Martial Soul Evolution

Watching Huo Yuhao's body tremble uncontrollably as he gritted his teeth and endured without making a sound, Gu Yue Na remained calm, though her gaze flickered slightly. Suddenly, a somewhat complicated voice sounded beside her ear.

"Aren't you afraid he'll die if you do this?"

Gu Yue Na did not respond. She could not even be bothered to turn and look at the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass that had spoken. Only her hands, hanging at her sides, unconsciously clenched into fists as her gaze remained fixed on Huo Yuhao before her.

Huo Yuhao's clothes had long since been utterly destroyed by the terrifying energy left behind by the two Dragon Kings. His once-fair skin resembled the Icefire Yin Yang Well: one half glowed a vivid red, while the other was a deathly white, tortured by extreme cold.

"Though I don't know how you sealed that energy, no matter how much or how little he absorbs, the pain won't lessen in the slightest. No one can possibly endure it."

Although it did not know how this girl had discovered the secret buried beneath the Icefire Yin Yang Well, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass had vaguely guessed some things from its observations just now.

Even so, the audacity of these two far exceeded its imagination. It would have been one thing if it were that girl who seemed to belong to the dragon race, but the boy absorbing the energy was clearly human!

Moreover, from its senses, this human's cultivation was still extremely weak. At that level of strength, it was already astonishing that he had not been reduced to nothingness by that terrifying energy, yet he actually wished to absorb it?

Gu Yue Na seemed to be moved by those words. She cast the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass an indifferent glance, her tone calm.

"With me here, nothing will happen to him."

The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's swaying leaves visibly paused, as if it had thought of something. Its voice was filled with surprise.

"A human is actually worth going this far for?"

"I merely—"

After a moment of silence, Gu Yue Na lowered her eyes to Huo Yuhao and spoke softly. "I merely saw a certain future in him."

"That future fills me with anticipation. It is worth taking a gamble."

"For now, it is only a wisp of energy. What is there not to be worth it?"

"You know I'm not talking about that, but about your so-called method of ensuring that nothing happens to him."

At that, Gu Yue Na glanced at the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass again.

"That is not something you should concern yourself with. Rather than worrying about that, you should worry about your own future."

The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass immediately fell silent. It understood what Gu Yue Na meant. Without the dragon race's energy sustaining it, no one knew how much longer the Icefire Yin Yang Well could last—one thousand years? Ten thousand years?

To plant Soul Beasts, whose lifespans were far longer than those of ordinary Soul Beasts, such spans were far too short.

Had Huo Yuhao spoken those words, a great many of them might have come to resent him because of it. But ever since they realized they were merely parasites being raised in captivity, their mentality had begun to change.

Even if the Icefire Yin Yang Well remained, how many of them would truly be willing to stay, only to be harvested by humans as supplements in the end?

Before it could think further, Gu Yue Na seemed to sense something and turned toward Huo Yuhao, whose body had begun to shake violently. The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass also spoke in an unreadable tone.

"He's almost at his limit."

Just as Gu Yue Na prepared to act, Huo Yuhao's body suddenly blossomed with golden light. Bathed in that radiance, his trembling body miraculously calmed down.

"How is this possible!?"

The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass could hardly believe it. "What is that golden light?"

Gu Yue Na did not answer. She silently watched the golden light shrouding Huo Yuhao, fluctuating in brightness like breathing. After a long while, she spoke with subtle meaning.

"Looks like that worm doesn't only know how to sleep."

Within the Spiritual Space, with Skydream Iceworm sharing the burden, the sudden reduction in pressure finally gave Huo Yuhao room to catch his breath.

"Brother Skydream, you're awake?"

"Yeah. The moment I woke up, I saw you absorbing something so terrifying. You scared the hell out of me. Hiss—this really hurts. How did you find this thing?"

"That's a long story. It was all thanks to Gu Yue Na."

After briefly explaining what had happened, Huo Yuhao noticed that Skydream Iceworm had suddenly fallen silent.

"Brother Skydream, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just suddenly feel rather emotional—"

Skydream Iceworm's voice choked up. "—The gap between humans and worms is really too huge. It hurts so much. Don't talk to me."

"..."

Outside, Gu Yue Na continued staring intently at Huo Yuhao. As time passed, the red and white colors on his skin gradually faded, while an even more terrifying low temperature than before spread outward from his body.

Then, translucent diamond-shaped Dragon Scales, ice-white throughout and seemingly formed from crystal, grew from his palms and continuously spread along his arms. Only after both forearms were completely covered did the scales stop growing.

Watching Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul evolve from ordinary Ice Element at such close range, even Gu Yue Na could not help but find it somewhat miraculous.

"He really... succeeded?"

Not far away, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, which had also noticed this scene, murmured softly. It simply could not imagine how this clearly adolescent human had managed to endure until now.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao's tightly closed lips slowly parted, and he exhaled a long stream of white mist.

His eyes opened. His originally azure eyes were now silver-white like silver mirrors, but the most eye-catching feature was the distinctive pupils within them, as thin as two lines.

Vertical Pupils.

For Soul Masters with Beast Martial Souls, the closer their form during Martial Soul Avatar was to their Martial Soul itself, the higher their degree of fusion with it, and the greater the combat power they could unleash. Changes to the eyes were undoubtedly one of the most distinctive stages.

In his previous life, Qiu'er had been regarded by the people of Heaven Dragon Gate as a genius among geniuses because of her Vertical Pupils. Now, after absorbing the Ice Dragon King's power and completing his Martial Soul's evolution, Huo Yuhao had directly gained an extremely high degree of Martial Soul fusion.

Without even a single Soul Ring, his Martial Soul Avatar could cover both arms in Dragon Scales and grant him the dragon race's distinctive Vertical Pupils. One could well imagine how formidable this Ice Attribute Martial Soul was.

"Did it work?"

Hearing the voice beside him, Huo Yuhao looked up from examining his arms and smiled.

"Mm. Thanks for your help this time."

"How does it feel?"

"Very powerful."

Huo Yuhao could not help sighing in admiration. Though he had only absorbed a trace of the Dragon Pill's power, his Ice Attribute Martial Soul, having completed its evolution, utterly surpassed the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion from his previous life in both raw strength and improvements to his Physical Quality.

While evolving into a Beast Martial Soul, it had retained the ice-control abilities from its days as an Ice Element Martial Soul, allowing him to continue controlling the surrounding temperature.

In terms of combat strength, it had improved by far more than a single level. And this Martial Soul had not reached its limit yet—once he formed Soul Spirit Contracts with Ice Empress, Snow Empress, and the others, it would evolve again. At the thought, a hint of anticipation rose in his heart.

At his words, Gu Yue Na lightly glanced at the two Dragon Pills in her hand. After putting them away, she took Huo Yuhao's hand, just as she had when they arrived.

"Now that it's over, let's go."

"Wait a moment."

Huo Yuhao tugged lightly on Gu Yue Na's hand, then swept his gaze over the plant Soul Beasts present and spoke loudly.

"I don't know what your plans are from here on. Do you intend to remain here, or would you like to see the world beyond the Icefire Yin Yang Well? If you choose the latter, I can offer you help."

After saying that, Huo Yuhao explained the effects of the Soul Spirit Contract again, even pulling Skydream Iceworm, who had been about to sleep in the Spiritual Space, out as an example.

"I'll give you time to consider it. The next time I come here, if any of you are willing to become a human's Soul Spirit, I'll do everything I can to help you find the most suitable host."

Plant Soul Beasts becoming Soul Spirits differed completely from animal Soul Beasts. Once the latter became Soul Spirits, they would dissipate along with their host if the host died. Plant Soul Beasts, however, could regenerate where they stood through their energy forms.

On that point alone, Huo Yuhao believed quite a few of the Soul Beasts present would be willing to become Soul Spirits.

Only after seeing the plant Soul Beasts grow somewhat restless did he gently nod to Gu Yue Na beside him.

"Let's go."