The ground was very flat and smooth in this world. More accurately put, this place didnât seem like an actual world at all, as there were no plants at all!
They immediately saw something that made their skins crawl when they reached the top of the hill.
Once over this hill, tremendous masses of white skeletons turned their heads at almost the exact same moment. Their eyes flickered with bright red spiritual fire, and there were at least several hundred of them!
The skeletal heads snapped around in unison, and spiritual fires danced about in their empty sockets. The flames glowed faintly in the air â what an absolutely astounding sight!
Wang Dongâer subconsciously gasped in shock. The throngs of skeletons paused for just one moment before they began charging towards the three of them.
Huo Yuhao said, âAnything living and breathing is very alluring to undead creatures. They will be able to evolve by an incredible amount if they can consume our flesh and blood. Any undead creature can reach the top of their food chain by evolving continuously. The memories that my teacher left behind for me informed me that there are thirteen different types of undead creatures in this place. These normal skeletons are the weakest ones.â
âLet me test their strength.â Bei Bei took a step forward, and shielded Huo Yuhao and Wang Dongâer behind him.
Bei Bei had been nursing his wounds in bed for such a long time, and he was already feeling the itch for action. He hadnât completely recovered yet, but he had regained seventy to eighty percent of his strength back. He felt very belligerent as he faced off against these skeletons.
Seven or eight skeletons quickly arrived before them. Their bodies were their weapons, and one of the skeletons that came forward reached out with its skeletal claws, lashing out at Bei Beiâs chest.
The skeletonsâ joints cracked and clattered as they charged forward.
Wang Dongâer wasnât that much weaker than Bei Bei, but her face was ghastly pale as she looked on. What girl wasnât afraid of skeletons? This was especially so because they were inside such a dark and gloomy place, and her own strength was restrained and weakened.
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, âItâs alright, donât worry. Donât forget, my teacher left this place for me. I am this worldâs dictator.â
Crack! Bei Bei swung his right arm and smashed the skeletonâs arms in front of him into pieces. He sidestepped and grabbed this skeletonâs ribcage, swung his right hand forcefully, and hurled this skeleton against two other incoming ones. Bei Beiâs first soul ring lit up in the next moment, and his Thunderous Dragon Claw lashed out and demolished two other skeletons.
When these skeletons were blown into smithereens, the spiritual fire that was dancing around in their heads didnât go out. Instead, they flew into the air and into the distance.
However, there were some exceptions. The two skeletons that were destroyed by Bei Beiâs Thunderous Dragon Claw had their spiritual fires extinguished once they rose into the air.
âLightning is formed by the positive energy between heaven and earth, and lightning is extremely destructive against the spirit. These skeletonsâ spiritual fires arenât that strong.â
Huo Yuhao pointed his right hand towards the ground as he spoke. The skeletons that Bei Bei had just smashed into pieces began to reassemble at an alarming speed. The flickering flames in their eyes gradually became grey in color.
They didnât attack Bei Bei anymore. Instead, they turned around and charged towards their own companions.
Huo Yuhao muttered some incantations under his breath in the next moment, and he waved his right arm as a gray streak surged across the sky and whipped against the first dozen skeletons leading the charge.
These skeletons quivered vigorously before the spiritual fires in their eyes jumped out and into the sky. Their spiritual fires returned to their sockets in the next moment, and these skeletons turned around and lunged towards their companions.
âYou can control them, little junior brother?â Bei Bei asked, astonished.
Huo Yuhao chortled and said, âThese skeletonsâ fighting strengths are comparable to that of normal humans, and I can control them without even using any incantations. If I can reach the pinnacle of the necromancy that my teacher left behind for me, then I will truly become this worldâs dictator. Even now, these undead creatures canât hurt me because of the divine sense imprint that my teacher has given me. Do you guys understand now why Iâll be absolutely safe even if I go undercover deep into the Holy Ghost Church? If I run into danger, I can hide in this place. No matter how powerful those people from the Holy Ghost Church are, they canât enter the demiplane that my teacher created to catch me. Even the Ultimate Douluo, the Darkness Holy Dragon, Long Xiaoyao, canât do so.â
Bei Bei lowered his head subtly and said, âYouâve convinced me, little junior brother. Even though I still donât wish for you to take this risk, your necromancy is truly mystical and powerful. But you have to remember, evil soul masters have the poorest of reputations in our world, and especially in the Douluo Continentâs three native empires. The truth is that your necromancy isnât presented as that much different from the evil soul masters in our world. We donât think youâre an evil soul master, but that doesnât mean other people wonât. This probably includes the academy, as well.â
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, âI know what you mean, eldest senior brother. Donât worry, unless Iâm in a situation that concerns my life and death, Huo Yuhao will only have twin martial souls. Tang Wu is the necromancer, and not me.â
Bei Bei laughed and said, âYouâre very intelligent. Thatâs good, as long as you understand.â
Huo Yuhao heaved a faint sigh and said, âNeither the Tang Sect nor the Shrek Academy can accept evil soul masters.â
Wang Dongâer didnât make a sound beside them. Huo Yuhao turned towards her and said, âDongâerâ¦â
Wang Dongâer interrupted him. âYou donât have to say any more, I understand what you mean. I only have one request. If you wish to place yourself in danger, then you must bring me along with you. I can become anything you want me to. I will be wherever you are.â
âOkay.â Huo Yuhao answered joyfully. He knew that this was the most that Wang Dongâer was willing to give, and there was no way he could stop her from following him. Wang Dongâer herself was a mighty Soul Emperor, and with his necromancy, it wasnât likely that they would run into trouble.
âLetâs go back.â The skeletons that Huo Yuhao were controlling couldnât hold their companions back anymore. Huo Yuhao reopened the large portal, and Bei Bei and Wang Dongâer stuck close to him as they stepped back inside together.
Grey light flashed, and the skeletons that Huo Yuhao was controlling grew slack and stopped moving entirely. The entire undead world grew quiet once more.
---
Light flickered, and Huo Yuhao and company materialized within Bei Beiâs room.
Both Bei Bei and Wang Dongâer heaved a sigh of relief.
Bei Bei forced a laugh and said, âFeels good to be back. Truthfully, I donât really like that cold and gloomy place.â
Wang Dongâer immediately chimed in. âI dislike that place even more. The Douluo Continent is so much better because thereâs light.â
Huo Yuhao chuckled and said, âWho wants to be in that place unless thereâs no other choice? Alright, you should rest up, eldest senior brother. We should go back and continue cultivating. Iâve recently discovered some methods to accelerate the absorption of the Ultimate Ice origin energy of heaven and earth inside my body. I will aim to recover as quickly as possible, and I will be a lot more confident to go undercover when Iâm fully recovered.â
------
The Continental Elite Youth Soul Master Tournament had entered the round robinsâ final round, and the atmosphere was a lot tenser than during the elimination rounds before this.
The round robinsâ final round would determine the eight teams which would progress into the quarterfinals.
This was the first tournament that accepted participation from sects, so there was a lot more honor and glory involved compared to past tournaments. The teams that could make it into the quarterfinals from a roster of over one hundred participating teams would have definitely proven how strong they were.
Nobody would pay attention to the process; everybody was only concerned with the results.
These next two days would complete the round robinsâ final matches. There were bound to be many unexpected circumstances in this final showdown.
However, not every match in this final round would be intense. Some teams that didnât have a chance of progressing anymore didnât fight with everything they had, since all they had to do was get their final matches over with. There were some teams that required a victory in the final round to progress into the quarterfinals, however, and their matches were especially intense. This was standard.
Of course, there were teams in yet another situation . They could already progress no matter what their final result was. How would they perform in their final match?
The first battle of group one, Shrek Academyâs team versus the Tang Sect. This was one such situation.
Both teams had won all six of their previous matches. No matter how this final match turned out, they were both going into the quarterfinals. How would their match turn out to be under such circumstances?
Both teams were going into the quarterfinals, but it was very different to be the first-placed team or the second-placed team in the group stages. Everybody in the audience paid attention to this matchup.
The entire arena was quiet at this moment. Everyone felt a little dry in their throats and mouths as they stared at what was happening on the competition stage. This was especially true for the men.
There were two incredibly beautiful girls facing each other on the stage, and they looked nearly identical.
Pinkish-blue hair hung behind their backs. One of them had wave-like hair, while the other had smooth and straight hair.
One was clad in the Shrek Academyâs traditional dark green uniform, while the other was in a blue set of robes.
They were both so breathtakingly stunning, and they appeared at the same time on the competition stage. They had just admitted that they were sisters in the previous round!
Huo Yuhaoâs face was as dark as it could be inside the waiting area. He regretted everything.
When he was about to personally go onto the competition stage to announce that the Tang Sect was giving up this match, Wang Dongâer told him otherwise. She was already dressed like a girl, and she said, âYouâre not very mobile. Weâre just going to admit defeat, so let me do it for you.â
Wang Dongâer stepped onto the competition stage. However, when the Unbreakable Douluo told the two girls to return to their positions, Wang Dongâer said nothing at all, and stepped back toward her own corner!