Unlike in his memories, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm didn't try to burrow into Huo Yuhao's body as soon as they met. Huo Yuhao could feel that Tian Meng was much more composed than before.
"Is it because there's not as much of a time crunch as there was five years from now?" Huo Yuhao wasn't sure. Ever since he'd come to this world, far too many things had happened that defied common sense.
"So, Brother Sky Dream, what do you need to do to become my Wisdom Soul Ring? Is there anything I need to do?" Huo Yuhao asked, without a trace of doubt in his voice.
Tian Meng's instincts told him that Huo Yuhao's reaction was abnormal, but it was clear his intelligence wasn't up to the task of thinking it through.
He shook his head and moved closer to Huo Yuhao, pressing his forehead against Huo Yuhao's.
"Don't move. This'll be over in a flash."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's enormous body gradually turned into clusters of light, which seeped through Huo Yuhao's forehead and into his brain.
Huo Yuhao could feel a pure, powerful current of Soul Power slowly flowing into his body—or, more precisely, into his Sea of Consciousness.
He knew that Tian Meng was worried that pouring all his Soul Power into Huo Yuhao's body at once would cause problems. He planned to use the Sea of Consciousness as a medium, temporarily storing the excess Soul Power there.
And as Huo Yuhao had expected, his physical constitution was probably stronger than it had been in his previous life. His First Soul Ring might not have to be sealed down to the level of a Ten-Year Soul Ring after all.
Meanwhile, in the eyes of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm—
"This human... What kind of human is this? He's a freak!"
The Sea of Consciousness where it and Huo Yuhao had just been wasn't the real thing. It was merely a scene recreated through dreams and spiritual power. Only now, after they'd begun to merge, had it arrived in the true Sea of Consciousness.
That was why it was so shocked when it saw Huo Yuhao's real Sea of Consciousness.
No matter how hard the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm racked its brains, it couldn't figure out why a six-year-old human child possessed such vast spiritual power—and why both its quality and quantity far surpassed its own!
In other words, this little fellow called Huo Yuhao was, in terms of spiritual power alone, a genuine million-year-old spiritual-type Soul Beast!
He just didn't seem to have learned how to use it—or perhaps he didn't even realize he had such a treasure trove hidden in his head. Otherwise, he could crush it like a real bug in an instant.
Just as the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm shivered with a sudden chill, it recalled a strange human it had met ten thousand years ago, before the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts of the Core Area had made it their midnight snack.
"Hmm... You can tell just by looking that it'd taste delicious... Too bad I have to save it for that child to use as a Soul Ring."
By then, it had already developed a full nine golden patterns. Though it still wasn't as strong as an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, it had been utterly helpless before that seemingly young human. In the blink of an eye, the other had pinned it underfoot.
It had nearly fainted at the other's first words. It only remembered the gist of what came afterward.
By the time it opened its eyes again, it had been captured by a group of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, and the human had vanished without a trace.
Looking back now, it suddenly realized that the idea of becoming a human's Wisdom Soul Ring might have come from that strange person.
It shuddered. The inexplicable chill made its whole body feel awful.
But as it gazed at the immense spiritual power before it, it patted its own cheeks.
"Calm down, Tian Meng. Nobody can plan for what'll happen ten thousand years from now. Besides, this child is a gigantic gold mine!"
"A human child with enough spiritual power to rival a million-year-old spiritual-type Soul Beast—what is that? How is that any different from a god who governs spiritual power?"
"With talent like this, why worry about being unable to bring Bing'er to godhood? Why worry about failing to carry out your plan?"
"In one line: if you're going to do it, don't chicken out; if you're going to chicken out, don't do it!" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm reassured himself. This was his chance. What if he threw it away by hesitating now?
Tian Meng began sealing his Soul Power into a Soul Ring. Even with spiritual power this strong, absorbing a million years' worth of Soul Power would still make Huo Yuhao explode.
By his estimate, Huo Yuhao should be able to handle a thousand-year Soul Ring without too much trouble.
He began sealing his Soul Power layer by layer. Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao continued wandering through the Sea of Consciousness in his dream.
He'd already realized that this place only looked like his Sea of Consciousness. In essence, it was still just a phantom conjured by his dream.
Sitting on the ground, he thought about how he'd only intended to use the power of Spirit Hall to find a suitable Hundred-Year Soul Beast, yet he'd run into Brother Sky Dream ahead of time.
Was this fate's gift? Ever since he'd been reborn, it seemed like he kept stumbling into one tremendous stroke of luck after another.
"Now that I have Innate Full Soul Power... Brother Sky Dream shouldn't be as hesitant as he was in my previous life. He probably won't seal his Soul Power down to the level of a Ten-Year Soul Ring."
Judging by his physical constitution, Huo Yuhao figured absorbing a Hundred-Year Soul Ring shouldn't be difficult.
The only problem was that he didn't know how to explain to Big Brother Bei Bei and Big Brother Wang Hong why he'd gotten a Soul Ring just by taking a nap.
In his previous life, he'd been separated from Big Brother Bei Bei and Big Sister Xiao Ya at the time, and there'd been the corpse of a Wind Baboon nearby as evidence. That was how he'd gotten away with the excuse that it was due to his Soul Ring and Martial Soul Mutation.
Was he supposed to tell them that he'd thought wasting a Soul Ring would be a shame, so he'd gone out at night and absorbed the Hundred-Year Wind Baboon's Soul Ring?
He'd been so focused on meeting up with Brother Sky Dream that he'd completely forgotten how he was going to explain all this.
But the very next moment, a voice beside his ear gradually grew clearer.
"Yuhao? Wake up, Yuhao!"
That was... Big Brother Bei Bei's voice?
He jerked his eyes open and found Bei Bei and Wang Hong sitting beside him, their faces etched with worry. He was still gasping for breath.
"I... What happened to me?"
"You're finally awake. Thank goodness, thank goodness." Bei Bei let out a long breath, then slumped to the ground. Wang Hong began explaining.
"You've been unconscious ever since you went to sleep yesterday. It's been eight hours."
"At first, Lord Bei Bei thought you were simply a child who didn't want to get out of bed. But an hour ago, you stopped responding no matter how much we called you. If you hadn't woken up soon, I was about to contact the others for help."
"Maybe I was too excited the last couple of days and didn't sleep well. I'm fine, Big Brother Bei Bei, Big Brother Wang Hong." Huo Yuhao patted his chest, but just then, Bei Bei noticed something was off.
"Yuhao, your eyes... don't they look a little different?"
"My eyes?" Huo Yuhao asked, confused. Wang Hong leaned in to take a look and nodded too.
"They do seem a little different. Like there's a bit of... purple?"
Huo Yuhao touched his eyes. What did they mean, there was a bit of purple in them?
A possibility suddenly occurred to him, and he hurriedly roused his Soul Power.
A purple Soul Ring appeared slowly behind Huo Yuhao's head, leaving Wang Hong and Bei Bei rooted to the spot in stunned silence.
Before you continue