Chapter 30: Upheaval in Hurricane Canyon, Fierce Battle with the Hurricane Bird

After hearing Mo Hui’s explanation, Feng Xiaotian and Feng Yunfan exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss for words. Neither of them had expected this to be the reason for his refusal.

"Please excuse me, seniors; I must continue my cultivation."

With that, Mo Hui sat cross-legged once more and closed his eyes to begin meditating. Pidgey also flew back into the sky, soaring freely while keeping a watchful eye on the area around Mo Hui. Pidgey’s ability, Keen Eye, was of little use in games, but in reality, it granted the bird exceptional vision, allowing it to see as clearly in the dead of night as in broad daylight. It could even peer through various obstacles, including dust, rain, mist, and smoke, making the task of monitoring the surroundings a simple feat.

Seeing Mo Hui enter a state of meditation, Feng Xiaotian and Feng Yunfan looked at each other in bewilderment. After a long silence, Feng Yunfan spoke with a touch of embarrassment, "That junior... he certainly has character!"

Feng Xiaotian, however, let out a cold snort, speechless. "Character? More like a fool. Turning down a Martial Soul Fusion Skill!"

To create his self-invented soul skill, the Gale Wolf Nine-Fold Slash, Feng Xiaotian had exhausted countless hours and energy. To have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill—far superior to his own creation—offered on a silver platter, only for the other party to decline it with the excuse that he needed to cultivate, was something he simply could not fathom.

"Alright, don't be angry. Perhaps he just doesn't have the time right now. We'll be at the Kamikaze Academy for a long time; he might change his mind later," Feng Yunfan said, patting Feng Xiaotian on the shoulder.

"Hmph, I hope so."

With that, the two walked into the inner zone and found a spot to begin their own meditation.

A week later.

"Wait, is he still cultivating?"

Feng Xiaotian, having finished a week of training in the inner sanctum of the Gale Valley, emerged to see Mo Hui still sitting in the same spot, not having stirred from his meditation. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

"He must have gone out to freshen up and come back in, right?" Feng Yunfan remarked casually. Given Mo Hui’s age, being able to cultivate in such a location was already astonishing; to stay here for a full week would be nothing short of heaven-defying.

Feng Xiaotian shook his head, his expression grave. "No. Look at his clothes and his face; he doesn't look like someone who has stepped out to rest."

Hearing this, Feng Yunfan looked at Mo Hui more closely. Gradually, his own expression shifted as well.

"Could it be that he has actually been here for an entire week?" Feng Yunfan couldn't help but mutter.

"Hard to say," Feng Xiaotian replied, watching Mo Hui solemnly. "And don't forget, we didn't see him for over a month before this."

"You mean..."

Contemplating the possibility, Feng Yunfan widened his eyes in utter disbelief.

Just then, a powerful surge of soul power erupted from Mo Hui, shooting straight toward the sky.

"This... has he broken through? And the soul power level he just displayed... it's twenty-four!"

Feng Yunfan was stunned. He never imagined that a child who looked only eleven or twelve years old could possess twenty-four levels of soul power. At twelve, Feng Xiaotian himself had only been at level twenty-five. Mo Hui appeared even younger than Feng Xiaotian had been at that age, meaning he might well surpass Feng Xiaotian's early achievements.

"We underestimated him. He meant every word he said." Feng Xiaotian took one last long look at Mo Hui before leaving the Gale Valley with Feng Yunfan.

From then on, Feng Xiaotian frequently returned to the valley to train, but every time he arrived and departed, he saw Mo Hui still in meditation, which made his feelings toward the younger boy increasingly complicated.

One year later.

Deep within the inner zone of the Gale Valley, a surge of soul power erupted from Mo Hui like a volcanic explosion. A moment later, he opened his eyes.

"Excellent. Level thirty. My speed is even faster than Tang San’s in the original records!" Mo Hui clenched his fists, feeling the surging soul power within him.

The training effects of the Gale Valley’s inner zone had exceeded his expectations once again. Even though cultivation became progressively harder at higher levels, Mo Hui had maintained a pace of one level every two months. The bottleneck at level thirty had taken a little longer, but he had broken through in just three months. Now, he only needed to acquire a suitable soul ring to become a level thirty-one Soul Master.

Just then, a massive gust of wind struck from the bottom of the canyon, so powerful that it blew Mo Hui off his feet, nearly sending him tumbling from the stone platform built by the Kamikaze Academy.

"What's happening!"

Mo Hui channeled his soul power to the limit, bracing against the gale. However, just as he stabilized himself, a cracking sound echoed from beneath his feet.

Mo Hui’s hair stood on end. "Oh no!"

*BOOM!*

Before he could react, the stone platform shattered. Mo Hui plummeted toward the depths of the canyon. In the blur, he caught a glimpse of a giant, multi-meter-long bird.

"Pidgey!" Mo Hui roared at the sky.

*Swoosh!*

The next second, a streak of cyan light cut through the storm, arriving at Mo Hui’s side and grabbing him by the collar of his robe.

*Pidgey!*

The bird beat its wings with all its might, hauling Mo Hui back toward the safety of the stone platform. Once he landed, Mo Hui finally saw the culprit behind his near-death experience.

"A Gale Bird! And judging by the second tail feather just beginning to grow, it must be nearly two thousand years old!"

Mo Hui immediately recognized the creature. It was one of the soul beasts his teachers had specifically mentioned in their Martial Soul theory class as the most suitable for wind-attribute avian spirits. The wings of a Gale Bird could easily whip up massive winds; it was said that a hundred-thousand-year-old Gale Bird could conjure a hurricane capable of destroying an entire city, earning them the title of "walking natural disasters."

Due to various factors, the species had become extremely rare, yet he had encountered one here in the Gale Valley.

"Since I’ve just reached level thirty, consider your soul ring the price for your intrusion!"

With that, two yellow soul rings rose from beneath Mo Hui’s feet. Pidgey’s body glowed with a faint cyan light as it entered combat mode.

"Air Cutter: Eight-Fold Fusion!"

Mo Hui’s first soul ring flashed eight times in rapid succession. Eight half-meter-long blades of wind shot out from Pidgey, rapidly converging mid-air to fuse into a single, massive, three-meter-long blade of wind, which slashed directly toward the Gale Bird.