Chapter 172: You're Even Worse than King Zhou
Dr. Oak's laboratory was nothing like what Furina had imagined.
There were hardly any people inside. The place was arranged like a curtain of foliage, with flowers and plants growing everywhere. Those in the know would recognize it as a laboratory; those who weren't might think they'd wandered into someone's private garden.
The most eye-catching sight was a pinkish-white fox curled up in the corner. It had three fluffy tails and lounged lazily on a soft cushion, its entire being radiating an aura of intelligence. Judging by its presence alone, it was at minimum a thousand-year soul beast.
Furina raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is this your pet?"
In truth, a thought had already flickered vaguely through her mind—could this be the soul beast lover they had just been talking about?
After all, before entering, she really had overheard something about Dr. Oak romancing a soul beast. But she felt it couldn't possibly be that extreme.
The research topic she had explicitly assigned him was to study matters related to martial souls and soul beasts—how could he end up doing this? If one really wanted to romance someone, it should be like that entire Tang clan, pursuing a soul beast that had already re-cultivated into human form.
Speaking of which, the Tang family truly did maintain this fine tradition: his father Tang Hao fell in love with Ah Yin, a hundred-thousand-year Bluesilver Emperor who had re-cultivated; he himself fell in love with Xiao Wu, a hundred-thousand-year Soft-Boned Rabbit; his son Tang Wulin was even more outrageous, directly falling for the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena; and when it came to his grandson, he got together with the hundred-thousand-year Demonic Soul Great White Shark, Dong Qianqiu—that is, Bai Xiuxiu.
Although Bai Xiuxiu later fused with Zi Ji, and the Demonic Soul Great White Shark bloodline was forcibly altered into something called the Sky-Blue Ice-Devouring Dragon, which had absolutely nothing to do with great white sharks anymore. But honestly, from her debut to the very end, Bai Xiuxiu was always just a decorative vase, even more so than Xiao Wu.
Alright, digression over.
In short, for Furina to believe that someone would actually romance a soul beast that hadn't re-cultivated into human form... it was just far too outrageous.
Unless the other party told her he was Indian.
Hearing her question, Dr. Oak coughed lightly twice, and his cheeks actually reddened slightly.
Furina's heart skipped a beat.
Damn. It's true. Wait, no—what the hell have you been researching?!
Dr. Oak quickly composed himself and said seriously, "Actually, this is my girlfriend, Su Daji. I gave her a lovely name. She is a ten-thousand-year soul beast—a Three-Tailed Beauty Demon Fox, mutated from an ordinary Beauty Demon Fox."
Furina blurted out uncontrollably, "Su Daji?! Are you trying to become King Zhou?!"
Dr. Oak blinked, his face full of confusion. "Who is King Zhou? There doesn't seem to be any such figure in history, is there?"
He prided himself on having read extensively, but he had never once come across that name.
Furina rolled her eyes, struggling to calm herself, and replied irritably, "He was also a fox enthusiast."
Dr. Oak suddenly looked enlightened and laughed. "Oh, I see. Then he and I are the same—kindred spirits walking the same path."
Furina barely restrained herself from flipping him the middle finger.
Kindred spirits, my ass!
That guy liked fox beauties, sure. But the problem was, his Su Daji could actually transform into human form!
She was just about to retort when Dr. Oak had already walked over to the Three-Tailed Beauty Demon Fox and reached out to gently stroke her fluffy head. The fox narrowed her eyes in utter contentment, emitting comfortable purring sounds from her throat.
Watching this scene, the corner of Furina's mouth twitched slightly.
Although she was intensely curious about how exactly the two of them had arrived at this kind of relationship, she didn't want to ask further. What if some explosive insider details spilled out and shattered her worldview? That would be bad.
She drew a deep breath and asked with difficulty, "So... you truly intend to... unite with a soul beast that hasn't re-cultivated into human form, and produce offspring?"
Dr. Oak nodded affirmatively, a certain light flickering in his eyes. "That's right. I believe that humans and soul beasts can absolutely coexist peacefully—and continue to coexist in another form entirely."
Furina fell silent.
Your name is Dr. Oak, so you should be making Poké Balls and capturing soul beasts to be your Pokémon! How on earth did you come up with this method...
She rubbed her temples and asked again, "Then what about your students and subordinates? Don't tell me they've all run off to play happy family with different soul beasts too?"
The entire laboratory was practically deserted; those researchers had vanished to who-knows-where. Logically, the personnel she had allocated to each of the three sides were roughly equal in number—the rest relied on their own elimination and selection processes. Even so, there shouldn't be this many people missing.
Dr. Oak nodded with utter seriousness. "Yes, they are also exploring similar directions. In addition, another portion of the scholars have been dispatched by me to investigate the different conditions of various martial souls across the land."
He paused, then gazed at Furina with burning intensity. "So, Your Holiness, might I be permitted to continue researching this aspect? I wish to explore whether humans and soul beasts can truly produce offspring without re-cultivation... and whether it's possible to inherit things like Savage Beast martial souls."
Furina actually knew the answer in her heart.
Of course, one could inherit a Savage Beast martial soul—as long as the other party was also a Savage Beast who had re-cultivated into human form, their union with a human could produce offspring bearing a Savage Beast martial soul.
For detailed reference, look at the Titan Giant Ape: by the time of Douluo Dalu 3, the Titan Giant Ape martial soul already had an entire clan; and in Douluo Dalu 4, a Snow Maiden martial soul appeared, even though it was originally stated that the Snow Maiden was unique and one of a kind.
Since Dr. Oak was so dead-set on researching this direction, she wouldn't force him otherwise. Perhaps he really could discover something significant—maybe even develop a method for soul beasts to transform into human form without needing to re-cultivate or reach a hundred thousand years.
After a moment's thought, she made a mental command and exchanged for three stalks of Shapeshifting Grass from the system.
Five thousand points per stalk. Shapeshifting Pills were even more expensive—ten thousand points apiece. She had just spent fifteen thousand in one go; to say she felt no pang would be a lie.
But it was fine. As long as the Water God Church continued to develop and expand, the points would only grow more abundant.
Besides, she absolutely did not want her Water God Church to become, in the eyes of the public, some kind of perverse cult that promoted unions with soul beasts.
Furina handed the three stalks of Shapeshifting Grass to Dr. Oak, her tone serious. "Take these. Study them thoroughly—or rather, help research how soul beasts can directly transform into humans, or accelerate their cultivation, and so on."
Dr. Oak accepted the three stalks of herbs, which exuded a faint medicinal fragrance, his face bewildered. "Your Holiness, what are these?"
"This is called Shapeshifting Grass," Furina explained. "If a soul beast consumes it, it should be able to assume human form, or at least a semi-human form. In any case, give one stalk to your Su Daji to eat. The remaining two can be used for research, or distributed to others as rewards."
She paused, her words weighted with meaning. "This way, it will be much better than romancing a soul beast that hasn't even taken human form. It'll also make your research more convenient."
With that, she turned and strode swiftly away.
"I won't disturb you any further. Take your time with your research!"
Dr. Oak held the three stalks of Shapeshifting Grass, deep in thought.
At his side, the Three-Tailed Beauty Demon Fox named Su Daji leaned in, her nose gently sniffing the herbs, a nimble, intelligent light flickering in her eyes.
With her perception, she could clearly sense the extraordinary nature of these three herbs. The rich medicinal fragrance alone caused the soul power within her body to stir faintly with restlessness.
She had an intuition: if she ate this herb, her cultivation would increase by at least fifty thousand years.
Dr. Oak lowered his head, looking at the Shapeshifting Grass in his hand, then at Su Daji beside him. A gentle, tender smile curved at the corner of his mouth.
He picked up one stalk and held it before her.
"Come, Daji. Would you like to give it a try?"