Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's Martial Soul Fusion Failed

"As for Soul Tools..." Du Busi grinned. "I'm heading back right now to have the old fellows in the sect start gathering Soul Tool manuals and researching Soul Tool technology. Once that brat Huo Yuhao gets here, we'll give him the best possible conditions and let him build to his heart's content! I want to see what happens when Soul Tools are combined with Body Martial Souls!"

Long Aotian smiled as well and gave Dai Tu's shoulder a firm squeeze.

"Little Junior Brother, don't worry. You have your senior brother, your teacher, and the entire Body Sect behind you. Neither you nor your little brother will ever suffer another injustice. Those scum from the White Tiger Duke Mansion will pay their blood debt sooner or later!"

Dai Tu looked at Du Busi, then at Long Aotian, at the two faces filled with sincerity and trust. The frozen place in his heart seemed to melt a little more.

He nodded without saying anything else.

He merely clenched his fists.

Half a year.

He still had half a year.

Within half a year, he had to complete the first three God Trials and raise his strength to the four-ring level, perhaps even the five-ring level.

He had to lay a solid foundation, gain enough strength to protect himself, and... before Tang God King noticed Huo Yuhao, pull that foolish little brother out of his predetermined fate.

Then, together, they would overturn the White Tiger Duke Mansion and make everyone who had harmed them pay the price.

Together... they would carve out a path of their own.

The night grew deeper, stars glimmering overhead.

The three of them did not linger and strode toward Heaven Dou City.

Their steps were firm and powerful.

The future lay beneath their feet.

Douluo Continent, Shrek Academy, outer courtyard dormitory building.

It was late at night.

Moonlight filtered through the window, casting a patch of cold, clear light across the clean dormitory floor.

The chirping of insects outside rose and fell, mingling with the faint sound of water drifting over from Sea God Lake, making this summer night seem especially tranquil.

Huo Yuhao lay on his bed with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

He could not sleep.

It was not that he was not tired. His mind was simply a mess, like a tangled ball of thread that could not be unraveled.

He had been at Shrek Academy for nearly half a year now, and his Soul Power had risen quite quickly.

Brother Sky Dream, that unreliable big bug living in his Spirit Sea who claimed to be a million-year soul beast, said his Soul Power was already close to level twenty. At most, another month would see him break through and obtain his second soul ring and second martial soul. This excited Huo Yuhao and drove him to cultivate even harder.

He had also gained a very good roommate.

Wang Dong!

That outrageously beautiful guy. Their friendship had warmed up incredibly fast, almost as if it had been deliberately arranged in a dream. And vague, indistinct images kept flashing through Huo Yuhao's mind, urging him to get closer to Wang Dong.

Huo Yuhao cultivated seriously, but midway through his cultivation, he suddenly sensed a strange, gentle power emanating from the bed opposite his.

It was Wang Dong.

Huo Yuhao did not know what Wang Dong was doing, but a faint pink-blue radiance emanated from him. The glow was soft and warm, like spring sunlight, like a mother's hand. Without realizing it, Huo Yuhao's nerves, taut all day long, gradually relaxed.

Then he heard Wang Dong's breathing become somewhat hurried.

It sounded as if he were enduring pain, or perhaps... struggling?

Huo Yuhao hesitated for a moment, but still got up, walked to Wang Dong's bedside, and asked softly, "Wang Dong, are you all right?"

Inside the bed curtains, Wang Dong did not answer. His breathing only grew more labored.

Huo Yuhao's heart tightened. Forgetting all about keeping a proper distance between men and women—though Wang Dong was a boy, this guy was fussier than any girl, and Huo Yuhao had always been careful to maintain his distance—he reached out and pulled back the bed curtains.

Then he saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Wang Dong lay curled up on the bed, his arms wrapped tightly around himself, his whole body trembling. His excessively beautiful face was pale as paper, beads of cold sweat covered his forehead, and his teeth had bitten his lips until they bled.

Most bizarrely, the pink-blue radiance around him was fluctuating violently, like a candle flame in the wind, brightening and dimming as though it might go out at any moment.

"Wang Dong!" Huo Yuhao was terrified. Without thinking, he reached out to support him.

But the instant his hand touched Wang Dong's shoulder, a powerful, irresistible suction force burst from Wang Dong's body and dragged him over.

Bang!

Caught off guard, Huo Yuhao fell straight onto Wang Dong.

The two collided, forehead against forehead, nose tip against nose tip. Their breaths intertwined, and they could hear each other's heartbeats.

Huo Yuhao's brain went completely blank.

He could feel that Wang Dong's body was soft and fragrant, carrying an... indescribably pleasant scent. Like grass after rain, like morning dew, like... a pristine flower that bloomed only atop the purest snow-capped mountain, untouched by dust.

He could feel Wang Dong's breath against his face, warm and carrying a faint sweetness.

He could feel Wang Dong's heartbeat, nearly synchronized with his own through their thin clothing, like two instruments plucked by the same string, playing a secret resonance in the silent night that only they could hear.

Then something even stranger happened.

Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eye martial soul emerged on its own.

He had not summoned it. The martial soul itself had... awakened.

A pale golden light lit up from the depths of his eyes. His already clear eyes became even brighter, and countless tiny specks of light seemed to whirl deep within his pupils, like a starry sky, like a vortex, like... the Eye of Destiny that could see through all illusion.

At the same time, pink-blue light rose from Wang Dong's body as well.

The light was stronger and purer than before, like a blazing flame, like a flowing river of stars. It surged from Wang Dong's body and instantly enveloped both of them.

The pink-blue light and the pale golden light began to merge, to spin, to... weave together.

Like two threads of different colors, carefully, slowly, yet unwaveringly twisted into a single strand by an invisible hand.

Huo Yuhao could feel an unimaginably vast power, brimming with the aura of life, flowing from Wang Dong's body into his through the intermingling lights.

That power was gentle and pure, like melted snow in spring, nourishing his parched meridians, soothing the wounds deep within his soul, and even... awakening something that had long slumbered within him, something he himself had never noticed.

"Is this... martial soul fusion?!"

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's noisy voice suddenly rang out in Huo Yuhao's mind, filled with incredulous shock.

"Holy shit! Little Yuhao, you've struck gold! This is martial soul fusion! And it's an extremely high-quality, nearly perfect martial soul fusion! This pink-blue kid's martial soul is no simple matter! Light Goddess Butterfly? No, it's even higher than the Light Goddess Butterfly! Is it... is it that one?!"