Douluo Dalu 2 – The Unrivaled Tang-Clan Chapter 146

Published at 11th of October 2023 11:28:35 AM

“Buzz – ”

A layer of golden light suddenly exploded from where Huo Yuhao had encountered the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Huo Yuhao's was thrown backwards from the force, but Elder Xuan grabbed him in midair and stabilized him.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion shook its body hazily and stumbled backwards. Its three golden eyes suddenly became black for a tiny moment before they recovered their golden hues. However, Elder Xuan, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao witnessed the entire process.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion seemed a little weak, and it stopped struggling. It was just watching Huo Yuhao with lackadaisical eyes as Elder Xuan placed him on the ground. Huo Yuhao's expression also looked dazed.

Huo Yuhao seemed to feel something. He gazed at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, and human and beast stared into each other's eyes. They both felt a faint tremble in their minds, and their third eye numbed momentarily as they felt a peculiar sensation.

Huo Yuhao felt as if his spirit was surging through the ages, and his consciousness appeared within a dense forest.

Everything around him suddenly became golden, and the brilliant hues painted the vegetation all around him the same color. These plants were growing with bedazzling speed, and a multi-colored egg with a golden luster at its base appeared on the ground.

Crisp cracking sounds could be heard as a single gash appeared on the golden egg's surface. The crack extended swiftly, and a tiny claw reached out from within the shell with a crackling sound before a tiny head emerged.

Its golden fur was a little moist, and it looked like a little puppy. It effortfully broke out from the eggshell before it turned around and gobbled it down with a few bites.

A series of crackling sounds rang out as this tiny dog-like beast started flickering with golden radiance.

A luminous golden beam suddenly descended from the sky, as if it were a pillar of light that connected the heavens to the earth, and enveloped the small “dog” that had just consumed the egg shell.

The mucus on the tiny beast's body gradually disappeared, and its body instantly transformed from a foot long to a meter long. Its golden fur became transparent like water crystals, and the dazzling golden radiance transformed into glowing circles of light that rippled outwards.

The tiny beast roared into the sky, and its forehead suddenly cracked open as a single eye that seemed like it could see through everything in the world appeared.

When this image appeared in Huo Yuhao's consciousness, everything started to speed up, and uncountable images surged in his mind. He felt as if were experiencing ten thousand years in that instant as voluminous pure remnants of memory flashed by. Everything was set inside that dense jungle, but he couldn't really see very clearly in that instant.

Elder Xuan heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was fine. He released a single yellow circle of light and swept up Huo Yuhao and the two others, before he released another yellow sphere of light to trap the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Lights flickered as the Rank 98 Transcendent Douluo carried both the humans and the beast and soared through the sky, towards the Great Star Dou Forest's outer regions in the north. Perhaps only a mighty individual like Elder Xuan dared to fly across the Great Star Dou Forest, where soul beasts were amassed. Elder Xuan could cover dozens of kilometers in an instant.

Everybody was in the Great Star Dou Forest's outer regions when they landed back on the ground. He chose the northern border as this location was closest to Shrek City. It would be convenient for Elder Xuan to retreat with everyone if there was a disturbance with the fearsome beasts inside the Great Star Dou Forest.

“Are you alright, Yuhao?” Wang Dong whispered in Huo Yuhao's ear. Elder Xuan was also watching him with a concerned look on his face. Even the ancient archives didn't detail the effects of transfusing an emperor beast's element to refine one's body.

Huo Yuhao tossed his head from side to side. The intense rush of memory shocked his spirit, and he was still a little dazed. “I'm fine. My spiritual power is much stronger now, and I think I took part of its memory.”

“Oh? What kind of memories?” Wang Dong asked in bewilderment.

Huo Yuhao forced a laugh and said, “It's a soul beast that has been alive for more than ten thousand years. Even though its life inside the Great Star Dou Forest is relatively simple, its memories are immense, and how can I differentiate anything with clarity in one moment?”

Elder Xuan tilted his head and said, “It's fine as long as your spiritual power has been boosted. It seems like the archives are accurate, so it's all good as long as there are no side effects. I think this is yours, here you go.” Elder Xuan lobbed the Life Guardian Blade at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao suddenly remembered that his ranked carving knife had been squeezed out of his Eye of Life – no, his third eye could not be described as an Eye of Life anymore.

He grabbed the Life Guardian Blade. Huo Yuhao immediately sensed that he was still mentally connected to this ranked carving knife, and the vast life energy contained within it was also greater than before.

“I want to meditate for a while, Elder Xuan.” Huo Yuhao remarked before he sat down and crossed his legs. The Mysterious Heaven Technique was channeled naturally, and his spirit quickly concentrated within his own spiritual sea.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's eyes had more vitality at this point. It didn't try to struggle as it watched Huo Yuhao with a blank look, and there were complicated and indescribable emotions in its eyes. It felt as if that momentary touching of heads had taken all of its intimidating ferocity.

Elder Xuan glanced at the lion and said, “It seems like the elemental transfusion didn't hurt you much. You have also benefited from Huo Yuhao, and your wounds are healed. Don't worry – I'm a man of my word. I'll let you go when they arrive.”

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion shot a cold look at Elder Xuan, but said nothing. It turned towards Huo Yuhao with another deep gaze before it closed all three of its eyes and laid prostrate on the ground, as if it were sleeping.

Huo Yuhao's mind was filled with remnants of memories, but what about the beast? The beast's mind was filled with Huo Yuhao's complete memories!

Huo Yuhao's life and experiences covered a period of less than thirteen years, but he had experienced many trials and tribulations. His childhood life was rough, his life after leaving the White Tiger Duke's mansion was exciting, and all the wonders and awes of the human world deeply stimulated this emperor beast.

“Are you alright, Elder Yi?” Huo Yuhao asked Electrolux first when he entered his meditative state. Even though Electrolux didn't interact with him much, his influence was comparable to both Skydream and the Ice Empress – especially when he saved Huo Yuhao's life from the Envoy of the Death God.

“I'm fine. Such mighty power of destiny! However, I have already transcended beyond destiny, and it isn't so easy to destroy my destiny. The Life Gold has nurtured me over time, and my shattered divine sense has stabilized. I have regained a few memories as well, and this is happening while I hibernate inside your spiritual sea. Your cultivation is still low, but I will impart my abilities to you when your fundamentals are solid enough.”

Huo Yuhao heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that Electrolux was alright. He asked doubtfully, “What is this power of destiny about, Elder Yi? Why would the Three-Eyed Golden Lion transfer the power of destiny to me?”

Electrolux contemplated momentarily and said, “I don't belong to your world, and I don't understand much about the soul beasts in your world. I can only make judgments based on my logic and reasoning. Emperor beasts are unique entities which are born from destiny, and their level is somewhat like mine in some sense – they have one leg through the divine gate. The difference is that I reached that level before I was born, but this emperor beast has to start from the beginning and approach that level step by step. You can say that it only has the potential to reach that level. This potential gives it the ability and power to control certain destinies.”

“Therefore, it will receive the blessing of heaven and earth. Its body is like a supreme treasure that can absorb the origin energies of heaven and earth. The surrounding origin energies of heaven and earth will change with it around, and sometimes even destinies will change as well. For example, your destiny was bumpy before you entered Shrek Academy, and even a little tragic. When you entered Shrek Academy, your life started to turn around, and you began to have immense good fortune. This emperor beast should have incomparable fortune from beginning to end, and its growth since the day it was born has been smooth sailing. In addition to its powerful element, it should ultimately be able to become a demigod – unless it meets its unfortunate end in the process.”

“These emperor beasts are blessed by destiny, and they will run into very few threats. These threats will only occur for two reasons – when the beast meets an opponent with a level of fortune that negates its own, or because that is its destiny. It is able to control destiny to a certain extent, and therefore there will undoubtedly be a bottleneck that will eventually appear in its life. Perhaps you are its bottleneck, and this is all part of its destiny. I am sure that your fortune is not enough to negate its own.”

Huo Yuhao was lost and confused. Destiny? A bottleneck? He didn't really understand.

Electrolux could naturally feel his bafflement, and smiled as he said, “Simply put, it's a bit like the romantic sentiment between males and females. Everybody will have a relationship that belongs to himself or herself some time in their lives. There may only be one, or there may be many. The person that will be emotionally entwined with you is destined to be the bottleneck in your life.”

Huo Yuhao said, “Elder Yi, this is too complicated. Actually, all I want to know is what happened to my third eye after it touched the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's third eye? I can feel that I'm able to control it now, as if I have an actual third eye. Furthermore, my third eye seems to embody a special power, and I cannot feel this power's element. I have never even seen it before.”

Electrolux smiled and said, “Had you asked the little worm or the small scorpion, they probably wouldn't know the answer to this. But if you're asking me—you've come to the right person. The power of destiny chased me out from the Eye of Life, and it would seem it's the power of destiny that has taken over your eye. It has amplified and refined your spirit sea, saving you at least five years of cultivating spiritual power. You will continue to feel its positive effects as time goes by. Initially it was my own powers supporting your second mental sea; you would've only been able to channel the power within it upon reaching a certain level of spiritual power. However, after this round of refinement, you now can use your second mental sea. From now on, your third eye shall be called the 'Eye of Destiny'—it gives you power over destiny.

Huo Yuhao reacted in shock. “Power over destiny? What's that supposed to mean?”

Electrolux answered, “The Eye of Destiny bestows you with the ability to change someone's destiny for the better within a fixed amount of time. It might sound a little abstract, but it's actually quite simple; anybody that your Eye of Destiny gazes upon will have their fortunes changed if your will it—for better, or for worse. But, using the Eye of Destiny will consume a large amount of soul power. It will awaken in three days; you'll have a better understanding of it then.”

Huo Yuhao understood a little more after listening to Electrolux's explanation. “Thank you, Elder Yi. Thankfully you're here to explain things. Otherwise, I wouldn't have a clue of what was happening. The power of destiny sounds pretty impressive!”

Electrolux lowered his voice and said, “Don't speak too soon, Yuhao. While it's true that you've received a unique and unmatched ability, this power of destiny has also linked your destiny with that of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's. You obtained a portion of its memories, while it received all of yours—which includes the information about us. Your fate is now irrevocably entwined with the beast, whether it be as friend or foe. Either way, you should work hard and focus on your cultivation; it's vital to you now.”

His destiny would be entwined with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's? Huo Yuhao wasn't too worried about this. He could acutely feel that the Three-Eyed Golden Lion no longer felt hostile towards him after their strange interaction. In fact, he could feel some kind of faint connection with it now. As for his fate going forwards—who knows?

The Great Star Dou Forest changed mysteriously at that moment: It seemed to quiver, while every tree in sight began to sway in one direction, then began oscillating back and forth. An invisible force gradually emerged from the Great Star Dou Forest, as if some kind of earth-shattering change was taking place. Afterwards, the Great Star Dou Forest became silent and motionless, like every living being had gone into hibernation.

Elder Xuan arrived beside the Three-Eyed Golden Lion in a flash, then released a dense yellow radiance to cover everyone present, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion included. His expression grew dark and solemn—the arriving presence had a higher cultivation than his own, which made his skin crawl.

A wine-red glow shone brilliantly, and the Three-Headed Scarlet Devil-Mastiff appeared before everybody once more.

Huo Yuhao swiftly awakened from his meditation and positioned himself behind Elder Xuan, raising his guard as he did so.

The Scarlet King was no longer infuriated like he'd been before. His eyes seemed extremely calm, and it carried itself with utmost confidence. Its leftmost head held a dark-purple soul beast between its teeth.

The Scarlet King muttered coldly, “Release the emperor beast and take this soul beast with you.” It tossed the soul beast in its mouth to the ground as it spoke. Turning to Huo Yuhao, it said, “Your disciple wasn't murdered by the emperor beast it seems.”

Elder Xuan answered plainly, “He wasn't indeed, however it was close. It was his agility and quick thinking that allowed him to evade its attacks—he would've perished otherwise. I'll let this go—but only once. However, the one that doesn't want to show himself—why don't you try and come out? Come, show me what you've got.”

“Human, if you want to die I'll grant this wish of yours.” A deep voice boomed from within the Great Star Dou Forest. It sounded as hoarse as sandpaper, but felt like rolling thunder when it travelled through the air. It held an unrivaled prestige that seemed to dull the colors of the sky.

Elder Xuan's expression didn't change at all. “If you have the power to put me in the ground right here, you can go ahead and try it.”

“Are you trying to anger me, human?” The deep voice in the sky was now tinged with fury.

Elder Xuan smiled and replied, “So what if I anger you? This was all just a coincidence. My previous decision to leave the emperor beast here—instead of taking it back with me to Shrek—was already quite a generous one. Are you trying to frighten me? You've made a mistake. Since this is the case, I'll be taking this emperor beast back to Shrek City for strict monitoring. Let's see if the soul beasts of the Great Star Dou Forest dare to launch another large-scale invasion.” He grabbed the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's nape as he spoke.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion eyes burst open, all three of which were full of indignation.

“That's enough,” the deep voice hesitated momentarily, then continued, “release the emperor beast, then you can go. I shall swear upon my reputation as Di Tian that we'll let this go just like that.”

Elder Xuan's expression relaxed a little and a look of astonishment flashed across his face. “So it's Di Tian. Alright, I believe you.” He released his grip once he'd finished speaking and decisively pushed the Three-Eyed Golden Lion towards the Scarlet King with a beam of yellow light.

The Scarlet King positioned himself beside the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, then took the chance to inspect its body. He then realized that the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's injuries had all been completely healed, and his gaze became noticeably more tender when he glanced at Elder Xuan again.

Elder Xuan reached his right hand forward and grasped the dark purple soul beast in his hands. Yellow radiance flickered as he swept up Huo Yuhao and the others, then he raced back towards Shrek Academy.

Xiao Xiao couldn't help but anxiously ask, “That fellow hidden within the forest really won't attack us, teacher?”

Elder Xuan answered plainly, “You guys would do well to remember that soul beasts are generally more trustworthy and honorable than humans.”

……

Just as Elder Xuan had said, nothing else happened within the Great Star Dou Forest once they vanished from the Scarlet King's sight. The fearsome and intimidating aura around the Scarlet King vanished into thin air as well.

“You! You're too mischievous. I've long since told you that human soul masters are our greatest threat. If he hadn't been from Shrek Academy, your life would have easily been forfeit considering his abilities. We probably wouldn't have even had the time to rescue you. Don't leave the Core Regions like that again.”

The deep voice sounded a lot more tender and amicable, a little doting even.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion raised its head, a strange sparkle in its eyes as it said, “That human said that you guys are just using me. If I wasn't an emperor beast, or I didn't bring you enough good fortune, you guys wouldn't be so nice to me, eh?”

The owner of deep voice contemplated momentarily before muttering, “You have to realize, little fellow, that there's nothing absolutely pure in this world. I can tell you with confidence that he's right. But it can't simply be described as 'using' within the world of soul beasts. I can confidently say that once we've been together for ten thousand years, you'll still be my friend, and even my child—even if you were to lose your powers of fortune right now. Whoever dares to hurt you with me around will have to suffer my wrath.”

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion lowered its head as if it had been aggrieved. “I'm sorry, Di Tian. I shouldn't have doubted you. I was wrong—let's go home.”

Di Tian's voice became even more gentle. “Alright, let's go home.”

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion raised its leg as it prepared to take off. However, it suddenly turned back to face the direction that Elder Xuan had gone and glanced at the company of humans quickly disappearing into the distance. The memories that it had received from the young human became even clearer in its mind, but it would still take it quite a long time to digest these memories.

…….

A gold and wine-red streak flickered simultaneously, the Great Star Dou Forest returning to its original tranquility afterwards. Meanwhile, Elder Xuan continued to surge through the sky as he swiftly carried Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao back to Shrek Academy along with the soul beast.

Elder Xuan only put them down once they'd reached the Sea God's Pavilion.

“Absorb its soul ring, Yuhao.” Elder Xuan tossed the dark purple soul beast onto the ground and reminded Huo Yuhao to absorb its soul ring.

Huo Yuhao didn't idle about any longer. His right arm transformed under the Ice Empress' Pincer and he lashed out at the unconscious dark purple soul beast, who didn't seem to have any of the trademark ferocity a ten thousand year soul beast normally would at the moment.

It looked like a wolf, but it was a little smaller than normal wolves. Aside from its brilliant dark purple fur, its appearance was rather wretched. It had a slightly collapsed nose bridge and tiny narrowed eyes, as well as incredibly short legs that didn't seem capable of carrying its own weight.

Huo Yuhao struck at the unconscious soul beast and turned it to ice. Then dull golden blades appeared at the fingertips of his right hand, which he then stabbed into the frozen beast's skull. It didn't feel any pain as it passed into the netherworld, as its body had already been completely frozen, nor did it lose a single drop of blood.

A dark black soul ring gradually rose into the air from its head.

Huo Yuhao didn't mess around; he quickly sat cross-legged in front of the soul ring, then activated his soul power and quickly began to fuse with it.

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Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea immediately began to shudder. Dense spiritual energy flooded through his Spirit Eyes and surged towards his spiritual sea, while the Mysterious Heaven Technique's soul power began to twist and churn.

The vast spiritual fluctuations—as well as the shock from the frightening spirit and soul power—sent waves of pain through Huo Yuhao's body. The power that was surging through him was unlike the tender unconscious soul beast—instead, it was filled with a crazed mania.

Far from being terrified at this, Huo Yuhao felt ecstatic. He might not have recognized this soul beast, but Elder Xuan surely had, which in turn meant that its cultivation definitely wasn't greater than fifteen thousand years. Brother Skydream had told him that he wouldn't have any problems absorbing such a soul ring, aside from having to seal a small portion of its cultivation. Furthermore, his spiritual power had been boosted by the encounter with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion to the point where he could now manipulate his second mental sea. Naturally, he wasn't afraid of being unable to assimilate with the soul ring. Rather, the stronger the mania he felt the better, because this would signify the might behind the new soul skill.

While the Mysterious Heaven Technique's soul power surged violently, Huo Yuhao remained as calm as ever. He controlled his spiritual sea so that it accepted the vast spiritual power pouring in, while simultaneously he slowly assimilated it and activated the Mysterious Heaven Technique to circulate it throughout his circulation paths. Even though his skeleton, passageways, and flesh were currently swelling and in agonizing pain, his facial expression didn't change much.

Elder Xuan cautiously observed from beside him. A minute passed, but Huo Yuhao's expression had remained just as calm as before. His body appeared a little swollen, and purplish-black light flickered incessantly all over it, but Elder Xuan inwardly gasped in admiration. This level of discipline and endurance wasn't something that a child should possess—even most of the inner core disciples couldn't possibly do what he was doing now. No wonder he hadn't been afraid of absorbing a ten thousand year soul ring. His body had been enhanced by several soul bones, and with the help of the spiritual seal that he'd talked about, it looked like there wouldn't be any problems at all with this absorption.

“Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, the two of you stay here to watch over him. I have something to discuss with Elder Mu.”

“Yes.”

Elder Xuan then strode into the Sea God's Pavilion. What surprised him a little was that Elder Mu couldn't have not detected their return, yet he didn't hear a single sound. He swiftly approached Elder Mu's room and gently knocked on the door.

“I've brought the three little fellas back, Elder Mu.”

“Come in.” Elder Mu's voice was as placid as before, but it sounded a little downcast.

Elder Xuan pushed the door and walked in, but was immediately taken aback by what he saw. “Elder Mu—what's happened to you?”

Elder Mu was lying quietly in his reclining chair. However, his face seemed a little gloomy and bleak—there was no vitality in his eyes. He now appeared extremely old, and half of his white hair had actually become a plain gray color.

Elder Xuan himself was a Transcendent Douluo, and naturally understood what these transformations meant for Elder Mu. His life energy was quickly leaking out, which would further reduce Elder Mu's lifespan!

“Sit down, Xuan Zi.” Elder Mu was still as calm as ever. There wasn't a single trace of emotion within his frail eyes.

Elder Xuan hurriedly sat down beside Elder Mu. He was incredibly alarmed when he saw Elder Mu and said, “This shouldn't be happening! Your situation was still stable when we left. How did you consume so much life energy within such a short period of time?”

Elder Mu heaved a sigh and said, “Don't worry, my time's not up yet. But…” Elder Mu was the Master of the Sea God's Pavilion, and even though he possessed the frightening power of an Ultimate Douluo, a mournful expression filled his eyes.

“That child, Xiaotao… she's gone.” Elder Mu spoke arduously.

“What?!” Elder Mu was astonished. “How can that be? Wasn't she under your seal? Furthermore, even if she had the ability to break your seal, you're anchoring down the Sea God's Pavilion—and the other elders are around too! How could she have vanished just like that?”

Elder Mu laughed bitterly and said, “That's exactly the point—and it's why I feel like I've let her down! We were too careless. Nothing was wrong with my seal at one point, and the only person to be let in to see it was the Hallmaster of the Illustrious Virtue Hall. Even though I'm not sure how, I'm sure that he definitely did something to my seal, or to Xiaotao, that gave her the ability to run away. The academy was invaded five days after your departure. The enemies were too powerful, thus the elders of the Sea God's Pavilion had to fight them in order to keep them from damaging Shrek City. Xiaotao took this opportunity to escape—right under our noses.”

“The Body Sect?” Elder Xuan was flabbergasted. The way he saw it, only a select few groups in the Continent could force Elder Mu to show his hand in battle, and the Body Sect had stirred up trouble not long ago.

Elder Mu waved his hand and said, “It wasn't the Body Sect. Du Busi may be headstrong, obstinate, and conceited… but he's still an honorable man, like his elder brother. At least, he won't do anything to the academy before my death. However, the fact that it wasn't the Body Sect worries me even more—they were all evil soul masters, all eleven of them. Four were even Titled Douluo.”

Elder Xuan drew a cold breath as he listened. “Eleven evil soul masters—how is that possible? This, this…” Elder Xuan actually lost his composure.

Evil soul masters were far more powerful than normal soul masters. However, it was extremely difficult for them to become Titled Douluo—in fact, it was almost impossible. Yet, according to what Elder Mu had just said, there had been eleven of them! And four of them were even Titled Douluo! This was far beyond Elder Xuan's knowledge.

Such a large party of powerful evil soul masters showing up at the same time had never happened before throughout the course of the Continent's history.

“What I was most apprehensive about has come to pass: Not many evil soul masters have appeared in the past hundred years, and most that did had low cultivations. I always felt that something was wrong, but I never thought that the evil soul masters had come so far as to make their own organization.”

Elder Xuan's eyebrows were tightly furrowed. “Evil soul masters are almost completely uncontrollable due to their element. How could they follow somebody's commands and form an organization?”

Elder Mu heaved a sigh and said, “Discussing this now has no meaning. I did my best and managed to kill six of them, but ended up consuming a lot of life energy. However, only one Titled Douluo died. The most powerful of them was a Transcendent Douluo. I was tied down by them, thus I couldn't kill the other evil soul masters. Fortunately, we didn't suffer many losses. However, I'm deeply concerned with Xiaotao's situation. The fire of ultimate darkness—if the evil soul master organization…”

Elder Xuan was stern as he said, “It must be the Illustrious Virtue Hall causing trouble. At the very least, they're definitely connected to it. Elder Mu, do you want me to take some people to the Illustrious Virtue Hall to find her?

Elder Mu waved his hand and answered, “That would be useless. The Illustrious Virtue Hall would never actually cooperate with those evil soul masters, and they wouldn't leave any evidence behind either. They most likely just used the evil soul masters' strength to attack us. My life energy will run out in a year and a half, after which I will infuse myself within the Golden Tree and seal my soul imprint within. Whoever wants to cause trouble for Shrek Academy at that point—hmph!”

Elder Mu's infuriated grunt wasn't loud, but even a Transcendent Douluo like Elder Xuan felt his heart skip a beat.

“We have to nurture the younger generation as fast as we can. The evil soul master organization shouldn't be mature yet, but when they dare to officially appear on the Continent, humanity will be in distress, and calamity will be upon us. Xuan Zi, you guys have a heavy load and a long road ahead of you. I feel sorry for Xiaotao, though…”

Elder Mu closed his eyes painfully, his face full of exhaustion and weariness.

Originally, Elder Xuan had been in a great mood. Both Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao had gained big rewards from this expedition. Especially Huo Yuhao, who'd absorbed the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear's Right Palm Bone. Moreover, it was an extremely rare, external soul bone, which could evolve. However, Elder Xuan's heart grew heavy, and he became nearly as despondent as Elder Mu.

Elder Mu contemplated for more than ten seconds, then said slowly, “Why did you bring back a soul beast for Huo Yuhao to absorb? How did their adventure go?”

Elder Xuan took a deep breath and cheered himself up, then explained their adventure in great detail.

Elder Mu's focus was different from Elder Xuan, who placed more emphasis on the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear's Right Palm Bone. When Elder Mu finished listening to Elder Xuan's recounting of the events of the last dozen days, he appeared a lot more invigorated than before as he said, “An emperor beast… it's actually an emperor beast. Yuhao said that he absorbed its memories? It seems like the archives' records have some deeper meaning, and I guess that we finally have a piece of good news. We have to speed up this child's nurturing. Bring him to see me after he has finished absorbing his soul ring. A ten thousand year Purplespirit Wolf—those guys inside of the Great Star Dou Forest are extremely generous when it concerns the emperor beast. The Heavenly Emperor's word is worth more than all the money in the world. Thankfully, you all returned safely.”

However, no one expected Huo Yuhao to take as long as he did to absorb his soul ring. It took far beyond their projections.

The dark purple light gradually entered his body. But afterwards he just sat there, without moving an inch. A pale golden light flickered incessantly all over his body, while a vertical golden eye seemed to shimmer on his forehead. This strange scene made Elder Xuan invite Elder Mu to observe.

Elder Mu probed Huo Yuhao's soul power fluctuations, then told everyone not to disturb him and to let him cultivate in peace.

Why was Huo Yuhao taking so long to absorb his third soul ring? Because it wasn't as simple as just absorbing a soul ring.

The dark purple soul beast's soul ring was extremely powerful, but it was a spirit-type in the end. It boosted Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, and raised the limit on his optimal soul ring age for his Spirit Eyes yet again. The Skydream Iceworm was very conservative with his estimates to ensure Huo Yuhao's safety however, thus he only allowed Huo Yuhao to absorb around six thousand years' worth of the soul ring's power before sealing the rest.

Chapter end