Bai Xiao's consciousness gradually began to blur from the pain, yet the Devouring did not stop. This was his body's instinctive Devouring, something Bai Xiao had no control over.
"Why...?"
That was the final thought that surfaced in Bai Xiao's mind, and then his consciousness plunged into darkness.
Crack~ Crack~
Bai Xiao's body now looked like some alien creature, twisted beyond any recognizable human shape.
A yellow Soul Ring hovered over his head, seemingly controlling everything.
The yellow Soul Ring flashed continuously, blooming with a faint glow in the night...
After a long while, the corpse in Bai Xiao's arms had vanished.
At that moment, Bai Xiao's body became even more distorted. A lump of flesh emerged from his back and continued to swell.
"Roar~"
The patrolling Hou nearby noticed the strange change around Bai Xiao.
The grass around Bai Xiao began to wither, gradually spreading outward in every direction.
The Hou fled into the distance. It could sense a terrifying suction force Devouring the life force around it.
"Ha~"
The lump of flesh on Bai Xiao's back made a sound. Looking closely, one could see that it was actually a head!
Ferocious!
That was the state of Bai Xiao's body at this moment. He was like a cicada shedding its old shell.
Thud~
The sound of something heavy landing rang out.
A blood-soaked figure appeared behind Bai Xiao.
Under the moonlight, it was possible to see that his profile bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to Bai Xiao's.
The figure spoke in an immature voice:
"Thank you for your hard work. From here on, let me bear this pain and live on! Rem, take good care of him for me!"
"Alright." A young girl's voice answered him.
The bloody wound on Bai Xiao's back began to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"Mm..."
The figure silently watched everything from where he stood.
After Bai Xiao had fully recovered, he lifted his head to look at the moonlight and muttered to himself, "Become a god? Mm... To become a god, I will meet you all again at the very end..."
He looked at the moonlight once more, then turned and walked in another direction.
"Roar?"
The Hou ran over from afar, looking at the figure in confusion.
"Little Hou, I'm leaving. We'll see each other again..."
He affectionately stroked the Hou's head, then walked away without looking back...
"Roar?"
The Hou stood where it was, staring at that figure in confusion. Then it remembered Bai Xiao and ran back to look for him.
At dawn the next day,
"Mm?"
Bai Xiao shielded his eyes from the blinding sunlight with his hand as he groggily woke from the grass.
He looked blankly around himself. At that moment, he was utterly dumbfounded.
In a daze, Bai Xiao touched his tattered clothes.
Seeing Bai Xiao awaken, the Hou hurriedly pushed its face close to him.
Bai Xiao looked at the Hou beside him, wearing the expression of an eager puppy, and felt the hot breath spilling from its mouth. His expression instantly turned strange...
"Get lost!!"
"Roar?!!"
Bai Xiao slapped the Hou beside him and sent it flying.
Holding his head, he asked in anguish, "I feel like I've forgotten something! What was it? Why does my heart feel so empty?!!"
Bai Xiao roared helplessly!
"You were thinking about Soul Bones yesterday and accidentally fell asleep."
A young girl's voice answered Bai Xiao's question.
"Mm?"
Bai Xiao gradually calmed down. He had no reason to doubt her; Rem was the most loyal person to him in this world...
Bai Xiao muttered to himself, "Where had I gotten to yesterday? Oh, right! Sects!"
Speaking of superpowers, there were only six on Douluo Continent: Sea God Island, Martial Soul Hall, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the Clear Sky Sect, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, and the City of Slaughter.
Of those six, the Clear Sky Sect had sealed itself away, while the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect was extremely arrogant. Bai Xiao did not like such a sect.
As for Martial Soul Hall, its Pope was someone who wanted to destroy Martial Soul Hall, its Saintess had even infiltrated the Heaven Dou Empire and become a prince, and there was that old scheming bastard, the Peerless Douluo Qian Daoliu.
Sea God Island was somewhere Bai Xiao simply could not reach at present, much less join.
As for the City of Slaughter, entering it with his current six-year-old body would be courting death.
And the wealthiest, easiest one to join was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
If Bai Xiao obtained the Immortal Herbs in Dugu Bo's possession, he could make up for the flaw in their sect's Martial Souls. One had to know that such a favor was no small matter.
Bai Xiao felt that rather than telling the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect that the Qiluo Tulip in Dugu Bo's possession could remedy the flaw of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul, it would be better for him to have Ning Rongrong consume the Qiluo Tulip himself, then let her tell her sect that the flaw in her Martial Soul had been remedied. Clearly, the latter favor was worth far more.
The next question was how Bai Xiao could obtain the Qiluo Tulip from Dugu Bo.
Dugu Bo had been seventy-eight when he first appeared, while Tang San had been thirteen then. Tang San was six now, so Dugu Bo was seventy-one at present. Dugu Bo had become a Title Douluo at seventy, and on that very day, his son had been poisoned to death by his own Martial Soul and the poison arts he cultivated. Only he and his granddaughter had been left to depend on one another. Bai Xiao's target was Dugu Bo and the Immortal Herbs in his medicinal garden, but to obtain them, Bai Xiao had to go through someone—Dugu Bo's granddaughter, Dugu Yan.
A plan slowly surfaced in Bai Xiao's mind.
Half a month later, on a street in Heaven Dou City, pedestrians hurriedly made way for a colossal creature. Quite a few people began discussing the young man atop the Behemoth.
On the Behemoth's back lay a young man with his eyes half-lidded. One arm propped up his head, the other rested across his chest, and his legs were crossed. He looked utterly leisurely.
The young man wore moon-white robes, his waist-length black hair cascading down his back. His handsome face matched perfectly with his snow-white skin, while his star-bright blue eyes hid beneath his lashes, making people unable to help but say, "What a handsome young man."
Yet the Behemoth beneath him was so powerful. Its exceptionally thick and sturdy limbs, nearly perfect body curves, and silver threads embedded in its black fur gave it a strange, divine beauty.
One man and one beast—one elegant, one wild—yet they blended together so perfectly.
From the Behemoth, one could see its affection for the person on its back. Every step it took was exceptionally steady, as if afraid of disturbing the young man above it.
Yet within the hidden eyes of the youth atop the Behemoth seemed to lurk a certain madness, as though once awakened, the young man would become a Ferocious Beast.
It all seemed like some sort of illusion. The young man did not awaken, and the Behemoth continued onward.
Only when they reached Heaven Dou Imperial Academy did the Behemoth stop.
Clearly, the Behemoth was the Hou, and the young man on its back was Bai Xiao. Their purpose in coming here was to join Dugu Yan's school, Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
To put it bluntly, in order to get close to Dugu Yan, Bai Xiao had even specially dressed himself up, unsealing his looks and preparing to employ the handsome-man technique.
He had already transformed himself into his Body Martial Soul form one hundred percent. Smoothing his skin, getting rid of acne, whitening his complexion—such things were so easy for Bai Xiao!
His many costume dramas from Blue Star had not been watched in vain. Bai Xiao's looks had now absolutely reached the ceiling of attractiveness on Blue Star.
Bai Xiao thought, After sacrificing such devastating handsomeness, could I really fail to seduce that little girl Dugu Yan?
Before you continue