Academy Competition

The entire scene fell silent in an instant.

The boy who had been crying also stopped, staring blankly at Huo Yuhao, his eyes filled with shock and adoration.

Zhao Ze walked over slowly, waving the Human Emperor Banner in his hand.

A black light flashed, and the souls of all the evil soul masters on the ground were sucked into the banner. The undead patterns on the banner's surface became clearer, and the aura it exuded grew even more terrifying.

"Very good." Zhao Ze nodded, stowing the Human Emperor Banner into his storage soul tool, his gaze sweeping toward the direction where police sirens were approaching. "Yuhao, let's go."

Huo Yuhao acknowledged, and the two figures flashed, merging into the nearby alley like two shadows. With a few leaps, they shook off the approaching patrol team and sped toward the Black Pine Forest outside Ming Capital.

The Black Pine Forest was deserted in the dead of night, with only the rustling of wind through pine needles. Zhao Ze stopped and took out the Human Emperor Banner once more. The pitch-black pole shimmered with a ghostly light under the moonlight; he condensed a trace of undead magic at his fingertip and tapped it gently against the banner.

"Come out."

Following his command, over a dozen twisted black phantoms drifted out from the banner—the very souls of the evil soul masters just absorbed. As soon as they emerged, they trembled, kneeling before Zhao Ze and Huo Yuhao to beg for mercy, their faces twisted in extreme terror.

"I ask you, where is the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters in Ming Capital?" Zhao Ze's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.

The souls looked at one another, none daring to speak. The soul of the red-robed priest who led them trembled and said, "Spare us, my lord! We... we are just small fries from a branch altar; we have no idea where the main headquarters is! We only take orders from the branch master; we haven't even seen what the headquarters' envoys look like!"

"Where is the branch altar?" Huo Yuhao stepped forward, asking sternly.

"It's... at the Abandoned Steel Factory in the west of the city!" another soul rushed to answer, fearing that being late would lead to their soul being scattered. "The branch master is a black-robed priest with over thirty brothers under him. We were planning to hold a blood sacrifice in the old city district tonight, but we never expected to run into you, my lord..."

Zhao Ze's eyes narrowed. "Take us there."

The dozen souls immediately transformed into black ribbons of guiding light, drifting toward the west of the city. Zhao Ze and Huo Yuhao followed closely behind, and in less than a quarter of an hour, they arrived before an abandoned steel factory. The place was desolate, filled with rusted steel frames, and the air was thick with the scent of rust and blood.

"This is the place, my lord." The souls pointed toward the largest factory building.

Zhao Ze gave Huo Yuhao a look. Huo Yuhao nodded, a flash of purple light in his eyes as his spiritual power instantly expanded, shrouding the entire factory.

"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 the words had even faded, Huo Yuhao had already charged out first.

"Domain Expansion—Abyss of Endless Slashes!"

A massive surge of spiritual power erupted instantly, and countless transparent slashes poured into the factory like a rainstorm. The evil soul masters inside didn't even have time to react before they were sliced into fragments. Screams rose and fell, and in just ten seconds, the factory fell silent.

Zhao Ze walked slowly into the factory, waving the Human Emperor Banner in his hand. All the souls of the evil soul masters were sucked into the banner, the level 67 branch master being no exception. He summoned the branch master's soul again to interrogate it for information on the main headquarters.

"The... the envoy from the main headquarters will come here at the end of the month to collect the offerings and souls we've gathered over these three months," the branch master's soul trembled as it spoke. "The envoy is a powerhouse at the Title Douluo level; only he knows the specific location of the main headquarters."

"A Title Douluo?" Huo Yuhao frowned.

Zhao Ze pondered for a moment and said, "It seems it's not the time to alert the enemy yet. Since they aren't coming until the end of the month, we'll wait for them to deliver themselves to us."

He raised his hand and flicked, sending several black soul tools the size of fingernails flying out, silently sticking to every corner of the factory.

"These are my custom-made Surveillance Soul Tools. They can transmit images and sound in real-time and can also mask spiritual detection.

When the headquarters envoy arrives at the end of the month, we will know immediately."

After finishing this, Zhao Ze took Huo Yuhao and turned to leave the Abandoned Steel Factory.

When the two returned to the academy laboratory, the eastern horizon was already turning a pale white.

Zhao Ze had just properly stowed the Human Emperor Banner when a knock sounded at the laboratory door.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and Jing Hongchen and Lin Jiayi walked in.

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

His eyes, however, swept unobtrusively over the various soul tool parts in the lab before finally landing on Zhao Ze and Huo Yuhao.

"Mr. Zhao Ze, Student Yuhao, good morning."

Jing Hongchen said with a smile.

"There was an attack by the Holy Spirit Cult in the old city district of Ming Capital last night. I heard you two happened to be on the scene and even took action to eliminate those evil soul masters?"

Zhao Ze leaned against the lab bench and nodded faintly.

"That's right. We just happened to run into them and took care of it while we were at it. It was Yuhao who did the work."

"What?!"

Jing Hongchen and Lin Jiayi widened their eyes simultaneously, looking at Huo Yuhao in utter disbelief.

They had already received the report from the patrol team last night, knowing that a red-robed priest and over a dozen evil soul masters had been killed in an instant, and that a branch altar had been wiped out.

That red-robed priest was a genuine Soul King-level powerhouse!

They had originally assumed that Zhao Ze was the one who acted, given that Zhao Ze was an eighth-level soul master with unfathomable strength.

But they never imagined that the one who acted was actually Huo Yuhao!

A level 45 Soul Ancestor, actually capable of instantly killing a Soul King-level evil soul master?

Who would believe that if they heard it!

Lin Jiayi couldn't help but ask:

"Student Yuhao, this... did you really accomplish this all by yourself?"

"It was me."

Huo Yuhao nodded slightly, his tone calm.

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

Jing Hongchen took a deep look at Huo Yuhao, a stormy sea of shock rising in his heart.

He had originally thought he had overestimated Huo Yuhao enough, but he had not expected to underestimate him still.

The potential of this youth was simply bottomless.

He and Lin Jiayi exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and calculation in the other's eyes.

Such a genius must be kept in the Sun Moon Empire at all costs.

Jing Hongchen steadied himself, a warmer smile appearing on his face:

"Student Yuhao is truly a young hero! To possess such strength at such a young age, your future prospects are limitless."

He paused, then continued:

"As it happens, the academy is preparing to hold an Academy-wide Soul Tool Competition in one week, open to students of all grades.

I would like to invite Student Yuhao to participate, so that our academy's students may witness the brilliance of a Shrek genius.

Of course, the prizes will not be lacking.

The first-place winner will receive rare metals, as well as the opportunity to study in the Mingde Hall Core Laboratory for one month."

"No problem, I will participate."

Huo Yuhao agreed without the slightest hesitation.