After hearing Huo Yuhao's words, Xiao Xiao hesitated briefly, then nodded firmly and said,
"All right. Be careful! I'll go get help!"
Huo Yuhao nodded, then hurled Xiao Xiao out the instant he dismissed the Mist Arena.
Sure enough, the three figures showed no interest in Xiao Xiao and attacked Huo Yuhao from three different directions instead.
Huo Yuhao merely smiled faintly, then clenched his fist again and reactivated the Mist Arena.
Within the mist, the three figures immediately grew somewhat flustered. They quickly drew close to one another, trying to leave Huo Yuhao as few openings as possible.
Huo Yuhao also got a clear look at their lineup. It was far more ruthless than he had expected: rather than three Soul Emperors, they had sent a Soul Saint leading two Soul Emperors.
Although only one of them had an extra soul ring, a Soul Saint and a Soul Emperor were two entirely different beasts.
Soul Emperors were still just basic soul masters, while Soul Saints had unlocked Martial Soul Avatar, a true wheelchair of a skill.
It could be called a watershed in the soul master world. Two Soul Emperors led by a Soul Saint were also an entirely different level of threat from three Soul Emperors.
Huo Yuhao frowned slightly. By then, the three had recovered from their initial panic at being abruptly dragged into this unfamiliar space.
Soul skill attacks of every color began flying through the Mist Arena.
The three had made up their minds. Since they could not get their hands on Huo Yuhao right away, they would do their best to destroy the soul skill he was maintaining.
Although they did not understand the Mist Arena, their years of combat experience led them to believe that the mist had to consume at least some soul power. As long as they kept dispersing it, they would wear Huo Yuhao down.
This time, however, they had misjudged. Huo Yuhao's soul skill consumed extremely little power. All he needed to do was maintain the boundary he had marked out with his soul power.
As for the mist, it was an additional effect of the soul skill itself—a free gift that required no soul power.
Concealing his presence within the mist, Huo Yuhao swiftly slipped behind one of the Soul Emperors.
The next moment, the Soul Saint seemed to sense something and casually flung an attack toward Huo Yuhao's position.
Huo Yuhao moved at the same time.
Dark gold claw light abruptly erupted across the Soul Emperor's body, tearing him to pieces an instant later.
It was precisely the spoils Huo Yuhao had fleeced from the dark gold terrorclaw bear: that Dark Gold Dreadclaw soul bone.
As an external soul bone, it suffered no restrictions. On the contrary, the dark gold terrorclaw bear's ability to tear through anything made it exceptionally adept at breaking defenses above his own soul power level.
The soul masters of the Douluo Continent were essentially ordinary people with superpowers. Their vitality was nowhere near as tenacious as that of characters in typical fantasy works, and the man died the instant he was sliced apart.
After landing his strike, Huo Yuhao immediately vanished into the mist. The Soul Saint's furious blow hit nothing, leaving him momentarily hesitant. Then he saw the surrounding mist begin to dissipate.
This is bad, the Soul Saint thought. Based on their brief exchange just now, Huo Yuhao would never dismiss this soul skill unless he was confident. The next instant, a searing line of fire came straight at him.
"You dare run wild in our Shrek City? You must be tired of living!"
Dark red flames instantly engulfed the Soul Saint's entire field of vision.
The Soul Saint instinctively raised both hands and used his soul power to resist, but the impact of the flames sent him flying backward.
After driving the Soul Saint back with her flames, Ma Xiaotao immediately turned toward the remaining Soul Emperor.
The Soul Emperor swallowed, knowing things had gone wrong. Just as he was about to retreat, Huo Yuhao's fist arrived.
His fist struck the back of the man's head. A crack of breaking bone rang out, and the soul master collapsed to the ground, twitching helplessly.
"I'll take this one back. That Soul Saint is yours, senior! Be careful. He's a Soul Saint, after all, with one more soul skill than you—and that extra skill is Martial Soul Avatar."
Huo Yuhao picked up the Soul Emperor he had paralyzed with his punch, then called out to Ma Xiaotao.
Ma Xiaotao nodded. At that moment, Huo Yuhao also realized where her confidence came from.
In a tree off to the side, Xuan Zi was drinking as he watched Ma Xiaotao's performance.
After silently offering a prayer for Ma Xiaotao, Huo Yuhao chose to run quickly toward Shrek Academy.
As he ran, Huo Yuhao casually dislocated the Soul Emperor's jaw and dug two little fish bladders stuffed with poison out from between his teeth.
"These petty tricks of yours? I saw more of them than I could count back in the army. You're far too unprofessional. You should have bitten down on them when I threw that punch."
As Huo Yuhao spoke, he also knocked the Soul Emperor on the head.
Yet the Soul Emperor gave a laugh, then said haltingly to Huo Yuhao,
"Y-you think... when you've already... already beaten that girl just now... w-we would send only one Soul Saint to assassinate you?"
Huo Yuhao was immediately startled. He spread out his Spiritual Detection, then leaped sharply backward.
A tremendous crash rang out as a burly figure, scarcely resembling a normal human, slammed down. The instant his fist struck, he smashed the Soul Emperor into meat paste.
When he raised his head, the sight chilled Huo Yuhao's blood.
Two yellow, two purple, four black! An Eight-Ring Soul Douluo!
"You certainly think highly of me, huh? I'm just a Soul King, and you've even sent a Soul Douluo after me. Is a Titled Douluo going to show up next?"
As Huo Yuhao spoke, his voice grew louder with every sentence. By the last one, he was shouting.
His purpose was simple: he wanted to call over Xuan Zi, who had been drinking nearby earlier.
"Don't waste your breath. That senior may be far stronger than me, but he really can't hold his liquor. He's already drunk as a skunk."
Huo Yuhao was speechless.
Xuan Zi's performance was simply too consistent. So consistent that he could celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival all by himself, and a photo of him would count as a whole family portrait.
Rubbing the spot between his brows, Huo Yuhao looked at the man and said,
"Can we talk about why you want to kill me? If it's for money, my father's wealth might well rival your employer's."
The Soul Douluo let out a sinister cackle, then pointed at Huo Yuhao's school uniform and said,
"Because you belong to Shrek. Someone as talented as you joining Shrek will make our lives harder in the future, so we have no choice but to ask you to die."
Huo Yuhao stared at him speechlessly, then assumed a fighting stance.
Mist rose beneath his feet. Fortunately, even against a Soul Douluo, his Mist Arena soul skill still performed as it should...
Before you continue