"Yuhao, you... where did you get a Thousand-Year Soul Ring?" Bei Bei asked in disbelief. He rubbed his eyes, but even after seeing it with his own eyes, he still found it hard to believe.
Hadn't they only entered the Star Dou Forest with Huo Yuhao yesterday? How had he gotten a Thousand-Year Soul Ring after just one night's sleep?
At that moment, Huo Yuhao himself was at a loss. He had thought his First Soul Ring might be a little stronger than before, but this was a whole two levels higher!
Most importantly, this was his First Soul Ring. A First Soul Ring could be ten years old or a hundred years old, but it absolutely couldn't be a thousand years old!
Even in his previous life, he had only been able to reasonably obtain a Thousand-Year Second Soul Ring after gaining a Second Martial Soul.
If it were just a Hundred-Year Soul Ring, he might have managed to bluff his way through, but this situation was already completely out of his control.
"Brother Sky Dream..."
"What? A Thousand-Year Soul Ring isn't great? No need to thank me. When all's said and done, it's because your body and Martial Soul are top-notch. But if you insist on thanking me, I won't refuse!"
"But, Brother Sky Dream... the limit for a human's First Soul Ring is a Hundred-Year Soul Ring..."
"Is that a thing? How come I've never heard of it?"
Huo Yuhao really wanted to retort, You're a Soul Beast, of course you wouldn't know. But he also knew Brother Sky Dream had meant well.
He took a deep breath. No matter what, the Soul Ring was already inside him. Bei Bei and Wang Hong had no way to verify even the flimsiest excuse, so he might as well take a gamble!
"I... I don't know either, Big Brother Bei Bei."
First, he put on an expression of utter delight, then looked at the two of them with shining eyes.
"I remember having a dream last night. I think I saw a very strange Soul Beast in it. I can't remember what it looked like... but I remember it could speak!"
Huo Yuhao paused for a few seconds, then continued explaining.
"Then... it seemed to take a liking to my eyes. It said something about how my eyes were its hope, and then it suddenly disappeared."
"After that, Big Brother Bei Bei woke me up. My head's still a little muddled."
After hearing Huo Yuhao's account, Wang Hong and Bei Bei fell silent. They exchanged a glance, then nodded, confirming what each had been thinking.
Watching their exchange, Huo Yuhao suddenly had a bad feeling. Could Spirit Hall really have records of a Soul Beast that matched his description?
"Going by your description... although there are a few differences, I think we know what happened to you."
Wang Hong said this, then began explaining to Huo Yuhao.
"The Soul Beast Records at Spirit Hall mention a special psychic-type Soul Beast called the Dream Silkworm."
"This Soul Beast looks very similar to the Ice Silkworm, which lives only in the Far North. They're almost identical in appearance, but in truth, they're two completely different Soul Beasts.
"They spend almost their entire lives underground, where it's pitch-black, and only come to the surface when they're about to die."
"And when that happens, if there are any humans nearby, they use those humans' dreams to turn all their Soul Power into a Soul Ring and give it to them."
"The reason they do this is... a thousand-year-old Dream Silkworm can develop intelligence on par with a human's. Combined with their own powerful spiritual strength, once a human absorbs their Soul Power, they seize the opportunity to use that powerful spiritual strength to take over the human's soul!"
As he said this, Wang Hong gave Huo Yuhao a long look.
"But in fact, other than that one book, there are no more than a handful of recorded sightings of Dream Silkworms across the entire Douluo Continent. You could even say that whether this Soul Beast exists at all is a complete mystery."
"But judging from your description, that Soul Beast was most likely a Dream Silkworm. Perhaps it was because your Martial Soul was already psychic-type, and of far higher quality than the Dream Silkworm's, that you lucked into this incredible stroke of fortune."
When he finished, Wang Hong immediately stood up.
"Lord Huo Yuhao, please wait here with Lord Bei Bei for a moment. I'll have a look nearby. I might be able to find the Dream Silkworm's corpse."
He quickly disappeared into the bushes, leaving Bei Bei and Huo Yuhao staring at each other.
Bei Bei gave Huo Yuhao a hearty slap on the back.
"Not bad, Yuhao. Looks like you're a lot luckier than I am. You even ran into a Soul Beast that only exists in the records!"
There wasn't a trace of envy in Bei Bei's laughter, only the purest congratulations.
"With a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as your First Soul Ring, once school officially starts, you'll be able to walk all over the academy. I doubt even the teachers will have anything to say about it."
Even so, Huo Yuhao still couldn't quite believe how quickly the two had accepted his explanation. They'd even found evidence to back it up themselves.
But his mind hadn't been so dazzled by this sudden surprise that he missed all the strange things about it. He quickly realized there were plenty of suspicious details.
"Brother Sky Dream, do you know about the Soul Beast Wang Hong mentioned?"
"Unfortunately, most of my life was spent inside the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow. As for life experience, I might know less than an ordinary thousand-year-old Soul Beast."
"But since they've come up with a reasonable explanation themselves, just go along with it. It won't cause any trouble anyway."
"But, Brother Sky Dream... won't Big Brother Wang Hong find your remains?"
"Don't worry about that. The most important part, the shell, was absorbed into your body along with my Soul Power. What's left is an empty husk with nothing in it. It'll crumble at the slightest touch."
Meanwhile, Wang Hong had already found the remains left behind by the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
Its body alone was as tall as a person. At first glance, it looked very much like an Ice Silkworm from the Far North.
But Wang Hong noticed the golden horned crest on its head. According to the records, Dream Silkworms and Ice Silkworms were both psychic-type Soul Beasts. Their biggest difference was the crest on their heads: an Ice Silkworm's crest was usually small and always silver.
But this one's crest was not only enormous, its entire surface gleamed with a luxurious golden hue.
It matched the features unique to Dream Silkworms described in the Soul Beast Records compiled by Pope Chen Mo.
Wang Hong was certain that these remains unquestionably belonged to the Dream Silkworm whose fortune Huo Yuhao had snatched.
"I never thought I'd get to see a legendary Soul Beast like this with my own eyes." But he didn't intend to linger. He couldn't leave Bei Bei and Huo Yuhao alone in the Star Dou Forest for too long.
He walked up to the remains, intending to put them into his Storage Soul Tool and take them back to Spirit Hall. The Pope and the Soul Beast Research Institute would surely be very interested in them.
If he could use them to get something in return, all the better.
And if nothing unexpected happened, as long as they made it back to Spirit Hall safely, Huo Yuhao would become the greatest genius in Spirit Hall after Bei Bei.
Just as he thought this and touched the remains with his hand, a crack appeared at the point where his finger met them, then spread across the entire husk in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, it had turned to ashes and vanished into the air.
Wang Hong stared at what had just happened. First he was astonished; then he looked at his hand and blinked in bewilderment.
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