Tournament Crisis, Qiu'er Returns to Save the Day

After the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament officially began, Shrek won its first few matches with ease.

On the morning of the first day, Shrek faced a veteran academy from the Heaven Soul Empire. Their opponents specialized in steady defense, with three defense-type soul masters joining forces to form a formation, hoping to bog Shrek down with their heavy lineup. Huo Yuhao needed only half an incense stick's time to use Spirit Detection to mark all three gaps in their rotations.

Bei Bei's lightning tore through the center, Xu Sanshi's Black Tortoise Shield suppressed the counterattack, and Wang Dong'er's Goddess of Light Butterfly swept in from the flank. A platinum blade of light descended, splitting the defensive line apart on the spot.

Shrek's first victory.

In the second match that afternoon, their opponents were a powerful team from the Dou Ling Empire. All seven were incredibly fast. Right from the start, they tried to bypass Huo Yuhao and target Xiao Xiao and He Caitou first. Huo Yuhao stood at the heart of the formation, his Spirit Eyes lighting up as mental interference spread like an invisible net, forcibly throwing the two fastest agility-type soul masters half a step off.

Half a step was enough.

Jiang Nannan seized one of them in a backhand grab, while Xiao Xiao's Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron pinned down the other. Wang Dong'er unfurled her light wings, and as she descended from the air, her blue-gold radiance illuminated the entire arena.

Their second victory was just as clean.

The discussions in the stands grew louder and louder.

"Huo Yuhao's battlefield control is ridiculous."

"It's like he can see everyone's next move in advance."

"Wang Dong'er is absurdly strong too. Her attacks are fast, and she works flawlessly with Huo Yuhao. Their opponents don't even dare take them head-on."

But Shrek did not relax too much internally, because everyone knew that the more beautifully they won, the more anxious those lurking in the shadows would become.

For the entire day, Shrek kept winning without a single defeat.

On the second day, Shrek won another two matches.

In one, Bei Bei led the team while Huo Yuhao only maintained their rhythm from the rear with Spiritual Sharing, barely making a move. In the other, they faced a soul engineer team affiliated with a sect. He Caitou's soul tool artillery platform was fully deployed for the first time, its firepower crushing the opponents so thoroughly that they could barely raise their heads.

That afternoon, Shrek encountered an inconspicuous sect team.

On the surface, there were no soul engineers from the Sun Moon Empire among them, nor were there any members of the Holy Spirit Cult. Their captain was a power attack-type Soul King, their vice-captain a control-type soul master, and the rest of their members coordinated neatly. They looked like the most ordinary opponents imaginable.

Yet from the moment Huo Yuhao stepped onto the arena, he felt that something was wrong.

It was not strength, nor weakness—it was emptiness.

The soul power fluctuations of the seven opponents seemed steady, and there was nothing unusual in the traces left by their soul tools. Even their emotional fluctuations in battle were absent. But Huo Yuhao was a spiritual-type soul master. He knew far too well what living people were supposed to be like when standing in an arena: excitement, fear, the desire to win, tiny and chaotic thoughts rippling across the surface of their spiritual seas.

These people had none of that.

The surfaces of their spiritual seas looked as though they had been scrubbed clean by some evil art. Their emotions had been shaved thin, leaving only several commands forcibly buried within them. This was not ordinary brainwashing. It was more like a method commonly used by the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters: first dull the self, then force commands into the cracks of the soul.

That was why they looked so "clean"—clean enough not to seem human.

Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes glimmered as Spirit Detection spread out. It passed through those bleached spiritual surfaces and pressed deeper, until it finally struck an extremely thin layer of emptiness three feet beneath the arena.

"Dong'er, don't get too far from me," Huo Yuhao said softly.

Dong'er glanced at him and immediately understood the meaning of his warning. The sharpness in her eyes softened slightly as she replied, "Understood."

Ma Xiaotao stood below the stage with her arms folded, one brow arched. "That brat has caught another scent."

The match began.

Shrek pressed forward as usual. Bei Bei opened the way with lightning, Xu Sanshi's Black Tortoise Shield protected the rear, Xiao Xiao activated her twin martial souls and used the Nine Phoenixes Coming to Court Flute to enhance the team, while Jiang Nannan maneuvered in with her agility attack-type martial soul. Dong'er's Goddess of Light Butterfly launched a fierce assault, her blue-gold blade of light cutting toward the opposing control-type soul master along the route Huo Yuhao had marked.

This time, Huo Yuhao did not seek a quick conclusion. Instead, he pushed Spiritual Sharing deeper. But their opponents had been waiting for precisely this moment. Just as Wang Dong'er's blade of light was about to strike the opposing control-type soul master, a deeply concealed Sun Moon interference spike suddenly exploded at the edge of the arena. That soul tool spike did not attack Huo Yuhao. Instead, it instantly cut off Wang Dong'er's foothold.

Wang Dong'er's expression changed. She forcibly twisted herself in midair, but black patterns had already curled up from beneath her. It was not a killing move. It was more like a hand that had opened in advance, waiting specifically for the instant she left Huo Yuhao's side.

"Dong'er, watch out!"

Huo Yuhao's voice had barely fallen when the black patterns erupted.

Wang Dong'er was blasted sideways, and the wings of her Goddess of Light Butterfly shattered into a spray of blue-gold light. She crashed against the edge of the arena with a muffled groan, blood spilling from the corner of her lips.

The moment he saw Dong'er collapse outside the arena, Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sharing fell into disarray.

Bei Bei's lightning command slowed by half a beat, Xu Sanshi's Black Tortoise Shield failed to reinforce the center of the formation immediately, and Xiao Xiao's Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron was jolted an inch off course by the interference wave.

"Yuhao, steady yourself!" Bei Bei shouted sharply.

Huo Yuhao heard him.

But seeing Wang Dong'er collapsed at the edge of the arena, he could no longer restrain his fury.

The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion martial soul unfolded, frigid soul power surging violently from behind him as the temperature across the entire arena plummeted. Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes shone so brightly they were nearly blinding. Rather than advancing in layers according to the original plan, his Spirit Shock blasted directly at the opposing control-type soul master.

But that was exactly what the enemy had been waiting for. Black blood patterns surged from the cracks, bypassed the Ultimate Ice, and shot straight toward Huo Yuhao's brow.

His Spirit Eyes were forcibly sealed shut in an instant, and darkness filled Huo Yuhao's vision.

He did not fall. Through the pain, he raised a hand, forcibly froze the crack, and drove Spirit Shock into the ground. Icy blue light exploded along the fissures in the arena, forcing out three black soul spikes hidden within the formation's focal points.

Gasps rang out from the stands. Xuan Lao's expression darkened abruptly, and just as he was about to intervene, the arena's rule formation was reverse-locked by the black patterns. The enemy's true killing move had arrived.

A Scorpion-Tiger Blood Nail bypassed everyone's sight and stabbed toward Huo Yuhao from behind.

Dong'er saw it. Though she had clearly been blasted out of the arena, she still gritted her teeth and forced herself to her feet. She took out the Clear Sky Hammer, no longer caring about the tournament rules, and rushed toward Yuhao with the hammer raised, knocking the blood nail off course.

"Yuhao!"

But the remaining bloody malice still seeped into his Spirit Eyes. Huo Yuhao groaned, blood spilling from his lips as though a hole had been torn open in his spiritual sea. When he turned back and saw Wang Dong'er collapse again, his pupils were filled with bloodshot rage.

Deep within the enemy formation's focal point, the black blood patterns lit up once more. Bei Bei and the others were restrained outside the focal point by a powerful force. For the first time in an official match, Huo Yuhao had fallen into a true dead end.

The tournament organizers were also thrown into chaos by this sudden disruption from evil soul masters. The spectators on the scene erupted into panic. Every competing team went on alert, layer after layer of soul tool shields lighting up as screams and angry shouts merged into a single uproar.

Just as everyone thought Huo Yuhao was about to be completely crushed, a clear dragon's roar suddenly rang out above the arena.

Golden light tore through the sky, and the Golden Dragon Spear descended from above, slamming into the center of the arena.

The black blood patterns covering the arena shattered inch by inch beneath that strike.

Wang Qiu'er appeared within the golden light.

She had arrived so suddenly that even Xuan Lao froze for an instant. She still carried traces of dust from the Star Dou Great Forest, night dew clinging to the ends of her hair, but her golden eyes shone with astonishing brilliance. The destiny aura of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion surged deep within her brow, as if Huo Yuhao's nearly shattered spiritual sea had forcibly drawn her back.

Xuan Lao seized the chance to act. The pressure of a Super Douluo left the evil soul masters nowhere to hide, while the staff swiftly moved in and brought this dangerous farce to an end.

The host hurriedly took the stage and announced that the matches for the second afternoon would be suspended and resume the next day.

Huo Yuhao dragged his battered body toward the edge of the stage and unsteadily lifted the unconscious Wang Dong'er into his arms. When he looked up at Qiu'er, his thoughts were a tangled mess.

She had truly returned—not because he had called for her, nor even because the academy had sent word.

It was simply because the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's power of destiny had sensed the danger facing the Eye of Destiny. She had felt that he was truly in danger, and so she had chosen to leave his world behind—or rather, she had rushed back from the Star Dou Great Forest.

All those thoughts drifted through Huo Yuhao's mind as he weakly greeted her in a soft voice. "Qiu'er... you're back."

After saying that, Huo Yuhao finally collapsed, unable to endure the agonizing pain in his Spirit Eyes and the depletion of his soul power.

Wang Qiu'er hurriedly caught Huo Yuhao with one hand and handed him over to He Caitou. Then she rose to her feet and swept her spear across the center of the arena. Golden spear light tore apart the last blood pattern, marking all three evil soul spike locations hidden beneath the arena.

"Senior Brother Bei Bei, Senior Brother Sanshi," she said, still as cold as a spear blade, "I'll trouble you to clean up these disgusting things."

Qiu'er lowered her head to look at Huo Yuhao in He Caitou's arms, her gaze complicated.

That night, Wang Dong'er and Huo Yuhao were both sent to the Sea God Pavilion's medical room.

Dong'er had exhausted her soul power and suffered spiritual damage from the Scorpion-Tiger Blood Nail. Her life was not in danger, but she remained unconscious.

Under Wang Qiu'er's spiritual power restoration, Huo Yuhao slowly woke up. His Spirit Eyes still hurt as though someone were scraping them inch by inch with a knife, but what truly kept him from calming down was that golden light that had descended from the sky above the arena.