A Deadly Soul Tool

Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, Soul Fighting Arena.

Since very few students came to Soul Fight, and almost all of them were Ji Juechen and the people around him, the referee was not always present.

While they waited for the referee to arrive, Xiao Hongchen took the referee's seat first and watched as the two sides stood at opposite ends of the Soul Fighting Area.

"You may begin." As he spoke, he activated the barrier protecting the spectators.

Xiao Hongchen was confident he could serve as a temporary referee. With his current strength, stopping a match at this level would be very easy.

Huo Yuhao talked tough, but he didn't dare let his guard down. He immediately activated Spiritual Detection Sharing, even sharing it with Xiao Hongchen. That would let Xiao Hongchen keep track of the situation, whether to analyze the Soul Tool's origins or intervene in time if something went wrong.

The boy swept his hand out, and two Yellow Soul Rings lit up beneath his feet. He was a two-ring Soul Master, too. No wonder he wasn't afraid of Chi Qiu, Huo Yuhao thought.

According to the theory in the books, below seven rings, a Soul Engineer of the same rank had an advantage over a Soul Master. And the Soul Tool in the boy's hands was a Level 5 Soul Tool. In theory, he could challenge Chi Qiu, who had three rings, and at least stand a chance.

Two white rings slowly rose beneath Huo Yuhao's feet. The boy opposite him immediately let out a scornful laugh.

"With two white rings like those, even if the school tried to drug you up to level seventy, it'd be difficult! Looks like you'll never make it past Soul Ancestor."

Huo Yuhao laughed a few times in response. Of course, the two white rings weren't their true color. If he wanted to, he could turn both of them blood red and scare the life out of the boy.

But he had only just arrived in the Sun Moon Empire and hadn't figured out how things worked yet, so he didn't dare reveal his abilities recklessly. Just as Shrek had its own rules of conduct, he believed Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy had its own as well.

Once he understood the situation, he would show the people who needed to see it a part of his true strength.

Defeating the boy in front of him would be easy. His Spiritual Power was far below Huo Yuhao's, and one Soul Shock would end the fight. But Xiao Hongchen had asked him to win slowly, so he planned to drag things out, make the boy reveal what his Soul Tool could do, and then finish him with one strike.

The boy's first Yellow Soul Ring lit up. He shouted and raised his Soul Tool, but nothing seemed to happen. Huo Yuhao carefully surveyed the area through Spiritual Detection Sharing, but noticed no changes. Even the boy's Soul Power showed no unusual movement.

By then, Huo Yuhao had more or less guessed what the Soul Skill did. A golden gleam flashed through his eyes, and he abruptly leaped to the side.

Spiritual Interference!

The next second, a black beam filled with a terrifying aura struck the ground behind and to the left of where he had been standing. Huo Yuhao understood. So it was an aiming-type Soul Skill!

The beam had landed behind and to his left because the boy had aimed for Huo Yuhao's heart.

Huo Yuhao glanced at the mark the beam had left on the ground and felt a chill run through him. The ground where it had struck was being corroded at an astonishing rate, leaving a pitch-black hole.

Something was strange, Huo Yuhao thought. This Soul Fight had started over nothing more than a verbal spat. Even if the boy was eager to fight, surely he didn't want to take Huo Yuhao's life!

Huo Yuhao had only said a few words in defense of his friend. He hadn't even lashed out at the boy. What had made him intent on killing?

At the edge of the arena, Xiao Hongchen was also frowning deeply. The Soul Power fired from that Soul Tool was strange. He was on high alert now, ready to rush in and rescue Huo Yuhao if the boy looked capable of hurting him.

"Xiao, what's going on?"

Yu Rufeng's voice sounded behind Xiao Hongchen. His students were fighting, so of course he had hurried over as their homeroom teacher.

"Teacher Yu." Xiao Hongchen didn't turn around. "I'm helping the academy eliminate a threat."

"Oh?" Yu Rufeng raised an eyebrow. "If it really is a threat to the academy, then it's not something you can handle, Xiao."

Xiao Hongchen fell silent for a moment. Clearly, he was hesitating too. Gripping his collar, he said, "Teacher Yu, just protect me from the shadows. If you take the referee's place, that boy might stop using that Soul Tool."

"All right."

On the arena, Huo Yuhao was quickly assessing the situation. He was curious about the Soul Tool, too, and decided to bait the boy into using it once more before ending the fight with Soul Shock.

Clearly, that first attack had drained most of the boy's Soul Power. Huo Yuhao could see it clearly through Spiritual Detection: the boy's Soul Power was circulating more urgently, and beads of sweat covered his dark forehead.

After missing his first strike, the boy no longer looked so sure of victory. He had grown anxious. With his Soul Power, he could probably use that attack only one more time.

Against anyone else, that attack would almost certainly have hit. The aiming Soul Skill was powerful, far beyond what one would expect from a Hundred-Year Soul Ring.

Unfortunately for him, he had run into Huo Yuhao. Both Spiritual Detection Sharing and Spiritual Interference were perfect counters to his skills.

The boy's Second Soul Ring lit up. This time, Huo Yuhao saw which way his Soul Power was flowing. It was a full-body enhancement skill. Those two rings really were a suitable configuration for a Soul Engineer.

With his body enhanced, the boy charged forward and threw a punch at Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao saw the attack's path clearly and dodged with a light sidestep. At the same time, he pulled a small Soul Guidance Ray pistol from his Storage Soul Tool and pretended to take aim at close range.

As soon as the boy saw the Soul Ray Gun, he pulled both arms back and shifted into a defensive stance.

Getting shot from this distance was no joke!

But Huo Yuhao didn't fire. He used the opportunity to quickly widen the distance between them again.

This was the very gun Huo Yuhao had bought at Shrek Academy. Naturally, he couldn't fire it—he had broken it while studying it.

Just now, he had only wrapped his Soul Power around the broken gun, making it look as if it were charging up. That had been enough to buy him time to retreat.

The boy was a two-ring Soul Master, but he was still in his first year. That meant he lacked theoretical knowledge about Soul Tools. Huo Yuhao was sure he wouldn't notice that the gun didn't have a functioning Core Array.

Watching from the back of the arena, Yu Rufeng smiled knowingly. As a Level 7 Soul Engineer, he could tell at a glance that the gun was broken.

This boy called Huo Yuhao had better battle experience and adaptability than he'd expected.

At this distance, if the boy tried to charge in under the enhancement and attack again, the Soul Power he expended would leave him unable to use his Soul Tool a second time. His better chance was to gather Soul Power and fire it once more.

After all, most people would chalk up a first miss to a "shaky hand" or "bad luck." Anyone without sufficient Spiritual Power wouldn't realize they'd been affected by an interference skill.

That was exactly what Huo Yuhao had planned. The boy had been trying to stall for time and recover some Soul Power, so Huo Yuhao was giving him the chance to use the Soul Tool again.

With Huo Yuhao's current Spiritual Power, he could use Spiritual Interference ten more times.

Sure enough, the boy couldn't hold back any longer. His First Soul Ring lit up again, and black light began flickering at the muzzle of the Soul Tool.

Huo Yuhao slowly shifted position, moving until his back was closer to the Soul Guidance Barrier.

The best way to understand the nature of Soul Power was to make it collide with another strand of Soul Power. But Huo Yuhao certainly wasn't going to let it hit him. Otherwise, he'd have to use Ice Emperor's Protection. He wasn't ready to reveal the effects of his Second Martial Soul's Soul Skill.

Instead, he had the black beam strike the Soul Tool Shield and let Xiao Hongchen feel the nature of that Soul Power.

As soon as Huo Yuhao began carrying out his plan, Xiao Hongchen spotted the mark he'd made through Spiritual Detection Sharing.

Marking things in the shared field with Spiritual Power was a technique Huo Yuhao had developed himself. He'd originally come up with it during Shrek's freshman assessment, so he could direct Chi Qiu and Wang Dong, who both focused on offense and were weaker on defense. But he soon realized how useful it was: it saved them time that would otherwise be spent communicating.

Xiao Hongchen understood the signal. He immediately rested his hand lightly on the Soul Tool Shield, ready to feel the vibration caused by the Soul Power collision.

But the instant Huo Yuhao dodged and the black Soul Guidance Ray hit the shield, Xiao Hongchen snatched his hand back as if he'd been badly burned. The look he gave the arena was now full of wariness.

"Yuhao, disengage now!" he shouted sharply. Then his Third and Fourth Soul Rings both lit up, and several Soul Tools assembled in midair in an instant. The ammunition they carried would be enough to stop the boy's next move.

Huo Yuhao intended to do the same, though he understood "disengage" differently. A golden light sharpened in his eyes, and he released a Soul Shock.

Before Xiao Hongchen could fire his intercepting rounds, the boy collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The black Soul Tool fell from his hand. With a dark expression, Xiao Hongchen deactivated the Soul Guidance Barrier and walked onto the arena.

Meanwhile, Chi Qiu hurried over to Huo Yuhao. "Yuhao, are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine, Qiu'er." Huo Yuhao brushed off his sleeve. "His Spiritual Power is pretty weak, so he wasn't difficult to fight. Xiao and the others can deal with the Soul Tool."

"What's wrong with that Soul Tool?"

"I'm not sure. Its Soul Power just felt disgusting, but don't worry, Qiu'er. It didn't hurt me."

"Mm." Chi Qiu nodded, then said, "Wang Dong went to the infirmary. Do you want to go see her after you rest for a while?"

"The infirmary?" Huo Yuhao was startled. As far as he could remember, they'd only had a verbal disagreement. "Did her headache flare up again?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Let's go check on her together."

Meanwhile, Yu Rufeng and Xiao Hongchen stood on either side of the black Soul Tool. Meng Hongchen had also arrived and was now examining it.

"Brother, are you sure?" Meng Hongchen wore Soul Tool gloves, but still handled the weapon with great care. Her face was full of disgust.

"We can be fairly certain." Xiao Hongchen nodded. "Teacher Yu confirmed it just now, too."

"He's an Evil Soul Master, and that Soul Tool is powered by their Soul Power... He was probably raised using the cultivation methods of Evil Soul Masters. They must have warped his temperament, making him so quick to anger and even to kill."

"Are those people really planning to infiltrate the academy—and even Mingde Hall?"

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