Spirit Eye

The students watching the match erupted in excitement. Wasn't this exactly what they had come to see? A spectacular battle. The cost behind it was beyond their concern.

Unable to take Xiao Xiao's opponent down in one go, she retreated alongside Huo Yuhao. This was their plan: stall for as long as they could. Huo Yuhao tried to conserve his strength, waiting until they had no other choice before using a Mental Attack to break up the fusion. He had far too few chances to use it.

But their opponents weren't about to give them that opportunity. A hazy Martial Soul appeared, so indistinct that it seemed it might vanish at any moment, yet it roared as if to proclaim its existence.

The Hell White Tiger was currently using three Soul Rings. One way to tell who was controlling a Martial Soul Fusion Skill was to look at the color and number of the Soul Rings. Only one person could be in control at a time. If they were all the same, there was no way to tell—but when that happened, it was usually because the two were twins whose minds were connected, so there was no need to figure out who was in charge anyway.

Once they understood their opponent's abilities, they could plan how to counter them. But there was no time to assess the situation now. Their opponent had already attacked. Xiao Xiao understood how Huo Yuhao had felt: Spiritual Detection had already shown her exactly where the opponent was headed, but she had no way to stop him.

Dai Huabin let out a tiger's roar. His clearly beastlike legs bent, then propelled him forward with a powerful leap. The ground cracked slightly beneath him. Even if this wasn't a standard tournament arena, it still wasn't the kind of ground an ordinary person could damage. His strength was clearly beyond his current rank.

With three rings, he was the strongest in his year. Now that he had also performed a Martial Soul Fusion, unless someone appeared with strength beyond the same rank, he would be unstoppable.

Xiao Xiao summoned all her strength to arrange the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron into a defensive formation, barely managing to catch her opponent's first attack. She used her first and second Soul Skills at the same time, but instead of attacking as she usually did, she focused entirely on defense for the first time. One look at their opponent was enough to tell them he was beyond anything they could handle.

The outcome was exactly what everyone had expected. Their formation was smashed apart, and their opponent began preparing a second attack. He had simply charged them without using a Soul Skill, yet even that had forced them to give everything they had. A sense of despair crept in. They had no chance of winning.

But Xiao Xiao didn't lose heart. Her gaze hardened. Even if she was going to lose, she would do it on her feet. She would never surrender. She would resist to the very end.

Xiao Xiao was the only one who could fight back in this situation. Huo Yuhao could do nothing. His Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and other Tang Sect Secret Techniques weren't mastered well enough to let him bridge such a gap and win. He could ask Tian Meng to step in, but they weren't here.

They had been busy with some mysterious task these past few days. At first, Huo Yuhao had asked if they needed his help, but they had refused. He'd assumed the losers of their last match had no chance of beating them this time. That was what he'd said, at least.

In truth, Huo Yuhao was upset that they'd gone off without him, but he couldn't bring himself to say so. It was a common problem among young people: when they ran into trouble, they didn't ask for help. Instead, they got stubborn and tried to shoulder everything themselves, without considering whether they could handle it. They dragged things out until they were in over their heads, sometimes creating a situation they could never undo.

By then, they could only regret it—but it was too late. It could become a lifelong regret.

Huo Yuhao was still debating whether to ask Electrolux for help. He and Electrolux rarely spoke, and they didn't know each other well. The last time Electrolux had helped him, it had been a promise they'd made beforehand, so Huo Yuhao hadn't hesitated. But there was no such promise now. Was it really necessary to bother him over a match? What if the Martial Soul Fusion Skill ended on its own?

No matter how many excuses he came up with, they couldn't stop Dai Huabin's attack. Xiao Xiao had already been unable to hold on by his second charge. Her pretty face had gone pale, not a trace of color remaining. Huo Yuhao was caught up in his inner struggle and didn't notice. No matter how thorough Spiritual Detection was, it still depended on the person using it. If you weren't paying attention, how could you notice something happening right under your nose?

Xiao Xiao suddenly steeled herself. As Dai Huabin charged for the third time, she called out to Huo Yuhao. Wasn't Dai Huabin being overconfident? If he wouldn't use a Soul Skill, then they'd hit him with everything they had. She activated her first and second Soul Rings again, but this time they didn't flash one after the other. She used them simultaneously, without any pause between them. He had inherited a Martial Soul Fusion Skill—didn't her family have one, too?

A treasure of the nation: Cauldron's Tremor.

The moment Xiao Xiao called out, Huo Yuhao instinctively unleashed a Mental Attack alongside Purple Demon Eye. Their coordination and rapport had been honed through countless practice sessions.

The rumbling of the cauldron reverberated throughout the arena. To protect the watching students, the teachers had actually intervened in a first-year match for once, shielding the audience from the force of the attack. But the students who had nearly been caught in it weren't deterred. Their excitement only grew, and the cries from the stands grew louder. The collision of such powerful attacks set everyone's blood racing.

But Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao felt the opposite: cold and weakness spread through their bodies. Their opponent used his third and first Soul Skills in succession: White Tiger Vajra Transformation and White Tiger Barrier. His defenses were pushed to the limit. At that moment, even Xu Sanshi couldn't match them. Their strongest combination struck, but failed to cause any damage.

The worst they had feared had come to pass. Their opponents had endured the full force of their strongest attack, one they hadn't even revealed before. It wasn't that Dai Huabin and his partner were unharmed. Their Martial Soul Fusion Skill had nearly been broken by that combination of skills, which was far beyond their current level. But it had only nearly been broken. Since it hadn't actually been disrupted, it was their turn to attack.

Second Soul Skill: White Tiger Intense Light Wave. It was a ranged attack empowered by his third Soul Skill. Xiao Xiao had no strength left when she saw it. The combination skill's extraordinary power had taken a tremendous toll—not on her Soul Power, but on her mind and body. Her mental strength was exhausted. Everything came at a price. That was simply how the world worked.

Still, she intended to try with everything she had. Huo Yuhao, the team's support Soul Master, was behind her. Everything they'd been taught said to protect the support, the core of the team. So that was what she would do. As long as she didn't fall, Huo Yuhao would be safe.

Just as expected, they were defeated. Her Martial Soul shattered head-on, and the backlash filled Xiao Xiao's mouth with the taste of blood. She was sent flying, but not out of the arena. Dai Huabin had controlled his strength. He wanted to crush every ability they had and drive them to despair. Simply knocking them out was not what he wanted.

Huo Yuhao hadn't seen it coming at all. He'd never anticipated this. Xiao Xiao had fallen, and what could a support Soul Master like him do on his own? He had no chance to use Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track or Mysterious Jade Hand. Dai Huabin was too fast for him to react. He was sent flying with a brutal blow, but he didn't lose consciousness.

Huo Yuhao struggled to his feet, only to be knocked down again. He had one more Mental Attack left, but he couldn't focus enough to launch it. Despair had already taken hold of him. Only his refusal to admit defeat kept him going.

But then Xiao Xiao, who should have been out of strength, came to his aid.

A flute sounded. Her Second Martial Soul: the Nine Phoenix Flute. First Soul Skill: Slowing.

It had little effect. A Century Soul Ring and a support skill couldn't cause any damage. Dai Huabin was already starting to lose his senses. Their Martial Soul Fusion Skill consumed far more energy than they could currently sustain.

In their extreme emotional state, they were furious at Xiao Xiao for slowing them down. Dai Huabin kicked her away, even though she had no strength left. Blood sprayed from her mouth.

Seeing this, Huo Yuhao felt something well up inside him: anger. He had never been this furious before. His desire for revenge against the Duke's Mansion had been a calm, methodical anger. Now, fury had swallowed his mind.

His Sea of Spirit erupted like never before. It wasn't because someone else was causing a disturbance inside it. It was entirely his own will. The Sea of Spirit followed its true master's intent. Power unfurled, then exploded.

His vast mental strength surged into action, merging with his Spirit Eye. For the first time, his Martial Soul moved in such a way. Silver light shimmered in his Spirit Eye, then spilled outward when it could no longer contain it. Everyone saw the strange spectacle, and excited cheers rang out again.

The silver patterns were quickly overtaken by gray and green, forming a butterfly-like shape, half one color and half the other. It was impossible to look away. The shape was, in essence, formed by his mental strength manifesting outside his body. The teachers noticed it too, but there was nothing they could do. Mental strength wasn't something they knew how to deal with.

Other people's thoughts could no longer stop Huo Yuhao. Fury, which should have weakened his abilities, somehow let him draw upon his mental strength and attack.

At that moment, no one could stop Huo Yuhao.

The patterns began to bloom, releasing a beam. No one could see it, but everyone sensed the attack. Time seemed to slow. The teachers realized how powerful the attack was, but didn't have time to react. The sheer speed of the Mental Attack doomed Dai Huabin. Huo Yuhao's mental strength, far beyond that of anyone at his rank and even beyond his own control, unleashed its power.

The world witnessed what destruction meant.

The Martial Soul Fusion Skill instantly broke apart. Both men lost consciousness, blood running from their seven orifices as they lay unresponsive. Huo Yuhao was in no better shape. His Spirit Eye went completely blind, and two trails of bloody tears ran down his cheeks. But no matter how battered he was, Huo Yuhao was the one standing here. He was the enemy of the White Tiger Family, and his path to power would inevitably be built upon their blood. This was only the interest.

There was no doubt about who had won. Then, after Spiritual Detection confirmed that Xiao Xiao wasn't badly hurt, he relaxed and lost consciousness.