Recovering

Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes in the darkness. Starlight flickered overhead, and his mind was still hazy, leaving him unsure of where he was.

"Where am I?" Huo Yuhao asked instinctively. He had thought no one would answer in this seemingly deserted place, but a voice suddenly replied.

"This is your Sea of Spirit. Sigh." Seeing that Huo Yuhao had finally woken up and was alert enough to speak, Wang Yi let out a breath of relief. He had been frightened out of his wits during this time, and that had made him furious with Huo Yuhao. After waiting so long, he was now both angry and glad. At least Huo Yuhao was awake and unharmed. That was what mattered; they could deal with everything else later.

"This is the Sea of Spirit?" Huo Yuhao couldn't believe such a wrecked place was his Sea of Spirit. No wonder he hadn't recognized it. The spiritual world that had once been like a lake was now in ruins. The vast spiritual power had vanished, leaving only scattered traces on the ground. Even the starry sky overhead had changed.

Calling it a starry sky wasn't quite right. It was made up of crack after crack, which looked a little like stars at first glance. This was no minor injury. Damage to the Sea of Spirit was extremely difficult to deal with. There were very few Spirit System Soul Masters in the world who could skillfully control spiritual power, let alone one who could heal with it. It wasn't that Douluo Continent had never had such a person, but they could be counted on one hand. And no one could treat an injury like Huo Yuhao's. The legendary gods might have had a chance, but where could they find a god? In the end, it all depended on Huo Yuhao's own abilities and luck.

Only now did Huo Yuhao belatedly feel the pain coming from his Sea of Spirit. The tearing agony was so intense that he almost wanted to pound his head against the ground. Just then, a thread of green light illuminated the Sea of Spirit and greatly eased his suffering.

The experience of going from hell to heaven almost made Huo Yuhao want to worship Buddha—no, wait, heaven belonged to God. But when he realized Wang Yi was the one helping him, the praise on the tip of his tongue suddenly got stuck. Seeing Huo Yuhao's disbelieving expression, Wang Yi felt a little displeased.

"What's with that look? You really don't believe I can be useful?" He started to pull away the hand he had been resting on Huo Yuhao.

"No, wait, don't! I'm sorry, big brother. I was wrong." Feeling the pain about to return, Huo Yuhao hurriedly apologized. Wang Yi had only been trying to scare him and teach him a lesson. The price this time had been so steep that it could become a serious problem in the future. It wasn't that Huo Yuhao's fight had caused this; at most, it had been the trigger that brought the hidden danger inside him to the surface early.

"What exactly happened, big brother?"

"Since you're calling me big brother, I'll be generous and tell you." Wang Yi was delighted to hear Huo Yuhao showing him respect, and put on airs as he spoke. "The reason all this happened is that the powers and attributes in your Sea of Spirit are too vast and too varied."

"Think about it. How many forces are in your mind? Tian Meng, Electrolux, and, in theory, both my true body and your spiritual power. That's four forces. And that's not even counting your own power, which should be the strongest, but is actually the weakest by far—not even on the same level as the other three."

"The weakest of those three forces is at least at the limit of what Douluo Continent can hold. They're all crammed into your tiny Sea of Spirit. The fact that you're still alive is a miracle. This is both your opportunity and your trial. If you make it through, the world will be yours. If you don't, just wait for your head to explode."

"You should thank Tian Meng this time. Without him, things would've gone very wrong. That is, if Electrolux hadn't stepped in like he said he would."

At the mention of Tian Meng, Huo Yuhao jolted. Right, he still hadn't seen Tian Meng. Anxiety immediately welled up inside him. Wang Yi had expected this reaction and shook his head, somewhat exasperated.

"Don't worry. Tian Meng is fine. He just ran out of strength and fell asleep. Do Ice Silkworms love sleeping that much? I was worried sick along with him. In the end, I was the only one left waiting for you to wake up."

"You overused your body and mind in that match, to the point where you nearly sacrificed your life. You passed out in an instant, and there was still a whole mess inside your head."

"Without you holding them back, the green and black forces went out of control and started fighting in your Sea of Spirit. Tian Meng and I were caught in the middle. The storm swept through the Sea of Spirit, but that wasn't the real problem; we could have managed somehow. Your Sea of Spirit couldn't take it, though. It simply gave up and was on the verge of shattering. Tian Meng nearly died of fright and hurriedly stepped in to stabilize it. Only after the two forces had mostly worn each other down did he finally breathe a sigh of relief."

"Put simply, it all comes back to you. Where else would the two of them have gotten their power? You were the one whose spiritual power had exceeded what you could control, so they took control of it. One of them alone wouldn't have been a problem, but two tigers can't share one mountain. That's why they started fighting."

Huo Yuhao felt a little embarrassed hearing this. His recklessness had nearly caused a disaster that couldn't be fixed. Still, he couldn't promise he would have held back if given another chance. He would still have used those two forces against his opponent: the gray aura had pushed his spiritual power to its limit, while the green aura had pushed his body to its limit. Only by combining those two extremes had he defeated Dai Huabin, an opponent he otherwise could never have beaten.

But it would be a while before he could do that again. His body couldn't handle another battle of that intensity. Just healing his broken bones had consumed an unknown amount of energy. Huo Yuhao didn't even need to look at himself to know how bad his condition was.

Suddenly, Wang Yi's voice turned cheerful. "But there's good news, too. I can now control part of my true body. It's only a small part, and I can only use some of its abilities, but it's still a huge step forward! Hahahaha!"

"All right, now that you're awake, go see how things are outside. Your friends are anxiously waiting for you. As for the pain in your body, you'll have to bear it for now. I don't have any strength left to help you. You'll have to deal with the consequences of your own actions. Don't worry about the pain in your Sea of Spirit."

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes again. This time, he saw a white ceiling instead of a broken starry sky. Excited cries reached his ears, but before he could respond, a wave of pain hit him. No wonder he had first awakened in his Sea of Spirit. This pain was no joke. Agony coursed through every inch of his body, as if determined to make sure he noticed. He almost passed out again.

"Hahaha, kid, let's see if you dare do that again next time." As soon as he finished speaking, most of the pain in Huo Yuhao's body faded. His gratitude surged like a mighty river.

"Little Yuhao, you're finally awake! You didn't have to push yourself so hard. You're so badly hurt." Tang Ya was the one speaking, and she was on the verge of tears. Bei Bei comforted her before turning to Huo Yuhao. "Little junior brother, just rest and recover. You've passed the exam, and no one can dispute your result. You don't need to worry about anything else."

Hearing that, Huo Yuhao finally relaxed. Xu Sanshi seemed to be beside him, but he was too exhausted to stay awake and soon fell into a deep sleep. With Wang Yi watching over him, he could finally rest and recover properly.