Hold On

"Your combat skill is impressive. Join the Star Luo Imperial House, and your death sentence can be waived," Shi Yue said in a deep voice.

If he truly had been the Third Prince, then killing Ling Feng would have been one thing. But he was just an unknown brat without even a single soul ring. That was tantamount to trampling the Star Luo Imperial House's dignity beneath his feet.

Huo Yuhao's expression darkened. In this life, he did not want anything to do with the surname Dai ever again.

"Looks like you refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit," Shi Yue said coldly.

"Second Miss, you may leave. No one will stop you again." Shi Yue glanced at Zhu Zhuqing, who was pinned to the ground, and withdrew his suppression.

Feeling the pressure on her body vanish, Zhu Zhuqing forced herself to stand. Her heart shook violently, and her steps staggered. A Soul King with a ten-thousand-year soul ring and a teleportation-type soul skill was unimaginably powerful!

Hearing the faint sound behind him, Huo Yuhao did not turn around. It was for the best if Zhu Zhuqing left; then he would not need to divide his attention and could fight without restraint.

Yet what he had not expected was for those staggering footsteps not to retreat. Instead, they came closer and closer, then passed by his side and stopped in front of him.

"He stepped forward to save me. How could I possibly flee before the battle?" Zhu Zhuqing possessed her martial soul and faced the invincible enemy before her, her back filled with resolve.

She did not know the boy, nor did she know why he had followed her. But he had trailed behind her these past few days and helped clear away obstacles in her path. That was a kindness, and kindness had to be repaid.

"Leave quickly. I'll hold them off. This is the destiny of the Evil-Eyed White Tiger and the Netherworld Spirit Cat. It has nothing to do with you," Zhu Zhuqing said softly without turning her head.

"Leave? Boss Shi, this kid has a soul bone, and his skill is insanely powerful. It can instantly suppress ten percent of my strength! We absolutely can't let him go!" Ling Feng said, clutching his wound. The fleshy tumors all over his body hurt so badly that the corners of his eyes twitched as he glared at Huo Yuhao with hatred.

Without soul rings, yet able to unleash soul skills—what else could it be but a soul bone?

At those words, Zhu Zhuqing's back stiffened, but she still stood in front of the boy.

Looking at Zhu Zhuqing's resolute back, Huo Yuhao pressed his lips together. Back then, she had protected his mother in the same way.

"Hold on." Huo Yuhao's voice was so soft it was nearly inaudible.

Zhu Zhuqing only felt a weight settle around her neck as a metal necklace, still warm from his body, was placed there.

Then the boy's figure flashed past her like a ghost.

Slaughter God Domain.

In an instant, a domain spanning thirty meters around them formed. Everyone felt as though shackles had been placed upon them. Ling Feng, whose acupoints had already been sealed in several places, was affected most severely. Meanwhile, a crimson-gold barrier lit up around Zhu Zhuqing, enveloping her completely.

Zhu Zhuqing froze for only an instant before recalling the boy's words by her ear—"fifteen seconds." Then she charged at Ling Feng.

Huo Yuhao gripped the Asura Demon Sword and went straight for Shi Yue.

Shi Yue was indeed worthy of his Soul King strength. The moment he saw the abnormality appear around Zhu Zhuqing, his first and second soul rings lit up at once, and a heavy punch sent Huo Yuhao flying.

The boy, who should have been seriously injured and collapsed even if he had not died from the blow, quickly rose to his feet after smashing through a large tree. He then fired several golden threads—the same kind he had used to attack Ling Feng—at Shi Yue. Yet all of them were blocked by Shi Yue's first soul skill—Protective Aura—and fell to the ground, curling into tiny golden pellets the size of rice grains.

The boy's physical body was clearly extraordinary, and his combat awareness was even more formidable. Shi Yue immediately stopped holding back as his fourth and fifth soul rings lit up together.

He grabbed for Huo Yuhao's chest. The boy raised his sword to block once more, and Shi Yue sneered. This was his strongest attack. No matter how extraordinary the boy was, this blow would leave him pierced clean through.

Yet the boy, whom Shi Yue had expected to shatter instantly, dismissed the blood-red sword in his hand.

A silver-bright dagger appeared in his hand.

The instant Shi Yue's combined fourth and fifth soul ring skill touched that small dagger, it dissipated into nothingness. The dagger itself changed from entirely silver-bright to a blade tinged with yellow-black.

The battle instincts he had honed over many years told him that the boy's dagger was anything but ordinary!

At once, he stopped using any other soul skills. Relying only on his third soul skill, Teleportation, he continuously wore down the boy's soul power. No matter how extraordinary his soul bone or how sharp his weapon was, his low soul power was still his fatal weakness!

Huo Yuhao instantly understood Shi Yue's intentions. In the corner of his vision, Zhu Zhuqing was still locked in battle with Ling Feng.

Although she had Red Dust Blessing, she clearly lacked true life-and-death combat experience. And time was running out.

Soul Shock. Huo Yuhao's eyes glimmered faintly.

Shi Yue felt as if a needle had stabbed into his head, and his movements stalled—for no more than a blink of an eye.

Shi Yue covered his chest in disbelief and looked down. There was a bloody hole the size of a bowl in his chest, and the heart within had been reduced to a mangled mass of flesh.

The last thing he saw was the boy, bleeding from all seven orifices, throwing the dagger at Ling Feng.

Zhu Zhuqing had been entangled in battle with Ling Feng, but her lack of experience had put her at a disadvantage. As the fifteen seconds were about to run out and panic rose in her heart, she saw a flash of silver. A dagger had appeared in Ling Feng's neck.

"I really... survived..."

Zhu Zhuqing murmured dazedly as the crimson-gold barrier around her quietly faded away.

The instant she saw the barrier disappear, Zhu Zhuqing snapped back to her senses and searched for the boy who had brought about this miracle.

She saw him lying on the ground, bleeding from all seven orifices, his life or death unknown.

Beneath his torn clothing, wounds covered his body, with thin streams of black blood visibly flowing out.

She stumbled over to the boy.

Zhu Zhuqing forced herself to remain calm and carefully unfastened his shirt. Before she had time to blush at his sturdy chest, she was horrified by the enormous bluish-purple palm print on his chest and abdomen.

With trembling fingertips, Zhu Zhuqing dumped out all the gauze and wound medicine she had from her storage soul tool.

She did not know what poison the boy had been afflicted with, so she could only stop his bleeding first. After much frantic effort, she finally treated several of the larger wounds, but the boy's breathing only grew weaker and weaker.

"Please, don't die. Please."

Kneeling on the ground with reddened eyes, Zhu Zhuqing pressed both hands against the boy's chest. She wanted to use what little soul power she had recovered to temporarily suppress the poison within him.

But when her soul power truly entered the boy's body and intertwined with his own soul power, Zhu Zhuqing's face suddenly went deathly pale.

It was not that her soul power had no effect on him. It was that the effect was too good. The soul power she sent in not only drove his remaining soul power to circulate and recover faster, reducing the black blood flowing from his wounds, but the two streams of soul power also merged into one.

Indistinguishable from each other!