The visitor was dressed in magnificent robes, his face radiating warmth, giving one the feeling of a spring breeze.
This man, exuding kingly bearing, was none other than the current Crown Prince of the Sun Moon Empire.
“Your Highness, you are…” Huo Yuhao began with a puzzled expression.
As a “Spectator,” Huo Yuhao knew well: in the history of human civilization on the Douluo Continent, this man was definitely a figure of note among non-soul masters.
In his previous life, after using the Holy Spirit Church to his advantage, this man had immediately orchestrated a scheme to destroy the evil soul masters.
Though he had ultimately been assassinated by Huo Yuhao himself, the fact that a non-soul master emperor could become the target of a generation’s favored child of the plane was already an achievement to be proud of.
“I am Crown Prince Xu Tianran.
I wonder how I should address you, young friend?” Xu Tianran was always direct when speaking with people he truly appreciated, with little formality.
“If you have encountered any troubles that I might be able to help with, I would be willing to try…”
“Your Highness, my name is Huo Yuhao.
I have enemies in the Star Luo Empire and have come to reside here.
Another reason is that I am deeply interested in soul tool technology.”
“The Star Luo Empire truly is a place that lets pearls gather dust.
Young friend, stay and develop in Mingdu!
I promise you, you will find it most satisfying.” Xu Tianran appeared approachable, as if his natural disposition was to accommodate others.
“Since Your Highness insists on keeping me here, I would be rude to decline.”
“I am a man without a home.
If Your Highness does not abandon me, I will naturally share Your Highness’s burdens.
For example, improving your constitution so that you can cultivate your martial soul normally, and even restore your masculine vigor…” Huo Yuhao emphasized the words “masculine vigor” and left it at that.
Although the Sun Moon Empire did not place much importance on the soul master path, its upper echelons were well aware that being able to cultivate a martial soul and walk the soul master path meant extended lifespan.
Therefore, Huo Yuhao’s promise caused Xu Tianran’s pupils to contract sharply.
For someone like Xu Tianran, who stood at the pinnacle of the non-soul master world, the allure of extended life—and even becoming a complete man again—was indescribable.
Through the “Eye of Fate,” observing Xu Tianran, Huo Yuhao discovered that the so-called Purple煌 Heaven-Destroying Dragon martial soul of the Xu family—reputed to be the younger brother of the Dragon God—was nothing but a mass of destruction force.
On the Douluo Continent, where even understanding spiritual power required him, the favored child, to bring the soul spirit system ten thousand years later, what system existed for cultivating destruction force?
Moreover, destruction force consumed life energy at an enormous rate.
Without any solution to the problem of depleted life energy, the Xu family members were either physically weak or at least achieved nothing in cultivation.
They bore no trace of the God of Destruction’s aura.
With the divine realm controlling all mortal affairs, the Xu family possessed destruction force yet lacked the God of Destruction’s aura.
This meant they were neither the God of Destruction’s chosen nor stepping stones for his successors.
Then whose pawns were the Xu family?
There was no doubt.
The rumor that the Purple煌 Heaven-Destroying Dragon was the ancestor of sub-dragons and the Dragon God’s younger brother was clearly a smokescreen.
What Huo Yuhao gave Xu Tianran was a life crystal he had condensed.
According to Ilex, this was a very ordinary item, yet it demonstrated Huo Yuhao’s sincerity to Xu Tianran.
This made Huo Yuhao realize just how stingy his father-in-law “Tang the Pure” had been in keeping the Xu family—a pawn doomed to be discarded—hungry for his favors.
On the day Tang Wutong made her ostentatious visit to Mingdu as a Divine Maiden, Huo Yuhao had been highly vigilant that the Tang family might increase their stake in the Xu family.
But on the day Xuan Zi made his move, Long Xiaoyao’s appearance showed Huo Yuhao that Xu Tianran had clearly misjudged the situation.
This was Huo Yuhao’s opportunity.
For the time being, the Sun Moon Empire was safe for him.
In the afternoon match, the opponent standing before him was a handsome young man with a cold, gloomy expression and double-pupiled eyes.
This young man was the former second young master of the White Tiger Duke’s mansion, now the second prince of the Western Star Luo Empire: Dai Huabin.
As a four-ring Soul Ancestor, Dai Huabin naturally dared not face Huo Yuhao, also a four-ring Soul Ancestor but also a Rank 5 soul engineer, alone.
So he brought Zhu Lu with him.
Though two-on-one in a singles match was against the rules, what did rules matter to the noble Shrek Academy?
Rules were merely formulated by the strong for the weak—rules the weak must obey!
Dai Huabin was confident that through the divine technique inherited from his divine ancestors, he could crush this commoner who had defiled a divine descendant.
“A commoner is a commoner.
Huo Yuhao, so you can fight?
What good is fighting?
You’re still going to die today!” Dai Huabin immediately hurled abuse.
In his previous life, after entering Shrek Academy, Huo Yuhao had always remained in a class that did not belong to the wood shed of his childhood.
Therefore, in the “father-son reconciliation” theater designed by “Tang the Pure,” he had even been moved to tears by the so-called repentance of people like Dai Huabin.
In this life, having seen the truth of the world and become a “Spectator,” he had only discerned the power structure of the Douluo Continent through the straightforward descriptions of the Peerless Tang Sect.
Now, interacting with many so-called companions from his previous life in this different identity, seeing their true attitudes toward him, was undoubtedly a unique experience for Huo Yuhao.
And Dai Huabin, standing before Huo Yuhao at this moment, was equally filled with emotions.
“This commoner destroyed the glory of the Evil Fire Phoenix!
He must die.” Both Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu thought the same.
“Only by dying can he become nourishment for my path to godhood!”
Ever since hearing his mother say “my son has the makings of a god,” Dai Huabin had been elated.
Since the start of the tournament, in Dai Huabin’s view, this boy named Huo Yuhao, who had frustrated Shrek Academy, was nothing more than a standard existence sent by the divine realm to test him on his path to godhood.
Like true Shrek people, Dai Huabin deeply subscribed to the words of that legendary Thousand-Handed Asura who had become the Supreme God: “Never try to play the pig to eat the tiger—otherwise, you’ll easily end up a real pig.”
Therefore, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu went straight for the killing blow the moment they faced Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao saw Dai Huabin suddenly sprint backward, while Zhu Lu instantly turned and chased after him.
Then a tiger’s roar erupted from Dai Huabin’s mouth.
Accompanied by the roar, Dai Huabin’s entire body swelled as white fur mixed with black tiger stripes surged forth from within him.
Zhu Lu bit her pearl-like teeth lightly.
Her entire body was covered in a faint black light, her form flickering and appearing almost translucent as she threw herself toward Dai Huabin with open arms.
The auras of Dai Huabin’s Evil Eye White Tiger martial soul and Zhu Lu’s Netherworld Spirit Cat martial soul merged completely in that instant.
The merged form seemed to be a white tiger devouring a black cat: black and white light fused entirely amid the spread of a golden halo, eventually revealing a colossal, translucent white tiger with white fur, black stripes, purple eyes, and double pupils, coldly staring at Huo Yuhao.
“Netherworld White Tiger!”
This was a divine skill!
A divine skill that had played a crucial role in the battle ten thousand years ago that determined the world’s fate and destroyed the “evil Spirit Hall”!
When this power was unleashed, the ground instantly shattered inch by inch—and the shattering showed no signs of stopping.
“Lowly commoner, this is the price you pay for defiling a divine descendant!
Die!”
As Dai Huabin swung his tiger claws, the very air parted.
This parting spread toward Huo Yuhao, covering the entire arena stage.
Huo Yuhao had absolutely no chance to dodge.
Before the attack even landed on Huo Yuhao, Dai Huabin seemed to already see the scene of Huo Yuhao being torn apart.
But in that instant, a gray light blazed above Huo Yuhao.
A gray door opened, and Huo Yuhao was sucked into it, vanishing along with the door.
When Huo Yuhao reappeared, the very air had turned ashen—it was blade aura.
The gray-white currents formed the image of a giant dragon.
With a single swing of its tail, the dragon struck the white tiger formed by Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu.
The once-invincible Netherworld White Tiger shattered instantly upon being struck by that dragon’s tail.
Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu’s bodies reappeared.
They collapsed to the ground, spewing blood, their faces as pale as paper.
The Dragon Gathering Dance Blade Technique!
This was the divine skill Huo Yuhao had learned from the God of Emotions, Rong Nianbing, in his previous life—the Dragon Gathering Dance Blade Technique!
However, to avoid attracting trouble, Huo Yuhao had executed this move using his arm, clad in defensive soul tool armor, as the blade.
Dai Huabin writhed on the ground like a maggot, his blood and qi in turmoil.
Seeing Huo Yuhao approaching step by step, he was filled with terror.
“Commoner, what are you trying to do?”
Dai Huabin was certain that Huo Yuhao’s burst of power just now was far beyond the five-ring level.
“What am I trying to do?” Huo Yuhao’s steps were casual.
“What do you think?”
By now, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu had fallen into despair.
They looked toward the spectator stands of the various Douluo nations outside the arena and cried out: “Elder Xuan, save me!”