He had never felt such a direct threat of death or such crushing pressure from a soul master his own age.
Even when facing Ma Xiaotao's out-of-control Evil Fire Phoenix, he had never felt so powerless.
Long Wushang paid no heed to everyone's shock.
His gaze passed over Beibei, Xu Sanshi, and the teachers, slowly sweeping through the crowd.
Soon, he locked onto Huo Yuhao—or rather, Wang Dong beside Huo Yuhao.
Her pinkish-blue short hair was simply too conspicuous.
Tang San had sent his daughter to Huo Yuhao's side and even tampered with her soul and memories. His calculations had been meticulous.
The person standing beside her could only be Huo Yuhao. Besides, Long Wushang could sense powerful spiritual power fluctuations from him.
Long Wushang raised a hand and pointed directly at Huo Yuhao.
"I'm only here for him today."
"The rest of you can leave now."
Before the teaching building, the students who had been trembling in fear were stunned.
Some looked hesitantly at Huo Yuhao, then at the blood-red Soul Ring beneath Long Wushang's feet.
"Is he telling the truth?"
"We can leave?"
"Staying here will only hold them back. Let's get out first!"
At first, only two students cautiously retreated to the side.
When everyone realized that Long Wushang truly did not attack, more immediately followed.
The students who had been surrounding Huo Yuhao and the others just moments ago, full of gratitude, now rushed desperately toward the plaza exit.
Some even shoved aside their injured companions to run faster.
"Move!"
"Get out of the way!"
Dozens of students scattered in the blink of an eye. No one dared look back, and no one asked what Huo Yuhao should do.
Watching the group flee in panic, Wang Dong was so angry that her chest tightened.
"Do you people have any conscience at all?!"
"Who was it that protected you while you retreated into the teaching building?"
"Now that the enemy only wants Yuhao, you don't even dare stay and fight alongside him?"
A student who had already run far away turned back and shouted with shame and anger, "He's looking for Huo Yuhao, not us!"
"Do all of us have to die with him for it to count as loyalty?"
"You—!"
Wang Dong wanted to keep scolding him, but screams suddenly erupted from beyond the plaza.
The few students who had rushed out earlier had barely crossed the wall when vast clouds of gray-black mist surged out from behind the ruins.
The Evil Soul Masters who had been lying in wait revealed themselves one after another.
Bone claws, blood blades, and vengeful spirits descended upon the fleeing crowd in succession.
"These damned Shrek brats have finally shown themselves!"
"Don't let a single one escape!"
The students who had just been celebrating their escape immediately fell into chaos.
Some turned and ran back, while others desperately unleashed their Martial Souls, trying to break through the Evil Soul Masters' encirclement.
But their average cultivation was far too low, and without Beibei and the teachers' protection, how could they possibly withstand these Holy Spirit Cult members who specialized in hunting down stragglers?
Unceasing screams carried back into the plaza.
The anger on Wang Dong's face gradually froze. Her heart was a tangle of emotions—there was sympathy, but also a trace of grim satisfaction.
If those fleeing students rushed outward, they would be hunted by Evil Soul Masters. If they retreated into the plaza, they would have to face Long Wushang and Tang Ya.
For a moment, they were trapped between advancing and retreating.
Huo Yuhao had no mind to spare for them.
From the moment Long Wushang locked onto him, he had pushed his spiritual detection to its limit.
Why was Long Wushang specifically targeting him?
Was it because he had exposed his Twin Martial Souls during the tournament?
Or because of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion?
Huo Yuhao had no time to continue analyzing it. The fourth black Soul Ring beneath Long Wushang's feet suddenly lit up.
There were no unnecessary movements and no warning whatsoever.
The Ultimate Darkness covering the plaza swiftly contracted, all of it gathering in his right hand.
His long fingers transformed into a jet-black dragon claw.
Long Wushang shattered the paving stones beneath his feet, and his figure vanished from where he stood.
"Not good! Yuhao, dodge!"
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's urgent warning rang out within the Spiritual Sea.
At the same time, Electrolux's spiritual origin trembled, and gray power began gathering deep within Huo Yuhao's consciousness.
An enormous life-or-death crisis enveloped his entire body!
Huo Yuhao drove his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul at full power, but even though his spiritual detection had caught Long Wushang's trajectory, his body could not keep up with the other man's speed at all.
Too fast!
That dragon claw wreathed in Ultimate Darkness reached him in the blink of an eye.
Wang Dong suddenly spread the wings of her Light Goddess Butterfly and lunged toward Huo Yuhao without a second thought.
"Yuhao!"
But she had barely taken half a step when the Sinful Blue Silver Grass beneath her feet shot upward.
Dozens of dark-gold vines wrapped around her ankles, waist, abdomen, and wings, pinning her firmly in place.
Wang Dong struggled desperately, the edges of her butterfly wings continuously slicing through the grass blades. Yet the severed Bluesilver Grass rapidly regenerated, winding around her more and more tightly.
Tang Ya stood not far away, slowly curling the fingers of her right hand and binding every student and teacher who tried to move.
"It's useless. Just stay here obediently. Master won't hurt you."
The Bluesilver Grass dragged Wang Dong to the ground, leaving her able only to watch helplessly as that dark dragon claw closed in on Huo Yuhao's chest.
The pitch-black dragon claw instantly arrived before Huo Yuhao's chest.
If this claw strike landed, it would not matter that Huo Yuhao only had four rings. Even a Soul Saint standing here would have their chest torn apart by this Ultimate Darkness.
"Elder Yi!"
Huo Yuhao screamed frantically within his Spiritual Sea.
At that critical moment, a mass of gray air suddenly surged out from between his brows, covering his eyes.
His originally pale-gold Spirit Eyes swiftly turned grayish-white, and an ancient, imposing aura awakened with them.
Huo Yuhao's body instinctively raised both hands.
His left hand gathered immense spiritual power while his right released Ultimate Ice. The two utterly different powers were forcibly twisted together, grayish-white and jade-green intertwining.
He met Long Wushang's killing dragon claw head-on, and the claw collided directly with Huo Yuhao's palms.
Ultimate Darkness and terrifying brute force instantly shredded Huo Yuhao's sleeves. Three bloody gashes spread upward along his arms.
Huo Yuhao was sent flying backward, smashing through the teaching building's outer wall and breaking several corridor pillars in succession before crashing into a classroom littered with broken bricks.
That single strike broke several of his ribs on the spot. The flesh on both arms was torn open, and even his Spiritual Sea was thrown into violent turmoil.
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm anxiously darted back and forth inside the Spiritual Sea.
"Yuhao, wake up!"
"Whatever you do, don't pass out!"
"Damn it, that bastard really hit hard! He was trying to kill you!"
Huo Yuhao suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, yet his grayish-white eyes did not return to normal.
Electrolux had temporarily taken control of his body.
Long Wushang stood before the hole blasted through the wall and slowly withdrew his right hand.
He looked at the jade-green frost condensed on the surface of his dragon claw, then at Huo Yuhao, who had climbed back to his feet. One brow lifted slightly.
"You're still alive after that?"
He had not held back in that strike. Ultimate Darkness combined with the physical strength of the Dark Sacred Dragon was enough to easily shatter a Soul Saint's defenses head-on.
At the final moment, Huo Yuhao had mobilized two powers and forcibly preserved his own life.
More interestingly, one of those powers did not belong to Huo Yuhao at all.
"So the old thing hiding in the Spiritual Sea is finally willing to come out?"
Long Wushang looked at Huo Yuhao's grayish-white eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled upward.
Electrolux had no interest in answering him. He was rapidly examining Huo Yuhao's body.
The situation was indeed dire.
His meridians were damaged in many places, both arms had nearly lost all feeling, several ribs were broken, and his internal organs had also been corroded by dark power.
If the Ice Empress had not taken the initiative to protect his heart meridians, that claw strike would already have ended Huo Yuhao's life.
All Electrolux had left now was fragmented divine consciousness.
Before you continue