Chapter 40: The Shackled Soul, Long Aotian's Battle Intent
The crackle of grease popping in the campfire echoed sharply within the emerald soul power barrier. Huo Yuhao sat frozen, his knuckles turning a bloodless white as he gripped the skewer of roasted meat. Conflict—deep, agonizing conflict—tore at his chest.
Liu Yuan's monstrous growth was laid bare right before his eyes. Slaying a ten-thousand-year soul beast single-handedly, armed with nothing but three soul rings... such terrifying, heaven-defying combat prowess was enough to shatter the psychological defenses of any peer.
Huo Yuhao was no fool. He knew with absolute certainty that if he followed them to the Body Sect, their fanatical devotion to Body Martial Souls and their bottomless reservoir of resources would elevate his Spirit Eyes to a realm Shrek Academy could never provide.
And it wasn't as if his time at Shrek had been a dream. He had bled for the academy. He had laid his life on the line to seize the champion title of the Freshman Tournament. His reward? The upper echelons of the academy had coldly barred him from becoming a Core Disciple of the Martial Soul Department, dismissing him over a perceived talent cap. That rejection had festered in his heart like a poisoned thorn.
Yet, the moment the thought of leaving took root, familiar faces surfaced in his spiritual sea.
Tang Ya and Bei Bei, who had pulled him from the jaws of death in the Star Dou Great Forest, handing him the very ticket to join the Tang Sect and enter Shrek. Teacher Zhou Yi, whose strict, unforgiving demeanor masked a genuine, protective hope for his future. Teacher Fan Yu, who had opened the grand doors to the world of soul tools for him. And Wang Dong... the companion who shared his dorm, his days, and a flawless martial soul fusion.
If he turned his back on them now, abandoning them for the Body Sect simply because the path was easier... what would that make him? A traitor? A spineless, ungrateful wretch who sold his loyalties for resources?
Huo Yuhao drew in a long, shuddering breath. The chaotic struggle in his eyes slowly cooled, hardening into a rigid, almost tragic determination. He lifted his chin, meeting Liu Yuan's calm, pragmatic gaze, and slowly shook his head.
"Liu Yuan... thank you for your kindness," Huo Yuhao said, his voice hoarse, scraping against his throat. "But I cannot go to the Body Sect. Shrek has my teachers, my companions, and the Tang Sect that brought me into the academy. I cannot betray them."
Liu Yuan studied the boy in front of him. The faint glimmer of expectation in his dark eyes extinguished, settling into a pool of deep disappointment. He exhaled a long breath of turbid air, the white mist dissipating into the cold barrier. He didn't waste his breath on further persuasion. It was pointless.
He could see it clearly—Huo Yuhao had been thoroughly brainwashed, entirely hijacked by Shrek Academy's hypocritical doctrine of glory and loyalty. To Liu Yuan, this wasn't loyalty. It was the pathetic self-imprisonment of a domesticated hound. A cage painted in gold was still a cage.
Before Liu Yuan could voice a single word, Du Busi, who had been sitting silently by the fire, abruptly shot to his feet.
"You stubborn brat!"
The emerald light in Du Busi's deep green eyes flared like a waking dragon. Though the apocalyptic pressure of a Level 98 Super Douluo was heavily restrained, the sheer ambient weight of his fury caused the air inside the barrier to physically freeze. The campfire instantly snuffed out.
He glared down at Huo Yuhao, his voice booming with the force of rolling thunder. "What is so damn good about that rubbish Shrek Academy?! A pathetic gathering of blind idiots who don't even know the first thing about cultivating a Body Martial Soul!"
"You possess a Body Martial Soul! You were born to be a person of my Body Sect! How can a handful of hypocritical friendships even begin to compare to the absolute belonging of your own bloodline?! You are returning with me, immediately!"
Huo Yuhao's face drained of all color under the crushing spiritual weight. His bones groaned, yet he refused to yield a single inch. Instead, he stubbornly straightened his spine, locking his bloodshot eyes directly onto the towering Super Douluo.
"Senior... please do not force this junior," Huo Yuhao ground out, every syllable squeezed forcefully through his clenched teeth. "Shrek is my home. If you insist on taking me away by force, all you will get is a corpse."
"I would rather die than betray Shrek!"
Standing quietly to the side, Liu Yuan observed Huo Yuhao's righteous, self-sacrificing display. He shook his head inwardly, his expression impassive. He had genuinely intended to throw Huo Yuhao a lifeline, to drag him out of that gilded cage that suppressed his true potential, allowing him to pursue the absolute pinnacle of cultivation. But now? The truth was glaringly obvious. Huo Yuhao hadn't just accepted the shackles; he had voluntarily welded them directly into his own soul.
Du Busi's fury boiled over, tinged with a deep, mocking sense of absurdity. He was the exalted Master of the Body Sect! When had he ever lowered his head to beg anyone for anything? Yet here he was, personally extending a golden invitation, only to be threatened with suicide by a weakling possessing a mere two soul rings?
"Good! What a spectacular refusal to yield!" Du Busi barked a laugh of extreme, venomous anger, his eyes flashing with absolute zero coldness. "You won't betray Shrek even if you die? Then go die!"
Without a shred of hesitation, Du Busi raised his massive hand and slammed his palm directly toward Huo Yuhao's forehead. The wind howled, carrying the scent of impending death.
Yet, Huo Yuhao didn't flinch. He simply closed his eyes, awaiting the end.
Du Busi's sharp gaze had been locked onto the boy the entire time. He noticed the micro-tremors in Huo Yuhao's muscles—the instinctual, mortal terror of a crushing blow—but the boy's expression remained maddeningly resolute. This realization made Du Busi's face darken even further.
The lethal palm strike halted mere millimeters from the boy's skull. The violent gale generated by the strike blasted Huo Yuhao's hair back, but the physical impact never came.
Du Busi was a man of immense, unyielding pride. He would never stoop so low as to genuinely murder a defenseless junior., the boy's attitude was set in stone. Du Busi couldn't be bothered to degrade his own status any further. What was he supposed to do? Drag a suicidal, uncooperative walking corpse back to the Heavenly Soul Empire? It would be utterly useless. A disciple without the will to learn was nothing but a waste of resources.
"Since you love that rotting mud pit so much, then stay there and rot with them to the bitter end!" Du Busi sneered coldly, violently withdrawing his hand. He turned his piercing gaze to his disciple. "Liu Yuan, we are leaving! Such a brainwashed idiot isn't worthy of stepping half a foot through the gates of our Body Sect!"
With a furious sweep of his voluminous sleeve, the emerald soul power barrier shattered into countless motes of light. The violent, freezing blizzard of the Far North instantly poured back into the clearing, swallowing the residual warmth and scattering the ashes of the dead campfire into a chaotic mess.
Du Busi clamped a heavy hand onto Liu Yuan's shoulder. In the blink of an eye, the two transformed into a streak of blinding green lightning, tearing through the heavy snowstorm and vanishing into the vast, white horizon. He didn't leave a single parting word for the boy left behind.
Amidst the howling gales and biting frost of the Far North, Huo Yuhao stood entirely alone. His thin silhouette looked exceptionally frail against the endless expanse of white.
'Actually... you really should have agreed just now.'The Ice Empress's crisp, chilling voice echoed within his spiritual sea, carrying a rare trace of complex emotion.'That old freak's strength is far more terrifying than your mortal mind can comprehend. And he wasn't lying. The Body Sect's methodology for developing your specific type of martial soul is leagues ahead of whatever Shrek Academy can offer.'Huo Yuhao smiled, a bitter, self-deprecating curve of his lips.'I know that. I know. But I just... I cannot get past that hurdle in my heart.'The Skydream Iceworm let out a heavy, melancholic sigh.'Ah, your brother here feels terrible watching this too. But things have already reached this point; there's no use crying over spilled milk. Yuhao, just focus on cultivating well in the future. Strive... strive to at least catch a glimpse of Liu Yuan's back.''I will do my best,' Huo Yuhao replied silently. He stared into the empty, snow-choked sky where Liu Yuan had vanished, his fists clenching so tightly his nails bit into his palms.
Yet, as he stood shivering in the snow, a heavy, sinking intuition settled deep within his chest. After parting ways today, the chasm between him and Liu Yuan had been set in stone. It was a gap that would likely never be bridged again.
...
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in the Heavenly Soul Empire, within the hidden encampment of the Body Sect.
Shielded entirely from the bitter blizzards of the Far North, the sect basked under the blazing heat of the midday sun. At the center of the sect's massive sparring field, violent fluctuations of soul power erupted in continuous waves.
Boom!
Following an ear-splitting detonation, three figures were sent skidding backward, their boots carving deep trenches into the reinforced stone tiles.
Wang Yanfeng, Gu Tong, and Chen Lu collapsed onto one knee, their chests heaving as they gasped violently for air. Standing opposite them, looking entirely unbothered, was Long Aotian. His hands rested casually behind his back, his breathing perfectly even, without a single hair out of place.
"Senior Brother Long... you are simply a monster," Chen Lu wheezed, wiping a thick layer of sweat from his forehead with a bitter smile. "The three of us combined couldn't even survive ten moves against you?"
Wang Yanfeng let out a defeated sigh. "He's right. Brother Long's recent rate of improvement is just ridiculously fast."
Long Aotian offered an indifferent smile. Beneath his feet, five dazzling soul rings slowly rose in sequence—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black. The final ten-thousand-year soul ring pulsed with a deep, oppressive light.
"It's just a bit of luck. I broke through to Rank 47 two days ago," Long Aotian stated calmly. "The higher the rank, the more absolute a Body Martial Soul's control over the battlefield becomes. You three simply haven't reached this threshold yet. Losing to me is only natural."
Despite his effortless victory over three of the sect's elites, Long Aotian's gaze drifted unconsciously toward the towering main gates of the sect.
'Rank 47...' he thought, his eyes narrowing slightly. "It's a pity Junior Brother Liu Yuan hasn't returned yet. He ventured to the Far North to hunt for his third soul ring. If everything went smoothly, he should have been home by now."
A scorching trace of battle intent ignited within Long Aotian's eyes. "I was thoroughly convinced by my defeat at his hands last time. But now, both of our strengths have undergone a qualitative leap. I truly want to find an opportunity to spar with him again..."
And at that exact moment, high above the sect gates, the sky tore open as Liu Yuan and Du Busi finally returned.
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]