They Waited in Vain, and the Fusion Failed

"Finally, I did it!"

Huo Yuhao gazed at the first level-one Soul Tool he had made. Sweat covered his face, but his eyes shone with excitement and satisfaction.

He still had a long, long way to go before he could compare with his teacher, but at least he had set foot on that path.

"Ning Tian, thank you!"

Caught up in his excitement, Huo Yuhao offered Ning Tian his heartfelt thanks.

Without her help, he would never have learned the basics so quickly.

"I should be thanking you. Without you, I wouldn't have made progress so easily."

Ning Tian expressed her gratitude in turn.

She meant every word. Though Huo Yuhao's skill with Soul Tools was still below her own, his ideas and flights of fancy often struck straight at the heart of a problem, giving her plenty of new insights.

"All right, let's stop thanking each other."

"Today's worth celebrating. Why don't we go out for a meal?"

Ning Tian extended the invitation.

She had made up her mind to bring Huo Yuhao into the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.

"Well... all right. My treat."

Huo Yuhao had meant to refuse.

This was hardly the first time Ning Tian had invited him out.

Huo Yuhao was immature in many ways, but his innate power over emotions still let him discern certain things.

Besides, Ning Tian was not particularly good at hiding her intentions. He could tell that her desire to be his friend was genuine.

But there were other motives mixed in.

He did not know what she wanted, but instinctively, he wanted no part of anything beyond friendship between classmates.

He agreed today because he could use the chance to visit his teacher's Restaurant and talk with him.

It had been many days since he had last seen his teacher.

The two left the academy and headed into Shrek City.

There, Huo Yuhao discovered that his teacher's Restaurant had been damaged and was temporarily closed.

Worry seized him, though the thought of his teacher's strength eased it somewhat.

They had no choice but to celebrate over a meal at another restaurant.

While Huo Yuhao and Ning Tian ate, two people waited bitterly for them in the academy's Dormitory.

Wang Dong waited for Huo Yuhao, and Wu Feng waited for Ning Tian.

Not until the sun had set and night had fallen did the two return to the academy.

Huo Yuhao had failed to see his teacher on this trip out of the academy, leaving him deeply disappointed.

I have to train hard. Next time I see my teacher, I'll give him a surprise.

Huo Yuhao made that vow to himself. Once he returned, he planned to work hard at the Zhou Tian Star Art, the Illusory Moon Star Eyes, and the other exceptional arts his teacher had taught him.

When he first enrolled, Huo Yuhao had planned to find a place near Sea God Lake where he could train at night and gather Stellar Power.

But after that great fire, he truly did not dare venture near Sea God Lake so easily.

Instead, he settled for gathering Stellar Power and training in the corridor outside his Dormitory each day.

That was why he and Wang Dong had yet to attempt Martial Soul Fusion.

Today, Wang Dong had waited and waited.

She was already growing impatient.

"That wretched Huo Yuhao. Who knows where he's gone to fool around now?"

"It's this late, and he still isn't back."

Wang Dong made up her mind: even if Huo Yuhao came back, she would not attempt Martial Soul Fusion with him.

She would pretend the matter had never come up.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

It's Huo Yuhao. He's back.

At the familiar knock, Wang Dong's resolve vanished in an instant. She hurried out of bed to open the door.

"Sorry to disturb you."

After returning to the Dormitory, Huo Yuhao intended to do as he usually did: change into clean clothes, then go outside to train.

"Um, Huo Yuhao, why don't we try..."

Wang Dong started out speaking loudly enough, but by the end, her voice had dwindled to almost nothing.

Now that the moment had come, she felt inexplicably embarrassed.

The feeling was far too complicated.

"What did you say?"

Huo Yuhao had not quite caught her words. He looked at Wang Dong in confusion.

"I said we should try and see whether we can achieve Martial Soul Fusion."

"You haven't forgotten that heart-stirring feeling from before, have you?"

Having come this far, Wang Dong decided to let go of her reservations completely.

Once she said it aloud, she felt a sense of ease unlike anything she had known before.

Her aversion to Soul Tools and that inexplicable feeling of resistance vanished.

Every thought urged her to see this through.

In that instant, Wang Dong felt as though she had truly taken control of everything and become herself again.

"Sure!"

Huo Yuhao did not refuse Wang Dong's suggestion.

He did not dislike his roommate. In fact, he felt a certain closeness to her.

He also wanted to find out what made a Martial Soul Fusion Skill so extraordinary.

"What do we do?"

Huo Yuhao looked at Wang Dong, puzzled.

He had not learned about this yet.

"Hold out your hand and activate your Martial Soul and Soul Power."

Wang Dong was not especially knowledgeable about it either. She had only heard First Dad mention it in passing.

Huo Yuhao held out his hand, and Wang Dong took it. Together, they activated their Martial Souls and Soul Power.

How could that feeling be described?

It was like water mingling with milk, like yin and yang coming together, as though they had always been meant to be one.

At the same time, both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong felt a wondrous resonance.

Yet Huo Yuhao felt something strange just then.

Wang Dong's hand was too soft—too soft to feel like a boy's hand.

"Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz... bang!"

As their Martial Souls and Soul Power intertwined, everything fit together perfectly. In a daze, they both heard a succession of humming sounds within their hearts.

It looked as though they were about to succeed, about to trigger that special reaction. But at the final moment, it failed with a bang.

"This..."

"How could it have failed?"

Wang Dong looked at Huo Yuhao in utter confusion.

Huo Yuhao was just as bewildered.

He could feel that it should have worked.

And once it did, both he and Wang Dong would gain considerable benefits.

Yet it had failed at the very last moment.

"Why don't we try holding each other?"

Wang Dong recalled something First Dad had once said: the closer and more compatible two people were, the better their chances of producing a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

Every thought Wang Dong had urged her to see this through, so she no longer felt the slightest embarrassment.

"Let's try it, then..."

Huo Yuhao did not understand it very well either, so he went along with what Wang Dong suggested.

The two embraced, activated their Martial Souls, and released their Soul Power.

The feeling of fusion grew even stronger.

It felt as though something was on the verge of emerging.

Bang!

A muffled sound rang through the small worlds of their souls. The Martial Soul Fusion had failed again.