Wind Baboon Soul Ring!

"I saw you were hunting a Soul Ring just now? Wind Baboons have a spiritual attribute. Though they're a bit weak, they'll do for a first Soul Ring. Absorb it quickly, before anything unexpected happens."

Huo Yuhao looked at the Wind Baboon corpses, then at the unfamiliar youth before him, whose smile was gentle, whose strength was formidable, and who had saved his life. An indescribable warmth and gratitude surged within him.

Ever since childhood, he had suffered endless humiliation in Duke's Mansion. After his mother died, he had been utterly alone and helpless. When had anyone ever treated him this well? Not only had Zichuan saved his life, but he had also killed the soul beasts for him and let him absorb a Soul Ring!

"Th... thank you, Brother Zichuan!" Huo Yuhao's eyes reddened. He bowed deeply, his voice choked with emotion.

He felt that he must have encountered a benefactor, the first ray of sunlight in his life.

"Go on." Zichuan smiled and patted his shoulder, then walked aside and sat on a clean rock, as though preparing to stand guard for him.

Huo Yuhao no longer hesitated. Suppressing his excitement, he walked to the corpse of a ten-year Wind Baboon that appeared the most intact and of a suitable age. He sat cross-legged and began drawing in the slowly emerging white Soul Ring.

As Huo Yuhao entered the absorption state, Zichuan's smile deepened. Yet beneath it lay a trace of amusement and anticipation known only to him.

All right, the first step was complete. Huo Yuhao's first Soul Ring was about to become a ten-year Wind Baboon's.

Then, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, my dear Million-Year Big Bug, your "fated prince" already had someone else.

What would you do next?

Zichuan raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through layers of trees toward the deeper reaches of the forest, toward a certain being that should have already sensed the fluctuations of "fortune" and was rushing over in a panic.

Come on. Let me see whether the inertia of fate is stronger, or whether this unexpected variable of mine can stir up even greater upheaval.

Damn it, damn it, this time it really depended on luck. But luck seemed to have always been on my side?

As he watched Huo Yuhao intently absorb that ten-year Wind Baboon Soul Ring, Zichuan remained calm.

Killing Huo Yuhao truly would have been the simplest and most permanent way to eliminate future trouble. With his current strength, crushing a Huo Yuhao who did not even possess a Soul Ring would have been easier than crushing an ant.

But the thought merely flashed through his mind before he discarded it without hesitation.

Why?

Because he had principles.

He, Zichuan, had cheats. Gods practically chased after him to feed him opportunities. He did not even mind using a few tricks to steal opportunities or poach Tang San's people.

But all of that rested on the premise that he himself was strong enough and that his targets were enemies.

What was Huo Yuhao? At this point, he was merely a young man with a tragic background, whose mother had just passed away, who carried a blood-deep grudge and dreams of becoming stronger as he struggled to survive.

He had not yet become Tang San's "son-in-law," nor had he become the Tang Clan's "loyal dog." He had not even obtained any cheats. He was merely a chosen, unwilling chess piece in fate's script.

If Zichuan killed him, how would he be any different from the Tang San whom the God of Destruction had described—someone who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, even scheming against his own daughter?

No, it would be even worse, because Huo Yuhao posed no threat to him now, nor did they bear any grudge against each other.

Zichuan had his own pride and his own code of conduct.

He could seize opportunities and scheme against opponents, but he could not casually slaughter an innocent youth who, in some ways, shared his misfortunes.

That would make him no different from the people he despised.

"There seem to be one or two hundred-year ones among that group of Wind Baboons. Consider them a bit of compensation for you."

Zichuan looked at Huo Yuhao's somewhat thin back and thought to himself.

Though a Hundred-Year Soul Ring was nothing to him now, for Huo Yuhao, who had only just begun walking the path of a soul master, it might give him a little more power to protect himself.

This was the only insignificant "compensation" he could offer—though the price of that compensation was cutting off the other party's greatest opportunity.

Just as Huo Yuhao reached a critical stage in absorbing the Soul Ring and a faint white glow began to rise from his body, a sudden change occurred!

"Whoosh—!"

A faint yet urgent sound of something cutting through the air approached from afar at incredible speed!

Zichuan and the God of Destruction sensed it at the same time. An unimaginably vast yet extraordinarily condensed spiritual power, like a tangible ocean, was rushing madly toward them!

That spiritual power was filled with urgency, frustration, unwillingness, and a trace of... blind panic?

Then, a white speck rapidly expanded on the horizon. In the blink of an eye, it shot forward and hovered in midair.

It was unmistakably a... strange creature whose entire body was translucent, as though carved from white jade, yet resembling an oversized silkworm larva!

It was over seven meters long, round and chubby, its segmented body radiating a soft, pearly white glow. Most striking of all were its huge little mung-bean eyes, brimming with intelligence, which were fixed firmly on Huo Yuhao below as he absorbed the Soul Ring.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm! A Million-Year Soul Beast, the "power bank" of Star Dou Great Forest, and the unlucky fellow who had just escaped the imprisonment of ferocious beasts such as Di Tian!

"How could this... how could this happen?!"

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's mental thoughts, full of frustration and heartache, spread without restraint. Like demonic sounds boring into the mind, they made the surrounding leaves rustle violently,

"Too late! Just one step too late! I finally sensed a prospect with such a pure spiritual attribute, such a resilient soul, trapped in desperate circumstances and possessing limitless potential! This was the best opportunity Heaven had given me!

"The perfect host! B-but why did he start absorbing a Soul Ring?! And the worst kind—a ten-year Wind Baboon?! What a waste! What a terrible waste!"

Its enormous spiritual body twisted anxiously in midair. Seeing the white glow of Huo Yuhao's Soul Ring becoming increasingly stable, it was so heartbroken that it was like watching a peerless jade treasure being used as a stepping stone by a child.

It had waited countless years and planned for countless years. It had finally found a "vessel" that met all of its demanding requirements, only for someone to beat it to the punch while it was on the way!

The feeling was worse than eating shit!

Before it could recover from the enormous blow and fury, a clearly teasing and curious voice leisurely sounded from below.

"Oh ho, there's even a... Big Bug?"

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's little mung-bean eyes abruptly turned, and only then did it notice someone seated nearby.

A black-haired, black-eyed youth who looked quite young, resting his chin on his hand and sizing it up with an expression that plainly said he enjoyed watching trouble unfold. It was Zichuan.

"Human! Was it you?!"

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's mental thoughts instantly locked onto Zichuan, and its fury flared up at once.