Chapter 147: Fusion! New Perspective
Under the Skydream Iceworm’s control, Huo Yuhao would fuse this soul ring into his left arm. Once his cultivation had reached the appropriate level, the Skydream Iceworm would then unleash the soul ring’s boosted power, and it would become a hundred thousand-year soul ring. This process could certainly be known as the first soul ring fusion of its kind.
After fusing with his third soul ring, Huo Yuhao’s accumulated cultivation also came into effect now that he’d overcame his bottleneck.
The Ice Jade Scorpion and Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear’s soul bones—both of which were extremely powerful—had brought about great benefits to Huo Yuhao’s cultivation. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong hadn’t let up on their cultivation either, and the Life Gold had also nourished Huo Yuhao’s body. So when the Mysterious Heaven Technique broke through, his soul power erupted in an overwhelming surge of power.
Huo Yuhao could feel his soul power still soaring even when he reached Rank 31. It was only once he’d reached Rank 32 that he felt the rate of increase stabilize, but it didn’t stop increasing until he’d reached the peak of Rank 32.
Huo Yuhao had an Ultimate martial soul, which was very different from ordinary soul masters. At Rank 30, the density of his soul power was noticeably greater than most soul masters. Elder Mu had warned him some time ago that the increase in his soul power would slow down significantly once he reached Rank 30. If an ordinary soul master had obtained two soul bones in the same manner as he had, it wouldn’t have been surprising for them to increase four or five ranks once they gained their third ring.
Even so, Huo Yuhao was still happily surprised by his gains. It was definitely a good start considering the difficult cultivation he’d have in the future.
It took him roughly eight hours to complete everything, which was still much faster than it normally took a soul master to fuse with a soul ring.
As soon as he completed his fusion and was about to relax, his Eye of Destiny suddenly started to act up. He immediately tensed up again, as the Eye began to emit an absorptive force.
What was this? Was the Eye of Destiny absorbing his spiritual power like Electrolux had mentioned earlier?
That was exactly what was happening; it had occurred even faster than Huo Yuhao expected.
The broken memories that he’d gained from the Three-Eyed Golden Lion were quickly gathered and drawn away, alongside his spiritual power. He could sense that a hole had been poked in his Spiritual Sea, and his spiritual power was flowing out of rapidly. The process was in-turn strengthening the connection between him and the Eye of Destiny.
The Eye of Destiny was sucking away his spiritual power with such immense strength that he couldn’t even try to resist it. It even took away a shred of his spiritual origin!
Fortunately, this process didn’t cause him any pain. The memories from the Three-Eyed Golden Lion flashed through his mind once more, appearing much clearer this time.
Everything started to change weirdly. He could feel an indescribable shift in his Spiritual Sea, as if part of it had been drawn away with his spiritual power. His awareness seemed like it was jumping from one side to the other when the sliver of his spiritual origin entered the Eye of Destiny.
Everything seemed to happen in an instant, but it felt like it took an eternity. When he finally awoke from his cultivation, the sun happened to be rising slowly in the east.
Huo Yuhao subconsciously turned his gaze to the east. When he did so, the purple that flashed through the sky seemed to be brighter than it had been before.
A new warmth filled his eyes, and he was shocked to discover that his eyes had been nourished by the purple light that had washed across them. This was something that he’d never experienced before.
He shut his eyes and focused his mind, feeling a little dizzy. After re-focusing himself, he opened his eyes to stare just above the rising sun… and everything he saw seemed to be different from before.
Countless spots of light, most of which were golden, floated through the air. The whole world seemed to have exploded with color. The sun wasn’t blinding at all, but he couldn’t tell whether it was red or gold in color.
This, this is…
Everything new in front of Huo Yuhao disappeared as his mind wavered. His third eye shut itself, even though it had just opened.
Everything returned to normal once he’d re-opened his eyes. However, he was still shocked by what he’d felt earlier.
The Eye of Destiny had given him a special perspective. He could also clearly feel that everything was still normal when he injected his spiritual power into his Spirit Eyes. If he were to use a soul skill, the might of his increased spiritual power would be displayed.
His spiritual power seemed to have changed after he injected it into the Eye of Destiny. There appeared to be some form of connection between his Spiritual Sea and the Eye of Destiny’s second spiritual sea, as his spiritual power was instantly depleted at a frightening speed
Huo Yuhao immediately tried to use his Spiritual Detection. He discovered, to his shock, that it took four times as much soul power to unleash the soul skill through his Eye of Destiny. Doing so also used up a third of his spiritual power, despite the fact that Spiritual Detection wasn’t very taxing on either his soul or spirit power!
However, the benefit he gained was as great as the cost, and equally shocking: When unleashed through the Eye of Destiny, his Spiritual Detection covered three times the area that it normally did. It was able to reach up to 600 meters!
While it seemed like tripling the area of effect wouldn’t make up for quadrupling the cost, that wasn’t the case. This meant that his Spirit Eyes could display a tremendous explosive strength when he unleashed a soul skill with his Eye of Destiny. His Spirit Eyes possessed the equivalent of a four-ringed cultivation level, even though he only had three rings, which raised his abilities by an entire grade. The only drawback was that they couldn’t be used too frequently, since the cost was too great. Using his Spiritual Shock once would take forty percent of his soul power, while using it twice would knock him unconscious.
The Spirit Eyes and Ice Jade Empress Scorpion still had a gap in strength, due to the Ultimate Ice. While the Spirit Eyes was a Body Soul, it hadn’t undergone its second awakening yet. On the other hand, the Ultimate Ice couldn’t even be dealt with by Body Sect soul masters who’d gone through their second awakening! The Ice Empress was entirely superior to the Spirit Eyes, even though it had only one soul ring. The role of the Spirit Eyes was more supplementary, and favored auxiliary and control abilities.
However, everything had changed now that he had the Eye of Destiny. The Eye of Destiny greatly increased the adaptability and explosive power of his Spirit Eyes. Huo Yuhao still hadn’t discovered everything that Eye of Destiny was capable of. But after obtaining his third soul ring, the Eye of Destiny, and the Darkgolden Terrorclaw, Huo Yuhao could definitely rival a four-ringed Soul Ancestor—without Wang Dong’s help. And not just any Soul Ancestor, but a Soul Ancestor from Shrek Academy!
“Yuhao, come here,” Elder Mu’s gentle voice rang in his ears, jolting him out of his surprise.
He quickly entered the Sea God’s Pavilion, and came to Elder Mu’s bedroom.
“Teacher, what’s this?”
Huo Yuhao was stunned when he saw Elder Mu, but Elder Mu didn’t explain anything to him. He raised his hand to stop Huo Yuhao from speaking any further. “Tell me how you’re feeling. I believe you didn’t just absorb your soul ring, given that you’ve been meditating for so long. Do you realize that this is already the third morning since you returned to the Sea God’s Pavilion?”
“What?” Huo Yuhao was appalled. It didn’t feel like much time had passed at all!
“Tell me about the changes that this ‘Eye of Destiny’ has brought you. I’m curious.” There weren’t many things about a soul master’s abilities that could make Elder Mu curious anymore.
Huo Yuhao was honest, and described the changes to Elder Mu. However, he still concealed the matter of the Eye of Life. After all, that involved Electrolux, and his third eye finally had a legitimate backstory behind it.
Elder Mu thought for a moment after Huo Yuhao finished. He said, “It’s very similar to the change that occurs when a Body Soul awakens for the second time, but your increase in strength was even greater. You have to analyze the brilliance behind the word ‘destiny’ in the ‘Eye of Destiny.’ Receiving power from the Emperor Beast is no simple thing. From today onwards, you shall learn from Fan Yu for three days, then return and cultivate with me for three days. Wang Yan will then give you theoretical lessons on soul masters for one day. You’ll need to work for seven days a week without any rest days. You don’t need to return to the outer courtyard either. You’ll just need to take the advancement exam every year.”
Huo Yuhao was a little shocked when he heard this, but knew that Elder Mu was doing his best to nurture him. “No problem.”
Elder Mu said, “You can go now. Go and find Fan Yu first, I’ve already informed him that he can begin the Soul Tool Department’s Ultimate Soldier Plan. You shall be learning alongside He Caitou.”
“Teacher, what about Wang Dong?” Huo Yuhao asked.
Elder Mu replied, “He doesn’t have much interest in soul tools. Don’t worry, he’ll remain in the Sea God’s Pavilion to cultivate with me. I’ll also supervise your joint cultivation. You shall return to the Sea God’s Pavilion every night to cultivate with him.”
“Yes, teacher.”
Elder Mu opened his eyes slowly and looked at Huo Yuhao with a gentle yet stern look. “Yuhao, you must enter a rapid state of development from now on. Possessing an Ultimate martial soul doesn’t just signify your bright future, it also means that you carry a heavy responsibility on your shoulders. In two years, you’ll proceed to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy for a three-year exchange. I hope that you’ll have your own special set of skills once it’s time for the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. We’re a little tight on time, but time isn’t on my side. The ties between the empires on the continent are fragile. The Sun Moon Empire has shown signs of making a move, the Body Sect has reappeared, and…”
He paused for a while, then gazed at Huo Yuhao seriously. “Your ability to obtain the Emperor Beast’s power of destiny shows that destiny has chosen you. Your future isn’t just about protecting Shrek Academy and revitalizing the Tang Sect. It’s also about ensuring the continent’s peace and stability. If you can remember my words and are willing to do your best, it’ll be an honor to be your teacher.”
For some unknown reason, Huo Yuhao felt his heart become heavy when he heard Elder Mu’s words, though it wasn’t because of Elder Mu’s words or tone. He couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher, how’s your body?”
Elder Mu smiled and shook his head. He replied, “I’m fine. At my age, I’ve already learned to accept unpleasant truths. Don’t worry, I won’t give up on my ailing body so long as it means that I can protect Shrek Academy for just one more day.”
Huo Yuhao wanted to add on to his words, but was stopped by Elder Mu. “Go on, every second is important to you now. I’ve already informed Fan Yu. Now that you’ve absorbed your soul ring, you’ll learn from him for the three days, and begin your weekly cultivation cycle.”
Huo Yuhao gazed steadily at Elder Mu, then bowed to him. After that, he turned and left the room.
A sense if sorrow surged through his mind after he carefully closed the door to Elder Mu. Huo Yuhao was much more sensitive to things now that he had the Eye of Destiny. He could clearly sense that Elder Mu’s life was on the decline. It was likely that he wouldn’t live past a year. In addition, this was a natural decline that couldn’t be stopped.
Huo Yuhao stood silently outside Elder Mu’s door for another ten seconds, before slowly turning and leaving the Sea God’s Pavilion. When Elder Mu had stared at him seriously earlier, he’d had an unforgettable look of expectation in his eyes. He knew that the only way to make Elder Mu happy was to try his best to increase his own abilities.
Elder Mu revealed a faint smile inside of his room. He muttered, “Boy, this pressure might be coming to you too early, but I have no choice, because I don’t have much time left!” He hadn’t told Huo Yuhao about Ma Xiaotao because he wanted Huo Yuhao to cultivate without any distractions.
Huo Yuhao couldn’t fly, thus he could only take the ferry to leave Sea God’s Island. It wouldn’t be as troublesome once he reached the four-ringed cultivation, which would allow him to use flying-type soul tools to travel around.
He returned to the outer courtyard after passing over the surface of the vast lake. Huo Yuhao’s sorrow had disappeared, and an unprecedented motivation had replaced it.
After discarding all his nonsensical thoughts, Huo Yuhao rushed to the Soul Tool Testing Area, reaching it soon after he passed Shrek Plaza. He saw Fan Yu standing at the door to the Soul Tool Testing Area just as he arrived.
“Teacher!” Huo Yuhao hurried forwards.
Fan Yu sternly nodded his head and said, “Follow me.”