Douluo Continent: I, Huo Yuhao, have a Beast Taming Space

Chapter 85, Scene 1: I Go Alone

The next morning, sunlight streamed into the room through the gaps in the curtains.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er woke up almost at the same time. After a good night's sleep, they were both refreshed.

After a quick wash and tidying up, they left the room together, ready to go to the restaurant to meet up with everyone.

Just as I reached the restaurant entrance, I ran into Ma Xiaotao, who was also in good spirits.

Her beautiful peach blossom eyes swept over Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er, finally settling on Wang Dong'er's pretty face, which was flushed and full of shyness. A mischievous smile immediately appeared on her face.

"Yo~"

Ma Xiaotao deliberately dragged out her words, moved closer to Wang Dong'er, gently nudged her with her elbow, and chuckled in a low voice.

"Did our Miss Dong'er sleep well last night? You look radiant, more so than if you had taken any tonics! Was it because someone's embrace was especially warm and comforting?"

Hearing this, Wang Dong'er blushed deeply, stamped her foot, and scolded, "Sister Xiao Tao! What...what nonsense are you talking about!"

"What nonsense am I talking about?"

Ma Xiaotao turned her gaze to Huo Yuhao and teased him.

"Yuhao, that's good, you've learned to care for others now. But you can't be too biased, only caring about holding Dong'er to sleep and forgetting about your sister, right?"

She habitually teased the two of them, especially wanting to see Huo Yuhao look somewhat embarrassed.

However, Huo Yuhao seemed different today than usual.

Upon hearing Ma Xiaotao's words, he showed no embarrassment whatsoever. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and curled his lips into a slightly wicked smile.

Before Ma Xiaotao could react, Huo Yuhao suddenly stepped forward, stretched out his arm, and directly wrapped his arm around Ma Xiaotao's incredibly elastic waist. With a slight pull, he brought this hot senior into his arms.

"Sister Tao,"

Huo Yuhao lowered his head, leaned close to Ma Xiaotao's ear (who had frozen in place for a moment), and whispered in a magnetic and slightly teasing voice that only the two of them could hear.

"You've been so busy making fun of us that you've probably forgotten... what you looked like when you were begging for mercy in front of me, haven't you? Back then, you weren't nearly as arrogant as you are now."

Warm breath sprayed on her earlobe, her sensitive area was touched, and the words implied intimate scenes of their cultivation within the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, which only the two of them knew, instantly flooded her mind... Ma Xiaotao felt a surge of heat rush to her head, and her entire pretty face and neck quickly turned an alluring blush.

"What nonsense are you spouting! Who...who begged for mercy!"

Ma Xiaotao was both ashamed and anxious. She tried to break free, but found that Huo Yuhao's arm was strong and powerful, and she couldn't break free for a moment.

She was usually bold and fiery, but that was mostly in battle and in words. When Huo Yuhao brought up her private matters so closely, especially in this kind of situation, she was immediately thrown into a panic, and her heart pounded like a drum.

Huo Yuhao chuckled as he looked at her unusually shy and flustered appearance. He then released his arm, as if the strong and slightly wicked man from before was not him at all. He returned to his usual gentle demeanor and said to the stunned Wang Dong'er, "Dong'er, let's go eat."

Wang Dong'er blinked, looked at Ma Xiaotao, whose face was red and who was still trying to catch her breath, and then looked at Huo Yuhao, who looked calm and collected. She couldn't help but burst out laughing and quickly followed Huo Yuhao.

Ma Xiaotao stood there, feeling the lingering heat on her face. Looking at Huo Yuhao's tall and straight back, she bit her full lower lip, her eyes filled with complex emotions, a mixture of shame and anger, and a hint of indescribable heart palpitation.

"This bastard... he's getting bolder and bolder!"

She spat under her breath, but the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up slightly before she quickly followed.

……

After breakfast, the Shrek team gathered again in Wang Yan's room for a final tactical confirmation before the match.

The atmosphere was a little more relaxed than last night. Wang Yan cleared his throat, his gaze sweeping over everyone before finally settling on Huo Yuhao: "According to the draw results, our first opponent is the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy from the Douling Empire."

He flipped through the documents in his hand and continued, "I've checked. Their starting lineup consists of five Soul Masters and two Soul Venerables. Their strength is enough to rank them in the top ten among all the academies in the Douling Empire. However, with our current lineup, as long as we perform normally, victory shouldn't be a problem..."

"Teacher Wong."

Huo Yuhao spoke calmly, interrupting Wang Yan's analysis.

"Leave this one to me alone."

"what?"

Wang Yan was taken aback and subconsciously frowned.

"Yuhao, this...you are our most important trump card. If we reveal our strength too early, I'm afraid..."

"True card?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head slightly, his tone calm yet carrying an undeniable confidence.

"We don't need to use our trump cards to deal with them yet. Teacher Wang, as you know, morale is low both inside and outside the team right now, and the outside world is full of doubts about us. We desperately need a clean, decisive, even... crushing victory to regroup and make those who covet us reconsider. Isn't that right?"

His gaze calmly fell upon Wang Yan, his eyes deep and penetrating, as if he could see right through people's hearts.

Wang Yan opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found himself speechless. Huo Yuhao's words had struck at the heart of his deepest worry.

This is an elimination tournament, a single match that decides the winner, and it directly affects Shrek Academy's eternal reputation!

If things go wrong, it will be the biggest stain on Shrek's history.

Conversely, if Huo Yuhao could easily crush his opponent single-handedly, it would greatly boost morale. More importantly, it would send a strong signal to all the other covetous academies.

Even with their forces weakened, Shrek Academy is still a force to be reckoned with!

This "fear" was crucial in the subsequent round-robin and group stages.

Unlike the brutality of the knockout stage, under the points system, many teams that know they are not strong enough but want to achieve a better ranking often choose to strategically give up when facing recognized strong teams, either by directly conceding defeat or by sending out reserve teams to go through the motions, in order to conserve their strength for matches they are more confident in.

Throughout major tournaments, there have been numerous examples of key players suffering serious injuries or even losing their lives due to fierce battles against strong teams.

Favorites like Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, the original Shrek Academy, and Di'ao Academy usually enjoy the benefits of this "unspoken rule." Apart from needing to play one or two serious matches in the knockout stage, they can basically easily advance to the top 16.

But in the original novel, why did Huo Yuhao and his classmates have such a difficult time fighting?
Because their true nature was exposed too early, everyone thought they were easy targets and wanted to take advantage of them. As a result, it aroused their fighting spirit, leading to fierce battles in every match.

Wang Yan didn't have a deep understanding of Huo Yuhao's true combat strength, having mostly heard about it. But thinking of the calmness, judgment, and those powerful beasts he had displayed in the Mingdou Mountains... he gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind.

"Alright! Yuhao, you'll be fighting alone in the first match!"

Wang Yan nodded heavily, his eyes hardening.

"We must show the spirit of Shrek Academy!"

"rest assured."

Huo Yuhao nodded.

(End of this chapter)