Unfinished Melee

In Lang Ya's perception, it felt as though he had only blinked; although he noticed Huo Yuhao had used a soul skill, he had no idea what effect that skill actually possessed.

At the start of the battle, the moment Tao Yu's attack was about to strike Huo Yuhao, he utilized the soul skill effect of the Spirit Genesis God, simultaneously setting the targets of the skill to himself and Tao Yu.

With the augmentation of thousand-year-level soul power and his experience from his past life in the precise control of mental power, Huo Yuhao successfully achieved this, simultaneously applying acceleration and deceleration to his own and Tao Yu's thought processes, respectively.

To Tao Yu, whose thoughts were decelerated, Huo Yuhao's movements appeared so fast that they were completely imperceptible, like the shadow of a wandering ghost, making it impossible to track Huo Yuhao's actions.

Conversely, with Huo Yuhao's own perception accelerated, the opponent's attack appeared as slow as a snail in his eyes, and every muscle movement beneath the skin could not escape his scrutiny.

Tao Yu's offensive, if one looked only at that sandbag-sized fist, would indeed seem somewhat intimidating. But given the strength he had displayed and Lang Ya's confirmation, Tao Yu was, in any case, nothing more than an ordinary first-ring soul master.

The power of a first soul skill would ultimately not be so great that it was impossible to dodge, especially for Huo Yuhao in a state of accelerated thought.

However, to ensure he could completely clear the opponent's attack range, Huo Yuhao also utilized the augmentation of the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, making his footwork even more unpredictable.

In less time than it took to blink, Huo Yuhao successfully removed himself from Tao Yu's attack range while simultaneously arriving at his blind spot.

Condense mental power into a thorn... accumulate energy for it, then trigger it in an instant! Huo Yuhao recalled the basic applications of mental power from his past life; though they were called basic, in this world, freely manipulating power to attack was the true high-level technique.

The first time he saw this technique in his past life... it seemed to have been a battle sparked by jealousy, and he had only managed a pyrrhic victory.

But now, he only needed to follow the established path and use the most secure method to unleash this Mental Shock to defeat his opponent.

"Mental Shock." He whispered in his heart, and in the heat of battle, the time it took for Huo Yuhao to dodge Tao Yu's attack and then use Mental Shock to defeat him had only spanned a single blink.

Returning to the present, Huo Yuhao looked quietly at Lang Ya on the VIP stand, his gaze seemingly reminding him that if he still wished to continue the battle, then he should come ahead.

He saw the look of pleasant surprise on Lang Ya's face; he knew his performance had completely met the other's expectations, or perhaps even far exceeded them.

Although the risk was great, this was necessary to elevate his value in the other's eyes.

"How was that?"

Huo Yuhao turned toward Lang Ya and asked.

"Excellent, excellent, simply excellent!" Lang Ya repeated three times, his eyes filled with irrepressible excitement.

He had sensed it; Huo Yuhao must have just used soul skills similar to sensory delay and Mental Shock. Both were common soul skills for mental-type martial souls, but generally speaking, Mental Shock would not occupy a soul skill slot on its own.

Usually, once mental power reached a certain level, Mental Shock could be released using pure mental power, a high-level technique that only mental-type soul masters who had reached a certain tier could achieve.

But compared to Mental Shock, sensory delay was clearly not an ability that could be performed directly using pure mental power, so Lang Ya judged that Huo Yuhao's first soul skill must be sensory delay.

But in other words, Huo Yuhao's mental power had already reached the level where he could independently release Mental Shock.

The thought, "I want to... I really want to bring this child back to the Body Sect," completely occupied Lang Ya's brain, to the point that he leaped directly in front of Huo Yuhao. Meanwhile, Tao Yu and the other children behind him gathered together obediently, as if they were toys scattered on the floor being swept into a pile.

Huo Yuhao could not help but look at those people; they were all just like Tao Yu moments ago—though they had stable soul power flowing through them, their eyes were vacant, devoid of any trace of self-awareness.

Huo Yuhao had reason to suspect that this group of children were all puppets controlled by Lang Ya's soul power.

"Are we not continuing the battle? I thought you would have me fight a gauntlet," Huo Yuhao said, but Lang Ya only smiled and shook his head upon hearing this.

"You seem to have some misunderstanding about me, Huo Yuhao. I said from the very beginning that the purpose of this battle was simple: just to see exactly how much weight you carry."

As Lang Ya spoke, he gestured excitedly with his arms:

"Of course, I did initially prepare to test you with a gauntlet, but after just one battle, I knew you were no mere genius. You are a one-in-a-billion, once-in-ten-thousand-years super genius!"

Lang Ya gestured wildly with various motions, continuing to speak incessantly:

"Listen to me, Huo Yuhao. In my view, your talent in the mental aspect is in no way inferior to anyone in the Body Sect; by analogy, your talent might even be more outstanding than our current Sect Master!"

"Huo Yuhao, I know you may still have some lingering concerns. I can apologize for the threats I made earlier, but you must understand me—if not for those threats, could you have truly unleashed such powerful strength? Obviously not. You would have thought about stalling for time rather than resolving the battle at the fastest speed. This is helping you, and it is helping me avoid unnecessary time!"

"Look, even under the pressure of a threat that had nothing to do with you, you successfully displayed your unparalleled talent in the mental arts before me. Otherwise, you would have had to face several more battles. Before these children I have carefully 'educated,' I am confident I could have worn you out, and at that point, your companions would have fallen into danger as well."

"How about it? This is a deal that is absolutely profitable and risk-free. I haven't even caused any real harm to your teachers or classmates; this is a perfect win-win!"

Lang Ya grew more excited as he spoke, even grabbing Huo Yuhao by the shoulders.

Huo Yuhao wanted to break free, but Lang Ya was, after all, a Contra-level soul master; in terms of raw physical strength, it was not something Huo Yuhao could resist.

Consequently, although Huo Yuhao kept twisting his body, he could only stare at Lang Ya's increasingly excited and repulsive face.

"Let's go, Huo Yuhao. I will take you away right now. I am confident that as long as you join the Body Sect, I guarantee I can make you the next Sect Master... no, not just me, I believe the Sect Master himself would certainly think so too!"

Huo Yuhao could say he was not surprised at all... he couldn't believe a single word this guy said. Sure enough, breaking promises was as easy as drinking water for him.

"You... liar!" Huo Yuhao glared at Lang Ya in anger. He was actually still quite calm, but this appearance was the most suitable one for him to project.

Anger, resentment—he needed to use these emotions to steady Lang Ya's mind, preventing him from noticing the changes in the surrounding environment.

"Hahaha... as long as the Body Sect gains another genius, anything is fine!" Lang Ya laughed maniacally, but in the very next moment.

He suddenly realized that his hands had lost all sensation. Only when he regained his focus did he realize that his bones had been cleanly severed, the cross-sections still trailing wisps of pitch-black aura.

"I believe I warned you, Lang Ya." A majestic voice emanated from in front of Lang Ya. Standing before him was no longer Huo Yuhao, but Long Xiaoyao, his expression grave and his demeanor menacing.