Just as Lin Mo stood stunned by the voice that had suddenly appeared in his mind, someone seized the wrist hanging at his side. An irresistible force abruptly pulled him off balance.
Only then did Lin Mo snap back to his senses.
"Hey, hey? Huo Yuhao, what are you doing?!"
Huo Yuhao said nothing. He simply dragged him outside, his face expressionless and his steps quick and urgent.
There was no question that he couldn't pull his hand free.
Left with no other option, Lin Mo twisted his head around as he was dragged along and tossed the packet of tissues in his hand toward Wu Feng from a distance.
Plop-
The tissues landed squarely on the floor in front of Wu Feng.
But Wu Feng still kept her head lowered and did not move.
Only after Lin Mo and Huo Yuhao's footsteps had completely vanished at the end of the corridor did she slowly crouch down and reach out with a slightly trembling hand to pick up the packet of tissues.
Her bangs obscured her face, hiding it in shadow and making her expression impossible to see.
Only the fingertips of the hand clutching the tissues had turned slightly white.
The day after Huo Yuhao and Wu Feng's fight, everyone in Class One returned to the Soul Dueling Zone and sat in the familiar spectator stands.
Because of yesterday's earth-shattering reversal, Zhou Sichen had nearly lost even his underwear. So today, he acted as the bookie again, opening another betting pool to recoup some of his losses.
However, unlike last time, when the vast majority had bet on Wu Feng, this time the numbers betting on Lin Mo and Dai Huabin were barely split fifty-fifty.
Almost everyone betting on Lin Mo was from the original Class One.
Even Wu Feng, who hurried in at the last moment, placed her bet on Lin Mo without hesitation.
Those betting on Dai Huabin, meanwhile, were almost all people he had personally defeated in the elimination rounds.
These people had never studied alongside Lin Mo, and he had only appeared twice in the freshman assessment. As far as they were concerned, Dai Huabin was a Soul Elder with a thousand-year Soul Ring!
Wouldn't beating a two-ring Lin Mo be effortless, as easy as taking something right into his hand?
Seeing their brimming confidence, the students from the original Class One couldn't help wanting to laugh.
But everyone tacitly held it in. Their faces flushed red and their shoulders shook, yet they stubbornly refused to let a single word slip.
Go on, laugh.
In a moment, you'll learn what it means to say:
One flower, one leaf, one bodhi~
Among all these people, only Huo Yuhao remained expressionless throughout.
His eyes stayed coldly fixed on Wu Feng nearby, his gaze seemingly tempered in ice.
Because his love-rival radar was blaring alarms.
At that moment, Huo Yuhao was ready to turn into a gravitational black hole at any second and savagely tear into Wu Feng.
Wu Feng had clearly recovered somewhat by now, regaining a little of her pride. Noticing Huo Yuhao's hostile gaze, she glared fiercely back without yielding an inch.
Their eyes met, and gunsmoke filled the air.
Crackling sparks almost seemed visible between them.
As for Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao-
Their attention had long since settled entirely on Lin Mo in the dueling arena below. They hadn't noticed the undercurrents surging between the other two's gazes at all.
"Lin Mo! Beat him flat!"
"Lin Mo! You can do it!"
The two girls leaned over the railing, cheering with tremendous enthusiasm.
"Three, two, one, begin!"
As soon as Zhou Yi finished speaking, she darted back, leaving the competition platform to Lin Mo and Dai Huabin.
Having fought him in the finals, Dai Huabin knew full well how terrifying Lin Mo was. He didn't dare take any chances and went all out from the start.
"First Soul Skill, White Tiger Barrier!"
"Second Soul Skill, White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"
His thousand-year and hundred-year Soul Rings lit up simultaneously, and platinum light enveloped him. Dai Huabin kicked off hard, striking first as he hurled himself straight at Lin Mo like a platinum cannonball.
"First Soul Skill, Azure-Gold Blessing."
With a light flick of Lin Mo's fingertip, an azure-gold talisman feather condensed out of thin air and settled firmly between his brows.
Boom!
The next instant, his imposing presence surged. Azure-gold flames of light erupted from within him, and even the hems of his clothes blazed with a layer of searing golden radiance.
"White Tiger Light Wave!"
Dai Huabin roared, spewing a snow-white wave of light from his mouth straight at Lin Mo's face.
The light wave arrived in the blink of an eye, but-
Whoosh~
Lin Mo vanished on the spot.
The light wave blasted through empty space.
Seeing Lin Mo disappear, Dai Huabin's vigilance instantly reached its peak. His eyes swept continually around him as he tried to locate Lin Mo that way.
"Up here."
Suddenly, a lazy voice sounded overhead.
Dai Huabin snapped his head up, only to see a fist wrapped in azure-gold Soul Power rapidly growing in his vision.
Bam!!
One punch, straight to the face!
The blow sent Dai Huabin's head snapping backward, and a ring of spiderweb cracks burst across the platform beneath his feet. Yet with the support of the two great Soul Powers, he not only remained standing but swiped a claw back at Lin Mo's throat.
But Lin Mo's body was like a wisp of azure flame.
With only a slight turn, he glided lightly past Dai Huabin's claw.
"Too slow."
Bam!
"You committed too hard to that swipe. Too much recovery lag."
Bam!!
"Kid, where are you looking? Your daddy's right here."
Bam!!!
On the platform, azure-gold afterimages flickered around Dai Huabin like phantoms. Every mocking remark was followed by a heavy punch!
The close-combat prowess Dai Huabin took such pride in couldn't even touch the hem of Lin Mo's clothes.
"Aah-!"
Dai Huabin suddenly let out a stifled cry of pain.
Although Lin Mo's azure-gold flames left only faint scorch marks on his flesh, wave after wave of burning pain kept rising from the depths of his soul, stacking layer upon layer.
"Second Soul Skill," Lin Mo said with something like a soft sigh. "Azure-Gold, Everlasting Light."
An azure-gold ever-burning lamp silently rose above his head. As its flame swayed, the Soul Power he had expended began recovering at a terrifying rate.
Dai Huabin was beaten back step after step, his Soul Power draining furiously and his barrier covered in cracks.
Lin Mo, meanwhile, was like a perpetual-motion machine, fighting harder with every blow!
"Impossible... this is impossible!!"
Blood vessels filled Dai Huabin's eyes. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his contorted face was full of frustration, frenzy, and unwillingness to accept defeat.
"Nothing's impossible."
Lin Mo's voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"If you're trash, practice more!"
As his words fell, a palm covered in azure flames pressed directly against the back of Dai Huabin's head.
"Heavenly Might."
Boom-!!
In an instant, an utterly terrifying pressure descended!
Dai Huabin felt as though an invisible mountain were pressing down on his head. His Martial Soul wailed and trembled madly.
Finally, it submitted.
Unable to hold on any longer, he was slammed brutally into the ground with a bang.
Face down, he smashed out a shallow, human-shaped pit.
The azure-gold aftershocks of Heavenly Might spread like ripples. Even the spectators felt their scalps tingle.
A deathly silence fell over the entire arena.
Dai Huabin struggled, trying to prop himself up and get back on his feet.
But no matter how hard he strained, the force on his back did not budge.
Just like that, Lin Mo held him pinned to the ground with one hand.
"Do you concede? Hmm?"
Lin Mo crouched down, one hand still pressing on Dai Huabin's head while the other lightly patted his face.
Dai Huabin's body trembled violently. His voice was almost squeezed through the gaps between his teeth:
"I... con..."
(P.S. The Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird is just that cool~)