The Academy Competition

The entire scene fell silent in an instant.

Even the boy who had been crying stopped, staring at Huo Yuhao in a daze, his eyes full of shock and admiration.

Zhao Ze walked over at an unhurried pace and gave the Human Emperor Banner in his hand a gentle wave.

A flash of black light swept past, and all the Evil Soul Masters' souls on the ground were sucked into the banner. The undead patterns on its surface grew clearer, and the aura it gave off became even more terrifying.

"Good." Zhao Ze nodded, stowed the Human Emperor Banner in his Storage Soul Tool, then glanced toward the distant sound of sirens. "Yuhao, let's go."

Huo Yuhao answered, and the two of them blurred into motion, melting into the nearby alley like a pair of shadows. After a few leaps, they had shaken off the patrol squad that was about to arrive and raced toward Black Pine Forest outside Mingdu.

Black Pine Forest was deserted in the dead of night. Only the wind rustling through the pine needles broke the silence. Zhao Ze stopped and took out the Human Emperor Banner again. Its pitch-black shaft glimmered faintly in the moonlight. A trace of necromantic magic gathered at his fingertip, and he gently tapped the banner.

"Come out."

At his command, more than a dozen warped black shadows drifted out of the banner. They were the souls of the Evil Soul Masters who had just been absorbed. The moment they emerged, they trembled all over and fell to their knees, begging Zhao Ze and Huo Yuhao for mercy, their faces contorted with utter terror.

"Tell me, where is the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters in Mingdu?" Zhao Ze's voice was icy, devoid of emotion.

The souls looked from one to another, but none dared speak. At last, the soul of the red-robed priest in the lead stammered, "Spare us, my lord! We... we're just minor underlings from a branch altar. We don't know where the main altar is at all! We only take orders from the branch altar master. We've never even seen what the main altar's envoy looks like!"

"Where is the branch altar?" Huo Yuhao stepped forward and demanded.

"It's... it's in the abandoned steel factory in the western part of the city!" another soul hurriedly blurted out, afraid that if he was too late, he would be scattered into oblivion. "The branch altar master is a black-robed priest, and he has more than thirty men under him. Tonight, we were going to hold a blood sacrifice in the old district, but we didn't expect to run into you, my lord..."

Zhao Ze's gaze sharpened. "Take us there."

The dozen or so souls immediately turned into ribbons of black light and floated toward the western part of the city. Zhao Ze and Huo Yuhao followed close behind. In less than fifteen minutes, they reached an abandoned steel factory. The place was deserted, with rusted steel frames scattered everywhere. The air reeked of rust and blood.

"This is the place, my lord," the souls said, pointing to the largest workshop.

Zhao Ze gave Huo Yuhao a look. Huo Yuhao nodded, a flash of purple light crossing his eyes as his spiritual power spread out in an instant, enveloping the entire workshop.

"There are thirty-two Evil Soul Masters inside. The strongest is a level 67 Soul Emperor, in the innermost room."

"Move," Zhao Ze said calmly.

Before his words had even faded, Huo Yuhao had already charged forward.

"Domain Expansion—Abyss of Endless Slashes!"

His vast spiritual power erupted in an instant. Countless invisible slashes poured into the workshop like a torrential downpour. The Evil Soul Masters inside had no time to react before they were cut to pieces. Screams rose one after another, but after only ten seconds, the workshop fell silent.

Zhao Ze walked into the workshop at an unhurried pace and gave the Human Emperor Banner in his hand a gentle wave. The souls of all the Evil Soul Masters were sucked into the banner, including the level 67 branch altar master. He summoned the branch altar master's soul again and questioned him about the main altar.

"The main altar... the main altar's envoy will come here at the end of the month to collect the offerings and souls we've gathered over the past three months," the branch altar master's soul said, trembling. "The envoy is a Titled Douluo. Only he knows the main altar's exact location."

"A Titled Douluo?" Huo Yuhao furrowed his brow.

Zhao Ze pondered for a moment. "Looks like it's too soon to make a move and alert them. Since they won't come until the end of the month, we'll wait for them to walk right into our hands."

He raised his hand and sent several black Soul Tools, each no bigger than a fingernail, flying out. They silently attached themselves to various corners of the workshop.

"These are Surveillance Soul Tools I made myself. They can transmit images and sound in real time, and they can also shield themselves from spiritual detection.

"When the main altar's envoy arrives at the end of the month, we'll know right away."

Having finished, Zhao Ze left the abandoned steel factory with Huo Yuhao.

By the time the two returned to the academy laboratory, the eastern sky had already begun to pale.

Zhao Ze had just carefully put away the Human Emperor Banner when someone knocked on the laboratory door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Jing Hongchen and Lin Jiayi walked in.

Jing Hongchen was still wearing his signature white robe, a warm smile on his face.

Yet his eyes discreetly swept over the various Soul Tool components in the laboratory before finally settling on Zhao Ze and Huo Yuhao.

"Mr. Zhao, Yuhao, good morning."

Jing Hongchen smiled as he spoke.

"I heard there was an attack by the Holy Spirit Cult in Mingdu's old district last night, and that you two happened to be there and took care of those Evil Soul Masters?"

Zhao Ze leaned against the workbench and nodded calmly.

"That's right. We happened to run into them, so we took care of them. Yuhao did the fighting."

"What?!"

Jing Hongchen and Lin Jiayi both widened their eyes and stared at Huo Yuhao in disbelief.

They had received the patrol squad's report the previous night. They knew that a red-robed priest and more than a dozen Evil Soul Masters had been killed in an instant, and that a branch altar had been wiped out.

That red-robed priest had been a bona fide Soul King!

They had assumed Zhao Ze was the one who had done it. After all, Zhao Ze was a Level 8 Soul Engineer, and his strength was unfathomable.

But they had never imagined that Huo Yuhao was the one who had done it!

A Soul Ancestor of only level 45 had killed an Evil Soul Master at Soul King level in an instant?

Who would believe that?

Lin Jiayi couldn't help asking, "Yuhao, did... did you really do all that by yourself?"

"I did." Huo Yuhao gave a slight nod, his tone calm.

"Those Evil Soul Masters slaughtered the innocent. They deserved to die."

Jing Hongchen studied Huo Yuhao deeply, waves of shock surging through his heart.

He had thought he'd already made a high enough estimate of Huo Yuhao, but it turned out he had still underestimated him.

The boy's potential was unfathomable.

He exchanged a glance with Lin Jiayi. Both could see the shock and calculation in the other's eyes.

A genius like this had to be kept in the Sun Moon Empire, no matter what.

Jing Hongchen composed himself and put on an even warmer smile.

"Yuhao, you're truly a young hero! To have such strength at your age—you have a boundless future ahead of you."

He paused, then continued, "As it happens, the academy is planning to hold an Academy-wide Soul Tool Competition in a week, open to students of every year.

"I'd like to invite you to take part, so the students here can see the brilliance of a Shrek prodigy.

"Of course, there will be plenty of prizes, too.

"First place will receive rare metals and a chance to study in the Core Laboratory of Mingde Hall for a month."

"No problem. I'll compete," Huo Yuhao agreed without hesitation.