Xiao Hongchen's face was ugly. He was just about to rush forward to pull the two apart but was stopped by Old Ma.
Before he could speak, Huo Yuhao was the first to see Xiao Hongchen and, beside him, the wine-red-haired Meng Hongchen. His eyes couldn't help but light up, and he immediately greeted them, "Hello there, big brother-in-law! I've long heard that you are a once-in-a-century soul tool master genius in the Sun Moon Empire. For me, Huo, to be able to see you today is truly the fortune of three lifetimes!"
Xiao Hongchen hadn't yet reacted to this strange form of address, but hearing Huo Yuhao's extremely humble words, he subconsciously replied, "This friend overpraises me..."
The next moment, Huo Yuhao could clearly feel five small hands pinching the soft flesh of his waist, twisting a full one hundred and eighty degrees.
At the side, Xie Huanyue was instantly filled with admiration. To dare to flirt with another girl he's just met in front of his newly-minted girlfriend and four other girls who are fond of him—only Huo Yuhao has this kind of guts!
"Pah! Shameless! Who are you? How dare you trespass into the residence of our Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy!" Meng Hongchen was currently blinded by the cross-dressing Wang Dong. How could she tolerate the teasing of other boys? She immediately replied coldly.
Huo Yuhao secretly cried out in pain and dared not fool around anymore. He took Ju Zi's small hand and immediately bowed slightly to Old Ma. "Respected Senior Old Ma, hello. I am Huo Yuhao. I wish to bring my partners to join your esteemed academy, and at the same time, contribute a meager force for the academy's participating team in the tournament."
"You are Huo Yuhao? That evil soul master who was just put on a wanted list by Shrek?" Old Ma frowned and asked.
Huo Yuhao, however, was unconcerned about this and said with a smile, "That Shrek Academy, priding itself on its lofty status, sees itself as the continent's supervisor, arbitrarily meddling in the political affairs of other countries, and using its ten-thousand-year glory and spirit to bind all the geniuses who enroll. I think that a person of insight like Old Ma would not lightly believe their bullshit, right?"
"Continue," Old Ma did not express any sentiment, but instead let him continue speaking. "I want to hear your reasons for defecting from Shrek."
"Several thousand years ago, it was precisely due to Shrek's shameless meddling that the Sun Moon army suffered a great defeat, causing the continent to be unable to unify for a long time. There was constant friction at the borders of the various great empires, and countless common people were displaced..."
Speaking to this point, Huo Yuhao deliberately glanced at Ju Zi beside him. The latter gripped his hand even more tightly.
"The existence of Shrek is undoubtedly a poisonous tumor on the continent. An institution for teaching and nurturing people actually vainly hopes to control the course of history and poison the common people. We disdain to be associated with them. That is why we resolutely left that filthy place and have come to seek refuge with the Sun Moon Empire, which has the hearts of the people."
"At present, only the Sun Moon Empire has the strength to truly unify the continent and bring long-lasting peace and prosperity to the entire Douluo Continent."
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly. This was also indirectly elevating the Sun Moon Empire.
"The traditional soul master system of the old era will surely be completely replaced by soul tools. This era will also usher in a heaven-and-earth-shaking development."
Huo Yuhao got excited as he spoke. He laughed loudly and opened his arms to the crowd. "Shrek is a remnant of the old era! There is no ship in the new world that can carry them—"
Old Ma nodded. "That Shrek Academy is indeed complacently conservative. I hear that to this day, they have not been able to produce a single level-nine soul tool master."
"Old Ma, I believe him," Ju Zi's pretty face was slightly flushed, but she still held Huo Yuhao's hand without letting go. "Before we came, Hall Master Hongchen should have mentioned Yuhao to you. He is precisely the soul master genius that our empire is lacking!"
"Then we'll still have to see his performance," Xiao Hongchen, having seen many like Huo Yuhao who shamelessly tried to attach themselves to their power, couldn't help but say.
"How about this? There should be a match for the Sun Moon team later. How about I take the place of one of your team members on stage?" Huo Yuhao knew that if he didn't show some real skill, he probably wouldn't be able to attract this group of proud and arrogant people.
"Kid, a competition is by no means a child's play. What if you deliberately lose to our opponent?" Xiao Hongchen directly rejected his proposal.
"The current draw system should only have three modes: seven-on-seven team battle, one-on-one single battle, and two-two-three cooperative combat. If just because I, one person, deliberately throw the match, the entire Sun Moon team can lose, then wouldn't it mean all of you are acting with me?" Huo Yuhao spread his hands, directly hitting the vital point of the competition rules. Even if he deliberately held back, the impact on the entire team would probably be minimal.
"Alright," Old Ma immediately interrupted their argument. He looked at Huo Yuhao. "Words are no proof. If we draw a one-on-one or team battle in this afternoon's competition, then please show us your strength."
"Thank you, Old Ma," Huo Yuhao said with a smile.
"Kid, if I find out you are a spy from Shrek..." Xiao Hongchen threatened fiercely.
"That's definitely impossible, big brother-in-law!" Huo Yuhao directly walked over and put an arm around his shoulder. "How about this? If I am a spy from Shrek, then my punishment will be to become your brother-in-law. If I'm really not, then you can be my big brother-in-law! How about it?"
Huo Yuhao smiled and did not forget to wink at Meng Hongchen at the side.
Dealing with this kind of jealous male supporting character, he, as the protagonist, didn't necessarily have to go against him, right?
"You... shameless!" Meng Hongchen was exasperated. She, in all her life, had never seen such a shameless person. "I'll chop you up!"
"Ahem!" Knowing a certain someone's character, Ning Tian behind him coughed lightly twice, hoping this fellow would stop at that.
"Alright, in this afternoon's competition, just watch me show my great might," Huo Yuhao turned around. "Thank you, Old Ma, for giving me this opportunity."
As he spoke, he took Ju Zi's hand and strode towards the outside of the conference room. Xie Huanyue and the others immediately followed.
Seeing Huo Yuhao leave, Old Ma raised his hand to stop the outburst of the Xiao Hongchen siblings and took out a communication-type soul tool from his storage soul tool.
"Hall Master Hongchen, that Huo Yuhao you mentioned has really come to our door."
...
Leaving the Star Emperor Grand Hotel, Huo Yuhao took the six of them to find a private booth, casually ordering the entire menu. He knew a certain someone could eat a lot.
"Let me introduce everyone. This is Ju Zi, and also an important partner for everyone in the future," Huo Yuhao was the first to break the awkward situation and introduced her to Cui Yejie and the others.
After the round of banter just now, Ju Zi's complicated emotions from her reunion with him had been dispersed quite a bit. This was also the first time she had met these few girls from Cui Yejie's group.
In terms of age, these few girls were perhaps a few years younger than her, but they were all very beautiful. One was foxy, one was heroic, one was fiery, one was gentle and soft—each had their own characteristics.
This made a thick sense of crisis suddenly rise in Ju Zi's heart.
As for Xie Huanyue, he hadn't taken his eyes off the menu in his hand since he had entered, so he was directly ignored by Ju Zi.
The girls looked at each other. Especially Ning Tian and the other three girls who had had the earliest contact with Huo Yuhao. Even with Cui Yejie, it had taken them a long time to completely accept each other.
Adding on Ma Xiaotao and Teacher Mu Jin, who clearly had a deeper relationship with Huo Yuhao, was this guy planning to enjoy the bliss of having many wives?
Wu Feng even pouted with some grievance. Clearly, she was the one who had occupied Huo Yuhao first.
"Ahem, let me briefly explain the current situation," seeing that the few girls had no reaction, Huo Yuhao could only try to break the deadlock himself. "When we were at the academy, we received news that the participating team had met with disaster. In order to save an important companion, we had no choice but to leave the academy without authorization. As a result, we were discovered by the Shrek City Defense Officer and were attacked under the crime of colluding with evil soul masters."
"Just at that time, I was hit by a time-type soul skill and returned to the past, where I met Ju Zi."
Speaking to this point, Huo Yuhao's hand under the table unconsciously held the hand of Ju Zi beside him. Everything seemed very natural.
"Was it at that time that you returned to the past?" A sweetness was in Ju Zi's heart as she asked softly.
"That's right. Before entering Shrek, I was indeed once captured by the Holy Ghost Cult. As their Holy Son, I was always accompanied by a Soul Douluo-level Saintess," Huo Yuhao did not intend to hide these things. "In my original view, even if they were evil soul masters who were like rats crossing the street, they might not be without usable value. So I have always been in contact with them."
"Yuhao, I remember that the vice city lord of Shrek City is that Gou Luanshi's grandfather..." Nanmen Yun'er seemed to have thought of something and reminded him.
"Mmm, I roughly guessed it. Why the usually idle City Defense Officer would suddenly be there waiting to attack me," Huo Yuhao nodded. "He's just a jumping clown. If he thinks he can kill me just by relying on his status as the City Lord's grandson and those few idiots from the academy, he's being too fanciful."
"So you're saying I should also thank that Time Douluo for sending you back to the past?" Ju Zi held his hand in return. Recalling the scenes from many years ago, she finally got the answer now.
If not for Huo Yuhao traveling through time and space back to the past, she would now surely be a homeless orphan and would not have her current amazing talent and status.
"Next, I will mention to everyone some plans concerning our future," as Huo Yuhao spoke, he released his spiritual power with all his might, isolating all perception.
Seeing him so serious, everyone put away their various little thoughts. Even Xie Huanyue threw the menu in his hand behind him and listened with full attention to what Huo Yuhao was going to say next.
All along, Huo Yuhao could be said to have done his utmost to seek benefits for the few of them. To say they had not suspected Huo Yuhao's motives would be impossible.
"I suppose everyone has heard of the legend that has been passed down for ten thousand years, the Sea God, Tang San."
Huo Yuhao came straight to the point.
Everyone present was stunned for a moment. As long as they were people of the Douluo Continent, there was no one who hadn't grown up listening to that legend. For a god, they could perhaps only look up to them their whole lives.
"Yuhao, you're not planning to become a god yourself, are you? Do you need our help?" Ning Tian asked after some thought.
Huo Yuhao, however, shook his head. "I have no great interest in becoming a god. The so-called gods are just birds in a cage, canaries trapped for life in the tiny Divine Realm."
Hearing the fresh nouns from Huo Yuhao's mouth, everyone was unable to react for a moment, then they saw him continue, "On the contrary, I want to use all the available resources on this plane to pull that person down from his horse."
"What?" The astonished voices of several people immediately rose a few octaves. To pull a god down from his horse? This kind of thing, an ordinary person probably wouldn't even have thought of.
Huo Yuhao was not surprised by their reaction. After all, the plan he spoke of was too world-shocking. Almost no one would believe it.
And just at this time, a waiter came up with the dishes. Huo Yuhao withdrew the spiritual power shield he had been using to prevent peeping. Now he had to give everyone some time to react and buffer.
Facing this table of steaming hot delicacies, even Xie Huanyue forgot to move his chopsticks. It seemed their brains hadn't completely processed it yet. Huo Yuhao was not in a hurry either. He took the lead in picking up some dishes and started to eat.
With Xie Huanyue around, if he didn't eat now, there would be nothing left in a while...
---
Author's Note: The plot has developed to this point, and the protagonist group finally has to start facing this monumental problem: confronting a god. From the very beginning, this book has actually set a goal for the protagonist. His identity as the Son of Fortune will one day be impossible to hide. In the end, he will still have to face the God-King Buddha directly. At that time, he will need a group of reliable partners to stand behind him from beginning to end, to contend with the supreme combat power that the God-King has arranged on this continent, and even the original Seven Devils. The so-called "gods cannot easily interfere with the lower realm" is actually just empty talk.