"Yes, Master."
The Blood Tiger brought its paws together and stood still, twitching its tiger ears obediently as it followed closely by Chu Fei's side.
Seeing the Blood Tiger submit, Daming and Erming, who had been watching it intently the whole time, finally relaxed their condensed Soul Power. They looked ready to obliterate the beast at the slightest sign of rebellion.
With that killing intent pressing down on it, the Blood Tiger didn't even dare to twitch.
Absorbing the Darkdemons Evilgod Tiger's Soul Ring this time had been much easier than absorbing the Man-Faced Demon Spider.
It felt as though a continuous stream of something was being injected into his body, helping him resist the Darkdemons Evilgod Tiger's remaining will.
Feeling the vast life force permeating the surroundings, Chu Fei couldn't help but marvel. When he looked at the lake beside them, his thorough knowledge of the plot gradually made everything clear.
No wonder this life force was pouring into his body even before he had stepped into the water.
This place had to be the most mysterious location within the Star Dou Great Forest—the Life Lake.
"The Life Lake?" Chu Fei murmured quietly as he gazed at the clear lake. "The Silver Dragon King should be here too."
Not only was the Life Lake the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, but it was also the resting place of the Silver Dragon King. However, the injuries the Silver Dragon King had suffered in the great war had still not healed, and she would not awaken for at least another several tens of thousands of years.
Things should remain unchanged for now, a thought that finally put Chu Fei at ease.
It was also the absolute best place to cultivate by borrowing the power of the Life Lake; there were very few places in the world so well-suited for cultivation.
Hearing Chu Fei's words, Daming and Erming snapped back to reality, their massive bodies hurriedly backing away two steps toward the lake.
Watching the two brothers' terrified expressions, Chu Fei couldn't help tilting his head and asking, "What's wrong? Is there really something that can scare you two like this?"
Daming hurriedly explained, "We've known about the Life Lake since we were young, but we've never dared to come here."
"Because to us, this place is a forbidden zone!"
Although they knew nothing about the Silver Dragon King, their fear of the Life Lake was engraved deep within their souls.
As the core of the Star Dou Great Forest, this place was a forbidden zone for spirit beasts, and their entry was strictly prohibited. They had only ended up here because they were too focused on hunting down the Darkdemons Evilgod Tiger and hadn't paid attention to where they were running.
At the mere thought that they had just been skipping stones across the Life Lake, Erming began to tremble slightly.
Unable to reason with the two stubborn fellows, the brothers hurriedly bid farewell to Chu Fei and left.
As for Chu Fei, Tu Ya, the Blood Tiger, and Xiao Wu—
This might be a forbidden zone for spirit beasts, but right now, all of them were humans. That restriction could naturally be dismissed with a clear conscience.
Besides, since they were going to cultivate here anyway, they couldn't possibly waste such a magnificent opportunity.
Under the watchful eyes of the other three, Chu Fei extended his hand. From within his sleeve, crimson blood gradually dripped and spread across the ground, slowly condensing into a Sea of Blood.
The churning blood bubbled continuously, looking particularly horrifying, yet this scene elicited no reaction from the group aside from a slight discomfort in Xiao Wu.
Chu Fei took out the inner pearl he had just obtained and handed it to Xiao Wu beneath the Blood Tiger's reluctant gaze. "Xiao Wu, take this inner pearl and go cultivate in the Sea of Blood. With this, your cultivation will yield twice the results with half the effort."
This Sea of Blood was precisely the product of Chu Fei's third innate Soul Skill, Assimilation!
Soul beasts or Soul Masters who voluntarily chose to bathe in the Sea of Blood would have their physiques and martial spirits assimilated by the Sea of Blood into the Blood God physique and Blood martial spirit. Furthermore, for every 10 individuals assimilated, Chu Fei's Soul Power rank would automatically increase by 1 level.
Xiao Wu glanced sideways at the Sea of Blood, took the inner pearl, and stepped into the Sea of Blood without a moment's hesitation.
Her attachment to Chu Fei meant she would never doubt him; how could Chu Fei possibly wish her harm?
Furthermore, Tu Ya was already Chu Fei's Blood God Child, making it even less likely for her to refuse.
Holding the inner core of the Darkdemons Evilgod Tiger, Xiao Wu stepped proactively into the Sea of Blood and crossed her legs to sit. The bewitching blood instantly climbed up from her calves, gradually spreading across her entire body along her skin.
The assimilation began.
Chu Fei watched Xiao Wu's meditating figure, then sat down nearby to cultivate as well.
Throughout the entire process, Xiao Wu cooperated unreservedly, opening her mind and body to absorb the power within the inner core while undergoing the transformation brought by the Sea of Blood.
Her changes were visible to the naked eye, with everything shifting toward a thriving and upward-bound state.
After a day and a night of cultivation, Chu Fei gradually felt the inner core within the Sea of Blood completely vanish.
Xiao Wu's assimilation was now complete.
"Brother Chu Fei." Xiao Wu slowly opened her eyes, a flash of bloody light vanishing from them.
The very first thing she did upon regaining her senses was search for Chu Fei. Seeing that Chu Fei was right in front of her, Xiao Wu smiled sweetly, affectionately wrapping her arms around Chu Fei's neck and rubbing her cheek gently against his.
Just feeling his aura made Xiao Wu's heart feel incomparably at peace.
Chu Fei likewise noticed Xiao Wu's transformation. Ever since she transformed into a human, her physique had initially been no different from that of an ordinary human.
Yet after absorbing the inner core of the Darkdemons Evilgod Tiger and undergoing the assimilation of the Sea of Blood, her physique had transformed into the Dark Demon Blood God physique, and her martial spirit had changed from the Soft Bone Rabbit to the Dark Demon Blood God Rabbit.
Not only had her Soul Power increased from rank 10 to rank 14, but her potential had also risen dramatically. Compared to before, Xiao Wu's potential had now reached the divine level.
Most importantly, Xiao Wu's aura had undergone a fundamental change.
When hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts transformed into human form to retrain, they all shared a single flaw: before entering their mature stage, their true spirit beast nature could be seen through by human Titled Douluos.
This was why so few spirit beasts could truly transform successfully; once seen through before their cultivation was complete, death was the only outcome awaiting them.
The Dark Demon Blood God physique compensated for this flaw perfectly, masking Xiao Wu's initial spirit beast aura.
Now, even if a Titled Douluo were to stand right in front of her, it would be utterly impossible for them to tell the difference between Xiao Wu and a human. Walking through human society in the future would no longer require such timid caution.
Beyond that, the Dark Demon Blood God physique offered numerous other benefits. Attributes such as strength, speed, and reaction time were all massively enhanced, the speed of cultivating Soul Power was vastly increased, and it provided a high degree of immunity against five attributes: wind, lightning, evil, time, and space.
Most crucially, the Dark Demon Blood God physique could suppress the soul shock generated by absorbing Soul Rings.
Not just the Dark Demon Blood God physique, but all Blood God physiques possessed these advantages.
This allowed Soul Masters with a Blood God physique to absorb Soul Rings above their rank almost universally.
Although Xiao Wu was a transformed spirit beast, she could only automatically condense her Soul Rings prior to rank 70.
Upon reaching rank 70 and entering the mature stage, she would completely break away from being a spirit beast and become a true human, at which point she would need to acquire Soul Rings on her own.
While Xiao Wu was rubbing affectionately against Chu Fei, a Soul Ring spontaneously began to condense around her.
As a transformed spirit beast, Xiao Wu didn't find acquiring a Soul Ring as difficult as humans did when hunting spirit beasts; she only needed to reach the required threshold to obtain one.
Having broken through to rank 14, Xiao Wu naturally and smoothly acquired her very first Soul Ring—and this first ring was a millennium-grade Soul Ring.
The limit of what a normal Soul Master's physique could endure for a first Soul Ring was only 423 years, yet Xiao Wu had exceeded that by more than double.
Chu Fei was not at all surprised by this. Having undergone the assimilation of the Sea of Blood and absorbed the inner pearl of the Darkdemons Evilgod Tiger, Xiao Wu's physique naturally far surpassed that of ordinary people.
Shortly after Xiao Wu's assimilation concluded, a soft voice suddenly sounded beside everyone's ears.
"Um, I—"
The surface of the lake rippled slightly, and wisps of white mist gradually drifted across it.
From within that mist, a petite figure slowly emerged, looking at Chu Fei in bewilderment.