"You! Who are you?!"
Yu Tao's eyes widened in shock upon witnessing a disheveled old man with long white hair and beard, stopping his attack with a gourd?!
What's more, upon closer inspection, he noticed the lack of fluctuations of soul power or spiritual power.
Meaning this old man just stopped his attack, that could make even ordinary Titled Douluos sustained severe injuries, with pure physical strength!
'Wait, no. He stopped me with a gourd, doesn't that make the gourd—?'
"I strengthened the gourd with my soul power."
Yu Tao snapped back to attention upon hearing Elder Xuan's words.
He stared at him, dumbfounded.
"D-Did you just read my mind?!"
Elder Xuan snorted, "No, dumbass. It was written all over your face. By Sea God, how the hell did you manage to reach your current level without even knowing how to sense soul power?"
He shook his head and let out a deep sigh, "You new generation have gotten lazier and lazier...."
The truth was that Elder Xuan's soul power control was so precise and accurate that the flow of soul power he enveloped the gourd was undetectable to anyone but the most sensitive Soul Masters.
His effortless control allowed him to channel just the right amount of power to neutralize Yu Tao's attack without releasing any visible energy fluctuations.
Yu Tao's expression shifted from fury to shock, his mind racing as he tried to comprehend the strength and skill of this seemingly disheveled elder.
'C-Could he be a.... Transcendent Douluo?! This is bad!'
Yu Tao nervously glanced back at his brother and gritted his teeth, he made a decisive move that would save them both.
His enlarged right arm quickly deflated back to its original size, his soul rings vanishing into thin air, and cupped his hands together in a gesture of respect, bowing 90-degress over to Elder Xuan.
"Elder, please forgive us. We....we didn't realize who we were dealing with," he stammered, trying to keep his composure. "My brother and I overstepped!"
Elder Xuan regarded him with a neutral expression, putting his gourd on his waist. "Overstepped? That's putting it lightly. You came here to recruit—or forcefully take—one of my students."
He narrowed his gaze and a overwhelming pressure radiated from Elder Xuan, filling the air with a crushing intensity that shook the entire lobby under the weight of his aura.
"Has that old freak Du not taught any of his subordinates proper manners? Though, considering that it's him we're talking about, I shouldn't be surprised."
"You—!"
Yu Tao's eyes widened as he staggered slightly under the immense pressure, beads of sweat forming on his brow as he struggled to keep his composure.
'T-This pressure! The weight of power he's exuding.... It's similar to the sect master! Don't tell me....' Yu Tao's eyes widened as he recalled Huo Yuhao's words earlier, and from hearing the clear insult Elder Xuan had talking about his sect master.
There was only a few people who dare speak to the Body Sect's Master like that, and they were all old monsters that were around the same cultivation as he was! Yu Tao now knew who this old man was.
Shrek Academy's mysterious guardian of the Sea God Pavilion, rank 98 Transcendent Douluo—Taotie Douluo, Xuan Zi!
'We're screwed!' Yu Tao's head dipped lower, sweating buckets
Elder Xuan's grey eyes gleamed crimson, radiating such killing intent that Yu Tao felt as though he was being pummeled repeatedly into meat paste and Lang Ya even woke up from his catatonic state.
"W-What..."
Before Lang Ya could get out a proper word, Elder Xuan continued.
"Since we're in neutral ground, I will let you go."
'But if we weren't, I would've ripped you two apart' was the unsaid words, but the look in Elder Xuan's eyes said it all.
"Now, get the hell out of my face before I change my mind."
"E-Eeek!" Both Lang Ya and Yu Tao whimpered like little girls. They quickly turned and run away, smashing through the doors of the hotel lobby.
""Thank you elder!""
"Oi! You guys better pay for that!"
"....Yes, elder."
After they left behind a bag full of golden soul coins on the reception desk, the entire group of Shrek quickly walked up to Elder Xuan and expressed their gratitude and appreciation.
Elder Xuan chuckled softly as he took out a crispy chicken drumstick and took a bite out of it. "Ah, it's fine. You're all part of Shrek, it's my duty to protect you all from harm."
He glanced at Huo Yuhao, who covered his right eye as Ma Xiaotao, Wang Dong'er and the other girl fret about his wellbeing. "Okay, things are fine now. Yuhao, get that injury of yours checked out. The rest of you get back to your respective rooms."
"Yes, Elder Xuan!"
As the students left for their rooms, Wang Yan walked up to Elder Xuan with a worried look on his face. "....Elder Xuan."
"Hm."
"Regarding Body Sect....I'm afraid things won't end so simply."
Elder Xuan narrowed his eyes as he nodded, crossing his hands behind him. "Yes. They will make some movement. I need to get back to the academy soon and inform everyone to be prepared."
"T-Teacher. You seriously can't be thinking that they...."
"Invade the academy? If it were any other school or sect, they wouldn't have the balls. But the Body Sect? They are the most craziest bunch this continent has ever seen that aren't Evil Soul Masters, and I know that old monster leading the sect is even crazier."
Elder Xuan clenched his hands. 'Especially if he's informed about Yuhao's talent. He might even go insane and start a fight with teacher Mu! They would devastate the entire academy! I must prevent that from happening....'
He glanced towards the direction of Huo Yuhao. 'Brat, I hope you're feeling indebted towards us because the shit you're pulling could make even a Transcendent Douluo die from a headache.'
And there's still the matter of his...undead summoning.
Well, one step at a time. Tournament first, then Body Sect, and then asking about his mysterious third martial soul.
Shrek Academy team meeting room.
Instead of heeding Elder Xuan's words, they all gathered in the meeting room to talk about everything that had just transpired.
Despite Elder Xuan's advice to rest, the tension from the confrontation with the Body Sect members and the recent events made it impossible for anyone to relax.
They sat around the table, with Huo Yuhao at the center, his right eye still bandaged from the strain of using his Mangekyou Sharingan.
He had really overused his Sharingan; from using the Susanoo and the Kuraokami just a couple hours ago, and then using another Mangekyou Sharingan ability—he especially strained it since he used it against Lang Ya, a strong spiritual-tyle Soul Douluo.
He wasn't like most of the enemies he met before—with high cultivation of both soul and spiritual power that clearly dwarfed Huo Yuhao's own. If it weren't for his Mangekyou Sharingan ability, he wouldn't had the chance to fight back.
Speaking of his right eye Mangekyou Sharingan ability, it was unlike most abilities that his predecessors had—he had them all.
Etānaruekō, or the Eternal Echo that Huo Yuhao decided to call it, is a Mangekyou Sharingan ability that grants the him access to all past Mangekyou techniques he, Indra's incarnations, had.
And considering how many incarnations he had, with some in particular having managed to achieve Mangekyou Sharingan, he had access to a bunch of Mangekyou techniques—Amaterasu, Kagutsuchi, Tsukuyomi, etc.
The Tsukuyomi came from the man that was behind the creation of the original Akatsuki and the instigator of a great war—the Ghost of Uchiha, Madara Uchiha!
(AN: Madara's Mangekyou Sharingan abilities has never been revealed so I'm taking some liberties with it.)
But it came at the cost of using up more energy than usual, as noted by his Ancestor.
So inevitably, Huo Yuhao's right eye was damaged. And unlike his right arm or any other part of his body, his eyes refused to be healed as quickly. By his estimations, it would take him a few hours before his eyes' optical nerves are fully healed.
'The curse of the Sharingan....or is it simply because I really strained my eyes?' Huo Yuhao closed his eyes, hiding the true situation from the others.
"Yuhao, what's wrong?" Wang Dong'er asked, holding his hand.
Huo Yuhao lightly smiled and said, "I'm fine. My eyes are a bit fatigue, I just need to relax them for a while."
Wang Dong'er held his hand tighter, as his close partner she knew more than the others, but knowing this wasn't the right time to ask, she merely nodded.
"So, who the heck were those two?!" Ma Xiaotao started with a fierce scowl, crossing her arms. "I mean, they came out of nowhere, and from the way they acted, it's like they thought they owned the place."
Tang Ya nodded, her expression serious. "And why were they so set on taking you, Yuhao? What do they want?"
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and said, "Those two were from the Body Sect."
"Body Sect?!"
"By Sea God..."
Ma Xiaotao and the others exclaimed, looking dumbfounded and shocked by the revelation of the strange 'thugs' background.
"The Body Sect?" Of course, there were some who didn't know about the Body Sect such as Xiao Xiao, Jiang Nannan, and unexpectedly even Ling Luochen.
But the reason for their ignorance was simply because they didn't pay any attention to the Body Sect or anything else related to such topic because they were focused on their training and other stuff.
"Is Body Sect really that scary?" Xiao Xiao asked.
Huo Yuhao nodded, "Quite so."
He then started explaining to her the information he had on ghem, but it was only basic information he had about how they only had members with Body-type Martial Souls and are mysterious, elusive and tyrannical.
"So terrifying?!" Xiao Xiao exclaimed.
"And they have their eyes on my Lord?!" Ling Luochen asked, eyes wide.
Xu Sanshi chuckled and said, "It's Yuhao! Of course they're going to set their sights on him."
"Sanshi, shut up." Ma Xiaotao scolded, giving Xu Sanshi a stern look.
Xu Sanshi shivered and he quickly straightened up. "Y-Yes ma'am!"
"Yuhao, you have to be careful!"
"Tonight, we're all sleeping in your room for your safety!"
"Oh! Are we doing a sleepover? This would be the first sleepover I'll have!"
"Should we order up some food? Anyone up for some buckets of chicken? Seeing Elder Xuan eating that chicken drumstick made me hungry for some."
"Hey Yuhao, can you ask cook us up a meal? Please~"
"He's tired! Go cook for us if you're desperate for homemade meals."
"Bleh!"
"My lord, do you require a message? This lowly one shall excuse herself and..."
"Hey! Hey! Hey! No touching the injured person! And stop talking like that!"
Huo Yuhao heard his friends uplifting exchange and softly smiled, feeling lucky to have loyal and considerate friends like them.
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AN: Let us welcome a new fellow daoist into my patreon: Lax! May you achieve greatness and prosperity...
Another piece of news, I might not post chapters on time next week, cause it's Christmas and all, so please don't be alarmed if I haven't uploaded.
Last piece of news, use this code: 97397 for 50% off on membership~ C'mon now, feel the spirit of Christmas~ Hohohoho~