Since the dawn of the soul master profession, artificial soul rings have been the dream of every soul master.
Naturally, Huo Yuhao was deeply intrigued by the concept.
He understood the inherent flaws of martial souls.
Martial souls could not fundamentally resolve the hostility between soul masters and soul beasts—they could only delay the inevitable conflict.
Only artificial soul rings could address the core of the issue.
To discuss artificial soul rings, we must first examine the composition of soul rings.
Though a soul ring is a highly condensed and compressed form of energy, it is not solely composed of soul power.
During his soul experiments, Huo Yuhao—drawing upon the knowledge he acquired from the forbidden archives of Shrek Academy's inner courtyard and under Electrolux's guidance—conducted extensive research using soft-boned rabbits and other soul beasts as samples.
After nearly growing sick of eating roasted rabbit meat, Huo Yuhao made a discovery: the formation of soul rings on the Douluo Continent was not as profound as one might think.
A soul ring consisted of two primary components—the soul power shell and the soul skill pattern.
Typically, when a soul master activates a soul skill, they channel their soul power into the soul ring. The soul skill pattern then converts this soul power into an actual ability, which is released.
Additionally, the soul master's own martial soul influences how the soul skill manifests.
As the saying goes, there are no useless soul skills, only useless soul masters.
In their early stages, soul masters lack the ability to perceive and control the power of their martial soul origin. Thus, they can only use soul skills mechanically.
However, upon reaching the Soul Sage rank and obtaining their Martial Soul True Body, soul masters begin to comprehend their martial soul's origin. This allows them to gradually influence the effects of their soul skills.
From this foundation, a variety of secret techniques, self-created soul skills, and specialized methods have emerged.
At the very least, high-level soul masters with solid foundations do not rely solely on rigid, pre-defined soul skills.
Returning to the composition of soul rings—if we compare them to soul tools:
The soul power shell is like the outer casing of a soul tool.
The soul skill pattern is the core formation, and its importance cannot be overstated.
The soul power shell is naturally formed from the soul beast's soul power, serving as the framework of the soul ring.
The soul skill pattern, however, is far more complex. It is composed of the soul beast's bloodline origin and soul, making it the most crucial part of the soul ring.
It is common knowledge that soul rings are produced upon a soul beast's death, and soul bones may also appear.
The underlying principle is as follows:
In most cases, when a soul beast dies, its corpse remains, while the majority of its soul power disperses into the world.
However, under the laws of Douluo, a portion of this soul power automatically condenses into a soul power shell.
Once formed, the shell draws in the remnants of the soul beast's soul and bloodline origin, merging them together.
When a soul master absorbs a soul ring, the process relies on the soul beast's lingering soul and the compatibility between its bloodline origin and the soul master's martial soul.
The suitable bloodline origin, guided by Douluo's natural laws, generates a soul skill pattern tailored to the soul master.
Thus, the soul ring—complete with its embedded soul skill—is formed.
The reason why absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring risks inducing a soul shock is due to the residual soul within the ring.
Even if fragmented, the soul of a powerful soul beast may lash out in resentment against the soul master attempting to claim its bloodline origin.
This is also the origin of the restriction that soul rings impose on their killers—the lingering soul within the ring recognizes the one who killed it.
Additionally, the time limit for soul rings stems from the instability of the residual soul.
The higher a soul beast's cultivation, the stronger its soul power shell, the more potent the bloodline origin it carries, and the more complex the resulting soul skill pattern—ultimately producing a more formidable soul skill.
As for soul bones, they are likely the result of a fusion between soul power, soul remnants, bloodline origin, and even a spirit core, all shaped by the world's laws.
While the explanation may sound straightforward, creating an artificial soul ring is far from simple.
The soul power shell is not the main issue—these are categorized into ten-year, hundred-year, thousand-year, ten-thousand-year, and hundred-thousand-year tiers.
The real challenge lies in artificially constructing the soul skill pattern, which requires the use of origin power.
For humans, this means martial soul origin power; for soul beasts, it is bloodline origin power.
Moreover, one must also understand how to design soul skill patterns.
However, these were not insurmountable obstacles for Huo Yuhao.
As the inheritor of the Heaven-Refining Demon Venerable and the master of the System, he possessed unique advantages.
Over the past month, with his immense spiritual power, the Spirit Eyes martial soul, the assistance of the Wisdom Gu, and Electrolux's guidance, Huo Yuhao had unraveled the mysteries step by step.
He continuously raised questions, solved problems, and ultimately produced a batch of artificial soul rings simulating hundred-year soul power.
This conservative approach was only to avoid wasting origin power—Huo Yuhao could, in theory, replicate any known soul ring as long as he had sufficient soul power, the correct origin power, and the soul skill pattern.
Though no one had yet absorbed one of his artificial soul rings, he was confident the success rate was 100%.
After all, his second soul ring for the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion had been formed in a similar manner.
It did not rely on a soul beast's bloodline origin but was instead constructed from the divine power within Ice & Fire Yin‑Yang Well transformed into soul power and origin power.
The Eat Strength Immortal Gu then automatically generated a soul skill pattern compatible with his martial soul through its own rule-based power.
This was, in essence, a god-bestowed soul ring—a personal demonstration of what was possible.
For Huo Yuhao, this was a small step. But for all soul masters, it was a giant leap forward.
However, the method of crafting artificial soul rings was not as easily teachable as the Soul Method.
The Soul Method alone was already a challenge for the people of Douluo to master—let alone the far more complex process of artificial soul rings.
It required deep theoretical knowledge, forcing soul masters to study its principles thoroughly.
They would need to progress from simple to complex—learning to condense soul power shells, wield origin power, engrave soul skill patterns, and even innovate new ones.
At present, only Huo Yuhao could accomplish this on the entire continent.
And even he had only reached the third step of the process.
This method was far from universal.
For the average soul master, reaching the Soul Sage rank would be the minimum requirement to even attempt these steps.
Of course, optimizations were possible—perhaps through soul tools to simplify the process.
But then, energy became the next major hurdle.
The soul power shell was manageable, as it prioritized the quality of soul power over quantity.
This was also why soul masters could break through cultivation barriers by absorbing soul rings—they gained refined soul power in the process.
At worst, a soul master absorbing an artificial soul ring could choose not to absorb excess soul power, drastically reducing consumption.
But origin power was another matter entirely.
Generally, only Soul Sages could access their martial soul's origin power and begin utilizing it.
Unlike soul power, origin power could not be stored in devices like bottle-type soul tools—at least, not with Shrek's current technology.
More critically, origin power was not as abundant or easily replenished as soul power...
...
Different martial souls naturally possess different martial soul origin powers.
Just as a soul tool must be forged from specific metals as its core material,
Just as a soul master must find a compatible soul beast, he reason the Divine Soul Ring is so versatile.
Lies in divine power—a higher-tier energy capable of channeling the power of rules, transforming it into various origin powers to a certain extent.
For human soul masters, if artificial soul rings are to meet the diverse needs of different martial souls, they must incorporate distinct and suitable origin powers.
As for the third step—learning and engraving soul skill patterns—
It isn't particularly difficult.
At least, Huo Yuhao finds it comparable to engraving core formations.
The only requirements are:
Exceptional mental control, eyes capable of observing soul skill patterns, replacing the engraving knife (used for metal) with mental power (used for origin power).
That's all.
Without the aid of rule power, only sheer mental strength can carve soul skill patterns into the appropriate origin power.
Of course, if soul tools advance further, they might achieve this mechanically.
At the very least, the path to artificial soul rings now exists.
Huo Yuhao has already taken the hardest step.
Over the past month, Huo Yuhao delved into artificial soul rings for one reason: his physique had improved.
Now, he could withstand a 100,000-year soul ring.
Thus, he once again tapped into Skydream's spiritual origin to enhance the age of his Spirit Eye's soul rings.
Platinum, Red, Red, Red! Three 100,000-year soul rings!
After breaking the 100,000-year threshold: Spatial Teleportation's range expanded from 50 meters to 100 meters.
Under the influence of Space Mastery and the Spirit Eye's time-space talent, the skill now has no cooldown and no additional soul power cost for consecutive use.
The Spiritual Engraving soul skill also saw minor changes. It still features one permanent replication slot and one temporary imprint slot.
The daily limit for temporary imprints increased from three to ten.
But honestly, he'd never use them all. Also the copied soul skills still vanish after a single use.
This Spiritual Engraving has proven invaluable—allowing Huo Yuhao to deeply study soul skill patterns and better understand soul ring composition.
He only needs to witness a skill once, replicate it, and dissect it at leisure. An absurdly useful ability!
The Blue Water Field in his permanent slot has been enhanced, now surpassing even the original Azure Sky Lion Beast's version—reaching a level akin to domain-type soul skills like the Everfreeze Domain.
However, 100,000 years is currently the upper limit for these soul rings.
Skydream's spiritual origin is temporarily maxed out, unable to push them further.
The next threshold—200,000 years—is a colossal leap.
After study and comparison, Huo Yuhao realized that the soul skill patterns of 100,000-year soul rings are already highly refined.
Even if the soul ring's age increases later, the skills themselves won't change much.
The complexity of a standard 100,000-year soul ring isn't far from Bingdi's 400,000-year orange-gold soul ring—the latter simply has stronger origin power.
This is also how Skydream's spiritual origin enhances soul rings.
It strengthen the origin power inside the soul ring, attracting external energy to upgrade the "soul power shell," while the soul skill patterns spontaneously improve.
Huo Yuhao has noticed that the Spirit attribute is somewhat… bugged.
This is likely because Skydream, the continent's first million-year soul beast, possessed spiritual power bordering on god-level.
Still, spiritual origin remains one of the most versatile origin powers.
While martial soul origins vary drastically between soul masters, spiritual origins are all fundamentally similar.
The current era of Douluo doesn't prioritize spiritual cultivation.
Most rely on martial soul talent, using soul power breakthroughs to passively boost mental strength.
Even Huo Yuhao follows this pattern—his uniqueness stems from his Spirit Eye, Skydream, Life Gold, Electrolux and multiple other "plugins."
…
Four Months Later
After a month of preparation, the second semester had been underway for nearly four months.
Huo Yuhao's Peeping Gu had cooled down once more.
As his strength grew and his influence on others' fates expanded, the cost of using the Peeping Gu also rose.
Huo Yuhao suspected that even a typical Titled Douluo wouldn't incur as high a "price" as he did.
Even without the Gu, Fate itself nudged him: "It's time to head to the Star Dou Great Forest."
In other words—Tang San's machinations were about to begin.
Turning his gaze toward the Sea God Pavilion, Huo Yuhao's eyes seemed to pierce through space, locking onto the golden tree within.
"Is this the plane's… gentle reminder?"
To outsiders, Huo Yuhao and Ma Xiaotao might seem like a perfect pair—Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Fire.
But Huo Yuhao knew the truth:
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was the plane's arranged "daughter-in-law" for its favorite son.
This was a match written by fate itself.
Huo Yuhao had no intention of resisting.
After all, Qiu'er was one of the tragic figures in his past life.
Plus, free access to Fate's power? He wouldn't pass that up.
Besides…
A beast-girl wife who fits his tastes? Absolutely delicious.
As for memory exchange? Not an issue.
With the Memory Gu, he could block certain "unnecessary" memories from being shared.
This was undoubtedly part of Tang San's scheme.
In the original timeline, when Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong met the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, Wang Dong felt as if something had been carved out of her.
This was Tang San's handiwork.
Essentially, part of Tang Wutong's soul was stitched into the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, creating the later three-in-one abomination.
Tang San's excuse in the original story?
"The Emperor's Auspicious Beast was always my arrangement—she was part of Tang Wutong from the beginning.
Bullshit.
Here's the flaw in that logic:
The Emperor's Auspicious Beast is 15,000 years old.
Tang San reincarnated into Douluo just 10,000 years ago.
Unless time flowed differently in his past life, how could he have planned this before he even jumped off the cliff?
The truth?
Tang San simply coveted the beast's luck, bloodline (Golden Dragon King, not mere Golden Dragon) and Golden Dragon Spear which was a natural divine artifact.
So he stole, manipulated, and gaslit—all while painting himself as righteous.
'Shameless.'
…
After breaking through to the Tangible Spirit realm, Huo Yuhao inspected Wang Dong'er's consciousness and pieced together the truth.
Tang Wutong's soul was split into two from the start—Main Soul and Subsidiary Soul.
The Main Soul retained all memories and personality.
While the Subsidiary Soul (Wang Dong'er) was implanted with false childhood memories, forming a new personality.
But within Wang Dong'er's mind, another fragment—severed from the Main Soul—was sealed by Tang San's divine will.
Thus, the original "Princess Tang" was divided into three.
'What kind of father does that?'
Huo Yuhao would not let history repeat.
He had grown stronger.
Now, it was time to counterattack.
…
Feb 7th: "Purge evil fire."
Feb 8th: "Discuss life ideals with Sister Xiaotao."
Feb 9th: "Huo Yuhao, have you no shame? What happened to your study plans?"
Feb 10th: "Evil fire strikes again."
This was just Ma Xiaotao making up for lost time after her Ultimate Fire breakthrough seclusion. Huo Yuhao remained… moderately restrained.
…
Activating the Peeping Gu, Huo Yuhao asked: "What fifth soul ring suits me best?"
Fate's Response: "Go find it! All the right soul beasts are in Star Dou Forest!"
"Wow. So helpful."
'Might as well ask the Snow Empress if she's done hibernating.'
With Fate's pulse growing stronger, Huo Yuhao finally set off for Star Dou Forest.
A month prior, he'd requested Shrek's help in finding a 70,000–100,000-year soul beast with Space/Time/Spirit attributes.
The reaction? Universal disbelief.
Yan Shaozhe and others were baffled: "You're only Level 50! Can your body handle that?!"
"You've never taken immortal herbs—you wouldn't understand." This was Huo Yuhao's excuse.
Blame it on the Mandarin Duck Hotpot and his "heaven-defying talent."
After personally testing Huo Yuhao's physique and getting knocked back by a single punch, Yan Shaozhe conceded.
But Shrek couldn't find a suitable candidate in time.
Thus, Huo Yuhao decided to hunt it himself.
Yan Shaozhe reluctantly agreed, assigning Le Xuan as an escort.
Huo Yuhao didn't refuse—but he vetoed Xuan Zi's involvement.
'That man was definition of bad luck.'
...
The Star Dou Forest—a land of immense danger.
The Lake of Life lay as tranquil as a colossal emerald, its surface undisturbed, radiating a rich, life-giving aura.
Thanks to the towering ancient trees that had sprouted around it, nourished by this very breath of life, they stood like silent sentinels guarding the lake, shielding it from the clamor of the outside world.
At this moment, on the lake's shore, two soul beasts—one large, one small—sat together.
The smaller of the two had golden fur that shimmered like translucent crystal, its form resembling that of a lion. Its identity was unmistakable: the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, an auspicious beast.
Beside her sat her guardian, the Three‑Headed Scarlet Devil Mastiff.
The auspicious beast flicked her tail lazily, her voice dripping with boredom. "Scarlet King, are you done yet? Will you actually succeed this time?"
"Almost there. Just a little longer. I'll definitely satisfy you this time," the Scarlet King replied confidently.
Yet, here was this 300,000-year-old Three‑Headed Scarlet Devil Mastiff, a beast of terrifying power, using hellfire bordering on the Ultimate Fire to grill fish by the lake.
His movements were practiced, almost comically meticulous—like Zhang Fei threading a needle—proof that the Scarlet King had poured considerable effort into mastering this culinary skill.
And indeed, he had.
Ever since the auspicious beast had first suggested eating grilled fish, the Scarlet King had dedicated himself to perfecting the art.
He had even terrified the fish in the Lake of Life so thoroughly that they now hid at the mere sight of him.
But it didn't matter.
If fish were scarce, there were always soft-bone rabbits in the forest. Grilled rabbit meat wasn't so different from grilled fish, after all.
Yet, one thing still puzzled the Scarlet King.
No matter how happily the auspicious beast devoured his grilled rabbit meat, she never seemed to enjoy his grilled fish.
He had tried everything—adjusting the heat, the timing, the seasoning.
But no matter what, the auspicious beast would rather eat raw sashimi than touch his carefully prepared grilled fish.
It was… infuriating.
As the aroma of grilled fish wafted through the air, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion sniffed—then immediately wrinkled her nose in disdain.
"Forget it, Scarlet King. You can keep that grilled fish for yourself. I'm going to sleep."
And with that, she trotted off, leaving the Scarlet King standing there, questioning his life.
"Taking care of children is so hard…" Scarlet King muttered.
Even Di Tian had praised his grilling skills!
With a sigh, the central head of the Scarlet King suddenly gulped down the grilled fish in one bite.
"Chew, chew."
…Wasn't it delicious?
"You greedy mutt! Eating in secret again?" The right head snarled.
"Yeah! Weren't we supposed to take turns tasting?" The left head whined.
"Next time, next time!"
Grumbling, the Scarlet King snatched another fresh fish from the lake and resumed his grilling with renewed determination.
Unbeknownst to him, the auspicious beast was already sneaking away, tiptoeing toward the outskirts of the forest.
Of course, part of the blame lay with the Scarlet King himself—he had grown lax in his duties lately.
After his last battle with Xuan Zi, Di Tian had realized that the safety of the auspicious beast could no longer be taken lightly.
Even the Star Dou Forest was no longer entirely safe from human soul masters.
A 10,000-year-old soul beast like the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was still far too vulnerable.
Yet, Di Tian had no intention of breaking his promise.
He had once vowed that when the auspicious beast's cultivation reached 10,000 years—when she was strong enough to protect herself—she would be free to explore the outside world.
And Di Tian was a beast of his word.
So, he devised another plan.
Together with the other ferocious beasts, he set up a barrier around the forest's core area.
The moment they sensed the aura of a Super Douluo—especially that Chicken Leg Douluo—the beasts would immediately enter high alert.
At the same time, Di Tian used his mastery over space to weave an additional layer of protection into the reverse scale he had given the auspicious beast.
If it detected any threat to her safety, the scale would activate instantly, teleporting her back to the Lake of Life.
Her security was now foolproof.
But the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had other plans.
Just moments ago, she had sensed a familiar presence.
A familiar power of destiny!
It was—Grilled fish!!
No—wait.
It was him! Her human friend!
Had he finally come to see her again?
After the incident with Xuan Zi, Di Tian had sternly lectured her about the dangers of humans.
She understood now—not all humans were as kind as Huo Yuhao.
And the conflict between soul beasts and human soul masters was real.
But that didn't matter.
Their friendship was different.
"Human… I'm coming!"
…
Star Dou Forest – Core Area
Walking beneath the verdant canopy once more, Zhang Lexuan gazed at the endless expanse of trees before her, a flicker of nostalgia in her eyes.
The last time she had been here, it was with Han Ruoruo and Huo Yuhao, searching for suitable soul rings.
Han Ruoruo had obtained a Azure Sky Lion's soul ring, while Huo Yuhao had stumbled upon a mutant Silverbrave Beast and absorbed it successfully.
Later, the three of them had even encountered three evil soul masters here.
It was during that battle that Zhang Lexuan had truly grasped the depth of Huo Yuhao's strength.
Now, just half a year later, Huo Yuhao had broken through yet again.
He had returned to the Star Dou Forest, this time to obtain his fifth soul ring.
To others, it might have seemed like a casual outing.
But Zhang Lexuan knew better.
Huo Yuhao never did anything without purpose.
And sure enough—
"Yuhao, do you already have a target in mind for your fifth soul ring?" she asked.
Huo Yuhao nodded. "I got lucky. I found a soul beast that suits me perfectly. I just don't know how old it is yet."
Truthfully, he had only been scouting at first, relying on his mental detection to scan for suitable candidates.
His current range stretched dozens of kilometers, though the farther he reached, the less precise his readings became.
Still, it was enough.
He only needed to locate soul beasts with time and space attributes, then narrow them down by aura strength.
One, in particular, stood out—its aura deliberately suppressed, as if hiding its true power.
But Huo Yuhao could sense it.
This "weakness" was nothing but a ruse.
Activating the God's Power of his right eye, his vision pierced through space, revealing the creature hidden within the shadows.
A massive black tiger, nearly nine meters long, its muscles coiled like steel.
Its fur was pitch-black, but the character King on its forehead was an even deeper shade, pulsing with an eerie, mist-like darkness.
Most striking was its tail—longer than an ordinary tiger's, segmented like a scorpion's, ending in a wicked, gleaming stinger.
Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
A legendary soul beast, nearly extinct.
Huo Yuhao's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Found you."
By his estimate, this one was over 70,000 years old—the bare minimum he would consider absorbing.
But this was no ordinary soul beast.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's bloodline was on par with the Emperor Beast's, if not superior.
Its attributes—darkness, wind, thunder, time, space, and strength—granted it cross-tier combat prowess.
A 10,000-year-old Dark Demon Evil God Tiger could challenge a 100,000-year soul beast.
This 70,000-year-old specimen?
It could rival a 95th-level Super Douluo.
Huo Yuhao felt a surge of luck.
This beast's stealth and escape abilities were unparalleled.
If not for his spatial-temporal senses, it might have slipped away.
But then, a sudden, chilling thought struck him.
'Was this beast… targeting the auspicious beast?'
His expression darkened.
Expanding his mental detection, he scanned the surroundings—and froze.
Where were the guards?
Where was Di Tian?
Where was the Scarlet King?
'Had they learned nothing from the Xuan Zi incident?!'
"Sister Lexuan, change of plans," Huo Yuhao said abruptly.
Sensing his urgency, she tensed. "What's wrong?"
"The situation's complicated. Wait here—I'll be back soon."
'God's Power.'
A vortex of nothingness swirled around him, and in the next instant, Huo Yuhao vanished.
Zhang Lexuan blinked. "…What?"
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao—now within his God's Power—locked onto the spatial coordinates he had left near the auspicious beast.
This was long-range teleportation, requiring both time and stable coordinates to execute.
Normally, he could have brought Zhang Lexuan along.
But there was no time.
…
"Huh?" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion skidded to a halt.
Huo Yuhao's presence—his destiny aura—had vanished.
And then, a malicious intent slammed into her senses.
"Who's there?!"
She whirled around, her body tensed, a warning growl rumbling in her throat.
Before her, a massive black tiger emerged from the shadows, its scorpion-like tail lashing hungrily.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger let out a deafening roar, its crimson eyes burning with insatiable greed.
This was the moment it had waited millennia for.
Back when its cultivation had just broken 10,000 years, it had ventured into the Star Dou Forest, seeking to devour soul beasts and accelerate its growth.
By chance, it had discovered the Three-Eyed Golden Lion—and a ravenous desire had taken root.
If it could consume her…
It could steal her fortune, her destiny.
No longer would it need to lurk in the shadows, scavenging for scraps.
It could feast without restraint!
But the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was patient.
It had bided its time, hiding its presence, avoiding the notice of her guardians.
It had even hunted outside the forest to avoid suspicion.
And now, at long last—
The auspicious beast stood before it…
Alone.
The tiger's lips peeled back in a predatory grin.
...
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