Volume 18, Chapter 159.3: Xenophobia, Bullying, and the Sovereign Descends
Could he have some special soul tool on him? Xuan Ziwen was a little suspicious.
Many academy guards had arrived by this time. Xuan Ziwen shot a glare at Huo Yuhao and walked out of the laboratory. He explained what had happened to the guards, telling them that something went wrong with his students’ experiments in the lab, and it had already been resolved.
Experimenting with soul tools was bound to give rise to all sorts of problems. The guards naturally knew that Xuan Ziwen was a reputable researcher from the Illustrious Virtue Hall, so they didn’t suspect the truth of his words and departed immediately afterward. Xuan Ziwen tinkered with the access control soul tool, and returned it to normal.
Ju Zi stared at Huo Yuhao and wanted to say something threatening, but nothing came out of her mouth. It was clear that this kid, who was actually younger than she was, had instilled a deep sense of fear in her.
She had brought three classmates back with her today to seek vengeance for what had happened the day before, when she was frozen by the Domain of Perpetual Ice. Even though she had recovered, she was shivering for pretty much the entire day afterwards, and it wasn’t that easy to recuperate. She was instantly infuriated when she thought about Huo Yuhao watching her secretly and even attacking her. She waited for her classmates to return before she recounted the episode, and everyone came to an easy consensus. They all agreed to show Huo Yuhao, this new student who had just arrived, who was boss around here.
However, never in Ju Zi’s dreams had she expected Huo Yuhao to overwhelm their combined strength. Even though the laboratory wasn’t big, and no one went all-out, Huo Yuhao’s movements were just too quick. He never gave them a chance to show their best, and then the battle was over. If teacher Xuan hadn’t arrived in the nick of time, she would probably have been struck down as well.
How did he do that? He didn’t use any soul tools, he was just relying on his power as a soul master.
Ju Zi had always been one of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s elites, and she was confident of passing the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s entry examination. Her research with soul tools had gone so deep that she was beginning to doubt the abilities of a soul master. From her perspective, a soul master of the same class would never be able to outmatch a soul engineer from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy like her.
But today, Huo Yuhao had completely turned her opinions around. Even though she wasn’t convinced, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of defeat and self-deprecation whenever she thought about Huo Yuhao’s three soul rings lighting up at the same time.
Huo Yuhao continued to act as if nothing had happened, and went back to cleaning the place up, especially the oranges that littered the ground.
Xuan Ziwen closed the lab door with a strange expression on his face and walked back to everyone. He checked the three collapsed students on the ground to make sure they were okay, but suddenly realized that he had a problem on his hands.
Huo Yuhao made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal, and that their lives weren’t in danger, but it wasn’t as simple as losing their fighting strength!
The only person that was in relatively good shape was the tiny young girl. Only her central nervous system had been frozen by Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice, and she ended up like Ju Zi on the first day, who had recovered after shivering for an entire day. The other two’s circumstances were a lot less optimistic.
The tall youth took a hit from Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Shock. Even though Huo Yuhao had limited his spiritual power, he gave his opponent a solid and ferocious hit in return for the humiliation. The powerful Spiritual Shock had caused the tall youth’s spiritual sea to disassemble and come apart. He was now in a coma, and he definitely wouldn’t wake up for a while. It was hard to say whether he would experience any sequelae when he woke up.
The handsome youth was in a slightly better situation. He had suffered a traumatic injury that Xuan Ziwen couldn’t identify, and there seemed to be some remnants of power left inside his body that were still wreaking havoc. It wasn’t that fierce, but Xuan Ziwen was an eight-ringed Soul Douluo, and even he couldn’t resolve it with all his power.
“Come here, Yuhao,” Xuan Ziwen waved towards Huo Yuhao.
“Yes?” Huo Yuhao walked over immediately.
Xuan Ziwen glanced at him with an inscrutable expression. He lowered his voice and said, “The three of them are my students. I know that you must have received some injustice, but you have wounded them in return, so let’s call it even. What do you think?”
It was Huo Yuhao’s turn to be shocked. He had originally expected Xuan Ziwen to chide or punish him, and he was mentally prepared for that eventuality. However, he didn’t expect teacher Xuan to resolve the issue so casually.
“I will listen to you.” Huo Yuhao answered like an obedient child.
Ju Zi watched from the side with a look of annoyance. She thought to herself, You little bastard, acting like an obedient and gentle little child in front of teacher Xuan. You were so fierce just a moment ago.
Xuan Ziwen continued, “You’re an exchange student, and you will be studying with us for two years. No matter what, they are still your seniors, and the academy prohibits fighting inside the laboratories. We’ll let this go, and I hope there won’t be a next time. Of course, I will control and restrict them. If they trouble you again, I will punish them according to the academy’s rules. However, you have to help me heal them, as I don’t wish for anything bad to happen to my students. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
“I understand.” Huo Yuhao didn’t mince his words, and pointed a finger the tall youth. “I can’t help him, teacher Xuan. I have only had my mother since I was young, but my mother is no longer around, and he called me a little bastard. There is nothing I can do to help him. Find a place to let him rest, and he will recover on his own after about half a month. However, he might experience some spiritual disorientation for a period of time.”
He immediately knelt down on the floor afterwards. He pressed down on the back of the tiny girl’s neck and withdrew his Ultimate Ice energy, before he walked beside the handsome youth and patted him on the body several times to neutralize the Supreme Reign’s mystical effects.
The two of them woke up one after the other. The tiny girl shivered violently, before she suddenly saw Huo Yuhao right next to her. She leapt to her feet and was about to erupt once again until Xuan Ziwen stopped her with a furious exclamation.
“Enough, Ke Ke. If you still want to cause trouble, get out of my sight.”
It was only then that the tiny girl, Ke Ke, realized Xuan Ziwen was present. She said with an aggrieved expression, “He’s a bully, teacher Xuan! He hit me! You have to get justice for me!” It was obvious that she was better than Ju Zi was at throwing tantrums.
Xuan Ziwen grunted coldly and muttered, “Do you think I don’t know who’s bullying who? How can you mess around with them, Zi Mu?”
The handsome youth, Zi Mu, had a look of exasperation as he replied, “Don’t be angry, teacher Xuan. We were wrong.” He didn’t push the issue, and Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but glance a few more times in his direction.
Xuan Ziwen said, “Wang Shaojie needs more time to rest. Send him back to the dormitory, and I will send a teacher responsible for healing students to see to him soon.”
“Yes,” Zi Mu acknowledged. He turned towards Huo Yuhao momentarily, and he couldn’t help but quiver when his eyes came across this youth for reasons he couldn’t explain, as if something in his spirit had been shattered.
Huo Yuhao met Zi Mu’s gaze calmly. He was much more familiar with Supreme Reign’s effects.
Supreme Reign was a mighty ability that combined physical and spiritual attacks. Once his opponent took a hit from Supreme Reign, their confidence would be crushed as well. His opponent would develop a fear of him, as if there were no way they could resist him the next time they encountered each other.
Zi Mu carried Wang Shaojie away, and Xuan Ziwen turned towards Yuhao with an exasperated look. “Ah, Yuhao. This is a little problematic. Wang Shaojie belongs to the royal family. Even though he’s not a direct member, he belongs to an aristocratic family that has been added to the royal family’s register. The academy needs to answer to them now that you have wounded him.”
Huo Yuhao lowered his head and said, “Everything is up to you, teacher Xuan.” He was ready to give and ready to take, and he knew he couldn’t be overly tough and stubborn if he wanted to continue studying at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. He was positive that teacher Xuan could do something about this with his status within the academy.
Indeed, Xuan Ziwen frowned and said, “Alright, that’s enough. Let me handle this. You can stay in the lab and clean everything up. Nobody will cause trouble for you again. If not, don’t blame me for not giving you another chance.” With that, he hurried away. Even though Huo Yuhao refused to help Wang Shaojie, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s medicinal prowess was relatively formidable, and it wouldn’t be hard for him to find someone to heal Wang Shaojie. This infighting would quickly be resolved as long as he was okay.
The laboratory door closed once again, and only Huo Yuhao, Ju Zi, and Ke Ke were left inside.
Huo Yuhao didn’t say anything else, and continued cleaning up the lab. Ke Ke and Ju Zi were extremely close and intimate, and they knew what the other was thinking the moment their gazes met. Ke Ke’s red lips shifted up and down, and she mouthed to Ju Zi, “This fellow is so powerful! Even four of us can’t take him down?!”
Ju Zi was a little unconvinced. “That’s because we’re inside the lab. If we were outside, and if we were given enough space, he would have no chance at all.” She didn’t suppress her voice, and intentionally said everything out loud.
Huo Yuhao pretended as if he hadn’t heard anything, and kept at what he was doing.
Ke Ke chimed in and harmonized with Ju Zi. “He’s a soul master. He has an advantage at close-range, but he doesn’t have a chance at a distance. We shall see when we’re on our expeditions, heh!”
Huo Yuhao suddenly straightened his back and stared at Ke Ke.
Ke Ke was taken by surprise and raised her hands to protect herself. She stammered nervously, “What are you doing?”
A mocking smile appeared on Huo Yuhao’s face. “Strength and ability doesn’t come from speech or from the mouth. You might as well spend the time researching or studying soul tools. I can help you if you need guidance or whatnot.”
The oranges on the floor had been swept into his storage-type soul tool at this point. He cleaned up the lab every single day, and it was spick and span in the blink of an eye.
He found a spot to sit down after completing his task, and quietly contemplated some questions for his teacher he had had regarding soul tools while he waited for Xuan Ziwen to come back.