Chapter 142: Soul Core and Holy Spirit's Mutation (Two-in-One)

By the East Sea shore, night hangs low.

Ink-black waves layer upon layer, roaring as they shatter against the bank, spraying silver-white foam across the sky.

A handsome youth sits cross-legged alone on a reef, letting the sea breeze lift his robes, short blue hair drifting in the wind.

Distant angry waves strike the reef, splashing mist that wets his eyelashes. He tilts his head slightly, letting the salty sea breeze brush his cheeks.

Though his frame is slender, the flowing muscle lines beneath his clothes are faintly visible — traces left by long years of bitter cultivation. At this moment his still figure appears exceptionally tranquil amid the violent sea and sky, like a sharp sword hidden in its scabbard, edge restrained yet secretly harboring keen intent.

It is precisely Huo Yuhao.

Two years of time, under the tempering of blood qi power and natural growth, the youth of that year has already grown to about one meter seven.

"Yuhao, are you ready?"

Mu Ye, Hua Yichen, and the Snow Empress's divine sense stand at the edge of the sea domain. Mu Ye watches Huo Yuhao adjust his state and asks aloud.

Huo Yuhao nods. "Already prepared. Thank you for the trouble, several teachers."

"No problem. A Soul King condensing a Soul Master's first soul core — that is a feat surpassing the Soul Master World's historical records. Being able to witness and participate in it counts as my good fortune too." Hua Yichen says with a light laugh.

The essence of condensing a soul core is comprehension and compression of soul power. He had thought that no matter how fast Huo Yuhao was, he would only possibly manage it at Soul Emperor. He did not expect it would be this fast.

Among those famous Limit Powerhouses in history, some exceptionally gifted people only completed soul core condensation at Soul Emperor — for instance that Erqing Douluo. Judging by his cultivation speed, he probably condensed his soul core around Soul Emperor as well, relying on the soul core's passive ability to absorb heaven and earth yuan qi from the outside world, making his cultivation speed at the Soul Emperor realm no slower than at Soul King.

And among those condensing a soul core at the Soul King level, Yuhao is the first person he has ever seen.

Mu Ye had long anticipated this, his emotions even calmer. At this moment he says:

"Then let's begin, Yuhao."

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao nods, sits cross-legged, closes his eyes and meditates.

The blood qi vortex inside his body circulates on its own, tracing a profound trajectory through his meridians. In an instant, heaven and earth yuan qi from all directions seems drawn by some invisible force, converging toward this reef like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

Hua Yichen and Mu Ye exchange a glance, and together with the Snow Empress's divine sense begin mobilizing heaven and earth yuan qi with spiritual power to assist Huo Yuhao in condensing his blood qi soul core.

This vast heaven and earth yuan qi pours continuously into Huo Yuhao's body. During this fusion process, his body trembles slightly, each tremor making the surrounding air distort even more violently.

In just a short moment, the blood qi vortex in Huo Yuhao's dantian changes again. A swirl of gray mist surges, enveloping the silver and gold light points in the vortex together, causing the entire vortex to collapse inward as it spirals.

Collapse, expand, then collapse and expand again. The blood qi vortex's mutation even drives the outside world's heaven and earth yuan qi to transform into a vortex.

Such a process brings intense pain to a Soul Master, but Huo Yuhao merely goes through it with an unchanged expression, even having spare capacity to mobilize the Silver Dragon King Reverse Scale and Life Gold in his Spiritual Sea, emitting halos of light that continuously surge into the blood qi vortex...

Watching this scene, Hua Yichen nods secretly in admiration for Huo Yuhao's willpower, and raises an eyebrow:

"Why does Yuhao's method of condensing a soul core look a bit like the ancient method, utilizing the Second Martial Soul's spatial power?"

In past eras, condensing a soul core was usually something only Titled Douluo would do, requiring a certain comprehension of spatial power in order to compress soul power.

And as eras developed, the first soul core was researched to have a method of condensing at Soul Sage. But how many Soul Masters at Soul Sage can grasp spatial power?

So the current first soul core condensation method is a simplified one, pursuing gradual progress, not forcing comprehension of spatial power, with the goal of increasing the number of powerhouses. There are now far more Titled Douluo than in the past, and this new soul core condensation method deserves great credit.

But as a result, the condensed soul cores naturally cannot compare with those of the past, and this causes many Soul Masters to get stuck at the Soul Sage realm.

The Snow Empress's divine sense smiles faintly. "His comprehension of spatial power is not small. I taught it to him."

Hua Yichen's expression moves, and he nods slightly.

To speak of ancient — this one has survived in Douluo for hundreds of thousands of years. Guiding past soul core condensation is naturally no problem for her.

At this moment, Huo Yuhao is immersed in that profound and more profound comprehension. Each pulse of soul core energy is like a leap of life, letting him clearly feel his own life level undergoing a qualitative metamorphosis.

And inside his body, as the gray mist disappears, multicolored silver crystals quietly appear at the dantian position from time to time.

But from the start of his soul core condensation, only two short hours have passed. The sun has not yet risen.

Such shocking speed, if spread, would probably shake even those powerhouses standing at the peak of the Soul Master World. After all, ordinary Soul Masters wanting to condense a soul core often need nearly a day of bitter cultivation, yet he completed this crucial breakthrough in the blink of an eye.

The soul core's formation also represents his formal return to the path of the strong.

Huo Yuhao's consciousness begins immersing in comprehension of the blood qi soul core, while the outside world's heaven and earth yuan qi is naturally absorbed by the soul core, continuously growing stronger.

Mu Ye and Hua Yichen watch this scene, their expressions both somewhat excited.

The soul core cultivation path is extremely difficult; eight or nine out of ten Soul Masters stop at this step.

But if one can break through this shackle, it is like a kunpeng spreading wings ninety thousand li, a flood dragon entering the sea to roam freely.

After the soul core forms, a Soul Master's perception and guidance ability toward heaven and earth yuan qi will gain a significant increase, thereby greatly enhancing their own power. At this stage, Soul Masters basically need not worry about soul power exhaustion, because the soul core can attract heaven and earth yuan qi on its own to rapidly replenish consumption. Unless experiencing extremely fierce battle, Soul Sage-level Soul Masters can all maintain continuous soul power circulation.

"Truly heaven blesses our Body Sect..."

Mu Ye sighs secretly.

The Snow Empress's divine sense watches this scene and smiles faintly. "Thank you for the trouble, you two. What comes next will probably require waiting several hours. Let me guard the path for him."

The two exchange a glance — naturally no objection.

When the first ray of dawn at the horizon breaks the sky, Huo Yuhao finishes cultivation and opens his eyes. Seeing the figure before him, his pupils ripple.

The Snow Empress's divine sense stands quietly in the morning light, a plain white long skirt untainted by dust. The rising morning sun gilds her with a layer of pale gold light halo. As her skirt hem sways gently in the wind, she resembles a fairy carved from ice and snow descending to the mortal world.

Ten thousand years ago, the Snow Empress also silently guarded by his side like this, protecting his path.

The Snow Empress looks back and smiles:

"The Evil Emperor and Bear Lord's soul bones were also directly fused, right? How was the harvest?"

"Not bad."

Huo Yuhao looks away, smiles faintly. Rank 54 soul power fluctuates. He raises his right hand.

Between the five fingers of his right hand, gold and silver dual-colored streamers intertwine and coil like living things, separating and fusing at times, brewing an astonishing energy storm in the stillness. That light at first is weak like fireflies, yet in the span of a breath suddenly collapses, condensing into five dazzling light blades —

Tear!

Huo Yuhao's right wrist presses down violently. Five gold-and-silver-interlaced claw marks tear open the deep sea. On the dark gold main blade light jumps crescent-shaped silver radiance. Where they pass, seawater is not pushed aside but directly annihilated into nothingness.

Behind the fifty-meter-long light trace, five dark tunnels dozens of meters long penetrate the sea abyss. Silver spatial cracks like spider webs spread madly along the tunnel edges.

Most horrifying is that those torn voids actually begin autonomously devouring surrounding seawater, forming five giant deep-sea vortices.

"Tearing Heaven Claw?"

The Snow Empress was momentarily surprised.

Huo Yuhao laughed and said, "After the soul core condensed, the difficulty of combining blood qi power, spiritual power, and soul power further decreased. I can already proficiently use that kind of fused power. Using it to mobilize spatial power, I can achieve this degree."

This is merely one benefit brought by the blood qi soul core; there are quite a few other benefits as well.

Moreover, with the blood qi soul core formed, he has also completely passed the first barrier of the Body Sect Innate Secret Art.

Huo Yuhao and the Snow Empress conversed a few sentences via divine sense, after which the latter returned to the spiritual sea.

He walked alone toward the edge of the sea domain; Hua Yichen and Mu Ye, the two of them, had not left, and were now waiting for him at the edge of the sea domain.

Huo Yuhao only stopped when he reached right in front of Hua Yichen and Mu Ye.

"Not bad. A five-ring Soul King, spiritual power around the mid-stage of Spirit Abyss Realm, plus the already completed battle armor — you also possess the power to protect yourself now. I can also leave with peace of mind."

After carefully sizing up Huo Yuhao for a while, Mu Ye said with emotion.

The Spirit Abyss Realm spiritual power standard is 5000; the Spiritual Domain Realm spiritual power standard is 20000. Yuhao just entered the Spirit Abyss Realm two years ago, and now he has reached the mid-stage. His spiritual power shows not the slightest sign of stagnation; entering the Spiritual Domain Realm in the future is a certainty.

And the Spiritual Domain Realm, to a certain extent, represents a Limit Douluo. If spiritual power can step into the Spiritual Domain Realm, becoming a Limit Douluo in the future can almost be said to be inevitable.

Truly enviable aptitude.

"Thank you for Teacher Mu Ye's guidance over these two years, and thank you for Teacher Hua's care." Huo Yuhao solemnly saluted the two of them.

"No need for excessive thanks. My words from back then still count. I still plan to wait for you to grow up and become an elder for me to retire on."

Hua Yichen laughed heartily, patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder, then said with some sighing emotion: "Your growth speed is even faster than I predicted. Do you plan to go to Mingdu?"

Watching the child he had unearthed step by step reach the point of no longer needing his protection — who would not feel a sigh of emotion?

"Mm." Huo Yuhao nodded. "I plan to go to Mingdu together with Li Lao. He wants to introduce me to the Mecha Master Association President, and I also want to take a look at the Mecha Master Association Headquarters."

The Mecha Master Association Headquarters is likewise in Mingdu. Its original founders even had connections to Mingde Hall; it was only because later the personnel entering came from all major forces, no longer as pure as before, that it transformed into its current appearance.

But it still has connections with Mingde Hall.

"The Mecha Master Association President?"

Mu Ye nodded thoughtfully. "I also have a friendship with that person. If you encounter trouble in there, you can send word to me."

Hua Yichen smiled wryly. "Your Excellency Mu Ye thinks that with Yuhao's identity and sub-occupation capabilities, he would still be made things difficult for?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Mu Ye glanced at Huo Yuhao, thought of the titles atop the other's head, and did not refute.

Although Mingdu's forces are mixed, with all parties' personnel present, the Spirit Pagoda's weight among them is not small.

Moreover, this kid at such a young age is already a Sixth-class Designer and Sixth-class Manufacturer; the Mecha Master Association high-ranking officials will not turn a blind eye to this.

Thinking of this, Mu Ye said: "Notify me when you set off. Before arriving at Tian Dou City, I can go all the way with you..."

Mu Ye's words were not yet finished when the soul guide communication device's ringtone suddenly interrupted his train of thought. He frowned slightly, took out that exquisite metal device from his bosom, communicated with the other side for a moment, and his eyes instantly changed.

"What did you say?! Zhenhua was injured?"

How could this be? Didn't Zhenhua say someone was protecting him?

The reason he dared leave the Blacksmith Association was because he knew someone was secretly protecting Zhenhua's safety, whose strength was not the slightest bit inferior to his. Now what is going on?

Hua Yichen and Huo Yuhao looked at each other, and also secretly frowned.

Someone attacked a Divine Craftsman... Evil Soul Masters?

"Only minor injuries?"

After receiving more accurate information, Mu Ye breathed a sigh of relief, hung up, and put away the soul guide communication device, looking at Huo Yuhao. "It seems I cannot travel the same path as you. The attacker is very strong and was not caught. I must immediately rush back to Tian Dou City, lest he strike again."

Huo Yuhao nodded. "Teacher, take care."

Mu Ye nodded, summoned a Red-Grade Mecha, and rushed toward the direction of Tian Dou City. In his mind he recalled the news he had just heard, brows tightly locked.

Rank 98 Super Douluo... There is actually such an existence among Evil Soul Masters now?

On the other side, Na Na Li hung up the soul guide communication device, looking at the Dark Department members below with a gloomy expression.

"Who can tell me? Where did these Evil Soul Masters pop out from? Four! A full four experts at Super Douluo and above, all of them Evil Soul Masters!"

"These years the screening of Evil Martial Soul holders has already been very careful, yet so many fish that slipped through the net can still appear? This is merely a bit of strength the Holy Spirit Cult has revealed. The Divine Craftsman, the Dark Department branch, and two Councilors were simultaneously attacked. Apart from His Excellency Zhenhua and that Councilor I personally protected being unharmed, the other two locations both succeeded. Now the higher-ups are very dissatisfied with this matter."

These years, she had seen many weak Evil Soul Masters. Na Na Li truly could not imagine the Holy Spirit Cult still possessed such strength.

If not for the agreement reached with An Feng two years ago, the losses this time would probably have been even greater.

'Haven't seen Titled Douluo-level or above Evil Soul Masters in recent years; in the end, we grew lax.'

Thinking this, Na Na Li looked at her subordinates below who were silent as winter cicadas, sighed, and said: "The branch was attacked. How much was lost?"

A member responsible for information collation stepped forward. "The attacked Dark Department branch lost some data — information on Evil Martial Soul screening personnel across the Federation in recent years. Many of them are children. Also, one Titled Douluo and one Soul Douluo on duty... have gone missing."

Na Na Li knitted her brows, sighed in regret for a moment at her colleague's encounter, then turned her thoughts to those data.

Not all Evil Martial Soul holders join the Dark Department and Execution Department; some still live ordinary lives.

The Holy Spirit Cult wants their information — for what purpose?

(End of Chapter)