Collision: The First Clash Between Rules and Power

"What... what do we need to do?" In the end, Wang Dong broke the silence. Her voice trembled slightly, carrying both fear and barely restrained excitement.

"We need a 'target.'" Huo Yuhao's gaze swept across the training ground before settling on Dai Huabin, who was training nearby, drenched in sweat.

"A target strong enough, typical enough, to let us verify the results of the 'Compiler Program.'"

Dai Huabin, the legitimate son of White Tiger Duke's Mansion, possessed the top-tier assault-type Beast Soul, the Evil-Eyed White Tiger. His fighting style was the perfect embodiment of Shrek Academy's traditional system: powerful Soul Power, an overbearing martial soul, and the simple, direct brutality of violence.

He was the ideal test subject.

"Have you two gone mad?" Tang Ya cried out instinctively. "Yuhao, Huabin, he..."

"Senior Sister, trust me." Huo Yuhao's gaze was calm and confident. "We won't hurt him. We're only... going to 'dismantle' him."

He offered no further explanation and walked straight toward Dai Huabin. Wang Dong followed close behind. There was no hesitation left on her face, only absolute trust in her partner.

"Dai Huabin, dare to have a spar?" Huo Yuhao's voice was not loud, but it carried clearly to Dai Huabin's ears.

Dai Huabin stopped cultivating and wiped away his sweat, shooting them a disdainful glance. "Huo Yuhao? Just you, a one-ring Soul Master?"

"With me as well," Wang Dong added coldly.

Dai Huabin laughed, his voice full of contempt. "Two one-rings want to challenge a peak two-ring? Did you forget the lesson from the last assessment, or do you think my White Tiger Bodyguard Barrier isn't sturdy enough?"

Zhu Lu, standing beside him, giggled sweetly. "Brother Huabin, it wouldn't hurt to play with them. Let them know that talent and luck are worthless before absolute power."

"Then come on." Huo Yuhao did not get angry. He merely extended the invitation calmly.

Before long, a circle of students had gathered around the training ground to watch. In their eyes, this was another utterly one-sided "crushing."

"The spar begins!"

At Zhou Yi's icy command, Dai Huabin held nothing back.

"First Soul Skill, White Tiger Bodyguard Barrier!"

A thick shield of light instantly enveloped him. The phantom of the Evil-Eyed White Tiger roared across its surface, radiating immense pressure.

"Second Soul Skill, White Tiger Blazing Light Wave!"

He could not even be bothered to wait for Zhu Lu's cooperation, directly choosing his strongest single-target attack. A massive white orb of light, carrying a destructive aura, howled toward Huo Yuhao. In his eyes, this strike alone would be enough to severely injure Huo Yuhao and force him from the field.

Yet faced with that devastating attack, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong made a move no one could understand.

They neither defended nor dodged.

Huo Yuhao merely slowly raised one hand, while Wang Dong placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Spiritual Net, fully open!"

"'Compiler Program' activated. Target: high-energy structure!"

"Wang Dong, execute 'Neutralize and Fill'!"

Within the shared perception of the Spiritual Net, that White Tiger Blazing Light Wave was no longer an unstoppable attack, but a rapidly moving "structure" composed of countless energy data points.

They could clearly "see" its Energy Core, the paths along which its energy flowed, and... its "structural weakness"—an extremely unstable "energy output node" that existed to maintain its high-speed flight.

"Now!"

Huo Yuhao's second soul ring lit up, but he released no freezing attack. A palm-sized, extraordinarily stable Ice Ring appeared in his hand. This Ice Ring carried no chill, only pure "structure." It was the "tool" Huo Yuhao had compiled for "dismantling."

At the same time, Wang Dong's first soul ring lit up as well. Rather than unleashing Butterfly Goddess's Light, she precisely injected a strand of the purest Power of Light into the tiny Ice Ring.

"Bzzzt—"

The Ice Ring fused with the Power of Light. There was no explosion and no rejection. Like a key, that strand of Power of Light instantly activated the "compilation rules" within the Ice Ring.

That seemingly ordinary Phantom Blade Ring turned into an almost invisible streak of light the instant it left his hand. It did not fly toward the White Tiger Blazing Light Wave head-on. Instead, it shot at a bizarre angle toward an "empty point" along its path in advance.

The next second, the White Tiger Blazing Light Wave arrived at that exact position.

"Hiss—"

A sound so faint it was nearly inaudible rang out.

The Phantom Blade Ring precisely attached itself to the White Tiger Blazing Light Wave's energy output node.

There was no earth-shattering explosion. The enormous white orb was like a punctured balloon, abruptly stalling in midair. All its energy instantly lost control and surged outward violently, only to be continuously dissolved by the Phantom Blade Ring's "neutralization rules."

In the end, beneath everyone's horrified gazes, the White Tiger Blazing Light Wave—powerful enough to shatter boulders—simply... silently dissipated into the air.

The entire field fell into Deathly Silence.

The arrogant smile on Dai Huabin's face froze completely. He remained in the posture of launching his attack, his mind utterly blank.

What happened?

Where was my attack? Where did my White Tiger Blazing Light Wave go? Why... couldn't I feel anything at all?

"Test complete." Huo Yuhao calmly withdrew his hand. "Target: high-energy structure. Dismantling successful. Feasibility of the 'Compiler Program' confirmed."

His words were like an invisible slap, viciously striking Dai Huabin across the face. They humiliated him a hundred times more than a direct defeat would have.

"What... what kind of sorcery did you use?!" Dai Huabin shrieked, feeling as though his entire worldview was collapsing.

"This isn't sorcery." Huo Yuhao looked at him and spoke each word distinctly. "These are 'rules.' Your power is strong, but your 'structure' is riddled with flaws."

Before he had even finished speaking, Wang Dong moved. Her figure became a streak of golden light, appearing before Dai Huabin in an instant. This time, she needed no complicated soul skill.

She simply threw a punch at the White Tiger Bodyguard Barrier.

"Bang!"

A crisp crack rang out.

That barrier, which had seemed indestructible moments ago, shattered like glass!

Wang Dong's fist stopped unscathed just before Dai Huabin's nose.

"You..." Dai Huabin froze completely, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

Wang Dong withdrew her fist and looked at him coldly. "We've already seen through your 'structure.'"

The entire field was silent. Every watching student stared at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong as though they had seen ghosts.

They had not witnessed an earth-shaking duel. They had only seen a kind of dismantling they could not comprehend at all—a Dimensional Strike.

On the distant teaching building, Zhou Yi lowered the teacup in her hand. For the first time, undisguised shock appeared in her eyes.

Beside her, an aged figure who had appeared at some unknown time suddenly had a sharp light burst from his cloudy eyes.

"Structural... dismantling?" Xuan Zi muttered. Stroking his beard, an unprecedented gravity and fervor appeared on his face.

"This has already gone beyond the realm of soul skills... This is a 'path'! An entirely new path centered on 'deconstruction'!"

"Shrek... is about to produce a monster!"