The Finals Begin

"Is that a Soul Spirit?" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion gazed at the Snow Empress with keen interest, her eyes full of curiosity.

"So it really is the Snow Empress!" The Scarlet King recognized her too, surprise flashing in his eyes.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion suddenly darted forward and stopped right in front of Huo Yuhao, staring at him curiously.

"Little guy, did you make that Soul Spirit? How did you do it? I want to see! Show me!"

Song Que stepped discreetly in front of Huo Yuhao.

"Easy, Auspicious Beast," he said. "Yuhao is about to merge with a Soul Spirit. Go wait beside the Scarlet King for now."

Then he turned to Huo Yuhao. "Get ready, Yuhao. I'll guide you this time."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion glanced at Huo Yuhao, and a strange feeling inexplicably stirred within her.

But Di Tian and the Scarlet King kept urging her from behind. After hesitating for a few seconds, she obediently retreated.

Huo Yuhao nodded and took a deep breath.

The Illusory-Eyed Spirit Fox in Di Tian's hands also watched Huo Yuhao with curiosity.

With a light leap, the fox landed before him and sniffed his scent.

"Not bad. You really are blessed with great fortune. I won't regret following you."

Di Tian explained, "The Illusory-Eyed Spirit Fox is a spirit beast blessed by the Star Dou Forest's fortune. It has enormous potential. In spiritual power alone, it already rivals an ordinary Soul Beast of forty or fifty thousand years."

"This Illusory-Eyed Spirit Fox is only a little over ten thousand years old. It's still young, but it had an accident once."

"Five thousand years ago, the Evil Emperor entered the Star Dou Forest to challenge me. I shattered one of his eyes, and this fox happened to swallow it. The Evil Emperor's spiritual energy was too vast for it to bear. It nearly died on the spot."

"It survived, but its very essence was badly damaged."

Everyone nodded after hearing the explanation.

"It was just an accident," the Illusory-Eyed Spirit Fox said casually. "That wouldn't happen to me now."

The fox sized Huo Yuhao up and continued, "Kid, you've got a bright future. With me around to guide you, becoming a god will be no problem."

In Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm snorted.

"Pah! A little fox barely ten thousand years old thinks it can guide someone? Just wait until it gets in here. Brother Sky Dream will teach it a lesson."

The Ice Empress glanced at Tian Meng. "You're hardly one to talk, weakling. You might not even beat that little fox."

Yi Lao watched them in the spiritual sea and smiled. "All right, Yuhao. You can get started."

Meanwhile, in Star Luo City.

Jing Hongchen and his party, who had fled the Star Dou Forest earlier, finally returned to their hotel.

Jing Hongchen sat in a chair in his room, his face dark. He said nothing for a long time.

At last, the siblings Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen pushed open the door and came in.

"Grandpa, was the God-Sealing Platform really destroyed?" Xiao Hongchen asked, unwilling to accept it.

Jing Hongchen sighed. "Destroyed. Completely gone."

"Even if it hadn't been, you probably couldn't have absorbed it."

"The Snow Empress, ranked third among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts..."

Jing Hongchen gritted his teeth. "Star Luo Empire. Xu Jiawei! What a clever scheme!"

"The Ten Great Ferocious Beasts? The Snow Empress?" Xiao Hongchen asked in confusion. "Grandpa, are you saying the Snow Empress was inside the God-Sealing Platform?"

"That's right." Jing Hongchen nodded. "How could anyone absorb a being of that caliber so easily?"

"Luckily, those lunatics from the Body Sect showed up and threw everything into chaos. Otherwise, things would have been even more troublesome."

Meng Hongchen clicked her tongue. "The Snow Empress, of all beings. If someone could absorb her, they'd become incredibly powerful."

Jing Hongchen shook his head. "Forget it. Every one of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts is immensely powerful. The Snow Empress is also the King of the Far North. Absorbing her would be harder still."

Xiao Hongchen thought it was a shame, but he understood.

Then it struck him. "Grandpa, you mean the Star Luo Empire was plotting against us from the start?"

"What else?" Jing Hongchen sneered. "That Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast embryo was a trap from beginning to end."

"They wanted to use it to stir up conflict between our Sun Moon Empire and the other factions."

Just then, Elder Ma pushed open the door and walked in.

Jing Hongchen looked up. "Is it done?"

Elder Ma grinned. "Don't worry. It's all taken care of."

"Dai Yueheng was overjoyed to get his hands on the Fixed-Installation Soul Guidance Cannon specially made by Virtue Hall."

Jing Hongchen nodded in satisfaction. "Good."

"You schemed against me, Star Luo Empire. Don't expect to get off lightly."

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were baffled. Neither had any idea what Jing Hongchen was up to.

Jing Hongchen offered no explanation. Instead, he asked, "Have Song Que and Huo Yuhao returned?"

Elder Ma shook his head. "No word yet."

Jing Hongchen said flatly, "The finals have already begun, and those two still aren't back."

"Du Busi and those old fools can't be that useless, can they?"

"Those two had better not die in the Star Dou Forest, or all my plans for later will go to waste."

"It's all right, Hall Master," Elder Ma said. "The finals last three days. Even if they miss today, it won't matter as long as they're back by tomorrow."

Jing Hongchen nodded. "Let's hope so."

That morning, the first match of the finals began on time at Star Luo Plaza.

In Just Sky Academy's waiting room, everyone sat together, the mood tense.

"Bei Bei, still no word from Song Que?" Ye Wuqing asked with a frown.

Bei Bei shook his head. "Nothing. Before he left, he said that if he couldn't make it back, we should decide what to do ourselves."

Ye Wuqing sighed helplessly. "Then that's all we can do. Without him, those two Soul Emperors from Shrek Academy will be hard to handle."

Bei Bei nodded. "We have to submit today's lineup now. Just do your best, everyone, and try not to get seriously hurt."

"Hopefully, he'll make it back in time tomorrow."

"Bei Bei, then when we go out there..." Xu Sanshi began.

Bei Bei shook his head. "We'll see how it goes. If we can't win, we'll save our strength."

Xu Sanshi nodded.

Before long, the match officially began. The two teams filed onto the stage.

Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng scanned every member of Just Sky Academy, looking back and forth.

"That kid isn't here?" Ma Xiaotao sounded surprised.

Dai Yueheng frowned. "Looks like he really didn't make it back. What a shame."

Up on the raised platform, Star Luo Empire's emperor, Xu Jiawei, turned to Dai Hao beside him. "Brother, the Body Sect people still haven't returned."

"Jing Hongchen is already back in the city," Dai Hao said. "I'd say the Body Sect took the God-Sealing Platform."

Xu Jiawei nodded slightly. "They got lucky."

"It would have been better if they'd waited until Jing Hongchen and his people returned to the Sun Moon Empire before making their move. What a pity."

Dai Hao sighed softly. "Indeed. It's a shame their clash didn't produce the result we'd hoped for."