The sight of the Skydream Iceworm's spiritual form, shimmering and real, sent a ripple of profound silence through the assembled Ferocious Beasts. It was one thing to hear the word of a god or see a Divine Tool; it was another entirely to witness the impossible made manifest. The Soul Spirit system was not a myth or a promise; it was a reality, floating right before their ancient eyes.
Di Tian stared, his mind, which had processed the slow turn of millennia, now racing to comprehend the implications. This single, successful case was the key. A key that could unlock a new destiny for their entire race, a future free from the bloody cycle of the Soul Ring hunt.
The other beasts were equally stunned. The raw hostility that had suffocated Huo Yuhao began to recede, replaced by a complex mixture of awe, suspicion, and a dawning, reluctant hope. This small, frail human child was now inextricably linked to their future.
Seeing that the immediate danger had passed, Di Tian was the first to act. With a shimmer of spatial energy, his colossal dragon form condensed and reshaped itself. In its place stood a tall, regal man in his middle ages, clad in black and gold robes. His handsome face was stern, and his presence still commanded absolute authority, but in this form, he was far less intimidating.
"It is inconvenient to interact like this," he stated, his voice a deep baritone. "We will take human forms."
Following his lead, the other beasts began to transform. The hulking Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear, Xiong Jun, became a mountain of a man, bald and covered in intricate dark-gold tattoos, his bare arms thicker than Huo Yuhao's entire torso. He crossed his arms with a grunt, his expression still one of boorish disapproval, but the overt killing intent was gone.
The Three-Headed Scarlet Devil Mastiff, Chi Yan, morphed into a man with fiery red hair and equally fiery eyes, a fierce, warlike aura clinging to him. The Abyssal Demon Dragon, Zi Ji, became a woman of terrifying beauty. Her form was tall and slender, draped in a form-fitting purple-black dress that seemed woven from shadows. Her long, dark hair cascaded down her back, and her purple eyes held a cold, analytical indifference that was almost as unnerving as her dragon form.
Only the Three-Eyed Golden Lion remained in her beast form. As a 15,000-year-old Soul Beast, she had not yet reached the 100,000-year threshold required to freely assume a human shape.
Huo Yuhao, who had tensed up during the transformations, found himself staring at a gathering of what looked like human gods and demons. The terror lessened, but the awe and feeling of being utterly out of his depth remained.
It was Bi Ji who closed the final distance. Her human form was as gentle as her voice—a beautiful woman with emerald green hair, wearing a simple green dress, her eyes radiating a warmth that reminded Huo Yuhao so much of his mother.
She knelt before him, her kind smile chasing away the last of his fear. "You see? We are not so scary now, are we?"
Huo Yuhao looked at her, at the genuine kindness in her eyes, and felt a lump form in his throat. He nodded shyly, his gaze dropping to the floor.
"You must be tired and hungry, little one," she said softly. "Your body is weak. You need a place to rest, somewhere the life energy isn't so overwhelmingly potent that it harms you."
Huo Yuhao whimpered out, "T-Thank you, Aunt..."
She looked at Huo Yuhao and felt a maternal instinct she hadn't experienced in centuries. "From now on, you can call me Aunt Bi Ji."
The word struck a chord deep within Huo Yuhao. He looked up, his eyes misty. "Aunt… Bi Ji," he repeated, the name feeling natural on his tongue.
Di Tian cleared his throat. "I am Di Tian."
The hulking man grunted. "Xiong Jun."
The red-haired man gave a curt nod. "Chi Yan."
The cold beauty simply stared for a moment before speaking, her voice a silken whisper. "Zi Ji."
Huo Yuhao took it all in, committing the names to memory. He was in the heart of the most dangerous place on the continent, surrounded by its most powerful rulers, and yet, for the first time since his mother's death, he felt a flicker of… safety.
Aunt Bi Ji helped him to his feet. "I will find you a small cave nearby and gather some spirit fruits for you to eat."
As she spoke of food, Huo Yuhao's stomach rumbled audibly, causing a faint blush to creep up his neck. An idea, born from the book's knowledge and a desire to repay their tentative kindness, sparked in his mind.
"Um… Aunt Bi Ji?" he began shyly. "Could… could you help me get some fish? From one of the streams?"
Bi Ji blinked, surprised. "Fish? Child, the spirit fruits here contain far more energy."
"I… I want to cook," he mumbled, his head bowed. "For everyone. As a thank you."
This declaration caused the other beasts to look at him with renewed curiosity. Cooking? What was that?
Bi Ji, intrigued by this human custom, smiled warmly. "Of course. I will help you."
She led him to a nearby stream teeming with life, and with a simple wave of her hand, several large, plump fish leaped from the water and landed at his feet. While she, like most herbivorous Soul Beasts, preferred fruits and plants, the others were carnivores of the highest order. They were used to tearing into raw, bloody meat, finding the taste of life force and flesh to be the ultimate delicacy. The idea of a human preparing their food was bizarre.
They returned to the clearing where the others waited. Huo Yuhao, with a shyness that was endearing to Bi Ji and perplexing to the others, set about his task. He gathered dry wood, started a fire with a practiced hand, and began cleaning and skewering the fish.
Xiong Jun watched him with disdain. "What is this foolishness? He is burning perfectly good food. The best taste is in the blood and the raw flesh. This is a waste."
Chi Yan nodded in agreement. "A strange and inefficient human ritual. Why go through all this trouble?"
Only Di Tian and Zi Ji watched in silence, their expressions unreadable, observing the process with an analytical curiosity.
The tantalizing aroma soon began to waft through the clearing. It was a scent they had never experienced before—savory, smoky, and utterly mouth-watering. It was completely different from the smell of burning trees or scorched earth. It was… appetizing.
Xiong Jun's nose twitched. "What is that smell?" he grumbled, trying to maintain his disdainful posture.
Huo Yuhao, his face smudged with a bit of ash, carefully took the first perfectly grilled fish off the fire. The skin was golden and crispy, the flesh inside white and tender. He nervously held it out to Di Tian.
Di Tian hesitated for a moment before accepting it. He examined the grilled fish, then took a tentative bite.
His eyes widened.
An explosion of flavor erupted in his mouth. The crispy skin, the succulent and smoky flesh, the subtle herbs Huo Yuhao had found and crushed to use as seasoning… it was a symphony of taste he had never imagined possible. It was not just food; it was an experience.
He took another, much larger bite, a look of profound surprise on his stern face.
Seeing their leader's reaction, the others grew even more curious. Huo Yuhao, emboldened, passed out the other fish.
Xiong Jun snatched his, still grumbling, and took a massive bite that consumed half the fish. He stopped mid-chew. His perpetually grumpy face went blank, then his eyes lit up with pure, unadulterated delight. "More!" he roared, swallowing the rest in one gulp. "Brat, give me more!"
Chi Yan and Zi Ji were more reserved, but their reactions were no less dramatic. Chi Yan ate his with a focused intensity, the initial hostility in his eyes melting away into sheer enjoyment. Zi Ji, the cold and aloof demon dragon, took a delicate bite, and for the first time, a flicker of something other than indifference—a pleasant surprise—crossed her beautiful features.
Even the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who had been watching from a distance, was drawn in by the smell and the others' reactions. Huo Yuhao offered one to her, and she delicately took it in her jaws, her tail giving a small, happy flick as she savored the taste.
For the next hour, Huo Yuhao was a flurry of activity, grilling fish after fish for the insatiable Ferocious Beasts. The atmosphere in the clearing transformed completely. The tension was gone, replaced by a strange camaraderie forged over a shared meal. They had judged him as a weak human, but this small act, this simple skill, had earned him a measure of acceptance that a show of power never could have.
After the last fish was devoured and a satisfied quiet settled over the group, Di Tian was the first to speak, his tone now holding a hint of genuine curiosity rather than command.
"You mentioned… Soul Tools," he said, looking at Huo Yuhao. "You said you could make them for us. Explain what they are."
Huo Yuhao wiped his hands on his worn trousers. He took a deep breath, marshaling the knowledge from the book. "Soul Tools are weapons, armor, and other devices created by humans called Soul Engineers. They don't rely on a person's Martial Soul, but on their Soul Power to function. They are crafted from rare metals and engraved with special circuits called formation arrays."
He summoned the Life Guardian Blade into his hand. The small, elegant knife hummed with a gentle, green light. "This is an engraving knife. It was… a gift. It can help me create the formation arrays."
Xiong Jun leaned forward, intrigued. "Weapons? What kind of weapons? I want a claw that can amplify my Darkgold Terrorclaws! It must be able to shatter a mountain with a single swipe!"
Chi Yan slammed a fist into his palm. "I want armor! Armor that can withstand any attack! It must be completely immune to both physical and energy assaults!"
Zi Ji's purple eyes glinted. "I desire a tool that can enhance my spiritual power, something to focus my abyssal energy into a beam that can annihilate a soul from a thousand miles away."
Their demands were as arrogant and powerful as they were. They were asking for divine artifacts, not tools.
Huo Yuhao listened to their grand requests, his head bowing lower and lower with each one. He clutched the Life Guardian Blade tightly, a feeling of inadequacy washing over him.
"I… I can't," he whispered, his voice barely audible.
Xiong Jun's good mood soured instantly. "What do you mean, you can't? Are you taking us for fools, brat?"
"No!" Huo Yuhao said, looking up, his face pale. "It's just… Soul Tools have different classes, based on their power. From Class 1 to Class 9, and then beyond. What you are asking for… those are Class 9 or even legendary Class 10 tools. I… I have the knowledge of how they are made, but I don't have the skill or the Soul Power. Right now…"
He took a shaky breath. "I can only understand how to make Class 1 Soul Tools."
A wave of disdain washed over the beasts again. "Class 1?" Chi Yan scoffed. "What good is that? A toy?"
Huo Yuhao felt a tear well up in his eye, but he bit his lip and forced it back. "A Class 1 Soul Tool is weak, yes. But it is the foundation. I need to practice. I need to grow stronger. As my Soul Power and understanding increase, I can make stronger and stronger tools."
He looked at them, a spark of determination in his eyes. "But I can teach you. Once I understand it better, I can teach you the principles, show you the blueprints. You have an endless supply of rare metals here. You can learn to create them for yourselves, to arm all Soul Beasts against the humans who hunt you."
This idea gave them pause. The thought of their race wielding the very technology that was beginning to threaten them was a powerful one.
Di Tian nodded slowly. It made sense. The boy was a seed of potential, not a fully grown tree. They needed to be patient. They needed to nurture him. "Very well. Focus on your cultivation. Grow stronger. When you are ready, you will fulfill your promises."
The discussion ended. Bi Ji smiled gently at Huo Yuhao. "You have had a long day, little one. Eat well, rest, and cultivate. The life energy here will be immensely beneficial for you. It will heal your body and accelerate your growth."
That night, as Huo Yuhao sat in the small, comfortable cave Bi Ji had prepared for him, a soft padding sound approached. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion appeared at the entrance, her golden form glowing softly in the twilight.
She lay down, tucking her paws beneath her, and simply watched him for a long moment.
"Was it him?" she finally asked, her voice soft. "The Divine Consciousness. Was he the one who taught you the Soul Spirit method?"
Huo Yuhao nodded, deciding to keep the truth of Elder Huo's identity and sacrifice a secret. It was a pain that was his alone to bear. "Yes. He… he gave me the knowledge before he left."
The Auspicious Beast tilted her head. "Your memories… the ones I saw… they were filled with such cruelty. But the cities… they were also beautiful. All those lights, the tall buildings, so many humans living together. It's so different from our forest."
Huo Yuhao's interest was piqued. "The cities can be amazing places. Full of interesting food, stories, and people. But…" he looked at her seriously, his childish face holding a grave expression, "they are also full of schemes and danger. You must never go near a human city recklessly. Most humans are not like Aunt Bi Ji. They would see you as a priceless treasure to be captured or killed."
The Auspicious Beast looked at the small boy, who was so much weaker than her, yet was worrying so earnestly for her safety. A strange, warm feeling bloomed in her chest. She felt a connection to him that went beyond their shared destiny, a simple, pure feeling of fondness. She just nodded in response.
After she left to give him some rest, Huo Yuhao finally had a moment to himself.
'Brother Skydream?' he projected into his Spiritual Sea.
The crystalline worm materialized beside him. 'I'm here, kid! That was some fancy footwork back there! Making them fish! Hah! Never thought I'd see the day Di Tian ate cooked food!'
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly. 'I'm sorry, Brother Skydream. I brought you here without your consent, right back to the ones who bullied you.'
Skydream's form pulsed with light. 'Don't be sorry! Are you kidding? This is perfect! You have a god's legacy! You have the protection of the Ferocious Beasts! My plan to turn you into a god is already halfway complete! Besides, seeing the look on Di Tian's face when you beat him was worth a thousand years of being bullied!'
He then grew more serious. 'Speaking of which, there's something you need to know. When we merged, you felt it, right? The birth of a second Spirit Essence inside you.'
Huo Yuhao nodded. He had felt it—a formless, nascent power, purely of the ice attribute.
'That's your second Martial Soul!' Skydream explained excitedly. 'Right now, it's just a formless attribute. The first Soul Spirit you attach to it will give it its shape and name! This means your second Martial Soul will definitely be a Beast Spirit, one of the most powerful types! And I have the perfect candidate in mind!'
Huo Yuhao listened intently.
'In the northernmost part of the continent lies the Extreme North. It is a land of eternal ice and snow. And deep within it sleeps another empress of the ice, just like the one you will meet later from the book. She is the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion! She is a 400,000-year-old Soul Beast, immensely powerful! We need to go there and convince her to become your second Soul Spirit and the foundation of your second Martial Soul!'
The plan was audacious, but it filled Huo Yuhao with excitement. 'I agree. When I am stronger, we will go.'
The next few days settled into a routine that was both blissful and brutal.
In the mornings, Huo Yuhao would sit by the Lake of Life and cultivate. He practiced the Mysterious Heaven Technique, feeling the dense, pure life energy of the Core Region surge into his body. It was like soaking in a hot spring of vitality.
The energy not only fueled his Soul Power, which began to inch slowly but steadily towards level 14, but it also nourished his malnourished body. Color returned to his cheeks, his frame began to fill out, and a healthy sheen returned to his hair.
At dawn and dusk, he would practice the Purple Demon Eyes, staring into the rising and setting sun. The rich spiritual energy of the forest, combined with the technique, made his Spiritual Sea expand at a visible rate. He could feel his Spirit Eyes growing stronger, his perception sharper.
The food Bi Ji brought him was a feast of rare spirit fruits and herbs that would fetch astronomical prices in the human world. Each bite was a burst of pure energy, further supplementing his growth.
But his afternoons were hell.
The Ferocious Beasts, now committed to his growth, decided to personally oversee his "training." And their methods were nothing short of monstrous.
Chi Yan was the first. His training was for endurance and elemental resistance. He led Huo Yuhao to a field of "Scarlet Devil Grass," a ten-thousand-year-old plant whose leaves inflicted a constant, stinging, burning pain upon contact.
"Run," Chi Yan ordered, his arms crossed. "Run through the field from one end to the other. Do not stop. Do not use your Soul Power to shield yourself. You must learn to endure the pain, to make it your companion."
Huo Yuhao, his eyes wide with fear, had no choice. The first step into the field was agony. Thousands of fiery needles seemed to pierce his skin. He cried out, but Chi Yan's cold gaze forced him forward. He ran, tears streaming down his face, his skin blistering and turning red. He fell dozens of times, each fall sending a fresh wave of excruciating pain through his body. By the time he collapsed at the other end, he was a sobbing, twitching mess. This was repeated, day after day.
Next was Xiong Jun. His training was simple, brutal, and focused on physical strength. He pointed to a massive boulder of Black Iron Ore, a metal known for its incredible density. It probably weighed several tons.
"Lift it," the giant man grunted.
Huo Yuhao stared at the rock, then at his own thin arms. It was impossible. "I… I can't."
"You will," Xiong Jun said. "Push. Push until your bones break. Then you will rest, Bi Ji will heal you, and you will push again tomorrow. Strength is not given; it is torn from the world through effort."
Huo Yuhao pushed. He strained until every muscle screamed, until his vision went black at the edges, until he felt the delicate bones in his arms begin to creak under the strain. He couldn't budge it an inch, but he pushed, day after day, until he would collapse from sheer exhaustion, his muscles feeling like they were on fire.
But the worst, by far, was Zi Ji. Her training was not of the body, but of the soul.
She would have him sit before her, and she would release a minuscule fraction of her abyssal aura. It wasn't an attack. It was just pressure. An aura of pure destruction, despair, and annihilation that sought to corrode his very consciousness.
"Resist," was her only instruction.
The moment the aura touched him, Huo Yuhao felt a cold dread seize his heart. It was a feeling of utter hopelessness. Whispers of failure, of death, of the pointlessness of existence echoed in his mind. His spirit felt like it was being ground into dust. He had to use every ounce of his rapidly growing Spiritual Power, focusing on the image of his mother's loving face, on his burning desire for revenge, just to keep his consciousness from dissolving into the abyss. It was a silent, invisible battle that left him mentally and emotionally shattered every single time.
He would end each day bruised, burned, exhausted, and on the verge of mental collapse.
On the fifth day of this "training," as Huo Yuhao lay trembling on the ground after a session with Zi Ji, unable to even cry, Bi Ji finally snapped.
She appeared in a flash of green light, her gentle face contorted with a cold fury that silenced the other beasts.
"Have you all lost your minds?!" she roared, her voice, for the first time, losing its gentleness. She knelt and gathered the broken boy into her arms, a wave of healing life energy washing over him.
"Look at him!" she said, her voice trembling with rage as she gestured to the other three. "Chi Yan, you burn him! Xiong Jun, you try to break his bones! And you, Zi Ji, you are trying to shatter his spirit! He is a human child, not a newborn Terrorclaw Bear or an Abyssal Dragon hatchling! His body and soul cannot withstand this! You are not training him; you are destroying him!"
The three powerful beasts had the grace to look chastised. They had been applying the same logic they used for their own kind, forgetting the fundamental fragility of a human.
Bi Ji stood up, holding Huo Yuhao protectively. Her eyes flashed with an unyielding light.
"This ends now," she declared. "From this day forward, I will be the one to train him. I will teach him how to control life energy, how to truly grow. You will not lay another hand on him without my permission. Is that clear?"
Di Tian, who had been observing from a distance, gave a slight nod of approval. The others, faced with Bi Ji's righteous fury and the undeniable logic of her words, reluctantly agreed.
Cradled in Aunt Bi Ji's warm, healing embrace, Huo Yuhao finally let the last of his composure break, sobbing quietly into her shoulder, not from pain, but from relief. For the first time, he truly had someone to protect him. He had a home.
~~
A/N: Check out my other novels like "Blood Silver Emperor", "Harem Master: Seduction System" and the "Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist" and I hope you like this story and those stories as well.
Check out more chapters on my P.atreon. The P.atreon will have 20+ Chapters ahead for this story. I hope you like it.
The link of p.atreon is: bit.ly/evildragon