Huo Yuhao’s clothes almost instantly disintegrated into dust, revealing his body, which was a perfect fusion between energy and beauty.
Sun patterns covered his tall and large frame, giving others a feeling of simple mystery.
The vertical eye behind him gradually became a black hole as it consumed everything in the air. Even Elder Xuan began to feel that his soul power and spiritual power wanted to leave his body, and he had to release even more soul power to control them.
Time continued to pass. Huo Yuhao’s trembling slowly stabilized, and the rose-gold colors in his eyes slowly dimmed as he gradually shut his eyes. However, the Eye of Destiny on his forehead became increasingly bright.
The vertical eye contained the endless stars of the night sky, deep whirlpools, and uncountable worlds of radiant colors – as if the black hole contained everything in the world and beyond.
Has he succeeded? Elder Xuan was also a little nervous. He was still confident of pulling out the soul core in the first few seconds when Huo Yuhao was fusing with it, but even Elder Xuan couldn’t do anything in this moment. Huo Yuhao’s fusion with his soul core was far too deep, and Elder Xuan couldn’t do anything to separate them. Otherwise, Huo Yuhao’s own life would be at risk.
Truly high risk but high reward! Elder Xuan heaved a sigh inside.
Far inside the Great Star Dou Forest, not even the Beast God would have expected that his descent into Huo Yuhao’s body had advanced his understanding of strength at that level, and Huo Yuhao was even bravely experimenting with it.
The sun patterns began to ebb like tidewater. They receded as quickly as they had appeared, and even Huo Yuhao’s skin faded away with the sun patterns as he shone with faint rose-gold colors. However, it seemed like his entire person was sublimating into itself.
Huo Yuhao finally stopped trembling. The Eye of Destiny on his forehead gradually withdrew, and when its glow was extinguished in the end, all that was left was a black whirlpool that swirled continuously.
There were fine and delicate rose-gold light patterns around the whirlpool. Every single line flashed and changed shape continuously, as if they were all cracks in space.
The black whirlpool was clearly on Huo Yuhao’s forehead, but one would feel that it in fact belonged to another world upon closer inspection. That mystical feeling transfixed Elder Xuan’s gaze.
Huo Yuhao’s fusion today had given him inspiration – a lot of inspiration at that.
The black whirlpool was becoming smaller as it rotated until it finally disappeared in the end, and Huo Yuhao’s forehead became clean once more.
What was even stranger was that Huo Yuhao’s aura vanished entirely along with the black whirlpool. He was sitting there like a rock, but also like clear spring – there wasn’t a single trace of his own aura, as if his entire being had become illusory; as if Huo Yuhao had disappeared along with that black whirlpool into another world.
Elder Xuan took a deep breath. He knew that this little fellow had created something entirely new once more. According to his knowledge, nobody amongst human Titled Douluo had ever successfully created a soul core above his dantian. There were three areas – the space between the eyebrows, the chest, and the abdomen. These locations were extremely important for a soul master toward his later years, and a soul master’s soul power could only transform qualitatively by forming a soul core. This was at the core of being a Titled Douluo.
Soul beasts had a relatively easier time forming soul cores than soul masters. In the end, soul beasts’ physiques were much stronger than those of humans. Di Tian’s soul power had been completely converted into soul cores, and there was nobody else like him in the world. Therefore, he was the most powerful individual amongst all the Ultimate Douluo.
In this moment, Huo Yuhao managed to create his first soul core as a seven-ringed Soul Sage. There was no question that his cultivation would improve at a rate far exceeding typical individuals. This was an unimaginable accomplishment! The only thing Elder Xuan was worried about was whether Huo Yuhao could form his second soul core to become a Titled Douluo after he reached Rank 89.
Elder Xuan had been working towards creating his second soul core over all these years, but he was still one step away, even after all this time. It wasn’t hard to imagine how difficult creating two soul cores was. However, Huo Yuhao had already chosen this path, and he could no longer regret his choice.
Huo Yuhao seemed to enter a state of deep meditation as he sat there with his legs crossed. He didn’t wake up, and his body was still filled with a feeling of illusion. Only a powerful individual like Elder Xuan could feel the spatial power permeating around them.
Having a soul core meant that one’s martial soul could already absorb strength from the space all around them. The soul core wasn’t just absorbing the origin energy of heaven and earth – the power of space was unlimited. This was the reason why the Death God Douluo was so astonished when she discovered that the Beast God had mastered spatial power.
They were all Ultimate Douluo. If Ye Xishui and the Darkness Holy Dragon were at the same standard, then Di Tian was at a standard several levels higher than them. The two of them had to rely on external objects to close this gap.
Huo Yuhao could no longer feel that intense pain anymore, and in his daze, he felt as if he were entering another world. He was hovering in the darkness within this world, and there was no end to it – all was endless stars and night.
He was trying very hard to control himself, but nothing responded to his attempts at all. He could only close the distance between his senses and everything around him when he fully concentrated on the stars above, and only then could he see this starry world.
Space and light – this was everything he was feeling in this moment, and he seemed to feel as if everything that he was was being purified.
Everything around him was just so surreal. However, all this surrealness seemed to contain the profundities of heaven and earth.
This feeling was both magical and painful. Huo Yuhao found himself immersed in those sensations.
“Ah? Yuhao is meditating at your place?” Bei Bei stared at Elder Xuan, who had personally arrived at the Tang Sect. Bei Bei found that hard to believe, and he asked nervously, “Is he alright?”
Elder Xuan shook his head as he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. This is quite a big opportunity for him. You guys have to work hard – otherwise, Huo Yuhao will leave everyone in the dust in the not too distant future.”
Bei Bei forced a laugh and nodded as he said, “That fellow is truly a prodigy!”
Elder Xuan said, “Don’t make it sound like that. He has gone through much more pain and suffering, and he has put in a lot more effort, than you guys have. Talent is one thing, and effort is another. You have too many things to deal with in the Tang Sect; you should quickly share your burden with others so that you don’t overlook your cultivation. You must understand that you have completely inherited Elder Mu’s blood, and your future is boundless, so cultivation is the most important thing. At least, before soul tools can become stronger than an Ultimate Douluo, we have to focus on our cultivation. That’s the core of being a soul master.”
“Yes,” Bei Bei said solemnly.
Elder Xuan then asked about the Tang Sect’s progress before he left.
Bei Bei escorted Elder Xuan, and then returned exasperatedly to where he dealt with the Tang Sect’s administrative items. He muttered under his breath, “I was hoping he could help share my burden – looks like he’s run away once again. Hopefully he can awaken from his meditation as soon as possible.”
However, Bei Bei didn’t expect Huo Yuhao to meditate for a much longer time than he thought he would.
A month passed in the blink of an eye. There was still no news from Huo Yuhao, and Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi and the others personally went to the Sea God’s Pavilion to visit him. They made sure that he was still meditating before they returned, assured.
The others from the Tang Sect didn’t have such an easy time going into the Sea God’s Pavilion. However, there was one person who would discreetly visit the Sea God’s Pavilion, and Elder Xuan didn’t stop her.
Tang Wutong stood silently inside the room. She was staring at Huo Yuhao, who was sitting there with his legs crossed and silent like a child. Her eyes were very gentle. She seemed to feel that mystical strength from Huo Yuhao’s body, and this strength was faintly affecting her own soul power undulations.
This guy is sublimating. That was Tang Wutong’s judgment.
Tang Wutong had gone to the Tang Sect after Huo Yuhao began to meditate for a week. She was there with a task from Elder Xuan, and she was responsible for monitoring the Tang Sect’s soul tool production. She unintentionally discovered that Huo Yuhao was meditating inside the Sea God’s Pavilion, and she went to find Elder Xuan to ask if she could see him.
Elder Xuan didn’t stop her, and he saw her figure very often ever since then.
Tang Wutong didn’t know what she felt towards Huo Yuhao. She had thought that he was a lecher when they first met, and then believed him to be brave and clever when they were at the Star Luo Empire’s western frontlines, and then she believed him to be affectionate and loyal when he saved her life against the Death God. Even his story with Wang Dong’er made her feelings toward him transform continuously.
Huo Yuhao had been sitting there peacefully over the past month, and Tang Wutong had already gotten used to watching his calm silence. Every time she returned after visiting him, she would become exceptionally concentrated when she meditated herself, and her cultivation became more effective than usual. She had gradually formed this habit.
She was just standing there quietly, and an hour went by.
I think it’s time to leave. Tang Wutong suddenly realized that she didn’t want to leave him behind.
But she had to go back in the end. Over this period of time, after she experienced the battle at the Ming Dou Mountain Range, much of her potential had been unleashed, and she was improving very quickly.
I should go back. I don’t know when he will wake up, or whether we will come together again in the future. Perhaps we will not. I pray that he finds Dong’er as soon as possible.
Those thoughts passed through her head, but she suddenly felt a sour tinge in her thoughts.
What… what is happening?
Just as she was feeling a little dazed, a strange sensation suddenly appeared on her body. She realized to her surprise that her soul power was starting to circulate even though she didn’t do it deliberately, as a layer of faint purplish-gold light shone from her body.