This Cheat Was a Little Too Awesome

Power—unprecedented power—surged through his body.

Huo Yuhao merely clenched his fist lightly, and the air let out a strained wail as though it could no longer bear the pressure.

This feeling... was far too unfamiliar.

And far too powerful!

"Hey, kid, why are you standing there like an idiot? Did this million-year gift package from yours truly leave you stunned?"

Sky Dream Iceworm's smug, irritating voice rang out in his mind.

Huo Yuhao's consciousness sank into his sea of spirit.

Within the [Thought Palace], the chubby chibi silkworm baby floated in midair with one leg crossed over the other, looking unbearably pleased with itself.

"This spiritual power is too immense." Huo Yuhao's consciousness manifested before it, his tone calm. "Right now, I feel like a three-year-old holding a running chainsaw. I could hurt myself at any moment."

"Well, obviously! This is a million years we're talking about! Did you think it was cabbage?" Sky Dream Iceworm rolled its eyes. "Don't panic. With yours truly, an old hand, guiding you, you'll get the hang of it in no time!"

"How?" Huo Yuhao asked directly.

"Simple. Treat it like your own limbs! Start with the most basic skill—Spiritual Detection!" Sky Dream Iceworm coaxed him patiently. "Close your eyes now. Imagine your spiritual power flowing out from between your brows like water, reaching out to 'touch' this world."

Huo Yuhao did as instructed.

Buzz—!

If his spiritual power had once been a gentle stream, then now it was a raging river bursting through an opened floodgate!

His vast spiritual power instantly surged out of his body, expanding wildly in a spherical radius around him!

A hundred meters!

A thousand meters!

Ten thousand meters!

It pierced through thick rock strata, swept across the frozen earth, and soared into the heavens!

The paths of the wind, the shapes of the snow, the wary breathing of icefield wolves in the distance, the sleeping heartbeat of some creature deep underground...

The entire world appeared in his mind with unprecedented clarity, rendered in three-dimensional detail!

And that was not all!

Enhanced by that immense spiritual power, the [Thought Palace]'s processing capacity skyrocketed!

"Activate microscopic perception!" Huo Yuhao gave the command.

He "looked" at the skin of his palm.

His view drew infinitely closer, magnifying without end!

The outlines of cells, the structures of molecules, even... those tiny motes of light constantly vibrating, combining, appearing, and vanishing!

Particles!

He could actually perceive things at the particle level!

"Holy shit..." This time, even Huo Yuhao himself was stunned.

Was the end of science theology?

No. In this world, the pinnacle of power was the ability to directly interfere with the laws of physics!

At last, he had obtained the first cornerstone he needed to flip the table!

"Well? Doesn't it feel amazing?" Sky Dream Iceworm's voice was full of temptation. "And this is only an appetizer! Come on, try Spiritual Intimidation!"

"On whom?"

"Use it on those flies lying outside!" Sky Dream Iceworm chuckled. "Let them experience what divine majesty feels like!"

Huo Yuhao's spiritual power instantly locked onto Tu Feng and the others, who were still trembling at the entrance to the passageway.

He drew upon an insignificant thread of spiritual power and, following Sky Dream's guidance, condensed it into an invisible shockwave.

"Get lost."

One word exploded in the depths of Tu Feng and the others' souls like thunder from the nine heavens!

"Puh—!"

Tu Feng and the others seemed to have suffered a devastating blow. They spat out blood and scrambled away on hands and knees, their eyes filled with nothing but bone-deep terror!

They did not even dare look back!

"Tsk tsk, they're really easy to scare." Sky Dream Iceworm curled its lips.

Yet Huo Yuhao felt no joy whatsoever.

He calmly analyzed everything that had just happened.

An increase in power was only the first step.

More importantly, he needed to learn how to use that power to pry at the chessboard laid out by those lofty gods.

"Sky Dream, this golden soul ring is too conspicuous." Huo Yuhao's consciousness returned to his body. Looking at the dazzling soul ring beneath his feet, bright enough to blind people, he said, "I don't want to become a target for everyone."

"Easy!" Sky Dream Iceworm snapped its fingers (though it had no hands). "My spiritual essence is incredibly malleable! You want it to be any color, it can be any color! You want it to imitate a soul ring of however many years, it can imitate one of however many years!"

As soon as it finished speaking, the dazzling golden soul ring's light contracted, instantly turning into an utterly ordinary white ring.

A ten-year soul ring.

Then it changed to yellow, purple, black... finally settling on the purple of a thousand-year soul ring.

Perfect camouflage!

"Impressive." Huo Yuhao praised it sincerely.

"Of course!" Sky Dream Iceworm said smugly. "From now on, tell everyone it's a thousand-year spiritual-attribute soul ring. No one will spot any flaws! We need to keep a low profile, grow in secret, and quietly outdo everyone else. Got it?"

"That was exactly what I had in mind."

Huo Yuhao began planning his next steps.

His strength had to remain hidden, but he had to bring back results.

He needed a reasonable explanation for Light of Truth regarding what he had gained this time.

"Sky Dream, you've lived for a million years. You should know quite a few secrets about soul beasts and this world, right?"

"Naturally! Back then, I, Sky Dream, was a legend in the soul beast world! Di Tian and Snow Empress? They were all juniors! Let me tell you, among the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North Land, that Ice Empress..."

Sky Dream Iceworm launched into an endless stream of gossip and secret tales from the soul beast world, broadening Huo Yuhao's horizons immensely.

This information was automatically categorized and archived within the [Thought Palace], becoming a valuable database for his future soul ring hunts.

Just then, Huo Yuhao's spiritual detection made a new discovery.

"Wait."

He concentrated his spiritual power on the floor and walls of this underground temple.

Previously, due to his insufficient strength, he had only been able to tell that there was a massive energy-gathering array here.

But now, beneath his microscopic perception, the array's details were magnified without limit!

The lines forming the array were not simple engravings at all!

Every line was formed by countless ancient runes, each smaller than a speck of dust, linked together!

Complex! Precise! Profound!

This was an energy-utilization system he had never seen before!

"Is this... soul tool technology from ancient times?" Huo Yuhao immediately retrieved the information on <Principles of Ancient Soul Tools and Lost Illustrations> from Sky Dream's memory database.

[Comparing data...]

[Match success rate: 73.4%!]

[Confirmed as a fragment of the Ancient Elf Clan's Star Vein Resonance Array!]

Huo Yuhao's heart jolted.

The Ancient Elf Clan! A mysterious race that had vanished into the river of history long before humanity's rise!

Their technology and modern human soul tool technology had taken two completely different paths!

The value of this thing was simply incalculable!

"Sky Dream, make a complete copy of the structure of these runes for me."