Blitzkrieg

� Chapter Blitzkrieg

What appeared before Huo Yuhao was no longer an empty golden sea, but a secluded valley nestled between mountains and water. A lake flecked with golden ripples lay at the center of his view. Beyond its banks stretched an endless golden-green grassland, dotted with little white flowers like stars.

A small wooden cabin stood by the shore, its door wide open. The furnishings inside resembled those of the crude hut where Huo Yuhao had lived with his mother as a child. Deep in his subconscious, he had wanted a place to call home.

But he had no idea what a normal home was like, so the home he had simulated was no different from that old hut. That was the entirety of his memories of "home."

Two familiar figures stood by the shore. Huo Yuhao looked closely. Wasn't that Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Ice Empress?

Huh, he could actually "look closely"? Only then did Huo Yuhao realize that at some point, he had taken on a form in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Is this what you wanted?" An elderly voice came from behind him. He immediately turned around and saw a white-robed old man sitting quietly on a moss-covered rock, holding a pool of pure spiritual spring water in his hands as he pondered.

"Elder Yi!" Huo Yuhao cried in delight. "So this is what you used to look like."

"What a beautiful and innocent spiritual world," Electrolux said leisurely. "Being able to nourish my divine sense in a world like this has brought me a peace I've never known before. Yuhao, take good care of this place in your Sea of Consciousness... Don't let outside events change your state of mind."

"I'll do my best." Huo Yuhao nodded firmly. "I absolutely won't let everyone down."

"No trouble at all." Huo Yuhao smiled faintly. "I have a way."

"The opposing control-type Soul King might be a bit of a problem," Chen An said with some concern.

Huo Yuhao couldn't help rubbing his hands together. A team battle meant he'd be taking the field. How were his seniors going to "make things difficult" for him today?

The seven members of Heaven Spirit Royal Branch Academy all looked eager to fight. After all, the opposing team had sent only three people into a team battle. Even if they were from the formidable Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, this was still a bit too disrespectful. Their anger had left every one of them fired up for battle.

After a few seconds of silence, cheers erupted across the venue. They were already much louder than during the first match. The spectators were gradually being swept up in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy's matches. By comparison, Shrek's performance had left them somewhat disappointed.

Once the competitors from both sides had taken their positions at opposite ends of the arena, the referee confirmed one last time with Chen Fei that they would be fielding only three people, then swept his hand through the air.

"The match begins!"

In truth, the brothers hadn't spoken much with Huo Yuhao before simply because they were both a little shy. Now that they finally had a chance to talk, the more outgoing Chen An immediately tried to get to know his junior teammate.

"All right, Senior Chen An. I've already figured out what Teacher Yu is thinking." Huo Yuhao patted his chest. "Be ready to receive my Spiritual Detection Sharing. I'll show you the strategy."

Though everyone had guessed something must have gone wrong with Shrek, the spectators didn't care. They had paid to watch the matches, and that was all.

"Team battle!" Everyone on their side shouted almost instinctively.

While waiting for the second round of the round-robin tournament, Huo Yuhao had focused on improving and consolidating his spiritual power and Soul Power. After being cleansed by the Life Gold, he had already reached the threshold of level thirty.

Huo Yuhao was a little worried that his extreme cultivation would slow down once he reached level thirty. But Ice Empress had said this was the perfect chance for him to build up his reserves during the tournament. Then, when he returned to hunt for a Soul Ring, the accumulated Soul Power would be released. At least his progress didn't seem slow, which spared him a blow to his confidence.

"You look a lot more energetic, Yuhao." Xiao Hongchen laughed and patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder as they headed to the arena. "Or am I imagining it?"

As they spoke, they had just taken their places in the waiting area. Ma Rulong was already at the draw table, raising a small ball alongside the opposing team's captain.

"You're not imagining it, Senior Xiao." Huo Yuhao forced himself to sound calm. "I've reached level thirty."

Chen An seemed more approachable and had already tried to get on familiar terms with Huo Yuhao. "Junior, it's about time we saw what you can do. We brothers will follow your lead today."

"You only need to be true to yourself," Electrolux said. "All right, go back. Little Kitten is waiting for you."

Who could have imagined that the joke about gaining two levels in half a month would actually come true?

"Huh?" Xiao Hongchen's perfect smile immediately froze on his face.

"Team Captain Ma has already gone to draw lots." Lin Xi smiled and changed the subject. "Let's hope we get a good result."

He and the other team members had gotten up early that morning. The next round of the round-robin tournament was about to begin.

He had the Life Gold to thank for this unexpected opportunity. Otherwise, at the rate he'd just reached level twenty-nine, it would have taken at least another two months to reach the threshold of level thirty.

As soon as he finished speaking, Huo Yuhao activated Spiritual Detection Sharing. Two conspicuous green lines appeared in the Chen brothers' vision along with the shared perception.

He had timed the Soul Shock perfectly. The attack cost Huo Yuhao little spiritual power; most of its effect came from turning the untriggered Soul Skill back on its owner.

Huo Yuhao had clearly thought of that too. Chen Fei and Chen An naturally took up positions on either side of him, shielding him from behind. He asked, "Seniors, how about we finish the fight within two minutes?"

He had also watched this academy's matches and noticed that it had no defense-type Soul Masters. This was practically the ideal battlefield for agility-attack-type Soul Engineers.

Before Heaven Spirit Royal Branch Academy's formation could even begin to move, two streaks of lightning had pierced through it from within. The brothers didn't even bother checking whether their Soul Skills and Soul Tools had hit. They fluidly attacked one opponent, used the momentum to reach the next, and struck again—like a skilled seamstress's needle flashing back and forth, or a graceful game of pass-the-drum.

Just as Huo Yuhao's consciousness returned to his body, Electrolux gazed at the mountainside bordering one edge of the valley. The several golden, nameless marks remained unmoved. In a low voice only they could hear, he asked, "And yet you still won't take shape and appear?"

Huo Yuhao let out a soft breath. He realized that even this degree of expenditure was now manageable for him. It showed just how much the Life Gold had increased his spiritual cultivation.

Lin Xi complained from the side, "We're only sending three people into a team battle?" Clearly, he wanted to compete too.

The glow of the Level Six Soul Guidance Thrusters flashed and vanished. The spectators didn't even have time to see what had happened before Chen Fei and Chen An had closed in on Heaven Spirit Royal Branch Academy's team from both sides of the arena.

They had indeed placed their absolute trust in Huo Yuhao.

"Three people are enough," Chen Fei said.

Their opponents were from a royal branch academy of the Dou Ling Empire, a pure Soul Master academy. They were fairly capable, but no match for the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy.

In less than two minutes, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy had secured victory.

By then, Chen Fei and Chen An had already recovered the Soul Power they'd just expended. The two of them charged once more at the three opponents who had little fight left in them, knocking them out of the arena one by one.

The rest of the match could only be described as a needle threading through cloth—smooth and effortless.

The Nameless Seal flickered. Electrolux heard its reply:

"It's not time yet."

"Not a problem," Chen Fei said.

The Soul King reacted first. He raised a hand, about to unleash his strongest, fifth Soul Skill. But just as his Soul Ring lit up, a streak of golden-green light shot from Huo Yuhao's eyes. The Soul King immediately crumpled to the ground as though paralyzed, and his Soul Skill was interrupted.

In a team battle between pure Soul Masters, Wang Dong should have been given a chance to train. But Yu Rufeng wanted the academy to build on the momentum of its first match. After all, Wang Dong was only a three-ring Soul Master, while this Heaven Spirit Royal Branch Academy team had a Soul King and everyone else was at the Soul Ancestor rank. There was another, weaker pure Soul Master team in the round-robin tournament, so Yu Rufeng planned to let Wang Dong compete against them instead.

This unusual way of using spiritual power was something Huo Yuhao had learned under Elder Yi's guidance.

At the sound of that, the two seniors who usually didn't talk much with Huo Yuhao stepped forward. They were brothers, and both had Flash Bird Martial Souls—pure agility-attack Martial Souls, though their quality was somewhat lacking, which was why they had taken the Soul Engineer path.

"As expected of Huo Yuhao." From the sidelines, Yu Rufeng praised him sincerely. "His judgment is first-rate too. He immediately tailored a strategy to Chen Fei and Chen An's abilities."

Xiao Hongchen stood beside Teacher Yu and responded casually, his thoughts elsewhere. Meng Hongchen was more direct. "Haha, Teacher Yu, my brother doesn't like hearing you praise someone else as more of a genius than he is."

Yu Rufeng chuckled. "Xiao Hongchen has his own strengths. There's no need to compare him like that."

"Of course." Xiao Hongchen immediately put on his usual smug expression.

Meng Hongchen glanced at Xiao Hongchen as if she still had something to say, but in the end she swallowed it.