Bab 26: Chapter 26: Steady
"Yes."
A calm voice echoed. Tianmeng Iceworm instinctively turned his head and saw that the young boy from earlier had somehow appeared behind him. The spiritual form the boy had condensed radiated a noble rose-gold hue.
"You... how do you possess these powers? Are you a deity from the Divine Realm?"
"I used to be, in a way," Huo Yuhao said with a soft smile, shaking his head.
"However, from the moment I died, it felt as though I had been abandoned by the times. All of my past achievements no longer held any value."
After a pause, Huo Yuhao continued, "Now, I'm just an ordinary human standing here."
"Ordinary human, huh?"
If every human were like you, the world would be in chaos, Tianmeng thought to himself, then spoke carelessly, "No wonder I felt a sense of familiarity when I saw you. Seems like, just like me, you've been bullied, huh?"
"Don't worry. I've got your back! Sooner or later, we'll get our revenge!"
From what he had seen and heard from Huo Yuhao, Tianmeng Iceworm had already sensed something.
After all, who but other deities could have reduced someone like Huo Yuhao, once a god, to this state? It was highly likely that Huo Yuhao had been beaten down by other gods of the Divine Realm, leaving him with only a fragment of his consciousness to escape to the Douluo Plane.
This meant that in the future, after becoming gods, they might face threats from other deities. But for Tianmeng, this was no issue.
He had already taken a gamble by choosing to become a human's intelligent spirit ring. Anyone capable of such a decision had already accepted the possibility of failure. Since the choice had been made, there was no turning back.
Besides, what Huo Yuhao had shown so far filled Tianmeng with confidence. With him, a million-year-old soul beast, joining forces with Huo Yuhao, wouldn't that make them an unstoppable duo?
When the time came, wouldn't they crush any enemies that came their way?
This was a sacred quest for revenge! For a moment, Tianmeng Iceworm felt his blood boil with excitement.
Huo Yuhao, however, had no idea that Tianmeng had already conjured up an entire, complicated story in his head—one involving a falling out with the gods, a team-up against him, and his soul escaping after a vengeful cry about returning to seek justice in thirty years or so.
Listening to Tianmeng's careless words, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel nostalgic. It was as if he'd been brought back to his previous life. He pressed his lips together and chuckled softly, nodding.
"Alright."
As the glow of the six-pointed star array faded, a flash of light appeared on Huo Yuhao's chest. A miniature version of Tianmeng Iceworm shot out and landed in Huo Yuhao's hand just in time.
After feeling out his new state, the tiny, round head of the iceworm nodded enthusiastically.
"This feels quite strange. It's much better than being just an intelligent spirit ring. Let me expand your sea of consciousness a bit. I must say, your physical condition is truly impressive."
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he added, "Oh, and Huo Yuhao, I've given you an ice-attribute martial soul as well, though you can't use it just yet—huh?!"
Huo Yuhao raised his hand slightly, and a biting cold radiated from his palm. The moisture in the surrounding air instantly crystallized into delicate ice flowers, which slowly coalesced into a blue ice dagger, shaped just like the White Tiger Dagger.
As Huo Yuhao had expected, two years ago, he had already absorbed the evolving ice-attribute martial soul from Yu Ming. Now, after absorbing the ice attribute essence from Tianmeng Iceworm, the martial soul had completed its initial evolution. However, instead of transforming into an iceworm, it had taken the form of an elemental ice martial soul, similar to Ling Luocheng's ice element martial soul.
That said, thanks to the crystalline essence of Tianmeng's millennia-old Xuan Ice Marrow, Huo Yuhao's martial soul was of much higher quality than Ling Luocheng's. Although it currently lacked any soul skills, he could still control the temperature by consuming his soul power.
The ability to manifest a dagger, however, was entirely thanks to Huo Yuhao's mastery over ice elements from his previous life.
Tianmeng Iceworm was left dumbfounded by the sight before him. He became even more convinced that his meeting with Huo Yuhao was no accident. But with his earlier speculations, he kept silent, instead feeling elated.
They were both in the same boat, after all. The stronger Huo Yuhao became, the easier things would be for him.
After unlocking part of the first seal's origin power and fusing it with Huo Yuhao's sea of consciousness, Tianmeng could no longer hold off his mental exhaustion. With a simple farewell, he returned to Huo Yuhao's body and fell into a deep sleep.
Instantly, the spiritual space returned to silence.
Huo Yuhao stood there, silently watching his expanded sea of consciousness, which had nearly doubled in size. Suddenly, he subconsciously turned his head toward a certain spot.
In a flash, he appeared next to a gray mass of energy. Trembling slightly, he raised his hand and gently touched it. Tears welled up in his eyes, rolling down as his lips quivered into a smile.
"Teacher, I've finally... found you again."
The gray energy seemed to respond to Huo Yuhao's words, trembling faintly before falling silent again.
At the moment, Electrolux was nothing more than a soul fragment that had lost all memories, fighting the dissipation of his consciousness by staying asleep. The fact that he could still react to Huo Yuhao's words was already his limit. To stabilize him and restore his memories, Huo Yuhao would need to acquire the Life Gold.
Moments later, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes once more, now sitting cross-legged.
After absorbing the soul ring and breaking through, his soul power had reached rank 13. Moreover, his second martial soul's evolution seemed to have brought some changes to his appearance.
Though his features hadn't changed much, his skin had become noticeably paler, resembling Tianmeng Iceworm's own translucent white hue.
Of course, the most significant change was the soul ring Tianmeng had granted him. His pupils glowed golden as a purple soul ring rose from his feet and brightened, enveloping him in a 200-meter radius of mental detection.
Mental detection was already a skill that combined soul power and spiritual power, and though Huo Yuhao was still only a one-ring soul master, the boost from his spiritual power brought its effectiveness close to the level of a three-ring master from his previous life. The year limit of the soul ring was also a factor.
To be able to withstand a thousand-year ring as a one-ring master showed just how much the Sin of Pride had enhanced his physical condition.
"It's time to head back... Hmm?"
Just as Huo Yuhao was about to leave, he instinctively narrowed the range of his mental detection into a straight line to check for any nearby threats. But as his detection passed over a certain direction, his brow furrowed, and he darted off.
The space where he had just stood twisted slightly. A white figure slowly emerged, looking thoughtfully in the direction Huo Yuhao had gone.
(End of Chapter)
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone