The skeleton quickly turned dark-green. Right after that, it emitted an aching, clattering sound that made it seem as if it could collapse at any time.

  As Huo Yuhao continued chanting, streams of grey air continued to surge from his body, flowing into the black skeleton in front of him. Upon absorbing these streams of air, the skeleton began to totter about. However, it only continued to totter, and not collapse.

  Everyone couldn’t help but feel astonished upon witnessing this scene.

  Was 66 not planning on using his soul tool to take 98’s attack? Wasn’t he clearly using the power of his martial soul? Was his martial soul a Skeleton? Furthermore, was he summoning a skeleton outside his body? However, why did none of his soul rings light up upon strengthening that skeleton’s defenses?

  While everyone else was dumbstruck, Huo Yuhao himself was somewhat astonished. As he used the necromantic arts his teacher had imparted to him, he felt that it was somewhat incompatible with his Spirit Eyes.

  His spiritual power was relatively strong right now. The moment he felt something was off, he immediately withdrew his Spirit Eyes along with its soul rings. Moreover, he suddenly felt as if something in his mind had shattered. Right after that, he felt a trace of enlightenment, along with a large amount of information that filled his spiritual sea.

  The sudden appearance of so many astonishing things in one’s mind would definitely have struck any other person dumb. However, Huo Yuhao was a person who had cultivated his spiritual power to the concrete-immaterial realm. After a brief moment of astonishment, he immediately used his spiritual power to temporarily seal these pieces of memory-like information in his spiritual sea. At the same time, he continued chanting his spell.

  A strange scene stunned the entire audience. Under the eyes of everyone present, a grey soul ring quietly rose from Huo Yuhao’s feet. Right, a grey soul ring that was filled with a deathly stillness. The instant it appeared, it seemed as if all of the light within the Golden Hall had vanished.

  A tall, faint figure appeared behind Huo Yuhao’s back. Although it was only a silhouette, and its facial features couldn’t be clearly seen, the boundless aura coming from it stunned the entire field.

  Practically everyone seated in the centre of the VIP lounge got to their feet at the same time, their expressions that of bewilderment. Even the female vice-founder wasn’t an exception to this. All of them quickly moved to the window, staring at Huo Yuhao.

  Huo Yuhao felt his senses immediately change the instant the grey soul ring appeared. The various spells of the Divine Law of Necromancy that Calamity Necromancer Electrolux had imparted to him in the past began to appear clearly in his mind. Every single spell appeared like a construct or model, and the originally superfluous spells seemed to shorten. Now, he would be able to cast any of his spells as long as he followed the models within his mind.

  Huo Yuhao raised the shield with his right hand. Due to the brief pause he had, the black skeleton in front of him had already exploded with a bang and turned into small fragments because of the corrosive decomposition cannon. The cannon charge then landed on his Adjudication Shield at practically the same instant.

  Unexpectedly, Huo Yuhao put his shield away and placed it on his legs. At this moment, 98 finally saw the deathly grey in his eyes.

  As the person who was on the stage, 98 was the person who could sense the change in Huo Yuhao’s aura the most clearly. This was a choking feeling that made it seem as though his throat was being crushed, and the enormous pressure and deathly stillness made him suffocate somewhat. He could only increase the amount of soul power in his corrosive decomposition cannon and hope that it could take Huo Yuhao out.

  After putting his shield down, Huo Yuhao raised his right hand. Gently tapping the air, he began to chant once again. He felt the soul power in his body roil about quickly, and the spiritual power in his mind surged forth in torrents. It felt as though something was simultaneously drawing out the spiritual and soul power in his body.

  A large, pitch-black door appeared in front of Huo Yuhao without any prior warning, and the discharge of the corrosive decomposition cannon inches away from him fell right into that door.

  That large door seemed as thin as a feather, but the corrosive decomposition stopped moving after falling into it, as though it had fallen in quicksand.

  Right after that, a mournful howl rang out from that door. With a wave of his hand, the door that had already fallen to the ground several meters away from him instantly stood upright. A grey figure pounced out from the door, charging straight towards 98!

  This was a metallic-green humanoid with a pair of wings on its back. However, it didn’t have a head.

  This sudden change of events left 98 greatly astonished, yet somewhat frenetic. He paused the firing of his corrosive decomposition cannon for a brief moment, then aimed it at that zombie.

  “Chichi!” An ear-piercing shriek mixed with the poison mist caused by the corrosion in the air rang out. However, the headless zombie only paused for a brief moment when facing 98’s attack. Right after that, it charged forward, ignoring the destructive might of the corrosive decomposition cannon. His body was tougher than cast iron! This necromantic spell was called the Spectral Gate, and its activation would create a door linked to the netherworld, summoning a specter that could aid one in combat.

  According to the memories that Electrolux had left him, the Spectral Gate could summon a spectre whose strength could range from a three-ringed to a six-ringed orthodox soul master from the Douluo Continent. The specific specter that would be summoned, on the other hand, would be dependent on one’s luck.

  The fact that the headless iron zombie was able to directly take on a corrosive decomposition cannon truly astonished Huo Yuhao. However, he didn’t dare to dally around; he quickly released another necromantic spell.

  A transparent grey whip appeared before Huo Yuhao. With a wave, it struck the headless iron zombie.

  Immediately, the headless zombie let out a mournful shriek. A ray of light that was identical to it in texture was drawn out from its body, before merging back into it.

  This was the Death Whip, a weapon which could directly attack an opponent’s soul. If it was used on one’s own summoned spectres, it would raise its combat strength for a brief period of time.

  After being struck by the Death Whip, a bronze tint appeared on the headless zombie’s skin. It forcefully took another cannon shot, getting within five meters of 98.

  Currently, 98 was truly feeling somewhat panicked. Smacking his chest with his right hand, he instantly released a white soul ring that tossed the rushing headless zombie away.

  Nobody would’ve thought that the Elite Soul Engineering Tournament would end up like this, but nobody could say that Huo Yuhao was breaking the rules, either. After all, the round-of-six permitted the use of soul master abilities! Only, Huo Yuhao’s abilities were overly strange. These were clearly the skills of an evil soul master! If this wasn’t an underground tournament, some of the orthodox soul engineers there would’ve called him into question.

  However, this was the Duskwater Alliance, and nothing could stop the betting from continuing.

  Huo Yuhao seldom used necromantic magic, but it helped conceal his identity within the Golden Hall. At this moment, the skill with which he used these magics began to improve.

  The headless zombie immediately charged forward again after being pushed back. While it took care of 98, Huo Yuhao began to chant another spell.

  A red ring of light quietly appeared beneath 98, rising into the air. Right after that, a dark-red skull appeared above him, and his movements seemed to slow somewhat.

  This was the Curse of Blood, a necromantic spell that could slow a person down. This spell had another terrifying bit to it; once its target was attacked, the effect of the curse would flare up, injuring him even more.

  After casting this spell, Huo Yuhao’s chanting became even more resounding. As his strange chants continued to ring out, the illusory figure of light behind him became even clearer. One could faintly see that this figure was precisely the Divine Law of Necromancy, Calamity Necromancer Electrolux! Naturally, only Huo Yuhao was able to identify him. Everyone else could only see the blurry image of an old man.

  The strength of a necromantic spell was normally proportional to the length of its chant. The longer the chant, the stronger the spell would be.

  An intense sense of crisis enveloped 98. However, he currently had no way of taking Huo Yuhao out. That headless zombie was simply too quick, and not only did it not fear death, it was even as tough as steel. The most he could do with the soul tools he’d crafted during this tournament was push it back, or even injure it somewhat. However, he wouldn’t be able to take it out.

  98 also understood that he needed to use a few abilities which were specifically strong against the zombie to take it out. However, how was he to find a soul tool that was specifically strong against it right now?

  Huo Yuhao’s strange chanting was like a voodoo curse to him. As his expression kept changing, 98 suddenly rolled on the ground, dodging the headless zombie’s charge. Right after that, a ray of light erupted behind his back. The powerful momentum created by the soul thrusters on his back sent him flying straight towards Huo Yuhao.

  At the same time, he activated a golden Invincible Barrier, and a pitch-black dagger appeared in his hand.

  This dagger was a corrosive decomposition dagger, a close-combat Class 4 soul tool. Upon striking one’s target, this dagger would quickly corrode and decompose an opponent’s body and outer defenses, all the way until it pierced its target.

  98 wasn’t just a soul engineer who specialised in long-range attacks; he was somewhat capable in the field of close-combat as well!