After finally confirming Ye Guyi's whereabouts, the huge stone in Huo Yuhao's heart was considered to have fallen completely.
From the moment he became enemies with Shrek Academy, the timeline had changed significantly. His god's perspective could no longer accurately predict the future course of events.
Huo Yuhao thought for a moment and decided to take everyone back to the Mingyue Hotel first, call the Lan sisters, Die Qiu, and Nan Qiuqiu, and return to the Dragon Realm together.
There were less than three days left before the competition started. In order to cope with possible changes in the future, Huo Yuhao decided to improve the strength of his partners.
Although the Dragon Realm could provide them with soul bones, it could not grant them soul rings. Except for the partners who followed Huo Yuhao to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the others had more or less cultivated to the next bottleneck. Without soul spirits, they naturally wouldn't automatically obtain new soul rings.
It was the first time for Nana and Nan Qiuqiu to enter the Dragon Realm. They couldn't help being shocked by the spectacular scene in front of them. The pressure brought by the huge remains of countless giant dragons made it difficult for them to move.
Yu Mengdi signaled them not to be nervous. It was the same when she came here for the first time. They would get used to it over time.
Soon, Huo Yuhao gathered the partners cultivating in the Dragon Realm.
"Huo Shao, waaaah! I'm starving to death ahhhh!" Xie Huanyue was the first to arrive. He came up and gave Huo Yuhao a bear hug, complaining with snot and tears, "Look, I'm so thin that I don't have any fat left." While speaking, he pinched his eight-pack abs.
"You succeeded in losing weight long ago. Where is the fat?" Huo Yuhao pushed this guy away, "The energy in the Dragon Realm is so vigorous, you won't starve to death!"
Looking at this aggrieved guy, Huo Yuhao still threw a big bag to him, half a body height taller than Huo Yuhao. Inside was the secret jerky he bought for the Ice Bear King Little White on the way, enough for a few foodies to enjoy for a day or two.
"Meat!" Xie Huanyue's eyes lit up. He started eating wildly in front of his partners. Under Huo Yuhao's signal, the Ice Bear King Little White and Long Aotian didn't want to be outdone and joined the army of foodies one after another.
"Yuhao, how is the situation now?" Juzi greeted with a smile and asked about Huo Yuhao's layout in Mingdu.
"Currently, it's fairly normal." Huo Yuhao showed a wicked smile: "This time, I'm going to stuff some shit into the power of faith Tang San absorbs from the Douluo plane."
Wu Feng, who just joined the army of foodies, glared at him with a pale face. Looking at the dark yellow barbecue, she suddenly had no appetite at all.
"However, still need to guard against Tang Wutong." Ning Tian reminded, "The ability of a deity is beyond our cognition. Even taking action through Tang Wutong is possible."
Huo Yuhao nodded: "I know this."
"Yuhao, be careful." Nanmen Yun'er thoughtfully tidied Huo Yuhao's collar. Her clever and cute appearance made the latter very comfortable.
"Come on, if the deity doesn't come out, no one on the continent should be able to hurt him." Zi Mu said sourly.
"Not necessarily. I was almost hurt by a mermaid." A playful arc rose at the corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth, "Fortunately, I reacted fast enough and caught a pair of mermaid princesses."
"You guy, you're here to show off, right!"
Zi Mu jumped with anger and was pulled aside by Ye Wuqing who couldn't stand it.
"Mermaids! Those are angels of heaven!" Zi Mu wailed. His mind was already fantasizing about being surrounded by mermaids.
"What does that have to do with you?" Ji Juechen appeared in front of him with a coffin face, instantly shattering the mermaid picture he just conceived.
"Shut up, you idiot who only knows sword dancing!" Zi Mu said angrily.
Then Ji Juechen naturally held Jing Ziyan's hand, looking at her affectionately. Ye Wuqing, who just pulled him away, also hugged Yan'er's shoulder.
Zi Mu was like a deflated ball, "You guys..."
Ye Linlin came to Xiao Hongchen's side, a trace of worry in her beautiful eyes: "Xiaoxiao, Yuhao, have you found that person with the Holy Angel Martial Soul? Qian Renxue's martial soul origin is about to dry up completely."
"Is her situation already like this?" Hearing Ye Linlin's words, Huo Yuhao frowned slightly. Originally, he planned to catch people in the Soul Engineer Elite Competition.
"It seems I have to go to the headquarters of the Ordinary Alliance tomorrow..."
Huo Yuhao quickly had a plan in mind. Then he asked the partners who needed soul rings to step out and explained the purpose of this visit.
Hearing that they could finally obtain their own soul spirits, Ji Juechen and the partners who joined the big group later were instantly excited.
"Little White, are you interested in becoming someone's symbiotic soul spirit?" Huo Yuhao also stopped the Ice Bear King Little White who was eating heartily. Among his partners, only two were suitable for Little White's ice attribute, namely Ling Luochen and Meng Hongchen.
"Yes!" The Ice Bear King Little White leaned naively to Meng Hongchen's side, looking eager to please.
In its view, Meng Hongchen's talent was much higher than Ling Luochen's, undoubtedly having more potential.
After all, Ling Luochen, who participated in the Star Luo Competition as a Shrek regular member at nearly twenty, was only in her fifties. Meng Hongchen, who was much younger and participated as a reserve member, was already in her fifties.
Ling Luochen's beautiful eyes dimmed instantly, but this was Little White's own choice, and she couldn't intervene.
Looking at her, Huo Yuhao couldn't help comforting: "Senior Sister Ling Luochen, no need to belittle yourself. Later I'll take you to the Extreme North to see the Titan Snow Demon King's opinion."
"Really?" Ling Luochen's beautiful eyes lit up instantly. The Titan Snow Demon King was one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North!
Little White just curled its lips upon hearing this. It was on par with Ah Tai in strength, only the Snow Empress always made it keep a low profile.
"Little Meng, wait until I come back to hold the Soul Spirit Ceremony for you and the Ice Bear King Little White." Huo Yuhao said to Meng Hongchen.
"Okay." Meng Hongchen hugged the Ice Bear King's fluffy body and smiled sweetly.
Seeing things instructed, Huo Yuhao took out the Plane Core. Before leaving, the Beast God Di Tian left him a coordinate of the Great Star Dou Forest. Through the Plane Core, Huo Yuhao could freely transfer the location of the Dragon Realm, open a spatial channel at the corresponding coordinate, and descend directly to the destination.
Regarding the Soul Spirit Symbiosis Contract created by Huo Yuhao, the Star Dou Fierce Beasts led by Di Tian were naturally willing to cooperate. With this method, human soul masters in the future could obtain soul rings without hunting soul beasts...
Huo Yuhao took a large group of people to the vicinity of the Lake of Life where Di Tian was.
The soul beasts stationed here were no strangers to Huo Yuhao's aura. They all knew this was Di Tian's human friend.
Di Tian and Bi Ji came up immediately. They had left the Dragon Realm for more than half a year. Back in the Dragon Realm, they also gained considerable benefits.
Seeing the handsome middle-aged man transformed by Di Tian from afar, Huo Yuhao grinned.
"Senior Di Tian, long time no see."
"You have improved again." Di Tian was somewhat emotional. A few years ago when he first saw Huo Yuhao, the latter was just an ant he could crush casually. But now the sides seemed to have reversed.
"Soul beasts and the Dragon Clan have been very kind to me. Most of my current abilities are given by your ancestors." Huo Yuhao landed in front of him and chuckled.
"One doesn't visit a temple without a cause. I came today to ask Senior Di Tian for a favor." Huo Yuhao briefly told Di Tian his plan.
"Small matter. Tell me about your friends' martial souls. I'll ask my subordinates to find suitable soul beasts for you." Di Tian also recognized the Soul Spirit Contract very much. After all, this contract ceremony was equal. Soul beasts not only didn't need to sacrifice their lives but could also grow together with human soul masters. Why not do it?
Di Tian's efficiency was undoubtedly very fast. After Huo Yuhao handed over the list of partners needing soul spirits, in less than two hours, Xiong Jun brought a large group of soul beasts.
Among them, almost the vast majority were ten-thousand-year soul beasts, and there were even several hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.
"Old Xiong, long time no see." Huo Yuhao greeted Xiong Jun.
"Haha, Huo Yuhao, you finally came!" Xiong Jun rushed over carelessly and gave Huo Yuhao a bear hug in the true sense.
"The aura fluctuation is a bit obvious. It seems you are not far from the next limit." Huo Yuhao pinched Xiong Jun's shoulder, "When I finish handling things here, I'll help you pass this heavenly tribulation."
"Hehe, that's great!" Xiong Jun got the promise he wanted, and the excitement in his heart was beyond words.
Huo Yuhao's intimate actions with the Star Dou Fierce Beasts stunned the partners who joined later. When did these guys who hated human soul masters to the bone become so easy to talk to?
"What are you all standing there for? Go show yourselves!" Xiong Jun kicked the shell of a certain hawksbill turtle and urged.
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The look these guys gave him was so fervent, as if they were going to rub against him at any time.
Di Tian also specially asked Huo Yuhao to tell these soul beasts about the benefits of the Soul Spirit Symbiosis Contract. When learning that they could grow together with humans after signing the contract, the fervor in the eyes of this group of soul beasts seemed to burn.
Just to be safe, Huo Yuhao still let Di Tian choose suitable soul beasts for his partners. After all, his old man's eyes were the most vicious.
It wasn't that hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were necessarily the best. Only soul spirits that could complement the characteristics of one's own martial soul could exert stronger combat power.
Moreover, because of the existence of the contract, the cultivation of soul beasts could also advance rapidly like human soul masters. It wouldn't take long for those soul beasts not far from the hundred-thousand-year level to evolve to one hundred thousand years.
Even if they failed to cross the tribulation and died in the future, their origins merged into the human soul masters could also become soul spirits and gain new life in another way.
Conversely, when the life of the human soul master who signed the contract came to an end, the soul beast life origin merged into the martial soul would return to the main body. The soul beast would regain freedom without any loss.
This was the improved Soul Spirit System, and also the regret of Huo Gua in the original timeline.
The only fly in the ointment was that the Soul Spirit Symbiosis Contract could not provide soul bones to soul masters, especially from hundred-thousand-year soul beasts that would definitely drop soul bones.
The Soul Spirit Ceremony lasted until the evening. All partners needing soul rings obtained their own soul spirits.
Even the Lan sisters with the lowest cultivation were now veritable Seven-Ring Soul Sages.
Even Nana, who just joined, was lucky enough to be selected by a fifty-thousand-year Nether Wolf King and obtained her first soul spirit in life.
Looking at the jubilant partners and the equally excited contract soul beasts, Huo Yuhao actually still had a little regret in his heart.
Many of them had already obtained soul rings before meeting him. Although it was the best soul ring configuration in Grandmaster's theory, those yellow and purple soul rings symbolizing hundreds and thousands of years still made him somewhat uncomfortable.
The Spirit Ascension method only available in the Legend of the Dragon King period was still under research by Electrolux. The main reason was also the lack of experimental subjects.
Like Zhang Lexuan, Ma Xiaotao, and even Xian Lin'er, these people obtained the first few soul rings early. To be honest, their hundred-year and even thousand-year soul skills were no longer impressive now.
Speaking of stripping one's own soul rings, it must require someone with great power. If not for the Sea God's Light as a backing, after Tang San stripped those trash soul rings absorbed under Grandmaster's deception, they couldn't be obtained through hunting again, and the Blue Silver Emperor martial soul would be considered crippled.
So if Huo Yuhao wanted to increase the age of all his partners' soul rings, he could only research the Spirit Ascension method with Electrolux.
For his own people, it must be the best!
When the group returned to the Dragon Realm in a mighty formation, several more soul beasts followed. After signing the contract, these soul beasts became interested in the human world and decided to follow their contractors to take a look at the human world.
According to the agreement, Huo Yuhao took Ling Luochen for another trip to the Extreme North and met the Titan Snow Demon King.
Then, Ling Luochen happily followed Huo Yuhao back to the Dragon Realm with her orange-gold eighth soul ring.
All partners gathered together. Under Xie Huanyue's proposal, everyone held an unprecedentedly grand banquet in the Dragon Valley outside the Dragon Tomb, singing and dancing, so happy!
Ji Juechen cut the pork brought back by Huo Yuhao from Star Dou with his sword. Jing Ziyan was responsible for the seasoning. Xie Huanyue stared eagerly aside. Wu Feng controlled the heat of the barbecue under Nanmen Yun'er's guidance, but the smoke choked Ning Tian's face, and Ling Luochen hurriedly applied ice to her. The Lan sisters sat around the bonfire talking and laughing. Zi Mu elegantly handed them drinks, then turned his head to scold Tang Xiaolei and Long Aotian who reached out to ask for some. Little White lay lazily on the ground, letting Yu Mengdi and Meng Hongchen play with its fur. Yan'er leaned on Ye Wuqing's broad shoulder, pointing at the constantly changing dragon clouds in the sky. Die Qiu hummed a song as if no one was around. Juzi rested her chin on her hand, sitting in front of her and listening quietly...
Everything looked so warm—
Ma Xiaotao sat next to Huo Yuhao after a long time. Time is a good medicine for healing everything. She had completely let go of Shrek's grace and harm to her.
She didn't want to lose even her little man in the end.
Under the glow of the bonfire, the two drank and exchanged cups after a long time, their eyes telling their feelings for each other...
Ma Xiaotao slowly closed her beautiful eyes. Huo Yuhao seemed to understand something and gently lowered his head.
"Brothers, banquet starts!"
At this time, Xie Huanyue shouted at the top of his voice, holding a thigh meat as thick as an arm in one hand and a wine glass in the other, dancing freely on his own.
Everyone looked at each other and smiled, raising their glasses one after another—
A noisy night passed...
Huo Yuhao straightened up from Ma Xiaotao after a long time. Looking at the tired beauty, he pityingly brushed away the messy hair on her forehead.
Ma Xiaotao enjoyed his tenderness at this moment and turned over comfortably.
"Rest well. I'm going to get busy."
Huo Yuhao tapped lightly on her forehead, left his tent, and walked straight towards a certain guy who was the noisiest last night.
"Fatty, get up and work!" Huo Yuhao kicked Xie Huanyue. He had to help the Ice Bear King Little White pass this heavenly tribulation safely first.
The current Thunderous Nether Vine had grown to be able to swallow Little White's thunder tribulation alone, but Huo Yuhao remembered that Xie Huanyue could gain enlightenment from the laws in the thunder tribulation. This was a unique opportunity for him.
Huo Yuhao didn't want Xie Huanyue to miss any chance for improvement.
"Ouch, killing me, early in the morning..." Xie Huanyue turned over irritably and wailed.
Bang bang bang...
Xie Huanyue, with bumps all over his head, still got up honestly to work.
In the original timeline, the Ice Bear King Little White became Huo Gua's soul spirit because it failed to pass this heavenly tribulation. This time, Huo Yuhao hoped this big fat boy would live well.
With Huo Yuhao's current cultivation plus Xie Huanyue's ability, solving Little White's heavenly tribulation was not difficult. It could also be considered an explanation to the Snow Empress in seclusion.
Huo Yuhao called Meng Hongchen. After her Soul Spirit Ceremony with Little White ended, the group would set off to return to the outside world and continue the unfinished business.
Unexpectedly, Little White could fully grant Meng Hongchen the seventh to ninth three soul rings.
Meng Hongchen had long been waiting impatiently. Her brother Xiao Hongchen luckily signed a Soul Spirit Contract with a Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear nearing the end of its life in the Star Dou Great Forest yesterday, and even got its right palm bone, the Darkgold Dreadclaw.
After this kind of Darkgold Dreadclaw External Soul Bone grew to a certain level in the future, it could completely replace the carving knife, which would be of great help to Xiao Hongchen in improving his soul engineer level later. He was extremely happy.
Of course, the contract partner Meng Hongchen signed with this time was undoubtedly superior. The current Ice Bear King Little White was fully capable of ranking among the current Ten Great Fierce Beasts of Douluo.
The whole ceremony didn't take too long. A circle of orange-gold soul ring slowly rose under Meng Hongchen's feet.
"Done!" Meng Hongchen excitedly hugged the naive Little White. Plus the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass Soul Spirit obtained before, she possessed two soul spirits of fierce beasts over one hundred thousand years old.
"Alright, it's getting late. Let's go out." Huo Yuhao shook his head helplessly, opened the spatial channel connecting to the residence in Mingyue Hotel, and walked out first. Xiao Hongchen, Nana, Die Qiu, and the Lan sisters followed closely.
The Ice Bear King Little White just broke through and also needed to go into seclusion to consolidate the realm, so it couldn't go out with Meng Hongchen.
Meng Hongchen came out last. Just as Huo Yuhao was about to close the spatial channel, the former's delicate body trembled slightly and fell straight into Huo Yuhao's arms.
Xiao Hongchen realized something was wrong at the first moment and ran to her side immediately.
"What's wrong with her?" Huo Yuhao hurriedly put her on the bed, then discovered something and grabbed her wrist.
At this time, veins covered Meng Hongchen's wrist, even faintly pan-ning with purple-black luster.
"It's Cold Poison, the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad's Cold Poison! As she officially became a Soul Sage, the drawback in her martial soul erupted!" Xiao Hongchen's eyes became panicked, explaining urgently.