Huo Yuhao's aura was all too familiar to them, so the moment he appeared in the living room, the three people on the sofas instinctively locked their gazes onto him.
Death Stare.jpg
Huo Yuhao inevitably took an unconscious step back.
Skydream and the Ice Emperor's gazes were still relatively normal, but Gu Yuena's eyes were far too calm... so calm that Huo Yuhao felt a twinge of fear!
Wait, what's going on?
Even after weathering the storms of his previous life, facing this scene now, Huo Yuhao actually felt an impulse to turn and run!
After a brief pause, Huo Yuhao steadied his mind and decided to strike first:
"Sister Nana, you're back? Perfect timing, let me introduce you. This is the Ice Emperor, and she is also my Soul Spirit.
"Ice Emperor, this is Sister Nana. She is... a very important existence to me."
A very important existence...
Gu Yuena dazed for a moment. The forced calm on her face dissolved, replaced by a flash of startled surprise before she quickly recovered her composure.
She remained seated, but the aggressive pressure she had been directing at the Ice Emperor and Skydream vanished without a trace, replaced by an indescribable gentleness.
The little scorpion on the side widened her eyes in disbelief.
Wait, that's it? It's settled?!
One must understand that shortly after Huo Yuhao had left, this "Co-lord of Soul Beasts"—whom she had been warned by Skydream to be extremely cautious of—had returned.
The Co-lord of Soul Beasts hadn't attacked them, but she had sat there staring at them with an unfriendly gaze until this very moment.
And now, that gaze was suddenly gone, and the reason was merely a single sentence from Huo Yuhao.
Recalling how Skydream treated Huo Yuhao, how the Snow Emperor had trusted him instantly upon their first meeting, and now this Co-lord's attitude toward him, the Ice Emperor fell into deep thought.
This guy... what exactly is the deal with him?!
While the Ice Emperor was lost in thought, Huo Yuhao breathed a sigh of relief.
He had discovered long ago that his Nana-jie seemed to have a rather strong sense of possessiveness—perhaps a trait of being a dragon?
However, precisely because of this, she was actually quite easy to coax.
Pausing slightly, Huo Yuhao looked at the two on the sofa and spoke:
"Sister Skydream, Ice Emperor, you two return to the Soul Rings to rest for now."
Better to separate the battlefield first.
"Okay, Yuhao!"
Skydream, who had been hiding behind the Ice Emperor without saying a word, was the first to respond. She returned to Huo Yuhao's Soul Ring without a moment's hesitation.
The Ice Emperor hesitated but eventually nodded. Without a word, she transformed into a beam of emerald-green light and sank into the first ice-blue Soul Ring of Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice Martial Soul.
Huo Yuhao sighed in relief again and turned, intending to speak to Gu Yuena.
But in the next instant, Huo Yuhao felt his hand being grabbed. A massive force followed, yanking him over.
The suddenness caused Huo Yuhao's thoughts to stall. The next thing he knew, he felt himself sink into a soft embrace.
Gu Yuena was holding him.
Perhaps because her past routine consisted of either sleeping or healing—even after two years together—most of her interests lay in food. Consequently, the Gluttonous Dragon King was not a woman of many words.
Compared to speech, she seemed to prefer using clear actions to express her emotions.
—Just like right now.
Huo Yuhao lowered his eyes. In the end, he said nothing, but after a moment of hesitation, he reached out and gently hugged Gu Yuena's waist.
The distance between their bodies closed, and with it, they shared their heartbeats, breathing, and body heat.
A sense of peace slowly spread.
...
The next time he woke up, it was early the next morning.
After the two had hugged on the sofa for an unknown amount of time, Gu Yuena had suddenly stood up and pulled Huo Yuhao to the bedroom. Huo Yuhao had once again served as a body pillow for the entire night.
Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes; the first thing he saw, unsurprisingly, was the girl's flawless face.
He sighed softly, his emotions somewhat complex.
Just as he had thought before: if he wanted to change more things, he would inevitably come into contact with more people... and once he held on, he didn't want to let go.
He seemed to be getting a bit greedy.
It was true for Skydream, and it was true for Gu Yuena.
What does this make me? A scumbag?
But I really don't want to let go...
He looked at the girl so close to him, watching her tranquil sleeping face as thoughts flickered through his mind.
Well... since I don't have to wake up early to cultivate anyway, it's perfectly reasonable to sleep a bit longer, right?
Huo Yuhao blinked, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Unconsciously, he hugged her a little tighter.
Closing his eyes, Huo Yuhao allowed himself to fall into a brief moment of relaxation.
...
Time flew by, and a week later, it was morning.
After a peaceful week, Huo Yuhao felt strangely relaxed.
His daily routine—aside from being a nightly body pillow, accompanying Skydream on shopping trips while listening to her complaints, and nurturing the Ice Emperor's body to fill the gaps in her form—mostly revolved around matters concerning Shrek Academy.
Perhaps due to Elder Mu's support from behind the scenes, Huo Yuhao didn't face any provocations. Funding, laboratories, and various equipment were basically settled immediately.
Aside from that, Fan Yu would occasionally visit with questions to ask for advice.
Huo Yuhao was not stingy. After all, Fan Yu had been his Soul Tool enlightenment mentor in his previous life; he still held the respect he ought to have.
However, regarding his former homeroom teacher, Zhou Yi... Huo Yuhao already had a plan in mind.
Inside the lab, Huo Yuhao was researching the "Energy Soul Ring Convergence and Generation Device." Of course, that name might be confusing to some, so Huo Yuhao usually referred to it as the "Artificial Soul Ring Device."
After achieving godhood, besides his research into Soul Spirits, he had also studied the essence of Soul Rings.
At its core, a Soul Ring is a construct of energy and memory.
The so-called "memory" is the Soul Beast's memory of a specific Soul Skill, which is imprinted onto the Soul Ring.
When a Soul Master uses a Soul Skill, they must consume Soul Power to trigger this memory. Much like an instinctive reaction, the memory absorbs the Soul Power, is triggered, and then the memory mobilizes the Soul Ring to execute the Soul Skill.
The "Artificial Soul Ring Device" was a machine Huo Yuhao developed that could condense a blank Soul Ring by absorbing sufficient energy.
Although the blank Soul Rings had no Soul Skills yet, they could still help a person break through a bottleneck. Furthermore, because they were artificial, the age of the Soul Ring would always be at the absolute limit of the person absorbing it.
Unfortunately, the device still had flaws and needed improvement. Coupled with the fact that it could only condense blank rings for now, it likely wouldn't be very popular.
There was no possibility of promoting it in the short term, but the future was promising, and Huo Yuhao was in no hurry.
Suddenly, a notification light nearby flashed, indicating that Huo Yuhao had visitors.
His hands paused mid-research. Huo Yuhao looked at a nearby screen, seeing the situation outside through the surveillance he had installed at the door.
There were two people.
One was Yan Shaozhe, whom he had met at the Sea God Pavilion meeting the previous week. Standing beside him was a girl with fiery red hair.
Huo Yuhao was slightly surprised and couldn't help but murmur softly: "Sister Xiao Tao?"