After winning the semifinals, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong returned to the dormitory. Although he knew Dai Huabin was a formidable opponent, Huo Yuhao's heart was already burning with vengeance. He had to win this match.
"Yuhao, what's going on with you today? Do you know Dai Huabin?" Wang Dong couldn't hold back his curiosity. Huo Yuhao, usually calm, had acted completely differently ever since encountering Dai Huabin.
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath. At the mention of "Dai Huabin," his body trembled uncontrollably. He sat on the bed, clutching his hair, and spoke in a hoarse voice, "He's the son of Duke Baihu. You know Duke Baihu, right?"
Wang Dong nodded. "Of course. The Duke Baihu family is part of the Xingluo royal bloodline, the inheritors of the legendary White Tiger Martial Soul. Even the first leader of the Shrek Seven Monsters, Dai Mubai, came from that lineage. I didn't expect Dai Huabin to be..."
Huo Yuhao cut him off. "My mother used to be a servant at the Duke's estate. I lost my father when I was young, and my mother worked hard there to raise me…"
He deliberately left out the fact that he was Duke Baihu's biological son—for him, that man was nothing more than the one who destroyed his mother's life. As he recounted how his mother was gravely injured while protecting him and ultimately died, Huo Yuhao couldn't hold back his tears.
"Bastard!" Wang Dong slammed the bed and stood up, his eyes burning with fury. "I'll get revenge for you. Let's go face him now!"
Huo Yuhao quickly stopped him. "No! Shrek Academy won't tolerate acts of revenge. Besides, he's just one of many. My enemy is the entire Duke Baihu estate. I have to become stronger—strong enough that one day, I can destroy them all from the roots!"
His eyes radiated deep hatred, and his pupils turned slightly red. Suddenly, the gray bead within his spiritual sea trembled, making him dizzy. Wang Dong caught him, thinking it was just emotional exhaustion.
Gripping Wang Dong's shoulder tightly, Huo Yuhao whispered, "Wang Dong… you're my brother. Please keep this a secret."
Wang Dong was stunned. At their age, their lives were already so different—Huo Yuhao's filled with patience and buried hatred.
After a while, the atmosphere in the dormitory gradually calmed. The two began training to recover their soul power, fully aware that the upcoming match would be the most difficult—not only to determine the championship, but also for Huo Yuhao's inner struggle.
In the silence of the dorm, Wang Dong could feel every ripple of Huo Yuhao's emotions through their Martial Soul Fusion link. The outburst of anger from earlier had now transformed into an admirable calm. Despite having a lower cultivation level, Huo Yuhao's perseverance made Wang Dong view him with newfound respect.
They kept training until the sun was high overhead. Once their soul power had fully recovered, they waited a while for Wang Feng. But after a long time with no sign of their friend returning, they decided to head to the cafeteria first.
As they stepped out of the dorm building, Xiao Xiao was already waiting outside with an annoyed look on her face.
"You two! Took you long enough! I've been waiting forever!" she complained.
Huo Yuhao explained, "We were waiting for Wang Feng, but he still hasn't shown up."
There was a soft sigh in his voice, a subtle unease surfacing at the thought of Wang Feng still being with that woman.
"Then let's hit the cafeteria right now," Wang Dong cut in, patting his stomach. "I've been starving!"
The three friends joined the stream of students heading to lunch, chatting about light-hearted things along the way.
After eating, Huo Yuhao and the others found a quiet spot by the Sea God Lake to work out their strategy for the afternoon match. Facing such strong opponents, it was impossible not to feel nervous: they were only freshmen, and in Shrek Academy that meant their power was negligible in the grand scheme—yet this championship bout was everything, and the tiniest detail could decide victory or defeat.
"It's almost time—let's head to the assessment grounds," Xiao Xiao said.
"Right." Huo Yuhao nodded.
At the assessment arena
The grounds looked deserted. Although this was the final round of the freshman elimination test, no ordinary students were allowed to watch; Shrek Academy kept each student's abilities strictly confidential, so the exam wasn't open for casual spectators.
Students who weren't participating simply attended their regular classes, making this afternoon's final the least crowded exam of the entire assessment period. Few students, however, did not mean few observers. Nearly every teacher from the Outer Court's Martial Soul Department who wasn't lecturing had gathered to watch, and Shrek Academy's Dean, Yan Shaozhe, stood on the podium in person, flanked by Du Weilun and several senior instructors.
Don't underestimate this event just because it's an annual freshman test. Nearly every standout student in Shrek's history first distinguished themselves in the freshman assessment and thus caught the academy's special attention. Yan Shaozhe had come in person because this year's freshman class was extraordinarily strong. Normally, Shrek students became Spirit Elders (three rings) in third year—just in time for promotion to fourth year. Yet among this class of freshmen, there were already three Spirit Elders. With talent like that, they were almost certain to enter the Inner Court later on. Yan Shaozhe wanted to see with his own eyes who would emerge as champion.
His main focus rested on Huo Yuhao's team. They were the only squad in the final with three members (two Spirit Grandmasters and one student who hadn't obtained a second ring yet), and Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong happened to be Wang Feng's roommates. Yan Shaozhe had met all three when they'd collapsed in the forest after using a three-way Martial Soul Fusion.
Though he hadn't had much time to speak with them then, the dean had been deeply impressed. A triple Martial Soul Fusion is a phenomenon so rare it might appear only once in a millennium. The fact that Yuhao and Wang Dong could fuse with Wang Feng at all said volumes about the extraordinary quality of their Martial Souls—fusion is only possible between Spirits of compatible caliber.
What Yan Shaozhe did not know was that this was possible thanks to the evolution of Wang Feng's Martial Soul, Ethereal Lotus. With the system's help, his Lotus of Harmony had evolved into Ethereal Lotus, gaining a new ability: it could resonate with any kind of energy, drastically raising the chances of fusing with another Martial Soul—any Martial Soul.
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