Once his train of thought had fully opened up, Huang Yan immediately began rapidly considering suitable candidates to possess.
First of all, possession came with strict requirements.
Those old geezers who were already too old, had exhausted their potential, and whose vitality and blood were in decline.
Even if they were given to him for free, he wouldn't want them.
If he was going to possess someone and cultivate anew, he had to choose someone young—preferably a top genius blessed with great fortune and extraordinary talent!
And in this era, when it came to the talent and fortune of the younger generation, the obvious first choice was the future Shrek Seven Devils.
Although Huang Yan looked down on them.
But according to the original story.
All seven of them would become gods in the future.
They were the best candidates for possession.
Huang Yan ran through the names of the seven in his mind and began narrowing them down.
"Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong... I can rule them out straight away."
Huang Yan shook his head.
All three were women. He was a grown man, and he certainly didn't have some peculiar fetish for turning into a woman.
What was more, the Martial Soul Origins of the Soft Bone Rabbit, Hell Spirit Cat, and Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda.
Had practically nothing in common with his Bright Phoenix. Forcing them together would bring nothing but drawbacks.
Well, "nothing but drawbacks."
That left only Tang San, Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai, and Oscar.
"Dai Mubai and Oscar aren't suitable either."
After weighing things briefly, Huang Yan ruled out the other two as well.
Dai Mubai's Evil Eye White Tiger Martial Soul was incompatible with his attributes.
As for Oscar, although he had exceptional talent and the rare Innate Full Soul Power, the limitations of a food-type Soul Master were simply too great.
Not only would he lack the ability to protect himself in the early stages, but his fighting style was also far too frustrating. It didn't suit the Bright Phoenix's bold, domineering way of fighting at all.
That left only Tang San and Ma Hongjun.
To be honest, for a fleeting moment, Huang Yan had desperately wanted to possess Tang San.
After all, Tang San was unquestionably the "Child of Fortune" of this era, with Twin Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power.
And most importantly, Tang San was essentially a possessor from another world, a member of the Tang Sect!
If Tang San could seize another's place and possess this body, why couldn't Huang Yan possess him in turn?
But reason quickly overpowered impulse. Huang Yan drew a deep breath and forcefully crushed the tempting idea.
The risks of possessing Tang San were simply too great. There were two potentially fatal complications.
First, Tang San had a "super bodyguard" watching over him around the clock.
Tang Hao!
Tang Hao was now a bona fide Titled Douluo, lurking in the shadows and spying on him all day.
The moment Huang Yan made a move against Tang San, the instant he possessed him, he would inevitably give off the aura of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
By then, before he could complete the union of soul and body.
That enormous Clear Sky Hammer of Tang Hao's would probably already be crashing down on his head. It would be certain death.
Second, there were the "conspiracy theories" Huang Yan had read online in his previous life while reading Douluo Continent.
How could Tang San bring his memories from his previous life, his cultivation techniques, and even every last detail of his Hidden Weapon blueprints with him when he crossed over to Douluo Continent?
There was a very high chance that gods in the Divine Realm, such as the Asura God, had been secretly plotting and pulling the strings behind the scenes!
If Tang San really was a pawn chosen by some big shot in the Divine Realm.
Then for a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast like him to rashly go after Tang San would be like snatching food from a tiger's mouth. He wouldn't even know how he died.
After weighing everything, Huang Yan's gaze finally settled firmly on one person.
"Ma Hongjun!"
Although, in the original story, Ma Hongjun had become a "lecher" who went around putting out his fire because of the flaw in his Martial Soul Mutation.
His personality was also somewhat sleazy, and his Martial Soul was the impure Evil Fire Phoenix.
But to Huang Yan, none of that mattered!
"Isn't it just a little impure Evil Fire left behind by the mutation?"
A proud, cold smile curled Huang Yan's lips.
"I possess both Ultimate Light and Ultimate Fire—the two ultimate attributes of the Bright Phoenix!"
That so-called Evil Fire, faced with his ultimate light and sacred flames.
Would be like the muck of a sewer meeting the blazing sun.
It would be purified completely and burned to nothing in an instant!
What was more, Huang Yan was absolutely confident.
Once he successfully possessed Ma Hongjun, the powerful fusion and baptism of his own Hundred-Thousand-Year Bright Phoenix Origin.
Would bring about a complete transformation in the mottled Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul inside Ma Hongjun.
It would evolve directly into a true super Martial Soul: the Bright Phoenix!
"Then it's settled. That's my target."
Huang Yan raised his head.
His golden eyes gazed toward Suotuo City, where Shrek Academy was located.
His eyes flashed with the sharp gleam of certainty.
"Ma Hongjun, I'm taking your body!"
Before he went to possess Ma Hongjun, Huang Yan still had to make some preparations.
Now that he had decided to abandon this Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast body and be reborn as a human.
He had to pave the best possible path for his new cultivation.
And the Immortal Herbs growing everywhere in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, along with the entire Sunset Forest.
Would be perfect resources for him to rise rapidly after possessing Ma Hongjun!
Huang Yan's gaze swept across the plants surrounding the spring, each radiating a strange glow:
Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Infernal Delicate Apricot, Aromatic Silk Beauty, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum...
"These Immortal Herbs, born from the very forces of heaven and earth, are priceless treasures for rebuilding my foundation and improving my Martial Soul's quality in the future.
Of course, I can't leave a single one behind!"
Huang Yan's thoughts shifted.
Soul Power poured out of him, carefully sealing each Immortal Herb together with the soil around its roots.
He stored them in the Storage Soul Tool he had found earlier among the ruins.
Apart from these Immortal Herbs, Huang Yan had also set his sights on the vast Spirit Beast resources in Sunset Forest!
Over the past thousand years, Huang Yan hadn't spent all his time holed up in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well cultivating.
As a top flying beast with two ultimate attributes, he occasionally flew beyond the poisonous miasma.
He would venture into the depths of Sunset Forest, hunt down some high-level Spirit Beasts foolish enough to cross him, and enjoy a meal.
After a thousand years of accumulation, Huang Yan had actually collected several Soul Bones of quite good quality.
The most precious among them was a Medusa Head Soul Bone with a cultivation age of seventy thousand years!
Besides that, he had four other Soul Bones from different body parts, with cultivation ages ranging from twenty thousand to fifty thousand years.
If these were put up in the human world, they would absolutely spark a bloody struggle among Titled Douluo-level powerhouses.
But in Huang Yan's eyes, they weren't quite good enough.
"Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones may be precious, but for someone aiming for the supreme godhood, they're still trash."
Huang Yan scoffed.
To ensure that the foundation he would need to become a god was flawless, Huang Yan had set himself an extremely demanding path:
The Soul Bones absorbed by his future human body would have to be at least a hundred thousand years old!
As for these five Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones, Huang Yan naturally had plans for them too.
He knew very well that he couldn't rise to power alone.
He would inevitably have to build his own following, recruit subordinates, and perhaps even have women of his own.
Before you continue