Chapter 159: Xiao Hongchen

Everyone stood up and left the meeting room.

As Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were walking towards Huo Yuhao's room together to cultivate, Huo Yuhao suddenly sensed something. His gaze instantly landed on the other end of the corridor afterwards.

A handsome youngster that appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen years old stood at the other end of the corridor, and was currently burning holes through Huo Yuhao as he stared at him.

Huo Yuhao slightly narrowed his eyes, 'Judging by the design of his uniform, I'm guessing that he's someone from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.'

A look of curiosity flashed across his eyes. He heard a lot about the academy from Fan Yu and He Caitou. They were the best academy centered towards cultivating Soul Engineers, which always made the Sun Moon Empire the technologically advanced nation in the entire continent.

It was a known fact that most Soul Engineers were somewhat lacking in terms of their soul power cultivation, having used external methods such as medicine and secret techniques to advance their cultivation, making the quality of their soul power poor and their foundation flawed.

Their path in cultivation would permanently be limited and be weaker physically compared to others at the same level.

Yet, the boy in front of him and most of the other Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy students that Huo Yuhao had secretly investigated all had a stable foundation. The least powerful in their team was a Class 4 Soul Engineer and the most powerful amongst them being at least a Class 6 Soul Engineer. But considering they had teachers accompanying them, the soul tools they might be able to bring out is at least a Class 7 Soul Tool!

That was something that even he wasn't confident on taking on, without using some of his trump cards.

The boy in front of him was the most noteworthy among their team, not only was he adept with soul tools, but his martial soul wasn't weak like other normal soul engineers. He could tell that not only he was a year older than he was, but he gave off an aura of a Soul King!

A genius in both soul master and soul engineer paths, Huo Yuhao had been the only one to achieve something similar currently in the entire Shrek Academy.

No wonder they were considered to be the rival of Shrek Academy, they had produced such outstanding students as well.

The handsome youngster took a step forward and then made a thumbs down sign towards Huo Yuhao, "You're known as Huo Yuhao, right? Remember my name.... I'm Xiao Hongchen. I'll definitely be the one to defeat you!"

"You..." Wang Dong'er took a step forward, a cold glint in her eyes. She was about to say something in return, but Huo Yuhao immediately stopped her by racing his hand in front of her.

Huo Yuhao shook his head. He brought out a Mind Stimulating Thick Cigar from his storage belt and lit it up with a E rank Lighter fire jutsu from his index finger.

He slung an arm around Wang Dong'er's shoulders and put the cigar to his lips and took a slow, deliberate puff, his eyes never leaving Xiao Hongchen's. The smoke curled around his head as he exhaled, adding an air of nonchalance to his demeanor.

With a cold smile, Huo Yuhao smugly said, "Where did this ant came from? Always yapping and making noise, I thought they don't talk. Whatever, I'll make sure to crush it to death sooner or later. That's what they're all for anyway."

Once he'd finished, he opened the door to his room and entered with a flushed Wang Dong'er.

Huo Yuhao's voice had been very loud, while the acoustics in the Grand Imperial Star Hotel were also pretty decent. Those who heard his voice popped their heads out curiously, wanting to see some drama and Huo Yuhao take action.

Xiao Hongchen's face twitched but he didn't get angry, he was above getting affected by someone's words. Instead, a thoughtful look had appeared on his face.

'He's strong...' A smile formed on his lips. 'But he underestimates me. He doesn't know what I'm capable of.'

With a calm demeanor, Xiao Hongchen turned on his heels and walked away from the corridor. His mind was racing with thoughts of strategy and preparation. He knew that facing someone like Huo Yuhao wouldn't be easy, but he was determined to prove himself.

That he was the only genius in his generation!

"Why did you stop me?" Wang Dong'er asked as Huo Yuhao let go of her. "I wanted to tear that guy apart!"

Huo Yuhao chuckled and took another puff before replying, "I doubt it. Can you handle an expert Soul King in a direct conflict?"

Wang Dong'er's eyes widened slightly. "Soul King? Wait, are you seriously saying that he has five soul rings?!"

He nodded, he was about to take another puff but Wang Dong'er quickly took it from him with an irritated on her face.

"No way! He doesn't even seem that much older than us. He ought to be a reserve member of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, but a Soul King at that? Couldn't he have just disguised his soul power fluctuation?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head, "No illusions below Titled Douluo or Class 9 soul tool could work on me. So unless he was a Titled Douluo in disguise or is using rare Class 9 soul tool just to mask his aura, I'd say he is what he appears to be."

Wang Dong'er frowned slightly, "Just the reserve team is like that... It seems that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy is much stronger than we could've imagined. Thankfully, we shouldn't meet them in the round-robin tournament, considering the fact that they were the runners-up last year."

Huo Yuhao chuckled, "What you should be worried about is the next tournament. He's a Soul King now, but what about in five years, considering his current cultivation speed?"

Wang Dong indignantly exclaimed, "But we're still young!"

Huo Yuhao gave her look, "You're like a year younger than he is and possibly have the same amount of resources available, yet you're a Soul Elder. What does that say about you?" He then took out another cigar.

Wang Dong'er blushed and smacked the back of his head, causing the cigar in his lips to drop. "I'm lazy, I get it! Hmph. Come on, get on the bed. If I want to catch up to that guy and you, then I have to work harder than before!"

Huo Yuhao scratched the back of his head and got on the bed, though not before picking up the cigar and tossing it into the trashcan.

Meanwhile, Wang Dong'er was cackling maniacally beside him.

"Hehe, but unlike that guy, I have a cheat called Haodong Power! Five years? Hmph! Let's see if I don't become a Titled Douluo at that time and make everyone kneel in awe of me."

"Haodong Power?" Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Wang Dong'er blushed and scratched her cheek. "Hehe. That's what I come up for the martial soul cultivation of ours. It's a mix of your name and mine. We can't just always leave it without a name or calling it d-dual cultivation... it'd be too embarrassing!"

Huo Yuhao shrugged, he didn't really care. "Sure, fine. Ah, but don't you wanna eat yet?"

Wang Dong'er shook her head and took a seat in the bed in front of him. After several months of living together, she had already gotten used to Huo Yuhao's casual attitude and teasing remarks. She smiled softly, her eyes reflecting determination.

"No time for food right now," Wang Dong'er replied, her voice steady. "I want to cultivate with you. I need to catch up and surpass you."

Huo Yuhao smirked, raising both his hands to place against hers. "Alright then, let's get to it."

They settled into their usual cultivation routine, focusing their minds and energies on improving their cultivation. Their cultivation was also close to each other's; the higher their cultivation level, the stronger the circulation of soul power, and in turn, the speed of their cultivation.

Using their Haodong Power to cultivate was equivalent to them cultivating with the same speed as a Soul King or even a Soul Emperor; their cultivation was advancing by leaps and bounds.

Huo Yuhao was at the peak of rank 43 and he had initially estimated at least a week when he advances to the next rank, but that was only when he cultivates normally by himself. With their Haodong Power, it was possible that he would advance in two days!

Wang Dong'er wasn't left in the dust by Huo Yuhao's speed either. She felt no sense of blockage whenever she circulated her soul power, and she also felt as if she was growing stronger every day.

In the few months since school had started, she had already broken through to Rank 34, yet she was already charging straight ahead towards the Rank 35 bottleneck. With the help of their current Haodong Power, it was possible that she might break through to the Soul Ancestor stage within a few months.

Once the first round of the knockout competitions finally ended, the spectators that had been watching the match in Star Luo City were all riding on an emotionally-driven high. Due to this, there would be people queueing up deep into the night every day of the tournament.

Even though Star Luo Plaza had an extremely large surface area, there were still some limitations as to how many people it could contain; it couldn't satisfy the needs of the masses.

Especially since they haven't caught a glimpse of that spectacular genius even once since the last couple of days.

Where was he? What was he doing? And will he appear once more to shock the audience?

The Imperial Royal Family was especially curious about the mystery genius that had managed to take his spot amongst the elite of the tournament.

"....So it's true?" The Emperor of the Star Luo Empire muttered. He was in his imperial chamber, sitting in his chair with a stack of documents on the side. He was reading one specific yellow folder, with a profile of a person of interest: Huo Yuhao.

Standing behind him and massaging his shoulders, his wife, the Empress, replied softly. "According to our informants, yes, it's mostly true that he's the greatest genius currently in Shrek Academy. In just a year, he went from a one-ringed Soul Master that can beat Soul Elders, to a monstrous Soul Ancestor with three ten-thousand year old soul rings."

"What's even more terrifying is that he has twin martial souls! During his advancement exam, he easily defeated a 9,000 year old Flame Lion King with a single punch that was enveloped in a terrifying chill. We have no further information about his second martial soul, but we did get that it was something related to Ultimate Ice!"

The Emperor's eyes slightly widened, his hand holding the folder trembled.

Ultimate Ice! The word ultimate was associated with the absolute peak of a certain attribute and was an incredibly rare attribute to have in a martial soul.

The Emperor had once heard of a story of a Titled Douluo with the Ultimate Fire thousands of years ago, back when the continent was in total war against the Sun Moon Empire, that had lead a small group of a hundred against an army of 20,000 with three Titled Doulous.

That one Titled Douluo with the Ultimate Fire had singlehandedly killed, not only the three enemy Titled Douluos but also burning down more than 17,000 enemies!

And it was said that this fiery Titled Douluo was an alumni of Shrek Academy!

The Emperor involuntarily sighed deeply. "We only train monsters, not nobodies. Hehe, they truly live up to their motto. Haa. Shame I didn't manage to express myself fully when I went there. It would've been nice if I manage to become my generation's Shrek Monsters, but alas."

He glanced at the folder once more before putting it down, "Thankfully, Huo Yuhao is a Star Luo citizen. So unless he wants to continue on living his life in the academy, he would perhaps go back to his motherland and possibly help support us!"

"But what if he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life here?" The Empress asked.

The Emperor cheekily smiled. "Then let's give him a reason to. My two little sisters are single, aren't they?"

The Empress gave him an unimpressed look. "They're going to hate you."

The Emperor burst out laughing. "Not my fault they've been so indecisive. They have so many suitors, most with noble and powerful backgrounds, yet they don't give any of them a chance. You know how troublesome it is to try and pacify them?"

The Empress giggled and her smile turned a little saucy. "Well, my Emperor. Since you feel so exhausted, may I interest you in a... very exotic technique I recently learned from my sister?" The Emperor felt s familiar softness pressing against the back of his head.

"Hohoho. I'm very interested indeed..."

....

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