"Boom!" Suddenly, a shocking explosion resounded throughout the maple forest, and the cripple and the effeminate man who had been trapped by Wang Chuan's earthen wall finally broke through it.

Subsequently, a series of rumbling noises ensued, with sand flying and dirt falling continuously. Yellow smoke and dust also spread in the air along with the persistent noise.

Chen Hao immediately pulled Ye Yuqiao into his embrace, using his arm to protect her head from any clumps of soil or flying rocks that might come their way.

"Wang Chuan, you scumbag!" An androgynously mocking curse came from within the yellow smoke.

"Wang Chuan, you despicable and shameless villain, it took us half a year to collect these Five Elements Stones and Yin Souls, and you dared to deceive us!" Another voice came through the dust.

Before long, the yellow smoke and dust settled in the night, revealing the cripple and the effeminate man staring murderously at everyone.

"Where's Wang Chuan?" The effeminate man asked, raising an orchid finger, his pale and gaunt face trembling with anger. He looked up at the sky, noticing that the eerie blood moon had now turned into a shining moon emitting a cold light.

Chen Hao wasn't concerned with those two men, instead, he was busy dusting off Ye Yuqiao's hair and clothing, then whispered, "Your Majesty, are you alright?"

Ye Yuqiao looked up at Chen Hao and shook her head with a smile, her hands also busy wiping the dust off him.

"Who exactly are you two?" Ren Deshan stepped forward at this point. "Why are you helping Wang Chuan with whatever he's doing?"

"Hmph!" The effeminate man grumbled with displeasure, his voice piercingly sharp. He squinted at Ren Deshan and said coldly, "I asked where Wang Chuan went, I didn't say you could ask me questions!"

Hearing the effeminate man's words, Chen Hao, who was exchanging tender looks with Ye Yuqiao, suddenly furrowed his brows, anger rising in his heart. After flashing Ye Yuqiao a smile, he turned and said to the effeminate man, "Where did this pansy come from, with such a big mouth!"

Being insulted as a pansy by a green youngster, the effeminate man's eyes practically turned green with rage. The thing he hated most was being mocked as a pansy, his face shaking even more intensely. He pointed his finger directly at Chen Hao, gasping for breath, "Kid, who are you calling a pansy? Say it again if you dare!"

"Chen Hao, be careful! These two have very profound Inner Strength!" Tang Chao warned Chen Hao in that moment.

Chen Hao gave Tang Chao a cheeky wink, then burst out laughing, "Pansy, I'm calling you out. You talk with such a peculiar tone, if you're not a pansy then what are you? Dare to talk with your Adam's apple like I do!"

Upon hearing the words "dare to," the effeminate man felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife, and his rage was uncontrollable. Suddenly, a flash of anger appeared in his eyes, and using Qinggong, he instantly appeared in front of Chen Hao.

Chen Hao's eyes widened with surprise as he swung his right fist towards the effeminate man.

The corner of the effeminate man's mouth curved in a sneer, not feeling any presence of Inner Strength from Chen Hao, he simply lifted his left palm, believing he could easily catch the punch.

In fact, even Tang Chao, who had practiced martial arts for over a decade, could not land a punch on the effeminate man with all his might—such was his skill.

However, what the effeminate man did not expect was that Chen Hao, who apparently had no Inner Strength at all, threw his punch dozens of times faster than he imagined, with a force dozens of times greater. It landed squarely on his face. Instantly, stars erupted before his eyes, and the world spun, his head reeling and eyes blurring until he soon passed out.

After knocking out the effeminate man, Chen Hao tilted his head back and glanced sideways at Ye Yuqiao standing behind him, thinking to himself, "Your Majesty, it seems the power of the Nether King's Heart is indeed formidable!"

"Of course, you're only realizing this now!" Ye Yuqiao's voice echoed in Chen Hao's mind, her tone becoming somewhat unhappy towards the end.

"Be careful!" Ye Yuqiao's voice suddenly turned urgent and shrill.

Chen Hao looked ahead and saw that the cripple had already moved in front of him without a sound. However, he had not come to make a move against Chen Hao but to hoist the effeminate man Chen Hao had knocked out onto his shoulder, and then, with a leap, he disappeared into the night.

Not long after, with the fire in the maple forest extinguished and the incense burned out, the others left as well. The maple forest returned to its usual tranquility, yet the turmoil triggered by activating the Five Elements Reincarnation Formation was just beginning.

The next day, after half a month, Chen Hao finally returned to school.

Previously, due to his grandfather's passing, Chen Hao had taken a seven-day leave, followed immediately by the school's anniversary celebration, which meant another week off.

The feeling of returning to school was strange yet familiar, and also terrifying, for Chen Hao. All the students looked at him with sympathetic eyes, which inevitably brought back the pain of losing his grandfather. He was slow to realize that the pain wouldn't surge like a collapsing mountain the moment his grandfather passed away; instead, it would always drip softly, endlessly in his heart like a gentle stream.

There would be times when he heard a particular song, passed by certain scenes, or saw certain people that he would remember his grandfather and feel a wave of sadness. Lin Xiaofan was one of those people who could make him reminisce and feel heartbroken.

After the fourth period in the morning, Lin Xiaofan came looking for Chen Hao. Her sympathy and concern didn't make him feel any better; on the contrary, it made him more distressed, unable to hold back his sadness.

Fortunately, there was always Ye Yuqiao. After Lin Xiaofan left, Chen Hao returned to his seat in the classroom and saw the quiet beauty sitting next to him. His heart gradually calmed, cleared the sorrow from the depths, and when Ye Yuqiao's enchanting eyes looked at him, a warm and sweet current developed.

"Feeling sad again?" Ye Yuqiao asked softly, looking at Chen Hao.

"Yeah!" Chen Hao nodded and then deliberately said, "I think I'm pretty great. I just don't understand why she would dump me, so I'm very sad!"

Ye Yuqiao laughed, seemingly not angry at all, and said, "That's because you deserve it!"

Chen Hao sighed, feeling gloomy. He couldn't understand why Ye Yuqiao was only ever jealous of Tang Jing.

In the afternoon, after school.

Before the night had completely fallen, Chen Hao took Ye Yuqiao's hand and arrived at the Yin Yang Master Association.

Since King Ning's death, the whole Netherworld in every city and county above the grounds of King Ning's Manor had fallen into chaos. As the president of the Association, Chen Hao of course had many matters to handle. Among them, the most urgent was to construct a Yin Soul prison in Y City.

As Chen Hao was discussing important matters with the heads of the various groups, Xie Xiaoluan suddenly burst into the conference hall.

"Chen Hao, something bad has happened. My brother was just taken away by the people from the National Onmyoji Discipline Committee!" exclaimed Xie Xiaoluan, panicked.

"The Onmyoji Discipline Committee?" Chen Hao frowned, and immediately rose to head for the door.

"Hey, President Chen!" Ren Deshan hurriedly grabbed Chen Hao's arm. "What are you planning to do? We can't afford to mess with the people from the Onmyoji Discipline Committee. To oppose them is to oppose the entire national Yin Yang Master Association!"

Chen Hao looked blankly at Ren Deshan and after a pause, asked, "So?"

Ren Deshan was speechless; he nearly forgot that the President Chen in front of him had always been one to challenge authority. After blinking, he released Chen Hao's arm.

After Chen Hao left, Liu Yongping, the head of the Spirit Division, said with a beaming smile, "Let's not worry, folks. Our president was born to challenge the order!"

The rest nodded.

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