The next day.
On this day, the entire Shrek Academy team was recuperating and recharging, preparing for the upcoming finals.
Only Wang Dong was somewhat idle. After all, with his three-ring cultivation, he would only be a hindrance on the final stage; currently, there was no such thing as the Haodong Power to let him act as Huo Yuhao's pendant.
His habitual lazy character meant Wang Dong didn't practice as diligently as the others, instead continuing to nest in his room, sleeping lightheartedly...
As for Lan Xuanyu, the fact that his beloved Bai Xiuxiu had become an auction item was a significant blow to him. He was like a man who had lost his soul, listening to no one.
It wasn't that Lan Xuanyu hadn't thought about confessing to the Shrek crowd that he was the grandson of Tang San and a traveler from the future, but he knew that saying "I am Qin Shi Huang, send money and I'll make you a general" was something no sane person would believe...
So, how exactly was he supposed to get his Xiuxiu back?
...
A large, dark-grey lizard crawled out from a cave fissure in the northern suburbs. Its deep blue compound eyes flickered. Its entire body looked as if it were fractured, leaking a massive amount of dark-grey airflow that gathered around it.
After a long while, the dark-grey shadow finally paused and revealed a form. The giant lizard's body shrank drastically from dozens of meters to just over ten meters, and its original aura dropped by a full half.
That form gradually withdrew, revealing a woman—a woman wearing a greyish-white long dress. Her eyes were also greyish-white, and she had long grey hair that cascaded down her shoulders all the way to her toes.
The giant lizard nodded with satisfaction and then looked toward the direction of Star Luo City.
"In this era, the planar energy of Douluo Planet is still too strong. This projection can only deploy energy equivalent to a human Super Douluo, and after splitting, it can only be considered a Titled Douluo... but against that ant, it should be enough."
Hatred and loathing flickered within the lizard's deep blue compound eyes.
"Tang San, I hope you like the great gift this seat has sent you..."
Then, the greyish-white woman's figure turned and vanished into the air like a ripple of water.
"The time is about right..."
Just as the giant lizard slowly crawled out of the cave fissure, preparing to turn invisible again, a golden stream of light suddenly erupted accompanied by the roar of a dragon. It transformed into a physical golden dragon and slammed into the giant lizard.
The giant lizard jumped backward very nimbly, narrowly avoiding the strike.
The golden light dissipated. In the large crater on the ground stood a slender golden spear. Simultaneously, with a flash of light, a stunningly beautiful blonde girl appeared beside the spear, looking at the lizard warily—it was Long Qiu'er.
"...The Golden Dragon Spear."
Long Qiu'er pulled the Golden Dragon Spear from the ground. Five black soul rings rose around her along with golden dragon scales. She pointed the spear at the giant lizard, "Who are you? How do you know about the Golden Dragon Spear?"
Relying on the [Eye of Eternity] and her own power of destiny, Long Qiu'er had managed to bring the Snow Emperor here to stake out and wait for this fellow. But to her surprise, this giant lizard had directly spoken the name of her weapon.
One must know that in the entire Douluo Continent, only a few people knew of the existence of this divine artifact, the Golden Dragon Spear!
The corners of the lizard's mouth twitched, appearing to form a smile. "As for that... there is no need to tell you for now. However, I still want to ask one more thing: you aren't Tang Wulin, are you?"
Long Qiu'er was also confused, "Tang Wulin? Who is that?"
"Hmm... good. It seems that guy really hasn't been born in this era yet. It's a bit of a pity; I still wanted to kill him with my own hands." The lizard seemed to be talking to itself, but then its tone shifted. "But since you hold the Golden Dragon Spear, you must have a significant relationship with Tang Wulin! Then we have nothing more to say."
Then, its huge deep blue compound eyes lit up. Terrifying spiritual power surged toward Long Qiu'er like a tsunami.
The horror of spiritual power lies in the fact that it is unlike any other energy; it is seemingly invisible, but when it erupts, it directly attacks the origin.
Moreover, with strong spiritual power, one can seek good fortune and avoid calamity, sensing nearby enemies to respond at any time.
[Probably to suppress Old Huo's combat power, it was forcibly set so that soul power can resist spiritual power. Anyway, I don't really understand why Douluo II was set up this way, but if we go by the logic of Douluo III, then Tang Wulin would definitely be no match for Old Huo.]
The Abyssal Spirit Dragon transformed by the Abyssal Holy Lord this time was precisely the race most skilled in spiritual power in the Abyssal Plane. Furthermore, with its Spiritual Domain, its inherent combat power was formidable. As long as it was careful, hiding from the God Realm and the Planar Lord would be no problem.
If it were anyone else, even Huo Yuhao or the Snow Emperor, they would suffer a small setback in the face of this sudden mental attack and have their combat rhythm disrupted. But unfortunately, the Abyssal Holy Lord had chosen the wrong opponent this time.
As the Auspicious Beast of Destiny, the Three-eyed Golden Lion, Long Qiu'er was naturally immune to mental attacks! Not to mention, she was protected by the [ultra-divine artifact · Eye of Eternity].
"This is... the aura of a divine artifact? No, that's not right, it seems to be..."
Just as the Abyssal Holy Lord was filled with suspicion and uncertainty, a deep blue sword glow, carrying a lonely and proud artistic conception of snow, slashed down from behind it, forcefully severing its tail.
Lizard-type soul beasts or creatures have the ability to shed their tails to escape. As the third-ranked powerhouse among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, the Snow Emperor naturally understood this principle.
But as one might expect, losing a tail would certainly cause significant damage, and there are often unexpected escape methods. Thus, the Snow Emperor first cut off its tail to block its path of retreat.
Then came a scene that made Long Qiu'er and the Snow Emperor's eyes widen.
The Snow Emperor, holding the [Quasi-divine artifact · Blue Rose Sword], had not yet recovered her peak cultivation due to her re-cultivation, but this move was one of her Snow Emperor Three Supremes—the Imperial Sword: Extreme Ice Peerless, and it was augmented by a Quasi-divine artifact.
However... at the spot where the tail should have been severed, a burst of dark-grey mist surged, and it regenerated instantly, as if nothing had happened.
Long Qiu'er and the Snow Emperor looked at each other immediately, "This..."
As long as one can see a health bar, no matter how thick, there is at least hope of defeating and killing the enemy. But if a strike does absolutely nothing, how do you fight?
The Abyssal Holy Lord narrowed its eyes slightly. It seemed these two women did not know that the Golden Dragon Spear possessed the ability to suppress Abyssal energy.
Although he didn't know their relationship with the Tang family, just to be safe, he should kill them right now!
Then, the Abyssal Spirit Dragon it had transformed into moved its limbs nimbly, turned around, and swung its massive tail toward Long Qiu'er and the Snow Emperor.
...
"Why would it appear at this time?!"
Huo Yuhao jumped off his bed, kicked open the window, leaped down from the Star Emperor Hotel, and quickly dashed across the rooftops toward the north.
If the Snow Emperor hadn't been carrying the Douluo World produced [Quasi-divine artifact · Blue Rose Sword], Huo Yuhao might not have even been able to sense their situation.
By spreading his wings and using a soul tool thruster for acceleration, Huo Yuhao finally reached the battlefield.
This place had been completely shielded by the Abyssal Holy Lord using a Spiritual Domain. Coupled with the fact that soul masters of this era didn't place much importance on the cultivation of spiritual power, even the Titled Douluo enshrinees of the Star Luo imperial family had not noticed anything unusual.
Drawing Elucidator, he stomped hard on the ground. Deep purple lightning flashed in the air as he lunged like a spring into the battlefield shrouded by the Spiritual Domain.
[Breath of Thunder, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash.]
Long Qiu'er and the Snow Emperor were mostly fine, just covered in some dust and blood, and their auras were still stable.
As for that giant lizard... it seemed it was more wary of Long Qiu'er and the others. It constantly maintained its distance; even when it had the upper hand, if Long Qiu'er tried to engage in melee, it would abandon its offensive and urgently pull away.
It was him! Huo Yuhao was certain; this spiritual power couldn't be mistaken.
There was no need to ask anything else; this lizard was clearly a foe, not a friend.
Spiritual Detection Sharing linked to Long Qiu'er and the Snow Emperor. Without time for greetings, his sword blade was covered in thick, deep-purple plasma as he slashed directly at the lizard's head.
The wound he cut was quickly filled with a dark-grey energy. The paralysis and powerful lethality of Ultimate Thunder didn't seem to manifest much on this fellow.
"Yuhao!" , "Huo Yuhao!"
The giant lizard pulled away once more, its deep blue compound eyes staring at Huo Yuhao, speaking word by word.
"...Your name is Huo Yuhao? The Spirit Ice Douluo, Huo Yuhao?"
Standing in front of Long Qiu'er and the Snow Emperor, Huo Yuhao was stunned again.
This strange giant lizard knows me too? No, am I that famous?
Wait, Spirit Ice Douluo...
Huo Yuhao immediately thought of Lan Xuanyu, and his eyes instantly grew solemn.
"...Are you also from the future?"
The giant lizard actually grinned in a very human-like way. "...Also? It seems you have also been reborn. But you don't even know me; that makes me a little sad."
Huo Yuhao's brow furrowed, and he didn't reply.
From the conversation just now, Huo Yuhao could be certain that the lizard in front of him knew him... or rather, knew the "future" version of himself they spoke of.
Huo Yuhao gripped his sword tightly and said in a deep voice, "...Should I know you?"
"Hmph... indeed, you don't need to know me. Even if you are the Spirit Ice Douluo who dominated an era, you are nothing more than a dog raised by Tang San! By the way, is it really okay for you not to be protecting Tang Wutong? That is your beloved, after all..."
A dog of Tang San? Protecting Tang Wutong?
"!!!"
As clever as Huo Yuhao was, he understood immediately—this was a lure to lead the tiger away from the mountain!
Likely... no, certainly, this guy had sent someone else to kill Wang Dong, who was Tang Wutong!
Frankly speaking, he didn't care if Tang Wutong lived or died; he was more interested in getting more information about the "future" from this fellow's mouth.
But Wang Dong was in the Star Emperor Hotel. Given Teacher Lexuan's temperament, she would definitely step in if she saw her team members being attacked. It would be bad if she got hurt.
"An opponent with such strong spiritual power is rare, but I have no interest in continuing to waste time with you." Huo Yuhao's hand, which was behind his back, suddenly flicked forward, tossing a blue-silver box.
"That is..." Before the Abyssal Holy Lord could react, it felt the world spinning, and then it abruptly appeared in a forest.
"Snow Emperor, Qiu'er, move now!"
While Huo Yuhao was talking to the lizard, through the Spiritual Detection link, Long Qiu'er and the Snow Emperor had told him the intel they gathered from their previous clash. The three of them had devised a tactic in this extremely short window.
The Snow Emperor took a step forward, forcefully stabbing the Blue Rose Sword into the ground as her soul power surged wildly into it.
Instantly, massive patches of ice crystals spread in all directions, and the surrounding temperature plummeted to -200 degrees.
Even though it was only a Quasi-divine artifact, the Snow Emperor's domain, Snow Dance Adoring the Sun, could briefly freeze the Abyssal Spirit Dragon transformed by the Abyssal Holy Lord under its augmentation.
Following that, roses made of ice grew from the ground, entwining around the giant lizard.
The ice roses slowly began to bloom...
The Abyssal Holy Lord's voice sounded unconcerned. "A decent divine artifact, but if you think this absorption speed can trap this Holy Lord, you are far too early."
Then it turned its head and looked at Long Qiu'er, who was stabbing its right hind leg with the Golden Dragon Spear. "Even with the Golden Dragon Spear, absorbing the Abyssal energy contained in this body would take at least half a day. Because you are too weak..."
"You won't be able to freeze this Holy Lord for long."
During this time, Huo Yuhao also tried using Elucidator with Ultimate Thunder to attack it, but the characteristic of Elucidator was not swallowing; against a physical body condensed from energy, it could be said to have little effect.
The first soul skill of the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon provided by the Ice Emperor, [Purifying Evil Dragon Breath], was also applied, but it only slightly increased the degree of freezing and did not improve the situation.
Even if he switched to the Saint Magic Angel martial soul and used Ultimate Darkness to devour him, Huo Yuhao didn't think he could finish it off before the lizard broke free.
Although he wasn't afraid of it escaping in this Douluo World, Huo Yuhao was more concerned about the situation with Zhang Lexuan and the others.
Just as Huo Yuhao was anxious, an elegant and pleasant voice sounded in his ear.
"Use this."
Then, the Silver Dragon Reverse Scale on Huo Yuhao's chest emitted a brilliant silver light.
That silver light then stretched and lengthened in front of him, transforming into a silver long spear.
This silver spear was over twelve feet long and very slender. On the slender shaft were fine silver scales. These scales were hexagonal, extremely delicate and symmetrical. Unlike the Golden Dragon Spear, this spear only had a tip at one end. The tip accounted for about one-third of the spear's length and was conical in shape with a purple crystal at its center. It looked like a magnificent work of art.
Upon seeing this weapon clearly, the Abyssal Spirit Dragon's voice cracked for the first time.
"...The Silver Dragon Spear!"
...
"Monitoring daughter of Tang San... Tang Wutong, beginning elimination!"