Xu Jiawei looked at the black-robed bishop who remained silent, showing no patience to wait for him to consult his superiors.
He directly revealed the true price he was paying for this trip.
"I don't need your Holy Church to send some useless rabble to make up the numbers. I will directly send three Title Douluo level experts to cooperate with my men to wipe out Minghuang Academy."
The black-robed bishop stood still without responding, the eerie green light emanating from beneath his hood flickering uncertainly, revealing his extreme apprehension.
This request was completely beyond his authority to make the decision.
He was merely a Soul Saint who had just entered the seventh ring level. Faced with such a grand sect plan that involved the mobilization of multiple Title Douluos and could even trigger a full-scale war, he didn't even have the right to interrupt.
Seeing the other party's hesitant appearance, Xu Jiawei was too lazy to waste words and let out a contemptuous snort.
"You bunch of rats who hide in the gutter all day long, if you want to watch a Title Douluo with a Holy Angel Martial Soul be born on your heads, then slowly weigh the pros and cons here."
After uttering this warning, Xu Jiawei didn't linger for a moment. He turned around and strode away through the dark passage he had come from.
He didn't even spare a second glance for the branch manager.
What a joke.
He was the emperor who held power in the Star Luo Empire. He was the one who always had others kneeling on the ground, waiting for him to speak. There was no reason for him to stand here and wait for a mere evil spirit master to report to him.
He knew the weaknesses of those evil spirit masters better than anyone else in the world.
Those self-proclaimed gods and madmen would never allow Ye Guyi, their natural nemesis, to grow up.
For the group of evil spirit masters, the Holy Angel Martial Soul is an inescapable deadly poison.
Once that girl crosses the threshold of Title Douluo, she will inevitably rely on the intelligence network of Minghuang Academy to sweep through the strongholds of evil soul masters throughout the continent.
That kind of purification and devouring without any side effects is enough to allow the opponent to advance to the Super Douluo level without any obstacles.
If the spies from Minghuang Academy were to discover the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters, a Holy Angel Limit Douluo who feeds on evil soul masters might very well emerge on the Douluo Continent in the future.
The terrifying talent displayed by Ye Guyi is by no means an alarmist assumption.
This is precisely the dead end that the old monsters of the Holy Spirit Church fear most.
Even if those evil spirit masters risked the entire foundation of their sect, they would definitely nip this deadly threat in the bud.
...
Heavenly Soul Empire, Black Wind Ridge.
The strong stench of blood permeated the ruins of the dilapidated mountain stronghold.
This stronghold of evil spirit masters, hidden deep in the mountains and forests, has now been thoroughly cleansed by the pure aura of light.
Ye Guyi floated in mid-air, her two pairs of radiant golden divine wings fully unfurled behind her.
The Heavenly Feather Holy Sword in her hand emitted a dazzling golden light, illuminating the entire night sky, which was shrouded in resentment, as bright as day.
Holy light shines everywhere.
That divine attribute, which transcends all dark forces, transformed into a layer of materialized golden light, firmly locking the high-level Soul Emperor below, who was trying to escape into the shadows, in place.
The evil spirit master, draped in a blood-red robe, let out a piercing scream.
He desperately urged the vengeful spirits within his body, trying to tear open a path to survival, but all his struggles were in vain before that supreme purifying power.
Ye Guyi gripped the sword hilt with both hands, channeling all the divine soul power surging within her body into the sword, and then slashed down from top to bottom.
A massive golden cross-shaped strike roared out, effortlessly slicing through the thick layer of resentment and piercing precisely through the bishop's body.
Golden light pierced the sky.
Before the high-level Soul Emperor could even utter a word, he was reduced to ashes flying everywhere by the scorching divine fire.
The remaining light surged around.
Ye Guyi sheathed her longsword, her four wings slowly folded, and she landed lightly back on the ground.
Xu Mingzi and Jiang Nannan walked quickly from behind the ruins not far away.
"Senior Sister's martial spirit is simply unreasonable."
Xu Mingzi looked at the small clump of grayish-black powder on the ground, his face full of undisguised admiration.
"These usually arrogant and domineering evil spirit masters couldn't even unleash 20% of their strength under the suppression of the senior sister's attributes. They were just lining up to die."
Jiang Nannan walked beside her and nodded in deep agreement.
She had clearly seen that overwhelming, unparalleled dominance from the edge of the battlefield.
Hearing the two people's praise, Ye Guyi's lips curled into a beautiful smile.
She didn't reply, but instead closed her eyes slightly, quietly sensing the changes happening inside her body.
As the high-level Soul Emperor was completely purified, an extremely pure, attribute-free soul power, guided by her martial soul, continuously flowed into her meridians.
A slight swelling sensation came from her dantian.
Level 69.
Ye Guyi opened her eyes, a hint of undisguised joy flashing deep within them.
It has only been three months since the conclusion of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament.
However, her cultivation seemed to have no bottleneck, soaring all the way to the peak of Soul Emperor, just one step away from breaking through to the level 70 Martial Soul True Body.
This is all thanks to her extraordinary martial spirit characteristics.
While others need to accumulate and hone their soul power over time, she only needs to follow the information and constantly seek out these sinful evil soul masters, treating them as ready-made experience points to kill one by one.
After those impure souls were purified by the holy angels, what remained were the purest and most nourishing substances.
...
Minghuang Academy, Dean's Office.
The main lights were not turned on in the spacious room; only a few soul-guided screens floating in mid-air emitted a faint fluorescent light.
Orange leaned back in the large, soft leather seat, her gaze fixed on the largest screen in the center.
The scene depicts Ye Guyi slaying the evil soul master bishop with a single sword strike, followed by a conversation with Xu Mingzi.
This is a real-time image transmitted back from the remote recording and monitoring soul guide device worn on Jiang Nannan's chest.
This miniature soul guidance system was specially made by her with the resources allocated for this long-term cleanup operation.
As Orange looked at the spirited blonde girl on the screen, a sense of heartfelt satisfaction welled up in her eyes.
She was very satisfied with Ye Guyi's growth rate.
This seemingly outrageous promotion efficiency was entirely within her expectations.
As a reborn person with complete memories of her past life, she knew Ye Guyi's potential limit better than anyone else on the mainland.
She even remembered perfectly the secret strongholds and troop deployments of the Holy Spirit Church throughout the mainland, as well as the coordinates of its main base hidden deep in the Demon Forest.
In the eyes of others, evil spirit masters are a terrifying plague to be avoided at all costs.
But in Orange's eyes, these rats hiding in dark corners are ready-made fertilizer for her to quickly pave the way for Leafy Ebony.
This is also the fundamental reason why she devoted most of her core resources to the other party and focused on nurturing their growth.
With her providing accurate intelligence from behind, Ye Guyi could avoid those unapproachable cult elders and specifically target those hall masters and bishops with suitable cultivation levels.
This targeted feeding, which has no cost of trial and error, is enough to allow this holy angel to completely realize his terrifying talent into true top-level combat power in a very short time
Huo Yuhao withdrew his gaze, and with a sway of his body, he merged into the surrounding dark red miasma.
The next moment, a cyan-gold light flashed on a mountaintop more than ten miles away.
Huo Yuhao's figure appeared out of thin air without warning.
Without pausing, he merely raised his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping across the endless mountain range ahead, and the cyan-gold law-like light covering his body surged once more.
Buzz.
With a faint tremor of the laws, his body seemed to be wiped out of this space by an invisible hand, and in the blink of an eye, he reappeared in mid-air hundreds of meters away.
With each flash, his figure would completely disappear from the spot, then travel a distance ranging from tens to hundreds of meters, and land precisely at the next foothold.
This method of traveling is completely different from any other method of advancing by relying on movement techniques or bursting out of soul power.
Within the passive field of vision of the Space-Time Spirit Eye Brain, the surrounding world has long been dismantled into countless layers of transparent grids.
As long as it's within his field of vision, the trajectory of every microscopic dust particle and the direction of every wisp of wind are all clearly analyzed in his mind.
Behind those impenetrable obstacles, or in even more distant, invisible areas, he could even clearly capture those constantly flickering time and space nodes that were outside the laws of the present world.
Huo Yuhao only needs to dedicate a wisp of his mental energy to lock onto those nodes to forcibly cause the collapse of regional spacetime.
This is a leap that does not violate the laws governing macroeconomic operation at all.
His body didn't need to bear the load of tearing space at all; instead, like a chess piece that had been precisely placed, it slid directly to its destination along the folds of collapsing spacetime.
There is no cooldown time, and it consumes almost no soul power.
This is simply an unsolvable teleportation.
After trying this time-space jump hundreds of times, Huo Yuhao smiled.
With this ability, even if he can't defeat those truly high-level old monsters, no one can stop him from running away if he wants to.
...
Half a day later, in a small border town in the southern part of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Huo Yuhao walked into a simple teahouse, casually tossed down a few copper coins, and asked the waiter who was wiping the table about the latest months.
He was taken aback when he heard the date the other party gave.
Two and a half months have already passed.
This was somewhat unexpected for him.
Back in the independent space-time of the core area of the Meteor Dragon Canyon, he forcibly absorbed the essence of the overflowing blood pool and refined the divine soul ring of the Time Dragon King. He had long since lost the concept of the passage of time.
In that place where the laws of time are completely disordered, perhaps he only closed his eyes for a short while, and several days and nights had already passed in the outside world.
He picked up the teacup and took a sip of coarse tea, feeling the immense soul power within his body that was almost bursting through his meridians, and a nameless anger rose in his heart.
Of course, this anger wasn't directed at anyone else, but rather at his own absurdly extreme behavior, which he found somewhat unreal.
In just two and a half months.
He rose from level 44, a Soul Master, all the way to the peak of level 58, a Soul King.
A span of fourteen levels—if it were placed on those self-proclaimed genius Soul Masters in the outside world, even if they ate the finest rare and precious materials as their staple food, it would still take them several years or even more than a decade to achieve that.
But he was fine; not only did he not encounter any bottlenecks, but his meridians did not even show the slightest sign of being overwhelmed.
This is outrageous.
It was like having an absurd dream.
However, he knew very well that this almost cheating speed of improvement was purely due to the Time Dragon King's god-level origin that spanned countless eras.
Such a good thing is rare and hard to come by. The next time we want to have such a leap forward, we will probably have to wait until we actually inherit the divine position.
Huo Yuhao put down his teacup, and his thoughts quickly turned to future plans.
Level 58.
I'm only two steps away from level 60.
Once he steps over two more small steps, obtains his sixth soul ring, and officially becomes a level 61 Soul Emperor, the two marks deepest in his spiritual sea will be fully activated.
Life and destruction.
Once the inheritance marks of these two god-kings are fully awakened, he will have officially entered the process of divine examination.
This feeling of being destined for the throne of a god-king from the very starting line is indeed much more exciting than the ordinary soul master leveling up by fighting monsters step by step.
Huo Yuhao did not linger in the town. He got up and left the tea stall, continuing his journey south.
...
A few days later, on the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
By using time-space jumps, a method of traveling that eliminates the need to consider energy expenditure, Huo Yuhao managed to compress this journey spanning tens of thousands of miles of territory to the extreme.
The endless primeval forest is like a green ocean, rolling with waves in the breeze.
Huo Yuhao stopped beside a stream with clear water.
Although his ultimate goal was the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the imperial mythical beast hiding in the core area, he did not rush to plunge into this dangerous forest.
In all things, it is important to balance work and rest.
He skillfully gathered some dry firewood, lit a bonfire by the river, took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trousers, and took a sharpened branch to walk into the river.
As soon as the unlucky grass carp poked their heads out from among the water plants, he pierced them through with perfect accuracy.
Huo Yuhao returned to the shore, quickly cleaned the fish scales and internal organs, took out some seasonings he had prepared in advance from his storage soul tool, and slowly put the fish on the fire to grill.
The firewood crackled as it burned, and a faint aroma of fish quickly filled the air along the stream.
He sprinkled some cumin on the grilled fish, then sat cross-legged on a flat stone, using the time while waiting for the fish to cook to completely immerse himself in a sea of thought.
The depths of the spiritual sea remain as vast and boundless as ever.
Huo Yuhao's spiritual body floated in mid-air, his gaze fixed directly on the three-legged, two-eared cauldron in the center, which exuded an ancient and chaotic aura.
The Cauldron of Creation of Heaven and Earth.
He raised his hand, and a faint halo appeared in his palm. A piece of metal, deep emerald green and exuding a strong sense of life, slowly emerged.
Gold of life.
This priceless treasure, which he acquired at the Starlight Auction, had long been thoroughly cleaned by the Creation Origin within the Creation Cauldron, completely erasing the lingering resentful spirit that had once lingered inside.
Immediately afterwards, a small, round bead appeared in the palm of his left hand. Its surface was dull and lifeless, but its interior contained terrifying fluctuations of time.
The Dragon Pill of the Time Dragon King.
Huo Yuhao looked at the two priceless treasures in his hand, a hint of anticipation curving his lips.
Without any hesitation, he directly sent the Life Gold and the Dragon Pill into the hazy mist of the Qiankun Creation Cauldron.
A thought crossed my mind.
The three-legged ancient cauldron, suspended in mid-air, emitted a deep hum, and the nine patterns on its body seemed to come alive, beginning to flow and flicker rhythmically.
Huo Yuhao generously mobilized his soul power, transforming it into streams of pure energy that he continuously poured into the Creation Cauldron.
The complete universe inside the Creation Cauldron began to operate wildly, and streams of pure creation essence were forcibly extracted, transforming into extremely hot invisible flames, which began to synthesize and strengthen the two treasures.
As the synthesis progressed, he could clearly feel his soul power draining away at a visible rate.
If it were just over two months ago, simply activating this ancient cauldron would have been enough to instantly drain his level 40+ soul power.
But now, with his level 58 foundation and the continuous power supply from the two soul cores, he has absolute confidence in dealing with this kind of consumption.
This loss of soul power was nothing to him.
Even his breathing rhythm wasn't disrupted in the slightest. Huo Yuhao even had the leisure to spare a wisp of his mental energy to flip the grilled fish on the fire outside.
After about half an incense stick's time, the fluctuations inside the Qiankun Creation Cauldron finally subsided.
A profound message traveled along the Dao patterns on the cauldron and directly into his mind.
According to the feedback from the Qiankun Creation Cauldron, this synthesis will take at least three days.
Emerging from the Sea of Spirit, Huo Yuhao looked at the spirits of the soul beasts drifting around within it. Instead of disturbing them, he turned his gaze to a gate to the underworld that exuded a gray aura of death—the very gate left behind by Elex.
Elex has already opened up the plane of the dead. He himself no longer stays in Huo Yuhao's sea of consciousness, but goes to the plane of the dead, leaving an anchor point in his sea of consciousness.
The outer perimeter of the Starry Sky Forest.
The dense canopy of trees layered upon each other, cutting the dazzling sunlight into tiny golden spots that dappled across the forest path covered with fallen leaves.
The occasional howls of low-level soul beasts echoed from the surroundings, adding a touch of danger to this seemingly tranquil forest.
An unkempt old man was walking slowly at the front.
His hair was disheveled and casually draped over his shoulders, and his robe was covered in dust from somewhere, making him look extremely slovenly.
The old man had a huge gourd slung across his waist, and he walked with a swaying gait, his steps so unsteady that it seemed he might fall into the roadside bushes at any moment.
Behind the old man followed two outstandingly beautiful young women at a leisurely pace.
The girl walking on the left was petite and not very tall, with long, jet-black hair that flowed smoothly down her back.
Her eyes and brows revealed a touch of liveliness and childishness, her face still held the shyness of a young girl, and her figure had not yet fully developed, making her look like a petite and delicate loli.
In contrast, the girl on the right is much taller.
She had long, flowing light blue hair, clear, bright light blue eyes, and fair, snow-white skin. Her delicate features not only possessed a girlish gentleness but also an undeniable air of strength and sharpness.
Clearly, the three of them were Xuanzi, Xiaoxiao, and Wang Dong'er, who had come to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt soul beasts.
Ever since learning that Huo Yuhao had left Shrek Academy, Wang Dong'er has been in a state of extreme depression.
She was depressed for a long time, unable to muster any energy for anything, and no longer as competitive as before.
In this state of mind, she simply stopped pretending to be a man and reverted to her female attire, appearing before everyone in her most authentic form.
Xuanzi personally led the team deep into the Star Dou Great Forest, not for her sake, but specifically to find a suitable fourth soul ring for Xiao Xiao.
At the start of the second academic year, Wang Dong'er's soul power level remained consistently higher than Xiao Xiao's.
At that time, Xiao Xiao had just reached level 35, while Wang Dong'er had already broken through to level 37, and the difference in talent was obvious.
However, now that more than half a year has passed, their cultivation progress has reversed.
During this period, Xiao Xiao cultivated step by step, and her soul power steadily increased. She has successfully reached the threshold of level 40 and can absorb soul rings to advance at any time.
However, Wang Dong'er was troubled and her cultivation level was stuck at level 38, and she was still quite a distance away from level 39.
Xuanzi led the way listlessly, in a daze, oblivious to the dangers that might appear at any moment, like a walking empty shell.
As he walked, he suddenly stopped.
His messy head tilted slightly upward, and he sniffed the air twice.
A wonderfully enticing aroma of roasted meat wafted over from not far away on the forest breeze.
"Can you two little girls smell any fragrance?" Xuanzi turned around and looked at the two people behind her.
When Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong'er saw him stop, they also stopped and tentatively smelled the air.
Sure enough, a familiar yet unfamiliar aroma of grilled fish lingered around my nose.
Xiao Xiao's eyes brightened slightly, and a hint of surprise immediately appeared on her pretty face. She even took a half step forward.
"Elder Xuan, there's no mistake!"
She took a deep breath and said with absolute certainty, "This is definitely the young master's cooking. I've eaten it many times before, and only the fish he grills tastes like this!"
Huo Yuhao had hosted many barbecue parties before, and Xiaoxiao had experienced his cooking skills many times, so she had long been familiar with this aroma.
Upon hearing this, Wang Dong'er froze on the spot, her gaze immediately following the direction from which the aroma was coming.
Her light blue eyes quickly welled up with tears, and her eyes reddened.
She pursed her lips tightly, staring ahead without saying a word, her hands unconsciously clenching the hem of her clothes.
Xuanzi looked at the two of them acting so strangely, scratched his head, and had no idea what to say.
His mind was filled with the tempting aroma of grilled fish, and he had no desire to mix it with the complicated thoughts of a young man.
"Let's go, let's go take a look first."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xuanzi waved his hand, and a powerful surge of soul energy enveloped the two girls.
The three of them moved like a gust of wind, heading straight towards the stream from which the fragrance was coming.
...
Beside a tranquil stream.
Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged on a flat rock, his eyes closed, his mind completely immersed in the sea of his spirit.
Deep within his consciousness, countless complex data streams were intertwined and reorganized according to a certain pattern.
He was mobilizing his mental energy, gradually building the core model of the constant ordered number in the fifth divine-level soul skill.
This is an extremely tedious process that requires the complete quantification of the fixed time flow benchmarks and spatially stable nodes in the surrounding space.
Only by completely burning this constant data into his mind can he accurately capture the essence of all things in battle, thus forming the basis for absolute omniscience in prediction.
Just as the model was about to complete the closed loop, a hurried call suddenly pierced through the mental barrier and entered his consciousness.
Someone is approaching.
Moreover, it was extremely fast, giving him no time to react.
Huo Yuhao frowned slightly, decisively stopped his deductions, and his consciousness withdrew from the sea of his mind.
He opened his eyes, his vision had just cleared, and before he could even see the person's face clearly, a soft body carrying a faint fragrance rushed into his arms.
The impact made him lean back, his hands instinctively rising and hanging in mid-air, unsure where to put them. Before he could even ask, he heard a suppressed sob.
Huo Yuhao was a little confused and looked down.
His gaze passed over the long, smooth, light blue hair, and he saw the profile of the girl in his arms.
Wang Dong'er.
Not only did he change back into women's clothing, but he even grew his hair long. If it weren't for that familiar soul power fluctuation, he would have almost thought he had mistaken someone for someone else.
What exactly is going on?
Huo Yuhao looked up, completely bewildered, his gaze passing over Wang Dong'er's shoulder and looking ahead.
Less than three steps away from him, by the fire, the ragged old man was squatting on the ground.
Xuanzi held a gourd of wine in one hand and grabbed a grilled fish from the rack with the other, completely ignoring the sizzling oil and high temperature. He tore into the fish and ate it with gusto, his mouth dripping with oil.
Beside Xuanzi, the petite Xiao Xiao stood quietly.
She clasped her hands together in front of her, her eyes brimming with undisguised joy, and looked at him with expectant eyes.
Sensing the fluctuations of soul power emanating from her, Huo Yuhao was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected this little girl to cultivate so quickly, already reaching the level 40 threshold.
Huo Yuhao now understood why the three of them had come to the Star Dou Great Forest—it was to obtain soul rings.
Huo Yuhao's hands hung in mid-air as he felt the soft body in his arms still sobbing, and he sighed helplessly.
"Alright, get down now."
He glanced down at Wang Dong, who showed no intention of getting up, and his tone implied a hint of negotiation.
"don't want!"
Wang Dong snorted softly, his protest, thick with a nasal tone, coming directly from his collar.
Seemingly to express the grievances and unease she had accumulated over the past few months, she suddenly opened her mouth and bit down hard on Huo Yuhao's shoulder.
She originally intended to leave a deep impression on this guy who had disappeared without a word for more than half a year, so that he would remember it.
However, the moment the teeth made contact with that seemingly firm muscle, an extremely absurd recoil force shot up directly along the teeth.
"hiss--"
Wang Dong shuddered, his face, which had been showing signs of grievance, immediately wrinkled up, and his eyes welled up with tears.
She felt as if she had bitten into flesh and blood, rather than crashing into a solid steel plate, her teeth chattering.
Why is your body so stiff?!
She covered her cheek and shrank back half an inch, her eyes filled with disbelief as she accused him.
This is a case of self-inflicted damage.
Huo Yuhao silently replied in his heart.
He now possesses the Dragon Core of the Time Dragon King and the high-level essence of the Suspended Blood Pool. Both his bone density and muscle fibers have long since been transformed into a level that ordinary Soul Masters can hardly reach under the tempering of the Qiankun Creation Cauldron.
Let alone being bitten by a little girl, even if an ordinary level six melee soul tool were to strike him head-on, it might not leave a white mark on that muscle.
Seeing that the girl not only showed no intention of letting go, but was also looking at him resentfully with her tearful pink-blue eyes, Huo Yuhao decided to take some forceful measures.
With a slight thought, although his first martial soul did not directly manifest a soul ring, an invisible layer of spiritual power quietly seeped out and attached itself precisely to Wang Dong's body.
Then, this enormous, almost tangible spiritual power acted like an invisible pair of hands, gradually exerting force along her limbs and joints, forcefully peeling her off her body like an onion.
The whole process was smooth and efficient, without any unnecessary delays.
With Wang Dong's cultivation level of thirty-eight, he had absolutely no chance to resist this spiritual power that had reached the level of materialization.
Wang Dong was forced to take two steps back, tears still welling up in his eyes, and with that bewildered expression, he looked extremely helpless.
Huo Yuhao reached out and brushed off non-existent dust from his shoulder. Looking at her teary-eyed appearance, he couldn't help but complain.
"Don't look at me like I've scummed you."
"We're completely innocent; we haven't done anything."
"..."
For a moment, Wang Dong didn't know how to refute it.
She stared into those pinkish-blue eyes, her chest heaving, standing there sullenly.
Huo Yuhao didn't continue arguing with this spoiled young lady, but instead turned his gaze to the side.
Xiao Xiao had been standing quietly two steps away from him since the beginning, staring at him with bright eyes.
Huo Yuhao followed her gaze and walked over, naturally raising his hand and gently placing his large palm on her smooth forehead.
Xiao Xiao didn't dodge, but obediently tilted her head up, letting the other person's palm linger on her forehead.
Huo Yuhao looked down at the girl in front of him, gesturing to the stark height difference between them, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
Why are you still so short?
He looked at the little girl, who barely reached his chest, and said in bewilderment, "She looks like a goblin."
When he first entered Shrek Academy, he was about 1.7 meters tall, while Xiao Xiao was barely 1.5 meters tall.
Now, two years later, thanks to a series of extraordinary opportunities, his bones have undergone several remodelings, and he has grown to 1.9 meters tall.
He now has broad shoulders and a tall, straight posture, but the girl in front of him is still standing still, showing no signs of growing taller.
Putting everything else aside, Wang Dong has grown about half a head taller than before, now reaching 1.7 meters, with a tall and slender figure. Only Xiao Xiao, apart from having a more curvy figure, hasn't changed her height at all.
He seriously suspected that something went wrong when this guy awakened his martial soul, or that he had been using all his nutrition to nourish those two twin martial souls, resulting in some kind of dwarfism.
"..."
Xiao Xiao's joy froze instantly.
Looking at the incomparably handsome face before her, the emotion of a long-awaited reunion deep in her eyes was instantly replaced by a moment of speechlessness.
This face is truly pleasing to the eye, exuding a cool and aloof air with an indescribable sense of sophistication.
Even someone as picky about appearances as her couldn't find any fault with it.
But it would be even more perfect if we could just sew those mouths, which always ruin the mood at crucial moments, shut with a needle and thread.
She rolled her eyes at Huo Yuhao, annoyed, and slapped away the large hand that was resting on her forehead.
Just as the atmosphere among the three of them became somewhat strange, a very unpleasant chewing sound came from the fire nearby.
Xuanzi completely ignored the interaction between the three young people and was squatting on the ground, stuffing the last grilled fish on the shelf into his mouth.
He didn't even spit out the fish bones; after chewing them haphazardly, he swallowed them whole.
The old man let out a satisfied burp, picked up the huge gourd hanging from his waist, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp of strong liquor.
"That feels so good!"
He wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth, his old face filled with a very satisfied expression.
For him, nothing was more important than being well-fed and watered. As for the complicated thoughts and quarrels between young men and women, he, an old man, had no energy to care.
Xiao Xiao withdrew her gaze from Xuan Zi and turned her attention back to Huo Yuhao.
As she got closer, she realized that in the three months they hadn't seen each other, the other person seemed to have undergone some kind of transformation that she couldn't quite explain.
Those icy blue eyes were like deep, cold pools. As their gaze shifted, they no longer carried the simple heroic spirit of a young man, but rather a unique divinity that seemed to look down upon all things.
This blend of aloofness and superiority made him stand out in the crowd, as if he were about to break free from the rules of the world. The longer you looked at him, the more you couldn't take your eyes off him.
Xiao Xiao took a deep breath, and a serious expression that was inconsistent with her age suddenly appeared on her originally quiet and well-behaved face.
"Brother Yuhao, what's your decision?"
She cleared her throat, staring intently at Huo Yuhao, her voice exceptionally clear in the tranquil forest, "I'll be your concubine. After we get married, when you and Sister Ju are together, and Sister Ju is too weak, I'll take over."
These words were spoken.
"Cough cough cough!"
The air Huo Yuhao had just inhaled went awry, and he began coughing violently and uncontrollably.
He was truly choked by his own saliva; his chest heaved, and he almost passed out.
What on earth is going on in this girl's head?
Wang Dong, standing to the side, stared wide-eyed, his pinkish-blue eyes filled with astonishment.
Her cheeks turned bright red at a visible speed, like a ripe tomato, and she was completely stunned by this outrageous statement.
Wang Dong looked at her usually sweet and obedient friend from head to toe with a mixture of shyness and disbelief, as if she were looking at a monster.
Is this something a cute and quiet little girl would say?
"Puhahaha—"
Xuanzi, who had just swallowed the last bite of fish, burst out laughing upon hearing these shocking words.
His oily face was scrunched up with the eager anticipation of watching the spectacle.
The old man has lived to such an old age; he's seen all sorts of storms.
But this was the first time he had ever heard such a direct and juicy story between young people.
Xuanzi felt that today's trip to the Starry Sky Forest was worthwhile. Not only did he eat the most delicious grilled fish, but his life also felt clearer and more fulfilling.
These young people nowadays really know how to have fun.
He rubbed his beard with the back of his greasy hand, then picked up the gourd from his waist, uncorked it, and tilted his head back to gulp down a large mouthful of strong liquor.
"Alright, alright, I won't interfere in your young people's business."
Xuanzi smacked his lips, and his figure began to become illusory.
"Yuhao, now that you're here, I'll leave the task of finding the soul beasts for these two girls to you."
"I have urgent business to attend to, old man, I'll be going now!"
Before he finished speaking, he transformed into a turbid gust of wind, howling and sweeping towards the sky, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Watching the old man's retreating figure.
"..."
Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao exchanged a glance, neither of them trying to persuade the other to stay.
To them, the old man was slovenly and a nuisance, and he always had an unpleasant smell of alcohol on him. It was a great thing that he had left on his own initiative.
Huo Yuhao, who was standing still, narrowed his icy blue eyes slightly.
The moment the old man disappeared, he instinctively activated his senses.
With his current mental strength, even without deliberately activating his mental detection soul skill, his preset perception range can easily cover a radius of 500 meters.
But the old man simply turned around and was wiped out of his sensory network.
Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow and slightly circulated the vast soul power within his body, forcibly extending the range of his spiritual detection to more than three kilometers away.
The vast spiritual power spread outwards like ripples on water, passing through layers of tree canopies and dense forests.
There was still no trace of the old man.
He raised his head and looked in the direction Xuanzi had left.
The first martial spirit is activated.
Within the passive field of vision of the Space-Time Spirit Eye Brain, the originally normal spatial structure was stretched into a clear, distorted trajectory.
Through the residual projections left by the collapse of those spacetime nodes, Huo Yuhao easily drew a conclusion.
In the blink of an eye, this old thing had already traveled hundreds of kilometers.
Judging by their hurried and flustered manner, it's hardly something important they're doing.
Most likely, they found staying in the Starry Sky Forest too boring, and their mouths were craving grilled fish, so they abandoned the students and ran off to some bustling big city to eat, drink, and have fun.
This move truly takes the concept of irresponsibility to the extreme.
There's a reason this old guy is called the Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult; he's useless at everything, but he's number one at ruining his teammates' lives.
Huo Yuhao pursed his lips, speechless for a moment, but he was too lazy to argue with this kind of old man who was just wasting his life.
He looked away and turned his gaze back to the two girls in front of him.
"So, you all went to the Star Dou Great Forest this time to help Xiao Xiao obtain her fourth soul ring?"
Xiao Xiao nodded.
"Elder Xuan originally planned to lead us to search around the outskirts, but I want to find one that is a bit older."
She stretched out her fair, delicate fingers and gestured in mid-air.
"After these years of tempering, coupled with the foundation of my twin martial souls, my body can withstand a maximum of about 18,000 years."
"Therefore, I want to set the target age for the fourth soul ring to be less than 18,000 years."
Upon hearing this number, Huo Yuhao made a rough estimate.
The first soul ring has been around for a hundred years, and the fourth soul ring can absorb nearly 18,000 years of energy. This data is comparable to the soul ring configuration of those standard soul kings in the outside world.
It seems this girl has been working hard behind the scenes.
He nodded in satisfaction, about to offer a word of praise, when his gaze inadvertently swept over Wang Dong, who was standing to the side.
He looked the girl in front of him up and down; she had changed back into women's clothing and was becoming even more beautiful.
It was originally just a casual investigation, but when he saw the fluctuations of soul power within the other person's body, he couldn't help but twitch his lips.
Level 38.
They didn't even reach the threshold of level 39.
"I remember you were already level 37 before, right?"
Huo Yuhao crossed his arms and mercilessly exposed her secret: "More than half a year has passed, and you've only leveled up once?"
A blush immediately spread across Wang Dong's cheeks.
She looked away guiltily, not daring to look directly into those icy blue eyes.
In the past six months, he cultivated diligently for the first half, but in the second half, she was preoccupied with this guy who left without saying goodbye, and had no energy left for meditation and cultivation.
But how could she possibly say such a thing in front of Huo Yuhao?
"I..."
Wang Dong stammered for a moment, then stiffened his neck, "I wasn't in good shape!"
"Besides, I'm exceptionally gifted. Even if I relax a little, I can easily catch up after a few days of training!"
Seeing the girl's stubbornness, Huo Yuhao rolled his eyes at her in annoyance.
"I didn't expect you to neglect your cultivation over such a trivial matter."
He sighed, his tone tinged with disappointment, "It's so disappointing."
Upon hearing the word "disappointment," Wang Dong became extremely anxious.
"Who has abandoned their cultivation!"
She was about to argue further when her stomach, quite uncooperatively, let out a rumbling protest.
The clear, crisp protest was loud enough for all three people present to hear clearly.
The surrounding air seemed to quiet down for a moment.
"..."
Wang Dong's blush spread to her ears, and she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.
Huo Yuhao was amused by her embarrassed appearance.
Under Wang Dong's relentless nagging, he finally resigned himself to his fate and sat back down by the fire.
He skillfully picked up a few pieces of dry firewood and threw them into the dying embers, rekindling a campfire. He then placed a few cleaned bluefish on the fire and slowly sprinkled them with seasonings.
Before long, the rich aroma of grilled fish once again filled the forest.
After the two girls had eaten and drunk their fill, Huo Yuhao casually extinguished the fire.
"Let's go, I'll show you around the core area."
He dusted off his hands and took the lead into the depths of the Starry Sky Forest.
Finding a suitable ten-thousand-year-old soul beast in this vast primeval forest is actually a matter of great luck.
When you're lucky, you might find a suitable target in just two or three days.
If you're unlucky, even if you wander around the forest for a month or half a year, you might not encounter a high-level soul beast with compatible attributes.
However, Huo Yuhao's current level of spiritual attainment has long exceeded the comprehension of ordinary Soul Masters.
With his current luck and abilities, he doesn't need to wander aimlessly in the forest like a headless fly.
As he walked, he released the passive perception of the Space-Time Spirit Eye Brain.
From this perspective, the entire forest structure is completely stripped away into layers of transparent mesh.
Various colored soul energy dots shuttled and jumped between the grid.
He marked the auras and soul power fluctuations of the soul beasts hidden in the deep mountains and dense forests in his mind according to their strength and attributes.
He could even deduce the activity trajectories of these soul beasts over the past few hours from those faint traces at the time-space nodes.
The three of them ventured deeper into the forest without encountering any obstacles, even managing to avoid those low-level soul beasts that didn't know their place.
Only two hours had passed.
Huo Yuhao stopped and looked down into a secluded valley, his gaze passing through the dense bushes ahead.
"Found it."
He pointed to the valley ahead, his tone calm.
"An eight-armed Vajra Ape that has just crossed the ten-thousand-year threshold is very suitable for your Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.