Within the Sea of Spirit, Huo Yuhao had yet to fully recover from the devastating news Tang San had brought. The words "the Void" pierced his soul like ice picks, bringing a bone-deep chill and fear of the unknown.
"'The Void'?" A voice, faintly teasing yet unable to conceal its ancient majesty, passed through the barrier of the Triangle Seal and resonated directly through Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit. It was the soul voice of the Golden Dragon King—his main body, with seventy percent of his power.
Huo Yuhao's heart tightened. He forcefully suppressed his turbulent thoughts and sank his consciousness deeper into the Sea of Spirit.
"Tsk, tsk, look at you, completely devastated." Another voice sounded, somewhat deeper and carrying a lazy, cynical air. A more solid phantom of the Dark-Gold Dragon King appeared—the aggregation of fragments, possessing thirty percent of his power. Though his limbs were likewise bound by illusory chains representing the seal, he had actually assumed a sprawled-out pose as he floated above the Sea of Spirit. "Jin is right, kid. If it's the Void, those old fellows in the Douluo God Realm are probably finished. No, since they even gave you the Divine Realm Core, they're definitely finished."
Huo Yuhao focused on the two Dragon King consciousness forms. Though bound, their souls remained active, and they could even freely "stroll" through his Sea of Spirit. He asked gravely, "You know about the Void? What exactly is it?" He had not expected these two "prisoners" to be the first ones capable of explaining it.
"Just as the name implies: nothingness, devouring, extinction." The Golden Dragon King's soul phantom was relatively solid, taking the form of a translucent dark-gold dragon. Like an restless loach, he twisted and swam through the gaps between the sealing halos. His tone carried the indifference of someone who had lived through countless ages. "It isn't a creature, nor is it a civilization. It's more like... a manifestation of rule-based 'entropy increase,' or the universe's 'cleaner.' Any 'high-energy aggregate' it marks—such as a flourishing Divine Realm—is like a nutrient-rich culture medium targeted by a virus. It will not stop until it has devoured everything."
The Dark-Gold Dragon King took over, still lying down but speaking clearly. "But for your backwater Douluo Plane, you can relax for now. This thing usually operates near massive black holes or along the edges of 'deserts' where cosmic energy is abnormally sparse. Your place has neither energy density—meaning the overall level of the plane—nor any notable coordinates—meaning its location in the universe. Why would it come here? There isn't even a northwestern wind for it to drink."
"Then why would the Divine Realm..." Huo Yuhao pressed, though the shadow of unease in his heart had yet to completely fade.
"Idiot!" The Golden Dragon King's soul swam before him. Though trapped by the seal, he still managed to roll his eyes—if dragons had white eyes. "Your Divine Realm was first battered half to death by me, then struck by an oversized Space-Time Turbulence, and finally swept to the edge of a black hole! All that commotion made its energy fluctuations shine across the universe like a beacon in the dark! If the Void didn't seek them out, who would it seek?" He paused before adding, "Besides, the threshold for actively 'attracting' the Void's attention is extremely high. By my estimate, at least a God Emperor level expert would have to self-destruct completely. Only the resulting energy collapse and rule breakdown could possibly create a temporary 'Void marker' outside a black hole region. This dump of yours can barely find a proper First-Level God. Who here has that ability?"
Huo Yuhao caught the key point. "A God Emperor level self-destruction... is required just to possibly 'attract' it?" That eased him slightly. Douluo Continent clearly did not possess such conditions at present.
But then he suddenly realized another issue, and his gaze sharpened. "Wait! You two... why can you manifest so freely here and even speak? Could it be that my seal..."
"Ha ha ha!" The Golden Dragon King let out a smug laugh despite being tied up, then rolled around in the Sea of Spirit. "Your little seal works well enough against our shattered and stripped-away Divine Core power. But you want to completely imprison souls like ours—souls that have existed for who knew how many tens of thousands of years and been tempered through the Dragon God's division and the Divine Realm War? Kid, you're still too green!" He mimicked patting Huo Yuhao's phantom shoulder with a claw. "The seal traps the 'source of power,' but consciousness and knowledge are another matter. So long as we don't actively attack the seal's core, we can still wander through your Sea of Spirit and chat. Of course, forget about causing trouble. Your Emotion Divine Ring and those Divine Realm Cores aren't to be underestimated."
The Dark-Gold Dragon King lazily added, "Simply put, our power is locked in a safe—the Triangle Seal—but the ghosts of the two 'safe owners' can drift around inside your 'house'—the Sea of Spirit. We just can't leave, nor can we touch your core furnishings—the origin of your divine consciousness."
The corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched. The analogy... was rather vivid.
"So," the Golden Dragon King's soul suddenly straightened up. Though the nine halos around him made him look somewhat ridiculous, his tone turned serious. "Kid, let's make a deal. Loosen the shackles on our souls a little more—not let us out, just give us a little 'yard' in your Sea of Spirit. Stop letting the aftereffects of the seal disturb us all the time. In exchange, we'll hand our power over to you completely. The smaller portion—the Golden Dragon King's main body power—has already gone to that little black snake, Di Tian. As for the larger portion—the part you sealed—we have no use for it, and it only takes up space."
Huo Yuhao's eyes narrowed. "Why are you suddenly so 'generous'? Didn't you want to reclaim your power before? Didn't you want to become the Dragon God?"
"Times have changed." The Dark-Gold Dragon King finally sat up, and an expression close to disdain appeared on his phantom face. "Your plane may be safe for now, but Tang San used the power of the Divine Realm Core to 'mark' it. If... and I mean if... the Void follows the final signal from before the Divine Realm's destruction, sniffing its way over like a shark smelling blood and reaching even a tiny corner of this place... I don't want to face that kind of thing in this dump. Back when the Dragon God encountered a small remnant of the Void, he had no choice but to cut off his tail to survive, tearing apart part of his divine domain before escaping. I only have an aggregation of thirty percent power fragments now. I'd have to be insane to fight it head-on."
The Golden Dragon King nodded in agreement. "Exactly! And you're carrying the Central Nexus keys of seven Divine Realms now. They're all broken Core Flames, but their essence remains. If we really had to risk our lives and borrow some power, these remnant souls of ours might end up suffering. Better to hand over authority cleanly and build some goodwill. Our souls get to be comfortable, and you gain one less hidden danger and one more controllable source of power."
Huo Yuhao weighed the matter rapidly. The souls of the two Dragon Kings were fundamentally too elevated; completely imprisoning their conscious activity was indeed difficult. Prolonged conflict and consumption within his Sea of Spirit would not benefit his already heavily injured state. If he could fully resolve the backlash from the Divine Core power, stabilize the seal, and gain knowledge about higher-level matters—the Divine Realm and the Void—the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. As for their desire for greater freedom... so long as they did not touch the fundamentals, he could accept it.
"I can consider it," Huo Yuhao said slowly. "But you must guarantee that the range of your soul activity will be strictly limited. You may not attempt any form of attack against the seal, erode my consciousness, or directly affect the outside world."
"Deal!" the Golden Dragon King agreed at once.
"Wait," the Dark-Gold Dragon King suddenly cut in, a crafty gleam flashing in his eyes. "Add one small condition. Make the two of us... hmm, as you would put it, two temporary 'incarnation bodies' that can leave your Sea of Spirit for brief periods. They don't need to be powerful. They just need to walk, see, and eat! It's too boring being trapped in here. We want to see that 'grilled fish shop' you run, and see what the human world has become! Don't worry, we'll just look around. We won't cause trouble!"
"Absolutely not!" Huo Yuhao refused decisively, his brow furrowing. What a joke. These were the souls of two Dragon Kings! Even as souls alone, once attached to any material, they would instinctively infuse it with dragon aura and strengthen the vessel. With their understanding of energy and residual perception of laws, if they made the slightest commotion or were noticed by human experts—especially those with ill intentions—the consequences would be unimaginable. Letting them "go shopping" in the human world? It would be like releasing two ticking humanoid calamities!
"Ah, so stingy!" the Golden Dragon King grumbled—though it sounded rather strange coming from a dragon-shaped being. Then his phantom eyes shifted. "Fine then... sigh, how boring, how boring. The Sea of Spirit is so empty... Hey, I suddenly feel like singing! I was locked up in the Divine Realm for so long, and I learned a new song! La la la la la la~ I'm a happy little golden dragon~ Awoo, awoo, awoo~"
The Dark-Gold Dragon King immediately joined in with a deeper, though equally off-key, voice. "Hoo hoo hoo hoo~ Sleeping for ten thousand years has made my heart so tired~ Ah ah ah ah~ I really want to go out and eat something crunchy~!"
Two utterly different yet equally piercing forms of "dragon-roar singing" echoed through the Sea of Spirit, shaking ripples through Huo Yuhao's divine consciousness and splitting his head with pain.
"Stop! Stop! Quit singing!" Huo Yuhao felt as though the demonic music was about to crack his soul apart. Left with no choice, he shouted, "Incarnation bodies... can be discussed, but they must be subject to the strictest restrictions! And there is one question I need answered first."
The singing stopped abruptly. The two Dragon King souls stared at him with burning eyes—burning phantom eyes.
"Though you are souls, your essence is extremely elevated. There is a type of fallen soul master in this world called Evil Soul Masters. They are especially skilled in all sorts of forbidden techniques involving souls and the undead. If I allow part of your consciousnesses to go outside, what if they notice you, or even set traps targeting you..." Huo Yuhao had to consider the worst-case scenario. To Evil Soul Masters, the remnant souls of these two great beings were likely treasures even more tempting than hundred-thousand-year soul rings and soul bones.
"Pfft—" The Golden Dragon King gave a disdainful snort, and even the Dark-Gold Dragon King beside him shook his head.
"Kid, you underestimate the fundamental gap between 'gods' and 'mortals.'" The Golden Dragon King's tone was proud despite his bindings. "Listen. Divinity is the crushing superiority of status. Any mortal existence that has not ignited Divine Fire or condensed Divine Godhood—every one of its methods, including those Evil Soul Masters' tricks of playing with souls—is fundamentally ineffective against an existence with true divinity, even if it is only a remnant soul. Just as ants cannot understand or use computers, mortals cannot truly harm the soul of a god. They may sense an 'abnormality,' and they may use certain rituals to draw our 'attention,' but capture, control, devour? Dream on. The structure of our souls and the 'souls' they understand are things from entirely different dimensions."
The Dark-Gold Dragon King explained more specifically. "For example, the twelfth-grade Soul Tool from your continent's legends—Eternal Heaven—is said to possess enough power to threaten gods. But Huo Yuhao, let me tell you this: even if we were only remnant souls like this, if we stood still and let that thing explode, at most we would find it 'a little noisy' or think the 'energy fluctuations are fairly strong.' It could never destroy the core imprint of our souls. Why? Because no matter how powerful it is, it remains the ultimate expression of 'mortal rules,' while divinity is the beginning of 'transcending rules.' Unless it contains divine power of an equal level or laws of an even higher level—such as the Void's unreasonable kind—gods cannot be violated by mortals. That is one of the universe's fundamental laws."
The Golden Dragon King added with unquestionable confidence, "Besides, we are not ordinary souls. I am the incarnation of half the Dragon God, an existence that could not be completely erased even after being suppressed by the Creator God's power and besieged by the gods of the Divine Realm! Dark Gold may be weaker, but his essence shares my origin. In this plane? Hmph. Things capable of harming our souls... I won't say there are none, but they certainly do not include the gutter rats you're worried about."
Huo Yuhao fell silent. He knew that although the Golden Dragon King was arrogant, he was unlikely to lie about a fundamental matter like this, nor did he need to. Huo Yuhao had experienced the gulf between gods and mortals when he inherited his Godhood, though after falling back into the mortal world, he could no longer sense it as clearly as before. After hearing them explain it, it did make sense. No matter how powerful Evil Soul Masters became, none had ever produced a true god. The upper limit of their methods might truly be unable to reach the level of Dragon King souls.
"One more thing," the Dark-Gold Dragon King said lazily. "Your sealing array used the God of Emotions' Divine Ring, the ancient Forbidden Dragon Curse provided by Di Tian, your Ultimate Ice combined with undead magic—four layers of power—and it even drew upon the core power of the Undead Plane. Even then, it only managed to split and seal us. Do you think this world has any soul imprisonment or attack more targeted and powerful than that? At least on this plane, the 'safety' of our souls is far greater than you imagine."
After thinking it over again and again, Huo Yuhao finally sighed. "All right, I agree. Two temporary incarnation bodies can be created, with their power heavily restricted, for you to move about within a designated area under strict supervision. But we must establish three rules..."
"Got it, got it. No causing trouble, no exposing yourselves, and no leaving the range you set!" the Golden Dragon King interrupted impatiently before urging, "Quick! Loosen that 'soul shackle' another layer! I'm bored to death! Oh, right, the bodies! I want mine to look more handsome! That 'Dai Yuhao' appearance you used before was pretty good!"
Huo Yuhao said no more. With a shift of thought, the additional sealing layers restricting the conscious activity of the two Dragon King souls within his Sea of Spirit quietly loosened and dispersed. Though the core power seals and the barriers preventing them from interfering with the outside world remained firm, their soul phantoms visibly became more agile and distinct.
Then, from his storage Soul Tool, he took out several treasured top-grade heavenly materials and earthly treasures containing pure life energy and the primordial energy of heaven and earth—a warm Ten-Thousand-Year Jade Marrow Heart, a branch of Phoenix Perching Parasol Wood, and a small bottle of Nine-Heavens Pure Spirit Dew. Treasures that would have caused bloody turmoil in the outside world were tossed out without hesitation.
The soul phantoms of the two Dragon Kings immediately lunged forward excitedly.
The Golden Dragon King's soul opened his mouth and inhaled, drawing the jade marrow heart and part of the spirit dew into his mouth as streams of light. The Dark-Gold Dragon King swept away the parasol wood and the remaining spirit dew. There was no complicated ritual. Driven only by the instinct of their souls and their absolute control over energy, two soft yet powerful masses of light blossomed in the air and began to take shape.
In the blink of an eye, the light faded. Two young men appeared where it had been.
One was tall and straight-backed, dressed in fitted dark-gold clothes formed from energy. His features were handsome and sharp, and a domineering, flamboyant edge filled his brow and eyes. Golden hair fell loose around him, while a flash of dark-gold light occasionally flickered deep in his pupils—this was the Golden Dragon King's incarnation. He moved his arms and legs, his face full of curiosity.
The other was somewhat more slender, dressed in a deep-purple robe decorated with dark patterns. He was equally handsome, but his temperament was more reserved and languid. Several strands of dark gold ran through his black hair, his gaze was profound, and a faint smile rested on his lips—this was the Dark-Gold Dragon King's incarnation. He gently clenched his fist, feeling this "weak" yet real body, then nodded in satisfaction.
The energy fluctuations of both incarnations had been deliberately suppressed by Huo Yuhao to an extremely low level, roughly equivalent to that of an ordinary Soul Grandmaster. Numerous restrictions had also been left within them, ensuring that they could neither wield power beyond that limit nor remain independently outside a certain range from Huo Yuhao for long.
"Ha ha! Interesting! So this is what it feels like to be carried by 'matter'?" The Golden Dragon King picked up an apple from the table and took a loud bite. After chewing a few times, his eyes lit up. "The taste... is very primitive, but not bad!"
The Dark-Gold Dragon King walked to the window instead and gazed at Eastsea City's nightscape. Neon lights flickered, and traffic flowed endlessly. He was silent for a moment before softly sighing, "So this is the path you chose? Interesting."
Huo Yuhao looked at these two "Soul Grandmasters" driven by Dragon King souls and rubbed his brow, feeling that his future task of "guardianship" would be a long and arduous one. Yet he also knew that completely resolving the potential backlash of the two Divine Cores within him, while obtaining reliable information regarding higher-level threats such as the Void, made this transaction worthwhile.
Yet when he remembered Tang San's final cry, filled with despair and determination—"Run!"—and looked at the seven silent phantoms of the Divine Realm Cores deep within his Sea of Spirit, Huo Yuhao's heart remained heavy.
The Void... the destruction of the Divine Realm... the seven Divine Realm Core Flames... the future of the Douluo Plane...
Before you continue