Ever since accepting the legacy of Soul Magic, Huo Yuhao had been spinning like a top.
During the day, he busied himself practicing all kinds of combat techniques and martial arts, as well as studying the secret method of Second Awakening. When necessary, he also went into the sea to fight Sea Soul Beasts and put what he had learned to the test.
On stormy days, Huo Yuhao also had to visit the Thunderclap Pool to undergo the lightning baptism of the hundred-year Thunderclap Infernal Prison Vine.
Though the process was painful, its benefits were plain to see.
By drawing on the power of the heavenly lightning summoned by the Thunderclap Infernal Prison Vine, however little it might be, Huo Yuhao had already gained a rudimentary grasp of the Great Sun Thunder Body in the Martial Scripture.
After more than two months, Huo Yuhao's Soul Power had made substantial progress, even without deliberate cultivation.
At night, Huo Yuhao busied himself absorbing Ice Marrow and the Spirit Medicine Shrek Academy had sent as a deposit, using the Mental Attribute Spirit Medicine to master Second Awakening.
At the same time, he also had to divide his attention between studying Necromancy and comprehending the Talisman Master system.
If not for the immense Spiritual Power his Spirit Eyes provided and the Azure Sky Profound Ice Dragon's powerful physique, Huo Yuhao would long since have collapsed from exhaustion and been unable to get back up.
He now felt as though his head had swollen to twice its size, wishing he could split himself into several people.
Even when Jin Peng gave him special permission to go to Heaven Dou City to watch Xuan Zi's public apology, he had no energy to attend.
However, the Body Sect disciples who returned from watching the spectacle brought Huo Yuhao a thoroughly unexpected piece of news.
Wang Yanfeng grinned and slung an arm around his neck. "Junior brother, do you know what we saw at Di'ao Academy?"
Huo Yuhao was puzzled.
"Someone was looking for you~" Chen Yu hooked an arm around Huo Yuhao from the other side. "And she was a girl-a real beauty!"
Huo Yuhao was even more confused.
Chen Lü laughed and punched Huo Yuhao in the chest. "Still pretending! Come clean! When did you hook up with her?"
Even the usually shy Gu Tong chimed in with a few remarks.
Huo Yuhao tilted his head, confusion written all over his face, completely at a loss as to what they were talking about.
Vina and Jiang Yixi explained to Huo Yuhao that a girl named Su Tong had made a special trip to Di'ao to look for him.
Only then did understanding dawn on Huo Yuhao's face.
But inwardly, he was still puzzled. He and Su Tong had only met twice, so why would she come looking for him?
"Not bad, kid. No wonder you turned everyone down when they offered to find you a wife. Turns out you already had someone in mind."
Jin Peng, who had just arrived, slapped Huo Yuhao heartily on the shoulder. "The Heavenly Snow Woman. Impressive!"
Their teasing left Huo Yuhao somewhat helpless.
He shook his head with a rueful smile. "Elder Jin, senior brothers and sisters, Su Tong and I are just ordinary friends. We hardly even count as acquaintances."
"Ooh~" Chen Yu deliberately drew out the sound with exaggerated flair.
Chen Lü waggled his eyebrows. "You barely know her, yet she can't stop thinking about you. Our junior brother really is charming-so lovely even I can't help doting on him~"
"Miss Su said she would wait for you at Di'ao Academy."
Vina covered her mouth and chuckled. "She even specifically told us that since you're busy right now, you should put cultivation first."
"If you made a special trip to see her because of this, she'd be unhappy."
Wang Yanfeng, Chen Yu, and Chen Lü chorused, "She'd be unhappy~"
Huo Yuhao's expression darkened.
He had figured it out. Today, this bunch was determined to make him the butt of their jokes.
Without hesitation, he instantly possessed his body with his Azure Sky Profound Ice Dragon Martial Soul.
He spread his icy dragon claws, carrying a chilling cold, and unceremoniously grabbed at Wang Yanfeng and Chen Lü, who were closest.
The two simply played the shameless rogues, rolling straight onto the ground.
They wailed as though heaven were falling. "I can't take it! Junior brother's Ultimate Ice is now made entirely from the sour stink of being in love!"
"Elder Jin, aren't you going to rein him in? He's forgotten his senior brothers now that he has a new sweetheart!"
"How could that be?" Chen Yu teased. "Junior brother knew Su Tong ages ago. Those two are the old flames."
Huo Yuhao's temples throbbed.
Jin Peng roared with laughter, his rough laughter making the nearby roof tremble. "You're young! A little roughhousing livens things up! Little Yuhao, give them a good workout!"
"Gu Tong, don't just stand there, kid. Get in there too!"
Huo Yuhao's eyes instantly lit up.
Meanwhile, the playful grins gradually faded from Wang Yanfeng's and Chen Lü's faces.
They sprang upright with a kip-up, their expressions tense as they faced Huo Yuhao as though confronting a formidable enemy.
They could feel that their junior brother genuinely wanted to fight now.
"All right!"
Chen Yu unfurled the wings on his back. "Let's see just how much progress our junior brother has made over these past two months!"
He soared into the air, revealing his Soul Rings at the same time as the three on the ground, who surrounded Huo Yuhao in a triangle.
Three Soul Rings-two yellow and one purple-appeared around each of them. All four were Soul Elders.
Even Gu Tong, whose cultivation was the lowest, was now a rank-thirty-three Soul Elder.
Wang Yanfeng, the highest-ranked among them, had already reached rank thirty-nine.
The three on the ground nodded in perfect accord. Then a metallic sheen abruptly appeared on Wang Yanfeng's palms.
He shouted, his voice booming like a great bell, "Behold my first Soul Skill!"
As his words fell, Gu Tong, standing to one side, instantly activated his own Soul Skill.
Two scorching silver-white beams shot from Gu Tong's eyes. The air warped and shimmered in their wake as they streaked straight toward Huo Yuhao's chest.
At the same time, Chen Lü flickered behind Huo Yuhao like a phantom.
His legs straightened like steel whips, and a fierce wind rose as he twisted at the waist, delivering a vicious, snake-like side kick straight at Huo Yuhao's temple.
"Did you really think we'd fight fair against someone with an Ultimate Martial Soul?"
Chen Yu laughed as he rolled through the air, the third Soul Ring beneath him blazing.
His wings whipped up a fierce gale that bore down wildly like a rainstorm sweeping in from every direction, cutting off every route of retreat for Huo Yuhao.
"Enough chatter! Just pile on together!"
A layer of bronze light slowly spread over Wang Yanfeng's palms.
This was Chen Yu and the others' plan.
They wanted to hold Huo Yuhao back for as long as possible, buying time for Wang Yanfeng-the only one currently proficient in Second Awakening-to attack.
"Junior brother, behold my Second Awakening!"
Wang Yanfeng raised both fists high and slammed them savagely into the ground.
The instant his fists struck the ground, an enormous azure shock wave erupted in a fan, surging toward Huo Yuhao with the force to sweep away rotten wood!
This was not merely raw strength and Soul Power; it also contained highly skillful control.
In a mere instant, four immense pressures bore down upon Huo Yuhao like Mount Tai crashing onto his head.
Yet Huo Yuhao's expression remained unchanged.
The instant the four launched their attacks, he decisively raised his hands and rapidly formed a seal, his ten fingers rising like dragon heads as a dazzlingly cold light erupted from his body!
Within Huo Yuhao's dantian, the Soul Power that had remained tranquil erupted with a thunderous surge.
A vast, majestic power spread through his limbs and bones at astonishing speed.
Using the Body Sect's defensive combat technique, the Golden Bell Shield, as its outward form, he unleashed the Ice Empress Soul Ring's other Soul Skill.
"Immovable Ice Dragon Bell!"
As the imposing cold light rose from Huo Yuhao's body, Jin Peng's expression instantly changed where he stood watching.
"That's the Golden Bell Shield?! Yuhao actually fused it with Ultimate Ice?!"
As the aura of extreme cold erupted, Huo Yuhao's Azure Sky Profound Ice Dragon Martial Soul almost burst free of his body.
In an instant, the cold condensed into a powerful, vigorous ice dragon over ten feet long!
Roar!
A faint dragon's cry echoed as the ice dragon lowered itself into a coiled posture, sheltering Huo Yuhao's body within.
Its cold radiance dazzled as it transformed into an enormous ice dragon bell covered in fierce scales, blocking the four's combined attack!
Dong!
The four's attacks struck the ice dragon bell!
A clear, resonant peal rang out in all directions. The spreading sound waves nearly took physical form, and the immense shock wave scattered outward, making the ground shake violently!
Chen Yu and the others' expressions changed drastically.
They clearly had not expected their combined strike to fail to break through even Huo Yuhao's defenses.
Huo Yuhao abruptly pressed his palms together and shouted, "Senior brothers, my turn!"
With a bang, the ice dragon bell shattered into countless ice crystal fragments that swept toward Chen Lü, the closest, like a torrential downpour!
Huo Yuhao's right hand clenched in an instant.
As his fingers closed, the ice crystal fragments actually transformed into a cage of ice, locking Chen Lü firmly inside.
"Not good! Fall back!" Chen Yu reacted fastest, swiftly flying higher into the sky.
But he was not the only one with wings.
Huo Yuhao spread his Ice Dragon Wings and shot skyward. Ice spread over his hands, drawing out two ferocious white dragons of frost.
"Ice Dragon Sky-Tearing Hand!"
Huo Yuhao's palms, covered in ice-blue dragon scales, flashed out like lightning. Like the sharpest blades in the world, they whistled straight toward the frantically fleeing Chen Yu.
"Junior brother, isn't this going too far? You're actually using that Soul Skill against your senior brother!"
Chen Yu let out a strange cry, his wings beating for dear life. "I surrender!"
The Ice Dragon Sky-Tearing Hand had been recognized by every elder and protector of the Body Sect and hailed as the sect's strongest single-target offensive Soul Skill.
With Huo Yuhao's current physique and the Ice Dragon Sky-Tearing Hand's ability to completely ignore the defenses of anyone at the same rank, even a defensive Soul Ancestor would certainly suffer against this move.
One careless mistake, and Huo Yuhao would tear them to pieces!
This was a lesson thousands of Sea Soul Beasts beneath the ocean had tested with their lives.
Huo Yuhao turned to look at Gu Tong and Wang Yanfeng.
"Wang Yanfeng and Gu Tong request a fight!" Chen Lü shouted.
"Gu Tong and Chen Lü refuse to concede!" Wang Yanfeng bellowed.
"I surrender!" said the honest Gu Tong.
The moment those words fell, Gu Tong and Wang Yanfeng exchanged a look in perfect understanding, then swiftly began grappling with each other.
Jin Peng strode forward and said, "Not bad, Yuhao. Beautifully fused! I never imagined Ultimate Ice combined with a defensive combat technique could produce an effect like that. Looks like all your work lately hasn't been wasted."
"Tell me honestly: what rank of Battle Soul Master's attack can your Immovable Ice Dragon Bell defend against now?"
Huo Yuhao said, "I haven't tested it, but blocking a full-power strike from someone who has just become a Soul King shouldn't be a problem."
"The way junior brother's strength is growing is really frightening."
Freed from his restraints, Chen Lü said with lingering trepidation, "No wonder a few Soul Elders like us couldn't make a dent in him."
"All right, don't just stand around praising him." Jin Peng waved everyone away. "Su Tong is still waiting at Di'ao, you know."
Huo Yuhao's face, which had only just returned to normal, instantly darkened further. "Elder Jin!"
"Hahaha!" Everyone burst into laughter.
Jin Peng waved his large hand. "All right, Yuhao, enough joking."
"You and Gu Tong, come with me now. Our Heaven Dou operative embedded in the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy is waiting for you in the main hall."