Huo Yuhao was proud of his knowledge of soul beasts in identifying the Twin Cyclops. He even began wondering what could cause a Twin Cyclops to flee in terror. But his wonder swiftly turned into terror as he realized the Twin Cyclops was only a hundred meters away, and Elder Xuan still had not returned with Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao.
What kind of luck is this…?
Huo Yuhao was about to cry; as right now, he couldn’t make an escape even if he wanted to. A single step from the Twin Cyclops brought it forwards 50 meters, meaning it would reach Huo Yuhao in just 2 steps. Not only that, but the shockwaves being generated were far more frightening. Even if he didn’t die from them, he would definitely lose a layer of skin! Nothing in his arsenal of soul tools or Tang Sect techniques would help him avoid the Twin Cyclops.
In the end, Huo Yuhao was saved by his quick reaction to the danger, brought about by his rich experiences. The blood-red soul ring with four golden streaks rose, and the Ice Empress’ fierce aura was exuded—azure-green radiance shooting into the sky.
Huo Yuhao fully unleashed the aura of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion using Imitation. The four hundred thousand year soul beast’s frightening aura made even his own aura become dormant.
Simultaneously covering his entire body in the Diamond Ice Armor, from the Ice Empress’ Armor soul skill. He was prepared for battle, in hopes that if he could stall for a short while, Elder Xuan would arrive to save him. .
Huo Yuhao’s Imitation could easily replicate the aura of the Ice Empress, since the Ice Empress was his second martial soul, and its origin was contained in his body. This aura would prove extremely effective against hundred or thousand year soul beasts, making them flee in terror.
However, his Imitation was not entirely flawless. Because his cultivation was so far off from the likes of the Ice Empress, he could not truly claim to possess its dominant aura—only a cheap imitation aura.
If the Ice Empress’ original body was here in the flesh, its aura would be enough to make any Twin Cyclops below ten thousand years submit without a second thought.
But, Huo Yuhao’s luck didn’t run dry just yet. While this Twin Cyclops would at most be shocked by the aura in normal circumstances, but this wasn’t the normal condition for the Twin Cyclops. It was in an extreme state of fear, preventing it from making an accurate assessment of the situation. Feeling an aura more ferocious than the one pursuing it—the Twin Cyclops subconsciously shifted directions. In one step, it was only fifty meters away from Huo Yuhao, however after changing directions it went diagonally away from Huo Yuhao on the second step.
While the powerful shockwaves did send Huo Yuhao flying, he was rather delighted at taking no injuries with the help of the Ice Empress’ Armor. He rolled into the forest and struck a tree. Immediately changing his aura to imitate that of the plants around him, after which he didn’t even dare to breathe.
It was now that the figure chasing after the Twin Cyclops made its entrance. It appeared as a beam of flowing golden light, and seem like a small sun dashing through the forest. Huo Yuhao only detected a flash of light with Spiritual Detection, before an animal appeared where he was a moment ago, sniffing the air strongly.
This was a soul beast that Huo Yuhao had never seen or heard of before. It was 3 meters in length, and around 8 feet in width. It was coated in a layer of bright golden fur.
The Blazefire Monkey’s fur that Huo Yuhao had seen earlier was already very beautiful, but was still inferior to this soul beast. This soul beast had golden fur, and its body seemed semi-transparent, it gave off a very special feel. Its body was shaped like a lion, but its claws were that of a dragon. There were even golden flames coming off its dragon claws. Its mouth was longer than that of usual lion-type soul beasts, and there seemed to be golden scales beneath the fur. On top of that, it had a third eye apart from the normal two eyes, which appeared much like Huo Yuhao’s Eye of Life—vertical.
Both its normal eyes flashed gold, while the vertical eye emitted a red light. The red seemed slightly freakish.
It stopped for awhile, then it started facing in the direction the Twin Cyclops ran in. Its figure flashed, and it became a golden beam of light, in hot pursuit.
“Skydream, is this that soul beast ‘suitable for Huo Yuhao’? Just tell us when you want all of us to die next time.” The Ice Empress’ cold voice bore a colder fury on the brink of eruption within Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Sea.
“Err… I only said that it was suitable to Yuhao’s spiritual undulations because of its aura and feel. But I didn’t misjudge this fellow’s cultivation! It has a cultivation of around fifteen thousand years. Theoretically speaking—ahem, theoretically speaking…” The Skydream Iceworm’s attempt to defend himself seemed a little weak.
The Ice Empress answered furiously, “What theoretically? Do you think that the Star Dou Forest won’t flip if you kill it? The significance of the Emperor Beasts are incalculable! Even hundred thousand year soul beasts must give before it. Yuhao couldn’t possibly absorb its soul ring, and even if he did, do you think he’d escape from the Star Dou Forest alive?”
Huo Yuhao was lost as he heard till here, “Brother Skydream, Ice Empress, what do the both of you mean? What is this soul beast exactly? It’s such a problem?” A mere fifteen thousand year soul beast caused the four hundred year soul beast to be petrified. Huo Yuhao couldn’t wrap his head around it.
The Ice Empress said in a deep voice, “It’s called the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Don’t look down on its fifteen thousand year cultivation; it can fight with ordinary hundred thousand year soul beasts. It holds two extreme elements: Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Light. I can’t believe you’ve bumped into it.”
Huo Yuhao was stunned as he heard the Ice Empress mention the words ‘extreme elements’. This Three-Eyed Golden Lion was no longer just a top-ranked soul beast in his mind. How terrifying was its lineage that it could fight hundred thousand year soul beasts from the fifteen thousand years it was at?
The Ice Empress continued, “Its greatest strengths lay in its innate abilities. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion is an ancient beast. During a time when soul beasts ruled the continent—long ago—such soul beasts would appear occasionally, and they would be crowned Emperors. Which is why they’re known as Emperor Beasts. There can’t be two of such beasts alive at the same time. Which means that Three-Eyed Golden Lion you saw just now is the only Emperor Beast on the continent. Even the strongest soul beasts must bow down to it and cannot harm it. Soul beasts it chooses as prey can only flee, they can’t resist.”
Huo Yuhao was curious as he asked, “Why? Even Transcendent Soul Beasts like the two of you can’t win against it? Don’t you have the Ultimate Ice too? Your cultivation is superior to it, thus you shouldn’t be afraid when you bump into it!”
The Ice Empress’ emotions were a little unstable, “I’m not afraid of it, but I must still pay it due respect should it appear in the Extreme North. What exactly is an Emperor Beast? They beget prosperity. A habitat with an Emperor Beast boasts twice the normal soul beast’s cultivation speed. Furthermore, after hundred thousand year beasts reach a bottleneck, their chances of breaking through it will double in the presence of an Emperor Beast. I would not have become your soul ring had this happened to me.”
Huo Yuhao was in a daze as he asked, “Does this mean that soul beasts with five hundred years’ cultivation can reach a thousand years’ cultivation with it around?”
The Ice Empress snorted. “That’s right. Think about it: how would the soul beasts in the forest react if you dared to touch it? I think there are many savage soul beasts guarding the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Isn’t Skydream just courting death for all of us by targeting it?”
A pathetic scream rang out from afar, and Huo Yuhao’s expression soured. He said softly, “Oh damn…”
A reverberating boom resonated from afar. The entire Star Dou Forest seemed to shake as roars and howls sounded repeatedly. The intense undulations of soul power turned into a terrifying might that caused Huo Yuhao to be glued to the ground.
Huo Yuhao could only think of one possibility as he heard that pathetic scream—Elder Xuan had met the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
His thought process was simple and logical. Elder Xuan knew without a doubt that Huo Yuhao had unleashed the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s aura from earlier, and would rush over. However, upon discovering the sudden disappearance of his aura immediately after that and realizing the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was where he had stood earlier, it stood to reason that Elder Xuan would become very anxious.
This was indeed what had happened. Elder Xuan knew things had gone downhill when Huo Yuhao suddenly unleashed the Ice Empress’ aura. Huo Yuhao shouldn’t have met an unresistable opponent, so why did he use a hundred thousand year soul beast’s aura to scare off his opponents with his cultivation level? But then his aura disappeared! What could that mean? It meant that Huo Yuhao could have been killed by a powerful soul beast!
Elder Xuan had grown sensitive when all the academy’s official team members were almost killed. But he was even more anxious considering Huo Yuhao’s importance to Shrek. When he tried to sense his surroundings, he discovered the Three-Eyed Golden Lion first.
Elder Xuan had previously instructed Huo Yuhao to use Imitation to conceal himself, which let Elder Xuan find him through his soul power undulations. But Huo Yuhao had ceased any circulation of soul power now, and hadn’t been discovered by Elder Xuan, which had lead to the current misunderstanding.
Before the Three-Eyed Golden Lion could chase down the Twin Cyclops, it managed to provoke the ire of Elder Xuan. Hence all the screams and tremors Huo Yuhao now sensed.
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