Hold On

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

If he had truly been the Third Prince, killing Ling Feng would have been one thing. But for some unknown brat without even a single soul ring to do so was tantamount to trampling the Star Luo Imperial House's dignity underfoot.

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

"Looks like you refuse a toast only 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 had been pinned to the ground, and withdrew his suppression.

With the pressure on her body lifted, Zhu Zhuqing barely managed to get to her feet. Her heart shook violently, and her steps were unsteady. A Soul King with a ten-thousand-year soul ring and a teleportation-type soul skill was simply unimaginably powerful!

Hearing the faint sounds 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 to his surprise, those staggering footsteps did not fade away. Instead, they drew closer and closer. Then she passed him and stood before him.

"He stepped forward to save me. How could I possibly flee in the middle of battle?" Zhu Zhuqing used Martial Soul Possession. Facing an enemy she could not defeat, her back was filled with resolve.

She did not know the boy, nor did she know why he had been following her. But he had trailed behind her these past few days, helping her clear away obstacles. That meant he had done her a favor, and favors had to be repaid.

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

"Leave? Boss Shi, that kid has a soul bone, and his skill is unbelievably overpowered. It can instantly suppress ten percent of my strength! We absolutely can't let him go!" Ling Feng said, clutching his wound. The 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 capable of using soul skills—what else could it be besides a soul bone?

At those words, Zhu Zhuqing's back stiffened, yet 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 like this too.

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

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

Then the boy's figure flashed past her like Ghost.

"Divine Slaughter's Domain."

In an instant, a domain spanning thirty meters around them formed. Everyone felt as though a layer of shackles had been placed over their bodies, especially Ling Feng, whose acupoints had been sealed in many places. Meanwhile, a crimson-gold barrier lit up around Zhu Zhuqing, enveloping her entirely.

Zhu Zhuqing only froze for an instant before recalling the boy's words that had sounded beside her ear: "Fifteen seconds." Then she charged at Ling Feng.

Huo Yuhao gripped the Asura Demon Sword and directly met Shi Yue head-on.

Shi Yue truly lived up to his strength as a Soul King. The moment he saw the abnormality manifest around Zhu Zhuqing, his first and second soul rings lit up simultaneously, and a heavy punch sent Huo Yuhao flying.

The boy, who should have been severely injured and sent sprawling even if he had not died from that blow, merely smashed through a large tree before quickly rising again. He then shot several golden threads like the ones that had attacked Ling Feng at Shi Yue. Yet all of them were blocked by his first soul skill—Protective Aura—and fell to the ground, curling into tiny golden grains the size of rice.

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

He reached for Huo Yuhao's chest. The boy raised his sword to block again, and a cold smile appeared on Shi Yue's lips. This was his strongest attack. No matter how remarkable the boy was, this strike would leave him pierced straight through.

Yet the boy, whom he had expected to shatter with a single blow, directly dispersed 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 dagger, it dissipated into nothingness. The dagger itself changed from completely silver-bright to having a blade tinged with yellow-black.

The battle instincts he had honed for years told him that the boy's dagger was absolutely no ordinary weapon!

He immediately stopped using other soul skills and relied only on his third soul skill, teleportation, to continuously drain the boy's Soul Power. No matter how extraordinary his soul bone was or how sharp his weapon, his low Soul Power was 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 only felt as if someone had pricked his head with a needle, and his movements stalled for just the 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, while the heart inside had been reduced to a mass of minced flesh.

The last thing he saw was the boy bleeding from all seven orifices as he threw the dagger toward Ling Feng.

Zhu Zhuqing had been fighting Ling Feng, but her lack of experience left her flustered as the fifteen seconds were nearly up. Then she saw a flash of silver, and a dagger appeared in Ling Feng's neck.

"I really... survived..."

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

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

She saw the boy lying on the ground, bleeding from all seven orifices, his fate unknown.

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

She staggered over to his side.

Zhu Zhuqing forced herself to calm down and carefully undid the boy's shirt. Before she even had time to blush at his muscular chest, she was horrified by the enormous bluish-purple palm print across his chest and abdomen.

With trembling fingers, Zhu Zhuqing poured out all the bandages and wound medicine she had in her storage Soul Tool.

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

"Please, don't die. Please."

Zhu Zhuqing knelt on the ground, her eyes red. She pressed both hands against the boy's chest, intending to use the little Soul Power she had recovered to temporarily suppress the poison in his body.

But when her Soul Power truly entered the boy's body and intertwined with his own, Zhu Zhuqing's face suddenly turned deathly pale.

It was not that her Soul Power had no effect on him. Rather, 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 was so compatible that their Soul Powers merged into one.

Indistinguishable from each other!