The mackerel, which had turned a golden brown, still had oil dripping off it, and a strong aroma gushed unceasingly from its belly. When the man's bit into the roasted fish, a light crackling sound came from it. The roasted fish's skin had actually been roasted until it was crispy, but it wasn't burnt at all. However, what lay underneath the crispy layer of the skin was the fresh, tender, succulent meat of the fish, which was packed with flavour.
It was only a single bite, but that yellow-shirted student's eyes widened in shock. He didn't even stop to praise it. Instead, he ate the entire fish almost as fast as he could.
The other nearby students, who'd been observing Huo Yuhao from the sidelines, immediately understood what had happened. The other three mackerels that Huo Yuhao had roasted so far were instantly bought, and his total sales revenue directly increased to twenty copper soul coins, which was equivalent to two silver soul coins.
These four roasted fish caused Huo Yuhao to gain an 'exceptional' reputation in a very short period of time. This was the academy's entrance, so the number of people that passed him was extremely great. His small booth quickly became surrounded by a nearly-impenetrable crowd.
"Too tasty, that was really too tasty." The yellow-shirted student who'd bought the first roasted fish managed to squeeze back in, albeit with much difficulty. "Junior brother, give me three more roasted fish. I'll have my dinner here tonight."
A purple-clothed student who was one year older than him coldly responded, "Go to the back of the line."
Huo Yuhao didn't think that his roasted fish would sell so well. He spoke apologetically to the students surrounding the oven, "Fellow classmates and seniors, it's my first day doing business, thus I can only sell eighteen roasted fish. I sold four fish earlier, but I still have fourteen left. Following the principle of 'first come, first serve', those who aren't lined up should come back tomorrow."
As he spoke, he put away the money that he'd so far into the Twenty Four Moonlit Bridges. After selling eighteen fish, he'd made nine silver soul coins. If he deducted the costs of production, what was left was enough for him to both eat his fill and save some. Huo Yuhao wasn't greedy; he understand that the most important for him right now was to cultivate. Having enough money to survive was good enough.
Skewers of roasted fish came out of the grill one after another as Huo Yuhao continued to roast the fish with extreme seriousness. He didn't decrease their quality due to the number of people. Every single person who chose to buy one of his roasted fish was incomparably satisfied, with some people even choosing to order fish for tomorrow in advance. After some consideration, Huo Yuhao still decided to stick with a queue model. After all, the taste of hot food was the greatest when it had just finished cooking. If someone were to eat it any later, its flavour would've diminished.
At this moment, a few female students wearing purple school uniforms walked out of the gate to Shrek Academy. Her appearance immediately attracted countless gazes.
She only looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, and her figure was slender and well proportioned. Her golden hair was draped behind her shoulders like a waterfall, and her skin was snow-white. Her eyes were akin to clear water, and when she looked around, she had an elegant temperament. Her face resembled jade, a crescent halo, as well as snow around a flowering tree. She had a gentle beauty, a charming voice, a lovable appearance, and an extraordinary beauty that couldn't be found anywhere else. Her beauty, that seemed as if it could cause the downfall of a country, seemed to dull the colours of everything else around her.
"Sister Nan, something smells good. What's that smell?" A student beside the exceedingly beautiful young lady asked curiously. Her looks were also extraordinary, but unfortunately, how could fireflies next to the moon emit any radiance?
The exceedingly beautiful young lady had clearly also smelled the aroma. All of the girls couldn't help but cast their gazes towards Huo Yuhao's booth.
Perhaps the beauty of that young lady was too imposing, but the students who'd originally been in line in front of Huo Yuhao's booth actually opened up a path for her. She, and the other female students she was with, walked towards the oven. Only, when the exceedingly beautiful young lady saw everyone taking the initiative to open a path for her, she wasn't arrogant at all. Instead, she carried an extremely warm smile and nodded her head towards them in thanks. All of the students who saw her smile had flushed faces filled with excitement.
When Huo Yuhao saw the exceedingly beautiful young lady, he blanked out. Previously, the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen had been was Tang Ya, but not only was the purple-clothed female student in front of him not inferior to Tang Ya, she even had both a gentle and warm temperament. When you added that to her somewhat melancholic expression, she had a beautiful and moving appearance. Compared to her, Tang Ya was a lively and cheerful, easy-go-lucky girl. As for their appearances, it simply depended on one's preference.
"Junior brother, how much are you selling these roasted fish for?" The exceedingly beautiful young lady asked quietly.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao had just sold the last of the eighteen roasted fish he'd had. The last two remaining fish on the grill were for Tang Ya.
"Senior sister, they're five copper soul coins each."
The exceedingly beautiful young lady furrowed her brow, then said, "This is a bit expensive. If we consider how much it costs for the ingredients, plus the work you've put in, three copper soul coins—at most—should be fine. You'll still make a profit."
Huo Yuhao was stunned. He hadn't thought that a young lady as beautiful as her would actually haggle with him. None of his previous customers had done this.
"I'm sorry, but my roasted fish are sold at a fixed priced. Furthermore, I've already sold all of my fish for the day." Huo Yuhao spoke with a flat tone. Tang Ya was the one who'd set the price, so he wouldn't change it easily. Moreover, this income was very important to him, and was just enough for him as-is.
The exceedingly beautiful young lady was stunned for a moment, then apologetically said, "I'm sorry, I was just making a casual calculation. If there's a chance in the future, I'll try your roasted fish." As she said this, she turned around and walked away from Huo Yuhao's temporary booth.
Huo Yuhao clearly sensed that the surrounding atmosphere had become somewhat abnormal. Many of the students that had previously been looking fervently at him were now glaring at him.
"Brat, you dare not to sell it?" A deep voice full of anger suddenly rang out, immediately followed by a golden light that shot towards Huo Yuhao's booth.
"Ding—" The golden light accurately struck his grill. In fact, it actually embedded itself in it. Impressively, it was a golden soul coin. Following that, a figure walked towards Huo Yuhao's booth with large strides, until he quickly arrived in front of it. As soon as he arrived, he stretched his hand out to grab the two roasted fish.
Because roasting fish required precise control over the heat, Huo Yuhao had kept his Spirit Eyes activated this whole time. When that deep voice rang out, he'd sensed an enormous pressure arrive. Thus, he'd subconsciously released his Spiritual Detection.
Although the hand that reached towards the roasted fish was very quick, Huo Yuhao managed to predict the movements of the other party via his Spiritual Detection, allowing him to grab the two skewers of roasted fish before retreating backwards a few steps. He'd set these fish aside especially for Tang Ya. How could he let other people take them?
The person who'd tried to grab the roasted fish actually grabbed a few pieces of charcoal from the oven instead of the fish in his hurry.
At that moment, Huo Yuhao was able to clearly see the appearance of the newcomer.
He was wearing a black school uniform; he was actually a sixth-year student. He looked to be around Bei Bei's age, and had a tall figure that was comparable to He Caitou's. He had bushy eyebrows, as well as eyes that resembled that of a tiger's. He also had a straight nose, a square-shaped mouth, along with a grand appearance. His fair skin had already been suffused with a few shades of red due to his anger, while his face, which still seemed to contain some baby fat, was quite imposing.
"Brat, are you courting death?" The black-shirted youth roared angrily. He actually crushed the coals he'd grabbed within his hands, causing sparks to fly everywhere. However, he didn't seem to have been burnt by them at all. He swept his right leg out, kicking Huo Yuhao's grill to one side. At the same time, he stepped forward and used his large hands to grab Huo Yuhao by the shirt.
Using his Spiritual Detection, Huo Yuhao realised that this black-shirted youth wasn't just being overbearing. His 'simple' grab actually contained countless variations in it, and although Huo Yuhao was able to make out some weaknesses in it, his cultivation was too weak to make use of them. Thus, he wasn't able to dodge, and was thus grabbed by the shirt by the black-shirted youth.
"Hey." The black-shirted youth raised his right hand, lifting Huo Yuhao into the air. At the same time, he forcefully snatched the two skewers of roasted fish from Huo Yuhao.
The entire process, from the time that the black-shirted youth had appeared to him making his move, happened incomparably quickly—to the extent that the surrounding people were only just realising what had just happened.
Two voices echoed out at practically the same time.
"What are you doing?"
"Stay your hand."
The former was the exceedingly beautiful young lady, who currently had a startled and angry expression. The latter had already charged over with as fast as lightning and had used his palm in an attempt to directly knock the black-shirted youth away.
Clearly, the black-shirted youth hadn't thought that someone would make a move against him. Thus, he wasn't able to protect himself in time. He was using one hand to hold Huo Yuhao, while using another to hold onto the roasted fish. If he wanted to defend himself from his opponent's attack, he would had to forfeit one of the two.
He chose to let go of Huo Yuhao. With a flick of his wrist, Huo Yuhao was sent flying horizontally. He then lowered his right hand to collide with the incoming hand.
"Pa—" The two people simultaneously trembled, then both took a step back. In this clash, neither of them had managed to take the upper hand.
The newcomer wasn't some random person; it was Huo Yuhao's eldest senior brother, Bei Bei.
Huo Yuhao, who'd been flung into the air, spun around in the air twice. However, an attractive figure appeared below him and used her hands to catch and lower him steadily to the ground.
The person who helped Huo Yuhao was naturally Tang Ya. At this moment, her originally small and charming face was filled with rage.
"Xu Sanshi, you dare to bully one of my men? I'm gonna beat the shit out of you." As she said that, Tang Ya raised her hand, causing a golden light to fly directly towards Xu Sanshi.
The black-shirted youth waved his right hand, causing a sharp black light to flash as he attempted to sweep away the golden light. However, an astonishing scene occurred: The golden light suddenly brightened, unexpectedly burrowing its way through that strong black soulforce, before burying itself and disappearing inside of the black-shirted youth.
The black-shirted youth's body trembled violently, and his gaze suddenly froze. Afterwards, his tiger-like eyes flared with anger, and his three soul rings instantly rose up from his legs—there were two yellow rings and one purple ring. His originally pale skin immediately darkened as his muscles expanded, and his entire body seemed to swell up. The most peculiar thing was that a tortoiseshell shield—which had a diameter of around one metre—had appeared in his right hand.
Huo Yuhao activated his Spiritual Detection, allowing him to sense that the martial soul released by the black-shirted youth had a level of grandeur that wasn't any weaker than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon that Bei Bei possessed.
"Tang Ya, don't think that I can't do anything to you just because you have Bei Bei protecting you." As the black-shirted youth let out a low roar, his eyes lit up with anger.
Tang Ya laughed coldly. "Come! Did you think that I'd be afraid of trash like you?"
Bei Bei indifferently said, "Xu Sanshi, you've bullied my junior brother. You'll have to give me an explanation for today's matter. If not, we'll go to the Soul Dueling Arena and settle it with an official fight."
Xu Sanshi trembled slightly as he pointed at Huo Yuhao and asked, "He's your junior brother?"
Bei Bei expressionlessly nodded his head.
Xu Sanshi coldly said, "So what? He didn't give Jiang Nannan any face, nor did he didn't give me any face either. It was just two skewers of roasted fish, and I already paid for them."
Tang Ya angrily said, "Those were the fish that Huo Yuhao had saved for me. Bei Bei, why are you still listening to his bullshit? Beat him up! Beat him up until he can't move anymore. I'll give you a kiss later."
Bei Bei's face, which he'd originally been carefully controlling, finally twitched when he heard Tang Ya's impish words, who seemed to want to see the world burn right now.
Xu Sanshi curled his lip and said to Bei Bei, "Your Tang Ya's still so berserk, I see. I haven't compared notes with you in a long time; why don't we immediately go to the Soul Dueling Arena? Let's go!"
As he was speaking, he turned around and walked away without pausing at all. With a few steps he arrived in front of the exceedingly beautiful lady named Jiang Nannang. His previously angry expression actually turned tender the instant he arrived, and he passed the two skewers of roasted fish to her. He then spoke in a gentle voice. "Nannan, you can eat first. I'll be back later."
However, Jiang Nannan wasn't grateful at all. She was always very kind towards everyone else, but she was as cold as ice towards Xu Sanshi. She proceeded to speak in a cold voice, "Xu Sanshi, I've told you before. There's no possibility of anything happening between us. Please stop bothering me in the future." Once she'd finished saying this, she turned around and walked away.
A burst of embarrassment appeared on Xu Sanshi's face. He suddenly straightened his body and stared angrily at the crowd, who'd in-turn been watching the show. "What're you looking at? Go away. Bei Bei, let's go." After saying this, he walked towards the academy. The roasted fish in his hand were thrown towards Huo Yuhao.
Tang Ya stood in front of Huo Yuhao and raised her hand to catch the fish. Her movements were very smooth and gentle, yet she seemed to have caught the fish in a very natural manner. She bluntly took a bite out of one, while she used her hand to pull Huo Yuhao with her as she ate. "Let's go watch something fun."
The Soul Dueling Arena was an extremely important location within Shrek Academy. It was located on the northwestern corner of the Martial Soul Institution, and was close to Shrek Academy. In fact, it wasn't that far from the Soul Tool Testing Area that Huo Yuhao had visited before. This was a place that many students from all years would frequent. You could carry out various types of competitions within this building, with specialised teachers to act as referees. The referees were responsible for determining the victor of each competition, and were also responsible for protecting the students, providing assistance students who needed it, healing injured students, and such. Naturally, all of this needed to be paid for.
When carrying out a duel in the Soul Dueling Arena, each party would need to pay a minimum of ten gold soul coins for arena expenses. However, many students never grew bored of these competitions, due to the fact that there were no restrictions whilst competing here. Furthermore, you didn't need to be afraid of any dangerous situations if you were too heavy-handed, since the teachers who were acting as referees would keep everything under control. At the same time, students who won a match within the Soul Dueling Arena would obtain a certain amount of credits, which would, in turn, increase one's marks by a certain amount during their annual advancement test.
Past their fourth year, students who wanted to continue on to become fifth-years and sixth-years would need Soul Duelling Credits. A fourth-year student who wanted to become a fifth-year student would need at least ten victories within the Soul Dueling Arena over students from his same year group, while advancing from a fifth-year to a sixth-year required even more credits. Soul Duelling Credits were supposedly even more important when one wanted to enter the inner courtyard after becoming a sixth-year.
All competitions within the Soul Dueling Arena were open to all students, but the entrance fee was one silver soul coin.
What astonished Huo Yuhao the most was the fact that Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi's duel actually attracted the attention of so many students. An overwhelming majority of the students who'd been watching the liveliness outside actually chose to go watch the duel, with no care for what year they were.
"Teacher Xiao Ya, the school must make a lot of money!" Huo Yuhao couldn't help but speak after he heard Tang Ya's simple introduction of the Soul Dueling Arena.
Tang Ya replied, "It's something the academy logically deserves. Since the academy is as large as it is, its expenses are naturally just as large. If they hadn't thought of a way to make money, how would they be able to maintain the academy? However, the taxes the academy levels in Shrek City aren't little either. In any case, our academy is the continent's number one academy in terms of prosperity. Right, little Yuhao, the standard of your roasted fish has improved even more. It's either that, or the ingredients that I got you are better, since it tastes so good."
Tang Ya finished her two skewers of roasted fish long before they reached the Soul Dueling Arena. Huo Yuhao was already hungry, so he went ahead and bought some dinner when they walked by the canteen. When he and Tang Ya arrived at the Soul Dueling Arena, there were many people flooding into it. As the news of Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei's duel began to spread like wildfire, more and more students streamed towards the Soul Dueling Arena.
Tang Ya paid two silver soul coins and brought Huo Yuhao into the Soul Dueling Arena. The Soul Dueling Arena was hexagonal, and was roughly as big as Shrek Plaza. The centre of the Soul Dueling Arena was a large open area, which was clearly the place where students would duel against one another. Furthermore, it was surrounded by around three thousand chairs that rose progressively upwards.
When they entered, there were already two to three hundred students sitting around the battlefield. Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao had arrived relatively early on, so they managed to obtain seats in the row that was closest to the battlefield. On the other hand, the battlefield in front of them was empty; it was unknown where Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi were.
Tang Ya knew that Huo Yuhao was unfamiliar with the rules for the Soul Dueling Arena. Thus, she decided to explain them to him. "The Soul Dueling Arena is open everyday, from dismissal to midnight. Students who wish to carry out a duel have to first pay the fee and register. If both parties are fairly famous students in the academy, the academy will use a soul tool called a 'megaphone' to broadcast the event in order to attract more viewers. The academy will then keep half of the ticketing fees, while the winner will keep the other half. Your eldest senior brother's already made quite a bit of money from dueling. Furthermore, that Xu Sanshi is a fifth-year student, whereas he's just become a fourth-year. Since they're separated by an entire year, it's considered a challenge that bypasses what year they're in. Thus, that Xu Sanshi will have to give Bei Bei an additional ten gold soul coins if he loses. Your eldest senior brother and that Xu Sanshi are both extremely famous students in the outer courtyard—they're both acclaimed as geniuses. I'm guessing that the number of people who'll show up to watch will exceed five hundred."
Huo Yuhao asked, "Then who was that Jiang Nannan?"
Tang Ya raised her hand and hit Huo Yuhao on the head. "You've already learnt bad things at such a young age? You're already looking at pretty girls? Hmph!"
Huo Yuhao felt his head throb, and didn't dare to ask again. Instead, he chose to take out his lunchbox and start eating dinner.
When she saw his naive appearance, Tang Ya couldn't help but laugh. "Fine, I'll tell you. Jiang Nannan is known as the outer courtyard's number one beauty. She comes from an ordinary family, and treats everybody kindly. She has countless fans within the academy. Do you think that she's prettier than me?"
Huo Yuhao hurriedly shook his head a few times.
Tang Ya was somewhat pleased as she said, "That's right! I don't think that she's stronger than me in any other area either, hmph! That guy, Xu Sanshi, has a very strong mutated martial soul known as the Mysterious Underworld Turtle. It's a dual-attribute martial soul that possesses both the water and the earth element, and has an extremely strong defense. It's been called an impenetrable fortress by some. His cultivation is around the same level as Bei Bei's, and they both have first-rate martial souls. Don't worry, I've already vented some anger for you. I threw a Dragon Beard Needle at him, which should be unbearable for him. If he wants to pursue Jiang Nannan, so be it, but it won't do if he hurts any of my people in the process. Speaking of strange, I'm beginning to think that Jiang Nannan has a problem with her gender orientation. There are an endless number of outstanding male students pursuing her, but she's never taken a liking to any of them. When she rejects other people, she does it with a gentle tone. However, when she rejects Xu Sanshi, it's with a rarely-seen coldness. I don't know if this is because Xu Sanshi took advantage of her in some way. On the other hand, these people who are coming to watch Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi are really innocent! They only know that Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi are respectively known to possess the outer courtyard's strongest attack-type martial soul and the outer courtyard's strongest defense-type martial soul. However, they don't know that these two know each other. I'm guessing that they've colluded to both earn some money—that's why so many of them ran over to the Soul Dueling Arena."
Huo Yuhao spoke with astonishment, "Eldest senior brother and that Xu Sanshi know each other?"
Tang Ya nodded. "Little Yuhao, don't worry. Even though they know each other, your eldest senior brother will still compete against him fiercely. He won't let Xu Sanshi bully you for no reason."
Soul Dueling Arena, lobby.
"Bei Bei, your Tang Ya is too vicious. Look at this, just look at this…" Xu Sanshi had a dissatisfied expression as he lifted his jacket to show Bei Bei something. A bulge the size of an infant's fist had already swelled up on the right side of his waist. Only, he continued to release his martial soul, causing the skin surrounding that bulge to seemingly become as hard as metal.
Bei Bei snorted and replied, "Serves you right. Who asked you to bully our junior brother? Less bullshit, give me a Mysterious Water Pill and I'll remove the Dragon Beard Needle for you. If not, then you can wait till it digs out a piece of your flesh. This Dragon Beard Needle was left behind by the first-generation ancestor of the Tang Sect, and was only passed down to the successive sect masters. Xiao Ya was really angry this time."
Xu Sanshi said, "That brat was actually someone who belonged to your Tang Sect? He doesn't look like he has any ability at all! Forget about the Mysterious Water Pill, quickly help me! This Dragon Beard Needle is too toxic, it hurts like hell. It's also specialised in breaking through soulforce. I can't believe I actually fell into Tang Ya's trap because of my carelessness. This is really depressing."
Bei Bei looked towards the sky and replied, "Whatever. If you don't want to give it to me, don't give it to me. You hit my junior brother, plus you even wrecked his booth. You can slowly endure this Dragon Beard Needle then. The duel's going to start soon anyway. I don't believe that you'll be able to compete against me with that Dragon Beard Needle in you."
Xu Sanshi snorted angrily. "Fine, Bei Bei, just wait. You just watch how I take care of you in the Soul Duelling Arena later. I won't be lenient towards you at all."
Bei Bei smiled and said, "Do I need you to be lenient towards me?" As he spoke, he extended his right hand towards Xu Sanshi and made a gesture.
Xu Sanshi unwillingly took out a delicate bottle made out of white jade and threw it towards Bei Bei. Bei Bei caught it and said, "Many thanks. Now, withdraw your martial soul, I'll help you remove the Dragon Beard Needle."
Only then did Xu Sanshi slowly withdraw his martial soul. Without the restrictive effect of his martial soul, waves of unbearable pain immediately spread from the Dragon Beard Needle into his body. Even with his cultivation level and willpower, Xu Sanshi actually couldn't stop his body from trembling.
Bei Bei used his right hand to rapidly tap a few points surrounding Xu Sanshi's wound. Afterwards, he simultaneously moved both of his hands, causing waves of gentle soulforce to unceasingly pour into Xu Sanshi's cramped muscles. After a moment's work, a hair-like golden strand slowly came out from Xu Sanshi's waist muscles.
Bei Bei pulled it out softly, causing the golden strand to pop out of Xu Sanshi's body, before quickly shrinking into a golden grain-sized pea. With a flip of his wrist, Bei Bei quickly put it away.
Xu Sanshi let out a long sigh, as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. However, he still had an angry expression. "Bei Bei, you're taking advantage of me. You know how valuable this Mysterious Water Pill is. How about this? Let's make a bet. If I win our match later on, you'll return that Mysterious Water Pill to me."
Bei Bei simply smiled. "What if you lose?"
Xu Sanshi snorted and said, "I'll give you one thousand gold soul coins."
Bei Bei shook his head before saying, "That won't do. I know that the Mysterious Water Pill isn't worth only a thousand gold soul coins. I won't make an unfair bet with you."
Xu Sanshi angrily retorted, "I only have that much money. If you don't agree, I'm going to get very angry."
Bei Bei sighed softly and said, "Do I look like I lack money? Fine, I'll give you a chance. I know you still have more Mysterious Water Pills. Take another one out and use it as the wager."
A trace of suspicion appeared in Xu Sanshi's eyes. "Why do I feel like I've fallen into your trap? It seems like you're sure that you can beat me."
Bei Bei still kept a warm smile on his face. "You're the person who wanted to make a bet, not me. You can still choose not to bet. Also, don't moan and groan when you lose to me later on."
Xu Sanshi snorted and said, "Me, lose? Although I can't guarantee that I can beat you, it won't be easy for you to beat me either. If we were to tie, how would our bet work?"
However, Bei Bei wasn't fooled by him. "Then we'll each keep what we already have. Hurry up, stop acting like a sissy."
Xu Sanshi clenched his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll bet with you. You bastard. You might not be stronger than me, but you're extremely crafty. I reckon that I've been tricked by you again. If worst comes to worst, I'll just go suck up to my dad when I get back."
Bei Bei's still had a smile on his face. Although Xu Sanshi was trying his best to look for a change in his expression, he wasn't able to notice anything.
"You! You're not really stupid, but you'll immediately turn foolish towards any matter that Jiang Nannan's involved in. I really don't know whether you two were some sort of enemies in your previous life. Even though Jiang Nannan is pretty, there are many excellent female students in Shrek Academy. Why do you insist on giving your unrequited love to a flower?"
Xu Sanshi unhappily said, "Don't be an armchair expert. If you're so against with it, why don't you give Tang Ya to me?"
Bei Bei stood up and retorted, "You'd better quickly adjust your body's condition so that you won't be unconvinced when you lose later. I'll go first." He'd already started to walk out as he spoke.
Tang Ya's predictions were spot on. The number of students that had gathered in the Soul Dueling Area had gradually increased, and currently it exceeded four hundred. It wouldn't be a problem at all to gather five hundred students by the time the duel started.
"Huo Yuhao." A voice that was fuming with anger caused Huo Yuhao to be startled. When he turned around to see who it was, he saw the tidily dressed Wang Dong aggressively walking towards him.
"Why did you come?" Huo Yuhao asked with a somewhat guilty tone. When he saw Wang Dong, he immediately recalled that white scene…
Wang Dong's face had both shades of red and white on it. He sat down next to Huo Yuhao and spoke with a low voice, "Tell me, what did you see?"
Huo Yuhao was stunned for a moment. Then he replied, "Ah? I didn't see anything!"
Wang Dong snorted angrily. "If you don't knock next time, I'll kill you."
Huo Yuhao knew that he was in the wrong, but he still muttered to himself, "We're all men…it's not like you'd suffer a loss if I saw anything."
"What did you just say?" Wang Dong flew into a rage and raised his hand to grab Huo Yuhao.
A slender palm stretched over and slapped Wang Dong's hand away. Afterwards, Tang Ya's voice rang out, "Little Yuhao, you haven't introduced him to me."
Only then did Wang Dong notice Tang Ya's existence. When he saw Tang Ya's exceedingly beautiful face, he was slightly stunned. However, he quickly regained his composure and snorted, before choosing to ignore Huo Yuhao. At first, after Huo Yuhao had run off, Wang Dong had quickly put his clothes on. However, he hadn't been able to find any traces of Huo Yuhao's existence. He'd wanted to meditate, but wasn't able to calm himself down at all. At that exact moment, he heard the announcement that was broadcast to the dorms. Thus, he decided to go out and relieve some of his boredom. However, he didn't think that he'd bump into Huo Yuhao and Tang Ya here.
Huo Yuhao quickly said, "Teacher Xiao Ya, this is my roommate Wang Dong. Wang Dong, this is Tang Ya, one of our senior classmates." He was only able to give a simple introduction such as this.
Wang Dong nodded towards Tang Ya, who smiled and said, "What a pretty young boy! I like him! Little Yuhao, how about you persuade him to join our Tang Sect?"
When Wang Dong heard the two words 'Tang Sect', his body trembled slightly. Astonished, he said, "Both of you are from the Tang Sect?"
Tang Ya nodded her head a few times and said, "Yeah, there's only three of us left in the Tang Sect. I'm the current sect master of the Tang Sect. How about it, are you astonished? Come, come, the Tang Sect welcomes you."
Even though Tang Ya was usually a very carefree person, and although she was just casually saying this without thinking the matter through, anyone who thought she was dim-witted would eventually suffer a huge loss under her hand. She'd already seen how unordinary Wang Dong was. His essence was hidden, and his soul force had been condensed. With just a glance you could tell that his cultivation far surpassed Huo Yuhao's.
However, Tang Ya was surprised when Wang Dong actually nodded at her proposal after a short period of blankness. He quickly said, "Sure! I've already heard about the miraculousness of the Tang Sect's hidden weapons. Sect master Tang, I wish to join the Tang Sect. Please accept me."
"Ah? You really want to join the Tang Sect? But our Tang Sect only has three people left." Tang Ya was extremely shocked. She looked at Wang Dong with a puzzled look.
Wang Dong nodded seriously and said, "I wish to join the Tang Sect and learn how to use hidden weapons."
Tang Ya's expression also turned solemn as she said, "I'll have to think this matter over. I'll let Huo Yuhao give you my answer later."
During the short moment of time that they'd been talking, Bei Bei had walked into the arena from the lounge. Some of the students sitting near the arena had already started to shout out his name as he appeared.
"Thunderbolt Bei Bei, Thunderbolt Bei Bei…"
Bei Bei smiled towards the spectating students and waved at them, but his gaze was searching through the viewing platform.
Only when Tang Ya stood up and waved at him did Bei Bei see where they were. Because they were separated by a great distance, the trio probably wouldn't hear anything if he spoke. Thus, he just gestured a few times at Tang Ya.
The two had been together for quite a while already, so Tang Ya immediately returned a few gestures to show that she understood what he meant, before sitting back down.
"Little Yuhao, what's the maximum range of your Spiritual Detection Sharing?" Tang Ya whispered into Huo Yuhao's ear.
Huo Yuhao answered, "If it's only in one direction, about fifty metres or so."
Earlier, he'd tested the limit of his Spiritual Detection when it was used in a single direction with Wang Dong. If he released it normally, it had a diameter of thirty metres. This meant that it only a fifteen metre radius. On the other hand, fifty metres was already more than twice his limit. However, it consumed a large amount of Huo Yuhao's soul force when he directed it like that.
Tang Ya immediately raised her right hand and made a few hand gestures towards Bei Bei, who nodded back at her.
At this moment, Xu Sanshi also walked into the Soul Dueling Arena. There was a forty-or-so year-old teacher who followed him out.
When they reached the Soul Dueling Arena, Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei both had a cold look of concentration on their faces. This wasn't their first time competing against each other in the Soul Dueling Arena. In the past, they'd both achieved victories over one another, but most of their duels had ended in ties. They'd truly managed to earn a lot of money from this Soul Dueling Competition, thus they naturally couldn't reveal the fact that they were close friends.
The teacher that was acting as the referee walked to the centre of the arena, then said in a low voice, "Fourth year student 'Bei Bei' is challenging fifth year student 'Xu Sanshi'. If Xu Sanshi loses this match, he will have to pay an additional ten gold soul coins to Bei Bei. You've already made your bets in private. Are you two ready?"
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi both simultaneously nodded.