Decisive Victory

The winner's bracket final was now bustling with noise; barring any surprises, the champion would emerge from these victors. Being the top of the grade was the real deal—who didn't know the name of the grade's top student while in school? This meant they were a "thigh" to hug; if there was a chance, one had to latch onto it to gain multiple opportunities amidst various trials.

However, for Huo Yuhao, the most important thing was the prize money. He liked Soul Guidance Devices, but Soul Guidance Devices didn't care much for his family background. Without money, how could a rich girl look at you? Even the cost of the most basic experimental materials was something the current Huo Yuhao couldn't afford. Not to mention, he was currently heavily in debt.

His level 20 cultivation was quite watered down; he had consumed many potent supplements and various medicinal pills to alter his aptitude and soul power level. These were all paid for by Xu Sanshi. Now, Huo Yuhao didn't even dare to curse at Xu Sanshi; after all, he was his major creditor, and it was better to be a bit more polite. Psychologically, he already felt a notch below the other.

But this situation would change in the future. As long as Huo Yuhao's skin was thick enough, he wouldn't care about these things. If you have too many lice, you don't itch; if you have too much debt, you don't worry. Once this number exceeds a person's imagination, they lose their judgment. An annual income of hundreds of millions seems like the norm, yet in reality, one might not even be able to pull out a thousand. Essentially, it is a loss of judgment.

People cannot imagine a life they have never seen, and once they lose the concept of debt figures, they also lose the corresponding emotions.

Thus, Huo Yuhao, who still had the enthusiasm to resolve his debts, stepped onto the competition field. And so, he saw his old rival, Dai Huabin. They hadn't met before because the draw had kept them apart; otherwise, they would have definitely fought until their brains were scrambled. But it wasn't too late now.

The two sides locked eyes, murderous intent rising. They were on the competition field now, not in a place to play petty tricks in private. Since assassination wasn't an option, they could only go at it openly. It was just that neither of them had the strength to kill the other right now, and the situation didn't allow for it either. The teacher acting as the referee was definitely a master they couldn't fathom at this stage.

It was impossible to play tricks under their noses; they would have to wait until later, when these teachers no longer had absolute control, to make a move. But by then, everyone would surely know who did it; the most important thing was that no evidence could be found. No one was confident in determining who caused a mental illness.

Yet, according to public opinion at that time, wouldn't it be obvious who did it? The most important thing was to make the teachers not think it was you. If the teacher thinks it's you, then it's you, regardless of whether there is evidence. But if the teacher doesn't think it's you, then even if all the evidence points to you, it isn't you. It all depends on how much value you hold.

The championship undoubtedly represented value, and the rest was a matter of negotiation. As long as the hands and feet were clean enough, the academy wouldn't pursue it too strictly. Rules could be changed, after all. The academy was already dissatisfied with the White Tiger Family, so this was a perfect chance to knock them down a peg. Although it was just self-satisfaction, would Shrek stop just because they didn't want to?

At that time, they would definitely have to cut ties, and Huo Yuhao, being the opposing party, would be very valuable. Look, our academy has already cut ties cleanly. This would be a symbol, and by then, he would surely attract the primary hatred of others. But Huo Yuhao would have also avenged himself; there are gains and losses in everything.

Huo Yuhao calculated in his heart how to "accidentally" kill his opponent. As for Zhu Lu, who was teamed up with Dai Huabin, she wasn't important. Unless an agility-type soul master's speed exceeded his reaction time, it was impossible to bypass Spiritual Detection Sharing and Xiao Xiao's control. There was no way to pose a threat to Huo Yuhao; the most direct method was a frontal assault, shattering their defense head-on.

In countless sparring sessions, this was the tactic used by Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei. If you can't withstand it head-on, everything else is useless. Charging directly to break their formation made Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao realize they weren't the strongest. Every professional classification had its logic; lacking a team meant having flaws, and the shortcomings were significant.

One cannot underestimate organized opponents; the power of an individual and a team are not on the same level. Just like an organized army crushing rioters—if there is a need, it is a massacre. There is no second possibility. The only thing that can fight an army is an army.

The greatest respect for an opponent is to go all out. This doesn't mean using all your strength, but rather bringing out your own level. Just like the method Huo Yuhao and his team used to fight their way up, regardless of strength, it was a method: Huo Yuhao controls, Xiao Xiao deals damage. The side effects of this formulaic approach were obvious; it was easy to be seen through, or rather, it put one's thoughts right in the enemy's eyes.

However, this was an open conspiracy. If you can break it, it means your strength is beyond this stage or the situation has changed, such as a two-on-two becoming a seven-on-seven. At that time, it wouldn't be like this; there would be people helping to break up the partnership. And what Huo Yuhao saw were two second-ring soul masters; they had almost no way to defeat their formula.

Just as Xiao Xiao's Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron was about to collide with the opponent, Huo Yuhao had already prepared a mental attack. Unexpectedly, they actually collided together. Huo Yuhao was left with a face full of question marks, as were the surrounding spectators. Then, they flew out, were ruled out, and judged to have lost.

This situation was a bit unexpected, but the winner had already appeared. It was normal for the battles of spirit-type soul masters to be somewhat incomprehensible; if you knew every detail, you wouldn't live long. If a mental attack hit you, you would naturally feel it yourself.

However, the one with the most say on whether it hit or not was, of course, the attacker. A bewildered Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao were thus declared to have entered the finals. Below, the recovering Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu looked at their opponents on the stage. The two sides locked eyes, and they understood that they would definitely meet in the finals. That would be when the winner was decided.

Huo Yuhao had a guess in his heart regarding the basis for their behavior. That ability could only be used once before losing its power for a long time. What was that? They couldn't have actually encountered it, could they? For such good luck to be stumbled upon by such people, it was truly unfair.

Just like that, the prize money Huo Yuhao craved was not far from him. Even the second-place reward wasn't small, but the first place was the most. Why consider second place? They were just a bunch of defeated opponents. The two of them were already a small team; the attributes of a power-attack, support, and control were already complete.

The only one with a chance was that young lady from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, but her potential hadn't been fully unleashed yet, and her support ability wasn't enough to sustain two functions for a team.

Huo Yuhao had never dealt with this kind of ability; martial soul fusion skills were simply too rare. Top-tier martial souls were everywhere in Shrek, but martial soul fusion was truly rare. Even for the Evil Eye White Tiger and the Nether Spirit Cat, the proven best pairing, it was rare for every generation to achieve such a match. Moreover, there was a very important problem.

The gender issue of the two sides. The close connection between the two great families relied on intermarriage; by now, they could be considered one family, just divided into two parts based on their martial souls. A martial soul fusion skill, as the name implies, is the fusion of martial souls, not the fusion of people; the human factor is too small.

If it were composed of two men or two women, how would the family inheritance work? These people who could fuse could be said to be the nailed-on heirs, so how to solve this problem now? In the end, they would sneakily find an heir from somewhere unknown to inherit the position.

From this difficulty, one could see the scarcity of martial soul fusion skills; despite having such compatible martial souls, the massive families didn't have many. Furthermore, there were even more difficult conditions. Even if you had a suitable person, how would you find them? Even if you traveled across thousands of mountains and rivers and saw the person suitable for you, how would you judge if that person was compatible with you? With so many people, could you even judge them all?

It only comes down to luck or something more metaphysical: fate.

Regardless, Huo Yuhao began to study martial soul fusion skills. Only by understanding them could he truly find their weaknesses and defeat them.