Chapter 24: Tang Ya

This battle was, for Huo Yuhao and his two companions, an incredibly arduous struggle.

Wang Dong was fundamentally ill-suited to serve as the primary frontal attacker. He was forced to rely on his ability to fly, dodging left and right to buy time, while his occasional bursts of the Goddess of Butterflies’ radiance were easily swatted away by Bei Bei, rendering them largely ineffective.

Conversely, every one of Bei Bei’s attacks exceeded Wang Dong’s capacity to withstand them, and his speed was exceptionally swift. Were it not for Huo Yuhao’s occasional use of Soul Shock to disrupt his techniques, Wang Dong would have been blasted off the arena long ago.

As for Xiao Xiao, it went without saying.

Her Three-Life Soul Caldron possessed slow speed, though its defensive capabilities and weight were respectable. When facing opponents with two or three soul rings, it could be used to block their movement, serving as a versatile tool for offense, defense, and control. But attempting to use it to halt a dragon-transformed Bei Bei was nothing short of delusional. It was a miracle that she hadn't had her martial soul shattered by him yet.

"My means of attack are still far too limited."

Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth and unleashed another Soul Shock. Bei Bei, charging head-on, merely faltered for a split second before resuming his ferocious onslaught.

It was obvious. Spiritual attacks did have an effect, but it was minimal—at most, it caused Bei Bei’s head to ache as if he had been slapped, which was nowhere near enough to turn the tide of the battle. Unless he were willing to exhaust all his mental energy in one massive strike, as he had against Xu Sanshi at the start of the semester, he could only use Soul Shock as a simple interruption skill.

*Crackle!*

Another dragon claw formed. However, this time, Bei Bei did not strike immediately. Instead, he chose to keep it tightly attached to his arms, executing strange, agile steps as he lunged toward Huo Yuhao. His movement speed had actually increased by another notch!

"Thunderclap Dragon Claw!"

Bei Bei’s eyes glowed with a purple light. Combining this with his mental resistance, he briefly shielded himself from the spiritual interference. His palms surged with a bizarre suction force, dragging Huo Yuhao toward him.

After several exchanges, he had roughly figured out the tricks of the slippery fish before him: near-precognitive evasion, a body capable of contorting into exaggerated postures, and at least two types of spiritual skills. Next… as long as his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track was fast enough, so fast that Huo Yuhao had no time to dodge! As long as he used the Crane-Catching Dragon technique to draw him in, leaving him no room to twist away!

"Little Yuhao..."

A sharp glint flashed in Bei Bei’s eyes as he broke through the pressure field of the Three-Life Soul Caldron to deliver this final blow: "The battle ends here!"

"Indeed."

Huo Yuhao exhaled softly, and a ghostly, illusory afterimage manifested on the surface of his body. "It should end."

*Woo—*

A mournful sound of a flute resonated through the air. It felt as though layers of shackles had suddenly been draped over Bei Bei, as if he had been thrown into a quagmire; even moving a finger now required immense effort against the resistance.

The next moment, Huo Yuhao’s eyes erupted with brilliance.

Element Silence!

As his soul power crashed forward, the fine wisps of lightning wrapping around Bei Bei suddenly dimmed, and the terrifying roar of thunder fell into an abrupt silence. Taking advantage of the slowing effect from the Nine Phoenix Flute, Huo Yuhao manipulated his soul power to spread and infiltrate rapidly, stripping away more and more elemental energy from Bei Bei’s control. Finally, the lightning armor that had been tightly wrapped around his body faded away with a muffled thud.

*Not good...*

Bei Bei’s expression shifted in horror as his body suddenly felt light.

"Take this!"

A blinding golden pillar of light descended from the sky above. The butterfly wings behind Wang Dong had turned a brilliant, metallic gold, radiating a flame-like luster. As his two soul rings flashed in unison, he flapped his wings and unleashed a massive, crescent-shaped blade of light.

"Boom!"

The strike, which nearly drained his entire pool of soul power, made the arena look as if a sun had risen upon it. The blinding golden light, accompanied by waves of scorching heat, exploded into a cloud-like fireball.

"Three-Life Soul Caldron."

Xiao Xiao seized the moment to switch her martial soul, bringing her palms together and whispering, "Convergence!"

*Clang—*

The three great caldrons above her merged into one, transforming into a single, imposing vessel several meters in diameter. With a resounding hum, numerous glowing inscriptions lit up on the walls of the caldron, and a dull, earthy-yellow halo rippled out in black, ghostly waves, causing the surrounding air to churn like waves on water.

Bei Bei, who had just crawled out of the fireball, was steaming all over. His scales had been shattered by Wang Dong’s blade, and a charred, diagonal wound scarred his back.

As he looked up, Huo Yuhao seized the opportunity to unleash a heavy control strike: "Soul Shock."

"Great Vessel of the State, Caldron’s Tremor!" Xiao Xiao waved her hand, delivering her finishing blow.

"Gah!"

With a pained cry, the battle ended.

...

In the infirmary.

Xu Sanshi suppressed a laugh as he looked at Bei Bei: "How are you feeling now? Our 'Thunderbolt' Bei Bei~"

"Shut your mouth!"

Bei Bei sat on the hospital bed with a dark expression. Had he not been severely injured, he would have fought another round with this sharp-tongued fellow right then and there. From the arena to the infirmary, the man’s mouth hadn't stopped for a single second.

"Quiet down, don't move around. Be careful of reopening your wounds."

The old man, who bore seven soul rings, spoke calmly. The Tree of Life swaying beside him was slowly healing Bei Bei’s body. It was the same teacher who had appeared by the Sea God’s Lake earlier.

*Creak~*

Three heads squeezed through the crack in the door, their gazes sweeping back and forth across the ward.

"Come in..." Bei Bei greeted them, sounding somewhat dejected.

As one of the Twin Stars of the Outer Courtyard, a peak beast-soul battle master, he had even resorted to his dragon-transformation secret technique and Tang Sect methods. Not only had he failed to win, but he had almost been sent to the grave by these three freshmen. It was humiliating.

The three of them looked at each other, and eventually, Xiao Xiao took the lead and stepped inside: "Um~ Greetings, Senior Brother!"

As she spoke, Xiao Xiao bowed deeply to Bei Bei, almost causing him to bounce off the hospital bed in surprise.

"What did you say?!"

"Don't move."

The teacher on the side wore a gentle smile, his palm firmly clamping down on Bei Bei’s shoulder, pressing him back down to continue the treatment.

"It was my suggestion," Huo Yuhao stepped forward to explain to Bei Bei. "Earlier, Xiao Xiao asked me for advice on her cultivation, so I recommended that she ask Sister Xiaoya—so, you didn't know about this?"

"This..."

Bei Bei opened his mouth, then sighed in frustration: "Xiaoya has been in a bad mood lately, and I didn't want to upset her further. Especially regarding the Tang Sect; she’s been very preoccupied with it recently and won't let me intervene."

"Is it because of the advancement exams?" Xu Sanshi tilted his head, instantly guessing the cause.

"Yes," Bei Bei rubbed his forehead irritably. "The various assessment projects after the start of the semester this year have been quite difficult. Xiaoya’s grades aren't ideal. As it stands, she has to work very hard just to graduate; there’s no possibility of her advancing to the Inner Courtyard."

"Perhaps she realized this and chose to give up on that path, and now she’s desperately looking for people to help her rebuild her Tang Sect... or perhaps, she's preparing for her revenge in the future."