"You're up early today, Junior Brother Yuhao?"
Zi Mu watched Huo Yuhao packing up his tools, surprise on his face. This grind-king had won Teacher Xuan's favor largely thanks to his borderline self-abusive training: out early, back late, practically living in the lab.
It was said Yuhao could already carve a level-six soul tool core array—progress nothing short of astonishing.
Even as a level-five soul engineer himself, Zi Mu was impressed.
"Yeah, Senior Zi Mu, I've got something to do today…" Huo Yuhao forced a smile, hurriedly finished tidying up, and rushed off.
In the empty corridor—
Huo Yuhao's face gradually darkened.
"Skydream, where do you think Su Wen ran off to? He's been missing for days. Even Teacher Xuan doesn't know. And those trash at the sub-hall—seriously? I told them to lie low and wait for my signal, yet they insisted I come back. Said something changed, and they couldn't send a message by pigeon for fear of alerting him. If Su Wen gets wind of this… won't everything go up in smoke?"
"Hard to say."
The Skydream Iceworm surfaced from the sea of spirit, shaking its head, a hint of suspicion flashing in its tiny eyes.
"But for some reason, I have a bad feeling…"
"A bad feeling?"
Huo Yuhao raised a brow. "You think Su Wen already sensed the trap and won't bite?"
"Hard to say." The Skydream Iceworm frowned.
The feeling was fleeting and indistinct.
"Forget it. The sooner I finish, the sooner I get back," Huo Yuhao relaxed his brows. "I'm planning to make a push for the level-seven soul engineer badge."
"Yuhao."
"Teacher Fan Yu?"
Huo Yuhao heard someone call him, looked up in surprise, and a complicated look flickered in his pupils.
"Finally cornered you, kid. Mingde Hall won't let teachers in, so I've been waiting outside for you every day." Fan Yu sized up his student, guilt flashing in his eyes.
"As for what happened back then—I couldn't even protect myself. I'm truly sorry…"
"It's not your fault! If anyone's to blame, it's Su Wen!"
Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth.
"Shame you didn't blast him to death."
"Sigh." Fan Yu exhaled.
"But I've finally made it through. Those old fossils at Shrek actually dared to let me lead a team. Heh. Aren't they afraid I'll sell the whole academy down the river?"
"Teacher Zhou Yi…?" Huo Yuhao was startled.
"I brought her too." Fan Yu sneered.
"Your teacher is a vegetable. Before I left, I hired a housekeeper—actually a mercenary good at disguises. Only Soul Emperor level, but top-notch at hiding. Recently, she quietly packed her in a trunk and smuggled her out of the outer court. She arrived in Mingdu just yesterday."
"But…" Huo Yuhao hesitated.
"Relax. I've already contacted Jing Hongchen—he said he'll protect me. And when I left, the people Shrek had tailing your teacher were being withdrawn one after another. Much looser now. Even if Shrek really discovers it, I can turn the tables and accuse them instead." Fan Yu snorted.
"But those Shrek graduates…" Huo Yuhao fell silent.
He'd learned a lot over the years.
What Zhou Yi did back then crippled many righteous disciples. He'd even found several senior brothers within the Holy Spirit Cult itself—fellow students who were originally taught by Zhou Yi, got crippled, then fell into the demonic path. A hellish joke indeed…
"This is the Sun and Moon Empire. Those folks from the original continent won't find this place. Enough about that—Yuhao," Fan Yu forced a smile. "How have you been lately? No one bullying you in the Sun and Moon Empire…"
"No."
Huo Yuhao shook his head.
He wanted to warn Fan Yu that even within the Holy Spirit Cult, he had several senior brothers who hated Zhou Yi to the bone. But that would risk exposing his identity in the cult, and he didn't want Fan Yu to know yet. So he changed the topic.
…
Holy Altar Sub-hall.
Cloaked in black, moving like a shadow, Huo Yuhao slipped through the night to a secluded courtyard and knocked. Inside, a young man in a black robe made a hand sign.
Expressionless, Huo Yuhao tossed him a pitch-black token.
"Holy Son, sir…"
Seeing the token, the young man's expression changed drastically. He reverently wiped it clean and handed it back, chanting as he spoke:
"Long live the Holy Emperor, eternal grace to the Holy Maiden."
His tone turned obsequious. "Holy Son, do you wish to see the Grand Holy Spirit? Please follow me."
Huo Yuhao nodded mildly. The youth gestured for him to enter.
The courtyard looked like any commoner's home—not luxurious at all. They triggered a mechanism, entered a secret passage, and descended. The space widened, revealing the opulence of one of the largest sub-halls of the Holy Spirit Cult.
"Why didn't your Grand Holy Spirit come to greet me personally?" Huo Yuhao frowned.
It wasn't posturing. He just found it odd. Usually, that guy either waited at the door or inside, extremely humble. Today felt off.
"The Grand Holy Spirit only instructed me to pass a message to you. I don't know the details…" The young man blanched and hurried to explain.
"…"
Huo Yuhao's eyes narrowed.
The further they went, the more wrong it felt.
Suddenly, he thought of something. "When your Grand Holy Spirit gave you the letter, did you see him in person?"
"This… no." The young man pondered, then shook his head. "The Grand Holy Spirit tossed the envelope out of the hall and ordered us to deliver it immediately, no mistakes. I don't think he ever showed his face."
"…"
Huo Yuhao froze, terror swallowing him whole. The familiar dark tunnel suddenly felt clammy and cold.
A chill stabbed up from his soles to his crown.
Cold sweat soaked his back.
Sect infighting? Did Yan Feng make the first move?
Or did the Grand Holy Spirit betray us? No…
Could it be…
At that last possibility, Huo Yuhao stopped and said blandly to the youth, "Right, I left something outside for the Grand Holy Spirit. I'll fetch it myself."
"Uh…" While the young man was dazed, Huo Yuhao feigned calm, turned, and walked faster and faster.
"Go! Hurry!!!"
In the sea of spirit—
Skydream's voice shredded into hysterical terror.
Plucking Huo Yuhao's last taut nerve.
"Junior Yuhao?"
From the depths of the dark corridor came a lazy, teasing voice.
Then the dim lamps along both sides lit up one by one. Dazzling light flooded the once-dank corridor, making it bright and honest.
Huo Yuhao stopped, back to the speaker, feet heavy as lead.
He never expected to meet Su Wen again like this…
"Wh-who are you?!!"
The young man's voice trembled.
The passage doors stood open. A youth in the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy uniform stood leisurely at the far end, within the hall's central altar, gazing at them.
Worse still: corpses piled like a mountain atop the altar—top experts of the sub-hall, all "Holy Spirit" tier. And the two corpses at the summit were the most terrifying—white robes traced with silver at the edges. The young man stuttered words through chattering teeth:
"Grand… Holy Spirit?"
"Second Holy Spirit?!!"
The once-omnipotent Grand Holy Spirit, whom even high-ranking Sun and Moon generals treated with deference, now lay like a dead dog, blood pouring from seven orifices, eyes frozen in terror—dead with grievance unspent…
He looked at the mountain of corpses.
Then at the handsome boy standing upon it with spotless sleeves.
A strange, maddening feeling spread through his chest.
The young man screamed and bolted for the exit.
Huo Yuhao kept his head bowed, feet still.
A shrill wail sounded from the front corridor—then silence.
The scene chilled him to the bone. His legs trembled uncontrollably.
He slowly turned.
Same smiling face—always relaxed no matter the time or place.
For comrades, it might feel like calm and ease—everything's fine with him around.
But as an enemy—
For the first time, Huo Yuhao felt the crushing pressure that was Su Wen.
It stole his breath.
All his years in the Holy Spirit Cult, all the people he'd killed—for all that, neither the Cult Master nor the Grand Elder who stood above all gave off a pressure like Su Wen's.
"Any last words?"
Su Wen smiled.
"…"
"Will you avenge me?" Huo Yuhao asked, a plea in his voice.
"The White Tiger Duke?" Su Wen raised a brow.
"If you avenge me, I'll give you everything! Including the Skydream Iceworm!" Huo Yuhao's eyes bulged; he clenched his teeth.
"Yuhao… what are you doing?!!" the Skydream Iceworm raged.
"Skydream, I should thank you." Huo Yuhao's tone turned mocking. He lifted his head, a trace of reminiscence in his eyes. "If not for you, I probably wouldn't have the qualifications to seek revenge on that man. You gave me talent—the chance to defy fate."
"But it's because of you that I came to the Holy Spirit Cult…"
"…"
"I can give him everything. As for the Skydream Iceworm—whether he devours you or chains you in my spirit sea—it's none of my business." Huo Yuhao exhaled, relieved.
"Killing you makes it mine anyway."
Su Wen chuckled.
"I can help you imprison it… and squeeze it for maximum value." Huo Yuhao's gaze didn't flinch.
In the sea of spirit, the Skydream Iceworm hurled curses, humiliation boiling over.
Huo Yuhao remained unmoved.
He stared straight at Su Wen.
"I won't avenge you," Su Wen shook his head.
"But perhaps…"
"Someone else will."
Huo Yuhao's pupils shrank. "Who?!!"
"Ju Zi," Su Wen said with a smile.
"No last words, then—rest easy…"
Su Wen's hand seemed to turn incorporeal as it pierced Huo Yuhao's mind and yanked out a big, fat, white worm.
"I can give you—"
Before the terrified Skydream could finish—
Su Wen refined it on the spot.
Watching Huo Yuhao thud to the floor and go still as life ebbed away, Su Wen shook his head.