After the other powerhouses of the Sea God Family departed, only the Sea God Douluo Chen Juntao and the Sea Dragon Douluo remained at Shrek Academy.
Compared to Di Tian, who was currently bidding farewell to Chen Junting and tearing through space to return to the Great Star Dou Forest, Chen Juntao looked toward Xuan Zi. He already knew who was in charge of Shrek Academy, so naturally, this person should be the one to arrange their room and board.
Thus, his words carried an inquiring tone, "Sir, for the time being, we shall be imposing on you."
Xuan Zi waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's no imposition, no imposition at all. We will have thorough arrangements made at a top-tier hotel in Shrek City. The environment is comfortable, and the service is attentive; it will certainly satisfy the two of you."
Unexpectedly, Chen Juntao shook his head. "Actually, the two of us would prefer to stay here."
Here? Xuan Zi quickly reacted, following his gaze backward, and realized that he was referring to the Sea God Pavilion.
Actually, Xuan Zi could understand the Sea God Douluo's choice. Because aside from being a treasure land for cultivation, the main body of the Sea God Pavilion—the Golden Ancient Tree—contained the Light of the Sea God, which was the most important thing to the Sea God Douluo and the Sea Dragon Douluo. After all, as the priests of the Sea God, staying in a place imbued with the Light of the Sea God was undoubtedly the most comfortable option.
But this... A trace of hesitation flashed through Xuan Zi's eyes, which Chen Juntao caught. This made him frown slightly as he questioned, "Can we not be accommodated in the Sea God Pavilion? Sir, we have already agreed to let your side send people to the Sea God Family to participate in the Divine Trial; this is a demonstration of our sincerity, and yet you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xuan Zi's face revealed a look of difficulty. The Sea God Pavilion was the core restricted area of Shrek Academy, and it had always been against the rules to casually arrange for outsiders to stay there. However, Chen Juntao's words made sense; they had allowed their people to participate in the Divine Trial, which was sincere enough. If his side refused, it would seem like they were in the wrong.
Thus, after pondering for a moment, Xuan Zi stated, "Sir, this matter is somewhat complicated. Although I am the Master of the Sea God Pavilion, it is not a one-man decision. I must discuss it with the other senior elders; please wait a moment."
Chen Juntao nodded in understanding. Xuan Zi then called over the senior elders to discuss the matter. After weighing the pros and cons, they ultimately agreed to Chen Juntao's request.
Afterward, Xuan Zi personally led the Sea God Douluo and the Sea Dragon Douluo to the Sea God Pavilion to arrange their rooms. He also called the senior elders to join them, deciding to discuss exactly which three people from Shrek Academy they should send to the Sea God Family for the Divine Trial.
On the way, the Sea God Douluo also called Wang Dong'er aside. This time, Wang Dong'er didn't refuse. However, as Huo Yuhao watched her back, even though she signaled for him not to worry, a trace of worry still flashed through his eyes.
This scene was also witnessed by Chen Junting, who had just finished seeing Di Tian off. Thus, Chen Junting walked up to Huo Yuhao, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Yuhao, come with me for a moment."
This pat immediately brought him back to his senses. "Big Brother Junting."
Chen Junting nodded, then turned his gaze to Ning Tian and the others who were looking over. "Xiao Tian, you guys go to the Nine Treasure Pavilion and wait for us first. We'll discuss the candidates for the Divine Trial later." "Alright."
"Yuhao, let's go over there." After giving his instructions, Chen Junting led Huo Yuhao toward the shores of the Sea God Lake, remaining silent the entire way. It wasn't until they reached the bank, where the aquatic plants were lush and the surroundings were quiet and pleasant, that he stopped. He looked at Huo Yuhao and pointed to the stone bench by the shore. "Let's sit down and chat."
Huo Yuhao sat down as instructed without the slightest doubt, but still asked, "Big Brother Junting, what did you need me for?"
"You know and you're still asking?" The corners of his lips curved up slightly as he let out a teasing scold, but Chen Junting's expression quickly returned to normal. His gaze turned incomparably serious as he said, "Yuhao, you still remember what I told you in the Mermaid Clan's territory, right? Now, you should tell me: what is the current progress on the emotion-type self-created soul skill I asked you to research and develop?"
At the mention of this, Huo Yuhao pursed his lips. "I've completed the initial framework, but..." He paused slightly, a hint of helplessness revealing itself amidst his frown. "The time has simply been too short. Out of the seven emotional soul skills, only two or three have seen any progress. And even the ones that have progressed are unsatisfactory in terms of power; there's still a huge gap from the expected effect. The role they play in actual combat is extremely limited. It's hard to gain an advantage even against opponents of the same tier relying on these soul skills."
"A lack of major progress isn't scary; what's scary is having no clue." Chen Junting reached out and patted his shoulder in comfort. Immediately after, he changed the subject. "Yuhao, show me the move you're best at." His gaze was piercing and powerful, brimming with inquiry.
Huo Yuhao nodded and immediately stood up. Chen Junting followed suit, taking a step forward and arriving on the surface of the Sea God Lake. With his hands clasped behind his back, he said, "Come."
"Ice Empress." With a single call, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion Martial Soul possessed him. At the same time, the Ice Empress's soul spirit flew out from Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit, transforming into a slender, fiery woman who stood by his side. In the next moment, she shook her body and transformed into her Ice Jade Empress Scorpion True Body form.
"Big Brother Junting, please be careful." Chen Junting didn't speak; he merely extended his hand and beckoned with his fingers.
The next moment, a bone-chilling cold erupted from Huo Yuhao's body, and simultaneously, a surge of spiritual power was acutely sensed by Chen Junting. The combination of Ultimate Ice attribute soul power and spiritual power. *Not bad.* While nodding secretly, Chen Junting's anticipation remained.
The surrounding air went from a slight fluctuation to gradually freezing over. At this moment, it was as if Huo Yuhao and the Ice Empress were on the exact same frequency. If one were to close their eyes and rely solely on perception, there would only be a single entity in their "sight."
And this was not the end. A force of emotion had already superimposed itself onto the combination of soul power and spiritual power within Huo Yuhao. If Elder Mu's "Sovereign's Descent" was a combination of soul power, spiritual power, and willpower, using himself as the epicenter of the eruption, then Huo Yuhao's current masterpiece was a combination of soul power, spiritual power, and emotion, using his soul spirit as the epicenter of the eruption—blazing a trail for his own path of emotion-type self-created soul skills.
And the emotion he was drawing upon right now was none other than "Anger"! For Huo Yuhao, the three negative emotions among the seven—"Anger," "Hatred," and "Disgust"—were his best choices. It wasn't that he lacked positive emotions or didn't have many; it was simply because these three negative emotions were the most extreme feelings Huo Yuhao possessed before he killed the White Tiger Duke's wife.
At this moment, everything converged onto the Ice Empress soul spirit. The next second, a beam of Ultimate Ice Light violently erupted forth!
Seeing this, Chen Junting raised a single hand. A small sword, condensed purely from sword intent, appeared in the center of his palm, positioned at his very front. Like a needle meeting an awl, it blocked the Ultimate Ice Light.
Whoosh—
The small sword shifted slightly, and a sword aura slashed out. As the Ultimate Ice Light was shattered, Chen Junting fell silent. Because the overall performance... could only be described as unsatisfactory.
Chen Junting frowned repeatedly and spoke bluntly, "This won't do. Yuhao, you will be going to Sea God Island with Wang Dong'er this time. Your purpose in going is to use this aspect to attract the attention of the God of Emotions, making him focus his gaze on you or both of you. Only in this way can we, to a certain extent, prevent Tang San from making any underhanded moves against Wang Dong'er. Even if he does act, he would have to be wary of the God of Emotions' existence and wouldn't dare to do as he pleases. Therefore, whether you can create a powerful emotion-type self-created soul skill is of paramount importance."
"But your current self-created soul skill still has major issues." Huo Yuhao naturally understood the gravity of the matter. At the mention of Wang Dong'er, his expression turned resolute. Yet, regarding the emotion-type self-created soul skill... while his face revealed his difficulty, he also sought guidance with an open mind. "Big Brother Junting, please teach me."
Regarding this, Chen Junting held nothing back and directly pointed out Huo Yuhao's biggest issues. "Your problems primarily lie in two areas. First, when I asked you to develop a soul skill in combination with your soul spirit, I didn't mean for you to simply use the soul spirit to launch the attack. You need to integrate the soul spirit's strengths for a more viable development. Take the Ice Empress, for instance—" At this point, the Ice Empress happened to transform back into her human form. Seeing this, Chen Junting waved his hand at her. "Change back to your beast form for a moment." "No problem."
So, after the Ice Empress reverted to her beast form, Chen Junting pointed at the soul spirit's body and said, "Look, Yuhao. Aside from her Ultimate Ice, the Ice Empress's proudest and most advantageous asset is her physique, especially those two massive pincers. Therefore, you should be combining your attacks in that direction, not just shooting beams directly at each other."
Seeing the thoughtful expression on Huo Yuhao's face, Chen Junting continued, "Compared to the first point, this second point is the real issue. Your guidance of emotions is far too crude and slow. You actually have to recall, feel, and then combine them. By the time you finish this entire sequence, the flowers will have already wilted. So, if you want to speed this up and perfect it, your emotional deployment must be much more rapid. The transition and recovery must also be fast; ideally, you should be able to mobilize your emotions without experiencing any emotional fluctuations yourself."
"Of course." At this point, Chen Junting's tone shifted slightly. "This is extremely difficult, but it is absolutely achievable."
Hearing this, a trace of hesitation flashed through Huo Yuhao's eyes. "But I'm afraid we won't have enough time."
Chen Junting looked at Huo Yuhao, pondered for a moment, and said, "I have a method that might help you break through your bottleneck."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up. "Big Brother Junting, what method?"
"It involves constructing an illusion and having you sink into it to experience a special ordeal. This experience will inevitably subject you to extreme suffering and provoke intense emotional fluctuations. Through this extreme method, it will stimulate your comprehension of the power of emotions. However, the process will be incredibly painful. Do you want to give it a try?"
"Yes!" Huo Yuhao didn't hesitate in the slightest, his gaze exceptionally resolute. "To protect Dong'er, and to gain that attention, I'm willing to try any method! No matter how painful, I can endure it!"
Chen Junting nodded, neither expressing satisfaction nor dissatisfaction. "In that case, first have your seven great soul spirits make a move in your Sea of Spirit to block your perception. That way, you won't be able to tell whether you are sinking into an illusion or not, allowing you to immerse yourself completely."
Huo Yuhao naturally did as instructed. As he sank into his mind, the Ice Empress also returned to the Sea of Spirit. "Brother Tianmeng, and everyone else, I'll leave it to you."
"Yuhao, just leave the operating to me, your bro." The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm gave a thumbs up, looking quite confident.
The next second, the ten golden rings on his body erupted with dazzling radiance, flooding Huo Yuhao's entire Sea of Spirit. Seeing this, the Ice Empress said, "Let's begin too." As her words fell, the remaining six great soul spirits released a soft glow within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit, enveloping his perception layer by layer and gradually shielding off all external interference.
Huo Yuhao only felt the scene before his eyes gradually blur. His consciousness also became somewhat hazy, as if he were falling into a dense fog. His head felt heavy and dizzy, as if he could fall asleep at any moment.
Seeing that Huo Yuhao was ready, Chen Junting muttered incantations under his breath. Then, he simply extended a finger and pressed it against Huo Yuhao's glabella. Mysterious lines flew out from his fingertips, shimmering with a strange light. They swirled and danced around his forehead before slowly tracing out an array formation right at Huo Yuhao's glabella.
As the array patterns merged and the formation took shape, the surrounding air began to distort, and the light grew chaotic. A phantom and bizarre world quietly took form within Huo Yuhao's mind. As for the hazy mist swirling around his body, it was merely caused by the aftershocks.
The illusion array currently acting upon Huo Yuhao had been improved; it far surpassed the initial illusion array used on Xiao Hongchen, and was more than capable of affecting Huo Yuhao, who was trapped within it. However, the content still needed to be specially customized so that Huo Yuhao would fully experience the seven emotions—and they had to be incredibly intense!
For instance…
"Let's set it in a modern city, hmm... referencing the environmental style of the Sun Moon Empire. Then, the first chapter will start with a Dragon King returning to snatch away his childhood sweetheart. Huo Yuhao will be the one getting snatched from, the Dragon King will take Tang San's appearance, and the childhood sweetheart will take Wang Dong'er's appearance. After that, we'll throw in some melodramatic soap opera plots... add a little carriage accident, a little cancer, and then, just when they finally manage to get married, it turns out they are actually biological siblings..."
"Uh..." Watching the illusion array take shape, Chen Junting hesitated for a moment even as he let out a breath of relief. Was this content going a bit too far? He was genuinely afraid that Huo Yuhao would "kill" him afterward.
Hmm... then again, maybe he'll kill Tang San first.
Regardless, he didn't plan on changing the content. Chen Junting was well aware that this illusion array would be a colossal test for Huo Yuhao, but it was also an absolutely golden opportunity for a breakthrough.
"Yuhao, the rest is up to you. I hope you gain something from the illusion and successfully break through that 'bottleneck'."
Looking at the sleeping Huo Yuhao, Chen Junting waved his hand, effortlessly and casually lifting him onto the stone bench so he could lie down comfortably.
Little did he know, Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit was already in an uproar.
"Holy crap! Holy crap! That's badass!"
While shielding Huo Yuhao's perception, the Sea of Spirit was simultaneously projecting the illusion he was currently experiencing to the seven great soul spirits. Interestingly, the scenes presented in this illusion were something that not even the soul spirits—let alone the people of this era—had ever seen before. This left the group of soul spirits staring unblinking; one could say the only thing missing was a bucket of popcorn.
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