Huo Yuhao's consciousness entered his spiritual sea. After a year of meticulous refinement by Bibi Dong, the entire space had been transformed into a vast, boundless palace. Looking up, one could see an endless sea of stars, countless specks of light scattered as far as the eye could see. And yet, his vision could effortlessly reach every corner of the realm.
As he marveled at Bibi Dong's masterful craftsmanship, his awareness was suddenly pulled into the main hall of the palace, where he was met with the sight of a massive ice silkworm groveling on the floor, alongside a swirling gray stream of energy.
Above them floated five brilliant golden halos, merged into a single immense ring that hovered in midair. Their glow lit up the palace, illuminating its structures and making the entire space feel more majestic.
The golden ring began to slowly rotate. Within each ring, a milky white halo began to form, gradually intensifying until they condensed into large glowing orbs suspended in the air. The palace's height and scale expanded with them, swelling to immense proportions.
Bibi Dong's eyes flickered with emotion. She had once thought Huo Yuhao's memories of his "cheat-code life" in the original timeline were nothing more than delusions. Yet now, in a cruel twist of fate, both a million-year soul beast and a foreign spiritual entity had indeed arrived here.
If she had possessed such "external help" back when she was still struggling toward godhood, would the Spirit Empire not have unified the continent already? Perhaps the rumors from the God Realm were true—every few thousand years, a child of destiny would emerge on the Douluo Continent, just like Sea God Tang San had in the past.
Later, Tang San had cleverly used the second child of destiny, Huo Yuhao, to gather all the luck into his own family line. As a result, his descendants Tang Wulin and Lan Xuanyu continued the legend.
If Huo Yuhao hadn't released her from the Rakshasa God statue, once the Tang family took full control of the Douluo plane, she would've faced not only the Shura Divine Sword and the Sea God's Trident, but possibly the Shura Eyes and Dragon God Spear as well.
The thought alone sent a chill down Bibi Dong's spine.
As Huo Yuhao approached the divine throne, the Skydream Iceworm threw him a pleading look. This made Huo Yuhao chuckle involuntarily.
"You big worm, why did you choose this child?" Bibi Dong brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and asked with an authoritative tone.
The Skydream Iceworm let out a long sigh. "You think I wanted to choose him? I had no other choice! If I didn't, I was going to die. And once I die, my body would just become food for the other beasts in the Star Dou Forest. I had no option but to cling to a human. It's the only path left for me. Since we'll be together for a long, long time, I might as well be honest with you."
Huo Yuhao exchanged a glance with Bibi Dong and nodded. "Go ahead, Skydream. Tell us."
Only after stealing a cautious glance at Bibi Dong did the Skydream Iceworm start to speak.
"To be honest... I was just an ordinary iceworm soul beast born in the icy north of the continent. Our species naturally possess dual attributes—spiritual and ice—but our combat ability is weak and our evolution is slow. We're nothing special. Worse yet, we have tons of natural predators, so barely any of us live past ten thousand years. I'm the rare exception."
Hearing a story similar to the one in the original timeline, Bibi Dong frowned slightly. But Huo Yuhao gave her a look that told her to keep listening.
"When I was thirteen, I accidentally fell into a crevice while escaping a predator. It turned out to be a pit of ten-thousand-year cold marrow. I fell into a deep sleep. Back then, I was tiny—less than three inches long. That sleep lasted ten thousand years. When I woke up, I found myself in an ice cave. All the cold marrow was gone, completely absorbed by me. I'd evolved into a ten-thousand-year soul beast. I was thrilled… but I couldn't find a way out."
Huo Yuhao nodded quietly and gestured to Bibi Dong to let him keep going.
"The ice in the cave was ancient and hard as steel. Our species is bad at fighting, so I had no way to break through. Fortunately, the cave had many tunnels I could crawl through. So I kept looking for a way out. Instead of finding one… I stumbled upon another even larger deposit of cold marrow. So I ate, then fell asleep again—for tens of thousands of years…"
Listening to this, even Bibi Dong couldn't help but feel the Skydream Iceworm's luck was on par with any so-called "child of destiny" in Douluo's history.
"Eventually, I stopped looking for a way out. I just crawled around eating cold marrow and sleeping. I lost track of time. The only thing that could mark time was the number of golden rings appearing on my body."
Bibi Dong, once well-versed in soul beasts, knew how important golden patterns were to the iceworm species—they symbolized reaching the 100,000-year milestone.
"I became the first ever ten-thousand-year—and eventually hundred-thousand-year—iceworm. I evolved into a Golden Pattern Iceworm and gained enough strength to escape. But I didn't know becoming a 100,000-year soul beast came with restrictions. I couldn't cultivate as fast anymore. Still, I was lucky—perhaps because I was so weak, no heavenly tribulations came for me. So I just stayed in the ice cave, sleeping more and cultivating further."
He continued his story in a mournful tone, describing how he eventually absorbed every last drop of cold energy in the cave, was forced out, drifted south along the ocean currents, and—already a 900,000-year soul beast—encountered his first enemy.
"…And that's when I realized I didn't know how to fight. I panicked. Thankfully, my immense spiritual power scared them off."
He confessed his combat strength was so low that even some ten-thousand-year soul beasts could overpower him, causing Bibi Dong to look at him with thinly veiled contempt.
"I thought the land might be safer than the sea. But once I got there, I found my body gave off a scent that attracted all sorts of soul beasts. I was a walking buffet."
Huo Yuhao rubbed his forehead. Even if the vocabulary was slightly different from the original timeline, it was clear—this guy was pathetic.
"Eventually, I was captured by the Scarlet King of the Star Dou Forest. He didn't kill me right away—instead, he took me to the forest's core. He said the energy in my body was so rich it could turn any soul beast into a 100,000-year one. But I was too strong to absorb quickly, so he imprisoned me and started drawing energy from me slowly."
"But he underestimated me. I expanded my spiritual aura and attracted every major soul beast in the forest to his lair, even the rulers. It turned into an all-out brawl. I thought I'd escape… but then some mysterious boss stepped in and made them negotiate. In the end, they agreed to share me. They imprisoned me and drained my energy while taking turns getting the best cuts."
Even Bibi Dong twitched at this point. No wonder she hadn't encountered the Beast God Di Tian and the other kings during her life—they'd been busy squeezing value out of this walking energy farm.
"It was a massive war. Practically every soul beast over ten thousand years participated. I was forced to feed them while thinking of escape plans. I learned that it wasn't enough to run—I had to hide my aura too. Then humans began appearing in the forest, some trying to hunt soul beasts. But thanks to me, the beasts here were practically invincible."
"Oh, so the rise of the Star Dou beasts is your doing?" Bibi Dong said with a smile that radiated danger.
Skydream continued with how he realized becoming a "spirit ring" was his only path to survival. He tried once—targeting a powerful Titled Douluo—but the man exploded from spiritual overload before even seeing his real form.
"I finally reached the million-year mark and gained the ability to hide my aura and resist capture. I took the name Skydream Iceworm and escaped. But the tribulation came too fast—my life was nearing its end. And that's when I met this little guy here. I had no other choice. At least he's got spiritual attributes. So I reluctantly fused with him. One way or another, those bastards won't get my most precious power."
Hearing a tale so close to the original storyline, Huo Yuhao smiled.
"It's fine, Skydream. We're family now. As you've seen, there's a god residing in my spiritual sea. Trust me—you won't regret your choice."
There's always some schemer trying to mess with this emperor. Heh.
(End of Chapter)
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