Huo Yuhao's First Soul Skill: Psychic Control!

Northwestern Star Luo Empire, the Ming Dou Mountains.

The mountains stretched between the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Sun Moon Empire, their steep slopes thick with forest.

Neither empire bothered governing this lawless borderland, so it had become a paradise for bandits.

And the Death's Hand Bandit Group was the most notorious gang in that paradise.

At that moment, a young man sat high above the hall deep within the bandits' stronghold.

His face was pale as paper, and his black hair hung loose.

Dark red blood still stained the front of his clothes. He looked so frail a gust of wind might knock him over.

Yet of the dozens of Evil Soul Masters kneeling below him, not one dared raise their head.

"I was careless..."

The young man spoke slowly, his voice cold.

"If I hadn't focused all my attention on Electrolux, how could that weak little brat have caught me off guard?"

"One strike of my Five-Finger Heart Sword would have killed him on the spot!"

His five fingers slowly curled into a fist, and a sharp sword intent began to gather.

The Five-Finger Heart Sword: five fingers closed, and the sword struck without retreat!

But as he thought of his current condition, his expression darkened again.

"Not only did Electrolux slip through my fingers, but that palm strike also injured my internal organs."

"If I didn't have the Fixed Immortal Travel Martial Soul, I might have had to start over with my Spring and Autumn Cicada Martial Soul!"

"It'll take at least half a year to recover fully..."

The more he thought about it, the angrier he grew.

He possessed two Immortal Gu Martial Souls, yet he had failed to claim the power he wanted and had been blindsided to boot!

He swore he would have his revenge!

His gaze swept over the kneeling Evil Soul Masters.

"Death God Envoy?"

A skeletal figure in black robes scrambled out of the crowd and prostrated himself.

"Holy Son!"

"Still haven't found the people I told you to find?"

"Holy Son, we've been searching as hard as we can!"

The Death God Envoy pressed his head low, his voice close to tears.

"But you've already used up nearly everyone from the Fang family..."

"It'll take more time to find others of the Fang bloodline..."

"Useless!"

The young man snorted.

He turned his palm over, and a crystal skull appeared out of thin air.

The skull was only half the size of his palm, clear and gleaming.

But inside it, countless blood-red lines writhed slowly like earthworms.

The Blood Skull Gu!

It used the blood of kin as its catalyst. The more clan members sacrificed, and the closer their blood relation, the more terrifying the boost to its user's cultivation talent!

"A pack of fools. You can't even handle something this simple."

The young man stroked the crystal skull, madness flickering in his eyes.

"My Blood Skull Gu needs only a little more of my family's blood to transform my cultivation talent completely."

"Then I'll have the greatest cultivation talent on all of Douluo Continent!"

"As for the brat who stole Electrolux..."

"If he's headed for Shrek Academy, he'll have to pass through the Ming Dou Mountains."

"I'll make sure the Ming Dou Mountains are where he meets his end!"

At the edge of the Star Dou Forest.

A bright yellow Soul Ring slowly settled around Huo Yuhao.

Not far away lay a white fox almost a meter long, limp and lifeless.

Even in death, its eyes retained a trace of their beguiling charm.

The Heart-Charming Fox was an extremely rare Mental Attribute Soul Beast.

Born with powerful mental strength, it could control other Soul Beasts as puppets, making them fight for it or keeping them as a food supply.

But its weakness was just as pronounced: it was fragile.

How fragile?

This eight-hundred-year-old Heart-Charming Fox was physically weaker than an ordinary Soul Beast only a few decades old. Any wild boar could have rammed it half to death.

Just moments ago, Tang Chuan had dispelled the illusion affecting Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao.

Of course, Huo Yuhao had only pretended to be under it.

When he "woke up," he had even asked what had happened, looking utterly confused.

His acting was so natural and convincing that Tang Chuan had not suspected a thing.

Then Huo Yuhao had followed Tang Chuan and Tang Ya to find the Heart-Charming Fox.

At first, Tang Chuan had been surprised that Huo Yuhao could absorb a Soul Ring beyond his level.

But once he heard that the Transmigrator who had previously met Huo Yuhao had given him Whale Rubber, he lost interest.

Whale Rubber improved the body's resilience. Absorbing a Soul Ring beyond one's level was nothing unusual after taking it.

That Ye Beixuan guy must have read too many fanfics about sucking up to the protagonist. He wanted to raise Huo Yuhao, then ride the Child of the Plane's luck.

Tang Chuan scoffed inwardly.

Child of the Plane? I'm the Transmigrator. I'm the real Child of the Plane!

To Tang Chuan, Huo Yuhao was nothing more than an NPC there to trigger the plot.

So when Huo Yuhao finished absorbing the Soul Ring and his Soul Power "reasonably" rose to level fifteen, Tang Chuan barely batted an eye.

A level-fifteen native of Douluo Continent was still a primitive.

Before a three-ring Soul Elder who was also the Jinchuriki of a Million-Year Soul Beast, he could make no waves.

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes. Feeling the Soul Power surging through him, he smiled.

His First Soul Ring had perfectly inherited the Heart-Charming Fox's innate ability.

The Spirit Eyes Martial Soul's first Soul Skill: Psychic Control!

Any creature whose mental strength Huo Yuhao could overpower could be turned directly into a puppet under his control!

The only limit was that, with his current mental strength, he could control no more than two puppets at once, and neither could be more than fifteen meters away.

Otherwise, his mental strength would drain away like water through an open floodgate.

Even so, the Soul Skill was terrifying!

With this first Soul Skill, his chances of hunting down Transmigrators in the future would rise dramatically!

"Yuhao, we've helped you hunt down your First Soul Ring. What are your plans now?"

Tang Chuan spoke calmly.

His tone was noticeably colder than before.

Now that he had the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the Child of the Plane's usefulness had plummeted.

"I still have some things to take care of. Let's part ways here."

"Brother Tang, Sister Tang Ya, thank you both."

Huo Yuhao looked at them with sincere gratitude.

Tang Chuan nodded and turned to leave.

But Tang Ya suddenly hopped in front of him, her Phoenix Eyes curving into crescents.

"Little brother, wait!"

"You've got talent, and you have a Mental Attribute Martial Soul. How about joining our Tang Sect?"

"Our Tang Sect was founded by Ancestor Tang San ten thousand years ago. We may have fallen on hard times, but our secret arts are still incredible!"

Tang Ya was brimming with confidence.

Surely this boy would leap at the chance the moment he heard the Tang Sect's name?

Her younger brother had become a Soul Elder before turning twelve. He had no need of the Tang Sect's recommendation for admission without an entrance exam.

That meant she could perhaps use the spot to bring Huo Yuhao into the Tang Sect.

But Huo Yuhao shook his head without hesitation.

"Thank you for the offer, Sister Tang Ya, but I have things I need to do. I won't be joining the Tang Sect."

What a joke!

What kind of place was the Tang Sect?

It was Tang God-King's foothold in the lower world, a leash made specifically for "Huo Yuhao," the Child of the Plane!

In the original story, Huo Yuhao joined the Tang Sect and spent the rest of his life bound tightly to the Tang family.

Only if Huo Yuhao had gone mad would he jump into that trap in this life!