The Imperial Bow's Heaven-Piercer Claims the Championship (Part Three)

The pale golden radiance of the long arrows blazed ever brighter. Ultimate Wind Element and Ultimate Light intertwined around their shafts, sending tiny tremors through space.

Huo Yuhao's hand held the Imperial Bow steady as stone, but two flames suddenly flared together in his heart—

One was a hatred born of this body's instincts, buried deep in his bones: the grudge the White Tiger Duke's Mansion had carved into Huo Yuhao's flesh and blood. The other was irrepressible excitement, a thrill awakened by the provocation that belonged to him alone.

Just then, the towering phantom of a centaur deity silently appeared behind Huo Yuhao. Its human upper body stood straight and proud, while its silver-white horse's body trod the air, with a Centaur Chariot beneath it. Divine majesty radiated from its form.

Silver-white hair fell over the phantom's shoulders. Its golden eyes burned like the blazing sun, a black mask concealed half its face, and a starry headdress shimmered with light.

In its hands was a longbow identical to the Reignbow Arbiter's. It drew the bow and nocked an arrow in perfect unison with Huo Yuhao.

It was none other than Lan, the Aeon of the Hunt.

"Come. Feel it carefully. This—is the might of the Imperial Bow!"

A voice as deep as the rumble of stellar orbits sounded beside Huo Yuhao's ear. He could not tell where it came from; it seemed to have been carved directly into his mind.

Huo Yuhao's heart stirred, but he said nothing.

He could not tell whether Dai Huabin was lucky or unlucky. Across the whole Douluo Continent, there was no second person who could make the Aeon of the Hunt decide to act.

No—this guy had hit the jackpot!

Fortunately, Lan was not acting in person. The Aeon was only lending divine will to Huo Yuhao and delivering this strike through his hands.

Huo Yuhao quietly breathed a sigh of relief—

If Lan had stepped in personally, Dai Huabin probably would not have left so much as a speck of ash. That would have been a terrible waste.

Huo Yuhao wanted to crush Dai Huabin's pride with his own hands. How could he let Dai Huabin die so easily?

The next moment, Huo Yuhao felt the Imperial Bow drain the Soul Power from his body. Every meridian ached and swelled as all his strength, Faith, and even that hatred buried deep in his bones gathered into the three long arrows on the bowstring.

The deity's phantom overlapped perfectly with his figure. Two voices—one vast and commanding, the other clear and resolute—rang out together across the examination arena, sending ripples through the air:

"With heaven and earth as my hunting ground, with Faith as my bowstring, Imperial Arrow—"

"With heaven and earth as my hunting ground, with Faith as my bowstring, Imperial Arrow—"

"Heaven-Piercer!"

"Heaven-Piercer!"

As the final words fell, Huo Yuhao's eyes turned a brilliant, pure gold, and the Heavenly Eye on his forehead opened fully.

Three Imperial Arrows that seemed to pierce heaven and earth tore through space in an instant!

There was no deafening roar. Only utter silence—

Where the arrowheads passed, the air was annihilated. Three black rifts remained in space, swallowing even the light.

The platinum arrowlight moved faster than thought. One moment the arrows were on the bowstring; the next, they were before the Hell White Tiger.

Roar—!

The Hell White Tiger instinctively sensed mortal danger and unleashed a roar that shook the entire arena.

Holding nothing back, it burned its Soul Power to the limit and charged the Imperial Arrows with terrifying force, like a savage tiger pouncing on prey.

"Huo Yuhao! I'm the champion! I'm the legitimate son of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion! I will never lose!!"

Dai Huabin's frenzied, venomous howl came from within the Hell White Tiger's head. He had staked all his pride, Soul Power, and future on this one move.

Huo Yuhao did not answer. His Soul Power was almost completely drained, and his face was pale as paper. He could stand only because Ning Tian was supporting him at his side.

Watching the Hell White Tiger charge in without fear of death, Huo Yuhao had just one thought: Brother, you really are brave.

The last ones who had dared face Lan like that were the Abominations of Abundance, and they had immortal bodies.

As for what happened to them...

"Not good!"

Du Weilun's expression changed sharply on the raised platform. As a Soul Douluo, he knew better than anyone how powerful those three arrows were.

Forget Dai Huabin's Soul Elder-level Hell White Tiger—even a Soul King who took them head-on would die, body and soul!

If the Duke's Mansion's legitimate son died in the freshman finals, no one could bear the responsibility!

His figure flashed. He vanished from the stands and appeared in the center of the arena almost as if he had teleported, placing himself between the Imperial Arrows and the Hell White Tiger.

Boom—!!!

A deafening explosion finally erupted. A wave of platinum light swept across the arena, the hard black stone floor cracked in an instant, and dust surged into the sky.

The teachers outside the protective barrier all rose to their feet and stared at the arena's center in shock.

As the dust slowly settled, everyone drew a sharp breath at the sight before them.

Du Weilun stood in the middle of the arena, with Huo Yuhao on one side and Dai Huabin on the other.

The robes on the left side of his body had been reduced to powder. The skin and muscle beneath looked as though they might crumble at any moment. Blood dripped from his robes, and his Soul Power was so chaotic it was nearly spilling out of him.

Clearly, stopping those three arrows had come at a terrible cost.

A distinct bloody gash also marked the right side of his chest.

Behind him, the Hell White Tiger had already been dispersed. Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu lay collapsed on the ground, their faces pale as paper and their Soul Power utterly exhausted. They could not even stand. All that remained in their eyes was disbelief and venomous hatred.

"Freshman examination finals: Huo Yuhao's team wins!"

Du Weilun took a deep breath and suppressed the turbulent Soul Power within him. He gave Huo Yuhao a complicated look, then announced the result in a deep voice.

There was wariness in that look, shock, and a trace of acknowledgment almost too faint to notice.

"Why?! Why did I lose?!"

Dai Huabin's low, venomous howl rang out. He braced himself against the ground and tried to rise, only to fall hard again.

He glared at Huo Yuhao, whose face was just as pale. All the arrogance had vanished from his eyes, leaving only hatred that ate to the bone and bitter unwillingness.

"Why? Hmph!"

When Du Weilun looked at Dai Huabin, none of the deference he showed the dean remained. There was only the pride and coldness of the Martial Soul Department's director of academic affairs, as though he were looking at a fool who did not know how high the heavens were or how deep the earth was. "Those three arrows would have left you a corpse if I hadn't stopped them! You lost because you weren't good enough!"

With that, Du Weilun's figure flashed again, and he vanished from the arena.

He needed treatment at once. The Annihilation force from that arrow was still eating away at his meridians.

Yan Shaozhe walked slowly down from the platform, still wearing his refined, courteous smile, as though the clash that had just taken place—one grave enough to alarm the Sea God Pavilion—had been an ordinary sparring match.

He raised a hand to quiet the teachers' startled cries around the arena and announced, "Let us congratulate the champions of this year's freshman tournament—Huo Yuhao's team!"

"The academy will hold the official award ceremony tomorrow morning. Class teachers, please arrange for your students to attend."

The next day, in the grand square of Shrek Outer Court.

Yesterday's examination arena had already been transformed into a solemn awards platform.

The square was packed with Outer Court students. Even those who had missed the finals had heard the details from their teachers, and the stories had spread throughout the academy—

Huo Yuhao had eliminated the Nine-Tailed Fox team's control specialist one second after the match began, met an Agility Attack Department Soul Elder head-on with his bare body, forced a Soul Douluo director of academic affairs from the field with one arrow, and countered the Hell White Tiger to claim the championship. Each feat made him a legend in the eyes of the freshmen.

Discussion rose and fell below the platform. Every gaze was fixed on its entrance.

Before long, Yan Shaozhe walked slowly onto the platform. His smile was as warm as ever, though a trace of gloom lurked deep in his eyes.

He cleared his throat, and his Soul Power carried his voice across the square. "I know the teachers and students are curious why Director Du isn't attending today's ceremony. I can tell you plainly: after yesterday's examination, Director Du came down with a slight chill and is feeling unwell. I will personally preside over today's ceremony and present the awards to Shrek's future—you!"

The crowd below fell silent at once, but several teachers exchanged knowing looks. A slight chill?

If it could leave a Soul Douluo like Du Weilun bedridden, that "chill" was something else.

"Now, I announce the top three teams of this year's freshman tournament!"

"Third place: Wang Dong's team!"

"Second place: Dai Huabin's team!"

"First place—Huo Yuhao's team!"