Qian Gu Zhangting's gaze was fixed on the figure of the boy on the screen, his emotions surging like waves, and a few words popped into his mind uncontrollably.
Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao!
This name belongs to the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, an immortal legend in the world of Soul Masters, and a great being who became a god ten thousand years ago!
The statue standing in the square of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters is familiar to everyone in the Spirit Pagoda, but it is Huo Yuhao after he grew up!
Furthermore, the core database of the tower contains relatively complete information about the founder, whose image can be traced back to when he was twelve years old.
As the direct descendant of Qian Gu Dong Feng, Qian Gu Zhang Ting was exposed to the highest level of secrets from a young age.
He had seen the portrait of Lingbing Douluo at age twelve in the records; the contours of his face, the charm in his eyes…
The eight-year-old Huo Yuhao on the screen, although a few years younger, had the same proportions of his features and the calm and sharpness that was just beginning to appear between his brows, almost as if he were carved from the same mold as the twelve-year-old Lingbing Douluo in the portrait!
"Is there really such a coincidence in this world?"
Such a thought couldn't help but arise in Qian Gu Zhang Ting's mind. They are both named "Huo Yuhao", both possess the same spirit-type martial soul "Spirit Eye", and now they have this astonishing resemblance in appearance! His mind was filled with questions:
Why would Leng Yaozhu suddenly bring back such a child?
Why devote so many resources to its cultivation and then protect it so meticulously?
What is the connection between this child and the legend from ten thousand years ago?
Are they descendants of a bloodline?
Is it some kind of inconceivable inheritance or reproduction?
Or... something even more unimaginable?
Countless questions instantly filled Qian Guzhangting's mind, making it hard for him to breathe. It is precisely because of these numerous "coincidences" that Huo Yuhao has become a key "object of interest" in the eyes of the ancient clan!
...
The Ascension Platform!
Huo Yuhao's spiritual power in the Spirit Sea Realm spread silently, like mercury seeping onto the ground.
He had complete control over every rustling of wind and the slightest ripple of energy within a radius of several hundred meters.
Suddenly, his eyebrows twitched slightly, and his gaze shot towards the left front like lightning.
"Found it."
He thought to himself, and with a slight release of his soul power, his figure shot out like an arrow, bringing a breeze as he disappeared into the dense forest.
His movements were light and swift, yet strangely in harmony with the rhythm of the environment, as if he were an integral part of the forest.
After walking briskly for about fifteen minutes, the forest gradually thinned out.
In a relatively open clearing in the forest, a dozen or so swift wolves with bluish-gray fur and fierce eyes were tearing at a huge, fallen deer-like soul beast, and a strong smell of blood filled the air.
Huo Yuhao stopped in the shadows, a faint silver light flashing on his shoulder.
Little Silver quietly appeared. Its original three-meter-diameter evil form had shrunk to the size of a palm and hovered on his shoulder. Its iconic huge single eye was now round and smooth, and its spiritual tendrils swayed leisurely. It looked less ferocious and even had a strange "cuteness".
Without needing to say more, Little Silver narrowed its single eye, and several of its spiritual tendrils gracefully rose, trembling slightly in the direction of the wolf pack.
Buzz!
The invisible and intangible yet incredibly sharp mental shockwaves, like several transparent whip shadows, instantly traversed space and precisely struck the mental core of each Gale Wolf!
"Awoo!!"
A series of piercing howls erupted almost simultaneously from the mouths of more than a dozen wolves, accompanied by a pain as if their souls were being torn apart.
At the same time, all the Gale Wolves suddenly froze, their fierce eyes replaced by huge emptiness and pain, their limbs trembling uncontrollably, as if they had instantly lost control of their bodies, making even simple standing difficult.
Huo Yuhao's first soul skill, Mental Whip, plunged their minds into a state of chaotic, excruciating pain.
In this fatal moment when the wolf pack's consciousness waned and its defenses crumbled...
Huo Yuhao made a move.
He was now holding a dull, lifeless dagger-like soul tool, about the length of his forearm. His steps seemed simple, but his figure suddenly blurred, and he instantly cut into the wolf pack!
There was no dazzling display of soul skills, only the faint, almost inaudible, yet chillingly sharp sound of a dagger slicing through the air.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The sounds were short and dense, almost forming a continuous line.
Huo Yuhao's figure flashed and weaved through the gaps in the wolf pack, his movements were both extremely simple and extremely precise.
Each flash of the dagger's cold light was inevitably accompanied by a spurt of blood.
When Huo Yuhao stopped what he was doing and stood on the open ground not far from the wolf pack.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
A series of dull thuds echoed as people fell to the ground. More than a dozen Gale Wolves collapsed to the ground, their eyes losing all their ferocity and pain. Only from the deep, bone-revealing wound on his neck, blood continued to gush out, staining the grass beneath him and quickly spreading into a glaring dark red.
From the mental lashes to the complete annihilation of the wolf pack, the entire process took no more than three breaths.
Huo Yuhao flicked his wrist, shaking off the blood droplets on the dagger, and retrieved the soul tool.
Yellow halos appeared on the corpses of the dead Gale Wolf Soul Beasts on the ground. These halos rose up and converged on the little silver on Huo Yuhao's shoulder.
Little Silver squinted, feeling the energy rising within its body. It was getting closer and closer to its ten-thousand-year cultivation level.
But then... a sudden and unexpected change occurred!
The energy flow that was steadily flowing towards Xiao Yin suddenly took a turn. More than 60% of the yellow energy halo drew a strange arc in the air, bypassing Xiao Yin and silently entering Huo Yuhao's brow like rivers flowing into the sea!
"?!"
Little Silver's contented squinting instantly turned into wide-open astonishment, an incredulous glint flashing in its silver pupils.
Whoosh!
With a flash of silver light, Little Silver retreated back into Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea without hesitation. A surge of shock and rage erupted like a tidal wave: "Tianmeng! Was this the work of you, you stinking ice silkworm?! Give me back my energy!"
It immediately locked onto the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, but the scene that came into its view stunned it.
The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's shimmering white body was obediently huddled in a corner of the Sea of Spirit, casting a bewildered look at Little Silver who had suddenly come to interrogate it.
"What? Steal your energy?"
"I have a million-year-old source, why would I care about your little mosquito leg?"
With that, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm looked up and said, "See for yourself!"
Little Silver's gaze slowly moved upwards, finally settling on the gray bead that remained silently suspended above the spiritual world.
Streams of pure yellow energy, like weary birds returning to their nests, circled the deathly aura-shrouded bead several times.
It was then silently swallowed up by the deep grayness without causing the slightest ripple.
Little Silver still hovered not far from the gray bead, its single silver eye wide open, and several of its spiritual tentacles stubbornly reached out again, cautiously touching the surrounding energy streams.
But those energies seemed to have identified the gray bead as their sole master, ignoring Little Silver's "efforts" and remaining unchanged in their trajectory.
"This is outrageous!"
Xiao Yin's tone clearly showed frustration and annoyance. As a proud member of the Evil Eye Clan and the first soul spirit of Lord Yuhao, it was quite embarrassing that it couldn't even protect its own "spoils of war" and was "snatched from the tiger's mouth" by this death energy bead of unknown origin.
The expression in his large eyes shifted from shock and anger to exasperation, and even a hint of grievance.
Just then, Huo Yuhao's mental avatar descended into the center of the Sea of Spirit. He first glanced at Little Silver, who was still "trying hard" but to no avail, and then turned his deep gaze to the gray bead.
The beads remained silent, lifeless.
However, Huo Yuhao keenly sensed that after absorbing that energy, the aura emanating from the gray bead seemed to have grown stronger.
"As expected, it was not an inanimate object, but rather, it was asleep, or rather... extremely weak."
"The energy generated by these ascension platforms is the 'nutrients' it can absorb."
Huo Yuhao pondered, this might also be a way to quickly "restore" the bead.
Thinking of this, he looked at Little Silver, who was still struggling with the air, and smiled, "Little Silver, come back."
Little Silver's tentacles paused, and it glanced at the gray bead one last time with some reluctance, but still obediently floated back to Huo Yuhao's side, saying dejectedly, "Lord Yuhao, it stole my energy..."
"I saw it." Huo Yuhao smiled. "However, if we can't take it, there's no need to force it."
"The one thing this Spirit Ascension Platform has in abundance is this kind of energy."
"Since it needs it, let it absorb it. As for the energy you need to advance for ten thousand years...Just hunt down more soul beasts!"