The Resolute Azure Bull Python

Soul beasts choosing to cultivate into humans were, after all, rare among the rare. The vast majority of soul beasts capable of cultivating to a hundred thousand years, no matter how poor their bloodline or aptitude, would try to face the heavenly tribulation. Dying as a result was also a common occurrence.

But soul masters who possessed their true forms as martial souls were far more numerous by comparison. Moreover, they could even choose those whose attributes merely matched theirs, leaving them with far more options.

This was especially true for spiritual-attribute soul beasts like Eve and the others. They were practically universal fits.

The heavenly tribulation was the Sword of Damocles hanging over every soul beast's head. Even if they passed it this time, what about the next?

And the only way to avoid a certain death was to ascend to the God Realm.

Yet even Di Tian, known as the Beast God, had never truly become a god. Soul beasts had witnessed the long ages of the Douluo Continent, but throughout all those years, only humans had become gods.

"Then what if the host inhabited by the spirit soul becomes a god?" Lijing asked. She was the only one present suited to ask that question. It should have been her younger sister asking, but her sister's eyes were now filled with that human, as though she had been bewitched. She had probably even forgotten who she was.

"Although spirit souls possess their own consciousness and emotions, they are still considered the host's weapons. Naturally, they can accompany the host to the God Realm," Huo Yuhao said calmly. Er Bai and Little White nodded along with grave expressions.

"Heh, you make it sound like you've actually become gods before." Ice Empress turned her head away disdainfully. Little White, that simple-minded fellow, had instead grown close to this person he had only just met.

Huo Yuhao did not argue. They had only just met, so a lack of trust was perfectly normal. He had the confidence and patience to wait until everyone returned to how they had once been.

"Becoming a god is vague and intangible, but spirit souls are something you can see for yourselves." As Huo Yuhao spoke, he gently moved Liya's hand aside and rose to his feet.

A faint gray tint stained his eyes, and a strange gray soul ring appeared. Before anyone present could marvel at yet another oddly colored soul ring on the youth—

A gate radiating an eerie aura of death appeared. "Er Bai, bring them out," Huo Yuhao ordered.

Er Bai nodded and leaped directly into the gate. Soon after, two enormous figures were thrown out from within. They were a Titan Giant Ape and an Azure Bull Python, both hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, and both severely injured.

Er Bai was the last to emerge. He then loosened his bear paw and threw a girl of around twelve beside the Titan Giant Ape and Azure Bull Python.

And the instant Xiao Wu hit the ground, a sudden change occurred.

"Moo—" A long beastly roar erupted from the Azure Bull Python's mouth. At the same time, a blinding red light shone from his brow. Bloody flames ignited across his body, and dazzling red light dyed the entire sky of the Far North crimson. Time and space came to a standstill.

The violent energy fluctuations instantly blasted the surrounding soul beasts watching from afar several hundred meters away. The only two who remained where they stood were Er Bai, the strongest present—

And the youth shrouded in red light.

"A hundred-thousand-year soul beast sacrifice! But he's only level ten!" Lijing covered her mouth and cried out in shock.

"A level ten soul master receiving a hundred-thousand-year soul ring is destined for only one outcome: exploding to death." Ice Empress frowned. She remained vigilant toward the changes occurring in Snow Emperor because of the youth's arrival, but he had brought both her and Snow Emperor hope of surviving their next heavenly tribulation. She did not want him to die just like that.

"Yuhao!" Upon hearing Ice Empress's words, Liya immediately coughed up blood. Golden pearls streaked with faint blood-red patterns slid down her cheeks, while even the scales on her body dimmed somewhat. She completely fainted.

"..." Snow Emperor stared at the youth enveloped in red light. The image of him turning into a bloody mist flashed through her mind, and her heart abruptly clenched. She lowered her head to look at the ring in her palm, just as a glistening ice crystal fell into the center of its band. Had she... shed a tear?

Sea Princess Eve and Lijing also wore grave expressions. A hundred-thousand-year soul beast sacrifice was something neither of them had ever witnessed. The youth's fortune and methods truly defied the heavens, but his influence on their daughter and younger sister was simply too great. If he truly died, Liya might not survive either.

They had never imagined that merely bringing their daughter and younger sister out to see the world would lead to such consequences!

"Mom, quickly bring Sister Liya's pearls to Dad! As long as his spiritual power is sufficient, he can definitely do it! Dad's first soul ring used to be a million years old. How could a mere hundred-thousand-year soul ring possibly stump him?" Little White saw everyone's anxious expressions and immediately shouted at Snow Emperor. At a time like this, he no longer cared about Huo Yuhao's repeated warnings not to call him Dad.

Only then did everyone come back to their senses and look at Little White. "You said his first soul ring was a million years old?!" Ice Empress asked in disbelief.

What did a million years mean? Legend said that when a soul beast broke through to a million years, it was equivalent to a human breaking through level one hundred. That meant—becoming a god!

"Spiritual power! Dad needs more spiritual power!" Little White shouted. This was the message Er Bai had conveyed to him.

Sea Princess Eve glanced at her daughter in her arms, then at the youth surrounded by red light. She bit her lower lip as her body began to emit a faint glow. Golden light gradually surged forth and gathered at her brow. Then, a fist-sized golden "pearl" flew from above her head, and her aura weakened.

Lijing hurriedly supported her mother, then reached out with her other hand to support her sister Liya. She stared at her mother's actions in shock.

With a wave of her hand, Eve sent the spiritual origins she and her daughter had condensed into Snow Emperor's hands. "Give these to him for me."

Snow Emperor looked at the pearls in her hand, paused, then nodded. She strode resolutely toward the youth shrouded in red light.

"Mom, you..."

Lijing wanted to say more, but her mother stopped her. The price she had paid this time was no small one—fully one-third of her spiritual power origin. She would need to recuperate for quite some time. If anything went wrong during this period, she might very well fail to survive her next heavenly tribulation.

She remained doubtful about whether the first soul ring being a million years old was true, but a youth with a hundred-thousand-year first soul ring was worth gambling on.

She knew that the Sea God had been searching for an inheritor all these years. If even a youth with a hundred-thousand-year first soul ring was beneath the Sea God's notice, then the Sea God likely would not approve of anyone.

If one day the youth truly became the Sea God, then with the hundred years a deity could remain in the mortal world, and with Liya as their connection, perhaps her branch could also develop into a family power like the Qian Clan, Spirit Hall's angel family.

Who would not want descendants with a deity's bloodline and divinely bestowed martial souls?

Naturally, Eve would not let anyone else know of this small ambition of hers. Her gaze remained fixed on Snow Emperor. Whether it succeeded or failed depended on this attempt.