Countless black Shuriken tore through the smoke, hurtling straight toward Zhou Yi at incredible speed.
"Hidden Weapons?" Zhou Yi cried in surprise.
Though she had never seen the shape of these weapons before, they looked much like a type of throwing weapon that had once existed on the continent ten thousand years ago.
Ten thousand years ago, before the Sun Moon Continent collided with the Douluo Continent, weapons of this kind had once been extremely popular among low- and mid-level Soul Masters in the Douluo Three Kingdoms.
But as the times changed, Hidden Weapons had long since been swept off the stage of history, and the Tang Sect, which had invented them, had also long since fallen into decline.
As an instructor at Shrek Outer Court, Zhou Yi knew this history well.
Seeing Huo Yuhao try to defeat her with weapons that had long since been obsolete, a trace of disdain appeared on her face.
Then, the hands she had covered in scales suddenly swelled to more than twice their former size. To make matters worse, sharp claws sprouted from each finger, giving them a hideous appearance.
Partial Dragon Transformation!
Zhou Yi raised both pairs of claws, transformed in part into dragon claws, and guarded herself with them.
"Clang, clang!" The Shuriken struck Zhou Yi, bursting into showers of sparks and ringing like metal against metal.
But every one of them was blocked by the sturdy scales covering her body.
A six-ring Power Attack System Battle Soul Master with a top-tier dragon Martial Soul was no slouch when it came to defense.
When the clash ended, Zhou Yi lowered her hands and watched Huo Yuhao emerge as the smoke cleared, a smug look on her face.
"Is that all you've got? I told you, you can't break through my defenses. Huo Yuhao, in the end, you're nothing but an arrogant brat who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth!"
"Is that so?" Huo Yuhao chuckled.
Suddenly, he nimbly flipped backward, yanking hard with both hands. Something glinting seemed to be clenched between his teeth as he tossed his head back.
A sudden change occurred. The Shuriken scattered on the ground shot back into the air, and the steel wires attached to them spun like a whirlwind, binding Zhou Yi tightly.
"Sharingan Shadow Windmill, Three-Blade Style!"
It was one of Uchiha Sasuke's most iconic tactics for restraining an enemy in his early days.
He used ninja tools such as Shuriken in combination with the Sharingan's powerful perception and his own control, binding his enemies in place.
"Steel wire?" Only now did Zhou Yi realize what the glinting thing in Huo Yuhao's mouth was. She couldn't help but pause in surprise.
"It's only steel wire. What can it do?" Zhou Yi remained disdainful. She could easily break free of wire this weak!
But another surprise followed. Before she could even strain against the wires, Huo Yuhao barked, "Explode!"
This is bad! Zhou Yi's Seventh Sense blared its warning. A dangerous surge of Soul Power came from the Shuriken.
Zhou Yi's pupils contracted violently.
Huo Yuhao had specifically commissioned these Shuriken from the Treasure Pavilion before the school term began. How could they be compared to those worthless Hidden Weapons?
The Soul Engineers of the Treasure Pavilion had inscribed each Shuriken with a Core Formation that could trigger its explosion.
The Shuriken Soul Tools weren't high-grade; each was only a simple first- or second-grade Soul Tool, and a single explosion had the force of a Soul Grandmaster's full-power attack.
But there were so many of them. Dozens of Shuriken were fastened to Zhou Yi, and the power of a chain of explosions at such close range was easy to imagine.
Zhou Yi's Seventh Sense screamed its warning. Without the slightest hesitation, the purple third Spirit Ring on her body flashed wildly.
"Third Soul Skill, Flame Dragon's Fury!"
Zhou Yi's third Soul Skill was a buff-type ability that increased her overall offensive and defensive power by thirty percent.
The moment she activated her third Soul Skill, a continuous series of explosions rang out across the Spirit Fighting Arena. "Boom! Boom! Boom!"
As the smoke cleared, two figures appeared on the field.
Everyone in the stands stared wide-eyed. Huo Yuhao stood where he was, calm and composed.
It was Zhou Yi, standing opposite him, who looked utterly disheveled. She was covered in soot, and her clothes were in tatters.
Most of her disguise had also been destroyed by the powerful explosions. Beneath her aged face was a rather pretty and delicate one.
But her clothes were in such shreds that patches of fair skin showed through in several places, leaving plenty to the imagination.
"So that's what the old hag really looks like."
"Yeah, I didn't expect her to be quite a beauty. She's still got it."
The students in the stands whispered among themselves. Hearing them, Zhou Yi hurriedly looked down and realized that several revealing patches of skin were on display.
"Huo Yuhao!" Zhou Yi was so mortified she could have died. She glared at Huo Yuhao, fury filling her eyes.
In the original story, Zhou Yi had always been somewhat twisted. Though she had once been rather pretty, she had insisted on dressing herself up to look like an old woman.
Now, after accidentally exposing herself in front of everyone, she was going out of her mind.
She blamed Huo Yuhao for all of it.
If not for him, she would never have been so humiliated!
Huo Yuhao showed no reaction to Zhou Yi's impotent fury. At some point, a giant Shuriken had appeared in his hand.
As time went on, Huo Yuhao could feel the Cursed Seal of Heaven's corruption of his body growing worse. It felt as though something was really about to grow out of his left shoulder blade, and the sensation was unbearable.
But that wasn't the most important thing. What irritated him the most was that ever since he had activated the Cursed Seal of Heaven, a voice had been ringing in his ears without pause.
"Help me, help me!" The voice had been faint. At first, Huo Yuhao had thought he was imagining it, but as time passed, it had grown clearer and clearer.
The voice seemed to be coming from deep within Sea God Lake, in the Inner Court of Shrek Academy!
The voice had Huo Yuhao in such a state of agitation that he wanted nothing more than to deal with the crazy woman in front of him as quickly as possible.
His eyes narrowed. The next strike would end this.
Huo Yuhao raised the Wind Demon Shuriken, then leaped high into the air and hurled it with all his strength.
The giant Shuriken became a rapidly spinning windmill, its edge sharp enough to cut through anything, and sped straight toward Zhou Yi.
"Hmph, how naïve. Do you think I'll fall for the same trick twice?" Zhou Yi scoffed, unwilling to take the giant Shuriken head-on.
She sprang lightly to the left, preparing to dodge the enormous Soul Tool.
But just then, something unexpected happened. As the Shuriken passed Zhou Yi, it suddenly exploded with a "Boom!"
Huo Yuhao appeared out of nowhere in the white smoke.
"Wind Demon Shuriken, Shadow Windmill!"
Zhou Yi clearly hadn't expected the giant Soul Tool to suddenly turn into Huo Yuhao. For a moment, she couldn't react.
Wasn't he over there? How did he suddenly appear here? And who's that Huo Yuhao over there?
Zhou Yi glanced at the Huo Yuhao who had just leaped into the air, only to see that he too vanished into white smoke at the same moment.
"A clone-type Soul Skill?"
"How can this be? How can this brat have so many ever-changing Soul Skills?"
Zhou Yi looked incredulous. She had figured it all out, but it was already too late.
A sharp pain that reached straight into her soul struck her mind, leaving her consciousness blank for a fraction of a second.
"First Soul Skill, Soul Shock."
Huo Yuhao's expression was cold. He raised his left hand, and a crackling bolt of lightning gathered in his palm.
The cry of Chidori rang out once more, but this time, its cry was filled with even greater sorrow.
The dazzling lightning in Huo Yuhao's hand was now tinged with gray.
Yet somehow, it made the sight all the more soul-stirring.
In the blink of an eye, Huo Yuhao drove the Sorrowful Chidori in his hand into the defenseless Zhou Yi.
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