifying as its voice. Its claws left deep marks no matter where it landed.

Boom! The Silverbrave Beast ﬂew into the air as it was struck by the Skyshaking Roar. It broke two trees before falling to the ground.

As the Skyshaking Roar howled, its eyes ﬁlled with ferocity, and its body turned into a streak of ﬂowing light. It opened its mouth wide and revealed its terrifying fangs before leaping towards the Silverbrave Beast, going straight for the throat. If it managed to strike the Silverbrave Beast’s throat, the Beast was likely to die. At this point, the Silverbrave Beast ﬂipped around and leapt up. However, its body was a little unstable, and there was blood ﬂowing from its nose. Evidently, it was gravely injured.

However, it still maintained a calm expression, and even revealed a brutal look on its face.

A strange light shone from its body as the Skyshaking Roar arrived before it. A dim, illusory projection ﬂashed behind its back. If Huo Yuhao were closer, he would have discovered that the projection that ﬂashed behind the Silverbrave Beast’s back actually had the same appearance as it did!

“Cut off all hearing!” Huo Yuhao immediately warned everyone using his Spiritual Detection. Following this, a furious roar reverberated out.

It was different this time. Huo Yuhao was already within a kilometer of the two soul beasts. When the furious roar sounded, an unprecedented soundwave was unleashed, creating an extremely immense force. Huo Yuhao had his self-driving fort squat down before activating a Class 6 protective soul barrier. He also immediately unleashed his Ice Empress’ Armor and blocked for the two cubs, as well as Mo Xuan.

The sound traveled rapidly. Even though Huo Yuhao had predicted what was going to happen, the soundwave arrived just as he completed all his actions.

The soundwave wreaked havoc for close to ﬁve seconds before it ended. Everyone covered their ears and tried to ﬁnd cover. Only the three who had at least eight soul rings used their own strength to resist the soundwave.

Huo Yuhao and the others in the fort were still ﬁne. The fort took most of the impact, and Huo Yuhao only sensed his soul power dropping signiﬁcantly. However, he, Mo Xuan, and the two cubs weren’t harmed at all, since the fort protected them. Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er took cover behind the fort. Although they were affected by the soundwave, they weren’t directly exposed to it. Their cultivations weren’t weak, either, and they only turned a bit pale. The Skyshaking Roar was indeed an extremely strong control-type and destructive soul skill! However, this Skyshaking Roar was released by the Silverbrave Beast!

Undoubtedly, the ten-thousand year Skyshaking Roar was unfamiliar with the ten-thousand year Silverbrave Beast. It had even thought that it had gained the upper hand, and hadn’t expected its own ability to be used against it. Caught off- guard, it was struck by the soundwave.

The Skyshaking Roar was extremely domineering when it unleashed its roar at its opponents. However, it suffered greatly as it was struck by its own soul skill.

The terrifying soundwave sent its body ﬂying into the air. More importantly, its body was paralyzed as it was hit by the soundwave. It couldn’t even control its body right now, much less retaliate.

The Silverbrave Beast had endured for the entire ﬁght for this opportunity. It instantly changed into a streak of silver light before making a half turn in the air. The tail that it had been concealing shot out from behind its body like a sharp, pointed hammer. It stabbed into the Skyshaking Roar’s wide- open mouth and penetrated through its head.

“Attack!” Huo Yuhao gave the order. Through his Spiritual Detection, everyone could be instructed at the same time.

The Skyshaking Roar had already suffered a lethal blow. If the Silverbrave Beast attacked any further, they wouldn’t be able to obtain its soul ring! There wasn’t any time left!

Everyone from Shrek Academy attacked at this point.

The all-terrain self-driving fort stood up quickly and burst forward. The six soul cannons with the largest calibers started to exude intense red lights.

These six cannons were extremely destructive, high- explosive soul cannons. Their effective range was more than ﬁve hundred meters.

In the next moment, the six cannons were ﬁred at the same time. Six huge cannon shells formed by soul power cut through the air and went straight for the Silverbrave Beast under the guidance of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection.

While he couldn’t use soul skills that came from the fourth ring and above, he could use soul tools! No matter how powerful the Silverbrave Beast’s Inscription was, it couldn’t possibly inscribe the abilities of his soul tools.

The rest of the group was faster than Huo Yuhao, but his six high-explosive cannon shells were the ﬁrst to hit.

The Silverbrave Beast had stabbed through the Skyshaking Roar’s head. As it moved its long tail, it ﬁrst destroyed the Skyshaking Roar’s vocal cords. Without its Skyshaking Roar, its abilities fell greatly. It couldn’t retaliate even if it wanted to.

The Silverbrave Beast was also extremely cunning. It broke its opponent’s vocal cords, scared that its opponent would retaliate. After breaking its vocal cords, it immediately retracted its long tail.

Indeed, the ten-thousand year Skyshaking Roar recovered immediately. It closed its mouth and tried to roar again. However, a pool of fresh blood shot out from the area behind its back where it was stabbed before it collapsed to the ground.

The Silverbrave Beast wanted to attack again and take it down. However, it was then engulfed by a sense of crisis. It screamed before turning around and running away.

Six high-explosive cannon shells were about to hit it!

Huo Yuhao had made precise calculations as he ﬁred the six cannon shells. These cannon shells weren’t used to harm the Silverbrave Beast, but rather to restrict it.

The six shells encircled the Silverbrave Beast as they landed on the ground. They also separated the Skyshaking Roar and the Silverbrave Beast.

Six loud booms went off in succession. Terrifying soul power shockwaves swept the entire place.

The Skyshaking Roar was blown away by the explosions. It ﬂew towards Li Yongyue and Zhang Lexuan. Huo Yuhao had calculated even this precisely. Whether it was Zhang Lexuan, Han Ruoruo, or Cai Mei’er, they were impressed by his judgment and control.

The Silverbrave Beast was already fatigued. As it faced the explosions, it could only passively endure them.

However, it was indeed very sly. Seeing that it couldn’t escape, it started to dig into the ground and covered its body with soil. Even though the explosive strength of the cannon shells was very great, they didn’t fully impact the Silverbrave Beast.

To everyone from Shrek Academy, this restriction was sufﬁcient. The encirclement had been completed.

Li Yongyue used his Moonblade to end the Skyshaking Roar’s life. A black soul ring rose from its body, and Li Yongyue grew extremely excited. He lifted his right hand above his head and gave a thumbs up to Huo Yuhao.

On the other side, Han Ruoruo was the ﬁrst to attack after the explosions. Her Dazzling Golden Rope was not to be triﬂed with. Golden rings descended from the sky and completely cut off any escape route. It was impossible for the Silverbrave Beast to escape anymore.

It was simple from this point onwards. The fatigued and hurt Silverbrave Beast was no longer anyone’s match. Although it tried to use its Inscription, it was useless, as no one used their powerful soul skills. Within ﬁve minutes, Huo Yuhao leapt out from the fort and killed it while it was under the control of the Dazzling Golden Rope using his Unparalleled Chill, Empress Sword, before the Silverbrave Beast could complete its Inscription.

They were prepared, but the Silverbrave Beast wasn’t. It was also injured after ﬁghting the Skyshaking Roar. There weren’t any loopholes, everyone from Shrek Academy coordinated very well.

It wasn’t Han Ruoruo or Huo Yuhao who were most effective against the Silverbrave Beast. After all, Han Ruoruo’s control- type soul skill could still be replicated, so Huo Yuhao had been attacking using soul cannons from the fort. Wang Qiu’er was the reason why the Silverbrave Beast was taken down so quickly.

To Wang Qiu’er, soul skills weren’t that important. Her Golden Dragon Spear couldn’t be Inscribed! She used pure strength and ﬁghting techniques to attack the Silverbrave Beast, and successfully took it down.

“Thanks!” After killing the Silverbrave Beast, Huo Yuhao gave a thumbs-up to Wang Qiu’er.

Wang Qiu’er replied, “This is only an exchange. I’m only fulﬁlling my promise. There’s nothing to thank me for.”

Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “I have to thank you no matter what.” After he ﬁnished speaking, she nodded, and Huo Yuhao sat down cross-legged on the ground, starting the process of guiding the Silverbrave Beast’s black soul ring into his body.

This was the Core Region of the Great Star Dou Forest. The faster he absorbed the soul ring, the better. Neither he nor Li Yongyue delayed, and they both started their absorption. Although they might absorb soul skills that they didn’t want, that was unlikely to happen.

The Silverbrave Beast and Skyshaking Roar weren’t soul beasts that were balanced in all aspects. They each possessed a single strong innate ability. For soul masters, they were most likely to absorb the strongest ability of a soul beast before they absorbed any other soul skills.

Li Yongyue and the Skyshaking Roar weren’t completely compatible, and thus it was unlikely for him to absorb weaker soul skills due to higher compatibility. As for Huo Yuhao, the Inscription was the most suitable for him. Moreover, Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power was great. This meant that he had some form of control during the absorption process, and didn’t have to rely on luck. He could guide the greatest force to fuse with his body, and it wouldn’t be too huge of a problem for him, either.

Protection! Everyone gathered to protect the two who were absorbing their soul rings. Mo Xuan and the two cubs didn’t leave the soul tool fort, it was the safest place for them. During the absorption process, the difference in physical strength was slowly revealed.

In terms of cultivation, Li Yongyue was ten ranks higher than Huo Yuhao, and absorbing his sixth soul ring. However, there was an insurmountable gap between their physical strengths.

The two soul beasts had both possessed around thirty- thousand year cultivations. Huo Yuhao only took two hours to absorb his soul ring, but Li Yongyue took close to six hours before he succeeded.

Fortunately, the Core Region had its beneﬁts. They didn’t know if they were in the territory of the Silverbrave Beast or the Skyshaking Roar, but even after the two soul beasts died, no other soul beasts came into the area. Although they took quite a while to absorb the soul rings, they didn’t run into any trouble.

Huo Yuhao’s Spirit Eyes ﬁnally obtained their ﬁfth soul ring. From this moment onwards, he could be truly called a Soul King! After the absorption was over, Cai Mei’er quickly issued orders to everyone before the two of them could even test out their new soul skills. Retreat!

Even though she was a Titled Douluo, she was still on tenterhooks, as they were in the Core Region of the forest. Right now, the sky was turning dark. Cai Mei’er didn’t dare to spend the night in the Core Region. No matter what, it was better for them to retreat to the Hybrid Region ﬁrst!

They were very fortunate this time, compared to the misfortune that befell them earlier. Not only did they successfully ﬁnd suitable soul beasts to kill, but they also didn’t meet with too much trouble as they retreated!

They ran until midnight, only stopping after they were deep in the Hybrid Region. They met a few soul beasts along the way, but they didn’t pose any threat to them.

They rested for the night and carried on the next morning, moving as quickly as possible away from the Core Region. They took less than two days to leave the Great Star Dou Forest. ---

“Ah! We’re ﬁnally out!” Li Yongyue exclaimed.

After rushing out of the forest and seeing the vast expanse of grass, everyone from Shrek Academy felt as if they had returned to the real world.

Yes, they were ﬁnally out after their ordeals of the past few days! Everyone that needed soul rings had also successfully obtained their soul rings.

Everyone was relieved as their bodies released the tension they had been holding. Even Cai Mei’er had the same feeling. Although luck had been on their side, their journey hadn’t been completely smooth! It was a miracle that the entire team was able to successfully retreat after facing off against the Zhong brothers!

Cai Mei’er smiled and said, “Alright, don’t get too relaxed, either. It’s not too late to celebrate when we return to the academy. Let’s rush back to the academy before it gets dark. The earlier we return, the earlier we can relax.”

“Yes!” everyone acknowledged her words, their voices ﬁlled with delight.

Huo Yuhao sighed in his heart. His cultivation had increased signiﬁcantly over these past few years. Whether it was his abilities as a soul master or a soul engineer, he had made signiﬁcant improvements. However, he had realized how he was lacking in many aspects during this journey through the Great Star Dou Forest. Luckily, they hadn’t met an extremely strong soul beast in the Core Region. If they had run into a hundred-thousand year soul beast, it would have been a crisis that the entire team would have had to face together.

In the near future, their requirements for soul rings would become stricter as their cultivation grew. However, he wouldn’t have the help of a strong team every time. His abilities were still lacking!

After a brief moment of disappointment, Huo Yuhao started to become excited. Although he had faced numerous threats on this journey, he had beneﬁted greatly too. Like he had anticipated, his ﬁfth soul skill was the Silverbrave Beast’s Inscription. Not only this, but he even brought back two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear cubs! These two cubs were still very clingy. In addition, they had grown much bigger after just a few days. Their hair was pitch-black, and they no longer had any trouble walking. They were indeed ﬁrst-grade, top-ranked soul beasts! They would soon possess ﬁghting strength.

They even treated Huo Yuhao as their father. When others got close to them, they would bare their teeth. Not only could he get close to them, but they were also greatly reliant on him.

Besides the two cubs, Huo Yuhao had also obtained three soul bones. These soul bones came from the owners of the three- way martial soul fusion skill, the three wolf-apes.

He already knew what he wanted to do with these three soul bones. He was going to keep one for himself and give the other to Wang Qiu’er. The last one would be donated to the academy. If Dong’er wanted one, he would give her his soul bone. If she didn’t want the soul bone, he would keep it for his own use. After all, an additional soul bone could increase the abilities of soul masters. Huo Yuhao was especially excited to see the wolf- ape’s Instant Teleportation in the soul bone. No matter when this skill appeared, it was regarded as a divine skill! It was like possessing another life!

---

Everyone moved extremely quickly as they rushed back to the academy. Before the sun set, they ﬁnally saw the familiar city and gate to the academy.

“Ah! We’re ﬁnally back.” Li Yongyue shouted as if he were venting! Following this, he started to chuckle. He was very satisﬁed with what he had gained on this journey! As an agility- type soul master, the Skyshaking Roar was an explosive soul skill. Furthermore, the soul skill had some degree of control ability. It would deﬁnitely affect his future development!

Comparatively speaking, Wang Qiu’er and Mo Xuan’s soul rings were lousier. Mo Xuan’s soul ring was slightly better then Qiu’er’s. After all, he used his skills at long range, and they covered a huge area. As for Wang Qiu’er, her Bloodlust seemed slightly weaker. The only impressive thing was probably the Bloody Baboon King’s ﬁfty-thousand year cultivation. After all, she had obtained a ﬁfty-thousand year soul ring!

Everyone rushed into Shrek Academy, except for Wang Qiu’er and Cai Mei’er.

Wang Qiu’er was a little confused as she watched the rest of them. She seemed to be thinking about something.

Cai Mei’er came up beside her. She smiled and asked, “Qiu’er, what’s wrong? Do you think they are too attached to the school? I believe it’ll happen to you one day. The academy is like everyone’s home. From now on, this will be your home. Isn’t it a celebratory occasion, now that we’ve returned from somewhere dangerous?”

“Yes.” Wang Qiu’er nodded her head slightly and followed Cai Mei’er into the academy.

Everyone was still eager as they arrived at the shore of Sea God’s Lake. After that, they exhibited their respective moves and rushed in the direction of Sea God’s Island.

Huo Yuhao held onto Wang Dong’er’s hand. Before he lifted off towards Sea God’s Island, he twisted his head to glance at Wang Qiu’er. He also gave her a thumbs-up. After that, he ﬂew off with Wang Dong’er. Wang Dong’er’s Radiant Butterﬂy Goddess’ wings spread wide. Huo Yuhao lifted his arms and was carried along. His toes brushed past the water’s surface and formed patches of ice. As they looked into each other’s eyes, they could see their own reﬂections. Comfortable and at ease at returning home, they proceeded towards Sea God’s Island.

Wang Qiu’er only lifted off after they were far away from her.

She also proceeded toward Sea God’s Island.

Cai Mei’er smiled as she saw how eager they were. However, for her, this mission wasn’t over yet. She still had to report everything what had happened to the academy. This was especially true since they had gained many surprising rewards during this journey. There were many things she couldn’t delay in reporting!

After landing on Sea God’s Island, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er rushed to the Sea God’s Pavilion. They were still living there, and the academy didn’t plan to change that. They were also quite happy to continue staying there. After all, the Sea God’s Pavilion was constructed using the Golden Tree’s trunk. The vital energy of heaven and earth was quite nourishing in the Sea God’s Pavilion, and extremely beneﬁcial to their cultivation.

“I’m tired.” After entering his room, Wang Dong’er turned around and leapt into Huo Yuhao’s arms. She hugged his waist tightly.

Huo Yuhao grinned from ear to ear. He was really exhausted too,and about to fall asleep.

“Let’s rest for awhile.” Huo Yuhao hugged her and sat by the bedside. Wang Dong’er naturally sat on his thighs and leaned her head on his shoulder. Her hands were hugging him very tightly.

Huo Yuhao didn’t entertain any ill-intentions even though he was hugging her. There was only pure love, as if he was softly hugging his most valuable treasure.

“Yuhao, we are ﬁnally home. It’d be great if we could live here forever!” Wang Dong’er sighed. Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “If you are willing, I can live here with you the rest of our lives.”

Wang Dong’er lifted her head to look at him before falling back into his arms. However, Huo Yuhao was captivated by her sweet glance. He hugged her even tighter.

“Dong’er, what about these two fellows? They’re too clingy. They can’t live in the Beast Dueling Area, either. It seems like they’ll have to stick with me for some time. However, I can’t remain here forever, we still have many things to do. What should I do?” As he looked at the two unhappy cubs who he had placed on the ground to hug Wang Dong’er, Huo Yuhao felt very helpless.

“Yes,” Wang Dong’er replied softly.

Huo Yuhao reached out with one of his hands and gestured to the two cubs. Suddenly, they started to leap towards him. They used his hand as a support and were ﬁghting to take up a good spot. It was an amusing scene. Who would expect these two cute fellows would become the most terrifying of soul beasts in the future? “When the two of you are older, I’ll send you back into the Great Star Dou Forest. You belong there!” Huo Yuhao was touched in the softest region of his heart, perhaps because the two cubs were too cute. He actually wanted to send these two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears back, even though they were priceless treasures to other soul masters.

“Dong’er, do you think it’s a good idea for me to send them back?”

“Yes,” Wang Dong’er replied.

Huo Yuhao smiled satisfactorily. “I knew you would agree with me. Do you know that you are extremely kind? It’s my fortune to be together with you. During this period of time, I’ve ﬁnally adapted. Every day, a different sense of bliss will appear in my heart, and it’s all because of you.”

“……” Huo Yuhao’s touching, romantic words didn’t earn him a reply.

“Oh?” Huo Yuhao lowered his head. All he saw was her eyelashes sticking to the bottom of her eyes. Wang Dong’er was like an obedient cat snugly tucked into his arms. She was sleeping very comfortably. One side of her delicate red lips was even stained by saliva. It seemed she was drooling...

Huo Yuhao was ﬁlled with remorse as he saw her like that. He carefully placed her on the bed so that she could sleep more comfortably. However, she ﬂipped and hugged his waist tightly. She wouldn’t let him go.

Hoot hoot! The two cubs were shouting unhappily. They seemed to be blaming Wang Dong’er for snatching their places.

Huo Yuhao snapped, “The two of you will sleep on the ﬂoor.

Do you know what it means to see no evil?”

As he spoke, he used his legs to pull the blanket up, and covered Wang Dong’er and himself. He reached out his arm as a pillow for her and slightly adjusted her posture so that she could sleep more comfortably.

Her petite ﬁgure was tucked into his arms. Huo Yuhao was touched, and gently caressed Wang Dong’er’s delicate face. He even pecked her forehead with a kiss before shutting his eyes.

Huo Yuhao didn’t notice her eyelashes moving slightly just as his breathing slowed down. She even grinned at one corner of her mouth.

------

Completely knocked out, they slept all the way until noon the next day.

Huo Yuhao was the ﬁrst to awaken. He had never felt that sleeping was so comfortable before. There was even a soft boulder in his arms…

Wait, boulder?

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes subconsciously, and saw something that caused his heart to race.

Wang Dong’er was still in his arms, but their positions had changed compared to the night before. Wang Dong’er’s slender legs were wrapped around his right leg. Her left hand was wrapped around his neck, and her entire body was clinging to him. Her powdery-blue hair was behind her back. As sunlight poked through the window, it exuded a mysterious yet dazzling radiance.

Her sleeping posture was slightly inappropriate, which caused her shirt to be messed up. Half her shoulder was revealing her soft and smooth skin. Her clavicle wasn’t very obvious, but it was beautiful, forming a round arc.

Further below? He couldn’t see anything further below!

Huo Yuhao subconsciously swallowed his saliva. Wang Dong’er’s legs were wrapped around his leg, which was equivalent to her putting one of her legs in between his legs!

Not only were her legs slender, but they were also perfectly round and springy. Furthermore, he even felt a part of her body that was particularly mysterious, but attractive. Even though she was still dressed, Huo Yuhao was a raging youth! His body started to react to this stimulus… What am I doing? I’m too shameless! Huo Yuhao was embarrassed as he shifted to adjust a certain part of his body.

However, Wang Dong’er moved along with him. Her thighs stroked him gently as she moved. Huo Yuhao’s legs tightened up, and he was jolted completely awake. He could clearly sense a part of his body growing in size.

I can’t do this! Huo Yuhao cursed himself and pinched his waist with his right hand. An intense pain engulfed his entire body, and he ﬁnally repressed his urges.

I can’t continue doing this! But I’m not a saint, either! Dong’er, you’re forcing me to commit a crime! I must kill this thought. As he thought this, he slowly pulled Wang Dong’er’s shirt up to tidy it.

However, the round arc started to become clearer and clearer as he tried to pull her shirt up. Wang Dong’er’s cleavage was revealed.

Huo Yuhao was mesmerized by her cleavage and he kept on staring at it. He wanted to retract his gaze, but he couldn’t.

Wang Dong’er’s eyes opened at this moment.

She inched closer and took a look at Huo Yuhao.

What did she see? She saw a dazed expression, saliva that was drooling out, and a lecherous gulp. She also saw the hand that was tugging at her shirt.

“You…” Wang Dong’er’s pupils shrank.

In the next moment, Huo Yuhao was struck by an immense force, and ﬂew off of the bed.

Fortunately, Wang Dong’er could tell that it was Huo Yuhao, and she held back a little with her kick.

Huo Yuhao felt a little weak as he muttered, “Misunderstanding…” It was as if he had been caught red- handed! Hoot hoot! Two screams sounded at the same time. Huo Yuhao had fallen from the bed, but he didn’t feel any pain. It was as if something soft had broken his fall.

When he rolled off of whatever that was under him, he saw the two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear cubs looking at him indignantly. They were on the verge of crying.

They were innocently hurt! If they were mature enough, they would deﬁnitely lament the fact that Huo Yuhao had implicated them.

“Dong’er, listen to my explanation.” Huo Yuhao crawled up from the ﬂoor hurriedly. He picked the two cubs up and tried to pacify them as he looked at Wang Dong’er anxiously.

Wang Dong’er also jumped up from the bed at this moment. She rolled her eyes at him and said softly, “Idiot.” As she said this, she turned around and left. She didn’t even close the door behind her.

This… I feel so maligned! I didn’t do anything! I even pinched myself. See, my waist is all bruised. Dong’er, don’t misunderstand…

Huo Yuhao felt extremely unlucky at this moment. He couldn’t possibly vent his frustration. This was the Sea God’s Pavilion! If he said anything, the elders would know that he had slept with Wang Dong’er the entire night.

However, Wang Dong’er’s white, round, and smooth cleavage was really…

As he recalled this, Huo Yuhao started to feel less maligned.

Even though it was a misunderstanding, he still saw it.

Hehe, he saw it and even remembered it!

The two cubs were easily satisﬁed after Huo Yuhao gave them some nice meat. After they ﬁnished eating, they immediately went to sleep. Huo Yuhao only managed to get away after doing this. He locked his door and quickly went to ﬁnd Wang Dong’er. Knock, knock, knock. Three knocks upon her door. Huo Yuhao adjusted his mindset until he looked very honest. Evidently, he was ready to accept any punishment.

The door opened. Wang Dong’er looked very attractive after she had washed up and changed her clothes. Even though he saw her every day, he was still in a daze when he saw her again. He subconsciously said, “Dong’er, you're really beautiful.”

Cerita silat IndoMandarin

Unrivaled Tang Sect Volume 25

Chapter 221: Heir to the Sea God's Pavilion

Chapter 222: Two Goddesses?

Chapter 223: Intimacy

Chapter 225: Golden Crow True Body

Chapter 226: Dazzling Golden True Body

Chapter 227: Two Women Fighting For Glory

Chapter 228: Jade Ocean Spirit Ape

Chapter 229: The Story Behind the Baked Bread

Chapter 230: Snatching Soul Ring?

Chapter 231: Purpleshadow Lion

Chapter 232: Golden Dragon Spear

Chapter 233: The Three Evil Soul Master Brothers

Chapter 234: Lightning God's Fury

Chapter 235: Rescuing and Escaping

Chapter 236: Martial Soul Fusion, Dragon Cry of Destiny

Chapter 237: Three-way Fusion Skill of the Three Wolf-apes

Chapter 238: Sharing Life and Death Together

Chapter 239: I Trust Him

Chapter 240: Three Completely Identical Soul Bones

Chapter 241: Skyshaking Roar and Silverbrave Beast

Chapter 242: Fifth Soul Ring!

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Cerita Silat Mandarin (Cersil Mandarin Online)

Cersil Kho Ping Hoo

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