How About Becoming an Elder?

In response to Hu Gan's praise, Huo Yuhao humbly replied, "Vice Dean, your Dou Qi is powerful and your body is strong. Even if the cold energy explodes, you should be able to suppress it in time and not suffer too much damage."

"Alright, alright, stop flattering me." Hu Gan waved his hand, his smile widening. "Our sparring ends here—"

"Vice Dean," Huo Yuhao interrupted him, a strange glint in his eyes, "I have one more move, and I'd like to ask you for your final guidance."

"Oh?" Hu Gan became interested. "Bring it on!"

Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, his eyes becoming incredibly focused. He clenched his fist, activated his Qi Control Art, and the Spirit Artifact longsword that had fallen to the ground in the distance flew back into his hand with a "hum".

With a thought, he connected with the Nine Li Ice Flame. The Ice Flame Phoenix hovering beside him let out a clear cry and instantly surged into the longsword in his hand.

The blade hummed, and icy blue flames flowed and condensed on its surface, eventually transforming into a lifelike Ice Phoenix pattern. Terrifyingly low temperatures and destructive fire energy intertwined and permeated the air.

Huo Yuhao raised his longsword, unleashing the full power of his Heavenly Cycle Art. In the bright daylight, starlight fell, mingling with all his Dou Qi and spiritual energy, flowing into the longsword in his hand.

Not only that, Huo Yuhao's thoughts spread out, drawing upon all the Heaven and Earth Origin Qi within a radius of dozens of miles, merging it with the Dou Qi within his longsword.

The once nimble longsword now weighed more than Qian Jun, and the violently fluctuating energy within it had almost reached the limit that Huo Yuhao could maintain.

Just as Huo Yuhao was preparing to use the Emotion Power to stabilize the energy within and then unleash the Unparalleled Ice Extremity Technique on Hu Gan, the Nine Li Ice Flame integrated into the blade seemed to be touched by that pure Emotion Power, emitting an even higher-pitched phoenix cry that seemed to pierce the soul!

Phew!

In that instant, Huo Yuhao had a sudden inspiration, as if he had realized another source of power. All his Emotion Power merged into his mind, like dew watering it. The seed deep within his mind rippled slightly, and a more restrained, more primal power silently merged into the longsword, spreading across its blade.

Without any earth-shattering display or the chilling aura that froze the space, Huo Yuhao abandoned the Unparalleled Ice Extremity moves. He simply gripped the Ice Flame Longsword and, facing Hu Gan in front of him, unremarkable and utterly devoid of any flamboyance, swung the sword.

A pale blue, thin as a cicada's wing, almost transparent blade of light silently sliced through the air.

At first, Hu Gan didn't pay much attention, habitually unleashing a powerful palm strike to meet the attack. However, the moment the seemingly light, dark blue blade of light made contact with the emerald green palm strike, a sharp "whoosh!"

There was no loud collision! The palm shadow, powerful enough to withstand "Unparalleled Ice Extremity," was silently cleaved in two like butter sliced by a hot knife! The blade's momentum didn't diminish at all; in fact, it became even faster, heading straight for Hu Gan's face!

An unprecedentedly strong sense of crisis instantly gripped Hu Gan! The ease on his face vanished instantly, and his pupils contracted sharply! Almost instinctively, the remaining Dou Qi in his body surged out wildly without reservation, forming layer upon layer of thick, dark green wooden shields in front of him, while he retreated rapidly!

"Crack!"

The azure blade of light struck the first layer of the wooden shield, producing a soft cracking sound! Immediately afterward, the wooden shield that Hu Gan had built up to withstand an attack from an ordinary Dou Emperor shattered!

Soon, the second layer of defense shattered! The third layer trembled violently, cracking everywhere! The power of the blade's energy finally ran out, dissipating into nothingness after piercing through the third layer of defense.

Huo Yuhao, who had unleashed that strike, was instantly drained of all his strength, leaving him no energy to even maintain his Qi Control Art. His body plummeted straight down from mid-air. Elder Zhou, who was prepared, flashed forward and caught him steadily.

Ding! A crisp sound.

Huo Yuhao looked down at the Spirit Artifact longsword in his hand. He saw that the intricate Spirit Runes on the blade were crumbling inch by inch, and fine cracks spread out like a spider web, completely dimming its original vibrant light.

With a series of "crackling" sounds, the fourth-grade Spirit Artifact that Huo Yuhao had carefully crafted actually disintegrated from the blade, turning into metal fragments scattered on the ground.

The Heavenly Cycle Art continued to operate without stopping. In just a moment, Huo Yuhao had recovered some of his strength. He waved his hand and put all the metal fragments scattered on the ground, along with the hilt of the knife, into his storage ring.

"Cough cough----" Hu Gan dismissed the tattered wooden shield in front of him, his face was a little pale, and a bead of cold sweat even seeped from his forehead. He quickly walked to Huo Yuhao, who was being supported by Elder Zhou, and placed his hands on Huo Yuhao's shoulders. The force was so great that Huo Yuhao felt a dull pain.

Hu Gan's eyes burned with shock and curiosity. "Young Huo! Just now—what kind of Dou Technique was that strike?! You—how did you do that?! How could a Da Dou Shi like you unleash a strike that even I found threatening?!"

It's no wonder he was so shocked. Previously, Huo Yuhao had displayed the strength of Dou Wang with the cultivation of Da Dou Shi, which was already hard for Hu Gan to understand. However, Hu Gan's own strength was at the Peak Dou Emperor, so he didn't have a deep understanding of the power of Dou Wang, which was below his own level.

But when that knife appeared, he truly felt a threat to his life. The surprise and doubt that had been building up all turned into incomprehension at that moment, impacting his reason.

Huo Yuhao felt a tremendous emptiness within his body and a strange power stirring deep within his soul, leaving him somewhat bewildered. That power seemed to transcend emotions, originating from a deeper place, and he didn't even know how to explain it.

Seeing Huo Yuhao's silent and slightly confused expression, Hu Gan and Elder Zhou, who was equally surprised and uncertain, exchanged a glance and tacitly decided not to ask any further questions.

"Alright! Alright!" Hu Gan withdrew his hands, scratched his head slightly, and revealed a warm smile, "These kids nowadays—they like to keep all their special skills to themselves."

"Then let's call this a draw." Elder Zhou's old face revealed a mischievous smile as he said to Hu Gan, "Vice Dean, you're really regressing the more you cultivate!"

"What tie! I won!" A plume of white smoke billowed from Hu Gan's head, his face as red as a spiced egg about to explode. "Huo kid's out of steam!"

"Hey! If it weren't for Huo holding back—" Elder Zhou said with a disdainful look, "You, a Dou Emperor, fought like this against a student, and you still have the nerve to say you won!"

Hu Gan forward, grabbed Elder Zhou by the collar, and shook him violently. "If you were to go up there, you wouldn't last two moves before you're beaten to a pulp!"

"Huh? Vice Dean? Elder Zhou?" Huo Yuhao stood to the side, somewhat embarrassed. Judging from their emotional fluctuations, he figured the two old men were probably just joking around, so he didn't know what to do for a moment.

"Oh, right!" Hu Gan pressed down on Elder Zhou with one hand, reached into his robes, took out a scroll still warm from his body, and tossed it to Huo Yuhao.

"With your abilities—you don't need to be a student. Why don't you just join as an elder? I think you'd be a good successor to Old Zhou."

"Why?"