The Ice Empress had been in hibernation because she had expended too much of her power when she fused with the Snow Empress back then, but now she was finally awake!
The Ice Empress waking up had finally allowed Huo Yuhao to master his fourth soul ring"s last ability, which came about after his second martial soul, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, merged with the Snow Empress" spirit.
His second martial soul was the Ice Empress, but four of his five soul rings originated from the Snow Empress" spirit. The three skills that had been bestowed upon him were: the Unparalleled Chill, Empress" Sword; the Snowless Glacier; and the Snowy Dance of the Brilliant Sun. Of the three powerful soul skills, the Snowy Dance of the Brilliant Sun fused with the Domain of Perpetual Ice that came with Huo Yuhao"s Ice Empress skeleton, and that formed his first Domain, the Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice.
However, the Snowy Dance of Perpetual Ice didn"t distinguish between friend and foe. Huo Yuhao"s current physical state and his restricted movement made it hard for him to control it. This was the main reason why he hadn"t used it in the tournament"s previous rounds.
Huo Yuhao had never used his fifth and last soul ring before, the same orange-golden soul ring that came from the Ice Empress. Before this, he had no idea what he had to do to activate his fifth soul ring.
But not too long ago…
The Ice Empress woke up because Huo Yuhao had continually absorbed the Ultimate Ice origin energy of heaven and earth, and only then did Huo Yuhao learn that the Snow Empress" last soul skill had to be fused with the Ice Empress" powers before it could be used. This was a powerful soul skill that surpa.s.sed even his Empress" Chill.
Pride of the Ice and Snow Empresses!
Huo Yuhao couldn"t use this mighty soul skill with his current soul power, and he could only barely make it work when he was using the Raiment of Light with w.a.n.g Dong"er.
But after completing the Purple Golden b.u.t.terfly Dragon Transformation, he managed to unleash Pride of the Ice and Snow Empresses, and he was even able to maximize its power at their current cultivation ranks. He had even completely eradicated Yan Feng"s incredibly tough Skeletal Dragon True Body!
Even w.a.n.g Dong"er was astonished at the number of trump cards that he had. Huo Yuhao was in total control of their victory in the group battle. Of course, w.a.n.g Qiu"er was discreetly helping them from the shadows.
---
The Tang Sect had won.
They"d defeated the Holy Ghost Sect, which had possessed seven formidable evil soul masters. Furthermore, six of the Holy Ghost Sect"s elite youngsters were killed, with the lone exception of Tang Ya.
This was undoubtedly a huge blow for the Holy Ghost Church, which was backing the Holy Ghost Sect.
The Skeletal Dragon was gone, so Jiang Nannan broke out of her prison. The Skeleton King was dead, and so Xiao Xiao was back on the compet.i.tion stage once more.
With w.a.n.g Dong"er"s support, Huo Yuhao used his control over ice to melt the ice on He Caitou and Xu Sans.h.i.+"s bodies.
Every single one of them was exhausted and spent from everything they had given in this match. However, their eyes were sparkling as they got back together on the compet.i.tion stage, and only pride could be seen in their eyes.
This was a pride and arrogance that belonged to the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy at the same time.
The six of them placed their hands together in midair. Huo Yuhao raised his head towards the sky and hollered, "Tang Sect!"
"Tang Sect! Tang Sect! Tang Sect!" they shouted as loudly as they could.
Yes, this glory belonged to the Tang Sect! They had defeated evil, and justice and righteousness were always bound to win!
In this moment, the compet.i.tion stage and the entire Continental Elite Youth Soul Master Tournament belonged to the Tang Sect!
The audience was shaken by the Tang Sect"s aura and the atmosphere they were creating, and some people unwittingly began to chant along with the Tang Sect"s voices, to the point where the organizing committee finally recovered from their astonishment and immediately escorted the Tang Sect"s team off the compet.i.tion stage.
But the audience was reluctant to leave, and the spectacular and dazzling scenes replayed again and again in their minds. The Tang Sect"s name had been deeply imprinted in their minds!
It was from this moment that the Tang Sect"s reputation resonated across the entire Continent!
---
Inside the resting area, the Scorpion Tiger Douluo worked hard on Tang Ya. Her eyes had become cold and icy once more, but when she heard the Tang Sect"s torrential exclamations, the confusion and vacancy in her eyes seemed to crack a little more, and another dash of clarity filled the gap. A thoughtful look flickered once in her eyes as she watched the people on the compet.i.tion stage.
The mysterious black-robed lady sitting beside her raised her head slightly, and a thick scorching aura emanated faintly from her body. This thickness was filled with limitless hostility and murderous intent.
---
An elderly man smiled faintly in the spectator"s grandstand as he muttered under his breath, "You had foresight, Elder Mu. He is the Ultimate Soldier that the Shrek Academy has produced, and he"s finally grown up after the ordeal that he went through the last time. When he can get back up on his feet, Shrek Academy will possess a true Ultimate Soldier who belongs to us."
---
Na Na stayed behind to take care of Bei Bei, but Ji Juechen, Jing Ziyan, and Nan Qiuqiu raced onto the compet.i.tion stage. Ji Juechen carried Xu Sans.h.i.+ off, while Jing Ziyan and Nan Qiuqiu helped an exhausted and fatigued w.a.n.g Dong"er take care of Huo Yuhao, who was back in his wheelchair.
"You guys are so fantastic!" Nan Qiuqiu embraced w.a.n.g Dong"er, and pecked her on her soft and tender lips. w.a.n.g Dong"er was a little taken aback, and her beautiful pale cheeks tinged with redness.
"Qiuqiu…" w.a.n.g Dong"er"s voice sounded a little blaming and displeased.
Nan Qiuqiu couldn"t detect w.a.n.g Dong"er"s embarra.s.sment and shyness. She continued elatedly, "The Tang Sect is the best! The Tang Sect is the best! We won, we won! Haha, if only I had been able to fight, too!"
Jing Ziyan seemed a little despondent. "If only I had been born a few years earlier."
Ji Juechen stared at Huo Yuhao solemnly and muttered, "What state were you in during that transformation? I want to try fighting against that."
Huo Yuhao rolled his eyes and said, "You"ll have your chance in the future. However, you have to make sure that you"re stronger than Yan Feng before that."
"Are you feeling very good about yourselves?" an old and deep voice boomed angrily, interrupting them like a volcanic eruption.
Everyone turned around to look. The Scorpion Tiger Douluo, Zhang Peng, was staring at them insidiously. There was only ferocity and savagery in his eyes.
Among the Holy Ghost Sect"s partic.i.p.ating members in this compet.i.tion, the Skeleton King, Tang Dai, was the Scorpion Tiger Douluo"s personal disciple! The Purple Golden b.u.t.terfly Dragon Transformation had defeated and killed the Bone Dragon as well, and it didn"t help that the Holy Ghost Church had put in so much effort to nurture this group of young evil soul masters. The Holy Ghost Church had sustained heavy losses even though they still had Tang Ya, and this blow was so heavy that the mysterious Imperial Tutor almost couldn"t hold himself back, let alone Zhang Peng!
"So what if we"re feeling good about ourselves?" Newborn calves were not afraid of tigers, and Nan Qiuqiu had that cla.s.sic personality. She rebuked Zhang Peng"s ice-cold accusation, and she didn"t show any weakness at all.
Zhang Peng"s eyes closed into slits as he nodded and said, "Good! Good, good! Let"s go."
He suppressed the impulse to explode as he spoke, and he took Tang Ya, the mysterious girl in black, and the reserve evil soul masters, and they left quickly.
The gloomy and eerie atmosphere in the resting lounge vanished once they disappeared, and there was a very refres.h.i.+ng feeling in its place.
The rainstorm was gone, and the thick dark clouds in the sky separated as enchanting sunlight peeked from between them and shone on the compet.i.tion stage, and onto the audience in the resting area.
The radiant golden color and the unique warmth that only sunlight possessed put a charming smile on many people"s faces.
w.a.n.g Qiu"er walked over to Huo Yuhao and lowered her voice as she spoke. "I"ve returned what I owed you. We"ll meet again in the finals."
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, "Thank you, Qiu"er."
w.a.n.g Qiu"er felt her heart skip a beat as she met his sincere gaze, but she swiftly turned around and waved as she led Shrek Academy"s team away.
Dai Huabin, Wu Feng, Zhu Lu and the others seemed a little lost and vacant when they pa.s.sed Huo Yuhao, because they were clear that they had no chance of catching up with this fellow in a wheelchair, not even in the future. The rivalry and animosity between them seemed to disappear after today"s match.
Huo Yuhao"s lips moved as he mouthed something to w.a.n.g Qiu"er soundlessly.
w.a.n.g Qiu"er paused for a moment as she was walking forward, before she rapidly departed.
Huo Yuhao shut his eyes. He was quite exhausted, but there was a smile at the corner of his mouth.
------
The end of this round opened the curtains for another great battle. This was just the beginning!
The Continental Elite Youth Soul Master Tournament was nearing its end as it reached this stage.
The semi-finals were over, and the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had successfully defeated their opponents to reach the finals. For some people, it didn"t matter which team emerged victorious in the end. The fight that seemed like some kind of family infighting would take place the following day.
Everyone returned to their respective rooms back at the hotel to rest, and Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong"er retired to their own room.
There was no need to hide anything anymore, and the two of them placed their palms together as they channeled their Haodong power and regenerated their soul power. But there was something dark and shadowy riling up in Radiant City...
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Radiant City"s Dinghou Main Street was located in a residential area lined with short houses near the western suburbs. It was called a main street, but it was just a small path that couldn"t be considered wide or s.p.a.cious.
The western suburbs had always been the place where the citizens in the lowest strata of society lived. There were hardly any tall buildings or skysc.r.a.pers in the area, only large patches of short houses. There were enormous stone mountains further to the west, which formed the Sun Moon Mountain Range.
There was a small restaurant on Dinghou Main Street; it couldn"t have had much more than a thousand feet of floor s.p.a.ce. There were four or five tables laid out inside. This restaurant could not be considered splendid or magnificent. Describing it as simple and plain was already a compliment. This place served only the simplest meals.
The sky had gone dark at this point, but this was Radiant City"s busiest and most bustling time. This was especially true due to the exceptionally thrilling semifinals that everybody was talking about.
Dinghou Main Street"s little restaurant was broken-down and decrepit, but every single seat was occupied, and there were even two extra tables set up near the entrance...