The Boundary Between Life and Death

"Do you really want to buy that Thousand Year Whale Rubber?" Wang Yan looked at Huo Yuhao, feeling puzzled by his decision.

Huo Yuhao leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Quickly. There won't be a second chance. This definitely isn't Thousand Year Whale Rubber, but Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber. That's why it's black. Quickly, pay up! If someone else notices this item, we won't have a chance to buy it anymore!"

Wang Dong was stunned. He naturally wouldn't question Huo Yuhao further with the mutual trust they both had with one another. He immediately turned around and paid up at the sales counter located at the western end of the room.

That's right, this Whale Rubber was ten thousand years old just as Huo Yuhao had said. Naturally, it was impossible for him to discern this with his own experience and knowledge. The Ice Empress was the one who had told him the answer.

Throughout the course of human history, Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber had been extremely rare. Thus, it was no wonder that no one in the Treasure Appreciation Auction recognised this item.

The sea was another haven for soul beasts. Rumor had it that the number of soul beasts in the sea was more than ten times those on land. Moreover, the soul beasts in the sea were ranked as well and whale-type soul beasts were unquestionably one of the overlords among sea soul beasts.

When humans entered the sea, they were practically like meat on a chopping board. No human had dared venture into the depths of the sea. As a result of that, though it was still possible to kill a thousand year soul beast if one depended on a powerful soul master. The devilwhales were more than ten thousand years old and lived in the deep sea. On top of that, every single one of them was extremely powerful. Who would dare to make contact with their poisonous heads?

However, as luck would have it, this Whale Rubber came from a ten thousand year devilwhale. While normally Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber was dark yellow, this one was black. The difference in color was due to long-term changes in the weather. That was why no one had recognised it for what it really was.

To Huo Yuhao, this Whale Rubber was practically the best thing he could have found here. His biggest problem now was his body's capacity to withstand more power from the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion and Skydream Iceworm.

Even though the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion couldn't completely transfer her hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation into Huo Yuhao's body, she had managed to compress and seal the most quintessential bit of her power in him. As long as Huo Yuhao's body had enough strength to withstand it, she could help Huo Yuhao accelerate his cultivation efforts.

The Ice Empress was anxiously looking forward to the day when Huo Yuhao became powerful, so she naturally couldn't let such a good item as this Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber slip through her fingers.

Wang Dong quickly returned after paying, and only then did Huo Yuhao show a relaxed look on his face. The Whale Rubber was not as eye-catching as the soul bone. A member of the staff from the Treasure Appreciation Pavilion retrieved the Whale Rubber from the display stand and handed it to Wang Dong. When he got it, Wang Dong immediately shoved it into Huo Yuhao's hands.

"I hope we really didn't make a mistake with this." Wang Dong couldn't help but think that they'd lost out as he looked at that black gooey item. This black Whale Rubber wasn't fragrant at all. It was truly difficult for one to believe that it had come from a ten thousand year-old devilwhale.

Huo Yuhao laughed mischievously and said, "Let's go. We've already gotten the items we wanted. When I get back, I'll get Teacher Zhou to find a teacher with a fire attribute martial soul to help us. We'll automatically know whether it was worth it or not once we've eaten it."

Wang Dong shook his head. "If you want to eat it, you can do so yourself. I'm not going to eat such a sticky thing. I have eaten a lot of this when I was younger because I was forced to do so by my family. After I fused with a thousand year soul ring, I swore that I would never eat this sticky thing for the rest of my life."

Huo Yuhao felt a light bulb go off in his head and said, "It's no wonder your second soul ring is a thousand years old! Your family is really rich!"

The two chatted as they headed out. When they passed Bei Bei, they greeted their senior martial brother. Bei Bei asked them to head back first since he wanted to wait for Xu Sanshi who was still nagging Jiang Nannan in every possible way he could.

...

Sea God's Island, Shrek Academy.

"What? It was that small guy, Huo Yuhao?" Ma Xiaotao looked at Yan Shaozhe with an incredulous look on her face.

Yan Shaozhe nodded and replied, "That's right. It is highly likely that the cold soul power shock you received at that time came from Huo Yuhao. However, it's also possible that he did so unconsciously. His second martial soul was still hidden at the time, so I reckon it protected its host of its own accord when it felt the attack from your Evil Phoenix Fire."

With excitement written all over her face, Ma Xiaotao said, "That's great! This is really great! Teacher, the demonic fire inside of me is driving me crazy. Xu Sanshi's Mysterious Martial Turtle is after all only water-attribute and not an ice-attribute technique, so the effects are naturally worsening. With Huo Yuhao's Ultimate ice-attribute, won't I be able to break free from my current predicament? If that's the case, I can represent the academy and attend the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, right?"

Yan Shaozhe nodded with a faint smile and said, "It just so happens that you're not yet over twenty years old. If you can stabilise your martial soul, you'll definitely be the winner in this year's academy competition. I have no doubt about it."

"That's great! I can finally participate! I must look for Huo Yuhao now and make him suppress the demonic fire inside my body." As she spoke, Ma Xiaotao turned around and ran outside.

Yan Shaozhe laughed and said, "You rascal, slow down. Huo Yuhao ought to have gone to Shrek City to attend the Treasure Appreciation Auction today."

"I know." Before her voice could be heard, Ma Xiaotao's silhouette had already disappeared into the night sky.

Yan Shaozhe shook his head as he felt a little helpless. "It really is impossible to change your impetuous temperament. Who's going to be daring enough to court her in the future?! There are so many outstanding disciples in the inner courtyard and yet not a single one dares to woo her. Other than Le Xuan, Xiaotao is the most gifted student amongst the female students. I hope that Yuhao's Ultimate martial soul can gradually quell the demonic fire inside her body and allow her to become a true fire phoenix like her ancestors."

...

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong left Shrek City feeling rather pleased. Even though they didn't know what soul skill Wang Dong would get from the golden right arm bone, they could clearly see that this was an impressively powerful soul bone from its price!

It had cost them a whopping 9.5 million gold soul coins. Huo Yuhao had been somewhat nervous when he'd paid for it as he hadn't expected his transaction with the Treasure Gathering Pavilion would be this easy. The favor he owed them this time was too great. Even Wang Dong owed the academy a large favor now.

Huo Yuhao always made sure to clearly remember the favors and insults he received. He'd never forgotten for a second the debt he owed Shrek Academy.

"Fuse with that Whale Rubber tonight when you get back. I'll protect you when I get the soul bone tomorrow. With this soul bone, I'm now confident that I compete with Dai Huabin on even footing even if I were to face him alone." Wang Dong waved his fist as he spoke. Huo Yuhao couldn't help but smile when he saw Wang Dong in such high spirits.

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao were all currently growing at an astonishing speed. Once Wang Dong fused with his soul bone, their collective strength would take another huge step forward. At that time, they would really deserve the title of being the strongest group in Year 2.

With regards to Dai Huabin, Huo Yuhao had already gradually buried his hatred towards the other party. Dai Huabin had been defeated twice and had been made to kowtow, acknowledging his defeat. That had gone a long way to liberating the stifling feeling he had in his heart.

At that moment, the Skydream Iceworm's voice rang out within Huo Yuhao's mind, warning him of danger. "Yuhao, there's a murderous aura directed towards you."

Even though Huo Yuhao was still young, he'd accumulated a considerable amount of combat experience. Hence, he didn't react in an obvious manner after he heard the Skydream Iceworm's warning. It was at times like these that he had to remain calm.

He didn't change his walking speed and even retained the smile he had on his face. The only difference was that he had already quietly spread his Spiritual Detection Sharing to Wang Dong.

Wang Dong was slightly startled at first but immediately understood something was amiss due to the tacit understanding he had with Huo Yuhao. He stopped talking for a moment and glanced at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao quickly released his Spiritual Detection to its maximum range. Sure enough, he felt a hidden killing intent not far away from him. However, the range of his Spiritual Detection wasn't great enough and thus he wasn't able to accurately determine who his opponents were.

Huo Yuhao took the initiative and pulled Wang Dong's hand back. He tightly clasped Wang Dong's hand which was softer and more tender than that of a female's. When he did so, the Haodong Power immediately connected in their bodies.

Huo Yuhao's expression didn't change, but he spoke under his breath, "There are people in front who are waiting to ambush us. We are further from the academy than we are Shrek City, so when I count to three, we're going to turn around and run back towards Shrek City as fast as we can. Understand?"

Wang Dong spoke in a low tone, "Do you have any idea who they might be??"

"I don't know, but they're emitting a murderous aura. Let's hide in Shrek City first and discuss it later. Get ready."

The killing intent grew increasingly dense as they walked forward. Huo Yuhao carefully sent his Spiritual Detection towards the root of the killing intent and immediately increased the range of his detection. Two hundred meters away from them, a group of six people were quietly lying in wait. From the thick soul power on their bodies, Huo Yuhao could tell that they were opponents that the two of them could not go up against.

"One!" Huo Yuhao spoke in a low tone, but he didn't slow down. At this moment, he definitely couldn't let the enemy discover the changes in their movements.

"Two…"

"Three! Run!"

Huo Yuhao let out a low roar and abruptly carried Wang Dong as he ran in the opposite direction. At the same time, he quickly placed a metal plate on his back. A ball of dazzling white light lit up and Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were immediately propelled forwards. They were just like a white shooting star as they made a beeline for the northern gate of Shrek City.

It was evident that the six people who had been fully prepared to ambush the duo had never expected the two of them to suddenly take a detour. Seeing their prey getting away, the six were taken aback. It was in this short time span that Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong dashed far into the distance with all their might. A gorgeous mixture of blue and gold from the Radiant Butterfly Goddess' wings burst forth in the sky. In that moment, the scene had already changed to one in which Huo Yuhao was hugging Wang Dong's legs.

However, the thruster he'd equipped was only a Class 1 soul tool. It instantly overheated when it was activated with their combined Haodong Power. Despite the thruster reaching its maximum possible speed, they were stuck in an embarrassing situation where it would explode after continued use. Huo Yuhao had no choice but to stop. Wang Dong, on the other hand, took the opportunity to unfurl his wings and fly into the air with the support of Huo Yuhao's soul power.

Their six assailants reacted, then broke cover. Soul rings lit up on all six of their bodies, and five of the six had five soul rings on them, while the sixth was actually a six-ringed Soul Emperor. Three of them instantly rose into the air, releasing their respective flying techniques, and all six of them rapidly chased after Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao.

The disparity in strength between the two parties was simply too great. Though the two of them had taken a sudden head start by taking advantage of their unawareness, the distance between the two parties rapidly closed as their assailants sped up.

Their Haodong Power was extremely powerful, but it could only allow their fused strength to reach the three-ringed level of strength at most. They simply had no chance of winning against their assailants in a direct confrontation.

Their three enemies that had taken flight were rapidly approaching, and all three of them were five-ringed Soul Kings. However, Wang Dong had already flown fifty or so meters into the air, so it wouldn't be easy for their enemies to attack them at this distance. Furthermore, Wang Dong's current speed wasn't much slower than that of the people who were chasing them on the ground.

They were currently several thousand meters from Shrek Academy's northern gate.

Huo Yuhao raised his hand, causing a ball of red light to soar several hundred of meters into the sky before exploding and turning into countless reddish-gold dots that spread through the sky.

The six-ringed Soul Emperor immediately had a change in expression. They were all dressed in black, and their faces were all covered. He couldn't help but let out a low roar after seeing this reddish-golden light. "Didn't he say they were just core disciples? This is clearly Shrek Academy's inner courtyard's distress signal. Quick, hurry up and kill them. We're leaving immediately!" His last roar was amplified by his soul power.

Though this was the outskirts of Shrek City, Shrek City's foundation was Shrek Academy!

Just who were in Shrek Academy? As long as a single one of those peak existences came out, they could easily crush them all to death. They simply had no time to waste here.

One of the three midair assailants immediately activated a powerful soul skill after hearing his roar.

Of his five soul rings, one was white, two were yellow, and two were purple. He'd activated his fourth soul ring, which was a thousand year purple soul ring.

A dense purple light shone from his wings, and he suddenly flapped them and sped up, charging towards Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong like a meteor.

He was confident in his ability to kill the two of them in one strike as long as he was able to catch up to them.

However, he was simply too overconfident. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were young, but they were still core disciples of Shrek Academy! Furthermore, the former was even a rarely-seen student who'd caused a meeting in Sea God's Pavilion.

The enemy was rapidly approaching them, but there was only a single person. In a situation like this, the two of them completely relied on their instincts to work together. Wang Dong continued flying forward at full speed, while Huo Yuhao continued to climb up his legs to his body. He used his left hand to hug Wang Dong tightly, while pointing his right towards their assailants.

They were simply in too great of a rush, and Huo Yuhao could only equip a miniature Stationary Soul Crossbow in time.

After he raised his right hand, the three tubes on its surface immediately came out. He poured his soul power into them, causing three bolts of lightning to shoot out.

These three crossbow bolts were pitch-black, and they wouldn't reflect light in this darkness. Furthermore, Fan Yu had specially taught him how to install a silencer during their creation. Because of that, they didn't make any noise as they flew through the dark night.

This was another advantage of a stationary soul tool. An ordinary soul tool would directly emit the light of soul power, which would practically be a lamppost in the dark night. Only a stationary soul tool could release a completely traceless attack.

However, it was evident that nobody else would be able to aim a stationary soul tool in a situation like this. Only Huo Yuhao, by relying on his Spiritual Detection, could do this.

Wang Dong's midair figure paused slightly; he'd completed the transfer of soul power between him and Huo Yuhao.

A purplish-gold light shot out from his eyes; for the sake of survival, he'd held nothing back in this attack. After releasing his attack, he immediately transfered his soul power back to Wang Dong, who continued speeding up.

Their assailant had clearly never predicted that the two of them would actually pause to release an attack at him. He'd reached the Soul King rank, but he wasn't a pinnacle Soul King like those that Shrek Academy produced. His strongest soul ring was merely a thousand year one, and he didn't have any outstanding points in the field of spiritual power.

When Huo Yuhao had been a one-ringed Soul Master, his combined Spiritual Shock with Wang Dong had even affected Ma Xiaotao for a brief period of time. However, their current strength had experienced a qualitative leap.

The accelerating Soul King felt his head collide with a rigid wall, and he immediately let out a muffled groan. He started bleeding from his nose and mouth, resulting in him being unable to control his flying body. The soul skill that had allowed him to accelerate was also interrupted.

At this exact instant, three pitch-black terrors arrived in front of him soundlessly. With a 'peng', they exploded simultaneously. Immediately, a wave of black mist covered him, blocking his entire line of sight.

Huo Yuhao knew that even if he were to strike a Soul King head-on, he would be unable to cause real damage with his Class 1 soul tool. Because of that, he had chosen to interfere with him.

The Soul King paused for a moment, causing the distance between the two parties to increase somewhat. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao had instructed Wang Dong to not only fly forwards, but upwards in order to increase the distance between them and the three experts on the ground. After all, there was a Soul Emperor commanding them down there.

However, their airborne assailants were still five-ringed Soul Kings! Even if their combination of soul rings was subpar, they were still at the Soul King rank. The two Soul Kings who had initially been left behind quickly caught up to the stunned Soul King, and the three of them accelerated together, decreasing the current distance between them and the duo to fifty meters.

"Wang Dong, fly straight up!" Huo Yuhao shouted. At the same time, his two soul rings transformed into a single one, and the enormous crystalline and green tattoo on his back slowly emerged with an incomparably tyrannical aura.

Wang Dong, who had the help of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection, could naturally sense the speed that their pursuers were moving at. He was already somewhat despairing.

After all, there was simply too large a gap between the two parties. They had one person with two soul rings, and another one with three. Even if they were even more talented than they already were, there was no chance they could go against three five-ringed experts. Moreover, they would immediately face even more enemies once they fell to the ground. The academy would send some men out after receiving his distress signal, but there was no way they could arrive in time at such short notice. At this moment, they were still two thousand meters from Shrek City.

It was precisely because he was completely blank, and because he trusted Huo Yuhao, that he unhesitatingly followed the latter's words. He suddenly flapped his wings downwards, then shot straight into the air. For the sake of rising even higher, he aimed the Light of the Butterfly Goddess downwards in order to produce a thrusting force. At this exact moment, the cooldown of Huo Yuhao's thruster had ended, and he instantly fired it downwards. The two of them moved simultaneously, causing their speed to instantaneously reach the level of their assailants. They flew straight up, resulting in them rising a hundred meters into the air in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, they had already risen more than three hundred meters into the air. From their current position, they could see a patch of light when they looked towards Shrek City.

However, Wang Dong was somewhat exhausted after breaking through the three hundred meter barrier. Huo Yuhao's thruster had also overheated again, causing their speed to decrease dramatically.

"Unfurl your wings horizontally." Huo Yuhao commanded Wang Dong.

Wang Dong was stunned. Won't spreading my wings horizontally decrease my speed even further? I'll only be able to float in the air!

The absolute confidence that the two of them had in each other finally showed its use at this moment. Though Wang Dong had some doubt in his heart, he still trusted Huo Yuhao's words unconditionally. He unfurled his wings, causing the speed of his ascent to drop drastically. At this exact moment, the three Soul Kings below them were approaching quickly.

"Five, four, three, two, one…" Huo Yuhao inwardly counted to himself, and Wang Dong suddenly discovered that their fused Haodong Power was pouring towards the former at an incredible rate.

Nothing seemed strange on the surface, but Wang Dong could tell that the current Huo Yuhao was like a filled balloon that was compressing unceasingly.

What's he doing?

Their three enemies were now only twenty meters away from them, and their soul rings had lit up.

Fifteen meters. Their soul skills were already locked and loaded, but the frequency and ways they attacked were all encapsulated within Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection.

Just as the three Soul Kings were about to release their attacks, they suddenly felt something strange. The targets in front of them had suddenly lit up.

A jade-green light suddenly appeared within the pitch-black sky. This light took the form of a single line which instantly spread outwards, outlining the figure of a person, including his spine, ribs, and sternum, as well as all the bones within his torso.

The emerald jade-green light was enchanting, but this alluring sensation only lasted for an instant. Right after that, an eye-piercing jade-green light spread outwards, trapping them within it.

An extreme coldness.

The three Soul Kings instantly felt the terrifying effects of the Ultimate Ice element. For a moment, they felt as though the blood in their veins had frozen. They lost complete control over their bodies and were suspended midair in their previous positions as they tried to make their move.

However, they were suspended three hundred meters above the ground. And once airborne, if you don't go up, you fall down. Therefore, the three Soul Kings soon began to fall from the sky like meteors after remaining suspended for a bit.

The green light had only flickered through the sky for a moment, but as soon as it disappeared the Soul Kings began to fall. At the same time, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's expressions turned pale.

Even though the green light released from Huo Yuhao's body hadn't targeted Wang Dong, just being near it had caused Wang Dong to be afflicted with a terrifying feeling of coldness. He still felt his wings go somewhat numb despite not being in direct contact with it. Luckily, his wings were already wide open when he was hit by the terrifying coldness. As such, they kept flying straight.

On the other hand, Huo Yuhao's face had turned pale due to his excessive consumption of soul power. At the same time, his body had to withstand the burden of all that soul power. However, he couldn't relax yet. He knew that, even though it was strong, that attack just now was nowhere near enough to deal with someone as strong as a Soul King. Furthermore, a fall from their height wasn't enough to kill them either.

The thruster in his right hand turned jade green in color. Afterwards, it began to emit a dazzling red light as he poured his remaining soul power into it. When he did so, it released a streak of white flames and they were immediately propelled towards Shrek City from their current altitude of three hundred meters.

Huo Yuhao had begun to plan how to run away as soon as the Skydream Iceworm had told him about the enemies lying in ambush. Luckily he'd been warned ahead of time, thus he'd had a lot of time to think.

They would normally die for sure against people as powerful as their opponents. As such, fighting them head-on hadn't been an option. Thus, they could only rely on something out of the ordinary.

Huo Yuhao's plan had started the moment they'd turned around to run away. He'd since done everything in his power to achieve their current state.

Now that they were flying at an altitude of three hundred meters, even a Soul Emperor —so long as they couldn't fly—wouldn't be able to easily reach them with an attack from the ground.

It wasn't that a high-ranked soul master couldn't fly, but one still needed to be at least a Soul Sage to do so. Only then would one be able to use their powerful soul power to fly for a short amount of time. As such, a Soul Emperor still fell short in this field.

Because of this, they would only be relatively safe at a high altitude. However, they still needed to be lucky; if that Soul Emperor also had a soul skill that enabled him to fly, they wouldn't stand a chance. However, at this critical moment, the goddess of luck had favored them.

Just as Huo Yuhao had predicted, the three Soul Kings that fell from the sky were only able to recover from their frozen state once they'd descended over a hundred meters. They opened their wings with great difficulty and slowed their fall. Even though they were flustered, they'd still been able to regain their composure before they hit the ground. However, they were now unable to reach their two targets that were still soaring through the sky.

The Soul Emperor, who was in hot pursuit, suddenly increased his speed and headed towards the place where Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong would land. At this point, he knew that his chances of success were already quite low; his mission would end in failure if he couldn't catch and kill them before they entered Shrek City. However, he still wanted to make one final attempt. If he wasn't able to succeed after this, he would have to flee as fast as possible.

The speed that a Soul Emperor could achieve wasn't something that Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong could even imagine with their shallow cultivations. Furthermore, the sixth soul ring of this Soul Emperor was an awe-inspiring ten thousand year black soul ring.

The Soul Emperor ran as fast as he could until he reached the Shrek City���s northern gate. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were still around two hundred meters from the city walls when he reached the gate. As soon as he reached the gate, he put the tip of his foot into the city wall and began to climb it at an astonishing speed. It only took him an instant to reach the top.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had consumed most of their soul power by this point. Furthermore, Wang Dong's wings were still under the effect of the green light that Huo Yuhao had released a while ago, and Wang Dong definitely wasn't a Soul King! Most of his qi and blood had been frozen, thus he couldn't release any more power to fly upwards. Thus, they could only helplessly watch as the Soul Emperor standing atop the city walls soared into the sky and charged directly towards them.

The Soul Emperor suddenly lifted his right hand in midair; he was pointing a broadsword enshrouded in pitch-black flames at them. The pitch-black flames seemed to originate from his ten thousand year soul ring. There was no doubt that it would be impossible for Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong to defend against this kind of attack.

At this time, three forms were running at an incredible speed atop the city's walls. The one in front was Bei Bei; his body was already covered with dragon scales, and his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul was on full display. Following him were Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan.

The number of soul rings on Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi's bodies wasn't three, but four. Two of their soul rings were yellow, while the other two were purple. This clearly meant that they had both already become Soul Ancestors.

However, even when the pair saw them, Wang Dong felt that they were so close, and yet so far. They wouldn't make it in time…

"Wang Dong!"

Huo Yuhao suddenly shouted. Afterwards, he hugged Wang Dong tightly in his arms. His Spiritual Detection Sharing had also suddenly disappeared. Wang Dong was immediately startled awake, as the Haodong Power in their bodies had begun seething with excitement.

The area ten meters around them then began to light up, as it had been permeated with a very peculiar radiance from their bodies.

This radiance was extremely strange. It varied between blue, purple, and gold in color. Moreover, many strange and different fluctuations of soul power were blending inside of the intense light.

A huge form appeared behind Wang Dong's back: It was a complete and absolutely magnificent Radiant Butterfly Goddess.

On the other hand, the image of a large, vertically-pupiled eye appeared behind Huo Yuhao's body. The eye was pale gold, but its pupil emitted a faint purple radiance.

Those two huge forms then proceeded to overlap in midair. As soon as they did, they began to merge together.

The manifestation of Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes was becoming more and more profound. It had become a purplish-blue color, while the golden color it had previously had had completely disappeared.

On the other hand, Wang Dong's Radiant Butterfly Goddess manifestation began to burn with goldish-blue flames as it approached Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eye.

As it burned, the Radiant Butterfly Goddess opened her beautiful wings and slowly wrapped them around manifestation of the Spirit Eyes. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were also held together and protected in its embrace.

The huge Spirit Eye seemed extremely mysterious; if you were to look into it, it would almost seem as if there were an endless world inside. As soon as the Soul Emperor got within thirty meters of them, blue, purple, and golden bolts of lightning shot toward him.

These streaks of light seemed almost illusory; the places that the light passed through were illuminated by a radiance that seemed to have come from ancient times. It left a dim and twisted, yet dazzling luster behind.

Both the Soul Emperor and Soul Kings were shocked when they saw this. Even the rapidly approaching Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan were shocked.

The scene in front of them was just too magnificent! The illusory radiance had left a golden road in the sky.

The skill displayed just now had been Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's mighty martial soul fusion, and was also their final trump card.

The Golden Road Amidst Withering Resplendence!

The last time they'd displayed this skill, Huo Yuhao had had one ring, while Wang Dong had had two. But now, they both had two and three rings respectively. Both their cultivation and the strength of their bodies were much stronger than last time. When they'd displayed their martial soul fusion skill, they'd thought that the soul power inside of their bodies was depleted. However, they still managed to squeeze out some latent energy and finally execute their strongest move.

The pitch-black flames on the Soul Emperor's warblade began to burn even more fervently now. He wasn't blind, and he could easily tell their cultivation from their soul rings. Even if the scene before his eyes was magnificent, in his mind, one hit from his sword would be enough to put an end to this light, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong.

However, he quickly realized his mistake. As soon as his black sword came into contact with the dazzling light, the Soul Emperor's mind went blank.

The feeling he got was marvelous; he didn't feel any pain. In fact, he felt like someone dirty stepping into the bathroom and then being thrown into a pool after they'd been stripped naked.

It seemed like everything in his possession had disappeared. His powerful soul rings, sword, and soul skills were all gone. The only thing left was his body, which now resembled a golden statue. However, it immediately fell from the sky towards the city walls.

Nevertheless, the Soul Emperor could still move. However, he felt as if his surroundings were suddenly covered in a golden hue. His soul power was normal, but he felt a burning sensation all over his body, as if he were about to melt. Moreover, he'd unexpectedly lost contact with his martial soul.

Actually, he should consider himself lucky, as he was the first enemy that had withstood the power of an all-out Golden Road.

The power of the Golden Road wasn't enough to kill a Soul Emperor. However, its terrifying restrictive ability had still been able to momentarily stop him. In fact, this restrictive ability was actually the deprivation of his martial soul.

However, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's remaining strength had also been completely consumed when they launched this final attack. Their soul power wasn't even enough to maintain their soul rings. Having lost the support of the Radiant Butterfly Goddess, they also fell from the sky towards the walls of the city.

However, a fiery red figure suddenly dashed towards them from a very distant place. Its speed was so fast that it left dozens of afterimages in the sky. It arrived and seized the two of them before Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong could reach the ground, and before the Soul Kings could catch up to them. As soon as it did, it threw the two of them towards Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan, who'd just jumped down from the city walls.

"I really want to see who's so bold as to attack the students of my Shrek Academy!" A fierce voice suddenly echoed outwards from the red figure. Ma Xiaotao was wreathed in flames and resembled a fire goddess as two phoenix wings stretched behind her back. She looked on with disdain towards the crowd of enemies before her.