Dark purple Soul Power continuously flowed into Tang Ya's body. Her presence kept rising as the dark purple Soul Power continued merging with her.
Beads of sweat the size of beans kept appearing. Tang Ya's brows were tightly furrowed as she felt the immense Soul Power inside her body continually battering her meridians.
Tang Ya gritted her teeth and held on. Huo Yuhao's black-clad figure kept appearing in her mind, and her resolve grew even firmer!
Huo Yuhao leaned against a tree, Soul Power surging in his hand. Just as Tang Ya was about to finish absorbing it, another ball of Soul Power flame flew into her body.
She kept absorbing, and he kept pouring more in.
Huo Yuhao's Soul Power flowed without end!
Tang Ya's strength also rose rapidly.
At the same time, her Martial Soul manifested from within her body on its own. Stimulated by Huo Yuhao's Soul Power, the Blue Silver Grass began growing thicker, and the veins in its leaves became more developed!
The Blue Silver Grass kept changing. Its leaves growing larger and longer were merely outward changes; its most obvious characteristic was the change in color.
The originally blue grass slowly began turning red, its color gradually deepening. By the time the Blue Silver Grass grew over five meters tall, it had actually turned completely dark red!
"The color of the dark night has entered thy body. Thou art, at last, one of the dark night."
Watching the changing Blue Silver Grass, Huo Yuhao finally stopped pouring Soul Power from his hand.
Tang Ya felt the changes in her body as the Soul Power within her continued soaring!
Rank thirty-one!
Rank thirty-five!
Rank thirty-seven!
It finally settled at rank forty. Only then did her cultivation stop rising!
In the blink of an eye, she had broken through to rank forty. Not even anyone in the Shrek Inner Court could do that!
Tang Ya marveled inwardly. What astonished her most was that her dantian contained countless strands of dark purple Soul Power, which were now merging into her body bit by bit!
Watching this wondrous transformation, Tang Ya immediately understood from what she felt firsthand that, if not for the restriction imposed by her Soul Ring level, she would probably be far more than a mere Quasi-Soul Ancestor!
This was Shadow! Was this Yuhao's strength?!
As the final merging took place, the black Soul Ring circling Tang Ya completely fused into her body.
"Mm..."
Tang Ya slowly opened her eyes. Huo Yuhao was standing right before her.
Tang Ya said happily, "Yuhao, I did it! I finally finished absorbing the power!"
Looking at Tang Ya before him, Huo Yuhao nodded in satisfaction. "Xiao Ya, thou hast fully accepted my power. Thou shalt, at last, be a member of the Shadow Garden!"
With that, Huo Yuhao raised his right hand before her.
Behind him, the black slime leaped and seethed, quickly separating off a lump of black slime, which Huo Yuhao took into his hand.
Supported by Soul Power, the slime churned in the air, drawing the eye as though it possessed some special magic.
Tang Ya even felt that she and this lump of slime shared a special ability. It was as though a hand within the slime kept beckoning to her.
Following her instincts, Tang Ya naturally raised her hand and slowly reached toward the slime before her.
The instant her slender, jade-white fingers touched the slime!
As though it had come alive, the slime flowed like water along Tang Ya's fingers and spread toward her body.
The slime kept flowing until it enveloped her completely, slowly turning into black robes, its hood shrouding her delicate face.
At this moment, Tang Ya's face could no longer be clearly seen beneath the robes. Only her smooth, tender chin showed faintly, still revealing that beneath the hood was a breathtakingly beautiful girl!
A slender black sword naturally formed in Tang Ya's hand. On closer inspection, her attire unmistakably marked her as a member of the Shadow Garden.
Huo Yuhao clapped softly. "My Garden has seven Shadows: 'Joy,' 'Anger,' 'Worry,' 'Thought,' 'Sorrow,' 'Fear,' and 'Surprise.' Now two Shadows remain, 'Joy' and 'Fear'..."
Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment before continuing, "Meeting thee, my joy overflows!"
"I bestow upon thee the name 'Joy,' that thou mayest have peace and joy, and all things may go well!"
His words were deep, and Tang Ya engraved every one in her heart.
Since her youth, Huo Yuhao had been the last salvation in her heart. She never doubted a single word he said!
Clever and quick-witted, Tang Ya immediately understood. "'Joy' greets Lord Shadow!"
Huo Yuhao came before her and swept his hand over his storage ring. A ring appeared in his hand.
The ring was black, set with an exquisite hexagonal sapphire. Specks of starlight upon it actually formed the character for "Joy."
"Xiao Ya, welcome to the Shadow Garden. From this day onward, you will forsake everything. Shadow stands opposed to the gods, and you are one of the Seven Shadows."
As Huo Yuhao spoke, he picked up the ring with his right hand, held Tang Ya's hand with his left, and slowly slipped the ring onto her finger.
"Yuhao, thank you. Even if the world stands against you, I'll still be by your side!" Tang Ya's gaze was resolute, without a single empty word.
She gazed at the exquisite ring on her hand, her eyes gentle and filled with emotion.
"Oh, right! I noticed that there seems to be something extra in my body!"
Tang Ya spoke to Huo Yuhao in delighted surprise.
Then, with a thought, she sensed the extra thing inside her body.
It was hard and thick, constantly pressing against her skin.
Finally, she abruptly activated her Soul Power. The slime over Tang Ya's tender, delicate back burst apart, and eight dark blue Spider Spears emerged, stabbing straight into the ground and propping up her entire body.
Tang Ya stared at what had grown out of her, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"The Eight Spider Lances! They're the Eight Spider Lances, Yuhao!"
Tang Ya happily threw herself into Huo Yuhao's arms and kissed his cheek several times.
The slime on her back rapidly mended itself, soon covering her exposed skin.
Tang Ya completely forgot her loss of composure, no longer showing any of her earlier reserve toward Huo Yuhao.
These were the Eight Spider Lances, after all. This External Soul Bone had made an undeniable contribution to Tang San becoming a god back then!
Thinking of how she now possessed this divine artifact, with Huo Yuhao's words lingering in her ears, Tang Ya felt even more confident, even if she stood opposed to the gods!
As long as Yuhao was here, even God King Tang San would have to taste the might of the Eight Spider Lances.
Huo Yuhao set the distracted Tang Ya down from his arms. A gleam flashed through his eyes, and he became aware of everything around them.
He lightly tapped Tang Ya's back a few times.
"Mm!"
The Eight Spider Lances on Tang Ya's back swiftly withdrew as though startled. Her robes quickly turned into slime and merged into her body.
"Xiao Ya, are you all right...?"
A weak voice came from the distance. A hand reached out of the darkness and braced against a tree trunk.
Bei Bei held his wound. The scales on his right claw had lifted, and blood kept flowing, with faint golden sparks of lightning flickering over it.
"We're fine. What about you?" Tang Ya asked coldly, looking at the wounds on his body.
Huo Yuhao hurried forward to support him, his face full of concern as he asked anxiously, "Brother Bei, are you all right? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. You two weren't hurt, were you? Where's the Man Faced Demon Spider?" Bei Bei waved his hand and asked.
"Dead. Let's hurry and leave."
Tang Ya still could not quite bear it. Looking at Bei Bei covered in wounds, she took out some healing medicine after all and tossed it over.
"Dead? How did it die...?"
Bei Bei still wanted to press further, but Tang Ya had already walked straight past him, heading out of the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Brother Bei, we'd better hurry and catch up with Sister Xiao Ya!" Huo Yuhao said.
Bei Bei examined the surroundings but discovered nothing. He could only let the matter drop and follow with Huo Yuhao's support.
Huo Yuhao had long since cleaned up everything around them. How could he possibly spot anything?
Huo Yuhao supported Bei Bei with a smile on his face. Behind his back, his fingertips moved, and threads once again wound around Bei Bei's storage pouch.
Gold Soul Coins. So there were still some in reserve.