At that moment, in a place surrounded by auspicious clouds, a man in black robes with snow-white hair gazed at a scene within a crystal ball. Every detail of Huo Yuhao and Wang Hong facing off was laid bare before his eyes.
"So why do we have to add all these special effects while we're spying on them?" complained another man, dressed in ornate blue robes and wearing a golden crown. With obvious reluctance, he shoved aside a golden cloud pressed against his waist.
"What, questioning your dad's taste?"
"Bullshit, I'm your dad!"
"Both of you, shut up! Stop interrupting with your boring father-son squabble. I can't hear what they're saying down there."
A somewhat shorter man in a voluminous purple robe, with only a glimpse of white hair and a pair of blood-red eyes showing beneath his hood, cut off the bickering between the father and son. He drew both men's attention back to Huo Yuhao and Wang Hong.
"Destruction, isn't the next hour going to be spent absorbing the Soul Ring? There really won't be much to hear. That's not a very convincing reason." The white-haired man shrugged helplessly. Still, this father-son quarrel, which had dragged on for more than thirty years without a winner... really was getting rather boring.
"...Forget it, Destruction. Whatever else you can say about Creation, the man's got a sharp tongue. You can't win against him."
"Sea God, you shut up too... I haven't heard a single halfway decent thing from you."
Destruction pursed his lips and simply turned his attention back to the crystal ball.
"Speaking of which, Sea God, your Dong'er seems rather taken with that boy Huo Yuhao. Aren't you the least bit worried?" Just then, the man called Destruction suddenly spoke up.
"Worried? I'd be delighted to have a son-in-law who's the Child of the Plane, specially nurtured by Douluo Planet and Immortal Spirit Qi. Besides, they both feel the same way. What would I have to worry about? It's not as if they've only known each other for a few months."
Sea God sounded somewhat helpless, but there was also a hint of relief in his voice.
"Heh... Most fathers are afraid some pig will come along and root up the cabbage they raised. But you, you're practically hoping someone's pig will come and root it up. Should I say you're easygoing, or that you're a completely unfit father?"
Creation teased him, but Sea God immediately retorted:
"Hey, it's not like I raised that cabbage in the first place... Never mind. At least I planted the seed myself, so I have to own up to it. At least this pig won't tear that cabbage to pieces the way 'I' did."
"Hmph. At least you know it."
Destruction glanced toward Sea God, then turned to Creation and asked, "So, just how much Immortal Spirit Qi did you send down there? That Soul Beast, and those people with Divine Beast Martial Souls, couldn't possibly have been nurtured with only the amount of Immortal Spirit Qi you reported."
"Hmm... about... a year's worth, give or take."
"A year's worth? Didn't you report thirty days?! Creation, are you trying to get yourself sent to the heavens?" Destruction charged up to Creation and grabbed him by the collar. But the difference in their heights made the scene look somewhat ridiculous.
"Hey... I wasn't finished. Life hasn't even noticed anything's wrong... I've actually filled in the entire shortfall. It's fine." Creation still wore his usual cheeky grin. With his authority, he could have sent down decades' worth of Immortal Spirit Qi without issue, as long as he could make up for the deficit.
The only problem was that Douluo Planet would surely explode under the strain.
"You..." Destruction badly wanted to slap him, but he knew that would only make Creation laugh even harder, so he let it go.
"Calm down, calm down. Don't let this guy get to you..." Destruction's face had begun to flush. People often said a red face was a sign of a young man or woman falling in love, but in Destruction's case, it was clearly not that sort of excitement.
"You'd better be careful. There's only a month left before the plan is put into motion. Don't let anything go wrong."
After leaving them with those words, Destruction left the observation room. If he spoke with those two any longer, his face would only get redder. He'd be better off going to Life and asking for some sweets to soothe his soul.
"Take care. Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Creation's parting words nearly made Destruction charge back in with the Destruction Scepter. But Sea God swiftly shut the observation room's doors, sparing the equipment.
"Though Destruction's words are a bit of a downer, he's not wrong. We, the Divine Realm, don't have much time left. At most, we have one month. Are you sure those geniuses you raised on Immortal Spirit Qi will be ready to ascend to godhood after these thirty years?"
"Heh... Of course. I told you long ago, Sea God: I know many things, including the future before a butterfly flaps its wings, and all that has passed. I know exactly what these geniuses will grow into."
"They're absolutely qualified to become the kindling that supports that plan, just like you, me, and Destruction."
"And I have a feeling they may encounter those guys before they ascend to the Divine Realm."
"You... Sigh. When the time comes, I'm going to get my daughter and son-in-law to beat you up... You're the sort of person who toys with other people's lives."
"Heh. Likewise."
Meanwhile, an hour had passed on Huo Yuhao and Wang Hong's side. Absorbing a Spirit Skill from a Soul Ring had taken considerably less time than either of them expected.
What surprised Wang Hong was that, aside from a few beads of sweat appearing on Huo Yuhao's forehead at the very beginning, he remained steadier throughout the rest of the process than Wang Hong himself usually did when absorbing a Soul Ring. In fact, Wang Hong had never seen an absorption go this smoothly.
Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes. They shone with the same purple light as when he used a Spirit Skill. Yet within those now-purple eyes, a bright silver-gray glimmer appeared in his pupils.
It was a part of the Soul-Pulling Ghost Vine, the gray-white color of its pure, illusory spiritual power.
A purple Soul Ring appeared behind Huo Yuhao's head. Four silver-gray square pyramids had appeared at its four corners, embellishing the once-smooth ring. Now, with the Soul Ring behind his head, it resembled the divine halos behind the heads of statues, lending Huo Yuhao an air of holiness.
Huo Yuhao looked at his hands. His vision didn't seem to have changed at all, but he could clearly feel that something had been added to his First Soul Ring. And yet, with this addition, the ring felt more complete, as if it had always been meant to be that way.
"It worked, Yuhao! We did it!"
Tian Meng's jubilant voice rang out in Huo Yuhao's mind. It knew it hadn't been wrong about him. This boy really could accomplish what seemed like an utterly impossible feat!
Huo Yuhao had now gained the fourth Spirit Skill from his First Soul Ring:
Simulated Illusion!
Before you continue