42 Chapter 42: True Colors

"What, What the hell was that..." Wang Yan tightly gripped the railings, his eyes stared intently at Huo Yuhao's retreating back as they exited the stage.

"Hoho, how interesting. Never in my entire life that a boy with a Soul Master cultivation could possess such outstanding Soul Power manipulation," By his side, Xuan Lao chuckled after biting his fried chicken leg. "to the point he even managed to change its characteristics to an element. A technique that only Soul Sages and above could only do."

"Not bad, not bad. Although I haven't seen much of his Body Soul capabilities, his extraordinary soul power control and manipulation is enough to garner him some attention from some of the higher-ups." He then faintly narrowed his eyes, "As for those two, they possess good potential as well. Extraordinary teamwork, power and decision making, yes. I'll put it in a good word for them to little Shaozhe."

"...Y-Yes, thank you. Xuan Lao." Wang Yan's face twitched but he hurriedly bowed towards the elder in gratitude.

He was happy that Huo Yuhao and his friends got what they needed but something else took precedence.

Soul power could be converted to elemental power?!

This was the first time he had heard about this! Granted, he was just a Soul King so he shouldn't have known about it yet, but as the numer one theoretical teacher in the academy, not being able to know about this, damaged his pride.

While Wang Yan was having an existential crises, Xuan Lao's continued to linger at Huo Yuhao before glancing at his teammates and chuckled once more.

"Ahh, youth."

As he chewed on another fried chicken, a strange light flashed across his eyes.

'I wonder, were you really the one who stopped Xiaotao's rampage? If so, just how much of a monster will you grow up to become one day. Hehe, I can't wait.'

.....

"...Yuhao, we have to talk."

As they reached an empty lot, Xiao Xiao finally spoke up the quiet Huo Yuhao that had been walking in front of them.

"Xiao Xiao, it's fine." Wang Dong sighed, realizing what Xiao Xiao was going to say.

Xiao Xiao turned towards him and angrily said, "What? Wang Dong, are you being serious right now?! You were almost affected by that explosion earlier and you've seen what that had done to Xie Huanyue, a defense system Soul Elder, and you're not even mad about it?"

Wang Dong pursed his lips and looked away, "In the end, I turned out fine..."

"Even so–" Xiao Xiao stopped, took a deep breath and kneaded her aching forehead. "You had almost been severely injured, Wang Dong. No matter how much of a push over you are..."

"H-Huh?" Wang Dong was stunned.

"You just can't be okay on having yourself get almost blown up! Moreover," She then turned her attention to Huo Yuhao, who was silently standing in front of them, with his back facing them. "you still haven't talk to us about why you bailed on Wu Feng."

"..." Huo Yuhao turned his head, the two trembled as his Sharingan eyes indifferently stared at them.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, or anyone else. But I will tell you this. I will talk to Wu Feng about it, and only her. As for the explosion earlier," He glanced at Wang Dong. "I had already told him about it prior to throwing that explosive kunai."

"Now, are we done here?" Huo Yuhao tilted his head, looking cold and emotionless. "Or are you going interrogate me with more meaningless questions?"

"Meaningless...?" Xiao Xiao muttered, clenching her fists.

"Hmph. I'm quite hungry so I'm heading to the cafeteria first. See ya later."

And with that, Huo Yuhao walked away, leaving Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong standing there, astonished and angry. Xiao Xiao couldn't believe his dismissive attitude, while Wang Dong was left feeling confused and hurt by the coldness in Huo Yuhao's voice.

'That's right, hate me.' Huo Yuhao shut his eyes, hiding the guilt and pain in his eyes. 'It'll make it easier for all of us...'

Huo Yuhao walked towards the cafeteria, his figure exuded extreme loneliness.

This was the path of those who pursue vengeance.

Time quickly passed by and it was time for the afternoon match. Eight teams were now left for the knockout round.

This time, their opponents were from Class 9, and all three of them were Soul Grandmasters. Relatively speaking, they were an extremely strong team. However, there was a large gap between their team, and the teams that Huo Yuhao's team had defeated in their two previous matches. Huo Yuhao didn't even get to step forward before both Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong brute force their way and swiftly defeated their opponents.

The second their match ended, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao had already entered the top 4 of the tournament. If they managed to win two more matches, they'd be the champions of the tournament.

The atmosphere between the three was still... uncomfortable, to say the least.

"Hmph." Xiao Xiao didn't look at Huo Yuhao and hurriedly turned her figure to head back to her dorm. She lowered her head, hiding her trembling lips and wet eyes.

To anyone else, they wouldn't have noticed it. But with Huo Yuhao's eyes? He noticed everything.

Wang Dong, on the other hand, was silent. He lowered his head and submissively followed behind Huo Yuhao as they returned to their room.

But looks could be deceiving because if they didn't have a martial soul fusion that caused them to have a slight psyche connection, Huo Yuhao wouldn't have sensed the anger, disappointment and hurt emanating from Wang Dong's soul. It was clear that he wasn't okay with the way things were between them.

As they entered their room, the atmosphere became even more stifling. No one spoke a word, the tension between them growing more palpable by the second.

Huo Yuhao sat on his bed and stared at the floor, lost in his own thoughts. He couldn't help but replay the events of the day in his mind, the guilt gnawing at his insides. He knew he had hurt his friends, but he had his reasons.

"Wang Dong," Huo Yuhao finally broke the silence, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I didn't mean to put you in danger."

In the end, although Huo Yuhao would keep a secret from everyone else, he couldn't help but be honest to his best friend.

Wang Dong looked up, his eyes filled with a mix of emotions. "Yuhao, you can't just... do this. You can't just start pushing us away like this all of a sudden. Despite what Xiao Xiao had said, I'm okay with you chucking that explosive at Xie Huanyue because I trust you. But what I can't understand is why you're starting to distant yourself from us!"

Huo Yuhao chuckled bitterly, "So you noticed..."

"It was fucking obvious!" Wang Dong threw his hands up, frustration clearly etched across his face. "You've been acting different ever since you disappeared last night! Even without our martial soul connection, as someone who has known you for three months, I know that you aren't the type to just up and vanish from a girl when she's pouring her heart out to you. Xiao Xiao is an example after all."

"...Uh, I know this isn't the time, but Wu Feng didn't confess her love to me or anything. She just wanted to us to better friends–"

"I don't give a shit if she wants to be your mistress for all I care!" Wang Dong grumbled, finally sitting down on his comfy expensive bed. "The point is Yuhao, what's gotten into you? I can feel all sorts of feelings from you but one emotion I feel from you...is hatred, a overwhelming sense of hatred."

Wang Dong's face softened as he continued. "And judging by the fact that you can easily bring up Wu Feng means that this isn't about her." He reaches his hand out and places it on Huo Yuhao's. "Yuhao, whatever it is that you're going through, please remember that I'm your friend. I'm here for you, we all are, no matter what. Don't shut us out."

For a moment, Huo Yuhao's expression wavered. He looked into Wang Dong's eyes.

Should he tell him about his true past? His mother, father, everything?

Would he understand it?

Huo Yuhao slowly closed his eyes and inwardly said, 'No. He wouldn't. Wang Dong and everyone else, probably except Teacher Tang Ya, wouldn't ever understand the pain that I'm going through. They will try to dissuade me or worst, dull my thirst for vengeance.'

Huo Yuhao opened his eyelids and stared back at Wang Dong with crystal clear eyes.

He didn't need to say anything, the latter quickly understood from their connection and Huo Yuhao's eyes that he wouldn't get any answers.

"You..." Wang Dong couldn't take it anymore and stood up, anger and frustration evident in his voice. "You're pushing us away, shutting us out, and you won't even give us an explanation. How can we trust you if you won't let us in? We're your friends, Yuhao, we care about you, and we deserve to know what's going on. Enough with the secrets and the distance, it's tearing us apart."

Huo Yuhao sighed and didn't have anything to say back. He closed his eyes, crossed his legs, and meditated, ignoring Wang Dong's heated glare.

"...No." Wang Dong sniffed, gritting his teeth, he turned around, bent over with his hands under the bedframe and brought it closer to Huo Yuhao's bed. "Uh-huh. You're not just gonna ignore me like that and be all nonchalant about it. Fine, if you won't talk to me, then I'll just have to do this then!"

With a swift motion, Wang Dong sat on his bed and grabbed both of Huo Yuhao's hands. Without saying anything, he aroused his soul power and started transferring his soul power into the latter.

Though initially surprised, Huo Yuhao remained noncommittal and continued on cultivating, subconsciously circulating his own soul power with Wang Dong and started their soul power dual cultivation.

And although he couldn't advance in soul power for now, it didn't mean he couldn't refine it to make it more pure and robust. Plus with Wang Dong initiating their soul power fusion, the process became more faster and smoother.

But while Huo Yuhao became focused on cultivating, Wang Dong on something entirely.

He wanted to better understand what Huo Yuhao is feeling right now, dive deep into his emotions and thoughts. He wanted to bridge the gap that had formed between them, to truly connect with his best friend and offer him the support he needed.

As their soul power merged and flowed between them, Wang Dong closed his eyes and allowed himself to be fully immersed in the experience.

For a brief moment, a piece of a memory began to surface in Wang Dong's mind.

It was an image of pretty woman with a gentle smile on her face, her eyes filled with warmth and kindness.

Wang Dong didn't recognize her for a moment but he realized her to be Huo Yuhao's mother.

'So this is his mom... She's so pretty...' Wang Dong thought, his heart feeling a twinge of sadness. 'Poor Yuhao. She looks like a kind and loving mother. I can't imagine how it must feel to lose someone like that.'

As he observed her closer, he could see the similarities that Huo Yuhao had with her.

Especially her eyes.

But before Wang Dong could delve further into the memory, something abruptly yanked him out of it.

"Hm...?" Wang Dong grunted before slowly opening his eyes. He first thought that Huo Yuhao found out about it and forcibly cut off their connection but he saw that the latter was still cultivating in peace.

'Huh? Then why did I get forced out?' Wang Dong faintly narrowed his eyes, confused. He tried entering that state again only to fail with every attempt.

In Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sea.

"Hmph. A little fake lass like yourself shouldn't be poking around someone's business." Ancestor coldly snorted as he saw Wang Dong trying to enter Huo Yuhao's memories but to no avail.

"..." Skydream silently floated behind him, his squishy worm face had a complicated expression. "Is it true?"

"Hm? What is, Little Worm?"

"About how to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan..."

"And why would I lie about such a thing?" Ancestor indifferently replied.

Skydream was silent for a moment before sighing deeply, "No wonder you didn't persuade Yuhao from getting out of this academy early on. You wanted him to make emotional bonds with people."

"Yes." Ancestor didn't deny it.

"Aren't you afraid that he will..."

"What? Hate me? Kill me? Hmph." Ancestor coldly snorted. "Don't forget, Little Worm. I'm already dead. My existence is totally meaningless and I only exist to make sure my incarnation becomes strong and wouldn't become trash. If my incarnation hates me, then good. It'll make him stronger."

Skydream grimaced and clicked his tongue. "Tsk. Bastard, what the hell happened to you that it caused you and your incarnations to turn out this way?"

"..." Ancestor went silent, ignoring Skydream.

Suspended high in the air of the Spiritual Sea, the grey ball of light silently glowed and numerous golden ancient foreign symbols appeared around it.

'No...This boy...cannot fall into the darkness...like I was...' It inwardly said as it peered into the boy's mind. Unfortunately however, with his minimal power, he could do nothing but return to his slumber. Waiting for the time when he could recover some of his previous life's strength.

....

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