The sky above the plane of the dead is always a dilapidated lead gray.
The sky above is completely dark, yet the surroundings are not dark; a faint, pale light perpetually blankets the desolate, cracked earth.
In this world devoid of any sign of life, there are only aimless skeletons and rotting corpses everywhere, the cracking sound of bones rubbing against each other carrying far on the dry, cold wind.
Every so often, during long periods of time, a few powerful undead lords would occasionally emerge from this lifeless territory through mutual devouring.
The combat power of those lord-level creatures is comparable to that of 100,000-year-old soul beasts in the outside world, but due to the incomplete rules of the demiplane itself, this step is the absolute limit.
An invisible spatial ripple spread across the depths of the wasteland. Huo Yuhao stepped out from the crack, avoiding the several low-level skeletons wandering aimlessly at his feet, and walked familiarly along the gray ridge towards the core basin.
Before he even got close, he could see the gray figure standing beneath the enormous skeleton in the distance.
Wearing a gray robe, Elex seemed to have noticed the movement in the spatial passage long ago. He turned around to look at the approaching boy, a gentle smile appearing on his aged face: "Yuhao, you've come at just the right time today."
Before he finished speaking, the old man raised his withered right hand and pushed it forward. A multifaceted crystal, shimmering with a silvery-gray halo of time, floated with the energy and arrived in front of Huo Yuhao.
It is the Time Godhood that was inherited from the Time Dragon King, Dialka.
Huo Yuhao reached out and took the divine spark, feeling the vast and boundless rules of time within it. He looked up at his teacher with some confusion.
"Take it back. I've almost finished disassembling and studying the rules and structure within this divine artifact over the past few months." Elex stroked his long beard and explained calmly, "From now on, my deductions will no longer need to rely on its physical form; it will be more useful on you."
Huo Yuhao understood the reason behind it, and casually returned the Time Godhead to his spiritual sea, then curiously looked at Elex's side.
"Since you're here, take a look at what I've accomplished these past few days."
Without offering further explanation, Elex turned to face the colossal, mountain-like remains of the Time Dragon King beside him and slowly raised his hands.
As the old man spread his ten fingers, a law-based fluctuation, completely different from the soul power system of Douluo Continent, quietly spread out from the center of his palm.
One after another, clusters of deep and pure soul fires condensed and took shape in the void, their flames dancing quietly and emitting a strange rhythm that resonated with the soul.
The next moment, Elex pushed his palms forward, and the countless soul fires transformed into dozens of streams of light, which precisely entered the enormous dragon bone that stretched for miles in front of him.
The remains of a god-king, which had been lying quietly on the wasteland for countless millennia, suddenly emitted a series of dull, grinding noises from its thick vertebrae after absorbing these soul flames.
"roar--!"
A deep, azure dragon roar suddenly swept across the entire lead-gray sky. The enormous skeletal dragon raised its limbs and stood up abruptly from the ground, two huge, dark soul flames igniting inside its empty eye sockets.
As the giant dragon skeleton fully awakened, an immense pressure, surpassing all mortal beings and truly reaching the divine level, swept outwards in all directions without reservation.
The low-level undead creatures roaming within several miles were unable to utter a single cry under the impact of this divine aura, and immediately lay prostrate on the ground, trembling.
"The Law of Death, the Law of Spirituality, and the Law of the Soul." Elex withdrew his hand, looked up at the sky-covering bone dragon before him, and said with a certainty in his voice, "Through this period of dismantling and reconstruction, I have thoroughly understood the direction of my future godhood. By integrating these three laws, I will achieve my own path to godhood."
Huo Yuhao looked at the giant dragon skeleton radiating divine energy and nodded in agreement.
The combination of these three rules is indeed the most suitable approach for Electrolux.
After all, his teacher was a top expert who started by studying necromancy. He had already explored the mysteries of death and the soul to the highest level during his lifetime. Now, following this old profession, it was simply a natural progression.
The commotion caused by the awakening of the bone dragon was enormous. Its immense pressure not only terrified the nearby low-level undead but also alarmed the undead creatures in more distant areas.
Just as the master and apprentice were talking, a whooshing sound suddenly came from the distant sky. A tall and slender figure rushed over on the dark air currents and landed steadily on the edge of the basin in a few flashes.
Huo Yuhao turned his head and recognized the face of the person who had come. It was Dugu Ling, the former deputy master of Lingyao Pavilion who had died in the Mingdou Mountains while protecting Ju Zi.
Half a year ago, when Huo Yuhao returned to the Star Dou Great Forest for secluded cultivation, he took out the head of Dugu Ling that was sealed in the Qiankun Creation Cauldron and handed it over to Elex, asking his teacher to think of a way to revive this loyal senior.
Elex readily agreed. In the following six months, as the teacher deduced the laws of death and the soul, Dugu Ling naturally became the guinea pig in the experiment, and finally returned to the world in this new form of undead.
Dugu Ling suppressed the dark aura emanating from his body, walked up to Huo Yuhao, and respectfully bowed to the young man.
Huo Yuhao looked him up and down, then asked gently, "Senior Dugu, how are you feeling right now?"
"Thank you for your concern, Young Master. It couldn't be better." Dugu Ling flexed his wrist and replied in a steady tone, "Thanks to Elder Yi's help during this time, my remaining soul has now been completely stabilized and there is no longer any sense of stagnation."
Elex, standing beside him, smiled and nodded, saying, "That's right. His soul's essence has been reinforced by me using spiritual laws. Even if he leaves this demiplane of the dead with you now and returns to the world of the living, his soul will never again be repelled by the environment and dissipate."
Upon hearing his teacher's guarantee, Huo Yuhao's face showed a very satisfied expression.
When they collected Dugu Ling's body in the Mingdou Mountains, all that was left of him was his head.
The complete torso standing before him was pieced together and crafted by Elex himself from scraps of the Time Dragon King's remains next to him.
With his formidable physique forged from scraps of a God-King level dragon bone, coupled with his thoroughly stabilized soul power, Dugu Ling's overall combat strength has not only not declined due to death, but has instead soared to new heights. In direct combat, he is in no way inferior to a Super Douluo of level 95 or above.
What's even more outrageous is the defensive strength of this body. Even if a level 99 Limit Douluo, who stands at the pinnacle of the entire continent, were to personally take action, it would be impossible for him to completely destroy Dugu Ling's current body.Consciousness passed through the dimly lit entrance and returned to the physical body on the shore of the Lake of Life.
Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes, and in his vision was a crisscrossing canopy of lush green trees, with a few strands of silvery moonlight shining through the gaps in the branches and leaves onto his face.
Beneath her was a large hammock woven from sturdy vines, swaying gently in the night breeze.
But at this moment, his chest and waist felt heavy, as if a warm, soft jade was pressing down on him.
Huo Yuhao lowered his head slightly and saw a head of bright golden hair scattered messily across his chest, with a few strands even slipping down his collar and into his neck, causing a slight itch.
Di Qiu'er was lying on top of him without any regard for her image, her arms wrapped around his waist, and her two fair and slender legs were spread out on either side of his thighs, fast asleep and snoring.
The girl's cheek pressed against his chest, squeezing out a small mound of soft flesh, a strand of glistening saliva still clinging to the corner of her lips, her breathing long and even.
Huo Yuhao blinked, activating his subconscious mind to re-receive the memories of that evening.
At that time, his consciousness entered the undead demiplane to discuss the laws with Elex, leaving his physical body outside to be maintained by his secondary consciousness at the lowest possible power.
After grilling and distributing the large silver-scaled fish to everyone, he naturally became sluggish and slow in his energy-saving mode.
Di Tian, Bi Ji, and Di Qiu'er chatted for several minutes before he would slowly reply with a word or two, just like a puppet with a fixed program.
The three big shots who originally wanted to ask him about the direction of artificial soul ring improvement found it boring after a short while, seeing his absent-minded and indifferent attitude.
Just then, it got completely dark, so Di Tian and Bi Ji went to rest, while Di Qiu'er naturally took over his hammock and used him as a human-shaped pillow.
Having sorted out the cause and effect, Huo Yuhao shook his head helplessly, his gaze returning to the face of the blonde girl on his body.
Having spent the past six months living and working together at the Lake of Life, even a wooden person like me could clearly feel the auspicious beast's affection and fondness for me.
She was always clinging to him, either begging for grilled fish or asking him all sorts of questions, and at night she would snuggle into his arms to sleep.
This is probably the aftereffect of being guided by fate.
The two of them had long been bound together by a shared destiny in terms of their souls and fates. That resonance and attraction, originating from the deepest level of life, would instinctively make her want to get closer to him.
Huo Yuhao didn't mind Di Qiu'er's unguarded closeness; in fact, he thought it was quite nice to have such a lively and cheerful companion by his side.
However, there are important matters to attend to right now, and we can't just let her sleep like this until dawn.
Huo Yuhao raised his hands and grasped Di Qiu'er's wrists, which were wrapped around his waist. He gently moved her long legs, which were wrapped around him, away little by little, and peeled the sleeping auspicious beast off him like an octopus, laying her flat on the inside of the hammock.
Di Qiu'er muttered something in her sleep, turned over, hugged the thin blanket next to her, and continued to sleep soundly.
Huo Yuhao flipped off the hammock, his bare feet stepping onto the soft, damp grass without making a sound, and followed the forest path to a secluded clearing far from the lake shore.
The night breeze swept across the open meadow, and the only sounds all around were the crisp chirping of insects.
Huo Yuhao stopped, raised his right hand, and lightly drew a line in the air in front of him with his slender fingertips.
With a barely perceptible hissing sound, a dark spatial rift connecting the undead demiplane tore open from thin air, and then a tall and imposing figure strode out from it.
The newcomer wore a dark blue robe, with his long silver-gray hair neatly tied back. His aura was restrained and profound, and without careful examination, one would not be able to tell that beneath this body was a necromancer's body pieced together from the bones of a god-king level dragon.
After Dugu Ling stepped out of the rift, he immediately took a deep breath of the fresh air of Douluo Continent, filled with the fragrance of grass and trees. A long-lost emotion flashed in his azure eyes. Then he turned around and bowed to Huo Yuhao, saying, "Young Master."
Huo Yuhao casually smoothed out the spatial rift behind him, examined his body which had completely adapted to the rules of the mortal realm, and nodded in satisfaction: "Senior Dugu, how does it feel to return to this familiar place? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
"Thanks to the young master and Elder Yi, my body is now completely free of rejection, and is even several times stronger than before I was alive." Dugu Ling clenched his fist, feeling the immense power within him, and said in a deep voice, "I will now set off for the border of the Sun and Moon Empire to return to the Lord's side and await your orders."
"Alright, thank you for your trouble, senior." Huo Yuhao's expression became more serious, and he whispered, "Do not reveal your whereabouts on the way. Just go directly to Minghuang Academy to meet up with Sister Ju. The current situation outside needs a top expert like you to keep things in check."
"Young Master, rest assured, I understand the importance of this matter and will never allow the tragedy of six months ago to repeat itself." Dugu Ling solemnly clasped his hands in a fist salute, and without saying any more nonsense, his figure blurred into a faint green shadow, soaring into the sky under the cover of night, and disappearing into the distant horizon in a few flashes.
Huo Yuhao stood there, watching Dugu Ling leave, his deep double pupils gleaming faintly in the moonlight.
During the past six months, although he had been in seclusion in the core forbidden area of the Star Dou Great Forest conducting scientific research, he was fully aware of the major events happening in the outside world through the causal feedback of the Destiny Thread and the remote connection of the Sea of Spirit.
Since escaping death in the Mingdou Mountains six months ago, Orange, reborn, seems to have completely let go, and her style of doing things has become more aggressive and decisive than ever before.
In just six months, the three major subordinate forces under her control—the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, the Bright Glory Academy, and the Divine Mechanism Hall—that were originally hidden in the shadows, have completely stopped concealing their subordinate relationships and have directly brought their vast business empire and advanced soul guidance technology into the open.
The successive emergence of batches of high-grade improved pills, new standardized soul-guiding shields, and even simplified exoskeleton armor has caused a huge uproar in the upper echelons of the Douluo Continent.
In the past, the royal families of the Three Kingdoms and those reclusive sects would have joined forces to pressure and seize such a lucrative opportunity.
However, in that border ambush half a year ago, the leaders of the top forces such as Tianxing Sect, Sword Valley, Xuanming Sect, and Tianlong Gate were all wiped out by Huo Yuhao in one breath, and even the Holy Spirit Sect lost three Super Douluo offerings.
Because Huo Yuhao cleaned up the scene thoroughly when he took action, the outside world had no idea that the ten Title Douluos had been wiped out. The various sects simply assumed that their ancestor was still on a secret mission outside and had not yet returned.
With no leader in sight, the high-ranking officials of those sects and empires were hesitant to act rashly and risk offending the Spirit Medicine Pavilion. This allowed Ju Zi to seize this precious time difference and develop steadily for a full six months.
But Huo Yuhao knew very well that this strange calm was only temporary.
As time drags on, the news that the ten top experts have not yet returned will eventually be exposed. Once the major forces react and re-elect a leader, or if Xu Jiawei's side forms a new alliance, Orange will inevitably face a new round of backlash.
Although Lingyao Pavilion and Minghuang Academy are currently wealthy and possess numerous soul-guided weapons, they still have significant shortcomings in terms of top-tier high-level combat power and urgently need a titled Douluo who can command respect and take charge of the central command.
Now, with his new God King Dragon Bones, his combat power is comparable to a level 95 Super Douluo, and he is virtually invincible. Dugu Ling is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.
With this loyal senior figure openly supporting Ju Zi, at least until his two-year term ends and he officially returns to settle accounts, those monsters and demons outside will definitely not be able to cause any trouble.
Just as Huo Yuhao was regaining his composure, a very faint call suddenly came from the shadows of a tree not far behind him.
"Yuhao..."
Huo Yuhao turned around and saw that Di Qiu'er, who should have been fast asleep in the hammock, had woken up at some point.
The girl rubbed her still sleepy eyes, stepped on the grass dampened by the night dew, and slowly walked to stand beside him. Her long, golden hair shone softly in the moonlight.
Huo Yuhao looked at her, a gentle smile on his face, and nodded slightly in response.
Di Qiu'er stood beside him, glancing at the distant night sky in the direction he had been looking. After a moment of silence, she took the initiative to start a conversation: "That person just now, wasn't he going to protect that girl named Ju Zi...?"
In the previous destiny-guiding process, Di Qiu'er received most of Huo Yuhao's memory fragments.
Although she still hasn't fully digested the vast amount of mathematical and scientific knowledge, she has read about most of Huo Yuhao's past life experiences in her dreams. Naturally, she is also very clear about the completely different weight that human girl named Ju Zi holds in the heart of the boy beside her.
Upon hearing her question, Huo Yuhao did not reveal any attempt to conceal his true feelings, nor did he deny it.
The boy tilted his head slightly, his gaze passing through the sparse canopy of trees, quietly looking at the bright, full moon in the sky, and softly replied, "Yes."
The night breeze swept across the open meadow, carrying the unique warm moisture of the Lake of Life.
Di Qiu'er stood side by side with Huo Yuhao, turning her gaze away from the night sky and looking at the handsome young man beside her.
Her long, golden hair cascaded down her shoulders, shimmering softly in the silvery moonlight. Her clear, golden eyes were fixed on Huo Yuhao's face, and she suddenly asked him a question.
"Between her and me, who is more important?"
Huo Yuhao was taken aback for a moment, but after a short while, he answered without changing his expression: "To me, you are all the same."
Di Qiu'er looked at him with a half-smile, shook her head slightly, and made two soft clicking sounds: "You really don't know how to speak."
In the past six months, although she hadn't quite digested all the brain-draining mathematical and physical formulas and soul tool blueprints in Huo Yuhao's mind, she had thoroughly understood the boy's personality, habits, way of doing things, and even all his past experiences.
Without exaggeration, she is now the person in the world who understands Huo Yuhao better than he does. Even Ju Zi, who shared life and death with him, may not understand him as well as she does, having shared all his memories.
She had just seen clearly that the one or two seconds that the boy paused after hearing the question were not at all a matter of weighing the pros and cons or thinking about how to make up a lie to fool people.
He was simply puzzled as to why a majestic imperial beast would suddenly ask such a cliché question that human girls would only ask when they were jealous of each other, feeling that it was completely out of character for her.
Even their perfunctory attitude is so perfunctory and just goes through the motions, yet their facial expressions are so genuine that you can't find a single fault with them.
Di Qiu'er didn't dwell on the topic any longer. She took a step forward and proactively stretched out her arms to pull Huo Yuhao into her embrace.
Her movements were gentle, like comforting a curled-up baby. She wrapped one arm around the boy's shoulder and gently pressed the back of his head with the other, letting him lean steadily against the full, soft curve in front of her.
His nose was instantly filled with a pleasant fragrance. Huo Yuhao blinked, did not struggle, and relaxed his body to lean against her.
Di Qiu'er raised her chin slightly, looking up at the bright full moon above the treetops, her clear voice flowing slowly through the quiet forest.
"Back in the Star Dou Great Forest, all I did all day was eat and sleep; I never had anything serious on my mind."
Her hand gently stroked Huo Yuhao's icy blue hair, her voice tinged with a wistful reminiscence, "Back then, I always thought that things were really as my godfather always said: as long as everyone behaved themselves and endured it, once the master at the bottom of the lake had fully recovered and woken up, under the master's leadership, our soul beast race would definitely be able to rise again and reclaim everything we had lost."
"At that time, I was ignorant and only thought that my godfather was the most powerful person in the whole forest. He must be right about everything he said, so I never thought about how many loopholes were hidden behind it, nor did I think about why I should put all my hopes on someone else."
At this point, Di Qiu'er lowered her eyes, looked at the boy listening quietly in her arms, and then raised her head again to look at the night sky. Her voice had become more clear-headed and resolute than ever before.
"Until recently, when I had almost digested those fragments of memory in your mind and saw what you did in the far north, in the Sun and Moon Empire, and in Shrek City, I truly understood a principle."
"To place one's fate and the expectations of one's community entirely on another person is the most foolish thing imaginable."
"Even if that person is the high and mighty Silver Dragon King, even if she possesses the creative authority left by the Dragon God, she is ultimately not ourselves. It is more reliable to rely on others to show mercy and save us than to take matters into our own hands and make a living ourselves."
The night breeze rustled the hems of their overlapping clothes, and the chirping of insects around them seemed to soften considerably.
Di Qiu'er was like a traveler who had finally found someone to confide in. She talked on and on for a long time, pouring out all the insights she had accumulated in her heart over the past six months while digesting human history and observing Huo Yuhao's plans.
Huo Yuhao leaned quietly in her warm embrace, listening to the steady heartbeat and the girl's clear voice, without interrupting.
He could clearly sense that the Di Qiu'er before him and the Wang Qiu'er he knew from his past life had embarked on two completely different paths.
Without the dirty hand and divine guidance secretly planted by the sea god in the divine realm, and without becoming a substitute for a certain light and shadow in someone else's memory, she has now truly grown her own independent personality under the nourishment of a vast amount of memories.
She still possesses the innate pride of a mythical beast and a touch of awkwardness stemming from her vanity, but she has learned to examine the world from a more comprehensive and rational perspective. She not only understands how to think independently, but also demonstrates remarkable decisiveness and initiative when faced with things she believes in.
After a long while, Di Qiu'er finally stopped her long-winded explanation.
She released her arms from the boy's shoulders, cupped Huo Yuhao's face in her hands, and lifted his head slightly. Her clear, pure golden eyes stared intently into his golden-blue pupils.
"My godfather has devoted himself to the Star Dou Great Forest all these years. His persistence is not wrong, but the old path he has taken is too long and too far."
Di Qiu'er spoke seriously, her brows revealing a burgeoning ambition and sharpness, "No one can say for sure what the future will be like hundreds or even thousands of years from now. I don't want to just wait foolishly like before."
"Therefore, I want to personally try it out. Instead of relying on the master at the bottom of the lake, I, the Imperial Auspicious Beast, will lead the Soul Beast race on a new path and make the Soul Beast race great again!"
Huo Yuhao's face was cupped in her hands, and he met the girl's incredibly bright eyes, nodding solemnly.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he solemnly proposed: "Since we are going to revitalize the race, my core suggestion remains the same as before, which is to encourage more births. After all, only by thoroughly expanding the population base can the race continuously produce outstanding geniuses who can break through the shackles under a huge sample."
Upon hearing this, Di Qiu'er's tense and serious face instantly broke down, and a bright and charming smile appeared on her lips.
"I also think your suggestion is excellent."
She gently lifted Huo Yuhao's face with her hands, bringing him half an inch closer. Her golden eyes were filled with a mix of playfulness and seriousness. "Since we're going to take the lead in expanding the population, why don't we start with the two of us? Let's work together and have a few more little auspicious beasts, okay?"
"..."
Huo Yuhao choked for a moment, skipping the thought process altogether, and shook his head like a rattle-drum: "That won't do."
Seeing the boy's resolute attitude of rejecting her so decisively and leaving no room for negotiation, Di Qiu'er's smile slowly faded, and she let out a cold laugh that was hard to understand.
"Ha, they were all talk and no action when advising others, but when it comes to their own situation, they make excuses and refuse. What a double standard."
After making that comment, Di Qiu'er didn't care whether Huo Yuhao agreed or not. She held his face firmly with both hands, lowered her head, and silenced his mouth that was about to continue arguing.
She knew very well that, in Huo Yuhao's current emotional state, his feelings for her were perhaps more of an appreciation between partners and a sense of responsibility for their intertwined fates, far from being anything more intense or profound.
But Di Qiu'er didn't care about these empty words at all. As the undisputed imperial beast of the Star Dou Great Forest, she never cared what others thought. She only cared about what she wanted and what she wanted to do now.
Feeling the warmth of the boy in her arms, her body gradually became hot, and an inexplicable thrill turned into a flame that burned brighter and brighter.
Di Qiu'er didn't care whether Huo Yuhao agreed or not. Using the force of leaning forward, she pushed the boy down onto the soft grass.
Golden strands of hair fell down, brushing against Huo Yuhao's neck and chin, filling his nose with the girl's refreshing fragrance.
Their breaths mingled, and the surrounding temperature seemed to rise a few degrees at that moment.
Seeing that things were about to go in the wrong direction, Huo Yuhao's eyelids twitched. He used his waist and abdomen to roll her half a circle on the spot, and then precisely grabbed Di Qiu'er's wrists with both hands, pressing her back onto the grass and subduing her again.
"That's impossible! Absolutely impossible! It's too early!"
Huo Yuhao looked down at the blonde girl beneath him, his face tense and his tone serious as if he were reciting some inviolable iron law.
Di Qiu'er was unable to move because he was holding her wrist. Looking at his serious expression, she pouted unhappily.
She had just heard this kid rave about procreation and was eager to experience the kind of joy that Xiong Jun usually felt, but this bastard messed up at the crucial moment.
That's so feudal! It's just a complete and utter old feudalism!
Although Huo Yuhao never admitted it, Di Qiu'er, who shared most of the memories, knew better than anyone that this guy was an old-fashioned person at heart, stubbornly wanting to save his first time until the day he officially got married.
But to say that this guy is a pure love warrior who pursues spiritual resonance, likes that kind of Platonic love, and firmly refuses to cross the line before marriage is simply ridiculous!
Even after Di Qiu'er went through Huo Yuhao's memories over and over again, she still couldn't understand why this guy, who had been philandering and had gotten himself into a lot of trouble outside, was so stubborn about this kind of thing.
"Boring..."
Di Qiu'er curled her lips, turned her head away and snorted coldly, her golden eyes full of disdain.
...
At the border of the Sun and Moon Empire, at the Bright Glory Academy.
In a secret room on the top floor of the bishop's building, soft soul-guided light illuminated the entire room.
Ju Zi stood in front of the large office desk, looking at Dugu Ling, who was standing there unharmed in a dark blue robe. Her eyes immediately reddened, and crystal tears welled up in them.
Dugu Ling looked at the girl in front of him, who had become somewhat thinner, and his throat seemed to be blocked by something. His voice was choked with emotion as he spoke: "Palace Master, I have returned."
Half a year ago, when the Mingdou Mountain range was destroyed, Long Yuhan tore apart his Martial Soul True Body and ripped off his head. He thought he was doomed for life, but he never expected that with the help of the young master and the mysterious Elder Yi, he would be able to come back to life in this new body.
Ju Zi took a deep breath, raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and without saying any polite words, she looked at him gently and said, "Grandpa Dugu, Xiao Yu misses you very much. For the past six months, he has been working hard to cultivate."
Dugu Ling's grandson, Dugu Yu, was born weak and suffered from a strange illness that caused him to be extremely allergic to soul power, and he could not even withstand the nourishment of ordinary soul power.
However, with the help of the latest soul guidance technology and biophysical therapy cabin of the Divine Mechanism Hall, Ju Zi personally presided over a comprehensive body reconstruction surgery for Dugu Yu, completely replacing and clearing his blocked and rejecting meridians.
Now, Dugu Yu is not only physically robust, completely free from the misfortune of dying young, but he can even successfully start cultivating his martial soul like a normal soul master.
With just this short sentence, Dugu Ling, who had spent his whole life navigating the complexities of human relationships, immediately extracted the most crucial information from it.
The strange illness that even the Immortal Doctor Douluo couldn't cure was finally completely cured, and he was even able to embark on the path of Soul Master cultivation. Their Dugu family lineage no longer needs to be broken!
Dugu Ling shuddered, and hot tears welled up in his azure eyes. He was about to kneel down and bow to Ju Zi.
Ju Zi quickly stepped forward, steadily supporting the old man's arm with both hands, and said softly, "Grandpa Dugu, there's no need for this. You risked your life to protect me, so taking care of Xiao Yu is just what I should do."
After helping the old man to his feet, Ju Zi looked at the white hair at his temples and said sincerely, "Now that Your Majesty Qinglin has died once for the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, you no longer owe me anything. If you feel weary, you can take Xiao Yu to find a beautiful mountain to live in seclusion and enjoy your old age."
Upon hearing this, Dugu Ling did not hesitate for a moment. He shook his head, his aged face full of determination: "What are you saying, Pavilion Master? My life was saved by the young master, and my grandson's future was given by you. What I have done is far from enough. As long as I can still move, I will never back down halfway."
The two carefully checked the academy's recent defense arrangements in the secret room before Dugu Ling turned and left the room, preparing to go back to the backyard to see her long-missed grandson.
The door to the secret room closed again. Orange walked back to the table and sat down, reaching out to pick up a stack of top-secret intelligence that had just been transmitted back from the hidden station.
The top file records Ye Guyi's recent movements.
Three days ago, the girl wielding the Holy Angel Sword single-handedly destroyed a hidden stronghold of evil soul masters in the desolate mountains of the border region. She fiercely annihilated three evil soul masters at the Soul Saint level. Her own soul power level also broke through and improved once again through actual combat, reaching level 69. She is only one step away from officially entering the threshold of Soul Saint.
Orange's lips curled slightly as she flipped through the remaining files below, which recorded the movements of various parties on the mainland.
Besides Lingyao Pavilion's commercial expansion in the Three Kingdoms, one of the most important events was the exposure and public scrutiny of the Xingluo royal family and the Tianxing Sect's dirty secrets in the public discourse of Tianhun and Xingluo.
While the imperial authority was being swept away, the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, which had been guarding the Mingdou Mountain Range for many years, was gaining increasing support from both the military and the people, and was showing signs of becoming too powerful to challenge the emperor and taking his place.
Orange put down the paper in her hand, her fingers lightly tapping the table, her clear eyes as deep as the sea.
The raging fire placed beneath the dragon throne of the Star Luo Empire was a special gift she had prepared for Xu Jiawei.
Of course, although the situation is very chaotic, this world is ultimately a world where strength reigns supreme. The Xu family is still very powerful, and the Tianxing Sect behind them, a reclusive sect, remains a colossal and unshakeable force.
So despite the commotion, the royal family was able to suppress it. As for the aristocracy, they didn't care at all, since none of these things touched their core interests, and besides, who hasn't done these things before?
It's just not something you can talk about openly. Some things don't weigh much until they're put on the scale, and once they are, they become incredibly heavy!
As time slowly passed, the plants and trees on the shore of the Lake of Life flourished more and more under the nourishment of the vital energy of heaven and earth.
Huo Yuhao stood on the open ground by the lake, his hands constantly moving in front of his chest, weaving the extracted soul beast blood and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into a net, continuing to try to upgrade his current soul ring making technology.
In order to help him expand the experimental sample, Di Qiu'er has been very cooperative these days. She directly used the absolute appeal of the Emperor Beast and ran back and forth in various parts of the forest every day, capturing almost every soul beast clan that could be named in the Star Dou Great Forest.
A line of soul beasts of various shapes squatted on the outer edge of the lake, obediently offering a few drops of essence blood and soul power, providing Huo Yuhao with a mountain of test materials.
However, despite the increasing number of tests, the technology has not made any substantial progress.
At the three basic levels of ten years, a hundred years, and a thousand years, the situation remains the same as before. Artificial soul rings handcrafted with essence blood and the energy of heaven and earth are almost no different from traditional soul rings obtained by hunting soul beasts, both in terms of energy structure and soul skill feedback.
However, once the watershed of the ten-thousand-year level is crossed, artificial soul rings reveal huge problems.
Huo Yuhao raised his right hand and crushed the newly formed black soul ring in front of him. Watching the energy key dissipate into specks of light, he couldn't help but sigh.
Based on repeated comparisons over this period, the internal law structure of low-level 10,000-30,000-year artificial soul rings is extremely loose. The actual amplification effect after fusion is almost the same as that of high-level 1,000-year soul rings that are 7,000-8,000 years old.
Only by raising the material standard to over 50,000 years can the high-level 10,000-year artificial soul rings produced barely match the stability and power of traditional ordinary 10,000-year soul rings.
As for the 100,000-year level, it is still the same as half a year ago. Even though the outer shell is stained with that brilliant red light, the inside is empty. It is just a mere shell and does not have the rules and charm that a 100,000-year soul ring should have.
A series of failed data feedbacks made Huo Yuhao realize that the current research direction of piecing together essence blood and the primordial energy of heaven and earth seemed to have reached its end.
The higher the level of the soul ring, the more stringent the requirements become regarding the integrity of the soul imprint and the origin of life.
To create a genuine 100,000-year soul ring using existing technology, unless one follows the traditional method of directly using the life and all cultivation of a 100,000-year soul beast, it is impossible to create such a product that carries complete laws out of thin air using only a few scraps.
This is a classic case of "a skilled cook cannot cook without rice"—the underlying law of conservation of energy is there, and no matter how high the computing power, it cannot create something from nothing.
Just as Huo Yuhao was rubbing his temples and organizing his experimental records, a muffled sound of wind breaking suddenly came from a clearing in the woods not far away.
Huo Yuhao turned his head and saw a huge, ten-thousand-year-old Earth Demon Rhinoceros lying on the ground, panting heavily. In the open space in front of it, Di Qiu'er, dressed in a gilded outfit, slowly withdrew her right fist. A layer of dark golden light still lingered on the surface of her fair fist.
That layer of dark golden light was neither the extreme fire she usually used, nor a pure outward release of soul power; instead, it exuded a heavy texture like surging magma.
Several ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts that she had chosen to bring with her squatted under the shade of a tree, craning their necks to look at the scene, their eyes filled with awe.
This girl actually managed to come up with something new by just figuring things out on her own.
A hint of surprise flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes. He took a step and walked towards that direction, his boots making a soft rustling sound as they stepped on the thick layer of fallen leaves.
When Di Qiu'er saw him approaching, she casually waved away the Earth Demon Rhinoceros on the ground, clapped her hands, and stepped forward, slightly raising her chin. Her golden eyes were full of undisguised smugness: "How about it? Did you see the commotion of that punch just now?"
"I saw it. She didn't even use the slightest fluctuation of soul power. She just used the force of that punch to knock down a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast known for its defense." Huo Yuhao looked her up and down, noticing the still-calm aura around her, and raised an eyebrow with some curiosity. "These past few days, you've been using the excuse of helping me gather materials to select followers everywhere. Is this what you've been secretly doing?"
"Of course. Since I said I would lead the Soul Beast race to a new path, I can't just rely on empty slogans, can I?" Di Qiu'er crossed her arms, her long, golden hair falling over her shoulders as she shook her head. "During this time, while I was calling on the Soul Beasts of all races for you, I also dug out all those strange cultivation theories in your head and studied them. In the process, I came up with this new thing."
At this point, Di Qiu'er raised her right hand again, her five fingers slightly clenched, and a ring of condensed dark golden energy immediately rose from her body: "I call it the power of blood and qi. It is a completely new power system that is independent of soul power!"
Huo Yuhao activated the golden double pupil in his left eye and the blue halo in his right eye, carefully analyzing the special energy flowing on her fist, signaling her to continue.
"When I was selecting those soul beast followers, I was thinking that the traditional soul power growth model is really too unfriendly to our soul beast race." Di Qiu'er put away the dark golden light on her fist and her expression became serious. "The essence of a soul beast's usual cultivation is to constantly accumulate soul power in its body. The more soul power it accumulates, the faster its lifespan increases."
"Once the age limit is crossed into the threshold of 100,000 years, a deadly tribulation will befall them every 100,000 years. The vast majority of their kind, despite their formidable fighting strength, will ultimately perish under the lightning strikes of the tribulation."
Di Qiu'er pouted, her tone carrying a hint of dissatisfaction with the rules of heaven and earth, "So I was thinking, since increasing one's soul power years is like queuing up to be struck by lightning, is there a cultivation method that can greatly increase combat power without increasing one's cultivation years?"
"Following this line of thought, I used the powerful foundation of the Golden Dragon Martial Soul within my body to continuously try to compress the potential of my physical body, and as a result, I actually managed to extract this power of blood and qi from the depths of my flesh and bone marrow!"
After listening to Di Qiu'er's clear and logical analysis, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but look at the blonde girl beside him with new respect.
The miscellaneous Earth knowledge and martial arts concepts she remembered were transmitted into her mind, and surprisingly, she was able to combine them with the physiological defects of the native soul beasts to deduce a practical path to become stronger.
Huo Yuhao extended his right hand and placed it on Di Qiu'er's wrist, then used his mental detection to probe along her meridians, quickly figuring out the underlying logic of this power.
This so-called new system is essentially a way of twisting the life essence and physical potential that were originally scattered throughout the limbs and bones into a single rope, thus creating a pure path of physical cultivation.
This kind of blood and qi power is completely different from the soul power transformed from the primordial energy of heaven and earth. It is not related to the crystal core or cultivation years in the soul beast's body, but is a special energy that only acts to temper the body, strengthen muscles and bones, and simply enhance physical strength.
Once a soul beast masters this method of refining its qi and blood, as its qi and blood power continues to increase, the density of its skin, bones, and muscles will become stronger and stronger, and the pure power it unleashes will also increase exponentially. However, the number of years of soul power cultivation within its body will not increase in the slightest as a result.
This means that even if a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast cultivates its blood and qi to the point where its physical strength is comparable to that of a ferocious beast, according to the laws of heaven and earth, it is still just an ordinary ten-thousand-year-old soul beast and will not attract the lock of the hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation!
For the soul beast race, which is trapped by the shackles of heavenly tribulation, this is indeed a very good new direction that can bypass the restrictions of the rules.
Such a useful tool should be used to enrich one's skill set; it would be a waste not to use it.
Without any hesitation, Huo Yuhao's fourth 100,000-year-old red soul ring quietly emitted a faint light. The passive replication ability of the Impression Neuron was activated instantly. Combined with the precise analysis of the microscopic particle arrangement by the fifth soul ring, he perfectly imprinted the circulation path, refining method, and power exertion techniques of Di Qiu'er's blood and qi into his mind.
In just a few breaths, the already enormous Blood of the End within Huo Yuhao's body trembled slightly. A strand of dark golden blood energy, even thicker and more refined than what Di Qiu'er had just displayed, naturally flowed out from his fingertips, allowing him to successfully and completely master this new power system.
"Hmm~ I see, I get it."
Huo Yuhao released his fingers from Di Qiu'er's wrist, took a half step back to create distance, and a thick, dark golden aura of blood energy transformed into visible ripples that surged around his body, causing the fallen leaves at his feet to swirl in all directions before gradually calming down.
Standing on the opposite side, Di Qiu'er stared at this scene, completely stunned, her golden eyes wide open.
Di Qiu'er: ...
No, this is just too outrageous!
She spent many days slowly exploring how to refine and utilize this Qi and blood energy, relying entirely on instinct to overcome many obstacles. But this guy just glanced at her pulse and immediately learned it.
Moreover, judging from the degree of refinement of that dark gold ripple, it was even more substantial and solid than the original version!
Immediately afterwards, the fragments of memories that had been shared earlier flashed through Di Qiu'er's mind, and she immediately realized what had happened.
Oh right, this guy's fourth soul ring has an unreasonable passive copying soul skill!
Once his mental power has figured out the energy properties and operational structure, no matter how difficult the method, he can dismantle and copy it on the spot!
"You thief, you even steal this!"
Di Qiu'er stomped her foot in annoyance, put her hands on her hips, glared at the boy in front of her, and pouted as she protested, "This is a new skill that I worked hard to develop, and you took it without even saying goodbye!"
Huo Yuhao didn't rush to argue. He just stood there with his eyes closed and remained silent for a while. His cosmic brain was working rapidly in his mind, re-analyzing and sorting out the rough method that he had just copied from beginning to end.
After a few breaths, the boy opened his golden and blue eyes, casually removed the dark gold light from his fingertips, and spoke gently to the blonde girl who was still sulking: "I've sent you the optimal method for executing the power of qi and blood. Try it out."
As soon as she finished speaking, Di Qiu'er felt a slight coolness between her brows, and a clear stream of information appeared in her mind.
She stood there with some skepticism, digesting the information briefly. To her surprise, she discovered that it was a completely improved method for cultivating Qi and blood. The several obscure meridian points that she had encountered while figuring it out on her own were all replaced with smoother and more effortless circular routes in this information.
Di Qiu'er suppressed her curiosity and tried a simple method following the new path given in her mind. As a result, after circulating her qi and blood for only one small cycle, she found that the qi and blood power in her body, which was not much and grew slowly, actually increased rapidly along her limbs and bones!
This extraction efficiency is more than ten times faster than her previous method of brute force!
Di Qiu'er stopped cultivating in surprise. Just as she was about to praise the boy, she turned to look to the side and found herself stuck again.
Huo Yuhao had somehow walked to the shade of a tree, a faint spiritual wave rising from his forehead. Through a spiritual connection, he linked with several ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts squatting nearby watching the commotion. He then packaged the cultivation route he had just prepared into a compressed file and sent it to each of them.
The several ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts received the extra three-dimensional images and muscle exertion guidance in their minds, and one by one they lay on the ground with their eyes closed and did as they were told, as if they had found a treasure.
About ten minutes later, a muffled boom came from under the tree. One after another, the same dark golden waves erupted from the bodies of those ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, and they all successfully cultivated their own blood and qi power!
The Soul Beasts growled excitedly, banging their claws and shoulders together to test their strength, making the ground vibrate.
"..."
Di Qiu'er fell completely silent, standing in the wind watching the group of lively soul beast underlings, and for a moment she began to doubt the existence of beasts.
ah?
No, shouldn't I be the discoverer and creator of this power of qi and blood?
In the blink of an eye, Huo Yuhao not only completely changed her crude method, but also started batch teaching, so that even the few dim-witted guys under the tree could get started on the spot.
Huo Yuhao, that guy...
Di Qiu'er opened her mouth, looking at the calm-looking young man not far away, and for a moment she didn't know what words to use to describe this prodigy.
In the instant that Di Qiu'er was stunned, Huo Yuhao had already withdrawn the mental link, raised his hand and took out paper and pen from his storage soul tool, quickly wrote for a moment, and then flicked his wrist, throwing a thin booklet that had just been bound in front of her.
Di Qiu'er subconsciously reached out and caught it, glancing down at the cover. He discovered that it was the Qi and Blood Power Cultivation Method that he had just written, filled with dense textual explanations and annotations of meridians and acupoints.
"Forget about the mental guidance I just gave you. Just look at the text descriptions in this booklet and try to refine your Qi and blood again by following the steps." Huo Yuhao stopped in front of her, pointed to the booklet in her hand, and made the request seriously.
Although Di Qiu'er didn't quite understand why he was going to all this trouble, she still obediently opened the book, read and understood it word by word, and then closed the book and tried to mobilize the qi and blood in her body according to the instructions.
However, she had only been halfway through the process when her internal energy and blood clashed with a side path, causing her cheeks to burn and making it impossible for her to receive the mental transmission as smoothly as before.
Di Qiu'er frowned, and, refusing to believe it, tried the book twice more, but still stumbled and struggled to get the hang of it.
Huo Yuhao, who was standing nearby, took in her reaction without surprise and nodded knowingly.
Indeed, language and writing are too abstract, containing a large number of concepts that require imagination to translate. For soul beasts that have not received systematic education and are used to acting directly on instinct and inherited memories, it is too difficult to understand.
The reason those ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts were able to learn in just over ten minutes was purely because he used mental connection to directly simulate the frequency of muscle contraction and the speed of blood flow into the most intuitive physical sensations, and personally inserted them into their brains.
Once they were freed from his remote leveling assistance as a human cheat code, these soul beasts would struggle to even understand the instruction manuals if they relied solely on written teaching materials for promotion.
Huo Yuhao reached out and took back the booklet, casually stuffing it into his pocket. Then, looking at Di Qiu'er who was still rubbing her forehead, he briefly explained to her all the discoveries he had made in his research on the power of qi and blood.
"Qiu'er, the blood and qi power you've figured out is fundamentally different from the soul power we usually cultivate."
Huo Yuhao raised a finger and analyzed clearly, "It is not a variant of the primordial energy of heaven and earth, but a kind of power that is squeezed out by taking in external energy through breathing and eating and then combining it with one's own strong physique. Its main function is to temper the body internally and refine the original essence and blood in the body."
At this point, Huo Yuhao changed the subject, his expression becoming more serious: "But this method has its advantages and disadvantages. Although it can perfectly avoid the locking of the 100,000-year Heavenly Tribulation, its biggest drawback is that it consumes a lot of the body's essence. During the cultivation process, it is necessary to continuously replenish a large amount of high-energy food to make up for the deficiency."
Meeting Di Qiu'er's slightly confused golden eyes, Huo Yuhao sighed and put it in the simplest and most straightforward way: "In plain terms, once you start cultivating this blood and qi power, the soul beast's appetite will increase, and it will be extremely large. Every day, it will need to devour a massive amount of flesh and blood or rare and precious herbs to maintain its energy."
Di Qiu'er was still feeling smug about creating a new system, but upon hearing this simple summary, her brows, which had just relaxed, immediately furrowed again.
Although she had never been involved in internal affairs, she was still the imperial auspicious beast of the Star Dou Great Forest, and she was clear about the basic living conditions in the forest.
The biggest drawback of Qi and Blood Power is that it requires a huge amount of high-energy food, and looking at the entire Star Dou Great Forest, the Soul Beast race is precisely lacking in food!
After all, unlike humans, soul beasts do not know how to cultivate farmland or raise livestock. They never engage in any productive activities. For thousands of years, the only way they have filled their stomachs has been through the most primitive hunting and killing each other.
If all the soul beasts in the forest were allowed to cultivate their qi and blood power to their hearts' content, they would probably devour their own kind before they could even develop their physical bodies to the point where they could fight against humans.