Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao who returned from Sekiro

Chapter 13 Soul Rings!

Suddenly, Long Aotian's expression turned serious. He raised his head, sniffed around, and an expression of disbelief appeared in his eyes.

"Master, I think I can smell that scent you described too."

Long Aotian scratched his face, feeling somewhat bewildered. The aroma he smelled was exactly as his master had described—a very special and unique fragrance, completely different from the food he ate outside. Although the aroma was diluted in the air, it was still captivating, like a slender little hand beckoning to Long Aotian and the old man.

The two exchanged a glance and, without saying a word, walked toward the source of the fragrance.

At this moment, Huo Yuhao was unaware that the aroma emanating from his secret-recipe grilled fish had already attracted an old man and a young man from afar. The unique and impactful fragrance of various spices mixed together was like two soul-hooking ropes, firmly hooking the hearts of the old man and the young man. At this moment, Huo Yuhao had no other thoughts; he simply wanted to have a hot meal first, then make some preparations and march into the Star Dou Great Forest.

He picked up the perfectly grilled fish and took a bite. The golden-brown, crispy skin was fragrant, yet still had a chewy texture. The juices from the fish, soaked in the sauce, burst in Huo Yuhao's mouth, leaving a lingering aroma on his lips and teeth.

Huo Yuhao used to use only salt and perilla to season his grilled fish, and the result was so delicious that people would dream about it and never forget it. Now, Huo Yuhao has all kinds of spices as his ultimate weapon.

Various spices were mixed together in different proportions, like the roles of emperor, minister, assistant, and adjuvant, bringing out the aroma of each grilled fish to its fullest potential. In addition, Huo Yuhao's unique Spirit Eye Martial Soul allowed him to perfectly control the heat when grilling the fish, pushing the quality of each grilled fish to an unbelievable level.

After quickly finishing the two grilled fish, Huo Yuhao dug a hole and buried all the fish bones, scales, and entrails left over from processing the bluefish. He then spent some time grilling the remaining dozen or so bluefish and putting them into his storage soul tool before wiping his mouth and setting off again towards the Star Dou Forest.

After eating two bluefish, Huo Yuhao's fatigue had mostly dissipated. Although two grilled fish should not have been enough for someone of Huo Yuhao's age who was still growing, he still ate only two and was about four-tenths full.

He was about to enter the Star Dou Great Forest, and he needed to get himself back to his best condition. Eating too much would inevitably affect his ability to exert his full strength. At this point, he was only a level 10 Soul Master and hadn't even obtained a Soul Ring yet. So, no matter what he considered, it was extremely necessary to keep himself in the best possible condition. As for his appetite, he would have plenty of opportunities to satisfy it once he got home.

Not long after they started walking, a wooden sign by the roadside caught Huo Yuhao's attention.

"You will enter the Star Dou Great Forest about 50 miles ahead. There are soul beasts there. Please be careful."

Sure enough, they hadn't gone the wrong way and were finally approaching their destination. At this moment, Huo Yuhao felt a mix of excitement and nervousness. He touched the dagger on his left hip, suppressed his unease, and strode forward with firm steps.

Becoming a Soul Master is the only way out. This is Huo Yuhao's obsession. In this continent where the strong are respected, ordinary people without strength cannot control their own destiny. Therefore, Huo Yuhao's goal is very clear: to step by step and firmly enter the ranks of the strong in Douluo Continent.

After traveling a distance, as he continued forward, a strange feeling suddenly appeared in his mind. Huo Yuhao felt a slight stinging sensation in his eyes and subconsciously channeled his soul power into his spiritual eyes.

A faint breeze swirled around his eyes, and Huo Yuhao seemed to see a dark shadow flash by on the left side of the road ahead.

As an extremely rare mutated spirit-type martial soul, the Spirit Eye has a strong early warning ability. The sense of crisis made Huo Yuhao's reaction become sharp. He slightly turned his body to the side. Although the change was not significant, the next moment, a black shadow missed its target and flashed past the space Huo Yuhao had dodged, landing on the ground beside him.

This close-up observation opportunity allowed Huo Yuhao to immediately see the shape of the dark figure.

It was a baboon about one meter tall, with brownish-yellow fur all over its body, brown eyes, unusually long arms, sharp claws on its hands, protruding canine teeth on its lips, and a fierce glint in its eyes.

Having missed its first attack, the baboon let out a low growl at Huo Yuhao, pushed off the ground with its powerful hind legs, and pounced on Huo Yuhao again.

"The wind baboon, well, its luck is really not that good."

Huo Yuhao didn't even glance at the wind baboon that was about to pounce. Several shuriken appeared in his left palm, and one of them shot out, accurately hitting the wind baboon's trajectory. With a "poof," a spray of blood mist appeared, and the shuriken pierced through the wind baboon's left eyeball and entered its brain.

The wind baboon didn't even have time to struggle much. It only managed to let out a short, sharp scream before collapsing to the ground. A faint white light appeared on the wind baboon's body, and gradually, this white light slowly condensed into a white halo above its body. The halo was not clear, and the light was also faint, but even so, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but take a few more glances.

This is a spirit ring! Even if it's just a spirit ring from a wind baboon, or even if it's just a spirit ring from a ten-year-old spirit beast, as long as I absorb this spirit ring, I will be a true spirit master!

Huo Yuhao slowly drew the dagger from his left hip, his gaze fixed intently on the dense forest before him. On the treetops, shadowy figures either sped by or stood still, but they all had one thing in common: their eyes were fixed on Huo Yuhao.

This is why Huo Yuhao said he wasn't very lucky. Although wind baboons are generally weak, with most having only ten years of cultivation and a hundred-year-old wind baboon being extremely rare, they usually act in groups. Once these weak soul beasts gather together, they can usually drive away predators with hundreds of years of cultivation. Unless it's a young baboon that has failed to compete for the leadership of the group, or an old baboon that can't hold onto its leadership position, most wind baboons will not fight alone.

"Squeak squeak squeak—squeak squeak—"

A wind baboon, significantly larger than the other baboons, stood upright, its feet, resembling human hands, gripping the branches tightly to support its body. As this wind baboon's voice rang out, the other wind baboons immediately stirred.

(End of this chapter)