"No, no, how can this be?! Why didn't it evolve into the Blue Silver Emperor? Why?!"
Tang San's expression was terrifyingly dark. After a brief pause, he quickly thought of the only rule regarding the Blue Silver Emperor.
There can only be one Blue Silver Emperor at a time. This meant one already existed, which was why his Blue Silver Grass couldn't complete the evolution!
It was highly unlikely to be a Spirit Master, so... it could only be a soul beast!
A soul beast had taken the position of Blue Silver Emperor before him... truly, they have "a path leading to their own death!"
Wait, no. How could becoming the Blue Silver Emperor be that simple?
In his previous life, he was able to let his Blue Silver Grass martial soul transform into the powerful Blue Silver Emperor not just because of his persistence and hard work, but also because of the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline within his body that came from his mother!
Wait... mother?
Tang San suddenly recalled his mother, Ah Yin, whom he had arranged to merge with the Ancient Golden Tree in hopes of her becoming the Life Core of the Douluo World in the future.
Could it be...
Tang San lowered his eyes, a dark glint flashing through them as a plan quietly surfaced in his mind.
...
Leaving aside the "filial" plan already brewing in Tang San's heart, Huo Yuhao began organizing the data related to "Thousand-Forging" and the "Path of Blood Essence."
A few days later, Huo Yuhao brought a pile of items to the Star Constellation Great Forest.
The moment he stepped out of the spatial portal, a silver-white figure appeared before him.
It was Gu Yuena.
The moment she felt the spatial gate of the Spectral Demiplane open, Gu Yuena knew Huo Yuhao had arrived.
Using the power of space, Gu Yuena didn't hesitate to teleport directly here, arriving as naturally as breathing.
"Sister Nana—"
Before Huo Yuhao could finish his sentence, his vision blurred slightly as spatial ripples flickered. Then, the young girl naturally reached out and pulled him into her embrace.
Huo Yuhao froze, feeling somewhat helpless.
Even though he made time to visit the Star Constellation Great Forest every day, why did it turn out like this every single time?
"Sister Nana, what do you want to eat today?"
"Roasted fish."
"Alright. You can also try some other dishes I've recently learned."
As Huo Yuhao spoke, he happened to look up and saw a certain large golden-haired "kitty" not far away.
Immediately, Huo Yuhao's expression stiffened.
The golden-haired kitty (Auspicious Beast) had her eyes wide open, staring longingly at him and Gu Yuena. A wave of inexplicably sour emotion was captured by Huo Yuhao's senses; the entire "kitty" looked like she was about to shatter into pieces.
It's not me... this... she...
Huo Yuhao was in a state of utter confusion.
...
A moment later, by the shores of the Lake of Life, Huo Yuhao was feeding Gu Yuena while casually skinning a passing Soft-Boned Rabbit, putting it on the grill, and using it to coax the Auspicious Beast.
The atmosphere was, for a time, exceptionally harmonious.
"Sister Nana, can you help me gather the Bear Lord and all of his kin?"
Gu Yuena, who was nibbling on a rabbit head, blinked. She then raised a hand slightly stained with oil and lightly plucked at something in the air.
Only a few seconds later, a black figure suddenly dropped down and knelt before Gu Yuena.
"My Lord."
It was the "old father" figure, Mr. Di Tian.
Gu Yuena didn't speak; she merely signaled toward Huo Yuhao with her eyes before lowering her head to continue eating.
Because of someone's flash of inspiration, they had experimentally crossbred Blue Silver Grass with certain spices at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, successfully cultivating a batch of Blue Silver Grass specifically for consumption.
Combined with the Soft-Boned Rabbits that were bred to have delicate, delicious meat, Gu Yuena truly couldn't stop. She didn't even have the desire to speak to Di Tian.
This was the miraculous combination of Soft-Boned Rabbit + Blue Silver Grass!
Ignoring Gu Yuena happily eating and the Auspicious Beast—who noticed her "father" had arrived but ultimately chose the roasted rabbit meat over him—Huo Yuhao looked at Di Tian.
"Senior Di Tian, could you help me gather the Bear Lord and all of his kin?"
Di Tian remained silent. Looking at Gu Yuena, who seemed to have given her tacit approval, Di Tian nodded and then instantly soared into the sky.
Clearly, Di Tian truly had nothing to say to this Huo Yuhao, who had not only made off with his Lord but had also clearly made off with the "cabbage" (Auspicious Beast) he had been raising for over ten thousand years.
A moment later, a streak of black light and roughly four to five hundred streaks of dark-gold light flashed across the horizon, landing not far in front of Huo Yuhao.
Di Tian stepped forward. Beside him was a tall, middle-aged man, and behind them stood rows of Darkgold Terrorclaws Bears with dark-gold fur.
However, most of them had looks of confusion in their eyes.
Most of them had simply felt the summons from their bloodline and stepped out of their dens, only to be swept up by powerful soul power and carried away before they even knew what was happening.
Bear Lord walked forward slowly. His tall frame after transformation—which was even taller than Di Tian's—exuded a powerful pressure.
Seeing that the person in charge was Huo Yuhao, Bear Lord was about to say a few customary words. However, he suddenly saw Gu Yuena silently eating a rabbit head nearby, and he immediately swallowed the words he was about to say.
Organizing his words slightly, Bear Lord spoke: "Um... for what matter have you summoned our clan?"
"It's very simple." A slight smile appeared on Huo Yuhao's lips.
"I want you all to help me strike iron."
Bear Lord: ???
You want me to do what?
...
What are the requirements to become a blacksmith?
It's simple: a strong physique, sufficient endurance, and a sufficient understanding of metals.
The first two go without saying; as top-tier soul beasts, the Darkgold Terrorclaws Bears naturally met those conditions. As for the last one—understanding metals...
One must remember that the Darkgold Terrorclaws Bear is of the Gold attribute, and its power is infinitely close to Ultimate Gold!
Furthermore, compared to ordinary forging hammers, the pair of "Terrorclaws" on a Darkgold Terrorclaws Bear was clearly more compatible with them! Directly attaching soul power to their palms—wasn't that better than any other forging hammer?!
It could be said that the Darkgold Terrorclaws Bear clan were born blacksmiths!
Under Huo Yuhao's "negotiation" (persuasion), Bear Lord became convinced of the bright future of "Spirit-Forging Fused Armor" and directly led his entire clan into their iron-striking career!
It's worth mentioning that some Darkgold Terrorclaws Bears had not developed full intelligence because their cultivation was only a few hundred or a few thousand years.
Thus, Huo Yuhao and Electrolux—who was researching artificial soul bones—studied "Blood Pacts" and various other contracts to find a method to accelerate the "Enlightenment" of soul beasts.
In the end, they developed a simplified "Enlightenment Contract." The principle involved sealing a portion of Huo Yuhao's mental power to form an "Enlightenment Mark" on the bears.
This portion of mental power within the mark would then guide the bears' own mental power to nurture their intellect, thereby accelerating the birth of their sapience.
The method was excellent, but there was a threshold for its use. It required the practitioner to split off a small portion of their mental power, and performing it too many times at once would lead to mental exhaustion, so it lacked universal applicability.