If Yuhao had lost his emotions, he wouldn't cling so fiercely to revenge—after all, isn't hatred itself a violent emotion?
If he truly lost all feeling, there'd be nothing for hatred to anchor to.
"Teacher Xiao Ya's martial soul is Blue Silver Grass."
A shrewd light flickered in Huo Yuhao's eyes.
"And the most fundamental trait of the Blue Silver Grass martial soul is its tenacious vitality and extraordinary toughness and extensibility. If we can trigger a true evolution of Teacher Xiao Ya's martial soul, then through martial soul feedback, she'll naturally gain a vast and refined source of life force—enough to offset the tremendous cost of detoxification."
He paused, the brilliance in his gaze growing sharper.
"And as far as I know, there just so happens to be a once-in-a-millennium opportunity in this world—one that could very likely force a qualitative leap in Teacher Xiao Ya's Blue Silver Grass."
"Oh?" Bei Bei and Jing Yuan focused their eyes on him.
Huo Yuhao lowered his voice and said solemnly:
"According to ancient tomes and hidden histories I've read, in this era there existed a Blue Silver Grass that cultivated to the hundred-thousand-year level. Not only was she a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, she took human form successfully, and was revered by all Blue Silver Grass as the Blue Silver Empress—Ah Yin."
"The Blue Silver Empress… Ah Yin?!"
Bei Bei's breath hitched. As a top student of Shrek Academy's inner court, one of the contemporary Shrek Seven Devils, he knew what that name meant—and he knew who, in this era, was the sole bearer of the Blue Silver Empress bloodline.
His heart began pounding violently of its own accord.
"That's right."
Huo Yuhao nodded with certainty, eyes blazing.
"As a hundred-thousand-year soul beast and sovereign among Blue Silver Grass, Ah Yin must have left behind a soul bone upon her fall. And that soul bone is very likely a top-tier piece condensed from the essence of her life's cultivation and her oceanic, primordial life force."
He looked at Bei Bei and reasoned:
"If Teacher Xiao Ya can absorb that hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Empress soul bone, her Blue Silver Grass—being of the same origin—will resonate and be fully activated. She could seize that chance to break her limits and evolve at the root."
"More importantly, the unimaginably vast primordial life force of a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Empress within the soul bone will pour instantly into every part of Teacher Xiao Ya—her limbs, bones, and very soul."
Huo Yuhao locked eyes with Bei Bei, speaking each word with crystalline clarity:
"At that moment, if we pair it with the right detoxification method, the life-force vacuum and soul trauma caused by purging the poison will be rapidly filled, repaired, and nourished by this immense, same-root life energy from the soul bone. Not only will the vicious, insidious toxin be cleanly resolved—Teacher Xiao Ya's martial soul will evolve and transform."
"Even the foundational damage eroded by the poison over the years may be remedied by this powerful life energy. This may be the only, and the most perfect and ideal, path to save her right now."
Bei Bei's body trembled. A blazing desire and resolve erupted in his eyes, followed by a flash of struggle and concern. He bit down and said hoarsely:
"But… Ah Yin, the Blue Silver Empress, is the birth mother of our ancestor Tang San. Her soul bone is so precious and important—it's very likely… very likely that Ancestor Tang San has already refined and absorbed it. We…"
"So, you're going to give up?"
Before Bei Bei could finish, Huo Yuhao's gaze turned icy and razor-sharp, his tone frosted as he cut him off.
"Give up on the only—likely the last—chance to save Teacher Xiao Ya?"
His words pierced straight into the softest, most conflicted part of Bei Bei's heart.
If Bei Bei hesitated, even chose to give up this lifesaving soul bone out of awe and scruple toward their ancestor, Huo Yuhao would be bitterly disappointed.
As he saw it now, those who are too pedantic and naive—clinging to unrealistic codes—cannot survive in this cruel world, and are unworthy to walk beside him toward grander goals.
Stung by Huo Yuhao's near-cold questioning, Bei Bei snapped his head up. The last shred of hesitation shattered completely, replaced by a burn-the-ships determination. He almost growled:
"No. No matter whose hands that soul bone is in, I'll seize it for Xiao Ya. Even if it's Ancestor Tang San… he's no exception. For Xiao Ya, I'll do anything—even if I bear infamy for the ages, even if I make the world my enemy."
Yes. For Tang Ya, he could betray the righteous path he'd upheld, even the Shrek Academy he took pride in, and willingly fall into the reviled ranks of evil soul masters. What was there left to hesitate over?
If there was even a sliver of hope to restore Tang Ya—to make her once more that lively, spirited girl—then even if it meant opposing the legendary first-generation Shrek Seven Devils, even crossing blades with the revered Ancestor Tang San, Bei Bei would not retreat a single step.
Only then did Huo Yuhao's lips curl in satisfaction. He reached out and clapped Bei Bei's tense shoulder, softening his tone with a hint of encouragement:
"Good. That's the Senior Brother Bei Bei I know. Based on intelligence and our deductions, Tang San's party is highly likely moving within Star Luo Empire. Once we find him and confirm the soul bone's whereabouts, Teacher Xiao Ya can be saved."
Beside them, Jing Yuan, who had stood silent throughout, had taken it all in. He gave a barely perceptible shake of his head.
He knew that Bei Bei's bottom line was being pushed and lowered, step by step, by Huo Yuhao's guidance and the tug on his one weakness—Tang Ya.
But he did not intend to interfere. This was Bei Bei's own choice—a decision born of his own emotions and will.
As an observer, he respected everyone's choices—and the consequences they must bear.
Moreover, to be fair, Huo Yuhao was not deceiving Bei Bei. This was indeed the most feasible approach they could think of to save Tang Ya—and the only one with theoretical hope of success.
That hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Empress soul bone truly was the best key to the stubborn poison and drained life origin within Tang Ya.
….
….
Upon the boundless sea, the once-blue, tranquil waters were gone.
In their place was an apocalyptic scene.
Thick, inky filth blanketed the entire sea like an endless curtain, plunging everything into an eternal dusk.
The sky was oppressively dark. Furious thunder rolled and roared within heavy clouds, yet could not pierce the suffocating gloom.
At the heart of this corrupted sea, an island stubbornly shone with warm, sacred gold—like the last lighthouse standing in a storm. This was the holy land bearing the Sea God's legacy: Sea God Island.
A great golden barrier encapsulated Sea God Island—pure divine power condensed, the Sea God's lingering radiance made manifest.
Ancient, profound divine sigils flowed across the barrier's surface, emanating vastness, majesty, tolerance, and power—holding open a pocket of purity amid foul heavens and earth, resisting ceaseless erosion and assault.
Outside the barrier lurked a terror enough to shatter any mind.
Colossal heads, formed of befouled seawater and dark-violet destructive energy, rose like mountain chains, bellowing thunderously as they crashed again and again against the fragile-seeming golden shield, intent on annihilating all.
Each impact made the barrier shudder violently; golden ripples spread in panicked layers, as if on the verge of shattering at any moment.
This was the calamity born from the World Tree's memories, a horror crawling from the mobile foulness points—the Vortex Demon God, Osial.
It was not a creature native to this world—indeed, it surpassed the category of ordinary soul beasts.
It was the ultimate aggregation of negative energy, hatred, despair, and death made flesh.
Unlike the fixed foulness points on land, Osial had swum the ocean depths since its birth, ravenously devouring the fear and wails of all marine life, absorbing all negative emotions suffusing the world.
From the instant of its birth, it possessed the power of a level-100 True God.
If Sea God Island had not been the chosen site of the Sea God's legacy—shielded by the Sea God's most primordial divine power—it would never have withstood years of such relentless assault by this demonic god.
As a being birthed by pure negative energy, Osial had no reason and no intellect—only the instincts to devour and destroy.
Those instincts drove it to consume all beings, energy, even space itself—turning all into fuel to strengthen it.
And the pure, potent aura of the Sea God upon Sea God Island was an irresistible lure.
It was a demonic god of the seas, after all. Though merely a negative energy body born from the World Tree's memories, it still grasped a fragment of the ocean's authority.
To devour this Sea God legacy, to complete itself, to become the true supreme sovereign over all seas—that was its instinctive desire.
At the island's highest point, before the temple, the Sea God's Grand Priestess, Bo Saixi, stood against the wind.
Behind her stood the pillars of Sea God Island—the Seven Sacred Pillar Guardians—each a Titled Douluo famed across the four seas.
Yet now, even these apex experts of the continent could not conceal their worry and a touch of near-helpless despair.
The demon god's might outside the barrier was too terrifying. Its mere aura could shatter the fighting spirit of Titled Douluo, making it hard to muster even the courage to face it head on.
Unease and deep fatigue tinged Bo Saixi's peerless features. Her ocean-blue eyes, as deep as the sea, fixed upon the apocalyptic sight beyond the barrier. The scepter set with a great sea-blue gem in her hand was gripped so tightly her knuckles had turned white.
"How much longer… can we hold?"
This silent question echoed again and again in her heart, so heavy it was suffocating.
She knew better than anyone how dire the situation was.
As a first-rank deity of the God Realm, the Sea God was constrained by divine rules and could not intervene directly in the mortal world—only defend passively through the legacy and divine power left behind.
Though the divine sense within the legacy was immensely powerful—enough to temporarily repel Osial's assaults—it was ultimately insufficient to utterly slay a demon god birthed by the world's filth.
Their powers were fundamentally different; Osial's foul essence had extremely strong corruptive and erosive effects upon pure divine force. In this attritional clash of ebb and flow, Sea God Island's defenses would only drain away like sand through an hourglass.
The only hope—the only contingency left by the Sea God—was for someone to fully inherit the Sea God's mantle.
A successor who, in the mortal world, could pass the Sea God's Nine Trials, inherit the godseat, ignite divine fire, and become a true god.
Only a newborn, complete Sea God could wield the ocean's vast authority with unblemished divine power, dispel the endless filth, and purify and slay Osial once and for all.
Only then could Sea God Island—and all it sheltered—truly survive this unprecedented calamity.
Seek help? A bitter smile touched Bo Saixi's lips.
She had never truly considered it.
If even Sea God Island, with the Sea God's residual divine power, could only barely hold under the demon god's tyranny, what could the mainland's forces do—be it the dominion of Spirit Hall or the vast territories of the two empires?
In a battle at the level of a level-100 True God, mortal power—even peak Douluo above rank 95—was pitifully small.
Moreover, this entire sea had long been sealed by Osial's divine authority. Towering waves and foul energy vortices formed a natural barrier of death. Any ship attempting to leave Sea God Island would be swallowed instantly by endless darkness.
They were already isolated—besieged upon a lone island, cut off from the world.
All they could do was hold.
Mobilize all resources on Sea God Island, rely on the faithful prayers and steadfast belief of its adherents, wring out every last drop of potential, and sustain the tottering light of the Sea God—waiting for the one destined to inherit the godseat to appear.
But hope was so very faint.
A trace of barely perceptible sorrow passed through Bo Saixi's gaze as she looked over the island.
Those loyal sea spirit masters, eyes full of reverence and piety, were willing to sacrifice their lives to guard their home—yet none could truly touch the supreme threshold of the Sea God's legacy.
The Sea God's Trident brand—the mark symbolizing divine qualification—had yet to find anyone worthy to bear it.
Even in such a desperate hour—life and death on a knife's edge—the Sea God had never lowered the standards for choosing a successor.
A god's pride cannot be profaned; the gravity of the godseat cannot be sullied by pretenders.