Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao who returned from Sekiro

Chapter 666 Court Nobles (6K)

Xiao Hongchen slowly walked onto the Soul Battle Platform, his mind filled with complex thoughts.

How could he not know that the academy and the evil spirit masters were colluding? He just chose to turn a blind eye.

Under the overwhelming force of the imperial decree, he, as the heir of Mingde Hall, could do nothing. However, he was also unaware that Nana had also suffered greatly at the hands of the Holy Spirit Cult.

Otherwise, if Nana comes looking for him, he can say what she wants.

Xiao Hongchen quickly shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh. If he hadn't discovered something and become completely disillusioned with the academy, how could the other party have come to this point?

If the academy's higher-ups can't be trusted, how could he, the heir to Mingde Hall, possibly be trusted to avenge her parents?

"We meet again."

Xiao Hongchen's tone was complicated. He first turned his head to look at his grandfather in the VIP seat and the national advisor beside him, and then looked at Nana, who was riding on the Netherworld Giant Wolf with a calm expression.

Nana slowly stepped off the Ghost Wolf, twisted the double-headed sword in her hand, and the telescopic gun barrel made of tungsten steel extended by a meter. With the blade, the weapon's length immediately exceeded 1.5 meters.

With a clang, Nana slammed the extended double-headed blade into the ground of the Soul Arena. There was no joy in her eyes at the reunion with an old friend, nor any other extra emotions, which left Xiao Hongchen at a loss for words.

"Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy Team Xiao Hongchen vs. Soul Hall Team Hun Nana, both sides prepare—"

At this moment, Zheng Zhan clearly dared not give Nana another chance to say anything. Her identity and words could not withstand scrutiny. If someone with ulterior motives tried to exploit this, things would become very serious.

The Soul Palace behind Nana has a mysterious origin and seems to have many powerful figures hidden behind it. Even if the Empire wanted to kill her to silence her, it probably wouldn't be that easy.

Zheng Zhan didn't care about this. As long as Nana didn't expose those dirty things on the Soul Arena he was guarding, that was fine. As for the rest, he couldn't control anything and had no way to control it.

How could there be no drawbacks to openly relying on the power of evil spirit masters? The growing estrangement between Xiao Hongchen and Chief Judge Zheng Zhan already shows that Xu Tianran is slowly losing the support of the people.

Xiao Hongchen sighed, and rings of light began to shine and rise around him, while cannon barrels rapidly took shape as the light merged.

Two yellow, two purple, and three black. Rising from beneath his feet were seven spirit rings. A full seven spirit rings! Seven spirit rings representing the level of a Soul Saint.

This is only the second time in the history of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament that a Soul Saint-level expert has appeared. Even Ma Xiaotao, if it weren't for Huo Yuhao's martial soul constantly pressuring and suppressing her, would have had a hard time breaking through to the seventh ring in the competition.

Becoming a Soul Saint before the age of twenty—what an honor! But in reality, only Xiao Hongchen himself knew the enormous price he had paid.

For the next five years, his cultivation will remain stagnant. All this is so that he can reach the Soul Saint realm by the time of this competition!

It's hard to say what will happen five years from now. But he has no regrets. He wants to defeat all his enemies and stand at the pinnacle of the All-Continent Youth Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament held in their Sun Moon Empire!

No matter who stands in his way, they will be ruthlessly eliminated, all for the glory of the Sun Moon Empire.

Nana then twirled her staff, her 1.5-meter-long double-headed sword unleashing bursts of wind and fire. The Nether Wolf beside her had icy eyes, showing no fear despite Xiao Hongchen's seven rings.

On the platform, Xu Tianran, whose face had been ashen, finally smiled again. Looking at Jing Hongchen beside him, who seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief, he said, "Sect Leader Hongchen, your two grandchildren are both pillars of the nation."

Jing Hongchen sighed and said, "My grandson was indeed very persistent for this competition. To be honest, Your Highness, he took some special medicines to break through the level 70 threshold in a short period of time and enter the true high-level Soul Master realm."

"But this means he will suffer from the side effects of the drug for the next few years, and it will be difficult for him to make any further progress before the age of 25."

Xu Tianran solemnly said, "His spirit is commendable; this is his sacrifice for the glory of the nation. No matter what the final outcome of the Sun and Moon Team is, he will always be a pillar of the empire."

Only after hearing Xu Tianran's words did Jing Hongchen truly relax.

Regardless, as long as they can take advantage of the situation to defeat the Soul Palace in this competition, and then crush the Shrek Academy team to win the championship of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament, the prestige of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy will rise to its peak in an instant.

At that time, no one will care about Nana's plight or the sordid collusion between the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy and the evil soul masters. The uninformed masses will only offer their fanatical souls to the new idols forged by the empire and gild the clay idols.

"The match begins!"

Zheng Zhan suddenly swung his raised right hand, and Nana's eyes instantly sharpened. She and the Netherworld Giant Wolf attacked Xiao Hongchen from the left and right.

In the next instant, all the cannon barrels on Xiao Hongchen's body mysteriously merged into a giant cannon with a diameter of over half a meter. With a single shot, a strange white bolt of lightning silently flew out, its target the Netherworld Giant Wolf beside Nana.

The white lightning bolt arrived too abruptly and was too fast, giving the Netherworld Giant Wolf no chance to activate its ethereal transformation.

The giant wolf's body trembled violently, and a shocking scene unfolded.

It can be clearly seen that the once lush and glossy fur of the Netherworld Giant Wolf has turned pale at an alarming speed, losing all its luster.

Everyone could sense that the Netherworld Giant Wolf's body was aging at an alarming rate.

This is……

Sitting in the waiting area, Huo Yuhao felt a sudden tightness in his heart. He had seen this strange attack method before on the nobles of the Source Palace. It forcibly absorbed the essence of people, causing them to enter the terrifying aging process of "Year Extinction".

Only by dragging his crippled body and forcibly killing the court nobles who had drained his life essence could he regain the life force that had been stolen from him.

However, the ray used by Xiao Hongchen was different.

Aging Ray. A powerful soul tool recently developed by Mingde Hall. Once hit by this aging ray, it will evaporate the life force within the target's body, causing them to age rapidly until death.

If one cannot replenish enough vitality in a very short time, or if one's own vitality is not strong enough, then one will directly age and die.

A powerful level 7 soul tool! It is currently in the experimental stage and can only be used on a single target.

Its researcher is a member of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Team—the Destroyer, hailed as the most obsessive genius of the younger generation in Mingde Hall. A fanatic only interested in soul tools that can destroy beautiful things.

(End of this chapter)