Chapter 104.3: Reaching the Semifinals
In the quarterfinals, Shrek Academy was fortunate enough to obtain an excellent pairing. They were selected to go against the weakest of the top eight teams, who was not unfamiliar to them. The team was from Justsky Academy, who had once created much trouble for Huo Yuhao and the rest.
The final results were to be expected. Even without Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen, Shrek had been able to obtain victory. Now, with two soul emperors and a soul king, there was no question about the results of this round. Justsky Academy was completely trashed, as Shrek trampled over them and entered the top four.
At this point, the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament was nearing its end, which was also its high point.
In the room, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were cultivating through meditation. They were becoming increasingly skilled at using their Haodong Power, and the effects of the Golden Light Left Arm Bone were further amplified by their Haodong Power.
The soothing yet vast Haodong Power would first pass through Huo Yuhao’s body, and then through the Mysterious Heaven Technique, it would enter Wang Dong’s body. The entry point into Wang Dong’s body was his left arm.
The Golden Light Left Arm Bone, upon being triggered by the Haodong Power, would immediately give off a powerful absorptive energy. This allowed the element of light to enter Wang Dong’s body and the Haodong Power. Then, as it passed from Wang Dong’s body, it would follow his cultivation method and exit after cycling through his body into Huo Yuhao’s body.
The entire process was like the Yangtze River, slow but never once stopping. With each cycle of cultivation their soul power completed, their cultivation would increase.
As Wang Dong had surpassed Rank 30, his overall soul power was much stronger than Huo Yuhao’s. Hence, his soul power increased more compared to Huo Yuhao’s. Both of them could feel that if they continued cultivating like this, their soul power would catch up to Dai Yueheng’s in just one or two years.
As the Haodong Power circulated, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’s bodies would emit a pale, golden glow. Ever since the two of them had experienced the various combinations of their martial souls, their ability to cooperate as a team was further perfected. Now, as the Haodong Power circulated, it was as if the two of them had become one.
“Knock, knock, knock.” Suddenly, a knock could be heard on the door, which jolted Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong from their cultivation.
Wang Dong frowned unhappily and said, “Who is it? Why have they disturbed our cultivation?”
Huo Yuhao inhaled and together with Wang Dong, he retracted his soul power. “I’ll take a look,” he said. Then, he leapt off the bed and opened the door.
It was Wang Yan. The moment Wang Yan opened the door and saw Huo Yuhao, he was startled too. This was because he could clearly see that Huo Yuhao’s eyes shone with a clear golden light. Despite him being a soul king, he felt as if he Huo Yuhao could see through him.
“Sorry for disturbing your cultivation,” Wang Yan apologized.
When Huo Yuhao saw that it was him, he rushed to the side and said, “Teacher Wang, please come in.”
Wang Yan replied, “There’s no need for that. Come with me, Yuhao.” With that, he turned and left.
Wang Dong naturally heard the exchange between the two of them. He jumped off the bed and said curiously, “I wonder why Teacher Wang’s looking for you. Go with him!”
“Aren’t you coming?” Huo Yuhao asked.
Wang Dong said, “Teacher Wang saw me just now, but he only called you. Evidently, he does not want me around. Go by yourself, I’ll rest.”
The two of them exchanged a gaze, and an amused look crossed their eyes. After cultivating together for so long, the camaraderie between the two of them had become increasingly obvious. Sometimes, they knew what the other was thinking with only a single glance.
However, both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong could feel that there was a forbidden zone in their counterpart’s heart. No matter how close they became, they could never touch on these taboos.
Huo Yuhao waved to Wang Dong and left the room. Wang Yan was waiting for him in the corridor. When he saw him, he led him to his room.
After he closed the door, Wang Yan summoned Huo Yuhao to the study table in the room and then said in a low voice, “Look.”
On Wang Yan’s study table, there was a carving knife etched with ancient patterns. Next to the carving knife, there was a ring that had already been sliced in half.
Huo Yuhao had seen this ring before. Normally, Wang Yan wore it on his finger. This was his storage-type soul tool. However, right now, it was completely destroyed. Huo Yuhao, with his eyes of a soul engineer, could see that its formation arrays had been destroyed. As for the carving knife that was giving off an icy aura, wasn’t it the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife that was Rank 99 on the Carving Knife Leaderboard?
“Teacher Wang, this…” Huo Yuhao said in shock.
Wang Yan said, “My storage-type soul tool was a Rank 4 soul tool. However, I didn’t expect that it couldn’t take the power of the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife. Earlier, I could feel a violent aura from the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife coming at my storage-type soul tool, but I didn’t give it much thought. However, this morning, I found it split in half, completely destroyed. The carving knife continued to give off a brutal, terrifying aura. I felt a dark, gloomy aura enter my body when I touched it. I was only able to expel it after circulating my soul power for half a day.”
When he said that, Huo Yuhao suddenly understood why Wang Yan had such a terrible expression. A Class 4 soul tool was not cheap! No wonder he felt a pain in his heart when he saw that it had been destroyed. However, this Soul-Devouring Carving Knife was powerful indeed, till the point where even a storage-type soul tool couldn’t take it.
“Yuhao, last time you said that you had a way of subduing it. Try it. If you succeed, it’s yours. However, you must be careful. I will protect you, but you have to stop if you feel that something is amiss.”
A Class 4 soul too was the best item that Wang Yan had on him. The Soul-Devouring Carving Knife was indeed evil, and the impact of carrying it oneself directly was too great. Helpless, he could only look for Huo Yuhao, who had previously sworn that he could take care of it.
“Alright, I’ll try,” Huo Yuhao said gleefully. Despite Electrolux’s personality, he had already asked him more than once to retrieve this Soul-Devouring Carving Knife. This was a testament to its importance. Originally, he had thought that he would have to wait until he returned to the Academy. However, he did not expect Wang Yan to give him a chance now.
“Electrolux, Electrolux,” Huo Yuhao tried to wake Electrolux, who was in his Spiritual Sea. However, right now, all three inhabitants of his Spiritual Sea were asleep. None of them responded to his call.
Huo Yuhao felt a sense of helplessness. If he did not try now, he did not know when would he next have the opportunity to do so. A smile crossed his face. If Electrolux would not wake up, then he would force him to get up.
As he thought about that, Huo Yuhao had already released his spiritual detection toward the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife. However, this time, he did not act rashly. Instead, he was cautious, but not fearful. He wasn’t afraid of the backlash from the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife. While his own powers were nothing remarkable, as he was just a two-ringed soul master, his spiritual power was respectable. While his own spiritual power was nothing much, he had a million year soul beast with the spirit attribute, a powerful person from another world, and one of the Ten Great Savage Beasts in his Spiritual Sea.
If the three of them couldn’t help him overcome the spiritual backlash, very few people in the world would be able to help secure his Spiritual Sea.
The spiritual power of any soul master was greater than that of an ordinary mortal. However, only seven-ringed soul masters and above could control their own spiritual power, or use their spiritual power directly. The exception were soul masters like Huo Yuhao, who naturally had the spirit attribute.
His spiritual detection carefully landed on the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife. The moment it touched it, Huo Yuhao felt his body tremble violently. Everything before him turned black, and the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife appeared to have turned into an endless black hole. A crazy energy devoured his spiritual power, and an extremely dark and cold aura, brimming with terror, penetrated his Spiritual Sea through his spiritual detection.
The moment the terrifying aura entered, Huo Yuhao could feel his spiritual power being dissected. It was as if someone had cut it in half. It was a terribly uncomfortable feeling, as if his head were being forcefully sliced open.
If Huo Yuhao were acting alone, then this powerful aura would have injured him severely as it entered his Spiritual Sea. In fact, his Spiritual Sea might even have be damaged. However, he was not fighting alone.
The first to react was the Skydream Iceworm, who was the closest to Huo Yuhao.
Skydream woke up from his sleep, and while he did not know what had happened, he immediately rushed to defend his turf.
Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Sea was like his home, and he had a wife and kids in his home. The invasion from the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife was like someone kicking down his front door to steal his wife. How could he not be enraged?
Wang Yan stood by the side. His heart almost missed a beat when he saw Huo Yuhao’s body trembling violently, and he almost acted to interfere. However, he quickly noticed that Huo Yuhao’s two eyes shone with a dazzling gold light. Quickly, his two soul rings appeared on his body. The second one currently gave off the purple glow of a thousand year soul ring, while the first one was a glossy white with an intense golden halo at its center.
The terrifying aura that had sought to barge into Huo Yuhao’s brain hit a stone wall. Immediately, it rebounded, and the knife itself made a pathetic whimper. It was vibrating slightly, and giving off a green gas.
Wang Yan stopped himself as he stared in shock at the gold on Huo Yuhao’s first soul ring. He had never seen anything like this before, but he could feel the vast, unbridled spiritual power that Huo Yuhao gave off, which exceeded that of a soul king.