"Ugh." Rao Wu groaned as he awoke with a splitting head. The child slowly sat up and winced as he cracked his eyelids open. "Whoa... what?" To Rao Wu's surprise, he found himself submerged in a small pool inside a room he had never seen. However, he recognized the liquid as the Eternal Spring Water.

Rao Wu quickly took off his torn, charred shirt and inspected his body. As expected, his injuries were completely healed. Heaving a sigh of relief, Rao Wu then checked in on his soul pets. Ju Tu was sleeping in its soul space as it slowly recovered from its injuries, and Lu Lin was the same as ever, but Xian Da and Raven had not returned. Fortunately, Rao Wu could feel a strong connection to the latter two, so he was not worried.

Rao Wu filled an empty jug with the Eternal Spring Water and then walked out of the door. Unsurprisingly, it opened to the familiar Test Chamber. Xian Da and Raven were chatting with Fen, the administrator near the golem. Rao Wu got close enough to pick up snippets of their conversation.

"Think about it. If you abandon that stinky fox, I'll make you the most powerful soul monster in the world" Fen, discontent with his loss, had decided to poach Xian Da from Rao Wu.

Thankfully, Xian Da stood up for its trainer. "Hmph. That stinky fox outsmarted you, didn't he?" With a wide grin, it taunted, "I think I'll take my chances."

Rao Wu beamed with pride, but then Raven spoke, "Hey! Why didn't you ask me!? I'm the one that knocked you out!"

Rao Wu's brows immediately furrowed as he inwardly swore to give Raven some 'proper treatment' later. Having heard all he needed, Rao Wu walked out of cover and greeted. "Hey, guys. Glad you're okay."

Raven's eyes widened when it saw Rao Wu, and it immediately sputtered, "U-um, so like I was saying, I wouldn't join you if you asked a thousand times! I'm loyal to Rao Wu alone!"

Rao Wu rolled his eyes at the Thunderfiend's terrible acting. "Get in here, Raven. I'll deal with you later."

Raven shed tears as the ball of light enveloped it. "No fair! You shouldn't be sneaking around, Baka-Wu!"

Rao Wu's brows twitched, but he couldn't punish Raven since it had already returned to the soul space. Instead, he sighed and called out Ju Tu.

"Guo~" The awakened Ju Tu groaned as it rubbed its eyes and then slowly blinked. When it saw Rao Wu, Ju Tu jumped in excitement and rapidly rushed over to the child. "Rao Wu! You're fine!" It picked up Rao Wu and then wrapped him in a bone-breaking hug. "I thought you'd die for sure."

Rao Wu chuckled as he flicked the Silver Primate's head. "Hey, don't jinx me like that." He then gave Ju Tu the jug and said, "Here, you did good back there." As Ju Tu drank, Rao Wu smiled at Xian Da. "You too, Xian Da. You were brilliant! We couldn't have won without any of you."

"Hmph. You only won because I got careless," Fen angrily grumbled as he approached Rao Wu. "More importantly, come take your rewards so you can scram out of my sight."

Rao Wu raised a teasing brow. "Wow. Did you want to kill me that badly? Aren't you happy you finally raised a good disciple?"

"No disciple of mine shall be a stinky fox!" Fen did not bother hiding his bias as he huffed. He then turned to the golem and snapped. "Well, what are you waiting for? Give them the essence!"

"Apologies." The familiar platform rose from the ground, but it held a floating, thick clump of dark-red blood this time. The strange blob was almost gelatinous and 'pulsed' like a beating heart.

"Wh-what is that?" Rao Wu asked, slightly trembling under the strange object's horrific pressure. It felt like he was submerged in a sea of blood from countless dead.

"Th—" The golem started to explain, but Fen interrupted.

"That is Ragnarok's Blood Essence," Fen said with pride. He uncharacteristically puffed his chest and looked at the floating clump with something akin to worship in his eyes. "Countless millennia ago, this world ran through a cycle of Destruction and Rebirth. A powerful soul monster would awaken from slumber at the end of an era, decimating most lifeforms in existence unless stopped. When he finished his task, this great soul monster would return to slumber as the world ushered in a new era. The period where the world banded together to fight against this calamity came to be known as Ragnarok."

Fen grinned as he pointed at the clump of blood. "This blood essence was continually extracted from that soul monster while he slept. Its use marks the birth of a new Harbinger, which, coincidentally, is the first condition to awaken that ancient beast from slumber."

"Awaken it?" Rao Wu gulped in fear. "I don't think I want it then. I don't want to wake up something capable of destroying the world."

Fen's eyes pulsed red as he revealed a sinister grin. "I am afraid you do not have a choice, little fox. You explicitly agreed when you took on the Harbinger Trials. If you refuse, I will be left with no option but to destroy you."

"You don't look too torn up about that," Rao Wu retorted with a glare. Suddenly, he felt like someone conned him—a super-long with his life at stake. "Fine! What does the blood essence do?" Rao Wu glanced at Xian Da. "Is it something I can give my soul pets?"

Fen's brow rose with intrigue. "I'm telling you this thing can make you more powerful than Soul Emperors, and you want to waste it on a soul pet?"

Rao Wu, however, snorted. "Will it make me an Emperor now? I bet like everything else here, it just unlocks some great potential, and I still have to do the work myself. Am I right, or am I right?"

"Well," Fen scratched his chin and revealed an embarrassed smile. "Supposing you are correct, are you certain you want to use this on a servant-ranked soul monster?"

"Why are you saying so much?" Rao Wu's brows furrowed as he looked at Fen with suspicion. "It's almost like you don't want me to give Xian Da the essence. What are you hiding?"

Surprisingly, Fen shook his head to deny the accusation. "On the contrary, aside from you, Xian Da is the best choice amongst your soul pets."

"Then—"

"I want to know why you are picking your soul pet over yourself," Fen explained. "You must know that soul pets come and go. One day you might abandon Xian Da for a better soul pet, but you can never abandon yourself. You are your own strongest foundation on the path to becoming a great soul trainer. I know you understand this. I've seen with my own eyes how hardworking you are in mastering even the basics. Yet, you are choosing to increase your soul pet's power over your own? Call it professional curiosity."

Rao Wu's usually teasing smile faltered ever so slightly as he decided to reply Fen's honesty seriously. "To be honest, I don't think I'm choosing Xian Da over myself." He glanced at Xian Da and Ju Tu and then said, "You might not know this, but I make a promise to each of my soul pets before contracting them. I promised I would do everything in my power to take each of them to the very top of the world." Rao Wu gently rubbed Xian Da's flank as he continued, "These guys are not just soul pets to me. They are my family, my best friends, and my companions for life. I don't care if Ragnarok himself appears in front of me; I will never abandon my family."

Rao Wu looked into Fen's eyes. "As you said, I always prioritize growing my strength, but you were wrong about one part. There is no difference between my soul pets and me. We're all one, and if even one side is lacking, we all fall apart." Rao Wu grinned as he winked at Fen. "Think about it. Xian Da is undoubtedly the weakest one among us, but if he did not hold you down, all of us would have died in that test. Every single one of my soul pets is part of my life. I will always choose the option that ensures they can follow me on my quest to the top."

"Ah!" Rao Wu shouted as he clarified. "Don't misunderstand. If that essence made me an instant Emperor, I would totally take it." His eyes turned into crescents as he revealed a scheming grin. "Then, I would just plunder everything Xian Da and the rest need to grow."

"Pfft!" Fen snorted as he struggled to hold back his laughter. "As expected of a wily fox! Good, I like your answer, kid. More than that wishy-washy stuff, I appreciate your pragmatic answer at the end. It tells me you're not an absolute idiot. It seems this era's Harbinger might live longer than the last."

Rao Wu's eyes widened. "There've been more? I thought I was the first to complete the Infernal Difficulty?"

"The other difficulties also birth Harbingers, but quite frankly, they are trash in my eyes." Fen dismissively waved his hand. "If you come across any, please do me a favor and execute them. It pains me seeing trash run around with that title."

Rao Wu raised a brow but chose not to pursue the subject. He was well-used to Fen's strange mannerisms. "Alright, whatever you say. More importantly, how do we use Ragnarok's essence? And what exactly does it do?"

Fen grinned as he looked at Xian Da. "It's simple. All you have to do is eat it." He then glanced at Ju Tu. "Like Sun Wukong's core, Ragnarok's blood essence will mutate Xian Da's species to better match its power. Unfortunately, Xian Da's rank, like all your soul pets, is far too low. It will need several mutations to reach its full potential, which cannot be done in one sitting. The rest of the blood essence will lay dormant in its blood until it reaches the conditions to activate a mutation."

Rao Wu wisely asked, "What are the conditions?"

"No one knows." Fen's answer was disappointing. "It happens spontaneously and at different times for each monster. However, there is one thing that is always present."

"What's that?"

"A realm-shaking will. A burning desire to change one's fate, destroy the world, or save it." Fen grinned when he saw Rao Wu's crafty gaze. "Don't think about it. No one can summon that kind of desire at will. It's not something that'll happen just because you want it. But, if you want a hint," Fen smirked and then said, "Pressure creates Diamonds. I know you don't understand this now, Jungle Boy, but one day you will."

Rao Wu scratched his head. He truly did not understand Fen's strange idiom but he did want to overthink it. Instead, he took the clump and then looked at Xian Da. But, just before feeding it, he turned to Fen and asked, "You said this thing mutates, yeah? Out of curiosity, what would have happened if I took it?"

Fen grinned. "Exactly that. You would have mutated into a wolf-hybrid. Then I could proudly accept you as my disciple."

Rao Wu stared at Fen in disbelief. So, all that bluster was just because Fen hated foxes that much. "You have problems. Get help." With those words, Rao Wu took Xian Da to the room where he woke up and then fed it the blood essence.

As Xian Da submerged itself in the pool, it looked at Rao Wu with great gratitude. There were so many things it wanted to say, but the words got jumbled up in its throat. Eventually, the Dusklight Wolf Cub settled for a simple, "Thank you."

Rao Wu was about to say something, but Xian Da suddenly screamed in pain as blood exploded from its pores like a fountain. Having experienced something similar with Ju Tu, Rao Wu watched with gritted teeth as the blood essence destroyed and then reforged Xian Da's body.

Rao Wu sat through the thirty-minute forging process, watching with red eyes as Xian Da endured bout after bout of intense, nerve-wracking pain. However, in testament to its will, Xian Da never once begged for the pain to stop. It knew that this pain would reward it with the strength necessary to follow Rao Wu's journeys.

Boom!

Eventually, a loud explosion shattered the pool's water and revealed a magnificent creature at the epicenter.

Xian Da's black fur billowed unnaturally, looking ethereal and soft in the dim light. Sky-blue streaks flowed along its back and face, giving it a strange exotic look. Its muscles also filled out, turning it from a scrawny wolf to a muscular powerhouse that would not lose out to lions and tigers. Finally, Rao Wu thought he caught a brief glimpse of a chain tied to Xian Da's left leg, but it disappeared too quickly for him to confirm he didn't see things.

Thud! Thud!

Xian Da stepped out of the pool with powerful steps. Its sky-blue eyes gazed at Rao Wu for one second before it lost its coolness and charged at him.

Rao Wu burst out laughing as he wrapped his arms around Xian Da's neck. "You're definitely not a little pup anymore... Nightwind Wolf."

"Awuuu!" Xian Da howled with glee as it pranced around Rao Wu. "I feel so strong! I can't wait to show you."

"Hehe! Why don't you wait a little? We can share the surprise with your parents."

"Ah! That's a great idea, too." Xian Da said as Rao Wu climbed onto its back and then rode out to meet Ju Tu and Fen.

"Ho-ho, so wind came first." The administrator's eyes sparkled when he saw Xian Da's new appearance. He then glanced at Rao Wu and smirked. "You're in a for a world of pain. Training dual-attribute soul pets are quite expensive."

Rao Wu grinned and then nodded. "Don't worry. I'm prepared."

Fen chuckled and then muttered under his breath, "We'll see how long that lasts."

"What's that?"

"Nothing, nothing." Fen waved his hand, and then softly tapped Rao Wu's forehead. "The Harbinger is someone that changes the course of the world. You cannot do that on your own. This will help you when the time comes."

Rao Wu softly rubbed his forehead but did not feel anything. "What did you do?"

Fen chuckled and shook his head. "You'll find out in due time, child—once you meet the requirements." With those words, his lips spread in a wistful smile. "Now, it is time to say goodbye. I hope to hear great things about you." Before Rao Wu could say a thing, Fen snapped his fingers, and the child, along with his soul pets, disappeared.

As a terse silence descended over the quiet chamber, a strange orange fox with nine bouncy, fluffy tails suddenly appeared on Fen's shoulder.

The cute fox calmly licked its paw as it stared at the spot where Rao Wu once stood. It then glanced at Fen as a beautiful, ancient voice escaped its mouth, "You made the right choice."

Fen snorted as his body transformed into a terrifying black wolf with flames spewing from its mouth. Hundreds of chains wrapped around its body tensed as it stretched its limbs. "I wonder who will emerge victorious: my Harbinger of Chaos, or your Unity Priestess." Chuckling to himself, Fenrir the Chaosbringer and Scourge of Ragnarok laid his head to rest. "Either way, it is sure to be quite the show."