Want to See Fireworks?

Do you want to see fireworks?

At the referee's signal, both sides slowly retreated to the sides of the arena.

"Match start!" the referee shouted, his raised arm swinging down sharply.

The moment the referee's arm passed over his head, golden light flickered in Huo Yuhao's eyes. Spiritual Detection Sharing was fully activated, and two launch trajectories were simultaneously marked with striking red lines.

A series of metallic "clack, clack" sounds rang out from Mi Jia and Ma Rulong. Mi Jia held a Soul Ray Gun that looked unremarkable, while Ma Rulong produced a Soul Tool resembling a rocket launcher, though it was not a fixed-shell type.

Fixed-shell Soul Tools were prohibited in the arena; using one would result in an automatic loss.

Watching the seven opponents charging in formation, Ma Rulong simply waved at them with a smile:

"Do you want to see fireworks?"

Following that, he raised the rocket launcher casually, as if not aiming at all. With a muffled "thud," a stream of light flew straight toward the seven opponents at a tricky angle.

The recoil forced Ma Rulong to take two steps back, which happened to clear a space for Mi Jia. Ma Rulong then moved calmly in front of Huo Yuhao to shield him, just in case of any accidents.

Just as the opponents activated their defensive soul skills in the direction of the incoming stream of light, Mi Jia raised his hand and pulled the trigger with equal nonchalance. A red beam as thin as a hair flashed by, piercing exactly through the center of the stream's leading edge.

With a deafening "boom," the stream of light exploded right in front of the defensive soul skills. Centered on the point where the red beam had pierced it, it scattered like fireworks, instantly turning the center of the arena as dazzling as daylight.

Every fragment of soul power blasted outward with astonishing speed, rushing toward the seven opponents who had failed to react in time like flowers scattering from the heavens.

Among those seven, the highest cultivation was only a Soul King who had just broken through level 50, and the lowest was a three-ringed soul master. Although Ma Rulong hadn't revealed his soul rings, this strike was a genuine attack from a Soul Emperor.

Those who managed to activate their defensive soul skills were blasted off the stage by the omnidirectional, inescapable bombardment, while those who didn't were rescued by the referee.

The match ended so quickly that the entire arena fell into a dead silence.

The soul power emitted by Ma Rulong's Soul Tool was actually scattered by nature; it simply possessed the function of temporarily binding countless small portions of soul power together. Mingde Hall named it the "Focused Soul Cannon."

Because the area-of-effect damage of the soul power during the explosion was uncontrollable, Mingde Hall generally wouldn't allow Ma Rulong to use this Soul Tool unless it was for indiscriminate strikes. However, the situation was different now.

With Huo Yuhao present, as long as the number of bundled soul power units didn't exceed a certain value, Huo Yuhao could guarantee the prediction of every small unit's flight path. Thus, the detonation time could be determined manually.

The amount of data Huo Yuhao could process would also grow alongside his own spiritual power.

Since arriving at the Sun Moon Empire, Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection had often been used to predict various Soul Tools, and this experience had allowed him to develop a specialized ability in this area.

"It's a pity it's daytime; fireworks look better at night. If any team wants to see them, we can set them off again during our next night match."

Ma Rulong sighed with feigned regret before turning around and walking off the stage with a flourish. Mi Jia and Huo Yuhao followed suit, striking cool poses with their hands in their pockets as they left the field.

Although a wave of cheers erupted from the stands, the sound was much quieter than when Shrek competed. It wasn't that the audience wasn't stunned by the fireworks show put on by the trio, but they were too proud to cheer for a team from the Sun Moon Empire.

"Whew—" As soon as he got off the stage, Huo Yuhao let out a long breath, looking as if he were about to collapse. Chi Qiu was quick-witted and caught his shoulders, and Huo Yuhao leaned against her to catch his breath:

"Qiu'er, they're using my Sea of Consciousness as a Soul Tool."

Hearing this joking complaint, Chi Qiu laughed: "Go tell that to the two captains; what's the point of telling me?"

"I wouldn't say this to anyone else," Huo Yuhao said with a smile, then straightened his posture again.

For him right now, calculating the flight paths of the Focused Soul Cannon in real-time was still too taxing. There were simply too many trajectories. Fortunately, Teacher Yu and Elder Ma had both said that he wouldn't be required to expend his spiritual power at such high intensity for the rest of the round-robin tournament.

Today's fireworks show was something Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen had cooked up on a whim. Although Ma Rulong seemed more composed than Xiao Hongchen, the two, who usually didn't get along, were surprisingly in sync when it came to coming up with mischievous ideas.

What else could Huo Yuhao do? He could only indulge their whims.

Besides, bringing the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy a spectacular opening victory wasn't a bad thing. Finishing the first round early would allow more time to prepare for the round-robin schedule.

As long as it wasn't a team battle in the round-robin, Huo Yuhao likely wouldn't need to play. Even if they drew a two-two-three format, he would only potentially play during the three-person battle, which gave him time to rest and recover at least until the quarterfinals.

"Look at you all, you've worn out Junior Brother Yuhao."

The main team member who said this was Lin Xi. He bumped Ma Rulong's arm: "You're treating Yuhao to a good meal tonight."

"I think you just want a free ride," Ma Rulong retorted. "I'm definitely treating Junior Brother Yuhao, but whether I bring you along is another matter. Why don't you go extort Xiao Hongchen instead?"

Watching the two seniors bicker, Huo Yuhao smiled from the bottom of his heart. When he was at Shrek, he had seen introductions to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, but in Shrek's descriptions, the academy was always portrayed as oppressive, as if they were filled with bitterness and deep-seated hatred.

But only after truly studying here did Huo Yuhao experience the positive atmosphere. How could those walking at the forefront of the era be filled with bitterness?

Indeed, one must experience things personally to know the truth.

Everyone stayed to watch a few more matches, and when it got late, they returned to the hotel to rest and discuss tactical arrangements for the round-robin.

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Chi Qiu walked at the back of the group. Just as Elder Ma at the front pulled open the door to the conference room, a low exclamation, very familiar to the three of them, suddenly came from behind.

Huo Yuhao looked back and locked eyes with Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, who were walking in the other direction.

"It really is you. You actually went to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy!" This time, Zhu Lu shouted out loud. She pointed at the three of them in disbelief, her voice echoing through the corridors of the Star Emperor Hotel, causing both the Shrek delegation and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy delegation to stop in their tracks.

On the Shrek side, Wang Yan rubbed his temples with a headache; the situation he least wanted to see had happened after all.

"Huh? So what?" Wang Dong had long since lost his patience. "Can a loser control us? Worry about yourself!"

"You ran away just because you didn't get a core disciple spot; you really are fragile. If you can't handle even this much pressure, that's all you'll ever be." Dai Huabin spoke up, his words clearly aimed at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao stepped forward. Since things had come to this, there was no need to be polite: "We walk different paths, so there is no point in talking. What I have always hated is not pressure, but injustice. Dai Huabin, as the son of Duke White Tiger, how can you have the nerve to say such things to accuse me? Have you ever experienced real pressure from childhood to now? Your path was paved by your elders."

"And even walking on a paved path, you still lost to us," Chi Qiu added coldly, following Huo Yuhao's words.

"Ha, the ten-thousand-year runner-up of the Soul Fighting Tournament shouldn't be talking about losers." Zhu Lu's face flushed slightly; she seemed a bit flustered, but she still tried hard to strike back.

Huo Yuhao remained calm and composed: "Could it be that the glory of Shrek in the past was earned by Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, who are participating in the tournament for the first time?"

"You!" Dai Huabin was about to lash out, but a hand already blocked his path. Bei Bei stepped out from the team, a smile still hanging on his face, though that smile lacked any warmth: "Excuse me, everyone, this argument was unnecessary to begin with. Let us each take a step back and end this dispute, and I also hope you young friends will not speak words that disparage the glory of Shrek."

Huo Yuhao looked at Bei Bei; he still had an impression of him, as he had met Bei Bei once before encountering Tian Meng. However, Bei Bei did not seem to recognize him at all.

This was normal, as the changes in Huo Yuhao over this past year could be described as earth-shattering; there was no trace left of the malnourished, scrawny little boy he used to be.

Just as Bei Bei finished speaking, someone from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy team also stepped out, brazenly blocking the path in front of Huo Yuhao and his two companions; it was none other than Xiao Hongchen.

"Isn't this brother's statement a bit biased?" Xiao Hongchen also wore a cold, insincere smile.

"Before blaming my team members for speaking about your Shrek, why don't you listen to what your team members said to mine? I think one thing Wang Dong said was very right! Mind your own business."