I'll Beat You Back to Reality

"What, was all that talk about taking responsibility just to coax me?"

Ma Xiaotao crossed her arms, her eyes glinting with danger.

Long Yaochen didn't speak; he took a step forward, closing the distance until he was right in front of Ma Xiaotao.

Startled by his sudden movement, Ma Xiaotao instinctively tried to retreat, only to be held in place by Long Yaochen.

His hot breath brushed against her face, and her cheeks instantly flushed a deep crimson.

"You..." Ma Xiaotao was about to speak, but was interrupted as Long Yaochen placed his index finger against her red lips.

Ma Xiaotao fell silent.

She stared, somewhat dazed, at the handsome youth before her.

Without her noticing, he had grown almost to her own height.

The warmth radiating from the hand on her shoulder, and those black eyes looking straight into hers, swirling with tenderness...

My heartbeat... why is it so fast?

That was the only thought left in Ma Xiaotao's mind.

"We are betrothed, what are you afraid of?" Long Yaochen's lips curled up slightly. "Besides, the match is this afternoon; shouldn't I see how my opponent measures up? Are you really so indifferent to your fiancé?"

The one who strikes first with an accusation holds the moral high ground.

"I... I am not!" Ma Xiaotao turned her head away, though the tips of her ears were burning red.

Seeing this, Long Yaochen released her. As he smoothed out the wrinkles on her shoulder, he said softly, "I know you care. Remember to watch me beat these little kids this afternoon."

"You're that confident you'll win?"

Under Long Yaochen's offensive, Ma Xiaotao had lost her earlier air of interrogation, becoming much more docile.

"It's a guaranteed win."

Long Yaochen smiled faintly.

Even without the Martial Soul Fusion Skill from the original story, Long Yaochen was quite curious about how Huo Yuhao would manage to defeat the Hell White Tiger.

But his intuition told him that Huo Yuhao would likely win.

Fighting the Hell White Tiger might take some effort, but as for fighting Huo Yuhao...

He would bring Huo Yuhao back to reality.

Just as Long Yaochen was pondering, the match below officially began.

On the Spirit Fighting Platform, six figures stood in confrontation.

Dai Huabin stepped forward, his face full of disdain. He tilted his chin up slightly and said, "You're quite lucky, managing to drag your useless self all the way to the finals."

He sneered, his voice not loud, yet clear enough for the entire arena to hear.

"It seems you want to pay your respects to this young master in person. How thoughtful of you."

Huo Yuhao didn't move, staring fixedly at Dai Huabin with those deep blue eyes, as if looking at a dead man.

"Dai Huabin," he said, enunciating every word, "you had better pray that you don't fall into my hands today."

"Oh?" Dai Huabin raised an eyebrow, amused. "And just by your own hand?"

"I will make you pay some interest on behalf of the White Tiger Duke Mansion," Huo Yuhao said coldly.

The smile on Dai Huabin's face gradually faded.

This little bastard's gaze made him feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

"The match begins!"

The moment the referee finished speaking, Dai Huabin moved.

With White Tiger Possession activated, three soul rings lit up one after another, and he transformed into a streak of white light, lunging straight at Huo Yuhao.

At the same time, milky-white light began to gather at the corners of his mouth.

He would take down this little bastard who was only at the teens in rank first, and see if he could still be so arrogant.

Second Soul Skill, White Tiger Intense Light Wave!

A beam of milky-white energy shot straight toward Huo Yuhao.

"Second Soul Skill, Butterfly Goddess's Light!"

BOOM--!

The milky-white light wave and the purple-gold light wave collided in the arena, exploding with a thunderous roar.

After blocking the White Tiger Intense Light Wave, Wang Dong flapped her wings and flew directly toward Dai Huabin.

Although she disliked Huo Yuhao, she had to step in to protect him for the sake of winning the match.

BANG--

Butterfly wings clashed hard against sharp claws. Wang Dong was forced back half a step, her feet carving two shallow furrows into the platform.

He was a Soul Elder, after all.

Wang Dong sighed inwardly, her first soul skill igniting as she lunged toward Dai Huabin.

After several exchanges, guided by Huo Yuhao's Spirit Detection, Wang Dong managed to barely hold her own against her opponent, though she remained slightly on the back foot.

Still, being able to entangle a Soul Elder was essentially enough.

On the other side, just as Zhu Lu moved to provide support, her feet suddenly sank.

Xiao Xiao's Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron crashed to the ground, its heavy suppression force descending like a massive net, pinning her firmly in place. Zhu Lu unleashed three strikes, only for the body of the cauldron to repel them all.

The battlefield was forcibly carved into separate segments.

The only one left unoccupied was Huo Yuhao, standing at the very back.

Cui Yajie's eyes lit up.

He was truly the waste Dai Huabin had described; she couldn't fathom what he was doing, standing motionless during a tournament match.

With only a single ten-year soul ring at his feet, it was simply laughable.

Her figure flickered as she bypassed the melee.

Her soul ring bloomed with light, a charming smile creeping across her face as her peach-blossom eyes stared straight into Huo Yuhao's.

She pushed her charm to its limit. With this single glance, even a Soul Elder would lose their focus.

But the next second—

Cui Yajie's smile froze.

Her charm vanished like a stone cast into a bottomless sea.

It seemed to have disturbed a mysterious entity within that ocean, which slowly opened its eyes.

She felt as if she were being stared down by a hundred-thousand-year fierce beast, her blood instantly turning to ice.

"What... are you supposed to be?"

Huo Yuhao tilted his head, looking at her as if she were a joke that didn't know its own limits.

The moment he raised his hand, a point of faint light shot silently from his fingertips. Accompanying that glimmer was an invisible, instantaneous Spirit Shock.

Cui Yajie didn't even see it coming; it felt as if her brain had been struck by a heavy hammer. Her vision went black, and she collapsed straight onto the stage, never to rise again.

Clang—!

The referee swatted away the hidden weapon Huo Yuhao had thrown.

The scene caused the others still locked in combat to look over simultaneously.

Dai Huabin's pupils contracted sharply.

What did that bastard do?!

Cui Yajie had been taken out in a second, Zhu Lu was pinned down, and in the blink of an eye, he was the only one left on his side.

No.

If this continued, he might actually lose.

"Zhu Lu!" Dai Huabin roared.

Hearing this, Zhu Lu's soul ring flared with brilliant light. Finding a gap in the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, she instantly transformed into a streak of dark light and bolted straight toward Dai Huabin.

Not good!

Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong felt the danger at the exact same time.

The figures of Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu crossed in mid-air.

Two vastly different powers—one white, one black—fused together as if they were born to be one.

The next instant, a tiger's roar shook the arena.

A giant tiger, snow-white with dark, gloomy patterns on its back, stepped through the storm of soul power and emerged slowly from the light.

The Hell White Tiger had arrived!

A violent surge of soul power erupted in the center of the stage, causing Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao's expressions to turn grave, yet Huo Yuhao remained calm and collected.

Wang Dong felt a blur before her eyes, and a tiger paw covered in black energy slammed heavily into her flank.

Snap—

Her wings of light shuddered violently, and Wang Dong was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing hard against the edge of the stage as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

"Wang Dong!" Xiao Xiao's face paled.

While using her Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron to delay the Hell White Tiger's assault, she shouted anxiously at Huo Yuhao:

"Huo Yuhao, hurry and think of something!"

It was at this very moment that a gentle voice echoed deep within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit.

"Yuhao, show them your true strength!"

Huo Yuhao slowly raised his head.

The sea-blue hue in his eyes was suddenly ignited by a piercing flash of blue-gold.

The light flared brilliantly—

On the spectator stand, Long Yaochen finally stood up straight.

"It's here."