Douluo: Yu Hao is reborn, this Tang San is different

Chapter 98 Participating in the Fighting Spirit
The master's poker face finally cracked: "Use healing as a means to control this child."

Dai Mubai smiled wryly and raised his hand in surrender: "I give up. This isn't a healing type, it's clearly a type that wears you down to death."

Tang San reached out and pulled Dai Mubai up, the light of his fourth soul skill enveloping the two of them: "Actually, if you had ignored everything and continued your relentless attack just now..."

"It'll be like a bursting balloon, temporarily losing control of your soul power." Dai Mubai continued, then suddenly burst into laughter: "What a brilliant example of using softness to overcome hardness!"

On the other side, the sunset forest.

The afterglow of the setting sun filtered through the dense foliage, casting dappled light and shadow on the ground, draping the entire Sunset Forest in a hazy veil.

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, as if whispering ancient tales of the forest. Huo Yuhao stood in a clearing deep within the forest, the surrounding silence so profound he could hear his own heartbeat.

Before him lay the pair of bone wings that had just been crafted.

The bone wings emitted a faint, eerie blue light, their runes shimmering, mysterious yet powerful. Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, trying to calm his inner tension and excitement.

He knew that absorbing the pair of bone wings would be an extremely crucial and challenging process. He slowly squatted down, gently placing his hands on the bone wings, feeling the coolness and powerful energy fluctuations emanating from them.

His eyes shone with determination, as if declaring to the bone wing his resolve to conquer it. Huo Yuhao adjusted his breathing, circulated his soul power, and brought himself to his peak condition. Then, he carefully pressed the bone wing close to his chest, took another deep breath, closed his eyes, and began to guide the power within the bone wing into his body.

The moment Huo Yuhao's fingertips touched the pair of dark blue bone wings, a chilling coldness shot up his spine from his fingertips. The surface of the wing bones was covered with fine, silver patterns, like the trails of stars, gleaming with an eerie, cold light in the dim room. His breath hitched slightly, and he could clearly feel the bone wings beneath his palm trembling slightly, as if a life was struggling within them.

Sudden--

"Bah!"

A piercing shriek erupted from the bone wings.

Huo Yuhao felt as if his skull had been struck by a hammer, and countless bloody flashes of light exploded before his eyes. His temples throbbed violently, his eardrums ripped with excruciating pain, and even his nasal cavity was filled with the smell of rust. He staggered back half a step, knocking over the wooden stool behind him, his knees slamming heavily against the edge of the bed, yet he felt no pain—the eagle's cry had pierced directly into his spiritual sea, stirring up a monstrous wave.

"Ugh!" Huo Yuhao groaned, pressing his left hand tightly against his left eye, fine beads of blood seeping from between his fingers. His right eye uncontrollably emitted a purple-gold light, but the pupil contracted to the size of a pinpoint. His face instantly turned deathly pale, even his lips lost all color.

This was the first time he had faced an attack on the level of his soul. It felt as if thousands of red-hot steel needles were churning in his brain, tearing his thoughts to shreds.

"Hold fast to your mind!" Xiao Yan's illusory figure appeared behind him, his long hair moving without wind. He flicked a wisp of golden flame from his fingertip, the flame transforming into a thin thread that coiled around Huo Yuhao's temple, like pouring cold water into a boiling oil pan. "Don't let it disrupt your rhythm!"

The taste of blood spread in his mouth. Huo Yuhao bit his tongue, the pain briefly clearing his muddled consciousness. He sat cross-legged, trembling, his spine taut like an unyielding sword. His spiritual power surged wildly from between his brows, erecting seven layers of barriers around his consciousness—the outermost layer a defense like ice crystals, the middle layer interwoven with golden threads, and the innermost layer swirling with mysterious runes. The soul-shattering shriek crashed against the barriers, creating ripples like waves, but ultimately failed to break through.

The bone wings suddenly trembled violently, their silver patterns slithering like venomous snakes. Seeing the sonic attack ineffective, the remnant soul changed tactics. A savage bloodlust surged through the mental link, and a hallucination immediately appeared before Huo Yuhao's eyes:

Shattered skulls piled up like hills, bloodstained eagle beaks tore open the prey's abdomen, steaming entrails hanging from the tips of bony wings. Thick blood flowed down to the ankles, each drop screaming "killing!"

"Don't let negative emotions consume you!" Xiao Yan struck Huo Yuhao in the back with a palm strike, golden flames transforming into chains that bound his violently trembling body. "Remember who you are!"

His fingernails dug deeply into his palms, blood dripping from between his fingers onto his bony wings, which were greedily absorbed. Huo Yuhao meditated on the Ice Heart Technique within his spiritual sea, transforming himself into millennia-old ice, remaining unmoved by the raging storms outside. Suddenly, the vertical pupil mark on his forehead lit up, and a pure golden light cleaved the blood-red illusion like a sharp sword.

This silent tug-of-war of souls distorted the air in the room with every clash. Glassware on the bookshelf shattered one after another, and the bed curtains spontaneously combusted and then froze instantly. After a full half hour, the bone wings finally cracked open with a sharp crack, and the violent aura dissipated like the receding tide.

Huo Yuhao groaned as if he'd been pulled from water, his bangs plastered to his face, the lining of his soul tool soaked with cold sweat. He gasped for breath, each breath accompanied by a tearing pain in his chest. His vision blurred, and even Xiao Yan's voice sounded like it was coming through frosted glass: "The remnant soul has been suppressed. Now, it's time to let it recognize its master."

His trembling fingers touched the bone wings again. This time, the dark blue patterns melted away like spring snow, gradually revealing a star-like silver light. Huo Yuhao condensed his soul power into threads and slowly injected them along the natural soul power circuits on the wing bones. Suddenly, the entire pair of bone wings liquefied and collapsed, turning into two streams of light that disappeared into his palms.

"what!"

The instant the light entered his body, Huo Yuhao's spine felt as if it had been branded through by a hot iron. The two streams of energy rushed along his meridians, scorching the meridian walls wherever they passed. Upon reaching his shoulder blades, they suddenly turned sharply, like two sharp scalpels, forcefully carving new branches into the meridian network.

The excruciating pain turned his vision completely bloodshot. Huo Yuhao curled up and rolled off the bed, his back hitting the coffee table but he felt nothing. His ten fingers dug deep marks into the solid wood floor, and the screams that escaped his throat were no longer human. Xiao Yan frowned and flicked out a wisp of golden flame to protect his heart meridian, but deliberately did not alleviate the pain—this was a necessary tempering for his transformation.

As the last branch of his vein took shape, Huo Yuhao's fingernails all shattered. He convulsed silently, his head tilted back, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth onto his chest, staining his school uniform dark red. In his final moments before plunging into darkness, he vaguely saw the silhouette of eagle wings appear behind him—

Dark blue for bones, silver for feathers, each feather flowing with ripples of spatial power.

Several hours later, Huo Yuhao slowly awoke amidst excruciating pain. Dusk had fallen outside the window, and the last rays of the setting sun cast dappled light on his pale face through the windowpane. He tried to move his fingers, and the soul power flowing through his meridians was even more concentrated than usual.

"Did you succeed?" Huo Yuhao asked in a hoarse voice, the taste of blood still lingering in his throat.

Xiao Yan's figure emerged in the twilight, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Give it a try."

Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, his soul power surging along the newly formed meridian branches. In an instant, a pair of dark blue bone wings, each over three meters long, unfurled from his back. The silver patterns flowing on the wing bones resembled a cascading galaxy, and each feather gleamed with a cold, metallic light.

He pushed open the window, and the night breeze rushed in. With a gentle flap of his bone wings, he soared into the sky like an arrow. He stumbled slightly at first, but quickly regained his balance. Huo Yuhao spread his wings a thousand meters in the air, feeling the vibrations of the air currents passing over his feathers. Under the moonlight, his figure danced with the night hawk, the trails of his bone wings leaving faint silver afterimages in the air.

"This is what it feels like to fly." Huo Yuhao closed his eyes, letting the night wind caress his cheeks. With a slight adjustment of the angle of the bone wings on his back, he swooped down like a shooting star, then suddenly pulled up as he approached the treetops, startling a flock of birds that were roosting at night.

Huo Yuhao circled several times above Sunset Forest, his dark blue bone wings gleaming with a metallic sheen in the setting sun. He adjusted his angle, channeling his soul power into his wings through his newly formed meridians, and instantly transformed into a streak of light, hurtling towards Heaven Dou City.

The night wind whistled in my ears, and the mountains and rivers below unfolded like a painting.

Each flap of its bone wings covered several miles, and the feeling of soaring freely made Huo Yuhao let out a long roar. Along the way, they encountered several caravans, and the people only saw a blue shadow streak across the sky, mistaking it for a rare flying soul beast.

As dawn broke, the iconic golden dome of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy came into view. Huo Yuhao withdrew his soul power, his bone wings slowly folding, and he landed as lightly as a falling leaf on the training ground behind the academy.

"Who goes there?!"

A sharp shout rang out. Huo Yuhao turned around and saw Teacher Qin Ming staring at him warily. When he recognized the person, his pupils contracted sharply: "Yuhao? Who's that behind you...?"

With a thought, Huo Yuhao's bone wings retracted into his body like flowing water. He patted his school uniform, which was covered in morning dew, and smiled, "Good morning, Teacher Qin."

"Where did you get your flying ability?" Qin Ming strode forward, his gaze fixed intently on Huo Yuhao's back. "Could it be..."

"Yesterday I went to Sunset Forest for training and luckily hunted down a ten-thousand-year-old flying soul beast." Huo Yuhao had already prepared his story, a perfectly measured look of relief on his face. "I didn't expect to be so lucky; I actually got an external soul bone."

Qin Ming gasped, patting Huo Yuhao heavily on the shoulder: "Good lad! This kind of opportunity is rare indeed!" He circled Huo Yuhao twice, then suddenly lowered his voice: "Who else knows about this?"

"I just got back and ran into you," Huo Yuhao replied obediently.

"Remember, don't easily reveal the news about external soul bones." Qin Ming's expression was serious. "By the way, I'm leading a team south to participate in the Soul Tournament in three days. Do you want to come along?"

Seeing Huo Yuhao's puzzled expression, Qin Ming explained, "This is an academy tradition. Every year, outstanding students are selected to participate in Soul Battle Competitions, starting from Tiandou City and traveling to major cities along the way. This hones their combat skills and broadens their horizons."

Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment. His bone wings were newly formed and indeed needed real combat experience to become familiar with them. Moreover, the tournament would allow him to encounter a variety of opponents, which would greatly benefit the refinement of his combat system.

“How should the route be planned?” he asked.

"First, we'll fight three matches at the Heaven Dou Grand Arena, then head south through the Barak Kingdom and the Silves Kingdom, finally arriving at the border of the Star Luo Empire." Qin Ming pulled out a map and pointed it out to him. "The whole journey will take about two months, with a stop of three to five days in each major city."

Huo Yuhao noticed several red dots marked on the map: "These are..."

"The various Soul Master academies." Qin Ming smiled meaningfully, "...friendly exchanges, after all."

Thinking of the other geniuses he might encounter from other academies, a fighting spirit flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes: "I'll go."

"Alright!" Qin Ming laughed. "Meet at the academy's main gate at dawn three days from now. Remember to bring some changes of clothes and dry rations." He paused, then lowered his voice: "Try to use your bone wings as little as possible in front of others."

Huo Yuhao nodded solemnly.

After watching Qin Ming leave, he looked up at the rising sun, his bone wings faintly visible behind him.

At Shrek Academy, the morning light pierced through the thin mist, gilding the training ground with a golden edge.

Master Yu Xiaogang stood in the center of the arena like a javelin, his gray robe swaying gently in the breeze. His gaze swept across the seven students lined up in front of him like a blade, each casting a long shadow that trembled slightly on the bluestone ground.

"The three-month basic training is over." The master's voice, as unwavering as his sharp gaze, rang with authority as his fingertips lightly traced the hourglass hanging at his waist. "Your physiques have barely met the basic requirements for a Soul Master, but this is only the beginning."

Ma Hongjun quietly flexed his aching arms, his knuckles making a soft cracking sound. He still vividly remembered the painful lesson he'd learned from slacking off last time—that day he'd dozed off under a tree, only to wake up to find Zhao Wuji perched on a branch, sneering at him. Not only had he been punished with extra training until late at night, but he'd also increased the training load for all the trainees by 50%.

Since then, no one has dared to try to be clever during training. Even the most unruly Xiao Wu has learned to complete each movement properly.

"The second phase of training will take place at the Soto Grand Arena." The master's words made several students' eyes light up; Ning Rongrong even unconsciously tiptoed. The veteran students knew that practical combat was far more appealing than monotonous physical training. "Until each of you obtains a Silver Soul Badge."

Dai Mubai subconsciously touched the Iron Fighting Soul Badge on his chest; the cool metallic touch made the corners of his mouth turn up slightly. He turned to look at Zhu Zhuqing and found a hint of fighting spirit flashing in the eyes of this icy girl.

"Remember these three requirements." The master held up three distinct fingers, sunlight dancing on their tips. "First, fight under code names and never reveal your identity; second, the use of hidden weapons is prohibited; third, each person must participate in at least two Soul Battles every day." As he spoke, he glanced at Tang San, who was organizing his hidden weapons, and the latter nodded in understanding.

Oscar was about to speak when the master's gaze locked onto him like a hawk's: "Support-type Soul Masters are no exception." He paused, the hourglass tinkling softly at his waist, "Or... you can choose to continue your previous physical training until the others complete their mission."

(End of this chapter)