Dai Luoli returned a bit later. However, he didn’t return to his berth, but came to Huo Yuhao’s bed instead.
“Thank you.” Looking at Huo Yuhao, Dai Luoli struggled to say these two words.
Huo Yuhao glanced at him, “What are you thanking me for? For beating you up?”
Dai Luoli was embarrassed as he whispered, “You know I’m not talking about that.”
Huo Yuhao chortled, “Quickly, return and meditate so that you can defeat me faster and rid yourself of me.”
“Okay.” Surprisingly, Dai Luoli didn’t retort. Perhaps he had forgotten about it, but he just returned to his berth, where he sat cross-legged on his bed.
Huo Yuhao slid into his blanket and made himself comfortable before he entered deep meditation.
He wasn’t afraid of Xu Yun reporting him. By reporting him, she would expose Dai Luoli, too. Moreover, he hadn’t exposed his cultivation as a soul master. Even if she was a battalion commander, she had to be reasonable, too.
Dai Luoli sat in a daze on his bed, unable to focus for half the night. As he recalled what had happened, he suddenly realized that what had happened earlier was the best outcome.
He was thrashed by Tang Dong, and lost face in front of Xu Yun. However, Xu Yun also lost to Tang Dong with her four-ringed cultivation. This meant that he wasn’t that weak. This was the first time he felt that Tang Dong wasn’t so irksome,especially after Tang Dong controlled Xu Yun’s Starburst from striking him. Otherwise, he and Xu Yun would have been hurt even though he unleashed his White Tiger’s Vajra Transformation, and even though Xu Yun had a four-ringed cultivation.
Yun’er, am I getting further and further away from you?
——-
The night went on silently, and training began as usual the next day. Indeed, Xu Yun didn’t report Huo Yuhao. Everything carried on as normal. All the new recruits were extremely tired as they trained for the entire day. The intensity of this three-month training kept on increasing.
Seeing that the sky had already turned dark, Dai Luoli proactively came over to tell Huo Yuhao, “Let’s go.”
“Oh? What’s with you today? Why are you anxious?”
Dai Luoli’s face turned red, and he softly asked, “Are you coming or not?”
Huo Yuhao smiled as he said, “It’s a good thing when someone wants to be beaten up. Let’s go.” As he spoke, he stood up and walked out with Dai Luoli.
After leaving their bunk, Dai Luoli looked around, but didn’t discover anything. He was immediately disappointed.
Huo Yuhao wore a crafty look on his face as he softly asked, “Did you know the battalion commander before yesterday?”
“Yes,” Dai Luoli laughed bitterly. “Our families are close. Only, she’s a legitimate child, while I’m a bastard child. There’s a great difference in our statuses. I’ve liked her for as long as I can remember. However, I’ve no great talent. No matter how hard I try, my cultivation can’t catch up to hers.”
Huo Yuhao laughed, “You’re rather honest.”
Dai Luoli was embarrassed, and glared back at him. He said, “I knew you would laugh at me. I know that it’s impossible for us to get together. In terms of abilities and status…”
“Are you this useless?” Huo Yuhao said disdainfully.
Dai Luoli suddenly clenched his fist. “What can I do if I come from an inferior background?”
Huo Yuhao glanced at him coldly, “If you have such an attitude, you’ll never have any hope in your entire life. Go back, useless trash. I can’t be bothered to beat you up anymore.” After he finished speaking, he quickly turned around and walked back towards his bunk.
“You!” Dai Luoli quickly stepped forward and stopped Huo Yuhao. He shouted, “I’m not useless!”
“Aren’t you considered useless if you give up on yourself?” Huo Yuhao said scornfully. “A true hero’s background doesn’t matter. So what if you’re a bastard son? Let me ask you a question. If you become a Titled Douluo, or even a Transcendent Douluo, who would care if you’re a bastard? Everything’s not going well for you because of one issue: you’re not working hard enough!”
Dai Luoli was stunned. Yes! If he were a Titled Douluo, or even a Transcendent Douluo, who would still look down on him? Who would care that he was a bastard? However, could he really become a Titled Douluo?
“Have you thought it through?” Huo Yuhao asked calmly.
Dai Luoli suddenly looked very determined, “I’ll do my best to defeat you first!”
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Good. As long as you can defeat me, I’ll take back what I said about you being useless trash. Otherwise, you’re still a piece of useless trash! Let’s go!”
After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the military drill grounds. It wasn’t an easy thing to teach his own younger brother! However, Huo Yuhao felt quite delighted for some unknown reason. Ever since he had joined the army after Wang Dong’er and Wang Qiu’er met with mishaps, he had felt much better.
—
Very soon, the two of them reached the military drill grounds. Dai Luoli was surprised, because Xu Yun was actually waiting there. There was a dominating look in her eyes, and she looked very cold.
“Yun’er.” Dai Luoli called out in joy when he saw her, and quickly ran over to her.
Xu Yun glared at him and said, “How many times must I tell you not to call me Yun’er? Only my elder siblings can call me that!”
Dai Luoli paused for a moment before helplessly saying, “Alright, Xu Yun.”
Xu Yun recalled how he had blocked her attack without any hesitation yesterday, and the look in her eyes turned gentler. She said, “Do the two of you come here to train every day? What’s with him? He’s not a soul master. How is he so strong?”
Dai Luoli laughed bitterly. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be beaten up by him every day.”
Xu Yun snapped, “Useless. Let me go again. I was too careless yesterday. I’ll take care of him today.” As she spoke, she walked in front of Dai Luoli towards Huo Yuhao.
Dai Luoli touched his nose and remembered how he had used this same excuse after he lost to Huo Yuhao the first time. However, he had already lost for a month straight now.
As she spoke, Xu Yun walked towards Huo Yuhao. While she sounded like she didn’t care about this, it was evident from the look in her eyes that she regarded this fight very highly. After losing to Huo Yuhao yesterday and almost suffering serious injuries, she felt that she had been greatly humiliated. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come to find him today.
Huo Yuhao revealed a cold look on his face. He crossed his arms and mocked, “I hope you won’t need a human shield to protect yourself today.”
“You!” Xu Yun was furious. She wanted to say something, but Huo Yuhao suddenly moved. He suddenly stepped on the ground with his left foot before he charged towards Xu Yun like an arrow. He was extremely quick.
Xu Yun was a little stunned. She had suffered yesterday because she was taken by surprise, and her belly was still aching slightly. When she saw Huo Yuhao suddenly moving, she immediately retreated quickly. At the same time, she unleashed her Starcrown.
Streaks of starlight shot out from her Starcrown towards Huo Yuhao. However, she felt dejected, because Huo Yuhao seemed to be naturally immune to her starlight. No matter how concentrated her attacks were, he was still able to avoid them. It was as if he could predict where her starlight would hit before she even shot it out. The gap between them was quickly shrinking.
What did soul masters who were adept at long-range attacks fear? Their opponent getting closer to them!
Furthermore, Xu Yun had challenged Huo Yuhao today after pondering over it for an entire day. She was very clear about Dai Luoli’s abilities. It was definitely not a coincidence that Dai Luoli lost so heavily to Huo Yuhao. Although she discovered it by accident, it was obvious that Dai Luoli wasn’t beaten up by Huo Yuhao just once or twice. While Dai Luoli’s White Tiger wasn’t pure, his abilities weren’t weak. He was a close-combat assault-type soul master! Although she had four rings and Dai Luoli had three, she knew that she couldn’t compare to Dai Luoli’s physical strength if both of them unleashed their martial souls.
As a result, she would definitely be unable to handle Huo Yuhao at close range if even Dai Luoli couldn’t do so. She had made up her mind to not let Huo Yuhao get close to her no matter what. Otherwise, she would definitely lose!
Under such circumstances, she immediately made a decision. Her third soul ring shone brightly, and she unleashed her Starburst once again.
After Huo Yuhao used his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to control her Starburst yesterday, she didn’t fling it directly towards him today. Rather, she flung it towards the ground not far in front of him. At the same time, her body shone brightly with golden light. Her three soul rings flashed slightly, and it was difficult to tell which soul skill she was using.
Her Starburst immediately exploded violently on the ground. The tremendous boom and the following shockwave immediately engulfed the path that Huo Yuhao had to cross to reach her.
Xu Yun only wanted to do one simple thing: widen the gap between her and Huo Yuhao before slowly dealing with him!
Given Huo Yuhao’s abilities, he could guess what Xu Yun wanted to do the moment she threw her Starburst out. He stopped and leapt to one side when her Starburst exploded. He rolled on the ground and dodged the core of the explosion. After he rolled, he leapt towards Xu Yun once again, minimizing the influence of the explosion.
Seeing that her Starburst had exploded, Xu Yun was about to heave a sigh of relief. However, she suddenly saw Huo Yuhao charging towards her from the side. She was shocked once again. This guy’s reactions are too quick!
Her fourth soul ring instantly shone. She couldn’t be bothered with concealing her abilities anymore. She drew streaks of starlight in front of her with her hands and they formed a strange image. This image was obviously a Starcrown. This Starcrown started to move towards Huo Yuhao.
It was her fourth soul skill, Soulcrush Starcrown. This was a single-target offensive and control-type skill. It was also the strongest soul skill that Xu Yun could unleash right now.
Once engulfed by this Soulcrush Starcrown, one would suffer from agonizing cuts unleashed by the streaks of starlight that made up this Starcrown. Even if one could resist these cuts, the streaks of starlight would still turn into a barrier and trap them. This soul skill was extremely powerful!