Low-level soul beasts are an important part of a beast tide, but they don't determine its strength.
What truly determines the strength of a beast tide is the power of the high-level soul beasts within it!
Moreover, whether it's the soul beasts launching the tide or the humans resisting it, the real key to the tide's outcome lies in the clash of top-tier combat strength.
Several soul beasts over 5,000 years old charged in, but were stopped and fought back by the Imperial Guards.
Huo Yuhao, however, was staring intently in another direction, his gaze seeming to pierce through all obstructions.
Because over there, a ten-thousand-year soul beast was hidden!
A soul beast could avoid sight, but not spiritual detection.
That ten-thousand-year soul beast's target wasn't Huo Yuhao and his group — but a small team of five black-robed soul masters.
It chose them because they were few in number and hadn't revealed their soul rings.
All five of these black-robed soul masters had one thing in common: their martial spirits were all hammers!
The ten-thousand-year beast waited for the perfect opportunity and then pounced toward the weakest-looking member.
However, the next moment, a cold snort rang out.
One tall black-robed figure raised a massive hammer and swung it directly at the attacking soul beast.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black!
Seven soul rings appeared in sequence — this was a Soul Sage!
"Third soul skill: Flame Hammer!"
Flames wrapped around the black hammer, and with a powerful swing, it struck the charging beast.
Boom!
The ten-thousand-year soul beast was sent flying, coughing blood — clearly seriously injured. This strike was devastating.
"Young master, forgive me for letting you be startled," the Soul Sage said to the protected figure.
The protected figure was indeed the weakest-looking one.
"Uncle Tang, I'm not a child anymore."
The figure removed their hood, revealing a handsome face with a slightly helpless expression.
Beneath the cloak — it was Wang Dong!
This team of five black-robed individuals was none other than the group from the Clear Sky Sect (Haotian Sect). Their hammer martial spirits were none other than the continent's top tool-type martial spirit: the Clear Sky Hammer!
Since they had only just arrived at the front lines and hadn't revealed their identities, the only one who knew the Clear Sky Sect was involved in the battle was Huo Yuhao.
Even Prince Xueyu hadn't made any special arrangements for the Clear Sky Sect members.
"Haha, young master, as long as you're by our side, you'll always be a child," Uncle Tang said with a laugh.
The others chuckled too.
Wang Dong looked unconvinced.
"Young master, step back. Let me finish off that beast! We'll skin it and make you a cloak."
Tang laughed arrogantly and looked toward the heavily wounded beast.
Then Wang Dong and the others saw a large ice-blue centipede with wings — quietly biting into the injured beast and trying to sneak off with it.
The Clear Sky Sect members fell silent for a second.
Wang Dong's face lit up. "Isn't that the class monitor's..."
Tang roared, "How bold! Stealing my prey?!"
The centipede, realizing it had been discovered, didn't drop the beast — it turned and fled instead.
Tang wanted to give chase.
But Wang Dong quickly stopped him.
"Wait, Uncle Tang! That's my classmate's martial spirit!" Wang Dong shouted urgently.
"What? Your classmate's martial spirit? From Shrek Academy?" Tang was stunned, but his anger didn't subside — in fact, it grew stronger. "Damn it, Shrek Academy is stealing prey from the Clear Sky Sect now?!"
Wang Dong rubbed his forehead with frustration.
How did this escalate into a conflict between sects?
"Anyway, let's just leave it at that." Wang Dong tried to close the topic quickly — afraid that Uncle Tang would end up chasing the strange Frost Centipede martial spirit all over the battlefield.
"…Well, since you say so, young master, fine." Tang reluctantly agreed, but vented his frustration by hammering surrounding soul beasts with even more vigor.
Meanwhile, Wang Dong looked off in the direction the centipede disappeared, hoping to spot Huo Yuhao.
It didn't take long — she soon found him, grabbing a soul beast by the neck and seemingly ready to send it off to the afterlife.
"…He really is strong," Wang Dong sighed softly.
She admired Huo Yuhao.
Because not only was he strong, but his potential far surpassed hers. For the first time in her life, she'd met someone her age who was more outstanding than herself. Naturally, she was intrigued.
Also, she felt a powerful instinct — she wanted to get closer to him.
But… she had hardly spoken to him at all.
Even if she wanted to go talk directly, the swarm of girls always around Huo Yuhao would pull him away first.
This surprise encounter during the beast tide made her happy — finally, none of those annoying girls were around. She might finally get to speak with Huo Yuhao properly.
"But this young master isn't bad either! I'll definitely catch up to you! I can't let the Clear Sky Sect lose face!" Wang Dong spread her wings and launched into battle against a hundred-year soul beast.
Elsewhere…
Huo Yuhao snapped the neck of a thousand-year soul beast.
Without activating physical enhancements or donning the Frost Centipede armor, just using his base body strength and techniques, he still had no trouble taking on such a beast.
"Brother Hao, that divine king's daughter is watching you," said Skydream Iceworm through their mental link.
Wang Dong had no idea that Huo Yuhao had long since noticed her presence.
"Should I go, then?" Huo Yuhao rolled his eyes. "Alright, Brother Tianmeng, I don't have to be so wary of her anymore. If she really dares cause trouble — I'll make sure she never leaves."
"That's right, big bug, don't worry. You've still got me," Electrolux's voice echoed. "That Wang Dong does have a trace of a divine king's consciousness, but it's just that — a trace. If I possess Yuhao, draw on your spirit origin, and use the Ghost Banner martial spirit, we can handle it. After all — suppression is everything."
The Ghost Banner martial spirit specialized in suppressing souls and divine consciousness.
As for whether a certain divine king would break the rules and descend to punish Huo Yuhao personally…
If he dared, Huo Yuhao would lure him straight to the Silver Dragon King. If Huo Yuhao had to die, he'd make sure others paid the price too.
Of course, if Wang Dong just wanted to talk and wasn't looking for trouble, Huo Yuhao wouldn't attack her.
"Alright, forget about her. Let's kill more soul beasts! A ten-thousand-year one is coming up — time to fish!" Huo Yuhao's tone became excited.
Skydream Iceworm cheered, "Oh yeah~~~!"
Golden Tortoise: I told you! That Skydream Iceworm is more aggressive at killing soul beasts than humans!
More and stronger soul beasts began to pour in.
The soul beasts became more concentrated.
The beast tide intensified, and soul masters fighting on the front lines were feeling the pressure.
The casualties among soul masters were rising.
Like the Clear Sky Sect's team, which was four elites protecting one young master and still had time to chat — such luxury was rare on this battlefield.
"Brother Huo, be careful!" Bei Bei warned seriously.
"Yuhao, should we use the martial soul fusion technique?" Wei Na asked.
"No need. Leave it to me."
Huo Yuhao smiled.
"Don't you know? On the battlefield, poison-type soul masters are the deadliest."
The Frost Centipede martial spirit expanded to its largest form and stood before Huo Yuhao.
"First soul skill: Frost Centipede's Poison!"
"Third soul skill: Bone-Piercing Cold!"
"Fourth soul skill: Poison Like a Tidal Wave!"
Soul power surged through Huo Yuhao's body, pushing the poison into overdrive.
Waves of toxic mist spread from the centipede martial spirit.
"Die for me!"
With a furious roar, Long Aotian exerted all his strength with both arms and actually strangled a 3,000-year-old Ice Tiger to death.
Most importantly, he had done it solo!
Long Aotian then stood up proudly, casually tearing off his torn clothes to reveal unscathed skin underneath, displaying his defense and radiating a wild, primal aura.
"Damn! That's brutal!" someone nearby exclaimed.
"Incredible… terrifying!"
Long Aotian didn't turn around at the praise. Instead, he gazed off into the distance, standing atop the corpse of the Ice Tiger soul beast, emanating an aura of utter badassery.
Overflowing swagger!
Long Aotian: Scared now, huh, kid?
The murmurs and exclamations around him grew louder.
"Who is that?" someone asked in shock.
Long Aotian turned with a cold and aloof expression, ready to announce, "From the Body Sect, I am Lo— huh?"
Because only then did Long Aotian realize that the question wasn't about him.
Someone else answered.
"That's Huo Yuhao from Shrek Academy!"
"So that's the mysterious Huo Yuhao?!"
"No wonder he's a top disciple of Shrek Academy!"
"What?! Huo Yuhao? He's stealing my spotlight?!" Long Aotian's eyes bulged as he followed everyone's gaze, wanting to see what Huo Yuhao had done.
Then he gasped, cold sweat pouring down his back. His icy arrogance shattered instantly.
Huo Yuhao was just standing there, doing nothing. But his mutated Frost Jade Centipede martial soul displayed four soul rings—purple, purple, black, black—dramatically glowing.
At that moment, three of the four rings (excluding the second) flashed rapidly.
Waves of dense poisonous mist erupted from various parts of the Frost Jade Centipede , spreading out hundreds of meters like a tide, surging toward the beast horde.
Any soul beast charging at Huo Yuhao had to pass through that poisonous fog.
And the sheer momentum of the beast tide left the beasts with no choice but to charge forward—retreating was not an option.
One by one, the soul beasts rushed into the toxic fog like suicidal soldiers.
But none of them emerged again.
Incredibly, it seemed as if Huo Yuhao alone had stopped the entire beast tide.
That was until a ten-thousand-year-old Snow Scale Beast appeared.
The Snow Scale Beast, resembling an armored pangolin but far more aggressive, was a carnivorous soul beast with a body encased in hard, snow-white scales. Its defense was exceptional—resisting not just blades and axes, but soul power as well. A notoriously tough opponent.
Relying on its formidable defense, the Snow Scale Beast charged headlong into the poisonous fog, aiming to kill Huo Yuhao.
It was the first soul beast to successfully break through the toxic mist.
But within three seconds, the only thing that emerged was its battered corpse, propelled forward by residual instinct.
Its once-impenetrable scales had been completely corroded, revealing flesh turned into grotesque, multicolored mush. That flesh then disintegrated like sawdust, leaving only bones—which promptly collapsed to the ground, disassembled.
The brittle bones clattered to the ground, then crumbled to dust.
Hiss—
Everyone around gasped in horror.
Previously, beasts vanished in the poison mist and people just assumed Huo Yuhao was strong.
But after seeing the Snow Scale Beast demonstrate firsthand what the poison could do… the crowd finally understood the full terror of Huo Yuhao.
Terrifying. Brutal. Uncanny.
This was a poison-type soul master!
Many instinctively stepped back from Huo Yuhao.
Long Aotian, deeply shaken, silently questioned whether he could endure such a poisonous onslaught.
Yu Tianlong and Nan Qiuqiu were stunned as well. At last, they understood why Huo Yuhao had made it into the top thirty of the rankings.
Wang Dong watched the scene unfold, her face twisting in frustration. "This is cheating!"
To her, real combat should be about strength clashing with strength. Just spewing poison? That didn't feel fair.
Even the commander of the imperial guard behind Huo Yuhao flinched, eyelids twitching. The other guards also reevaluated how they treated him. Had they ever slacked in protecting him? If they pissed him off, it might cost them their lives!
Wei Na and Bei Bei were drenched in cold sweat, faces full of shock.
They knew Huo Yuhao had poison attributes, and that all his soul rings were from poisonous soul beasts.
But due to his usual focus on extreme ice techniques in battle, they had underestimated the true power of his poison.
They had thought his poison was only good for support.
Now, for the first time, Huo Yuhao revealed the overwhelming strength of his poison—and it frightened everyone.
As they looked at Huo Yuhao's back, Wei Na and Bei Bei even felt a faint sense of unfamiliarity.
This time, he had fine-tuned the toxic mist to focus on corrosion and erosion, maximizing its lethality.
Within the poisonous fog, his Ghost Banner martial soul (inside the Frost Jade Centipede ) quietly activated—shielded by the mist—and began absorbing the souls of all the dead beasts.
Huo Yuhao stared coldly at the place where the Snow Scale Beast had died.
He raised a hand, and the poison mist formed a tendril that pulled out an object from the ashes—
—a trunk soul bone!
A ten-thousand-year-old trunk soul bone, and from a highly defensive soul beast like the Snow Scale Beast. Its value was beyond estimation.
But most people didn't even dare think about robbing Huo Yuhao. After all, the Frost Jade Centipede was still killing indiscriminately!
Even those with thoughts of stealing were deterred by the fact that Huo Yuhao was from Shrek Academy and backed by the Heaven Dou Empire's royal guard.
No soul bone was worth being hunted by two superpowers.
Huo Yuhao stored the soul bone away, and only then seemed to realize that everyone was watching him.
He raised his eyes slightly. "Why are you all looking at me? Fight the beast tide!"
"Oh—oh right…"
Everyone snapped back to reality, quickly shifting their attention back to the battle.
But to their surprise, the area was already shrouded in Huo Yuhao's poison fog, now extending over a thousand meters.
Even at the thinned edges of the mist, a century-old soul beast wouldn't survive for long—one breath could mean death.
No wonder people had the time to stand around watching him fight without worrying about soul beasts.
This entire zone… was his poisoned domain now!
Everyone hurried to distance themselves from Huo Yuhao and headed elsewhere to deal with the beast tide.
After all, no one wanted to accidentally inhale that toxic mist and end up like the soul beasts.
Long Aotian walked away in a daze.
As Wang Dong left, she kept glancing back at Huo Yuhao. The Tang royal guards by her side didn't dare let her get close, afraid he might poison her too.
If possible, they didn't want Wang Dong to come into contact with Huo Yuhao at all until they left the front lines.
As for the other students, many still couldn't process what they had just seen. They simply couldn't understand why Huo Yuhao was so incredibly powerful.
But some were starting to admire him. After all, Huo Yuhao wasn't just strong—he was also handsome.
Wei Na and Bei Bei walked up beside Huo Yuhao.
"Little Brother Huo, you might've enjoyed that fight," Bei Bei said with a wry smile, "but your reputation… people might call you cruel after this."
The Snow Scale Beast's death had been shockingly gruesome.
"Yuhao, it's okay," Wei Na said gently. "You were protecting everyone from the beast tide. You're a hero of the Heaven Dou Empire!"
But… would Brother Hao really care about his reputation?
Before Huo Yuhao could respond, Wei Na pulled him into a heartfelt embrace.
Letting him feel her warmth and understanding.
And Huo Yuhao thought to himself—
I can be.
The group from Shrek Academy, including Ling Luochen, was not on this side of the battlefield—they had been stationed elsewhere.
That was because the other front line had more freelance soul masters but was comparatively weaker in overall combat strength.
To balance the forces, Prince Xueyu had assigned the Shrek Academy members under the command of Ice Phoenix Douluo.
As for whether there were other motives behind this decision, no one could say for sure.
In any case, Ling Luochen and the others had no objections.
Since they couldn't locate any evil soul masters, they focused on fighting the beast tide instead.
After all, this was still part of their training.
And as of now, reinforcements from Shrek Academy had yet to arrive.
Western Front Line
Huo Yuhao was displaying extraordinary power, attracting the attention of strong individuals from various factions.
Even Tyrant Dragon Douluo, who was overseeing the battlefield, looked surprised—he had never seen such a ferocious young soul master.
While the younger generation admired Huo Yuhao's strength and aggression, the true powerhouses were evaluating his potential.
Huo Yuhao was already this strong with only four soul rings. If he ever reached Titled Douluo level, wouldn't he be unstoppable?
Not to mention, he was a poison-type soul master—already terrifying in its own right. A powerful poison master could take on entire groups.
In direct combat, poison-types might be slightly weaker, but if they struck in secret, no one could defend against them.
You might not fear Huo Yuhao yourself, but what about the other people in your faction?
As for whether Huo Yuhao would become a Titled Douluo—that wasn't even a question.
With Shrek Academy's resources, Huo Yuhao's overpowered soul ring setup, and his current age, if he couldn't become a Titled Douluo, who else possibly could?
Unless, of course, he died prematurely.
But what the real powerhouses cared about most were two things:
How did Huo Yuhao obtain that soul ring configuration?
Who exactly was he, and could he be recruited?
Of course, these questions could wait until the beast tide was dealt with. Right now, they had more pressing matters.
So far, the battle had mainly involved the younger generation. The veteran soul masters had only cleaned up a few particularly strong soul beasts.
Their real opponents hadn't arrived—until now.
As more ten-thousand-year soul beasts appeared, the true elites knew it was their time to fight.
Previously, only a few scattered ten-thousand-year soul beasts had mixed into the horde, posing no major threat. But now, they were arriving in packs.
And in this beast tide, all spoils from killing soul beasts went to each soul master's faction.
Killing ten-thousand-year soul beasts was more likely to yield soul bones!
Veterans began sending telepathic messages to their disciples and juniors, instructing them to retreat to the defensive line. They were about to battle the ten-thousand-year soul beasts and couldn't afford to be distracted or provide assistance.
Some freelance soul masters sensed the change as well. Those who lacked the strength withdrew, while the confident ones stayed to fight.
The more soul beasts they killed, the more military merit they earned—and the greater the rewards they could exchange.
Did they really join the war out of patriotism?
"Qiuqiu, you and the others fall back near the front line and take care of yourselves!" Nan Shuishui told her daughter. Without waiting for Nan Qiuqiu's reply, she activated her martial soul and led the sect's Soul Saints to charge at the approaching ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
Nan Qiuqiu pouted and muttered, "Alright, fine."
She then led the junior disciples and the two guarding Soul Kings back to a safer position near the front line.
Huo Yuhao lifted his head from Wei Na's embrace. Her face was full of shyness, though she showed no sign of resistance. In fact, she seemed to want more.
Huo Yuhao gave her a gentle smile, and she blushed even harder, quickly lowering her head.
Beibei, caught between watching this "dog food" or killing soul beasts, decisively chose the latter.
The imperial guards loyally stood by, tasked not with fighting the beast tide, but protecting the trio.
Huo Yuhao composed himself and surveyed the battlefield.
With the powerhouses engaging the ten-thousand-year soul beasts, the younger generation mostly withdrew to hold the defensive line. The fortifications greatly increased their safety.
Any stray ten-thousand-year soul beasts weren't much of a threat, especially with the mounted soul cannon arrays on the fortifications.
Huo Yuhao and his group didn't need to fall back either—the surrounding poison mist served as excellent protection.
Even the soul beasts were starting to avoid the toxic area.
Huo Yuhao stopped releasing his soul skills.
The poisonous mist had already spread nearly a kilometer. Any more and he risked accidentally harming allies—which would be impolite.
Even after he stopped casting, the poison fog would take time to dissipate.
As for his soul power consumption… he still had two-thirds remaining, and it was gradually recovering.
With a hundred-thousand-year snow lotus on hand, Huo Yuhao barely had to worry about soul power depletion. The lotus would even help him regenerate it.
"No matter how much dog food I get, nothing beats harvesting some ten-thousand-year soul beast souls," Huo Yuhao thought, scanning the battlefield for any clueless little cuties.
No soul beasts? Soul masters would do just as well.
His Variant Ice Jade Centipede martial soul began tunneling underground across the battlefield, secretly gathering the souls of beasts and soul masters alike.
Soon, Huo Yuhao locked onto a ten-thousand-year soul beast. Without needing to act personally, his martial soul tunneled over and dragged the beast underground for a fatal ambush.
Another soul collected.
As he continued scanning, Huo Yuhao spotted a familiar figure—
Jiang Peng from the Deo Academy!
Jiang Peng was leading his teammates in fierce combat within the beast tide, standing out among the academy teams.
With Jiang Peng, a Soul Emperor, at the helm, Deo Academy's team had reached a new level of strength.
This year's Deo Academy team was indeed formidable.
"If I remember right… Jiang Peng once mocked me," Huo Yuhao said with a faint smile.
Inside the Variant Ice Jade Centipede, the Ghost Banner martial soul stirred.
He released the ghost of the twenty-thousand-year Two-Headed Rainbow Scale King Snake, which silently drifted toward Jiang Peng on the battlefield.
Huo Yuhao muttered a brief incantation, shrinking the ghost's size to that of a finger and cloaking it in invisibility.
It was a simple ghost-concealment technique.
Evil cultivators who manipulated ghosts usually had similar methods—changing a ghost's size or hiding its presence.
As Jiang Peng led his teammates in fighting an eight-thousand-year soul beast, the ghost snake struck—biting his calf before quickly retreating.
No one else even noticed.
Jiang Peng only grunted, feeling slightly off.
Still locked in battle with the soul beast, he couldn't afford to be distracted. The pain wasn't intense, so he ignored it.
He channeled more soul power, swinging his Thunderaxe at the beast.
In the end, under Jiang Peng's lead, the eight-thousand-year soul beast was slain by the Deo team.
A second later, Jiang Peng suddenly collapsed, spewing black blood. He died on the spot, eyes wide open in disbelief.
"Captain!!!"
The Deo Academy students and supervising teacher panicked.
The soul beast was already dead—it was too late to blame it!
When they found Jiang Peng had no heartbeat, they realized he truly was gone.
It was surreal.
How could someone who had just been fighting beside them suddenly drop dead?
The poison of the Two-Headed Rainbow Scale King Snake was incredibly potent. Worse, Jiang Peng had been exerting himself, causing the venom to spread faster through his bloodstream and soul power.
It was no surprise he died instantly.
Satisfied with the outcome, Huo Yuhao recalled the ghost of the ten-thousand-year Phantom Chameleon that had been dispatched as backup.
Still invisible, the Phantom Chameleon silently withdrew.
"He was poisoned!" one of the teammates exclaimed, spotting the symptoms.
"It must've been that Shrek kid! He's the one using poison!" another shouted angrily, ready to confront Huo Yuhao.
But the teacher inspecting Jiang Peng's body noticed something strange.
He saw the snakebite on Jiang Peng's calf—and the faint ghostly aura emanating from it.
His eyes widened in shock.
"This is—"
"An evil soul master's aura?!"
"This poison… it's not from a centipede, not from a spider, not from a lizard-dragon, not from a toad."
"Brother Huo, this is not the time for elimination methods!" the mentor from Dio Academy said, frowning deeply.
Jiang Peng had suddenly died from poisoning. To figure out the exact cause of death, they sought out Huo Yuhao—the most outstanding poison-type soul master around.
At this moment, the group was crouched behind Huo Yuhao's poison mist, safe from soul beast harassment and with enough time to examine Jiang Peng's still-warm corpse.
Huo Yuhao, having finished examining the body, squatted in front of Jiang Peng's corpse. He looked at the Dio Academy crowd with clear-eyed simplicity and said, "But I've only absorbed soul rings from those four types of soul beasts. I only understand poison from those four kinds."
"…"
Everyone fell silent.
They almost forgot—Huo Yuhao only had four rings.
Beibei nodded quietly from the side.
In Beibei's view, Huo Yuhao's four soul rings were exactly that—none of them related to snakes.
One student from Dio Academy pouted and said, "Isn't it obvious? Those bite marks are clearly from a snake!"
"Silence!" the mentor from Dio Academy scolded the student, then turned to Huo Yuhao and asked again, "Brother Huo, can you tell whether this poison came from a soul beast or a soul master?"
This time the mentor rephrased the question, eyes locked onto Huo Yuhao's, trying to read his expression.
Huo Yuhao frowned slightly and re-examined Jiang Peng's body. He even took out a knife, sliced open Jiang Peng's skin, extracted some of the poisoned blood, and tasted it with his tongue.
Everyone watching twitched involuntarily.
But at the same time, they were awed by Huo Yuhao's professionalism.
Soon, Huo Yuhao gave his answer.
"This poison is from a soul beast."
The Dio Academy mentor's brow furrowed. He could clearly sense the aura of an evil soul master.
"But…" Huo Yuhao added suddenly, "this poison isn't pure. It's mixed with a sinister power that alters the toxicity, making it much more harmful to the human body."
Could it be a soul beast controlled by an evil soul master?
The Dio Academy mentor was alarmed and urgently asked, "Is there any proof?!"
Huo Yuhao gestured toward Jiang Peng's abdomen. "The poison and the sinister power have already invaded his internal organs."
He didn't need to say more.
The implication was clear: if they cut open Jiang Peng's belly, they'd see it for themselves.
Everyone from Dio Academy went silent.
Cutting open the abdomen of a fallen comrade and teammate—it was a hard pill to swallow.
The mentor's expression shifted constantly. He seemed like he still wanted to say something.
But at that moment, Wei Na stepped forward with the Imperial Guard commander, standing behind Huo Yuhao and calmly watching the Dio Academy mentor.
In the end, the mentor didn't press further. After thanking Huo Yuhao, they took Jiang Peng's body and hurried off.
Once the group from Dio Academy left, Huo Yuhao and the others returned to their combat stance.
However, trouble never comes alone.
The Mutated Ice Jade Centipede Martial Soul had returned—with bad news.
"Hao-ge! Someone's stealing our business! Someone else is collecting souls!"
"What the hell? Someone dares to steal from Hao-ge?!" Huo Yuhao's eyes instantly narrowed, a cold glint flashing in his gaze.
You can try to kill Hao-ge—but stealing from him? Unforgivable!
He turned to Beibei and Wei Na and said, "You two stay here. Don't move. I'm going to check out the battlefield up ahead."
"But…" Beibei hesitated.
"It's fine. I can fly and burrow underground. If I run into danger, I'll escape."
With that, Huo Yuhao leapt onto the body of the Mutated Ice Jade Centipede Martial Soul, which carried him deep into the beast tide.
"Huo-xiaodi!" Beibei tried to call him back. The dangers of the beast tide weren't so simple.
However, Wei Na gently shook her head. "In the end, we're just holding Yuhao back. With his strength, the battlefield up ahead is where he belongs. All we need to do is support him."
"You're right, Princess. The pressure here is nowhere near enough to temper Brother Huo." The Imperial Guard commander, rarely speaking, offered a rare word of support.
After all, Huo Yuhao's combat power far exceeded even his as a Soul Saint. Having him stay behind to kill century- and millennia-level soul beasts was simply a waste.
Beibei frowned, still worried about Huo Yuhao's safety.
Wei Na looked at Beibei, smiling sweetly. "If you're too clingy, people will get annoyed, you know?"
Wei Na (in her heart): Beibei, I've already won too many rounds against you.
With that, she asked the commander to protect her while she went to train her combat techniques.
"Eh?!" Beibei stood stunned, feeling like something was off about what Wei Na had just said. He couldn't pinpoint it, but something definitely felt wrong.
"In any case, let's trust Huo-xiaodi." Beibei sighed.
He then followed the remaining guards to train in another direction.
"I need to train harder and keep up with Huo-xiaodi's pace of growth. Otherwise, I won't even have the right to stand beside him." Beibei made a firm resolution.
…
The Mutated Ice Jade Centipede Martial Soul began tunneling underground, stealthily searching for the soul thief.
"Hao-ge, I found them! There's more than one! They're luring soul beast souls from a distance and hiding within the beast tide. They're targeting high-level millennia and ten-thousand-year-old soul beast spirits!" The Skydream Iceworm chattered, as if it had suffered the world's greatest grievance.
"Could it be the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters?" Huo Yuhao pondered.
The ability to lure souls was a signature tactic of evil soul masters. Plus, Huo Yuhao had previously learned from two captured evil soul masters that the Holy Spirit Cult had arrived—connecting the dots wasn't hard.
"Hao-ge, it's him!" The Skydream Iceworm led Huo Yuhao to one of the culprits.
The Mutated Ice Jade Centipede Martial Soul peeked out from underground. Huo Yuhao looked out through its mouth.
There he saw a sneaky, black-robed figure lurking within the beast tide.
Somehow, soul beasts were not attacking him.
Above his head, hidden within his aura, was the shadow of a dark, wicked martial soul—a disgusting toad. A telltale sign of an evil soul master.
A normal soul master's martial soul wouldn't carry such evil energy.
Six soul rings glowed on his body—the ideal soul ring configuration.
What shocked Huo Yuhao even more was that this evil soul emperor was holding a small banner-like tool radiating a sinister aura.
Each time he waved the banner, a soul beast's spirit would be drawn toward it. Then the soul emperor would open his mouth and personally swallow the soul into his body.
It looked like he was storing soul beast spirits within himself.
"Hao-ge, should we get him?!"
Huo Yuhao thought for a moment, then chose not to act recklessly.
"Not yet. Let's see what he does next. If he really is from the Holy Spirit Cult, and we can use him to locate their stronghold… heh heh heh…"
"Jie jie jie…" The Skydream Iceworm cackled along with him.
The Body Sect was a resource bank for evil-eyed martial souls.
The Holy Spirit Cult was a resource bank for ghost-banner martial souls.
Even though this was only a temporary base, the Holy Spirit Cult had numbers—and likely plenty of valuable items.
If they didn't clean it out properly, wouldn't that be wasting the Holy Spirit Cult's 'hard work'?
Once the Evil Soul Master had collected enough beast souls, he ceased his actions and quietly withdrew.
Huo Yuhao glanced in the direction the Evil Soul Master had left, then looked toward the Extreme North.
The powerful individuals from various factions were currently locked in fierce battles with the mighty ten-thousand-year soul beasts at the front lines. No one noticed the Evil Soul Master's movements.
"Since that's the case, I'll be the one to deliver justice!"
He threw on a black robe.
Compassionate Demon, deploy!
...
With Spiritual Detection activated by the Skydream Iceworm, Huo Yuhao tracked the Evil Soul Master. His mutated Frost Jade Centipede martial soul carried him far behind the Evil Soul Master, tunneling underground.
Eventually, they followed the Evil Soul Master to a hidden underground entrance.
"So that's it—turns out the people from the Holy Spirit Sect are all hiding underground!" Huo Yuhao realized.
No wonder there was never any sign of the Holy Spirit Sect in the city.
"Brother Hao, there are two guards at the entrance," the Skydream Iceworm reported excitedly. "Should we charge in?"
"Calm down, Brother Tianmeng! Let's try digging around them first."
Huo Yuhao wasn't being impulsive. He clearly remembered that, according to the memories of that Carrion Hyena Soul Emperor, the third elder of the Holy Spirit Sect was also present.
The core elders of the Holy Spirit Sect were all Titled Douluo!
That said, aside from the unknown Grand Elder, the highest-ranking elders in the original story were only around rank 93. With the Golden Tortoise and Electrolux by his side, Huo Yuhao wasn't truly afraid.
It would just be a bit troublesome.
"All right, I'll give it a shot," the Skydream Iceworm said, a bit disappointed.
The Frost Jade Centipede turned its head, picked a new direction, and under the guidance of Spiritual Detection, started burrowing.
Very soon, it dug a tunnel straight into the Holy Spirit Sect's underground stronghold, dropping into an empty passageway.
Huo Yuhao crawled out from the Centipede 's mouth.
"Well done, Brother Tianmeng. Oh, and seal the entrance."
The Skydream Iceworm: "..."
The Centipede started masonry work, sealing up the tunnel quickly—at least making sure it looked normal from within the corridor.
Huo Yuhao then recalled the Centipede martial soul and summoned his Ghost Banner Martial Soul.
A Phantom Chameleon Ghost emerged.
"Ghost Possession!" Huo Yuhao said in a low voice.
The Phantom Chameleon Ghost fused into his body.
Ghost Possession worked similarly to Martial Soul Possession: it enhanced the soul master's physical capabilities, but didn't cause beast-like transformations. Instead, Huo Yuhao's eye corners gained distinctive shadow markings shaped like the Phantom Chameleon's eyes.
With fancy contact lenses and eye shadow—he looked both intimidating and stylish.
Now that he was possessed by the Phantom Chameleon, Huo Yuhao could use its abilities.
His black robe fluttered as he gradually became invisible, moving silently through the passage.
The Skydream Iceworm activated Spiritual Detection to guide him.
This underground base of the Holy Spirit Sect was over 100 meters beneath the surface—ordinary people would never find it. Two guards stood at the official entrance, but they never imagined someone would tunnel past them and infiltrate the stronghold directly.
The base itself wasn't particularly large.
Thanks to the Skydream Iceworm's Spiritual Detection, it was easily mapped out.
Huo Yuhao understood why—it was just a temporary hideout, mainly used for shelter.
Small but complete.
Besides the main entrance, there were three concealed escape exits, and the internal passages were intricately connected.
The base was divided into three main areas, arranged horizontally. The central area was the largest, with the two sides being smaller.
The left side looked like the members' resting area, containing only daily necessities and no people.
The right side appeared to be a storage area, filled with soul beast corpses. Some figures were transporting and storing these remains.
The central area was a massive pool, with over ten figures gathered around. The soul beast corpses were periodically carried over and dumped into the pool.
Above the pool floated a flag, radiating soul power fluctuations.
The Evil Soul Master Huo Yuhao had been tracking entered the central area, opened his mouth, and released the stored beast souls within him.
These beast souls, guided by some force, floated into the flag above the pool.
"Looks like they're refining something," Huo Yuhao muttered. "But it seems that Third Elder isn't present."
He hadn't sensed any presence matching that of a Titled Douluo.
The Skydream Iceworm was eager. No elder meant an opportunity for a big score!
Huo Yuhao had the same thought.
This beast tide wouldn't last much longer.
After today's wave, the intensity would drop, and the Holy Spirit Sect's gains would diminish.
After all, this wasn't a video game—monsters were finite. Especially in the Extreme North, where soul beasts were already scarce.
This beast tide had taken more than half a year to build up.
Once it was over, the Heaven Dou Empire might even push north to reclaim lost territory.
Time to strike while the Holy Spirit Sect was at its richest!
According to the Skydream Iceworm's Spiritual Detection, the Evil Soul Master Huo Yuhao had been following turned to leave after releasing the beast souls—likely heading back out to collect more.
Huo Yuhao silently retreated and hid at a bend in the passage the man would pass through.
When the Evil Soul Master arrived at the corner, he realized that corners didn't always lead to love—they could also lead to a slap in the face.
A golden-glowing hand clamped around his neck. Before the Evil Soul Master could even react, his neck was snapped.
Then, with a wave of the Ghost Banner Martial Soul, Huo Yuhao directly captured his soul into it.
Golden light shimmered around Huo Yuhao.
He dismissed the Phantom Chameleon Ghost Possession and switched to the Golden Tortoise Ghost Possession.
The power of a 100,000-year soul beast rivaled that of a Titled Douluo. A mere Soul Emperor was no match.
Though not built for offense, the Golden Tortoise had top-tier defense and formidable strength.
And so, the Evil Soul Master died in what he believed to be the safest place, without any warning or chance to resist.
Evil Soul Master's last thought: "Attacking the weak and ambushing them? Shameless!"
The body wasn't discarded. Roots sprouted from Huo Yuhao's palm, piercing into the body and draining it of all flesh and essence.
"Impure," Huo Yuhao frowned slightly.
Compared to Dai Yueheng, this Evil Soul Master's essence was significantly inferior.
But it was understandable—Dai Yueheng had been nurtured by Shrek Academy and the White Tiger Duke's mansion, while this Evil Soul Master's strength had been forcibly raised through dark methods.
Nutritional value wasn't even close.
You can't sell junk for gourmet prices.
Still, meat is meat—even mosquito legs have protein. After digesting this one, Huo Yuhao's physique would improve a bit more.
As for soul power—this Evil Soul Master's was too chaotic. After filtering and compressing it, it only bumped Huo Yuhao to Level 59.
Barely a level up.
Of course, that was also because Huo Yuhao was already nearing the Soul Emperor level, and his soul power quality was exceptionally high.
The 100,000-year Snow Lotus expressed discontent, seemingly saying, "Don't eat garbage like this next time."
But this displeasure was instinctual—after getting used to gourmet meals, it now looked down on street food.
But what could he do? It was his own beast.
"Soul Emperors don't taste good anymore—next time, I'll try a Soul Sage."
The dried-up corpse was crushed into dust by Huo Yuhao's soul power. He also pocketed the man's storage soul tool.
Then he pulled the Evil Soul Master's soul back out.
"Soul Search!"
Before entering a dungeon, you always check the enemy's lineup.
Through Soul Search, Huo Yuhao learned the identity of the evil soul master and obtained intel on the Holy Spirit Cult.
He was a Soul Emperor-level evil soul master, with the martial soul Devourer Evil Toad.
A Holy Disciple of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Because his martial soul had the ability to capture souls, he was chosen to participate in this secret operation.
This time, the Holy Spirit Cult had infiltrated the north of the Heavenly Soul Empire, mingling into the beast tide, all for one purpose—to complete a critical project of the Holy Spirit Cult: crafting a Rank 9 soul tool, the Bloodthirsty Holy Spirit Banner!
The Holy Spirit Banner was a special type of soul tool created by the Holy Spirit Cult, classified as a Grade 7 soul tool. It was similar to the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, capable of absorbing and controlling vengeful spirits.
It had once appeared in the original story, at a Holy Spirit Cult stronghold in Mingdu, Sun Moon Empire.
Its power was impressive.
However, from the evil soul master's memory, Huo Yuhao learned that there was an even more advanced version of the Holy Spirit Banner—
The Bloodthirsty Holy Spirit Banner.
It was crafted using fresh blood as fuel to enhance the soul tool's murderous energy and would absorb tens of thousands of beast souls to reach completion.
Previously, the small summoning banner the evil soul master used was also a soul tool, called the Holy Summoning Banner, a Grade 3 soul tool. It could only attract souls.
As for information related to the Third Elder, there wasn't much.
But it was confirmed that the Third Elder was not in the base, apparently having gone out to personally hunt ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
"A Rank 9 soul tool is equivalent in strength to a Title Douluo. If the Holy Spirit Cult successfully completes the Bloodthirsty Holy Spirit Banner, their power will grow immensely and plunge the continent into disaster."
Huo Yuhao's face was filled with righteous indignation.
"I won't allow it!"
"Brother Tianmeng, Elder Yi, Turtle, let's destroy them!"
To the left was the dormitory, to the right the storage room.
So Huo Yuhao chose to attack through the center!
In the central area, illuminated by mounted soul lights, twelve evil soul masters were busy around a blood pool. None of them noticed the black-robed figure silently appearing at the entrance to the area.
The Ghost Banner Martial Soul materialized in Huo Yuhao's hand.
"Devouring Life Domain—Activate!"
A gray-green light burst forth from the Ghost Banner, spreading throughout the underground base.
This was the domain born from the Ghost Banner's evolution after absorbing the Essence of Life Gold!
The Devouring Life Domain inherited the essence's ability to consume life. Any enemy within the domain would continuously have their life force drained. Simultaneously, the absorbed life force would be fed back to Huo Yuhao and the Ghost Banner's main spirit.
The life energy restored to Huo Yuhao could be used for cultivation, recovery of injuries, or soul power.
And it also nourished the ghost spirit residing in the Ghost Banner.
Once the Devouring Life Domain activated, the evil soul masters inside finally noticed something was wrong.
"Enemy attack!"
The lead evil soul master from the Holy Spirit Cult shouted. He could feel his life force being drained and immediately spotted the culprit—Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao looked at the man.
From the memories of the previous evil soul master, Huo Yuhao had already identified him.
This was the strongest subordinate under the Third Elder, a Sub-Division Elder, a powerful eight-ring Soul Douluo.
The others were core disciples of the Holy Spirit Cult: three seven-ring Soul Sages and eight six-ring Soul Emperors.
The internal hierarchy of the Holy Spirit Cult ranked from top to bottom as follows:
Eight Titled Elders
Sub-Division Elders
Holy Spirit Cultists (core disciples)
Holy Disciples (branch members)
Holy Servants (grunts)
The cultists had high status, allowing them to remain in the stronghold and participate in the crafting of the Bloodthirsty Holy Spirit Banner.
The Holy Disciples were core members of the outer branches, ranked by First and Second Holy Spirits. The ones participating in this operation were all evil soul masters with soul-capturing abilities and were out collecting beast souls.
Holy Servants were the lowest-level members—pure cannon fodder.
The Sub-Division Elder who first noticed Huo Yuhao roared and summoned his martial soul. Eight soul rings appeared as he charged straight at Huo Yuhao.
"Die!"
His martial soul was a Bone Sword, saturated with murderous aura—clearly it had tasted much blood.
Huo Yuhao didn't flinch. He waved the Ghost Banner.
"Ice Claw!"
A sharp claw formed of ice shot out from the Ghost Banner, shrouded in ghostly energy—like a spectral talon—lunging fiercely at the elder.
This was a soul bone skill, fused into the Ghost Banner, originating from an ice-attribute soul beast and obtained from the Heavenly Soul Empire's national treasury.
The Ice Claw didn't injure the elder but managed to halt his charge.
Sensing the ghostly aura on the soul bone, the elder's eyes narrowed.
"You're also an evil soul master? Where are you from?"
"You may call me Compassionate Demon, just a wandering freak," Huo Yuhao replied with a smile.
The Ghost Banner could release soul bone skills, but they all bore ghostly energy, making them appear like evil soul master techniques.
By now, the other cultists had reacted and gathered around the Sub-Division Elder, summoning their martial souls or activating Martial Soul Avatars, glaring at Huo Yuhao.
Just as anticipated: three Soul Sages, eight Soul Emperors. They were protecting the incomplete Bloodthirsty Holy Spirit Banner and the blood pool behind them.
Huo Yuhao took action again, injecting soul power into the Ghost Banner.
"Ram Charge!"
A dense wave of icy energy erupted from the Ghost Banner. A massive phantom ram's head, three meters tall, formed in front of Huo Yuhao and charged toward the cultists.
Though not particularly fast, its aura was overwhelming, especially in the confined underground space, giving it an oppressive presence.
This was a soul bone skill from a 90,000-year Ram Torso Soul Bone!
After melting away the ice encasing the ram's corpse, Huo Yuhao had taken and refined the soul bone into the Ghost Banner.
As the massive ram phantom charged—
A cultist instinctively shouted, "Get out of the way!"
Dodging wasn't hard, considering the ram's speed and inability to turn.
But the Sub-Division Elder roared, "Don't dodge! Hold your ground!"
Dodge?
Dodge where?
Behind them was the blood pool and the in-progress Bloodthirsty Holy Spirit Banner. If the ram phantom hit them, could the banner survive?
If it was destroyed, even if they killed Huo Yuhao afterward, they wouldn't escape punishment.
So they had no choice but to obey the Sub-Division Elder's command.
As the ram phantom crashed forward, the cultists braced under the elder's lead.
Evil soul masters unleashed soul skills, even activating Martial Soul Avatars to block the charge.
Despite its slow speed, the phantom's impact force was immense.
The Sub-Division Elder took the brunt.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Bone Sword Avatar!"
A massive bone sword slammed down, but it failed to cleave the ram's head. He had to use his full strength just to stalemate it.
The others piled in, hoping to destroy the ram phantom.
Watching from behind, Huo Yuhao suddenly activated his Evil Eye Martial Soul.
"Spiritual Ice Seal!"
At the same time, the Skydream Iceworm autonomously activated the first soul skill:
"Soul Shock!"
Two mental attacks struck the unsuspecting elder simultaneously.
The elder felt like his brain had been trampled by a hundred-thousand-year soul beast—and then he knew nothing.
Spiritual Ice Seal successfully froze his consciousness!
With his mind sealed, the elder lost all resistance.
The ram phantom's power exploded like a volcano, unstoppable. It sent the cultists flying and spraying blood in all directions.
The elder's Martial Soul Avatar was destroyed, revealing his vacant-eyed true body.
The mental and spiritual dual strikes left him unable to recover.
He was a Soul Douluo, though, and his awareness was slowly returning.
But just then, the Ghost Banner flew out and—
Thunk! —pierced straight through his heart.
Too weak to resist, the elder was nailed to the wall, blood pouring from his mouth, eyes open in death.
Then Huo Yuhao collapsed as well.
"Aiya… that drained a lot..."