"Wow! It"s so beautiful!" w.a.n.g Dong"s eyes were filled with pleasant surprise. When he raised his head and looked at Yuhao, his eyes were completely different - it was a look that made Huo Yuhao feel something weird in his heart.
"When… when you did you find out?" w.a.n.g Dong stammered shakily.
Huo Yuhao was perplexed. "Find out what? Help me keep this item for now. You have to be extremely careful, and you can"t let anyone see it. This is a starlight sapphire, and it"s the first time I"ve seen a starlight sapphire this huge. It is also known as a Spatial Jewel, and it"s possibly the largest storage-type soul tool in the world. Don"t ever attempt to take out the item stored inside, and return it to me after we return to Shrek."
w.a.n.g Dong stared at Huo Yuhao with wide eyes. "Does that mean this thing isn"t for me?"
"Ah?" Huo Yuhao was confused. "Of course not. The flying-type soul tool is my gift to you."
"You…" w.a.n.g Dong"s face flushed red, and the look in his eyes suddenly became extremely vicious. "Go and die. You wait…" With that, he returned the dazzling starlight sapphire to the ring and sprang into the air. He unleashed as much soul power as he could, and transformed into a beam of light as he soared into the sky.
"Hey! Wait for me! Where"s your humanity? This is the att.i.tude you give me when I just gave you a present?!" Huo Yuhao didn"t know what was happening at all as he surged into the sky in pursuit.
w.a.n.g Dong was actually flying with all his might. Huo Yuhao was still much weaker than w.a.n.g Dong in terms of soul power. His dense volume of soul power ensured that he could use his flying-type soul tool for a prolonged period of time, but his explosiveness couldn"t compare to w.a.n.g Dong. He could never achieve w.a.n.g Dong"s burst of speed when raised to the maximum, and thus he had a really tough time chasing his friend.
Huo Yuhao"s understanding was that they were supposed to fly towards the east and enter the Heavenly Soul Empire"s borders. However, w.a.n.g Dong wasn"t changing directions at all as he flew straight towards the north. Huo Yuhao had started only one step behind, but w.a.n.g Dong had already become a tiny black dot in front of him.
Why is he throwing such a tantrum?! Huo Yuhao was exasperated. He would be happy to give any normal item to w.a.n.g Dong, but the starlight sapphire contained a tremendous secret! That item was considered top-secret even inside Ill.u.s.trious Virtue Hall, and could be considered an enormous treasure trove. If he could decrypt and understand it thoroughly, he would be able to learn thousands of years" worth of the Ill.u.s.trious Virtue Hall"s soul tool techniques and knowledge! He thought it would be safer to let w.a.n.g Dong take it back to Shrek than keep it with him, but who knew that w.a.n.g Dong would misunderstand him? w.a.n.g Dong wasn"t avaricious, so why would he have such a vigorous and exaggerated reaction?
w.a.n.g Dong couldn"t really tell where he was going anymore. He didn"t know why he was so fl.u.s.tered and angry as he continued soaring hysterically through the sky, and neither did he know how long he flew - all he could feel was that things were moving beneath him with blinding speed. Huo Yuhao"s flying-type soul tool was at least three times faster than w.a.n.g Dong"s original one, and the soul power required to operate it was only about twenty percent more. He had no clue how far he had gone after flying for a good two hours.
He had consumed too much soul power, and it was time to rest. w.a.n.g Dong"s emotions had settled down quite a bit after flying so frenziedly, so he slowed down and waited for Huo Yuhao to catch up. He was soaring through the sky, but he kept looking back to ensure that Huo Yuhao was still following him in the distance before he continued on his course - he didn"t want Huo Yuhao to lose track of him.
Huo Yuhao"s face was a little pale. He could feel that even though his soul power rivaled a Soul King"s, he was almost depleted. Furthermore, he was a four-ringed Soul Ancestor. w.a.n.g Dong also had twin martial souls, and so had much more soul power than other soul masters of the same level. Huo Yuhao had already used the milk bottle twice to replenish his soul power during the chase, and he was trying his best. His estimation was that they had flown between four hundred and five hundred kilometers within two hours - if they were flying towards Shrek Academy, they would"ve reached their destination after another four hours.
"You…" Huo Yuhao caught up to w.a.n.g Dong in midair, but his breathing and aura was unbalanced, so he couldn"t really talk.
They had been flying too quickly, so the air resistance billowed against them from the front to the point that they had to use soul power to protect themselves. w.a.n.g Dong"s method was simple - he released his martial soul, and the Radiant b.u.t.terfly G.o.ddess" wings closed up in front of him, naturally protecting his body. He only had to open up a small crack so that he could see the way forward. Huo Yuhao had to use his protective soul barrier or the Ice Empress" Armor to continuously fend off the wind resistance.
His soul power had gradually diminished towards the end, so he had had no choice but to reduce his protective mechanisms for fear of losing w.a.n.g Dong. The surging wind blew against him until his face turned ghastly white. He was only able to tell the direction they were going with his Spiritual Detection because he couldn"t open his eyes in the strong winds.
"What"s wrong with me?" w.a.n.g Dong continued watching him, piqued, but his heart was aching.
Huo Yuhao"s body shuddered in the sky, and his eyes suddenly closed before he plummeted straight down towards the ground.
w.a.n.g Dong was terrified and he screamed, "Yuhao!" He plummeted down and released his flying-type soul tool"s maximum capacity. He transformed into a beam of flowing light and immediately caught up with the free-falling Huo Yuhao, hugging him tightly as he felt great regret fill his heart. What am I doing? He only asking me to take care of something, and he even gave me a present. How can I do this to him? His life as an exchange student in the sinister Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy over the past two years has been hard enough. How can I make even more trouble for him ?
He continued hugging Huo Yuhao, and quickly channeled his remaining soul power into Huo Yuhao"s body as they gradually drifted down. It didn"t take long before they both descended to the ground.
"Don"t scare me, Yuhao! How are you feeling? It"s my fault, it"s all my fault! I shouldn"t have taken off like that! Nothing can happen to you!" w.a.n.g Dong could no longer be bothered about where they were, and he could no longer be bothered about his religious preference for cleanliness. He sat down on the ground and let Huo Yuhao rest on his thigh as he continued infusing soul power into him. He was so anxious and worried that his eyes turned red.
The truth was that he became a little irrational from excessive concern. With Huo Yuhao"s personality, how could he place himself in such a perilous and dire situation? He did consume a lot of soul power, but it was impossible that he didn"t have enough energy left to drift down to the ground. He wanted to scare w.a.n.g Dong and wait for him to come, and then he would flick his head to vent his own frustration.
However, Huo Yuhao felt an unnatural feeling of comfort and ease in w.a.n.g Dong"s embrace. w.a.n.g Dong"s clean and crisp aura, and this unbelievably "comfortable" pillow behind his head meant Huo Yuhao could no longer bear to tease w.a.n.g Dong.
"I"m fine. I have just consumed too much soul power. Next time, just tell me if you are unhappy about something - don"t do that again!" Huo Yuhao forced his eyes open and muttered feebly. "Let me rest for a while. Stop giving me soul power, you should rest too."
"Yes, yes." w.a.n.g Dong hurriedly agreed, and his obedient manner was starkly different from how he had behaved earlier.
Huo Yuhao laughed a little inside as he continued lying lazily on w.a.n.g Dong"s thigh. He felt a cathartic elation when he relaxed after flying frantically for such a long time. Perhaps he was just too exhausted, but he didn"t feel that resting on w.a.n.g Dong"s thigh was inappropriate.
This resting and daydreaming feeling is so enjoyable! He thought back to w.a.n.g Dong"s speech the previous night, and he felt extremely at ease at this moment. His tightly-wound emotions were smoothed and doused once again, and he unwittingly dozed off just like that.
w.a.n.g Dong watched Yuhao"s look of exhaustion and began to feel apologetic as he stroked and combed his hair, which was messy from all that wind, while he began to survey their surroundings.
They were in a hilly region, and there were small hills high and low all around them. These hills were barren, and it felt like they were in a desert. However, the hills were blocking his view, so he couldn"t see too far away. There was a gigantic mountain not far from them, which had blocked w.a.n.g Dong"s view even from the air, and made him decide to stop. He couldn"t just keep flying aimlessly; he didn"t know where he would end up if he kept going.
The temperature was conspicuously colder than Radiant City. This meant they were near the northern regions, and that also meant they were quite a distance away from their original destination.
He raised his hand and stared at the silver ring on his left hand. w.a.n.g Dong shook his head and smiled faintly - he was picking bones from an egg. Forget it. I"ll return the blue jewel to him, but I"m keeping the ring. He can"t force it out of my hands - hmph!
...
Huo Yuhao was still fast asleep, and w.a.n.g Dong was thinking about his own things while they both gradually regained their soul power. Suddenly, the earth seemed to tremble, and faint sounds of thunder could be heard in the distance.
w.a.n.g Dong was momentarily stunned. Was it going to rain? But, how could thunder cause the ground to shake?
Huo Yuhao was still sleeping soundly when he was jolted awake, and he sprang up, giving w.a.n.g Dong a shock.
"What"s wrong, Yuhao?" w.a.n.g Dong asked.
Huo Yuhao placed his index finger on his lips as he began to listen intently. The Ultimate Soldier Plan"s training enabled him to maintain his vigilance under any circ.u.mstances, even when he was fast asleep. This wasn"t something that could change easily.
The rolling thunder accompanied by the tremors in the ground appeared once more, it was clearer than the previous instance, and it continued for a longer time.
"Those are soul cannons." Huo Yuhao immediately stood up and pulled w.a.n.g Dong up from the ground. He had recovered some soul power in his deep sleep, and instantly connected with w.a.n.g Dong"s soul power, their Haodong power beginning to circulate swiftly.