He was mostly wondering where w.a.n.g Dong"er had gone. Dong"er, where exactly have you gone? Even if you"ve forgotten everything, at least let me find you!
"Team leader." At this moment, a cold voice jolted Huo Yuhao awake from his thoughts.
When he twisted his head, he saw Dai Luoli looking intently at him.
"What? Is there something?" Huo Yuhao asked.
"Can we go out and talk?" Dai Luoli asked.
Huo Yuhao naturally knew what he wanted to do, but didn"t reject his request. He stood up and said, "Alright." He didn"t bring his spear along either, and walked out of the tent with Dai Luoli empty-handed.
When the two of them exited the house, their bunk started to bustle with noise. Many of the new soldiers started to talk among themselves. Huo Yuhao was unmoved, but Dai Luoli"s expression was more obvious.
"Do all of you think that the vice-team leader is trying to challenge the team leader?"
"It"s possible. Look at the vice-team leader, he seems confident. Didn"t the large team leader mention earlier that as long as one"s capable, he can become the team leader? It seems like the vice-team leader is also very strong, since he dares to challenge the team leader even after the team leader performed today! Our bunk is indeed filled with hidden talents!"
---
At this moment, the sky outside had already turned completely dark. Dai Luoli walked further away from the bunk, but Huo Yuhao still didn"t ask him why. He just silently followed him.
After leaving their camp, the two of them quickly came to the parade ground.
Dai Luoli stopped and turned to look at Huo Yuhao, "Tang Dong, I"ll not beat around the bush. I hope that you"ll give up your position as team leader to me."
Huo Yuhao peacefully asked, "Why should I?"
Dai Luoli answered, "I have to become the team leader. Don"t ask me why. I just want this t.i.tle. I can let you continue to run the First Bunk, I"m not good at that. However, I"ll definitely charge in front during our training and the imminent war. I believe that I"ll be able to acc.u.mulate some merits, and get promoted. When that happens, you"ll still continue to be the team leader. What do you think?"
"No." Huo Yuhao"s answer was simple. He naturally understood that Dai Luoli"s goal was probably the same as his. They both wanted to start from the bottom and eventually become a high-ranking officer. It was just that he didn"t have much time to linger around in the lower ranks, either!
"Let"s spar. If I win, you give up your position to me, how about that?" Dai Luoli could naturally guess that Huo Yuhao was going to be unwilling. However, he didn"t expect Huo Yuhao to directly reject him without probing further.
"Alright." Huo Yuhao"s answer was as simple as before. He was going to quickly deal with Dai Luoli before going back to meditate. It was getting late.
Dai Luoli was evidently infuriated by the direct and seemingly contemptuous tone of Huo Yuhao"s voice. He shouted coldly before darting forward towards Huo Yuhao.
He was indeed very quick. As a soul master"s soul power increased, his body would also transform continuously, making him much stronger than an ordinary person. As he reached Huo Yuhao, he punched at Huo Yuhao"s right shoulder.
Huo Yuhao"s body sank slightly, and he went into his horse stance, just like he had in the afternoon. Just as Dai Luoli"s fist was about to hit him, he pulled the left half of his body back slightly and avoided contact. Following this, he struck his right shoulder back towards Dai Luoli"s fist.
Dai Luoli only sensed a force slamming into him, and felt as if he had punched a steel plate. He staggered a few steps back before stabilizing himself, and a stunned look flashed across his eyes.
During the afternoon, he could tell that Huo Yuhao"s abilities weren"t weak. However, he hadn"t expected Huo Yuhao"s strength to be above his.
He wasn"t going to let it go at that, however. After he staggered back, he immediately charged forward again. This time, he was much faster.
He didn"t punch this time, but used one hand to grab for Huo Yuhao"s shoulder. This time, the look in his eyes was sharper.
Huo Yuhao lifted his left hand and grabbed onto Dai Luoli"s hand. Dai Luoli"s right hand stopped halfway, and he tried to change its direction. However, Huo Yuhao"s hand moved faster. Dai Luoli felt everything turn blurry in front of him before Huo Yuhao grabbed hold of his wrist.
When Huo Yuhao grabbed his right hand, he immediately tightened his grip on Dai Luoli"s wrist. With a pull, he threw Dai Luoli up.
Sensing danger, Dai Luoli subconsciously activated his soul power. However, he only felt that Huo Yuhao"s fingers were like steel fixtures tightening around his wrist and causing the lower half of his body to go numb. He was actually unable to gather his soul power because of this.
There was much more movement this time. Dai Luoli was directly slammed to the ground by Huo Yuhao.
The parade ground was covered in soil. However, he was disoriented, and felt as if his internal organs were tumbling inside his body when he was tossed to the ground. His bones were also on the verge of being crushed. This was, in part, due to his weight and inertia.
Huo Yuhao let go of his wrist and shook his head. After this, he turned around and walked back towards their bunk.
Dai Luoli was embarra.s.sed and furious as he shouted, "You, don"t go!" He gathered his soul power and crawled up from the ground.
Huo Yuhao stopped before turning around to look at him. "Let"s go back. We still need to train tomorrow. I believe the training intensity for newly-enlisted soldiers will not be slack."
"No! I have to defeat you! I"m sorry!" Dai Luoli suddenly shouted. After this, a layer of white light shone from his body. Suddenly, his body quickly grew larger, and his muscles became extremely thick. White strands of hair also started to emerge from his body, and his uniform almost burst from being too tight.
This was the first time Huo Yuhao was surprised after entering this military camp. This martial soul that Dai Luoli revealed was all too familiar to him.
White Tiger. It was a White Tiger! No, something wasn"t right. The aura of his White Tiger was rather weak. Furthermore, the hair on his body was pure-white, without any black stripes. In addition, this White Tiger didn"t possess the strange pupils of the White Tiger family.
Dai Luoli, Dai Luojiao…
Suddenly, Huo Yuhao recalled why his name sounded so familiar.
He, he"s…
The way Huo Yuhao looked at Dai Luoli immediately changed. It changed from indifference to earnesty.
When he was still living in the Duke"s Mansion, there were a few people who were warm to him, apart from his own mother. There was a woman who was a concubine of the White Tiger Duke. This woman was yet another woman whom the wife of the White Tiger Duke hated.
This woman treated both Huo Yuhao and his mother very well. In the first few years after Huo Yuhao was born, she would give them food and clothing. She had even carried Huo Yuhao before.
After the wife of the White Tiger Duke found out about this, they lost contact with each other.
Huo Yuhao was still very young then, which was why he didn"t have a very deep memory of what had happened. However, he vaguely recalled that this concubine also had a child named Dai Luoli. In terms of age, he should be one year younger than Yuhao himself.
This guy in front of him didn"t have a pure White Tiger, and his name was also Dai Luoli. Was he really his younger half-brother from the same father, but a different mother?
In terms of age, Dai Luoli was one year younger than him, if he was really the White Tiger Duke"s son!
As he remembered all this, Huo Yuhao"s eyes turned wet. While he disliked Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin, he only had affection for Dai Luoli. Dai Luoli"s mother had once helped his own mother a lot, otherwise, he would have died. After that, the White Tiger Duke"s wife interfered, and they stopped seeing each other anymore. However, he would never forget the kindness she had shown to him and his mother.
Three soul rings rose from beneath Dai Luoli"s feet. Two of them were yellow, while the last one was purple, the best combination that he could achieve. However, his talent seemed worse than his other two brothers, Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin. Huo Yuhao was going to be nineteen years old soon, which meant that Dai Luoli was close to eighteen years old. He only had three soul rings at the age of eighteen. For an ordinary soul master, he was considered quite strong. However, he was considered weak among the White Tiger Duke"s lineage. At least, he wasn"t able to excel in the Duke"s Mansion.
"I don"t have to say anything else, do I? Although you are very strong, and I"m curious how you managed to achieve such strength, an ordinary person will always only be an ordinary person. You can"t compare to soul masters like me. Concede defeat and relinquish your position as team leader. I"ll help you in the future, and I won"t s.n.a.t.c.h your authority away, either. Let"s return and tell the large team leader that we are switching positions. I won"t tell the others about this arrangement, either. What do you think?" Dai Luoli said with a sense of superiority.
Huo Yuhao revealed a smile on his face, and thought to himself, This younger brother of mine isn"t suited to be a soldier. He"s not vicious enough. I can tell that from our sparring earlier and from the childish words he just said.
Of course he could relinquish his position as team leader. However, he had to educate Dai Luoli, since he had discovered that Dai Luoli was his younger brother. Although Huo Yuhao didn"t know why his White Tiger wasn"t pure, he could still help Dai Luoli develop, given his current abilities.
"Come on." Huo Yuhao gestured towards him.
Dai Luoli couldn"t believe it, "I"m a soul master. You still dare to fight me?"
Huo Yuhao smiled, "Soul masters aren"t invincible. If you defeat me, I"ll let you be the team leader."
Dai Luoli snorted, "Alright then. Watch out!" As he spoke, he suddenly charged towards Huo Yuhao. After unleas.h.i.+ng his martial soul, his speed and strength had greatly increased. He was a three-ringed Soul Elder, and wasn"t even considered in the intermediate-tier of soul masters. However, he was still pretty decent. His White Tiger was mutated, but it was ultimately still the king of beasts!
He unleashed a powerful aura, and his soul power surged. Without using any soul skills, Dai Luoli reached Huo Yuhao in the next instant, and grabbed onto his shoulders with his tiger claws!