Huo Yuhao's Madness

Chen Ming could only sigh helplessly when he thought of his own Soul Power.

Over the past two and a half years, he had spent the first year traveling everywhere with Du Busi in search of a suitable spatial-attribute fourth soul ring. After a year of cultivation, plus finally absorbing a fifty-thousand-year fourth soul ring, he had only reached Rank 43.

This was the price of recklessly absorbing a soul ring.

He had not expected his Body Martial Soul to develop this way after gaining the spatial attribute.

He had not turned into a giant, nor had his body undergone any outward physical changes. Instead, it seemed as though his insides had been expanded, allowing him to contain more Soul Power. In other words, Chen Ming now possessed far more Soul Power than before at the same rank.

Fortunately, Chen Ming currently had no way to raise this soul ring's age. Otherwise, he would have had to agonize over whether to keep enhancing it.

He was genuinely worried that the more he increased the age of his fourth soul ring, the more ridiculously expanded his body would become inside.

Aside from the price brought about by the soul ring itself, Chen Ming had also gained a completely new understanding of the significance of Soul Spirits.

It had taken an entire year just to find a fourth soul ring!

Even though continuing to cultivate without obtaining a soul ring would still allow one to accumulate Soul Power and unleash it upon acquiring one, how could cultivation efficiency during a soul hunt compare to peaceful cultivation?

In the era when Soul Spirits had developed to their peak, such a situation would never have occurred.

In that era, one could reserve a Soul Spirit and begin selecting one before even reaching a full ten ranks. They could devote all their energy to cultivation, honing their soul skills, and training in secondary professions.

Of course, the greater the significance of Soul Spirits to the Soul Master World, the more catastrophic they were for soul beasts.

During the following year and a half, he had cultivated alone and gained only four more ranks, which was another source of Chen Ming's frustration. In truth, he had reached Rank 49 three months ago. Calculated carefully, he had gained four ranks over fifteen months.

If that rate were given to any Soul Master on the continent, they would surely be grinning from ear to ear.

Yet in this life, Chen Ming had previously advanced one rank every two months. Now, he could not even gain a rank in three months. Of course he felt stifled.

"Yuhao, how do you feel?"

Tang Ya's concerned expression sent a warm current through Huo Yuhao's heart.

Having just endured inhuman torment, his heart was exceptionally vulnerable at that moment.

"Sister Xiaoya, I'm fine. I've absorbed the soul ring, and I'm a Soul Master now! Besides..." Huo Yuhao smiled. "I feel like my Martial Soul has become stronger."

Tang Ya looked at Huo Yuhao. Though his smile was radiant, his eyes were still thick with bloodshot veins. For a moment, she could not speak.

She stared at Huo Yuhao's eyes, her expression filled with heartache.

Huo Yuhao's first impression on her had naturally been that his grilled fish smelled wonderful. But her deepest impression had been his lively eyes.

Yet now, Huo Yuhao's eyes had lost that liveliness. Instead, they carried a ferocious air, along with a trace of unconcealed ruthlessness.

"Yuhao, your eyes..." she asked hesitantly.

"My eyes?"

At the mention of them, Huo Yuhao revealed an excited expression. Combined with his bloodshot eyes, he actually seemed rather unhinged.

Beside them, Bei Bei keenly noticed the shift in Huo Yuhao's tone.

From their first encounter, he had sensed that Huo Yuhao was the sort of person who lacked confidence and was timid by nature. It had not been an act.

Now, however, Huo Yuhao's words carried a hint of madness. Not arrogance, but a frenzied feeling that seemed to come from nowhere.

Every word Huo Yuhao spoke made people feel as if he might lose his mind in the next moment.

Something was wrong!

Bei Bei fiercely shook his head, looked at Huo Yuhao, and asked, "Is your Martial Soul a Mental attribute?"

"Yes!"

Huo Yuhao looked at Bei Bei, staring directly at him as he asked his question.

"Brother Bei, how did you know? Did you see it when I was absorbing the soul ring?"

Though it was a question, the way it came from his mouth sounded like an interrogation. Coupled with his bloodshot eyes, it made people feel inexplicably uneasy.

Paired with Huo Yuhao's question, Bei Bei felt as though he was being accused of standing by and watching while Huo Yuhao fought the Wind Baboon to the death.

Bei Bei frowned.

Something was off.

There was something terribly wrong with Huo Yuhao.

"Yuhao, what exactly is going on with your Martial Soul? I suspect that your Martial Soul has mutated, and it may have mutated in a bad direction!" Bei Bei's tone was grave. He even released his Soul Power, allowing a trace of the Radiant Sacred Dragon's pressure to leak out.

"Bei Bei, what's wrong with you? Yuhao just survived a crisis. Don't provoke him."

Tang Ya pushed Bei Bei away, making him keep his distance from Huo Yuhao.

Bei Bei had been far too abnormal today.

He was usually refined and easygoing, but today he had acted out of character twice—once toward Chen Ming, and once now toward Huo Yuhao.

Protected by Tang Ya, Huo Yuhao's expression did not change.

He did not react sensitively to Bei Bei's targeting. Instead, he calmly answered the question from before.

"My Martial Soul is Spirit Eyes."

"Spirit Eyes?" Tang Ya's attention was drawn in.

Bei Bei also took a deep breath, adjusted his state of mind, and looked at Huo Yuhao, waiting for him to continue.

"Yes, my Martial Soul is my eyes."

"But how can eyes absorb a Wind Baboon's soul ring?" Tang Ya blurted out.

Bei Bei tugged at Tang Ya, signaling for her not to interrupt Huo Yuhao.

"So I suffered a backlash. The Soul Power within the Wind Baboon's soul ring rampaged through my body, like wind blades cutting through every corner of me, before finally gathering in my eyes. At that moment, I thought I was going blind." Huo Yuhao's voice trembled, but even then, it seemed he had not reached his most fearful point.

Only when he spoke the next sentence could Tang Ya hear the despair in him.

"For a moment, I thought my Martial Soul was going to be crippled."

When Huo Yuhao spoke those words, his tone was nearly despairing.

Perhaps his Spiritual Power was guiding their emotions in sync, but even Tang Ya and Bei Bei could distinctly feel that despair.

The despair of having one's Martial Soul crippled felt as though one had lost everything.

"Then I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I realized that my Martial Soul wasn't crippled."

Huo Yuhao's tone rapidly shifted from despair to barely restrained excitement, even carrying a trace of frenzy by the end.

"I felt strength unlike anything before. Do you know? Ever since my Martial Soul awakened, I have never felt this way about it!"

"For the first time, I felt power from my Martial Soul!"

"A Soul Master... indeed, once you become a Soul Master, you can become stronger!"

"I feel like I could easily kill that Wind Baboon now. I can kill everyone who bullied my mother!"

Huo Yuhao's mental state was far too unstable.

As he spoke, he actually became so excited that he developed the urge to kill!

Bei Bei's expression turned ugly, and he shouted.

"Yuhao!"

His Soul Power instantly locked onto Huo Yuhao.

Behind him was not blue-violet electricity, but a sacred radiance filled with holy presence!