The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Tailed Beast Transformation-and Susanoo-Clad Kurama!

Deep in the forest, the Tall Young Man with the Black Ruler on his back waited for ages. His confident smile slowly froze.

"What's going on? Why did the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's mental presence suddenly move farther away?"

He frowned.

"Impossible. The Fallen Heart Flame's attraction to mental energy is unmatched..."

"No, there's another mental presence in that direction drawing him in!"

The young man's face darkened. He slowly rose and looked into the distance.

"Interesting. Looks like quite a few interesting people have come to the Star Dou Forest this time!"

"Let's see if you can withstand my Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler!"

"He's here!"

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Tang Chuan snapped his eyes open. The three Tomoe in his Sharingan spun so fast they nearly blurred together.

The next instant, the ground not far in front of him began to shake violently without warning.

Cracks raced across the earth, widening into fissures.

A faint golden-white light shone from their depths. Wisps of icy air escaped, and the temperature around him plummeted.

At last, a round head over a meter wide slowly emerged from a fissure.

The huge head looked carved from translucent white jade. A pair of tiny, gleaming golden eyes atop it surveyed the surroundings with curiosity.

Starting half a meter behind his head, a golden band encircled his body at regular intervals.

There were ten golden bands from head to tail.

Huo Yuhao watched the huge head emerge from the earth out of the corner of his eye, his heart full of emotion.

Brother Sky Dream, it's been so long!

Sorry, but in this life, your story is going to take a different turn!

Once I find a way to kill Tang Chuan, I won't forget to reclaim the Million-Year Soul Ring that was supposed to be mine!

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm crawled all the way out of the fissure and wriggled happily on the ground.

His little golden eyes fixed on the jade box in Tang Chuan's hand, then on Tang Chuan himself, seated cross-legged. He could barely contain his delight.

A human with the Mental Attribute!

And Mysterious Ice Marrow!

Two surprises at once!

"I've finally found a human with the Mental Attribute! Too bad I can't cry, or I'd be bawling my eyes out!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sighed.

Then, unable to wait any longer, he wriggled toward Tang Chuan.

"Hang in there, young man. I'm coming in!"

"It'll be uncomfortable at first, but little by little, it'll start to feel better!"

"How many seals will I have to put on myself for this frail body to withstand me? Being a Wisdom Soul Ring sure isn't easy!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm kept chattering as he set the ten golden rings around his body pulsing.

They were about to turn into white halos and pour into Tang Chuan's body, just as they had in the original story.

But at that moment, Tang Chuan spoke.

"My body isn't too weak. Your control over your power is too crude."

"Now, release your control. I'll use that power to perform a Sealing Jutsu and make us one!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm froze. His tiny golden eyes filled with enormous confusion.

"Huh? Sealing Jutsu? What Sealing Jutsu?"

"Young man, I'm a Million-Year Soul Beast! I already have ten seals on myself. You don't have to worry about my power bursting your body..."

"Enough."

Tang Chuan frowned. His tone brooked no argument.

"Give me control of your mental power!"

"Relax. It'll only benefit you!"

"Uh..."

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was bewildered, but he was trusting by nature. Having fled here, he instinctively felt he could trust the "fated one" before him.

With the lure of Mysterious Ice Marrow right under his nose, he hesitated only a moment before obediently relinquishing control of his mental power to Tang Chuan.

After all, to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the young man before him was merely a weak human Soul Master.

What could he possibly do with that control?

"Now!"

A sharp light flashed in Tang Chuan's eyes as he felt the vast mental power of a Million-Year Soul Beast surge wildly through his body.

His hands flew through Hand Seals so quickly they left afterimages. Then he slammed a palm into the ground.

"Eight Trigrams Seal!"

In an instant, a huge formation blazed to life on the ground, centered on him and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm!

The formation was octagonal, with an ancient, powerful-looking character at each corner.

Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui!

The eight characters formed a ring and burst with light!

In the world of ninjas, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had used this very Sealing Jutsu to seal the Nine-Tails inside his son Naruto.

The Eight Trigrams Seal was formed by layering two Four Symbols Seals!

The eight trigrams faced one another, their power flowing without end!

Its brilliance lay in the deliberate gap it left while sealing its target.

The sealed being's power could leak through that gap for the host to use.

In other words, Tang Chuan had never intended to receive a "Wisdom Soul Ring" like Huo Yuhao had in the original story.

He meant to seal the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm inside himself like the Nine-Tails and become a "Jinchuriki" on the Douluo Continent!

Not only could he draw on a Million-Year Soul Beast's Soul Power in battle whenever he wished, he could also use the gap in the seal to drain the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's power bit by bit, refine it, and make it his own!

Now that was making use of every last bit!

Under the overwhelming force of the Eight Trigrams Seal, the ten golden rings around the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm shook violently.

Then, amid a burst of blinding golden light, they rapidly shrank and condensed.

At last, they became a strange golden sigil radiating an ancient aura, which slowly branded itself onto Tang Chuan's Dantian.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's enormous body did not turn into pure energy and dissipate into the world as it had in the original story.

Instead, his entire form blurred into a streak of white light and was drawn into the golden sigil.

The seal was complete!

Tang Chuan slowly opened his Sharingan. Feeling the ocean of Soul Power in his Dantian, he trembled with excitement.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was his!

He possessed the Twin Martial Souls of Blue Silver Grass and Sharingan, and he had mastered numerous Ninjutsu techniques.

Now, with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, a Million-Year Soul Beast, as his power source, his future Susanoo-Clad Kurama would surely be invincible!

Meanwhile, in the dim Sealing Space...

A massive barrier of dark red iron bars stood silently, with bottomless darkness beyond it.

Behind those bars stood the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm—a Million-Year Soul Beast who had run Di Tian and the other Ferocious Beasts in circles—looking utterly stunned.

His little golden eyes stared at the dark red bars before him. He stood so still he might have been frozen in place.

"What's going on?"

He touched the iron bars, then looked at the dim space behind them, dark as a sewer. His mind went blank.

"Am I still asleep?"

"This has to be a dream, right?"