"Run!" Huo Yuhao shouted without hesitation, grabbing Wang Dong and fleeing at full speed. At the same time, a delicate soul tool unfolded from his back, spitting out dazzling white flames that pushed them forward like a white meteor streaking across the night, racing toward Shrek City.
"Trying to run? Too late!" From the shadows, a black figure darted out like a ghost.
A black-robed, masked man—his mask emblazoned with "Fourteen"—his hands instantly became pitch-black spider blades, slashing at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong with murderous intent.
Six soul rings—two yellow, two purple, two black—shone on his body, shocking Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong to the core.
Soul Emperor level! And with the optimal ring configuration—on par with the outer court teachers at Shrek Academy, far beyond what two juniors could contend with.
Wang Dong reacted instantly, his blue-gold butterfly wings unfolding as he pushed Huo Yuhao away, narrowly dodging a fatal blow.
Huo Yuhao responded just as quickly; as he pulled away, a dazzling red light appeared in his hand.
He fired the red light into the sky, where it exploded into brilliant fireworks visible all over Shrek City—their emergency signal.
"Finish it quickly—kill!" A cold, crisp command shattered the silence.
The speaker appeared in snowy white, a chilling white mask marked "Thirteen." Her six optimal soul rings revealed her strength—she was also a rare spiritual-type Soul Emperor, and clearly the one in charge.
With her order, four ghostly figures—two in white, two in black, masks marked Seventeen and Eighteen, Sixteen and Seventeen—emerged from the darkness. Each had five soul rings, Soul King level, not Soul Emperor.
Such a powerful lineup, just to kill a Soul Elder and a Soul Grandmaster—using a cannon to kill a mosquito, but the 200,000 gold soul coins payout demanded it.
Huo Yuhao's target was clear; all attacks poured toward him, Wang Dong ignored.
Huo Yuhao stayed calm, activating Spiritual Detection to lock onto every move.
He produced a miniature soul tool, firing several black crossbow bolts like meteors toward the four pursuers.
Simultaneously, Wang Dong's butterfly wings flashed as he closed the distance, channeling his soul power into Huo Yuhao. Their teamwork was flawless.
With Wang Dong's boost, Huo Yuhao's eyes blazed purple-gold, and he hit Black Fourteen with a full-force Spiritual Shock.
Black Fourteen's mind exploded with thunderous pain, sending him flying like a broken kite.
"Wang Dong, take to the air!" Huo Yuhao shouted.
He was relieved—the enemy lacked flying soul masters or Soul Sages. Ascending was their only chance.
His two soul rings silently shifted to one under his clothes, revealing a mysterious green tattoo.
Wang Dong, informed by the shared Spiritual Detection, felt the pressure of their rapidly approaching foes—despair rising.
But he followed Huo Yuhao's command, pulling him up into the sky.
"Hmph—Mist Blades Barrage!" White Thirteen snorted.
Her martial soul—Phantom Mist Ghost, a rare spiritual-variant—flared as her fourth soul ring lit up. Gray mist condensed into thousands of blades, forming a deadly storm that shot at the airborne Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
"Yuhao!" Wang Dong shouted in fear, feeling the deadly threat approach.
"Ice Emperor's Wrath!" At the critical moment, Huo Yuhao suddenly drew in Wang Dong's soul power.
He lit up with a brilliant green glow, the outline of a green skeletal form appearing.
A dazzling pillar of green shot from his chest, freezing everything in its path, even White Thirteen's mental mist.
White Thirteen gasped, blood trickling from her nose and mouth, stunned by the familiar chill—a power she'd only felt from Ice Moon Jingliu.
After releasing Ice Emperor's Wrath, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were drained, barely able to float, not fly.
Though they'd repelled Black Fourteen and White Thirteen, four Soul King assassins remained.
At that dire moment, three familiar figures arrived.
Lightning roared—a dragon of thunder surged; a virtual Black Tortoise shielded Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
The third, after recognizing the enemy's attire, hesitated for a heartbeat, but then shot into the air, leaping between trees before delivering a powerful kick.
A few minutes earlier, when the red signal flared over the city, Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi recognized it as the core disciples' distress signal—realizing it must be Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, they rushed out instantly.
At that same moment, atop a seven-story tower, Ningguang also saw the signal.
"That's a core disciple's distress flare? Here in Shrek City?" Behind her, a girl of fourteen or fifteen, golden-haired and stunning, spoke in surprise.
"Could it be Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong?" the girl worried, recalling seeing them leave earlier.
"You know them?" Ningguang asked.
"I think so—one's the junior who sells grilled fish at the Academy, the one I brought you some from last time," the girl replied, hesitating as though wanting to say more.
"Go if you want. I told you, you're free. Saving your mother was an investment in your talent, not a shackle," Ningguang smiled gently.
"Thank you, Sister Ningguang." The girl's eyes filled with gratitude. She leaped from the seventh floor, moving between rooftops like a nimble rabbit, racing toward the city gate.