Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts as Gatekeepers?

And they were none other than the Titan Giant Ape, the Soul Beast overlord of the Star Dou Great Forest, and the Sky Azure Bull Python, the forest emperor!

This was something an ordinary Soul Master would not even dare to imagine.

Yet now, the words had come from Yan Buhui's mouth.

He wanted to subdue the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python. Taking them as his underlings would have been one thing, but he also wanted the two of them to serve as guard dogs for his vast Land of Extreme Flame.

Who could tolerate that?

Who would dare say such a thing?

Only Yan Buhui had the nerve.

"You... actually want to capture the Sky Azure Bull Python, the forest emperor of the Star Dou Great Forest, and the Titan Giant Ape, its Soul Beast overlord? And then make them guard your gate??"

Shui Yue'er voiced the question on her mind.

"Mm, that's right..."

Yan Buhui rested his chin on his left hand and murmured thoughtfully in a low voice, "I figure, with their strength, they'd be perfect for guarding the gate."

As far as Yan Buhui was concerned, the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape were already guarding the gate for Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena at the Lake of Life anyway.

Now, capturing them and having them guard the gate to the Land of Extreme Flame would be a good choice too.

It would be like having Tang San's brothers-in-law guard his gate.

Besides, with a lineup like the Sky Azure Bull Python Da Ming and the Titan Giant Ape Er Ming, their overall strength was still a little lacking.

The concern was that he might wake the three relatively heavyweight Soul Beasts at the Lake of Life: Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, Beast God Di Tian, and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion Wang Qiu'er.

The other Ferocious Beasts, and many more besides, followed Beast God Di Tian's arrangements and orders.

And he only had three Soul Contract Scrolls in his possession.

The Soul Beasts Yan Buhui most wanted to form contracts with were Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, Beast God Di Tian, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion Wang Qiu'er.

First, because of Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena's true strength and her ability to bear children, she could become one of the beauties in his harem, one of his wives and concubines.

Second, because Beast God Di Tian, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, was one of the leaders of the Nine Great Dragon Kings and the foremost of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. His overall personal strength went without saying, and his leadership was outstanding, making him suitable to be Yan Buhui's underling.

Third was the auspicious Soul Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion Wang Qiu'er. As an ancient Auspicious Beast, she was born with intelligence no lesser than a human's. In any Soul Beast habitat where she was present, all Soul Beasts grew twice as fast as normal, and Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts had twice the chance of breaking through after reaching a bottleneck.

This point

was extremely important to Yan Buhui's Land of Extreme Flame.

On top of that, Wang Qiu'er could also bear children, making her suitable to be one of his harem wives and concubines.

As for the two Ferocious Beasts of the Far North, the Heavenly Snow Woman Snow Empress and the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion Ice Empress, if they could share a husband, presumably there would not be too much jealousy or quarreling.

He was determined to take them and conquer the two women with his personal strength.

As for the Titan Snow Demon King, he could make do with drinking a little magma water to cultivate at the foot of Phoenix Emperor Mountain.

Yes.

Yan Buhui was thinking far ahead, and his thoughts were rosy indeed.

After all, imagination was beautiful, but reality was painfully bony.

Improving his personal strength was also an important part of Yan Buhui's plans for himself.

One of his unquestionable plans.

"All right, you're impressive."

Shui Yue'er forced the words out.

Although she had previously called Yan Buhui a little lecherous thief,

that had been because she was protective of her older sister, Shui Bing'er.

But things were different now.

She had discovered that, apart from his lustful nature,

Yan Buhui was all virtues.

He valued affection and loyalty and kept his promises.

Moreover, despite being so powerful, he had never used his strength to bully the weak.

He had even hardly ever eaten weaker Soul Beasts, or hunted or devoured Soul Beasts.

He had hardly ever done such things.

That showed that even as the emperor and overlord of the Land of Extreme Flame, he could strictly discipline himself. It was a rare point in his favor.

"Is that so?!"

Hearing this, Yan Buhui teased her, "I'm impressive every night, all right?"

"Otherwise, why would all of you beg me not to stop?"

"Shameless!" Shui Yue'er's little face flushed slightly, and she was thoroughly embarrassed. Then she angrily scolded him, "I praise you a couple of times and there you go again. You're a shameless, lewd hooligan!"

"Hehe!"

Seeing this, Yan Buhui let the matter drop and replied, "It's all what I should do. I'll give each of you a child, so remember to take good care of yourselves and don't harm the pregnancy. Those are my precious future sons and daughters!!"

"Then stop making us so angry!!"

"If we get too angry, the children we give birth to will be as bad-tempered as thunder, just like you."

Shui Yue'er took the opening and explained.

Her gaze was full of a young wife's allure.

Although she had lost some of a young girl's lively charm,

this added womanly charm was not something morning sickness could replace.

These hands had shaped them, so the future children could enjoy good food and have their rations. Whoever else suffered, the children could not be allowed to suffer.

"Ahem..."

"I'm so full of justice. How could I say something like that?"

"Never mind, never mind. Let's not bring this up again. Wife Yue'er, please give me a little face."

Yan Buhui gave an embarrassed, apologetic smile, recalling that some things really were like that.

When his Evil Fire surged, these women had a truly terrible time of it.

"Hmph."

Shui Yue'er snorted.

"I'll forgive you for now."

Shui Yue'er was not the sort to nag endlessly. Where one could spare someone, one should, and besides, Yan Buhui had not committed any great offense.

Moreover, she had not sensed any refusal from her sisters from Tianshui.

Under threats and inducements, after putting up token resistance, they had all thrown themselves into his arms, talking freely and without end, their feelings plain on their faces.

But Shui Yue'er was absolutely not a sycophant.

Even when facing a powerhouse like Yan Buhui, she would never submit to his lecherous tyranny.

Yet Yan Buhui's tall, heroic bearing and spirited appearance, together with his peerlessly handsome face, were something no young woman could resist.

"Mm."

Yan Buhui calmly looked at his eight wives, then added, "Ladies, stay at Phoenix Emperor Mountain in peace and wait for my return."

Then he said to the four guardian Soul Beast lords, "While I'm away, sorry to trouble the four of you."

"We obey your imperial majesty's command!!!"

The Three-Headed Hellhound, Flame Martial Wild Boar King, Earth Fire Lizard Lord, and Flame Bird bowed in worship upon hearing him.

Huo Wu, Shui Bing'er, Shui Yue'er, Xue Wu, Qiu Ruoshui, Yu Hairou, Shen Liuyu, Gu Qingbo, and the others watched Yan Buhui leave, a hundred feelings mingling in their hearts. Was it affection? Dislike? Hatred for him? Or was it love?

It seemed to be none of them.

Perhaps, after spending so many days together, it was a reluctance to part...

Yan Buhui covered his eye with his left hand. In an instant, a flash of fire emerged from his eye, and he transformed into his true Evil Fire Phoenix form and flew toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

Blazing flames adorned his multicolored feathers, marking him as a member of the Phoenix Clan.

The phoenix birds were actually shaped like ordinary chickens, their bodies covered from head to toe in multicolored feathers.

The markings on the head were shaped like the character for "virtue," those on the wings like "righteousness," those on the back like "propriety," those on the chest like "benevolence," and those on the belly like "trustworthiness."

"Virtue, righteousness, propriety, benevolence, and trustworthiness" were deeply engraved in Yan Buhui's heart.

As Yan Buhui traveled farther and farther from Phoenix Emperor Mountain, this was the farthest he had ever been from the magma wine he loved most, and also the farthest he had ever been from his eight wives and concubines.

As the phoenix began to spread his wings, all things in heaven and earth had to make a brand-new path for Yan Buhui...