My Name Isn't Hey, It's...

"Little fellow, we're from the Star Luo Imperial Soul Master Academy. What brings you here? Where are your elders?"

Zhang Xuanyi probed him with a question, though it was directed not at Huo Yuhao, but at the powerful expert behind him.

Huo Yuhao froze for a moment. Hearing the old man's question and recalling their reactions, he suddenly understood. So they saw a Soul Scholar without a single Soul Ring walking into the mixed zone and assumed I had an expert protecting me. If your imaginations are that lively, this plays right into my hands.

"Don't worry, senior. I mean no harm. My elders are always nearby, but unless I'm in danger, they won't show themselves lightly."

Huo Yuhao draped himself in a borrowed tiger's skin, then continued:

"It's getting late, so I wanted to find somewhere to spend the night. I happened to run into you seniors, and thought I'd have the cheek to ask to stay for one night."

Understanding dawned on Zhang Xuanyi and the other two. Just as they had suspected, Huo Yuhao's fearless manner meant there had to be an expert behind him, one far stronger than they were. Still, seeing how polite he was, much of their wariness faded.

After all, an expert of that caliber could deal with them as easily as turning a hand. Since Huo Yuhao was openly extending goodwill, this was clearly the best possible outcome.

Wasn't he only asking to stay the night? There were already so many people here that one more Soul Master hardly mattered. They had no reason to refuse.

But they retained all the vigilance they ought to have. After all, one could never dispense with caution around others.

Once he received permission, Huo Yuhao walked straight to a tree near their tents and began meditating. He never raised his gaze again, seemingly uninterested in them. The four youngsters dressed as students, however, curiously studied Huo Yuhao, who was clad in black from head to toe.

Huo Yuhao had already been handsome. After his body had been strengthened and his meridians and marrow cleansed, his features had become even more striking. His short black hair had side-swept bangs that half covered his eyes, giving him a refined, delicate air that easily won people's goodwill.

Yet no one would have imagined that beneath Huo Yuhao's delicate features lay a body with sharply defined muscles. Once his genes and cells had been optimized, he had developed eight-pack abs without even exercising, looking like an entirely different person from his former malnourished, scrawny self.

Seeing that Huo Yuhao had no interest in engaging with them, Huang Heyun stopped paying attention after a brief moment of amazement at his looks. He turned back to Dugu Shangshan and continued boasting about the many strengths of his newly acquired fifth Soul Skill, Dark Hurricane.

The two girls beside them reacted similarly, though both still glanced over frequently, clearly drawn to Huo Yuhao's handsome looks and distinctive aura.

Xu Jiujiu was not as shallow as Wang Shiying. Her thoughts ran in an entirely different direction from her teammate's. This handsome boy dared to stroll into the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest without a single Soul Ring. His strength of mind was extraordinary. She just wondered which empire he came from, whether he had joined any faction, and whether his Martial Soul was powerful.

That night, apart from one Soul Douluo keeping watch, everyone appeared to have fallen asleep.

Inside the tent, Huang Heyun and Dugu Shangshan snored like thunder. Zhang Xuanyi, who was keeping watch, suddenly looked alarmed. His stomach gurgled several times, his sphincter clenched, and he hurried away.

Once he sensed Zhang Xuanyi's presence moving several hundred meters away, the supposedly sleeping Huo Yuhao suddenly opened his eyes, a smile curling at his lips.

He instantly activated his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul without releasing the slightest ripple of Soul Power. Silently, he entered a tent, seized someone in the darkness, and left.

Several meters from the tent, his Soul Power erupted. With the threefold explosive boost of his gold-level second awakening stacked on top, his speed of one hundred meters per second tripled, leaving nothing but an afterimage. Pushing his speed to its limit, he raced like wind and lightning in the opposite direction from Zhang Xuanyi. In just one minute, he covered more than ten kilometers, leaving the pursuing Soul Douluo, who clearly was not a speed specialist, far behind.

One minute earlier.

Huang Shuangping, a level-eighty-seven control-type Soul Master who had been sound asleep, sensed a powerful surge of Soul Power in the distance. The instant she opened her eyes, she realized Huo Yuhao was gone. When she swept the tents with her spiritual power and discovered that Princess Jiujiu had been abducted, she felt as though a thunderbolt had struck from a clear sky. She immediately circulated her Soul Power and gave desperate chase.

Even though she was not an agility-attack-type Soul Master and speed was not her specialty, she was still a Soul Douluo.

She firmly believed she could not be slower than Huo Yuhao. Yet once she set off in pursuit, she discovered she could no longer sense either of them. In other words, in those mere one or two minutes, Huo Yuhao had covered at least several dozen li.

After searching the surrounding area in vain, she could only return to discuss a plan with the others.

Huo Yuhao's short bursts of speed were indeed astonishing, but he could not sustain them. Had Huang Shuangping persisted a little longer, she probably could have caught him. He had not expected that Soul Douluo to give up. Even so, although his speed dropped considerably, he never stopped. Only after taking a winding route of more than a thousand li did he halt, tie the stunning figure in his arms to a tree, and begin recovering his Soul Power and stamina.

While Huo Yuhao was recovering, the sleeping Xu Jiujiu suddenly opened her beautiful, drowsy eyes and asked in panic, "Who are you? Where is this? What do you want with me?"

"Stop pretending. You've been awake the whole time. That's precisely why I grabbed you. I wasn't planning to take you, because one look at that noble air of yours told me your identity wasn't simple. But you were pretending to sleep, just like me. To avoid making a bigger commotion, I had no choice but to take you away."

Huo Yuhao sounded helpless.

"So I outsmarted myself?"

The terror instantly vanished from Xu Jiujiu's face, and her pitiful expression gave way to beauty and confidence. Even trapped in danger, she showed no trace of panic.

"Seeing how fearless you are, I'm really starting to wonder whether I made the wrong move."

After recovering for a little while, Huo Yuhao had replenished most of his Soul Power. He rose and approached her, then untied the rope binding Xu Jiujiu without giving her a chance to object.

"I'm sorry for inviting you over this way. But I can promise you this: as long as you find me a Soul Beast that's exactly ten thousand years old, I'll let you go."

Huo Yuhao seemed to be apologizing, yet also threatening her. Xu Jiujiu rubbed her slightly reddened wrists and smiled charmingly.

"You certainly have a refreshingly unconventional way of inviting someone. But if your request is that simple, why resort to kidnapping? You could have just asked us earlier."

Xu Jiujiu watched Huo Yuhao intently, seemingly hoping to determine whether his answer would be a lie.

"I'm not in the habit of asking people for favors. Better to rely on yourself than on others. I like solving my own problems," Huo Yuhao said frankly.

"Pfft...!"

Xu Jiujiu covered her mouth and laughed softly. Seeing Huo Yuhao's righteous expression, she might actually have believed him if he had not kidnapped her. This domineering boy was simply too amusing.

"I can agree, but you have to accept one condition."

Xu Jiujiu spoke with a smile.

"An equal exchange. That's a reasonable request. As long as it isn't excessive, I'll agree."

Huo Yuhao readily accepted.

"I came here to obtain my fifth Soul Ring, but now you've abducted me to serve as your guide. You owe me a suitable Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as compensation."

Xu Jiujiu openly stated her demand.

Huo Yuhao was a little surprised. He had not expected this beautiful girl of fifteen or sixteen to be on the verge of becoming a Soul King. She could certainly be considered a young genius.

He nodded in agreement.

"That's a perfectly reasonable request. I agree. Once we find the Soul Beast you need, I'll help you kill it."

Now Xu Jiujiu was genuinely a little astonished. She knew there was no expert protecting Huo Yuhao, yet he still dared to make such a grand claim. She could not help growing curious about him.

At the same time, she wondered what trump cards he possessed. After all, even Soul Saints would not hunt ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts alone. Every Soul Beast was different; some ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts were even stronger than those seventy or eighty thousand years old. It was entirely unpredictable. Without a professional team, no Soul Master below Titled Douluo could claim absolute confidence in hunting a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast alone.

While Xu Jiujiu was lost in thought, Huo Yuhao's voice suddenly reached her ears.

"Hey, keep up."

Watching Huo Yuhao ahead of her, Xu Jiujiu's lips curved into another charming smile, and she called back loudly.

"Hey, my name isn't Hey. It's Xu Jiujiu."

Beginner warrior (punching force 900 kg, 25 m/s)

Intermediate warrior (punching force 2,000 kg, 40 m/s)

Advanced warrior (punching force 4,000 kg, 60 m/s)

Beginner war general (punching force 8,000 kg, 90 m/s)

Intermediate war general (punching force kg, 130 m/s)

Advanced war general (punching force kg, 180 m/s)

Beginner War God (punching force kg, 340 m/s)

Intermediate War God (punching force kg, 460 m/s)

Advanced War God (punching force kg, 600 m/s)

I'll post the Swallowed Star ranks every day. I simply chose a cultivation system that demonstrates combat strength through physical force, so even readers who haven't read Swallowed Star can follow along without any trouble.

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(End of chapter)