Book 3: Fusion of Martial Souls
Chapter 18.3: The 33rd Arena—3v3
Wang Yan smiled. “That’s good. Go back and get some rest.” He still held himself back from asking Huo Yuhao about his martial soul, as he still had some pride in himself. He believed that Huo Yuhao wouldn’t be able to hide his martial soul from him once they met a strong opponent.
“How relaxing! Winning against them was as easy as chopping vegetables.” Wang Dong said with excited look on their way back. He was extremely satisfied with how they’d done today.
Xiao Xiao said, “It should be my turn to go out tomorrow. Wang Dong, you’ve only used your first soul skill so far. If the opponents we meet tomorrow are even stronger than today’s, I’m afraid that you might have to use your second soul skill. However, your second soul skill was created from a thousand year soul ring, so it’s the strongest attack technique we have on our team. We shouldn’t let other people see it easily; we should only use it during the ranking tournament. If we meet any strong opponents tomorrow, I’ll help you out. We should try our best to only use our first soul skills. Even if we do meet an extremely strong opponent, I’ll be the one to use their second soul skill, so that we can keep yours hidden. This way, we’ll have two trump cards. How about it?”
Wang Dong laughed. “Xiao Xiao, you’ve said all this, but it’s really just because your hands are itchy, isn’t it? Fine, we’ll do it your way. I’ve already been satisfied, so I’ll let you pleasure yourself for a bit.”
Fortunately, there weren’t any adults walking near them while they were speaking. If there had been, Wang Dong’s words could have been interpreted very differently.
Huo Yuhao chuckled. “Let’s go, I’ll treat you two to some roasted fish. I ordered some extra yesterday.”
As the three of them left the Examination Area, they bumped into two people. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong couldn’t help but be stunned when they saw who the people they’d bumped into were.
The people they’d bumped into weren’t random people; it was the red-clothed disciple from the inner courtyard, Ma Xiaotao, and the person she’d dragged away a few days ago, Xu Sanshi.
Compared to his usual high-spirited self, the current Xu Sanshi had an ashen look on his face, as if all the energy had been drained from his body. He looked listless, and his clothes were crumpled. His current appearance was extremely dispirited.
Ma Xiaotao was still as beautiful as ever, although there was an abnormal flush on her charming face, and the pinkness of her eyes had darkened a bit.
“We’ve found them, right? Sister Xiaotao, can I go now?” Xu Sanshi had a bitter smile on his face as he spoke. After being tormented by an intense amount of pain for a few days, he’d finally managed to endure the last of it. However, the drain on his energy, physical strength, and soulforce was too severe. Right now, all he wanted to do was return to his room and sleep.
Ma Xiaotao nodded. “Okay, you can go.”
Xu Sanshi glanced at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong with a look that said ‘you can fend for yourselves’ before he left. His disloyal appearance caused the two to feel nervous. Just why had Ma Xiaotao been looking for them?
Ma Xiaotao indifferently said, “You two, follow me. Junior classmate, you can return by yourself.”
Xiao Xiao was just about to say something, but Huo Yuhao immediately shook his head, indicating that she should leave, and that nothing would happen to them.
Seeing that Ma Xiaotao probably hadn’t come with good intentions, he didn’t want to drag Xiao Xiao into this. Furthermore, this was still the academy; Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong both believed that she wouldn’t do anything to bad to them.
Xiao Xiao felt somewhat unresigned, but she left unwillingly in the end. Following Ma Xiaotao’s lead, the two walked towards the lakeside path. After walking for a little while, they arrived at the lakeside where they’d first been attacked by her.
Ma Xiaotao only stopped when she was right in front of the Sea God’s Lake. However, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong both kept their distance from her. Wang Dong had a vigilant look on his face, while Huo Yuhao’s heart was thumping.
“Senior sister Ma, why did you call us over?” Huo Yuhao asked probingly.
With her back to them, Ma Xiaotao said, “You should’ve guessed it by now. You’re right; I was the student who burst out from the inner courtyard—the student who almost harmed you two that time. At the time, I truly had no choice. Now then, I’d first like to apologize to you two.”
Wang Dong curled his lips, inwardly thinking, This is apologizing? There’s no sincerity in your actions at all!
The two glanced at each other, then Huo Yuhao said, “Senior sister Ma, let’s let bygones be bygones. The school’s already compensated us anyway.”
Ma Xiaotao suddenly turned around, the shades of pink in her eyes suddenly darkening further. An ineffable pressure suddenly appeared on Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’s bodies.
“In my opinion, this matter isn’t over yet.” Ma Xiaotao growled.
“That day, there should’ve been an ice-type soul master that stopped me. That was what stopped me from harming you two. That person is extremely important to me. Tell me everything you know. Perhaps it was one of your protectors. Either way, I must find them.”
Wang Dong had a blank look on his face. “Senior sister Ma, I don’t know what you’re talking about. When you attacked us that day, we both fainted from the high temperatures your body was emitting! We don’t know anything about what happened after that! As for this ice-type soul master you’re talking about, we don’t have any way of knowing who he is."
Huo Yuhao followed Wang Dong’s lead and nodded his head. No matter what, he couldn’t divulge his secrets regarding the Skydream Iceworm.
Seeing that they didn’t seem to be lying, a trace of hesitation appeared in Ma Xiaotao’s eyes.
The reason that she’d gone looking for the two of them was because, after returning that day, she’d suddenly thought about why they’d felt familiar to her: It was because she’d seen some information regarding Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong in the inner courtyard.
Three months ago, she’d relied on the Skydream Iceworm’s cold energy to suppress the demonic fire within her body, which had let her cultivation speed greatly increase while it was suppressed. When the cold energy vanished, she was only able to rely on Xu Sanshi. However, she discovered that although his Mysterious Underworld Turtle was a peak-ranked martial soul, it was still just a water-type martial soul, not an ice-type martial soul. Hence, the help that it brought her had gradually decreased.
If she wasn’t able to suppress the demonic fire in her body, she’d have to stop cultivating. Moreover, that demonic fire in her body could explode at any time, causing her to lose her consciousness.
After thinking it over for a while, she’d decided to look for Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. If she was able to find the person that had previously used that ice-type martial soul to stop her, her problems could easily be solved.
“You really don’t know?” Ma Xiaotao asked in a low voice.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong simultaneously shook their heads.
Ma Xiaotao’s expression suddenly changed as she spoke in a chilly voice, “Then don’t blame me for being impolite. If you really don’t know, I’ll have to force him out.” As she spoke, a strong wave of heat was erupted outwards as a volcano-like scarlet flame shot out from Ma Xiaotao’s body.
When the two had been called over by Ma Xiaotao, they’d already felt that something wasn’t right. Hence, they’d maintained their vigilance at all times. After the loss that they’d suffered last time, the two immediately reacted the instant that Ma Xiaotao made her move! They couldn’t just sit and wait for their deaths!
The wings of the Radiant Butterfly Goddess instantly shot out from Wang Dong’s back. As they unfurled, they were already filled with golden patterns; Wang Dong’s Wing Guillotine had instantly been activated.