Time flowed slowly, and soon, early morning of the next day arrived.
The brilliant soul ring had already undergone a subtle change. At the very center of that golden soul ring, a translucent soul core radiating spiritual fluctuations was rotating, forming a terrifying soul power vortex that caused the entire soul ring to spin along with it.
The golden hue that originally belonged to a Million Year Soul Ring had already faded, revealing instead a translucent silver glow characteristic of the spirit. The nature of the soul ring had shifted from carrying soul skills to its current state of carrying a soul core!
The silver soul ring hovered before Huo Yuhao. He withdrew the hand he had placed upon the ring; simultaneously, the phantom of the Eye of Destiny on his forehead vanished, and the control over Skydream's power was returned to her. Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes.
However, as soon as he opened them, Huo Yuhao froze.
He saw Gu Yuena much like during their first meeting—her entire being was nearly pressed against him, staying very, very close.
With vivid purple eyes and slightly trembling eyelashes, she stared at him intently. At the same time, emotions of curiosity and anticipation were captured by the Seed of Emotion.
"Nana-sister?"
"That Soul Spirit Contract from earlier... can you give it to me?"
Gu Yuena spoke expressionlessly, but under the capture of the Seed of Emotion, Huo Yuhao clearly felt that flicker of anticipation.
Huo Yuhao blinked and then shook his head.
"My Soul Spirit Contract is special; others cannot use it, so it would be useless to you... even the original version is the same."
The Soul Spirit Contract he introduced in his previous life did not truly stop the decline of the soul beasts; to a certain extent, it even accelerated their extinction.
The Soul Spirit Contract was fine in its general direction, but regarding the aspect that it still required a soul beast to sacrifice itself, it was still insufficient.
Gu Yuena's eyes dimmed slightly, but Huo Yuhao shifted the topic and continued:
"However, borrowing the Soul Spirit Contract just now to condense a soul ring has given me a few ideas. At least, with enough time, researching a method to condense a blank soul ring shouldn't be a problem."
The fundamental reason Soul Masters hunt soul beasts is to break through their cultivation realms; soul skills are secondary.
If Huo Yuhao truly researched a condensation method for blank soul rings... the problem of Soul Masters hunting soul beasts would already be halfway solved!
"You want to help me?"
Huo Yuhao took it as a matter of course and nodded: "Yes."
A flicker of movement passed through Gu Yuena's calm eyes as even more complex emotions began to take root and sprout.
"Why?"
She had ultimately not fully let down her guard against Huo Yuhao. After all, in her theory, Huo Yuhao was once a god who, after dying due to some accident, came to the Douluo World bringing his Life-bound Divine Artifact.
Though she didn't know what kind of god Huo Yuhao used to be, she was certain he must have been a human god.
Why would a human god... want to help them, the soul beasts?
After a long silence, Huo Yuhao spoke softly:
"This is what I owe you. Whether it was achieving godhood or this eye of mine, I relied on all of you."
"However, the me of the past... failed you."
He knew what he had done.
The Eye of Destiny allowed him to take away the luck belonging to the soul beasts, and the Soul Spirit Contract, to a certain degree, accelerated their demise.
He didn't want to use excuses like "I was deceived" or "I was being schemed against by Tang San" to shirk his responsibility.
What was done was done; that was an undeniable fact.
In his previous life, he was a sinner. To the entire soul beast race, he was an egregious, unpardonable sinner who had failed them!
It was precisely because of this that when he saw Gu Yuena, the Co-lord of Soul Beasts, the first emotion born in his heart was guilt—immense guilt.
He looked at the girl who was mere inches away, seeing the slight complexity and silence revealed in her eyes. Then, he spoke with a smile:
"I swear by 'Fate' that I will find a way for the soul beast race to survive. This is a promise, an eternal promise."
The Eye of Destiny manifested once more. As a Divine Artifact of fate, and Huo Yuhao's Life-bound Divine Artifact, it represented Huo Yuhao himself in a certain sense.
A golden thread of light extended bit by bit, gently touching Gu Yuena before merging into her forehead. In an instant, a piece of information surfaced in Gu Yuena's heart.
"Why?"
At this moment, Gu Yuena could no longer maintain her composure.
Huo Yuhao had unilaterally established a restrictive fate contract with her: the future Huo Yuhao must find a way to completely resolve the problems of the soul beast race.
During this period, if Huo Yuhao breached the contract, she would have the authority to use this power derived from fate to bind Huo Yuhao, leaving him without any ability to resist!
Even Huo Yuhao's own Life-bound Divine Artifact would turn to help her at that moment! This was a contract of fate!
However... the condition for breach was "as she deemed." This was extremely subjective.
For example, if Huo Yuhao didn't buy her food and she was unhappy, she could deem that perhaps this was a slight against her as the Co-lord of Soul Beasts, thereby considering it a harm to soul beasts, and then use this power to bind him and dispose of him at will.
This guy... had practically placed his life into her hands without reservation.
An indescribable emotion surfaced in her heart and began to take root and sprout at an uncanny speed.
Huo Yuhao lowered his eyes slightly. The condensation of the spiritual soul core had caused a qualitative change in his current soul power, which in turn triggered a change in the Seed of Emotion.
He could now taste the flavor of emotions.
For instance, right now, he could directly taste Gu Yuena's emotions through his sense of taste.
Shock, confusion, and other elements mixed together, intoxicating like a sweet wine.
He looked at the girl close at hand. Whether because of these delicious emotions or something else, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a smile:
"As the Co-lord of Soul Beasts, you naturally won't easily trust others, especially since I am a human."
"But it can't be helped; my current ability to protect myself is far too weak. Without a reliable backer, I don't believe I can accomplish what I set out to do."
"Therefore, you can consider this a transaction. I place myself in your hands in exchange for your trust and your help."
"So now, Nana-sister, the power of choice is in your hands. What is your choice?"
Huo Yuhao would not do things he wasn't certain of.
Although this act seemed like a gamble, for Huo Yuhao, it was merely a natural way to place restrictions on himself.
In his previous life, before ascending to the God Realm, he had lived almost entirely under the control of Tang San. Even though he had returned through rebirth with memories of the future, that didn't mean everything would be foolproof.
If he were once again caught in a compromising position by Tang San and forced to do certain things, Gu Yuena would be his final insurance policy against himself.