Wang Qiu'er silently criticized Huo Yuhao in her mind as she watched him. This guy has such average looks. Wang Dong'er is so pretty, so why is she so interested in him? But he doesn't look so good today. He's frowning even when he's meditating.
Wang Qiu'er had really thought that Huo Yuhao told her everything he did because he wanted to avoid her when she first stopped him at the academy. However, she was starting to understand that Huo Yuhao had probably actually run into something urgent. She had never seen him so worried and anxious, not even when they faced off against the three evil brothers in the Great Star Dou Forest. Which friend of his was injured that made him so distraught?
Could it be Wang Dong'er? But Wang Dong'er looked fine.
Every girl was born with a tendency to probe into others' secrets and be nosy, and Wang Qiu'er was no exception. She stared at Huo Yuhao, who was still meditating, and thoughts ran wild in her head. It didn't take long before she consumed all the rations in her hands.
"This tastes terrible!" Wang Qiu'er finished her food, but she couldn't help but mutter and criticize it under her breath. She thought to herself that this was a far cry from what he had made before. He makes really delicious food, though. Perhaps that's why Wang Dong'er likes him so much?
Huo Yuhao meditated for two hours. He recovered some energy, and his heart was a little calmer than before. He knew that he wasn't in the right state of mind, and he kept telling himself to calm down after he finished meditating.
The greater the danger he had to face, the calmer he had to be. Emotional disturbances would only make things worse and harder to deal with in the long run.
That was one of the Ultimate Soldier Plan's defining principles, and Huo Yuhao bore it in mind. He wouldn't have lost so much self-control if it hadn't been Wang Dong'er who was in mortal peril, because he was just too concerned about her safety. Wang Dong'er was simply too important to him, and it wasn't an easy task for him to ease his nerves in the face of this threat.
Don't worry, Dong'er. Even if I have to face all the dangers in the world, I will help you get that herb and I will bring it back!
Huo Yuhao wasn't hasty to get back on his way, and he fetched some food and water before he began to eat by himself. He wanted to be in his best condition to search for that herb.
Wang Qiu'er watched Huo Yuhao quietly consume his food, and she couldn't help but frown. This guy looks quite interesting when he's deep in thought.
"Hey, don't you have anything to say to me? I'm here to help you," Wang Qiu'er spoke up, displeased.
Huo Yuhao heaved a sigh and said, "Qiu'er, I will first apologize about what happened yesterday. Even though it was an accident, I will not deny away my responsibility, it was my fault. I didn't correctly judge how strong your attack was, which eventually led to… it was just my fault. However, what I have to do now is exceedingly important to me, more important than my life. Therefore, I will be extremely grateful if you truly want to help me and I will owe you a favor. If you just want to watch the show, or if you want to cause trouble for me, then I beg you… you can do anything you want to me and I'll take it, but only after I've completed this task. Thank you."
He stood up as he spoke, and bowed courteously toward Wang Qiu'er at the end.
"You…" Wang Qiu'er's eyebrows knitted. She felt a little awkward. This guy was the one who took advantage of me! Why do I suddenly feel like I am the one who is letting him down?
"We'll settle this when we get back!" Wang Qiu'er wanted to put on a strong front even though she felt differently inside.
Huo Yuhao stared at her seriously and said, "Then you're willing to help me?"
"Yes," Wang Qiu'er nodded and said, "I'm already here. Am I supposed to just watch? The Setting Sun Forest shouldn't have many powerful soul beasts, and we shouldn't run into any danger if we team up. The key question is, what exactly are you looking for? Looking for something inside a forest isn't easy. Do you have a target?"
Huo Yuhao's spirits were lifted when Wang Qiu'er said she was willing to help him. He couldn't be bothered by his awkward relationship with her at a time like this. When Wang Dong'er's life hung in the balance, all he wanted to do was acquire that herb no matter what price he had to pay. Wang Qiu'er's abilities were formidable, and they shared a martial soul fusion skill, the Dragon Roar of Destiny. Their martial soul fusion had even fended off that triple martial soul fusion. Ultimately, this expedition was a lot more likely to succeed with her around.
"I have a map, and this map has the rough location of what I need to find. We just have to search around for a bit when we get there, and that should be enough. Qiu'er… let's not hurry into the Setting Sun Forest. I still have the three left leg bones that we picked up from last time. Why don't we absorb one piece each, so that we can further boost our strength?"
He retrieved two wolf-ape left leg bones from his storage-type soul tool as he spoke.
"Alright." Wang Qiu'er didn't object. One of these things belonged to her anyway, and she took one before she sat down with her legs crossed.
Huo Yuhao said, "I'll protect you. You can go first."
"Okay." Wang Qiu'er made sure she was sitting properly cross-legged. She waved her right hand, and a golden streak of soul power enveloped the left leg bone.
The left leg bone was entirely purplish-black in color, and it flickered with pale silver light. A deep dragon roar could be heard as the soul power on Wang Qiu'er's body trembled, and a golden layer of light and encompassed and permeated the entire bone immediately afterwards.
Ding! A faint chiming sound could be heard, and the left leg bone transformed into a flowing purplish-black beam of light that drifted toward Wang Qiu'er. It followed her golden soul power, and she directed it into her left leg before it disappeared.
Purplish-black light circled twice around Wang Qiu'er's left leg before it vanished, and her body began to shine with golden light once again. Huo Yuhao was standing guard for her, but even he could feel an immense pressure coming from her.
What a powerful martial soul!
Even though the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion was also an Ultimate martial soul, Huo Yuhao could clearly feel that the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion was still a little inferior to the Golden Dragon in terms of strength. Wang Qiu'er's Golden Dragon martial soul was probably at a higher level than the Dragon God Douluo's Radiant Holy Dragon and the Dragon Emperor Douluo's Darkness Holy Dragon, which meant that it was probably the purest inheritance of dragon-type martial souls. Who knew how powerful she would be if she could become a Titled Douluo one day?
Huo Yuhao took out the map and began to study it. The map wasn't complicated, and there were clear instructions about where he had to enter the Setting Sun Forest from. His destination was quite close to the forest's center, and there were several other important places that were marked out in detail.
He had to find that book that recorded the various herbs and venomous plants before he could search for the Yearning Heartbroken Grass.
Wang Qiu'er's formidable body was on full display throughout the absorption process… for fifteen minutes! She actually only took fifteen minutes to complete the absorption process!
Huo Yuhao's mouth hung slack with astonishment when she leapt off the ground and onto her feet. That's incredibly fast! She's absorbing a soul bone, and it's a soul bone produced by a ten-thousand year soul beast. How can this process be so easy for her?
"It's your turn." Wang Qiu'er gestured at Huo Yuhao.
"Alright." Huo Yuhao didn't ask any more questions. He sat down with his legged crossed and began his own fusion.
Huo Yuhao had absorbed three soul bones before this. He had fused with the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's torso, which included all the chest and rib bones, and was possibly his strongest soul bone. He had the Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone, which contained the mighty Ice Explosion, and he also had the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear's Right Palm Bone, which carried the Darkgolden Terrorclaw's formidable power.
All three soul bones were rare and exotic. At this moment, Huo Yuhao was starting to fuse with his fourth soul bone.
This soul bone didn't exceed Huo Yuhao's current cultivation. Furthermore, his body was far stronger than it was all those years ago. But his fusion process wasn't as quick as Wang Qiu'er's. He finished absorbing it after one hour.
Huo Yuhao felt as if his body was a lot lighter than before when he jumped up from the ground, and his left leg felt exceptionally strong. He bounced on his feet, and he realized that his jumping strength had been greatly boosted.
"Have you tried its soul skill?" Huo Yuhao asked Wang Qiu'er.
Wang Qiu'er shook her head and said, "Let's try it together."
They infused soul power into their respective Wolf-Ape Left Leg Bones at almost the same time. Silver light immediately flickered on their legs, and their bodies vanished into thin air in the next moment before they reappeared at their original locations.
Both Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu'er had a look of a pleasant surprise in their eyes. It was just as Huo Yuhao had hoped! The soul skill that they had obtained was Instant Shift!
A soul skill like Instant Shift was like a life-saving trump card for any soul master. Even though the soul skills carried by soul bones could only be used for a fixed number of instances, this was already good enough to give them both a delighted surprise. Both Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu'er would have never obtained this soul skill from their martial soul fusion skills, as Instant Shift was known as a top-tier agility-type soul skill, and neither of them were agility-type soul masters. Of all the soul masters that Huo Yuhao knew, only Jiang Nannan possessed this ability.
Huo Yuhao immediately attempted it once more. Silver light flickered beneath his feet, and he reappeared ten meters away.
"The maximum distance is ten meters. It's a little shorter than those wolf-apes!" Huo Yuhao had chosen a distance that was further away, but the Instant Shift had ended at ten meters. It was clear that this was its maximum range.
Wang Qiu'er appeared beside him in a flash. "That's good enough, so you should be content. Ten meters may seem like a very short distance, but it's usually enough to turn the tables of a battlefield. Eh, why do I feel something peculiar when I'm next to you?"
Huo Yuhao also realized that his left leg began to warm up when Wang Qiu'er came next to him, as if Wang Qiu'er's left leg had become a magnet and was pulling on his own left leg.