...
In the blink of an eye, three months have passed quietly.
Deep in the forest at sunset, the eye of both ice and fire.
With a violent churning of red and white spring water, Xuan Hao leaped out of the pool and landed steadily on the shore.
It has to be said that I was badly beaten by that old madman Tang Hao with his Clear Sky Hammer outside Soto City.
Although I was seriously injured and almost crashed, it was a case of no destruction, no construction.
The immense external pressure belonging to a top-tier expert ironically became the perfect catalyst for him to break through his bottleneck during this seclusion.
With the extreme tempering of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye, he successfully crossed the threshold in just three months and officially entered the level 70 realm.
While a significant increase in strength is certainly cause for celebration, the most crucial issue now lies in obtaining the seventh spirit ring.
Xuan Hao sat cross-legged on the shore, stroking his chin as he fell into deep thought.
With his monstrous body, which has been repeatedly tempered by rare and precious materials and the Ice and Fire Spring, coupled with his spiritual power comparable to that of a Title Douluo, he is already fully capable of absorbing a 100,000-year-level spirit ring.
However, the awkward thing is that, looking at the Douluo Continent now, there are hardly any ready-made and suitable options.
The two 100,000-year-old soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest—the Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape—have suitable attributes and lifespans.
But out of consideration for Arou and Xiaowu, he couldn't bring himself to kill these two "brothers-in-law"—it was simply inconvenient.
As for the other 100,000-year-old ferocious beasts in the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, they all follow the Beast God Di Tian, and their actions have far-reaching consequences.
The hundred-thousand-year-old soul beasts in the far north are protected by the Snow Emperor.
Going there to kill their underlings is just asking for trouble.
After much thought, the only ones left are those in the sea:
The Deep Sea Demon Whale King, the Demon Orca King, and the Evil Eye Tyrant clan in the Demon Forest far across the sea.
But these guys are either too far from the Heavenly Dou Empire, making the journey too time-consuming, or their strength is too abnormal, making it extremely difficult for him to kill them in a one-on-one fight with his current cultivation level.
After pondering for a while, Xuan Hao simply called out to the Ice Dragon King in his spiritual sea:
"Sister Ice, let's talk about something. Since we can't find one ready-made, could you do me the trouble of creating another growth-type spirit ring for me?"
The Ice Dragon King's cold voice quickly echoed in his mind: "It's possible.
As long as you can obtain a high-quality remnant soul of a true dragon as the core medium, I can use the remaining dragon energy of this Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well to help you condense one.
But the problem is, how many tens of thousands of years have passed?
Where on this continent can you find a pure remnant soul of a true dragon now?"
"The remnant soul of a true dragon..."
A glint flashed in Xuan Hao's eyes, and he instantly locked onto a target in his mind.
This kind of thing is extremely rare and hard to come by.
But if we're talking about where on the entire Douluo Continent it's most likely to hide such ancient dragon relics... then it's definitely only the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, which possesses pure dragon bloodline and has been established for thousands of years!
"To be honest, I've been staying in Tiandou City for the past few years, and I've never actually visited the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's territory."
Xuan Hao stood up and stretched his limbs.
"Alright, let's go take a look around the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's territory!"
If you're lucky enough to get a remnant of a true dragon's soul there, that would be wonderful, as it would save you trouble and allow you to obtain a perfectly compatible growth-type soul ring.
If he really can't find it, or if those hot-tempered guys who play with electricity refuse to give it to him... then he'll have to go through the trouble of going out to sea to hunt down the evil killer whale king.
After all, he really couldn't kill the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, that old monster with nearly a million years of cultivation; going there would just be suicide.
But he was still somewhat confident in killing the 100,000-year-old Demon Orca King.
Xuan Hao calmly took out a clean set of clothes from his storage soul tool and changed into them.
He looked around and found that Na'er, Ning Rongrong, and the others were all gone from the valley.
They must have gone back to the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy.
After all, although the environment of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well is a top-notch treasure land for simulated cultivation and is very beneficial to cultivation, the extreme cold and heat here are too domineering.
Their cultivation is not yet sufficient, and staying here for too long would be counterproductive and not a good thing.
Withdrawing his gaze, Xuan Hao turned his head and looked at the Blue Silver Emperor plant that had been replanted at the boundary between extreme cold and extreme heat not far away.
At this moment, the Blue Silver Emperor emitted a faint blue-gold light, as if it had been awake for some time.
However, the light flickered, carrying an indescribable sorrow and struggle, making the surrounding air feel somewhat oppressive.
As a faint blue halo swirled, the vines of the Blue Silver Emperor slowly intertwined, coalescing into a phantom-like and exquisitely beautiful transparent humanoid figure.
Ah Yin stood quietly by the pool, her gentle eyes now filled with pain and confusion. She looked at Xuan Hao, her voice trembling slightly.
"What you said to Brother Hao outside Soto City... about how he knew all along that the Spirit Hall was tracking me, but deliberately lured them here to plot against me... was it all true?"
Upon hearing this question, Xuan Hao stopped adjusting his clothes, turned around, and looked at her with a helpless expression.
"Don't you know in your heart whether it's true or not?"
Xuan Hao sighed, "The world of you transformed soul beasts is far too simple.
In your understanding, it's all about the law of the jungle and the most basic survival problem.
But the human world is far more complex and treacherous than you soul beasts can imagine."
Ah Yin lowered her head, her illusory figure trembling slightly.
Xuan Hao walked up to her.
"You probably can't understand it at all.
If someone says they love you and acts so affectionately, why would they choose to betray you at the crucial moment?
If they promised to stay together for life, why would they choose to give up without hesitation?
If they wanted to keep something, why would they push it away with their own hands?"
"But Ah Yin, you have to understand that these seemingly contradictory things can actually coexist in humans."
"Humans are inherently contradictory beings.
Human thoughts are complex, and emotions are extremely rich. But... no matter how sincere or passionate the feelings are, they will always be utterly defeated in the face of enormous interests or life-or-death choices."
"If I'm not mistaken, Tang Hao's love for you back then was genuine; he truly loved you. However, the schemes he secretly plotted against you when he was at his wit's end—to protect himself, to break through to the Title Douluo level, and even to severely damage the Spirit Hall—were also real!"
Xuan Hao said, enunciating each word clearly, "These two things never conflict."
"Even diametrically opposed emotions like 'love' and 'hate' can coexist in one person's heart, let alone a relationship that is half genuine feelings and half calculation?"
Ah Yin remained silent, the light and shadow flickering.
Xuan Hao sighed, "Although you successfully transformed back then and your appearance became human, your thoughts and your cognitive logic were still stuck at the level of a soul beast, which is black and white and straightforward.
You don't understand the complexity of humans, which is why you lost so completely, even losing your life, and yet you are still grateful to him."
Xuan Hao turned his back to her and looked up at the sky above Sunset Forest, which was shrouded in poisonous miasma.
"Human nature can exist independently of mere animalistic instincts precisely because it is rich enough, contradictory enough, and even... inconceivable enough."
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