Beside him, Bei Bei and Tang Ya watched Huo Yuhao's frenzied state and couldn't help but take half a step back, as if they were meeting him for the first time.
Was this still the soft-spoken, weak Huo Yuhao from before?
How could his hostility be so heavy? Was everything Feng Piaoling said true? Was Huo Yuhao truly an ungrateful white-eyed wolf?
For a moment, the two began to wonder if recruiting Huo Yuhao into the Tang Sect had been the right choice after all.
Feng Piaoling said, "Then do what a man ought to do. Along the way, I've already seen through you. You are a person who is self-deprecating, introverted, solitary, and prone to self-affected sentimentality, yet you are also someone who forgets his roots. You've joined the Tang Sect now because you feel following them is better than following me. When you encounter something even better, you will abandon the Tang Sect. Even if you don't abandon them, you will drift away."
"Didn't you say before that you knew who your enemies were? You said that sooner or later, you would take revenge personally. Fine, I'll be watching. Bei Bei, Tang Ya, you two be witnesses as well. Watch this dog closely to see if he actually takes revenge, or if—when the White Tiger Duke's Mansion tosses him a bone and offers a few trivial apologies or talks of 'misunderstandings'—he goes running back to forgive them like a happy puppy. Watch if he goes back to acknowledge his ancestors, stops calling himself Huo Yuhao, and simply changes his name to Dai Yuhao."
Having said his piece, Feng Piaoling turned to leave.
Huo Yuhao was utterly devastated by Feng Piaoling's words. His eyes were bloodshot, and his breath came in heavy rasps like a bull. He stared at Feng Piaoling's back and screamed through tears:
"Feng Piaoling, you just watch! I will prove it to you! I am not a dog, nor am I a white-eyed wolf! I am a man who stands tall! I will personally slay my enemies; I will kill Dai Hao, kill the Duchess, and kill every enemy who ever bullied me or caused my mother's death! I will never change my surname! My name will forever be Huo Yuhao! You just wait for me!"
"Fine, I'll be waiting." The corner of Feng Piaoling's mouth curved slightly. He activated an Earth Escape Talisman, sinking into the ground and vanishing.
Before disappearing completely, he left one last remark: "Also, there are plenty of people in this world far more miserable than you, the illegitimate son of the White Tiger Duke. This act of yours, flaunting your bitterness and selling your misery to gain sympathy, is truly disgusting."
He had already wasted quite a bit of time. He needed to find a secluded place to absorb the soul ring of that five-thousand-year-old Darkgolden Terroclaw Bear.
Staring at the spot where Feng Piaoling had vanished, Tang Ya and Bei Bei looked at each other in silence, momentarily at a loss for words.
They realized that, throughout their journey, Huo Yuhao really did seem to be constantly emphasizing his hardships and playing the victim.
At that moment, Tian Meng's voice echoed in Huo Yuhao's mind. "Little Yuhao, there's actually no need for this. Brother suddenly remembered that the cunning brat is about to meet his end."
"What do you mean?" Huo Yuhao was startled.
The Tian Meng said gloatingly, "The Darkgolden Terroclaw Bear is unlike other soul beasts. The energy of its soul ring is domineering beyond imagination."
"An ordinary thousand-year Darkgolden Terroclaw Bear is enough to rival a ten-thousand-year soul beast. The one that cunning brat scavenged was at least five thousand years old. Even if the energy doesn't scale perfectly to the fifty-thousand-year level, it should at least be around the thirty or forty-thousand-year mark."
"Though it's just in terms of intensity and doesn't contain as much raw volume as a true thirty or forty-thousand-year soul ring, do you think that kid can absorb a ring with that level of power, even if it lacks a Soul Shock? He's a dead man for sure."
Huo Yuhao wiped away his tears. Good riddance. Anyone who humiliates me deserves to die.
The Dai family, too. They all deserve to die.
Though Huo Yuhao was loath to admit it, if the people of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion truly humbled themselves to apologize, and if Dai Hao truly repented before his mother's grave and used soft words to bring him back into the fold, he might actually have forgiven them.
Before his mother died, her wish was for him to be recognized by his ancestors.
But Feng Piaoling had said those things in front of his two friends, Tang Ya and Bei Bei. Unless he never planned to see these two again, he truly couldn't find the face to crawl back to the Dai family now.
Huo Yuhao turned to Bei Bei and Tang Ya. "Brother Bei, Sister Xiao Ya, I've made a fool of myself."
Bei Bei shook his head. Though he said nothing, he already felt a tinge of regret for inviting Huo Yuhao to join the Tang Sect. He didn't know if inviting him had been a mistake or not.
Tang Ya felt the same, but she still said, "Since you've already joined the Tang Sect, you must remain loyal forever. If you dare to commit any act of betrayal, neither I nor Bei Bei will let you off."
Huo Yuhao nodded. "Brother Bei, rest assured. I will never desert the Tang Sect. I swear it to the heavens."
Tang Ya didn't say "I believe you" or anything of the sort. She simply had Huo Yuhao formally bow to her as his teacher and then gave him the Shrek Academy admission recommendation she had mentioned earlier when boasting about the Tang Sect's prestige.
As for the Tang Sect secret techniques they had previously described as divine and miraculous, neither Bei Bei nor Tang Ya had any intention of teaching them to Huo Yuhao yet.
At least, not for now. They decided to observe him further first.
Though they were unwilling to believe that the founder of the Tang Sect, the Sea God Tang San, was as wicked as Feng Piaoling claimed, they had to admit that Feng Piaoling had indeed taken great care of Huo Yuhao earlier. He had even gone off alone to lure away a powerful soul beast for him, ending up in a disheveled state.
In the end, all he received in return was Huo Yuhao severing their ties.
Even if Huo Yuhao claimed he did it for the Tang Sect, it wasn't right. Today, he could claim he was severing ties with Feng Piaoling for the Tang Sect's sake.
What about tomorrow? If he encountered a person or power that treated him even better, would he leave the Tang Sect for them? With Feng Piaoling as a cautionary tale, they had to be careful.
Meanwhile, as Tang Ya and Bei Bei led Huo Yuhao toward Shrek Academy, Feng Piaoling had arrived at a concealed underground lair.
He had collapsed the entrance with a Fire Bullet Talisman, so he didn't have to worry about human Soul Masters or soul beasts disturbing him. Once finished, Feng Piaoling finally brought out the carcass of the five-thousand-year-old Darkgolden Terroclaw Bear.
It was then that Electrolux's aged voice whispered a warning in his mind. "With your current physical constitution, absorbing this soul ring carries the risk of your body exploding. If you cannot hold on later, I will assist you."
"Then I thank you, Elder." Feng Piaoling did not refuse Electrolux's kindness.
However, he had his own calculations regarding the absorption of this five-thousand-year soul ring. Ever since he absorbed the twenty-five-hundred-year Earth-Armored Dragon soul ring, he had discovered something.
He found that while he was groping his way through creating his cultivation technique, he could use the impact of a soul ring's energy to accelerate the process.
This time, he intended to use the Darkgolden Terroclaw Bear's soul ring to break through to the fourth stage of the Green Lotus Sword Scripture. If it were a true ten-thousand-year soul beast of equal intensity, he wouldn't dare take the risk. After all, the massive energy and Soul Shock of a ten-thousand-year soul beast were no joking matter.
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