Helplessly, the big-headed spirit apes could only pick up whatever objects they could reach nearby, infuse them with soul power and spiritual energy, and hurl them toward Huo Yuhao and his group of four.
The larger projectiles thrown by the apes were intercepted midair by Huo Yuhao's hidden weapons, which altered their trajectories and caused them to miss. As for the smaller, less noticeable ones, he ignored them completely.
With the help of his Level 3 Soul Power Circuit: Refraction, those smaller attacks that landed on him were directly deflected away, leaving him entirely unscathed.
The three students lying unconscious on the ground, however, weren't so lucky. Although Huo Yuhao had deflected the heavier attacks for them, the smaller ones still landed, leaving their faces bruised and swollen. Despite the miserable sight, their injuries weren't severe,mostly superficial.
Meanwhile, the big-headed spirit apes' attacks became increasingly sparse. As Lie Yong charged forward, his flames burned through large numbers of the apes, turning them into charred husks. Now he was getting very close to the hiding place of the mutated Three-Eyed Demon Ape.
Those remaining apes, scattered and panicked, turned from attacking Huo Yuhao's team to intercepting Lie Yong instead.
"That guy looks like he's about to run. Makes sense,those apes aren't even his kin, just his underlings. But we can't let him escape. Xiao Yuhao, watch me work!"
The Skydream Iceworm spoke confidently. As a soul beast of over a million years, it might not match ten-thousand-year beasts in combat, but when it came to overwhelming lesser ones with pure spiritual power, it had no equal.
"Heh heh heh… Since becoming your spirit ring, Xiao Yuhao, you haven't really used my other abilities. Let me show you how it's done,Spiritual Interference!"
Although Spiritual Interference was a range-type soul skill, for the Skydream Iceworm, controlling it with precision to target a single being was effortless.
The instant the skill struck, the previously enraged big-headed apes froze as if suddenly awakened from a dream, screeching in confusion and retreating. At the same time, the Three-Eyed Demon Ape hidden in the shadows was forced to reveal itself.
Seeing this, Lie Yong seized the moment. His fourth and fifth soul rings alternated flashes of light as he unleashed a deafening roar. The nearby apes collapsed, stunned by the shockwave.
Then Lie Yong's body transformed into flames, his speed surging. In a blur, he seized the fainted Three-Eyed Demon Ape by the neck with one hand and grabbed another eight-hundred-year big-headed ape with the other.
The remaining apes, waking from their stupor, immediately scattered, abandoning their fallen kin and fleeing into the forest.
"This big-headed ape has a good cultivation level for you. As for this Three-Eyed Demon Ape,it's a rare one. Which do you want as your soul ring?" Lie Yong asked, approaching Huo Yuhao with both beasts in hand.
By now, the other three students had regained consciousness. Huo Yuhao removed the silver needles sealing their acupoints, restoring their movement.
"I didn't expect this big-headed ape tribe's leader to be a Three-Eyed Demon Ape," Lie Yong commented, examining it. "And it seems to be a mutated specimen."
Unlike the average 1.5-meter-tall big-headed apes, the Three-Eyed Demon Ape stood over two meters and was far more muscular. Its black fur emitted a faint violet glow, and,most notably,it had an actual closed eye on its forehead.
Ordinary Three-Eyed Demon Apes were named only for the golden tuft of fur resembling an eye on their brows. This one truly had a third eye, a clear sign that it had evolved and strengthened its spiritual attribute beyond the normal range.
"Mutated soul beasts that survive are always stronger than their normal kin," Lie Yong continued, "but the soul skills they produce are also less stable. This one's strength is about a thousand years, I'd say, though it's hard to be precise. With your current physique, it'll be difficult to withstand. You'd better choose the eight-hundred-year big-headed ape. It's weaker, but safer."
Huo Yuhao shook his head. "Teacher Lie, I want to try. My martial soul gives me a feeling that this Three-Eyed Demon Ape's soul skill might suit me well."
He offered the explanation casually. Whether it was truly suitable didn't matter,he only cared about breaking through. With the True Eye, he could skip much of the guesswork and experimentation other soul masters needed when creating new soul skills, directly analyzing and reconstructing them from known abilities.
As for absorption safety, with the Skydream Iceworm's expertise, there was no real danger. Any backlash or lingering resentment from the soul ring would be neutralized easily.
Lie Yong nodded. "All right. I've warned you, so the risk is yours to bear."
He dropped the unconscious Three-Eyed Demon Ape on the ground. "Finish it, then. The rest of you, keep watch in case those monkeys return."
Huo Yuhao drew his prepared blade and thrust it straight through the demon ape's forehead into its brain. The creature convulsed once and went still. A violet halo rose slowly from its body, faintly streaked with yellow,undeniably a thousand-year soul ring.
Sitting cross-legged before the corpse, Huo Yuhao began to absorb his second soul ring for the first time. Nervousness filled him as the energy flooded his body.
The immense power within the ring surged wildly through his meridians. Though his body had been enhanced and tempered, it was still barely strong enough to handle a thousand-year ring.
At the same time, the residual mental energy and resentment from the demon ape assaulted his spiritual sea,a phenomenon that usually only occurred when absorbing ten-thousand-year rings. Any ordinary soul master attempting this would surely have perished.
But Huo Yuhao was no ordinary soul master. He was a cheater.
Skydream Iceworm, activate!
Under the Iceworm's immense spiritual suppression, the violent and cold energies were channeled perfectly into Huo Yuhao's internal network of meridians. Controlled with surgical precision, the flow stabilized and was refined into usable energy.
"Old Yi, what do you think?" Huo Yuhao asked in his mind.
A calm, ancient voice replied, "The big worm was right. This one carries heavy resentment. If you absorbed it directly, it might leave you with lasting hidden dangers. But with me here, it's fine. Consider it nourishment. Absorb freely."
"Young one, as for the method to dissolve and refine resentment, I've not yet recalled it fully. Once I do, I'll teach you."
A cool current swept through Huo Yuhao's mind, erasing all pain and discomfort. The spiritual assaults of the Three-Eyed Demon Ape vanished without a trace.
Between the divine consciousness of Electrolux and the immense spiritual essence of the Skydream Iceworm, the demon ape's power was insignificant. Soon, the flow of soul power stabilized,his absorption was complete.
As he recovered, Huo Yuhao used his True Eye and Spiritual Detection to analyze the structure of the surrounding soul rings and compare them to those of other soul masters.
"Interesting," he thought. "Even among the same species, the inner structures of their rings differ slightly. And compared to a soul master's ring, a beast's lacks the martial soul's influence. The martial soul must imprint onto the soul ring, altering its configuration. If the overlap between the two structures harmonizes, the skill forms successfully. If not, the fusion fails."
He made a mental note to study it further later, when they were safe.
Opening his eyes, he felt his soul power surge slightly higher. "Level twenty-four, huh? Not bad," he murmured. "The original Huo Yuhao had the Ice Emperor's ring. Mine's just a thousand-year one, so I'll take what I can get."
As he focused inward, his expression turned strange. "This second soul skill… what kind of weird ability is this? Is this really from a mutated Three-Eyed Demon Ape?"
Still, it was undeniably sinister in nature. "I thought it would be a fear-based ability, but it's something else entirely. No wonder it could control all those apes."
After analyzing it, Huo Yuhao realized that the skill was called Mental Suggestion. Due to his Spirit Eyes, the ring's properties had remained almost completely intact,he had inherited one of the demon ape's strongest abilities.
It subtly altered how others perceived him, reshaping their thoughts on a fundamental level. Even those with strong spiritual resistance couldn't completely resist it.
However, as a combat ability, its short-term effects were minimal. It was clear that the demon ape had used it to control and lead its ape tribe, making them obey it wholeheartedly.
The skill wasn't exactly practical in battle, but for manipulation and psychological warfare, it was terrifying.
He tested it slightly and found its soul power and spiritual fluctuations almost undetectable,a near-silent skill. The only flaw was visibility: anyone seeing a soul ring light up mid-fight would instinctively raise their guard.
"Still," he mused, "it's not useless. If I use Mental Suggestion on myself, it might have some special effects. And I can use it as a base to modify future skills."
"The Skydream's million-year ring is sealed and can't be easily altered, but this thousand-year one is perfect for experimentation."
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