Chapter 576.1. One on Ten!

Getting the army to retreat was but one of his objectives. The other objective was targeted at the Holy Ghost Church.

Yes! The Holy Ghost Church was their common enemy. However, targeting the Holy Ghost Church now was something that conflicted with Ju Zi’s plan. However, Huo Yuhao could no longer be bothered with this. Now that he was in front of so many people, he had no choice.

“Huo Yuhao, I can’t believe you are foolish enough to attempt to challenge ten of my people just by yourself. We definitely have no qualms betting with you. However, it doesn’t seem to be fair, does it? If we were to lose, our entire army has to retreat. And if you were to lose, it will just be the loss of a single life. Aren’t you thinking too highly of yourself? I don’t think you’re quite there yet.” Ju Zi sneered.

Huo Yuhao really wanted to give Ju Zi a big thumbs up for the great teamwork she was showing!

It was really incredible for her to be able to instantly understand what he meant despite the tension in the atmosphere.

The main targets Huo Yuhao had in mind were naturally the evil soul masters from the Holy Ghost Church. The safety of the Sun Moon Empire’s army was definitely not enough to motivate the evil soul masters to act. After all, those evil soul masters would prefer to witness more deaths so they could capture the spirits to improve their cultivation. Hence, Huo Yuhao knew he needed something to attract all of them. And he naturally needed to produce these things himself.

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “I definitely can’t be compared with your entire army. However, I can offer a few more things on top of my life.”

As he spoke, a huge black door opened beside him. Following which, a massive creature crept out from the huge door.

After the massive creature appeared, countless observers could not help but gasp in fear.

What is that? It was a gigantic bear which over fifty meters tall that was radiating an insanely frightening aura! Its fur was somehow grey, while its eyes were blood-red. It seemed as though there were flames burning in its eyes.

Following which, Huo Yuhao retrieved a dagger from his hand. It was a dagger whose blade was radiating an icy blue color.

The dagger flew up into the sky, and instantly, the surrounding temperature plunged. The linked defensive barrier formed by the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legion, which was quite a distance away, started to fade. Snowflakes also started to fall from the sky.

If Xia Xuanchen were here, he might have been able to connect the dots after seeing the black door and the Morning Dew Dagger Huo Yuhao had just released.

Unfortunately, he had yet to return. Everything was within Huo Yuhao’s expectations and under his control.

Jiangshi Ice Bear King, Er Bai, and the Sigh of the Frozen Goddess, Morning Dew Dagger.

“These two items are the most precious items I have. This dagger is a godly weapon. If not for it, I would not have been able to block Di Tian’s blow. Let me show you what it can do.”

As he spoke, the Morning Dew Dagger suddenly turned vertical in mid-air before it transformed into a blue light that shot straight towards the linked defensive barrier set up by the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legion.

Before Ju Zi even gave the order, the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legion instinctively enhanced the protective soul barrier to its maximum defensive potential.

However, the fiery red glow on the linked defensive barrier immediately faded the moment the dagger came into contact with it. The entire barrier turned dark blue instead before a series of loud explosive noises could be heard.

A deep cut could be seen on the outer side of the linked defensive barrier. The barrier was a hair’s breadth from being torn open by the dagger.

It was important to note that this was a full-power linked defensive barrier which was established by a beast lord-ranked soul engineer legion.

The Morning Dew Dagger was actually able to create such an effect just from a gentle tap. The most frightening thing was how it was able to overcome its elemental disadvantage. Its fearsome extreme coldness was actually able to penetrate the protective soul barrier and be felt by the Fire Phoenix soul engineers. The fiery red color radiating from their bodies became a lot fainter. They could not believe that a single dagger was able to achieve so much.

After retracting his Morning Dew Dagger, Huo Yuhao spoke plainly, “As for my pet over here, I believe there’s no need for me to explain much. Those who dabble in spirits and spectral matters should naturally understand what it is. Isn’t that right, Leader Zhongli Wu? I know you’re scrutinizing it. Why don’t you come out?”

A purple-black light suddenly soared into the sky. Zhongli Wu, the Leader of the Holy Ghost Church, had revealed his figure in the air.

His eyes revealed the greed he had for Er Bai. He didn’t even bother to look at Huo Yuhao as his eyes were completely focused on Er Bai’s body.

Even as the Leader of the Holy Ghost Church, Zhongli Wu was unable to tell how Huo Yuhao was able to transform such a powerful soul beast into a spectral creature. However, he was absolutely sure that this spectral creature was likely to be stronger than it was in its previous life.

It must have been a Savage Beast in its past life in order to release such a powerful aura. Turning Savage Beasts into spectral puppets had always been one of Zhongli Wu’s goals.

Previously when he went after Di Tian, he was hoping to turn Di Tian into his puppet. If he were to succeed, he believed he would become the strongest individual in the entire world.

Unfortunately, the Beast God’s power had far exceeded his expectations, and the Holy Ghost Church had sustained huge losses in their attempt to hunt the Beast God down. Even Zhongli Wu was injured during the attempt, and he had only barely recovered after taking a rest. The only reason why they were able to flee from the Great Star Dou Forest was that the Beast God was already injured, and they were still sufficiently sensible to flee before their situation worsened. If not, their bodies might have had to stay within the Great Star Dou Forest forever.

The forces within the Great Star Dou Forest were far more powerful than they had imagined.

“Military supervisor.” Ju Zi looked at Zhongli Wu as though she was asking him for advice.

As the military supervisor, Zhongli Wu had a lot of authority in the army. He was not in charge of anyone, but was supposed to supervise Ju Zi. Whenever Ju Zi had to make an important decision, she needed to get his approval. A military retreat was an example of an important decision.

Zhongli Wu’s greed was apparent as he nodded and said, “I think what he is offering is sufficiently precious.” After finishing his sentence, he did not even look at Huo Yuhao as he turned around and flew down to the Sun Moon Empire camp.

Even though his answer was not exactly direct, Zhongli Wu had undoubtedly expressed his opinion.

Just as Ju Zi wanted to talk to Huo Yuhao, a purple-black light suddenly flashed, and Zhongli Wu had returned.

He shot a peculiar look at Huo Yuhao and said, “Huo Yuhao, if you are to lose, we can also choose not to kill you. As long as you join my Holy Ghost Church, I can spare your life.”

Even though Huo Yuhao’s words might have sounded very offensive in the ears of others, they were nothing for the Leader of the Holy Ghost Church. On top of that, after seeing how Huo Yuhao was able to showcase Er Bai and hearing some of the stories about him, he was already certain that Huo Yuhao must possess some secrets about evil soul masters. He not only wanted to know all of these secrets, but also nurture Huo Yuhao into a member of the Holy Ghost Church. With the talents that he possessed, he felt that he might have a chance at becoming the Holy Son of the Holy Ghost Church!

It would definitely be a great blow to Shrek Academy if the Dragon God Douluo’s disciple were to join the Holy Ghost Church.

Zhongli Wu was not in the least bit worried about whether Huo Yuhao really wanted to join the Holy Ghost Church. He was confident of transforming any person—no matter what type of person he or she was—into an evil soul master.

Huo Yuhao smiled at Zhongli Wu and said, “Sure! As long as all of you can defeat me, I am perfectly fine with joining the Holy Ghost Church. After all, I am no longer part of any organization.”

Zhongli Wu also smiled. In fact, he was very happy. “Then I guess we have a promise.”

Ju Zi watched the sly foxes who were smiling before her and couldn’t help but wonder who was actually falling into the other person’s trap. Zhongli Wu, should I start mourning for you now?

Zhongli Wu was naturally unaware of what Ju Zi was thinking as he turned around and flew back to the camp.

Ju Zi exclaimed, “Alright since our military supervisor has already agreed to this gamble, I shall agree to it as well. The battle shall begin in two hours’ time at the space between our camp and Shrek City. The victor will be decided after ten rounds of battle!”

Huo Yuhao smiled, but didn’t say anything. He merely looked Ju Zi in the eye. Following which, he grabbed Tang Wutong’s hand and flew towards the flat ground behind them. The virtual image of him which he had created in the air disappeared after he left.  Following which, Er Bai and the Morning Dew Dagger also turned into light that vanished into thin air.

The Sun Moon Empire army and Shrek City were about forty-five kilometers apart. The midpoint between these two locations was hence about twenty-two kilometers or so. It was undoubtedly the safest distance for both parties, as well as the fairest location to conduct the battle.

After landing on the ground, Huo Yuhao crossed his legs and sat down before beginning to meditate. Tang Wutong merely stood behind him silently as she kept watch over him.

Meanwhile, Ju Zi brought the members of her Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legion into the camp.

Very soon, a meeting was held within the Commander’s Tent.

Every soldier and commander from the Sun Moon Empire had witnessed what had happened in the sky. Hence, Ju Zi did not need to introduce the challenge to the people present. After everyone had gathered in the tent, she immediately fired two questions at the rest of them.

“Huo Yuhao has challenged our army. After receiving approval from the military supervisor, we have decided to accept his challenge. In that case, we now have two problems before us. First, who are the ten people who should represent us? Second, who should keep the items that Huo Yuhao has promised to give up if he were to lose the challenge.”

Zhongli Wu was sitting next to Ju Zi. When she raised these two questions, he glanced at her before his brows furrowed together. No one knew what he was thinking about.

There were many powerful individuals within the Commander’s Tent. The elite troops from the Sun Moon Empire were all present in this camp. Other than the powerful evil soul masters, several Class 9 soul engineers were also present. And this included several powerful individuals from the Sun Moon Empire’s Imperial Consecration Hall.

One of the Class 9 soul engineers stepped forward and said, “The winnings should naturally belong to the empire. I am willing to fight for the empire and get rid of that haughty rascal.”

Another Class 9 soul engineer nodded in approval.

These Class 9 soul engineers were not idiots. After seeing Zhongli Wu fly up into the sky, they could tell that he was very much attracted by Er Bai. They would definitely not allow him to lay his hands on the Ice Bear King. Hence, they were all expressing their disagreement. At the same time, these Class 9 soul engineers were all expressing their interest to put their lives on the line for the empire to fight Huo Yuhao.