El did not explain much to little Huo. After all, her Sea of Consciousness housed the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who had known these Ferocious Beasts inside out and lived alongside them for years.
Tian Meng would make a fine guide.
"Bi Ji, come here for a moment."
El beckoned to the Emerald Swan nearby.
"This child will stay with you for the next few days. Help her restore her health and make up for her deficiencies."
"Feel free to use any of the spirit herbs growing around the Lake of Life."
El placed little Huo's hand, which he had been holding, into Bi Ji's.
As the most powerful healer currently in Douluo, Bi Ji, the leader of the Emerald Swan clan with over five hundred thousand years of cultivation, was the ideal choice to help restore Huo Yutong's health.
The spirit herbs growing near the Lake of Life did not possess the wondrous effects of the Immortal Herbs growing at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. But when it came to replenishing vitality and elevating the level of one's life, these spirit herbs were even more effective than many Immortal Herbs.
"Poor child..."
Bi Ji gently rested her hand on Huo Yutong's wrist and instantly understood the precise state of her body.
Depleted blood and vital energy, thickened scar tissue, and scattered minor hidden injuries...
A trace of pity surfaced in Bi Ji's eyes.
No matter the species, the sight of a pitiful young one always stirred compassion.
"Don't just make up for her deficiencies. Help her build a firmer foundation while you're at it. We can't neglect her physical fitness."
El added another reminder, then gave Huo Yutong a reassuring look. She had been staring at him, looking as though she wanted to say something but could not bring herself to speak.
The thought of being separated from El made her uneasy, even though she rationally knew nothing would happen to her.
They had only known each other for a few days, yet Huo Yutong had already subconsciously come to see the boy before her as someone she could rely on.
"Don't worry. Bi Ji is a very gentle Soul Beast."
Facing the little girl of just eleven, El spoke softly:
"Listen to her over the next few days. Once your physical fitness more or less meets the requirements, I'll take you to obtain your second Martial Soul."
Huo Yutong froze for a moment, then nodded firmly and took a step away from El of her own accord.
"I'll listen and work hard to improve!"
The boy had arranged everything so neatly over the past few days that she had almost forgotten none of what she now had had come out of thin air, nor was it something she could simply take for granted.
I have to become someone useful to him...
Take revenge, bring Mother back to life, help El in the future...
Her goals flashed through her mind one after another, and determination gleamed in Huo Yutong's large blue eyes.
Strengthen myself! Strength is the foundation of everything!
I will become stronger!
Whatever I have to face next,
Pain, torment, hardship-I'll endure it all!
For Mother!
For...
El!!
Little Huo left with Bi Ji.
Leaning against a towering tree, El watched their retreating figures and silently considered his plans.
He trusted Bi Ji to handle things.
Emerald Swans not only possessed powerful healing abilities, but also a special compassionate nature rarely found among beasts.
Little Huo would be well cared for with her.
In truth, if all they wanted was to make up for her deficiencies, Bi Ji could have fixed Huo Yutong up in mere minutes.
But an eleven-year-old girl with stable vitality alone could never accomplish what they planned to do next.
At the very least, she needed a body that had not been tempered by the medicinal power of Immortal Herbs, yet possessed physical strength equivalent to a Soul Ancestor-level Battle Soul Master.
Moreover, her foundation could not have even the slightest instability. It had to be at least as solid as the so-called "apex half-step peak great perfection" of cultivation novels.
Thus, even Bi Ji would need to invest considerable effort and time.
Once those preparations were complete, the rest would depend on willpower alone...
Still, El was not worried about that at all.
After all, in the original story, she had been fierce enough to absorb a four-hundred-thousand-year soul bone with only two rings.
Even if female physiology was slightly weaker than male physiology, he had ways to provide the appropriate support.
"Di Tian."
After considering his later arrangements, El opened his orange-gold dragon eyes and called softly.
"Your Highness!"
A black-haired middle-aged man appeared soundlessly beside El. Pressing his right hand to his chest, he gave a slight bow.
"Have you found that place's coordinates?"
"Your Highness, its location has been confirmed."
"Deep within the Sunset Forest, there is indeed an unbroken expanse of poisonous mist sealing off a valley."
"The space there is slightly separated from the outside world. Without special methods, it is difficult to find. With the poisonous mist on top of that, even finding it does not make entering easy."
Di Tian had only managed it because he was proficient in the spatial attribute, possessed profound cultivation and formidable strength, and had considerable experience.
Another expert at the Limit Douluo level might never have discovered that deadly place at all.
"The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well..."
El murmured softly.
It is also the burial place of my dragon race's Water and Fire Dragon Kings.
"That fellow Tang San really did leave some extra tricks behind."
"I doubt anyone could find that place without a 'map' or some other form of guidance."
El narrowed his dragon eyes.
After all, almost every faction on the continent with even a little historical heritage knew that the first generation of the Shrek Seven Devils had obtained Immortal Herbs and laid the foundation for their ascension to godhood.
Naturally, people must have gone searching for them over the years.
Especially that Glazed Tile Sect whose name claimed nine treasures when it still only had seven.
Did Soul Masters with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul not want to cultivate to eight rings, or even become Titled Douluos?
They dreamed of it!
The Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect wanted an Aromatic Silk Beauty more desperately than anyone!
Yet ten thousand years had passed, Immortal Herbs had become legends, and people still had not seen so much as a leaf.
As the place where he and his followers had begun their rise, it made sense for Tang San to hide the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well away as the Tang Sect's private garden, admitting only those with special markings or maps and coordinates.
However...
"That shit belongs to my dragon race."
Everything at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had been built upon the remains of two Dragon Kings!
Ten thousand years ago, that land had belonged to Dugu Bo. But before that, throughout the tens of millions of years since the Divine Dragon Realm collapsed into the Divine Realm, it had been an asset of the dragon race.
Now, the old guard was coming to set things right and return that treasured land to its original owners!
"In a few days, once Yu Tong is ready, we'll set out."
El rose, gave Di Tian that instruction, and walked toward the Lake of Life.
He was going to cultivate on autopilot.
"Yes!"
The Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King remained utterly respectful.
"Say, why does His Highness the Radiant Dragon King want to nurture a human?"
Bi Ji had left with the human youngling, the Scarlet King had gone chasing after the Auspicious Beast who was off causing trouble, His Highness the Radiant Dragon King had entered the Lake of Life, and Zi JI and Di Tian stood guard at the lakeside like sentries...
The Myriad Demon King looked around. In the entire Great Ferocious Land, the only two Ferocious Beasts with nothing to do were himself and Xiong Jun, who was licking honey off his claws.
So he sidled up to Xiong Jun and spoke quietly.
"If he really wants to counterattack the humans, wouldn't choosing Ferocious Beasts like us be better?"
The countless eyes covering the Demon-Eyed Tree blinked in unison, densely packed and particularly horrifying.
For someone with a fragile mind, that chilling sight would have been enough to drain their sanity to zero.
But Xiong Jun could not be bothered to give him the time of day.
"There's no explaining it to a Ferocious Beast like you with no bloodline inheritance."
Xiong Jun's voice was muffled around the claw in his mouth.
"Soul Beasts like us can't become gods. The Radiant Dragon King intends to storm the Divine Realm someday."
"What's the point of nurturing us before that restriction is lifted? So we can become bang snaps once our cultivation is high enough?"
"Before a true god, there's no fundamental difference between our level of cultivation and that of an ordinary ten-thousand-year Soul Beast."
Ever since El emerged from his cocoon, perhaps stimulated by the Radiant Dragon King's aura, something had changed.
The Behemoth bloodline within Xiong Jun had become much more active over the years.
Along with increasing his strength, this had also caused him to dream of many inherited bloodline memories from ancient times.
He had never told the other Ferocious Beasts exactly what he had dreamed of.
Yet before El, this king of the dark gold terrorclaw bears, who had always been unruly and barely even accepted Di Tian's authority, never bristled.
He was, one could say, as obedient as a giant Siberian hamster.
Before you continue