Shrek Academy, Lake Heart Island.
The howl of wind abruptly stopped in his ears.
Huo Yuhao felt the pressure on his shoulders ease, and his feet touched solid ground again.
He showed no sign of panic. Instead, he calmly brushed the wrinkles from his clothes and looked around.
This was Lake Heart Island in Sea God Lake.
The scenery was indeed lovely. The air was thick with moisture, and in the distance, he could just make out several elegant pavilions. A breeze swept through, bringing a refreshing coolness.
Yan Shaozhe stood three paces in front of him. He made no immediate move to take him to the Stone Chamber.
The instant they had landed, Yan Shaozhe had already used the Soul Power imprint he had left inside Ma Xiaotao to check on her. The Evil Fire was temporarily suppressed by the pure Soul Power he had left behind, so there was no risk of her self-destructing anytime soon.
Since she was safe for the moment, Yan Shaozhe felt he ought to teach this arrogant new student a lesson.
He watched Huo Yuhao standing there so calmly and raised an eyebrow.
Wang Yan's words from his earlier report in the office suddenly came back to him.
"His Soul Power fluctuations are different from those of ordinary Soul Masters. You can't judge him by ordinary standards."
It seemed Wang Yan had been right.
Any other Outer Academy freshman, dragged without explanation into a forbidden zone in the Inner Academy by the Martial Soul Department's dean, would probably have been shaking in his boots.
But this kid still had the leisure to admire the scenery?
Yan Shaozhe clasped his hands behind his back. The faint pressure of a Level 95 Super Douluo spilled out as he asked in a low voice,
"Do you know why I brought you here?"
Huo Yuhao turned from the view to Yan Shaozhe's stern face. He met his gaze without hesitation, his tone perfectly frank.
"It's because of Sister Xiaotao, right?"
Yan Shaozhe froze for half a second, astonished.
The kid wasn't scared, and he hadn't even tried to beat around the bush. He'd just admitted it outright?
And so brazenly, too?!
All the scolding Yan Shaozhe had prepared caught in his throat.
His expression darkened further. He took a step closer and glared at Huo Yuhao.
"Since you know that, then you should understand who she is!"
"She's the top genius of the Inner Academy, and my personal disciple!"
"Do you have any idea how dangerous the Evil Fire in her body is? You're a freshly enrolled One-Ring Soul Master. What kind of bewitching potion did you give her to make her face the Evil Fire on her own?!"
The more Yan Shaozhe spoke, the angrier he became.
If it weren't for Huo Yuhao, Xiaotao wouldn't have ended up like this!
Today, he was going to pry every last detail out of this kid!
Faced with this kind of pressure, Huo Yuhao didn't even blink.
He simply looked at Yan Shaozhe calmly, then spoke.
"I don't care about any of that."
Yan Shaozhe's carefully prepared words were once again choked off by Huo Yuhao's reply.
Huo Yuhao paid no heed to what Yan Shaozhe was thinking and continued in the same calm tone,
"Who she is and how much influence she has in the Inner Academy have nothing to do with me."
"All I know is that every extra word we waste here puts Sister Xiaotao in greater danger."
"What you should be doing now is taking me to Sister Xiaotao."
"Not standing here spouting useless nonsense!"
"You..."
Yan Shaozhe pointed at Huo Yuhao, but for a long moment, he couldn't get out a complete sentence.
He was the dean of the Martial Soul Department, the second-in-command of Shrek Academy, and a freshman had just lectured him to his face about what to do?
And the kid was completely right!
Yan Shaozhe gritted his teeth and flung his sleeve in frustration.
"Fine, fine!"
"Follow me!"
He had no time to argue with Huo Yuhao. Turning around, he strode toward the Stone Chamber deep in the woods.
Huo Yuhao followed at an unhurried pace, his heart undisturbed.
Trying to intimidate him with status?
Did they think Huo Yuhao had grown up scared?
He'd already gone toe-to-toe with a freak like Ghost Demon Venerable. What was a little pressure from Yan Shaozhe?
Honestly, if God King Tang and Ghost Demon Venerable weren't keeping him in check, he would've gone wild long ago. Why would he put up with this crap in Shrek Academy?
In a few years, Yan Shaozhe wouldn't even be worthy of looking him in the eye.
The two soon reached the Stone Chamber.
Even through the thick stone door, Huo Yuhao could feel the suffocating, frenzied heat inside.
Yan Shaozhe stopped at last and turned to stare at Huo Yuhao, undisguised menace in his voice.
"Once you're inside, you'd better actually be able to heal Xiaotao."
"If anything happens to her, I guarantee you won't leave this Lake Heart Island!"
Huo Yuhao couldn't be bothered to trade threats with him. He simply lifted his chin and ordered,
"Open the door."
Yan Shaozhe's eye twitched.
This kid was getting awfully comfortable ordering him around.
He had never suffered such humiliation in his life. The dignified Bright Phoenix Douluo had been reduced to a doorman for a One-Ring Soul Master!
But for Ma Xiaotao's sake, Yan Shaozhe had no choice but to swallow his anger.
He raised a hand, circulated his Soul Power, and activated the Stone Chamber's mechanism again.
The stone door slid open slowly.
A terrifying wave of heat, mixed with dark-red flames, came rushing out.
Yan Shaozhe immediately raised a blazing-white Soul Power barrier and shielded Huo Yuhao behind him.
In the glow of the barrier, Huo Yuhao saw what was inside the Stone Chamber.
Ma Xiaotao sat cross-legged on a stone platform. Her clothes were long gone, leaving only a cocoon of dark-red Soul Power around her.
Blood seeped from her entire body. Her features were twisted, and pained groans escaped her lips. She was clearly on the brink of collapse.
She could still be saved.
Huo Yuhao needed only one glance to reach his judgment. He turned to Yan Shaozhe and spoke decisively.
"Get out."
Yan Shaozhe had been about to use his Soul Power to help Ma Xiaotao regulate her meridians. Hearing Huo Yuhao say that, he froze.
He turned to him, utterly incredulous.
"What did you say?"
Huo Yuhao's expression remained unchanged. He even pointed toward the door.
"I said, get out. And close the door behind you."
Yan Shaozhe truly blew his top this time.
"Are you crazy?!"
He couldn't understand how this kid dared say such a thing!
Xiaotao was out of her mind, and she wasn't even wearing clothes!
How could he possibly leave a young man alone in a room with her?
He glared at Huo Yuhao, his face full of suspicion.
"What secret are you hiding that you need me to leave?!"
Yan Shaozhe knew all too well how men's minds worked.
And Xiaotao had practically lost her reason. She was completely defenseless.
How could he leave his precious disciple alone with a young kid? What if the brat took advantage of her?
Faced with Yan Shaozhe's interrogation, Huo Yuhao remained as steady as an old dog.
"If you don't leave, then stand there and watch her die."
Huo Yuhao's tone was perfectly calm, as if he were discussing what to have for dinner.
At his attitude, Yan Shaozhe clenched his fists so tightly that the veins stood out on the backs of his hands.
He took a deep breath and tried to reason with him.
"Get your facts straight! Even a Soul King couldn't withstand the temperature in there."
"Without my Soul Power barrier, you're a One-Ring Soul Master. The instant you go in, you'll either burn to ash or be torn to pieces by Xiaotao, who's lost her reason!"
"That's none of your concern."
Huo Yuhao met Yan Shaozhe's gaze without backing down and spoke frankly.
"At worst, Sister Xiaotao and I will die here together."
At those words, Yan Shaozhe was completely at a loss.
In all his years, he had seen plenty of tough guys and plenty who didn't care if they lived or died. But he'd never met anyone as brazen and reckless as Huo Yuhao, someone who could also hold him completely in check.
Die together?
Huo Yuhao was just one life. If he died, he died. But Yan Shaozhe couldn't let his disciple die!
"Fine. I'll leave."
Yan Shaozhe swallowed his anger, grinding his teeth as he backed out of the Stone Chamber step by step.
Just before he left, he stopped and pointed viciously at Huo Yuhao.
"I'm warning you: you'd better behave! If you so much as lay a finger on Xiaotao, I'll skin you alive and tear your tendons out!"
Huo Yuhao didn't even look at him. He simply waved a hand.
"Close the door already."
"Boom—"
The heavy stone door slammed down, completely cutting off the view between inside and out.
Only the dark-red firelight remained, flickering through the Stone Chamber.
Huo Yuhao rolled his eyes and vented his frustration inwardly.
What a lunatic,
acting all high and mighty.
Everyone in Shrek Academy knew Yan Shaozhe had been a notorious playboy in his youth, leaving broken hearts everywhere.
And now he came here pretending to be some paragon of virtue?
If it weren't to test how well the Ghost Killing Art could suppress the Evil Fire, who would bother with this mess?
Huo Yuhao put those thoughts aside and felt the temperature around him growing more and more frenzied.
Yan Shaozhe's Soul Power barrier had vanished the moment the stone door closed.
The dark-red flames surged toward Huo Yuhao like sharks catching the scent of blood.
Huo Yuhao didn't panic. He called out into the Sea of Consciousness,
"Brother Sky Dream, time to get to work."
"Coming right up!"
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had been itching to get involved. At Huo Yuhao's call, he immediately released pure ice-attribute power through Huo Yuhao's meridians.
A faint, icy-blue glow instantly enveloped Huo Yuhao.
The moment the frenzied Evil Fire touched the glow, it retreated like it had met its natural enemy, hissing as it rapidly withdrew.
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm might not have seemed reliable most of the time, but in this regard, the foundation of a million-year soul beast was the real deal.
And so Huo Yuhao braved the heat and walked step by step toward the stone platform.
The closer he got, the more clearly he could see Ma Xiaotao's condition.
She looked as if she'd been pulled out of a pool of blood. Her body convulsed uncontrollably from the agony.
Suppressed moans came from her throat. Her face was unnaturally flushed.
Huo Yuhao stood before her without making any unnecessary movements.
The Ghost Killing Art began to circulate wildly inside him.
He gathered up every emotion within himself and transformed it into pure, absolute killing intent.
No sympathy, no pity, not even fear.
Only absolute reason.
Under Huo Yuhao's control, this killing intent didn't turn aggressive as it had when he dealt with Wu Feng. Instead, it became an invisible net, slowly enveloping Ma Xiaotao on the stone platform.
Sensing a change in the aura around her, Ma Xiaotao struggled to raise her head.
Her bright eyes had turned an eerie shade of pink. Her pupils were unfocused, and she was clearly on the verge of losing her mind.
But the moment she saw Huo Yuhao, her body gave a sudden shudder.
Huo Yuhao looked at her, his voice steady.
"Don't be afraid, Sister Xiaotao."
"I'm here."
Before you continue