As Huo Yuhao's cultivation advanced and his Holy Spirit Devouring Flame refined his body, his spiritual perception grew sharper by the day. Although the visitor had gone to great lengths to conceal his presence, he still could not escape Huo Yuhao's spiritual detection.
The visitor was dressed entirely in black, his face covered by a cloth, leaving his features obscured. However, the beard beneath his chin indicated he was likely an older man.
He was of average height with short brown-black hair and a lean build, but his eyes shone with intensity. When his gaze fell on Huo Yuhao, an invisible pressure seemed to freeze the very air around them.
"Who are you, senior?" Huo Yuhao asked calmly, showing no fear in the face of the black-clad elder.
The elder didn't respond. With a mere raise of his right hand, Huo Yuhao's vision dimmed as the surrounding light faded instantly. A terrifying, suffocating soul power engulfed the area.
In that moment, Huo Yuhao felt as though he had entered a prison, one from which he had no chance of escape.
"A spiritual cage, is it?" Huo Yuhao sneered. A silver vertical eye suddenly appeared in the center of his brow, and within this eye burned a raging silver flame—the Holy Spirit Devouring Flame.
After absorbing the Holy Spirit Devouring Flame and merging it with his spiritual sea, Huo Yuhao had gained a power akin to a third awakening of a Body Spirit.
Activating this silver vertical eye not only greatly enhanced his spiritual power and the soul power of his Flame God Eye Spirit but also had a strong countereffect on all spiritual abilities.
Silver flames shot out a foot long from the silver eye, burning a hole through the surrounding darkness.
The black-clad elder's spiritual cage was forcibly torn open by Huo Yuhao's Holy Spirit Devouring Flame, and Huo Yuhao calmly stepped through the breach.
The black-clad elder: ???
Wait, did you just walk away without even a word? Do I not deserve any respect?
After exiting the spiritual cage, Huo Yuhao swiftly ran back to his hotel room and firmly locked the door.
Of course, locking the door was merely a futile gesture for an elder of such unfathomable cultivation. With a slight effort, the wooden door was easily pushed open. The elder's figure flickered as he hurried into the room.
After all, Huo Yuhao was a student of Shrek Academy, and his current purpose here was far from honorable—he had come to steal from a junior. If Shrek Academy's experts discovered this, he could be killed on the spot, and rightly so. There was no time to waste.
However, as the elder entered the room, the scene before him suddenly changed.
A cold wind howled as he opened his eyes wide, realizing he had seemingly stepped into another world!
This world was dimly lit, with a strange black sun hanging in the sky, casting eerie purple rays.
The terrain undulated, and there was not a single plant in sight. The ground was a pitch-black color, and cold, deathly energy surged from all directions.
Ahead lay a series of hills, and beyond them, nothing was visible. Behind him stood a massive door, and it seemed he had walked through it.
Silently, the door vanished. On a small hill in the distance sat Huo Yuhao, watching the elder with a faint smile.
"You brat, what tricks are you pulling? Do you not fear death?" the elder bellowed in anger. "Even if you are Shrek Academy's secret weapon with seven hundred-thousand-year spirit rings, in front of me, you're nothing!"
However, Huo Yuhao merely waved his hand, taking in a deep breath of the cold, slightly putrid air of the Undead Half-Plane. A wicked smile crept onto his lips.
"I locked the door to divert your attention so you wouldn't notice the spatial fluctuations at the entrance."
"This is called practical psychology. That's why you need to read more, or you'll suffer greatly."
With that, Huo Yuhao stood up, gazing at the black sun in the sky, and spread his arms wide as he laughed.
"Welcome to my world!"
The elder's eyelids twitched violently, and a deep sense of unease overwhelmed him. Huo Yuhao's arrogance, combined with the eerie surroundings, gave him a bad feeling.
"Brat, let's make a deal. I won't take your artifact, and I'll leave right now. From now on, we won't cross paths again."
Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao shook his head and chuckled. "You've come all this way. How could I let you leave without enjoying the unique flavor of my Undead demiplane? The soul of a titled Douluo would be of great benefit to me!"
Huo Yuhao then retrieved the Mysterious Heavy Sword from his storage soul tool, planting it firmly into the ground. Pointing at it, he said to the elder, "The artifact is here. If you have the skill, come and take it. But if you fail, don't blame me for stripping you to the bone today!"
The elder's eyes flashed wildly as his survival instincts urged him to retreat.
His figure soared into the sky as he tried to escape, but suddenly, a massive wing swooped down from the sky, forcing him back to the ground.
It was a dragon, flying through the air, its scales gleaming in a black sheen. It was over fifteen meters long, and each claw was as sharp as a divine blade. Around its body coiled countless ghostly blue souls, like reapers from the underworld.
But what was truly terrifying was its head—a skull, devoid of flesh, with two dark green ghost flames burning within its hollow eye sockets. Eerie death energy rose from its body, forming a demonic phantom that flickered ominously.
"Yuhao, this is one of the most powerful undead creatures in my Undead demiplane, the undisputed king—the Hell Nether Dragon!" Elder Yi boasted proudly in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea.
Meanwhile, from the hills in the distance, an endless tide of undead creatures charged toward them, summoned by Elder Yi to form an undead army.
The sinister aura of the Hell Nether Dragon enveloped the black-clad elder, sending a shiver down his spine. Pointing a trembling finger at Huo Yuhao, he stammered, "Y-You… are you an evil soul master?"
"May the Holy Spirit be with you." Huo Yuhao grinned wickedly, mimicking the tone of a priest.
Then, waving his hand at the oncoming tide of undead that sealed off the area, Huo Yuhao laughed and said, "Now I'll give you two choices: single combat or a group battle. Pick one!"