"Fifty miles ahead, you will enter the territory of the Star Constellation Great Forest. Soul beasts appear here; proceed with caution."
Looking at this exceptionally familiar and deeply memorable sign, Baili Du's tone was filled with emotion: "Truly nostalgic, isn't it?"
Within his sea of Divine Consciousness, the mischievous voice of [Divine Spirit Skydream] rang in his ear: "Yeah, yeah! This is where we first met, and then I carried you all the way to the top..."
[Divine Spirit Ice Emperor] unceremoniously slammed a pincer onto [Divine Spirit Skydream's] large head: "Does a guy who just coasted to victory have the right to say that?"
Ignoring [Divine Spirit Skydream's] exaggerated cries of pain, [Divine Spirit Xiao Bai] chimed in: "Exactly, exactly..."
The Snow Emperor and Liya simply watched them bicker with smiles on their faces.
Feeling the liveliness within his sea of Divine Consciousness, a happy smile appeared on Baili Du's face. In the end, they were the ones who had stayed by his side all along.
Little Huo Yuhao tugged at the hem of Baili Du's shirt and asked curiously, "Uncle Baili, have you been to the Star Constellation Great Forest before?"
Baili Du smiled at little Huo Yuhao. "Of course. I am also a soul master. How could a soul master not come to the Star Constellation Great Forest?"
"Then... Uncle, what exactly is your cultivation level?" This was what little Huo Yuhao wanted to know most.
Baili Du fell silent for a moment, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and shook his head regretfully. "I am very strong, yet very weak. Strong enough that almost no one is my match; weak enough that I haven't even fulfilled the goal I started cultivating for..."
When people travel too far, they often forget why they started walking in the first place.
Huo Yuhao the Avenger eventually lived his life as a joke named Dai Yuhao...
He quickly changed the subject. "Let's not talk about that. I can feel it—the soul ring suitable for you is just ahead. Go on!"
...
Somewhere underground, a snow-white giant silkworm was constantly wriggling toward the outer edge of the forest.
"Ah... that place... if only I can reach that place..."
This was the Skydream Ice Silkworm of this era. As a million-year soul beast—and one that reached a million years simply by sleeping—it had no stats or mechanics, only pure luck. Its perception was undoubtedly powerful, and its intuition told it that great fortune was waiting ahead.
And sure enough! It found a little guy, and one with very strong mental power at that.
Just like the original course of history, as little Huo Yuhao walked, he encountered a soul beast with a cultivation of a hundred years... a Wind Baboon.
Seeing this Wind Baboon jumping left and right, provoking him with "monkey boxing," little Yuhao felt an indescribable surge of frustration and anger. It was as if this monkey and he were life-and-death nemeses.
After dealing the monkey a heavy blow with mental power, he possessed his Deep Blue Glazed Dragon martial soul, grabbed the foul monkey's neck, and snapped it with raw force.
To be honest, even he didn't know why he had acted so brutally; it wasn't in his nature to be so violent...
Just then, a voice abruptly echoed in little Yuhao's mind.
"I've finally met a human with the mental attribute! It's a pity I can't shed tears, otherwise, I'd be weeping right now!"
Then came the million-year soul beast's self-indulgent boasting. Still without waiting for any response from Huo Yuhao, an aura of ultimate ice instantly caused him to lose consciousness as the silkworm forced a fusion.
"Such strong physical quality and mental power! Hahaha! I've truly picked up a treasure this time!"
Upon entering little Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, the Skydream Ice Silkworm—which had been dreaming of growing alongside Huo Yuhao to punch Di Tian and kick the Bear Lord—was suddenly dumbfounded.
"...What kind of person did I choose as a host?"
What did it see?
Inside the spiritual space hung a golden vertical eye, surrounded by ripples of nine colors, as if the heavens themselves were watching the world. A deep blue dragon with four pairs of wings patrolled around the eye. There was also a grey-gold ominous figure; though it was faint as a firefly, it seemed to contain all the misfortune in the world.
"This... what is going on?! A twin martial soul! And this martial soul is... Heavens!"
Seeing the massive phantom of the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon, the tremor originating from the depths of its soul beast bloodline left the Skydream Ice Silkworm frozen in shock.
"Oh no, then isn't the ice-attribute martial soul I painstakingly prepared... Holy crap, what's happening?!!!"
The deep blue dragon opened its fanged maw toward the Skydream Ice Silkworm.
...
"Brother Skydream, we just need the 'you' of this era to suffer a little."
The group of Divine Spirits within the sea of Divine Consciousness were all stunned. [Divine Spirit Skydream] asked curiously, "Huh? What do you mean? Don't you already have a second martial soul?"
"Well... how should I put it? That 'soulless ice martial soul' you gave [me] back then needs to be changed. During this process, the 'you' of this era might... well, feel some discomfort."
Then, ignoring the protests of the [Divine Spirit Skydream] in his mind, Baili Du turned and walked to where little Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged. He placed his hand on the boy's forehead, injecting Divine Consciousness and divine power into his body like threads.
...
Inside little Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, the Skydream Ice Silkworm was screaming and writhing its snow-white body. "Aaaaah... stop it, stop it! Noooooo—!"
The biggest difference between a million-year soul beast sacrifice and a hundred-thousand-year one is the ability to transform oneself into a martial soul for the host. As a genuine million-year soul beast, Skydream naturally possessed this special ability.
However, as the martial soul endowment neared completion, the predetermined ice attribute suddenly shattered and collapsed, being completely absorbed by the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon within the Sea of Consciousness.
Now, the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon possessed not only Ultimate Water but also the control power of the Ice Attribute.
After all, "water" and "ice" are the same thing, just in different states due to temperature.
With its most fundamental origin power being forcibly seized, Skydream naturally felt a pain worse than death. However, Baili Du and Electrolux couldn't be bothered by the screaming silkworm; they hurried to get to work.
The shattered mist of light gathered again, forming a formless, blank martial soul. It would no longer be limited to the ice attribute, nor would it have the constraints of a beast martial soul.
This was the slot prepared for Electrolux.
To prevent Tang San from using underhanded methods to harm Electrolux again, the solution Baili Du and Electrolux had devised was to turn Electrolux's power into one of Huo Yuhao's martial souls, allowing his remnant soul to recover steadily.
It was also a trump card—a countermeasure against Tang San's Ten-Thousand-Year Grand Plan...
Outside.
Baili Du narrowed his eyes slightly. Although the "blank martial soul" had been created using Brother Skydream's power, Electrolux's current Divine Consciousness was still too weak to form a new martial soul on its own.
So... what should I use to supplement it? Ideally something close to Elder Yi's attributes and abilities.
Thinking this, Baili Du looked toward a forbidden forest in the distance. That place was also a target of the Tang Buddha's Ten-Thousand-Year Grand Plan.
"Teacher, what do you think of this power? Although it's dark attribute, it's at the Ultimate level and has space-leaping capabilities."
With the help of Baili Du's Divine Consciousness detection, Electrolux examined it carefully and stroked his beard with satisfaction. "This is good; let's choose this one. But don't interfere with this; let the little guy handle it himself."
"...That works. Anyway, with you here, nothing will go wrong."
After communicating with Baili Du outside, Electrolux stroked his beard and said with a chuckle to the disgruntled Skydream Ice Silkworm, "Hoho... big worm, I was a bit rough just now. I apologize to you."
Skydream Ice Silkworm wasn't buying it. That was the sealing power it had spent thousands of years pondering!
"Hey, old man! You wiped out my ice origin! That was the power to give my host a martial soul! How are you going to pay me back?!"
Electrolux simply smiled and made a pushing motion toward the Skydream Ice Silkworm. He began to chant an incantation, and a golden hexagram array completely enveloped the silkworm.
"Hoho, then let me compensate you with this first."
"Huh? This is... Divine Consciousness! Old man, you..." The two small golden eyes of the previously dissatisfied Skydream Ice Silkworm suddenly burst with a look of pleasant surprise.
Only then did the Skydream Ice Silkworm realize the marvelous use of this golden hexagram array.