Tian Meng... That Regret

"Little Yuhao, make sure they remember your face!"

"Senior Mu and Senior Ma are both famous throughout the Inner Court."

"Serve them well, and your path ahead will be smooth sailing." Tang Ya brainwashed them. Everyone listened in a daze, while Xu Sanshi laughed. "Beibei, your Xiaoya is still as scatterbrained as ever, always full of crazy ideas!"

Jiang Nannan sat there like a refined young lady, turning sideways and refusing to spare Xu Sanshi even a glance.

"It's nothing. I'm just a blacksmith. Since all of you juniors have come to the Inner Court, I can prepare a set of armor for each of you. I can even give you a discount!" Mu Baobao smiled. He had always been slightly more handsome than Beibei, and being a few years older gave him an added air of reliability.

Everyone immediately felt favorably toward him, but they still politely declined. Even support-system soul masters had physiques stronger than ordinary people. They assumed he meant the standard armor worn by soldiers. Ordinary people needed it because they were weak, but for soul masters, it was more of a burden.

"No need, thank you for your kindness, Senior."

"Hey!"

Ma Xiaotao was practically looking down on them now. They were refusing so eagerly, but they would regret it one day. That was something that could replace an entire set of Soul Bones!

"Then what is Senior's name?"

"I'm not famous enough for it to be worth mentioning!"

"Eat up, barbecue! Come on!"

Mu Baobao called everyone over. He truly did not want to mention that name. Beibei merely sounded a little childish, but Baobao carried far too many implications—mockery, disdain...

If it had not been chosen by his late mother, who had regarded her two sons as her eternal treasures, he would have changed it long ago.

Feng Chun, Mu Fengchun... That sounded pretty good.

That name had quite an influence in Douluo Continent and other worlds. At first, he had thought it belonged to Mu En, but it did not... so there was nothing stopping him from using it.

"Xiaoya, Little Yuhao, come sit."

Once heaps of grilled food had been placed on the table, Tang Ya sat between Jiang Nannan and Beibei, while Huo Yuhao took the seat between Mu Baobao and Xu Sanshi. They began chatting noisily.

"Mm!"

However, Mu Baobao sensed a fluctuation of spiritual power emanating from Huo Yuhao.

It swept over him once, vanishing and appearing in an instant. Mu Baobao smiled faintly at Huo Yuhao beside him. If nothing unexpected happened, it was that big worm.

"Senior Mu, why are you looking at me like that?"

Huo Yuhao felt guilty. He had also sensed that the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, which should have been asleep, had suddenly awakened and probed the senior before him.

Hadn't it said that, as the unprecedented million-year spiritual soul beast of the continent, no one could surpass it in spiritual power? How had it been startled awake and discovered by a senior? That was a little unreasonable.

"It's nothing. I just feel that we are fated. Junior Huo is extraordinarily gifted and will surely achieve great things in the future," Mu Baobao said. The future God of Emotions, son-in-law of the Asura God King, founder of the Soul Spirit System, tenth-rank Soul Engineer... How could he fail to achieve greatness?

The seven of them ate and drank until late at night. Yuhao's grilled fish could only be called decent; it was not some rare delicacy. The greater appeal was still the title of God of Emotions. Even if another formidable soul master sold food instead, the effect might have been just as strong.

Besides, after Mu Baobao's meddling, Yuhao's grilled fish would most likely become Yuhao's barbecue.

Beibei, Tang Ya, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, and Huo Yuhao watched Mu Baobao and Ma Xiaotao leave, all of them filled with yearning.

"When will we be able to enter the Inner Court?" Jiang Nannan asked softly. Her talent could only be said to have barely met Shrek Academy's threshold. Beibei and Xu Sanshi were both stronger than her. The reason she had become such a notable figure was largely because of her appearance.

"There'll be a chance, Nannan!"

Xu Sanshi immediately echoed her, only to receive another disgusted glare. Beibei shook his head with a bitter smile... Xu Sanshi had an immensely powerful identity and background, while Jiang Nannan's talent was nothing remarkable, yet he remained so persistent.

This was also something Mu Baobao, along with many others, could not understand. Their acquaintance had been utterly absurd. Xu Sanshi's martial soul, the Black Tortoise of Profound Mystery, required him to consummate a relationship with a woman for a chance to evolve into the divine beast Black Tortoise.

At the time, Jiang Nannan's mother needed the Black Tortoise Sect's Black Tortoise Divine Pill to save her life. Jiang Nannan had also been admitted to Shrek Academy but could not afford the exorbitant tuition, delaying her enrollment for two years. So she agreed to the conditions of Xu Sanshi's sect. Both of them had only been fourteen then, and Jiang Nannan had understood nothing.

Xu Sanshi, however, had tried all sorts of tricks, leaving her traumatized. Like Beibei's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, his martial soul had entered a half-awakened state.

In the end, Jiang Nannan did not even return home. She merely asked them to bring the medicine back to save her mother. With that money, Jiang Nannan successfully entered Shrek.

She even disguised herself as a refined young lady, a goddess who looked sacred and untouchable. Mu Baobao did not exactly hate her, but he disliked her greatly. Tang Ya could take summer jobs to pay her tuition, and Huo Yuhao sold fish.

Yet Jiang Nannan needed this disguise. It gave people the impression that she wanted to hook herself a wealthy husband, and in the end, she really did hook Xu Sanshi, that Double-Faced Turtle.

This sort of thing was consensual. Xu Sanshi had no reason to be so devoted to Jiang Nannan. There were many girls better than her... He had the ability to live as a carefree young master, yet after learning that Jiang Nannan had gone to Shrek, Xu Sanshi followed her there.

"Xiaoya, Yuhao, what's wrong with you two?"

Beibei was puzzled. He thought they lacked confidence in entering the Inner Court. After all, their talents were even worse than Jiang Nannan's. Both had entered through the Tang Sect's annual exemption quotas. Being able to cultivate Blue Silver Grass at all was already incredibly extraordinary.

Tang Ya was troubled because she had decided to leave before long. Beibei was truly outstanding... yet he had to accompany her in reviving the declining Tang Sect. As long as Soul Tools existed, hidden weapons could never rise again. After all, Soul Tools had already spread across the entire continent.

Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, had the enormous cheat that was the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the second martial soul it had given him, and that wisp of divine consciousness... He was not too worried about this.

He had merely noticed that the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had suddenly awakened. Why did its emotions seem so low?

It was sitting there, wallowing in sorrow!

"Brother Sky Dream, what's wrong?"

After packing up and returning to the dormitory, Huo Yuhao quickly sat cross-legged in meditation and entered his Sea of Consciousness.

Ten golden spheres and one gray sphere all radiated vast spiritual power... They were also his greatest trump cards, his reliance, and his secret.

A small creature that looked both like a dragon and an insect was crying there in grief. Huo Yuhao walked over and asked softly, "Brother Sky Dream, weren't you supposed to be sleeping? Why did you suddenly wake up? And why are you crying?"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm turned around, wearing a miserable expression as it looked at Huo Yuhao, who had a faintly ominous feeling.

"My life is so hard. I slept and ate my way to becoming a nine-hundred-thousand-year soul beast, only to be hunted everywhere and used as a supplement. It was like that in the Far North Ice Plains, like that in the sea, and then I was trapped by those savage beasts in the Star Dou Forest for tens of thousands of years, constantly having my origin energy drained."

Huo Yuhao hurriedly stopped him. When they had first met, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had started from its birth and gone all the way to meeting him. "Brother Sky Dream, I already know everything that happened next. I happened to go to the Star Dou Forest to obtain a Soul Ring, and you happened to escape and meet me, becoming my intelligent Soul Ring. Then there was that old grandpa from another world, who made me the first person in Douluo Continent's history to possess three martial souls."

"Oh, so you brat actually dared to interrupt me!" Brother Sky Dream would have snapped at Huo Yuhao like this under normal circumstances, but now he said in a low voice, "That's right. I am a million-year spiritual soul beast. After becoming your Soul Ring, your Spirit Eye martial soul can be called Ultimate Spiritual Power. If that old man becomes your martial soul, then it will be Ultimate Death."

"If my unfinished second martial soul succeeds according to my plan, it may become Ultimate Ice. Then you will possess three ultimate martial souls."

Ultimate attributes were the term used in the soul master world for those standing at the pinnacle of each attribute: the Black Tortoise's ultimate defense, the Clear Sky Hammer's ultimate strength, the Radiant Sacred Dragon and Light Goddess Butterfly's ultimate light, the Evil Fire Phoenix's Ultimate Fire, and the Sea God's ultimate sea.

Devouring, strength, speed... all could become ultimate attributes. Huo Yuhao was deeply grateful to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. Without it, he would have possessed only a spiritual-type Spirit Eye, and his first Soul Ring might even have been a ten-year white Wind Baboon. Now, he possessed three ultimate martial souls. It was simply heaven-defying.

"So, Brother Sky Dream, who exactly did you choose for my second martial soul? How could it be Ultimate Ice?"

Huo Yuhao asked curiously. The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm grew emotional. "But now I've encountered a soul master with three martial souls and six ultimate attributes! And those three martial souls might even be able to fuse their soul skills on their own!"

"His primary martial soul, Ultimate Ice, and Ultimate Spiritual Power are simply one hundred percent compatible with me... In other words, if I choose him, not only can I lead those old acquaintances from the Far North Ice Plains to reach that level, but the savage beasts in the Star Dou Forest and Evil Demon Forest can all ascend directly."

"All three of his martial souls possess a trace of divinity, just like that old man. That means that even if he cannot find a divine inheritance in the future, once his three martial souls completely fuse, he may even be able to create a godhood of his own. On top of that, they are all dragon types... Dragons, do you understand? In any world, they are apex existences."

"Huh?" Huo Yuhao was stunned.

Ultimate martial souls were incredibly rare across the entire continent. Anyone with even one attribute would certainly become a Super Douluo or even a Limit Douluo. As for special attributes such as disintegration, annihilation, and devouring... one would at least become a Title Douluo.

Yet someone actually possessed three martial souls and six ultimate attributes at once. When the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said that person could become a god, it was not impossible.

Martial Soul Fusion Skills were not unfamiliar to him either. His Evil Eye White Tiger family and the Hell Spirit Cat family were clans that could use Martial Soul Fusion Skills with perfect compatibility. The two clans intermarried for generations to see whether someone might possess both martial souls and achieve self-fusion.

This was also the Martial Soul Fusion Skill used by his two ancestors, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing, among the First Generation Shrek Seven Devils. The three-martial-soul fusion skill belonged to their teachers, the Golden Iron Triangle.

"What frustrates me even more is that this aura appeared in the Star Dou Forest more than ten times before and after, but I never had a chance to escape. When I met you, those savage beasts seemed to have entered some kind of state. I alone was unaffected, which was why I managed to escape."

"Then I fused with you and became your first Soul Ring. And there was that old man... Crossing planes is hard to believe. He had not even become a god, yet a wisp of his remnant soul succeeded."

"All of this made me feel that meeting you, and his arrival... seemed inevitable."

"Like an invisible hand was controlling everything."