Douluo Continent: Becoming a disciple of Jing Liu, illuminating all the gods

Chapter 66 Light Arrow, Explosion, Mingde Hall

What Chen Qiye did in the mountains? Huo Yuhao had no idea.

Huo Yuhao only knew that Chen Qiye had dug out a light arrow above and below it, and said in a daze that this was his only goal to go home.

Huo Yuhao also sustained some injuries in the mountains.

……

"Yuhao, I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If I hadn't led them against you, you wouldn't have had a conflict with Wang Shaojie. Your injuries had just healed when you were severely injured again. It's all my fault."

Warm tears fell onto Huo Yuhao's face, but were quickly wiped away by a soft, smooth little hand. Huo Yuhao's heart seemed to tremble slightly.

The bed in the ward wasn't big; with Huo Yuhao lying there, there wasn't much room left. But Ju Zi still carefully lay down on her side at the edge, next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and sobbed softly.

This made Huo Yuhao even more hesitant to move. In his heart, Ju Zi had always been a mystery, utterly enigmatic. Only today, when he saw Ju Zi appear with the disabled man known as His Highness the Crown Prince, did he begin to understand. Her tragic past had finally given her someone to rely on; no wonder she dared to say she would appear on the battlefield in the future.

Huo Yuhao's feelings towards Ju Zi were quite complex. There was wariness, sympathy, and a faint hint of affection. Especially during the time Ju Zi took care of him, he had to admit that Ju Zi had secured a place in his heart.

As they spent more time together, he gradually discovered that Ju Zi was becoming less and less secretive about her true nature in front of him. Huo Yuhao could also see that although this girl was filled with hatred, her inherent kindness still existed, only it was hidden very, very deep.

"Yuhao, you know what? When I first tasted your barbecue, I was immediately drawn to its flavor. Your cooking reminded me of my father's cooking all over again. I once said that if I were to truly marry someone, I would want to marry a chef as excellent as my father."

"Although you are much younger than me, I have to admit that I have fallen in love with you. However, this love can only be buried deep in my heart. We are ultimately impossible. Whether it's age, experience, or everything else, we are destined not to be together."

"I can see that you are a prodigy at Shrek Academy. With your four-ring strength, you can contend with Soul Emperor-level experts and even defeat Soul Beasts with tens of thousands of years of cultivation. You are the most outstanding Soul Master I have ever seen. In the near future, you will definitely become a figure who will shake the continent. However, you know that you also have weaknesses. Observing from the sidelines, I may see them more clearly. Your weakness is that you are too sharp. Even if you are trying your best to conceal your sharpness, as a genius, how can you completely hide your sharpness? A moment of patience brings peace, and a step back opens up a vast sky. This is the advice I want to give you. If you can really do this, then your future will be even brighter."

"I hope this is the last time I cry. Soon, I will be leaving the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. I don't know if we will ever meet again. I hope that day never comes. Because I no longer want to meet you on the battlefield. I only hope that you can live well, live happily. Find a woman who loves you and whom you love, marry her, have beautiful and lovely children, and live a simple and peaceful life. Although I know that such a peaceful life is impossible for you, I still yearn for it. How much I want to be that heroine! But I can't."

"I'm leaving now. Orange will be all alone. To commemorate our brief connection, I still want to give you a gift."

Her voice trailed off. Every word she spoke was deeply imprinted in Huo Yuhao's heart, especially the phrase "live happily," which almost brought tears to his eyes. He forced himself to keep his eyes closed, because he had no idea how to face Ju Zi at this moment. But his breathing still unconsciously became heavier.

A refreshing scent wafted up, and cool, soft, moist lips landed on his cheek. ...

As her lips parted from his cheek, tears finally streamed down Huo Yuhao's face. At that moment, Ju Zi had successfully imprinted her image on Huo Yuhao's heart, even if it wasn't in the place of love, it was still a mark that would last forever.

Orange wiped away her tears, looked at Huo Yuhao, and whispered, "This was my first kiss. I wanted to kiss your lips, but without your permission, I kissed your cheek instead. Save your first kiss for your destined soulmate. I'm leaving. Don't let me see you again."

She gently hugged his body, then quietly got up, biting her lower lip to hold back her tears, and turned to rush out of the ward.

From the moment she entered, she knew that Huo Yuhao was awake. Because Huo Yuhao had a characteristic that even he himself wasn't quite aware of: when he was awake, the helix of his ears would be pressed tightly against the sides of his head, but when he was meditating or asleep, they would be slightly separated.

This subtle change went unnoticed even by Wang Dong, but was noticed by Ju Zi, who had carefully observed Huo Yuhao during those days of caring for him.

The sound of the door closing echoed as Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes, tears welling up. He suddenly realized how utterly powerless he was. He desperately wanted to help her, but he knew all too well that he had no way to do so.

Her enemy is her own country; the path she's chosen to walk is similar to his own, yet diametrically opposed. He can't simply take Orange away and prevent her from striving for her ideals; otherwise, Orange would still be Orange.

"Sister Orange, do you know how much I also wish you could live a peaceful and uneventful life?" With a long sigh, Huo Yuhao composed himself.

He clearly remembers that at Shrek Academy, there was a course in the Extreme Individual Soldier Program specifically about mindset. The instructors taught them that those who achieve great things must be ruthless. Emotional fluctuations can significantly influence a person's ability to make the right decisions.

Huo Yuhao had also practiced emotional control, and at the time he felt he was doing quite well, and his teachers also recognized his abilities. But now it seems he still has a long way to go.

Who can be heartless? Especially since he's only fifteen. This is a time when teenage emotions are burgeoning. Especially the budding feelings between boys and girls, which can easily influence his emotions.

After taking several deep breaths, Huo Yuhao managed to calm his turbulent emotions. His loss of control forced him to find a solution. His method was simple: self-suggestion. He kept telling himself that only by becoming stronger could he influence everything in this world and possibly control it.

With this mental suggestion, Huo Yuhao slowly drifted off to sleep. Tonight was destined to be a night without the need for cultivation.

The next day at noon, Huo Yuhao, who was still recovering in the hospital, received a message from Keke: Ju Zi had dropped out of school and her whereabouts were unknown.

Although Huo Yuhao was prepared, he still stared blankly for nearly fifteen minutes before gradually recovering.

"What are you spacing out for! Where do you think Sister Orange will go?" Keke asked, looking annoyed.

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, "I don't know. But she's probably working hard for her ideals."

Huo Yuhao's injuries healed quickly. Three days later, he left the infirmary and returned to his dormitory to recuperate. In fact, his injuries were almost completely healed.

He didn't dwell on the orange incident any longer, instead focusing all his energy on cultivation. With the back door opened by Jing Hongchen, he would soon be able to study at Mingde Hall. This was the most important purpose of his trip.

To avoid arousing Jing Hongchen's suspicion, Huo Yuhao spent another five days diligently cultivating in his dormitory before finding Xuan Ziwen and telling him that his injuries had healed and he could enter Mingde Hall to begin his studies.

Meanwhile, Chen Qiye kept fiddling with that light arrow.

And so, half a year passed in a flurry of activity.

It's been half a year...

For some reason, Chen Qiye was a bit restless today and couldn't get into the zone at all.

As Chen Qiye was fiddling with and examining the light arrow in his hand, a strange feeling suddenly arose.

This didn't come from his own feelings, but from the Eye of Destiny. He felt a tingling sensation from the Eye of Destiny, and a strong sense of crisis instantly arose in his heart.

Without any hesitation, Chen Qiye stepped on the ground with his right foot, causing ice walls to rise around him.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom." Four consecutive booming sounds rang out simultaneously within the massive Mingde Hall experimental base. The terrifying explosive force instantly unleashed a near-destructive shockwave inside.

The four bursts of light appeared in four different directions, but they were all in the areas where researchers gathered the most.

The explosion happened so suddenly that the Soul Masters at its epicenter had no time to react. At least a hundred Soul Masters were instantly vaporized at the initial stage of the blast. Hundreds of experimental tables were torn apart by the terrifying force of the explosion, with metal fragments flying everywhere, creating a terrifying torrent of metal. Screams mixed with the stench of blood erupted outwards like a geyser under the force of the terrifying shockwave.

The terrifying explosion shook the ground violently. More than a third of the people in the massive underground soul tool manufacturing base were affected, suffering heavy casualties.

As the explosion ended, figures suddenly emerged from the ground. These people were all dressed in black, moved with extreme agility, and immediately began to attack those in their vicinity.

From an aerial view, one could see that at each of the four explosion sites, a massive hole, each over ten meters in diameter, appeared. These men in black emerged from those holes. Not only were they well-prepared, but they were also extremely powerful; their attack unleashed a bloodbath.

Only then did Chen Qiye realize who they were: the Body Sect. But the 10-year-old embryo had long since disappeared, so why had they come to Mingde Hall again?

In just a short while, over a hundred Soul Masters lay dead in pools of blood. Although the Soul Masters attempted to fight back, the strength of the experts from the Body Sect far surpassed their own. Among them were over a dozen Title Douluo-level experts. How could their Soul Tools possibly withstand such a force?

Moreover, these people were simply wreaking havoc; those precious laboratory tables were torn to shreds in their hands as if they were made of paper. In just a short time, the damage caused was beyond monetary measure.

As the strongest soul tool research institution on the continent, Mingde Hall was by no means easy to deal with. After a brief period of panic, amidst the piercing alarm, Mingde Hall's counterattack began.

One after another, enormous soul tools emerged from the dome. These soul tools were spiral-shaped, over five meters long, and more than two meters in diameter at their thickest point. They spiraled upwards with blue-purple light, and their sharp tips began to shoot out streaks of purple light as if they had eyes, bombarding the members of the Body Sect.

At first, the powerful figures from the Body Sect didn't take it seriously and tried to resist with their strong soul power. But they soon realized something was wrong.

These purple lights descending from the sky struck them, instantly generating terrifying electric currents. While their power could withstand the damage from the current, it couldn't stop the terrifying paralysis. A titled Douluo-level expert, caught off guard, was hit by more than ten purple lights in succession and was frozen in place.

Meanwhile, the Soul Masters who had retreated to the surrounding area launched a frenzied attack on them. The Body Sect's powerful members finally began to suffer casualties.

Just then, a figure appeared out of nowhere, instantly soaring into the air. Chased by countless purple lights, he seemed to become ethereal, flickering and darting about, with not a single ray of purple light able to land on him.

Immediately afterwards, the entire dome turned completely green, and under that terrifying green cover, all the soul tools on the dome melted away.

"Go." The figure stopped in mid-air, waved his hands, and the molten green liquid scattered and flew in all directions, attacking the surrounding Soul Masters.

"You dare to poison me?!" A loud shout rang out, and a layer of crimson light instantly expanded horizontally, forcefully blocking the large plume of green liquid.

Deep within the underground base, dozens of figures arrived swiftly, with the one at the forefront being none other than Jing Hongchen, the master of Mingde Hall.

Seeing the chaotic state of the underground base, Jing Hongchen's eyes widened in horror. Mingde Hall had never suffered such devastation since its construction. Everywhere he looked, there were the corpses of Mingde Hall's Soul Masters.

In a battlefield confrontation, Jing Hongchen was absolutely confident in commanding the Mingde Hall's experts to crush the Body Sect. However, the Body Sect's attack came too suddenly. Furthermore, the Mingde Hall's underground base stretched hundreds of meters underground; not only did outsiders not know its exact location, but even if they did, they wouldn't have the capability to penetrate it! Who could have imagined that the Body Sect would choose the most rudimentary yet most effective method? They had somehow dug tunnels from somewhere, launching a surprise attack from the weakest point at the bottom, forcefully breaching the base's defenses.

The man in black in the air seemed not to have heard Jing Hongchen's voice at all, and coldly shouted, "Kill!"

This top-tier expert who had just destroyed a large number of soul tools was none other than the Sect Master of the Body Sect, Poison Undying. However, since he had arrived with his men dressed in black, he naturally wouldn't reveal his identity. Even if the other party clearly knew, he would never admit it.

(End of this chapter)