Book 14: The Finals!
Chapter 115.1: The Start of the Final Battle
"Is the Body Sect really so scary?" w.a.n.g Dong asked doubtfully.
Ma Xiaotao nodded seriously and said, "They"re very scary. There"s not many who can be mentioned in the same breath as Shrek Academy in the Douluo Continent. The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy is one of those who can. They represent the highest abilities of the Sun Moon Empire. All of you are the academy"s core disciples now, and it shouldn"t be a problem for all of you to enter the inner courtyard in the future. I think it"s fine if I tell all of you. There"s a place called the Sea G.o.d"s Pavilion on our Shrek Academy"s Sea G.o.d Island. The elders of our academy live there, which includes Elder Xuan. It"s also the organization in our academy with the highest authority and power. Even the 4 current vice-deans hold little authority in the Sea G.o.d"s Pavilion. There"s a saying in the world of soul masters that there are 3 strong powers on the Douluo Continent. One of them is the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy"s Ill.u.s.trious Virtue Hall. Another is our Shrek Academy"s Sea G.o.d"s Pavilion. The last one is the Body Sect. Does anyone know why the Sea G.o.d"s Pavilion was established?"
"The Body Sect"s appearance once led to a huge catastrophe. Shrek Academy tried to resist them, but we lost."
"Shrek Academy was high-flying at that point in time too. But the Body Sect was even more powerful. To resist them, the academy had no choice but to recall many of their top-ranked students, and set up the Sea G.o.d"s Pavilion. The academy gathered all its strength to defeat the Body Sect, and managed to avert a catastrophe. Ever since that incident, the Body Sect hid itself, and never made any further movements."
Huo Yuhao was stunned as he asked, "Wouldn"t the Body Sect be just like the evil soul masters if they threaten the continent? Why didn"t the soul masters team up together to deal with them?"
Ma Xiaotao shook her head and answered, "The Body Sect and evil soul masters are different. They"re neither good nor evil, and they do things to achieve what they want. They are also very domineering, and thus they are not very popular among the others on the continent. But they did contribute something positive to the continent before. However, very little people know about it. It"s almost impossible to get rid of the Body Sect. It"s said that where they"re located is the scourge of the earth. It"s easy to defend, and difficult for others to attack it. Without three times the Body Sect"s abilities, it"s almost impossible to penetrate their defenses. And how difficult would it be to gather a force that is both more than three times their ability and willing to sacrifice itself?"
Huo Yuhao had never expected the Body Sect to be so powerful. No wonder they were not afraid of Shrek Academy.
Ma Xiaotao continued, saying, "The secret files in the academy did record the re-appearance of the Body Sect once more. Occasionally, their members would also appear in the continent. But they didn"t cause any huge uproar. Do you know what huge catastrophe the Body Sect almost brought about? All of you will realize how strong they are once I describe it."
"That time, almost 40 members of the Body Sect snuck into the Star Dou Forest and killed seven hundred thousand year soul beasts. This led to a huge uproar among the beasts in the Star Dou Forest, and they rushed out of the forest in an attempt to mount an attack on us. This almost caused a disaster. The Four Great Savage Beasts of the Star Dou Forest teamed up to attack Shrek City. The reason why we stopped fighting with the Body Sect is because they joined us to resist the attack of the beasts. It was also during that time that we discovered that the Body Sect was above us in terms of overall ability. The wave of beasts that attacked ensued for a year, until the academy started to recall students back. At least tens of villages were ma.s.sacred in that time. Eventually, we reached a compromise with the Body Sect, and their leader back then swore not to enter the Star Dou Forest to hunt hundred thousand year soul beasts anymore. This ended the catastrophe. However, the soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest were angered, and soul masters encountered powerful soul beast much more frequently when they entered the Star Dou Forest for the next 500 years.
Huo Yuhao focused and listened. He was amazed that the Four Great Savage Beasts actually existed in the Star Dou Forest.
The Skydream Iceworm"s voice sounded at this moment. "I know about this too. I was trapped in the forest then too. The savage beasts that she mentioned were the ones who imprisoned me. But they shouldn"t be the strongest creatures in the Star Dou Forest. That"s because I overheard them mentioning a frightening presence that slept beneath the Star Dou Forest. They called this thing their leader. I"m not sure about the cultivation of this thing, but they sacrificed at least half of my soul power to this leader of theirs using some special ritual. That leader must be very powerful. From my estimation, its cultivation must be the greatest among all the soul beasts on the continent. I fear that only the Hegemon in the ocean can match up to it."
The Ice Empress seemed to be very interested when they talked about this, "Yes, I heard the Snow Empress mention before that Star Dou Forest is the scariest place on the continent. She warned me never to enter it easily. Over there, there"s someone who"s more powerful than her."
Not just one? Huo Yuhao was horrified. From the Ice Empress and Skydream Iceworm"s evaluations, it must be a Transcendent Soul Beast that had cultivated for at least five hundred thousand years! The Star Dou Forest was actually so scary. He had dared to enter the forest to hunt soul beasts even before he had a soul ring. He was indeed very naïve then!
Ma Xiaotao said, "The Body Sect"s ambivalence towards good and evil is indeed a headache. But it"s not that we didn"t want to settle them then. On account of the fact that they tried to right their wrong, it"s clear to see that they are not too evil. Also, it will be a disaster if we fight the Body Sect. The Sun Moon Continent has been bound by our Douluo Continent for a thousand years, and even possesses the tendency to counter-attack against us."
That"s why the conference held within the Sea G.o.d"s Pavilion decided that our academy should settle our dispute with the Body Sect through a compromise."
Jiang Nannan was a little irritable as she said, "Then the commoners died for nothing?"
Ma Xiaotao glanced at her before replying, "I"m sorry, I"ve no idea how to answer this question of yours. I can only say that our academy did what we could. We stopped the wave of beasts from the Great Star Dou Forest and saved at least tens of thousands of commoners. We also resolved our dispute with the Body Sect to preserve our powers for the protection of the continent. I"m unsure of the detailed situation then though."
Jiang Nannan was silent, but it was clear that she disliked that compromise from the look of resentment in her eyes.
Xu Sans.h.i.+ walked over to pat her shoulder, but Jiang Nannan shrugged her shoulder with force.
Ma Xiaotao said to Huo Yuhao, "I don"t think the Body Sect will dare to do anything with Elder Xuan here. But you must still be careful. From now on, don"t leave the hotel on your own. You must travel with the rest of us. Things will be fine when we return to the academy. Regardless of how strong the Body Sect is, they won"t dare to come to Shrek Academy."
"Alright." Huo Yuhao replied hurriedly.
Ma Xiaotao looked at the slightly weird expressions of the rest and said, "Are all of you interested in our relations.h.i.+p? Listen carefully now. Yuhao will be my younger brother from now on. He won"t be any different from my biological younger brother. That"s it. Alright, all of you can return to your own rooms to cultivate now."
Everyone left except Ma Xiaotao and w.a.n.g Dong, who remained in Huo Yuhao"s room.
Ma Xiaotao was puzzled as she looked at w.a.n.g Dong. She asked, "Why aren"t you leaving?"
w.a.n.g Dong snorted and asked, "Why aren"t you leaving?"
Ma Xiaotao said, "I have something to tell Yuhao."
w.a.n.g Dong raised his chest and said, "I want to cultivate with him. Don"t you know that we are martial fusion soul skill partners? Our martial souls are almost perfectly compatible. We"ll achieve success much faster if we cultivate together."
Ma Xiaotao creased her brows and said, "Okay, then you can remain here. You say that you are even better-looking than a girl as a guy. Be careful of becoming a sissy."
"You…" w.a.n.g Dong was furious. But he seemed to think of something as his eyeb.a.l.l.s rolled, which caused his anger to dissipate. He sat down and remained silent after he snorted.
Ma Xiaotao said to Huo Yuhao in a low voice, "Younger brother, this matter regarding the Body Sect is likely to be more troublesome than you imagine. Come to think about it, the talents that you"ve displayed are too outstanding. Furthermore, you"re still young, and it"s easier to shape you. No wonder the Body Sect is tempted, and even send someone to watch the entire Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament."
Huo Yuhao said, "Elder sister, don"t worry. Nothing will go wrong with Elder Xuan around."
Ma Xiaotao furrowed her brows and said, "You don"t understand the Body Sect. They"re capable of resorting to anything to achieve their goals. Because they have the abilities to achieve their goals, it makes them scarier. I"m staying here to warn you not to resist if the Body Sect tries to abduct you. Just follow them. The Body Sect is very protective of their own members. They appreciate your talent, but I don"t think they will harm you."
Huo Yuhao didn"t expect Ma Xiaotao to say something like this, and he resolutely retorted, "Elder sister, I won"t join the Body Sect no matter what."
Ma Xiaotao was stunned. "Younger brother, don"t think like that. Although you are part of Shrek, we"re an academy, not a sect. No one will really restrict you. Even if the academy has high hopes for you, your safety is the most important when it comes to the critical moment."
Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, "No, elder sister. Everything that I have right now was given to me by the academy. I"m a member of Shrek Academy, and I"m willing to fight for Shrek"s glory. Shrek is my home. No matter how strong the Body Sect is, it"s obvious that they are not suited for me from their behavior. I"m an orphan, and have no kith or kin. The academy is my home."