The soul of the Battlewind Ape King was extracted from its soul ring by Huo Yuhao and stuffed into the Ghost Banner martial soul. Though the ape king was unwilling, two slaps from Huo Yuhao were enough to shut it up. Once trapped inside the Ghost Banner, its freedom was no longer its own.
Without the interference of the Battlewind Ape King's residual soul, Nan Shuishui had a much easier time absorbing the hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
The ape king also left behind a soul bone — a torso bone.
"A hundred-thousand-year torso bone? Shame it's useless to me."
Huo Yuhao currently didn't possess any wind attributes, nor did his existing soul bones. Among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, none had wind attributes either, so he decided to leave the soul bone to Nan Shuishui.
As always: follow Brother Hao, and he'll never shortchange you.
Of course, the ape king's blood essence went to Huo Yuhao.
Though the Battlewind Apes were considered strong among high-tier soul beasts, they lacked any powerful inherited bloodlines. The king only broke through to a hundred thousand years thanks to a unique mutation.
Technically, after crossing the hundred-thousand-year mark, the ape king's bloodline had evolved. If it had left behind any offspring, it could have gradually changed the tribe's lineage.
But even so, its bloodline couldn't compare to the others in Huo Yuhao's body.
Slightly better than the Soft Bone Rabbit's bloodline, at most.
"Now then, time to deal with the rest of these monkeys~" Huo Yuhao swept his gaze across the Battlewind Ape tribe's territory.
Why didn't these apes flee? Was it because they weren't afraid?
No — they couldn't move. They had already been placed under Huo Yuhao's control.
In the depths of every ape's eyes glimmered a faint golden light.
"Over five hundred... About a hundred are over ten thousand years old, the rest below that. Should be enough to forge a decent external soul bone."
With that, Huo Yuhao got to work, starting his slaughter and plundering of the Battlewind Ape tribe.
Their blood essence was absorbed by the snow lotus roots and condensed into bloodline seeds within the lotus. The souls of those over ten thousand years were sealed into the Ghost Banner to enhance its power. The younger ones — including a single Battlewind Ape cub — were kept to refine an external soul bone.
Truth be told, the Battlewind Ape tribe wasn't all that advanced. Even after slaughtering five hundred of them, only one soul bone dropped — an eighty-thousand-year left arm bone. That drop rate was worse than the Titan Snow Demons. Even the offshoots of the Titan Snow Demon clan had better yields. And the lower-tier Battlewind Apes had no chance of producing bones at all.
Inside the Ghost Banner, as a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, the Battlewind Ape King was able to retain its consciousness.
Newly turned into a ghost, the king watched as the souls of its tribe were one by one absorbed into the Ghost Banner. Even without seeing the outside world, it knew Huo Yuhao was slaughtering its kin. The realization made it furious — utterly enraged and unable to endure.
But the moment it stirred, the Ghost Banner forcefully suppressed it, leaving it only able to let out angry and agonized howls.
"You damn human! Why are you so cruel? Why are you committing genocide against my people? Aren't you afraid the lords of the Core Zone will come out and destroy you?!"
The Ape King's howl reached Huo Yuhao's ears — but didn't slow his actions one bit.
"Heh... A beast dares lecture me about cruelty?" Huo Yuhao chuckled disdainfully.
As for the Core Zone's ferocious beasts, Huo Yuhao no longer feared them — unless the Silver Dragon King herself intervened.
But would she dare?
The Battlewind Ape King kept on cursing and shouting — though its vocabulary was painfully limited.
Huo Yuhao found it noisy and annoying. Without the slightest hesitation or mercy, he controlled the Ghost Banner and extinguished the Ape King's sentience.
Even more effective than a lobotomy.
The Battlewind Ape King instantly went quiet.
Not everyone sealed into the Ghost Banner was "family" — only those recognized by Huo Yuhao earned that status.
Just some grunt dares act all high and mighty? You trying to wreak havoc in Heaven?
This scene instantly cowed the other sentient spirits in the Ghost Banner. They shrank down like quails, afraid to make a sound. Only Grandpa Gao remained calm — he knew that as long as he did his job, Huo Yuhao would reward him generously.
Finally, it was time to loot the Battlewind Ape tribe's resources — not even the ores and herbs were spared. Unfortunately, they didn't brew any liquor, but they had cultivated a large amount of a medicinal herb called "Galegrass," which was extremely useful to wind-type soul masters.
Huo Yuhao took all of it.
Time passed slowly.
A full two hours went by before Nan Shuishui completed the absorption of the hundred-thousand-year soul ring — and that was still considered fast. Without the Ape King's residual soul causing problems, she could focus solely on absorbing the energy within the ring.
And thanks to a cultivation technique gifted by Huo Yuhao, her absorption speed was significantly boosted.
However, using it at full capacity led to... side effects.
After breaking through to Title Douluo, she didn't immediately check her own state — instead, she looked at Huo Yuhao with eyes full of desire.
The Jade Maiden Scripture not only improved cultivation speed — it also intensified certain... urges.
At that moment, Huo Yuhao had just finished forging and absorbing the external soul bone from the Battlewind Ape — an 8,000-year left scapula, completing a fourth arm.
The right shoulder's bone had given Huo Yuhao inspiration, and he was surprised it actually worked.
Just as he was testing out the new arm, he saw Nan Shuishui giving him that hungry look.
What else could he do?
"Crawl over here~" Huo Yuhao said softly.
Then he thoroughly "inspected" her mastery of the Spring Charm Technique. She had indeed practiced it well.
Another hour passed.
Only then did Huo Yuhao take Nan Shuishui to their next destination.
After absorbing the hundred-thousand-year soul ring from the Battlewind Ape King, Nan Shuishui jumped straight to Rank 92. This was a typical utilization rate for normal soul ring absorption. Her martial soul hadn't evolved, but her combat power had grown significantly.
As for soul skills, even though the ring's wind attribute wasn't an ideal match for her Rouge Dragon martial soul, it still granted her two powerful abilities:
Oblivion Storm: Summons a storm infused with obliteration energy, causing devastating area damage.
Oblivion Slash: Condenses a wind blade imbued with obliteration energy, dealing focused single-target damage with terrifying power.
These were quite similar to Nan Qiuqiu's eighth soul skill in the original story — the names were even identical.
In fact, even for noble families with complete martial soul inheritances and soul beast options, they could only guarantee the first six soul skills and the seventh being the Martial Soul Avatar.
For the eighth and ninth rings, the required years are so high that they usually take whatever matches well — there's no room for pickiness.
A Rouge Dragon martial soul with an Oblivion attribute? That's even rarer. Most she could do was pick a dragon-type ring. If not available, just go with the best-year match.
That made soul skills increasingly random.
Her eighth soul skill, Oblivion Dragon Dance, was a self-enhancement ability.
This left her lacking a powerful, decisive offensive soul skill. The ninth ring filled this gap — offering both an area attack and a focused strike.
Plus, the torso bone and eighty-thousand-year left arm bone were both given to Nan Shuishui. Once she fully absorbed them, she'd likely reach Rank 94 — and wouldn't be far from Rank 95.
That meant three new soul skills too. Combined with her ninth-ring abilities, her power would rise sharply.
Nan Shuishui had a solid foundation — like her chest and peachy rear — and with a hundred-thousand-year ninth soul ring, even if she advanced normally, she'd hit Rank 95 eventually. Maybe even go further and become a Super Douluo.
Especially with Huo Yuhao backing her — her growth would only accelerate.
Huo Yuhao also noted the difference in having a Title Douluo as a "furnace" — it was a qualitative leap compared to before.
Still, he didn't indulge for too long — just enjoyed a brief hour. As the sun set, he resumed his hunt.
Tonight, he still had several targets to consume.
His centipede-leg clones had already locked them in. All that was left was for Huo Yuhao to go and reap them.
Huo Yuhao: "If it dares pee on the floor today, it'll dare wreak havoc in Heaven tomorrow — I'm not letting that happen!"
First up was the Golden-eyed Ant Emperor from before. With golden bloodline and a mutant pedigree, it also had its own tribe.
Their territory was in the neighboring mountain range.
Previously, Yan Shaozhe and Ma Xiaotao only killed part of the Golden-eyed Ant Emperor's kin. In its nest, there were still many Qianjun Ants—though most of them were of lower strength.
Later, Huo Yuhao wiped them out entirely.
He handled the situation much like with the Gale Ape clan. The hundred-thousand-year-old Golden-eyed Ant Emperor wasn't willing to be civilized or tamed, so Huo Yuhao had no choice but to perform a small "surgery" on it.
Due to earlier events, the Qianjun Ant population had dwindled—only fewer than fifty remained who were over ten-thousand years old, and most of those were under fifty thousand years. Yet, they managed to produce two soul bones: one below fifty thousand years, and one above.
Because of their golden bloodline and strength-type attributes, the soul bones were fused into Huo Yuhao's Tyrannosaurus soul bone system.
There were over a thousand sub-ten-thousand-year Qianjun Ants. Using them, Huo Yuhao forged five attached vertebral soul bones. He concentrated their essence to produce attached soul bones of the ten-thousand-year class, thereby reinforcing his spine's durability.
Unfortunately, none of the sub-ten-thousand-year ants produced soul bones—likely due to insufficient bloodline purity.
The Qianjun Ant nest contained an abundance of ores, which were a feast for his Frost Centipede variant spirit. Huo Yuhao kept some rare minerals for himself.
As for the Golden-eyed Ant Emperor's soul ring—it was absorbed by Jin Qiu'er. She was quite satisfied with both its bloodline and appearance.
With Huo Yuhao's support, Jin Qiu'er had no issue absorbing the hundred-thousand-year soul ring. She completed the process in less than an hour—far faster than Nan Shuishui.
After absorbing the soul ring, Jin Qiu'er broke through to level 65.
She gained two soul skills, different from those in the original story—one offensive and one defensive:
Golden Dragon Slash: A linear slashing attack, capable of splitting the earth.
Golden Barrier: A pure defense skill that can block incoming damage.
Both skills were highly effective.
Next up: the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger lurking on the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest!
This species still existed in this era—or perhaps, it never truly disappeared. When one dies, another seems to take its place.
This mutated power seems to be hidden within all White Tiger soul beasts.
Currently, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger in the Star Dou Forest had just reached the ten-thousand-year mark.
It was hunting under the cover of night on the forest's edge… when suddenly, it lost consciousness.
Naturally—it was ambushed by Huo Yuhao, hiding in the grass.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger didn't have the Gale Ape King's mutation ability and couldn't guard against Yuhao's carefully orchestrated sneak attack.
But Huo Yuhao didn't kill it right away—he captured it alive. As a White Tiger variant, it required some special treatment.
With several hours still before dawn, Huo Yuhao didn't waste a second. He began slaughtering the ten-thousand-year soul beasts hidden within the Star Dou Forest.
The most time-consuming part wasn't the killing—but traveling.
The hiding places of these powerful beasts had already been scouted out by his centipede clones. With his Luck Map activated, these ten-thousand-year soul beasts had no place to hide.
If he encountered a soul beast tribe or unique species along the way—and if they had a good bloodline—Yuhao would pause for them as well.
By coincidence—or perhaps fate—Yuhao ran into that underdeveloped twenty-thousand-year Heavenly Dragon Horse again. This time, he hadn't gone out of his way to find it.
The Heavenly Dragon Horse was training hard at night, refusing to accept fate.
And then—BAM—Yuhao descended from the sky and knocked it out cold, carrying it off.
Sadly, the Heavenly Dragon Horse was rare and solitary, so no other soul beast came to its aid, nor did anyone immediately notice it was missing.
Following that, Yuhao found several rare soul beasts from the original story.
For instance, the ten-thousand-year female Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear. It hadn't entered mating season yet, nor had it found a partner—thus, no baby Dreadclaw Bear either.
But Yuhao wasn't interested in breeding—he knocked it out and took it away.
Having already subdued hundred-thousand-year beasts, the Dreadclaw Bear was easy for him.
Later came the Jade Sea Spirit Ape, the Blood Red Baboon, and other notable soul beasts from the original—all over ten thousand years in strength. The Blood Red Baboon King was over fifty thousand years old and had a tribe of over a hundred.
All of them—without exception—were devoured by Huo Yuhao.
Their flesh and blood were refined into Blood Qi Seeds; their souls absorbed into his Ghost Banner spirit; their tribal resources were looted. Some even dropped soul bones.
The only thing wasted—were the soul rings.
But it was no big deal.
By dawn, due to time constraints, Huo Yuhao managed to kill only two more hundred-thousand-year soul beasts. Combined with the Gale Ape King and the Golden-eyed Ant Emperor, that made four hundred-thousand-year beasts.
The remaining ones were either too far away or hiding deep within the forest's core area.
Yuhao didn't get greedy. He knew it was time to head back.
"Tonight's rampage will soon draw the attention of the beasts in the core zone. Plus, I still have an experiment to conduct with Ling Luochen."
"Back then, the Body Sect triggered a beast tide just by hunting a few hundred-thousand-year beasts. I wonder if this time will cause the same?"
"If a beast tide really breaks out… heh… that would be beautiful."
Yuhao smiled—he loved bloodbaths.
He instructed Nan Shuishui to leave the Star Dou Forest immediately and return to Dragon City instead of staying at Shrek Academy.
She was not to reveal her breakthrough just yet.
If a beast tide really broke out and she revealed her hundred-thousand-year soul ring, the major factions would definitely become suspicious.
So—for now, best to leave this matter a mystery.
Huo Yuhao himself returned to the depths of the cave, entering another underground chamber to sort through his loot.
There was no denying it—the soul beast resources of the Star Dou Forest were incredibly abundant. Not only were there rare species, but there were many of them.
In a single night, having swept through three mountain ranges and several forests, the number of ghosts added to his Ghost Banner spirit exceeded one thousand!
And that was only because his main targets were the rare and powerful ones.
Among them, over three hundred were above ten thousand years; the rest were mostly over five thousand.
Now, the Ghost Banner spirit contained six hundred ten-thousand-year soul beast ghosts!
His overall ghost count brought the Ghost Banner even closer to the mythical Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
He also added four hundred-thousand-year Beast King ghosts.
Sadly, none of them were willing to submit to Yuhao.
After all, he had massacred their clans.
They didn't have the integrity of the Titan Snow Demons, and Yuhao didn't bother with diplomacy. He wasn't interested in refining puppet troops either. No submission? Then their consciousnesses would be crushed—they'd serve as mindless puppets.
The other two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were:
A Forest Deer King, capable of commanding trees in battle;
A Rainbow Scale Butterfly King, whose scales could induce hallucinations.
Their tribes were small—less than twenty of their peers were over ten thousand years old. They had no special bloodlines and gave Yuhao no soul bones.
Still, their ordinary kin added two more attached soul bones of secret magical type to his arsenal.
Huo Yuhao: "If you appear before Brother Hao, you're guilty—and you must die!"
Then came the harvest of soul bones. Huo Yuhao performed five instances of secret refining techniques to create soul bones externally attached to his body. He obtained:
Millennium soul bones of the right hand's ring finger, pinky, and thumb,
A ten-thousand-year ankle bone from the Forest Deer for the left leg,
And an eye-shadow-like bone from the Colorful Scale Butterfly.
Thanks to the selfless sacrifices of five soul beast clans, Huo Yuhao completed the set of externally-attached soul bones for all five fingers of his right hand, with two additional external soul bones beyond that.
Notably, the externally-attached soul bone from the Colorful Scale Butterfly didn't have a fixed skeletal form. It looked more like iridescent powder. Once absorbed into his body, it transformed into shimmering eye shadow on Huo Yuhao's face.
This eye shadow could be hidden or revealed, changing into dazzling colors with a mesmerizing effect.
Even without activating the soul bone's power, just being looked at by someone would trigger its effect — either enhancing Huo Yuhao's charm or making his facial features indistinct to others.
It wasn't a soul skill — just an effect.
Looking at himself in the mirror, now wearing the eye shadow, Huo Yuhao felt like he looked more and more like a villain.
Eye shadow — the signature of evil cultivators — had somehow become part of his gear.
Thankfully, it could be hidden.
Otherwise, his identity might be exposed.
There were also several other standard soul bones.
Finally, the two one-hundred-thousand-year Beast Kings each provided Huo Yuhao with a soul bone.
When a hundred-thousand-year soul beast dies, it drops a soul bone corresponding to a vacant slot on the soul master's body, with a chance of being an externally-attached soul bone.
The Forest Deer King dropped a left leg bone.
Unexpectedly, the Colorful Scale Butterfly King dropped an externally-attached head bone.
Huo Yuhao didn't absorb the two soul bones on the spot. He waited until he returned to the underground chamber of the karst cave to consider the matter.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, his Healing Angel Puppet Martial Soul appeared beside him, surrounded by two blood-red hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
They were, of course, from the Forest Deer King and the Colorful Scale Butterfly King.
Coincidentally, the Healing Angel Puppet still had nine available soul ring slots.
Just like the Variant Ice Jade Centipede Martial Soul, the Healing Angel Puppet had autonomy. Huo Yuhao could continue hunting while leaving it behind to absorb the soul rings on its own.
By the time he returned from his hunt, the puppet had completed the absorption of the two soul rings.
Surprisingly, the soul rings did not convert into healing-type soul skills suited for the Healing Angel Puppet. Instead, they retained the signature skills of the two Beast Kings.
The Healing Angel Puppet could activate these soul skills using life-attributed soul power.
In other words, the puppet wasn't just a healer anymore — it now had offensive capabilities too.
This was thanks to the adaptable nature of life-attribute energy. It rarely conflicted with other attributes and often enhanced them instead.
Huo Yuhao speculated that the puppetization of the Healing Angel Martial Soul had altered some of its characteristics.
The regular Healing Angel Martial Soul acted as a carrier for soul rings — like a gun that needed soul rings as bullets, used by the soul master.
In contrast, the puppet acted as a wielder of the soul rings — like a soldier with its own gun, with life-attributed soul power acting as the bullets.
The change in role naturally resulted in different effects.
Of course, the puppet could only use soul skills; the effectiveness still depended on the soul ring's quality.
But soul skills from one-hundred-thousand-year soul rings were already powerful enough. Some titled Douluo outside might not even match the puppet's current offensive soul skills, despite the mismatch in attribute alignment.
The Healing Angel Puppet casually tried out four of its soul skills — not at full strength, but enough to reveal its intense curiosity and interest.
It was like a naive child receiving new toys.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao began absorbing the soul bones.
Both Beast Kings' soul bones were suitable for absorption.
The Forest Deer King's soul bone carried life and wood attributes — with potential for future evolution, especially since some savage beasts also carried plant-based or life-related attributes. Most importantly, they didn't clash with Huo Yuhao's current abilities.
Wood and poison attributes could even fuse.
Wood wasn't a common attribute. Usually, it was merged into the life attribute instead of standing alone.
In this case, it stood out because the Forest Deer King could manipulate plant life using that attribute.
Because the dropped soul bone was a left leg bone, Huo Yuhao designed the corresponding externally-attached bone from its clan as a left ankle bone.
When soul bones from the same origin are combined, they produce stronger effects.
He didn't fuse them outright like his left arm, because the leg bone hadn't been refined and didn't yet house a bone spirit.
But since the Forest Deer King had been mentally wiped clean, it couldn't become a bone spirit.
Huo Yuhao didn't need a mindless assistant.
The soul bone provided two skills: a control-type Plant Manipulation, and a single-target attack Sacred Wooden Blade.
Next came the externally-attached head soul bone from the Colorful Scale Butterfly King.
Possibly due to the butterfly's spiritual nature and its natural tendency to produce head soul bones, and since Huo Yuhao already had a head soul bone, it dropped an externally-attached head bone instead.
Surely their species could produce full body bones, not just external ones?
The externally-attached soul bone was of a spiritual nature — suitable for absorption.
Its form resembled a butterfly's twin antennae.
After fusion, Huo Yuhao looked at himself and decided not to summon this bone unless absolutely necessary.
It looked... weird.
Not ugly — quite the opposite, in fact. It enhanced beauty and had a charm effect.
But Huo Yuhao felt that once activated, it made him look a bit feminine.
Turning into a monster? Fine.
Turning into a pretty boy? Nope.
Not that he hated it — he just didn't want creepy old men eyeing him.
The charm was a side effect. The soul bone's actual soul skills were:
Butterfly Dream, which could read spiritual thoughts
Butterfly Cry, which could disturb spiritual energy
After absorbing the soul bones, Huo Yuhao looked ahead.
On the empty ground before him were several living soul beasts he had specially preserved — unusual specimens that had been captured alive.
They included:
A ten-thousand-year Dark Devilgod Tiger, a mutated white tiger suspected of having evil god lineage.
A ten-thousand-year female Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear — comparable in strength to a hundred-thousand-year beast and with some Behemoth lineage, showing great potential.
A twenty-thousand-year Heavenly Dragon Horse, outwardly horse-like but with the pure bloodline of a Holy Light Dragon, stunningly beautiful and noble. It had been physically weak since childhood due to injuries.
Three beasts that looked like a cross between wolves and apes — nearly identical in appearance.
These three were the legendary Trilife Wolf Apes, known for producing the legendary Trilife Soul Bone!
Because they lived near the bear's territory, Huo Yuhao found them together and captured them as a set.
Although they were different individuals, they shared a mixed yet interconnected bloodline — a highly appealing trait to evil cultivators.
Even better, they possessed rare spatial attributes.
While Star Dou Forest had many rare soul beasts, few could compare to these. After a night of sweeping the forest, Huo Yuhao only managed to find these few.
Now all of them had awakened. Due to restrictive seals, they could only lie on the ground, awaiting death — yet their eyes still blazed with fury and wariness as they glared at Huo Yuhao.
But he didn't mind.
For valuable targets, Huo Yuhao had infinite patience.
"Little darlings, Brother Hao is here for you~"
While Huo Yuhao lovingly prepared his experiments on these rare beasts...
Outside, the daytime Star Dou Great Forest was on the verge of chaos.
The first to notice something wrong was Bi Ji.
Because the Heavenly Dragon Horse was one of the soul beasts she looked after — though housed in a mixed habitat — she would occasionally check its aura for signs of health, and sometimes personally treat it.
When the Heavenly Dragon Horse's aura suddenly vanished, she immediately went to investigate — only to find that numerous soul beasts across several mountain ranges, especially those over 5,000 years old, had vanished without a trace.
Only a few dozen remained.
More than ten soul beast clans had disappeared mysteriously. Their territories bore signs of having been thoroughly looted.
Among the missing were four one-hundred-thousand-year Beast Kings, all gone without a trace.
But Bi Ji could smell the thick scent of blood still lingering across the mountains.
Clearly, the missing soul beasts were already dead.
Bi Ji hurried to inform the other savage beasts.
The mass slaughter, complete erasure of corpses, and the death of four Beast Kings in one night — all enraged the savage beasts.
They were sure it was the work of humans.
Soul beasts would never scavenge each other's nests so thoroughly — not even taking the mineral stones.
Soul beasts didn't forge metal!
They immediately recalled the brutal raids once conducted by the Body Sect.
Only the mobilization of multiple Super Douluo could have pulled off something of this scale overnight!
The savage beasts were furious.
And soon, all of Star Dou Forest was in an uproar.
A terrifying aura began to slowly coalesce...
Huo Yuhao: "As long as they're useful, soul beasts… can be used too~"
"Time's just about up~"
"Let's keep this efficient—no need for pointless theatrics."
Huo Yuhao looked at the soul beasts in front of him and showed a bright, carefree smile.
Time for skills!
Golden Pseudo-Buddha Light radiated from Huo Yuhao's body. Instantly, the soul beasts stirred uneasily, agitation rising in their eyes. But Huo Yuhao paid them no mind and continued calmly releasing his Pseudo-Buddha Light.
After becoming an Arhat, Huo Yuhao's methods became even more formidable. For soul beasts under a hundred thousand years old, he could directly enlighten them. For those over that threshold, a bit more technique was needed—but only if he deemed them worthy of salvation.
Not every piece of trash is destined to walk the path of Buddha.
This so-called enlightenment wasn't like deceiving the Overlord Dragon with tricks and illusions. It was permanent—transforming the soul beasts into beings molded in Huo Yuhao's image. Even the Overlord Dragon couldn't be entirely turned before.
This was different from how he had handled Nan Shuishui.
That case involved cognitive distortion. What Huo Yuhao was doing now was washing away most of the beasts' memories and implanting new ones favorable to him.
Sitting cross-legged in front of them, Huo Yuhao appeared utterly serene, the Pseudo-Buddha Light continuously bathing the beasts.
Bathed in this radiance, the beasts' violent and murderous aura gradually melted away. Their gaze shifted from hostile and guarded to calm—and eventually affectionate.
A full half-hour passed.
Only then did Huo Yuhao stop releasing the Pseudo-Buddha Light.
In that time, he had thoroughly understood the soul beasts—inside and out.
The beasts' attitudes toward him had completely changed. When he removed the restraints on them, none acted out; instead, they all knelt before him, docile and reverent, pledging their allegiance.
And in each of their eyes was light—golden light.
Huo Yuhao smiled warmly.
Then came the next step: processing the soul beasts.
Enlightenment didn't mean they were free from death. No—it meant they would continue in a different form of life.
First up: the female Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear.
The Terrorclaw Bears carried a trace of Behemoth bloodline.
The Behemoth royal line—Golden Behemoths—were terrifying creatures that could prey on dragons. Back then, it had taken the combined might of all dragon clans, under the Dragon God's command, to wipe them out. A testament to the strength and potential of the Behemoth bloodline.
And this bloodline? It resonated with Huo Yuhao.
Not every soul beast bloodline was worthy of resonating with him.
The bloodlines in the Forest Deer King and Rainbow Scale Butterfly King's soul bones, for example, were merely consumed as fodder to enhance other bloodlines. They weren't integrated at all—too weak, too limited.
He hadn't even bothered giving them a second chance.
The female Terrorclaw Bear, however, though her Behemoth bloodline was still thin, had begun to emerge.
So Huo Yuhao didn't immediately extract and consume it.
Instead, using her blood as ink, he etched a simple tattoo on the right side of his chest—an image of a roaring Terrorclaw Bear, drawn in blood-red ink.
Then, the bear turned into golden light and was sealed into the tattoo. Once she entered, the tattoo came alive—the blood-red turned golden, every hair clearly defined. The image mirrored the real bear exactly, its eyes glowing gold as if able to see, a faint roar lingering in the air.
This was the art of tattoos.
A derivative of the Art of Danqing.
Danqing was used to trap demons, ghosts—even humans—via painting, with "sealing" as its essence.
Once applied to a person, it became the Tattoo Art—allowing one to seal targets inside their skin, though it wasn't limited to sealing alone.
As the tattooed person's bond with the image deepened, they could draw power from it—and eventually, fuse with it completely.
Common on the grasslands.
Most commonly used with wolves, eagles, and bears, allowing the wearer to inherit beast-like abilities.
But the deeper the bond, the more dangerous it became. If the tattooed couldn't resist the beast's instincts, they might lose themselves to savagery.
Some even exploited this flaw—using the technique to harm others.
For example, one might seal their own soul into someone else's tattoo, waiting for the bond to deepen—then seize their body.
But Huo Yuhao wasn't concerned.
The bear's will wasn't strong enough to threaten him, and it had no schemes against him.
As time passed, she would grow stronger alongside him. Her Behemoth bloodline would thicken—and she would share that strength with Huo Yuhao.
He, in turn, would gain her abilities.
For Huo Yuhao, the Behemoth bloodline was something he couldn't afford to miss.
This tattoo method—slow cultivation combined with gradual absorption—was perfect.
He hadn't used it before partly because he hadn't found any bloodline strong enough, and partly because he wasn't confident he could fully control the sealed beast.
The tattoo technique worked best on beings fully under control—or unintelligent beasts.
The more intelligent and violent the soul beast, the greater the risk.
If he'd tried this on the Overlord Dragon before subjugating it, the result would've been a disaster.
If the dragon had any other option, it would never have submitted.
Huo Yuhao only used this method now because the female Terrorclaw Bear was completely under his command.
Next: the Heavenly Dragon Horse.
Approaching the beast, Huo Yuhao placed his palm on its forehead and spoke firmly: "Still not returning to your place?"
The Heavenly Dragon Horse offered up its soul willingly.
In Huo Yuhao's sea of spirit, a new image appeared—an imagined projection of the Heavenly Dragon Horse.
To transform a dragon horse into a true Heavenly Dragon—what a magnificent death~
Now, his sea of spirit contained three projections:
The White Tiger
The Black Tortoise
And the Heavenly Dragon Horse
The beast's soul was now tied to this projection.
In time, it would evolve into a true Heavenly Dragon.
"No wings? Don't worry—even without wings, you'll fly just fine," Huo Yuhao chuckled.
Then, he devoured the horse's corpse down to the last bone. The fusion of the Holy Bright Dragon and Ice Radiant Dragon bloodlines strengthened both his lineage and accelerated the projection's evolution.
Next: the Three-Life Wolf Apes.
Their bloodline was messy—not quite wolves, not quite apes.
But their attributes and abilities were excellent.
They possessed spatial powers, including teleportation.
They could also sense each other across distances.
Huo Yuhao ripped out their hearts.
"Perfect ingredients for alchemy."
He consumed their bodies.
Sealed their souls inside their hearts.
All of it would be used for pill refinement.
Lastly: the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
It was saved for last because Huo Yuhao valued it the most.
He pulled out a nearly-complete short spear he had been forging.
"A stroke of fortune for you—my weapon lacks only a spirit."
Without waiting for a response, Huo Yuhao plunged the spear into the tiger's skull.
At once, the spear began to devour the beast's flesh and soul!
Huo Yuhao: There are no useless soul beasts—only soul masters who don't know how to use them!
In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had been completely devoured by the short spear, its body weathering into nothingness.
Yet something remained—a single inner core dropped to the ground.
Because the soul of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had been absorbed by the spear as well, the core hadn't escaped into the void.
Soul beasts in the Douluo Continent do not refine inner cores like demons do. Only soul beasts that have reached one hundred thousand years can condense a soul core.
However, certain special soul beasts can independently form orb-like objects that can be called "inner cores," which contain their elemental properties, powers, and even bloodline inheritance.
These kinds of soul beasts are either ancient beasts or rare variants.
For example, the Variant Ice Centipede or the Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Snake.
Such beasts are extremely rare.
Huo Yuhao merely drew the inner core into his hand and put it away for the time being, then fixed his gaze on the short spear undergoing its final transformation.
At that moment, ominous black and blood-red auras were coiling around the spear like flames, forging it anew in the final stage.
From this scene alone, it was clear—the completed spear would be a weapon of great malevolence!
Until now, Huo Yuhao had been holding back, never finishing the spear's final forging. But now, using the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger as fuel, the spear was completing its transformation—its quality ascending to a higher tier.
ROAR—!
Suddenly, a tiger's roar echoed from the short spear.
A soul-shadow of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger burst forth from within the spear. As it moved, the spear floated and responded in kind. Its form and behavior clearly mirrored that of the Evil God Hook—the tiger's iconic weapon.
This signified that the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had become the spear's spirit!
Six different elemental fluctuations gradually appeared on the short spear, corresponding to the tiger's original attributes: Wind, Thunder, Evil, Strength, Space, and Time.
These attributes were enhancements brought by the weapon spirit!
The spear itself also released the powers inherent in its own materials: Bloodlust, Resentment, and Curses!
The fusion of tiger and spear influenced each other, causing the weapon spirit to emit these same ominous energies.
Then, the tiger's soul returned to the spear. The short spear trembled violently, releasing an evil and bloodthirsty aura so intense that the entire underground chamber felt like it was about to collapse.
All of Huo Yuhao's martial spirits instinctively became alert.
Snow Lotus even cast a seven-colored light to protect Huo Yuhao.
But in the next second, the spear suddenly changed direction and shot toward Huo Yuhao with an incredibly savage aura, as if intending to devour its master.
Yet Huo Yuhao showed no intention of dodging. Instead, he calmed Snow Lotus's protective light and stared directly at the incoming spear.
A drop of blood trickled from his forehead and was instantly absorbed by the spear.
The spear stopped right at his brow, the tip piercing into his forehead.
As Huo Yuhao's blood fused with it, the short spear transformed into a black-red stream of light and merged into his forehead.
The spear disappeared.
A red spear-shaped mark appeared on Huo Yuhao's brow—its new resting place.
Even the still-forming third eye on his forehead was affected by the spear's power, its development accelerating slightly.
However, due to a lack of dragon aura, the third eye remained incomplete.
But it was certain—once the third eye fully opened, it would become a force even more terrifying than one opened by dragon aura alone.
Huo Yuhao had anticipated this, showing no panic. He reached up to touch his brow, finding no wound.
Then, with a wave of his hand, black-red soul power flared. The short spear reformed in his palm, becoming solid once again.
As he grasped it, a ferocious tiger's roar echoed in his ears.
Yet the spear behaved obediently in his grasp.
Huo Yuhao examined the weapon carefully.
Its body was black-red with a faint purple sheen. It was about 3.3 feet long (around 1.3 meters), with the spear tip itself taking up about 1.1 feet (36 cm).
A tailbone wrapped around the spear shaft—it was the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's tail, and the tip of the Evil God Hook had fused with the spearhead.
Anyone who merely looked at the spear would feel as if their very soul was being drawn into it.
"What a spear," Huo Yuhao couldn't help but praise.
Though he didn't know how the spear ranked among weapons on the Douluo Continent, its power was a perfect match for him at this stage.
"I'll name you... Evil God Spear!"
With a simple name bestowed, Huo Yuhao stored the weapon away.
With the soul beast issue resolved, it was time to address the matter of Ma Xiaotao and the other two.
It felt almost like he had just pampered his third concubine and now had to go take care of his fourth.
He followed the underground river back to another chamber.
Ma Xiaotao, Ling Luocheng, and Wei Na were still trapped by the array, caught in illusions.
From their expressions, it was clear their illusory experiences were far from pleasant.
But none of them had suffered any physical harm.
The two Ice Centipede limbs guarding them had done their job faithfully.
Nodding in satisfaction, Huo Yuhao walked to Ling Luocheng and stared at her left arm.
The next moment, a flash of cold light—
He raised his hand and severed her left arm. Blood splattered.
Yet Ling Luocheng showed no reaction, still lost in illusion.
Huo Yuhao retrieved the soul bone from her severed arm.
Though Wang Xian'er had healed her before, it was only a repair. Even with a soul bone fused, the arm's prior injury could still leave hidden risks.
In future battles, such wounds could flare up again.
If Ling Luocheng's goal was merely to become a Super Douluo and live comfortably, such issues wouldn't matter much.
But Huo Yuhao had higher expectations for her.
As a furnace, she had to be of high quality!
A furnace wasn't just for show!
"A damaged arm, even if restored, still carries risk. So why not replace it with a better one? It can even boost her potential and raise the furnace's quality." Huo Yuhao muttered.
He took out the arm of a 100,000-year-old Titan Snow Demon, thawed it, and began fusing it with Ling Luocheng's stump.
This technique—grafting beast parts to humans—was considered advanced in evil cultivation. Though Master Pudu Cihang knew of it, he lacked practical experience.
Huo Yuhao had studied it multiple times in private, even opening his Eye of All Laws to comprehend it.
The procedure went smoothly. The arm of the Titan Snow Demon successfully fused with Ling Luocheng, eventually morphing into a normal-looking human arm—no signs of the beast origin or of any seam.
"Success," Huo Yuhao smiled.
This meant he could use similar methods in the future to upgrade other furnaces!
After all, the outer courtyard still had plenty of low-quality furnaces waiting for enhancement.
As for potential risks?
As long as the furnace worked well, that was all that mattered. Hidden dangers were minor—worst case, he'd just cleanse them.
Since Ling Luocheng's new arm would definitely raise questions, Huo Yuhao had already prepared an explanation.
In simple terms—just one word: "Fortune."
He didn't want to expose himself, so attributing it to a fateful opportunity made everything easier to explain.
Huo Yuhao: This is what it means to share the blessings equally~