It merely stood there in silence, yet no one dared approach it.
Bang!
The gate suddenly opened, and deathly and sinister Qi poured out from within.
Dai Huabin and the duchess were thrown out of the world of the undead.
The skin on their bodies was still intact, but that was all that remained intact.
"Master." Dai Huabin and the duchess knelt on one knee before Huo Yuhao.
There was not a trace of emotion in their voices, and their eyes were vacant.
Even the way they walked followed a set of prearranged steps.
Huo Yuhao looked down at Dai Huabin and the duchess, his gaze calm. "Rise."
"Let me see for myself what you look like after transforming into undead."
Dai Huabin said flatly, "Yes, Master."
"White Tiger, possess me!"
Dai Huabin circulated the Soul Power within him, and the breath of death erupted from his body.
His powerful muscles visibly withered, turning into grayish-white bone.
A massive White Tiger appeared behind him.
The White Tiger Martial Soul, which had once represented supreme majesty, was now nothing but a skeleton that made one's scalp tingle.
Its eyes were hollow, its fangs sharp, and its four limbs ended in bony claws. Every corner of its body gave off the breath of death.
Huo Yuhao gazed at his handiwork with great satisfaction.
The Dai Huabin of today was no longer the same Dai Huabin as before, but a killing machine that obeyed only him.
As for the duchess...
A cold gleam flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes as he stared at her.
He would let her become the sweeping monk for the entire sect.
Inside the Sea of Consciousness.
Electrolux was utterly awestruck.
How had he failed to notice such extraordinary talent in Huo Yuhao before?
Perfect, simply perfect!
Still, it always felt as though something was missing.
Electrolux still wore an expression that suggested he had not had his fill.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and the Ice Empress were completely dumbstruck.
Th-this... is this right?
Why does the way things are unfolding seem a little off?
The Gate of the Undead had appeared in their memories.
But back then, the Gate of the Undead had summoned undead such as death knights to assist in battle.
How come the Gate of the Undead this time...
He truly was Electrolux, the Holy Necromancer, the Calamity of the Undead!
Just how much more of Electrolux's Necromancy did they not know about?
The heavens over this world had changed after all, changed completely!
"Ah!"
A piercing scream seemed ready to blast through Huo Yuhao's eardrums.
The instant Huo Yuhao covered his ears, Dai Huabin stepped forward.
The breath of death swept through the surroundings.
Dai Huabin struck with extreme speed, but what use was speed? Before Huo Yuhao, he still moved in slow motion.
"Don't move!" Dai Huabin seized Vina by the throat and threatened her.
His eerie tone made Vina tremble all over, too frightened to get a single word out.
The White Tiger in its skeletal form left Princess Vina with a lasting trauma.
Huo Yuhao said, "Let her go."
Hearing this, Dai Huabin released his grip.
By then, Vina had long since been scared witless, and without anything to support her, she toppled forward.
Huo Yuhao hurried forward and caught Vina in his arms just before she fell to the ground.
The deathly gray in Huo Yuhao's eyes faded, returning to their original gentle sky blue. "Sister Vina, are you all right?"
Vina clutched her chest, her heart pounding. Her face was a little pale; she had nearly thought she was about to meet the King of Hell.
She gasped for breath. Huo Yuhao said nothing, simply watching her calmly.
Once Vina recovered, her eyes, on the verge of tears, found a little comfort in Huo Yuhao's sky-blue gaze.
She reached out and clutched the clothes over Huo Yuhao's chest tightly. "Yuhao, you nearly scared me to death!"
Vina's gaze instinctively turned toward Dai Huabin and the duchess, but the moment she saw the White Tiger, she pulled it back again.
She asked fearfully, "Why did they turn out like this?"
"Sister Vina, listen to me."
Huo Yuhao explained to Vina what had happened earlier.
After listening, Vina stared at Huo Yuhao with wide eyes. "Yuhao, you have a third Martial Soul?!"
Huo Yuhao nodded and drew Vina closer into his arms.
Vina's heart gradually calmed, as though she had taken some kind of sedative.
Huo Yuhao spoke again. "Senior Sister, you can feel it for yourself."
He released the power of the Holy Necromancer, and Vina could clearly sense that Huo Yuhao's third Martial Soul possessed not only the breath of death but also divine power.
The dual attributes of death and divinity!
Had she not felt it for herself, she would never have believed, even if beaten to death, that these two attributes could appear together in a Martial Soul.
Vina stared blankly at Huo Yuhao.
"Senior Sister Vina, you have to help me keep this secret."
"Other than you, no second woman has learned about this third Martial Soul from my own lips." Huo Yuhao gazed gently at Vina, his expression serious and his tone sincere.
"O-our shared secret... no second woman knows..." Vina looked at Huo Yuhao in a bit of a daze.
A secret belonging to the two of them: the third Martial Soul, the Holy Necromancer.
He had revealed it only in front of her, the one woman.
And a shared secret between a man and a woman, didn't that mean...!
Feeling Huo Yuhao's warm chest, Vina's cheeks grew slightly hot.
She gently bit her red lip and murmured, "A shared secret and all that..."
"What you just said was a little unfair."
Vina, who had already been fond of Huo Yuhao, lay in his arms without the slightest guilt, greedily drinking in his scent.
Huo Yuhao looked at the little beauty in his arms and smiled faintly. "Isn't that because you fall for it?"
"You..." Vina looked at Huo Yuhao in embarrassed indignation. "Forget it. I'm happy today, so I won't hold it against you."
Huo Yuhao said gently, "Senior Sister Vina is truly magnanimous. You really are worthy of being a princess of a nation."
"Hmph, of course. Just who do you think this princess is?" Vina gave a soft huff, enjoying Huo Yuhao's praise.
"Then, my most respected Your Highness, are you willing to protect our shared secret?"
"Naturally. This princess will never reveal it."
Inside the Sea of Consciousness.
"Tch." The Ice Empress looked resentfully at Huo Yuhao and Vina, making a sound of disdain.
A shared secret between us~
It was so sappy it could kill her.
That bastard Huo Yuhao was actually using lines like that to coax a young girl.
And the worst part was, this young girl actually fell for Huo Yuhao's act!
Damn it!
The Ice Empress's teeth itched with anger.
Huo Yuhao looked at Vina in his arms and asked curiously, "Sister Vina, what did you come to see me about?"
"Wasn't it because I was worried about you? I was afraid you wouldn't be able to handle Dai Huabin and the duchess."
"But it turns out my worries were unnecessary." Vina pouted and looked at Huo Yuhao in displeasure.
Huo Yuhao chuckled. "Not at all. How could Your Highness's concern ever be unnecessary?"
"Don't call me princess. It's a little too ordinary and distant. Just call me Vina, or Nana, something close like that."