Douluo: The Chosen Ones Gather, but the Eras Are Misaligned

The Silver Dragon King chuckled softly and said to Di Tian:

"Di Tian, take this human to that Ice Silkworm."

"My Lord, is this really alright?"

Di Tian could not help asking.

It was no wonder he hesitated. Even to the Ferocious Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest, Skydream Iceworm was a genuine treasure. The Silver Dragon King was simply giving it away, and Di Tian truly found it hard to part with it.

The Silver Dragon King said calmly:

"Enough, take him there. Since the future he saw showed that we were ultimately forced into that situation, it means the path we originally took was wrong. If so, then naturally we should try another path. Besides..."

She glanced at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion in the distance and said with a smile:

"Weren't we already planning to find a way to extend his lifespan? To extend a human's lifespan, the first thing to do is strengthen his power, isn't it?"

"...Understood."

After a moment of silence, Di Tian nodded and patted Bai Chen on the head.

"Kid, come with me. I'll take you to see the Skydream Iceworm you mentioned."

"Alright!"

Bai Chen immediately became excited.

He had originally thought that awakening the Three-Eyed Golden Lion Martial Soul in the Douluo I Era meant he would have no chance of encountering Skydream Iceworm.

After all, Skydream Iceworm of the Douluo I Era had yet to escape the Ferocious Beasts. Trying to get past their watch and make contact with it was nothing short of a fantasy.

Who would have thought that in just one night, things would take a turn for the better?

Skydream Iceworm

Led by Di Tian, Bai Chen arrived at a cave deep within the Great Beast Land.

At the depths of the cave, he saw a giant bug tightly bound by seven-colored chains.

It was Skydream Iceworm, the true first Million-Year Soul Beast in the history of Douluo Continent.

Though there were also legends claiming that the Deep Sea Demon Whale King was the first Million-Year Soul Beast, according to Skydream Iceworm in the Douluo II Era, when he became a Million-Year Soul Beast, the will of the plane had informed him that he was the first.

Considering that the Deep Sea Demon Whale King had indeed failed to grant Tang San a second Martial Soul and four soul skills, it was clear that he was still some distance away from a million years.

But then again, according to Skydream Iceworm in the Douluo II Era, he should not yet have reached the million-year level during the Douluo I Era.

His appearance at this moment proved it as well. There were only nine golden patterns on his body, while the tenth was merely faintly visible and had yet to truly emerge.

After thinking for a moment, Bai Chen asked Di Tian:

"Di Tian, roughly how many years of cultivation does he have now?"

Di Tian glanced at Skydream Iceworm and answered:

"About nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand years."

Just as expected.

Bai Chen immediately felt relieved.

Though Skydream Iceworm had only crossed the million-year threshold ten thousand years later, one had to remember that he had spent nearly all those ten thousand years being drained.

The energy throughout his body had been crazily extracted. It would have been impressive enough if he had managed to improve during those ten thousand years. Expecting him to remain completely unaffected would have been wishful thinking.

It seemed that Skydream Iceworm had gained another thousand years of cultivation over those ten thousand years before finally crossing the million-year barrier.

If that was the case, this would be easy.

If he had been short by ten thousand years, it might have been troublesome for Bai Chen. But if it was only a thousand years, there were plenty of ways to let Skydream Iceworm rapidly cultivate to a million years.

Bai Chen pleaded with Di Tian:

"Di Tian, can you use the power within your Lake of Life to help him break through to a million years? You know that even a ninety-nine-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine-year Soul Beast and a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast differ qualitatively. I hope he can break through to a million years. Please."

"...I'll ask my lord for her opinion. You can negotiate with him first."

Di Tian fell silent for a moment before turning and walking out of the cave.

Bai Chen let out a sigh of relief, slowly approached Skydream Iceworm, and crouched down before him.

"Hello, Brother Skydream."

Skydream Iceworm reacted to his greeting, and his enormous body suddenly trembled.

"Huh? Who are you? Were you calling me?"

"..."

Right. It seemed Skydream Iceworm had only given himself that name after breaking through to a million years. In other words, he did not even know that was his name yet.

Bai Chen smiled.

"Of course. What, don't you think this name sounds cool?"

"Mm... Skydream, Skydream... Hehe, it really is a cool name that suits me perfectly. Then from now on, that'll be my name!"

Skydream Iceworm seemed rather excited as he asked:

"You're not a Soul Beast, are you? Why would a human come here?"

"That's a long story."

Bai Chen smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Anyway, you can think of it as the Three-Eyed Golden Lion intercepting me and bringing me here. After learning about what happened to you, I wanted to help you escape."

"Really? How are you going to help me?"

The moment he heard that he might be able to escape, Skydream Iceworm immediately perked up.

He was trapped to death in the Star Dou Great Forest, completely unable to see any future ahead.

Bai Chen's arrival brought him brand-new hope.

Bai Chen said seriously:

"There is a way. Listen to me..."

Next, he roughly recounted the Wisdom Soul Ring and God-Making Plan that Skydream Iceworm had come up with in the original Douluo II Era story.

"Mm... That really is a good idea."

After hearing it, Skydream Iceworm said somewhat awkwardly:

"But it won't be easy to develop that thing called a Wisdom Soul Ring. It will take a long time. Can you hold on until then?"

As the creator of the Wisdom Soul Ring, Skydream Iceworm was undeniably a genius. One could say that he laid the foundation for Soul Spirits, while Elex formally created Soul Spirits based on that foundation.

But even for him, creating a Wisdom Soul Ring immediately was impossible.

Human lifespans were simply too short compared to those of Soul Beasts. He feared that Bai Chen would die before he managed to develop the Wisdom Soul Ring.

"It's fine."

Bai Chen waved his hand and said:

"I can find you a similar technique. You only need to modify it a little."

The technique he meant was naturally the Soul Spirit.

As a technique Elex had transformed based on the Wisdom Soul Ring, Soul Spirits surpassed Wisdom Soul Rings in many respects.

However, Wisdom Soul Rings had one advantage that Soul Spirits lacked: they could compress a Soul Beast's power to the absolute limit, allowing Soul Masters to obtain absurdly powerful Soul Rings in advance.

More specifically, even a Title Douluo would find it nearly impossible to absorb a four-hundred-thousand-year Ice Empress Soul Spirit, yet Huo Yuhao had done so when he only had two Soul Rings.

Of course, that was not because Huo Yuhao had been particularly strong at the time. It was purely due to the special nature of the Wisdom Soul Ring.

Since Soul Spirits could be developed through Wisdom Soul Rings, there was no reason Wisdom Soul Rings could not be reverse-engineered from Soul Spirits.

Bai Chen could wait. As long as he could obtain Skydream Iceworm, waiting a while would absolutely be worth it.

Skydream Iceworm was also quite tempted by this.

"Alright, it's a deal. When will you give me that technique?"

"As soon as possible. You should also take this time to think in advance about how to create a Wisdom Soul Ring."

Bai Chen and Skydream Iceworm immediately hit it off. They discussed matters for more than half the night before Bai Chen finally walked out of Skydream Iceworm's cave.

Only after coming out did he discover that the Silver Dragon King and Di Tian had been waiting for him outside for quite some time.

The Silver Dragon King said calmly:

"Di Tian and I have discussed it. You want me to use resources to raise Skydream Iceworm to a million years. Fine, but you must first show your value. I heard your conversation with Skydream Iceworm just now. Perfect. Use the Soul Spirit technique in exchange. Do you have any objections?"

"No."

Bai Chen had never intended to conceal information about Soul Spirits in the first place. Using it as a bargaining chip was exactly what he wanted.

"Then go cultivate first. Until the you from twenty thousand years later has fully researched Soul Spirits, you may not take a single step out of the Great Beast Land."

"Yes."

Bai Chen nodded obediently before walking off into the distance.

The Silver Dragon King watched him leave, her gaze somewhat melancholy.

During the time Bai Chen had been negotiating with Skydream Iceworm, she had also spoken with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. She had basically heard about the situation of Soul Beasts in the Douluo III Era.

It was undeniable that humans possessed creativity and wisdom that Soul Beasts lacked. It was precisely because of those two qualities that the gap between Soul Beasts and humans had grown ever larger.

This problem was extremely difficult to solve. For the time being, she could only trust Bai Chen's words.

Thinking of this, the Silver Dragon King closed her eyes wearily.

Little Sister

In the Douluo III Era, early in the morning, Na'er opened her eyes on a large bed in the Bai Family Villa.

"..."

Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, she blinked blankly. After sitting up from the bed, she saw Bai Chen seated at a computer by the desk in the distance, intently browsing the contents of a webpage while writing something on paper.

She quietly got out of bed and approached Bai Chen.

Unexpectedly, before she could even get close to him, Bai Chen spoke without turning his head.

"You're awake? How did you sleep last night?"

"...!"

Na'er's entire body shook, and she immediately stopped in her tracks.

Bai Chen did not seem to intend to press further. He continued reading the knowledge recorded online, and the movement of his hand never stopped.

After a long while, Na'er answered softly:

"I... slept very comfortably..."

That was the truth.

Her memories were a complete mess, but ever since she could remember, she had always slept on the streets. Let alone sleeping in such a luxurious home, she had never even slept in a bed before.

"That's good."

Bai Chen had just finished writing the final word. He put down his pen, turned toward Na'er, and smiled.

"Then from today onward, this will be your room, and it will also be your home."

"Um..."

Na'er asked timidly:

"Didn't you still need to ask your father for his opinion?"

She had heard every word of Bai Chen's conversation with Xue E yesterday. At least in her understanding, she had not yet been adopted.

"It's fine."

However, Bai Chen assured her in a firm tone:

"Don't worry. No matter what, I'll definitely convince my old man."

Naturally, there was a reason he was so confident.

As the direct recipient of his father's love, he understood better than anyone just how much that man cherished him.