Chapter 33 – The Evil Eye Clan, Spiritual Puppets
Evil Demon Forest.
"Yuhao, have you thought this through? This is a nine-thousand-year Evil Eye soul beast—just a hair away from reaching the ten-thousand-year mark. Are you sure you want to absorb such a high-level soul ring?"
The speaker was none other than Kong Deming, standing alongside Huo Yuhao. The two had tracked down and slain one of the Evil Eye Clan's soul beasts deep within the forest.
The Evil Eye Tyrant Clan—also called the Evil Eye Clan—was unlike most soul beasts on the continent. Their true bodies were grotesque masses of eyeballs covered in silver patterns. From their bodies sprouted tentacles of varying length and number depending on their age, giving them strong defensive ability as well as deadly spiritual attacks.
Cthulhu?
If you added "unspeakable horrors" and a few other eldritch qualities, the resemblance was uncanny.
Huo Yuhao didn't waste time answering verbally. The Jade Scorpion Tail—his external soul bone—manifested behind him, its tip glowing as it channeled icy energy. With Ice Explosion, he gave the Evil Eye an instant, merciful end.
The resulting blast was devastating, flattening everything within a hundred-meter radius.
Nine thousand years? With all the medicinal baths he'd undergone, the whale rubber, the physical enhancements brought by Ice Empress, and his external soul bone… if not for playing it safe, Yuhao would have gone straight for a ten-thousand-year ring. But there was no need to rush—later, with Tianmeng's spiritual origin, he could steadily increase the ring's age anyway.
Kong Deming swallowed hard and wisely kept his mouth shut. With that kind of destructive power, who in their right mind would want to be on the receiving end?
What he didn't know was that the scorpion's tail was only a manifestation—the Ice Explosion could be unleashed in any form Yuhao chose.
Under Yuhao's guidance, the nearly black-purple nine-thousand-year ring slid onto his body, merging with him.
This time, he didn't use [Strong Luck] echo. He wanted to see exactly what kind of soul skill he could gain without it.
Two hours later, Yuhao's eyes opened. There was no pain at all. The Evil Eye's spiritual power couldn't stir the slightest ripple in his spiritual sea—in fact, the moment it saw the Ice Empress and Tianmeng within, its remaining will almost collapsed in terror. The process had been too smooth.
Everyone knew that absorbing a soul ring could optimize one's martial soul—and if the soul beast's attributes matched perfectly, evolution was possible. For Yuhao's Spirit Eye martial soul, no beast was more suitable than the Evil Eye Clan, whose entire race wielded pure spiritual power and whose form was, fittingly, an eye.
The original Huo Yuhao never had the chance—after all, the Evil Demon Forest was in the Sun Moon Empire and home to the Holy Spirit Cult. But Yuhao was different.
Who cared how powerful the Evil Eye Clan was? Even if their ruler, the Evil Eye Tyrant Emperor—ranked second among the Ten Great Fierce Beasts—wanted to protect them, he couldn't watch over every member. And with a Level 10 Soul Engineer like Kong Deming as his backer, Yuhao feared nothing.
…Everyone claimed to hate privilege, yet secretly wished they had it. That was exactly how Yuhao felt now.
"So, how is it? What soul skill did this nine-thousand-year Evil Eye give you?"
Kong Deming had learned his lesson from Yuhao's dramatic pauses last time. No matter what came next, no matter how heaven-defying it sounded, he'd keep a straight face.
With Tianmeng's origin enhancing him, Yuhao's first ring had already been pushed to the three-thousand-year mark. Two purple soul rings rose into the air.
"Teacher, my second soul skill is called—Spiritual Puppet."
"A growth-type soul skill. By consuming spiritual power, I can create spiritual puppets according to my soul power level. The puppets are controlled by me, their number and strength directly proportional to my rank."
"At my current twenty-seventh rank, I can create two puppets, each with twenty-seven percent of my total strength. They have no independent will, their duration depends on my power, but they can be recalled—and they can learn."
In other words—at Rank 27, Yuhao could produce two puppets, each with 27% of his total strength. At Rank 90, he could make nine puppets with 90% of his power, all completely under his control.
Rank 27. Spiritual Puppets.
Kong Deming's composure cracked again. Forget being envious—he was full of questions.
"Yuhao, never mind how broken this second soul skill is—what's with your soul power level? And why has your first ring's age suddenly jumped to the thousand-year level?"
Yuhao looked at his first ring, pulsing with violet light.
"Teacher, you forget—I'm still only a Rank 27 Grandmaster. Even if that hundred-thousand-year beast voluntarily sacrificed itself, my body couldn't possibly withstand its full power. That soul beast sealed most of its energy—it'll be released gradually as my strength grows."
"As for how it shows up…" Yuhao scratched his head. "Well, as you see—part of it increases my soul power, part of it boosts the previous ring's age."
The Ice Empress's sacrifice, the medicinal baths, the whale rubber, and now the nine-thousand-year Evil Eye—seven levels in one go. Totally reasonable.
…Reasonable, his ass.
Kong Deming had no idea how to even begin processing this. Who else in the world had their second ring at nine thousand years and their first ring for their second martial soul at a hundred thousand years? Was this even the Douluo Continent he knew?
"Eh? Teacher, why are you walking away without saying anything?"
"Oh, I'm just… tired. Don't talk to me for the next few days. I don't want to bother with you."
"Don't be like that—my second skill is so special, aren't you going to give me some advice?"
"Nope. How could I dare? What advice could I possibly give? Figure it out yourself."
Following behind the old man, Yuhao couldn't help but chuckle at his teacher's childish sulking.
The two returned to Mingdu, where Kong Deming led Yuhao back to the Worship Hall.
After a long silence, Kong Deming finally said:
"Yuhao, whether it's your first skill, Spiritual Detection Sharing, or your second, Spiritual Puppet—both are god-tier for soul guidance device research."
"But they're not just for soul guidance devices. As growth-type skills, they guarantee that you'll be the core of any team, whether for large-scale support or combat. You'll be able to decide the outcome of battles… even wars."
Kong Deming was ready to speak some heartfelt words to his last disciple.
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End of Chapter