Why?

Seeing the distance between Wu Feng and Huo Yuhao on the stage steadily closing, Dugu Lu held his breath, growing increasingly tense.

Five meters!

Four meters!

Three meters!

Suddenly, Huo Yuhao moved. He raised his right hand, clenched it into a fist, then extended his index and middle fingers, holding his thumb perpendicular to his index finger. He aimed his right hand at Wu Feng as she charged toward him and parted his lips slightly.

"Bang!"

Wu Feng suddenly stumbled. Her run turned into a fall, and carried by momentum, she pitched straight toward Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao promptly changed his hand gesture, turning the gun shape into an open palm and meeting Wu Feng's unprotected left cheek.

Smack!!!

A loud slap rang out, and Wu Feng was sent sprawling to one side.

Whoosh!

Her body rolled repeatedly across the ground, kicking up dust that drifted into her lungs.

"Cough, cough..."

As coughing rang out, Wu Feng gradually recovered from the Soul Shock. She reached up to touch her swelling left cheek, and the confusion in her eyes slowly turned to fury.

"Bastard, I'll kill you!!!" Wu Feng roared. The two soul rings on her body burst with intense light, and a blaze of extreme heat appeared at her side.

Flames swirled around Wu Feng. At that moment, she resembled a massive human-shaped fireball radiating scorching heat. Like a meteor, the fireball hurtled straight at Huo Yuhao.

Wang Yan, standing nearby, sensed the fireball's power and inwardly cursed. He circulated his Soul Power, ready to stop the battle at any moment.

The students below the stage also inwardly cried out in alarm. Although Huo Yuhao's previous attack had not been very powerful, it had been immensely humiliating. People like Ning Tian and Nanmen Yuner, who had experienced Huo Yuhao's strange soul skill, understood exactly what had happened.

But to those who did not know, it had looked as though Wu Feng had suddenly stumbled halfway through her charge and personally delivered her face for Huo Yuhao to slap. Yet seeing how furious Wu Feng was now, they could guess that Huo Yuhao had been behind that stumble.

Watching Wu Feng charge at him again, a sudden trace of brutality rose in Huo Yuhao's heart. A hint of crimson began to spread outward from the depths of his eyes.

Why!?

She was the one who provoked me first. I merely fought back—what right did she have to kill me!?

I never provoked her. What right did she have to target me!?

I was clearly one of the champions of the freshman assessment. What right did she have to say I wasn't qualified!?

Why!!!

"Why!!!" Huo Yuhao, standing where he was, suddenly shouted at Wu Feng as she rushed toward him. An indistinct aura abruptly spread from his body.

The remaining Spiritual Power in his mind instantly condensed together.

Soul Shock activated once more. The Soul Shock, originally as thick as a wrist, was compressed by his Spiritual Power into the shape of a drill.

Under Huo Yuhao's control, the drill spun at high speed and shot toward Wu Feng's head.

As Wu Feng continued charging at Huo Yuhao, she suddenly felt as though she could not breathe. An overwhelming fear arose in her heart that she would die in the next second.

Whoosh!

A sudden exhale sounded in Huo Yuhao's mind. Having watched the entire process, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had already begun mobilizing his source power, preparing to intervene and stop Huo Yuhao.

"Sigh!"

An ancient, aged voice rang out. The gray speck of light in Huo Yuhao's mind suddenly exploded, gray filling his entire sea of consciousness and startling Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

As gray filled Huo Yuhao's entire sea of consciousness, the crimson in the depths of his eyes gradually faded away. An ancient gray color filled his eyes completely.

At the same time his eyes turned gray, the Soul Shock that had shot forth changed from a drill into a fishing net, instantly enveloping Wu Feng's entire head.

The blazing fireball suddenly went out, yet Wu Feng herself seemed fully conscious.

Seeing the fireball extinguish, Huo Yuhao rushed forward and knocked Wu Feng to the ground with a punch, seemingly completely unaware of the changes in himself.

"You..." Wu Feng had barely begun to speak from the ground when Huo Yuhao lunged forward, straddled her, and drove a fist toward her head.

"Bang!"

"I..."

"Bang!"

"Stop..."

"Bang!"

At first, Wu Feng kept trying to circulate the Soul Power within her body and fight back, only to discover that she could not control her Soul Power at all. Her emotions shifted from fury to confusion, then panic, and finally fear.

The sound of fists colliding with flesh kept ringing out.

Beneath Huo Yuhao's rain of punches, Wu Feng remained stubbornly defiant and did not utter the words "I surrender." Of course, it was also possible that the gaps between the successive blows were too short for her to say them.

Wang Yan, acting as the referee, stared intently at Huo Yuhao's eyes. Huo Yuhao's attacks were not heavy, and he did not appear to hold any absolute advantage at the moment—or at least that was what Wang Yan believed—so he did not stop the two from continuing their fight.

As the banging continued, Ning Tian, watching below the stage, finally could not sit still any longer. Rising to her feet, she said, "Enough, Teacher Wang. We surrender."

Then Xu Jie also spoke up, "Yuhao, stop!"

The familiar voice sounded by his ear. Huo Yuhao turned toward Xu Jie and smiled, then closed his eyes and was about to collapse to the ground.

Wang Yan immediately caught Huo Yuhao from the stage, while Xu Jie and Dugu Lu hurried up and took Huo Yuhao from Wang Yan's arms.

Wang Yan lowered his head to look at Wu Feng, who lay motionless on the ground. After stepping forward to examine her injuries and confirming that she had no injuries besides some swelling on her head, he instructed the students to return to their dormitories.

He then had Ning Tian and Nanmen Yuner carry Wu Feng as they hurried toward the academy infirmary.

While supporting Huo Yuhao, Xu Jie gave him a quick examination. Once he confirmed that Huo Yuhao was fine, he and Dugu Lu helped him back toward the dormitory.

Xiao Xiao, who had been watching the match, was clearly slow to react. Only after Xu Jie and the others had supported Huo Yuhao some distance away did she hurriedly chase after them.

Since Huo Yuhao was unconscious and inconvenient to move, and Dugu Lu's dormitory was occupied only by himself, Xu Jie directly settled Huo Yuhao in Dormitory 108.

In Dormitory 108, the white-haired old man in the wheelchair withdrew his right hand from Huo Yuhao's chest. He shook his head and said to Wang Yan, "Wang Yan, his martial soul has not undergone a second awakening."

"That shouldn't be possible. I saw his Spiritual Eye turn gray, and even his entire aura changed. Elder Mu, should we ask him after he wakes up?" Wang Yan clearly did not believe it.

Mu En glanced at Xu Jie, whose face showed dissatisfaction, then smiled and shook his head. Looking at Xu Jie, he said to Wang Yan, "There's no need. My judgment is correct. Let's go, Wang Yan."

"Alright, Elder Mu." Wang Yan did not say anything further. He pushed Mu En's wheelchair and left Dormitory 108 with him.