w.a.n.g Dong'er nodded and said, "As long as you remember who you are."

Huo Yuhao chuckled and replied, "You're everything that I am. I'm hungry, dear."

"Let's go grab a bite to eat."

w.a.n.g Dong'er pushed Huo Yuhao into the canteen. When they entered the canteen, Huo Yuhao was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar figure.

Bei Bei's face was still a little pale, but he was nonetheless sitting alongside everyone else. Huo Yuhao immediately exclaimed excitedly when he saw him, "Eldest senior brother!"

Bei Bei smiled and said, "How are you feeling? You must be quite exhausted from yesterday. From what I hear, you haven't even had breakfast yet."

w.a.n.g Dong'er pushed Huo Yuhao next to Bei Bei and then sat down next to him.

Huo Yuhao asked, "How are your wounds, eldest senior brother?"

Bei Bei answered, "Both the aura and darkness energy have finally been completely expelled. I should be alright once I recover some of my vitality."

"That's fantastic!" Huo Yuhao said animatedly, "I can finally heave a sigh of relief. I'll be a lot more relaxed with you around to lead our company of eight."

Bei Bei smiled faintly and said, "I'm afraid that it'll be quite difficult for you to relax. We'll be facing off against Shrek Academy's team tomorrow. What do you have in mind?"

Huo Yuhao pondered momentarily, before saying, "I was just about to discuss this with everyone. We're stronger than they are when it comes to overall fighting strength, but I want to let them come out on top as we enter the next round just in case. If we do that, their opponents in the quarterfinals will be relatively weaker."

There would be four different matches in the quarter-finals. Even though the matchups in the quarter-finals had yet to be determined. However, all it took to decide them was a simple lottery, and all four quarter-final matches would consist of the number-one of one group against the number-two of the second group. This also meant that, if the Tang Sect progressed as the second-place team in their group, they'd be matched against a team that had topped the table in their group. Following this reasoning, there was a one-in-three chance that the Tang Sect would come up against the Holy Ghost Sect in the quarter-finals.

However, if Shrek Academy topped the table and entered the quarterfinals, they'd be up against a second-placed team from another group, which would greatly reduce their burden.

Bei Bei turned to his companions and said, "Tell me what you guys think."

Jiang Nannan was the first to speak. "I stand by my words. We belong to Shrek, thus we're all part of their team. No matter how far we go this time, we've already gained the glory and honor that we deserve. However, Shrek Academy's team has to reach the finals to keep their glory and honor. I agree with Huo Yuhao's suggestion."

She turned around to face Xu Sans.h.i.+ after her comment.

Xu Sans.h.i.+ felt a little helpless. "Why're you looking at me? Am I not from Shrek Academy as well? I agree with you."

"Agreed." He Caitou's answer was a lot simpler.

"I agree." Xiao Xiao was a little louder than usual, but she fully displayed her determination.

w.a.n.g Dong'er nodded and chimed in, "I agree."

Bei Bei smiled and said, "Alright, it's settled then. We shall take these few days to adjust our conditions, especially you, Yuhao. Even if I take part in the battle, you're still the core of the team, as well as Shrek's Seven Monsters' mastermind."

"Alright." Huo Yuhao nodded.

"Let's dig in." Bei Bei continued with a smile on his face, as their sumptuous meals were already laid out on the dining table.

------

With Bei Bei finally feeling better, everybody was in a good mood today. This meal was especially enjoyable for everyone.

Bei Bei called Huo Yuhao into his room after the meal.

"How's it going with the soul engineer's tournament, Yuhao?" Bei Bei inquired.

Huo Yuhao glanced at w.a.n.g Dong'er beside him before briefly recounting their partic.i.p.ation in the soul engineer's tournament. Bei Bei listened quietly to his description; he didn't even interrupt when Huo Yuhao mentioned necromancy.

"You want to go undercover?" Bei Bei asked doubtfully.

Huo Yuhao nodded and answered, "I do. But Dong'er thinks that that will be too dangerous, thus she stopped me."

Bei Bei said, "That's for the best, because it is too dangerous. I know that you want to find out and investigate what's going on in their inner circle, but the Holy Ghost Church has already displayed strength beyond what we can deal with. They're simply too powerful; we don't stand a chance. Furthermore, mobility is a problem for you, and your wheelchair is too conspicuous. Even if you can put on makeup and change your appearance, it won't be hard for them to connect the dots if you appear too many times. This is especially true now that we're likely to fight the Holy Ghost Sect's team after this. You shouldn't attend the grand finals. Rather, since you've already raised their suspicions, you should just disappear for now."

Huo Yuhao frowned slightly and said, "I don't think that's necessary, eldest senior brother. The Duskwater Alliance still needs me to fight for them in the soul engineer tournament. Furthermore, they want to rope me into their organization as well, so they won't use force against me unless it's as a last resort. I shouldn't have any problems finis.h.i.+ng the last round of the tournament if I respond correctly and adapt to the circ.u.mstances. The final prize is a Cla.s.s 9 soul tool! That's not something that can be measured with money."

Bei Bei replied solemnly, "You can't place your life on the line for money."

Huo Yuhao smiled and shook his head. "I have confidence, eldest senior brother. Second senior brother and Dong'er will come with me when the time comes. Even if I don't consider my life, I still have to take their lives into account, right?"

Bei Bei stared at Huo Yuhao with a surprised expression. "Where is this confidence of yours coming from, little junior brother?"

Huo Yuhao answered, "Eldest senior brother, I mentioned the things that I did when I was recounting yesterday's events to you because I don't wish to hide this from you... I obtained a very unique ability through a miraculous encounter. It can be counted as my third martial soul in a sense, and it has bestowed certain special abilities upon me. This special ability doesn't belong to our world, which is why I have the confidence to escape with my life whenever I'm in danger. I did intend to take a risk when I went undercover before yesterday, but after consolidating these unique abilities last night, I don't think that I'm taking a risk anymore. Dong'er, I said the same thing to you. If you're too concerned about me, I can simply take you along with me when I go undercover."

w.a.n.g Dong'er felt a little curious when she heard his words. She knew very well that Huo Yuhao would never mess around whenever her life was concerned, which meant that he must be extremely confident if he could make such an endeavor sound so riskless.

"You promised me last night!" w.a.n.g Dong'er's pretty eyebrows knitted up as she stared at Huo Yuhao with indignant eyes.

Huo Yuhao grasped her hand and said, "Listen to me, Dong'er. I wish to go undercover not just to investigate the Holy Ghost Church, but also to find a way to save teacher Xiao Ya. n.o.body but me is more suitable for this job amongst the few of us, and that's because I'm the only one that has the ability to go undercover in the Holy Ghost Church. Only I have absolute confidence in convincing them that I'm an evil soul master. As for safety, how about this—I'd like you guys to see something."

A gloomy and cold aura suddenly erupted from Huo Yuhao's body, followed by a peculiar grey soul ring rising from his feet in the next moment.

This was the first time that Bei Bei had seen Huo Yuhao use necromancy, thus he watched closely with widened eyes as he perceived Huo Yuhao's soul power undulations.

Huo Yuhao's eyes became a faint grey color, and he pointed his right index finger outwards as he drew something in the air. A strange grey hexagram appeared and sparkled as it drifted to the ground. Gray light glowed from it the moment after it touched the ground, after which it consumed Huo Yuhao's entire body and he vanished into thin air. Even his wheelchair was gone.

w.a.n.g Dong'er was as close as she could be to Huo Yuhao, and she was also incredibly familiar with his abilities. She could immediately tell that Huo Yuhao wasn't using his Imitation or anything else to turn invisible—he'd actually disappeared for real!

A dense aura of light rose from w.a.n.g Dong'er's body as her Radiant b.u.t.terfly G.o.ddess' wings extended from her back. She flapped her wings gently, and light-type soul power immediately permeated every corner of the room.

She didn't feel anything at all; Huo Yuhao was truly no longer present inside of the room!

How is this possible? Instant Teleportation? Huo Yuhao does have that ability, but that's one of his soul bone's abilities. He mentioned before that he can't use his other soul skills or soul bones when he's practicing necromancy. How has he done this? He's disappeared completely! It's been more than ten seconds, and he doesn't look like he's going to appear yet either.

Just when Bei Bei and w.a.n.g Dong'er were beginning to feel more and more dumbfounded, the grey hexagram reappeared on the ground in the same spot. Grey light surged into the air in the next moment, and Huo Yuhao reappeared before the two of them amidst the grey light with a swoosh.

Bei Bei and w.a.n.g Dong'er exchanged a look, both of their gazes full of awe and astonishment.

Bei Bei was the first to blurt out, "What kind of ability was that?"

Huo Yuhao smiled and replied, "This ability is a little mystical, but you can consider it something that my otherworldly teacher left behind for me. Eldest senior brother, do you remember the first time I met you and teacher Xiao Ya? I had ventured into the Great Star Dou Forest by myself back then, and when you guys found me, I was unconscious near the roadside. I'm not sure if you remember, but dark clouds hung over the Great Star Dou Forest during that time, and an intense spiritual presence flashed through the forest."

Huo Yuhao could tell from Bei Bei's eyes that he was thinking hard. Bei Bei nodded after a moment and said, "I do remember something like that happening. We immediately followed you when we realized that you were heading towards the Great Star Dou Forest, but you were already unconscious when we found you."

Huo Yuhao nodded. "Yes! I'd already fainted by then. But before I fainted, someone entered my mind. That person is the teacher that I'm talking about—the one from another world."