Victory

"Senior Meng, we're about to catch up to them."

Huo Yuhao's voice rang out in Meng Hongchen's mind again.

Meng Hongchen nodded. The Flying Soul Guidance Device on her body flapped once more as she carried Huo Yuhao in pursuit of Ma Rulong and Chen Fei.

On the other side, Xiao Hongchen also saw Li Yan leave the field. At the same time, Huo Yuhao's voice sounded in his mind. "Senior Xiao, your chance to strike back has come. Let's attack together!"

A smile gradually appeared on Xiao Hongchen's face upon hearing this. Just moments ago, Ma Rulong and the other two had suppressed him with overwhelming firepower, beating him into a frantic retreat. For someone as proud as Xiao Hongchen, that was undoubtedly hard to accept. Thus, hearing that Huo Yuhao was giving him a chance to counterattack made him immensely pleased.

The one hundred and twenty-eight Soul Guidance Cannons on his body fired another barrage of shells, while Ma Rulong and Chen Fei dodged and returned fire.

Meng Hongchen swiftly flew above the two of them. An icy-blue vortex appeared at her side, blazing red light shining from its center.

This was her Fifth Soul Skill—Ice Fire Poison Dragon Drill!

Bang!

The icy-blue vortex swept directly toward Ma Rulong and Chen Fei. Already afflicted by some poison, the two were sprinting at full speed. The instant they noticed the vortex approaching, they immediately activated their defensive soul tools, and two Soul Tool Barriers rose around them.

However, the icy-blue vortex shattered those barriers in the next instant. This was a soul skill enhanced by Ultimate Ice, so its power far exceeded its normal strength.

One had to know that Soul Masters with Ultimate Attributes could fight above their rank. With Huo Yuhao's enhancement, Meng Hongchen's ice attribute had temporarily reached the level of Ultimate Ice.

That meant Ma Rulong and Chen Fei were facing a Soul King-level Ultimate Ice Soul Master!

"How is this possible? How can Meng Hongchen's Fifth Soul Skill be this powerful? She's clearly only a level fifty-one Soul King!" Ma Rulong's face filled with shock. This was completely beyond his expectations.

He no longer had time to activate his Invincible Barrier. Activating it required him to actively pour in soul power, and it also took time. Thus, at that moment, the Trigger-Type Defensive Soul Tool on his body activated instantly.

A brand-new Soul Tool Barrier unfolded, continuously resisting the icy-blue vortex's attacks. Yet cracks slowly began appearing across it.

Just as he was about to activate his Invincible Barrier, a barrage of Soul Guidance Cannon Shells flew in from behind him. Sharp whistling sounds rang out at the same time, and his Soul Tool Barrier shattered once again.

Chen Fei, standing nearby, revealed a horrified expression. "Boss Ma!"

Rumble!

Cannon fire roared as the icy-blue vortex swept down. Jing Hongchen suddenly appeared before the two of them, and a Soul Tool Barrier silently formed, blocking all the attacks.

Jing Hongchen then led Ma Rulong and Chen Fei out and said, "All right, Xiao, Meng, Yuhao—you've won!"

Upon hearing that, Huo Yuhao dispelled his Simulated Soul Skill, then flew down from the air with Meng Hongchen.

Xiao Hongchen froze at the sight.

Wait, why are you lying on Meng's back? Is there any need to stick that close just for a match? Huo Yuhao, what exactly are you trying to do to my sister?!

Confused, he was just about to ask when he heard Jing Hongchen cough violently. He looked in Jing Hongchen's direction, only to see Jing Hongchen give him a meaningful look.

Xiao Hongchen immediately understood Jing Hongchen's meaning. A hesitant expression appeared on his face, though he was also puzzled. Could it be that Grandpa wants to set Huo Yuhao up with Meng?

At that moment, Huo Yuhao climbed down from Meng Hongchen's back. "Senior, thank you for your help."

"It's nothing. We helped each other out. Honestly, you helped me a great deal. That feeling of my ice attribute becoming so pure was truly wonderful. As expected of Ultimate Ice!" A trace of wistfulness appeared on Meng Hongchen's face.

"Ultimate Ice?" Ma Rulong was somewhat stunned. "Meng Hongchen, what do you mean by that? Could it be that Huo Yuhao possesses an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul?"

"That's right." Meng Hongchen nodded. "He's amazing, isn't he?"

Ma Rulong immediately looked at Huo Yuhao with a complicated expression. In a deep voice, he said, "Your talent far exceeds my imagination. I, Ma Rulong, was wrong, and I apologize to you! You truly have the qualifications to join the reserve team. If we were at the same level, then in a one-on-one fight, I definitely wouldn't be your match!"

"You flatter me, Senior Ma," Huo Yuhao said with a smile.

"You're too modest. With your talent, once you grow stronger, you'll become the strongest in the Sun Moon Empire! The future belongs to you!" Ma Rulong said.

On the other side, the news struck Xiao Hongchen like a bolt from the blue. He stared at Meng Hongchen. "Meng? H-he really has Ultimate Ice?"

"That's right. Twin Martial Souls—one Body Martial Soul and one Ultimate Ice Martial Soul. Xiao, you lost to Junior Yuhao again!" Meng Hongchen said with a smile.

Xiao Hongchen looked as though he had suffered ten thousand points of damage. Clutching his chest, he found it hard to accept. "Doesn't that mean he's the once-in-a-millennium genius of the Sun Moon Empire? And I'm just second-best for a thousand years? I'll never be able to catch up to Huo Yuhao's talent in my entire life?"

"No, no, no." Meng Hongchen raised a slender finger and shook it, smiling as she said, "Xiao, you can't put it that way. Junior Yuhao should be the greatest genius since the founding of the Sun Moon Empire! So look at it from another angle—every genius in history more talented than you has been suppressed. Doesn't that make you feel a little better?"

"Not at all!" Xiao Hongchen said with a dark expression.

Jing Hongchen chuckled from the side. "That's right. Yuhao's talent is indeed unparalleled in my experience. However, you must all keep this matter absolutely secret. Otherwise, Yuhao may very well be captured and turned into a genius of another faction!"

"Understood, Hall Master!"

"Understood, Dean!"

"Understood, Grandpa!"

Everyone responded in turn.

For the next period of time, everyone continued working on their tactical coordination. Because of the talent and strength Huo Yuhao had displayed, even those who had initially held objections toward him no longer had any issue with him. Instead, they warmly welcomed Huo Yuhao into the team.

Half a month later.

The second floor of the library.

Huo Yuhao stood before a bookshelf, searching for books. He needed to prepare for the Rank 3 Soul Engineer examination and also find books for Elder Yi.

In truth, in the Douluo World, for someone with cheat-like abilities, Soul Engineer rank and Soul Master rank did not always strictly correspond. For example, it wasn't as though a Soul Ancestor could only be a Rank 4 Soul Engineer at most.

When Huo Gua had first entered the Sun Moon Empire as an exchange student in the original story, his Soul Power Level had only been level forty, yet he had already reached Rank 5 Soul Engineer. Of course, according to the original description, it would be more accurate to say that he had barely met the Soul Tool Department's Rank 6 standard at Shrek Academy.

Naturally, Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department was definitely inferior to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. Therefore, by Sun Moon standards, Huo Gua had been Rank 5 at the time, not barely Rank 6.

"This book is called Speculations on the Origin of Soul Rings. Elder Yi, haven't you been wanting to learn more about soul rings these past few days? What do you think of this book?" Huo Yuhao asked.