Chapter 85: Wang Dong
Joyful moments are always fleeting. After sharing breakfast with Furina and Xiao Xiao and chatting for a while longer, Huo Yuhao made his way back to the dormitory building alone.
The midday sun filtered through the dense leaves lining the path, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow across him. Recalling the warm scene from moments ago, an unconscious smile curved at the corner of his lips. Before Furina had appeared in his life, he had never imagined he could one day enjoy such a peaceful and beautiful campus life.
Just as he was still immersed in this warmth, he found himself at the dormitory door. To his surprise, the door was actually slightly ajar. Huo Yuhao was startled for a moment, then quickly realized—his yet-unmet roommate must have finally arrived.
He gently pushed the door open, and at that very moment, a youth stepped out from within. Their eyes met, and both couldn't help but freeze for a second.
The youth was exceedingly handsome, his skin so fair it seemed almost translucent. Most striking of all were his pale pinkish-blue eyes, like the reflection of early spring cherry blossoms on the surface of a lake—crystal-clear, yet tinged with a dreamlike quality. His short hair of the same hue was neatly swept back, accentuating his already exquisitely refined features. Even having seen a handsome youth like Bei Bei, Huo Yuhao had to admit—this peer of his was, by any measure, far more striking in appearance.
Had Furina been here, she would have recognized this "youth" at a single glance as Wang Dong—the girl disguised as a boy.
"You are?" Huo Yuhao asked instinctively.
Wang Dong furrowed his brow slightly, his eyes carrying a note of impatience and arrogance. "Move." His voice was crisp, yet laced with an unquestionable, commanding edge.
Huo Yuhao blinked, but stepped aside to clear the path. Wang Dong walked past him, bringing with him a faint, subtle fragrance. After taking only a few steps, he suddenly stopped and looked back at Huo Yuhao appraisingly. "You're in this dormitory too, aren't you?" Without waiting for a reply, he continued as if speaking to himself, "Seeing as you've cleaned the place up quite well, I'll permit you to stay with me for the time being."
Wang Dong raised a slender, elegantly tapered finger and began listing rules one by one. "But I have a few rules you'd best remember. One: no casually bringing people back to the dorm. Two: no walking around half-naked and being an eyesore. Three: no snoring at night. Four: don't disturb me. Five: from now on, the dormitory cleaning is your responsibility—but don't touch my bed." He lifted his chin slightly. "Understood?"
Watching Wang Dong's lofty, condescending manner, a surge of nameless fury rose up inside Huo Yuhao. The memories of being bullied and trampled upon in the Duke's Manor all those years came flooding back in an instant. What he loathed most was precisely this kind of self-important, arrogant attitude. Ever since joining the Church of the Water God, the people he'd interacted with had mostly been warm and courteous. It had been a long, long time since he'd encountered anyone this insufferably haughty. Wang Dong's demeanor couldn't help reminding him of that detestable face—Dai Huabin.
Though Furina had repeatedly instructed him to get along well with his roommate, faced with an attitude like this, Huo Yuhao felt no need to endure it meekly.
"Why should I listen to you?" Huo Yuhao asked coldly. "Just who do you think you are?"
Wang Dong gave a light scoff, a trace of disdain flickering through his pinkish-blue eyes. "If you don't listen, I'll beat you right out of here. Try me if you don't believe it."
These words ignited the last of Huo Yuhao's restraint. He straightened his back and met Wang Dong's gaze with unwavering resolve. "Try me? Fine. Let's take this outside."
Seeing Huo Yuhao's utterly unyielding stance, Wang Dong actually laughed. His smile was quite beautiful—the corners of his lips curving gently upward, revealing a row of even, pearly teeth. Yet the scorn and contempt laced within that smile only stoked the flames of Huo Yuhao's anger to an even fiercer blaze.
"I don't even know your name yet," Wang Dong asked disdainfully, his tone carrying the faint implication of bestowing a favor.
Huo Yuhao responded in a low, steady voice. "Before asking someone else's name—shouldn't you first give your own?"
"Wang Dong." He shrugged indifferently, as if the name itself represented some kind of privilege.
"Huo Yuhao."
At this, Wang Dong suddenly stepped forward, closing the distance until he was nearly face-to-face with Huo Yuhao. From such a close range, Huo Yuhao could clearly see his long, fine lashes and the arrogance gleaming in those unusual, heterochromatic eyes.
"Very well," Wang Dong said with a faint smile. "I suspect that name of yours will soon be vanishing from Shrek Academy. Come along, idiot." With that, he turned and strode out first, his steps light and brimming with confidence.
Huo Yuhao sneered inwardly. This arrogant, self-satisfied fool would soon pay the price for his blind overconfidence. He didn't even know Huo Yuhao's martial soul, soul power, or soul ring configuration. Where on earth did this confidence even come from?
After all his experiences and training over these past months, Huo Yuhao was no longer the timid, helpless boy he'd once been. Under Furina's guidance, not only had his strength soared, but his very state of mind had undergone an earth-shaking transformation. He would never again allow himself to be trampled upon—especially not by the person he'd have to share a room with for at least the next year. Since the other party was so overbearingly domineering, then it was time to show him exactly what true strength looked like.
Shrek Academy's campus was vast. In the open space before the dormitory building, several ancient trees cast cool, deep pools of shade. Wang Dong stopped at the center of the clearing and turned, crooking a finger at Huo Yuhao in a gesture brimming with provocation.
Huo Yuhao was utterly unfazed. On his way here, he had already thoroughly probed the other party's soul power with his spiritual detection. Just a two-ringed soul master, soul power at most twenty-three. Such strength, against his own rank of thirty-one, had absolutely no chance of victory whatsoever.
What puzzled Huo Yuhao, though, was this—under his spiritual detection, Wang Dong's physical structure seemed somewhat different from a normal boy's. The bones were more slender, the muscle lines softer, the overall build leaning toward the feminine... Perhaps it was simply because he was far too beautiful?
Just as the two squared off, the old man who had been reclining in his chair at the dormitory entrance lifted his head ever so slightly. A glimmer of curiosity flickered through Mu En's dim, yellowed eyes as he watched the impending contest with keen interest.
Huo Yuhao was the first to release his martial soul. A gentle ripple of spiritual energy radiated outward with him at its center, and at the same time, three soul rings slowly rose from beneath his feet—one white, one purple, one black. This utterly irrational soul ring configuration gleamed with startling clarity beneath the sunlight.
"You're no match for me," Huo Yuhao said calmly. "Apologize now, and we can still be roommates."
When Wang Dong saw Huo Yuhao's soul rings, a flash of undisguised shock crossed his eyes. A one-white, one-purple, one-black soul ring configuration—it completely overturned everything he understood about soul master cultivation. Yet the bold, arrogant words he'd just thrown out were like water already spilled. With a temperament as proud as his, how could he possibly back down now?
"Don't you look down on me!" Wang Dong retorted, his voice a mix of shame and fury. "Your first soul ring is still a ten-year ring! How could I possibly lose to someone like you?"
Huo Yuhao shook his head inwardly. This Wang Dong was exactly as he'd expected—his pride had blinded him so thoroughly he couldn't even make the most basic assessment of the situation.
"In that case..." Huo Yuhao's eyes sharpened. "Let our skills do the talking."
Wang Dong let out a cold scoff and likewise released his martial soul. A pair of resplendent wings of light unfurled from behind his back, across whose surface shimmered a cascade of rainbow-hued radiance—as if the very rainbow in the sky had been cut and draped across his shoulders. One yellow and one purple soul ring rose from beneath his feet, gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight.
"What kind of martial soul is that? A butterfly?" Huo Yuhao wondered inwardly.
Though he had already sensed the formidable power of this martial soul through his spiritual perception, witnessing its beauty bloom before his very eyes still drew an involuntary gasp of admiration.
From a distance, Mu En narrowed his eyes slightly. A faint, deeply meaningful smile surfaced on his aged features. "Two little monsters indeed..." He murmured to himself, his voice so low only he could hear it.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the leaves, scattering a field of shattered gold across the clearing. The two youths stood facing one another—on one side, the dazzling, resplendent Goddess of Light Butterfly; on the other, the Body martial soul, Spirit Eyes.
Wang Dong beat the wings of light behind him, the rainbow luminescence tracing brilliant arcs through the air. His eyes were brimming with confidence. Though he was surprised by Huo Yuhao's soul ring configuration, he remained fully assured of his own martial soul and strength.
Huo Yuhao stood quietly where he was, the white ten-year soul ring, the purple thousand-year soul ring, and the black ten-thousand-year soul ring alternating their faint, steady pulses of light. His gaze was as calm as still water. Through all the trials he had weathered, he had learned to keep a cool, clear head in the heat of battle.
A breeze swept past, stirring the hems of the two youths' clothes. The air was taut with tension. A contest destined to forever alter the relationship between them was about to unfold on this open ground. And for Huo Yuhao, this was more than a test of strength—it was a rite of farewell to the cowardly, helpless self he had once been.