"For now, stay in this cave for a few hours. I have to attend some personal matters. You can come out when I call for you." Di Tian said before turning around and leaving. Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes and bitterly smiled.
Although there was nothing obstructing the cave's tunnel or a powerful soul beast guarding at the end, he knew better than to assume Di Tian's prowess; he's known as the strongest soul beast in the world! Well, as far as most humans know that is.
Huo Yuhao wouldn't be surprised that Di Tian placed some kind of spatial lock on the entire cave.
"Are you okay?"
"Hm?" Huo Yuhao turned his head and blinked, surprised to see the Auspicious Emperor right in front of him and staring directly at his eyes.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine, mostly thanks to you it seems."
He straightened his body and bended his back, bowing with his head down. "Thank you, Auspicious Emperor."
Huo Yuhao bowed rarely. The first time was when he was wishing his mother for a peaceful rest in the afterlife, the next when he accepted Tang Ya as his "teacher", and...well, the rest of when he bowed is mostly when he accepted a teacher or to formally greet an elder.
But right now, he bowed to a soul beast out of genuine gratitude. She saved his life! Not just his, but also Skydream, Ice Empress, Indra, Electrolux, and Snow Empress.
Thanks to her, Huo Yuhao can live his life and fulfill his goals.
The Auspicious Emperor slowly nodded, looking a little shy. "There's no need for the gratitude, Human. I only saved you because you can help bring salvation to our kind. However, in return, I would also do my best to help you grow stronger."
Huo Yuhao blinked and looked up at the golden furred soul beast's eyes. "Actually, I was curious. How did you make a soul contract with me? I didn't know soul beasts could do that."
"They can't. I didn't know such a method existed until I did it with you." The Auspicious Emperor admitted.
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
Human and soul beast stared at each other, one was shocked while the other was curiously staring at him.
Huo Yuhao was baffled. "Wha-What? Huh?! Then how were you able to connect our souls? Actually! Just a sec... I gotta check on something..."
"Uh, Human...?"
Huo Yuhao didn't reply. He had closed his eyes and delved deep into himself, his soul to be precise.
What was a soul? Did it really exist? Yes, it does. And a soul is what makes a person who they are. It was the foundation of existence, the essence that tied together one's consciousness, emotions, and personality.
And right now, Huo Yuhao was diving deep into his body to find his soul — it wasn't a physical existence or be seen by the naked eye. Trying to examine one's soul was extremely difficult without immense spiritual power and control; even an ordinary Titled Douluo couldn't "see" their own soul.
Only those with martial souls related to manipulating souls could "see" their soul and others.
But, as a Necromancer and someone who had experience in using the "Human Path", Huo Yuhao easily saw his soul: a miniature figure of himself; about the size of an orange, completely naked and glowing blue.
This was the first time he saw his own soul but his attention immediately went to the red string extending from the center of his soul's chest and out to the void.
Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes, his spiritual awareness tracing the strange thread. It wasn't just attached to him—it was woven into his very existence.
'So this is what binds our souls... It isn't as hard as I had thought to get rid of it,' Huo Yuhao thought.
As someone who studies Necromancy and has memories of his past lives of Indra Incarnations, he has a number of methods to get rid of a soul contract. And by the looks of the link, it's a life and death soul contract; which shares the life force of both.
Which explains why the Auspicious Emperor doesn't share his injuries, this soul contract only works when one is dead and the other would follow.
If the link was cut, then that was it. The soul contract would be gone and they could on their separate ways
Huo Yuhao snorted. 'Yeah right. I won't do it. If the Auspicious Emperor could do it once, she could do it again! Plus, I need her help right now to keep the Great Beasts from killing me.'
'I have to keep it and make sure she doesn't die until I'm strong enough to defeat Di Tian.'
Moreover, it seems like the soul link is more beneficial for him — blackmail-ahem! What he meant was...leverage, yes! He can use it as leverage on the soul beasts to get all kinds of rare resources.
Rare resources? In the middle of a forest? A forest that has hosted powerful soul beasts for more than hundreds of thousands of years? And some powerful Titled Douluos or Soul Douluos in the past in search of a powerful soul bone and soul ring might've left behind some of their belongings here?
He was gonna strike rich here.
"—uman..."
Plus, he also needed to find the ones who tortured his dear brother and find out their weaknesses. Ohohoho. Putting aside their soul rings and soul bones, their bodies were also an incredible boon to add to his undead army. Skydream had specifically mentioned that his enemies were at least a hundred thousand year old, and they were at least as strong as a Titled Douluo!
Can you imagine the faces of his enemies when he summons his undead hundred thousand year old soul beasts?
It's going be amazing to watch.
"....Human."
But he isn't going to target every single hundred thousand year old soul beasts in the forest, that would be impossible as one of them might just screw him over and blow themselves up — that level of explosion would be enough to take out Shrek City and a chunk of Shrek Academy. Imagine if there were a few of them?
He wasn't sure even Absolute Domain and Susanoo could save him from that disaster. Hmm.
"—Human!"
"Hm?" Huo Yuhao snapped open his eyes and turned towards the Auspicious Emperor with a raised eyebrow. "Oh. Sorry. I was just checking to see if the soul link between is working."
"Oh, I understand." The Auspicious Emperor nodded. "But, uh, there's something else I have to inform you about. Two things actually."
"Um, but before that. I really want to know how you managed to form a soul contract with me."
The Auspicious Emperor tilted her head, a serious expression on her face. "Honestly, it's the strangest thing really. Remember when I said that I saw through the threads of your destiny?"
Huo Yuhao nodded.
"Well, when I was looking through the second path, the one that brought salvation to soul beasts, the method of forming a soul link or soul contract appeared in my mind."
Huo Yuhao was surprised. "You learned the soul contract method from a...vision? How is that possible? No, wait. It might be possible that either your possible future self or Di Tian himself from that possibility sent that technique to you in order to ensure a amiable relationship with me so to make sure that path has great chance of success."
Honestly though.... Huo Yuhao wasn't that against helping soul beasts to grow in both population and strength — simply because they are fundamentally important for all soul masters.
Without soul beasts, there can be no soul masters—as simple as that.
Huo Yuhao wasn't a saint, he's a realist. He understood that soul beasts were an essential part of the world's balance. If humans truly wiped them out, it would lead to devastating consequences, not just for soul masters but for the entire ecosystem!
Soul beasts aren't just beasts, there are also plant types and there are plant-type soul masters as well. What would happen if all the powerful and old soul beasts are gone, with only plant-type ones remaining? Humans are inherently greedy, they will for sure harvest them as well.
That said, he wasn't about to be some noble hero fighting for soul beast rights. No, he was in this for himself.
Helping soul beasts? That was just a side benefit.
When Huo Yuhao becomes a God, he was for sure going to live a very long life so that means he would see his descendants. What kind of Ancestor would he be if he let his descendants condemned to an eternity of mediocrity?
The Auspicious Emperor's eyed shined brightly, nodding excitedly. "You might be right! If that future does come true, I would be super strong and so would Di Tian — they would do anything to help our people."
"You said you had something to tell me before? What's the news?" Huo Yuhao asked.
The Auspicious Emperor stared directly at his eyes, not breaking eye contact when she said. "First, you're naked. Aren't you cold?"
Huo Yuhao blinked, and looked down at himself.
"Huh. You're right. I was naked this whole time!"
"You didn't know you were naked this entire time?!"
"I was fearing for my life!" Huo Yuhao grumbled and touched his hip—paused.
"Where the fuck is my storage belt? MY STUFF!!!"
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2/3 chapters of the week.