Douluo Dalu: Huo Yuhao Knows the Plot

Chapter 40: Brothers

Born into a military family, Dai Huabin's ruthlessness far surpasses his peers.

With the enemy who caused his mother's death and repeatedly bullied him standing before him, Huo Yuhao's eyes remained calm and indifferent. He never considered Dai Huabin his opponent; he wasn't worthy. Compared to Dai Huabin, Huo Yuhao harbored more hatred for the person who secretly controlled his destiny.

Of course, if the opportunity arose, he wouldn't mind killing Dai Huabin. However, that was impossible now. Shrek Academy strictly prohibited students from fighting in private, let alone taking someone's life. Moreover, Dai Huabin possessed extraordinary talent and was bound to be valued and watched closely by the academy's higher-ups. Under such circumstances, he couldn't act rashly.

"Both sides retreat to the edge of the arena and await my command to begin the match," the bald referee boomed.

Dai Huabin glanced at the opposite side and retreated step by step. He had no idea that the young man across from him already harbored murderous intent towards him, and that this person who wanted to kill him was his younger brother, his half-brother.

At that moment, on a high platform, a white-robed old man appeared. He had ordinary features but carried an inherent sense of authority, as if he had been in a position of power for a long time.

The moment the old man appeared, the Dean of the Teaching Department, Du Weilun, floated down in front of him.

"Dean," Du Weilun bowed respectfully.

It turned out that this white-robed old man was none other than the current Dean of the Spirit Soul Department of Shrek Academy, Yan Shaozhe. Shrek Academy's structure was divided into the Spirit Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department, each with its own Dean. Although the two Deans were equal in status, the resources allocated to them differed greatly because of the vast difference in the number of students in each department. For example, during this year's Shrek Academy enrollment, the Spirit Soul Department had over nine hundred students, while the Soul Tool Department had only a handful.

The fact that the Dean of the Spirit Soul Department had personally come to watch the match showed how much he valued this year's students.

"Begin the match," the bald referee's deep voice echoed.

Seeing that the Dean's attention seemed to be drawn to something, Du Weilun followed his gaze and saw Dai Huabin with three spirit rings. He immediately understood. Three rings already met the requirements for advancement to the fourth grade in Shrek's outer court, yet it appeared among new students who were only twelve or thirteen years old. It was normal for it to attract the Dean's attention.

Then, Du Weilun turned his gaze to Huo Yuhao, who was facing off against Dai Huabin, and a hint of appreciation appeared in his eyes. This child was definitely in the top five among the new students. Currently, his own strength was enough to contend with a three-ring Spirit Elder in a short period of time, and he even seemed to have created his own combat skills. This child had broken through level twenty-nine not long ago, and it seemed that he would be able to break through the level thirty barrier in a few months.

Du Weilun had many thoughts. Unlike those students, he wasn't very shocked by Huo Yuhao's second thousand-year spirit ring because he had already guessed the reason. He even lamented Huo Yuhao's unwise decision to use his second spirit soul too early.

While Du Weilun was still lamenting, Dai Huabin had already started fighting with Huo Yuhao. It wasn't that Huo Yuhao was targeting Dai Huabin, but that Dai Huabin had a three-ring cultivation base, and his Evil Eye White Tiger spirit was of excellent quality. What would happen if Xiao Xiao had to face him? Was he trying to坑 (kēng) his teammates?

Dai Huabin's entire body was covered in fur. After his spirit transformation, his hair turned white, and his palms turned into tiger claws. There was also a large "王" (wáng, king) character on his forehead. His originally handsome face instantly became ferocious and terrifying, quite frightening.

"White Tiger Light Wave!" After the bald referee gave the order, Dai Huabin's second spirit ring lit up, emitting a tiger's roar. He opened his mouth and spat out a white beam as thick as an arm, aggressively aiming straight for Huo Yuhao. As a Spirit Elder, Dai Huabin naturally had his own pride. In his opinion, this match was purely his own performance, just to bully people. Three two-ring cultivators, two of whom had pitifully low spirit power, only Huo Yuhao was worth his serious attention.

In fact, his fighting style was more inclined towards close combat. Long-range energy attacks were not his forte. Of course, it also depended on who he was facing. If it was a three-ring cultivator, Dai Huabin would usually take defensive measures before choosing close combat for safety. However, he didn't need to be so cautious in this match. If he didn't dare to get close, would the other party dare to? Although he hadn't deliberately inquired about Huo Yuhao, he had at least heard some evaluations from other students.

Even when facing a Spirit Elder's second spirit skill, Huo Yuhao didn't feel much pressure. However, he was good at disguising himself, and his superficial efforts were in place. In the eyes of others, Huo Yuhao looked solemn. Although he hadn't activated any spirit skills, his billowing sleeves proved that he was trying his best to mobilize his spirit power and brew something.

Then, everyone saw Huo Yuhao extend his right hand, and white spirit power rotated and flowed on his hand in a specific pattern. Then, the next moment, everyone saw a white ball of light the size of a fist form in Huo Yuhao's hand. The surface of the ball of light flickered with extremely bright white light, and its aura was violent and chaotic. Rasengan, Huo Yuhao's signature kill move, the skill remained unchanged, but it was always effective.

The white ball of light was thrown by Huo Yuhao like a snowball towards Dai Huabin, and it collided with the white beam emitted by Dai Huabin halfway. The light beam formed by the White Tiger Light Wave was intercepted. Similarly, Huo Yuhao's Rasengan was also detonated instantly. For a time, the arena was filled with dazzling white light.

The two attacks were equally powerful, evenly matched, and mutually canceled each other out. It wasn't until a dozen seconds later that the energy formed by the two attacks completely disappeared.

Huo Yuhao's brow furrowed slightly. The White Tiger spirit inherited from the Dai family was stronger than he had imagined. Little did he know that Dai Huabin's surprise was no less than his. "Self-created spirit skill?" As the son of a duke, receiving important training from a young age, even though Dai Huabin was still young, his vision was far from ordinary. When he saw that Huo Yuhao's spirit rings didn't show any abnormalities when he launched the attack, he quickly associated it with the aspect of self-created spirit skills.

Self-created spirit skills had existed since ancient times. Self-created spirit skills were unique skills created based on one's own conditions. Compared with the skills brought by spirit rings, each had its own merits. Spirit ring skills were launched quickly and swiftly, only requiring a thought and the provision of spirit power. Self-created spirit skills were different. The control of spirit power and the flow of energy were great tests for spirit masters, consuming a lot of mental energy.

Moreover, compared to spirit ring skills, self-created spirit skills often required a longer brewing time. During this period, they could easily be interfered with, interrupted, or even injured by opponents. Of course, this didn't exclude the very few that were faster, but that required extremely strong control.

The disadvantages were obvious, but the advantages also existed. Self-created spirit skills were skills created by spirit masters based on their own situation to suit themselves. Because they could fully exert their own advantages, spirit masters with self-created spirit skills were far stronger than spirit masters with only spirit ring skills under the same cultivation level. Even challenging beyond the realm was not uncommon.

[I went out to play today on vacation and didn’t code, so there are only two chapters. I’ll owe you first.]