After securing leave from school without any trouble, El took Huo Yutong out of Shrek City overnight and headed north along the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
It looked as though the two intended to travel straight to Dragon City.
In reality, after a few days, once he was sure no one was following them, El took Huo Yutong straight into the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Di Tian."
In the outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest, El held Huo Yutong's hand in one hand and gripped the pendant on his chest with the other. He activated his soul power and called softly.
The next moment, the black rift Huo Yutong had seen before appeared once again.
A middle-aged man with black hair and golden eyes stepped out and bowed his head to El.
"Your Highness."
"Take us back to the Great Ferocious Land."
El nodded lightly, then held Huo Yutong's little hand as he explained softly.
"I'll introduce you to your future colleagues first, and help build your body back up while we're at it."
Huo Yutong felt the boy give her wrist a light squeeze.
"You're too thin."
Her bones pressed uncomfortably against his hand. Although girls generally had slender, delicate wrists, hers was far too bony.
There was a hint of disapproval in El's voice.
"Your body is far too depleted. Your vital essence is severely deficient."
"We'll replenish your body's vital essence first, then deal with your second martial soul."
Otherwise, she might die right there.
With that, El pulled Huo Yutong through the spatial rift.
A Spirit Eyes martial soul with only rank-one innate soul power...
Ha.
El sneered inwardly.
A Soul Master's innate soul power depended on only two things: the quality of their martial soul and their physical condition before awakening.
How could a top-tier body martial soul like Spirit Eyes possibly have only rank-one innate soul power?
Huo Yutong's talent had essentially been dragged down by childhood abuse and severe malnutrition.
Improving her talent under these circumstances was far easier than in other cases.
In fact, even without any fortuitous encounters or heavenly treasures, Huo Yutong's cultivation speed would gradually improve as long as her body received enough nourishment in the future.
It simply would not reach the heights she could originally have attained.
Still, at least she would not end up passing fifty before reaching rank thirty.
Little Huo, you're a genius at your core!
There was no need to slowly play out the underdog's comeback in the early stages.
Soul Master cultivation was all about getting one step ahead and staying ahead at every step. At least before the Titled stage, there were no barriers that prevented breakthroughs because of problems with one's temperament.
El did not want to spend an entire year watching Huo Yutong crawl her way to rank twenty with the talent of someone with rank-one innate soul power, either.
With those resources available, he might as well boost her cultivation speed first.
After all, how could an underdog's comeback possibly be as satisfying as an unstoppable genius's rise?
Of course, Huo Yutong knew nothing of all these twists and turns.
After entering the pitch-black spatial rift, she felt her vision blur, then found herself somewhere full of birdsong, fragrant flowers, and vitality.
Waves of longing surged through her frail, depleted body, making Huo Yutong instinctively take several deep breaths.
Only after she recovered did she begin examining her surroundings.
A jade-green lake lay before her, its surface smooth as a mirror, shrouded in mist brimming with vitality.
Around the lake, ancient trees towered into the clouds, filling the scene with nature's tranquility.
Moreover, the ambient energy here was exceptionally active. Simply cultivating in this place would improve one's cultivation speed.
Judging by those things alone, this was undoubtedly a precious paradise rarely found in the mortal world.
But add the figures currently standing beside the lake, and to anyone with even a little knowledge, it became a pure horror story.
No fewer than six of the legendary Ten Great Ferocious Beasts were gathered here!
Some were in human form and others in beast form. At the sight of the opening torn through space, they instinctively turned their gazes toward it.
They had not restrained their terrifying auras at all, and several dreadful waves of pressure bore down on Huo Yutong almost simultaneously!
The little rank-eleven Soul Master's breath caught. Her eyes were about to roll back as she demonstrated how to fall asleep on the spot.
She was determined to show these ferocious beasts what sleeping like a baby really meant!
Fortunately, before that happened, El, who had been holding her little hand all along, promptly stepped forward and shielded her behind him.
"All right, don't scare her."
El soothingly patted the back of the hand of the girl who had hidden half her body behind him, his voice carrying a trace of displeasure.
"She is your future colleague, after all."
As he spoke, he pointed to the beasts present and introduced them to Huo Yutong one by one.
"This is Xiong Jun, ranked sixth among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts."
"The Myriad Demon King, ranked fifth."
"Bi Ji, ranked fourth."
At El's words, the gentle woman in a jade-green dress bowed slightly toward them.
The decidedly fierce-looking giant bear gave an almost imperceptible nod while eating honey. On the other side, a massive tree covered in eyes gently swayed his trunk.
That counted as a greeting.
"Next, over here is someone you've met before: the Scarlet King, ranked eighth."
El led Huo Yutong closer to the Scarlet King and patted the three-headed dog's middle head.
"We meet again, human cub."
The Scarlet King's six pairs of eyes all turned toward Huo Yutong, seemingly intent on firmly committing this incredibly weak human's appearance and aura to memory.
Big Dog Bark-brand early warning system registering identity data.JPG
"Next, this is Zi JI, the Hell Demon Dragon King, ranked ninth."
The purple-haired woman lowered her head and bowed to the two of them.
"Greetings, Your Highness the Radiant Dragon King!"
El nodded slightly.
Then he pointed to the last two beasts.
"This is Qiu'er. You've met her before."
"She is the Emperor Auspicious Beast. She isn't one of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, but her status is exalted. To the Star Dou Great Forest and the Soul Beast Clan, she is even more important than the ferocious beasts."
The Golden Lion Dog came closer and buried her fluffy head in El's arms, nuzzling him.
"Huang, you're back!"
"I've been bored to death these past few days without you! When are we going out to play? More eggs have hatched among the Golden Hawksbill Turtles..."
With an indulgent smile, El thoroughly ruffled the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's brilliantly golden, unbelievably silky fur.
"We'll go next time we get the chance."
"Qiu'er, this is Yu Tong."
Only then did the big golden dog look toward Huo Yutong, who stood beside El.
Two golden eyes and one red eye fixed on her together.
Then a faint glimmer flashed through the red Eye of Destiny on Qiu'er's forehead.
"Yu Tong... looking at you feels nice..."
The Emperor Auspicious Beast pondered for a moment.
"I'm the Emperor Auspicious Beast. You can call me by my name. I'm Di Ruiqiu."
El and she had chosen that name together.
El had said that since she was Di Tian's adopted daughter, she should share his surname.
She had chosen the remaining two characters herself. "Rui" symbolized her identity as the Emperor Auspicious Beast, while "Qiu" referred to autumn, the season when she and El had first met-a memory well worth commemorating.
Originally, she had intended to call herself Di Huang-something, but El had said that name was not very auspicious...
"I want to be friends with you!"
The resonance between their destinies made Huo Yutong particularly pleasing to Di Ruiqiu's eyes, and she instinctively wanted to draw closer.
She circled behind Huo Yutong and rested her chin on the little girl's head.
So warm...
So reassuring...
A warm, fluffy touch enveloped Huo Yutong.
Normally, anyone facing a three-meter-tall beast resting her head on theirs would feel nothing but fear. At the very least, their body would instinctively shrink back in alarm.
That was an instinct etched into humanity's genes.
But Huo Yutong felt none of that.
As someone similarly favored by destiny, she only felt that Qiu'er was especially dear to her, like family bound by blood.
"Sure, then we're friends from now on."
"How about I call you Qiu'er too?"
"Mm-hmm. Now you get it. I asked everyone to call me Qiu'er, but aside from Di Tian and Bi Ji, they all just call me Auspicious Beast..."
"Ahem!"
El interrupted the exchange between the girl and the beast, extending a hand to point at Di Tian, who had been standing off to the side for quite some time.
Huo Yutong and Qiu'er both instinctively followed his pointing finger.
"Finally, Di Tian, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King and patriarch of the Black Dragon Clan. His current cultivation is eight hundred thousand years, and he ranks first among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts."
"You could call him the strongest expert among the beasts today!"
"You flatter me, Your Highness!"
Having waited off to the side for so long and finally heard His Highness the Radiant Dragon King introduce him, Di Tian raised his head and looked at Huo Yutong.
His golden slit pupils fixed intently on Huo Yutong, as though he wanted to see straight through the weak little human cub before him.
A moment later, he withdrew his gaze and nodded to Huo Yutong.
"Hello, future colleague."
Before you continue