Eye of Destiny and the Tenderness Under the Moonlight

In the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, a scorching blaze of fire shot into the sky, causing the surrounding air to warp and distort from the heat.

Accompanied by a clear, resonant phoenix cry, Ma Xiaotao slowly withdrew her energy. Seven soul rings pulsed around her body, and the seventh one in particular—a pitch-black, ten-thousand-year soul ring—emitted a heart-stopping pressure.

"Level 71! Haha, I'm finally a Soul Saint!" Ma Xiaotao punched the air excitedly, her flame-like red hair flying wildly.

The youngest Soul Saint in the history of Shrek Academy was born.

After the group rested for a moment, Elder Xuan took a swig of wine. With his eyes hazy from intoxication, he seemed to be in high spirits and looked at Huo Yuhao: "Little Yuhao, it's your turn now. Tell me, what kind of soul ring do you want? As long as it exists in this Star Dou Great Forest, I will catch it for you."

Huo Yuhao said: "I need a spiritual-attribute soul beast, and the age... at least fifty thousand years."

"Pfft—"

The wine Elder Xuan had just taken into his mouth sprayed out instantly.

"Fifty thousand years? And a spiritual type?" Zhang Lexuan exclaimed, "Yuhao, you're only level 40 right now. The best soul ring configuration for your level is only a little over five thousand years. Are you trying to defy the heavens?"

If anyone else had made such a request, they would have been thrown out as a lunatic.

But looking at Huo Yuhao's calm expression and recalling his monstrous soul ring configuration, the group swallowed hard. They actually... felt it might not be impossible?

"Fine! You're a monster, so I'll go crazy with you!" Elder Xuan wiped his mouth, and the team continued to head deeper into the forest.

Huo Yuhao activated Spiritual Detection Sharing, and a terrifying range with a diameter of ten thousand meters instantly covered every movement in the surroundings.

The moment the others connected to the Spiritual Detection Sharing, their eyes widened, and their gazes converged on Huo Yuhao.

"Little Junior Brother, the range of your spiritual detection is just too terrifying!" Wu Ming was shocked.

Huo Yuhao chuckled: "This might be the advantage of a spiritual-type martial soul. As my spiritual power increases, the detection range will also extend accordingly."

The way the group looked at Huo Yuhao was no longer like looking at a monster, but rather like looking at a freak of nature!

He was only a Soul Elder, yet his spiritual detection could cover a radius of ten thousand meters.

If he were to break through to become a Title Douluo, wouldn't he be able to cover an entire country in a single thought?

This was too terrifying. If a war were to break out, Huo Yuhao's existence would be no different from using a cheat code.

An ultimate-attribute martial soul already possessed combat power comparable to a Limit Douluo after reaching the Title Douluo realm, which was already monstrous enough, but Huo Yuhao actually possessed a spiritual martial soul that rivaled it.

The group no longer knew how to describe Huo Yuhao.

At this moment, the women finally reacted, their eyes filled with envy as they looked at Ma Xiaotao.

Such a monstrous Little Junior Brother had actually been claimed by Ma Xiaotao in advance.

One had to know that the three inner-court senior sisters present did not have partners. Instead, the youngest of them, Ma Xiaotao, was the first to find her own happiness.

Wu Ming and Han Ruoruo both felt deep regret in their hearts, wishing they had met Huo Yuhao sooner. Otherwise, they could have captured him using their status as senior sisters just like Ma Xiaotao did. Now, they were the ones being envied.

"That is..." Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness trembled violently.

At the edge of his detection range, a strange soul beast was strolling along.

It was three meters long, its entire body covered in golden scales, with four claws like a dragon. Most eye-catching was the vertical red eye on its forehead, which emitted an ancient and noble aura of destiny.

The Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Ni!

"What kind of soul beast is this?" Elder Xuan had clearly discovered it too. "Although it only has fifteen thousand years of cultivation, it possesses both the ultimate fire and light attributes, and its spiritual power is comparable to a hundred-thousand-year soul beast! Little Yuhao, this is practically tailor-made for you!"

"Elder Xuan, no!" Huo Yuhao's expression changed drastically. He wanted to stop him, but Elder Xuan had already made his move.

The phantom of the Godly Taotie Bull suddenly appeared, and a massive palm of soul power reached toward the Auspicious Beast.

Just then, a roar that shook the heavens exploded from deep within the forest.

"Human! How dare you touch the Auspicious Beast!!"

Rumble—

The earth cracked, and three massive, crimson dog heads burst from the ground, carrying world-destroying dark-gold flames as they smashed Elder Xuan's attack to pieces.

One of the Ten Great Fierce Beasts, Chi Wang!

"Damn it! It's Chi Wang!" Elder Xuan's drunkenness vanished, and his expression changed drastically.

Although he was strong, this was the edge of the core zone of the Star Dou Great Forest. If a major battle broke out and attracted other Fierce Beasts, even he would find it difficult to escape unscathed.

"Run! Scatter and run!"

A terrifying energy storm instantly swept across the area, and the Shrek team was blown away like fallen leaves in a gale.

Huo Yuhao only felt his vision go black, and his body was sent flying uncontrollably.

He did not know how much time had passed when Huo Yuhao woke up in a quiet part of the forest.

As soon as he looked up, he met a pair of golden eyes.

No, three eyes.

The Emperor Auspicious Beast that had triggered the riot was now standing quietly before him, without a shred of killing intent; instead, it carried an inexplicable sense of closeness.

Man and beast, as if drawn by the pull of destiny, slowly moved closer.

Huo Yuhao's forehead gently touched the third eye of the Auspicious Beast.

Hum—

In an instant, the world seemed to stand still.

A mysterious and obscure power flowed between the two.

Huo Yuhao felt his Sea of Consciousness boil instantly; the intangible fate that had once been ethereal now seemed to take on substance.

Fate connected, luck shared.

Huo Yuhao gained the Lucky Beast's power of fate and opened the Eye of Destiny, while the Lucky Beast saw the bizarre and colorful human world—and the taste of grilled fish—from Huo Yuhao's memories.

"You should go," Huo Yuhao said softly, his eyes clear. "Chi Wang is still looking for you. Being with me will be very dangerous for you."

The Lucky Beast took one last deep look at Huo Yuhao, as if trying to carve the image of this human into the depths of its soul, before transforming into a streak of golden light and vanishing into the depths of the forest.

After sending the Lucky Beast away, Huo Yuhao immediately activated his spiritual detection.

"Everyone..."

Within a ten-thousand-meter radius, there was no sign of Ma Xiaotao, only an extremely chaotic and weak aura.

It was the senior sister, Zhang Lexuan!

Zhang Lexuan's situation was dire. When Elder Xuan had clashed with Chi Wang, she had borne the brunt of the impact, shielding the others from the majority of the battle's aftermath, and was already severely injured.

At this moment, she was being cornered by a Golden Earth Dragon with a body of solid gold, over twenty meters in length.

This Earth Dragon's aura was savage, its cultivation at least sixty thousand years old.

In her prime, Zhang Lexuan would not have feared it in the slightest.

But now, severely wounded, the most fatal aspect was that this encounter had triggered the deepest nightmare buried in her heart.

Years ago, also in the Star Dou Great Forest, also facing a powerful enemy, her teammates had fallen one by one, and she was the only one who had survived.

"No... don't..." Zhang Lexuan's face was as pale as paper, the Moon Blade in her hand trembling violently, her eyes filled with fear and despair. "Everyone will die... everyone is going to die..."

Plagued by her inner demons, she couldn't even muster thirty percent of her strength.

"Roar!" The Golden Earth Dragon opened its blood-red maw, and a foul, fishy dragon breath rushed toward her.

Just as Zhang Lexuan closed her eyes in despair, an ice-blue figure descended from the sky, blocking the path in front of her.

"Senior sister, don't be afraid, I'm here!"

The young man's voice was clear and firm, like a ray of sunlight piercing through the gloom in her heart.

Ultimate Ice, Wrath of the Ice Emperor!

Huo Yuhao pushed both palms forward, and the terrifying, extreme cold instantly froze the dragon breath, even causing the massive body of the Golden Earth Dragon to stiffen for a moment.

At this moment, the aura on Huo Yuhao's body was soaring rapidly; there were no longer just three black soul rings on his body, but four!

Just a moment ago, sensing that Zhang Lexuan was in danger, he had immediately utilized the soul power of the Ice and Snow Emperors to condense a fourth soul ring, greatly increasing his strength.

He was now giving his all to block the strike of the Earth Dragon King.

"Yu... Yuhao?" Zhang Lexuan opened her eyes and stared, stunned, at the back that was not particularly broad, yet stood before her like a mountain.

"Attack its lower jaw! That's its weak point!" Huo Yuhao shouted. At the same time, he switched his martial soul and used a full-power soul shock to forcibly interrupt the Golden Earth Dragon's movements.

Zhang Lexuan snapped back to reality, her will to survive overcoming her fear.

She bit her lip, and moonlight erupted like silk, bursting forth in an instant.

Boom, boom, boom!

The two, one attacking and one controlling, coordinated with surprising tacit understanding, heavily wounding the Golden Earth Dragon.

However, this strike burned through the last of Zhang Lexuan's soul power. Her vision went black, and she collapsed limply.

Huo Yuhao was quick-witted; he caught her slender waist and stepped onto his sword, departing.

Inside a hidden cave.

The campfire flickered, illuminating Zhang Lexuan's pale face.

There was a gruesome claw mark on her abdomen, blood staining her white combat suit. The wound was deep enough to see bone, and it was even oozing black mist.

"It's poisoned," Huo Yuhao frowned deeply.

If not treated in time, this senior sister from the Shrek inner court would likely perish.

"Forgive me, senior sister."

Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, his fingers trembling slightly as he unfastened Zhang Lexuan's collar.

With the sound of tearing fabric, a large expanse of snow-white skin was exposed to the air, creating a stark visual contrast with the gruesome wound.

Huo Yuhao suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart, his eyes becoming clear and focused.

He took clean water to wash the wound, applied medicine, and bandaged it.

"Mmm..." Zhang Lexuan, in her unconscious state, let out a painful groan. Her brows knit tightly, and her hands grabbed out instinctively, finally clutching Huo Yuhao's arm so hard that her nails nearly sank into his flesh.

"Don't go... don't leave me behind..." she murmured, her voice as fragile as a child's.

It was unclear how much time had passed when Zhang Lexuan slowly opened her eyes.

The sharp pain in her abdomen had vanished, replaced by a cool, soothing sensation.

She instinctively looked down and discovered that the upper half of her clothing was partially undone, leaving her in only her undergarments, while the young man sat beside her, drenched in sweat and clearly exhausted.

Memories flooded back.

He had saved her. He had stood in front of her. And he had also... seen her body?

Zhang Lexuan's cheeks flushed a deep crimson, but strangely, she felt no anger; instead, a sense of peace she had never known before welled up within her.

For so many years, she had been the eldest senior sister upon whom the academy pinned its high hopes, the pillar of support for all the students.

She had to be strong, she had to be perfect, and she had to shoulder all the pressure and shadows on her own.

No one had ever asked her if she was tired or if she was afraid.

Until today, in front of this junior who was nearly ten years her junior, she had been protected for the first time, treated with such tenderness for the first time.

"You're awake?" Huo Yuhao noticed the movement, turned his head, and flashed a brilliant smile. "The wound has been treated; you'll be fine after a few days of rest."

Looking into the youth's clear eyes and the smile on his lips, Zhang Lexuan's heart skipped a beat.

Moonlight spilled into the cave entrance, falling upon them both.

In this moment, the high and mighty eldest senior sister of the Inner Court vanished, replaced by a wounded young woman whose heart had been stirred.

"Thank you... Yuhao," she whispered, her gaze so gentle it seemed capable of melting ice and snow.