Dai Huabin stepped out of the dormitory and looked down at Huo Yuhao, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and anger written across his face.
"So my mother really was killed by you."
Huo Yuhao was even angrier. It really had been Dai Huabin who was behind his mother's strange disappearance all those years ago.
Hatred erupted in his heart. He immediately took out the Godly Zhuge Crossbow Sister Xiao Ya had given him and pulled the trigger. Sixteen bolts shot out.
Dai Huabin hadn't expected Huo Yuhao to have such a powerful weapon. With them so close, he was caught off guard and had time only to use Martial Soul Possession before the bolts pierced right through him.
The most fatal part was the poison on them. The poison had been prepared by Tang Ya, an inheritor of the Tang Sect, so it was naturally potent. It might not have killed at a touch, but it was still deadly—especially since the bolts had struck vital points on his torso.
Dai Huabin looked down at the rapidly spreading bloodstains on his clothes, disbelief written all over his face. His body swayed, then he collapsed limply to the ground. Before long, he stopped breathing.
Only after he died did a wisp of spiritual power carry Dai Huabin's soul away. It flew into the distance and eventually landed in Sleep Nightmare's hands, where it merged into a Soul Summoning Banner forged by Wan Hun.
"That was quick."
Sleep Nightmare was surprised. The other scheme had actually worked, too.
The lackey who had followed Dai Huabin and stood guard outside the dormitory was scared witless. When he came to his senses, he hurriedly ran off, shouting as he went.
"Murder! Murder!"
Huo Yuhao was just as dumbstruck. He stared at Dai Huabin, who lay collapsed on the ground, eyes open and full of resentment, and his mind went blank.
Had he really killed someone?
The commotion, along with the lackey's shouts, brought students from the other dormitories out to see what was happening. When they saw Dai Huabin lying in a pool of blood, they were all stunned.
He'd really killed someone!
Wasn't this a little too thrilling?
More and more people gathered. Before long, a burly young man came running at full speed. It was Dai Huabin's older brother, Dai Yaoheng. The lackey who had run off was following behind him.
"Huabin!"
Seeing his younger brother lying in a pool of blood, a look of unwillingness on his face, Dai Yaoheng swayed.
He hurriedly crouched down to check on him, but his younger brother had already stopped breathing. He was truly dead. There were more than ten bleeding holes in his clothes, and the blood flowing from them was black, proof that he'd been poisoned.
"Tell me, what happened? How did my brother die?"
Dai Yaoheng grabbed the lackey and yanked him over, murderous intent surging from him.
"It was that Huo Yuhao. Young Master Huabin said his name was Dai Yuhao, and that he was your younger brother, so he came over to take a look. Then he accidentally discovered that Huo Yuhao had brought a concubine disguised as a man into the academy to live with him. They flew into a rage and killed him to silence him."
The lackey stammered out his report. This really had nothing to do with him. He was just a lackey, nothing more.
"Dai Yuhao!"
Dai Yaoheng remembered the name. Following the lackey's gesture, he fixed his eyes on the young man.
"He killed my mother and insulted her, so I killed him.
"I did it, and I'll take responsibility. Wang Dong had nothing to do with it, and neither did her disguising herself as a man. She wasn't living with me."
Huo Yuhao explained calmly. He had acted on impulse, but he was the one who had killed the man.
Everyone's gaze turned toward Wang Dong, their eyes tinged with something strange.
She certainly knew how to have fun!
Chapter 57: Reforming Tang Ya
Under their stares, Wang Dong felt utterly uncomfortable. Her face turned red, then pale, and she badly wanted to escape.
"A life for a life. Since you admit it, then pay with your life for my brother's."
Dai Yaoheng was even angrier. He swung his palm at Huo Yuhao.
He hadn't even summoned his Martial Soul, but with his powerful Soul Power behind it, the blow was enough to kill Huo Yuhao.
"Stop!"
A figure appeared and blocked Dai Yaoheng.
"Elder Xuan!"
Seeing who it was, Dai Yaoheng reined himself in, though he was still furious.
"Everyone, come with me."
Xuan Zi glanced at Dai Huabin's lifeless body and felt a headache coming on. He could only take them away first and deal with the matter in private.
But Mu En had ordered him to protect Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong at all costs. That made things difficult.
Leaving aside what had happened at Shrek, on the other side Yang Hao followed Ju Zi in her extra lessons, systematically studying Soul Tool knowledge.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Yang Hao received a message from Wan Hun and left the academy for the Bright Cult's base in Ming Capital.
"Young Sect Leader, I've brought her."
Sleep Nightmare pointed to the unconscious girl. She was the person the Young Sect Leader had specifically asked for, and Sleep Nightmare had brought her over as soon as he got her.
"From now on, call me Young Sect Leader. Your identity is the Bright Cult's Right Bright Envoy, and Wan Hun's is the Left Bright Envoy."
Yang Hao reminded him. The Bright Cult was now under his leadership.
"Yes, Young Sect Leader!"
Sleep Nightmare answered respectfully, then took out the Soul Summoning Banner.
"The other matter is done, too. This is Dai Huabin's soul."
"Dai Huabin's soul? You killed him?"
Yang Hao was taken aback. He hadn't told him to kill anyone.
He'd only ordered Sleep Nightmare to expose Huo Yuhao's identity and reveal that Wang Dong was a girl, in order to undermine the unity of the Shrek Team. How had it ended with someone being killed?
How was he supposed to keep this going now?
"It wasn't this subordinate who did it. That Huo Yuhao killed him with a Hidden Weapon."
Sleep Nightmare insisted he was innocent. He hadn't expected things to turn out that way either.
"Young people really are impulsive."
Yang Hao sighed.
"Dispose of that soul properly. Don't leave any loose ends, and forget this ever happened."
After giving the order, he stepped forward to examine the sleeping girl. He sensed the Martial Soul in her body, then used the Blue Silver Emperor's origin power he had kept to guide it into manifesting.
A Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul appeared. It was Tang Ya's Martial Soul.
"Honestly, what a mess."
Feeling the hidden devouring and dark attributes within the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, Yang Hao couldn't help commenting.
The devouring and dark attributes in Tang Ya's Martial Soul hadn't appeared out of nowhere through mutation. Her ancestors had continuously absorbed Soul Rings from evil, dark Soul Beasts.
Over time, they had absorbed the sinister attributes of those Soul Beast Rings into their Martial Soul, where they had gradually corroded the bloodline and been passed down through the generations.
With another Martial Soul, it wouldn't have mattered. But the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul's fundamental attribute was life, and its power was weak because of its rank. It was therefore vulnerable to corruption, eventually falling into Dark Blue Silver Grass.
Tang Ya also possessed the orthodox royal bloodline of the Blue Silver Grass, and her potential was quite good. This devouring and dark talent had greatly suppressed that potential.
A poor trade!
After examining her, Yang Hao used Chaos Eight Wings to devour Tang Ya's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, then merged into it the Blue Silver Emperor's origin power he had deliberately preserved. He even infused it with a substantial amount of Gold of Life.
Since Blue Silver Grass and the Blue Silver Emperor were of the same kind, the fusion went smoothly. Using this opportunity, he upgraded the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul into the Blue Silver Emperor.
That wasn't all. Yang Hao used the power of Gold of Life to repel and remove the devouring and dark attributes from Tang Ya's Martial Soul. He then devoured those three Soul Rings and drew upon the Blue Silver Emperor's origin power to create new ones. Just like Tang San's Blue Silver Tyrant Spear Soul Ring, the skill of this Soul Ring was also the Blue Silver Tyrant Spear. It could be considered Tang Ya's Life Soul Ring.
Finally, he took out a long spear Soul Tool made primarily from Deep Sea Silver Mother and guided the Soul Ring's power into it, transforming it into a Life Soul Tool.
"Done!"
Yang Hao was quite pleased with his handiwork. Then he looked at the girl pretending to be asleep.
"Your acting's no good. You're terrible at pretending to sleep. Your eyelashes shouldn't move, and your breathing shouldn't be so quick. Also, stop fidgeting. Your Storage Soul Tool has already been taken."
Yang Hao called out the girl's little tricks. Tang Ya's eyes flew open, and she sprang up to attack. Then she got a nasty surprise.
"Thud!"
A punch landed around her eye, making her head ring.
Tang Ya was a stubborn girl. She kept attacking, only to be met with a second punch.
"Thud!"
The punch struck her other eye, which quickly turned red, then purple. It matched the other one perfectly, making the girl look rather comical.
"If you don't behave, I'll go kill your little boyfriend, Bei Bei. He's probably searching for you like a madman right now. He'd be easy to kill."
Seeing that the girl still wanted to attack, Yang Hao threatened her impatiently.
Tang Ya stiffened at his words. Resentfully, she could only stop circulating her Mysterious Jade Hand.
"Who are you? Why did you kidnap me?"
As Tang Ya spoke, she glanced at the Blue Silver Grass and the long spear beside the young man.
Was that her Martial Soul?
"My name is Luo Feng, and I'm the Bright Cult's Young Sect Leader. One of my elders has a grudge against your Tang Sect, but your Tang Sect has already fallen, so that old grudge doesn't matter anymore.
"Your Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, and you possess the orthodox bloodline of the Blue Silver Emperor. So I had our Right Bright Envoy bring you here to help you evolve your Martial Soul and create your Life Soul Tool, the Blue Silver Spear. From now on, you'll be our Bright Cult's Holy Maiden."
Yang Hao spun a web of lies, then declared her the Bright Cult's Holy Maiden.
And bringing this girl here had indeed brought him a considerable amount of luck, further strengthening the effects of his Golden Finger.
He also had plans for the Plane Life Core, and she would be the perfect tool to help him.
"Impossible! You can forget it!"
Tang Ya refused outright. She would never join the Bright Cult.
"She still needs some training!"
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