The hands of the two naturally clasped together. Huo Yuhao exhaled a deep breath as his first Spirit Eye soul ring flashed under the cover of Simulation. Dense mental power began to compress and condense within his eyes...
Long Qiu'er lowered the hand holding the Golden Dragon Spear and crouched down like a cheetah ready to pounce, searching for the perfect moment to strike.
On the second day they slept together at Huo Yuhao's house, they discovered they possessed a martial soul fusion skill. Furthermore, it was a triple fusion of the Spirit Eye, the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon, and the Golden Dragon, with a compatibility rate of 100%.
[Qiu'er has also been buffed; it's only normal she has a martial soul fusion skill with little Huo]
Watching the blood-colored beast souls released by the old man in the center draw closer, the Hao-Qiu duo remained unfazed and incredibly calm, continuing to gather their strength.
Opportunity favors the patient. It wasn't until that blood-colored, rat-like beast soul crawled right in front of them and was about to shriek that Huo Yuhao suddenly flung Long Qiu'er forward.
Using the momentum provided by Huo Yuhao, Long Qiu'er achieved a state of "human and spear as one," streaking like a sharp arrow toward the elder on the left.
"Not good, Big Brother!"
The elder reacted quickly, hastily thrusting his staff horizontally in front of him to block.
"Ha!"
With a sharp exhale, Long Qiu'er thrust the Golden Dragon Spear at a treacherous angle, grazing the edge of the staff and piercing directly into the elder's chest.
A spray of blood erupted, and a golden halo shimmered on the Golden Dragon Spear—it was devouring the elder's life force.
"Cough, cough!"
A dying centipede struggles to the end; he was, after all, a Soul Douluo powerhouse. The Golden Dragon Spear couldn't drain the life force of a Soul Douluo instantly.
After coughing up a large mouthful of blood, the elder revealed his eight soul rings, but before he could even activate his Martial Soul True Body...
Bang!
A powerful mental shock blasted out from behind Long Qiu'er, and the elder's head exploded like a firecracker.
After obtaining his fourth soul ring, Huo Yuhao's own mental power had surged significantly. Combined with his original Spirit Abyss Realm mental power, in terms of pure mental capacity, Huo Yuhao was definitely superior to this elder.
Having strong mental power doesn't necessarily mean high combat strength—otherwise, the Skydream Ice Silkworm would have ruled the soul beast world long ago.
However, neither Huo Yuhao nor Long Qiu'er expected to kill the old man so easily. This was largely due to Long Qiu'er's Golden Dragon Spear severely wounding him and causing mental instability, combined with the boost from the Hao-Qiu Power. It was a mix of coincidence and luck.
Regardless, it was extremely beneficial for them. With one gone, a two-on-two was much easier than a two-on-three.
"No! Second Brother..."
"Second Brother!!"
The remaining two acted in perfect sync, simultaneously releasing their Martial Soul True Bodies. They transformed into a dark, sinister serpent coiled on the ground, surrounded by countless emerging blood-colored beast souls.
Long Qiu'er's expression turned grim, and a vein pulsed on her white forehead.
She stomped her foot heavily. Amidst the resounding roar of a dragon, five black soul rings rose from beneath her. The first, second, and fifth rings glowed with golden light. Fine golden dragon scales covered her body as a thick golden mist billowed around her.
The moment those blood-colored beast souls touched the golden mist from Long Qiu'er, they let out wails of agony. However, they soon grew quiet, and their murky, blood-shot eyes regained clarity.
"What power is this?"
"Third Brother, release your natal beast soul! Move fast, these two brats cannot be allowed to live!"
In a flash, Huo Yuhao's third soul ring flickered.
Third soul skill: Traction.
It could pull enemies in, but it could also be used to pull himself toward the enemy.
With a flash of his silhouette, Huo Yuhao appeared directly between the two elders. His Mental Interference Domain expanded instantly, enveloping them both.
Then, his martial soul shifted. It was the third martial soul he rarely used: the Holy Demon Angel.
Grey-gold wings spread wide behind him. Holding Elucidator, he drew a circle in the air. Ultimate darkness energy scattered in all directions, turning everything pitch black.
Holy Demon Angel soul skill: Dark Curtain.
Even for two Soul Douluo level experts, being trapped within this Dark Curtain of ultimate darkness caused them to suffer from effects of viscosity, corrosion, and slowness.
Furthermore, these two old men possessed evil attributes, which were essentially mutations of darkness. Ultimate darkness naturally suppressed regular darkness attributes.
However, due to the massive gap in cultivation, Huo Yuhao could only control them for a minute at most.
But to deal with the beast souls released by these two, Long Qiu'er didn't need a minute—half a minute was plenty.
The two old men finally broke through the Dark Curtain, but their natal beast souls, the Red Gold Lion and the Ghost Leopard Emperor, had already been completely purified by Long Qiu'er.
Having their beast souls purified was a fundamental weakening. Both spat out blood as large amounts of grey smoke rose from their bodies. Their auras withered; their strength was now drastically reduced.
As the Dark Curtain shattered, Huo Yuhao was sent flying back by the recoil. Long Qiu'er, meanwhile, swung her Golden Dragon Spear. Shimmering with light was her fourth soul skill: Golden Dragon Blast.
Strike while the enemy is down—an eternal principle of combat.
After stabilizing himself, Huo Yuhao retracted the Holy Demon Angel and switched back rapidly. The fourth soul ring of his Spirit Eye martial soul flashed, shrouding the area in a dark green light.
"I'll use you two for a practice run to test out this soul skill."
He opened his left hand, where a chaotic, disordered dark-green vortex was brewing.
His voice sounded as if it came from the horizon.
"Life and Death... are but a Dream."
Buzz...
Like being sucked into an ocean floor vortex, the two old men felt their worlds spin. It felt as though their very souls were being ripped away.
Weakened repeatedly, the duo could not resist Huo Yuhao's soul skill, which carried a trace of the Rakshasa God's aura. Unlike Long Qiu'er and Huo Yuhao, they lacked high mental resistance and were inevitably dragged into the mental space of Life and Death Are But a Dream.
After an unknown amount of time, the two finally regained consciousness, only to find themselves horrified. They were in a dark green space, trapped tightly within a massive, unimaginable spider web.
Above them was a giant, round, dark-green vertical eye, gazing down with a hunger to devour them. Even for these two atrocious evil soul masters, the sight chilled them to the bone.
"What... what is going on..."
Then they noticed countless hideous, terrifying Soul-Devouring Spiders appearing out of nowhere, crawling toward them from every corner of the web. The rustling sound of their movement was bone-chilling.
Every spider leaped onto them, beginning to tear at their flesh... no, their souls.
"Argh! No! Stop!"
"No... no, we surrender! We surrender!"
"Stop biting!!"
...
Huo Yuhao rubbed his throbbing temples in discomfort. Supported by Long Qiu'er, he walked over to sit on a fallen tree.
Looking at the corpses of the two old men who were now as dead as could be, Huo Yuhao gave a bitter laugh. "As expected of the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor... there's even this side effect."
It wasn't exactly a side effect; as the name suggested, the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor had the ability to devour souls to increase mental power and cultivation.
In the mental space just now, it was the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor soul spirit that had consumed their souls. Consequently, the cultivation age of that soul ring had even increased slightly.
Long Qiu'er said with some resentment, "What a waste. I couldn't get any information out of those bastards."
"No... actually, I already know where they came from." Huo Yuhao shook his head. "That soul skill just now—after the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor soul spirit devours a soul, it can read their memories."