Martial Soul Mutation? No! An Abomination of Abundance!

Huo Yuhao felt uneasy for a moment, then forced down the ominous feeling.

Worrying would do no good. It would only disturb his peace of mind.

He had always lived by one rule: when soldiers came, he would meet them with generals; when floods came, he would block them with earth.

In the cultivation room, a bronze alchemy furnace half as tall as a person stood quietly at the center.

Forged from Darkgold mixed with Sunfire Gold, it was heavy and solid, plainly built to take a beating. Huo Yuhao had commissioned this beginner's furnace with one priority: it had to survive explosions.

He was working out a pill recipe of his own.

The herbs of the Douluo Continent had different names from the spirit medicines in the memories of the Howling Celestial Dog and Electrolux, but their properties followed the same principles: ingredients complemented one another, and the Five Elements generated and restrained one another.

Most of the materials the Dai Family had paid in compensation were gentle herbs that replenished blood and vitality or nourished the mind. They were just right for a basic recovery pill.

"Soul-Gathering Grass nourished the mind, Spirit Ginseng replenished blood and vitality, Ironwood Ginseng strengthened the foundation, Bloodvine boosted activity, and Licorice brought their properties into harmony..." As Huo Yuhao muttered, he added the herbs to the furnace in measured proportions. Spiritual energy became a small flame at his fingertips, and he slowly adjusted the heat.

A moment later—

Bang!

With a muffled blast, the furnace lid flew off. Black smoke billowed from its mouth.

Huo Yuhao emerged from the smoke covered in soot, his face streaked black and white. He coughed twice, then stubbornly declared, "An alchemist who's never blown up a batch isn't a good alchemist. Perfectly normal. Perfectly normal."

Bang—

Bang—

Bang—

The explosions in the Lionheart Club's cultivation room did not stop all morning.

Only when the sun neared its zenith did Huo Yuhao stretch and put the three rather plain-looking jade bottles beside him into his Storage Soul Tool.

The pills might not look like much, but they were thirty percent more potent than he had expected. The explosions had not been for nothing.

Knock, knock, knock—

Someone was at the door.

"Who is it?" Huo Yuhao asked casually, guessing Ning Tian had come to hurry him along with Club business.

"Yuhao, it's me." Ning Tian's voice came through the door, sounding grave.

Huo Yuhao opened it. At the sight of her dark expression, his heart gave a jolt. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"It's Dai Huabin." Ning Tian stepped inside, brows drawn tight. "His White Tiger Alliance has been waiting for our Lionheart Club members at the Soul Fighting Arena. Everyone who's taken the stage has had their arms or legs broken. He's been vicious."

"What about Cao Jinxuan and the others? Didn't they step in?" Huo Yuhao frowned. Under Wang Yan's guidance, Cao Jinxuan's Time Fleeting Bell Martial Soul had improved beyond recognition. He should have been able to crush Dai Huabin.

"They did. They lost." Ning Tian shook her head, frustration in her voice. "Not just Cao Jinxuan. Xie Huanyue and Long Xiangyue joined forces and still lost. They're saying... Dai Huabin's Martial Soul mutated."

"Martial Soul Mutation?" Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Another matter concerned him more. With Dai Huabin's sudden surge in strength, the story of his hiring assassins might be spun into some tale of "staging it himself and bearing the blame to spur himself onward." The Duke's Mansion could then use that story to bury the whole affair.

"Come on. Let's go to the Soul Fighting Arena."

By the time they hurried to the outer court's Soul Fighting Arena, it was packed. Cheers and jeers shook the air.

The moment Huo Yuhao reached the edge of the arena, the Reignbow Arbiter in his palm began trembling violently. The Aeon of the Hunt's murderous aura churned beyond his control, carrying loathing and battle lust etched into its very essence.

Huo Yuhao screamed inwardly: Heavenly Bow! Please, calm yourself! Don't cast your gaze down and mete out punishment!!

He took a deep breath and forced the restless Imperial Bow still. An icy killing intent swept over his dark eyes.

An Abomination of Abundance... there would be no mercy!

All at once, he understood what had happened.

Dai Huabin's Martial Soul had not mutated. He had been tainted by the power of the Aeon of Abundance and become an Abomination of Abundance!

The supposed mutation was merely the Power of Abundance manifesting in him!

But Huo Yuhao could not understand one thing: what had Dai Huabin done to merit so much as a glance from Yaoshi, The Plagues Author?

"Well, well. If it isn't the president of the Lionheart Club, Huo Yuhao the 'Lion King'?"

A hoarse, arrogant voice rang out from the platform.

Dai Huabin stood at its center, eerie green-gold slit pupils fixed on Huo Yuhao. A deranged smile twisted his face, and a strange pale-gold halo surrounded him.

"Soul Fighting?" Huo Yuhao looked up at him, his voice ice-cold and devoid of anything else.

He had already made up his mind: given the chance, he would kill Dai Huabin.

"Of course." Dai Huabin grinned savagely. "What, President Huo? Afraid?"

Without another word, Huo Yuhao tossed the referee a Gold Soul Coin and leaped onto the platform. (As the original work said, it cost one Gold Soul Coin to fight on the platform or even watch a match. Why Jiang Nannan spent one to watch Soul Fighting was anyone's guess.)

"Huo Yuhao. Martial Souls: Reignbow Arbiter and Heavenly Eye. Level seventeen, one-ring Soul Grandmaster."

"Dai Huabin. Martial Soul: Life-Devouring White Tiger. Level forty-three, Four-Ring Soul Ancestor!"

As the introductions ended, Dai Huabin immediately activated Martial Soul Possession.

A dark-gold tiger-stripe mark lit up between his brows. His pupils narrowed into slits, gilded patterns spread across his body, and his nails extended into pale-gold claws. The phantom White Tiger behind him was a full size larger than before. Dark-gold markings rippled through its fur as though alive, and each breath carried a strange mingling of vegetation and blood.

Gasps erupted below the platform.

Four rings! In just one short week, Dai Huabin had broken through from Soul Elder to Soul Ancestor!

"Martial Soul Possession."

Huo Yuhao drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. The phantom Reignbow Arbiter appeared behind him. This time, the Centaur Deity Lan did not remain there. His figure became a brilliant streak along a starry path and plunged into Huo Yuhao's body.

For the first time since crossing into this world, Huo Yuhao had truly achieved complete Martial Soul Possession.

When he opened his eyes again, everything about him had changed.

His black hair had turned dazzling white and fell to his waist; brilliant golden eyes shone cold as stars, while a dark blue mask marked with black patterns covered half his face. Flowing star-path patterns adorned his silver-blue battle attire, and his cloak surged behind him like a rushing river of stars. At his waist, a phantom blue halo trailed light like the hind hooves of the Centaur Deity. The long, light-strung bow on his back gleamed with a piercing sacred radiance, while the aura of a hunter who had crossed seas of stars surrounded him.

The crowd fell utterly silent. Everyone stared.

This was no mere Martial Soul Possession. It was a deity descending into the world!

The force of that presence left Dai Huabin seething, but his resentment quickly swallowed the feeling. He sneered. "Cheap tricks! I'll tear you apart!"

"Second Soul Skill: Abomination-Born Rending Wave!"

A dark-gold wave gathered in his palm, its edges churning with tiny tiger-shaped blades of light. With a shrill tiger's roar, it shot straight at Huo Yuhao's face.

The air in its path bloomed with unnatural life, only for that life to be devoured an instant later.

"First Soul Skill: Heaven's Apex: All-Seer Clarity."

Huo Yuhao's voice remained calm. Golden light flashed from the Heavenly Eye between his brows.

An all-seeing perspective unfolded in an instant. The path of the Abomination-Born Rending Wave and every point where Soul Power flowed appeared in his mind.

He stepped aside in one fluid motion, evading the attack by a hair. It did not even brush his clothes.

In the same movement, he drew his bow and loosed a platinum arrow of light.

"First Soul Skill: Life-Devouring Barrier!"

Dai Huabin grinned savagely. A hemispherical gilded barrier rose around him, tiger stripes flowing across its surface, and took the arrow head-on.

The arrow struck, raised a few ripples, and vanished.

"Third Soul Skill: Life-Blessed Vajra Transformation!"

Dark-gold light flared. Dai Huabin's body swelled, and his physical strength soared again.

He pushed off hard enough to crack the ground and hurtled toward Huo Yuhao like a cannonball, his claws cutting through the air toward his throat.

Huo Yuhao curled his lip. His fingers flicked, sending three arrows out at once to halt Dai Huabin's charge. At the same time, an invisible mental ripple spread silently outward.

"Divine Ability: Illusory Sea Dream!"

Dai Huabin stopped dead mid-charge. His green-gold pupils turned vacant, and he stood rigidly in place, trapped in an illusion.

"Time to see what it takes to put you down."

Huo Yuhao's gaze sharpened. He drew the Imperial Bow to a full moon, forming a platinum arrow of light.

He wanted to see just how much Power of Abundance Yaoshi had poured into Dai Huabin.

"Imperial Arrow: Heaven-Piercer!"

Hum—

The arrow left the string before the referee could even react.

Platinum light tore through the air with a shriek sharp enough to pierce anything—and punched straight through Dai Huabin's chest!

"Huo Yuhao! What are you doing?!"

Below the platform, Zhu Lu shrieked, her face deathly pale. "You dare kill another academy student at will?!"

Dai Huabin's sudden Martial Soul Mutation had somehow rendered their Martial Soul Fusion Skill useless, but their engagement remained. She was still bound to him, for better or worse.

Huo Yuhao did not so much as lift an eyelid. His gaze stayed fixed on Dai Huabin at the center of the platform.

Just as he had expected—

Dai Huabin shuddered when the arrow pierced his chest, but he did not fall. Instead, the wound wriggled shut before their eyes. Within a few breaths, it was gone.

He shook his head, felt his chest, and burst into crazed laughter.

Huo Yuhao: "..."

Sometimes, he really did envy the Mara-Struck for their ridiculous vitality... No, wait. The Abominations of Abundance.