Chapter 58.1: The Boundary Between Life and Death

Book 9: Escape

“Do you really want to buy that Thousand Year Whale Rubber?” Wang Dong looked at Huo Yuhao, feeling puzzled by his decision.

Huo Yuhao leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Quickly. There won’t be a second chance. This definitely isn’t Thousand Year Whale Rubber, but Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber. That’s why it’s black. Quickly, pay up! If someone else notices this item, we won’t have a chance to buy it anymore!”

Wang Dong was stunned. He naturally wouldn’t question Huo Yuhao further with the mutual trust they both had with one another. He immediately turned around and paid up at the sales counter located at the western end of the room.

That’s right, this Whale Rubber was ten thousand years old just as Huo Yuhao had said. Naturally, it was impossible for him to discern this with his own experience and knowledge. The Ice Empress was the one who had told him the answer.

Throughout the course of human history, Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber had been extremely rare. Thus, it was no wonder that no one in the Treasure Appreciation Auction recognised this item.

The sea was another haven for soul beasts. Rumor had it that the number of soul beasts in the sea was more than ten times those on land. Moreover, the soul beasts in the sea were ranked as well and whale-type soul beasts were unquestionably one of the overlords among sea soul beasts.

When humans entered the sea, they were practically like meat on a chopping board. No human had dared venture into the depths of the sea. As a result of that, though it was still possible to kill a thousand-year soul beast if one depended on a powerful soul master. The devilwhales were more than ten thousand years old and lived in the deep sea. On top of that, every single one of them was extremely powerful. Who would dare to make contact with their poisonous heads?

However, as luck would have it, this Whale Rubber came from a ten thousand year devilwhale. While normally Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber was dark yellow, this one was black. The difference in color was due to long-term changes in the weather. That was why no one had recognised it for what it really was.

To Huo Yuhao, this Whale Rubber was practically the best thing he could have found here. His biggest problem now was his body’s capacity to withstand more power from the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion and Skydream Iceworm.

Even though the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion couldn’t completely transfer her hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation into Huo Yuhao’s body, she had managed to compress and seal the most quintessential bit of her power in him. As long as Huo Yuhao’s body had enough strength to withstand it, she could help Huo Yuhao accelerate his cultivation efforts.

The Ice Empress was anxiously looking forward to the day when Huo Yuhao became powerful, so she naturally couldn’t let such a good item as this Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber slip through her fingers.

Wang Dong quickly returned after paying, and only then did Huo Yuhao show a relaxed look on his face. The Whale Rubber was not as eye-catching as the soul bone. A member of the staff from the Treasure Appreciation Pavilion retrieved the Whale Rubber from the display stand and handed it to Wang Dong. When he got it, Wang Dong immediately shoved it into Huo Yuhao’s hands.

“I hope we really didn’t make a mistake with this.” Wang Dong couldn’t help but think that they’d lost out as he looked at that black gooey item. This black Whale Rubber wasn’t fragrant at all. It was truly difficult for one to believe that it had come from a ten thousand-year-old devilwhale.

Huo Yuhao laughed mischievously and said, “Let’s go. We’ve already gotten the items we wanted. When I get back, I’ll get Teacher Zhou to find a teacher with a fire attribute martial soul to help us. We’ll automatically know whether it was worth it or not once we’ve eaten it.”

Wang Dong shook his head. “If you want to eat it, you can do so yourself. I’m not going to eat such a sticky thing. I have eaten a lot of this when I was younger because I was forced to do so by my family. After I fused with a thousand-year soul ring, I swore that I would never eat this sticky thing for the rest of my life.”

Huo Yuhao felt a light bulb go off in his head and said, “It’s no wonder your second soul ring is a thousand years old! Your family is really rich!”

The two chatted as they headed out. When they passed Bei Bei, they greeted their senior martial brother. Bei Bei asked them to head back first since he wanted to wait for Xu Sanshi who was still nagging Jiang Nannan in every possible way he could.

……

Sea God’s Island, Shrek Academy.

“What? It was that small guy, Huo Yuhao?” Ma Xiaotao looked at Yan Shaozhe with an incredulous look on her face.

Yan Shaozhe nodded and replied, “That’s right. It is highly likely that the cold soul power shock you received at that time came from Huo Yuhao. However, it’s also possible that he did so unconsciously. His second martial soul was still hidden at the time, so I reckon it protected its host of its own accord when it felt the attack from your Evil Phoenix Fire.”

With excitement written all over her face, Ma Xiaotao said, “That’s great! This is really great! Teacher, the demonic fire inside of me is driving me crazy. Xu Sanshi’s Mysterious Martial Turtle is after all only water-attribute and not an ice-attribute technique, so the effects are naturally worsening. With Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate ice-attribute, won’t I be able to break free from my current predicament? If that’s the case, I can represent the academy and attend the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, right?”

Yan Shaozhe nodded with a faint smile and said, “It just so happens that you’re not yet over twenty years old. If you can stabilise your martial soul, you’ll definitely be the winner in this year’s academy competition. I have no doubt about it.”

“That’s great! I can finally participate! I must look for Huo Yuhao now and make him suppress the demonic fire inside my body.” As she spoke, Ma Xiaotao turned around and ran outside.

Yan Shaozhe laughed and said, “You rascal, slow down. Huo Yuhao ought to have gone to Shrek City to attend the Treasure Appreciation Auction today.”

“I know.” Before her voice could be heard, Ma Xiaotao’s silhouette had already disappeared into the night sky.

Yan Shaozhe shook his head as he felt a little helpless. “It really is impossible to change your impetuous temperament. Who’s going to be daring enough to court her in the future?! There are so many outstanding disciples in the inner courtyard and yet not a single one dares to woo her. Other than Le Xuan, Xiaotao is the most gifted student amongst the female students. I hope that Yuhao’s Ultimate martial soul can gradually quell the demonic fire inside her body and allow her to become a true fire phoenix, like her ancestors.”

……

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong left Shrek City feeling rather pleased. Even though they didn’t know what soul skill Wang Dong would get from the golden right arm bone, they could clearly see that this was an impressively powerful soul bone from its price!

It had cost them a whopping 9.5 million gold soul coins. Huo Yuhao had been somewhat nervous when he’d paid for it as he hadn’t expected his transaction with the Treasure Gathering Pavilion would be this easy. The favor he owed them this time was too great. Even Wang Dong owed the academy a large favor now.

Huo Yuhao always made sure to clearly remember the favors and insults he received. He’d never forgotten for a second the debt he owed Shrek Academy.

“Fuse with that Whale Rubber tonight when you get back. I’ll protect you when I get the soul bone tomorrow. With this soul bone, I’m now confident that I compete with Dai Huabin on even footing even if I were to face him alone.” Wang Dong waved his fist as he spoke. Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but smile when he saw Wang Dong in such high spirits.

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao were all currently growing at an astonishing speed. Once Wang Dong fused with his soul bone, their collective strength would take another huge step forward. At that time, they would really deserve the title of being the strongest group in Year 2.

With regards to Dai Huabin, Huo Yuhao had already gradually buried his hatred towards the other party. Dai Huabin had been defeated twice and had been made to kowtow, acknowledging his defeat. That had gone a long way to liberating the stifling feeling he had in his heart.

At that moment, the Skydream Iceworm’s voice rang out within Huo Yuhao’s mind, warning him of danger. “Yuhao, there’s a murderous aura directed towards you.”

Even though Huo Yuhao was still young, he’d accumulated a considerable amount of combat experience. Hence, he didn’t react in an obvious manner after he heard the Skydream Iceworm’s warning. It was at times like these that he had to remain calm.

He didn’t change his walking speed and even retained the smile he had on his face. The only difference was that he had already quietly spread his Spiritual Detection Sharing to Wang Dong.

Wang Dong was slightly startled at first but immediately understood something was amiss due to the tacit understanding he had with Huo Yuhao. He stopped talking for a moment and glanced at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao quickly released his Spiritual Detection to its maximum range. Sure enough, he felt a hidden killing intent not far away from him. However, the range of his Spiritual Detection wasn’t great enough and thus he wasn’t able to accurately determine who his opponents were.

Huo Yuhao took the initiative and pulled Wang Dong’s hand back. He tightly clasped Wang Dong’s hand which was softer and more tender than that of a female’s. When he did so, the Haodong Power immediately connected in their bodies.

Huo Yuhao’s expression didn’t change, but he spoke under his breath, “There are people in front who are waiting to ambush us. We are further from the academy than we are Shrek City, so when I count to three, we’re going to turn around and run back towards Shrek City as fast as we can. Understand?”

Wang Dong spoke in a low tone, “Do you have any idea who they might be??”

“I don’t know, but they’re emitting a murderous aura. Let’s hide in Shrek City first and discuss it later. Get ready.”

The killing intent grew increasingly dense as they walked forward. Huo Yuhao carefully sent his Spiritual Detection towards the root of the killing intent and immediately increased the range of his detection. Two hundred meters away from them, a group of six people was quietly lying in wait. From the thick soul power on their bodies, Huo Yuhao could tell that they were opponents that the two of them could not go up against.

“One!” Huo Yuhao spoke in a low tone, but he didn’t slow down. At this moment, he definitely couldn’t let the enemy discover the changes in their movements.

“Two…”

“Three! Run!”

Huo Yuhao let out a low roar and abruptly carried Wang Dong as he ran in the opposite direction. At the same time, he quickly placed a metal plate on his back. A ball of dazzling white light lit up and Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were immediately propelled forwards. They were just like a white shooting star as they made a beeline for the northern gate of Shrek City.

It was evident that the six people who had been fully prepared to ambush the duo had never expected the two of them to suddenly take a detour. Seeing their prey getting away, the six were taken aback. It was in this short time span that Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong dashed far into the distance with all their might. A gorgeous mixture of blue and gold from the Radiant Butterfly Goddess’ wings burst forth in the sky. In that moment, the scene had already changed to one in which Huo Yuhao was hugging Wang Dong’s legs.

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