However, Dai Huabin’s third soul skill was still extremely powerful. Even though he’d been attacked in a situation like this, he still hadn’t suffered any serious injuries.
w.a.n.g Dong had flown into the air, but Huo Yuhao was still on the ground! Huo Yuhao didn’t retreat like w.a.n.g Dong had. Instead, he immediately charged forwards. As he moved forwards with the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Tracks, his hands turned jade-white. This was the Tang Sect’s Mysterious Jade Hands. He took advantage of Dai Huabin’s half-kneeling position to rush forwards, then brought his palms backwards. Just as Dai Huabin was about to stand up, Huo Yuhao slammed his palms into Dai Huabin’s chest.
Huo Yuhao had put everything he had into this attack. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to kill Dai Huabin with it, but this attack could be said to contain all the grievances he’d experienced during the eleven years he’d spent within the White Tiger Duke’s Mansion. As he struck Dai Huabin’s chest, his eyes even turned somewhat red.
His three months of bitter training hadn’t been for naught. Not only had Huo Yuhao’s soul power and various skills grown in strength, the quality of his physique had improved as well. This attack, boosted by the Mysterious Jade Hands and Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, was the most powerful physical attack he could release at his current level. Furthermore, Dai Huabin’s White Tiger’s Vajra Transformation was in a slightly weakened state due to w.a.n.g Dong’s Light of the b.u.t.terfly G.o.ddess. Huo Yuhao had gone all-out in this attack, and despite there being an enormous gap between their soul power rank, he was still able to depress Dai Huabin’s stomach and shove his body into the ground a little, while nearly causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.
Even though Huo Yuhao’s emotions were surging, he was still a spiritual-type soul master. His spiritual power—which was much stronger than that of an ordinary soul master’s—allowed him to remain clear-headed at all times. He swiftly retreated as soon as his attack landed. The instant after he had, Dai Huabin shot right back up, his claws cutting through the air where Huo Yuhao had just been. With his attack power, Huo Yuhao’s muscles and bones both would’ve been broken if Dai Huabin’s attack had landed
w.a.n.g Dong slowly descended, landing back on Huo Yuhao’s shoulders. Although Huo Yuhao wasn’t able to truly injure Dai Huabin, he still felt a sense of catharsis in his heart.
Mom, did you see that? Your Little Yuhao has already begun to obtain his revenge for you. This palm strike is only the beginning; there will be a day when I have enough strength to get revenge for you, and cleanse the pain and humiliation that we’ve suffered these past ten years.
An angry light filled Dai Huabin’s eyes when he missed Huo Yuhao. He didn’t think that he’d actually be unable to obtain an advantage against him, even at such a close range. There was a distinct gap between their strengths, yet Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong were able to rely on their astonis.h.i.+ng synergy and timing to suppress his strength. Although the White Tiger’s Vajra Transformation was a powerful skill, its soul power consumption was extremely large. If it was used for a prolonged period of time, he’d be fully exhausted.
Without any hesitation or pause at all, Dai Huabin rushed straight towards Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong again.
The battle had reached its most climactic stage.
—-
On the other side of the arena, Xiao Xiao had completely entered the zone. Her cultivation rank wasn’t any weaker than Zhu Lu’s, and even though Zhu Lu’s Netherworld Civet was a peak-level existence amongst agility system martial souls, Xiao Xiao had twin martial souls! In terms of attributes, she even had a slight edge over Zhu Lu, as the speed-reducing effect of her Ninephoenix Wors.h.i.+pping Flute was able to reduce her opponent’s speed.
In a situation like this, where Xiao Xiao also had the a.s.sistance of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection, she might as well screw off if she wasn’t able to block Zhu Lu.
Xiao Xiao’s three large black cauldrons rotated around in midair, interrupting Zhu Lu’s every move by utilising Huo Yuhao’s foresight. Even though Zhu Lu was extremely quick, it was as if she’d fallen into a cage created by Xiao Xiao’s Threelives Soulcrush Cauldrons. No matter how hard she tried to escape from it, she wasn’t able to.
She’d tried to use brute force to break out of the prison, but even though she wasn’t weak, breaking a top-ranked Tool Soul like the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron wasn’t something that she could achieve.
Contrarily, Xiao Xiao wasn’t good at attacking, which meant that defeating Zhu Lu would be a difficult task to pull off. As such, their battle had turned into a closely-fought one.
In the eyes of the spectating teachers, this was already Xiao Xiao’s win. In the world of soul masters, the agility system would normally be able to subdue the control system. However, Xiao Xiao had been able to rely on her twin martial souls to control Zhu Lu, allowing her to gain the upper hand. At the very least, Zhu Lu wasn’t able to help Dai Huabin. On the other hand, Cui Yajie had been dispatched early, due to Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong’s clever machinations. Because of this, the comprehensive strength of both teams were now much closer to each other’s.
“How about it? Old Yan, it seems that my foresight was better than yours. Haha.” Qian Duoduo spoke with a pleased voice.
Yan Shaozhe merely smiled. “You shouldn’t speak so early. Those three fellas haven’t won yet.”
Qian Duoduo laughed. “From what I’ve seen, even though there’s a gap between them in terms of strength, they’re still not at a disadvantage as long as they rely on their synergy. Once this match has been drawn out, which side do you think will win?”
Yan Shaozhe indifferently said, “I know what you’re about to say. That flute-playing girl who also uses cauldrons has been minimizing the consumption of her soul power since the beginning of the match; she’s only been using her flute’s soul skill. If this continues, the match will tilt in their favour once that little black cat runs out of soul power.”
Qian Duoduo smiled cunningly. “I knew that you’d realise it. If that’s the case, why don’t you quickly surrender?”
Yan Shaozhe glanced at him. “Old Qian, you’ve been playing with your metals for too long. You’ve already forgotten one of the traditions of the world of soul masters. What relations.h.i.+p does the White Tiger Duke’s Mansion have with the Star Luo Empire’s Zhu Family?”
Once he heard Yan Shaozhe’s words, the smile on Qian Duoduo’s face instantly stiffened. “No way. The Zhu and Dai Family only have a single pair in each generation, two at most. How old is that kid? Don’t tell me that the White Tiger Dukedom plans to let him inherit the position of Grand Duke?”
Yan Shaozhe smiled. “Why would that be impossible? He’s already managed to gather three soul rings before the age of twelve. With this, he’s already exceeded the ancestor of the Dai Family—the leader of the Shrek’s Seven Monsters whose statue currently sits at the Academy’s entrance. The Dai Family has always allowed the strong to inherit the position of Grand Duke. Didn’t the White Tiger Duke send his kid to Shrek Academy for him to pursue his studies, and to see how much potential we can unlock within him? The Zhu Family has many internal factions, and this girl should be an investment that a certain faction from the Zhu Family has made in Dai Huabin. If they were winning this match, my speculation might have remained simply a speculation. However, they’re losing now. We’ll soon be able to see whether or not my guess was correct.”
As the Dean of Shrek Academy’s Martial Soul Department, Yan Shaozhe didn’t just have an extremely high cultivation rank; he also had control over the various secrets and resources that Shrek Academy had acc.u.mulated over the past ten thousand years. It wouldn’t be incorrect to call him the encyclopedia of the Douluo Continent.
After hearing Yan Shaozhe’s words, the smile on Qian Duoduo’s face vanished completely. A pained look appeared on his face. “I just knew that a crafty old fox like you wouldn’t let me take even a small advantage from you. You were just waiting for this to happen. Is it fine if we reduce our bet? Look, I know the match hasn’t ended yet, but can I just give you 30 sh.e.l.ls if I give up right now? We’ve been brothers for so many years, and you also know about the bad habit I have. You’re just torturing me now!”