Attribute Guidance, Chi Qiu

� Chapter Attribute Guidance, Chi Qiu

"Stay right here. Don't move."

After saying that, the Auspicious Beast leaned her third eye toward Huo Yuhao's forehead. As he sat perfectly still, he couldn't help thinking, Why does this feel like something that just happened not long ago?

It was almost exactly what had happened when he received Brother Sky Dream's power.

What kind of luck was he having today?

"What are you doing?" Curiosity got the better of him, and he asked.

"A method for fundamentally improving your Mental Attribute."

After saying that, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion paid Huo Yuhao no more attention and focused on what she was doing. She did mutter under her breath, though:

"A human this age probably doesn't have too many memories. He should be able to absorb them all at once..."

To make sure this fortune would stay with him and wouldn't easily fade, the Auspicious Beast had struggled with herself before deciding to do this.

That's right. This was Attribute Guidance.

In the overwritten timeline, the Auspicious Beast had been forced to complete Attribute Guidance with Huo Yuhao. She hadn't been prepared, so she'd resisted it strongly. This time, however, she was the one leading the process. She had made up her mind and could control how much of the guidance she gave him.

She was doing all this for the fortune of the Star Dou Great Forest.

She had encountered humans before. A human Huo Yuhao's age, in his current physical condition and with his level of Soul Power, would probably have a hard time surviving alone in the human world, even with the power of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

Thinking this, she gently pressed her third eye against Huo Yuhao's forehead.

The instant they touched, Huo Yuhao felt a mysterious power seep from his forehead into his eyes and brain, gently cleansing his Sea of Consciousness.

His Sea of Consciousness had barely been more than a small pond, but now it was enveloped in brilliant golden light and began to expand bit by bit. At first, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had tried to hide, but the golden light swept through every corner of Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, leaving him nowhere to hide.

As the guidance proceeded, wind began to rise throughout the Star Dou Great Forest. Each gust carried the forest's abundant life force, surging toward the boy and the Auspicious Beast.

If a third person with the Eye of Destiny had been there, they would have seen immense fortune gathering above Huo Yuhao and the Auspicious Beast.

"Hey, looks like this isn't a bad thing," the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm muttered to himself. "The little girl's expanded Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, so I can put a little more stuff in there too."

As he spoke, he slightly loosened one of his seals, releasing some of the spiritual power within it and pouring it into Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness.

As Huo Yuhao felt the fundamental elevation of his spiritual power, he also noticed other things flowing into his mind along with the golden light. He took a brief look. These harmless fragments were simply the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's memories, all of forests in different seasons, with hardly any variation.

Meanwhile, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion frowned slightly. This human's memories were more complicated than she'd expected. She saw the entire sequence of events in which Huo Yuhao's mother had died, and his determination to swear revenge. She felt the powerful emotions surging within him.

She also saw that the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hadn't sacrificed himself, as she'd assumed. He had become a Wisdom Soul Ring and was currently hiding in Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness!

After she finished looking through these memories, the guidance was already drawing to a close. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion backed away several steps, putting some distance between herself and Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao rubbed his ear, still seeming a little dazed. "Is it over?"

"Mm." The Three-Eyed Golden Lion nodded coolly, as if she still wanted to say something. Then she warily glanced into the distance.

"Humans are coming this way. Are they your companions?"

Huo Yuhao quickly understood. "It's probably the two people I met earlier. They must be here to hunt Soul Beasts and obtain Soul Rings too."

The ones approaching were indeed Bei Bei and Tang Ya. They had sensed the disturbance caused by the Attribute Guidance and, worried something might have happened to the little fellow they'd just met, hurried in this direction.

"I don't want to see too many humans." The Three-Eyed Golden Lion tossed her head and headed deeper into the forest.

"Come with me. We'll find somewhere else to talk."

Huo Yuhao followed the big cat. All the way there, he felt both curious and nervous. The closer they got to the core area, the more strange sights he saw, and the more threats he sensed lurking in the shadows.

He activated one of the Soul Skills Tian Meng had given him, Spiritual Detection, and immediately discovered many powerful Soul Beasts wandering nearby—creatures he couldn't afford to provoke yet. If he'd been alone, he never would have dared venture this deep.

"What are you planning to do in the human world?" the Three-Eyed Golden Lion asked.

Her question caught Huo Yuhao off guard. Right. Where was he going to go?

He'd run away from the Duke's Mansion to hunt for a Soul Ring, driven by nothing but hatred and stubbornness. But he really hadn't considered where he would go or what he would do after obtaining his First Soul Ring.

"I..." He clearly didn't want to look too lost in front of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, but when he opened his mouth, he genuinely didn't know what to say.

"If you don't have a plan, why not stay in Star Dou and cultivate?" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion made the same suggestion again. Still, after the Attribute Guidance, her tone seemed much warmer.

Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth. "I... I'm going to school!"

"Where?"

"Shrek."

The only academy Huo Yuhao could think of was Shrek.

After all, he was an illegitimate son of the Duke's Mansion. His mother hadn't even had a formal title, so of course he hadn't received much in the way of family education. Apart from the bedtime stories his mother had insisted on telling him every night, the few books he'd read had all been ones his two "brothers" didn't like and had thrown in the trash.

He could only remember that Dai Yueheng studied at Shrek, and Dai Huabin, whom he hated with all his heart, would most likely go there too.

"Shrek..." The Three-Eyed Golden Lion seemed thoughtful.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." She shook her head. "Shrek is full of strong people, and its school culture is particularly domineering. Even with Attribute Guidance, you might not be able to get the better of anyone there on your own."

With that, she darted into the depths of the forest. Just as Huo Yuhao stood there, bewildered, a girl about his age walked out from the place where she'd disappeared.

The girl had long golden hair, slightly curled at the ends. Her eyes were golden-red, and there was no third eye on her forehead. She had probably hidden it while changing her appearance.

She wore clothes similar to Huo Yuhao's—simple cloth garments. Clearly, Miss Auspicious Beast knew little about human fashion and had simply fashioned her clothes after those in Huo Yuhao's memories. And the clothes he remembered best were the old, patched garments he and his mother had worn.

"I shaped myself to match your age," the girl said, her voice unchanged from before. "I wanted to copy the features of a woman you had a good impression of, but the only woman you remember fondly is your mother... So I changed my appearance according to my own ideas."

Even the most innocent Soul Beast would know, after seeing Huo Yuhao's memories, that this wasn't something she could do lightly.

Huo Yuhao gently steered the conversation away from that. "Your own ideas look good."

He wasn't lying. Though the Auspicious Beast hadn't used any model, her appearance was still naturally beautiful as jade.

"So," Huo Yuhao asked, "are you going with me?"

"Of course. I've even prepared a whole act." The girl looked confident.

As she spoke, two Soul Rings slowly rose beneath her feet. Huo Yuhao jumped in fright. Both were black, the color of ten-thousand-year Soul Rings!

"Um, could you... act a little more normal?" He choked on his words.

Even the most peerless genius couldn't have a black first Soul Ring! Evolving one much later was another matter.

If she went to the human world flaunting two black rings, they'd probably capture her and run experiments on her.

At his words, the girl blinked. Her two Soul Rings trembled slightly and turned white.

"That won't work either," Huo Yuhao said. "I've heard that you can't get into Shrek with two white rings."

"How troublesome."

In the end, she settled on simulating one yellow Soul Ring and one purple one.

"By the way, there's one more thing," Huo Yuhao said. "What should I call you?"

This time, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was stumped. "I'm the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. You can also call me the Emperor Lucky Beast," she said.

Huo Yuhao pressed a hand to his forehead. "If you want to go to the human world, you need a human name."

"How do humans choose names?"

"A full name probably has two parts: a surname and a given name..." Huo Yuhao recalled what little he knew. "The surname usually comes from your father, but it can also come from your mother. The given name can be anything."

He'd taken his mother's surname, Huo, precisely so he could get revenge.

"Parents... I don't think I have that concept. I heard I was born from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. But the Scarlet King has always looked after me, so according to your rules, I'll take the surname Scarlet."

Huo Yuhao felt rather helpless about Miss Auspicious Beast taking a single character straight from a title to use as her surname, but he couldn't think of any better ideas.

"How should I choose a given name?" she asked. "You said it can be anything, but that makes it difficult for me."

"I've never named anyone before either. Let's think of something together," Huo Yuhao said.

He sat and thought for a while, then suddenly had an idea. Looking into her eyes, he said, "Autumn. What do you think?"

"Autumn?" She tilted her head in confusion. "Why?"

"The color of your hair and eyes."

The Auspicious Beast's beautiful golden hair and jewel-like golden-red eyes blended in Huo Yuhao's mind with the autumn he'd seen in the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Good." The Auspicious Beast seemed to like that reasoning. "I like autumn here too. Then I'll be called Chi Qiu."

"Is there anything else we need to do? Can we set off?" Chi Qiu asked.

"Mm... I don't think so." Huo Yuhao nodded. "If we've forgotten anything, we can think of it on the way. Let's go!"