"Golden Dragon Fist!"
A dazzling golden dragon head gathered around Wang Qiu'er's right fist. It seemed almost alive, and a low dragon's roar faintly emanated from it as it charged toward Huo Yuhao.
The golden dragon head slammed into the Ice Crystal Shield in front of Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao felt the Ice Crystal Shield shudder violently once. Then nothing happened.
Wang Qiu'er's big eyes widened. Were these the thousand-year-old turtle spirits in the Star Dou Great Forest? How could this thing be so hard?
"Ah!"
Wang Qiu'er refused to believe it. She could break through a layer of Ice Crystal Shield this thin.
The golden dragon head gathered around her right fist again, and Wang Qiu'er threw another punch.
She'd gathered even more strength into this punch than the last. She refused to believe she couldn't break through.
Lying at the dormitory entrance, Mu En recognized Wang Qiu'er's Martial Soul. The Golden Dragon?
How astonishing! How astonishing!
Someone had actually awakened such an overbearing Martial Soul as the Golden Dragon.
As the Progenitor of Strength, the Golden Dragon's attribute was Ultimate Strength.
Mu En let out a breath of stale air. In a single day, he'd seen something that might not appear for thousands of years—the Ultimate Martial Soul. And there were two of them?
The simultaneous appearance of two Ultimate Martial Souls was simply unheard of!
Had a new leader of the Douluo Continent appeared, like their ancestor Tang San two thousand years ago?
What on this continent could have brought forth two Ultimate Martial Souls at once?
The Sun Moon Empire!
Those four words surfaced in Mu En's mind. The Sun Moon Empire was growing stronger and stronger, and they had even developed Soul Tools capable of threatening him.
Of the four empires currently on the Douluo Continent, if Mu En had to pick the one most likely to unify the continent, his choice would undoubtedly be the Sun Moon Empire.
Mu En rested his head against the chair and gazed up at the sky.
The original three empires of Douluo, along with his Shrek Academy, were completely immersed in the glory of traditional Soul Masters and unable to free themselves.
To put it bluntly, they were hopeless fools living off the legacy of their ancestors.
A trace of sorrow appeared in Mu En's eyes. They refused to accept anything new or learn from the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tools.
They were immersed in the glory of traditional Soul Masters, yet unwilling to distribute more resources to the grassroots. As a result, society as a whole was barely developing.
The major Soul Master factions were far too powerful, while the weaker ones could do little but perish. The Soul Masters at the bottom had no way forward at all.
Worse still, the three empires of Douluo were suspicious of one another. They couldn't unite to stand against the powerful Sun Moon Empire.
By contrast, Soul Tool technology in the Sun Moon Empire was thriving.
As long as you had a talent for becoming a Soul Engineer, you had a chance to become one and earn people's respect.
Actually, if you looked closely, the situation on both sides was much the same. The pot shouldn't call the kettle black.
But... Mu En shook his head with a sigh. On their side, the original three empires all fought alone.
At Shrek, everyone was intoxicated by the glory of their forebears. Not a single person wanted to make a real change.
Even though they'd established the Soul Tool Department, Mu En knew the truth as well as anyone: their Soul Tool development lagged hundreds, even thousands, of years behind the Sun Moon Empire's.
Worse still, in this enormous academy, Mu En hadn't found anyone capable of leading Shrek onward.
Mu En had successfully made room for a new Sea God Pavilion Master and passed the position to Xuan Zi.
But Mu En had never imagined Xuan Zi could be so unreliable.
A Level 98 Super Douluo, who hadn't even faced a Limit Douluo, had nearly led his team to total annihilation.
He was a Level 98 Super Douluo, the strongest below the Limit Douluo rank!
Yet he'd managed to pull off something like that. If someone told Mu En he was a Soul Douluo, he'd believe it.
Fortunately, Le Xuan and the others had been lucky. That pillar of light, brimming with the powerful Power of Destiny, had risen and calmed the rampaging Soul Beasts, preventing a tragedy.
Otherwise, Mu En really would have thought Xuan Zi had given up on himself. He'd refused to take over the position as promised, leaving Mu En stuck as Sea God Pavilion Master.
Mu En rested his hands on either side of the chair. Xuan Zi had taken over as Sea God Pavilion Master. That was the best possible outcome.
At least from now on, if Xuan Zi wanted to lead a team, Mu En had an excuse to turn him down—unless his strength was truly needed.
Thinking of this, Mu En's gaze drifted toward Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu'er. Would they be the rising stars who led the continent toward a brighter future?
"What a hard turtle shell!"
Wang Qiu'er shook her hand. How could this ice be so hard?
Seeing his Ice Crystal Shield still intact, Huo Yuhao's lips curved into a smile.
Wang Qiu'er's Golden Dragon Martial Soul possessed Ultimate Strength, but Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul was Extreme Ice and Snow.
With the power of a 400,000-year Soul Ring added to it, even the Golden Dragon couldn't break through!
"Qiu'er, give up. You can't break through my ice shield, so you can't reach me. And if you can't reach me, you can't beat me."
"And I..."
"Emperor's Palm, Great Snow Without Cold!"
Huo Yuhao swept his hand forward. A palm print of ice, woven from emerald green and Ice Blue, instantly froze Wang Qiu'er's right arm.
"I have the power to hurt you!"
"My right arm's gone numb!" Wang Qiu'er's pretty brows drew together.
As the ice crept across her right arm, even the breath Wang Qiu'er drew in felt cold.
Huo Yuhao exhaled a plume of white frost. "Just give up, Qiu'er. Being an ice sculpture isn't much fun."
Wang Qiu'er pursed her lips. She had a way to break through Huo Yuhao's ice, but that power didn't belong to her.
Against someone else, Wang Qiu'er wouldn't have cared. Winning was all that mattered.
But with Huo Yuhao, Wang Qiu'er's lips jutted out as if she could hang a kettle from them.
"Fine. I'll honor our bet. Melt this ice for me. It feels awful!"
Wang Qiu'er chose to surrender, so Huo Yuhao naturally melted the ice on her hand.
Wang Qiu'er drove her Bloodline Power into her right arm, completely dispelling the effects of Huo Yuhao's ice.
"Huo Yuhao, how is your ice so powerful? You recognized my Martial Soul, right?"
Huo Yuhao nodded. "Of course. The Golden Dragon, the Progenitor of Strength, possesses the attribute of Ultimate Strength. It's a very powerful Martial Soul."
Wang Qiu'er was pleased by Huo Yuhao's praise. "At least you know your stuff."
"You won. I'll honor our bet. What do you want me to do?"
Huo Yuhao thought it over. "How about you give me a kiss?"
"That's all? Are you sure?" Wang Qiu'er asked softly. "You can still change your mind!"
Huo Yuhao was speechless. As expected of a human transformed from the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. "That's what I want!"
"Then here I come!"
Now that Huo Yuhao had made up his mind, Wang Qiu'er didn't hold back.
Speaking of kissing, Wang Qiu'er had never actually tried it. Lately, she'd been reading quite a few little picture books about humans.
Wang Dong blushed. Wang Qiu'er leaned toward Huo Yuhao, her red lips as lovely as a flower melding with Huo Yuhao's.
Huo Yuhao's eyes widened. Sis...
As for Wang Qiu'er, drawing on what she'd learned from the books, she boldly leaned in...
Huo Yuhao was completely captivated by Wang Qiu'er's moves. Sis, this was exactly what he'd wanted...
Watching the two of them, Wang Dong wondered how they could do something like that.
How embarrassing! Wang Dong instinctively covered his eyes with his hands.
But in less than a moment, the gap between Wang Dong's fingers had grown wide.
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