Teacher Du Busi had explained to him before that a Gold-level Awakening could grant triple the power, but it came at the cost of consuming one's life force.
Therefore, the past Sect Masters of the Body Sect needed to continuously cultivate their blood essence to offset this consumption of life force.
With the massive life force of the Life Gold as his backing, logically, he shouldn't need to worry about the drain. However, Huo Yuhao always felt that his Gold-level Awakening seemed to consume more than just life force...
He still needed to continue cultivating his blood essence power. It would be best to condense a blood essence soul core first, use it as a foundation to strengthen his physique, and then cultivate a spiritual soul core. That way, the road ahead would be much easier.
However, the voice he heard at the very end within that seven-colored space still left Huo Yuhao feeling uneasy.
Careful... sea? Is it telling me to be wary of the ocean?
No, no matter how I think about it, that doesn't seem right.
While Huo Yuhao was lost in thought, a flash of dark green light appeared beside him—it was the burly figure of Du Busi.
Coming up, he delivered a slap to the shoulder. Surprisingly, Huo Yuhao didn't feel much pain from this strike from a Super Douluo.
"Stinking brat, you're finally awake! You nearly scared the old man to death!"
Blinking a few times to snap out of it, Huo Yuhao bowed respectfully to Du Busi. "Teacher."
Du Busi looked at him seriously. "I truly didn't expect a soul master at the Soul Ancestor level to be capable of a Gold-level Second Awakening. You've broken our Body Sect records... Do you remember what happened after you fell unconscious?"
"...I don't know."
After a moment of hesitation, Huo Yuhao chose not to reveal what he had seen.
Du Busi patted his shoulder, gesturing for him to follow.
"I'm only guessing, but it's very likely that due to the uniqueness of your martial soul, your Gold-level Second Awakening consumes more than just spiritual power; it also consumes..." Du Busi paused, then said solemnly, "Your soul."
"My soul!"
"Yes." Du Busi frowned. "When you opened your eyes, there was absolutely no spirit in them. It was as if you had lost your soul."
"As you know, spiritual power and the soul are closely linked. Your martial soul is of the mental attribute, so using a Gold-level Awakening during the Soul Ancestor period will certainly carry a heavy cost."
"Regardless, keep your Gold-level Second Awakening hidden. Do not use it unless absolutely necessary. Take these two bottles of medicinal pills; if you must use the Gold-level Awakening, take the medicine first."
Huo Yuhao pursed his lips and did not decline, solemnly accepting the two small bottles.
However, Du Busi's guess might not be entirely correct. His Gold-level Second Awakening shouldn't be consuming his soul; if such a thing were true, Teacher Electrolux would have told him long ago.
It was likely an issue with that seven-colored space. It probably wanted to tell him something and pulled his consciousness inside the moment he completed his second awakening.
"By the way, Teacher, do we have any soul tool engineers here at the Body Sect? I want to practice my hand at soul tools."
Du Busi waved his hand dismissively. "What are you learning that stuff for? It's a waste of time. You'd be better off studying our Body Sect battle techniques."
In his eyes, those soul tool engineers were just "medicine jars"—once they lost their soul tools, they were lambs to the slaughter. How could they compare to the strength of a soul master?
Huo Yuhao wasn't surprised by Du Busi's words. The Body Sect's attitude toward soul tools was largely resistant, a common ailment among almost all sects belonging to the original three empires of the Douluo Continent.
"Fine. When the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool shells start raining down on our heads, I hope you can remain this optimistic, Teacher."
Du Busi gave Huo Yuhao an annoyed look, thought for a moment, and added, "As long as it doesn't delay your cultivation, you can go to the Heavenly Soul Imperial Family and visit those Imperial Enshrines to take a look."
Huo Yuhao nodded silently, but his thoughts weren't on that.
But why do the soul masters of the Douluo Continent reject soul tools?
Even if they don't know how to manufacture such simple and convenient tools, there's no reason not to use them, right?
Is someone behind the scenes stopping it?
If so, who has enough power to stop an entire continent?
Huo Yuhao didn't know the answer. Today, Du Busi taught him several self-created battle techniques passed down through the Body Sect, which were techniques combining spiritual power and soul power.
This was fine; at least they weren't the cringe-inducing moves of the [Three Ultimate Techniques of Huo and Dong].
Still, Huo Yuhao felt it was a bit strange. Could a single punch or palm strike combining spiritual power and soul power really be called a "self-created battle technique"? It didn't seem much stronger than a soul skill...
...
At night, after entering the Douluo World in his room, Huo Yuhao chose to undergo the third stage of the assessment.
He was currently Level 48. Given his innate Level 20 talent, this level was a bit low for a twelve-year-old, but Huo Yuhao had his own plan.
A shaky foundation leads to a collapsing mountain. This was an eternal truth.
The third stage of the assessment was to defeat three Soul Kings in succession.
It didn't sound difficult, but those three Soul Kings were...
[Tang San], [Huo Yuhao], and [Tang Wulin].
Fortunately, the [Douluo World] provided basic profiles for these three people.
All were at the peak of Level 59. The difficulty from low to high was naturally [Tang San] < [Huo Yuhao] < [Tang Wulin].
[Tang Wulin possessed Battle Armor and the Golden Dragon Spear. Battle Armor could boost one's strength by two major stages, making him at least equivalent to a Soul Saint. While Old Huo and Tang San could also fight above their levels, it required a certain price or a "seed burst," so I feel this ranking should be accurate. Of course, it would be a different story without the Battle Armor.]
Looking at these three names, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but give a bitter laugh.
Uncle Baili, who on earth are you...
There wasn't much to say about that Tang San. He looked pure and noble on the outside, but his eyes were full of calculation, and five soul rings of the Blue Silver Emperor rippled around him.
Two yellow, one purple, two black—a decent soul ring configuration, but that was about it.
Shifting his gaze to the handsome black-haired youth, Huo Yuhao felt a wave of emotion.
So this [Huo Yuhao] is "me" from the so-called official history in Lan Xuanyu's mind, without the interference of Baili Du?
[Spirit Eye] + [Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor] + [Necromantic Holy Magic God], a Silver-level Second Awakening. Being one level lower than himself, he guessed the martial soul hadn't fully awakened.
Defeating another version of himself? It shouldn't be too hard to win, right?
As for this [Tang Wulin], Huo Yuhao's gaze became much more solemn.
He was extremely handsome, clad in golden helmet and armor, and holding the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand. This Tang Wulin certainly looked much more impressive than [Tang San] or [Huo Yuhao].
Particularly his aura—Huo Yuhao was very familiar with it. It was very similar to Long Qiu'er, but it felt higher-level than hers.
The introduction listed some basic data for Tang Wulin: son of Tang San, possessing the bloodlines of the [Blue Silver Emperor] and the [Golden Dragon King].
The question was: where did Tang San and Xiao Wu get the Golden Dragon King bloodline from?