He suddenly opened his eyes and turned toward the voice. What came into view was an incomparably beautiful young woman with long pale-golden hair. Huo Yuhao could not help but lose himself for a moment, completely forgetting his current predicament.
"Sh-So beautiful... She's countless times prettier than Sister Xiao Ya, whom I saw earlier."
Seeing the stunning young woman in the distance, Huo Yuhao blurted it out.
"Little brother, stop spacing out. Do you want help or not? Seeing how pathetic you look, I'll only charge you one Gold Soul Coin."
Seeing Huo Yuhao actually get distracted in the middle of a battle, Yao Shi spoke up to remind him.
Roar—
The Wind Baboon let out another furious roar, snapping Huo Yuhao back to his senses. He was still in dire straits, with his life in danger at any moment. However, he could tell that this young woman's appearance here meant she was surely strong. Hearing what he said, he hurriedly begged for help.
"Miss, please save me!"
Yao Shi's face darkened, but he still controlled the vines and charged forward, cursing, "Are you fucking blind? I'm a man!"
"A-A man?" Huo Yuhao froze. No matter how he looked at it, this young woman with beauty capable of toppling nations did not look like a man!
Yao Shi did not continue arguing. He could not really blame anyone for it; his voice was indeed rather androgynous, neither distinctly male nor female. Unless someone already knew his gender, anyone seeing him for the first time would mistake him for a girl. After all, he had been misidentified plenty of times before.
"Kill it."
Yao Shi controlled the vines, strangling the ten-year Wind Baboon until it was barely alive, then spoke to Huo Yuhao beside him.
Looking at the goddess-like face before him, Huo Yuhao's heart raced. Hearing Yao Shi's words, he took a deep breath, picked up the dagger that had been knocked away, and drove it viciously into the Wind Baboon's heart.
A faint white glow drifted out from the Wind Baboon's body, gradually condensing into a white ring of light.
"Whew... I'm saved."
With the crisis over, Huo Yuhao's tightly wound nerves finally relaxed. His body collapsed to the ground from exhaustion, and he let out a long breath, grateful to have escaped death.
Then Yao Shi's voice drifted over.
"Since I helped you, it's time to settle the fee. We agreed on one Gold Soul Coin."
"Huh? A Gold Soul Coin? What Gold Soul Coin?"
Hearing Yao Shi's words, Huo Yuhao looked confused. Earlier, he had been so captivated by Yao Shi's appearance that, after hearing he could help, he had completely missed the part about paying a Gold Soul Coin.
"What, are you trying to skip out on the debt?"
Yao Shi walked over to Huo Yuhao's side. One stood while the other lay down, and he looked down at him from above.
Huo Yuhao hurriedly sat up and waved his hands repeatedly, looking embarrassed. "No, no, no. This sister... no, this big brother, I'm not trying to skip out on it. It's just that I don't have any money right now..."
He had run away from the White Tiger Duke's estate. Other than the clothes on his back and the White Tiger Dagger his mother had left him, he was utterly penniless. How could he possibly have any Gold Soul Coins to pay Yao Shi?
Yao Shi glanced at Huo Yuhao, then sat down across from him. "Fine. Looking at your situation, you definitely can't pay, so just owe me for now."
"Really? Thank you, Big Brother."
"Oh, right, Big Brother, I still don't know your name. My name is Huo Yuhao."
Hearing Yao Shi's words, Huo Yuhao thanked him and introduced himself as well.
"Me? My name is Yao Shi."
Yao Shi's tone was leisurely, but then he abruptly changed the subject. "By the way, Yuhao, it seems your Soul Power hasn't even broken through the first ring yet. Why did you come here alone?"
Huo Yuhao looked somewhat at a loss. "I came here to hunt Soul Beasts. I want to add my first soul ring to my Martial Soul."
"Hunt Soul Beasts? By yourself?"
Yao Shi feigned surprise.
"Mm..."
Huo Yuhao answered softly, his gaze shifting toward the white soul ring left behind by the Wind Baboon in the distance.
He was considering whether he should absorb the soul ring before him. He knew that his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul needed a spiritual-type Soul Beast, and this Wind Baboon's soul ring was certainly incompatible with him.
Huo Yuhao hesitated. A ten-year Soul Beast had nearly cost him his life. What if he encountered a hundred-year Soul Beast? Did he truly have no choice but to absorb this incompatible soul ring?
At this moment, he was lost.
Yao Shi naturally understood his worries and was just about to speak.
Suddenly, the surroundings gradually began to turn cold, and a wave of frigid air spread out from the edge of the forest.
Yao Shi inwardly exclaimed, It's here! The Child of Fortune's first great opportunity—Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
The chill and pressure arrived at once. Because Huo Yuhao's cultivation was so low, he immediately lost consciousness and fainted. Yao Shi, however, was naturally unaffected due to his unique Martial Soul, though he still pretended to be knocked unconscious as well.
A somewhat excited voice rang out.
"At last, I've encountered humans with spiritual attributes—and there are even two of them! It's a pity I can't cry, or I'd surely be weeping tears of joy!"
As the voice fell, cracks began to spread across the ground, gradually widening into fissures. A massive, plump silkworm glowing with golden-white light slowly crawled out.
Yao Shi narrowed his eyes and secretly took a look, inwardly crying out, Fuck, what a useless silkworm. Is that giant stomach comparable to Liangzi's really for real?
The golden fat silkworm slowly wriggled toward them. He first looked at Huo Yuhao, his tone carrying a hint of disdain.
"This guy won't do. His Martial Soul is decent, but his talent is too poor. No, no."
Then he crawled over to Yao Shi.
"Oh? This little girl's talent is pretty good. It's decided—you. I'll become your soul ring and become the first intelligent soul ring in the history of Douluo Continent."
"Don't worry, it won't hurt. I'll be gentle."
As he spoke, a ball of light condensed from his head and flew into Yao Shi's body.
Hearing that, Yao Shi inwardly complained, Brother, don't do this. The protagonist is over there—go find him. I don't need your intelligent soul ring! And you're the girl; your whole family is made of girls!
Yao Shi immediately erected a mental barrier within his sea of consciousness. After the ball of light formed from Sky Dream Ice Silkworm entered his body, it slammed straight into it.
"Strange, why can't I get in?"
Tian Meng looked utterly confused. An invisible wall before him was preventing him from merging with Yao Shi, and he became unwilling to accept it.
"Damn it, get in!"
Tian Meng struggled to squeeze in while Yao Shi resisted with all his strength. After all, this was Yao Shi's home ground, and Yao Shi still held the upper hand.
Seeing that he still could not enter and that his origin power had begun to dissipate, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm steeled his heart, left Yao Shi's body, and flew toward Huo Yuhao instead.
"Fine, poor talent is poor talent. I'll slowly find ways to improve his aptitude later. It's still better than dying right now."
Seeing this, Yao Shi was inwardly satisfied. That's more like it. Why come looking for me when there's a perfectly good protagonist right there?
At that exact moment, the previously clear sky suddenly darkened. In an instant, the sun's light was completely swallowed by darkness, and an overwhelming pressure descended from above, so immense it made one unable to breathe.
An ancient yet majestic voice echoed through the sky.
"With the sun and moon in hand, I pluck the stars; there has never been another like me in this world. I never expected that this old man would still retain a wisp of remnant soul."
Then a stream of gray air followed the ball of light formed by Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and entered Huo Yuhao's brow.
P.S.: Some readers may be wondering at this point, Author, Author, why is it fine to leave Sky Dream Ice Silkworm for Huo Yuhao, but not even take Electrolux? The author has something to say here: there is simply no need. Electrolux only has mere necromancy magic, while the protagonist's Abundance ability governs life—and it far surpasses even the Life God King. Later, he will not only be able to revive people at will, but even someone with only a wisp of remnant soul left, or no soul at all, can be revived. His ability far exceeds Electrolux's. Besides, Huo Yuhao will later become the protagonist's underling and will also become something like a believer. (Finally, this isn't padding, okay? The main text still has over two thousand words!!)
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