Huo Yuhao's eyes flickered with faint golden light as three yellow soul rings rose from beneath his feet one after another.
Unlike the two dim yellow soul rings from before, this third yellow hundred-year soul ring was especially bright, already revealing a trace of noble purple glow.
Back then, Huo Yuhao had failed to absorb the thousand-year silver wolf's soul ring. After a short period of recovery, Beibei and Tang Ya took him back into the Jing Yang Mountain Range to hunt a nine-hundred-year silver wolf.
In terms of helping Huo Yuhao obtain soul rings, Beibei and Tang Ya could have spared no effort. The reason Huo Yuhao could not achieve the best soul ring configuration was entirely his own fault; his physical condition was too poor, making him unable to withstand absorbing that thousand-year silver wolf's soul ring.
"Mom, did you see that? I've now become a Soul Elder-level soul master. In the future, I will definitely go to the White Tiger Duke's Mansion to seek justice for you!" As his soul power circulated through his body, the fulfilling sensation of strength restored some of Huo Yuhao's confidence. His gaze turned obsessively toward Dai Huabin opposite him.
"Even if I can't win against him, I will make him pay a price. This is the beginning of my revenge!"
In recent years, while studying in Shrek Academy's outer court's soul tool department, the pressure on his soul power cultivation had eased considerably. Among graduates of the outer court soul tool department, only a very small number of particularly outstanding ones could break through to the four-ring Soul Ancestor level. The vast majority remained at the three-ring Soul Elder level.
He knew his cultivation couldn't compare to Dai Huabin's, but it shouldn't be too far apart. With that hidden weapon in hand, he wasn't completely without a chance of victory.
A frog at the bottom of a well, this was exactly it. One's origin and surrounding environment often determine a person's vision.
Having spent so long in Shrek Academy's outer court soul tool department, Huo Yuhao's perspective had easily become skewed. Dai Luoli's earlier lack of confidence stemmed from a similar situation: being constantly surrounded by the Shrek Academy inner court elites, making comparisons inevitable.
But unlike Huo Yuhao, Dai Huabin, on the opposite side of the arena, had never taken Huo Yuhao seriously, or rather, had never paid him any attention at all.
After all, when they first entered Shrek Academy and were in the same first-year Class 1, Huo Yuhao had been at the very bottom with just one ring, not even qualifying to be noticed. Now, seeing Huo Yuhao's plain-colored three yellow soul rings, a trace of disdain appeared on Dai Huabin's cold, handsome face.
"Three hundred-year soul rings?"
He truly had no idea how Huo Yuhao had managed to get into the Tang Sect representative team.
Letting Huo Yuhao stay on the field for even one more second felt like an insult to him. Amid a mighty tiger roar, Dai Huabin released his White Tiger martial soul once again. Two yellow, two purple, one black, five soul rings in the optimal configuration. Especially those two purple thousand-year rings and the deep, pitch-black ten-thousand-year ring stood out in stark contrast to Huo Yuhao.
Aside from those already in the know, like Beibei and the others, the rest of the onlookers, though not openly showing the same disdain as Dai Huabin, still felt a twinge of doubt in their hearts.
A Soul Elder with three hundred-year soul rings appearing in Shrek Academy, and even representing the Tang Sect to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Youth Tournament in Mingdu? If not for knowing that Beibei, Xu Sanshi, and the others were truly powerful, they might have thought this Tang Sect representative team was just there to make fools of themselves.
On the other side, seeing Dai Huabin's glaring five soul rings and the cold contempt in his eyes, the confidence Huo Yuhao had just rekindled was once again extinguished. Suppressed emotions instantly surged through his heart. His chest felt stifled and ached sharply.
"Five-ring Soul King?"
He subconsciously clenched the metal balls in his palms, his face pale yet carrying a trace of bleakness and self-mockery.
"Indeed, as the legitimate son of the White Tiger Duke and a noble-born young master, how could he possibly lack cultivation resources like the Mysterious Water Pill?"
Amid grief and indignation, Huo Yuhao's gaze suddenly sharpened. The faint golden light in his eyes grew richer, giving him an almost illusory appearance. At the same time, the first two soul rings beside him seemed ready to light up at any moment.
First soul skill: Fear. Second soul skill: Single-target Weakening.
Both the Fear Dragon and Purple Spirit Lynx were extremely powerful, high-level soul beasts. The two single-target mental-attribute attack soul skills they granted Huo Yuhao ranked among the stronger ones at the same level. Unfortunately, limited by the soul ring's age and the strength of his own spiritual power, the attack range of these two soul skills was extremely short. The maximum range was roughly about thirty meters.
In other words, he had to wait until Dai Huabin came within such a distance before he could use these two soul skills to restrict him.
Mental-attribute soul skills had always been the hardest to defend against, and they only required locking onto the target with spiritual power to activate. Huo Yuhao believed his two soul skills could at least affect Dai Huabin to some degree. At that point, he could seize the right moment to use the hidden weapon in his hand.
Over these years, he had mentally rehearsed this countless times.
But the moment the thought arose, Dai Huabin, who had already turned into an afterimage charging rapidly toward him, closed the distance to less than fifty meters in an instant.
Assault-system battle soul masters, especially those with beast martial souls and explosive physical qualities, possessed astonishing burst speed over short distances.
Huo Yuhao's heart jolted. He had clearly underestimated Dai Huabin's speed. In his panic, he hurriedly prepared to unleash his first two soul skills on Dai Huabin, but unfortunately, he was still one step too late.
Just as the white weakening halo was about to envelop Dai Huabin's body, Dai Huabin had already arrived right in front of Huo Yuhao.
Seeing Dai Huabin's pair of sharp tiger claws slashing down toward him, Huo Yuhao instinctively crossed his arms in front of his body.
His third soul ring shone as a layer of light barrier silently wrapped around him.
During the downward strike, Dai Huabin's pair of tiger claws paused six times in succession, accompanied by six crisp booming sounds.
These six pauses were caused by the six elemental defensive effects on the light barrier blocking Dai Huabin's tiger claws.
The six elemental defensive effects were: rippling water waves, soaring flames, sturdy rampart, rapid wind vortex, radiant barrier, and dark obstruction.
This was the innate soul skill Huo Yuhao obtained from that nine-hundred-year silver wolf, a very impressive defensive-type soul skill. Although the soul ring was only nine hundred years old, its defensive power was absolutely comparable to ordinary thousand-year defensive soul skills.
Huo Yuhao's innate talent in body and cultivation was indeed extremely poor, but there was no denying that his mutated Spirit Eyes were a relatively high-level martial soul. Thus, it could greatly inherit the powerful innate soul skill of the silver wolf.
However, Dai Huabin's soul power was a full twenty-five levels higher than Huo Yuhao's. Such a massive gap in soul power cultivation could no longer be bridged by soul skills alone.
Just as Wang Qiu'er had shattered Dai Huabin's White Tiger Body Barrier with one kick earlier, Dai Huabin now tore through Huo Yuhao's six-element barrier with one claw.
Before Huo Yuhao could recover, Dai Huabin struck down with another claw.
Bang, Huo Yuhao slammed heavily into the ground like a dead dog. The violent impact on both his back and chest nearly made him pass out.
Fortunately, Dai Huabin had held back and retracted his tiger claws in advance. Otherwise, that single claw alone would have been enough to rip Huo Yuhao's back to shreds.
Huff—huff— Huo Yuhao gasped violently for breath. Forcing himself to prop his head up with his chin, he looked up at the tall, upright figure of Dai Huabin before him. Beneath the black hair covering his eyes burned resentment, hatred, and unwillingness so intense it nearly overflowed.
The imagination had been beautiful, but reality was this cruel.
To the current Dai Huabin, he was completely powerless. The bold words he had spoken earlier now seemed like nothing but a joke in hindsight.
Pfft— A mouthful of blood sprayed out. Before losing consciousness, Huo Yuhao's eyes were filled with despair, tears streaming uncontrollably from the corners.
"With someone like me, how can I ever sever the White Tiger Duke lineage's inheritance? How can I seek justice for Mom? Heaven, why are you so unfair to me? I have worked harder than any of you, so why is the result always this kind of ending?!"
At this moment, the despair in his heart outweighed even his anger and hatred. Seeing hope time and again only to have it shattered over and over, he was truly on the verge of collapse.
Dai Huabin lowered his head and gave Huo Yuhao a faint glance. At that moment, the unconscious Huo Yuhao's hands loosened, and two metal balls, one large, one small, slipped from his palms. Rolling along the grooves in the ground, the two metal balls were about to collide.
Dai Huabin frowned slightly. He couldn't tell what these two metal balls were, nor did he sense any danger from them.
But on the south side of the soul battle arena, both Beibei and Tang Ya's pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
"Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Seizing Bombs?! How did Yuhao bring this thing out?!" The usually gentle and refined Beibei instantly lost his smile, his expression changing dramatically.
The Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Seizing Bombs ranked among the top ten hidden weapons of the Tang Sect, specialized in breaking all kinds of defensive barrier-type abilities, such as Dai Huabin's White Tiger Body Barrier.
Even with Beibei's mild temperament, seeing the pair of Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Seizing Bombs slip from Huo Yuhao's palms filled his eyes with anger.
Huo Yuhao clearly intended to kill Dai Huabin. This was merely a sparring match; Beibei never expected Huo Yuhao to be so extreme.
What was most fatal was that the Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Seizing Bombs were about to collide.
"Third Brother! Cover those two metal balls!" Beibei shouted sharply, startling everyone present.
After a brief moment of stunned realization, Xu Sanshi immediately reacted. Having trained and cooperated with Beibei for so long, their rapport was profound, perhaps even deeper than that between Beibei and Tang Ya.
Black light flashed as Xu Sanshi used his fourth soul skill, Mysterious Replacement, swapping places with Huo Yuhao.
Dai Huabin looked in astonishment at Xu Sanshi, who now held the Mysterious Mysterious Turtle Armor Shield, but Xu Sanshi ignored him and unhesitatingly activated his second soul skill, Mysterious Shield Formation.
The instant the Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Seizing Bombs collided, a barrier suddenly appeared above them, a deep black barrier rippling like water waves. It somewhat resembled the initial rippling water waves of Huo Yuhao's third soul skill, Elemental Barrier, but the Mysterious Shield Formation's color was darker and more enduring.
Bang, the Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Seizing Bombs exploded, releasing a large cloud of purple mist that instantly covered a several-meter radius.
Yet it was completely contained within the Mysterious Shield Formation. Amid the purple mist, countless black filaments accompanied by dense buzzing sounds flashed past, embedding themselves into the black water-wave barrier formed by the Mysterious Shield Formation.
Xu Sanshi's martial soul, the Mysterious Mysterious Turtle Armor Shield, possessed dual water and earth attributes, combining earth's heaviness with water's gentleness. The black filaments pierced into the black water-wave barrier, but their momentum was largely neutralized. One could clearly see that they were fine needles coated with deadly poison.
Golden patterns swirled obscurely around Xu Sanshi's pupils. Relying on his Dynamic Vision innate ability, he saw through every detail of the Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Seizing Bombs' dense attack.
Dai Huabin was also watching closely, a chill rising in his heart. The power of the Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Seizing Bombs wasn't particularly shocking. If he used his third soul skill or higher defensive soul skills, he could withstand it without suffering heavy injury. But in that split-second, unprepared situation earlier, he would have been unable to escape unscathed.
Huo Yuhao wanted to kill him?
Thinking of this, Dai Huabin couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
Beibei handed Huo Yuhao over to Tang Ya, then walked to Xu Sanshi's side himself. Using the Tang Sect's special methods, he carefully collected the fine needles and purple poisonous mist.
Examining the power of the Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Seizing Bombs, Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but frown slightly as she asked Beibei,
"Beibei, what is this?"
"Eldest Senior Sister, this is a hidden weapon from our Tang Sect. I never imagined Yuhao would use it on such an occasion." Beibei gave a bitter smile, then turned apologetically to Dai Huabin. "Fortunately, no major disaster occurred. Junior Brother Dai, I'm truly sorry. It's because Xiaoya and I failed to discipline Yuhao properly."
No matter the reason, as the current leaders of the Tang Sect, he and Tang Ya had to clearly state their stance at this moment.
Dai Huabin replied stiffly,
"If there is a next time, I won't hold back anymore."
No one who had just experienced such an incident would look happy. Beibei understood this very well and offered sincere apologies once more before jumping off the soul battle stage together with Xu Sanshi.
At the edge of the arena, Tang Ya checked Huo Yuhao's condition and shook her head toward Beibei as he approached.
"Yuhao's body is fine; he just fainted from rage attacking his heart."
Xu Sanshi frowned and said, "I feel like this kid has some character issues. The first time we met, he cheated in our soul battle. Now, in a simple spar, he even used your Tang Sect hidden weapons? And then faints from rage, attacking his heart. This kid is way too extreme."
Hearing Xu Sanshi's words, Dai Luoli nodded deeply in agreement.
Having witnessed everything from start to finish, his impression of Huo Yuhao had sunk to rock bottom. Huo Yuhao's attempt to use such insidious methods in battle was truly somewhat despicable.
Moreover, though his relationship with Dai Huabin wasn't particularly close, Dai Huabin was still his blood-related older brother. Huo Yuhao was merely an outsider they had met today.
Only after shifting his gaze away from Huo Yuhao did Beibei's tightly furrowed brows finally relax. He sighed softly,
"Luoli, it's your turn. This one-on-one elimination match is just for sparring, gaining combat experience, and getting familiar with the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Youth Tournament format. Don't feel any pressure. Just do your best and perform naturally."
When everyone had eaten together at the inner court cafeteria yesterday, Beibei had already learned about some of Dai Luoli's childhood experiences. Limited by his talent, he had never received much from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.
Dai Luoli, facing his own older brother Dai Huabin, was actually a tempering of his state of mind.
"Yes, Big Brother Bei!" Dai Luoli replied seriously, stepping slowly onto the soul battle stage. Seeing Dai Huabin's cold expression, he instinctively grew tense and unconfident again.
"Second Brother."
In his childhood, Dai Yaoheng and Dai Huabin's exceptional talent had left him with far too many shadows.
Dai Huabin said indifferently, "I heard from family letters that your martial soul underwent a positive mutation and you were sent to the academy. Since you've come to Shrek Academy, don't bring shame to our White Tiger lineage. Come. I won't go easy on you."
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