Unrivaled Tang Sect Volume 40

Book 40: Complementing Yin and Yang

Chapter 555: Qiu'er's Heart

“This  place  is  beautiful.”  Tang  Wutong  couldn’t  help  but enthuse.

Huo Yuhao chortled, “Yes! It’s beautiful. Come, let’s go down and have a look.” He held onto Tang Wutong as he flew up. This time, they didn’t land on the ground again. They relied on their soul power to maintain their altitude. They were only thirty centimeters from the ground, but refused to step on it. How could they bear to step on this Bluesilver Grass?

The more they ventured into the mountain valley, the more refreshing the air became. There was even a slight flowery fragrance. Occasionally, bees and butterflies flew over to feed on nectar and pollinate flowers. It was like a paradise.

Very soon, they came to the bottom of the valley. There weren’t any tall trees here, but Bluesilver Grass continued to carpet the entire valley. No soil was exposed at all.

Huo Yuhao’s eyes were full of bliss as he held Tang Wutong’s hand. From the environment here, it seemed like there was a

 

huge possibility that they could find it.

Lights flashed in his eyes again. Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power extended downward, like water flowing down. This time, he didn’t fuse his spiritual power with the plants, but relied solely on his own spiritual power to survey his surroundings.

Once his spiritual power spread, the entire mountain valley was under his surveillance.

At this moment, the Bluesilver Grasses, which was originally very calm, started to shake. Following this, patches of grass seemed to sense something. They all spiked up, as if they were pricks. The harmony was replaced by a sinister and hostile aura.

“They’re panicking.” Tang Wutong said, stunned.

As her spiritual senses were enhanced the previous night, she was currently extremely sensitive to the aura of plants. She believed that Huo Yuhao could also sense what she sensed.

 

However, Huo Yuhao was unmoved. He was silently sensing the hostility coming from the Bluesilver Grass around him.

It was pure hostility. The reason was simple too. This was because Huo Yuhao was snooping around. Pure Bluesilver Grass didn’t possess such an ability. The reason why they were able to react in this manner was because there was something like Huo Yuhao that was spiritually connected to them. This something was even closer to them than Huo Yuhao when he connected with plants.

Huo Yuhao laughed. This time, he had truly verified it.

The strong hostility that came from the Bluesilver Grass affected his Spiritual Detection. However, Huo Yuhao didn’t seem to have any reaction to it. He maintained his composure and continued to pour out his spiritual power.

Behind him, a dim golden projection started to appear. It had the appearance of the Emperor Beast. At the same time, his Eye of Destiny also opened. The Light of Destiny gently shone. Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power also grew significantly stronger.

 

The hostility of the Bluesilver Grass was immediately crushed under Huo Yuhao’s immense spiritual power. It was also at this moment that Huo Yuhao lifted his head. A streak of gentle white light shot out from his Eye of Destiny. It shot through the air before turning into countless spots of white

light. These spots of white light fell from the sky, resembling a light rain. This light rain covered the entire mountain valley.

Tang Wutong also basked in this rain. It was very new and comfortable for her. It was a strength that came from fortune. Even though it couldn’t change anything directly, it influenced the future.

Destiny’s Adjudication!

The valley rapidly quieted down. The Bluesilver Grass also turned from hard to soft. Everything seemed to turn back to normal. For these plants that could only perform the most basic of functions, their senses were simple and direct, but very acute.

The fortune that Huo Yuhao brought upon them and the aura of the Emperor Beast left them very excited. The hostility that had formed earlier vanished completely.

Huo Yuhao smiled. “Senior, why don’t you come out to meet me? I don’t harbor any ill intentions.”

“Emperor Beast. You actually have the aura of the Emperor Beast. How?” A low-pitched voice sounded from afar

“It’s because she was my lover.”  Even though Tang Wutong was around, Huo Yuhao still dared to say this.

Wang Qiu’er had sacrificed everything for him. So what if she was a soul beast? She would always own a part of his heart.

Tang Wutong acted like she didn’t hear that. Her expression didn’t change, and she even appeared comforted. Such a man was deserving of her love!

That voice was silent for a moment. “However, your lover has become your ability.”

Huo Yuhao also went silent. After this, he slowly landed. The Bluesilver Grass on the ground automatically swayed, and let

 

him sit cross-legged on the ground. Tang Wutong sat down beside him.

Huo Yuhao let go of her hand, and there was a change in his expression. A sorrowful look surfaced.

He wasn’t willing to recall those memories. However, he had no choice if he wanted to help Teacher Xiao Ya.

He shut his eyes, and Wang Qiu’er appeared in his mind.

That handkerchief that was blown by the wind and the ravishing beauty of the Goddess of Light started surfacing in his memories.

“I’m Wang Qiu’er!” A cold voice echoed in his mind.

It was a low-pitched roar, which was exactly her style when she unleashed her power.

 

Her Golden Spear formed countless projections in her hand. Her immense strength helped her defeat opponent after opponent.

Her cold yet silent gaze was a representation of the warmth in her heart. Beneath her cold exterior, she was actually very passionate and emotional.

He was avoiding her, but she was persistent and reluctant. Everything that happened in the past – every scene, every matter, and every item – surfaced in Huo Yuhao’s mind.

It was only at the end, when she burned herself without any hesitation for him and turned into an intense sacrificial flame, that he realized that he had been wrong. Actually, she was already part of his heart, no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it.

He was heartbroken, completely heartbroken.

After her sacrifice, he had not attempted to recall what had happened then. This was because he was afraid. He was really afraid. He was afraid of such pain. Right now, he found it very

 

stifling and difficult to breathe when he was struck by this excruciating pain.

Tears had long since covered his face. His entire body was shaking tremendously, and dim golden lights rippled in the air. His sorrow affected the Bluesilver Grass and flowers around him.

They drooped down as if they had withered. They mourned along with him.

A dim golden projection slowly became real behind him. The projection walked in front of him and raised a paw, wanting to touch him. However, she didn’t do so in the end. She only lowered her head, and her eyes were filled with sorrow and reluctance.

At this moment, a thin white palm stretched over, grabbing its front paw. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion lifted its head in astonishment, and all she saw was a sincere-looking face. There was a very sad and melancholic look on this face.

 

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion nodded at her. The look in its eyes also became much gentler.

As golden light flashed, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion’s projection fused into Tang Wutong’s body. Tang Wutong shook a little before she opened her eyes.

“Yuhao!”

A gentle call jolted Huo Yuhao to his senses. He was now covered in tears as he slowly opened his eyes.

This voice was too familiar. The coldness and tone of this voice wrenched at his heart.

“Qiu’er, I’m sorry.” Huo Yuhao sobbed.

A hand reached over. It was slender and long. As it pulled at him, Huo Yuhao was lifted from the ground.

 

He was stunned. He saw a pair of cold eyes. It was a familiar coldness, and a familiar face. There was also a sense of warmth contained within that coldness.

“Qiu’er,  Qiu’er!”  Huo  Yuhao  was  completely  stunned.  His excruciating pain immediately turned into a wave of emotions. He opened his arms and hugged her tightly.

Qiu’er, she was Qiu’er.

She leaned into his embrace, and the coldness in her eyes gradually dissipated. What replaced it was satisfaction. It was satisfaction that came from her heart.

No sealed strength forced them apart. They hugged tightly just like that. The pain that Huo Yuhao felt in his heart gradually vanished amidst this gentleness. He also radiated more vigor now.

“Qiu’er, is this really you?” Huo Yuhao asked softly.

 

“Yes, it’s me. In fact, I’ve always wanted to be with you. Don’t be sad. To me, this might actually be the best result.”

“But…” Huo Yuhao wanted to say something, but he was caught speechless once again.

“There are no buts. When I made this choice, I thought that it was the best for us. I fused into your body and became a part of you. No force can separate us anymore. This is what I wanted! Furthermore, the power of my soul and origin fused into the sleeping Dong’er, under the control of the power of destiny. This is why she has both mine and Dong’er’s abilities, now that she has recovered her memories. She’s a fusion of Dong’er and myself. My soul is in your body, and my abilities are with her. That’s why I’ve never really left you!”

“Yuhao, do you know how happy I am? This is my first time feeling your love for me. This is already enough for me. Stay happy with Dong’er. Whether she’s Dong’er or Tang Wutong, she’s your greatest love. I’m only a part of what you truly love. When I first transformed myself into her, I’d already lost. I can’t beat her, ever. I love you, but she loves you more. You have a little crush for me, but your entire heart belongs to her. This is already the best result. Don’t be as sad. This is the future. I’ll be even sadder if you’re like this. When you miss me, you can hug Wutong. If you’re together with her, it’ll be like you and I are together. You, me and her are no longer separable.”

Huo Yuhao was in a daze as he listened to Wang Qiu’er. He finally understood why Dong’er’s martial soul experienced such a mutation after she became Tang Wutong, and how she was able to use the Golden Spear. It turned out that Wang Qiu’er’s strength was indeed in her body!

“Qiu’er, you’ve sacrificed too much for me.”

 

Wang Qiu’er smiled and said, “Before I sacrificed myself for you, weren’t you willing to sacrifice your own life for me? Even though you were in despair then, I was still very satisfied. Yuhao, I love you. You must take care of yourself. Remember, I’m always by your side. I’m always here.

As she spoke, she lifted her hand and gently caressed Huo Yuhao’s Eye of Destiny, as well as his entire forehead.

Yes! That was where the Three-Eyed Golden Lion’s Skull of Destiny was.

Dim gold separated from Tang Wutong’s body and re-fused into Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao only sensed an indescribable gentleness sweeping over him, relieving the pain and sorrow in his heart.

Tang Wutong was still in his arms. She didn’t get up. Huo Yuhao’s tears also stopped flowing. Yes! Qiu’er has always been inside my body.

Forever!

 

Huo Yuhao’s tears finally dried up, and he lowered his head to look at the person in his arms. He gently touched her long, wavy, pinkish-blue hair. Huo Yuhao finally called, “Wutong.”

Tang Wutong lifted her head and gave him a smile.

“I’m sorry!” Huo Yuhao said softly.

Tang Wutong glared at him. “I need to punish you.”

“What?” Huo Yuhao was stunned.

Warm, smooth red lips touched his own. That gentle touch and fragrance mixed with the love of Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er immediately reminded Huo Yuhao of everything.

In the next instant, golden light shone brightly, and Huo Yuhao flew up. He drew a beautiful arc in the air.

His flying-type soul tool opened up behind him. He poured out his soul power and managed to stabilize himself in the air.

It seemed that Wang Dong’er still minded his relationship with Wang Qiu’er. However, he felt overwhelmingly ecstatic when he was kissed. At that instant, he could sense two different sets of love.

He controlled his body in the air, and his eyes had already become clear by now. Tang Wutong gazed deeply at him. He chuckled and flew back beside Tang Wutong, holding her hands.

“The  world  of  humans  is  indeed  very  complex.  I  didn’t expect you to obtain the love of the Emperor Beast!” The low- pitched voice from before let out a sigh.

“Do you believe me now?” Huo Yuhao asked. The greatest pain and sorrow in his heart had been invoked, but he had managed to see Wang Qiu’er. He finally understood everything. This wasn’t just pain to him; it was an escape too. It made his spiritual awareness much clearer as well.

“Okay, so what are you here for?” The voice asked.

 

Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment before saying, “I have a very important friend. She was affected by evil soul masters. She suffered critical injuries. Her martial soul is a Bluesilver Grass. If we want her to recover, she’ll need your power. That’s why I hope we can get a leaf from you. Of course, I won’t take it for nothing. You can list your conditions. As long as I can fulfil them, I’ll do my best. I only want to make an exchange.”

That low-pitched voice went silent for a moment. “You are very strong. I can sense a lot of danger from your body. You also have the help of the Emperor Beast. You can defeat me easily and take me back. Why do you not do that?”

“I swore I’d never attack a soul beast unless I’m trying to defend myself, Huo Yuhao replied sincerely, “That’s why I only want to make an exchange with you.”

The  voice  was  astonished.  “As  a  human  soul  master,  you actually swore not to kill soul beasts?”

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Yes! After I established Spirits, I could avoid killing soul beasts to obtain their powers.”  He described what Spirits were, and even released the Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass.

The Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass was also a plant-type soul beast. It had the most acute senses when it came to other plant-type soul beasts.

Indeed, the voice became much gentler after he saw the Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass and heard Huo Yuhao’s story.

“Thanks for thinking for soul beasts. Just based on this, I think I can help you. However, I…”

As he spoke until here, he went silent for a bit.

Huo Yuhao’s heart tightened. He had finally found this Bluesilver Emperor. If he was unwilling, Huo Yuhao couldn’t force him at all because of his vow. What should I do if that’s the case? Teacher Xiao Ya is still waiting for him to save her!

“If you have any difficulties, you can tell me. If possible, I’ll do my best to help you.” Although Huo Yuhao knew that he was being very rushed, he was aware that there was no room for mistakes.

 

That low-pitched voice sighed and said, “I’ve already lived in this world for a hundred and ninety thousand years. However, I’m still only a Bluesilver Grass. Even though I’m already an Emperor, I still can’t overcome the heavenly punishment that’s about to come due to my innate abilities. That’s why I’m about

to die. Perhaps, your plan can bring me new life.”

Huo Yuhao was delighted when heard this. However, he still asked,  “However,  you  can  choose  to  be  reborn.  Can’t  soul beasts choose to be reborn when they reach a bottleneck?”

“You are mistaken. That’s only at the hundred thousand year mark. After that, you can’t take that path anymore if you don’t choose to be reborn after a certain period of time. I’m already close to the two hundred thousand year stage. That’s why I can’t do it anymore. Perhaps some powerful soul beasts can think of another way. However, I can’t do that, because of my own lineage.”

Huo Yuhao was only enlightened now. A Bluesilver Grass would still face problems with its lineage even if it became a Bluesilver Emperor. Under such a circumstance, it would be unable to be like the Snow Empress – able to be reborn even if its cultivation was very high. It sounded logical too. Given the Snow Empress’ talent as the Icesky Snow Lady and seven

 

hundred thousand year cultivation, she could only choose to be reborn as an embryo, which eventually led to a catastrophe. She eventually became Huo Yuhao’s Spirit. Compared to the Snow Empress, the Bluesilver Emperor’s cultivation was far inferior.

Huo  Yuhao  said,  “As  long  as  you  are  willing,  it’s  not  a problem. I can bring you back to fuse with my friend. Don’t worry, my friend is incredibly talented. She’s only two years older than me, but she already has eight rings. If you can give her a ninth soul ring in the near future, I believe she’ll become one of the strongest humans.”

“Alright, I shall trouble you then.”  The Bluesilver Emperor said satisfactorily.

At this moment, the Bluesilver Grass in the valley started to shake. They weren’t fearful and hostile this time. Rather, they were excited and agitated.

Huo Yuhao seemed to sense the presence of giant pythons slithering over from all directions.

 

Blue vines started to rise up, and they eventually gathered together. Every vine appeared smooth and transparent. They were clear like blue crystals. However, there seemed to be veins inside these vines, and these veins seemed to be moving.

The vines quickly wrapped around one another, and formed the appearance of a human. This human nodded at Huo Yuhao before moving towards him. It revolved around him and gradually adopted the entire form of a human.

However, this human form wasn’t the manifestation of a savage beast, but the product of vines twisting around one another. It was as if it had been woven. The originally thick vines also shrank too. They were only as thick as human thumbs now. It appeared very strange.

“We’ll follow you.” The Bluesilver Emperor said.

Huo Yuhao nodded at him and said, “Thanks for your trust.”

The Bluesilver Emperor pursed his lips and seemed to be smiling. “In fact, I believe in the Emperor Beast’s taste. She can’t be wrong.”

Tang Wutong was a little curious as she looked at the Bluesilver Emperor. Right now, she fully understood why Huo Yuhao was here. It was just that there was an extra special look in her eyes when she looked at the Bluesilver Emperor.

Huo Yuhao nodded at the Bluesilver Emperor and said, “Please  follow  us  then.”  He  held  Tang  Wutong’s  hand  and gradually flew out. At the same time, he extended his Spiritual Antenna towards the Bluesilver Emperor.

At the start, the Bluesilver Emperor hesitated for a moment. However, he was soon very astonished, as he realized that Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Antenna contained spiritual undulations that belonged to plants. Even though he was only simulating it, it felt very close and kind. Subconsciously, the Bluesilver Emperor also released his spiritual power to connect with Huo Yuhao.

As their spiritual senses connected, Huo Yuhao unleashed his Spiritual Detection, and transmitted everything that he sensed to the Bluesilver Emperor.

The Bluesilver Emperor shook. He was astonished as he stared at Huo Yuhao with eyes, made from vines. “I didn’t expect your spiritual power to be so strong.”

Strong spiritual undulations were released from the Bluesilver Emperor and reflected onto Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao sensed every single change that happened to the entire mountain valley. The Bluesilver Emperor used himself as an intermediary to connect with every Bluesilver Grass in the mountain valley.

One human and one soul beast looked at each other, and smiled. They felt each other’s sincerity. At the same time, they picked up speed and rose into the sky.

The Bluesilver Emperor sighed. “If your martial soul was compatible with mine, I might have chosen you. You are very strong. Although my innate abilities can’t compare to many powerful soul beasts, Bluesilver Grass have very acute senses. From your body, I can sense that you have a bright future.”

 

Huo Yuhao chortled and replied, “When you see my friend, you won’t be disappointed. Her martial soul is a Bluesilver Emperor. You should know that there are very few humans that can cultivate Bluesilver Grass. There was one person who managed to successfully do so in the past, and this person was very powerful. That person is also my elder.”

The Bluesilver Emperor nodded and said, “I know who you’re talking about.”

“Oh?” Huo Yuhao was a little astonished as he looked at the Bluesilver Emperor. “You know about him?”

The Bluesilver Emperor nodded and replied, “Although our species is small and weak, our life energy is actually the most prosperous among all plants. We also have the highest population among all the plant species in this world. Our roots are connected by our spiritual senses. This is why we can sense if anything big happens to one of us.”

“It is almost as rare to find Bluesilver Grass that can cultivate as it is to find a human soul master with a Bluesilver Grass martial soul. It requires great fortune. We can only cultivate if we are aided by the power of heaven and earth. I was baptized

 

thrice by heavenly lightning. The power of the lightning spirit exists in my body, which has completely transformed me. I’m also aware of the person you’re talking about. She had the purest lineage, and was of royal blood. That individual you are talking about is her kid, who broke free from the restraints of this world and became a god. Speaking of her, I think it’s only right that I address her as ‘Your Majesty’.”

Huo Yuhao didn’t expect that the Bluesilver Emperor had such a connection with Tang San’s mother. This was a good thing. This helped to close the gap between them.

“It seems like all of you have a deep history with my elder. My friend is the current sect leader of the Tang Sect, which was established by Tang San. Speaking of her, she’s a direct descendant of Tang San. It seems like the Tang Sect has a great affinity with your species!”

“Oh?  That’s  actually  the  case?  That’s  great  then.”   The Bluesilver Emperor was feeling in better spirits now. After witnessing the immense spiritual power that Huo Yuhao unleashed, he was now very confident in this mission. Plant- type soul beasts were much more simple-minded compared to animal-type soul beasts. However, they were much more sensitive. From Huo Yuhao, he could sense kindness and

 

justice. In addition, the Emperor Beast also played an important role in his decision. This was why he made his decision without thinking too much about it. Now that he heard this, he felt that his decision was the perfectly right choice.

Right now, they were already high up in the air. Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong picked up speed at the same time.

Flying was naturally not the Bluesilver Emperor’s strength. However, this wasn’t a major problem. Huo Yuhao held Tang Wutong with one hand and the Bluesilver Emperor with his other hand. To give the Bluesilver Emperor even more confidence, Huo Yuhao increased his speed, and flew along the south of the Sun Moon Empire towards the Star Luo Empire. He was lightning quick, and rapidly reached supersonic speed.

After the series of blows that had been dealt to them, the Sun Moon Empire withdrew all its defenses to Radiant City. It was even possible to claim that they had temporarily given up on their defenses in the outer cities. No more aerial surveillance soul tools were in place to carry out surveillance. It was a far smoother journey than Huo Yuhao had expected. Since they were far from Radiant City, they didn’t run into any trouble.

 

Very soon, they entered the Star Luo Empire’s borders, and proceeded straight to Shrek City.

……

A flag was flying high in the Heavenly Soul Empire. There was an army within the borders of the empire, but it was extremely large. On an extremely large flag, an image of a golden sun and silver moon was shining brightly.

The soldiers were lined up in one single file, which extended for hundreds of kilometers in the Heavenly Soul Empire, or rather, the Sun Moon Empire. This was because the Heavenly Soul Empire had ceased to exist.

This army consisted of more than seven hundred thousand soldiers. Most of the Sun Moon Empire’s elite soldiers were here.

From afar, the army looked like a giant dragon. The formation that it adopted was very complex, but it completely and perfectly covered the perimeter of a massive military base.

 

Even by scanning from above, it was impossible to tell how many soul formations there were in this base. The only certainty was that it was completely closed off to people.

This was the border. However, it wasn’t just the border of the Heavenly Soul Empire. At the same time, it was the border of the Dou Ling and Star Luo Empires. At a corner of this border less than a hundred kilometers from where the army was stationed was Shrek City.

There was a gold-red commander’s tent that was more than ten meters high in this base. More than a thousand people could fit into this tent without it being overcrowded. But at this moment, there were very few people in the tent.

Ju Zi was in the main seat. She was dressed in fiery-red armor. The phoenix image on her armor seemed real and alive. It wasn’t just ordinary armor. It was custom-made for her, and Kong Deming was the one who personally came up with this human-shaped soul tool. It wasn't used for attacking, but it was extremely effective for defensive purposes. Kong Deming told Ju Zi that even an Ultimate Douluo would need more than three strikes to overcome the defenses of this human-shaped soul tool.

 

Ju Zi had six subordinates with her. The youngest one was already a middle-aged man. There were three elders among the six too. Every one of them exuded a strong aura. However, they didn’t move a single inch. Occasionally, they would glance at Ju Zi. They were all in admiration of her.

Ju Zi was holding onto a letter. Between the six of them, there was even a guy who was kneeling on one knee. The letter had been brought here by this man, an envoy from Radiant City.

The letter wasn’t very long. She finished reading it very quickly. After she finished, she put it down, and her brow furrowed. After this, she stood up.

After she stood up, the six subordinates unwittingly took a step back, and opened up some space in the middle for her.

A person, especially someone who commanded a huge army, who held an important position for a long time would gradually develop some kind of might and dominance. This was the same for Ju Zi.

 

After she became the War God Empress, her temperament completely changed. She became more reserved, but also more majestic.

She slowly walked down. She kept thinking and pondering as she walked.

There wasn’t a single sound in the tent. Everyone was fixated on her, and they waited silently.

After a brief moment, Ju Zi stopped and asked the envoy, “What were His Majesty’s instructions?”

The envoy said, “War God Empress, His Majesty said that everything will be decided by you.”

Ju Zi squinted and nodded. She said, “Alright, you can leave.

I’ll need to think of how to reply to His Majesty.”

“Yes.” The envoy respectfully took his leave. Whoever waited between six Class 9 soul engineers would undoubtedly be subjected to immense pressure! He couldn’t wait to leave.

Ju Zi returned to her seat and said, “His Majesty has sent news that the empire was attacked by an unknown enemy. More than ten cities were plundered. Even Radiant City was attacked. The enemies used some kind of special method to sneak to a place near Radiant City before firing thousands of low-grade cannon shells. They even used a Class 9 soul cannon shell. The Imperial Palace was breached, and heavy damage was incurred. As the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion was sent to search for these enemies and was not in the capital,

these enemies weren’t caught in time. Their whereabouts are currently unknown. Preliminary investigations reveal that there were at least two soul engineer legions. Elder Kong said that these enemies might possibly be able to conceal themselves, and possess spatial abilities.”

After hearing Ju Zi’s words, the six Class 9 soul engineers’ expressions changed.

What was the greatest fear of an army? It was that things weren’t stable at the back! Under normal conditions, things at the back could be stabilized by sending some reinforcements back. They were now in control of the Heavenly Soul Empire. Although they weren’t afraid of a lack of reinforcements, internal instability within the empire would affect proceedings at the front line.

One elder who was standing at the left said, “Marshal, we must not let news of this spread. We must seal all information.”

Ju Zi nodded and said, “Whatever I say will stay between the seven of us. What do you think?”

The   elder   who   had   just   spoken   commented,   “It’s unbelievable. It’s impossible!”

Ju Zi revealed a weird look on her face. “I have the same thought too. There are many aerial surveillance soul tools around the empire. Perhaps the three empires of the original Douluo Continent can come up with two soul engineer legions. However, they shouldn’t be too strong. Concealment and spatial abilities? This is a joke. Even our empire hasn’t come up with something like that. How did they manage to do so?”

An elder on the right said, “Marshal, perhaps it’s the doing of some powerful soul masters?”

 

Ju Zi answered, “In Elder Kong’s analysis, he mentioned that powerful soul masters can conceal themselves using soul skills. However, if they are bringing along two soul engineer legions with three hundred heavy cannons, that is completely impossible. Currently, they are unsure of how the enemies

managed to do so. However, the problem is that the enemies are unpredictable. It’s difficult to track them. This time, are we are the ones suffering because of a lack of surveillance and intelligence?”

Chapter 556: Ju Zi's Terrifying Plots

The Sun Moon Empire’s absolute fighting ability was not the only reason they were able to win all their battles and eventually conquer the Heavenly Soul Empire. Their incredibly powerful surveillance and countersurveillance abilities were also important contributing factors to their victories.

When the war had just started, the Heavenly Soul Empire was actually able to put up a decent fight. After all, it had a huge amount of reserves as an old Empire. In addition, it had the support of the Body Sect, which gave it a significant boost in its capabilities.

However, their blows were often useless against the Sun Moon Empire. For strange reasons, they were always unable to deal a heavy blow to the Sun Moon Empire. On the other hand, the Sun Moon Empire was always able to identify the crucial weaknesses within the Heavenly Soul Empire, and deal heavy blows based on these weaknesses. Over time, the Heavenly Soul Empire could only succumb to its demise.

This time round, the blows which were suffered by the inner parts of the Sun Moon Empire were like a mirror image of the

 

battle between the Sun Moon Empire and the Heavenly Soul Empire. However, even until now, they were still unable to determine where exactly their enemies were.

However, Ju Zi saw an extremely familiar name on the letter.

Huo Yuhao!

There was only one piece of information which was certain from the message that was handed over to them from Radiant City. And that information was Huo Yuhao’s name.

Yuhao, was that really you?

Even though Ju Zi was thinking about him, her face remained calm and composed.

The old man on the left said, “This is truly a big problem. We must figure out what exactly is going on soon. Otherwise, we have no way to determine what our next course of action should be. Marshal, we must not retreat in times like this! Now that our troops have rested for a good ten days after taking over the whole of the Heavenly Soul Empire, our morale is at its peak. This is the best time for us to attack, no matter where

 

we strike. If we allow the internal affairs of our Empire to influence our decision, we will not be able to achieve as much as we want. This is the perfect time to conquer the whole continent.”

Ju Zi nodded gently.

The old man on the right also nodded. He said, “Our Majesty has the protection of the Imperial Soul Engineer Legion. As long as they stay within Radiant City, Radiant City will never fall. Even if those soul engineers were able to infiltrate our territory, their numbers are ultimately limited. They can only do so much damage to our installations with their two soul engineer legions. However, we have millions of troops at our command. We can definitely do more damage than them.”

“Elder  Su,  watch  your  words.”   Ju  Zi  frowned  as  she reprimanded him.

Elder Su revealed a faint smile and said, “When the general is away from the Emperor, the general must make decisions based on his or her own discretion. Marshal, you must be decisive, and not allow this matter to affect you. I believe His Majesty will understand your decision. Our tactics are already

 

finalized. If we were to make any amendments now, it would truly be disadvantageous for all of us!”

Ju Zi sighed and said, “Of course I know what things are like right now. However, how can we fight confidently when Our Majesty is in danger? I believe all of you are elders within the Hall of Consecration. I need some time to think this through. We should not rush out a decision on important matters like this. Otherwise, even if we were to emerge victorious on the front lines, we will still be scolded by the masses when we return to the Sun Moon Empire.”

“Who would dare to do that?!” Elder Su was obviously an ill- tempered old man. He immediately strode forward as his aura surged. He said coldly, “You have been serving the empire wholeheartedly, and have put your female body at the frontlines. We were only able to achieve all that we have with your intelligent tactics. If those old fools try to be funny, I will kill their entire families.”

Even though his words were very extreme, the five other Class 9 soul engineers in the tent did not go against him. Instead, they nodded gently. They might not share the same ill temper as him, but they all agreed with what he said.

 

Ju Zi stood up as her face revealed a gentle smile. She nodded towards the six Class 9 soul engineers and said, “I thank you all for your support. I will try my best to make a decision as soon as possible. The troops must not catch wind of this news. I will need all six of you to keep this a secret.”

“Roger!”  The six Class 9 soul engineers answered as they bowed before her.

The first Worshipped on the left nodded and said, “Marshall, we shall leave you to rest. We will now take our leave. Regardless of your decision, we will definitely support you.”

“Okay.”

The six Worshipped left one by one, leaving Ju Zi alone in the humongous Commander’s Tent.

As Ju Zi sat on her seat, the fearsome and authoritative look on her face started to fade. Now, she started to look like a lady once again.

 

She sat there in a daze for a good long moment before standing up again. She moved over to the sand model at the side of the tent before strategizing their next move.

The Sun Moon Empire army she was leading was currently in a very special position. This position granted her three different options. The first and most direct option was to attack Shrek City. However, everyone knew that this was not the wisest decision. Ju Zi was naturally able to see the problems the Prime Minister had identified. In addition, she really wanted to avoid any conflict with Shrek Academy. She knew how important it was to him!

After the previous incident where her son was abducted, she had changed a lot. A lot of the things she used to value were now viewed with less importance. And some of the things she had tried her best to suppress in the past were now gushing from her heart.

There were several delicately crafted little flags on the sand model. Those flags were important chess pieces which she had laid out across their area of operation. Most of them were gathered at the border of the Star Luo Empire.

 

No one could really understand the intentions behind her strategic arrangements. Even though the six Worshipped could guess what she was trying to do, they were ultimately guesses.

From the current situation, it was wisest for them to attack the Star Luo Empire. This was because both the Star Luo Empire and the Heavenly Soul Empire bordered the Sun Moon Empire. By conquering the Star Luo Empire, four-fifths of the entire continent would belong to the Sun Moon Empire.

Of course, the Star Luo Empire could not be compared to the Heavenly Soul Empire. Its area was similar to that of the Sun Moon Empire, and was equivalent to the sum of the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Dou Ling Empire. It was an empire which had lasted for ten thousand years, and no one really knew how many reserves and resources it had.

The Star Luo Empire also had the White Tiger Duke waiting at the borders, with a hundred thousand troops ready for battle.

Ju Zi had positioned three hundred thousand troops at the border of the Star Luo Empire. There was a soul tool deployment area for every fifty thousand troops. Hence, they

 

occupied six different locations of tactical importance. This arrangement kept the Star Luo Empire’s troops at bay, as they did not dare to make any moves. At the same time, she had arranged for two soul engineer legions to be on standby to reinforce any group when necessary.

The Star Luo Empire had tried to test the waters a few times, but had always returned in defeat.

There was a similar arrangement at the Dou Ling Empire. From the look of things, Ju Zi’s army had already established their positions against all their enemies. They could advance to attack and retreat to defend at will.

These were all accomplished by Ju Zi in just a few months. Before she had led the armies out for their conquest, she had already started making these arrangements.

Even though the battle seemed very chaotic and messy, everything was, in fact, under her control.

Ju Zi was not only adept at unorthodox military tactics. This time round, she had also displayed her ability to command and

 

lead on the battlefield. She had only used five soul engineer legions to destroy the bulk of the coalition army formed by the Heavenly Soul Empire and Dou Ling Empires. She was even able to restrict the abilities of the Shrek Academy, and keep them from fighting at their full potential.

The remaining troops of the Heavenly Soul Empire did not actually perish in the battle. They had merely retreated back into Shrek City after seeing how they were fighting a losing battle.

After expanding, Shrek City was definitely capable of housing the seventy thousand strong army. At the same time, it also accepted quite a few elites and powerful soul masters from the Heavenly Soul Empire. However, the troops from the Dou Ling Empire could not retreat into Shrek City. After all, they still had to defend their empire! Hence, they had no choice but to return to the Dou Ling Empire and defend their borders.

In this short amount of time, Ju Zi was constantly running through possible permutations for her battle tactics in her head. The Star Luo Empire and the Dou Ling Empire had been on high alert and extremely tense for the past few days as they braced themselves for the Sun Moon Empire’s attack. Conversely, her troops had been recharging and resting for the

 

past ten days. With their improved morale, they were in their best possible state.

“Yuhao, is it really you?” Ju Zi muttered to herself. “If it really is you, I wouldn’t find it strange at all. It was a brilliant move you made there!”

“How can a general act based on his or her own discretion? This is a complete joke. Xu Tianran would never stop controlling me even if I am at the front lines.” She revealed a cold look on her face as she smiled. “Xu Tianran, I wonder if you have been injured again…”

“It seems like all of my preparations were appropriate. It’s time to unveil some of these things. Yuhao, thank you for helping me create this condition. I will wait for you here. I am really looking forward to seeing you again. Even if it’s on the battlefield.”

Whenever she mentioned Huo Yuhao’s name in her heart, the coldness in her eyes would be replaced by a warm and loving look as a satisfied smile crept across her face.

 

She gradually extended her right hand as she clenched her fist above the sand model. Everything was under her control!

Two hours later, the War God Empress’ orders started to pass around the entire army. Every single officer was to report to the Commander’s Tent to receive their next set of orders.

A very solemn and serious aura was emanating from the Commander’s Tent. Ju Zi was wearing her armor and red-gold helmet as she sat in her seat. There was another person seated on her left, who was completely concealed in a long black robe. Even though he had been trying to conceal it, the people around him could still sense a very creepy and frightening aura coming from his body.

Another person was standing behind the man in black. If Huo Yuhao were here, he might be able to recognize her. She was none other than the Vice-Leader of the Holy Ghost Church

—Feng Ling.

The only person who could get Feng Ling to stand behind him must be the Leader of the Holy Ghost Church—Zhongli Wu!

 

Yes, Zhongli Wu was actually at the front lines with the rest of the army.

The other powerful cultivators of the Sun Moon Empire— including Jing Hongchen—were standing beneath Zhongli Wu and Feng Ling. Even though the cultivators from the Holy Ghost Church could not be seen, that did not mean they were not present.

Another group of formidable individuals was standing on the other side. One of them was the leader of the six Class 9 soul engineers who had met with Ju Zi previously. In total, there were more than twenty Titled Douluo and Class 9 soul engineers within the Commander's tent.

Other than these individuals, the higher-ups from the armies were all present as they lined themselves up according to their ranks. They were the commanders of the Hand that Protects the Nation—the four most powerful soul engineer legions in the Sun Moon Empire, the commanders of the normal soul engineer legions, and the other relevant commanders respectively.

All of these people constituted the military leadership class within the Sun Moon Empire.

Ju Zi nodded at the group of people before her and said, “After  much  rest,  our  army’s  morale  is  sky-high.  Now  is definitely the best time for us to strike our enemies. Listen up! The first, third, and fifth legions are to make their way towards Shrek City and beseige our enemies. The Evileye Soul

 

Engineer Legion and the Terrorclaw Soul Engineer Legion are to cooperate with their movements and set up camp fifty kilometers away from Shrek City. After establishing your soul tool deployment areas, get ready to attack the city.”

“After the camps have been established by our legions, the rest of you will proceed according to our planned movement lineup and wait for further orders.”

After hearing Ju Zi’s words, Zhongli Wu was startled. Previously, he had actually requested to use the troops on Shrek City after setting up camp here. However, Ju Zi had rejected his request. He did not expect the War God Empress to finally decide on attacking Shrek City. This was good news for the Holy Ghost Church. They had always viewed Shrek City as a thorn in their side.

Even though he was a little surprised by her orders, Zhongli Wu was not against them.

Hence, the army collapsed their tents and marched towards Shrek City with morale high. If the aura they were exuding were material, it would probably have crushed the city walls. By evening, the entire Sun Moon Empire army had set up camp

 

fifty kilometers from Shrek City. They were able to surround half of the city.

However, there was no reaction from Shrek City. Their doors remained firmly shut.

As nightfall descended, a series of explosion awakened Shrek City.

Lines of brilliant flames illuminated the dark sky as they formed a series of characters which were visible from any corner in Shrek City. “Give us Huo Yuhao within ten days, or we will kill everyone within the city!”

As he floated peacefully in the night sky, Huo Yuhao gazed at the bright characters in the sky and frowned.

He was just about to reach the Shrek Academy after his long flight. It was not the kind of greeting he was expecting.

To hand me over in ten days’ time?

 

Does the Sun Moon Empire actually want to trap Shrek City?

Tang Wutong was also surprised by the sight before them. She turned around and shot a puzzled look at Huo Yuhao. “Isn’t Ju Zi the Commander of the Three Armies? What is she planning to do?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head. “Let’s go. Let’s discuss it after we return  to  the  Academy.”  As  he  spoke,  he  held  onto  Tang Wutong and the Bluesilver Emperor before speeding off in the direction of Shrek Academy. With his Imitation soul skill and Spiritual Interference Domain, he was able to return to Shrek City without alarming anyone.

Before he returned to the Academy, he first headed back to the Tang Sect. After stepping into the gates, he gathered all the higher-ups.

“This is…” When Bei Bei saw the Bluesilver Emperor which was standing by Huo Yuhao’s side, his jaw dropped.

Even though he was not a hundred percent sure that it was the Bluesilver Emperor that could save Tang Ya’s life, he was

 

pretty confident that Huo Yuhao had managed to bring it back.

Huo  Yuhao  said,  “Eldest  senior  brother,  the  Sun  Moon Empire has surrounded Shrek City. We should head over to the Academy immediately. This is the Bluesilver Emperor. I managed to find it in the Sun Moon Empire. Third senior brother, can I trouble you to prepare accommodations for him? Eldest senior brother, let’s head over to the Academy. After we have confirmed the situation at the Academy, I will come back to treat Teacher Xiao Ya.”

Bei Bei’s excitement was apparent as his breathing became rapid. However, as the big brother within Tang Sect, he was able to control his emotions and stay composed. He nodded and said, “Alright. Let’s head over to the Academy.”

After leaving for such a long time, they were still not able to rest, even though they had just returned. Huo Yuhao, Bei Bei, and Tang Wutong ran towards the Academy. The rest of them continued with the work which had been left undone during the period of time when they had left the Tang Sect.

Very soon, Huo Yuhao, Tang Wutong and Bei Bei reached the Academy.

When they arrived at the gate, they were stopped by two figures which leapt in front of them.

“Who are you?” The two youths were wearing the Shrek Academy uniform. They were only able to recognize the faces of Huo Yuhao and the rest after challenging them.

Their eyes widened in disbelief as one of them exclaimed, “Senior Huo?”

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “We are going to enter the inner courtyard. This night sentry duty thing has only been added recently, right?” It was important to note that the old Shrek Academy never closed their doors, even at night. They had never employed any defensive measures.

That student nodded and replied, “That’s right. Ever since the Heavenly Soul Empire fell, the Academy has been stepping up our security measures. We are going through very difficult times indeed.”

 

“What?” The three of them exclaimed in unison. None of them had known that the Heavenly Soul Empire had been conquered. After hearing the news from this student, they were all utterly shocked.

No wonder the Sun Moon Empire could push their troops to Shrek City… The Heavenly Soul Empire has really fallen…

Even though Huo Yuhao was not a citizen of the Heavenly Soul Empire, Bei Bei was. Suddenly, a heavy silence fell across the group.

Tang  Wutong  broke  the  silence  and  asked,  “Is  there  any procedure we need to undergo before entering the Academy?”

The two students did not dare to look straight at Tang Wutong’s beautiful face. They shook their heads frantically. “No. No. Please proceed.”

The three of them entered the Academy and arrived at Sea God’s Lake. All of the leapt up at the same time and flew directly to Sea God’s Island.

 

The news of the Heavenly Soul Empire’s fall was simply too shocking. Huo Yuhao could still remember the Heavenly Soul Empire’s setup at the frontlines when he personally visited that area previously. Even though they could not be compared to the Sun Moon Empire’s powerful soul engineer legions, they should not have been able to be destroyed so quickly. Its demise meant that there was no longer a buffer between Shrek City and the Sun Moon Empire’s troops. At the same time, it also meant that the Sun Moon Empire was one step closer towards their dream of conquering the entire continent. Next, they could target the Star Luo or Dou Ling Empire as they wished. Things were truly looking bad for the other empires on the continent.

Huo Yuhao and the others had thought that their efforts in the Sun Moon Empire could influence the battle at the front line. However, they did not expect the Heavenly Soul Empire to crumble so easily. This made their attempts to induce fear and panic within the Sun Moon Empire less effective than they could have been.

Even though Huo Yuhao was frowning, he stopped at the Golden Tree and kneeled before it along with Tang Wutong. Bei Bei kneeled down as he joined them to pay their respects.

 

“Teacher, we have returned. I hope we are not too late.” Huo Yuhao kowtowed to the Golden Tree thrice as he greeted it respectfully.

The Sea God’s Pavilion was well-illuminated. When Huo Yuhao, Tang Wutong and Bei Bei walked into the hall, all of the Elders were already there. There was also another familiar face present in the hall. She was none other than Princess Wei Na from the Heavenly Soul Empire.

After seeing the three people walked in, Princess Wei Na could not help but stand up. Compared to the previous time they met had her, she seemed to have aged quite a bit. Her skin had lost its original youthful radiance, and her face had grown a lot paler. One could see the sadness and sorrow in her eyes.

“Yuhao.” Wei Na greeted softly as tears welled up in her eyes.

After seeing that Princess Wei Na was present in the hall, Huo Yuhao felt an inexplicable sense of sadness in his heart. This meant that the Heavenly Soul Empire had really fallen to the Sun Moon Empire. If not, she would never have been able to break Shrek Academy’s tradition and enter the hall as someone who was not a member of the Sea God’s Pavilion.

Elder Xuan waved his hand at the three of them and said, “The three of you are just in time. Please sit.”

“Yes.” Huo Yuhao answered politely as the three of them sat down.

All the Elders had very worried and solemn looks on their face. This was going to be one of the biggest challenges the academy had ever faced. It was probably more difficult than the beast wave which started in the Great Star Dou Forest previously.

During the beast wave, Shrek Academy was at most involved in traditional combat. However, this time around, they were going up against some of the top soul tool technologies in the entire Douluo Continent. No one would dare to say they were confident of winning this battle.

Elder Xuan looked at Huo Yuhao and asked, “Did you all see the fireworks outside?”

 

Huo Yuhao nodded. To his surprise, Elder Xuan actually revealed a gentle smile.

Elder Xuan said calmly, “You should be able to tell from the fireworks that your team has achieved a fair bit of success. Even though your operations in the Sun Moon Empire were not enough to get them to retreat, at the very least, they caused them some panic. If not, they would not have sent their troops to surround Shrek City. So why don’t you share what all of you have done with us.”

Ever since he had become an Ultimate Douluo, Elder Xuan had become a lot more composed and steady. In fact, Huo Yuhao felt that he was starting to resemble Elder Mu.

Even though the current situation was extremely pressing, Elder Xuan did not ask them for their opinions on how to handle their enemies. Instead, he asked them how their trip was, and whether they bumped into any significant problems. His wisdom was exemplified in his decision to change the topic so as to improve the tense atmosphere.

Huo Yuhao said, "After leaving the Academy, I headed directly to the Ming Dou Mountain Range. Following which, I

 

entered the Sun Moon Empire…"

As they listened to his story, the Elders nodded along. They were particularly moved when he got to the part about their attack on the Radiant City, and how they had bombed the Palace with a Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell. After hearing what Huo Yuhao said, the Princess was so excited that she grabbed the edge of the table by her side.

However, Huo Yuhao omitted the parts about the spectral demiplane during his report. After all, this was his greatest secret. No matter what, the Princess was still an outsider.

“...After  leaving  Radiant  City,  we  took  a  short  rest  to reorganize ourselves. Because we didn’t hear about the news, we returned. Just now, we caught wind of news about how the Heavenly Soul Empire…”

Elder Xuan nodded. “I see. The Sun Moon Empire would never have changed their battle plans if all of you were to only attack those normal cities. But you exceeded everyone’s expectations by successfully attacking Radiant City. After that, the Sun Moon Empire had no choice but to view all of you with great importance. It also seems like your team left some tracks behind which allowed them to trace you. Hence, they are demanding us to turn you over to them within ten days.”

Huo Yuhao thought for a while before saying, “Elder Xuan, I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“Hmm?” Elder Xuan seemed to be curious about what Huo Yuhao was hinting at. “Tell me what you think about this.”

 

Huo Yuhao said, “I don’t think it’s very likely for the Sun Moon Empire to pass orders to the front line to demand that the academy turn me in. After all, they would probably think I’m still in the Sun Moon Empire. Also, it would be impossible for the Academy to contact me in ten days. Furthermore, they should know that it would be futile to ask the Academy to turn me in!”

Zhang Lexuan said, “Could they be using this as an excuse to attack the Academy?”

Once again, Huo Yuhao shook his head. “I don’t think so. The time they are giving us is way too long. Ten days is considered very long for a battle that uses soul tools. If they are willing to give us ten days to turn me in, it doesn’t look like they intend to attack us directly. Of course, there’s still a possibility that they’re just trying to numb us before launching an attack. But from the looks of things, I think that’s quite unlikely.”

“Why is that?” Princess Wei Na asked curiously.

Huo Yuhao said, “The current Commander of the Sun Moon Empire’s Three Armies is the War God Empress. I actually

 

know her personally from back when I was in the Sun Moon Empire for the exchange program. She was my senior sister back then, as we learned and studied under a common teacher. Hence, we have a pretty decent relationship.”

While he talked about his relationship with Ju Zi, Tang Wutong pinched his thigh under the table.

Of course, Huo Yuhao did not show any expression of pain on his face as he continued, “This senior sister of mine was not particularly gifted in building soul tools or cultivating. However, she possessed immense gifts when it came to military affairs. Previously, she was the one who came up with the entire plan to feint an attack on the Ming Dou Mountain Range before striking the Heavenly Soul Empire. After penetrating the borders of the Heavenly Soul Empire, she returned to the Sun Moon Empire to give birth to their Prince. During that time, the Sun Moon Empire’s army was particularly quiet due to her absence. However, she has now returned. She is very clever with her tactics, and does not indulge in any meaningless battles. If she knew it was impossible for the Academy to turn me in, there must be some deeper reason why she planted her troops around Shrek City. In my opinion, it isn’t likely that they would attack the Academy directly.”

 

Dean Yan said, “But we cannot eliminate this possibility. Otherwise, if they were to launch an all-out attack on us, the blood and sweat which has been invested in the Academy for the past ten thousand years would be destroyed in an instant. We cannot afford to let that happen.”

Huo Yuhao sighed and nodded. “This is exactly why Ju Zi is so smart. She understands how we have no choice but to rescue Shrek City and the Academy, and hence employed this method to control us. In fact, at this very instant, both Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire would love to see the Sun Moon Empire do this to us.”

“Why is that?” Tang Wutong could not help but ask.

Huo Yuhao explained, “It’s very simple. If the Sun Moon Empire were to attack us, how can Shrek Academy not defend itself? This would make us and our location an important pivot in the war. The only way for us to stand a chance would be to gather all the troops from the Star Luo and Dou Ling Empires. And since both empires are fairly close to us, they can definitely send their troops over in ten days.”

 

After hearing his explanation, a heavy silence fell upon the room. They were all beginning to sense the true intentions behind her moves. This was an elaborate yet overt scheme designed by Ju Zi. By threatening the enemy, the enemy’s allies would have to rescue them. This would create a tactical space

for Ju Zi’s troops to attack or retreat. No one would know what she had in mind for her next move.

If Ju Zi were to attack, Shrek Academy would definitely not be able to fend them off by themselves. Hence, they had to call for external reinforcement. Shrek Academy was simply unable to afford any losses!

However, what if the Sun Moon Empire chose to hold their horses and wait it out when the reinforcements finally arrived? Or what if they chose to take other actions instead? How should the academy react?

At this instant, the entire Sea God’s Pavilion was quiet. Everyone seemed to be very frustrated and depressed by their current circumstances. The Sun Moon Empire had only moved their troops forward by fifty kilometers and fired some fireworks. But this was enough to cause a headache for Shrek Academy.

 

Even Elder Xuan, who was usually extremely calm and composed, started to frown. It was apparent that he was becoming very worried about the circumstances.

Xian Lin’er said, “Elder Xuan, is it possible for us to get help from the Great Star Dou Forest? After all, we have been sharing a pleasant cooperative relationship with them all this while. The Spirit Pagoda is also based in our city. If we can get them to help, it would be a lot easier to stop the Sun Moon Empire from attacking us.”

Elder Xuan shook his head and said, “I know the Beast God the best. It’s impossible to ask him to help us. In fact, he can’t wait for us humans to kill one another and weaken the human race’s power. This would grant soul beasts a greater amount of living space. After all, this battle is mainly taking place between soul masters and soul engineers, who both need soul rings. It would be a blessing for every soul beast if more soul masters were to die.”

Qian Duoduo said, “Then what if we were to attack instead? After receiving our signal for help, the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire would definitely send their troops over as fast as possible. Under these circumstances, do you think we would stand a chance if we were to fight them head-on with our full

 

power? At the very least, we can stop them from doing other things.”

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “It will be very difficult for us to fight them head-on. They would only have to convert their soul tool deployment areas into forts to protect themselves from our attacks. Even if we were eventually able to penetrate their defenses, it would be at great cost. The chances of us doing that are just too slim. Our only advantage is that we have a greater number of individuals who are highly skilled in combat. However, our collective strength is a long way from theirs.”

Xian Lin’er frowned and said, “Then what should we do? We can’t defend, right? It will be hard to defend against them.”

Tang Wutong suddenly spoke. “I think the best thing for us to do now is wait. We should not ask for help from the Dou Ling and Star Luo Empires. This will allow them to focus on defending their own borders.”

After hearing what she said, Huo Yuhao immediately looked at her. This was exactly what he had wanted to suggest.

 

However, he was a little hesitant about voicing this controversial opinion.

“Huh? Why is that so?”  Elder Xuan was surprised by Tang Wutong’s suggestion. The other Elders did not seem to be very receptive to it either. They did not seem to be very impressed by what she had said. Tang Wutong’s suggestion was a quick recipe for the fall of Shrek City.

Tang Wutong looked at Huo Yuhao before letting out a cold grunt. “There are some words which might be hard for you to say. Since that’s the case, I will help you say them. I suggested this because the chances that Ju Zi will attack Shrek City are impossibly slim. As long as we allow Huo Yuhao to meet her and convince her that he is truly in the city, she would never order her army to attack Shrek City.”

Yan Shaozhe was still confused by her words. “How is that possible? Unless she is scared of Yuhao?”

Tang Wutong pouted before complaining, “She’s not afraid of him. In fact, she likes him a lot. I believe she will never harm Yuhao. Hence, as long as she knows he is in the city, it is unlikely that she will order her troops to attack it. In my

 

opinion, I believe that her demand for us to turn Huo Yuhao over is but a smokescreen she has created.”

“What?!” The Elders were very surprised by her words. The War God Empress of the Sun Moon Empire actually likes Huo Yuhao? This was an unbelievable piece of news!

Huo Yuhao blushed after hearing what Tang Wutong said. Tang Wutong also realized that her emotions were not very appropriate as she turned around before sticking out her tongue at Huo Yuhao.

Elder Song, who had been keeping quiet all this while, suddenly interjected. “That would be too childish of her. This war is supposed to be part of the Sun Moon Empire’s plan to conquer the entire continent. It concerns the lives of millions. I don't think the War God Empress would allow her emotions to affect her decisions.”

After hearing Elder Song’s words, the other Elders could not help but nod. Tang Wutong’s opinion seemed to be borne out of her jealousy. It was still hard for them to believe that the Commander of the Sun Moon Empire’s Three Armies would

 

allow her decisions to be contingent on her feelings for Huo Yuhao.

It was no longer appropriate for Huo Yuhao to add any comments to the conversation. Actually, his thoughts were similar to Tang Wutong’s. When he saw the fireworks earlier, he had already guessed that it was a smokescreen set up by Ju Zi. However, she probably hadn’t expected him to return to the Academy so quickly to see the fireworks.

It was a brilliant smokescreen. With over six hundred thousand troops pressuring and threatening Shrek City, the Academy would be forced to make a move. And in moments like this, if he were to make the same suggestion as Tang Wutong, he would only receive the same denigration and disapproval from the Elders.

Elder Xuan lamented, “This situation is extremely complex, and we must defend against it at all costs. Shrek City currently has over a hundred thousand troops. Now that the few of you have returned, we are in much better shape. We need to get the three soul engineer legions ready for battle as soon as possible. In addition, we need to start preparing our own soul tool deployment areas. Lexuan, can you inform the Star Luo

 

Empire and Dou Ling Empire to step up their defenses, but prepare to assist us when necessary.”

“Roger.” Zhang Lexuan acknowledged.

“Roger.”   Huo  Yuhao  hesitated  before  agreeing  to  follow through with the orders.

Elder Xuan’s request was already a compromise between the two conflicting opinions. After all, as the Master of the Sea God’s Pavilion, he had to prioritize the survival of Shrek City and Shrek Academy.

The subsequent discussion pertained to the details about their defense plans. Princess Wei Na also expressed the support of the remaining Heavenly Soul Empire troops to protect Shrek City.

The meeting continued till late into the night.

After it ended, Tang Wutong, Huo Yuhao and Bei Bei left the Academy and returned to the Tang Sect.

Bei Bei seemed to be lost in his thoughts before he asked Huo Yuhao. “Yuhao, I feel like something isn’t quite right. Doesn’t it feel like we’re being led on?”

Chapter 557: Awakening

Huo Yuhao sighed and said, “Perhaps it was a mistake for us to return. We not only failed to force them to retreat, but also fell into their trap at Shrek City. Now, we can no longer threaten the Sun Moon Empire on their soil. It seems like all of our plans have disintegrated, Also, Wutong is right. I believe that with Ju Zi’s intelligence, she would definitely not set her aim on Shrek City. The Sun Moon Empire would definitely not waste their resources on attacking a fort which would be reinforced by the full power of two empires.”

“I’m sorry, Yuhao. I should not have phrased it that way. If you were the one analyzing the problem instead, you might just  have  been  able  to  convince  the  Elders.”  Tang  Wutong lowered her head like a guilty kid.

Huo Yuhao held her hand and shook his head. “No, it’s not your fault. Even if I were the one who mentioned it, the outcome would not have changed. Ju Zi is just too smart for us. Her overt scheme forces the Academy to save itself. After all, she understands how no one in the Academy would ever bet on its safety. That’s why her tactics are so powerful!”

 

Bei Bei said, “However, we can’t just leave things like this either. We must think of a way. If not, things will get really dangerous.”

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “How about this? Wutong, you head back to the Academy and find out more about the deployment of the Star Luo Empire’s troops from the inner courtyard. Try and see if you know where the White Tiger Duke and the main forces of the Star Luo Empire are. Eldest senior brother, let’s head back to treat Teacher Xiao Ya. After we are done with that, I will make a trip to find the White Tiger Duke to explain about the complexity of the current situation to him. I will also remind him to take care of himself, and to keep an eye on the situation. As for the Dou Ling Empire, I will head there immediately after I’m done with the Star Luo Empire. Because we only know the Heavenly Sun Douluo, I guess we can only ask him for help. Let’s try and see if we can convince the Dou Ling Empire to limit the number of troops they plan to send over to reinforce us.”

“A couple of thousand years ago, under the leadership of the Academy, we were able to gather the power of all three empires to defeat the main force of the Sun Moon Empire. This sent them fleeing back home in defeat, and set the foundation for a few thousand years of peace. I am just worried that the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire are still somehow subscribed

 

to this belief, which is now outdated. If they still believe in it, they will definitely send out all their troops. Then things will become really ugly. Now that the Sun Moon Empire has the upper hand, we can only react to their moves.”

After finishing his sentence, Huo Yuhao felt an inexplicable sense of powerlessness in his heart. He realized how small his individual efforts were, and how useless they were when it came to changing the current circumstances.

He had originally thought that the destruction he had created within the Sun Moon Empire would do wonders. However, contrary to his expectations, Ju Zi was even more ruthless and tactical in the control of her troops. He felt like he had run out of moves.

I am still not strong enough!

“Yuhao.” Tang Wutong suddenly called to him.

“Huh?” Huo Yuhao turned around and looked at her.

 

Tang Wutong moved in front of him. She was not much shorter than him, so their eyes were pretty much level. She stared intensely at Huo Yuhao before saying, “Don’t lose your confidence!”

Huo Yuhao was startled, but he immediately understood what she meant. He nodded gently, and revealed a determined smile.

Tang Wutong said, “Previously when our teacher handed the baton to us, he hoped that we could one day become the pillars of the Academy. He wanted us to protect and develop the Academy with our lives. We must not disappoint our teacher. Yuhao, you must be thinking about how small your individual efforts are, right? After seeing how the Sun Moon Empire’s huge army is knocking on our door, you feel that our individual abilities can no longer influence the outcome of this war, right?”

Huo Yuhao’s eyes widened as he turned to look at Tang Wutong. “Wutong, you really understand me! Those were the thoughts that were in my head.”

 

Tang Wutong continued, “That’s right. An individual might seem very tiny when compared to a large group. However, if an individual were to become extremely strong and powerful, he or she will influence the outcome of the war in one way or another. Even if others cannot do it, I believe you can. Don’t forget you are the only Ultimate Soldier nurtured by Shrek Academy! Besides, you were never fighting alone. You have me, eldest senior brother and all of our companions in the Tang Sect. In fact, you have the support of the entire academy. Remember this: never give up on yourself at any point in time. You are blessed with gifts that others can only dream of. You have your twin martial souls and the spectral demiplane. If there is one person who can change the fate of the continent, it’s you! The only problem is that both of us are not strong enough yet. We need to become stronger to control the proceedings of this war.”

Bei Bei smiled as he looked at Tang Wutong and Huo Yuhao. “Wutong is right. We should never give up. Even if we were to fail in the end, at least we tried our best, and did it with no regrets.”

Huo Yuhao became silent. His mind was indeed a mess earlier. Tang Wutong’s words helped to wake him up from his messy thoughts.

 

After seeing Huo Yuhao starting to think again, Tang Wutong kept quiet and held his hand. She was trying to use the warmth of her hand to show her support.

Ju Zi, Ju Zi, you have really stumped me this time around! If I make a wrong move, I will lose everything I have. Huo Yuhao’s mind was racing as this thought recurred over and over again

Sometimes, a sly ploy was easier to deal with than an overt scheme. An overt scheme which forced people to take action was the hardest to deal with.

If I want to break out of her scheme, I must make an unorthodox move!

The strength of an individual? Ultimate Soldier?

Suddenly, Tang Wutong’s words flashed through Huo Yuhao’s mind.

 

He suddenly recalled what his mother had told him before her death.

“Yuhao, it seems like you will have to walk the road ahead alone. Mother cannot accompany you anymore. Remember, in this world, you are the only person who you can rely on. You can only do what you want, and protect what you want only when you become stronger.”

I must rely on myself!

Boommm!

The puzzle in Huo Yuhao’s head was finally shattered. A powerful spiritual wave radiated from his head and sent ripples into the sky above him.

The clouds in the sky started to separate, and the stars became visible again.

After taking a deep breath, Huo Yuhao spoke with eyes sparkling with excitement. “Eldest senior brother and Wutong,

 

we must not make the wrong move now. I need both of you to follow what I just said earlier. Wutong, I need you to head back to the Academy to find out where the White Tiger Duke is right now. Then, I need eldest senior brother to find him and relay our current situation to him. You must convince him not to send all his troops over. Get him to form an elite legion which can move out at any time.”

“Wutong, I need you to head to Dou Ling Empire. You’re the only other person who knows the Heavenly Sun Douluo. Find him and relay the same message to him. If I’m not wrong, Ju Zi’s real target is probably the Dou Ling Empire, because it is currently the weakest. Sometimes, the simplest answer is the correct one.”

Tang Wutong asked, “Then what about you?”

Huo Yuhao brought her into his embrace as he stroked her long hair. “I will first treat Teacher Xiao Ya. Following which, I will begin closed-door cultivation, and push to become a Titled Douluo. You’re right. If there’s one person who can change the outcome by himself, that person will have to be me. I am the only person who can infiltrate the enemy’s camp. As the Ultimate Soldier, I must do it to the best of my ability!”

 

Tang Wutong went silent before she nodded fervently. Following which, she turned around and ran back to the Academy. She understood the danger Huo Yuhao was getting into. But at the same time, she understood that this was the best possible option now. Once Huo Yuhao obtained his second soul core, he would not just be any normal Titled Douluo!

Bei Bei looked at Huo Yuhao with sadness in his eyes. “Yuhao, you…”

Huo Yuhao raised his hand and stopped Bei Bei from speaking. He smiled and said, “Eldest senior brother, as a man, I must not cower from any challenge. Let me have a good fight with Ju Zi. Since she is using an overt scheme, I shall do the same. Let’s see who will emerge victorious in the end.”

After returning to the Tang Sect, Huo Yuhao realized that everyone was busy with work. There was only one person sitting in the hall.

Tang Ya was still looking very pale. She looked like a pitiful lily as she sat there alone. Huo Yuhao’s heart hurt to see her like this. He could still remember her as the bubbly and cute Teacher Xiao Ya!

However, there was now a look of excitement on her face. Her hands were holding the edges of her shirt as she waited nervously for Huo Yuhao to return.

“Teacher Xiao Ya!” Huo Yuhao strode quickly across the hall. Bei Bei was somehow slower than him as tears started to well up in his eyes.

It had been a few years since they had rescued Tang Ya. However, Bei Bei could tell that she had never truly been happy.

Her unhappiness was not because of her own lack of health. She felt unhappy because she saw how she was unable to contribute to the success of the Tang Sect.

Rebuilding the Tang Sect had always been her dream. She had previously chosen to leave Bei Bei in order to achieve this dream. This showed how important the Tang Sect was to her. Now that the rebuilding of the Tang Sect had begun, she was unable to contribute anything as the leader. She could only watch everyone toil hard every day, or even put their lives on

 

the line. The psychological stress far outweighed the physical pain she was undergoing.

Tang Ya’s condition had stabilized with the help of the Qiankun Fortune Pills and Huo Yuhao’s Life Guardian Blade. However, she was still a young lady who was extremely weak.

After hearing the news that Huo Yuhao had returned with the Bluesilver Emperor, how could Tang Ya not be happy when she finally had a chance of recovering?

"Thank you, Yuhao!" After seeing Yuhao, Tang Ya immediately stood up as tears streamed down her face.

Huo Yuhao immediately said, "Teacher Xiao Ya, there's no need for you to thank me like this. If you and eldest senior brother didn't take me in back then, I wouldn't be here today. Now, I’m going to start treating you. We can catch up after you’ve recovered, okay?"

As he spoke, he started to release his Spiritual Detection, and located the Bluesilver Emperor within the Tang Sect.

Bei Bei walked over to Xiao Ya and hugged her lightly. Right now, the gentle big brother of the Tang Sect was somehow speechless. He had so much love for Tang Ya, and had probably suffered more than she had after seeing her in a miserable state.

After waiting for so many years, a healthy Tang Ya was finally going to return to his side. How could he not be elated?

Within a short while, the Bluesilver Emperor had entered the hall. It knew Tang Ya was its target the moment it stepped into the ball. Her Bluesilver Grass martial soul was already very weak, even though it was still around. As the Emperor of the Bluesilver Grass, it was naturally able to sense the state of her martial soul.

"Hello, Bluesilver Emperor!" Bei Bei was finally able to put down his overwhelming emotions and speak again. He bowed before the Bluesilver Emperor with utmost sincerity along with Xiao Ya.

Huo Yuhao spoke. "Senior, this is my eldest senior brother, and she is Teacher Xiao Ya. I believe you should have been able to tell that her martial soul has been severely injured. Hence, we need your help. My eldest senior brother has also sworn not to hunt any soul beasts unless he is attacked by them."

The Bluesilver Emperor nodded and gave a straightforward reply. "Then let's begin with her treatment. We can talk about

 

the rest later."

As it spoke, the Bluesilver Emperor raised its hand, which was made out of thick vines, before shaking it lightly. A blue crystal clear vine floated out and landed in Huo Yuhao's hand.

They had been working so hard to find the Bluesilver Emperor, and had even announced to the entire continent that they were willing to reward the person who could bring the Bluesilver Emperor to Tang Ya. However, all of their efforts had failed until now. The Bluesilver Emperor had finally arrived at the Tang Sect.

Huo Yuhao turned around and looked at Bei Bei. "Eldest senior brother, let's find a meditation room and begin the treatment. Bluesilver Emperor, I assume you’re joining us, right?"

"Yes, I will also take a look at her." The Bluesilver Emperor nodded. After all, it was very likely that Xiao Ya would be the owner of its Spirit. Hence, it made sense for it to show some concern for her.

 

It was extremely easy to find a meditation room in the Tang Sect. They chose a meditation room in the rear courtyard and started to begin their preparations. Bei Bei was in charge of safeguarding the treatment process, while Huo Yuhao treated Tang Ya. The Bluesilver Emperor would supervise the process by the side.

“Teacher Xiao Ya, I need you to sit up straight and cross your legs. Afterwards, relax your body as I try to awaken your martial soul. You will then try to circulate your own soul power. But remember to take it easy and not rush into it, alright?”

Tang Ya nodded. But she knew it was impossible for her to not be anxious! She was even more hungry for power than before. But she also understood how important it was for her to be calm in such critical moments.

After taking a deep breath, Tang Ya forced herself to calm down as she crossed her legs and sat properly.

The Bluesilver Emperor suddenly raised its hands before lowering them above Tang Ya’s head. Suddenly, a shower of faint blue light landed on Tang Ya’s body.

The people in Tang Sect had tried many different therapeutic methods and soul skills, to no avail. However, under the illumination of this blue light, she seemed to have become a lot calmer, and relaxed.

Tang Ya flashed a grateful smile towards the Bluesilver Emperor before nodding at it.

Huo Yuhao moved towards Tang Ya as he held the vine from the Bluesilver Emperor in his hand and injected the pure soul power from his Mysterious Heaven Technique into it. The Bluesilver Emperor vine immediately radiated an intense blue glow.

Tang Ya’s small body started to tremble, as though something within her body was resonating with the vine’s aura. Even though the life energy in her body had stopped disappearing because of the Qiankun Fortune Pills, it was no longer increasing. However, at this instant, she felt an inexplicable warmth in her body, as though something was being awakened.

 

Huo Yuhao increased the amount of soul power injected into the vine, until the Bluesilver Emperor vine exploded with a popping sound. It transformed into countless motes of blue dust, which floated in the air.

At this moment, it was time for Huo Yuhao to showcase his powerful control ability. Under the control of his soul power, the dust continued to spread evenly into the air before entering her body through her pores and nose.

Tang Ya’s body started to tremble lightly as her skin started to glow with a faint blue color.

Huo Yuhao let out a sigh of relief. It seemed like everything was going according to plan. Now, the ball was in Tang Ya’s court.

The main use of the Bluesilver Grass vine was to awaken Tang Ya’s own Bluesilver Grass martial soul. Her martial soul had become a lot weaker after its dark parts had been removed. Because the Bluesilver Emperor’s aura was very strong, it should be able to awaken her martial soul and revitalize it. If everything went according to plan, her cultivation and abilities should return to their original states. She would also start

 

accumulating life energy again, and hence be considered as having truly recovered.

Tang Ya held on as she sensed the energy within her body starting to awaken. However, it seemed like the energy which was trying to stir her own energy was a little weak. Even though she could sense it, she was unable to borrow its power to activate her own energy.

Tang Ya started to panic! She only had one shot, and if this failed, the outcome was unthinkable.

As the panic in her heart intensified, she became more helpless. She was starting to lose touch with the energy within her body. As a result, the Bluesilver Emperor's energy and effects started to weaken.

No, this can't be it!

Tan Ya became really anxious as she tried her best to attract the energy. Because of her panicking, the energy from the Bluesilver Emperor started to become messy and convoluted.

 

Huo Yuhao was also startled by the sight before him. He had been using his Spiritual Detection to monitor Tang Ya's situation. He also became worried after seeing how her energy flow was becoming chaotic. However, no one present could help her! This concerned one’s control over one’s martial soul. It was not something that soul power from external sources could help. It concerned her special relationship with her martial soul.

At this instant, a blue figure suddenly appeared behind Tang Ya. He raised his arms as several vines swarmed out and wrapped themselves around her body. Following which, his body started to radiate a powerful blue glow as it started to release a powerful aura.

That was not the aura from his soul power. It originated from the martial soul’s bloodline aura.

It was the Bluesilver Emperor!

Tang Ya’s body trembled violently for a short while before it stabilized. One would be able to see a small blue glow radiating from her dantian. Conversely, the light from the Bluesilver

 

Emperor’s vines was partially concealed by the bodies of the veins, resulting in a mystical sight.

Did it succeed? Huo Yuhao turned around to look at Bei Bei with excitement in his eyes. He realized Bei Bei was looking at him with hopeful eyes as well. Both of them were very anxious to know the results. It seemed like the Bluesilver Emperor had made a critical intervention at the most crucial moment.

Huo Yuhao could sense that this was a successful attempt.

As expected, Tang Ya’s breathing started to become stable as her body stopped trembling. She started to possess her own soul power fluctuations.

The Bluesilver Emperor loosened its vines which were wrapped around her as it returned to Huo Yuhao’s side.

“The martial soul in her body has already been awakened. It is truly one of the purest Bluesilver Grass I have ever seen. In addition, she also seems to possess the true Bluesilver Grass royal blood. Thank you, Huo Yuhao. You have helped me find a really good host. If I can really fuse with her and become her

 

Spirit, I am certain we will share a fruitful symbiotic relationship. Thank you.”

Huo Yuhao and Bei Bei bowed in unison to the Bluesilver Emperor. “We should be the one thanking you. Without your help just now, she would have been in serious danger.”

Tang Ya’s breathing finally stabilized as the soul power fluctuations from her body started to become stronger. Even though the increase was not significant, and her current soul power was probably only at the Soul Scholar level, this improvement could be sensed by Huo Yuhao. Bei Bei was also able to sense it through Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Sharing.

“It seems like Teacher Xiao Ya will need to cultivate under closed-door conditions for an extended period of time. This time around, I am certain that she will recover all of her soul power after her closed-door cultivation. When that day comes, we will just need to provide her with tonics and herbs to help her get back to her best state. Eldest senior brother, why don’t we get third senior brother to head to the Star Luo Empire instead? You can stay behind to accompany Teacher Xiao Ya.”

 

Bei Bei shook his head and said, “Everyone is busy with their own responsibilities. I think it’s still better for me to head to the Star Luo Empire. I think I will be a lot more persuasive as a member of the Sea God’s Pavilion than third senior brother. Yuhao, I will leave right away after you help me pen the letter. I will go and talk to Nannan and Xiao Xiao and get them to take care of Xiao Ya for me.”

Bei Bei was raring to contribute to the war. Now that Tang Ya was well on her way to recuperation, it was almost as if all his worries had disappeared. As his emotions improved, his entire mental state seemed to have become completely different.

“Alright!” Since they had no time to lose, Huo Yuhao did not waste any time with formalities.

By the time Bei Bei was done relaying instructions to Xiao Xiao and Jiang Nannan, Huo Yuhao was done with the letter. After receiving the letter, Bei Bei immediately left for the Star Luo Empire without resting at all.

After passing some reminders to Jiang Nannan and Xiao Xiao, Huo Yuhao left for the Soul Tool Hall. He went straight to Xuan Ziwen’s laboratory.

Before his closed-door cultivation, he had some things he wanted to ask Teacher Xuan.

Huo Yuhao knocked twice on the laboratory’s metallic door.

There did not seem to be any response from within the laboratory. Huo Yuhao was used to this, and he opened the door and entered quietly.

Xuan Ziwen was busy constructing a soul tool within the laboratory—just as Huo Yuhao had expected. He did not even look up to see who had entered.

“Teacher Xuan, I’m back.” Huo Yuhao announced softly.

“I know that. But I also heard that you expended close to sixty percent of our stationary soul cannon shells. Is that true?”

“Cough! Cough! Tha-That’s true. I can’t believe second senior brother betrayed me!” Huo Yuhao sighed.

Xuan Ziwen simply gave an emotionless reply. “Soul tools are meant to be used anyways. He couldn’t have betrayed you in the first place. The most important thing is whether you managed to witness the effects of the explosions. Were the effects up to our expectations? I can’t believe you just used over ten thousand stationary soul cannon shells so casually. You really are a failure! Why couldn’t you have mixed in some fake shells instead of only using real ones? You know well enough that it wouldn’t have been able to breach the Radiant City’s defenses anyways.”

Huo Yuhao let out an awkward laugh. “I didn’t think that much back then. The situation was already tense enough. But I admit I was wrong to have used so many shells, Teacher Xuan.”

 

Xuan Ziwen waved his hand to dismiss Huo Yuhao’s apology. “Our stationary soul cannon shells must still be lacking power. The fact that we only expended the energy in their defensive soul tools after firing over ten thousand shells proves that we need to improve our cannon shells. We should at least caused their soul tools to overheat. It really wasn’t worth it to fire all of those shells. Anyways, I have recently made some adjustments to our cannon shells. Now, we will start categorizing the different shells we plan to manufacture.”

“Huh? How do you plan to categorize them?”  Huo Yuhao asked curiously.

Xuan   Ziwen   explained,   “Previously,   when   we   were manufacturing the stationary soul cannon shells in bulk, they were largely built for huge explosions. They would destroy whatever was in their way with high temperature and heat, as well as their explosiveness. Because of this, most of the current protective soul barriers—especially linked defensive barriers— are built to counter the combination of heat, temperature and explosiveness. Just now, Caitou gave me a report on the events which occurred during the battle. It seems like Tai Ah’s effects far exceeded my expectations.”

 

Tai Ah was the Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell which had penetrated the defenses of the Sun Moon Empire’s Palace. It was also personally designed by Xuan Ziwen.

“Hence, I have decided to vary the types of stationary soul cannon shells we will manufacture in the future. We will have shells which will provide ranged offensive capabilities and penetrative capabilities. To be honest, shells which can penetrate barriers often have better effects. Recently, I have come up with a new stationary soul cannon shell called the Clustered Piercing Shell. Its manufacturing cost is almost twice that of the stationary soul cannon shell you came up with. This was because it requires rare metals to construct. However, you can only imagine how powerful its destructive ability is! Previously, I had already rushed out the first batch of these Clustered Piercing Shells. If you are leaving for an operation again, you can bring some of them along with you.”

Huo Yuhao said, “I am afraid we won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. The current situation is not looking good and thus, I have made new plans.”

Xuan Ziwen raised his hand to stop Huo Yuhao from continuing. “Don’t talk to me about what goes on outside. As long as the Tang Sect is still around, I will never leave this

 

place. I am only concerned with my own research. As for the other things, the responsibility will lie in all of your hands. Now that you have already become a Class 9 soul engineer, there’s nothing left for me to teach you. What you can achieve will depend on how hard you work. I have also heard about the mass manufacturing of human-shaped soul tools in the Sun Moon Empire. Haha! This idea might not be as good as it

seems. Just give me some time to think about this, and I will let you know what I feel about it. With the current soul tool technology available, even Teacher Kong might not be able to manufacture a human-shaped soul tool without any undesired side-effects.”

“Teacher Kong? Who’s that?” Huo Yuhao asked.

Xuan Ziwen glared at Huo Yuhao and said, “He is my teacher. The Hallmaster of the Sun Moon Empire’s Hall of Consecration! He is also the most powerful soul engineer in the entire Sun Moon Empire. He is your grandmaster.”

“Cough! Cough! I didn’t know someone like that existed. You never mentioned him to me before, right?”  Huo Yuhao was very startled to hear that.

 

Xuan Ziwen glared at him before reprimanding him. “That’s not my fault. You can only blame yourself for being dumb. Just use your head to think. As a young man back then who was only a Class 9 soul engineer, how could I become the lead researcher at the Virtuous Hall if not for special reasons? They only gave me the title because I was Teacher Kong’s disciple. Almost half of the Class 9 soul engineers in the Sun Moon Empire have received some sort of guidance from Teacher Kong. In fact, Teacher Kong is so great that I don’t even know where his limits lie. He’s definitely not weaker than any Ultimate Douluo, and should be extremely dangerous. In my opinion, Xu Tianran must have gotten Teacher Kong’s support. If not, it would not have been so easy for him to become the Emperor!”

Huo Yuhao started to become a little worried. Even though Teacher Kong was his grandmaster, he was on the enemy’s side! It was definitely not a good thing to have such a strong opponent.

“Teacher Xuan, in that case, I will be beginning my closed- door cultivation. You can work hard, but do remember to take care of your health.” Huo Yuhao said.

 

Xuan Ziwen waved his hand as though he were chasing a fly away. “You may take your leave. Next time, if you don’t have anything important to say, please don’t come and waste my time. Also, you can rest assured that after eating your Qiankun Fortune Pills, I won’t be dying anytime soon. Now that I think of it, all of you are treating my laboratory as a sweatshop! I am but an oppressed laborer.”

Huo Yuhao gave an awkward smile and thought to himself. How can any of us force you to do something you don’t want to do with that temper of yours?!

After leaving Xuan Ziwen’s laboratory, Huo Yuhao entered his own laboratory. Even though he had been absent for quite a while, it had been kept clean by the Tang Sect staff.

Huo Yuhao closed the heavy metallic door and then bolted it. At the same time, he activated the alarm system which would inform anyone who approached the door about his closed-door cultivation.

This was the safest and quietest area within the entire Tang Sect.

 

Huo Yuhao walked back and forth within his laboratory as he tried to tidy up his thought process. Following which, he leapt onto the bench which he used to build soul tools before sitting down with his legs crossed.

“I can only allow events outside to unfold by themselves. Without any change to the current situation, the Elders in the Academy would never change their strategy. I have also done my best when it came to both the Dou Ling Empire and the Star Luo Empire. Now it is up to them to decide what’s best for everyone and for themselves. The only thing I can do now is make myself as strong as possible, and turn the tide of the battle at its most crucial moment. I can do it, and must do it.”

After convincing himself that his decision was correct, Huo Yuhao clenched his fists and slowly closed his eyes. His body started to relax as the soul power in his body began to circulate on its own.

When Tang Wutong mentioned his status as the Ultimate Soldier, Huo Yuhao immediately understood what she meant. His soul power had been stuck at Rank 89 for a while, and he had been unable to become a Titled Douluo. Even though he was already capable of defeating any normal Titled Douluo, becoming a true Titled Douluo would still enhance his powers

 

—just as it would for any soul master. The more gifted a soul master was, the greater the enhancement.

Furthermore, Huo Yuhao already had his first soul core. Once his second soul core formed, his soul power would be not much different from that of an Ultimate Douluo. In the future, his soul power would also improve at an unimaginable rate.

Huo Yuhao had actually been accumulating soul power all this while. In fact, he had been doing so for a long time. When he acquired the eighth soul ring of his Spirit Eyes in the Ice Sea, his Spiritual Sea had transformed once again, resulting in a huge boost to his spiritual power. Following which, he was influenced by the plants, and improved his understanding of Totality. Now, he had fulfilled all the conditions to push for his second soul core. He was definitely not inferior to any Rank 98 soul master when it came to his spiritual control.

He needed to become stronger in order for his words to weigh more, and for him to possess the ability to better influence the battlefield. This was the plan that Huo Yuhao had finally settled on.

 

An individual’s effort might be small, but sometimes, he or she might still be able to turn the tables with his or her own efforts. Even though Huo Yuhao might not be able to do so right now, he might gain the ability to do so if he were to become stronger. Since there were no better options, it would be wisest for him to strengthen and enhance his capabilities.

Thus, Huo Yuhao had decided to begin closed-door cultivation.

In fact, the way in which he planned to cultivate was a lot different from what Tang Wutong had in mind.

In Tang Wutong’s opinion, the best way for Huo Yuhao to cultivate his soul core was to use the Resonance method. However, Huo Yuhao disagreed with what she felt. He knew that he had to become as strong as someone like the Beast God. If he could not compare to Di Tian, there was no way he could succeed on the battlefield. Hence, the only option for him was to tread the same path as Di Tian. In fact, he was aiming to do better than him, to become even stronger than the Beast God.

After becoming certain of his target, Huo Yuhao allowed the soul power in his body to circulate on its own. He stabilized the

 

soul core which was near his forehead as he allowed his spiritual power to circulate around his soul core.

Huo Yuhao’s soul core was now the center of all of his power. His spiritual power was revolving around the soul core in its immediate orbit. Following which, his soul power circulated around the soul core on an outer orbit.

If one were to observe his Spiritual Sea, one would notice a gigantic rhombus-shaped sun in the center of it. This sun was his soul core. Even though his spiritual power had become so dense that it was almost solid, it continued to revolve around the soul core.

Following which, Huo Yuhao prepared to attempt to form his second soul core.

According to Elder Xuan, the initiating of his second soul core should be fairly simple after the strenuous initiation of his first soul core. This was because his second soul core would be initiated within the dantian—the place where his soul power was stored. Hence, it should be a lot easier to construct his soul core there.

 

However, after accumulating his soul power all this while, Huo Yuhao had other thoughts.

Even though it was easy to create one’s soul core in the dantian, it might not be the most beneficial option for his future development.

This was because he was not planning on going for the Resonance cultivation method. He wanted to use the Yin Yang Complement method instead.

The term Yin Yang Complement meant the complementary relationship between opposites. Once he succeeded in the cultivation of his soul core in his dantian, the two soul cores in his body would circulate the surrounding energy in opposite directions. This would allow them to draw upon each other’s strengths and complement one another, just like a pair of gears. His soul power and spiritual power would circulate from his dantian all the way to his forehead.

However, what would happen after Huo Yuhao reached Rank 98?

 

Even though by then he might already possess the ability to hold his own against an Ultimate Douluo, he would still not be considered as one. In order to reach Rank 99 and become an Ultimate Douluo, he needed to improve himself with his soul cores as his foundation. This meant that he would have to create a third soul core.

If his two soul cores had already occupied the path from his dantian to his forehead by using the Yin Yang Complement method, where else could he initiate his third soul core?

Chapter 558: Complementing Yin and Yang, the Second Soul Core

There were only three places where humans could create their soul cores. They were the forehead area between the eyebrows, the chest, and the dantian. If he were to set up his second soul core in his dantian, he could forget about creating a third soul core in his chest. In order to do that, he would have to first cut off the connection between his two soul cores. And that would be tantamount to suicide!

This also meant that if Huo Yuhao decided to create his second soul core in his dantian, he would have no chance of creating a third soul core. No matter how strong he eventually became, he would never be considered a true Ultimate Douluo. In other words, he would not be able to inherit the God of Emotions’ Godly Seat.

Hence, Huo Yuhao had long decided to not only create his soul core with the Yin Yang Complement method, but also create it at his chest area. This allowed him to create his third soul core in his dantian in the future. When the time arrived, his third soul core would only face interference from the soul core in his chest.

 

“Ice  Empress,  are  you  there?”  Huo  Yuhao  was  trying  to communicate with the Ice Empress inside him.

“Yes?  Is  there  a  problem?”  The  Ice  Empress’  voice  rang inside him.

Huo Yuhao said, “ I’m going to start on my second soul core and push for Titled Douluo. I was thinking of using the Yin Yang Complement method to achieve that. I might need to trouble you to help me with that. This is because my body contains your Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s torso bone, and your power is strongest in my chest area—the area where I plan to create my second soul core. For my second soul core, I plan to use our Ultimate Ice soul power as the main force to create it. If my plan succeeds, my first soul core would control my spiritual power, while my second soul core would control my soul power. Both my soul cores would complement one another, and allow both soul power and spiritual power to communicate with one another, forming a perfect fusion between these powers. This would allow my soul skills and abilities to possess both powers simultaneously.”

After hearing what Huo Yuhao said, the Ice Empress went silent before sighing. “Do you know how hard this is going to be?”

Huo Yuhao said, “I don’t know how hard it will be. But regardless of its difficulty, I plan to give it a try. Do you think you can help me?”

The Ice Empress said, “Of course I am going to help you. I must say you are truly extremely gifted and very intelligent. The path you are choosing to tread is probably the most extreme of methods among those who possess Ultimate Ice, or even among all cultivators in the world. Such extreme cultivation methods will often give you endless potential.”

“Huh?” Huo Yuhao did not expect the Ice Empress to shower him with praise after expressing her doubts at his chances of success.

The Ice Empress said, “In the world of soul beasts, all those who possess true wisdom and powerful abilities chose the path you plan to take. However, only one—Di Tian—has succeeded. That is why he is the strongest soul beast in the world.”

Huo Yuhao was startled by her words. “Does that mean you have actually tried this approach?”

 

The Ice Empress said, “No. I don’t have the right conditions to attempt this. This was because I had not attained what was equivalent to the humans’ Ultimate Douluo rank, and was not able to construct my second soul ring. However, the Snow Empress actually tried it before.”

“Snow Empress!” Huo Yuhao exclaimed in excitement.

Following which, the Snow Empress’ voice could be heard. “Yes! I have tried it before. If I had actually succeeded, I would not have feared Di Tian at all. My abilities would be at least on par with his. However, I failed. My origin was heavily damaged, and I lost the ability to push for higher powers. Hence, I could only choose to transform into an embryo— something which you have fortuitously benefited from.”

Huo Yuhao did not know that the Snow Empress had such an eventful life before meeting him. After hearing her story, he was exhilarated. If the Snow Empress had tried it before, she must possess some valuable experience. Right now, nothing was more important and valuable than experience!

The Snow Empress said, “I have tried it before, so I know better than others how difficult this path is going to be. Di

 

Tian did not succeed because his determination and resilience were stronger than mine, but because his Golden Eyes Black Dragon King’s body was sufficiently tough. In order to complete the Yin Yang Complement cultivation method, one has to split one’s spiritual power and soul power completely before fusing them together again. This will take an enormous toll on one’s body, and requires an incredible degree of control.”

“Your current spiritual power should be sufficient for you to meet the second condition. However, because you are but human, the strength of your body would never be able to compare to us soul beasts. We—as soul beasts—choose not to use the Resonance cultivation method because the structure of our bodies does not allow us to do that. Our circulation passageways are built very differently from yours, and we do not possess such good acupoints. Hence, we only have two places to create our soul cores. This limitation is why we will never be able to become a God. And these two positions will not allow any resonance to occur. This forces us to choose the Yin Yang Complement method. Yuhao, are you sure you really want to do this? If you fail, you will have to suffer very serious consequences.”

Huo Yuhao answered without any hesitation. “No matter what, I am going to give it a try. If I succeed, we will have set

 

up a good foundation for my eventual development into a God. If I fail…”

He suddenly paused for a short while before continuing with an even more determined tone. “I will not fail unless I die!”

Without the courage and determination to go all-out, how could a human stand any chance of breaking the barrier of mortality?

A heavy silence fell upon the room as both the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress went quiet.

After a short while, the Snow Empress replied solemnly, “In that case, we will bet our lives on you. All six of us will help you. I don’t believe that you can still fail with all of our help. Yuhao, just focus on your own cultivation later. Don’t care about us and what we will do later. We will put in our best, and leave no what-ifs behind.”

“Okay.” Huo Yuhao nodded and closed his eyes.

 

Instead of starting immediately, Huo Yuhao began to adjust his psychological state. Success was only possible if he was in the best state of mind. When it came to such crucial moments, it was always good to be patient, and to make sure all preparations were done properly.

Streaks of light started to leave his body.

The first ones to emerge from his body were the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress. They were the two strongest Spirits among the six of them.

Following which, the Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass, Little Bai, the Skydream Iceworm, and Li Ya appeared one by one.

The six Spirits gathered around Huo Yuhao’s body.

The Snow Empress looked at the other five Spirits before saying, “I believe you have all heard what Yuhao has said. While this closed-door cultivation is extremely important for him, it is equally important for all of us. We have been using his body as a foundation to continue living. If anything were to happen to him, all of us would be in trouble too. If he succeeds,

 

we will have succeeded as well. Hence, I need everyone to help him overcome this challenge at all costs together. Don’t worry about expending our energy, because once he succeeds, he will be able to use the new soul core formed from this Yin Yang Complement method for our benefit. In addition, just as he has already mentioned, his success would be a huge step forward in our journey to become Gods with him. This is a common goal which we all share after becoming his Spirits.”

The five other Spirits nodded in unison. The Skydream Iceworm was visibly excited as he said, “That’s great! I’ve been waiting for this day for so long. Now that Yuhao is finally going to make a huge step in that direction, I will definitely support him with my life.”

The Ice Empress glanced at him and said, “Skydream, I need to warn you to not use all of your power to help him. You already fused your origin with him lest time. I need you to tone it down a little bit this time around. Trust us. We can do it.”

The Skydream Iceworm was startled to hear the Ice Empress’ words. He looked over to the Ice Empress, only to see her turn away immediately.

 

The Snow Empress was frustrated by his actions as she said, “What are you looking at? She is worried about you. Isn’t that enough?”

The Skydream Iceworm’s body started to tremble, but he did not tease anyone with his words. He simply nodded to acknowledge the Snow Empress’ words.

The Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass shook its leaves gently to express its support. Among the six different Spirits, it was probably the weakest.

The  Snow  Empress  continued,  “The  new  soul  core  that Yuhao plans to create with the Yin Yang Complement is going to be of the Ultimate Ice type. Under such circumstances, we will require an enormous amount of Ultimate Ice energy. Li Ya, I need you to assist Yuhao to stabilize the spiritual soul core in his Spiritual Sea. If need be, delay its interference on the work on our side.”

Li Ya nodded. Even though she had only joined not too long ago, as a mermaid princess, she possessed wisdom which exceeded that of an average human. She naturally understood the gravity of the situation.

The Snow Empress continued to delegate work as she announced, “Skydream, you will assist Li Ya, as your origin is infused with his. It will be easier for you to help coordinate things there. At the same time, I need you to keep watch on his body’s situation. We must not allow his body to fail. Do you understand?”

The Skydream Iceworm nodded.

The Snow Empress raised the Ice Empress’ hand and said, “The Ice Empress will be anchoring our efforts today. This is because Huo Yuhao plans to create his soul core at his chest area—the area where the Ice Empress’ Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s torso bone is. While I will assist the Ice Empress, I need Little Bai and Star Anise to join us, because all four of us possess Ultimate Ice soul power. We will work together to help Yuhao form his soul core. Star Anise, you will be in charge of stabilizing the process. Little Bai, you will protect Yuhao’s body while we form the soul core. The Ice Empress and I will be moving his soul power towards his chest.”

“Roger!” The three Ultimate Ice Spirits replied in unison.

 

In just a few lines, the Snow Empress was able to arrange everything properly.

The Snow Empress took one last look at the five other Spirits before saying, “We can only succeed. If all else fails, we don’t. We must work together to make it happen.”

“Yes!” The five Spirits cheered.

The Snow Empress came to Huo Yuhao’s side and patted his shoulder gently.

“Thank  you,  Snow  Empress.”  Huo  Yuhao  had  heard  the entire conversation between his six Spirits. When he opened his eyes, it was possible to see the fog radiating within his pupils.

The Snow Empress smiled and said, “What are you thanking me for? Your body is no longer only yours. It now belongs to all of us. If all seven of us put our minds to the task, I am sure there’s nothing we can’t achieve. However, before you begin, I will recommend that you get the Life Guardian Blade back. Its copious amount of life energy should be beneficial for you. Previously, when Di Tian formed his second soul core with the Yin Yang Complement, he did it next to the Lake of Life, which was full of life energy. I believe it will definitely be of good use.”

Huo Yuhao’s eyes lit up after hearing her suggestion. That’s right! How could I have forgotten about the Life Guardian Blade? Now that Teacher Xiao Ya is starting to recover, she will have no use for it. Instead, it could turn out to be very useful for me.

Huo Yuhao immediately leapt off the bench and ran out to look for Tang Ya.

 

The six Spirits stayed where they were instead of following him. After all, he would only be a short distance away from them. It was okay for them to leave his side for a short while.

The Snow Empress whispered into the Ice Empress' ear. After hearing what she had to say, the Ice Empress' face revealed a look of disbelief. She turned to look at the Snow Empress and said, "You…"

The Snow Empress smiled as her eyes showed the pride she had in her heart!

"Even though I was not able to succeed back then, I must help Yuhao succeed at all costs!"

The Ice Empress nodded gently. "Snow Empress, I understand now."

The Snow Empress started to blush. "What do you understand?"

 

The Ice Empress burst into laughter. "I’m not going to say what I understand!"

While they were chatting with one another, Huo Yuhao returned with the Life Guardian Blade.

Since it had absorbed the Life Gold brought out by the Golden Tortoise, the Life Guardian Blade had transformed into the Life Guardian Sword. Its jade green body radiated dense life energy. After Huo Yuhao closed the door, the entire laboratory was filled with the dense life energy radiated by the sword.

Even though the life energy was mainly useful for Huo Yuhao, it was also able to nourish the spiritual sense of the six Spirits. Their faces revealed satisfied expressions.

The Snow Empress nodded towards Huo Yuhao and said, “Let’s get ready. I will share my experience with you so that you can avoid making the same mistakes I did. You just have to follow what I say.”

“Alright.”

Huo Yuhao was pretty much done with his mental preparation. He was in his best possible form while being nourished by the dense life energy released by the Life Guardian Sword.

After crossing his legs, Huo Yuhao placed the Life Guardian Sword across his knees. He closed his eyes and allowed his soul power to circulate through the Mysterious Heaven Technique’s circulation path.

Huo Yuhao had been stuck at Rank 89 for a fairly long period of time. Even though he had been unable to make a breakthrough, he had not stopped cultivating with Tang Wutong. Hence, he had soul power in abundance.

After beginning to circulate his soul power, Huo Yuhao’s body seemed to contain huge waves, which rippled through him. His soul power was extremely viscous, and had a very firm texture.

After circulating his soul power for a single round, his soul power started to circulate in endless succession on its own as his spiritual power grew richer and fuller. When his soul

 

power neared his head, it would be attracted by the soul core, revolving and being compressed around it.

His six Spirits all returned to his body. Li Ya and the Skydream Iceworm were keeping watch over his spiritual sea, while the other four Spirits went to his chest to sense the transformation of his soul power.

The Snow Empress’ voice rang out in Huo Yuhao’s head. “Yuhao, the first thing you need to do is extract your soul power from your soul core. You should only leave your spiritual power in your soul core.”

“Okay.” Huo Yuhao acknowledged her instructions as he circulated his soul power. He was trying to draw away the soul power compressed about the soul core near his forehead.

This was not an easy task. After all, there was only so much his body could take. After obtaining his first soul core, it had been helping him to compress his soul power, allowing him to possess more. After drawing out the soul power, it would flood into his passageways. Very soon, his passageways would become engorged, leaving no space for the soul power to go.

 

“Yuhao,  continue  and  do  not  stop,”   the  Snow  Empress reminded Huo Yuhao.

At the same time, Huo Yuhao could sense a slight trembling in the bones around his chest and back. Those bones started to radiate a jade green glow. The huge amount of soul power stored in his body was being absorbed by the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s torso bone. As his soul power entered the torso bone, space was being created within his passageways.

Huo Yuhao was elated after he began to understand what the Ice Empress and Snow Empress were up to. He did not dare to become complacent as he rapidly controlled the compressed soul power which was leaving the spiritual soul core between his eyebrows.

Everything seemed to be going very smoothly. It was normal for soul masters to expend soul power, especially during battles. Because his spiritual soul core was mainly housing his spiritual energy, his highly condensed spiritual energy was closest to it.

After his soul power was drawn out from the spiritual soul core, his spiritual soul core became a lot livelier. His spiritual

 

sea started to circulate rapidly as his spiritual energy was released.

Usually, the released spiritual energy would naturally attract the origin energy of heaven and earth. This energy would transform into Huo Yuhao’s soul power after it was absorbed into his body. This soul power would then be consumed to make up for the soul power expended earlier.

This was why soul cores were so powerful. As long as their owner gave them enough time, they could help their owners recover their soul power without requiring them to meditate.

However, it was apparent that Huo Yuhao currently did not need his soul core to help him regenerate soul power.

A faint layer of white light formed over Huo Yuhao’s skin. It was set up by the Skydream Iceworm.

Skydream was the one who had the deepest understanding of Huo Yuhao’s body!

 

When Huo Yuhao first met the Skydream Iceworm, he had fused with it, and made it his first soul ring. Back then, Huo Yuhao was still like a blank piece of paper. Throughout all these years, as Huo Yuhao developed his powers, the Skydream Iceworm had been watching over his development. Hence, he was extremely familiar with his body and its situation.

Before the Snow Empress instructed him to do so, Skydream had already done the right thing, which was to draw away Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power and block off all connection between Huo Yuhao’s spiritual soul core and the surrounding origin energy of heaven and earth. This would prevent the energy from going near his soul core and transforming into new soul power.

This naturally made the spiritual energy released by the soul core a lot stronger. The resistance from its surroundings became the force which drove its circulation.

At that instant, Li Ya also made her move. She wrapped her gentle spiritual power around the soul core to slow down the speed it was revolving at. It was vital for her to suppress it to a small extent.

 

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao was trying his best to extract the compressed soul power from his soul core.

The backlash from the soul core started after Huo Yuhao had extracted more than seventy percent of the compressed soul power. The powerful attractive force of his soul core made the spiritual barrier set up by the Skydream Iceworm tremble. Even though Li Ya was trying her best to restrain the soul core, she only managed to reduce its attractive force by the slightest bit.

This was the power of a soul core! Once it was formed, it became the source of the soul master’s power. How could it be suppressed so easily?

Huo Yuhao was an extremely resilient person. Even though he started to feel some resistance around his soul core, he did not plan to give up or change his plans as he continued to extract his compressed soul power to the best of his ability.

This was the moment when the mermaid princess started to show her strength. Instead of slowing the rotation of the soul core, her primary objective was to keep it stable.

 

This would allow Huo Yuhao to fully focus on the extraction of his soul power instead of having to divert his attention to his soul core. An unstable soul core was likely to explode. Even though it had already become a soul core and was fairly resistant, Huo Yuhao’s endless extracting, which did not give it

any chance to recover soul power, could still affect the soul

core. He was supposed to expend his energy to protect and stabilize it. However, he was fortunate to have Li Ya around to help him with that.

The Skydream Iceworm had also greatly enhanced the diversion of Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power, as he ensured that his power did not come into contact with his surroundings.

At this instant, no one dared to slack off as they put in their best to ensure the process could proceed smoothly.

As the minutes ticked away, Huo Yuhao could sense the increasingly intense trembling of his spiritual sea under the pressure from his soul core. It was trying its best to release spiritual energy to replenish the soul power which he had drawn away. In the meantime, Li Ya was doing her best to envelop the soul core and keep it still. The Skydream Iceworm continued to wrap itself around Huo Yuhao's body as it tried to

 

prevent his spiritual energy from coming into contact with his surroundings.

On the other hand, the four Ultimate Ice Spirits were more relaxed. The Ice Empress was busier because she was using the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's torso bone to absorb the soul power being drawn out by Huo Yuhao.

This was the time when everyone could appreciate the true strength of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's torso bone. It had absorbed close to fifty percent of Huo Yuhao's soul power. Even then, it did not seem like it was reaching full capacity anytime soon. It merely took on a greener color without giving Huo Yuhao a bloated sensation.

With the help of his six Spirits, it had been relatively easy for Huo Yuhao so far. He had not faced any difficulty or challenge with the entire process.

As the torso bone started to absorb more soul power, the soul power fluctuations became greater. This resulted in an increasingly violent soul core. Li Ya was already starting to struggle with it. Controlling the spiritual soul core was the

 

equivalent of facing off with Huo Yuhao's insanely superior spiritual power.

"Yuhao, control your soul core. Slow it down," the Ice Empress advised.

With just a signal from his intent, Huo Yuhao's soul core immediately came under his control. The violent soul core stabilized instantly.

Li Ya was released from her task as she took a break in his spiritual sea. Now that Huo Yuhao was busy trying to control his spiritual soul core, he could no longer focus his energy on moving his soul power.

Right now, he was trying to suppress the innate ability of his soul core. The result of suppressing a soul core was a greater retaliation from it. It would try to put up a fight against the restraining powers placed on it.

An incredibly powerful attractive force suddenly formed in his dantian and extracted the last bit of Ultimate Ice soul

 

power from his soul core. This force was naturally provided by the Snow Empress. She had finally made her move!

Huo Yuhao could sense a rhombus-shaped ice crystal appearing within his dantian. It possessed an extremely strong attractive force, which drew in all of his soul power. During the process of attraction, it was actually able to compress his soul power, just like a soul core!

The aura that was radiating from the ice crystal belonged to the Snow Empress.

What is she doing?!

Huo Yuhao was certain that the Snow Empress could control his Ultimate Ice soul power. But he also knew that she should not be able to absorb it. Hence, she must have expended a lot of her spiritual awareness in order to compress his soul power.

However, there was no time for him to ask any questions right now. Since she had already begun the process, it could not be stopped.

As his spiritual power continued to circulate, the air around it trembled gently. Because Huo Yuhao was the owner of the spiritual soul core, his control over the soul core was definitely a lot better than Li Ya’s. After his focus was shifted onto the spiritual soul core, he managed to make it fall into a half-asleep state, which allowed him to extract his soul power without any

 

interference from it. Half of the soul power was fused into the rhombus-shaped crystal near the Snow Empress, while the other half was absorbed by the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s torso bone, which was being controlled by the Ice Empress.

The soul power within Huo Yuhao’s body started to become less and less.

Finally, after an extremely long time, the spiritual soul core’s surroundings no longer had any soul power fluctuations. All of Huo Yuhao’s soul power had left the soul core and entered his body.

Even then, the Ice Empress and Snow Empress did not stop what they were doing. They continued to absorb and attract the soul power. Hence, Huo Yuhao’s body was starting to be emptied of soul power.

Huo Yuhao was starting to understand what the two Empresses were planning to do. With their help, he could save an enormous amount of effort for the formation of his second soul core! Yes, I must succeed!

 

The Ice Empress and Snow Empress seemed as though they had accelerated their attraction and absorption rate at the same time. The soul power in Huo Yuhao’s body seemed to be vanishing at an increasing rate. Very soon, all of his soul power was concentrated at those two places, leaving his entire body

devoid of soul power. This made him feel weak as the trembling of his spiritual soul core intensified. It was craving energy! Even though it was a spiritual soul core, its thirst for soul power was still considerable.

The Snow Empress’ voice rang inside Huo Yuhao’s head. “Yuhao, I am about to begin now. The subsequent process will probably be painful. When I start to form your second soul core, your spiritual soul core will put up a strong resistance. This is because it will subconsciously believe that someone is here to invade its territory. Hence, it will retaliate violently. What you need to do is to stabilize it at all costs. Try your best to stop it from interfering with my work. Li Ya, be prepared to help Yuhao when necessary. Skydream, I need you to continue to protect us from the external environment.”

Huo Yuhao acknowledged the Snow Empress’ words with a thought. At the same time, he tried to gather his spiritual power in readiness for the next step.

 

It was definitely an extremely uncomfortable thing to curb one’s innate ability. However, Huo Yuhao was able to pull it off because of his superior control that came along with his spiritual power.

Suddenly, a small stream of soul power emerged within Huo Yuhao’s empty body.

This stream of soul power—which was coming from Huo Yuhao’s dantian—was released from the rhombus-shaped ice crystal formed by the Snow Empress.

The rhombus-shaped crystal was surrounded by the Ultimate Ice soul power that was revolving around it. This soul power was extremely dense, as it appeared to be almost solid. After releasing this single strand of soul power, it did not seem to affect the cluster of soul power that was revolving around the crystal.

This streak of soul power floated upwards gently until it reached Huo Yuhao’s chest. It first paused there before beginning to circulate in that area.

 

Huo Yuhao’s spiritual soul core had always been rotating clockwise. However, this strand of soul power seemed to be rotating counterclockwise after pausing at his chest and transforming into a tiny dot.

Its tiny revolutions did not seem to create any significant fluctuations or ripples.

However, there was a strand of soul power which linked this dot all the way back to the dantian, where all the soul power that the Snow Empress had absorbed was stored.

In other words, this meant that the tiny bit of soul power that was circulating there was becoming stronger under the control of the Snow Empress.

The speed of its rotation was not particularly fast. The rate at which its power was increasing was not particularly fast either. However, its rotation was extremely stable. Meanwhile, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s torso bone was glistening under the Ice Empress’ control as it formed a partition between the external world and Huo Yuhao’s chest. It seemed to prevent the external environment from detecting the energy within Huo Yuhao’s chest.

“Yuhao, we cannot completely isolate the Ultimate Ice soul power which is rotating counterclockwise in your chest. If we allow that to happen, your spiritual soul core and new soul core would be destructively incompatible once we remove the partition between them. Your body would not be able to

contain the destructive conflict between them, and eventually explode. Hence, we must allow your spiritual soul core to continually adapt to its existence. We must train it to accept its existence instead of rejecting it. This process is also the hardest step in the entire set of procedures. The final push is about to begin. Make sure you get yourself ready.”

“Alright.  Let’s  do  this.”  Huo  Yuhao  answered.  He  was  no longer concentrating on the situation occurring in his dantian and chest area. He focused all his energy on his spiritual soul core.

As the rotation of the Ultimate Ice soul power at his chest started to accelerate, Huo Yuhao’s spiritual soul core seemed to have detected this change, and started to become restless. It first started to tremble lightly before beginning its resistance against Huo Yuhao’s intent.

 

Because this was his soul core, Huo Yuhao knew exactly what it was trying to do. It wanted to accelerate its rotation and use its powerful spiritual power to destroy the “new fellow” which was trying to challenge its authority.

As Huo Yuhao increased his efforts to control it, the trembling and vibration of the spiritual core became increasingly intense. The Ultimate Ice soul power at his chest area gradually increased to a size which was similar to that of a grain of rice.

Huo Yuhao continued to rein his spiritual soul core in and tried to prevent it from interfering with the Ultimate Ice soul power.

In the meantime, the Snow Empress was trying to continue the formation of the Ultimate Ice soul power in a stable manner. Just as she had explained to Huo Yuhao earlier, she was doing it slowly, so as to allow the spiritual soul core to get used to the existence of a new soul core. However, this adaptation phase naturally had to begin with violent resistance.

 

Huo Yuhao was starting to feel an intensifying sense of dizziness. When he was trying to fight against his own spiritual soul core, he was effectively fighting against his own source of spiritual power!

Huo Yuhao was starting to see illusions, even though he had been trying to fight back against them. However, the control he was exerting over his spiritual soul core was already causing his spiritual sea to tremble.

At this instant, a melodic song entered his ear. It was Li Ya, who was trying to release her spiritual power. He spiritual power seemed to be filled with the power of temptation as her singing tempted the spiritual sea to stabilize. It also seemed to possess the power to alleviate Huo Yuhao’s pain and soothe the soul core.

In the meantime, the Ultimate Ice soul power’s revolutions were not only becoming stronger, but also faster.

Even with Li Ya’s help, Huo Yuhao was only to catch a breather before the powerful sensation returned again.

 

“Yuhao, you can relax your control on the soul core. You must not suppress it entirely. That would be bad for both soul cores in the future.”

“Noted.”

Relax my control? The moment Huo Yuhao toned down his suppressive efforts, he realized that the soul core became a lot harder to control than when it was fully suppressed.

After seeing an opportunity to release spiritual power, the spiritual soul core took advantage of it, and radiated spiritual power fervently. The spiritual power raced towards Huo Yuhao’s chest as it tried to destroy the tiny bit of Ultimate Ice soul power that was rotating there.

A jade light flashed, and his entire chest area was sealed. The Ice Empress had made her move! Her Ultimate Ice soul power blocked the spiritual power and protected the new origin within it.

When his spiritual power collided with the Ice Empress’ Ultimate Ice, Huo Yuhao’s entire body spasmed intensely. It

 

was as if the blood flow in all of his passageways had been reversed. It was an incredibly awful feeling.

The spiritual soul core, which had tasted a tiny bit of freedom after Huo Yuhao had loosened his control over it, started to run wild as it tried to release more spiritual power to overcome the Ice Empress’ Ultimate Ice. This meant that Huo Yuhao had to somehow strike a balance between ensuring the release of spiritual power and controlling the amount that was actually released by the spiritual soul core. This was a lot more difficult than just suppressing the soul core entirely.

While the Ice Empress was focusing on defending against the aggressive spiritual power, the Snow Empress continued to control the formation of the new soul core. The rate at which Ultimate Ice soul power was being transported was now finally starting to increase.

The soul power core, which was only the size of a grain of rice, very soon became the size of a bean. The waves of spiritual attacks also became increasingly intense as they became more driven to overcome the Ice Empress’ defense.

 

Huo Yuhao started to feel waves of excruciating pain as the spiritual power attacks became more intense. While he was trying to cope with the pain, he still had to control his spiritual soul core and withstand the weak feeling that was coming from his spiritual sea.

He was only able to barely push through the pain with the help of his invincibly strong determination. His determination did not waver at all throughout the entire process.

Huo Yuhao’s resilience also gave the six Spirits plenty of confidence that they would all succeed.

Faint white glows started to appear in the bones and passageways in Huo Yuhao’s body. A cooling sensation seemed to soothe the piercing pain which came with the collision between the spiritual power and the Ultimate Ice formed by the Ice Empress.

This cooling sensation was created by Little Bai. Little Bai had started to protect Huo Yuhao’s body.

 

Even though Huo Yuhao felt a little better, he did not become complacent. This was because his spiritual soul core was becoming increasingly violent as the Ultimate Ice soul power in his chest area started to coagulate and take shape.

As Huo Yuhao focused on his intent to control the spiritual soul core, he became increasingly confident in his odds of forming his second soul core in his chest. He felt that if he were to still fail even with the help of his six Spirits, he would have failed the gifts he had been blessed with!

After stabilizing his mental state, he also realized that his body was no longer in as much pain as before. He silently mustered his spiritual power as he tried to maintain control over his spiritual soul core. He tried to slow its rotation while maintaining a steady and continuous stream of spiritual power which exited the soul core and collided with the Ultimate Ice soul power.

Because the Ultimate Ice soul power at Huo Yuhao’s chest was continually expanding, its rotation speed and the rate at which it was absorbing the Ultimate Ice soul power were increasing and becoming stronger as well. At the same time, Huo Yuhao started to feel a painful sensation in his chest.

 

After all, it was rotating in the reverse direction! This reverse rotation was directly acting on his body! Hence, Huo Yuhao had to suffer twice the amount of pain from both rotations.

Huo Yuhao continued to feel a sharp piercing sensation coming from his chest area. The pain was extremely suffocating. Nevertheless, Huo Yuhao did not seem to be struggling with the pain.

However, he soon discovered something that startled him. The ice crystal that the Snow Empress had transformed into was actually ascending and leaving his dantian area.

This rhombus-shaped ice crystal and the Ultimate Ice soul power which had taken shape at his chest had been linked by soul power. However, there seemed to be a change in their mutual attraction now. The soul power at his chest seemed to be attracting the ice crystal beneath it. The small cluster of soul power was actually pulling the ice crystal formed by the Snow Empress upwards.

This…

 

What is the Snow Empress trying to do?

Huo Yuhao did not really understand what she was trying to do. However, he understood how trust was of the utmost importance now. Hence, he would neither doubt nor ask her what she was planning to do.

Chapter 559: Elder Mu's Protection

As the Snow Empress’ ice crystal rose, his soul power gathered more and more around his chest. The pain he suffered became more and more excruciating. His spiritual soul core also struggled more too. When the two feelings combined, they greatly multiplied the pain that Huo Yuhao was being subjected to!

The Ice Empress’ strength was still very stable. Huo Yuhao’s spine was his core, while his ribs were his support. Overall, they formed a protective soul barrier. However, Huo Yuhao discovered that the Ice Empress was no longer isolating all her spiritual power. Instead, she poured in one small streak of her spiritual power. This streak was a hundred to a thousand times thinner than a hair. This streak of soul power landed on Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice soul power.

When this happened, the revolution of his Ultimate Ice soul power became much slower than it was when he absorbed soul power. However, it was still revolving persistently. That streak of spiritual power was influenced by it, and was continuously being lashed at.

 

This was truly getting close. It was turning from resistance into fusion. It was just that the clash of the two parties left Huo Yuhao feeling much more pain.

His soul core was expanding, while the spiritual power that the Ice Empress unleashed was also strengthening. However, it was strengthening at a slower speed than the increase in the soul core’s size. Huo Yuhao was in even more excruciating pain.

The Ice Bear King continued to unleash his power, consolidating Huo Yuhao’s passageways and bones. His bones were still fine, since they had the support of the Ice Jade Empress’ backbone. However, his heart and lungs were inside his body. There were also many important passageways. As they were continuously under attack, Huo Yuhao was inevitably under great torture.

The Snow Empress’ ice crystal rose to a spot which was less than three inches from that ball of soul power before it stopped. It hung below his thoracic cage. In this way, she was able to pour out her soul power at a much faster speed.

 

When the size of her Ultimate Ice soul core was about the size of a jujube, it stopped expanding. However, it became brighter and brighter as it kept on revolving.

Even by observing Huo Yuhao from the outside, one could discover that his backbone had turned jade-green, and there was a ball of bluish-white light in his chest that was becoming brighter and brighter.

The pain was only getting worse, but Huo Yuhao’s control remained very stable. If this were another soul master, he wouldn’t be able to bear the pain at this magnitude. At least, he wouldn’t be able to maintain control so well. However, Huo Yuhao remained unmoved.

Just as Huo Yuhao was in his closed-door cultivation, Shrek City also started to get busy. Inside the city, there were all types of installations, which the Tang Sect had provided a lot of help with.

“What? Huo Yuhao has retreated into closed-door cultivation? What about the three soul engineer legions in Shrek?  Where  are  they?”  Xian  Lin’er  stood  in  front  of  Xu Sanshi and appeared very anxious.

“This…” Xu Sanshi was also a little speechless. When he had returned to the academy, Huo Yuhao had only let them out. The three soul engineer legions were still resting in his spectral demiplane.

Right now, Huo Yuhao had retreated into closed-door cultivation. Bei Bei and Tang Wutong were not around either. In fact, Xu Sanshi didn’t know what was going on.

Xian Lin’er’s aura turned a little unbalanced. “Since when has Yuhao become so unreliable? What time is it? Why is he in closed-door cultivation? What is he doing?” Xian Lin’er paced up and down.

Xu Sanshi was also a little helpless. Bei Bei and Huo Yuhao were both not around. He was the one taking care of matters in the Tang Sect right now, but he had to face Xian Lin’er’s wrath.

“Come, bring me to find Yuhao. If he’s not too deep in his closed-door cultivation, I’ll ask him to release the three soul engineer legions first before we plan. Do you know that there are more than six hundred thousand soldiers from the Sun Moon Empire situated fifty kilometers from Shrek City? They

 

have at least eight soul engineer legions there watching us. They are ready to launch an attack against us at any time.”

Xu Sanshi was in a daze. He really didn’t know. After hearing Xian  Lin’er’s  words,  his  goosebumps  also  stood.  “However, Dean Xian, Yuhao is in closed-door cultivation. What should I do if I disturb him and cause him to run amok?”

Xian Lin’er was feeling more and more depressed now. She had always been very concerned about Huo Yuhao. However, how could she not be anxious right now, given that Huo Yuhao chose to retreat into closed-door cultivation but didn’t let the three soul engineer legions out of his demiplane?

In fact, Huo Yuhao didn’t do this on purpose. He had forgotten about it. He had been very immersed in his thoughts, and thinking about how he should deal with the current situation. After he thought of a plan, he immediately executed it. However, he forgot how important the three soul engineer legions were to Shrek City.

“Do you really think I don’t know how important his closed- door cultivation is? However, this concerns the life and death of the academy. If the Sun Moon Empire attacks, what should

 

we do if our defense isn’t strong enough?”  Xian Lin’er was furious as she asked, “What is Yuhao thinking? Bei Bei and Tang Wutong aren’t around either. Have the three of them gone mad?”

“Dean  Xian,  don’t  panic.  It  won’t  help  even  if  you’re anxious.”  Jiang  Nannan  opened  her  mouth.  She  walked  in front of Xian Lin’er and said, “Dean Yan, why don’t we do it this way? We’ll bring you to where Yuhao is first. Given your cultivation, you should be able to sense his condition. If you think he can be woken up, we’ll do so. If not, I believe you won’t insist on it either. After all, if Yuhao runs amok, he wouldn’t be able to recite the incantations that link to the spectral demiplane. When that happens, you won’t be able to recall the three soul engineer legions either.”

Xian Lin’er stomped her foot. “We can only do it that way.

Bring me to take a look.”

If someone else did something like this, Xian Lin’er would have rushed in, given her temperament. However, she was a little helpless against the Tang Sect.

 

The Tang Sect’s development over the past few years was very significant to Shrek City. Without the Tang Sect’s weapons, Shrek Academy wouldn’t have been able to survive the beast wave started by the Great Star Dou Forest. As a result, the Tang Sect’s status in Shrek City had continuously

been on the rise.

Moreover, more than a year ago, Huo Yuhao had used many valuable medicines to cultivate the Qiankun Fortune Pill. He even selflessly gave one to the academy. This helped Elder Xuan to successfully achieve a breakthrough and become an Ultimate Douluo. She and Yan Shaozhe had also consolidated their own foundations, and could possibly become Ultimate Douluo in the future. They didn’t forget this favor!

This was why Xian Lin’er suppressed her rage even though Huo Yuhao felt very unreliable right now.

Under Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan’s guidance, Xian Lin’er came to the Soul Tool Hall.

Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan both knew where Huo Yuhao’s laboratory was. Very soon, they arrived. However, they were

 

stopped before they got close. He Caitou was the one who stopped them.

“Sanshi,  Nannan,  what  are  the  two  of  you  doing?  Little junior is in closed-door cultivation in the laboratory. No one can get close to him. What if you disturb him?”

Although Xuan Ziwen appeared to be very unconcerned about Huo Yuhao’s closed-door cultivation, he had actually informed He Caitou when Huo Yuhao began his closed-door cultivation. He Caitou immediately dropped everything he was doing, and came over to protect him.

Xu Sanshi laughed bitterly. “Caitou, something big has happened. Little junior forgot to release the three soul engineer legions. That’s why Dean Xian is here to find him. How far along in his closed-door cultivation is he now?”

He Caitou was stunned for a moment. He looked at the displeased Xian Lin’er and laughed bitterly, “I’m not sure either. However, we must not disturb him. You can sense that the aura he’s released is terrifying.”

 

As he spoke, he pointed to the laboratory, which wasn’t far away.

Xian Lin’er squinted and slowly released her spiritual power close to Huo Yuhao’s laboratory.

Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan were standing close to He Caitou. Although they didn’t do anything obvious, they were actually subconsciously helping He Caitou stop Xian Lin’er. If she raged and planned to find him, they could stop her too.

At such a critical moment, they had to side with their junior.

However, they had planned for naught. Xian Lin’er only sensed a little before her expression changed greatly, and she took a step back.

The laboratory was sealed very well. The thick metal isolated most of the aura. However, Xian Lin’er could sense the changes that were going on in the laboratory if even only a little bit of it leaked out.

 

Yes, the aura inside was terrifying. It was chaotic and terrifying!

“Why is it so chaotic? What is Yuhao doing? Don’t tell me he’s run amok?” Xian Lin’er exclaimed.

When she said this, He Caitou and the other two were immediately shocked. If Huo Yuhao really ran amok, it would be a disaster for the entire Tang Sect.

Xu Sanshi was anxious. “Run amok? Dean Xian, are you sure?”

Xian Lin’er was in a daze, and she furrowed her brow. She continued to silently sense what was going on. The longer she sensed, the more her expression changed. After a brief moment, her expression suddenly changed dramatically. “I know what he’s doing. He’s actually going for his second soul core. No wonder his aura is so chaotic. It’s just... why is his attempt so different from Elder Xuan?”

If it were someone else, they might not be so certain. However, Xian Lin’er was different. She had gone into closed-

 

door cultivation with Elder Xuan, and personally sensed the change in his aura when he tried to make a breakthrough.

Back then, Elder Xuan chose her and Yan Shaozhe to accompany him in his cultivation. This was because the two of them were the most likely to reach the same tier. Consuming the Qiankun Fortune Pill was the best for them.

This was why Xian Lin’er could tell what Huo Yuhao was doing.

In Shrek Academy, very few people knew that Huo Yuhao already had a spiritual soul core. But Elder Xuan didn’t hide anything from Yan Shaozhe or Xian Lin’er. After all, they were the future pillars of Shrek Academy, just like Huo Yuhao.

Over the past few years, Huo Yuhao had been developing rapidly. He was so fast that he was even close to their generation of soul masters.

He was now trying for his second soul core? If he managed to successfully do so, he could possibly become the first person in Shrek’s history to possess two soul cores as a Titled Douluo!

In this way, he was bound to become a Class 98 Transcendent Douluo in the future. The time he took to do so would also be very short. No bottleneck could possibly stop him at the tier of a Transcendent Douluo. The only thing that could stop him was if he tried to make a breakthrough to Rank 99 from Rank

98. This was because he would need to have three soul cores then, which would be unprecedented.

 

No one knew if Huo Yuhao would succeed. However, Xian Lin’er was very aware that he would possess the abilities of a Transcendent Douluo when he formed his second soul core, no matter what rank his soul power was at. Furthermore, he would be a Transcendent Douluo with an Ultimate martial

soul. His cultivation might even exceed hers.

Her anger slowly dissipated. The formation of Huo Yuhao’s second soul core would be extremely significant for Shrek Academy! However, given how chaotic his aura was right now, what if he ran amok?

Xian Lin’er furrowed her brow and said, “Yuhao must be trying for his second soul core. However, I’m still a little unsure of his current condition. Watch over him closely. Don’t let anyone get close to him, and don’t disturb him either. When soul masters try for their second soul core, the conditions are bound to be very complex. Things can change instantly. I’ll go and ask Elder Xuan. He’s the only one who has experience in this matter.”

Xian Lin’er was always very direct and straightforward. After she finished speaking, she left.

 

Forming his second soul core?

He Caitou, Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan all looked at one another. Their soul powers were all above Rank 80, but they were still some distance from becoming Titled Douluo. However, they would only need one more soul ring to become a Titled Douluo.

Among Shrek’s Seven Monsters, Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi were currently the closest to Rank 90, followed by He Caitou, Jiang Nannan, and Xiao Xiao.

The Qiankun Fortune Pill indeed had the power of changing fortunes. They had consumed the pill a long time ago, but its effects had not worn out yet. This was why the cultivation speed of everyone from the Tang Sect was slightly faster than ordinary soul masters.

He Caitou sighed and said, “Yuhao is widening the gap further and further away from us!”

Xu Sanshi also laughed bitterly. “I still remember how I kicked him into the air with one leg when I first met him.

 

However, I was blackmailed by Bei Bei then.”

Jiang Nannan’s face turned red and she said, “How dare you mention it? Blackmailing you was a let off for you. You should have been whacked.”

Xu Sanshi chuckled, “Can you bear to do that? You already had a crush on me then, am I right?”

“Hey, do you have to be so shameless? You still weren’t good enough back then.”

Xu Sanshi said, “I hope little junior is successful. If he succeeds this time, the Tang Sect will really become a lot stronger. Wutong is already a Titled Douluo. If little junior is one too, their fighting strength will only continue to increase when they combine their powers. In my opinion, they might even be stronger than an ordinary Transcendent Douluo. They might even be as strong as an Ultimate Douluo.”

Elder Xuan came very quickly. Less than ten minutes after Xian Lin’er left, she rushed back with Elder Xuan.

 

Elder Xuan stood at the door of Huo Yuhao’s laboratory and silently sensed what was going on. No one was as experienced as him. Elder Xuan had experienced many failures when he tried to form his second soul core. This was why he was very familiar with such an aura.

He only turned around after standing there for a full fifteen minutes. There was a serious look on his face. “That’s right, Lin’er is right. Yuhao is trying to form his second soul core now. From now on, I’ll personally watch over him. No one is allowed to get close to him or disturb him. No one is even supposed to make any loud noises.”

As he spoke, Elder Xuan sat cross-legged right outside the door of the laboratory.

Xian Lin’er was astonished as she looked at Elder Xuan. “Elder Xuan, what about the academy? The Sun Moon Empire’s troops are coming soon!”

Elder  Xuan  sighed  and  asked,  “Lin’er,  do  you  still  not understand? Yuhao agreed with Wutong’s judgment during the meeting. He only didn’t mention anything because of the academy. We are too concerned about the academy’s safety. We

 

didn’t believe his judgment. He knew he couldn’t do anything, so he returned to cultivate. As for the three soul engineer legions, there are only two reasons why he didn’t let them out. One is that he’s acting rashly. That’s highly unlikely though. As for the other reason, it’s that he’s trying to conserve the

strength of our active forces.”

Xian  Lin’er  was  doubtful.  “Surely  not.  If  his  judgment  is right, the Sun Moon Empire wouldn’t even attack us. Naturally, the three soul engineer legions would be untouched too.”

Elder Xuan shook his head and said, “You are still not far- sighted enough. Let me ask you, if the Star Luo and Dou Ling Empires come to reinforce us, can the academy just sit and watch if one of them is attacked? When that happens, we would have no choice but to send our soul engineer legions to help them. Not sending our soul engineer legions and having no soul engineer legions are two different things. Yuhao must have done this for a reason.”

Elder Xuan wouldn’t have guessed that Huo Yuhao wasn’t really thinking a lot then. He had really forgotten…

 

Xian Lin’er lowered her head. After remaining silent for a brief moment she said, “Elder Xuan, we can’t be complacent either. Even if there’s only a one in a thousand possibility, we must be ready to adapt to the circumstances. The academy has stood here for ten thousand years.”

Elder Xuan replied, “Return. You and Shaozhe can handle things in the academy. I’ll stand guard here. If Yuhao manages to make a breakthrough, perhaps everything will be settled.”

An astonished look flashed across Xian Lin’er’s eyes. Huo Yuhao can settle everything if he makes a breakthrough? Is that even possible? After all, he’s only one person! Even given Elder Xuan’s strength, he’s already unable to do anything. Even if Yuhao has twin soul cores, how could he possibly compare to Elder Xuan?

However, she didn’t reveal her doubts. Seeing that Elder Xuan was determined to remain, she could only return and report the situation to the rest of the members of the Sea God’s Pavilion.

After Xian Lin’er left, Xu Sanshi and the rest were also chased away by Elder Xuan. Elder Xuan sat outside Huo

 

Yuhao’s door by himself. There was a heavy look on his face.

Yuhao, you’re really bold. You actually chose this path!

Given Elder Xuan’s understanding of second soul cores, how could he not tell that Huo Yuhao wasn’t using Resonance to form his second soul core? On the contrary, he was extremely clear.

Only the Yin-Yang Complement could cause such a chaotic aura. However, there was a determined force that was hanging on amidst the chaos. This also meant that Huo Yuhao wasn’t in danger of running amok as of yet.

Although Elder Xuan couldn’t possibly cultivate his soul core using the Yin Yang Complement, he was still very curious, and eager to learn more about this cultivation method. This was why he was determined to stay. Furthermore, what he had said earlier was right too. If Huo Yuhao could cultivate his second soul core using the Yin Yang Complement, he could become another Beast God in the future.

 

In terms of innate talent, Huo Yuhao’s body wasn’t as physically strong as the Beast God. However, he had immense qualities that soul beasts didn’t possess – twin martial souls and Spirits. If he managed to form twin soul cores using the Yin Yang Complement, Elder Xuan believed that his abilities could catch up to those of the Beast God even if his cultivation was restricted at Rank 98.

It was important not to forget that Huo Yuhao was adept at concealment. His immense spiritual power could change the entire war!

Such an intelligent young man! He’s still able to make the correct choice even in such a chaotic and passive situation. No wonder he’s Elder Mu’s closed-door disciple. Elder Mu, you should really know how much I envy you.

Huo Yuhao didn’t know anything about the outside world.

Right now, he was already on the verge of caving in.

On his chest, the force of Ultimate Ice was spinning faster and faster. The streak of spiritual power that the Ice Empress had released couldn’t stop it. It even spun in the opposite direction as it was sucked in.

In this way, the spiritual power started to distort. Huo Yuhao’s spiritual soul core was touched, and it started to retaliate in anger.

Although Huo Yuhao was trying his best to stop it, the spiritual power released from his spiritual soul core couldn’t be contained, even with his willpower.

The Ice Empress and Snow Empress maintained their composure, but Huo Yuhao felt that his body was about to be torn apart by these two different forces. The pain was indescribable, but it definitely exceeded the level he had been subjected to when he fused with the Ice Empress.

Don’t tell me that I can’t hold on anymore? The immense pain made Huo Yuhao’s determination waver for the first time.

If one observed him from outside at this moment, they would be terrified. Huo Yuhao’s skin was seeping dense pearls of blood. When these pearls of blood appeared, they immediately froze before dropping off his skin.

 

The aura in the entire laboratory immediately was messy and out of control. The rare metals in the laboratory were all clanging together.

The temperature in the laboratory had also dropped to negative one hundred degrees Celsius. There were even ice flakes dancing in the air.

Hang on! No matter what, I have to hang on!

Huo Yuhao bit his tongue, and a piercing pain came from his tongue. This caused him to become even more focused. Once again, he tried to stop his spiritual soul core from erupting.

His soul core was stable enough. It was only fiercely resisting as it was provoked. However, it didn’t waver at all. This was a blessing among all the misfortunes.

Li Ya was already doing her best to aid Huo Yuhao. Her voice was already hoarse from singing, but she still continued. Because of her help, Huo Yuhao was completely focused on his control.

He couldn’t imagine what it would be like if he tried this method of cultivation before he fused with Li Ya. However, he was certain that he wouldn’t have been able to last until this point.

Bright light flashed from his body. The Ultimate Ice soul power released by the Ice Empress was strong and prosperous. Every time, she managed to block out most of Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power.

This wasn’t just the strength of Ultimate Ice anymore. There was also the strength of the Ice Empress’ spiritual origin. It

 

was only through supplementing her spiritual power that she could successfully resist.

The soul power around the Snow Empress’ ice crystals was continuously poured out. At this moment, she seemed to neglect the fact that Huo Yuhao could possibly suffer from immense pain. She was completely doing her own thing.

The Ice Bear King was also almost at his limit. He was protecting Huo Yuhao’s passageways, bones and internal organs. However, the two forces that revolved in different directions were still intensely attacking Huo Yuhao’s body!

Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power could still hang on, but his body was on the verge of collapse.

Although his body had been enhanced by the Life Gold, and he possessed extraordinarily immense life energy, the violent forces in his body were eventually too much for a human body to bear.

His passageways were about to tear, and his internal organs were also on the brink of failure as they were squeezed and

 

distorted. However, Huo Yuhao couldn’t do anything else except hold on. Blood was already starting to come out of his mouth. This was a sign of his capillaries rupturing. If this continued, his body would be torn apart by the forces it was attempting to contain, and his spiritual soul core would blow

apart as a result.

The Snow Empress’ ice crystals shone a little, just as she was about to make a move.

Suddenly, Huo Yuhao’s dantian lit up. Following this, a layer of golden light quickly surged out from his dantian and rapidly spread throughout his entire body.

Whether it was spiritual power that was unleashed from his spiritual core or the Ultimate Ice power around his chest, they couldn’t prevent this golden force from appearing.

This was because this golden force was completely fused into Huo Yuhao’s blood. In just a few breaths, his passageways had turned completely golden. Even his blood and internal organs turned golden.

 

From outside, Huo Yuhao was just like a golden statue, shining brightly with golden light. Furthermore, there was a dense layer of scales on his skin. These scales were also pure gold. They gradually expanded until they covered his entire body. Only his face maintained a human appearance.

They were dragon scales! Yes, that’s right, they were dragon scales. The scales of a Holy Radiant Dragon!

The excruciating pain in his body was alleviated slightly. Huo Yuhao was also very astonished. He didn’t know where this had come from. The golden invasion caused his passageways, bones and internal organs to become bigger and bigger. In addition, it was even directly fusing with his body and becoming a part of him.

This was…

It was a very familiar aura of light. However, it neither came from Wang Qiu’er’s Golden Dragon nor the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Instead…

 

Radiant Holy Dragon. Yes! This is clearly the strength of a Radiant Holy Dragon.

Furthermore, it’s not like a Radiant Holy Dragon that eldest senior can turn into. Its strength is much purer and denser than eldest senior. Don’t tell me this is teacher’s strength? Is that even possible?

Shrek Academy, Sea God’s Island, Sea God’s Pavilion. The Golden Tree!

Gentle, golden light shone from the Golden Tree. Everyone could sense the gentle undulations that came from the golden light.

All the elders walked out from Sea God’s Island. They came in front of the Golden Tree, including Xian Lin’er.

A ball of golden light rose from the Golden Tree, and drifted above the Sea God’s Pavilion.

 

“That’s…”   Elder  Song  focused  her  gaze.  Although  she couldn’t see what was inside the ball of golden light, she could sense the familiar aura that came from it.

The ball of golden light stopped in the air, and seemed to greet all the elders. Following this, it turned into a beam of flowing light, and flew towards the Tang Sect.

Elder Xuan silently stood guard outside Huo Yuhao’s laboratory. When Huo Yuhao’s golden strength was invoked, Elder Xuan immediately sensed it from outside.

This is…

What a strong power of light. However, since when did Yuhao possess such strong power?

Huo Yuhao naturally couldn’t give him an answer. Elder Xuan only revealed an unsure look in his eyes.

At this moment, a benevolent aura swept by. Golden light shone, and a projection appeared out of thin air in front of

 

Elder Xuan.

“Elder Mu?” Elder Xuan jumped up almost instantly, and was shocked as he looked at the projection in front of him.

Elder Mu smiled at Elder Xuan and nodded at him. After this, he drifted in front of him and gently patted his shoulder. A thought was also transmitted into Elder Xuan’s head.

“Shrek will depend on you in the future. Little Xuan, take care.”

Before Elder Xuan could say anything, the golden projection that Elder Mu had turned into flew past him and through the metal door.

Elder Xuan’s body shook tremendously. Following this, an ominous feeling arose. He couldn’t help but scream, “Elder Mu!”

He quickly turned around. As he looked at the huge steel door behind him, he couldn’t control his emotions.

The golden projection that Elder Mu had turned into silently appeared in the laboratory, in front of Huo Yuhao.

He revealed a peaceful look on his face as he looked at Huo Yuhao struggling.

“Kid, you’ve chosen a very tough path to embark on. However, what you’ve done is correct, whether it’s for Shrek or the three empires. It’s almost impossible for a human to cultivate using the Yin Yang Complement. I shall give you a hand.”

Golden light flashed, and Elder Mu re-transformed into a ball of golden light, and charged directly into Huo Yuhao’s head.

Gentleness and warmth spread throughout Huo Yuhao’s body. He was in torment and pain earlier, but it was very soothing right now.

Huo Yuhao heaved a sigh of relief and almost fainted as he instantaneously relaxed. However, that warm and genial strength immediately engulfed his spiritual power and kept

 

him in his current state. His spiritual power immediately calmed down.

“Teacher, it’s really you!”

When Huo Yuhao saw Elder Mu in his spiritual sea, he immediately became very emotional. His spiritual power took form and turned into a projection of him. This projection kowtowed.

Elder Mu smiled as he looked at his closed-door disciple. He smiled and let Huo Yuhao kowtow. After this, he drifted forward and arrived in front of him. He caressed his head gently. “Kid, come here.”

Huo Yuhao stood up and looked at Elder Mu. His spiritual entity couldn’t cry, but feelings of happiness spread from him.

The feeling of seeing a loved one when one was in extreme pain was indescribable. Huo Yuhao felt protected with Elder Mu around!

 

“Teacher…” Huo Yuhao sobbed.

Elder Mu smiled and said, “Don’t be like a kid anymore. Yuhao, you’ve grown up. You’ve done great. You’ve done much better than I expected. As your teacher, I’m proud of you.”

“Although I’ve not been by your side all these years, I’ve heard of most of the things that have happened to you from Little Xuan. I also personally observed you myself. You’ve done really well.”

“Teacher.” Huo Yuhao called once again.

Elder  Mu  said,  “This  time,  you  chose  the  Yin  Yang Complement to cultivate. Although it’s reckless, it isn’t wrong to some extent. Shrek needs someone who is powerful enough to change situations. Such a person hasn’t appeared for years. Ten thousand years ago, our ancestor Tang San used his abilities to change situations, building Shrek’s foundation. Ten thousand years later, I believe you have that potential too.”

“If not for the fact that you activated the strength of the dragon pill in your body, I wouldn’t have known you were

 

capable of this. Since you are already doing it, I shall help you on this journey.”

Huo Yuhao was astonished as he looked at Elder Mu.

Elder Mu nodded and said, “Xiaoyao should be the one who helped you consume it. You should have seen him once before.”

“Are you talking about the Dragon Emperor Douluo, Long Xiaoyao?” Huo Yuhao was astonished as he looked at Elder Mu.

Elder Mu replied, “Yes! I was the one who asked him to give you the dragon pill when the time was right.”

Huo Yuhao asked, “Isn’t he from the Holy Ghost Church? He belongs with the evil soul masters. Why would he help us?”

Elder Mu shook his head and answered, “Xiaoyao isn’t an evil soul master. He’s a poor soul. He’s trapped by love. I had no choice but to get out of it then, but he’s been trapped. Because of some wrongdoings he committed in the past, he chose to atone for them. That’s why things are like this. However, he’s

 

still a soul master from the three empires. Before I died, I met him, passed the dragon pill to him, and implored him to give it to you when the time was right. At the same time, I also asked him to protect you if you were in danger.”

“Protect me?”  Huo Yuhao could still clearly remember the pain from being stabbed so many times!

Elder Mu smiled and nodded. He said, “If he wanted to kill you, you would have already died. If not for the fact that he is secretly protecting you, I’m afraid that the Holy Ghost Church wouldn’t be dealing with you this way. You’ll understand in the future. As for the dragon pill…”

Chapter 560: Secret of the Dragon Pill

Elder Mu paused for a while before continuing, “I happened to come across the Dragon Pill at an ancient ruin a long time ago. It was the carcass of a light type giant dragon soul beast. If I did not see wrongly back then, it should be a Light Dragon— the natural enemy of the Darkness Dragons, which Di Tian belongs to. After dying, the Light Dragon’s essence and energy naturally became a Dragon Pill. However, because the energy within this pill is extremely violent, humans are unable to absorb them into our bodies directly.”

“After acquiring it, I had been keeping it with me all this time, Even though I was not able to ingest its energy directly, the huge amount of energy within it was still extremely beneficial for my cultivation. With its help, I was able to build on my innate gifts, and accelerate my training and development. I borrowed the energy from the Dragon Pill for my training all the way to Rank 98, when I finally formed my second soul core with the Resonance technique. If not, I might have even stayed at Rank 98 longer than Xuan Zi.”

“Hence,  it  could  be  said  that  the  birth  of  every  Ultimate Douluo comes with the presence of an enormous amount of

 

luck. It was definitely true for me, and I believe it was the same way for Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui.”

“I have actually tried to help others with this Dragon Pill. However, it has always failed. Their bodies were simply unable to withstand its domineering aura. More often than not, their martial souls were also incompatible with its energy. Hence, I decided to store the Dragon Pill within my body, and use my Radiant Holy Dragon soul power to refine it. The process of transforming the energy within the pill was a very long one. It stayed within my body for close to a hundred years.”

“You probably know about the rest of the events that unfolded afterwards. I had a huge fight with Du Busi, the sect leader of the Body Sect, and left the battle with several heavy injuries. Back then, I wanted to look for Xishui for some special reasons, and had to recover quickly. I immediately thought of the Dragon Pill, which I had been refining for a long time. I believed that it would no longer be a problem for me to ingest its energy. Hence, I tried to empty all the pill’s energy into my body. I believed that I might be able to alert the Gods within the God Realm and gain a chance to join them if I were able to pull it off.”

 

“Unfortunately,  I  still  underestimated  the  full  amount  of energy and essence that a giant dragon was able to put into a Dragon Pill. After absorbing its energy for a short while, I started to realize that something was wrong. When I was at my peak, the Dragon Pill was unable to harm me. Hence, I thought

that the violent and domineering aura within it had disappeared. I did not expect it to have concealed itself within the pill. Once I started ingesting the energy, it rapidly released itself to cause havoc within my body after sensing how I had been weakened by Du Busi.”

“I was originally a lot more powerful than him. Even though I was heavily injured, I was not hurt in an extremely serious manner. However, absorbing the Dragon Pill was a grave mistake. It damaged my organs and sources of energy, which caused me to become who I was later. I almost died in the process of trying to suppress the Dragon Pill. However, the rage and violence within the pill had ravaged my body. I essentially spent the subsequent decades of my life fighting the Dragon Pill’s rage and violence, until my body started to degenerate.”

“However, after refining the pill for a hundred years and absorbing all the rage and violence within it, the energy within the pill had been purified. It could now be absorbed by cultivators who did not possess dragon martial souls. Hence, I

 

originally wanted to give it to Bei Bei. With its help, Bei Bei would have a good chance of becoming an Ultimate Douluo in the future. However, it just so happened that I met you. When I realized you had an Ultimate martial soul, I immediately changed my mind. This was because I knew how hard it was to train with an Ultimate martial soul in the early stages. Even though it would be extremely smooth sailing during the intermediate stages, it would become extremely difficult again

when the cultivator tried to form his second soul core to

become an Ultimate Douluo. If you were to only rely on yourself, your body would struggle to withstand the impact and power when you tried to form your second soul core. Hence, I decided to hold onto the Dragon Pill and observe your situation before making a decision.”

“Your performance and potential truly impressed me. In addition, you are an extremely kind person who values hard work. Hence, before I died, I decided to pass this pill to you. However, the energy within the pill was ultimately too destructive for you to absorb directly. Also, you did not possess the ability to absorb it back then. Thus, I looked for Xiaoyao, and asked him to take of you on my behalf. I told him to hand the Dragon Pill over to you at an appropriate moment.”

“If my guess is correct, you must have nearly been killed by his attacks when you met him previously. However, you must

 

understand that he was not targeting you. He only wanted to ensure your body remained empty and clear of any impurities. The energy within the Dragon Pill is not supposed to be fused with your soul power. It is supposed to be fused into your blood. This will grant you some of the abilities that dragons possess, and allow you to break free of your human limitations. With the talents and gifts you possess, I was certain that the Dragon Pill would give you a good chance to create a miracle.”

“However, I did not expect this day to arrive so soon. In addition, your decision is also beyond what we had expected and planned for. I can’t believe you chose to use the Yin Yang Complement technique! You are really brave. You should know how many soul beasts failed and died after choosing this path. This is a path that cannot be walked, even with the toughness of soul beasts’ bodies. Yet you still stood by your beliefs, and wanted to do it with a human’s body. With the amount of courage and determination you have, I am proud to call you my disciple. Since you have chosen this path, as your teacher, I must help you regardless of what it takes. Now that the energy within the Dragon Pill had been drawn out, you can continue cultivating it while I control it and help you fuse it into your blood. This will allow you to possess the physical strength of a dragon, and greatly improve your odds of success.”

 

“Yes!  Thank  you,  teacher!”   Huo  Yuhao  could  feel  an encouraging sense of warmth within his heart. Even though his teacher might be dead in the physical sense, he had never stopped caring for him. In fact, Elder Mu had already thought about the path ahead, and had made plans to make things

easier for him. Huo Yuhao knew he could only repay his teacher by ensuring the survival and prosperity of Shrek Academy!

Now was not the time to indulge in overly lengthy conversations. Huo Yuhao could sense how the energy shockwaves within his body were becoming more intense. The energy from the Dragon Pill which had just fused with his blood also seemed to be particularly unstable.

However, Huo Yuhao decided to focus on controlling his spiritual soul core as he shifted his intent back to his spiritual sea. Controlling his spiritual soul core was the key to everything, and the most important step for the entire procedure.

His control of the spiritual soul core proceeded extremely smoothly. The pain that Huo Yuhao was suffering from was also alleviated to a large extent with the nourishment provided

 

by the Dragon Pill. This allowed him to better focus his energy and attention on the task at hand.

Elder Mu’s gentle aura fused rapidly into Huo Yuhao’s blood. The unstable energy from the Dragon Pill started to circulate in Huo Yuhao’s passageways under Elder Mu’s guidance. Some of the mystical energy started to fuse with his internal organs as well.

The speed at which they were fusing was extremely quick. The scales on Huo Yuhao’s body started to become pointed as they grew thicker and grander.

This Dragon Pill had, in fact, been adjusting to Huo Yuhao’s body after it had been inserted into him back then. It only reacted violently after the initial intense agitation. It had long started to adapt to Huo Yuhao’s body, and Huo Yuhao had been absorbing it subconsciously during his cultivation.

Elder Mu had informed Long Xiaoyao to pass the pill to Huo Yuhao for him to use it when he was forming his second soul core. However, neither of them had expected Huo Yuhao to use the Dragon Pill’s energy so soon.

 

As the gentle soul power fluctuations circulated through the surrounding air, the entire laboratory’s atmosphere seemed to calm down after the appearance of the Dragon Pill.

The ice crystal formed by the Snow Empress no longer seemed to be on the brink of overexertion. It merely continued to control Huo Yuhao’s second soul core in a stable and continuous fashion. The soul core continued to absorb the power of Ultimate Ice as it rotated in the opposite direction as Huo Yuhao’s spiritual soul core in a determined manner.

Because the power released by the spiritual soul core was being limited by Huo Yuhao, it was ultimately unable to disrupt the formation of the Ultimate Ice soul core. However, the spiritual soul core never stopped fighting against Huo Yuhao as it released countless spiritual fluctuations that attacked his body.

However, the power of the Dragon Pill was truly formidable. Huo Yuhao only felt the bountiful energy surging through his body. Before, he had felt as though his body was about to be torn apart by the spiritual fluctuations. However, it was now a lot easier for him to withstand the pressure. Even though it was still painful, he no longer felt like he was about to

 

disintegrate. As each second and minute continued to pass, Huo Yuhao started to become a lot more relaxed.

Suddenly, Elder Mu’s aura disappeared, as Huo Yuhao’s entire body took on a uniform golden color.

The soul core at his chest had grown to twice its original size. It now resembled a blue ice crystal as its speed continued to accelerate.

Because Huo Yuhao was now able to withstand greater impacts, the Snow Empress had decided to speed up the soul core formation process. The faster the process ended, the less pain Huo Yuhao had to suffer.

However, this peaceful state did not last very long. Very soon, the pain began to intensify again. The power within the spiritual soul core seemed to be endless as it started to launch an increasingly intense onslaught on Huo Yuhao’s second soul core. The familiar painful sensation seemed to have returned.

Huo Yuhao knew he had to persevere through this no matter what—especially after his teacher had helped him pull through

 

once with the power of the Dragon Pill.

Huo Yuhao tried to hold on with every ounce of energy within his body. However, it was becoming increasingly hard for him to control his spiritual soul core. This was because both soul cores had to continually engage and interact with one another in order to complete the Yin Yang Complement technique. As his second soul core became stronger, the spiritual power the Ice Empress required Huo Yuhao to release from his spiritual soul core had to become greater. As the spiritual soul core released more spiritual power, it became even harder for Huo Yuhao to control it. Something could happen with the spiritual soul core at any point. After agitating it for a prolonged period of time, the spiritual soul core, which had just begun to become stable, started to tremble and lose its stability.

What do I do now? At this instant, Huo Yuhao started to panic. Everyone had put in so much effort to help him succeed. If he were to fail now, he would not only sustain serious injuries, but also lose the opportunity to attempt this again in the near future. In fact, he might also lose his life if he were to fail.

 

As the intense pain fluctuated between his chest and head, Huo Yuhao grew increasingly dizzy. He was on the verge of going unconscious. If he were to really faint, his spiritual soul core would go out of control.

“My child, please help me defend Shrek City and the Academy. Take good care of the Tang Sect. I will always be proud of you.” Elder Mu’s old voice rang in Huo Yuhao’s head. Following which, an incredibly powerful burst of spiritual power radiated from Huo Yuhao’s spiritual sea.

This spiritual power gave off the same aura as his own. Huo Yuhao only felt his controlling ability increase as a golden sea appeared around his spiritual soul core.

This golden sea was not his own spiritual sea. It contained spiritual power that did not belong to him. After this sea of spiritual power appeared, his spiritual soul core, which was putting up intense resistance, instantly stabilized. On top of that, it started to greedily absorb the pure spiritual power within the golden sea. During this process, it no longer behaved in an aggressive manner.

 

It was as though a powerful cultivator had suddenly stumbled upon a treasure trove when they were going after their enemy. They would definitely choose to temporarily let their enemy go as they focused on the treasures.

As the spiritual soul core started to stabilize, the dizziness and pain Huo Yuhao was feeling naturally subsided. He was shocked to discover how he was able to control his spiritual power with greater ease. After being enveloped by the golden sea, his spiritual soul core was a lot more obedient. At the same time, Huo Yuhao could no longer sense the resistance his soul core had towards his Ultimate Ice soul core.

“Yuhao, this is all I can do for you. You will have to walk the path ahead alone. I believe that you will be able to carve out a path that belongs to you. I will take my leave first.”

As the golden light flickered, Elder Mu disappeared from Huo Yuhao’s consciousness.

Teacher…

 

If he could cry, tears would have been streaming all over Huo Yuhao’s face. His teacher’s selfless assistance had once again helped him overcome a significant challenge.

A golden image left the metallic door that separated the laboratory from the courtyard.

Elder Mu appeared in front of Elder Xuan.

Elder Xuan was pacing outside the door anxiously while waiting for Elder Mu to reappear. After seeing him, he heaved a huge sigh of relief. The conversation he had had with Elder Mu earlier had given him an ominous feeling. Elder Mu was like a teacher and a friend to him. If he did not know that Elder Mu had been nurturing his own spiritual sense within the Golden Tree, Elder Xuan might have been even sadder than Huo Yuhao.

Elder Mu revealed a warm smile on his wrinkled face as he stared at Elder Xuan. “Xuan Zi, I will need you to take care of Shrek City and Shrek Academy for me. Don’t tell Yuhao about this. Just pretend that I’m still in the Golden Tree…”

 

After finishing his sentence, Elder Mu’s golden image shattered into countless golden particles that disappeared into the air.

Elder Xuan was stunned by what he had just witnessed.

He could no longer sense Elder Mu’s presence!

Elder Mu, Elder Mu!

Elder Xuan stumbled backwards as he tried to take everything in. Even with his Ultimate Douluo ability, he almost tripped and fell down. His entire body was trembling intensely as he longed to scream and express his pain. However, his rationality held him back.

Chapter 561: Frantically Cultivating

In the Imperial Palace within Radiant City, the Sun Moon Empire.

A secret letter was lying on Xu Tianran’s desk. There was an adorable orange mandarin (Ju Zi) logo at the opening of the envelope.

After receiving this letter, Xu Tianran couldn’t help but reveal a gentle smile. It seems like Ju Zi’s letter is finally here. I wonder how she’ll handle the current situation.

A thorough search had been conducted for the past few days, but they were still unable to locate their enemies. It seemed as though they had disappeared without leaving a trace after sneaking an attack on Radiant City. This was completely unbelievable.

Xu Tianran was starting to worry that the enemies really possessed some sort of spatial technology like Elder Kong had suggested. If his foes really possessed such technologies, their next attack could take place within Radiant City!

After opening the envelope, Xu Tianran took out the letter. This envelope had been sealed with a certain kind of soul tool that was able to destroy the letter if the person did not know how to properly unseal the envelope.

Ju Zi’s beautiful handwriting decorated the entire letter. Her words seemed to convey the respect she had for Xu Tianran.

Xu Tianran already felt happier just from looking at her words. He started to wonder if he had gone overboard when Ju Zi asked him about whether she could bring the Prince to the battlefield with her. He felt that perhaps his reply should have been more positive. However, he believed that he had already repaid her loyalty with the trust he had shown her by giving her control over the army.

As he thought about this, Xu Tianran began to read the contents of the letter. While he was reading, the changes in his facial expression were extremely drastic. While he revealed a startled expression at times, he was more often than not admiring what Ju Zi had done. He was full of praise for her.

 

I can’t believe she thought of such a good way to tackle the cumbersome situation. She really is the War God Empress of the Sun Moon Empire! Ju Zi is really the person I trust the most.

The main theme of Ju Zi’s letter only contained these three words.

Do not attack!

They would surround Shrek City, but would not attack it. She planned to draw all the forces that shared a relationship with Shrek City to the place where their current camp was set up. They would set up their defensive lines outside their camp and reinforce these lines with their linked defensive soul tools. They would not initiate an attack, as they gave Shrek City a relatively long deadline to turn Huo Yuhao in. Once the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire’s troops gathered at Shrek City, they would have achieved their objective. They could then be a lot more flexible with who their real target was.

And if the enemy force that attacked Radiant City were to be in contact with the Shrek Academy, they would definitely retreat unconditionally to help defend Shrek City. The two soul

 

engineer legions would definitely be useful for the battle at Shrek City. This meant that regardless of what capabilities this team possessed, they could only use them to fight the Sun Moon Empire directly on the battlefield. And when it came to such head-on battles, the Sun Moon Empire was almost invincible.

“Good, good, good!”  Xu Tianran exclaimed in delight. His injuries seemed to have gotten better by a little bit. He immediately penned a reply, and ordered his subordinates to rush his letter to the front line.

He told Ju Zi to decide the next course of action by herself, and not to worry about the situation back at Radiant City. He informed her that the Imperial Soul Engineer Legion had returned to Radiant City to protect the palace, and was waiting for favorable news from the front line.

Once again, Ju Zi had used her wisdom to gain more trust from Xu Tianran. He seemed to believe that the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire had already fallen into his hands. He felt that Shrek City was but another city after all. It should not be impossible to destroy it.

 

To be honest, Xu Tianran did not want to destroy Shrek City. Instead, he wanted to see Shrek City bow to him, because that would give him the strongest sense of accomplishment.

When Xu Tianran was younger, he had once fantasized about the Shrek Academy—the number one academy on the entire continent. Xu Tianran would only be happier if Shrek City would willingly join and be a part of the Sun Moon Empire. If that were to happen, every secret about soul masters that the academy would uncover would belong to the Sun Moon Empire. They might be able to draw some insights from martial souls and find a way to heal limbs—especially that limb which only males had…

Xu Tianran immediately became uncontrollably excited the moment this idea entered his head. A powerful desire enveloped his mind as he thought about Ju Zi. How could he not love his beautiful and capable War God Empress? She was his Empress, after all! However, he was somehow unable to conquer her body physically, and such miseries were deadly for any man. Even Xu Tianran—the Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire—was no exception.

In the Sun Moon Empire’s Commander’s Tent outside of Shrek City!

Ju Zi was sitting in the Commander’s seat as she read the reconnaissance reports which had been submitted to her. A faint smile was forming on her face.

Shrek City? Why would I attack Shrek City? This Academy holds great significance to that man. Regardless of what happens, I will never destroy Shrek City and the Academy recklessly. However, this will not affect my plans to attack the other empires—especially the Star Luo Empire!

Even though the hatred within Ju Zi’s heart had slowly faded away, that did not necessarily mean she had forgotten about it. Conversely, she now felt as if everything was under her control, and looked forward to that day’s arrival.

If the Star Luo Empire had not destroyed my homeland and turned me into a helpless orphan, I would not have met Xu Tianran.

Hence, she knew she must destroy the Star Luo Empire in the future in order to relieve herself from the deep hatred which lay in her heart.

 

However, her current target was not the Star Luo Empire.

“Empress!”    A   dark   figure   suddenly   appeared   in   the Commander’s Tent without any warning.

Ju Zi had long been accustomed to the way this person arrived. She stood up slowly and flashed a smile. “Imperial Tutor, you’re here.”

“Yes.”  Zhongli  Wu  nodded  as  he  strolled  closer  to  Ju  Zi before stopping. “Empress, have you decided when we will attack Shrek City?”

Ju Zi replied, “There are still eight more days before the deadline arrives. You need to be patient.”

“Empress, do you really plan to be honest with Shrek City?” Zhongli Wu replied coldly, “I believe the academy had already started to ask for help from all over the entire continent. Before long, reinforcements from Star Luo Empire and the Dou Ling Empire will arrive. When that happens, we will need to sustain huge costs in order to destroy them. You must think about the injuries and deaths we will have to sustain when that

 

happens. With our current strength, we can flatten Shrek City anytime as we will.”

Ju Zi shook her head gently and said, “I believe Imperial Tutor must be extremely familiar with Shrek Academy. Since that’s the case, what do you think will be the cost for our victory if we are to force an attack on them right now?”

Zhongli  Wu  was  a  little  startled  as  he  replied,  “Shrek Academy has taken in the remaining bastards from the Heavenly Soul Empire. Even if we were to factor in their own city defense army, their numbers would still pale in comparison to ours. After all, we have an eight hundred thousand strong army, with eight soul engineer legions. We should be able to destroy their defensive lines just with our soul engineer legions.”

Ju Zi said, “No, it won’t be that simple. Based on the data we have collected, it seems like Shrek Academy already possesses the ability to manufacture Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells. As for the exact number of shells which they have produced, we have yet to obtain any reliable data. In addition, the academy has countless powerful soul masters. Almost every single elder within the Sea God’s Pavilion possesses abilities which rivalled that of a Transcendent Douluo. If we

 

were to force their hand, I am unsure what this powerful academy with over ten thousand years of history is capable of. Right now, the best strategy for us is to surround them, but not attack them. As for the reinforcements you were mentioning earlier, they are the people I want to see the most. It would best if they were to turn up here.”

Zhongli Wu squinted after listening to Ju Zi’s words. He was not a fool, as he seemed to have sensed something after hearing what she said. “Empress, does this mean you don’t plan to attack Shrek City?”

Ju Zi said, “It is not the right time yet. The Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion and the Evileye Tyrant Soul Engineer Legion have just set off the night before last. Our army camp looks the same, but we already have fifty thousand troops leaving the camp and cooperating with the two soul engineer legions. We just need to attract Shrek Academy’s attention here at the front line. Even though it is not the right time to attack, we can still launch feint attacks once in a while.”

Zhongli Wu’s breathing started to become uneven as he said authoritatively, “With the current power we have, we can definitely take them down if we were to put in our best effort. Even if they try to retaliate, we definitely possess the ability to

 

suppress them. Once Shrek City falls, the psychological support that the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire depend on will disappear. This means the entire continent will definitely be ours sooner or later. I don’t understand why you want to delay the entire plan!”

Ju Zi replied plainly, “Imperial Tutor, I want to remind you of your appointment. You are the military supervisor—not the commander. When it pertains to tactical and strategic matters, I will be the one calling the shots. If you are unsatisfied with any of my plans, feel free to take it up with His Majesty. If His Majesty does not agree with my plans, I am definitely willing to change them.”

Zhongli Wu’s breathing started to become rapid. For inexplicable reasons, he seemed to fear Ju Zi a little. But of course, he did not fear her for her fighting power. He could definitely destroy Ju Zi easily in a fight with the ability that she possessed. However, she was truly frightening when it came to leading troops and strategizing warfare. It was almost as though she was assisted by God himself.

Even though Zhongli Wu was not a young man anymore, he was still unable to fully appreciate and understand her military

 

arrangements. Nonetheless, her inspiring tactics were always able to decide victory, even when he did not understand them.

Hence, he really did not dare to offend Ju Zi. Furthermore, she had the support of multiple Class 9 soul engineers around her. Even though he had brought several powerful cultivators from the Holy Ghost Church along with him, soul engineers were not as frightened of evil soul masters as regular soul masters were.

“Hmph! Take care then, Empress.”  Zhongli Wu waved the sleeve of his robe as he turned and left.

Ju Zi looked at the back of his figure and flashed a faint smile. “In that case, I will not be sending you off.”

It was common for the commander and the military supervisor from any country and any point in time in history to share conflicting opinions. After all, there was a reason why military supervisors existed.

Zhongli Wu was naturally not the military supervisor who Xu Tianran wanted to send over. However, the Holy Ghost Church was simply too powerful, so he had no choice but to do so. The Holy Ghost Ghost had long been trying to create a bigger presence within the Sun Moon Empire’s army.

However, the effects of their participation had never gone particularly well. After all, evil soul masters were often ostracized by most people—regardless of whether they were soul masters or soul engineers.

After watching Zhongli Wu leave the tent, Ju Zi squinted as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

These annoying evil soul masters… With them around, it will be very difficult for me to execute my plan perfectly. If

 

there’s a chance…

Their use for the Holy Ghost Church had been diminishing for a while. After the Body Sect had been completely destroyed, the only use for the Holy Ghost Church was to fight against the powerful cultivators from Shrek Academy. If not for the existence of two Ultimate Douluo within the Holy Ghost Church, Xu Tianran would have long since employed a method to force them to surrender to him.

When it came to dealing with the Holy Ghost Church, both Ju Zi and Xu Tianran had the same ideas. This sect which was full of evil soul masters was bound to create trouble for them in the future. Once the Sun Moon Empire conquered the entire continent, the Holy Ghost Church would definitely think of a way to wrest the throne for themselves. With regards to how exactly they would do it, both Xu Tianran and Ju Zi were certain that those mysterious evil soul masters must have their own ways to achieve that.

Knowing how her son would become the future ruler of the entire continent, Ju Zi was determined to not let the Holy Ghost Church succeed in their scheme.

 

However, the thought of her son made Ju Zi’s body tremble as the harsh look in her eyes became gentler.

Before she left Radiant City, she had gotten the help of an extremely powerful individual within the Sun Moon Empire to protect her son. She was not afraid that an external enemy would target her son. On the contrary, she was worried about the Holy Ghost Church! Now, she was most afraid that the Holy Ghost Church would take action against her son, Xu Yunhan. That would truly be horrifying.

The actual battle on the battlefield must end as soon as possible. It was only after the war had ended that she could finally return to Radiant City and make her next move.

A faint cold look appeared in Ju Zi’s pupils. The task which she was about to embark on was not just about conquering the entire continent. Besides, there was no need to rush the process.

Within the Tang Sect in Shrek City.

 

“Hummmm!”   Huo  Yuhao’s  spiritual  soul  core  vibrated intensely as it continued to radiate powerful spiritual fluctuations from within his body.

His Eye of Destiny had somehow opened itself without him even knowing about it. The light from the spiritual soul core sparkled within the dark room. However, it never stopped vibrating and trembling in an unstable manner.

Huo Yuhao looked more determined than ever.

The fluid-like spiritual power that Elder Mu had left for him to control the spiritual soul core had already disappeared. After absorbing that spiritual power, his spiritual soul core had become a lot stronger. At the same time, it had also bought precious time for Huo Yuhao.

Now, the Ultimate Ice soul core at his chest area had become a lot stronger and larger as well. The speed at which it was rotating was no longer observable by the human eye.

Huo Yuhao didn’t know exactly how much longer he persevered with Elder Mu’s help, but he had witnessed the

 

Ultimate Ice soul core at his chest area grow more than three times its original size in this amount of time.

Even though the Ultimate Ice soul core had yet to take on a shape, it was no longer as fragile and feeble as before. It had become a lot stronger, and seemed to be as solid as an ice crystal. The effects of its rotation speed on his spiritual soul core were also becoming greater.

The mutual collision between the two soul cores caused Huo Yuhao to tremble uncontrollably.

Once again, the Snow Empress and Ice Empress showcased their abilities. In fact, they had been going about their tasks in an extremely stable manner.

Under the effects of the Dragon Pill, Huo Yuhao’s body had become a lot stronger. He was at the very least able to persevere till now.

Even though the Star Anise was not making any moves, Little Bai had been supporting Huo Yuhao by using his power to fortify his passageways and internal organs.

Li Ya had taken a break after Elder Mu’s spiritual power had fused into Huo Yuhao’s body. Now, she was getting ready to lend a hand when necessary.

Right now, the Yin Yang Complement technique was at a stage where it was already too late to back out. Huo Yuhao was clear that if he were to fail now, he would not only be sustaining injuries. This was because the Ultimate Ice ball of energy at his chest area had already become considerably strong. It had already absorbed close to thirty percent of his soul power.

Even though this amount of soul power was still insufficient to form a soul core, the compressed extreme energy was still able to blow his dragon blood enhanced body to pieces if it were to explode.

He stabilized his focus and continued his current state. After all the tribulations he had gone through, Huo Yuhao was able to keep himself calm and focused during times like this.

If he were to still fail even with the help of his six Spirits and Elder Mu, there was little chance that he could succeed in the

 

future.

Hence, he had to persevere and push on no matter what. He only had one shot at this.

Right now, his spiritual soul core was rotating in a furious manner. It was apparent that the spiritual power that Elder Mu had injected into his head was only able to temporarily delay it. At the same time, it had nourished the spiritual soul core and made it a lot stronger. The energy that the spiritual soul core was radiating now was becoming a lot stronger. It was attacking Huo Yuhao’s determination like waves hitting the shore.

The spiritual power that was released by the spiritual soul core under Huo Yuhao’s control would immediately be torn up by the Ultimate Ice soul core whenever it got close to it. The spiritual soul core would then have no choice but to gather the torn bits and reabsorb them. Hence, the spiritual soul core was becoming increasingly enraged. How could it sit and wait as someone attempted to snatch its territory?

The temperature in the laboratory started to dip as the Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass crept out of Huo Yuhao’s body

 

silently. Its icy blue leaves radiated a gentle glow, which seemed to be dissipating its energy.

Star Anise Icy Coagulation!

The Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass was rapidly absorbing the Ultimate Ice aura in the air before it transferred it back into Huo Yuhao’s body. The energy was then passed over to the Snow Empress for her to replenish her expended energy.

Huo Yuhao was unable to sense all of this because all of his attention had already been invested in his spiritual soul core.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, the intense pain which came from the spiritual soul core’s mindless ravaging pushed Huo Yuhao to his limits once again. His body

—which had been nourished and enhanced by the Dragon Pill

—was showing signs of tearing up again.

Even though Li Ya had already jumped in to help him, she was no longer able to restrain the spiritual soul core, which was practically going insane by now. She could only help to slightly stabilize the energy within it.

Suddenly, an icy blue current moved upwards.

The Snow Empress’ ice crystal had finally moved once again. It was heading upwards again. The Snow Empress’ spiritual aura was as cold and tough as Huo Yuhao’s Sigh of the Snow Goddess. It instantly pierced Huo Yuhao’s spiritual soul core without any difficulty. It was as if the soul core had a bucket of ice water poured on it, and it paused momentarily.

Following which, the ice crystal which was formed by the Snow Empress suddenly exploded to form streaks of energy which gushed towards the rapidly rotating ball of Ultimate Ice soul power.

Snow Empress!

Even though Huo Yuhao was in an unbelievable amount of pain, he could still sense what the Snow Empress had done for him.

Although he did not know what kind of harm the Snow Empress had inflicted upon herself, he was still able to sense

 

her determination to help him at all costs.

Snow Empress!

"Hummmm!" The ball of Ultimate Ice energy which was at his chest started to vibrate with an unprecedented intensity before huge amounts of energy spurted out of it like a geyser.

Huo Yuhao felt his chest contract rapidly as the spiritual power which was swarming towards his chest disintegrated instantly. The pain he had been withstanding also disappeared temporarily.

The Ultimate Ice energy that was released from the ice crystal’s explosion was very pure. It was like ice belts, which latched themselves onto the ball of Ultimate Ice energy.

Instead of slowing down, the ball of Ultimate Ice energy was somehow able to rotate faster after the ice belts attached themselves to it. During its rapid rotation, the ball of Ultimate Ice energy was constantly emitting a loud humming sound. The Ultimate Ice energy within the ball was being heavily

 

compressed at an insane speed as a powerful sensation was released from Huo Yuhao’s chest to his surroundings.

The ball of Ultimate Ice energy was actually able to expand itself to ten times its original size in a couple of seconds. Just when it was about to take up Huo Yuhao’s entire chest cavity, it suddenly contracted to its original size, as though it was compressed by a mysterious force.

The color of the soul core had also changed along with the series of strange transformations. It had become dark blue. One could also notice a patch of darkness surrounding the crystal clear dark blue ball of energy.

Soul core? Is this how it’s supposed to look like? At the very least, it looks like a soul core that has begun to take shape.

Huo Yuhao was startled by the sight before him. Based on his estimations, he should have required thrice as much as time as it had taken, and an enormous amount of Ultimate Ice energy, to reach the current state of his soul core! However, the Snow Empress’ sudden intervention seemed to have allowed the soul core to directly take shape. The rapid transformation was no longer just awe-inspiring—it was simply miraculous!

Snow Empress, what exactly did you do?

The spiritual soul core launched an attack once again after being temporarily stunned by the Snow Empress’ spiritual shock. This time around, Huo Yuhao was not able to completely block the unparalleled spiritual power that was going straight for the Ultimate Ice soul core, which had just taken shape in Huo Yuhao’s chest. The intense spiritual power fluctuations seemed to illustrate the murderous intent that his spiritual soul core had towards his Ultimate Ice soul core.

However, Huo Yuhao did not sense any pain at this instant.

Instead, he felt a mysterious cooling sensation in his chest.

Just when the crazy spiritual power was about to collide with the Ultimate Ice soul core, a powerful intent infused with Ultimate Ice energy suddenly surged out and froze the spiritual power instantly.

Yes, it had just frozen the spiritual power.

 

Spiritual power can actually be frozen? Huo Yuhao was utterly shocked by what he had just witnessed.

Streaks of Ultimate Ice energy ascended like sashes as they streamed towards the spiritual soul core. It seemed like they were planning to retaliate against the spiritual soul core.

What Huo Yuhao could not see was how the Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass was already trembling intensely as it tried to release its Star Anise Icy Coagulation with the maximum possible power. Its every single leaf had become transparent as it tried to devour every single bit of ice-type elemental energy within the room. During this process, strong gusts of icy wind started to blow within the room.

Little Bai’s protection over Huo Yuhao’s body had also suddenly stopped. Countless tiny balls of white energy were surging towards Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice soul core and fusing with it under its control.

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s torso bone was also releasing jade green fluid towards the Ultimate Ice soul core under the Ice Empress’ control.

 

“In my name, Spirit of the Icesky Snow Lady, Fuse!”

“Booommm!”

Huo Yuhao’s entire body started to tremble. He felt as if his chest and entire body had exploded at this instant, rendering him incapable of thinking. His entire intent and consciousness seemed to be ravaged by a mysterious force. Along with his spiritual soul core, his mind went completely blank.

……

In the Slaughtering Grounds within the Core Region of the Great Star Dou Forest.

The Lake of Life was so still that it resembled a gigantic emerald gem. It was surrounded by plants that were full of vitality. One could sense the life energy that the Lake of Life was emitting by simply breathing the air around it.

Unfortunately, this was forbidden ground for all living things which possessed power.

“Boooomm” An intense explosion interrupted mother nature’s peace and serenity. A black figure rose from the center of the Lake of Life, sending water splashing everywhere.

The lake water was immediately transformed into mist, which encircled the black figure before being absorbed by him. Following which, the black figure continued to float in mid-air.

His long hair drooped down by the sides of his face, while his pitch black pupils radiated a golden glow. However, the depths of his pupils revealed how he was currently shocked beyond belief.

“What’s going on? Why can’t I sense his existence anymore?” The handsome man muttered to himself.

As the world’s strongest individual and the champion amongst the Ten Great Savage Beasts, Di Tian had always been extremely confident in his abilities.

No matter how strong humans were able to become, no one could ever move him from his title as the world’s strongest

 

individual.

Di Tian floated towards the side of the lake as he began to think about the different possibilities.

He moved his right hand in the air in a mysterious parabolic manner as a black rune instantly appeared in mid-air.

A black fog permeated the air as the golden glow in Di Tian’s eyes flickered. However, a worried expression suddenly formed on his face in the next instant.

Yes, I can’t seem to sense him anymore. I wonder why…

Something extremely important must have happened in order to rouse him from his sleep. And this matter must concern the future of the entire Great Star Dou Forest.

His aura has disappeared.

 

He was clearly able to sense Huo Yuhao’s aura just a while ago. However, Huo Yuhao—who possessed his reverse scale— had seemed to suddenly vanish without a trace.

In his eyes, the only possible explanation for this was death!

However, he knew that his reverse scale was not only able to monitor Huo Yuhao, but also protect him at the same time. The moment he was in any danger, his reverse scale would immediately inform him. And as the Beast God, he would definitely be able to rescue Huo Yuhao at that instant.

Even though Di Tian admired Huo Yuhao for creating the Spirit Pagoda and temporarily alleviating the conflict between humans and soul beasts, Huo Yuhao was ultimately a human who had the potential to be used in his eyes.

He could not afford to allow him to die, because Huo Yuhao’s body contained the power of destiny, which had belonged to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. As long as he was alive, the power of destiny would continue to keep watch over the Great Star Dou Forest. Even though it would not be as strong as when the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was still around, it was still of great use.

At the same time, he could not allow Huo Yuhao to become too strong. He was a human who was incredibly gifted. If he were to become a God one day, the Great Star Dou Forest would also lose the protection of the power of destiny.

Hence, Di Tian had been keeping a close eye on Huo Yuhao’s transformations and growth. Once Huo Yuhao was capable of attracting the attention of the God Realm, he would seal off his power without any hesitation to stop him from communicating with the God Realm. He would not even care about what Huo Yuhao’s opinions were.

There is a limit to how strong a human can become. I am already at the limits of mortality in this world. This is no way a human can defeat me.

However, it was under these circumstances that Huo Yuhao’s aura had suddenly vanished. Di Tian had no answer to this phenomenon.

Di Tian was extremely confident in his reverse scale. After all, it was not just any normal scale. It could essentially act as a clone. With the help of his reverse scale, he could accurately

 

pinpoint where Huo Yuhao was, and use his mastery of spatial laws to transport portions of his energy to that location.

However, he was not only unable to sense Huo Yuhao’s presence, but also the aura of his own reverse scale. How could he not be surprised?

If he were unable to sense the existence of his own reverse scale, he would naturally be unable to transfer his powers and check on Huo Yuhao’s situation.

Something is wrong. There must be a problem somewhere. Di Tian squinted. He must not allow the power of destiny to escape from his grasp.

There must be something going on at Huo Yuhao’s side. He must have used some ability to temporarily cut off the connection between me and my reverse scale. This ability must be the reason why I can’t sense him. There must be a reason why he’s trying to cut off this connection.

I must find out what’s going on. There’s no way I can let this continue without knowing what’s happening. His last known

 

location was Shrek City.

Worst comes to worst, I will break his arms and legs and keep him with me in the Great Star Dou Forest forever. I will then figure out a way to extend his life. Even though the power of destiny might experience some problems, that’s still better than losing it entirely.

As Di Tian took a step forward, he suddenly vanished into thin air. When he reappeared again, he was already a thousand meters in the air. His figure flickered once again as the sky tore open to reveal a gaping hole. He stepped into the hole before the hole sealed up. Once again, the powerful Beast God had disappeared.

Shrek City was already very close to the Great Star Dou Forest after its expansion.

After a minute had passed, Di Tian’s black figure reappeared in mid-air as he triggered Shrek City’s deafening alarm system.

The soul tools from Tang Sect and the Shrek Academy’s Soul Tool Hall had been developing rapidly. They now possessed

 

aerial surveillance soul tools both on the ground and in the air. However, compared to the Sun Moon Empire, they were still lacking quite a bit in both the quantity and quality of their soul tools.

The surveillance soul tools within Shrek City were immediately able to pick up the presence of an individual in the sky. Multiple soul tools from the ground and the city walls instantly locked their weapons onto the black colored figure

Seeing how there was only one intruder, ten soul engineers from the city defense army leapt into the sky as they tried to chase the black figure down.

“Hmph!”  A cold grunt echoed in the air as the entire sky appeared to tremble at that instant. The ten figures which had just started to ascend into the sky immediately felt a frightening force pressing onto them from the sky. They were actually forced back to the ground by this mysterious force. Because they were falling from a relatively high altitude, quite a few of them were injured by the fall.

“Get Huo Yuhao to come out. I have a few questions for him.” Di Tian put his hands behind his back as he floated in mid-air.

 

He did not seem to show any care or concern for Shrek City’s defense system.

The sound of the alarm system suddenly changed from its previous piercing sound into a rapid wailing sound. This was a sign that a powerful enemy had intruded into the Academy’s compound.

A couple of figures ascended into the sky from above Shrek Academy. The one who was leading them was none other than Yan Shaozhe, the Dean of the Martial Soul Department within Shrek Academy!

Yan Shaozhe was accompanied by Xian Lin’er, Qian Duoduo, Cai Mei’er, and Zhang Lexuan.

When they saw the Beast God floating in mid-air, a worried look appeared on all their faces.

This was not an entity they could afford to offend! Previously, Elder Xuan and Elder Mu were only able to seal him for a short period of time after linking their powers. He only

 

left after being persuaded by Huo Yuhao. If not, Shrek City could have been in serious danger back then.

“Beast God, it has been a while since we last met. How have you been doing? May I know why you have visited Shrek Academy?”  Yan Shaozhe used his hands to make a splitting motion as white intense flames appeared before transforming into two gigantic wings, which tore apart the pressure that was pervading the air. Following which, he brought the group of people with him up into the air until they reached the same altitude as Di Tian.

Di Tian’s eyes widened in disbelief as he exclaimed, “Yan Shaozhe, you have improved very quickly!”

The current Dean of the Martial Soul Department’s cultivation was already close to Elder Xuan’s before he had become an Ultimate Douluo. Even though he had not officially reached Rank 98, he was on the brink of doing so.

Di Tian had not expected a Transcendent Douluo to improve his cultivation so rapidly.

 

Yan Shaozhe’s own martial soul was a top-tier martial soul. Coupled with the assistance of the Qiankun Fortune Pills, Yan Shaozhe was able to improve his cultivation very rapidly. In a few months’ time, he would be able to reach Rank 98. As for whether he could eventually reach Rank 99, it would depend on his luck and his ability to understand and draw insights from the universe.

Even so, his current ability had already surpassed Elder Song. He had become the number one soul master within Shrek Academy other than Elder Xuan. Even though Elder Xuan had already cultivated at Rank 98 for an extended period of time, he was ultimately an agility-type soul master. There would still be a gap between him and Yan Shaozhe when it came to the power of their martial souls.

“I am embarrassed by your lavish praises, Beast God. Compared to you, I am really nothing. There must be a reason for you to grace our Academy in such a domineering manner. Unless you are here to help us defend against our enemies?” As he spoke, Yan Shaozhe pointed outside of the city.

Di Tian was actually stumped by his proposition. He could not help but turn his head to take a look at what was happening outside the city. Even though the Sun Moon

 

Empire’s army was more than fifty kilometers away, Di Tian was naturally able to see them clearly with the eyesight that he had. His pupils rapidly contracted as he sensed danger from among the troops. This meant that someone in the camp possessed a power which could threaten him.

“I am not here to help you. All of you will have to resolve your human problems by yourselves. I am here to look for Huo Yuhao. Let him out. I have questions for him” Di Tian answered coldly. He would not be duped that easily. In fact, he did not have a favorable impression of any human.

Chapter 562: The Power of the Beast God

Yan Shaozhe seemed a little stunned. “Yuhao? He’s back? I didn’t know that! He left the academy not too long ago to go to the Sun Moon Empire for a mission, and I haven’t seen him since.”

Xian Lin’er was standing behind him, and she rolled her eyes. This guy can just spout bullshit so naturally. To think that he’s already at Rank 97.

“Bullshit. I clearly felt his aura inside Shrek City,” Di Tian’s eyes flickered coldly, “Don’t try to smoke me, Yan Shaozhe. You have sixty seconds to hand him over. Otherwise, don’t blame me for not being polite.”

“And how are you going to be impolite, Beast God?” An elderly voice rang out as a beam of yellow light surged into the sky. This formidable aura crushed the pressure that the Di Tian had laid out in the sky. This yellow beam of light arrived in front of Di Tian in the blink of an eye.

 

“Eh?” Di Tian stared at Elder Xuan, who had just appeared in front of him, and he was astonished yet again. He was already surprised at how Yan Shaozhe had improved, but he wasn’t concerned about someone who was only at Rank 97. But Elder Xuan was different, and he could clearly feel Elder Xuan’s second soul core.

That wasn’t something that just any living being could have. It was a true second soul core, one that reflected an Ultimate Douluo’s strength!

There were many transcendent soul beasts who had several hundred thousand years of cultivation, who had the strength to rival a human Ultimate Douluo, and their total soul power volume could definitely match up. But their chances of victory in an actual battle against an Ultimate Douluo were comparatively low, and the reason was because an Ultimate Douluo possessed a second soul core. It was incredibly hard for soul beasts to form their second soul core, since they could only achieve that through the Yin Yang Complement method.

The only two among the Ten Great Savage Beasts who had truly completed their second soul cores were the Beast God and the Evileye Tyrant King. That was the reason why the Evileye Tyrant King had dared to challenge him back then.

Of course, savage beasts would become incredibly powerful after forming their second soul core. Di Tian even believed that all the Ultimate Douluo in the world would be no match for him, even if they gathered together.

However, Di Tian deeply understood how formidable Ultimate Douluos were, even though he had such an opinion. He was strong enough to defeat an Ultimate Douluo, but he would also have to pay a price if he wanted to kill that Ultimate Douluo. Therefore, he was greatly surprised when he felt that Elder Xuan had become an Ultimate Douluo. He was clear that Elder Xuan had been stuck at Rank 98 for many years, and with a human’s natural physique, it was almost impossible for him to continue moving forward. And yet, he had done it.

Di Tian muttered coldly, “Xuan Zi, do you really think that you can fight me just because you’ve become an Ultimate Douluo?”

Elder Xuan stared back coldly. “There is only one way to find out. Shrek and the Great Star Dou Forest have been at peace over the past few years, and we have tried to promote the Spirit Pagoda as much as possible. We have greatly reduced the hunting and killing of soul beasts inside your Great Star Dou

 

Forest throughout the process. I don’t know what it is that you want today, but do you really think that you can get away with provoking Shrek like this? Di Tian, if you don’t give me an explanation today, we will not let you go in peace.”

Elder Xuan dominated reason, and the first thing he did when he arrived was to seize the initiative.

Di Tian’s eyes flickered faintly. The truth was that the Great Star Dou Forest and Shrek were actually in a honeymoon period over the past few years. Both sides cooperated well, and there were much fewer deaths inside the Great Star Dou Forest. That was especially so after Huo Yuhao, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, and the others swore inside that Spirit Pagoda that they would never hurt another soul beast. That made Bi Ji, the Emerald Swan, extremely touched. That also pulled their relationship even closer.

This time, he had come forward brashly to ask for Huo Yuhao because the changes he had felt in his body were quite uncalled for and unreasonable. Di Tian didn’t really know what to say after Elder Xuan chided him fiercely.

 

Peace between both parties was very beneficial. Di Tian wanted to pluck Huo Yuhao from Shrek City, but doing so would undoubtedly affect the peaceful outlook that they had established over the past few years.

But how could he let this go if he didn’t find Huo Yuhao? He desperately wanted to know what had happened to Huo Yuhao, and the reason why he couldn’t even feel his reverse scale’s aura.

“Xuan Zi, the reason why I’m here today is because there are some things I wish to ask Huo Yuhao. I’m not trying to provoke or antagonize Shrek. Call him out, and I’ll leave after asking him a few questions.”  Di Tian was formidable, but he had his scruples and concerns. His largest one was his kin inside the Great Star Dou Forest, and his tone softened a little.

Elder  Xuan  heaved  a  sigh  and  said,  “Beast  God,  Yuhao  is heavily injured because he had to fight a formidable enemy. He’s barely breathing at the moment because he has suffered some kind of powerful attack. If you are really concerned about him, then you should help us fight against this formidable enemy.”

 

“He’s been hurt by a formidable enemy?” Di Tian did believe part of what Elder Xuan had said. Certain incredibly powerful attacks such as the one he had witnessed from the Death God Douluo’s Death God Pagoda could possibly temporarily disable his reverse scale. If that was what had happened, then everything could be explained.

Di Tian would never help humans resolve their own battles. However, the Great Star Dou Forest could be considered in some sense to be Shrek Academy’s ally. The Great Star Dou Forest pretending they didn’t know and not showing up was one thing, but Di Tian couldn’t really say no if he was told in public.

Di Tian hesitated before he said, “Shrek has ten thousand years of foundations. How can Shrek have any problems dealing with such small and weak enemies? We’ll talk about all that afterwards; let me take a look at him first. I will find a way to treat him if his injuries are overly severe. You have to understand that I, too, do not wish him dead. He possesses the Three-Eyed Golden Lion’s power of destiny after all. Take me to him.”

Elder Xuan cussed in his mind. It’s hard to trick him after all because of his experience. Di Tian is such a tough nut to crack.

 

How could he take Di Tian to see Huo Yuhao?

Elder Xuan naturally understood that the Beast God’s sudden appearance had something to do with Huo Yuhao breaking through and creating his second soul core. Even though he didn’t know how the Beast God could sense that, this was the only viable explanation. Di Tian’s arrival at this time also proved one thing, and that was the fact that Huo Yuhao was just about to succeed. Elder Xuan couldn’t let Di Tian disturb Huo Yuhao at such an important time, no matter what.

Elder Xuan heaved a faint sigh, and he shook his head exasperatedly yet resolutely. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Beast God. We have already treated Yuhao’s injuries, and he’s resting at the moment. Our doctors have specifically instructed that nobody is to disturb him. Why don’t we do it this way: you can stay in the academy for now, and I’ll take you to him once he’s a little better.”

“Eh?” The Beast God’s eyes flickered, as he could tell that something wasn’t right. He grunted coldly and said, “You’re trying to buy time, Xuan Zi. Get him out here or take me to him. Otherwise, don’t blame me for not being polite. I have been alive for several hundred thousand years, and I have seen

 

too much of humanity’s trickery. You’re dreaming if you think you can lie to me.”

Elder Xuan’s expression changed as he lowered his voice and said,  “Beast  God,  are  you  trying  to  violate  our  pact  and antagonize us humans?”

The Beast God’s face turned black. He did just want to see Huo Yuhao’s situation, and he didn’t want to affect what both parties shared through the Spirit Pagoda. That arrangement was beneficial for the entire Great Star Dou Forest, after all.

The Beast God hesitated for a moment before he made up his mind. The power of destiny was more important, because that was an important guarantee for his breakthrough during his next bottleneck.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, Xuan Zi. My patience has its limits.”

Elder Xuan’s heart sank as he stared at the Beast God’s ice- cold eyes. He knew that he no longer had any wiggle room.

 

“Alright, since you have no sympathy for our situation, then come. You have to defeat me if you wish to disturb Yuhao’s recovery.”

Di Tian’s eyes sparkled. He wasn’t angry, but his majesty was evident as his flowing black hair drifted in the wind. “Are you challenging me?”

Elder Xuan laughed and answered, “I haven’t found a suitable enemy to test my abilities after becoming an Ultimate Douluo. Since the Beast God is here today, then I have a perfect opportunity to test how far I am from the Continent’s most powerful individual.”

“Very well. I won’t go overboard. I will leave if you can hold off my onslaught for one hour. On the other hand, if you can’t, I will not hurt anybody residing in Shrek City, and you’ll take me to see Huo Yuhao. We won’t affect our cooperation.”

Elder Xuan’s eyes sparkled. “We’ll talk about that after our fight.” He surged higher into the sky as he spoke.

 

Di Tian didn’t move at all. Black shadows flashed as he reached an even higher altitude, and waited quietly.

Yan Shaozhe, Xian Lin’er and the others didn’t follow them. Instead, they retreated further away. They weren’t powerful enough to affect a battle at an Ultimate Douluo’s level, but watching and gaining revelations from this battle would be beneficial for their future advancement.

The two silhouettes continued climbing through the air before they stopped at about five thousand meters from the ground.

Soul rings emerged from Elder Xuan’s body one after another, and his heavy and solemn aura immediately tainted the entire sky yellow.

Di Tian hovered proudly in midair and quietly observed Elder Xuan’s soul power undulations. A contemptuous expression appeared from the corner of his mouth as he said, “Xuan Zi, you still only possess a human’s Resonance soul core. Even though I don’t know how you’ve managed this, you should understand that you don’t have much of a chance against me.”

Elder Xuan grunted coldly and said, “How would I know if I don’t try? Do give me some pointers, Beast God.”  Elder Xuan raised his right hand as he spoke and pushed it towards Di Tian.

The heavens trembled vigorously, and intense yellow light condensed into an enormous Godly Taotie Bull more than a thousand meters tall behind Elder Xuan’s back. The bull flickered continuously, and it was extremely magnificent.

At their level, any simple movement was an extremely powerful attack. They simplified everything, and soul skills weren’t that important anymore.

Di Tian was still standing there, motionless. A black beam of light blasted from his chest, and Elder Xuan felt the air in front of him begin to twist and contort vigorously as he pushed out with his palm. A terrifying suction force appeared in the next moment and completely absorbed his palm’s force.

“Eh?” Elder Xuan was startled. “Spatial power?”

Di Tian said plainly, “I have been at this level for several hundred thousand years longer than you have. You are still a far cry from me in terms of your understanding in this respect. Even though soul beasts cannot become Gods because we are limited by the God Realm, no human in the Douluo Continent could ever be my match.”

Elder Xuan grunted coldly as he placed his palms in a circle in front of his chest. The Godly Taotie Bull behind his back

 

roared fearsomely as a dense and material sphere of dirty yellow light appeared between his palms.

This sphere appeared very peculiar. Its insides seemed material, but there were separate pieces floating on its surface. Every piece radiated with strange light, and some even seemed like there was water flowing between them.

“Eh?”   It  was  Di  Tian’s  turn  to  be  surprised.  “You’re recreating the Continent?”

“Take  this,”  Elder  Xuan  said  plainly,  “Heaven  and  Earth Resonance.”  He  pushed  his  hands  forward  slowly,  and  his movement was very gradual as the yellow sphere slowly rose and flew towards Di Tian at an incredibly slow speed.

But right at this moment, a mystical event occurred. The ground beneath them, including Shrek City, the vast plains outside the city, and even the Sun Moon Empire’s camp, began to radiate starry yellow light as they flew into the sky. The great earth and everything that the naked eye could see seemed to awaken in that moment, and those dots of yellow light emanated dense earth-type energy as they surged hysterically towards the sky.

The Sun Moon Empire’s army was already aware when those two formidable individuals rose high into the sky.

Ju Zi arrived outside as her Class 9 soul engineers escorted her. The Holy Ghost Church’s powerful individuals also appeared outside with her.

When the enormous Godly Taotie Bull that was a thousand meters long appeared behind Elder Xuan, the first person to react in shock was the Holy Ghost Church’s supreme leader, Zhongli Wu.

“Ultimate Douluo? Xuan Zi of Shrek Academy’s Sea God’s Pavilion has become an Ultimate Douluo?” Zhongli Wu’s eyes were full of shock and incredulity.

Evil soul masters did have an advantage over normal soul masters, but that advantage would cease to exist at a Transcendent Douluo’s level. Zhongli Wu was more than aware of what an Ultimate Douluo’s appearance meant for them. The Holy Ghost Church’s two Ultimate Douluo were not with them.

 

Typical soul tools couldn’t hurt Ultimate Douluo. Zhongli Wu felt for the first time that Ju Zi’s refusal to attack seemed reasonable, because Shrek Academy’s foundations were truly thick and solid. It hadn’t been long since Elder Mu’s death, and yet another Ultimate Douluo had already appeared.

But who was his opponent?

Di Tian was just a black shadow, and he didn’t show his aura. Everyone from the Sun Moon Empire was speculating who could oppose an Ultimate Douluo. Who could that be?

Ju Zi frowned, as she didn’t know what was happening either. An Ultimate Douluo had appeared in Shrek Academy, and that was big news. Furthermore, he had an opponent, and it appeared like both parties were about to fight it out. That was strange. If both Ultimate Douluo belonged to Shrek Academy, then her plan would probably run into trouble. Ultimate Douluo were symbols of eternity and invincibility, so Ju Zi’s camp would probably be in trouble if an Ultimate Douluo was bent on causing destruction.

Right at this moment, as those tiny, compact yellow spots began rising from the earth, Zhongli Wu’s expression changed

 

drastically as he looked on. Zhongli Wu was a Transcendent Douluo, and he understood what this meant.

“Xuan Zi hasn’t just become an Ultimate Douluo. He has also grasped his martial soul’s true power. This is a cosmic phenomenon that happens when a soul master feeds his martial soul back to heaven and earth. He’s using such a formidable attack from the get-go. Who exactly is his opponent?”

The sky suddenly darkened at this moment. Elder Xuan’s yellow radiance had lit up the sky, but now the horizon was starting to turn dark and gloomy. A bright dragon roar could be heard as an enormous dragon head appeared from behind the black shadow.

This large dragon head was also more than a thousand meters tall like Elder Xuan’s Godly Taotie Bull, but the dragon head was much more material and condensed, like an actual dragon had descended upon the world. But even a real dragon wouldn’t have such a massive size!

Shadows flickered as the dragon descended upon the world, and terrifying auras rippled outward. Purplish-black rays of

 

light dripped from the sky like raindrops, and these rays naturally broke apart after falling to a certain height into circles of dark purple light. They blocked the yellow light dots which were rising from the ground, and didn’t allow a single dot to rise into the sky.

That was…

“Can Dragon Uncle be here? This is the Black Dragon. Can it be Uncle’s Darkness Holy Dragon? But…” Zhongli Wu was both surprised and confused, but he quickly realized that this wasn’t right, because he could see a pair of golden eyes.

“No, that’s not Dragon Uncle. That, that is… that’s the Beast God, Di Tian, the Golden Eyes Black Dragon King, the most powerful individual in the world, the Great Star Dou Forest’s dictator. It’s the Beast God, Di Tian!”

The Sun Moon Empire fell silent when that was spoken.

Even though they knew that the Great Star Dou Forest’s soul beasts would never get involved in a war between humans, the

 

Beast God’s reputation was just too famous. He was already known as the most powerful individual in the world today.

Back at the Ming Dou Mountain Range, the Death God Douluo didn’t have any advantage at all against Huo Yuhao when he drew upon the Beast God’s strength through his reverse scale. It wasn’t hard to see exactly how formidable the Beast God was.

But in this moment, that black shadow in the sky was evidently not a projection of the Beast God; the Beast God was actually here. It was no wonder that Elder Xuan, who was an Ultimate Douluo, would give his full strength from the very beginning, and he had to use his strongest abilities to fight him. Who would dare to hold back against the Beast God?

Terrifying auras resonated through the heavens, and the Sun Moon Empire could feel shivers running down their spines.

There was a hysterical voice shouting in Zhongli Wu’s heart. The Beast God was acting out against Shrek City, so what did that mean? That meant their opportunity had arrived! If the Beast God could break the city, then their plan of not staging an offensive was no longer important. Shrek City would

 

undoubtedly crumble when that happened, and nobody could resist that temptation under such circumstances.

However, no matter how intense that voice was in his head, Zhongli Wu couldn’t say a single word as he stood there, because the overbearing pressure from the sky was filling him with fear.

This was pressure from the most powerful individual in the world, pressure from the Beast God!

Powerful individuals were powerful individuals after all. When the Sun Moon Empire heard that the black shadow in the sky was the Beast God, Di Tian, their first reaction was to retreat subconsciously instead of taking this opportunity to attack Shrek City.

Ju Zi’s clear and cold voice rang out in this moment. “Pass my order: all soul tool fronts, prepare. Charge all long-range linked offensive soul tools and prepare to fire.”

Her voice was soft, but she announced her orders through a loudspeaker so that every soul engineer around could hear her.

Those soul engineers who were startled and frightened seemed to quiver before they came to. Even Zhongli Wu felt a little shameful, because not even he could match up to a little girl at a time like this.

But he quickly explained this away to himself, because the unknowing wasn’t guilty. She definitely didn’t know how powerful the Beast God was.

The heavens and the earth transformed into a beautiful and spectacular sight. Purplish-black and yellow colors that were filled with dots of energy intertwined and fought against each other, while Elder Xuan’s sphere came closer and closer to Di Tian.

Di Tian stared at Elder Xuan coldly. “Do you really wish to fight to the death, Xuan Zi? You should know that Shrek Academy can’t possibly defend themselves against those enemy forces outside without you.”

Di Tian wouldn’t participate in a war between humans, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know what was happening.

 

Elder Xuan said plainly, “I’m not the one who wishes to fight to my last breath. You are provoking us, and I am Shrek Academy’s guardian. How can I sit by and watch? You don’t have to be rejoicing at our predicament. How is Shrek Academy’s destruction any good for the Great Star Dou Forest? The Sun Moon Empire is very powerful. Let me ask you, if the Sun Moon Empire truly conquers the entire Continent some day, will they ignore and overlook the Great Star Dou Forest’s soul beasts? When that happens, the great forest will simply be the Sun Moon Empire’s backyard. They will take whatever soul rings they wish. When that happens, not even you will be able to do anything about it.”

“You’ve got some balls!”  Di Tian exclaimed furiously as he punched out with his fist.

The Golden Eyes Black Dragon King’s shadow roared fearsomely as he punched out.

Elder Xuan didn’t show any weakness at all. His eyes turned crystal yellow, and the Godly Taotie Bull behind his back charged forward and clashed with the Black Dragon King.

 

Elder Xuan had triggered the Godly Taotie Bull’s Taotie bloodline with Elder Mu’s help when he last battled the Beast God. He managed to swallow Di Tian with his Taotie, so that he couldn’t participate in the beast wave, and that bought Shrek Academy sufficient time. But now, Elder Xuan had

become an Ultimate Douluo. It was a pity that he couldn’t use his own strength to trigger his Taotie’s true power.

The collision between them and their enormous martial souls happened at almost the same time.

The sky suddenly darkened before light exploded through the air. Frightening soul power undulations rippled high in the sky as all the clouds and mist within several hundred square kilometers in the sky dissipated. However, not a single ray of sunlight peeked through the sky; all that could be seen were yellow and purplish-black colors resisting each other.

That terrifying yet magnificent aura shocked everyone watching.

Shrek City and the Sun Moon Empire’s great army were all watching this earth-shaking sight, but there were very few who truly understood what all that meant. However, everyone was aware that this battle was very important for Shrek Academy.

Zhongli Wu arrived quietly next to Ju Zi and whispered, “When do we attack, commander?”

Ju Zi shook her head gently and said, “Now is not the time. We’ll wait until the battle is decided. We have to wait and see.

 

Imperial Tutor, I wish to ask you something.”

“Eh? Ask.” Zhongli Wu turned towards Ju Zi confusedly. The War God Empress would seldom ask questions humbly, from what he remembered.

Ju Zi lowered her voice and said, “From your perspective, how large a threat do you think the Beast God is to us?”

“He’s a very large threat.” Zhongli Wu replied almost without hesitation. “The Beast God is known as the most powerful in the individual in the world. The Great Star Dou Forest has a cornerstone with him around, and no matter who wishes to hunt soul beasts inside the Great Star Dou Forest, they will have to be very careful. That includes my mother.”

Ju Zi smiled faintly and said, “Unfortunately, you already have your ninth soul ring. Otherwise, perhaps this would be a good opportunity to hunt and kill him. If somebody can obtain the Beast God as his soul ring, perhaps that person will take over as the strongest in the world.”

 

Zhongli Wu had never expected Ju Zi to say something like this, and he was momentarily taken aback. Taking the Beast God as my soul ring? Not even he had considered something like this. In other words, unless soul masters were insane, nobody would ever consider that possibility.

But that was the Beast God, Di Tian!

Human desire was endless, and humans were greedy. Zhongli Wu hadn’t thought about that before Ju Zi brought it up. But when she spoke of that possibility, his heart immediately burned with passion.

“A soul ring won’t be possible. But if I turn part of the Beast God’s  spirit  and  part  of  his  original  body  into  a  puppet…” Avarice and greed chewed at Zhongli Wu’s heart like a million little maggots.

“Commander, I don’t need Di Tian as a soul ring. I would rather give it to the Emperor if that’s possible. The Holy Ghost Church’s secret methods, in combination with our soul engineers’ most advanced soul tools, can likely preserve the Beast God’s soul ring for a long time. The Emperor has already become a Titled Douluo, but the crown prince hasn’t!

 

Furthermore, the Beast God won’t just produce a soul ring. He will definitely produce a soul bone. If we leave his soul ring and his soul bone for the crown prince, the crown prince shall become the most powerful individual in the world in the future.”

Ju Zi felt a tingle in her heart as she listened to his words. But she quickly recovered as she laughed coldly inside. She was trying to bait him, but he turned her words around and tried to bait her instead. The Beast God’s soul ring? Hmph, his soul ring may not even be suitable for my son.

Only Ju Zi was clear that her son couldn’t possibly have a dragon-type martial soul like Xu Tianran did. Furthermore, Di Tian’s element was darkness, while his soul ring would undoubtedly be incredibly powerful. There was a very low chance that his soul ring would be suitable for her son.

However, her face revealed eagerness and passion even as those thoughts ran through her head. “I’m afraid that’s not ideal, Imperial Tutor. The most valuable parts of the Beast God are his soul ring and his soul bone. How can we give them to the royal family? If we wish to kill the Beast God, we need your support, Imperial Tutor!”

 

Zhongli Wu smiled faintly and said, “You don’t have to be polite, commander. We’ll just take what we both need. I just want the Beast God’s corpse, and the royal family has no use for it anyway. His corpse will be much more useful if you are to give it to us.”

Ju Zi answered without hesitation, “If we can really kill the Beast God, we will have accomplished a great feat, and we will all benefit. We’ll do everything according to your will, Imperial Tutor.”

Zhongli Wu clenched his fists subconsciously. He knew very well what would happen if he could obtain the Beast God’s corpse. He only had to preserve part of the Beast God’s spirit, and he could craft a puppet out of the Golden Eyes Black Dragon King. He would become the most powerful individual in the world with the Beast God’s physical strength! He could even rely on this puppet to directly break through to become an Ultimate Douluo.

But Zhongli Wu was also very shrewd and calculative. He was extremely excited in his heart, but his expression didn’t reveal anything as he said, “We cannot be hasty if we wish to fight the Beast God. We have to wait for the best opportunity to strike, and hope that Elder Xuan can severely injure him. The best

 

outcome is if Elder Xuan himself dies at the Beast God’s hands. We can kill two birds with one stone if that happens. Don’t worry, commander. The Holy Ghost Church will not hold back when the time comes.”

Ju Zi replied, “Alright, I will command all the soul tool fronts’ offensive soul tools to cooperate with you. Let’s just keep waiting.”

Zhongli Wu contemplated momentarily before he said, “This matter is extremely important, Commander. Let me go and make some preparations.”

“Alright, do as you wish, Imperial Tutor.” Ju Zi hurriedly replied.

Zhongli Wu left, and he took the Holy Ghost Church’s evil soul masters with him as they swiftly turned to leave.

A faint smile appeared on Ju Zi’s face as he watched their backs, but her smile was charged with cold murderousness.

 

I’ll have to wish you good luck then, Imperial Tutor.

Elder Su suddenly appeared beside Ju Zi and asked softly, “Commander, are we really helping the Holy Ghost Church obtain the Beast God’s corpse?”

Ju Zi smiled plainly and said, “Of course, as long as we can kill the Beast God.”

Elder Su was shocked for a moment before a thin smile quickly appeared on his face. What a fantastic scheme to kill two birds with one stone! The commander lives up to her name after all. She’s set a trap for the Holy Ghost Church in such a short period of time. This tremendous temptation was undoubtedly the best bait for the greedy Holy Ghost Church.

Two silhouettes separated in the sky as Elder Xuan retreated all the way between his Godly Taotie Bull’s two horns before he stabilized himself. The Beast God’s formidable strength was on full display in this moment, as he was just pushed back a little more than ten meters.

 

Elder Xuan’s face turned a little red as he felt his heart pulsing with fear. The Beast God wasn’t known as the world’s most powerful individual for nothing, and his strength exceeded his expectations.

When he clashed with the Beast God, all he could feel was how deep Di Tian’s power was. Elder Xuan could feel almost no end to Di Tian’s strength, and his frightening strength instantly vaporized his attack. Furthermore, Di Tian seemed to be holding back, and that was the reason why Elder Xuan could retreat in one piece.

“You should be able to tell, Xuan Zi, that you are still too far from me. Go, bring Huo Yuhao out. I only wish to ask him a few questions. I won’t do anything to him. I don’t wish to kill you.” Di Tian said plainly.

Elder Xuan grunted coldly and said, “Don’t think you’ve won.” He took a step forward as he spoke, and the Godly Taotie Bull behind him growled deeply. Elder Xuan disappeared into thin air just like that, and the bull’s initially illusory figure grew material.

 

This was Elder Xuan’s martial soul true body, Godly Taotie Bull.

The heavens and the earth, darkness and soil were in conflict, but the element of earth’s power was being completely suppressed. It couldn’t go higher than a hundred meters above the surface.

The Godly Taotie Bull’s long horns glowed with circles of yellow light before the bull suddenly accelerated and charged right at the Golden Eyes Black Dragon King.

The bull charged crazily as rolling thunder seemed to boom through the heavens. Frightening explosions could be heard, like the entire sky was being trampled apart.

Circles of yellow light expanded beneath the bull’s feet and covered the Golden Eyes Black Dragon King’s body. It was controlling gravity, and tremendous gravity tore at the Golden Eyes Black Dragon King’s body in an attempt to arrest it.

Di Tian heaved a sigh and said, “Since you wish to die, I will give you a lesson that you will never forget.” He turned around

 

as he spoke, and pressed his right hand against the Black Dragon King’s head before he wheeled his arms into the air.

A strange sight occurred as the enormous Black Dragon King that was more than a thousand meters long began to concentrate towards Di tian’s wheeling right arm like a whale sucking in water.

Di Tian’s arm had just wheeled over his head when a large sword appeared in his hand.

This sword’s hilt was three feet long, and the blade was eight feet long. The hilt was black, and resembled a black dragon. The blade was dark purple, and the terrifying sword intent seemed to tear an enormous hole in the sky when the sword appeared. Enormous circles of black light appeared behind Di Tian’s back, and it was like a black hole that seemed to swallow everything.

The Tang Sect members were watching this battle in the sky from their courtyard inside Shrek City.

 

The Sword Maniac, Ji Juechen, suddenly trembled when he watched Di Tian turn his shadow into a sword, and he grunted as blood flowed from his nostrils.

Jing Ziyan hurriedly supported him and said, “What’s wrong with you, Juechen?”

Ji Juechen shook his head softly, but there was determination in his eyes. Only he knew what had just happened. In that moment, he used his own sword intent to feel Di Tian’s sword intent, and that was the reason why that had happened.

Such formidable sword intent. Is this the sword intent that belongs to the most powerful individual in the world? His sword intent is his own martial soul, and it’s also his overwhelming and domineering will. And… and that frightening strength.

Ji Juechen continued to think as he crossed his legs, sat down on the ground, and started meditating. This moment’s revelation was far too important for him.

 

Ji Juechen had been stuck as a Soul Douluo for a long time, and couldn’t break through at all, because there was no way he could form his own soul core. Ji Juechen’s cultivation method was different from everyone, and he had to find the path that belonged to him alone if he wished to become a Titled Douluo.

Chapter 563: Complementing Yin and Yang, Yuhao Leaves Seclusion

The Dark Dragon’s Sword!

A purple light formed a powerful beam and slashed downwards. The sky was torn apart as every ounce of gravity was destroyed and ground into dust. The Godly Taotie Bull’s enormous body was somehow immobilized by the torn-up sky, as it found itself unable to dodge the sword. Following which, the frightening Dark Dragon’s Sword was about to reach the area between the Godly Taotie Bull’s horns.

“Boooommm!” A deafening sound exploded in the sky.

Two yellow glows, which were circulating around one another between Elder Xuan’s horns, had actually blocked Di Tian’s sword. However, the Godly Taotie Bull’s enormous body was now falling rapidly from the sky. It fell from five thousand meters to two thousand meters. Because it was about a thousand meters tall, it looked almost as if it were about to crash into Shrek City.

 

The Godly Taotie Bull let out a deafening roar as yellow plumes of clouds separated from its feet and struggled to support its body.

Di Tian continued to float where he was as he pointed the gigantic sword in his hand at Elder Xuan. His eyes were extremely frightening, as they resembled that of the Devilgod himself.

This was absolute power. The absolute power of the world’s strongest individual.

Elder Xuan suddenly felt powerless. Di Tian had already controlled all spatial power. Most importantly, he had realized the power gap between a second soul core built from the Resonance technique and a soul core built from the Yin Yang Complement technique. The density of Di Tian’s soul power was not something his soul power could compare to. The frightening dark aura continued to devour his earth-type elemental energy greedily.

However, he knew that he could not retreat. He must not allow Di Tian to disturb Huo Yuhao at this crucial moment. If

 

not, Yuhao might never be able to push past his current bottleneck. He might even die instantly.

Elder Xuan closed his eyes as the flashback of Elder Mu reminding him of his wishes before his death flashed across his eyes. His enormous Godly Taotie Bull body did not fly straight up into the sky. Instead, it waited down there patiently.

The figure revolved, and the Godly Taotie Bull disappeared.

Elder Xuan reappeared as his powerful aura vanished.

Di Tian’s face revealed a faint smile. In his eyes, Elder Xuan was about to give up.

If Elder Xuan were to even give up on his own Martial Soul True Body, what else would he fight Di Tian with?

However, Di Tian started to become worried again in no time. Is Elder Xuan really going to consent like this?

A primordial aura started to radiate from Elder Xuan’s body. A low but resonant dragon roar echoed in the sky as a layer of

 

pale yellow flames rose around Elder Xuan’s body.

That ancient aura contained the authority and might of the Dragons. Even Di Tian’s heart couldn’t help but contract under the pressure of that aura.

This was not the first time he had sensed this aura. Previously, when the Great Star Dou Forest had started the beast wave, he had experienced it firsthand. Even with his power, he was only able to break free from it after a few days.

Yes, he was sensing the power of the Taotie from Elder Xuan's body.

“Xuan Zi, are you crazy? You actually want to fight with your life on the line?”  Di Tian was both furious and shocked by what he was seeing. “I have repeatedly gone easy on you, yet you don’t seem to know how to retreat. Do you really think I don’t dare to kill you?”

It was usually impossible for Elder Xuan to draw upon the power of the Taotie within his blood. However, if he burned

 

his soul power and forced his soul core to release all of his power, it became possible.

It was not fatal for an Ultimate Douluo to burn his or her own soul power. As long as their soul core remained intact, the Ultimate Douluo would have a chance of recovering. However, burning one's soul power was still extremely demanding on one's body. It would definitely take a long time for the cultivator to recover and recuperate. Right now, Elder Xuan was burning his soul power as he tried to summon that bit of pure Taotie power within his blood.

Because both the Taotie and Di Tian were Dragons, Elder Xuan could only stand a chance against Di Tian by harnessing the power of the Taotie to delay him from confronting Huo Yuhao.

Elder Xuan did not know how long he could withstand the furious attacks of Di Tian. However, he knew he had to do what he could to fight for as much time as possible for Huo Yuhao.

Di Tian became increasingly worried as he saw how Elder Xuan did not plan on revealing anything to him. Now he was

 

certain that Huo Yuhao must be doing something which could not be revealed to the rest of the world. In addition, Elder Xuan must know what was going on in order to put his life on the line to defend him. From the balance of interests, this meant that whatever Huo Yuhao was doing was of equal value to the life of an Ultimate Douluo.

Di Tian was the Beast God, and he possessed the domineering Golden Eyes Black Dragon King bloodline.

Even though he was not exactly sure what was going on, he was certain that this would not be a good thing for the Great Star Dou Forest. If not, Elder Xuan would not have tried to evade his questions.

After coming to this realization, Di Tian was able to toss away all of his former reservations as a frightening golden glow lit up in his eyes. The soul beasts who were familiar with him would recognize this. This was Di Tian’s scariest state. This meant that he had developed murderous intent.

The gigantic Dark Dragon Sword rose once again as it brought strong winds and heavy clouds in the sky. The dense purple-black clouds seemed to turn the entire world dark,

 

while Di Tian slowly took on a dark purple color in mid-air. His entire body seemed to have turned into the same color as his Dark Dragon’s Sword.

A mystical sight started to form behind Di Tian’s back. A black sun and a purple moon appeared behind him as they overlapped and illuminated one another. Di Tian’s frightening aura began to surge once again at an incredible rate. This gave the surrounding people the impression that the dark clouds in the sky were about to fall and crush everything beneath them.

Yan Shaozhe, Xian Lin’er, and the others all revealed shocked expressions. This was the real aura of the Beast God—the most powerful individual in the world! Is Di Tian about to go all-out on Elder Xuan? Even with their collective abilities, they felt as if they would not even be able to stand a chance against Di Tian.

Elder Xuan seemed to be unfazed by the mystical sight forming in the sky. He continued to float in mid-air indignantly as the faint yellow flame around his body became increasingly intense. A mystical faint figure also started to form behind his back.

 

This faint figure had the head of a human, but the body of a goat. Its head was extremely large. It was the Taotie—one of the nine sons of the Dragon God! The Godly Taotie Bull’s Taotie bloodline was finally unleashed by Elder Xuan.

The Beast God’s aura seemed to weaken a little in the presence of the Taotie’s aura. After all, the Taotie’s bloodline power had the ability to suppress and curb the abilities of the Darkness Dragon bloodline.

Previously, Elder Mu and Elder Xuan had to work together to activate the Taotie power to seal him. This was something that Di Tian remembered very clearly. This time around, he was not prepared to let the same thing happen again. He did not know how much more time Huo Yuhao needed to be done with his thing. What if he were to be done when he was in the midst of being sealed?

Di Tian let out a cold grunt as he—the most powerful individual in the world—suddenly knelt in the direction of the Great Star Dou Forest in front of everyone. He sheathed the Dark Dragon Sword behind him, and appeared to be paying respects to something in that direction. The way he was paying respects resembled the gestures people made in military ceremonies.

What is he doing?

Everyone was stunned. Could there be someone in our world who is worthy of Di Tian’s reverence? That would be unbelievable.

Elder Xuan was equally startled by what Di Tian was doing. While he was trying to muster his Taotie aura towards Di Tian to suppress his Golden Eyes Black Dragon King’s aura, Di Tian was bowing in the direction of the Great Star Dou Forest. Why is he doing that? Unless he has some other motives?

At this instant, the color of the sky above the Great Star Dou Forest suddenly changed.

The sky suddenly took on the seven different colors of the rainbow without any warning. The colored lights rotated amongst one another as though a God were about to descend from the heavens.

When the lights appeared, they were actually able to dye the dense purple-black clouds that Di Tian had released with their

 

colors. Following which, Di Tian’s aura transformed overwhelmingly.

His aura was originally extremely domineering. However, under the influence of the rainbow lights, Di Tian’s aura seemed to become grander and more majestic. When he stood up again, his golden pupils had become silver. Even though the sword in his hand did not change, the thousand-meter radius around him seemed to have undergone some sort of spatial transformation, as it turned into a silver domain.

What is this?

Elder Xuan would not be the only one who did not know what this was. Even if all the past leaders of Shrek Academy were to witness this, they would also not be able to identify what power Di Tian was using now.

The only thing that Elder Xuan could distinguish was that this was not Di Tian’s own power. He seemed to have borrowed power from some other entity. Nonetheless, what did he actually borrow?

 

While he was still in shock, an authoritative force suddenly descended from the sky. The gigantic Taotie that was behind Elder Xuan started to tremble before exhibiting the tendency to bow down to this authoritative force.

This can’t be it. This was the first thought that entered Elder Xuan’s head.

Back then, both he and Elder Mu had used the power of the Taotie to suppress Di Tian. The authority in the blood of the Taotie—one of the nine sons of the Dragon God—was enough to force the Golden Eyes Black Dragon King to bow down to it.

However, at this instant, the situation seemed to have been reversed. The Taotie was now about to bow down to Di Tian, who was in the sky. How could this be happening? What kind of power did Di Tian borrow?

This instantaneous transformation not only startled Elder Xuan, but the people in Shrek City, as well as the Sun Moon Empire’s troops, were also startled by the sight before them. None of the powerful cultivators had expected this to happen.

 

Even though they might not know how Elder Xuan’s Taotie should have suppressed Di Tian, they were still surprised that Di Tian was actually able to borrow power from a mysterious source within the Great Star Dou Forest. This was a frightening revelation. Was there another powerful individual hidden within the Great Star Dou Forest? Or was there some hidden treasure or source of power that no one knew about?

Di Tian stared coldly at Elder Xuan as he raised the Dark Dragon Sword above his head.

Elder Xuan discovered that the earth-type elemental energy which he was supposed to control with ease was suddenly beyond his control. It was cowering in fear from the aura Di Tian was emitting. It was as if a subordinate was bowing down to his or her superior.

How could Di Tian—an individual who possessed dark-type elemental energy—affect earth-type elements?

Elder Xuan’s heart sank as he realized how he would be unable to seal Di Tian even if he were to continue burning his soul power. When Di Tian landed the blow from his sword, it would definitely be earth-shattering.

“Beast God, why are you venting your rage on others? Come at me if I am the one you’re looking for. Huo Yuhao will be here waiting for you.” A bright voice suddenly rang in the sky without any warning. Even though this voice did not appear to be particularly loud, the entire battlefield, including the Sun Moon Empire’s troops, which were camped fifty kilometers away from Shrek City, could hear his words clearly.

Huo Yuhao!

The same words entered everyone’s ears, but different people reacted to this differently.

Elder Xuan’s eyes suddenly lit up just when he was starting to lose hope. He immediately doused the flames on his body, which were burning his soul power, as the Taotie behind his back vanished.

After regaining his Godly Taotie Bull martial soul, he was no longer that affected by Di Tian.

Even though it was the same name, it induced a different emotion within Ju Zi. Now she knew that Di Tian had intruded into Shrek City to find Huo Yuhao. This also confirmed her suspicion that Huo Yuhao was really in Shrek City. At this instant, she was overwhelmed by several emotions as her mind turned completely blank after hearing Huo Yuhao’s voice.

A jade green light flashed as a figure soared up into the sky from within Shrek City. In the blink of an eye, the jade green figure was able to reach an incredibly high altitude. The powerful pressure released by Di Tian’s body did not seem to work on him.

The image flickered as the jade green light stopped next to Elder Xuan. This person was none other than Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao was now wearing the Icy War God’s Armor. However, his body was radiating a jade blue glow underneath the armor. Elder Xuan could immediately sense the reduction in the surrounding pressure the moment Huo Yuhao moved closer to him. The pressure acting on him was essentially halved by his presence.

 

Elder Xuan was surprised to see Huo Yuhao next to him. He whispered, “Did you succeed?”

“Yes.” Huo Yuhao nodded.

Elder Xuan laughed and said, “That’s great! That’s great! Di Tian, weren’t you looking for Yuhao? Yuhao is now here.”

Di Tian’s expression changed as he stared at Huo Yuhao. He was startled to find himself no longer able to see through the young man before him. He could not tell what cultivation Huo Yuhao had attained.

“Di Tian, how have you been? I have something I want to return to you. I want to thank you for protecting me for all these years.”  As he spoke, Huo Yuhao’s wrist shook as a grey light surged towards Di Tian.

Di Tian waved his right hand in the air as his aura weakened a little bit.

 

He did not need to see what he had caught to know what exactly was in his palm. It was the Black Dragon's reverse scale which he had given to Huo Yuhao previously to seal and monitor him.

He was actually able to remove the reverse scale from his body? This means that his power must have reached the heights of mine momentarily to even be able to remove my scale.

Ultimate Douluo? No, that’s impossible. He was still a Soul Douluo who was unable to attain the Titled Douluo rank not too long ago! How could he become an Ultimate Douluo in such a short amount of time?

The same questions formed in Ju Zi’s mind as she watched from afar.

She had already known how powerful Huo Yuhao had become the last time she saw him at the palace in Radiant City. However, he was definitely not this strong! When did he develop the ability to stand unfazed before a battle between an Ultimate Douluo and the strongest individual in the world? It

 

seemed like the Beast God had also become a little nervous after he had appeared.

There was a calm expression on Huo Yuhao’s face as he stared at the Beast God and expressed his respects.

“You actually managed to break free from my reverse scale. If I do not guess wrongly, there can only be one explanation.” The Beast God was able to speak calmly after recovering from his momentary shock.

Huo Yuhao lifted the visor on his armor as he flashed a smile. “Beast God, do you dare to fight me?”

What?

After hearing his words, everyone, including the people from Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Empire, was shocked beyond belief. There were many people who knew Huo Yuhao, and they could not believe their ears when they heard him challenging the Beast God—the strongest individual in the world—to a fight.

 

How old is he? How much power does he actually possess? What is he banking on to beat the Beast God? Isn’t he just seeking his own death?

What surprised them even more was how the Beast God actually nodded in approval. Di Tian pointed his Dark Dragon Sword at Huo Yuhao and said, “Sure. Let me see what you have learned and understood.”

Huo Yuhao’s pupils lit up after hearing Di Tian’s response. One of his pupils was completely golden, while the other one radiated a jade blue glow.

At this instant, he was brimming with confidence. Even he himself did not know how strong he had become.

Yes, he had succeeded. With the help of his companions and Elder Mu, he had finally succeeded.

……

“Ice Spirit Fusion!”

“Boooommm!”

As the Snow Empress’ intent entered Huo Yuhao’s heart, he felt as if he was blown into a million pieces by the insane amount of energy.

At that instant, he was completely unable to sense his own soul cores and body. Everything seemed to have turned blank.

This sensation lasted for an unknown amount of time before he slowly regained his senses.

An extremely familiar energy was enveloping his spiritual soul core, which had many tiny cracks around it.

It was the presence of this energy that prevented it from shattering. Right now, his spiritual soul core was repairing itself at an insane rate.

Waves of mystical energy were being released constantly from his body. When Huo Yuhao took a closer look at his body,

 

he realized that it had completely transformed.

A crystal clear white soul core was rotating quietly at his chest. Its size was slightly bigger than the spiritual soul core. There seemed to be a human figure flickering within it.

This is…

The Snow Empress?

Huo Yuhao was able to recognize the figure in his soul core instantly. The figure was none other than the Snow Empress.

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s torso bone was no longer glowing. At this instant, his bones had turned a brilliant golden color after being nourished by the Dragon Pill. The Ice Empress’ aura had become so weak that he could barely sense it.

Huo Yuhao had no idea what had happened. But at this instant, he realized he was no longer able to communicate with

 

the Snow Empress, the Ice Empress, Little Bai, and the rest. Even Li Ya had fallen into a deep slumber.

“Skydream!”   Huo  Yuhao  was  finally,  fully  awake.  He recognized the mystical energy which was encircling his spiritual soul core. It belonged to the Skydream Iceworm!

Huo Yuhao’s exclamation seemed to have awakened the Skydream Iceworm. However, Skydream did not seem to be able to respond. The mystical energy simply disappeared as the Skydream Iceworm transformed into a streak of light which vanished in his spiritual sea.

Now, he had lost all contact with his six Spirits.

He finally had two soul cores. His spiritual soul core was bright golden, while the Ultimate Ice soul core at his chest was white.

The two soul cores were now rotating in opposite directions. The energy they were releasing was fusing at a point that lay between them. That point was where all of Huo Yuhao’s power began. Tiny spirals, which were formed after the power

 

released by the two soul cores had collided, flowed into the passageways within his body. This pure compressed soul power and spiritual power was healing Huo Yuhao’s broken body at an incredible speed.

The Life Guardian Sword was also naturally nourishing Huo Yuhao’s body with the dense life energy it was radiating. It was almost as if Huo Yuhao was getting a brand new body.

……

The memory flashed across his mind for an instant before vanishing. To be honest, even Huo Yuhao did not know how he had managed to succeed. His six Spirits were now all asleep, and were unable to answer any of his queries. He just knew that he had somehow managed to succeed. He believed that his six Spirits must have paid a hefty price to assist him.

After his body had completely recovered, he noticed the Black Dragon’s reverse scale on the floor. Immediately, he sensed that the Beast God was high up in the sky above him.

 

Hence, he left the room and came to where they were to face the Beast God. And at this moment, he did not fear Di Tian.

Huo Yuhao’s figure flickered, and disappeared from Elder Xuan’s side. When his body flickered again, he was already a few kilometers away from the parameters of Shrek City.

Di Tian let out a cold grunt as he took a huge stride in the air and appeared in front of Huo Yuhao. As he lifted the Dark Dragon Sword in his hand, the sky started to darken. It was as if the entire intent of heaven and earth was in his control as he smashed the power of the natural elements into Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao pressed the visor down onto his face as the Icy War God’s Armor released a bright jade blue glow. Following which, a short dagger appeared in his hand. Huo Yuhao immediately raised his arm as a four foot-long blue light appeared on the blade of the dagger. In addition, there seemed to be a layer of thin mist surrounding the blade.

The surrounding air seemed to come to a standstill as extreme cold permeated throughout the air. Even the Sun Moon Empire soldiers, which were a long way from the battle could sense the plunge in temperature.

Di Tian’s pupils suddenly contracted as the Dark Dragon’s Sword in his hand went straight for Huo Yuhao.

The purple-black sword light ripped apart the space between them and left a gaping hole as it went straight for Huo Yuhao’s head.

The sword not only contained the power of darkness, but also spatial power. The Beast God’s power lay in how he was able to combine and fuse both his dark-type and spatial powers. At this instant, for unknown reasons, the power he had borrowed from the Great Star Dou Forest had started to recede like the tide.

Huo Yuhao did not try to avoid the sword as he waved the dagger in his hand to block the sword light coming from Di Tian. This was a power which even Elder Xuan could not block directly!

A gasp of surprise could be heard from behind Elder Xuan.

Yan Shaozhe, Xian Lin’er and the rest had arrived by his side.

 

They had all been stupefied when they heard Huo Yuhao challenge Di Tian. They could not understand what Huo Yuhao was trying to do. Can he challenge the Beast God with the power he possesses?

“Clinggg!”  A bright metallic sound echoed from high up in the sky. An unexpected sight unfolded before everyone’s eyes.

The black gaping hole in the sky, which was created by Di Tian, now had a layer of white light on it. All the spatial energy had suddenly been isolated by the white light. It was almost as if the opening was now sealed, and was no longer able to release its energy.

Huo Yuhao was only able to stabilize his body after flying backward for close to a thousand meters. However, his backward movement had helped him absorb some of the force exerted on him by Di Tian. On the other hand, Di Tian’s body was now covered in a layer of thick frost. The frost only shattered and fell after he shook his body intensely, and only fully disintegrated after it landed on the ground.

Yes, Huo Yuhao did not gain the upper hand. Compared to Di Tian, his abilities were still considered relatively undeveloped. However, every observer present placed their hands over their mouths subconsciously. What had they just witnessed? They had just seen a human, who was just a little more than twenty years old, block Di Tian’s blow directly.

 

Di Tian was frowning as he reflected on the interaction earlier. No one had a deeper impression of the collision than him. Even though the frost on the surface of his body had shattered, he could still feel how retarded the circulation of his blood and soul power had become. This was caused by the extreme temperatures of the frost.

He was actually able to seal my spatial energy and inflict his Ultimate Ice on my body?

In the meantime, Huo Yuhao was not feeling too well after the collision. Purple-black lines were flickering on his body. However, they quickly faded away under the jade blue light released by the Icy War God’s Armor. No one knew his current state because his body was concealed by the human-shaped soul tool.

Huo Yuhao suddenly vanished after his figure faded away like a mirage. Even the Beast God, who had been focusing on Huo Yuhao, could only sense a slight distortion in the air before losing his target.

A worried expression started to form on Di Tian’s face. He had finally concluded that he had underestimated Huo Yuhao.

This young man was a lot more powerful than he had imagined.

Yes, he succeeded.

That’s right. He must have succeeded. If not, there would be no way that he could have blocked my attack without having first attained the Ultimate Douluo rank.

The Yin Yang Complement technique. He was actually able to form his second soul core using the Yin Yang Complement technique with a human body. I can’t let this go on. I must stop his development no matter what. If not, it will be impossible to control him in the future.

The Beast God took a deep breath before raising the Dark Dragon Sword in his hand. Following which, he closed his eyes. He had no intent to kill Huo Yuhao. However, he had to take him away today and imprison him within the Great Star Dou Empire at all costs. The Beast God planned to destroy the power which Huo Yuhao had painstakingly cultivated, and leave him and the power of destiny within the Great Star Dou Forest forever.

When Huo Yuhao’s body reappeared again, he appeared behind Di Tian. The Icy War God’s Armor instantly released a brilliant jade blue smoke behind it as it sped up and carried Huo Yuhao forward by nearly five kilometers. Huo Yuhao was getting nearer to the Sun Moon Empire troops.

“Shit!”   Ju  Zi  exclaimed  as  she  ordered,  “All  soul  tool deployment areas, get ready!”

Yes, she had to ensure her troops were ready for what could happen next. Huo Yuhao was undoubtedly trying to bring whatever destruction his clash with Di Tian would create to the Sun Moon Empire military camp instead of Shrek City.

The fact that Huo Yuhao was able to withstand a single blow from Di Tian meant that he was pretty close to the level of an Ultimate Douluo, even if he was not quite there yet. If Di Tian

—the current strongest individual in the world—were to clash with him above the Sun Moon Empire’s military camp, it would probably bring apocalyptic destruction to the troops and their equipment.

 

Di Tian seemed to be acting a little strange. He was not going after Huo Yuhao. Instead, he was just wielding his Dark Dragon Sword with a single hand, and standing there as though he had been frozen.

However, Huo Yuhao was still running. With his cultivation, it only required him to sprint a few moments to cover tens of kilometers. Before long, the Sun Moon Empire’s troops were beneath him.

Countless virtual images appeared from Huo Yuhao’s body as he disappeared. He only left a distorted glow in his place after his disappearance.

He had executed his Spiritual Interference Domain. He wanted to make sure no one beneath him was able to pinpoint his exact location.

The soul tool deployment areas were unable to attack at this instant. They could only watch as their surveillance soul tools tried their best to locate where exactly he was.

 

At this instant, Di Tian suddenly made his move. His movement was extremely simple and elegant as he flipped in mid-air before wielding his Dark Dragon Sword with his two hands instead of one. The gigantic sword suddenly released a blinding purple-black sword light in the air. However, the sword light merely appeared for a short while before disappearing.

It was strange to see Di Tian’s attack disappear after he seemed to have made an all-out slash in the air.

However, the entire sky began to contort and twist as the dense purple-black clouds which were hanging over the land beneath them started to disappear. The sun reappeared and continued its irradiation of sunlight on the land beneath it. However, no one could sense the warmth from its rays.

Elder Xuan felt as if his heart had skipped a beat at that instant. Di Tian, who had just completed his slashing motion, seemed to have returned to his formerly calm and collected state. However, he had turned around as he gazed in the direction of the Sun Moon Empire’s military camp.

 

Huo Yuhao reappeared. However, this time around, he was no longer in mid-air, but on the ground. He was standing inside the Sun Moon Empire’s military camp.

He was standing there quietly, as though he had sensed something. His hands were wielding the dagger in his hand as he looked around warily.

The surrounding soldiers were able to notice his presence instantly. However, no one dared to confront him. In fact, even the surrounding soul engineers did not possess the courage to do so.

None of them were foolish enough to believe that they could challenge a person who had just managed to withstand a blow from Di Tian.

The temperature of the air around Huo Yuhao plunged instantly. Any place within a thousand meters of him was now permeated with a chilling aura. The entire Icy War God's Armor which he was wearing had now taken on a jade blue color. The Morning Dew Dagger which was in his hand was now emanating a radiant glow.

 

A chilling current surged within the white icy mist. A figure slowly formed behind Huo Yuhao.

This figure had long golden hair. It was floating behind Huo Yuhao as it revealed a smile on its face. One of its pupils was black, while the one was white.

Huo Yuhao let out a grunt as he suddenly waved his Morning Dew Dagger upwards.

This action was extremely succinct, but it contained a lot of force.

In the meantime, Ju Zi's orders were being disseminated across her army. "All soul tool deployment areas and linked defensive soul tools, activate at full power. Do not hold back."

The Sun Moon Empire was fortunate to have had their soul engineers ready to set up their soul tool deployment areas. All of their linked defensive and offensive soul tools were already charged and ready for use.

 

Ju Zi's orders could be implemented right away after they were broadcasted and communicated through sound amplifying soul tools and communication soul tools.

Several radiant barriers quickly formed above the military camps as they enveloped the large volume of space beneath them.

At this instant, an inconspicuous crack suddenly formed in front of Huo Yuhao. Following which, a purple light flickered from within it.

Huo Yuhao moved his Morning Dew Dagger and managed to block the blow from the purple light.

"Clingggg!"

A bright metallic sound echoed in the air. Huo Yuhao’s body was vibrating intensely, as though he had just been electrocuted. The insane amount of destructive energy spread to every single corner of his body.

 

At that instant, his two Yin Yang Complement soul cores seemed to have stopped working. In fact, Huo Yuhao found himself incapable of thinking.

“Hummmm!”  The Morning Dew Dagger released a bright humming sound as its blade began to tremble. In fact, it was trembling so fast that it appeared to be in possession of multiple blades.

Multiple deep blue whirlpools began to form on the Icy War God’s Armor. The ground beneath Huo Yuhao started to vibrate as those whirlpools started to fall to the ground from Huo Yuhao’s armor. After landing on the ground, those whirlpools began to expand furiously.

At the same time, Huo Yuhao felt as though everything inside him had stopped. Following which, he could sense the frightening power being channeled into his body by the Dark Dragon Sword tearing up everything within him.

This sensation felt horrible. In fact, it was unbelievably frightening.

 

Two figures started to appear behind him.

Those two figures looked very similar to the ones which had formed behind Di Tian earlier. They were also a sun and a moon. However, while Di Tian had a black sun and a purple moon, Huo Yuhao’s sun was golden, and his moon was a brilliant blue.

After they appeared, a mystical energy started to appear in his body. This energy was like a powerful glue which recombined the parts of his body that had been shredded by Di Tian’s attack.

Di Tian was observing all of this from afar. Previously, he had only guessed that Huo Yuhao had successfully formed his second soul core with the Yin Yang Complement technique. Now, he was certain that Huo Yuhao had managed to pull it off.

The mystical appearance of a sun and a moon was the signature of the Yin Yang Complement technique. He has actually managed to cultivate his second soul core using the Yin Yang Complement technique. He has managed to accomplish a feat which no human has ever done.

 

Even Di Tian was starting to fear the potential that Huo Yuhao was displaying. This young man is growing too quickly. Even though Di Tian did not believe Huo Yuhao could form his third soul core to become an Ultimate Douluo, he was still a little wary of the power and potential he was exhibiting. Di Tian believed that he must not be given the room and time to become even more powerful.

Just when Di Tian was thinking about what to do with him, a horrifying change was underway in the Sun Moon Empire’s military camp.

The little whirlpools which had landed on the ground from Huo Yuhao’s body had transformed into humongous hurricanes which were sweeping across the land beneath them and destroying anything in their way.

These hurricanes were all dark blue. To be precise, their colors were a combination of black and blue.

They contained both Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice and Di Tian’s dark-type energy. They essentially dark and ice hurricanes of sorts.

 

Huo Yuhao and Di Tian’s clash had inflicted horrifying destruction to their surroundings.

The tents which were within a thousand meters from Huo Yuhao had all turned a dark blue color before disintegrating into powder. Nothing within them was spared a similar fate.