Within a few days, large numbers of reinforcements arrived in batches. The first to arrive were the soul masters from the three empires. When they learned that the soul beast army had retreated, they still remained in the city for a time. Suddenly, the entire city became extremely crowded.
As Shrek Academy had suffered huge losses this time, they didn’t offer some of the rewards that they had obtained during this war to these soul masters that came. They weren’t being petty. They just needed a lot of resources in order to rebuild the city.
However, these soul masters definitely didn’t come for nothing. Shrek Academy took this opportunity to share a very important research topic with them.
Spirits!
All information relating to Spirits, including Shrek Academy’s current research progress and even Huo Yuhao’s temporary agreement with the Beast God, was disseminated to all the soul masters that arrived. The soul masters from the Heavenly Soul, Star Luo, and Dou Ling Empires found out for the first time that there was something that could replace soul rings. Furthermore, this thing was even stronger than soul rings!
Shrek Academy deliberately exaggerated the effect of Spirits. Although Shrek Academy didn’t have an example to prove their words, Huo Yuhao did reveal the Snow Lady during the Continental Elite Youth Soul Master Tournament. Many of the soul masters who were here to reinforce Shrek competed in that tournament and were even saved from the Sun Moon Empire by Huo Yuhao. They naturally knew about the magical Snow Lady, especially when Huo Yuhao defeated the seven-ringed evil soul master Gu Long even though he only had five rings back then.
Wasn’t it because of the combined strength of the Snow and Ice Empresses? This was all attributed to the strength of a Spirit!
Suddenly, the word ‘Spirit’ became very popular across the entire continent. There was a new term in the world of soul masters. The only pity was that Shrek Academy didn’t publicly announce the incantations needed to fuse with a Spirit. They only mentioned that Shrek City would be designated as a pilot site for the conversion of Spirits, and it would serve all soul masters. At the same time, Shrek Academy also gathered soul masters that had reached bottlenecks in their cultivation among all the soul masters that arrived in Shrek City. There wasn’t any requirement, but there were only one hundred available slots. The chosen hundred participants didn’t need to pay for anything, but there wasn’t any guarantee that the fusion of Spirits would be successful. In addition, there was some element of risk involved.
There was always bound to be risk involved. Among the thousands of soul masters that came, there were many who had reached bottlenecks in their cultivation.
Eventually, fifty-six people signed up for this experiment that was risky, yet potentially groundbreaking. The remaining forty-four slots were filled by Shrek Academy.
Among these hundred soul masters, the weakest had a three-ringed cultivation, while the strongest had an eight-ringed cultivation. Most tiers of soul masters were included in this experiment. These volunteers temporarily remained in Shrek City to wait for news from Huo Yuhao.
Shrek Academy once again faced the entire world of soul masters on the Douluo Continent with an unselfish attitude. Of course, this was where they were clever. If their research succeeded, the existence of Spirits would be spread by word of mouth. This was also what Shrek Academy was trying to achieve!
The benefit of Spirits was the future developments it would be able to support. It was only through letting all soul masters realize how good Spirits were that would be it possible for everyone to stop hunting and killing soul beasts. In exchange, humans and soul beasts could undergo a different form of fusion. This might also be the key to removing the hatred and conflict between soul masters and soul beasts.
Shrek Academy was arranging everything in full swing.
————-
As the battle ended, Huo Yuhao was also brought to the Slaughtering Grounds in the Great Star Dou Forest by the Beast God.
Di Tian retracted his wings as he entered the Great Star Dou Forest. His body also quickly shrank in size. Very soon, he looked like a human once more. A streak of black light was released from his body and encircled Huo Yuhao, which helped him to fly.
The two of them flew towards the Slaughtering Grounds together. They looked like brothers right now, instead of a human and a soul beast.
There were millions of soul beasts living in the Great Star Dou Forest. However, Di Tian only led those with fighting strength out for the battle. However, his army had still comprised most of the fighting soul beasts in the forest.
The losses they had incurred had greatly hurt the vitality of the Great Star Dou Forest!
—
Huo Yuhao finally arrived at the Slaughtering Grounds. Di Tian led Huo Yuhao past the thick canopy and slowly drifted down.
Huo Yuhao was immersed in his thoughts earlier. However, he was jolted awake when the scenery around him suddenly changed. Following this, he was surprised when he looked around.
The Slaughtering Grounds in the Great Star Dou Forest was recognized as one of the most terrifying places in the entire continent. No soul master dared to venture into this area. In other words, it was like a forbidden ground for humans.
Huo Yuhao had always wondered what it was like in the Slaughtering Grounds of the Great Star Dou Forest. When he was younger, he had always imagined there to be all types of ferocious beasts here. However, what was it like in front of him now?
He first saw a lake. Although it wasn’t very huge, considering that he could see the opposite side of it, it felt like the Sea God’s Lake.
The surface of the lake was extremely smooth, and the dim-green water resembled the most beautiful piece of natural jade. It flashed with green lights that were filled with life. Around the lake were ancient trees that reached into the clouds. There was a slight layer of mist above the lake, and the moist air swept over to them by a light breeze, carrying the fragrance of plants along with it.
There was a strong aura of life here. The life energy here was extremely prosperous, several times stronger here than in the outside world. There were also many natural elements, and they were even concentrated, not inferior to the Icefire Yin Yang Well that he had been to before.
This place was like the source of all life. It was like all life in the Great Star Dou Forest was nurtured by this place. The principles of heaven and earth seemed to fill this place, and even the slightest sound threatened to destroy the peace and beauty of this place.
Was this really the Slaughtering Grounds? To Huo Yuhao, this place was more like a paradise for all living creatures!
The black air around him disappeared, and Di Tian stood quietly beside Huo Yuhao. “Do you sense it? Isn’t it beautiful?”
Huo Yuhao replied without any hesitation, “It’s too beautiful. This is like a mortal paradise. It seems like this is where the goddess of nature lives.”
Di Tian said, “Yes, this is a place that nurtures life. This lake that you are seeing contains the holiest Water of Life in the Great Star Dou Forest. This lake has existed for more than a million years. This is the lake that nurtures all life in the Great Star Dou Forest. It’s a miracle on its own. It gave the forest its own ecological balance over a million years. Initially, I…” He stopped when he reached that part. He revealed a sense of loss in his eyes, as well as an awed look.
Huo Yuhao didn’t look at him. He was completely astonished by the beauty of the scenery that was in front of him.
The Water of Life. Yes! That was only this name that could express the beauty of it!
“I didn’t expect this! Who would have thought that the core region of the Slaughtering Grounds was actually so beautiful?”
Di Tian said with a sense of loss, “This is the work of nature. It’s the source of life that nature offered to this world. I hope that everything you said today is true.”
Huo Yuhao nodded, turned to Di Tian and said, “Soul beasts are a part of this world. Without soul beasts, there naturally wouldn’t be soul masters. I’m afraid such a beautiful place wouldn’t exist, either.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll do my best. You should know that I’m wagering my life. Just like soul beasts, humans only have one life.”
At this moment, a furious roar sounded, and a dark-golden figure flashed to their side in an instant. “Why, Di Tian, why?”
This figure had adopted the human form of a muscular man. He was more than two meters tall, and his muscles were extremely well-developed. When he saw Huo Yuhao beside Di Tian, he lifted his hand, and terrifying, sharp, dark golden blades extended out. He clawed towards Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao stood in place without moving. He knew how insignificant he was here.
Di Tian furrowed his brow. “Bear Lord, don’t cause trouble.” As he lifted his right hand, a black barrier appeared in front of Huo Yuhao. As a piercing scratching sound resonated, the Bear Lord’s attack was blocked.
This muscular man was the human form of the Bear Lord!
The Bear Lord glared furiously at Di Tian and said, “Di Tian, do you know how many of our brothers and sisters were killed? How many of our compatriots are dead? Those despicable humans were about to fall to us! Why did you give the order to retreat? Why?”
Di Tian’s eyes suddenly brightened. He exuded a threatening might from his bright golden eyes. The sovereign-like suppression that came from him materialized into a layer of golden light that trapped the Bear Lord.
The Bear Lord went silent. He was astonished. He unleashed a layer of his own dark golden light as he tried to resist Di Tian’s suppression.
“Remember, I’ll have your palm for breakfast if you dare to talk to me in that tone again,” Di Tian said very slowly.
The Bear Lord’s arrogance had evidently been restrained, and he lowered his head, “I’m sorry Di Tian. It’s just that too many of us were killed. I…”
Di Tian also retracted his suppression. “I know that. Do you really think I’m not heartbroken? This time, the humans’ abilities were beyond my expectations! Furthermore, they had reinforcements! Have you even thought about how the three empires would react if we destroyed Shrek City at all costs? We’ve already been drained. If we continued, we’d have faced a catastrophe.”
The Bear Lord was stunned. His intelligence was much weaker than his offensive strength. He was immediately stunned by Di Tian’s words.
A few projections flashed past, and a few other soul beasts appeared in front of Di Tian. They were Bi Ji the Emerald Swan, the Myriad Demon King, and the Scarlet King!
