Everything unfolded in the span of a heartbeat.
From the moment Huo Yuhao triggered his Domain to the final collapse of the eight attackers, only a few seconds had passed.
These hidden assassins never even found the chance to launch a proper strike before their lives were effectively over.
Out of the nine enemies who had planned to trap him, only the Spirit Saint hovering in the sky remained standing.
Huo Yuhao stayed rooted to the spot, his complexion turning a bit pale from the exertion.
Taking down a group of Spirit Kings and Spirit Emperors simultaneously had drained a massive amount of his mental force and spirit power.
If the consciousness pulled from the Myriad Thoughts Return to Ruin Domain hadn't been boosting his recovery, he would have collapsed from exhaustion by now.
The Spirit Saint in the air looked down at Huo Yuhao and didn't dare to lower his guard for a second.
His gaze was heavy and filled with a sharp, visible sense of dread.
Even as a level 78 Spirit Saint, he knew he couldn't have wiped out five Spirit Kings and two Spirit Emperors that quickly.
What kind of freak is this kid?
His voice turned dark and murderous as he spoke: "Brat, there is no way you're walking away from this alive today!"
As he finished speaking, his aura exploded, and violent spirit power swirled around his body until it looked solid.
A moment later, his human form vanished completely.
A massive cyan bird with a wingspan of more than ten meters appeared where he had just been standing.
The bird was a brilliant emerald green, with wings that looked like they were polished from fine jade, shining under the fading sun.
Fierce winds gathered around him, creating spinning blades of air that hissed as they cut through the atmosphere.
It was obvious that his Spirit belonged to the wind attribute.
Huo Yuhao's face grew serious as he watched the transformation.
The old man talked a lot, but he was smart enough to be careful.
He hadn't just used his men to tire Yuhao out; he had gone straight to his Spirit Avatar, the peak power of a Spirit Saint.
Wang Dong, who was standing right next to Huo Yuhao, suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand.
A flow of warm spirit power poured into his palm, making the energy inside Huo Yuhao's body move much faster.
He understood what Wang Dong wanted; she was suggesting they use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
The Eternal Road they shared was likely strong enough to break through the Spirit Avatar of this Spirit Saint.
However, Huo Yuhao gave a small shake of his head to tell Wang Dong no.
While Eternal Road was incredibly powerful, it was a straight-line attack that was easy to miss.
If the Spirit Saint managed to dodge it, Huo Yuhao would be left with almost no spirit power to defend himself.
In a fight for his life, he wasn't willing to take that kind of gamble.
High above, the cyan bird flapped its wings with sudden, violent force!
Two massive blades of wind formed out of nowhere and hissed toward Huo Yuhao, the sound of them piercing the air echoing loudly.
Each blade was over a zhang long, with edges so sharp they looked like they could slice through reality itself.
They left two white streaks in the air as they flew, marking their path of destruction.
Huo Yuhao didn't flinch as he calmly pulled back his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul.
In its place, two blood-red spirit rings began to rise slowly from the ground around his feet.
The color was deep and terrifying, glowing like fresh blood under the orange light of the setting sun.
A hundred-thousand-year spirit ring!
The giant bird in the sky felt its pupils tighten in shock.
The wings that were about to launch another attack stopped moving instantly.
Only one thought raced through the assassin's mind at that moment—"Damn it! The employer lied about how strong this kid is!"
They told him the boy could "barely defeat a Spirit Emperor."
Does this look like someone who can barely beat a Spirit Emperor?!
With two hundred-thousand-year rings on display, this kid had the combat power of someone close to a Spirit Douluo!
A set of azure ice armor suddenly formed over Huo Yuhao's body.
The armor was as clear as glass and looked like it was made from the purest ice, giving off a cold that could freeze bone.
This was the first Spirit Ability of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion—Ice Empress Protection!
Right after that... he activated his Spirit Bone skill, the Domain of Eternal Frost!
A wave of absolute cold burst out from Huo Yuhao, instantly freezing everything within dozens of zhang.
The two massive wind blades that were about to hit him were frozen solid right in mid-air by the extreme temperature.
Frost spread quickly over the wind energy, turning them into ice sculptures that shattered as they hit the ground.
Huo Yuhao looked up, his eyes locking onto the massive cyan bird above him.
He lifted his right hand and pointed a single finger at the enemy!
Ice Vein Piercing Kill!
A beam of emerald-white light shot from his finger, flying straight at the target in the sky!
This was the same attack that had once completely frozen Ma Xiaotao, a Spirit Emperor.
The cyan bird's eyes widened again; it beat its wings hard, forcing its large body to jerk to the side.
The light beam just barely missed its wing.
Huo Yuhao frowned; even though a Spirit Avatar made for a big target, a Spirit Saint was still very fast.
He was annoyed that the attack hadn't landed.
He felt glad he hadn't tried the Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Wang Dong earlier.
Dealing with a Spirit Saint was proving to be more difficult than he expected.
Huo Yuhao tightened his brow, preparing to use his last hidden card.
Even though he was only a Spirit Ancestor, he had almost finished building his one-word battle armor.
If he put on the pieces he had already made, his power would jump to a completely different level.
But just as he was about to call out the armor... he stopped.
He could feel someone else coming.
Before he could see who it was, a voice full of rage boomed through the area: "Who is doing this? How dare you attack people in Shrek City!"
The voice sounded like a clap of thunder, shaking the very air.
The cyan bird froze in the sky.
A look of pure panic showed in its eyes; without waiting, it flapped its wings and flew west as fast as it could, leaving Huo Yuhao behind.
A moment later, Huo Yuhao saw a figure in armor fly past, chasing after the fleeing Spirit Saint.
That had to be someone from the Shrek City defense force, likely at the Spirit Douluo level.
"Whew!"
Now that the danger was gone, Wang Dong let out a long breath of air.
Her body finally relaxed, and her face showed how relieved she was to be alive.
In her large, pink-blue eyes, there was still a bit of fear left over from the fight.
She looked at Huo Yuhao and asked, "Who were they? Why would anyone come after you like that?"
A dark, complicated look appeared in the depths of Huo Yuhao's eyes.
He had a good idea of who was behind it, but he just shook his head for now.
"I won't know for sure until I do some questioning."
He walked over to the two Spirit Emperors who were lying unconscious on the ground.
The six Spirit Kings from the start were definitely dead.
However, he had made sure to keep these two alive on purpose.
Huo Yuhao moved toward the two fallen men with steady, calm steps.
His face was a mask of indifference, showing no emotion at all.
But then... he stopped again.
He felt several more powerful auras coming toward them at high speed.
In a flash, three people dropped from the sky and landed right in front of Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
The man leading them was Yan Shaozhe.
Even though Shrek City was technically outside the academy, it was still under their control.
Using a Spirit Avatar in the city was a direct insult to the power of Shrek Academy!
Because of that, Yan Shaozhe, the Dean of the Spirit Hall Department, had come personally to find out who was foolish enough to cause trouble.
He was surprised to see Huo Yuhao standing in the middle of the mess.
The boy was surrounded by bodies and looked pale, showing he had used up most of his energy.
Yan Shaozhe looked around at the destruction and figured out most of what had happened.
This whole thing had been a hit put out on Huo Yuhao.
He walked over to the boy quickly, checking him for injuries, and asked with a concerned voice: "Yuhao, are you alright?"
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