Sitting cross-legged, Huo Yuhao concentrated his mental power, slowly guiding the origin energy belonging to the Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider and transforming it into his brand-new soul ring.
For a soul beast with such evil attributes and a violent temperament, it would never honestly sign a soul spirit contract without being beaten until it truly felt the pain. As the saying goes, "a wise man submits to fate"; facing life and death, this Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider made the correct choice.
Long Qiu'er stood by the side protecting Huo Yuhao, while simultaneously keeping a close eye on the situation between him and the Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider. Thinking of how this soul spirit technology could reduce the slaughter between humans and soul beasts, Long Qiu'er clenched her fists in excitement.
An hour later, a halo appeared at the outermost edge of Huo Yuhao's soul ring configuration. Its color gradually solidified until it finally became as pitch-black as ink.
Although this black 10,000 Year Soul Ring seemed out of place in front of two million-year golden soul rings and one hundred-thousand-year red soul ring, it was different—a faint, ghastly green glow pulsed around it, seemingly containing a unique power.
Soul power surged through his meridians. His soul power, which had been stuck at Level 40, broke through to Level 43, officially making him a four-ring Soul Ancestor.
Huo Yuhao opened his eyes and felt his extraordinarily powerful fourth soul skill, murmuring to himself thoughtfully.
"So that's how it is... This was a Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider tainted by a fragment of the Rakshasa God's Divine Consciousness... No, I should call you the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor."
The fourth soul skill of the Spirit Eye Martial Soul: Life and Death are but a Dream!
It was exactly the same as the eighth soul skill of the Rakshasa God Bibi Dong's second martial soul, the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor, from ten thousand years ago.
Huo Yuhao naturally knew of the legendary Bibi Dong. This was a ruthless figure who had actually killed Tang San! If the first generation Sea God Poseidon and the first generation Asura God hadn't shamelessly intervened personally to fish him out, the grass on Tang San's grave would already be as tall as a Blue Silver King.
"Soul-Devouring"—one could guess the soul beast's true ability just from the name. Its destructive and offensive power on the mental plane far exceeded that of the physical plane. Unfortunately, the Supreme Pontiff Bibi Dong clearly misunderstood her own combat role.
Mental-type masters are traditionally "glass cannons," yet they are the most troublesome opponents among all soul master types. If Bibi Dong had understood her role and used the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor Martial Soul for mental attacks rather than physical power, Tang San definitely wouldn't have lived long enough to become a god.
With a thought, a spider—shrunken several times in size, its form illusory yet still hideous and terrifying—appeared before Huo Yuhao and Long Qiu'er.
Looking at the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor, now turned into a soul spirit, lying honestly and cautiously on the ground before Long Qiu'er, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but chuckle.
"Indeed, you're a lucky fellow. No wonder you have sixty thousand years of cultivation despite only training for twenty thousand years."
"What?" Long Qiu'er questioned in surprise. "You mean its sixty-thousand-year cultivation is because it was tainted by a fragment of the Rakshasa God's Divine Consciousness?"
Huo Yuhao nodded with a smile. "Yes, so I say its luck is great. If nothing unexpected happened, it could have even relied on the Rakshasa God's aura to shield itself from the hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation."
Only...
"Then what is this? An external soul bone spider shell? Do spiders even have shells?"
With a thought, a hideous set of armor emitting a dark green, evil aura manifested layer by layer on Huo Yuhao's body, perfectly encasing him. At the position of the eyes was a visor composed of eight blood-red points of light.
His hands turned into dark green spider legs resembling spears, and three pairs of dark green spider legs appeared on his back, easily propping him up from the ground.
Huo Yuhao's entire aura instantly became dark and evil. The evil aura and potent poison belonging to the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor were perfectly inherited by this armor. He could clearly feel that his speed, attack power, defense, and other attributes were boosted by a full 50% by this spider armor!
The Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor on the ground moved its massive head nimbly, its mouthparts clicking as if conveying information to Huo Yuhao.
"So that's it... Alright, thank you anyway, big spider."
Retracting the armor, Huo Yuhao returned to his original form. That suit of armor was actually a state provided to Huo Yuhao by the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor as a soul spirit—a sort of alternative external soul bone. This creature had absorbed a fragment of the Rakshasa God's Divine Consciousness, and having been tainted by a god's aura, it naturally possessed remarkable methods.
Huo Yuhao turned to Long Qiu'er, nodded in greeting, and smiled.
"Miss Qiu'er, thank you for your help."
Long Qiu'er looked at him deeply, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I say, you don't need to be so polite with me... at least, you don't need to use the honorific 'Miss'."
Huo Yuhao blinked. Call her Qiu'er directly? That didn't seem quite right... after all, she was the little princess of the Star Constellation Great Forest.
"Uh, then how about..."
Before he could finish, three figures burst into the range of his Spiritual Detection. But this time, they weren't soul beasts—they were soul masters.
Long Qiu'er shared the Spiritual Detection and locked eyes with him; they moved in sync, using Simulation to hide their figures. In the Star Constellation Great Forest, meeting other soul masters wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Shortly after the two crouched in a patch of grass, three grey-robed men appeared in their line of sight. At first glance, Huo Yuhao felt a wave of discomfort.
They were three identical-looking old men, appearing to be at least seventy years old, carrying scepters that were likely soul tools. They possessed a thick aura of blood and hideous features; one look was enough to tell they were up to no good.
Soul masters with high-level soul tools—they looked like people from the Sun Moon Empire.
The three moved in perfect unison, spotting the corpse of the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor immediately upon arrival. The elder in the middle frowned deeply. "Someone beat us to it."
"To be able to beat the Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider like this, and with the soul completely gone, it must be an expert," the elder on the left remarked.
The elder on the right sniffed the air. "I can still smell the scent of living people."
The voices of the three were grating to the extreme, and their words sent a chill through Huo Yuhao and Long Qiu'er. They had hidden too hastily; Huo Yuhao hadn't had time to use water to remove their scent.
"They shouldn't have run far. Let's search."
The middle elder slowly raised his staff. Grey scales covered his body, and a heavy, nauseating stench of blood filled the air. Eight standard-issue soul rings lit up around him as blood-colored beast souls rushed out from the gem on his staff, instantly swarming the surroundings.
Huo Yuhao sent a mental transmission to Long Qiu'er: "This guy's martial soul is the Underworld Serpent, which has the ability to control the souls of soul beasts."
Needless to say, these three were almost certainly Evil Soul Masters.
The soul beasts of the Star Constellation Great Forest had received a blessing due to Long Qiu'er's breakthrough, leading to a general surge in cultivation levels. This was good for soul beasts, but also great for soul masters. It meant they could obtain high-level soul rings and soul bones, and it also meant Evil Soul Masters could harvest higher-level beast souls...
"What do we do?"
Huo Yuhao didn't hesitate. "With our skills, these three Soul Douluo shouldn't be able to keep us here! Let's strike first to gain the advantage!"
"Alright, I'll follow your lead!"