When Huo Yuhao dragged back the two corpses to where Bei Bei and Wei Na were waiting, it gave them quite a fright.
Once they learned that the two corpses belonged to evil soul masters, their expressions darkened even more. They didn't linger outside any longer and quickly returned to the frontline city, handing the bodies over to Prince Xueyu.
Prince Xueyu took the matter seriously and immediately summoned Ling Luochén and her companions.
Huo Yuhao and his group met Ling Luochén and the others again.
Compared to a few days ago, Ling Luochén and her team looked noticeably worn out. Clearly, they had been working tirelessly to investigate Dai Yaoheng's murder and were under immense pressure.
After hearing the full story, Chen Zifeng spoke in a low voice, "These two are indeed evil soul masters? Unfortunately, they're probably not the ones who killed Dai-ge. The real killer must be much stronger!"
Any evil soul master who could be killed by someone like Huo Yuhao—who had only just advanced to Soul Sect level—even if they were Soul Kings or Soul Emperors, were disgraces to those ranks.
Such weaklings could never have assassinated Dai Yaoheng so silently and skillfully.
Ling Luochén and the others nodded in agreement with Chen Zifeng's assessment.
Bei Bei wanted to defend Huo Yuhao, to argue that Huo Yuhao's combat power far exceeded his level.
But then he thought again—Dai Yaoheng wouldn't be weaker than Huo Yuhao. And evil soul masters weak enough to be easily taken down by Huo Yuhao really couldn't have possibly overpowered and murdered Dai Yaoheng.
At that moment, Ling Luochén suddenly spoke up. She warned Huo Yuhao, "If you really encounter the killer, absolutely don't try to be a hero. Escape immediately."
Huo Yuhao nodded obediently. "Mhm, I will."
Ling Luochén couldn't help but glance more closely at Huo Yuhao—not because of his looks (though he was admittedly very handsome, the most handsome young man she had ever seen).
This was only the second time she had met Huo Yuhao. The first time was the day after Dai Yaoheng's death when Bei Bei brought Huo Yuhao to visit.
Back then, because of Dai Yaoheng's death, Ling Luochén hadn't paid much attention to him.
But this time, she could clearly feel suppressed by Huo Yuhao's aura!
She discreetly checked on the others and found no one else showing signs of noticing anything unusual.
"If this isn't just an illusion, then it means Huo Yuhao possesses a martial soul of the same type as mine, and even stronger!" Ling Luochén thought to herself in shock.
Still, she wasn't familiar with Huo Yuhao, so while she was curious about his martial soul, she didn't think too much about it beyond that.
Only Wei Na noticed Ling Luochén's gaze toward Huo Yuhao and instinctively stepped in front of him.
And then, two towering peaks, uncontainable even under her armor, blocked Ling Luochén's view.
Ling Luochén's gaze drifted upward and saw Wei Na smiling at her with a gentle expression.
Unaware of Wei Na's little intentions, Ling Luochén nodded in return.
At that moment, Bei Bei asked, "Senior Chen Zifeng, does the evil soul master who killed Dai Yaoheng have any distinctive traits?"
Chen Zifeng paused for a moment and replied, "There's no need to hide this from you. The truth is, we don't know what traits that evil soul master had, because we never saw them. When we arrived, only a dying Dai-ge was there."
At the mention of this, Chen Zifeng's eyes turned red again, as the gruesome image of Dai Yaoheng's death flashed in his mind.
As fellow members of Shrek's Seven Monsters, they had once been on the same preliminary team in a tournament and had performed many missions together over the years.
Chen Zifeng had long seen Dai Yaoheng as a brother.
He had never been able to let go of Dai Yaoheng's death.
The rest of the team was also clearly affected emotionally.
Seeing the state they were in, Bei Bei fell silent.
Gongyang Mo clenched his fists. "We must avenge Yaoheng!"
"We may not have seen the evil soul master, but Dai Yaoheng left us a clue before he died," Yao Haoxuan added.
"What clue?" Huo Yuhao asked curiously.
Xixi responded, "Compassionate Demon—those were the three words he said. We suspect it might be the name of the evil soul master, or perhaps related to their martial soul."
"I see..." Huo Yuhao frowned thoughtfully. "Never heard of it."
"We haven't heard of any martial soul related to 'Compassionate Demon' in the Inner Court either, so it's more likely a name," Ling Luochén said slowly. "And this person is definitely not an ordinary evil soul master."
The name "Compassionate Demon" now loomed over the investigation team like a heavy mountain.
Although these two evil soul masters weren't Dai Yaoheng's killers, they were still evil soul masters.
Because Huo Yuhao had helped eliminate evil soul masters at the front line, Prince Xueyu rewarded him with some military merit.
The items on the two corpses were considered spoils of war and belonged to Huo Yuhao.
However, Prince Xueyu reminded him to be cautious—evil soul master belongings might contain items that could lead one to corruption.
There had been cases where people received such items as rewards, only to become evil soul masters themselves.
To everyone's surprise, Huo Yuhao immediately began stripping the corpses of their items and sorted through them on the spot in front of Prince Xueyu.
Unfortunately, nothing particularly dangerous was found. The most valuable item was a century-grade "Soul of Secret Arts" soul bone, but it lacked the method to refine it.
Prince Xueyu was a bit surprised by Huo Yuhao's casual behavior but pleased—this meant Huo Yuhao trusted him.
The two preserved corpses were left to Prince Xueyu.
Whether he'd eat them or use them—up to him.
Huo Yuhao took his spoils and returned to camp with Bei Bei and Wei Na. Then, he went straight into his tent under the excuse of stabilizing his cultivation.
Leaving behind a very disappointed Wei Na.
She had hoped they could stroll around the city together.
Bei Bei shook his head, muttering how he just couldn't deal with Huo Yuhao.
After sparing three seconds of pity for Wei Na, Bei Bei happily went off to explore the city alone and finally enjoy some relaxation.
Inside the tent, Huo Yuhao appeared to be stabilizing his cultivation—but in fact, his consciousness had entered his Ghost Banner Martial Soul.
There was a space within the Ghost Banner.
However, it could only house ghosts.
Above the space floated three auras—these were the soul ring spaces, the VIP suites for his main souls.
Huo Yuhao first visited the soul ring space belonging to Electrolux.
Inside, it was a beautiful scene filled with birds and flowers.
The soul ring space's environment was controlled by the main soul and could be changed at will. Though not real, it was made to be comfortable for the spirit within.
Huo Yuhao had also visited He Caitou's soul ring space before. Surprisingly, instead of darkness, it was a magnificent palace.
It took Huo Yuhao a moment to realize that the palace resembled the Sun Moon Empire's royal palace, likely a deeply embedded memory in He Caitou's subconscious.
In his semi-conscious state, He Caitou could only recreate the most deeply imprinted images.
Right now, Huo Yuhao saw He Caitou in Electrolux's space—learning undead magic from him.
Even though He Caitou's awareness was fuzzy, he was still capable of learning and remained focused. How much he was absorbing was unknown, but Electrolux was teaching him all the same.
It had the feel of prenatal education.
After a brief glance and greeting Electrolux, Huo Yuhao moved to the main Ghost Banner space.
If the soul ring spaces were the presidential suites, the Ghost Banner space was like a communal barracks.
The ghosts trapped by the Ghost Banner all resided here in chaotic yet organized clusters.
The pink-dressed female ghosts grouped together.
The Snowfield Wolf King and other snow wolves clustered in another area.
The Ironblood Sect ghosts gathered as well.
Though chaotic, the ghosts remained under control. Ghost beasts occasionally clashed, but due to Huo Yuhao's restrictions, they couldn't actually harm each other.
The older the ghost, the more intelligence it retained.
The recently captured Zhuqing Ice Toad ghost was particularly quiet, crouched in a corner, seemingly pondering its froggy existence. Its self-control surpassed 90% of the other ghosts.
Only the Snowfield Wolf King and Iron Li could match it in willpower.
Huo Yuhao ignored the other ghosts and went straight to the two newly captured evil soul master ghosts.
He had some questions... to ask them.
The ghosts of the two evil soul masters were distinctly different from others.
Their spirits bore a pair of blood-red eyes, markedly unlike other ghosts—fierce and volatile. Despite both being at the Soul Emperor level, while Tie Li retained some sanity, the evil soul master lacked all reason.
"Those who walk the evil path in life will become malevolent spirits in death, never to be reincarnated," Huo Yuhao commented.
Indeed, the two evil soul masters had become fierce and malignant ghosts.
Even if they had only used soul beast flesh in their cultivation, their methods were corrupt, and their souls tainted by malevolence.
Many evil cultivators share the same fate—if they die with strong resentment, it's easy for them to turn into vengeful spirits during the seven days after death, returning to claim revenge.
This could be seen as a second transformation.
Now as malevolent spirits, the two had actually grown stronger. This was a case of exchanging sanity for power.
The same principle applied to vengeful spirits—if they weren't stronger than before, it would be less a vengeance and more a joke.
Huo Yuhao didn't waste time interrogating them.
Instead, he simply raised his hand and pressed his palm against their foreheads.
"Soul Search!"
This evil soul technique could extract a target's memories, but it inflicted massive damage to their spirit and soul—often leaving them insane or even dead.
Huo Yuhao wasn't going to purify their malevolent energy. He chose the direct route.
"Let's see how much memory these ghosts have left."
In theory, newly formed ghosts retained fragments of memory—mainly from shortly before death or the most impactful moments in their lives.
As expected, Huo Yuhao gained insight.
He saw memories from before their deaths.
It turned out that the recent soul beast corpse thefts were their doing.
The two evil soul masters had been longtime partners, unaffiliated with any organization. The Soul Emperor had a carrion hyena martial soul (agility-type), while the Soul King had a burrowing beetle martial soul (control-type).
They were drawn to the area by the beast tide, hoping to use the corpses for cultivation.
Unexpectedly, while cultivating with soul beast remains, a man calling himself the Third Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult found and captured them.
Instead of killing them, the Third Elder taught them a secret technique to create "Arcane Soulbones" and had them help with the crafting.
He would periodically send people to collect the soulbones.
When they had refined five Arcane Soulbones, the cult formally recruited them as disciples and provided soul beast corpses to help them reach the Soul Sage stage.
But what no one anticipated was that both of them secretly yearned for the light.
After crafting several soulbones, they began to hope they could trade them for military merit and noble titles.
They believed that becoming nobles of the Heavenly Soul Empire would bring them into the light—far better than living as hiding evil soul masters.
Besides, they had never cultivated using human souls, so they felt they could still be redeemed.
As for the Holy Spirit Cult, they thought it wouldn't dare attack nobility openly.
To be safe, they aimed for at least a viscount title.
They acted quickly—the Soul Emperor exchanged a soulbone for merit and title, but this drew unwanted attention. He was attacked and wounded.
Fortunately, he escaped.
The Soul King, trying to help him recover, stole more soul beast corpses from a warehouse.
Once the Soul Emperor recovered, they tried for one last big job—to create enough soulbones to trade for a viscount title and quit for good.
But they were caught by members of Tianmen Dragon Sect and Dilong Sect, who identified them as evil soul masters.
Fleeing, they ran straight into Huo Yuhao.
And that was the end of their story.
Huo Yuhao finished the soul search.
The Soul King ghost shattered, its remaining essence swept away and thrown into He Caitou's soul ring space—as a snack.
Other ghosts craved the fragments too.
But only main ghosts could grow stronger with them—giving the rest would be wasteful.
As for the Soul Emperor ghost, though not destroyed, it was seriously wounded, its energy weak and diminished.
It would be hard to recover.
"I'll keep it as dog food," Huo Yuhao said, kicking the ghost aside.
"So the Holy Spirit Cult is here too... and they even sent a Titled Douluo-ranked elder. I wonder if there are more. As long as they don't mess with me, I won't mess with them."
Even rivals can coexist, as long as there's enough cake to go around and no conflicting interests.
Huo Yuhao had now learned the soulbone crafting method from their memories.
It was indeed intriguing—something that combined soul master abilities. He mastered it quickly.
"It's rough, but once you understand the key steps, it's simple."
Based on his own experience as Pudu Cihang, he could already see ways to improve it.
"This technique... it might not be limited to just soulbone crafting."
He activated the Eye of All Arts to optimize the method.
"If a hundred soul masters of the same type are used, their bloodlines and souls could be refined into—"
"Wait!"
Huo Yuhao slammed the brakes.
That path was way off-track!
"No, I need to simplify and refine, not amplify the horror."
Simplify the requirements, perfect the results.
He restarted the Eye of All Arts.
"Not necessarily soul masters—just a hundred humans of the same type: old men, women, children… used with the technique… to refine an artificial martial soul. High-quality, with innate bloodthirst properties…"
Huo Yuhao stopped again, looking at the result with mixed feelings.
"Once your mind slips, the tricks always outnumber the problems."
He tested a few more times.
Eventually, after using up his Eye of All Arts time limit for the day, Huo Yuhao created a usable technique.
"Using soul beasts of the same type as material, combined with fortune energy, this secret method can enhance soul ring years and soul skill effects. It reduces luck consumption while preserving results."
He was satisfied.
"Let's call this the 'Soul Ring Enhancement Secret Method.'"
Its core was the use of fortune energy. Without the ability to manipulate one's fate, it couldn't be used.
In other words, no one else could learn it.
The other broken versions of the secret method were stored away.
They weren't useless—just not usable yet.
And Huo Yuhao had to consider the consequences.
"If I start refining the continent's population, would the world's will abandon its unfilial son?"
Until he became a god, his status as the "Child of Destiny" remained crucial.
"There are soul beasts and lifeforms across the universe. If I can't touch the people of Douluo Continent… I could look elsewhere. But space travel and planetary tracking are still a challenge."
Huo Yuhao stopped musing about the future.
He sat down and began to cultivate.
By evening, Wei Na came looking for him again, inviting him to take a walk through the city.
This time, Huo Yuhao agreed.
In the city, he saw the heads of the two evil soul masters he killed now hanging from the walls, drawing cheers from the crowd.
He also heard praises like "Shrek Academy is mighty!" and "As expected of the Inspection Team!"
Clearly, someone had deliberately leaked some information—though not all.
People only knew it was someone from Shrek Academy, not Huo Yuhao himself, so they assumed it was the work of the inspection team.
Whether this was to restore the team's reputation, or to divert attention—or both—was unclear.
Huo Yuhao strolled casually with Wei Na through the city, using his fortune-seeing technique, hoping to find some hidden treasure.
A classic protagonist moment.
No treasures were found, but he did find a surprise.
A group of soul masters with giant hammers strutted ahead. One even had a butterfly above his head.
"People from the Clear Sky Sect! And Wang Dong is here too! What are they doing?"
Huo Yuhao strongly suspected a certain God King was meddling again.
The Clear Sky Sect had been hidden for years—would a small beast tide in the Heavenly Soul Empire really bring them out?
Still, Huo Yuhao didn't flee.
If Wang Dong dared come—
"Then I'll dare to invite the God King's daughter into the ghost banner!"
Huo Yuhao's hunting activity was interrupted.
Because a beast tide was about to break out!
A large number of soul beasts were migrating south. Standing on the front-line city wall, one could already see many soul beasts roaming on the distant plains. They had crossed the alert red line and were now testing humanity's boundaries.
Prince Xueyu issued a notice that the beast tide was imminent and began organizing a response. Officers and soldiers were all mobilized. Soul tool cannons were mounted on the walls, and the number of guards doubled.
The entire front line was plunged into a tense atmosphere.
Most soul masters no longer dared to venture out for tasks or hunts.
One misstep could lead to being surrounded by soul beasts.
Bored, Huo Yuhao could only stay in his tent to cultivate. He also took the opportunity to study the mysterious connection between his first and second soul rings.
As Huo Yuhao cultivated, a commotion outside suddenly disturbed him.
"Huo Yuhao! If you've got guts, come out! I know you're in that tent, don't just hide in silence!"
Huo Yuhao: "Hm?"
They even called him out by name?
When Huo Yuhao peeked out of his tent, he saw a crowd had gathered. They were all drawn by the shouting.
Since they couldn't go out on missions, anything exciting at the camp was not to be missed.
In front of Huo Yuhao's tent stood a familiar figure.
"Long Aotian?" Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow. "What's he doing here?"
Long Aotian stood outside with several disciples from the Body Sect around the same age.
Wei Na and Beibei were confronting them.
The Imperial Guard soldiers were maintaining order around them.
When Long Aotian arrived, the captain of the guards had already informed Wei Na and Beibei, so they came out in advance.
"You're Long Aotian?" Beibei squinted at him. "Are all disciples from the Body Sect this uncivilized?"
"Hmph, matters of the Body Sect are none of your business!" Long Aotian didn't even look directly at Beibei; instead, his gaze softened as he looked at Wei Na.
"Wei Na, it's been a while."
"Yes, quite a while," Wei Na replied politely.
"You two know each other?" Beibei asked, puzzled.
"Of course!" Long Aotian raised his head slightly.
Wei Na quickly explained, "I've received some guidance from the Body Sect, so we know each other."
She couldn't reveal that she had once been a disciple of the Body Sect.
Saying she had only trained with them made sense. As a princess and a support-type soul master, it was reasonable for her to seek training from the Body Sect to become stronger.
Long Aotian didn't deny it.
Beibei didn't dwell on it either. He narrowed his eyes slightly, watching Long Aotian and Wei Na as if realizing something. Then he noticed Wei Na keeping her distance from Long Aotian and nodded slightly.
Long Aotian had come because some Body Sect disciples wanted to challenge disciples from other sects, given that they couldn't go out on missions.
Normally, the Body Sect stayed in city inns.
Prince Xueyu had arranged for Wei Na's group to stay here precisely to keep them away from the Body Sect.
But now, the Body Sect disciples came themselves—and even recognized Wei Na, passing the news to Long Aotian.
Many in the Body Sect knew that Long Aotian had feelings for Wei Na.
The disciples training bitterly in the mountains relied on this kind of gossip for entertainment.
So Long Aotian showed up.
At this moment, he noticed Huo Yuhao emerging and immediately scowled, shouting, "Huo Yuhao! Come fight me!"
Wei Na frowned and tried to stop him, "Long Aotian, don't cause trouble here."
"Wei Na," Long Aotian's expression softened slightly, but he didn't listen, "Don't worry, I'm only here for Huo Yuhao! The others are just spectators. I won't make things difficult for him."
Wei Na: "???"
Make things difficult for him?
I'm afraid you'll get killed by him!
Wei Na felt a headache coming on.
Both Huo Yuhao and Long Aotian would be part of the Body Sect in the future. Letting them become enemies now would harm sect unity.
Long Aotian might also disrupt the plans of the Heavenly Soul Empire. If he affected her relationship with Huo Yuhao, it would be even worse.
Although Wei Na and Huo Yuhao's relationship wasn't exactly deep, it was still in the budding stage.
If Long Aotian ruined it now, Wei Na wouldn't even have a place to cry.
But Long Aotian didn't notice Wei Na's thoughts. He stared at Huo Yuhao, brimming with battle spirit.
Because he believed that only by defeating Huo Yuhao could he prove his strength!
Only then could he show Wei Na who was truly reliable!
He had been taking on missions and training hard recently—even harder than Huo Yuhao.
His goal was to surpass Huo Yuhao in military merit.
He had to fight for his pride!
But the outcome? Naturally, he hadn't been able to beat Huo Yuhao.
He suspected Huo Yuhao was cheating!
A three-ringed Soul Elder earning that much merit? It didn't make sense!
It made him furious.
He accused Huo Yuhao of being despicable.
In reality, although Long Aotian had done more missions, he could only handle thousand-year soul beasts.
Whereas Huo Yuhao's tasks always involved at least ten-thousand-year soul beasts—sometimes entire nests. No matter how hard Long Aotian worked, he couldn't match Huo Yuhao's merit.
Now, Huo Yuhao had climbed to 27th place on the military merit rankings. Everyone above him was at least a Soul Sage.
Long Aotian was only in 70th place and couldn't improve further. But excluding Huo Yuhao, he was still the highest among the younger generation—objectively impressive.
As for Ling Luochen and others, they had shifted focus to hunting evil soul masters and avenging Dai Yaoheng, no longer pursuing missions.
Actually, many people had already found Huo Yuhao's ranking suspicious—even without Long Aotian saying so.
If Huo Yuhao was really that strong, why had no one heard of him?
Some tried to investigate Huo Yuhao at the camp but couldn't find anyone by that name.
Because he was always out on missions or en route.
Also, the three of them never wore Shrek Academy uniforms.
The officers at the exchange center had orders not to reveal Huo Yuhao's information under any circumstances.
At the camp, others assumed those staying with the Imperial Guards were nobles from Tian Dou City, never linking them to Shrek Academy.
So, even though Huo Yuhao's tent was in a prominent location, no one knew he lived there.
Long Aotian's shout drew a crowd precisely because of Huo Yuhao's name.
Everyone wanted to see what he looked like.
And what they saw was a handsome, yet youthful-faced, Huo Yuhao stepping out of the tent.
"Long Aotian, you want to challenge me? Why?" Huo Yuhao tilted his head and asked.
The crowd was shocked.
"This... Huo Yuhao is just a kid?"
"Are you kidding?"
"He's definitely cheating!"
"What kind of student does Shrek Academy even take in?"
Only the people from Tianlong Gate and Dilong Gate looked serious and shocked.
Last time, Huo Yuhao hadn't revealed his name—just said he was from Shrek Academy.
Now they finally realized: this was that mysterious Shrek student.
"That's Huo Yuhao?" Nan Qiuqiu asked in disbelief. "Even if he's that strong, how could he earn so much merit...?"
You see, only two people from Dilong Gate made it into the top 30.
One was her mother, Nan Shuishui—a Soul Douluo ranked 9th.
Another was a Soul Sage who had slain over ten ten-thousand-year soul beasts to qualify.
To get into the top 10, Nan Shuishui even risked her life in the Extreme North to kill two beasts over 50,000 years old.
Merit could also be earned by turning in soul beast corpses or materials—not just missions.
Merit was the currency of the front lines, used to buy rare items and as a badge of honor and strength.
The merit ranking was also a great way to promote one's sect's reputation.
The Heavenly Soul Empire cleverly used the system to solve issues and make a tidy profit.
Long Aotian stared coldly at the approaching Huo Yuhao. "Huo Yuhao, you may have used despicable methods to climb the merit rankings, but let me tell you: People who rely on tricks will never become true powerhouses!"
Huo Yuhao looked amused. "You don't actually believe I got someone to farm merits for me, do you?"
"Didn't you?" Long Aotian's eyes widened.
What could Huo Yuhao do?
He raised his hands.
"If you're weak, then train more. If you can't take losing, don't play."
"What did you say?!" Long Aotian roared and prepared to attack.
Huo Yuhao clenched his fist.
Wei Na quickly stepped between them and pushed them apart. "Enough!"
Seeing Huo Yuhao lower his fist, Wei Na sighed in relief.
If Huo Yuhao really punched, would Long Aotian still have a head?
With Wei Na blocking the way, Long Aotian stopped too—but grew even angrier. "Wei Na, don't protect him! Huo Yuhao, you—"
Wei Na cut him off with a stern expression, "If you're unconvinced, then during the beast tide, go kill soul beasts. Prove yourself with strength!"
"Fine!" Long Aotian gritted his teeth and glared at Huo Yuhao. "Huo Yuhao, do you dare to compete with me?!"
"Fine, I'll compete!" Beibei suddenly stepped forward. He had long disliked Long Aotian. If he wanted to bully Huo Yuhao, he'd have to go through him first.
"You think Shrek Academy is afraid of your Body Sect?!"
Beibei had already broken through to Soul Ancestor and didn't think he was weaker than Long Aotian.
Long Aotian didn't refuse. "Fine! I'll defeat all of you!"
Huo Yuhao: "???"
I haven't even said anything yet! Why are things already decided?
Do you have to target the one with the taunt effect first?
Then Long Aotian glanced at the silent Wei Na and turned to leave. "Let's go!"
He and his fellow disciples left.
Wei Na looked apologetically at Huo Yuhao. "Yuhao, sorry, Long Aotian... he's just not very bright."
It was clear Wei Na had tried hard to protect Long Aotian.
"Well, I don't really mind. I just hope Brother Long Aotian can focus on cultivation and not waste time on trivial matters," Huo Yuhao said earnestly.
If Long Aotian didn't train properly, what would happen to his future incarnation's quality?
"Yuhao, thank you..." Wei Na smiled gently. She felt that Huo Yuhao was still that pure-hearted boy—while Long Aotian was the one being aggressive.
The onlookers, seeing no fight broke out, dispersed in disappointment.
No one noticed—
From afar, Du Busi (Unkillable Poison) watched the scene and chuckled.
"That brat Aotian is about to run into a wall. Hopefully, it'll give him pressure to train harder. Pressure breeds motivation."
…
Two days later—
The beast tide broke out completely.
Alarms blared throughout the city.
The city gates were tightly shut.
The frontline troops were fully armed and ready for battle.
On the distant plains, countless soul beasts had already gathered.
A beast tide was about to descend!
But Huo Yuhao and the others were not stationed within the city.
After more than half a year of preparations, three lines of fortifications had been built along the front. They were divided into eastern, central, and western sections.
Prince Xueyu, Ice Phoenix Douluo, and Tyrant Dragon Douluo each held command of a section. The soldiers were also split into three groups accordingly.
The city stood in the middle and was expected to bear the brunt of the assault. Behind it stretched an open plain—if the soul beasts broke through, they could march straight into the heart of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Thus, the city had the largest number of soldiers and the strongest defenses. Prince Xueyu personally oversaw the central army, guarding the city while also serving as the overall commander of the frontline.
The eastern and western flanks had higher terrain, and their fortifications were built into the mountains, granting a natural defensive advantage. The assaults there would be slightly lighter.
Ice Phoenix Douluo and Tyrant Dragon Douluo held the eastern and western fronts respectively, each leading part of the army along with soul masters from various other forces.
Huo Yuhao, along with his two companions and the Imperial Guards, joined the defensive troops on the western front.
The soldiers formed battle formations, while the soul masters from other forces only needed to support and assist during combat.
Most of the younger generation of soul masters were there to gain experience, so they were positioned farther back. The frontline was held by powerful soul masters representing the various factions, who came to support the Heavenly Soul Empire.
After all, these factions were all within the Empire's borders—if they remained idle during this crisis, the Empire would likely settle accounts with them once the beast tide was over.
They didn't aim for merit—only to avoid blame.
This was the mindset of most factions.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. A rumbling sound came from the distance.
Many young soul masters turned pale with fright—this was their first time experiencing such a terrifying spectacle.
And the source of that spectacle—was the endless horde of soul beasts!
The beast tide had fully erupted!
In the distance, the tide surged forward like a crashing wave.
Resource scarcity had led to starvation, making the soul beasts more ferocious. Their numbers gave them confidence and fury. And the promise of greater resources to the south made them even more greedy.
The soul beasts could no longer hold back, driven by instinct and desire, and launched a full-scale assault on the Heavenly Soul Empire.
The ground trembled beneath their thundering charge.
In the sky, flying soul beasts rushed in at high speed.
But waiting for them were the soul cannons that had already been set up.
"Fire!"
With Prince Xueyu's order, the central city was the first to strike.
The already-loaded soul cannons unleashed a barrage—each shell became a meteor, raining down on the beast horde.
Some soul beasts tried to counter the attack by releasing long-range soul skills, attempting to intercept the cannon shells. But how could mere thousand-year soul beasts possibly stop such powerful weapons?
The soul cannon shells plunged into the beast tide, exploding into mushroom clouds.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Soul beasts—the era has changed!
Countless soul beasts were obliterated by the soul cannon blasts, and several breaches were blasted open in the beast tide.
And the next round of bombardment was already being prepared.
Everyone who saw this from afar was overjoyed and deeply encouraged. The earlier fear was completely swept away.
Wei Na and Beibei were visibly excited.
Huo Yuhao was much more composed.
But he had to admit—it was an awe-inspiring sight.
"This is war—the war between humans and soul beasts," Huo Yuhao thought to himself as he gazed into the distance.
Golden Tortoiseshell couldn't help but exclaim, "Whoa—humans are incredible! These soul cannons are insanely powerful! With these, the beast tide doesn't stand a chance at breaking through, right?"
Huo Yuhao replied, "These aren't even the strongest soul cannons. The Sun Moon Empire has even more powerful ones. But every shot fired costs a lot of money. The Heavenly Soul Empire can't afford to burn through all its resources here. These soul cannons can't keep firing forever—in the end, it'll come down to soul masters to hold the line."
It's not that they couldn't afford to use the soul cannons—but that soul masters were more cost-effective.
Skydream Iceworm suddenly sounded sorrowful. "This beast tide… I don't know how many soul beasts in the Extreme North will perish again. And this is just the continuation of the last tide. Two beast tides back-to-back will decimate the soul beast population of the Extreme North. It'll be a long time before they recover. The three Great Beast Kings have done nothing. How did it come to this?"
"Brother Tianmeng, are you saying…"
"Brother Hao, collect all their souls into your Ghost Banner Martial Soul—don't let a single one escape."
Huo Yuhao: "…Are you serious?"
"To let them accompany the Child of Destiny in another form—that too is a kind of blessing," Skydream Iceworm said compassionately.
Golden Tortoiseshell: "Classic you."
Huo Yuhao suddenly felt that Skydream Iceworm might have personal motives, but he had no proof.
Still, the suggestion was undeniably tempting to Huo Yuhao.
Unfortunately, it was easier said than done.
"The Ghost Banner's soul-drawing range can't cover the entire battlefield. If we can just collect the souls on our side, that would already be quite a feat. Our priority should still be the ten-thousand-year soul beasts," Huo Yuhao said helplessly.
Then, Huo Yuhao stopped chatting with the others—because the beast tide had arrived!
The cannon barrage had disrupted the momentum of the beast tide, but couldn't stop the soul beasts from advancing.
Finally, soul beasts reached the front lines.
They crashed like waves into the city walls of the central stronghold.
On Huo Yuhao's western front, soul beasts arrived as well.
Soul beasts with long-range attacks unleashed their skills, but were blocked by a massive soul barrier that suddenly rose.
"Prepare for battle!"
Tyrant Dragon Douluo's voice echoed across the western defenses.
All the soul masters braced themselves.
As the soul beasts closed in—
Tyrant Dragon Douluo's voice rang out again, this time just a single word, cold and resolute:
"Kill!"
The soul masters all activated their martial souls and charged into the beast tide.
"Teamfight time! Let's go!"
Huo Yuhao was pulled into the fray as well.
The soul masters from each faction fought in their own formations.
Huo Yuhao and his two companions naturally followed the Imperial Guards.
The Soul Sage-level commander led the charge, flanked by other guards. Wei Na was positioned at the center. Huo Yuhao and Beibei took the left and right flanks, protecting Wei Na and intercepting any ambushes from soul beasts.
This was the commander's arrangement.
In terms of warfare, he was the true professional.
Huo Yuhao didn't rush in recklessly.
Because in large-scale battles, individual heroics didn't matter—teamwork and formation discipline were key.
The bulk of the beast tide consisted of hundred-year and thousand-year soul beasts. Individually they weren't a major threat, but in numbers they could endanger even Soul Kings and Emperors.
As for ten-thousand-year soul beasts, they hadn't entered the battlefield yet.
Taking them down would require Soul Sages or even Douluo-level powerhouses.
Huo Yuhao sent his Variant Ice Jade Centipede Martial Soul to fight independently, burrowing underground and ambushing powerful soul beasts.
In fact, hidden within the Ice Jade Centipede was the Ghost Banner Martial Soul. From underground, it quietly drew in the souls of the fallen soul beasts.
The operation went smoothly—it felt as satisfying as collecting treasure.
In just over ten minutes, the Ghost Banner had already gathered over a hundred souls from hundred-year and thousand-year soul beasts.
Huo Yuhao himself fought using battle techniques, adjusting to the rhythm of war.
Finally, the ten-thousand-year soul beasts began to emerge.