Huo Yuhao crouched behind a thick wenlan tree, his Spiritual Detection silently extending in all directions.
The situation inside the cave became increasingly clear.
Dozens of figures moved in various corners of the cave; some were counting loot, some were drinking and chatting, and others were lying in corners, snoring loudly.
Their Spirit Power fluctuations were uneven; most were between the second and third rings, with only two possessing stronger auras at the level of a Five-Ring Soul King.
Huo Yuhao silently estimated the strength gap between the two sides.
With his current strength, facing these dozens of Evil Soul Masters head-on wasn't without a chance of victory.
After all, his Spirit Ring configuration, Spirit Ability power, and combat experience far exceeded those of Spirit Masters at the same level.
However, as Huo Yuhao's gaze swept over the dense piles of bones in the cave and the human skins hanging on the stone walls, his brow furrowed slightly.
"Corpse Slaves."
Those bandits had mentioned this term just now; the enemies' Spirits and abilities were definitely related to corpses.
Moreover, the cave was their territory, and there might be traps hidden inside.
Rushing in blindly would be too risky.
Huo Yuhao's mind worked rapidly, and he soon had a plan.
"Lure them out? No."
He shook his head, rejecting the idea.
Although he could use Soul Shock for long-range attacks, once he made a move, it would definitely alert those inside.
If the enemies scattered and fled, it would be difficult for him to stop them all alone.
If even a few escaped to harm others later, it would be a problem.
The best way was to give them no chance to react and eliminate them all at once.
Huo Yuhao lifted his wrist and glanced at his Storage Soul Tool.
Inside were a few Medicinal Pills to restore Mental Force, which he had exchanged for with Contribution Points at the academy for emergencies.
That's enough.
He took a deep breath, stood up, and through the layers of trees, locked onto the direction of the cave.
In the next moment, Huo Yuhao's eyes suddenly lit up!
Soul Shock!
An invisible mental fluctuation shot out from Huo Yuhao's brow like an invisible giant hammer, ruthlessly smashing into every consciousness inside the cave!
Silently, the movements of those dozens of Evil Soul Masters in the cave all froze at the same instant.
Some were lifting wine glasses, their hands stopping mid-air; some were speaking, their voices cutting off abruptly; some were lying in corners snoring, their snores stopping instantly.
Their eyes became hollow and dull, their pupils dilated, and their entire bodies became like puppets whose Souls had been snatched away.
Three seconds later.
"Thud—thud—thud—"
Body after body fell, lying scattered across the floor.
Some knocked over stone tables, spilling wine and food everywhere; some rolled off stone chairs, crashing into their companions; some fell directly from high places, making dull thudding sounds.
Dozens of Evil Soul Masters, including the two Five-Ring Soul King leaders, had all lost consciousness.
Huo Yuhao retracted his Spiritual Detection and shook his head slightly.
Launching a Soul Shock against so many targets at once was indeed a significant drain on his Mental Force, but for his current self, it was still acceptable.
Especially against these two- and three-ring Evil Soul Masters who had never specifically trained their Mental Force, and those two leaders who, despite being five-ring, still had weak Mental Force, it was more than enough.
He took out a Mental Force restoration Medicinal Pill, tossed it into his mouth, and chewed lightly; the pill turned into a warm current that surged into his Sea of Consciousness, and his depleted Mental Force began to slowly recover.
Huo Yuhao stepped out from behind the tree and walked toward the cave with large strides.
He pushed aside the hanging vines at the cave entrance, and a foul stench hit him; he frowned slightly, held his breath, and entered the cave.
On the stone walls, those human skins were still swaying slightly, looking exceptionally eerie in the dim light. Bones and debris were scattered on the ground, and the air was thick with the smell of blood and decay.
Huo Yuhao didn't look much at those things, instead walking into the middle of the fallen Evil Soul Masters.
He crouched down, pressing one hand against the ground.
In the next moment, the ice-attribute Spirit Power within his body surged wildly!
Crack—crack—crack—
A thin layer of frost spread from his palm, expanding in all directions at an incredible speed! The frost covered the ground, the stone walls, and those Evil Soul Masters lying on the floor.
In the blink of an eye, the dozens of bandit bodies were all frozen into ice sculptures.
Huo Yuhao stood up, his gaze sweeping over the ice sculptures as he coldly spat out a single word.
"Shatter."
As the word fell, he gave a gentle wave of his hand.
Crack—crack—bang!
One ice sculpture was the first to shatter, turning into countless fine ice crystals scattered on the ground, followed by the second, the third, the fourth...
Ice crystals splashed everywhere, reflecting fine glints of light in the dark cave.
Within a few short breaths, the dozens of ice sculptures had all turned into crystalline fragments, mixing with the bones and dust on the ground until they were indistinguishable.
Huo Yuhao withdrew his hand and was about to turn and leave.
His Spiritual Detection suddenly captured an aura.
That aura was rapidly approaching from outside the cave, radiating a thick Evil Qi and bloodlust; it was clearly another Evil Soul Master.
Moreover, their strength was not weak, even stronger than those he had just eliminated. Could this be the true leader?
Huo Yuhao's eyes narrowed, and his figure flashed, hiding in the shadows at the cave entrance.
He suppressed his Spirit Power fluctuations, even making his breathing light and slow.
The footsteps grew closer.
The person was humming an unknown little tune, their pace light, clearly in a good mood. They pushed aside the vines, walked into the cave, and then froze.
"This... what is going on?!"
The Evil Soul Master's eyes widened, his face full of bewilderment.
Everything was fine when he left, so how could it be like this when he returned...
His gaze swept over the ice crystal debris on the ground, and he suddenly realized something, his pupils shrinking violently.
"Not good! Who is it?!"
He turned to run outside!
"The one who kills you is Huo Yuhao of Shrek Academy."
An invisible mental needle silently pierced into his mind.
The Mental Force condensed into a needle as thin as a hair yet incredibly sharp; it pierced through the Evil Soul Master's mental defenses and stabbed directly into his Sea of Consciousness, instantly shredding his consciousness!
The Evil Soul Master's body stiffened, his eyes instantly rolled back, and he fell straight backward like a log, crashing heavily onto the ground.
He had died without even seeing a shadow of his enemy.
Huo Yuhao stepped out from the shadows, looking expressionlessly at the corpse on the ground.
He pressed a palm onto the corpse, his ice-attribute Spirit Power surging to freeze it into an ice sculpture.
Then, he gave it a light tap.
Bang.
The ice sculpture shattered, turning into ice crystals all over the ground.
A Prodigy of his generation, the Death God Messenger, the future bane of the Level 98 Gluttonous Douluo, had died just like that at the hands of a four-ring Spirit Master.
Huo Yuhao brushed the ice shards off his hands and once again expanded his Spiritual Detection, covering the surrounding area for several hundred meters.
He didn't leave immediately.
Who knew if this group of Evil Soul Masters had other accomplices? Who knew if there were others outside who hadn't returned yet?
He found a hidden spot, concealing himself behind a thick wenlan tree, and waited quietly.
For an entire day, no other Evil Soul Masters appeared.
Only then did Huo Yuhao stand up and stretch his somewhat stiff limbs.
"It should only be these few."
He whispered to himself, then returned to the vicinity of the cave and began to bury the bodies of the innocent victims.
There were too many remains in the cave, dozens of them; some had already turned to bone, some still had dried flesh, and some had only recently died.
Huo Yuhao silently moved the remains out of the cave one by one, found a clearing in the forest, and dug several large pits.
He placed the remains into the pits and covered them with yellow soil.
There were no tombstones, no markers, only a few raised mounds of earth.
Huo Yuhao stood before the mounds and remained silent for a moment.
"Rest in peace."
He said softly.
"Those beasts are already dead."
Then, he turned around, walked back to the soul guidance car, and climbed into the cockpit.
Huo Yuhao pressed the start button, and the soul guidance car vibrated slightly as it slowly rose.
He pushed the control lever, and the silver-white soul guidance car sped off toward the Sun Moon Empire like an arrow from a bow.
...
Meanwhile, in the Deans Office.
[Detected an increase in the key character Death God Messenger's recognition that Shrek Academy is a Monster Academy!]
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the reward: Ghost (Six-Ring Spirit Emperor, Purified Evil History Version)]
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.