Yes, Huo Yuhao had pressed that hatred deep into his heart. In the depths of his soul, hatred had transformed into motivation, and he was determined to avenge his mother at any cost. However, this was Shrek Academy, where he needed to become stronger. The revenge he sought was not just about killing, but also to console his mother's spirit in heaven. He knew what his mother's greatest wish was, and he had to fulfill the wish that seemed too extravagant to even hope for while she was alive. Therefore, he couldn't recklessly seek revenge. Whether he could defeat Dai Huabin or not, he couldn't give up his greatest dream for the sake of one person; if he exposed himself now, he might never be able to continue studying at Shrek Academy. Thus, he could only endure. He buried his hatred and planned to take revenge in his own way.
In the semifinal, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong faced opponents from the freshman class ten, three Grand Soul Masters with bizarre Martial Souls.
Being able to stand out among the many freshmen and reach this point, even without the presence of a three-ring Soul Venerable, their strength was definitely not weak.
These three freshmen from class ten were all male, looking spirited and vigorous.
"Freshman class ten, Zhou Sizhen, agile-attack class Battle Soul Master."
"Freshman class ten, Long Xiangyue, agile-attack class Battle Soul Master."
"Freshman class ten, Cao Jinxuan, control-class Battle Soul Master."
Their resounding and confident voices showed they were not at all intimidated by Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
"Freshman class one, Huo Yuhao, control-class Battle Soul Master."
"Freshman class one, Wang Dong, direct-attack class Battle Soul Master."
Due to Wang Dong's impressive performance in the previous matches, this time their supervising teacher and also the judge of the semifinal, had been replaced by a sexagenarian. This teacher had an incredibly strong aura, merely standing there made one feel their formidable presence — clearly assigned to prevent any mistakes from happening in this important match.
"The match begins." Following the supervising teacher's announcement, the semifinal officially began. In the number one zone, the area where Dai Huabin was, a fierce competition was unfolding as well.
With only two of them remaining, it was impossible for Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong to separate. They both understood clearly that without using the Haodong's Power, there was no chance of victory in a two-on-three situation.
This time, it was Huo Yuhao in front, and Wang Dong behind. Both of them released their Martial Souls at the same time. Wang Dong's wings folded forward, sheltering Huo Yuhao within like a canopy.
Their opponents, Zhou Sizhen and his team, clearly had researched their battle methods, especially Wang Dong's sudden outburst in the previous day's battle, which they took very seriously. Therefore, as the match began, the three of them went all out with their abilities.
Long Xiangyue, the agile-attack class Battle Soul Master, didn't charge forward but instead quickly dodged behind Zhou Sizhen, the direct-attack class Battle Soul Master. Cao Jinxuan, the control-class Battle Soul Master, did the same. The three of them lined up in a straight line.
Their bizarre Martial Souls appeared at the same moment.
Zhou Sizhen, a direct-attack class Battle Soul Master, had white light surging in his hands, and he unexpectedly held a book. The two Centennial Soul Rings on his body shone simultaneously as the pages of the book opened and two rays of light shot out, hovering in front of him.
This was Zhou Sizhen's special Tool Soul, the Treasure Tome.
Generally speaking, book-type Martial Souls were mostly considered wasted Martial Souls, with very few that could be cultivated. However, Zhou Sizhen was an exception. His Treasure Tome Martial Soul granted him innate level 7 soul power. When his soul power reached a bottleneck, he could directly absorb the Soul Rings of the soul beasts he killed, transforming them into his own abilities. Its greatest feature was that it had no attribute restrictions; he could absorb the abilities from any soul beast, and once absorbed, he could use them all. That meant he might use an Ice Spirit Technique one moment, then switch to a Fire Spirit Technique the next. It was a highly unusual Tool Soul.
At this moment, the two soul skills he released transformed into a bear shimmering with yellow light and a fierce tiger enveloped in flames.
After obtaining the Treasure Tome Martial Soul, Zhou Sizhen had set a goal for himself to become a direct-attack class Battle Soul Master. Therefore, even though he could choose any soul beast for his Soul Rings, he naturally focused mainly on soul skills of the direct-attack class for his dream.
The bear and the tiger quickly positioned themselves in front of the three, roaring at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
Behind him was not the agile-attack class Battle Soul Master Long Xiangyue, but the control-class Battle Soul Master Cao Jinxuan, standing close to Zhou. Cao Jinxuan's gaze was intense, his body radiating a layer of distorted halo that made him appear blurry even at a close distance. Above his head, a delicate clock silently rose.
The entire clock was shaped like a city gate, rounded at the top and square at the bottom, with a white body about half a meter tall. Inside, the clock face was round, with a pendulum engraved with golden patterns swaying slightly underneath. When the clock appeared, Cao Jinxuan's two Centennial Soul Rings seemed to treat it as part of his body, encompassing the clock in their rhythmic pulsating.
Zhou Sizhen's Treasure Tome Martial Soul was already quite rare, but Cao Jinxuan's clock-type Martial Soul was even more scarce. His Martial Soul, named the Time Elapse Clock, was as rare in the realm of Tool Souls as Wang Dong's Bright Goddess Butterfly was among the Beast Martial Souls.
All three of them acted simultaneously, and of course, Long Xiangyue was not missing. He maintained a considerable distance from Cao Jinxuan in front of him, only remaining in a straight line. Despite being an agile-attack class Battle Soul Master, he too possessed a Tool Soul. As he released his Martial Soul, he gained a large boomerang in his hand. The length of one side of his boomerang was over a foot, which seemed somewhat unbalanced when held by the not yet twelve-year-old Long Xiangyue.
After the boomerang appeared in his hand, he paused briefly before turning halfway backward, then fiercely spun back, throwing the boomerang. At the moment of his throw, the two Soul Rings on his body lit up.
However, just as he made his move, his expression suddenly changed, as his previously clear judgement became momentarily blurred.
The formation of the opposing trio was undoubtedly designed to target Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, so how could they just sit back and watch?
Among all five participants on the field, the very first one to release a soul skill was Huo Yuhao.
As he saw his enemies quickly line up, he knew that the tactics from the previous match could not be repeated. And no matter who the opponent was, he would always release his Shared Spiritual Detection at the first opportunity—a soul skill that the opponents could not sense but would provide immense help to him and Wang Dong.
Therefore, the moment the agile-attack class Battle Soul Master, Long Xiangyue, released his boomerang, he fell victim to Huo Yuhao's skill, which was the spiritual disturbance from Huo Yuhao's first soul ring—one of his four major abilities.
Compared to Soul Shock, the power of spiritual disturbance is much weaker, and it could even be said to be very subtle. Even Wang Dong could not detect that Huo Yuhao had used such a skill. To conceal the subtlety of his brand-new skill, Huo Yuhao didn't even let Wang Dong touch Haodong's Power, making it a direct case of spiritual interference.
That moment of interference caused a brief blurriness in the consciousness of all three opponents. At that time, Wang Dong's Bright Goddess Butterfly Wings had just closed up, shielding Huo Yuhao within.
The boomerang flew through the air from afar, tracing a beautiful curve straight toward Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. However, the two of them remained motionless, even as the boomerang shone brightly, obviously not so easily resisted with two soul skills attached to it, but they disregarded it.
If the previous match showcased Wang Dong's strength, then this match clearly had Huo Yuhao playing the lead offensive role.
Right after Long Xiangyue threw his boomerang, Huo Yuhao, who was hidden beneath the Bright Goddess Butterfly Wings, had already begun to emit a strong purple-golden light from his eyes again.
Zhou Sizhen only heard a muffled groan behind him, and then, to his astonishment, the Time Elapse Clock that had just risen up disappeared into thin air without even unleashing a soul skill, and Cao Jinxuan collapsed softly to the ground under Long Xiangyue's shocked gaze, falling into unconsciousness.
However, with the experience from before, this time Huo Yuhao controlled the amplification of the Soul Shock by Haodong's Power, merely knocking Cao Jinxuan unconscious without harming him.
Cao Jinxuan's Martial Soul appeared so unique, and he was a control-class Battle Soul Master. In Huo Yuhao's judgment, the most dangerous of the three opponents was him. That's why he took the initiative to use Haodong's Power to eliminate him at the start. After all, not every Soul Master possesses a Martial Soul with freakish defense like the Pippie Elephant. Cao Jinxuan was no exception and fell unconscious instantly without any defenses.
"Pfft—" The boomerang landed precisely one foot away from Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. The sharp aura startled even Wang Dong, who didn't know what soul skill Long Xiangyue had attached to it but realized with shock that had it hit directly, resisting it without damage would have been difficult.
Zhou Sizhen simply turned his head to look back and was so surprised that he gaped. Despite standing in front, Cao Jinxuan had still been knocked out. How did the opponent do that? Of course, he did not know about the might of Spiritual Detection, which made evasion futile within its range, whether the opponent soared to the sky or burrowed into the ground.
But as the team captain, Zhou Sizhen was still very calm. After a brief shock, he knew he could not play conservatively anymore. The Earth Bear and Flame Demon Tiger he had summoned roared simultaneously and charged toward Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
The boomerang that had lodged near Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong also disappeared and reappeared in Long Xiangyue's hand.
Long Xiangyue threw the boomerang again, this time more cautiously, concentrating and enveloping his body with soul power before lobbing it once more.
Huo Yuhao, after all, only had one soul ring and did not wish to reveal his Spiritual Disturbance Soul Skill. Without relying on Haodong's Power, it was difficult to interfere with a prepared Soul Master's attack. This time, the boomerang was aimed specifically at him.
This was the plan that Zhou Sizhen had devised based on their knowledge of Huo Yuhao's team. They had all subtly guessed the importance of this one-ring Soul Master, hence why Long Xiangyue went all out, aiming to take down Huo Yuhao first. If the referee felt Huo Yuhao could not withstand the attack, he would immediately rule Huo Yuhao out of the match. Then, they could join forces against Wang Dong and almost certainly secure victory.
However, Huo Yuhao completely ignored his boomerang, the purple-gold flames in his eyes erupting once again. Amplified by Haodong's Power, this time his target was Zhou Sizhen.
With the sudden unconsciousness of Cao Jinxuan, how could Zhou Sizhen not be cautious? His and Long Xiangyue's idea was the same, to circulate soul power throughout their bodies, especially protecting the head area, to guard against Huo Yuhao's spiritual attribute soul skill.
Regrettably, what they faced was the skill activated by the combined effort of Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, equivalent to a Soul Venerable level Soul Shock. How could that be easily defended against?
On Huo Yuhao's side, the moment after the purple-gold light erupted from his eyes, Zhou Sizhen's head suddenly jerked backward as if struck by a heavy blow, and he fell backwards.
Through Spiritual Detection, Huo Yuhao could sense his guard, so this Soul Shock was released with all his might.
Zhou Sizhen knew what the opponent was going to do, yet he simply couldn't block it. However, as a direct-attack class Battle Soul Master, his defense was indeed strong. Although this strike directly knocked him down, he did not pass out. But the two soul skills he released with the Treasure Tome lost control, pausing in their rush towards Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
"Teacher, save me!" Huo Yuhao shouted out the moment after he launched the second Soul Shock.
The boomerang was already halfway to Huo Yuhao. Wang Dong, however, no longer protected him, but instead spread his wings. The intense golden light shone on the dazzling blue wings, indeed the Second Soul Skill, Light of Butterfly Goddess. At this moment, the Haodong's Power originally infused into Huo Yuhao's body reversed and rushed back into Wang Dong.
Hearing Huo Yuhao's cry for help, the invigilating teacher naturally could not just stand by. A student calling for help during a match meant that he had admitted defeat, and would not continue to attack.
A black figure flashed, and the boomerang was already in the teacher's hand. Without any visible use of soul power or soul skill from the teacher, the light on the boomerang simply vanished.
And at this moment, Wang Dong's Light of Butterfly Goddess had already taken effect.
Indeed, after calling for help, Huo Yuhao had not activated any offensive or defensive abilities, he even dispersed his Martial Soul, and the only white soul ring on his body disappeared along with it. No one could say he broke the rules. In reality, however, all the Haodong's Power that he had merged with Wang Dong had been transferred entirely to Wang Dong.
Next, the orange-gold light rampaged once again across the entire field.
The referee, who had just caught the boomerang, had to take action again. He released a huge umbrella, the surface of which expanded in an instant, just in time to block the three-second onslaught of Wang Dong's Light of Butterfly Goddess. Because Zhou Sizhen, who was knocked down, and Long Xiangyue, who had thrown the boomerang, were simply unable to withstand this attack.
Huo Yuhao's Team, another victory, advances to the final!