Volume 19, Chapter 170.1: Injury! Death! A Human Heart
The Dragoncarving Pillar was a vicious torturing tool. The spikes didn’t pierce out instantly. Rather, they stabbed out slowly, penetrating one’s skin bit by bit. It was designed to prolong the victim’s suffering.
However, the Royal Stewards didn’t hear Huo Yuhao screaming. A layer of golden-red light came out from Huo Yuhao’s body the moment the spikes touched him. The spikes were stopped, and couldn’t pierce his skin.
The sudden appearance of the golden-red light caused the Royal Stewards to be shocked. They unleashed their martial souls in response.
“Impossible! How can he still use a soul skill even after being cuffed by the Dragonbinding Seal? Wait, it’s just a soul tool.”
Second Brother revealed a terrified look on his face.
Although he wasn’t a soul engineer, he was still familiar with soul tools as a member of the Sun Moon Empire’s imperial family. The Dragonbinding Seal was very effective in restraining a soul master. If Huo Yuhao is able to activate his soul tool even though his soul power is being restrained by the Dragonbinding Seal, then it means that his soul tool’s class is higher than the Dragonbinding Seal. The Dragonbinding Seal was a Class 6 soul tool, so what class was Huo Yuhao’s defensive soul tool?
Even at this point, these arrogant Royal Stewards still didn’t realize anything was amiss with this situation. Their eyes brightened, greed starting to fill them.
Even if Huo Yuhao was only using a Class 7 defensive soul tool, it would still be worth a huge price on the market. Even if they divided the money, they would benefit greatly. While they were Royal Stewards, their salary wasn’t too high. In addition, they weren't all direct descendants of the imperial family, which made their statuses very awkward in the imperial city. They obtained all their money through ill-gotten gains abusing their authority as Royal Stewards.
“You still dare to resist?” Second Brother snorted, “Even if your defensive soul tool is a higher class than the Dragonbinding Seal, your soul power is limited. We’ll see how long you can hold on. When your soul power is finally depleted, the spikes will pierce through your body, and you’ll be torn apart instantly.”
Huo Yuhao sighed in his heart. One could be spared from Heaven’s misdoings, but one couldn’t live from his own sins! Huo Yuhao didn’t want to cause any trouble, but they were just too underhanded. If he allowed them to torture him as they pleased, he might not survive until help arrived. It seemed like he still had to take care of them in the end.
Huo Yuhao’s eyes turned golden as he pondered.
As a spiritual-type soul master, how could he be so easily restrained by others? Not to mention, Hongchen’s Blessing completely overpowered the Dragonbinding Seal. This meant that this Class 6 soul tool could barely even restrict him. Furthermore, the main skills of his Spirit Eyes used spiritual power. In this way, it was completely possible for him to still use his Spirit Eye’s soul skills. It was even easier for him to break free from this Dragoncarving Pillar.
Huo Yuhao unleashed his immense physical strength. As they said, he couldn’t allow his soul power to continue depleting. With the Imitation skill active, the Royal Stewards couldn’t even tell that Huo Yuhao’s soul rings were out, let alone shining. His fourth soul ring lit up now.
Just when he was about to use Spiritual Confusion to create an opening, the golden light in his eyes disappeared. Even the golden-red light barrier protecting him, was retracted.
He groaned, and the spikes made holes all over his chest, back, and legs. Blood splattered everywhere. Not only this, but Huo Yuhao’s struggle caused the healing wounds on his back to tear open once more. He was instantly bathed in blood.
Second Brother was stunned for a moment, while Old Four couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “An I thought you were tough for a moment there! It seems like you’re just as useless as we initially thought you were! We’ve done you in.”
Huo Yuhao tolerated the intense pain coming from his back. There was a mischievous look in his eyes right now.
“Who’s going to stop me?” A loud, furious roar sounded out, causing the entire place to shake from its echoes.
The few people in the interrogation room were stunned. Following this, a boom sounded, and the door was kicked open.
A gloomy-looking Jing Hongchen barged in with Lin Jiayi.
When Jing Hongchen saw the state of Huo Yuhao, his pupils shrank.
“Old fellow, just who do you think you are? How dare you cause trouble here?” Old Four was far too arrogant, and didn’t bother to think about just who could barge in here like this.
However, Jing Hongchen’s eyes were already filled with killing intent before he’d even finished speaking. He made a pulling motion with his right hand, and a powerful suction force dragged Old Four over.
Seeing that things weren't going well, Second Brother leapt towards Jing Hongchen along with the other Royal Stewards.
“Scram!” Jing Hongchen roared, and a gust of milky-white gas blew the five of them away. Jing Hongchen’s nine soul rings appeared at this point.
“Titled Douluo…” Second Brother exclaimed. Although he was in physical pain, from hitting the corner of the wall, he was more affected by the shock of what he just experienced.
The Sun Moon Empire couldn’t compare to the Star Luo Empire in terms of the quantity of their Titled Douluo. While Titled Douluo were highly-regarded in every empire, this was especially so for the Sun Moon Empire. No matter how arrogant the Royal Stewards were, they didn’t dare to offend a Titled Douluo!
Lin Jiayi had rushed to Huo Yuhao by now and stopped the Dragoncarving Pillar. He was shocked as he saw Huo Yuhao’s bloody body. He quickly retrieved a small white jade bottle from his storage-type soul tool. After a moment’s hesitation, he took out an azure-green pill and stuffed it into Huo Yuhao’s mouth. Then he released Huo Yuhao from the Dragoncarving Pillar.
Jing Hongchen furrowed his brow. If their statuses weren’t high, he would’ve killed them all. However, they were Royal Stewards, and had some close ties with the imperial family. He couldn’t slaughter them.
He took a few steps towards Huo Yuhao and asked, “How are you?”
Huo Yuhao looked a little pale, but his calm demeanor left Jing Hongchen uncomfortable. Jing Hongchen rather wished he would kick up a fuss. A chill rose in Jing Hongchen’s heart as he watched Huo Yuhao.
“I just didn’t think that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy would be unable to protect its own students.” While Huo Yuhao didn’t sound very angry or upset, his words struck right at Jing Hongchen’s heart.
Jing Hongchen’s wrath was stirred, and he unwittingly clenched his fist tightly. His obstinate and self-opinionated personality had always been his weak point. Huo Yuhao didn’t make this astute observation. Rather, this was the verdict of Shrek Academy after they’d studied him for years.
“Let’s return before we speak. The academy will give you a satisfactory explanation regarding this matter.” Jing Hongchen suppressed his fury before turning away. Lin Jiayi hurriedly slung Huo Yuhao’s arm over his shoulder and helped him out of the interrogation room.
The pill Lin Jiayi fed Huo Yuhao was indeed extraordinary. A warm feeling engulfed Huo Yuhao’s entire body. He could clearly sense the pain receding as the warmth circulated through his body. The bleeding wounds quickly healed, and even his soul power was restored.
However, a voice sounded from outside before Jing Hongchen could walk out of the interrogation room. “The Crown Prince arrives.”
Jing Hongchen was stunned. He was very confused, but he stopped in his tracks. Although he wasn’t involved in court politics, he was still aware of the powers of the princes’. The Royal Stewards weren’t under the Crown Prince, but were instead supported by the Third Prince. The prince that controlled the imperial clan, Xu Mochen’s father, was the Third Prince’s strongest supporter.
“Go back into the interrogation room.” Xu Tianran said slowly.
“Greetings to Your Highness.” Xu Mochen couldn’t remain silent anymore.
Xu Mochen knew that things had gone terribly wrong when Jing Hongchen had barged in. How could he not recognize the Hallmaster of the Illustrious Virtue Hall? Huo Yuhao didn’t exaggerate his importance in the slightest. Xu Mochen could roughly guess what it meant for Jing Hongchen to come here personally.
However, he didn’t reveal himself when that happened. He didn’t enter the interrogation room because he wanted to leave himself a way out. Jing Hongchen had come too suddenly, and he couldn’t count on his subordinates to have found anything substantial. He just hoped that Huo Yuhao wasn’t harmed too badly. Otherwise, it would be very troublesome for him. If Huo Yuhao wasn’t hurt too bad he was just going to play ignorant. Without enough evidence on him, Jing Hongchen couldn’t touch him easily. After all, he believed he was standing on the side of reason.
But who knew that the Crown Prince Xu Tianran would arrive before Jing Hongchen had even left?
Xu Mochen could ignore Jing Hongchen, but he definitely couldn’t ignore Xu Tianran.
Xu Tianran looked at Xu Mochen with a gentle gaze in his eyes and said, “Mochen, rise. We’re all from the same family. You don’t have to be so ceremonious. I heard from Ju Zi that you arrested one of her classmates. Can you give me some face and let them go?”
Xu Mochen would never underestimate Xu Tianran just because he was being so courteous. On the contrary, he was keenly aware of Xu Tianran’s methods. When the Second Prince had tried to have Xu Tianren assassinated, he failed, and only left him with a disability.
After Xu Tianran returned however, he remained patient for a short while then erupted in fury. He captured the Second Prince and his charges in one fell swoop. Eventually, the Second Prince died a horrible death, and Xu Tianran reaffirmed his position as the Crown Prince even though he was disabled. This showed how frightening Xu Tianran was.
“That won’t be a problem.” Xu Mochen wasn't qualified to bicker with Xu Tianran. Even his master, the Third Prince, wouldn't dare to do so. Usually Xu Tianran would never bow down to anyone, unless his father was around.