Chapter 182: Dream Red Dust

Meng Hongchen, as the deputy captain of the reserve team, together with Xiao Hongchen, was a trump card kept in reserve; Shrek could never gauge her true strength.

Only after the recent group battle did her ability finally reveal itself: she possesses the deadly poison-type martial soul, the Zhu Qing Ice Toad.

Seeing her take the stage, Huo Yutong let out a slight sigh of relief, for she knew that only she could easily defeat Meng Hongchen on Shrek's side; anyone else wanting to beat Meng Hongchen would have to pay a heavy price.

Meng Hongchen watched Huo Yutong recover her soul power with a milk bottle, not rushing to attack, but instead asked:

"Huo Yutong, what is your relationship with Tang Wulin?"

"...?"

Huo Yutong tilted her head in confusion.

"Why should I tell you?"

"This Meng Hongchen won't be as slow-witted as her brother, will she?"

Meng Hongchen clenched her fists before her chest and spoke righteously:

"Depending on the situation, you could become my romantic rival."

Huo Yutong's gaze instantly turned icy, and a cold syllable escaped her lips.

"Oh."

Seeing that expression, Meng Hongchen instantly understood the answer to the question, and a burning fighting spirit flared in her eyes.

"I will never lose to you!"

Huo Yutong felt that her already not-so-good mood worsened.

Although seeing Tang Wulin's appearance, she knew this was inevitable, but when it actually happened before her eyes, she still felt waves of anger rising.

Huang Jinxu, standing between the two, involuntarily shivered and gestured, saying: "Please have both competitors retreat to the edge of the stage."

Huo Yutong and Meng Hongchen retreated together slowly; Meng Hongchen's eyes blazed like fire, while Huo Yutong's gaze seemed capable of freezing the air.

Huang Jinxu, also a senior over sixty, though unmarried, had seen enough to understand what was going on.

Seeing both sides had retreated to the stage's edge, he glanced sympathetically yet enviously at Tang Wulin outside the field and said:

"Match start!"

The moment his words fell, the two girls surged forward simultaneously.

Pure white snow covered Huo Yutong's entire body, her icy blue eyes filled with chill.

Meng Hongchen's eyes turned an eerie red, and her skin became snow-white.

Two ice-blue longswords appeared simultaneously in the girls' hands; they adopted the same startling tactic: close combat!

When they closed to a certain distance, Meng Hongchen waved her small hand, sending a white mist drifting toward Huo Yutong.

The spectators below instantly grew tense.

Especially Wang Yan, as a researcher, he was the person present who best understood the lethal power of the Zhu Qing Ice Toad's poison; although Huo Yutong is strong, her true cultivation is only that of a Soul Elder—she said she would handle it, but can she really withstand such poison?

Huo Yutong answered the crowd with her actions.

Only to see a layer of diamond-like ice crystals suddenly appear on her skin, forming a splendid ice armor; then she fearlessly charged into the white mist Meng Hongchen had waved, her ice-blue sword flashing as she slashed fiercely at Meng Hongchen.

"Huh, this is actually the Zhu Qing Ice Toad? I didn't expect anyone to possess such a dangerous martial soul—what a surprise."

"Snow Emperor, what is the Zhu Qing Ice Toad?"

"It is a poison-attribute soul beast living on the outskirts of the extreme north; its own strength is not particularly great, but its poison attribute is extremely troublesome—even soul beasts stronger than it are unwilling to provoke it." "Then Snow Emperor, can you dispel this poison?"

"No, I want to help your classmate—I must inject extreme ice into his body; the harm to him might even exceed that of the poison itself."

"Then will this poison work on me?"

"Of course not—don't underestimate extreme ice; before extreme ice, all poisons in the world are a joke."

Recalling her conversation with the Snow Emperor when she came into contact with He Caitou, Huo Yutong's lips curled into an imperceptible arc.

The Ice Emperor's Bodyguard enveloped her surface, meaning her whole body was guarded by extreme ice elements; Meng Hongchen's poison could not even approach her.

Meng Hongchen was slightly startled; she hadn't expected Huo Yutong to be so bold, and she hastily stepped back a bit, narrowly dodging the Emperor's Sword attack.

Seeing Huo Yutong's unchanged icy expression, Meng Hongchen's eyes narrowed, her second soul ring lit up, and a blue halo rapidly expanded from her center, quickly enveloping the entire stage.

This is her second soul skill, the Ice Poison Ring; she did not know Huo Yutong was immune to her poison, and subconsciously thought Huo Yutong showed no abnormality merely because her cultivation was high, and the slight toxin had no effect.

While releasing her second soul skill, she swiftly retreated, and streaks of ice-blue light sprang from all over her body, forming a suit of armor that encased her entirely.

Her soul-forged armor is of at least sixth rank, specially crafted for her by a ninth-rank soul engineer of Ming De Hall, with extremely strong defense.

Facing the oncoming Huo Yutong, Meng Hongchen revealed a faint smile, shook her hand, and her sword thrust forth countless sword shadows in the air.

Huo Yutong's expression unchanged, she initiated the Ghost Shadow Wandering Step, simultaneously waving her Emperor Sword, and precisely blocked all of Meng Hongchen's attacks with ease.

At the same time, a long scorpion tail protruded from her back and stabbed fiercely toward Meng Hongchen.

Meng Hongchen's expression changed; her third soul ring lit up, an ice mirror appeared beneath her feet, and her figure vanished from its original spot, reappearing behind Huo Yutong.

Using ice-refraction instant translocation to appear behind Huo Yutong, Meng Hongchen hesitated not, and again launched an attack with her longsword.

Huo Yutong, as if she had eyes on her back, lightly tapped her toes, leapt into the air, dodged Meng Hongchen's sneak attack while spinning 180 degrees, and slashed her Emperor Sword toward Meng Hongchen's neck.

Helpless, Meng Hongchen had to activate ice-refraction again to dodge that strike.

After these two exchanges, she somewhat annoyed discovered that Huo Yutong's swordsmanship far surpassed her own.

That swordsmanship, dance-like, is not merely for show; under Huo Yutong's exquisite and unparalleled control, each of her steps represents a deadly threat.

It seems close combat cannot defeat her; she must rely on accumulating poison.

Thinking thus, Meng Hongchen began to retreat quickly, no longer obsessing over attacking Huo Yutong, and adopted a defensive stance.

Seeing her movement, Huo Yutong instantly grasped her plan, raised her eyebrows slightly, pursued her, and launched a pursuit.

Perhaps due to her focus on defense, Meng Hongchen suddenly felt the pressure much less than before; she smirked contemptuously, preparing to wait until Huo Yutong was completely corroded by poison before counterattacking.

She did not notice that, under the cover of a simulated soul skill, a small soul device tied to Huo Yutong's hand was emitting a faint glow—the very milk bottle Wang Yan had bought at the auction.

By the way, I love watching women fight!. jpg As this work is a single-female-lead pure love story, one can see that my emotional depiction of female characters other than Huo Yutong is very careful, especially Lao Gu; to eliminate her chance of rising to power, I outright discarded most of Tang Wulin's era cheats, letting him time-travel at age nine, to avoid generating affection.

But only for Meng Hongchen do I dare to write with confidence.

Why? Because she's really too flat.

Appearance, both have white hair, and Yutong also has a dual form.

Personality, Yutong is obviously more compatible with Wulin.

Strength, this is even more heavyweight: martial soul suppressed, poison useless, can't win in close combat, can't win at range, completely no hope of winning.

The only thing she's better than Yutong at is probably that she's easier to pursue (just going by looks). Precisely because she has no chance of winning, I dare to write her, after all a book needs a loser, right? (bushi)

(End of chapter)