As Huo Yuhao walked out of Shrek Academy, far away in the Holy Spirit Sect, the Death God Envoy also stepped out.
There was no special reason — after a year of seclusion and grueling cultivation, the Death God Envoy had successfully reached level 80. Now, he urgently needed an eighth spirit ring to break through.
To reach level 80 in just one year, he had used up all his resources, even cutting back on the number of zombies he crafted, and sacrificed all his previously made corpse slaves to nourish himself.
He also greatly benefited from the Holy Spirit Sect's headquarters — the miasma in the air was especially sweet, making it an ideal environment to refine his body into a zombie physique, accelerating his soul power growth.
As for the bottleneck that evil soul masters typically face, it no longer hindered him after transforming into a zombie body.
Can't break through the bottleneck? Then change the conditions.
Chaotic soul power hard to refine? Then get a body type that suits chaotic soul power.
The zombie body could be considered a special physique tailored for the path of evil soul masters. The chaotic soul power of such cultivators becomes nourishment for the zombie body — naturally, bottlenecks no longer exist.
The reason he was in such a rush to grow stronger was because the Death God Envoy had realized that someone in the Holy Spirit Sect wanted him dead. Only by quickly increasing his strength could he guarantee his safety.
He had already identified the ones trying to harm him — most likely the Blue Silver Saintess and the Blue Silver Knight.
The so-called Blue Silver Knight was the Saintess's personal guard, said to be the disciple of the Chief Offering, hence granted this prestigious position. His status was second only to the Saintess herself and not inferior to the elders at headquarters.
But aside from the Death God Envoy, no one in the Holy Spirit Sect really knew Beibei's background or his martial spirit. After all, Beibei had never participated in a Soul Master Tournament, and wasn't widely known.
To eliminate future threats, they naturally had to take him out completely. If Beibei's identity were exposed, even with Long Xiaoyao's backing, there would still be trouble.
Neither the Blue Silver Saintess nor the Blue Silver Knight held any gratitude toward the Death God Envoy — the very person who helped them reunite as lovers.
The Death God Envoy's awareness of danger and insight into their intentions came from some newly acquired memories and knowledge in his mind, though his instincts told him not to think too much about it.
Huo Yuhao: Don't ask. A friend gave it to me.
The newly joined Death God Envoy was obviously no match for the powerful Saintess and her Knight. While he was in seclusion training, they had already gathered quite a formidable faction.
Fortunately, they couldn't assassinate him at the Holy Spirit Sect's headquarters.
Even among evil soul masters, there are rules.
So, the Death God Envoy remained hidden at headquarters, focusing on cultivation. He avoided all social interactions and missions. Thanks to rewards from Long Xiaoyao, he wasn't required to go out, giving the Saintess and Knight no chance to strike.
But the Death God Envoy knew his good days were numbered — not just because his resources were exhausted, but also because his stay at headquarters was coming to an end. They were preparing to assign him to a regional branch.
Once he left for the branch, he'd be in real danger. The Blue Silver Saintess and Knight would surely strike!
Still, he wasn't overly worried. Having reached level 80, as long as he obtained his eighth ring, he'd have the strength to protect himself.
Plus, with his new zombie body, his physical capabilities had greatly improved. Upon breaking through, he'd be able to fight high-level Soul Douluo — maybe even spar with a lower-level Titled Douluo.
As long as he could reach the branch safely, his future would be limitless. Once he advanced to Titled Douluo and refined more zombies, he could return to headquarters and take revenge on the Blue Silver duo.
In the future, he even aimed to become an elder of the headquarters — maybe even the sect master!
That was the ambition of the Death God Envoy.
He had the confidence because of the legacy he inherited.
According to the legacy, as long as he became a zombie, he could continue evolving, eventually reaching an undying, indestructible state — akin to a god.
Once again, the Death God Envoy went hunting for a spirit ring alone. He had no one in headquarters he could trust, so naturally, he wouldn't form a team.
Fortunately, he wasn't without help. The zombies he had refined were now combat-ready and could assist in the hunt.
His seventh ring was 60,000 years old. With his current physique, he could absorb a suitable 90,000-year soul beast ring.
But considering his combat power and situation, he decided on a 70,000-year beast — more manageable to hunt and less likely to leave him injured or exhausted.
Without help, he couldn't even dream of a 90,000-year beast.
Even if he managed to succeed, he'd be severely injured — which would give the Blue Silver duo a golden opportunity.
Hunting an 80,000-year beast wasn't safe either. To be cautious, a 70,000-year ring was just right.
All he needed was to break through. His future power would rely on the strength of his zombie body.
"Damn that Blue Silver Saintess and Blue Silver Knight!" the Death God Envoy cursed bitterly.
At this moment, his entire body was cloaked in a filthy black robe, not an inch of skin exposed. He dared not show himself in the sunlight. Avoiding everyone, he stiffly made his way toward the Jingyang Mountains.
While the zombie body enhanced his physique, it significantly reduced his flexibility. His skin and flesh had lost vitality and luster, and his "little brother" hadn't felt anything in a long time.
But to the Death God Envoy, it was all worth it for power.
Moreover, once the zombie body evolved enough, it would be like a dry tree sprouting in spring — his body would regain vitality.
...
"So that's how it is. His cultivation speed is pretty fast, and the quality of this zombie body isn't bad," Huo Yuhao's consciousness descended into the Death God Envoy's body. While examining the physique, he flipped through the Envoy's memories — learning all his ambitions and plans.
Though the Death God Envoy avoided prying eyes, he couldn't hide from Huo Yuhao. As soon as he made a move, Huo Yuhao sensed it.
It happened to be near dusk, and his main body had settled in a hotel in a nearby city. So Huo Yuhao temporarily descended into the Envoy's body to check things out.
In fact, even if the Envoy hadn't left the sect, Huo Yuhao would've made him leave. After all, the supply package Huo Yuhao had sent had just arrived — all that was left was for the Envoy to sign for it.
As dusk fell, the Death God Envoy, under Huo Yuhao's control, reached a hidden spot at the edge of the Jingyang Mountains. He let out a whistle at a special frequency.
A giant centipede burst from the ground — the Centipede Foot Clone. Knowing the mountain range wasn't far from the Holy Spirit Sect, the clone had been ordered to lie in wait nearby.
The Centipede Foot Clone scanned the Death God Envoy. Upon sensing Huo Yuhao's aura, it confirmed his identity and immediately spat out a soul tool ring from its belly.
Then, the clone waited quietly for its next command.
"Since the Death God Envoy has such ambition, I'll help him this once."
"Foot Clone — go find a soul beast in the mountains with a cultivation of around 90,000 years. Preferably not exceeding 95,000. Avoid bright-attribute types like light, fire, or lightning. Look for one with dark-type attributes."
"Go."
The Centipede Foot Clone obediently burrowed back underground to carry out the mission.
Huo Yuhao picked up the ring from the ground and began extracting supplies to equip the Death Envoy.
The supplies were purely equipment—no cultivation resources. After all, a matured puppet needed to learn to gather resources and grow on its own. One couldn't rely entirely on the master, right? This was a rare opportunity for growth!
There were only three items in the ring.
First was a pale left-hand glove. The glove's surface was smooth, almost like skin. In fact, it was skin—refined from the skin of Huo Yuhao's own left hand!
It had been turned into a magical artifact, imbued with Huo Yuhao's power of Extreme Poison. Any poison-type Soul Master using this glove could bring their poison-based abilities to the level of Extreme Poison! Even corpse poison was included.
It could be called a divine weapon for poison-type Soul Masters.
Huo Yuhao's own poison was ice-based, and this corpse poison bore no connection to him. There wasn't the slightest trace of ice power in the glove.
The second item was a pill—not a medicinal one, but a magical artifact pill, refined from the soul and soul bone of a Three-Life Wolf Ape.
Three of these were refined, and Huo Yuhao named them Three-Life Soul Pills.
This artifact had two effects:
Those who consumed a Three-Life Soul Pill could link their minds, with no distance limitation.
It could summon the Wolf Ape Spirit to assist in battle.
Yes, this artifact contained a spirit. Each pill carried a spirit—the soul of the Three-Life Wolf Ape. The power of the spirit would grow alongside the artifact. Currently, the summoned spirit had a cultivation of ten thousand years and retained some of its soul skills from life.
By the way, besides its spatial attributes, the main attribute of the Three-Life Wolf Ape was darkness.
The reason Huo Yuhao gave the pill to the Death Envoy was because he had made some modifications to it—once the Death Envoy refined the pill, Huo Yuhao could control him more easily and wouldn't have to worry about him going rogue in the future.
It also served as a life-saving tool for the Death Envoy.
Don't underestimate the current strength of the Wolf Ape Spirit—even at ten thousand years, its spatial teleportation abilities could still help the Death Envoy escape.
The final piece of equipment was a small banner—a Soul Banner refined by Huo Yuhao using special materials. It could capture souls and was even more effective than the current soul-collecting gear the Death Envoy was using.
After all, it was about time the Death Envoy started going out on missions—he could help collect souls along the way.
Just like sending off the travel frog—you've got to give it a good backpack so it brings back better goodies!
Lastly, if the storage ring itself counted as equipment, then there were technically four items.
As the sun set and darkness fell...
Huo Yuhao had the Death Envoy stand rigidly in the forest, activating cultivation techniques. The Death Envoy's body could no longer sit cross-legged.
But this wasn't cultivation—it was the process of refining the three magical artifacts.
The lowest quality was the Soul Banner, followed by the Three-Life Soul Pill, with the glove being the highest. Full refinement would take time.
But full refinement wasn't necessary yet—being able to use them initially was enough and would provide a significant boost for the upcoming soul-hunting operation.
Once the refining was done, Huo Yuhao left the Death Envoy on standby, waiting for the Centipede-Leg Clone to return with intel. If things didn't go smoothly, they might have to waste a few days in the Jingyang Mountains.
No need to worry about Huo Yuhao's main body—only a portion of his consciousness had descended into the Death Envoy. It was like running a secondary character in a game.
This didn't affect Huo Yuhao's main activities. For a cultivator at the Zen Master level, multi-tasking was basic—strong spiritual power could handle it.
However, to control multiple puppets in different places simultaneously (not just releasing several soul skills at once), one needed special methods. This was true multi-tasking—like running multiple avatars in different areas.
Even while his main body was shopping with Zhang Lexuan, Ma Xiaotao, and the other three girls, it didn't stop Huo Yuhao from sending the Death Envoy into a dungeon.
Time passed into the late night. Finally, the Centipede-Leg Clone returned with news of a discovery.
"Take me there," Huo Yuhao ordered.
Without hesitation, the clone swallowed the Death Envoy's body whole and burrowed into the ground, heading to the target location.
...
Hiding in a tall tree, Huo Yuhao looked down at a soul beast hunting in the night.
It resembled a baboon, with a long tail and sharp ears. Under the moonlight, its fur was pitch-black, with its neck fur standing on end. Its pale face looked terrifying, with interlaced fangs protruding from its mouth.
From its aura, it had just reached 90,000 years of cultivation—a perfect match for the Death Envoy.
"A 90,000-year Devil Monkey? That's rare," Huo Yuhao murmured in surprise. He hadn't expected to encounter such a soul beast.
He'd only learned of this species from the Shrek Academy's inner library, which even included an illustration that looked exactly like the one before him.
He'd once joked about that library, and now the joke had boomeranged right back at him.
Anyway.
Due to various reasons, some books from the Sun Moon Empire made their way to the original Three Kingdoms of Douluo, and Shrek Academy collected a few.
The Devil Monkey wasn't listed in standard soul beast encyclopedias, but in mythological storybooks. These contained tales involving gods, which is why they were stored in the inner library.
The legend said that Devil Monkeys were dark beings that frightened and devoured other creatures' souls and flesh, often serving as minions to even more evil entities.
Those so-called "more evil" beings were unnamed evil gods mentioned in the myths.
Whether or not the Devil Monkey was truly a dark entity was unclear, but it definitely possessed the dark attribute.
Huo Yuhao's unhidden gaze alerted the Devil Monkey, which looked up and saw the Death Envoy in the tree.
It bared its fangs and let out a threatening growl.
And, well—it really was ugly. Definitely scary too. Anyone caught off guard by it might be startled into a panic.
There was even a mental energy assault embedded in its roar, directed at Huo Yuhao.
But even with just part of his consciousness present, Huo Yuhao easily neutralized the psychic attack. The monkey's mental technique was no match for him.
Seeing that intimidation failed, the Devil Monkey didn't run. Instead, it let out a sharp, ear-piercing screech—like fingernails scraping a skull—and lunged at Huo Yuhao.
Despite being only a meter tall, the monkey leapt over ten meters into the air.
As it pounced, Huo Yuhao didn't retreat. Instead, he stepped forward and struck with his left palm.
"Eat my palm!"
Poisonous Palm!
Huo Yuhao's left hand unleashed corpse poison. With the support of his enchanted glove, the poison reached an extreme level, and he slapped it right onto the Devil Monkey's body.
It wasn't that the Devil Monkey didn't want to dodge—Huo Yuhao hadn't dodged either. The Monkey had launched the attack, but Huo Yuhao chose to face it head-on.
The Devil Monkey's claws carried power, but it wasn't a lethal strike. So Huo Yuhao didn't evade.
Given the current toughness of the Death Envoy's body, taking that claw head-on would at most cause severe injury, not instant death. And for a zombie-bodied Death Envoy, as long as it wasn't fatal, it wasn't a problem at all.
Bang! Bang!
Two muffled booms rang out almost simultaneously. Both Huo Yuhao and the Devil Monkey were sent flying in opposite directions. Each had taken a hit from the other.
Thanks to the robust physique of a soul beast, the Devil Monkey only suffered minor injuries, but a green handprint was now scorched into its skin beneath the fur. The corpse poison had already invaded and begun to spread rapidly inside its body.
However, the Devil Monkey didn't feel much yet—just a growing numbness where it was struck. Enraged, it ignored its disheveled state and sprang up, charging on all fours toward where Huo Yuhao landed, shrieking with a piercing screech.
Huo Yuhao also landed heavily. The Death Envoy's body was indeed severely damaged. His robes were shredded, revealing a shriveled, muscle-bound figure with greenish-black skin.
Several deep claw marks nearly gutted the Death Envoy, but even with such brutal wounds, the body showed no pain. It still moved freely.
As Huo Yuhao commanded the body to rise, its internal organs spilled out along with some foul black fluid—but bizarrely, the intestines kept twitching as if alive.
Still, what caught Huo Yuhao's attention wasn't the state of the body—it was the residual energy left from the Devil Monkey's attack.
"Dark-type power with a cursing effect... If I don't finish the Monkey quickly, this curse will keep growing."
He could tell at a glance. The dark energy didn't dissipate—it continued devouring the Death Envoy's power and strengthening the curse.
The Devil Monkey charged again. Huo Yuhao let out a cold snort.
Yellow, yellow, purple, yellow, purple, black, black!
Seven soul rings of a strange configuration rose from the Death Envoy's body. The seventh ring flashed.
"Seventh Soul Skill: True Zombie Form!"
As Huo Yuhao transformed the Death Envoy into a zombie, its martial spirit avatar also changed—
It became the fully unleashed True Zombie Form.
"ROAR—!"
A furious roar exploded from the Death Envoy's mouth. A terrifying aura burst forth, blasting the Devil Monkey away.
Rolling to its feet, the Devil Monkey didn't charge again. Instead, it stared warily, shrieking and baring its fangs in intimidation.
With the True Zombie Form active, the Death Envoy's appearance warped—losing all human features.
Fangs extended rapidly, especially the canines, now razor-sharp. His eyes glowed blood-red, brimming with hunger for flesh and blood.
His wounds healed as if refreshed, but the curse remained.
His body bulked up dramatically, nails on both hands and feet growing wildly, shredding his shoes.
Thankfully, his left glove was a refined magical item—it flexibly adapted to the transformation, allowing the claws to protrude.
With the True Zombie Form active, Huo Yuhao felt his mind overwhelmed by bloodlust and savagery, unable to remain rational.
If the Death Envoy had transformed on his own, he would've gone berserk, attacking friend and foe alike—likely dying from the rampage.
But with Huo Yuhao in control, none of that mattered. He kept full command.
"To hunt this Devil Monkey, I'll need full power!"
"I'll summon two decoys!"
Raising his hand, Huo Yuhao summoned two Blood Coffins. With a heavy creak, their lids flung open—two figures rose stiffly.
Two remaining zombies.
Their skin was deathly pale, eyes blood-red, fangs bared. Their claws were long and pitch black.
His third soul ring glowed—activating Corpse Slave Control, applying it to both the summoned zombies and the Death Envoy himself.
The Death Envoy's body was a mutated zombie type, once halfway to becoming a Lich before shifting paths. Naturally, this made him unique.
The control skill worked on him too—and strengthened him even further.
Same for the two zombies.
"Attack!"
With a roar, the zombies lunged stiffly at the Devil Monkey, entangling it in combat.
Unfortunately, they were too weak to hurt it—if anything, they were quickly injured.
Just as the Monkey was about to rip them apart—
Whoosh!
A sharp sound behind it—Huo Yuhao rushed in from the rear.
Seeing its nemesis, the Devil Monkey immediately abandoned the zombies and swung its claw at Huo Yuhao in a brutal trade of blow for blow.
Thud!
Both were sent flying again.
Another poisonous handprint now stained the Devil Monkey's body. The numbness grew worse. It began to realize—its opponent's attacks were getting stronger.
But still, it hadn't broken its defense.
The Death Envoy's body didn't break either—its defenses had improved with its strength.
But judging from how far they were knocked back, the Devil Monkey was still stronger.
Not letting up, the Monkey lunged again.
Huo Yuhao made his move—
Fifth Soul Skill: Smoke Magic!
The Death Envoy's body turned into smoke, evading the attack. Once at a safe distance, he turned and bolted away.
"Hisss—HA!" the Devil Monkey screeched and gave chase, refusing to let him escape.
Exactly as Huo Yuhao had planned.
"I already hit it twice with extreme corpse poison. Why waste energy fighting? Wait for the poison to erupt—then finish it off."
He fled. It chased.
Neither could fly away, no matter what.
Left behind were the two dumbfounded zombies.
With no more enemies in sight, and no new commands, the two zombies looked dazed. After a while, they just hopped back to their coffins and quietly pulled the lids shut.
At last, only two blood coffins remained under the moonlight.
The forest at night was incredibly dangerous. For humans, nighttime was for rest—but for soul beasts, the darkness provided the perfect cover for hunting.
A hundred-year-old ferocious tiger soul beast crouched in the bushes, baring its fangs, ready to ambush its prey.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Huo Yuhao appeared beside it and snapped its neck.
Without even looking back, he flung the tiger's corpse behind him and shouted:
"Art is… Patrick Star—ahem—Corpse Explosion Technique! Haaah!"
Boom!
The tiger's body expanded rapidly before exploding in a violent blast. The force of a hundred-year soul beast's corpse detonation easily shattered two towering trees, each over ten meters tall.
But a dark shadow shot through the smoke and flames, still chasing after Huo Yuhao.
It was the Devil Ape!
"Damn it! That Devil Ape is still after me!"
Huo Yuhao hadn't expected the Devil Ape to be this persistent. The corpse poison he had inflicted seemed to have expired or weakened—it hadn't had much effect even after more than ten minutes.
Thankfully, his Death Servant was still holding on.
With his enhanced zombie body and smoke magic, Huo Yuhao could maneuver the Death Servant to evade the Devil Ape's pursuit, occasionally turning to strike and poison it again.
Although the Devil Ape was fast, it couldn't instantly kill the Death Servant. And it had no better method to deal with one that was purely focused on escape. But it held a grudge and kept relentlessly chasing.
Still, maintaining the zombie true form consumed energy and couldn't be sustained indefinitely.
Now, under the Devil Ape's continued assault, the zombie form was nearing its limit.
The Devil Ape stalked like a ghost, occasionally bursting forward to claw viciously at the Death Servant.
The Death Servant's clothing was almost completely torn off. If Huo Yuhao hadn't taken care to dodge, he might've ended up streaking through the forest.
As the Devil Ape lunged again, Huo Yuhao didn't try to tank it—instead, he turned into a puff of smoke and fled.
Once his zombie true form was active, all soul skills were boosted and the first six could even be cast instantly—provided he had the energy, he could spam them.
Escaping as smoke cost less energy than taking hits, so this allowed the zombie form to persist a bit longer.
The Devil Ape couldn't break through the zombie's defense. Its strategy was to wear down Huo Yuhao's energy and outlast the zombie form's duration.
About ten minutes later, the zombie clone was automatically deactivated. The Martial Soul True Form had reached its time limit.
Huo Yuhao instantly felt the Death Servant's stats drop across the board—even lower than before activating the true form. A normal weakness period after deactivation.
Worse still, the prior injuries hadn't recovered.
Not great news for Huo Yuhao right now.
"So this is your limit?" he muttered to himself.
Actually, it was a decent performance—just unfortunate that the enemy was stronger.
But Huo Yuhao wasn't flustered.
Though the battle was a bit different from what he'd expected, his main goal had always been to test the Death Servant's abilities. He still had cards left to play.
As the Devil Ape lunged from the darkness again, the Death Servant suddenly leapt forward and dodged.
This time, it wasn't a smoke escape—but spatial displacement.
It was the power granted by the Wolf-Ape Artifact Spirit!
"Didn't see that coming, huh? I still had a flash left!"
Without zombie form, he didn't dare tank attacks anymore.
But instead of teleporting forward, he shifted sideways. As he did, two blood coffins emerged again from the forest behind him.
Huo Yuhao had been circling with the Devil Ape this whole time. The coffins weren't far. If the ape continued the chase, he could awaken two more zombies—maybe one would be strong enough to put it down.
To his surprise and relief, the Devil Ape finally stopped.
It didn't charge again—it stood, panting, shaking its head violently, its awareness starting to fade.
Under its fur, sickly green lines began spreading across its body—they had already reached its neck.
The corpse poison had finally reached its brain!
The Devil Ape's fangs lengthened. Its eyes turned bloodshot. Its vision blurred. Its mind grew muddled.
Even then, it still looked vicious, baring its fangs at Huo Yuhao, swaying, trying to attack. It saw double now and couldn't even target him accurately.
Finally, it collapsed—unwilling but unconscious.
Huo Yuhao grinned.
"Knew it! Singed's joy is in the chase!"
Then he released his control over the Death Servant. "Go. Finish it."
The Death Servant didn't hesitate. It leapt and pinned the Devil Ape down, sinking its fangs into the ape's neck and draining its blood.
Even without the zombie true form, the Death Servant had little sanity left. Exhausted, it was driven by a single instinct: to feed.
Huo Yuhao didn't stop it.
If the Death Servant were still human, it wouldn't even deserve a taste of that blood. But now that it was a zombie, investing resources in it was only right.
Eventually, the Devil Ape's body became a dried husk. Its life force extinguished. A pitch-black ninety-thousand-year soul ring rose slowly into the air.
The Death Servant's consciousness slipped into deep slumber.
Not only from the massive energy drain—but also from consuming the blood of a 90,000-year soul beast. It needed time to digest.
Huo Yuhao would have to absorb the soul ring himself.
"Yare yare~"
Before doing so, Huo Yuhao used his Soul Banner to trap the Devil Ape's soul. That gave him a beast soul as well—and made absorbing the soul ring easier.
Two hours later—
Huo Yuhao completed the soul ring absorption for the Death Servant.
This area seemed to be the Devil Ape's territory. Even after its death, no other soul beasts dared approach, giving Huo Yuhao the time to finish.
After absorbing the ring, his centipede-foot clone, which had been on high alert, finally retreated.
The Death Servant's aura climbed—
And settled at Level 83, on the verge of Level 84!
"Gaining three levels from a higher-rank soul ring, plus the blood digestion boosted soul power too. But the main improvement was to physical stats."
Still, the Death Servant hadn't regained consciousness. Huo Yuhao would have to continue controlling it for now.
He glanced at the whitening sky. No time to check new soul skills. He quickly pulled out a black robe from his soul tool and draped it over the Death Servant—sunlight was still deadly to it.
Then, just as he turned to leave with the two blood coffins, he noticed a faint soul energy fluctuation from the dried corpse of the Devil Ape.
Startled, he raised his hand and shattered the husk.
Inside—was a hidden soul bone, located in the skull.
A 90,000-year Devil Ape head soul bone!
"We hit the jackpot." Huo Yuhao was genuinely surprised.
This soul bone… would, of course, be sent to his true body.
The Death Servant could focus on corpse refinement—soul bones like this were better digested by the real Huo Yuhao.
A new day dawned, with the sun shining brightly.
In a city of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Huo Yuhao, accompanied by four women, continued their training journey.
This journey wasn't about rushing or racing against time—it was about gaining insight and acquiring real-world experience.
So the five of them weren't in a hurry. They wandered around like tourists, taking in the sights and occasionally participating in hands-on experiences. Their plan was to explore the Heavenly Soul Empire and experience its local customs and culture.
They were all filled with curiosity.
Even Wei Na, the princess of the Heavenly Soul Empire, hadn't visited much of her own country, so she was full of anticipation as well.
Zhang Lexuan had a broader perspective than the others and would occasionally share her experiences, though hers were also limited.
Most of Zhang Lexuan's knowledge came from her missions with the Investigation Corps, so her understanding wasn't very comprehensive. This was her first time truly touring the continent too.
That said, the group did have a rough plan. They intended to visit the renowned soul master clans and sects across the empire, spar with the local geniuses, and expand their horizons. Larger cities also had battle arenas where they could fight. Moreover, they planned to take on bounty missions as well.
Sometimes the city lord's mansion would post bounty tasks they couldn't handle directly, offering rewards for those willing to take them on—making it easier to resolve local issues.
The empire turned a blind eye to this practice.
There were also many civilian commissions, which were posted in dedicated locations. Some involved hunting for soul rings, while others required the collection of rare materials.
For example, when Huo Yuhao and his companions were in the Extreme North, they posted a bounty seeking soul bones—that too counted as a civilian bounty mission.
This gave rise to professions like mercenary groups and bounty hunters. Dedicated guilds even formed around them, and they'd been growing and evolving for years.
Even while traveling, Huo Yuhao continued to manage issues related to the Death God Envoy.
Now that the Death God Envoy had reached the Soul Douluo level, a new training plan was necessary. It was worth spending some effort—after all, Huo Yuhao didn't want to suddenly get a death notice saying his "wandering frog" died on some random journey.
Wouldn't that be a waste of all his investment?
"Yuhao, come over here! Big Senior Sister is about to register us as a mercenary group," Wei Na called out.
"Got it, I'm coming!"
…
In a dark and damp cave within the Jingyang Mountains.
The original owner of the cave had already become breakfast for the Death God Envoy—the cave had been thoroughly cleaned. Whether or not it still stank, Huo Yuhao didn't care.
He couldn't smell it anyway.
"Although he's lost his sense of taste and smell, he still feels hunger and appetite. His food source now consists solely of blood. By drinking blood, he extracts power from it, promoting his evolution and growth." Huo Yuhao was studying the body of the Death God Envoy.
Through his analysis, he found that this mutated zombie body was similar to regular zombies—at least in terms of diet.
But the abilities were quite different.
Among cultivators, zombies are classified into 18 distinct types.
The zombification method the Death God Envoy acquired only covered three types: the Regular Zombie, Blood Zombie, and Yin Zombie.
All three are dangerous types, but not too difficult to create and possess solid combat capabilities.
Each zombie type requires different materials. Regular zombies can be nurtured using death energy, yin energy, resentment, or filth. Blood zombies require fresh blood, while Yin zombies are nurtured with resentment.
Essentially, regular zombies are the most basic form, and the other types are specialized variants nurtured with a specific type of energy.
It's similar to Eevee and its evolutions.
While special zombies may seem stronger, each type has its own strengths and weaknesses once they reach higher levels.
The Death God Envoy naturally chose the regular zombie path because it was simple and convenient. Though the other two zombies were nurtured in blood coffins, they followed the same base method.
However, elements of corpse slave crafting were incorporated, resulting in a mutated form. These zombies weren't a new category but instead possessed power surpassing that of regular zombies.
Zombie levels are usually categorized as Purple Zombie, White Zombie, Green Zombie, Hair Zombie, and so on—with more obvious traits in regular zombies.
For instance, the color of their skin can indicate their level.
Currently, the Death God Envoy is a Green Zombie, while his two underlings are White Zombies.
Different levels grant different abilities.
Purple Zombies usually can't fight or even move freely. They require external control and are considered incomplete zombies. With enough resources, though, they can evolve quickly.
White Zombies are mobile and can fight but are slow and have many weaknesses. They're easy to deal with. Their blood coffins aren't just homes—they're protective shells.
Green Zombies overcome most weaknesses, retaining only sunlight and fire as their main threats. Their physical power, speed, and jumping abilities increase significantly.
The next level—Hair Zombies—are resistant to sunlight and ordinary flames. With iron-hard skin, strong combat skills, and high awareness, they become disasters when unleashed on the human world.
The Death God Envoy's mutated form not only retains self-awareness (since he turned himself into a zombie while alive), but more importantly, he can move freely at any level!
This is the result of combining multiple crafting techniques.
After understanding all this, Huo Yuhao began planning the Death God Envoy's training path—aiming to maximize his advantages and make him even stronger.
The Death God Envoy hadn't awakened yet. Having feasted on blood, his body was evolving while his consciousness slumbered. It was only because Huo Yuhao's consciousness descended that the Death God Envoy's body temporarily activated—otherwise, it would still be "off."
His body was constantly improving every second.
But he was still a long way from becoming a Flying Zombie.
The Death God Envoy had already consumed massive resources just to barely reach the Green Zombie stage from White Zombie.
"His martial soul and soul power were preserved, which helps a lot in combat. Let's take a look at the new eighth soul ring skill."
Huo Yuhao activated the soul ring, and the eighth soul skill's details gradually became clear.
It turned out to be a spiritual-type soul skill.
Death God Envoy's Eighth Soul Skill – Devil's Dread!
Devil's Dread: Releases a fearsome aura that inflicts immense spiritual damage on the enemy's soul.