Huo Yuhao wasn’t worried about how far Di Tian could go. With the Great Star Dou Forest’s absolute status in the world of soul beasts on the Douluo Continent, convincing other soul beasts wasn’t difficult at all. Probably only the Extreme North, which was a place of bitter cold, was relatively more challenging, but soul masters rarely ventured there to obtain soul rings in the first place.

  Three months quickly passed from the start of Huo Yuhao’s first successful experiment, just like that.

  The Spirit Pagoda began operating on all fronts. The first batch of soul masters who possessed spiritual-type martial souls were selected by the three empires and sent to Shrek City afterwards. Huo Yuhao was in charge of teaching them how to conduct equal contracts.

  Shrek Academy’s soul masters were the first people to enjoy the benefits of Spirits. Huo Yuhao directed everything personally, and more and more students from Shrek Academy who reached bottlenecks gained their own Spirits.

  Over the past ten years, Shrek Academy had gone through two different stages of vigorous development, with both soul tools and Spirits, and Shrek City became increasingly powerful.

  Furthermore, the relationship between Shrek City and the Great Star Dou Forest was being mended because of these new Spirits, and Shrek City took this opportunity to rebuild and expand their city’s surface area. They also made some long-term plans.

  Shrek City would be considered an inner city, and they would expanded five kilometers out from its city walls. Five kilometers didn’t seem like much, but those five kilometers were extended from Shrek City’s original walls! Once these five kilometers were built up, Shrek City’s surface area would be equivalent to any large-scale city in the three empires.

  ——


  The Sun Moon Empire’s behavior over these three months was relatively peaceful. Because of the Spirit Pagoda’s establishment, the Continent’s three native empires didn’t make a move against the Sun Moon Empire, and this allowed Xu Tianran to heave a sigh of relief, to his own astonishment. Time was also exceedingly important for the Sun Moon Empire. They had already spoiled their relationships with the other three empires, and a great war could happen at any time. The longer they could delay this war, the more time they had to prepare!

  ——


  “Elder Di Tian.” Huo Yuhao was still in the Great Star Du Forest’s Slaughtering Grounds inside its Core Regions, and he called out while standing beside the Water of Life as he faced the clean and limpid lake water.

  Over the past three months, the Spirit Pagoda had begun to take shape thanks to his hard work and efforts. Furthermore, he was the most welcomed human being inside the Great Star Dou Forest. Just as how Wang Qiu’er was treated back then, the Scarlet King became his personal bodyguard. Huo Yuhao could proceed anywhere he wanted in the Great Star Dou Forest smoothly and unhindered. This place was considered a forbidden ground for humans, but this place was like his own back garden to him.

  “You’re here.” Di Tian’s voice rang out, and a black shadow quietly appeared in the middle of the lake. This black shadow arrived by the lakeshore in a few flashes.

  Di Tian had already handed everything that had to do with Spirits over to Bi Ji for her to manage. Over the past three months, Huo Yuhao had taught the first batch of Spirit Masters, while also helping multiple soul beasts who were near death to transmit their spirits at the same time. As of today, more than three hundred soul beats had been allowed to extend their lives. From the perspective of the soul masters that these soul beasts fused with, this fact was equivalent to avoiding killing over three hundred soul beasts. These soul masters would still choose Spirits to substitute soul rings in the future, and they would kill even fewer soul beasts.

  Of the five Savage Beasts, with the exception of the Bear Lord, who rarely showed himself, the other four Savage Beasts, including the Beast God, were very satisfied with everything that Huo Yuhao had done.

  Huo Yuhao bowed respectfully to Di Tian and said, “Elder Di Tian, the Spirit Pagoda’s foundations have been established. This is the first pagoda, so its scale will be relatively larger. Therefore, I reckon it will take at least one to two years to complete any follow-ups. There are forty-two soul masters in the first batch of Spirit Masters, and their cultivation ranks vary from four to eight soul rings. Under my guidance and my teaching, they are all able to conduct the contract on their own.”


  Di Tian nodded and said, “You humans are quite efficient. I’ve heard about these things from Bi Ji.” Bi Ji was currently the first Savage Beast to be permanently stationed in the Spirit Pagoda’s conference hall to represent all soul beasts.

  After the conference hall’s first meeting with the whole committee, there were over ten members who had been permanently stationed in Shrek City. Including the four Pagoda Masters, there were nine other members from the three empires, while Shrek Academy’s nine members were all members of the Sea God’s Pavilion at the same time. Naturally, they were around, but in Shrek City instead. As for Huo Yuhao, he had been living in the Great Star Dou Forest this entire time.

  He had been very busy over the past three months, but the Beast God had treated him well. He had provided Huo Yuhao with all sorts of fruits that were full of spiritual qi, and in addition to the fact that Huo Yuhao was transmitting spirits every day, his spiritual power became steadier and more consolidated, while his soul power was raised by another rank. He had used Shrek Academy’s soul power detectors to test himself, and discovered that his soul power was at Rank 73, which was a little lower than his original prediction. However, this fact also told Huo Yuhao that every subsequent soul power rank after Rank 70 was of great magnitude.

  Huo Yuhao estimated that, with his current cultivation speed, and if he didn’t encounter any special circumstances, opportunities, or epiphanies, he would become a Titled Douluo when he was around thirty years old. That would be an absolutely outstanding feat among humans!

  “You were looking for me. What do you want?” Di Tian asked Huo Yuhao.

  Huo Yuhao contemplated for a moment, then said, “Elder, I have been accountable to you with regards to Spirits. I wish to leave.”


  “Eh?” Di Tian’s aura instantly changed when he heard his words. His eyes suddenly became sharper, and he said, “What’s up? Is our Great Star Dou Forest not good enough for you? This place is full of spiritual qi, and so dense with life energy. This place is most suitable for you soul masters to cultivate. If you are willing to, you can even stay beside the Water of Life to cultivate. Your future is boundless.”


  Huo Yuhao raised his head and stared right into Di Tian’s eyes. “Then, how long do you plan to keep me here?”


  Di Tian was momentarily stunned.

  Huo Yuhao lowered his voice and said, “You should know, elder, that humans cultivate a lot faster than soul beasts. Otherwise, we couldn’t have dominated and conquered the entire continent within a few short tens of thousands of years. Yes, with my current strength, you can easily imprison me in the Great Star Dou Forest. However, I trust that you won’t restrict my cultivation, because that is the basis of my life in the end. Choosing death isn’t difficult for me, but if you allow me to continue cultivation, I will become a Titled Douluo in about ten years, give or take. I will take thirty years more at most to become a Transcendent Douluo, and with the abilities that I possess, not even you may be able to stop me once I become a Transcendent Douluo if I want to leave.

  “I am connected to the fortunes and fate of the entire Great Star Dou Forest, so you can’t kill me, and the most you can do is imprison me or seal me away. However, you should also understand my status in the human world. If you do that, the Academy will stop at nothing to turn the situation around, and the peaceful equilibrium that the humans have just established with your Great Star Dou Forest will change once more.”


  “Are you threatening me?” Di Tian muttered coldly. That enormous pressure that felt like a mountain to Huo Yuhao appeared once more and pressed down on him.

  Huo Yuhao forcibly resisted this pressure as he grit his teeth and said, “No, I’m not threatening you, I’m just stating facts. I will always be a friend to the Great Star Dou Forest, and I can even promise you that I will never kill a single soul beast in the Great Star Dou Forest ever again. However, there are still many things that I have to do, and I can’t stay here forever. If you insist on keeping me here, then I will choose death. Qiu’er has given the power of Destiny to me, and you can imprison me here so that I will never be able to leave this place, but not even you can stop me from severing my own fate and destiny. This means that nobody in this world can stop me if I choose to die.”


  Di Tian suddenly withdrew his pressure. He placed his hands behind his back and stared coldly at Huo Yuhao. “Where do you want to go? What do you wish to do?”


  Huo Yuhao forced a laugh and said, “There’s something that I have to do, and there’s someone that I have to visit afterwards. And then, I have to fulfill a wish that I’ve always had.”


  Di Tian asked again, “And after you do all those things?”


  Huo Yuhao was a little taken aback. He shook his head and said, “I haven’t thought much about afterwards.”


  Di Tian said plainly, “Since that’s the case, then I only have one request; after you finish everything you have to do, you must return. You can choose to reside in Shrek City, the Spirit Pagoda, or the Great Star Dou Forest.”


  “Alright,” Huo Yuhao answered subconsciously, and his eyes filled with pleasant surprise in the next moment. “Are you saying that I can leave?”


  Di Tian was expressionless as he answered, “I know that I can’t keep you here, just like I couldn’t keep the Emperor Beast here back then. With your current strength, people will have a hard time trying to kill you. Here, take this.” Di Tian swung his hand as he spoke, and tossed something at Huo Yuhao.

  Huo Yuhao grabbed the item subconsciously. He looked down, and realized that Di Tian had given him something like a pendant.

  This pendant looked like a leaf, and it was about as big as an infant’s palm. It was black all over, and there were ridges on its surface. These ridges shone faintly with purple hues.

  There was a single black line strung around this pendant, which didn’t seem very thick, but was very tough.

  “Wear this on your neck. You’re not allowed to take it off. You can go now.” With that, Di Tian turned around and drifted across the lake’s surface.

  Huo Yuhao grasped the pendant, which felt faintly fresh and cool. He stared at Di Tian, who was slowly moving further away from him, and he instantly felt his mind and body relax. Waves of fatigue and exhaustion coursed over him as soon as he began to relax.

  He had toiled far too much over these past three months, which had been very tiring.

  Huo Yuhao hung the pendant around his neck. He wasn’t hasty to leave. Instead, he crossed his legs and sat down beside the Water of Life and started to meditate.

  Huo Yuhao entered meditation very quickly because his mind and body were relaxed. Flourishing soul power flowed through his body, and his immense spiritual power naturally rippled throughout his spiritual sea.