45 Chapter 45: Aftermath

A new dawn broke and birds could be heard harmoniously chirping on top of trees.

On a grassy field surrounded by numerous trees, two boys lay unconscious in each other's arms while still wearing their uniform.

As the sunlight hit their faces, expectedly, one of them woke up.

"Hmm..." Huo Yuhao groaned softly as he slowly regained consciousness.

Blinking his eyes open, he realized that he was lying in a grassy field, his body intertwined with Wang Dong's, again.

'Okay, this has got to stop.' Huo Yuhao inwardly grumbled, face palming in frustration. His face flushed.

Moreover, he could feel a certain part of his body that was growing increasingly uncomfortable.

'Thank the Sea God I woke up first.'

Not wanting a repeat of the embarrassing situation from the previous other day, he slowly tried to extract himself from Wang Dong's grasp, careful not to wake his friend.

"Hm? What the hell is that?!"

However, his attention was quickly diverted, with wide eyes, as he noticed that the once flourishing flora area in front of them turned into a sight of majestic destruction as a gigantic golden crater had appeared a few feet away from them!

The crater looked to be 45 meters wide and 15 meters deep, its entirety glowed with a faint golden light. The ground around it was scorched and fragmented, as if it had been struck by an immense force. Golden flames and lightning continued to dance and crackle within the crater, creating an electrifying atmosphere.

Huo Yuhao's heart raced with a mix of curiosity and trepidation. What could have caused such devastation, and why were they lying unconscious near it?

"You both caused it."

'Ancestor?' Huo Yuhao instinctively looked up upon hearing Ancestor's voice. 'We, we caused this?! How!?'

Ancestor indifferently replied, "You and Wang Dong went into this secluded area to test out your Martial Soul Fusion Skill, and the aftermath is what's in front of you."

"Woah..."

While Huo Yuhao looked on with awe and fear, Ancestor was somber.

'To think this so called Martial Soul Fusion Skill is this ridiculous. Its might isn't simply a one-plus-one kind of power up but it multiplies the power by at least three fold! This is...' He grunted and turned his gaze towards the unconscious Wang Dong.

'This girl must not become Huo Yuhao's catalyst to awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan, she's too much of a valuable asset to him. That means he must not severe their bond. Hmph. Even though her blood only bear a similar feeling to you, Ashura. You still can't help but mess with me. Hah. What a troublesome little brother...'

Huo Yuhao still looked on, agape, at the destruction left in the wake of their Martial Soul Fusion Skill's power.

Out of curiosity, he opened his Sharingan and spread out his Spiritual Detection towards the golden crater.

"Huh?" Huo Yuhao blinked, furrowing his brows. "I can't extend my Spiritual Detection into it?"

The moment his invisible spiritual power came into contact of the golden light that covered the ground, it seemed like he hit a electrical barrier as it stopped and cause a numbing sensation to travel into his mind. It also caused a hypnotic trance, but due to his high spiritual power and innate resistance to mental attacks, it didn't affect him.

"Damn." With a painful headache, Huo Yuhao finally withdraw his Spiritual Detection. Even for him, whose Spiritual Power was above a Soul Emperor's, could only back down in just ten seconds from touching it. "What about Soul Power then?"

He reach out his hand to test out his theory but then realized it was idiotic and quickly took back his hand before looking around.

"Aha!" He grabbed a nearby wooden stick on the ground, and with extreme concentration and control of his soul power, he flowed a steady stream of soul power into the tip before cutting his connection with it.

The soul power would die out in a couple of seconds but it was enough for Huo Yuhao as he unhesitatingly thrust the wooden stick into the golden crater. As soon as the stick made contact with the golden light, it sparked and crackled with electricity. The glowing golden light consumed the stick, the soul power on the tip disappeared the moment it made contact with the golden light, reducing the stick to ashes within seconds.

Huo Yuhao's eyes widened in surprise. "This golden light is incredibly strong! Not only does it negates soul power, it has the power to disintegrate any object that touches it. Plus, this is just the aftermath of it! Since hours has passed, its power had diminished, I could tell that this was supposed to be bigger."

A bead of cold sweat rolled down his temple, as a smile slowly curled up from his lips. "Then, what happens if our opponents took it head on? Will there even be a body left?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Haha. Hahahaha. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Huo Yuhao burst out in laughter, a gleeful expression and unhinged smile appeared on his face. "Yes! This, is power! The power that I need!"

He continued laughing for a while before he slowly stopped.

He then turned towards a still sleeping Wang Dong, who was still deep in sleep.

Huo Yuhao's Sharingan shone with a golden light as his face took on a dead serious expression.

'Wang Dong... I don't care about anyone else in this world. From now on, whether it be tomorrow or years to come, I will protect you and you will protect me, we will stay together. As long as I have you...my revenge will be certain to come.'

In that moment, Wang Dong finally opened his eyes and groggily rose up.

"Aaahhh~ Man, that was a nice sleep~ Eh? What's going on? Where am I?" He then looked towards Huo Yuhao and he didn't react much from his appearance.

But the desolated area behind him glowing with a golden light? Yeah, that got his attention.

"Wang Dong, we did it," Huo Yuhao said, his voice filled with a mix of excitement and determination. His face showing none of his true thoughts towards his friend.

"Dude, what did we do?" Wang Dong asked, rubbing his eyes to fully wake up.

Just as Huo Yuhao opened his mouth to explain, the familiar sharp ringing bell was heard echoing in the distance from the academy.

It was the warning bell. And second bell that signified the start of classes normally but now acts as the official start of the competition...rings in five minutes.

Both boys paled in an instant.

"The competition!"

"What should we do?! We're too far away from the academy to make it on time!" Wang Dong grabbed his head, wide eyed, panicking. "Even I can't fly that fast with my wings!"

"Hold on," Huo Yuhao however, quickly calmed down and unhesitatingly went to Wang Dong's side and extended his right arm across the latter's torso and used his other arm to sweep Wang Dong off his feet and into a bridal carry. "We don't have time to waste, I'll carry you back to the academy."

Wang Dong's face turned red as he protested, "Hey, I can walk on my own, you know!"

But Huo Yuhao ignored his protests and with a determined look in his eyes, with incredible speed and leg strength, he leapt into a tree branch that was several meters high away from him and swiftly made their way back towards the academy.

As they jumped from one tree to another, Wang Dong made a...uncharacteristic sound.

"KYAAAAA~!!" Wang Dong cried out with a high tone of voice. Although he was well experienced through flying the air with quick speed, Huo Yuhao's speed and agility to jump across trees with such ease and precision was completely new to him. The combination of fear and excitement overwhelmed him, causing this unexpected reaction.

Huo Yuhao couldn't help but chuckle at Wang Dong's cute reaction.

"Hmph! Hmph!" Expectedly, Wang Dong began raining small fists on Huo Yuhao's chest. Normally with his Soul Grandmaster strength it would've thrown the latter off-balance but due to hsu current situation, he couldn't muster up any of his strength.

To Huo Yuhao, it felt like being punched by a small animal.

"...Wait a minute." Huo Yuhao looked down at him strangely, his eyes sharpened in that moment.

Wang Dong froze, thinking, 'Oh no, did he finally realized...'

His heart began beating...and instead of fear, he felt excitement and a bit of joy.

"Did you used my Shampoo again?"

"..." Wang Dong deadpanned.

....

In the Assessment Area.

Xiao Xiao looked around anxiously as she waited for her teammates to arrive. The final round competition was about to begin, and she couldn't find any of her teammates!

As this was the round for the final two teams to fight for championship, numerous students and teachers were bustling around, getting ready for the start of the competition. The atmosphere was tense and filled with excitement.

Feeling the weight of the situation, Xiao Xiao panicked and wondered where her teammates could be. She couldn't bear the thought of competing without them, especially Huo Yuhao.

But she wasn't the only one searching for them.

"Those two brats...!" Teacher Zhou Yi muttered under her breath, her eyes scanning the area for any sign of Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. Popping veins appeared across her forehead and her fists.

She was pissed.

Zhou Yi had high hopes for them to become champions and since they were now contenders for championship, she was proud of them.

But this wasn't only just her personal feeling now, but also her reputation! She could accept them forfeiting but to bail on the match? She'd be made fun off!

She wouldn't care about other people talking shit to her but that bitch, Mu Jin, would be insufferable!

Speaking of Mu Jin, a certain duo looked around the arena from the spectator's stand.

"Just where is that guy...?" Ning Tian muttered, clicking her tongue in irritation.

By her side, with a gloomy expression and two dark circles under her eyes, Wu Feng let out a sigh.

"Miss... Sister Ning Tian, let's just forget about this..." Her eyes glazed over, a bitter expression appeared on her face.

"Being let down by men is nothing new to me. My father, my brothers, now..."

Ning Tian's eyes softened and she comforted Wu Feng, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Feng'er. We'll find him and corner him after the competition. Xiao Xiao had already said that Huo Yuhao wanted to talk to you after the competition. If the answer he gives us as to why he left you that night wouldn't be satisfactory...hmph! He'll have a taste of the Seven Treasure School."

Wu Feng quietly nodded, finding comfort in Ning Tian's words. She knew that her young miss wouldn't easily use the power of her sect without any proper reason due to the scrutiny of the elder so for her to do this...

"Thank you, sister."

"Hehe. Since you're calling me sister, of course I'll take good care of you!"

Back on the Assessment Area.

"Hmph. Where are those two? Don't tell me that they ran away?" A cute girl with black hair and eyes scoffed, she had a mature voluptuous figure that most girls her young age shouldn't have. She had cat ears-like hair on top of her head.

"Oh that can't be it, Zhu Lu. Since they reached this far, their determination and skills are not to be underestimated." A calm voice sounded beside her. This girl had a gentle and serene aura, with long flowing purple hair and delicate features. Unexpectedly, she had a more mature figure than previous girl.

The arrogant girl rolled her eyes. "Cui Yajie, you're only saying that because their handsome."

"Well, most handsome boys in this school have tough personalities." Cui Yajie winked, turning to glance at their silent leader. "After all, isn't our dear leader a great example?"

"Hmph." Dai Huabin coldly snorted, with his arms crossed, waiting impatiently for his opponents to show up. He had been looking forward to this final round and the championship, and no one would take it from him.

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao. The three of them made Dai Huabin feel threatened. Because of this, they'd made sufficient preparations before the match started; they'd even found the teams that had previously fought against Huo Yuhao's team and asked them about their fights in order to carefully understand Huo Yuhao and his teammate's abilities.

This wasn't only for the rewards and glory for winning this competition, but also to prove himself to his family that he was the rightful successor of his father the White Tiger Duke!

No matter who they are, he'll crush them thoroughly!

Minutes passed by and the second bell wS about to ring for the competition to finally begin.

Xiao Xiao nervously waited for her idiot teammates to arrive while Zhou Yi continued fuming from the sideline.

As the bell rang, the proctor stepped forward and was about to announce for the match to begin when a swirl of hundreds of leaves suddenly appeared into the arena.

Everyone turned their attention towards the swirling leaves, completely bewildered at the sudden appearance of leaves. After all, the nearest tree was dozens of meters away and there wasn't any powerful gust of wind to blew the leaves into the Assessment Area.

Suddenly, the swirl of leaves began converging together like a mini tornado before dispersing in a burst of wind, revealing two figures standing there, posing.

It was Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. The former had his hand on his face, as if contemplating about the mystery of life, while the latter had one arm over his eyes and his other raised to the side.

The crowd erupted into whispers and gasps, surprised at their sudden appearance.

Xiao Xiao looked at them in awe before bursting in laughter.

"Hahaha. What are you doofuses doing?"

"Well, we–"

Huo Yuhao smirked, lifting his hand, he was about to say something when he noticed the dark aura of someone standing behind Xiao Xiao and glaring at them both.

Shivering, Huo Yuhao turned towards the proctor, cupped his hands, and hurriedly said.

"Mister proctor, please start the match!"

The proctor was obviously confused.

Still, he was a professional and quickly calmed down. He waved towards both sides, motioning for them to enter the arena.

Xiao Xiao quickly went up and stood beside Huo Yuhao. The trio fist bumped with each other before turning towards their opponents.

Huo Yuhao's expression turned cold and emotionless as he stared at Dai Huabin, the latter noticed this provocation, and didn't back down. Killing intent erupted from his body.

Although the latter didn't know about their true connection to one other, for some odd reason, he felt like he wouldn't like Huo Yuhao.

There was just something familiar about him...

Astonishingly to him, Huo Yuhao didn't back down and had instead exuded with an even more fierce killing intent than Dai Huabin.

Huo Yuhao might not have killed someone yet or had experienced numerous life and death battles, but his extreme thirst for vengeance was powerful.

Both teams stared down each other, their eyes filled with determination and competitive spirit. The tension in the air was palpable, as if the entire arena held its breath in anticipation.

'This match, I'll make sure you feel the fraction of pain you inflicted on my mother and I.' Huo Yuhao's eyes flashed with crimson and gold light.

"Both teams, introduce yourselves."

"Huo Yuhao."

"Wang Dong."

"Xiao Xiao."

On the other side, Dai Huabin's team of three exuded an obvious sense of hostility.

"Dai Huabin."

"Zhu Lu." The black-haired girl said.

"Cui Yajie." The pink-haired girl said.

The proctor spread his arms wide and said, "Both teams, return to your sides of the arena. When I give the signal, you may begin attacking."

After a few minutes, the proctor raised his hand and announced, "Let the match begin!"

....

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