In the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, a blaze of fiery light shot into the sky, scorching the air until it warped and twisted.
Accompanied by a clear, ringing cry of a phoenix, Ma Xiaotao slowly withdrew her power. Seven Soul Rings revolved around her, especially the seventh, a black Soul Ring that radiated a heart-stopping pressure.
"Level seventy-one! Haha, I'm finally a Spirit Saint!" Ma Xiaotao excitedly pumped her fist, her flame-red hair streaming wildly behind her.
The youngest Spirit Saint in Shrek Academy had been born.
After everyone had rested briefly, Xuan Zi took a swig of liquor. Looking rather tipsy, he seemed to have gotten in the mood. He turned to Huo Yuhao and said, "Little Yuhao, now it's your turn. Tell me, what kind of Soul Ring do you want? If it's in the Star Dou Great Forest, I'll catch it for you."
Huo Yuhao said, "I need a Soul Beast with a Mental Attribute. Its age... at least fifty thousand years."
"Pfft—"
The liquor Xuan Zi had just sipped sprayed straight out of his mouth.
"Fifty thousand years? And it has to be a spiritual type?" Zhang Lexuan exclaimed. "Yuhao, you're only at level forty. The age limit for an ideally matched Soul Ring is just over five thousand years. Are you trying to defy the heavens?"
If anyone else had made such a request, they would have been written off as crazy and thrown out.
But when everyone saw Huo Yuhao's calm expression and recalled his absurd Soul Ring Configuration, they swallowed hard and found themselves thinking... maybe it wasn't impossible after all?
"Fine! You little monster, I'll go crazy with you!" Xuan Zi wiped his mouth, and the group continued deeper into the forest.
Huo Yuhao activated Spiritual Detection Sharing. Its terrifying range, a ten-thousand-meter radius, instantly covered every movement around them.
The moment everyone connected to Spiritual Detection Sharing, their eyes widened and all their gazes converged on Huo Yuhao.
"Junior, the range of your Spiritual Detection is way too terrifying!" Wu Ming exclaimed in astonishment.
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly. "It might be an advantage of a spiritual Martial Soul. As my spiritual power grows stronger, the range of my detection will extend as well."
Everyone was no longer looking at Huo Yuhao as if he were a monster. They were looking at a prodigy!
He was only a Soul Elder, yet his Spiritual Detection already covered a radius of ten thousand meters.
Once he broke through to become a Titled Douluo, wouldn't he be able to cover an entire country with a single thought?
It was terrifying. If war broke out, Huo Yuhao's very existence would be like a cheat code.
A Martial Soul with an Ultimate Attribute was already outrageously powerful, with combat strength comparable to a Limit Douluo after breaking through to Titled Douluo. That was already absurd enough, yet Huo Yuhao also possessed a spiritual Martial Soul that could rival it.
Everyone had run out of words to describe Huo Yuhao.
Only then did the women react. Their gazes turned toward Ma Xiaotao, filled with envy.
Such an extraordinary junior had already been claimed by Ma Xiaotao.
After all, the three senior sisters from the Shrek Inner Court were all without partners. Yet Ma Xiaotao, the youngest of them, had been the first to find happiness.
Both Wu Ming and Han Ruoruo felt deeply regretful. They hated that they hadn't met Huo Yuhao sooner. Otherwise, they could have used their status as senior sisters to win him over, just as Ma Xiaotao had. Then they would be the ones everyone envied.
"That's..." Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness suddenly trembled.
At the edge of his detection range, an unusual Soul Beast was strolling along.
It was three meters long, its entire body covered in shimmering golden scales. It had four dragon-like claws, but the most striking feature was the upright red eye on its forehead, radiating an ancient, noble aura of destiny.
The Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion!
"What kind of Soul Beast is that?" Xuan Zi had clearly spotted it too. "It's only fifteen thousand years old, but it has both Ultimate Fire and light attributes, and its spiritual power is comparable to that of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast! Little Yuhao, this is practically made for you!"
"Xuan Zi, don't!" Huo Yuhao's expression changed drastically, and he tried to stop him, but Xuan Zi had already made his move.
The phantom of the Godly Taotie Bull suddenly appeared, and a huge hand of Soul Power reached for the Auspicious Beast.
At that moment, an enraged roar shook the heavens and earth, blasting out from deep within the forest.
"Humans! How dare you lay a finger on the Auspicious Beast!"
Rumble—
The earth split apart as three enormous crimson dog heads burst from the ground, trailing dark golden flames that could destroy the world. They smashed Xuan Zi's attack to pieces.
The Scarlet King, one of the Ten Great Beast Kings!
"Damn it! It's the Scarlet King!" Most of the drunkenness vanished from Xuan Zi's eyes, and his expression changed drastically.
He was powerful, but they were at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest's core zone. If a battle broke out and attracted other Ferocious Beasts, even he might not escape unscathed.
"Run! Scatter!"
A terrifying storm of energy instantly swept across the area, scattering the people from Shrek like leaves in a gale.
Huo Yuhao's vision went black. His body flew away, completely beyond his control.
After who knew how long, Huo Yuhao awoke in a quiet forest.
As soon as he raised his head, he met a pair of golden eyes.
No—three eyes.
The Emperor Auspicious Beast that had caused the chaos was standing quietly in front of him. It showed no hostility; instead, it seemed to feel a strange affinity for him.
A human and a beast, as though drawn together by destiny, slowly moved closer.
Huo Yuhao's forehead gently touched the Auspicious Beast's third eye.
Buzz—
In an instant, the world seemed to stand still.
A profound, mysterious power flowed between them.
Huo Yuhao felt his Sea of Consciousness boil. Destiny, which had once been invisible and elusive, now seemed to have taken tangible form.
Destiny's connection. Shared fortune.
Huo Yuhao gained the Auspicious Beast's power of destiny and awakened the Eye of Destiny. In turn, the Auspicious Beast saw, through Huo Yuhao's memories, the strange and dazzling human world—and the taste of grilled fish.
"You should go," Huo Yuhao said softly, his gaze clear. "The Scarlet King is still looking for you. If you stay with me, you'll be in danger."
The Auspicious Beast gave Huo Yuhao a long, deep look, as though trying to etch the image of this human into the depths of its soul. Then it transformed into a streak of golden light and vanished into the forest.
After seeing the Auspicious Beast off, Huo Yuhao immediately activated Spiritual Detection.
"Everyone..."
Within a ten-thousand-meter radius, he couldn't find Ma Xiaotao. He could only detect an extremely unstable, feeble presence.
It was his eldest senior sister, Zhang Lexuan!
Zhang Lexuan was in extremely bad shape. When Xuan Zi had fought the Scarlet King, she had borne the brunt of the attack. She had shielded everyone from most of the shock waves and had been badly injured.
Now a golden Earth Dragon, more than twenty meters long, had cornered her.
The Earth Dragon's aura was violent, and its cultivation was at least sixty thousand years.
If she had been in peak condition, Zhang Lexuan wouldn't have feared it at all.
But now she was badly injured. Worse, the events of their journey had stirred up the deepest nightmare in her heart.
Back then, it had also been in the Star Dou Great Forest, and she had also faced a powerful enemy. Her teammates had fallen one by one, and she alone had survived.
"No... don't..." Zhang Lexuan's face was as pale as paper. The Moon Blade in her hand trembled violently, and her eyes were filled with fear and despair. "Everyone's going to die... They're all going to die..."
With her inner demons tormenting her, she couldn't even bring out thirty percent of her strength.
"Roar!" The Golden Earth Dragon opened its gaping maw, its foul breath washing over her.
Just as Zhang Lexuan closed her eyes in despair, an icy-blue figure dropped from above and stood in front of her.
"Eldest Senior Sister, don't be afraid. I'm here!"
The boy's voice was clear and resolute, like a ray of sunlight piercing the gloom in her heart.
Ultimate Ice, Wrath of the Ice Emperor!
Huo Yuhao thrust out both palms. The terrifying cold instantly froze the dragon's breath, and even the Golden Earth Dragon's enormous body stiffened for a moment.
At that moment, Huo Yuhao's aura was rising rapidly. He no longer had only three black Soul Rings around him, but four!
Just moments ago, when he sensed that Zhang Lexuan was in danger, he had immediately used the Soul Power of the Ice and Snow Emperors to condense a fourth Soul Ring, greatly increasing his strength.
He had given everything he had to block the Earth Dragon King's attack.
"Yu... Yuhao?" Zhang Lexuan opened her eyes. Seeing the boy's not particularly broad back standing before her like a mountain, she froze.
"Attack its lower jaw! That's its weak point!" Huo Yuhao shouted. At the same time, he switched Martial Souls and unleashed a full-power Spiritual Shock, forcibly interrupting the Golden Earth Dragon's movements.
Zhang Lexuan abruptly came to her senses. Her will to survive overcame her fear.
She clenched her teeth, and moonlight poured out like a shimmering stream as she unleashed her power.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One attacked while the other controlled, and the pair worked together with astonishing coordination, badly wounding the Golden Earth Dragon.
But that attack also burned through the last trace of Zhang Lexuan's Soul Power. Her vision went black, and she collapsed.
Huo Yuhao reacted quickly, catching her around her slender waist and flying away on his sword.
Inside a hidden cave.
The bonfire flickered, casting its light over Zhang Lexuan's pallid face.
A ragged claw mark marred her abdomen. Blood stained her white combat uniform, and the wound was deep enough to expose bone. Wisps of black energy still seeped from it.
"Poison." Huo Yuhao furrowed his brows.
If he didn't treat it right away, the eldest senior sister of Shrek Inner Court might not survive.
"Forgive me, Eldest Senior Sister."
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and, his fingers trembling slightly, undid Zhang Lexuan's collar.
As the fabric tore, a large expanse of fair skin was exposed to the air, a stark visual contrast to the hideous wound.
Huo Yuhao forced the distracting thoughts from his mind. His gaze grew clear and focused.
He took out clean water, washed the wound, applied medicine, and bandaged it.
"Mm..." Zhang Lexuan let out a pained groan in her sleep. Her brows knitted tightly, and her hands groped instinctively until she clutched Huo Yuhao's arm, her fingernails nearly digging into his flesh.
"Don't go... Don't leave me..." she murmured, her voice as fragile as a child's.
After who knew how long, Zhang Lexuan slowly opened her eyes.
The sharp pain in her abdomen was gone, replaced by a cool, soothing sensation.
She instinctively looked down and realized that her upper garments had been partly removed, leaving only her underclothes. The boy was sitting beside her, drenched in sweat and clearly exhausted.
Her memories came back.
He had saved her. He had stood in front of her. And he had... seen her body?
Zhang Lexuan's cheeks instantly flushed red, but strangely, she felt no anger. Instead, an unprecedented sense of peace welled up inside her.
For all these years, she had been the eldest senior sister whom the academy placed great hopes in, the one all the students could rely on.
She had to be strong, had to be perfect, and had to bear every burden and shadow alone.
No one had ever asked whether she was tired or afraid.
Only today, in front of this junior nearly ten years younger than her, had she been protected for the first time, treated with such tenderness for the first time.
"Awake?" Huo Yuhao noticed her stir and turned around, smiling brightly. "I've taken care of the wound. Rest for a few days and you'll be fine."
Looking at the boy's clear eyes and smiling lips, Zhang Lexuan's heart skipped a beat.
Moonlight spilled through the cave entrance, falling over the two of them.
At that moment, the lofty eldest senior sister of the Inner Court was gone. In her place was a wounded young woman who had fallen in love. She whispered, her gaze tender enough to melt ice and snow, "Thank you... Yuhao."
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