"Did you hear that? He ought to be thanking us."
Huo Yuhao was not surprised in the least by what he had seen. Instead, his smile grew wider.
A hint of amusement colored Yu Longyue's smile as he raised a hand and pointed at the lightning covering the area around them.
"Most importantly, I blocked the cameras' view. Now that Tang San's out, I reckon he doesn't even know how he died."
"He didn't absorb any Spiritual Energy at all, and his ten-year mushroom Soul Spirit hasn't even ascended yet."
"Besides, that Ice Fire Demon Tiger wasn't even his main Soul Spirit." Huo Yuhao curled his lip. "I was interfering with it with my spiritual power the whole time. Otherwise, did he really think he could threaten a four-thousand-year Soul Beast, an Ice Fire Demon Tiger at that, with his own strength?"
"All right, all right, let's leave Tang San's business at that. We've achieved our goal anyway, and tickets to the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform are terribly expensive. I doubt he'll dare spend contribution points to come in again." Yu Longyue waved a hand, signaling Huo Yuhao to keep moving. "We have more important things to do. You can absorb this Soul Beast and see if you can get your Second Soul Ring to ten thousand years."
Huo Yuhao nodded and finished the wolf off with a Spirit Shock, then immediately began absorbing it.
Just as in his previous life, although his First Soul Ring was at the million-year level and provided him with four Soul Skills, his Second, Third, and Fourth Soul Rings had all come from hunting Soul Beasts. They were not Soul Rings the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had given him.
So they still needed to be improved. His Second Soul Ring, for instance, was only at the thousand-year level; it was not until his Third Soul Ring that he had a ten-thousand-year one.
And the power that had previously belonged to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had long since vanished completely when Huo Yuhao and God King Tang San had perished together.
He was now in the process of regaining his strength and needed to walk the path of a Soul Master all over again. Fortunately, his Soul Spirits had stored all his Soul Rings for him, so he did not need to hunt another Soul Beast. He only needed to reach the required Soul Power and restore his strength.
Moreover, he had spent quite some time in the Spirit Ascension Platform, and he and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had more or less figured out how it worked. The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could also easily direct the Spiritual Energy he absorbed, preventing it from being shared among all four Soul Rings and instead concentrating it all on one Soul Ring, allowing it to ascend rapidly.
After learning this, Yu Longyue had taken on the role of a fighter, helping Huo Yuhao quickly raise the Simulation Soul Skill of his Second Soul Ring to the ten-thousand-year level to make their next actions easier.
After that, it would be Huo Yuhao's turn to be his fighter.
Yu Longyue folded his arms and leaned against a tree, watching Huo Yuhao at his leisure until he finished absorbing it.
"How is it?"
"I'm still two thousand years short." Huo Yuhao sighed. "Going from a thousand years to ten thousand years is far too inefficient. No wonder you haven't raised your Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirits to a hundred thousand years."
"My Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirits came from spending years in the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform, fighting day and night. If I wanted to get them to a hundred thousand years, who knows what year of the monkey or month of the horse that would happen?" Yu Longyue stretched and said, "Ready? In a moment, we need to put on a show like we've been through a bitter fight. Then I'll withdraw the lightning so the cameras outside can see us."
"No problem."
Huo Yuhao promptly used his second Soul Skill, Simulation. His Spirit Domain Realm spiritual power settled over both of them, creating the appearance that they were covered in wounds after a fierce battle.
"Check carefully again for anything we might have missed," Yu Longyue reminded him. "I don't want to fall out with Tang San just yet. If he loses his head and calls his parents over, we'll both die."
Huo Yuhao nodded. After checking several more times and making sure nothing was wrong, he signaled to Yu Longyue.
"All right, I'm withdrawing it."
Inside the Spirit Pagoda.
The glass pod Tang San lay in was slowly opening. His body convulsed and trembled nonstop, as though he had been struck by lightning.
The nearby staff gathered around and hurried to examine him.
"What happened to this child? Why was he suddenly hurt so badly?"
"The examination shows that his whole body was torn apart by sharp claws, but the exact circumstances are unclear. He was probably attacked by a Soul Beast."
"That's normal enough. Resuscitate him, and don't let him suffer too much. He's a guest of the Spirit Pagoda, after all."
Situations like this were quite common. The staff were not very surprised; if anything, they were used to it.
As long as the follow-up care was handled properly, all would be well.
When Tang San woke up, several staff members gathered around him.
"Mm, he's conscious again. This child is doing fairly well."
Tang San slowly opened his eyes, his consciousness gradually clearing from its haze.
He could feel the pain in his body, and it swiftly brought his memories back to everything that had happened in the Spirit Ascension Platform.
"I..." Tang San's voice was somewhat hoarse. His memory was still lingering on the joy of preparing to kill a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with his own hands.
Seeing Tang San awake, a staff member immediately stepped forward and explained, "You had an accident in the Spirit Ascension Platform, young man. You were attacked by a Soul Beast, but don't worry. We've rescued you and given you the necessary treatment. Go back and get some rest, and the aftereffects should mostly disappear."
Tang San frowned. Images of Yu Longyue and Huo Yuhao flashed through his mind. He remembered that, at the last moment, Yu Longyue had even shouted for him to watch out.
Could some other Soul Beast have attacked him?
It did not occur to Tang San that Yu Longyue and Huo Haodong had attacked him from behind.
From Tang San's perspective, Yu Longyue was simply a thoroughly good person. He also had a very good reputation and had barely had conflicts with anyone. Even when he did, he turned enemies into friends afterward.
Naturally, Tang San could not imagine that Yu Longyue had launched a sneak attack on him.
As for Huo Haodong, Tang San believed that if he had attacked him, he would certainly have noticed, rather than dying without knowing what had happened, as he just had.
"How was I attacked?" Tang San pressed.
The staff members exchanged glances before one of them answered, "We aren't very clear on the details ourselves. We only know that your body was torn apart by a Soul Beast's claws. You can take a look at the surveillance footage to find out what happened."
"All right. Sorry for the trouble."
Tang San followed the staff to the place where the inside of the Spirit Ascension Platform was monitored. Seeing that Yu Longyue and Huo Haodong were covered in wounds, he could not help feeling surprised.
The next second, their voices came through:
"Damn it, we still let that Soul Beast get away. Otherwise, we could have avenged Brother Tang." Yu Longyue was still upset.
Huo Haodong's voice carried a note of regret.
"It couldn't be helped. That Soul Beast was too strong. By a conservative estimate, it had at least fifty thousand years of cultivation. If it wanted to run, we couldn't catch up."
Yu Longyue was somewhat indignant. "The next time I run into it, I'll kill it for sure."
Tang San stood outside the monitoring room, watching them through the screen. A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.
Seeing them reminded him of his friendship with Dai Mubai and the others back then.
At the time, they had been the Shrek Seven Devils.
They had grown up together, grown stronger together, overthrown the Spirit Hall together, and helped him become a god together.
Looking at the two of them on the screen, Tang San accepted them in his heart at that moment.
Our friendship is unbreakable.