Huo Yuhao originally intended to support Dong Xinyi, but he was tightly pinned down by Dai Huabin, unable to break free. Even though Huo Yuhao was comparable to a transmigrator, familiar with many plotlines, he couldn't handle everything perfectly. For example, Cui Yajie—he had no impression of her whatsoever. Of course, Huo Yuhao hadn't paid much attention to this assessment in the first place. What he was doing now was just going through the motions.
Dai Huabin's body shimmered with a dazzling golden light as he unleashed a flurry of punches to shatter the incoming Rasengan. Before he could react further, another identical Rasengan came flying at him. With no other choice, Dai Huabin had to repeat his technique to destroy it. Back and forth it went—the two restrained each other, neither gaining an advantage. The battle fell into a deadlock.
Huo Yuhao put on a convincing act of going all out and decided not to worry about Dong Xinyi anymore. Judging from Zhu Lu's previous actions, it seemed she wouldn't go too far in harming Dong Xinyi. Besides, if anything truly unexpected happened, wasn't there still a referee? Huo Yuhao wasn't panicked at all. Since he had no strong desire to fight for first place, he might as well let things take their course.
Though Dai Huabin maintained a calm and composed appearance, he felt a faint unease in his heart. After a short period of observation and analysis, he had some understanding of the soul skills that the youth opposite him had displayed. That golden thread earlier seemed insignificant but was unaffected by his attacks. It was only after some delay that Dai Huabin realized it was a spiritual-type attack targeting the soul. The small white ball, on the other hand, belonged to the category of soul power attacks.
Although spirit and soul power were related, they were fundamentally two different sources. Theoretically, as long as the user had enough control, Huo Yuhao could unleash a Rasengan and then follow up with a Spiritual Shock, seamlessly linking the two—or even use both at the same time.
Dai Huabin couldn't confirm whether Huo Yuhao had that level of control, but he couldn't shake a sense of anxiety. Considering these two skills were self-created, Huo Yuhao still had his soul ring abilities unused, and who knew what surprises they held? Although Zhu Lu currently had the upper hand, there was no guarantee that Huo Yuhao's soul ring skills didn't include something strange or powerful.
Watching Zhu Lu force Dong Xinyi to the edge of the arena—one more step back and Dong Xinyi would be considered to have forfeited—Huo Yuhao still hadn't taken any action. Could it be a trap? Could that girl be confident enough to drag Zhu Lu out with her? The thought sent a chill through Dai Huabin. Despite the balanced fight he was having with Huo Yuhao, if Zhu Lu got eliminated, he didn't feel confident facing Huo Yuhao alone—mainly due to the unknown factor of Huo Yuhao's unused soul ring skills.
Dai Huabin was frustrated. To think that I, who have broken through three rings, have been pushed to this point by a mere Soul Elder...
If Dong Xinyi knew what he was thinking, she'd probably be half-laughing, half-crying. She was genuinely overwhelmed by Zhu Lu's attacks, not faking it at all. Dai Huabin was just scaring himself—paranoia typical of someone raised in a great family clan.
"Zhu Lu, come back!"Dai Huabin shouted, using all his strength to shatter the incoming Rasengan, forcefully knocking Huo Yuhao back.
Just as Zhu Lu was about to knock Dong Xinyi out of bounds, she heard Dai Huabin call her back. The advantageous situation she had worked so hard to create was about to slip away. Though reluctant, she quickly retreated to Dai Huabin's side.
Seizing the chance to catch her breath, Dong Xinyi quickly regrouped with Huo Yuhao.
"Hmph, to force us to use this move—you may have lost, but it's still an honorable defeat."Dai Huabin snorted coldly, his voice full of unshakable confidence.
As he finished speaking, Dai Huabin spread his arms and embraced the incoming Zhu Lu. For once, a hint of tenderness appeared on his face—so different from his usual arrogance.
Being born into the Dai family, Huo Yuhao naturally knew what they were planning. The martial souls Evil Eye White Tiger and Nether Ghost Cat could combine into a martial soul fusion technique: Nether White Tiger, whose power far exceeded that of a single martial soul. This wasn't a simple 1+1 equation, but a geometric explosion of strength.
A surge of soul power erupted. Huo Yuhao's eyes gleamed with dazzling golden light that condensed into a golden thread—more refined and more threatening than ever before.
He wondered: What would happen if they were interrupted at the critical moment of fusion? Would there be backlash? Would they be seriously injured?
A dark thought arose in Huo Yuhao's heart. But no—Zhu Lu had shown mercy to Xiao Xiao earlier. If he repaid kindness with enmity now, the higher-ups at Shrek would surely criticize him.
"Kid, they're at a critical moment. If you interrupt them now, they'll suffer severe backlash—serious injury is guaranteed. You'd better think carefully."
Just as that malicious idea surfaced, a magnetic male voice echoed in Huo Yuhao's mind. He was slightly startled—Speak of the devil. This Voice Transmission technique wasn't something even most Soul Sages could pull off. It wasn't the bald referee—Huo Yuhao looked around but saw no sign of any teacher giving a signal. It didn't seem to be them either.
"Nosy."Yan Shaozhe glanced at the awkward-looking Du Weilun. It had been Du Weilun who had used Voice Transmission to warn Huo Yuhao, a method only he could hear—none of the other students noticed. After all, this counted as interfering with the fairness of the match and was not exactly an honorable act. As the head of the education department, he was clearly being biased.
Du Weilun's face was a little grim. He had only acted because the referee did nothing. From his point of view, if Nether White Tiger was successfully formed, Huo Yuhao might as well surrender. But if the fusion was interrupted, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu would be seriously hurt, maybe even turn into enemies with Huo Yuhao. For such a talented student, any risk was unacceptable. Compared to that, the outcome of a single match seemed trivial. That's why he had chosen to intervene.
Unfortunately, he didn't know that Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin already had an irreconcilable grudge.
"Could this be... a Martial Soul Fusion Technique?"Dong Xinyi asked in shock, repeatedly questioning Huo Yuhao.
"That's right. Not bad, you've got some knowledge."
"You can still joke around?! Hurry up and figure out what to do!" Seeing that Huo Yuhao could still smile at a time like this, Dong Xinyi felt a bit more at ease. She figured he must have some kind of countermeasure. Strangely, she felt an irrational trust in the boy before her.
"Look at how strong they got from hugging. Let's hug too and see what happens. I'm so strong—together, we'll definitely outdo them."
Dong Xinyi was completely speechless. What, do you think Martial Soul Fusion Techniques are like cabbage—just hug and it works?
Then she paused. Could her strange trust in him be connected to this? After all, martial soul fusions were extremely rare—but not impossible. Could it be he feels something special because of this potential fusion?
(End of Chapter)