The source power belonging to the Great Strength Gorilla Martial Soul was rejected. Yang Hao immediately controlled the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone and devoured it.
With the Great Strength Gorilla Martial Soul's source power gone, the Cyclops Martial Soul's origin condensed, driving the Martial Soul through purification and evolution until it became the Cyclops.
That wasn't all. Yang Hao was currently in a state of Martial Soul Possession, and the purification and evolution of his Martial Soul also infused some bloodline and source power into his body, greatly increasing his compatibility with it.
"Just as I thought. It worked!"
Feeling how effortless Martial Soul Possession had become, Yang Hao was very satisfied.
This had been one of his theories. He hadn't expected it to really work.
Although he had only fused a small amount of bloodline origin, it was a breakthrough from nothing. From here, he only needed to guide the Gold of Life's power to continually nourish and strengthen it. That would allow him to perfectly fuse with the Cyclops Martial Soul.
There was also an unexpected bonus.
"Pretty big sister, could you check whether the Soul Bone on my back has changed?"
Yang Hao turned around. He could feel that the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone had definitely changed, because it had absorbed light power.
The Soul-Devouring Demon Spider was a Soul Beast with dark and evil attributes, so the Soul Bone it produced naturally possessed those same attributes.
Back then, the Gold of Life's power had driven out its evil attribute, leaving only pure darkness.
But because light and darkness were opposed, the light attribute had never been able to fuse with it.
Now, thanks to the Twin Cyclops's nature as a being of both light and darkness, it had also taken in the light attribute, which now resided at the base of the Spider Leg Soul Bone.
That meant his Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone had nearly gathered every elemental power.
"It has changed. One half has some black markings, while the other has some white ones. The two opposing powers of light and darkness have fused very stably."
A gentle voice rang out, filling Yang Hao with delight.
"Teacher!"
He turned to look. It was Mother Ye... no, his teacher, Ye Xishui.
"What brings you here?"
He hadn't expected her to show up so suddenly, but she had arrived at just the right time.
Ye Xishui shot him a reproachful look.
"We agreed on a year, but you've stayed here for three extra months. I was worried, so I came to check on you."
"Were you looking for this kind of Soul Beast?"
Her gaze shifted to the Twin Cyclops's dried corpse. She understood that he must have been looking for that creature to help the One-Eyed Vajra Martial Soul and Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone evolve.
Soul Beasts that embodied both light and darkness were indeed rare, and this one was a perfect match for Hao'er's Soul Bone and Martial Soul. No wonder he had lingered here for so long.
"I was looking for the Twin Cyclops, but that was only secondary. I sensed two great treasures in Star Dou Forest: one in Lake of Life at the center, and the other where the core region meets the inner region.
"But I couldn't get a clear sense of the second one. It seemed to be concealed by some kind of power. I searched for a long time, but couldn't pinpoint it."
Yang Hao didn't hide anything. He explained that he had stayed here to search for treasure.
The Twin Cyclops was one prize, but there were two other great treasures. Those were the real treasures.
"Great treasures?"
Ye Xishui was curious. Her disciple had seen plenty by now; if he called something a great treasure, it certainly wouldn't be ordinary.
"This."
Yang Hao took Ye Xishui's hand and channeled the power of the Gold of Life into her.
That's right: he had been searching for the Golden Hawksbill Turtle that concealed the Gold of Life, hoping to seize the enormous piece of Gold of Life inside it.
The Golden Hawksbill Turtle was huge, after all, so even the piece it had bitten off couldn't be small. It was far larger than the Spirit-Devouring Engraving Knife.
Unfortunately, he hadn't found it, and he didn't dare venture deeper into the central region. Now it was up to Ye Xishui to see if she could find it.
"What pure life energy."
Ye Xishui was astonished. The life energy was so pure that it could even nourish her current body very effectively.
"Lake of Life?"
She turned to look into the depths of Star Dou Forest, intrigued by this life energy.
"Swallow this Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. I'll go have a look."
She took a black tiger out of the Active Storage Soul Tool, then flew toward the depths of Star Dou Forest. Beast God guarded Lake of Life, and the many Ferocious Beasts there made it difficult to act. But she could at least look for the other treasure.
She had just developed Divine Sense, so no matter what concealment methods it used, it couldn't escape her perception.
"Dark Demon Evil God Tiger!"
Looking at the battered big cat, Yang Hao's eyes lit up.
"Wan Hun, Sleep Nightmare, get ready. This Soul Beast might be tricky."
After giving his two underlings their orders, Yang Hao controlled the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone to devour the beast while searching for its Evil God Pearl.
This Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was nowhere near as large as the one Tang San had killed ten thousand years ago, but it was still two meters long and had a cultivation of a thousand years. He hoped it had condensed a Soul Core—that was, an Evil God Pearl.
The Evil God Pearl possessed several attributes and could help perfect a Martial Soul Core.
As the Soul-Devouring Spider Legs rapidly devoured it, the half-dead Dark Demon Evil God Tiger shrank quickly and gradually faded, until it vanished completely, leaving behind only a pearl—the multi-attribute Evil God Pearl.
The Evil God Pearl tried to fly away, but Yang Hao was ready. He grabbed it, drove all eight spider legs into it to begin devouring, and used his mental power to sense its inner structure.
At last, the Evil God Pearl was devoured and shattered. A mournful tiger's roar rang out as its soul manifested.
Wan Hun and Sleep Nightmare, who had been waiting all along, attacked at the same time, splitting the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's soul and spiritual power between them.
Yang Hao devoured the evil divine power inside the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. But the beast was still too weak, and its evil divine power was feeble. In the end, the Gold of Life's power drove it out.
Yang Hao used the God Trial mark of his Demon Blade Martial Soul to devour and fuse with it. The Rakshasa Divine Power inside the mark grew active and devoured the power with all its might.
"Life energy?"
Only after Yang Hao finished devouring and refining it did Feng Ling ask curiously. She had a great need for life energy.
After all, her Martial Soul was a Phoenix, and it possessed both fire and life attributes. Unfortunately, she had an Evil Phoenix, whose evil attribute had corrupted its life attribute. As a result, she had never awakened the Nirvana ability unique to the Phoenix Martial Soul.
If she could strengthen her life power, her Martial Soul and strength would surely improve tremendously.
"It's a power of an extremely high level. I only managed to gain a little control over it recently."
Yang Hao brushed her off, then reached out and took Feng Ling's hand, clad in a lace glove, channeling some of the Gold of Life's power into it.
"Mm!"
The pure life energy entered her body, and Feng Ling couldn't help letting out a moan. Her Martial Soul resonated with it and even possessed her on its own, visibly excited and yearning, with an instinctive greed in its response.
Yang Hao didn't hesitate. He guided more of the Gold of Life's power into her, making Feng Ling feel increasingly blissful. By the end, her body even trembled.
It was then that Yang Hao cut off the flow of life energy, making Feng Ling anxious.
"I want more."
This pure life energy was far too important to her. It could absolutely help her Martial Soul improve.
"This power is domineering. If too much of it builds up in your body, it can turn the tables and start devouring your life energy instead. I can only bear it and guide it with difficulty because I have an External Soul Bone.
"Besides, this power strongly rejects evil attributes. My Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone had its evil attribute driven out. Your Martial Soul has a powerful evil attribute, pretty big sister. Absorbing too much of this power could cause serious problems.
"This concerns your future path. I hope you'll think it through carefully. If you need it, I can provide more life energy to help you transform."
Yang Hao explained. Those weren't the only two reasons he'd mentioned. He also hoped to use this opportunity to bring the pretty big sister over to his side.
There was no helping it. The workplace was always this dirty.
"Is that so?"
After calming herself, Feng Ling did indeed sense that the life energy was difficult to digest. It had entered her body, but she hadn't refined it yet.
"You two can have one share each, too. Keep working hard, and I'll make sure you're rewarded."
Once Feng Ling had calmed down, Yang Hao turned to the two underlings watching eagerly and generously gave each of them a stream of energy.
The pure life energy entered their bodies, and both of them wore strange expressions of bliss. Their bodies also changed dramatically: even the fine wrinkles at the corners of their eyes smoothed away, making them look more than ten years younger.
They hadn't actually gotten younger. The Gold of Life had increased their cells' vitality, restoring them to a youthful state.
"We absolutely won't let the Holy Son down."
The two hurried to pledge their loyalty, and their devotion grew stronger still.
There really were benefits to following this Holy Son.
"I hope Teacher finds something."
Yang Hao nodded in satisfaction and looked toward the depths of Star Dou Forest.
He had no way of finding the hidden Golden Hawksbill Turtle. After all, even Di Tian and the many Ferocious Beasts hadn't discovered the Gold of Life inside it.
Now it was up to his teacher.
He then began studying the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul, considering how to seize it and refine it into a Soul Tool.
After four days of studying and waiting, a powerful disturbance came from deep in Star Dou Forest, as though terrifying beings were fighting.
"Is that Teacher?"
Yang Hao frowned. Could she have been discovered?
Given his teacher's current strength, for a fight to shake the area like this, had Beast God Di Tian made a move?
Just then, Yang Hao seemed to sense something and looked in a certain direction. An immense surge of fortune had erupted there, no weaker than Huo Yuhao's fortune when Yang Hao had watched him from afar last time.
"Emperor Auspicious Beast?"
He immediately thought of that love-struck fool, and excitement surged through him.
"Pretty big sister, I've found something good. It's over there."
He spoke at once. Since he'd run into it, he might as well make contact—and enjoy the benefits of that attribute connection.
Feng Ling didn't say much. She took out a Flying Soul Tool and carried Yang Hao swiftly toward the spot, with Wan Hun and Sleep Nightmare close behind.
It didn't take long for the four of them to reach the area, where they found two unusual Soul Beasts.
Both were as mighty as lions, but the larger one had three heads, and its revealed aura was terrifying—far beyond that of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.
"It's a Ferocious Beast!"
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