Four rings faintly appeared in the air, but they vanished almost instantly.
Then, Huo Yuhao's entire body seemed to simply break down, falling straight out of mid-air, giving Du Busi a massive fright.
What is going on!? Could it be that the Golden-level Second Awakening exhausted his life force?
Du Busi didn't dare think further. Hurriedly circulating his soul power, he used a giant dark green hand to catch Huo Yuhao and pull him close.
He reached out a slightly trembling hand to check Huo Yuhao's breathing.
He was still breathing. Du Busi then cautiously used his spiritual power to investigate Huo Yuhao's body.
His life force was vigorous, and his soul power had returned to full status due to the martial soul's Second Awakening—there was even a faint tendency toward solidification.
This is a normal change for a body martial soul Second Awakening, but this soul power solidification is happening too fast! He only has 4 rings right now.
Then there was the spiritual power...
Du Busi frowned; he couldn't investigate it because the stability of Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness was simply too high. It was even more stable than his own Sea of Consciousness; investigating recklessly might actually damage it instead.
Could it be... Du Busi gritted his teeth, forming a rough guess about the situation.
If he hadn't seen it wrong, when Huo Yuhao manifested the phantom of his body martial soul just now, there was a light cluster similar to a brain behind the eyes. In other words, he hadn't just completed a Second Awakening; his martial soul had achieved a true completion.
But the key lay here: the combination of eyes and brain, coupled with a spiritual system martial soul, meant it likely didn't consume life force, but rather...
Spiritual power, or even the soul!
But that doesn't make sense either! A human soul is closely linked to the Sea of Consciousness. This kid's spiritual power is so strong and his Sea of Consciousness is terrifyingly firm—how could his soul be damaged?
Du Busi comforted himself while carrying his prize disciple, flying at full speed toward the mountain forests of the Body Sect.
In his memory, while the Body Sect didn't have many herbs related to spiritual power, they weren't entirely without them. There seemed to be one specifically for stabilizing the soul.
He kicked open the door to the medicinal ingredient room, ignoring all formalities. His soul power swept out, directly blowing away the obstructing herbs at the entrance. Once he found what he wanted, he headed straight for the inner room.
Grabbing a large wooden tub, he placed the naked Huo Yuhao inside and added hot water.
Without a moment's hesitation, he opened a small medicine bottle he had dug out and poured the liquid inside.
The water in the tub began to change color, eventually turning into a strange indigo-blue liquid with a marvelous fragrance. Just smelling it gave one a sense of mental invigoration.
Seven-Illusory Green Spirit Salve—a rare medicinal liquid for stabilizing the soul, refined from the extremely scarce Soul Infant Fruit. It had been obtained by a master of the Body Sect by chance. Since few soul masters in the Body Sect ever had issues with their souls, it ended up benefiting Huo Yuhao.
Sure enough, Huo Yuhao's body, which had been like a broken doll, twitched slightly. He didn't wake up, but his body acted like a bottomless pit, absorbing the Seven-Illusory Green Spirit Salve. The liquid in the tub grew clear at a pace visible to the naked eye.
After only five minutes, the medicinal liquid had been absorbed completely. Although Huo Yuhao hadn't woken up, his eyelids were trembling slightly.
Investigating Huo Yuhao's body with spiritual power once more, every aspect was fine. A reassuring thought even drifted over from his Sea of Consciousness.
Du Busi's hanging heart finally settled. Resting his hands on the edge of the tub, he said irritably, "You brat, you really scared the life out of me."
Relaxed now, Du Busi carefully sized up his eldest disciple, his heart full of emotion and pride.
Though the process was harrowing, completing a body martial soul Second Awakening at the 4-ring stage—and a Golden-level one at that—was unprecedented!
This has broken the Body Sect records! In the future, this kid could have his own branch in the family tree!
"Damn, how did this kid grow... it's even bigger than mine..."
Du Busi muttered somewhat gloomily before turning to walk out.
Though he was Huo Yuhao's teacher, he was also the Sect Master of the Body Sect. While the Golden Body Douluo, Jin Peng, handled the sect's daily affairs, he still needed the Sect Master to make final decisions.
Better let the right person come to look after this kid.
A moment later, a fiery red figure rushed into the medicinal room. Upon seeing the pale Huo Yuhao, her tears immediately fell as she ran over.
Du Busi gave a wry smile. "Alright, alright, little Phoenix girl. This boy is fine. The depletion of his spiritual power and soul was likely quite large; this kind of soul-level consumption just needs quiet rest. Let him sleep it off first."
Ma Xiaotao bit her lower lip and nodded. "Mhm... thank you, senior."
Looking at Ma Xiaotao, who wouldn't even blink as she watched over him, Du Busi nodded inwardly. Not bad; this girl was indeed worthy of his disciple.
But then there was that girl named Long Qiu'er, who also seemed to have unusual feelings for the boy...
Forget it, forget it. Let the young people figure out their own business.
Half a day later, Ma Xiaotao gently lifted Huo Yuhao from the tub, dried his body, and placed him on a bed.
As for clothes... anyway, she had seen him several times already; admiring him a bit more didn't matter.
Though he was still in a comatose sleep, his handsome brows were tightly knit, as if he were enduring some sort of pain, and cold sweat broke out on his body from time to time.
Ma Xiaotao was naturally heartbroken seeing Huo Yuhao like this. She could only wipe away his sweat over and over, holding his hand in hopes of giving him some encouragement.
...
Huo Yuhao looked down at his own naked state, feeling quite helpless.
Is this a dream?
He didn't know what to do, so he simply walked forward aimlessly.
This was a seven-colored space. In the distance stood a golden, towering ancient tree that seemed to support the entire world, yet the surroundings were empty, void, and desolate.
But for some reason, there was a very thick sense of sadness within this space, making Huo Yuhao's mood turn extremely foul.
The surroundings weren't entirely empty... Thinking this, Huo Yuhao looked down at the ground and frowned in disgust.
There were golden threads on the ground by his feet, becoming denser as they went further in. They acted like tentacles, seemingly parasitizing this world and covering every corner in all directions. Something seemed to be flowing through the threads, making one shudder just looking at them.
What is this? It looks a bit like... Blue Silver Grass?
The sky would occasionally turn pure white and then switch to the color of blood, appearing exceptionally eerie.
That is...
It seemed he could still use his martial soul in this space. In Huo Yuhao's vision, there was a burly man, blood-red all over, carrying a giant hammer larger than a small mountain, attacking a pure white figure.
There were also similar golden threads on that giant tree, though not many.