Holding the Sun and Moon, Plucking the Stars

"Yutong, do you trust me?"

Dai Yutong nodded without the slightest hesitation.

"I do! I believe anything you say, Brother Tianming!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was delighted and hurriedly said,

"Now that's more like it!"

"Quick, let's do it here. Little Azure Dragon, stand guard. The fusion is about to begin, and no one can interrupt us!"

Ye Tianming led Dai Yutong to a clean slab of bluestone and had her lie down.

Then he crouched beside her, smoothed the stray hair from her forehead, and took her hand.

"Don't be afraid. Go to sleep, and everything will be fine when you wake up."

"Okay, Brother Tianming!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm immediately hurled his enormous, plump body toward Dai Yutong.

"Here we go! Don't worry, I'll be gentle. It won't hurt too much~"

The moment it began, the ground around Ye Tianming and the others shook violently.

At the same time, two people nearby spoke up in alarm.

"Hey, hey... what's that?"

Inside Dai Yutong's Sea of Consciousness.

"Yes! I finally got in!"

"I finally found a human with the Mental Attribute."

"The heavens haven't abandoned me!"

"Heh, I'm going to train this little girl hard."

"I'll make her a super Soul Master!"

Just then, an inconspicuous little gray sphere slipped silently through a crack that opened in the void.

"Whoa! What's that?"

"S-s-so powerful! It feels like another force entirely."

"Was it drawn here by me?"

"Oh, of course it was. I'm simply irresistible!"

While the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm indulged in his fantasies, the gray sphere reached the space between Dai Yutong's brows.

Ye Tianming, who was standing guard, naturally noticed it too. But knowing what was coming, he did not panic. Instead, he watched their surroundings even more closely.

When the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm saw the gray sphere trying to steal his host, he snapped,

"What nerve! You dare steal my human?"

"I'll show you the might of a Million-Year Soul Beast's mental waves!"

"Haaah!"

"Aaaaaah!"

With a shriek, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's fat body was blasted away.

"That's way too powerful! What a bastard!"

By then, gray mist had enveloped Dai Yutong.

"I hold the sun and moon and pluck the stars; beneath heaven, there is none like me."

"To think a wisp of this old man's remnant soul survived!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

Off to the side, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm stared wide-eyed, cold sweat covering his body.

"What terrifying power."

"I finally found a human with the Mental Attribute, and now some bastard's trying to steal her. Waaaah!"

"The heavens envy the gifted!"

Blood began to flow from Dai Yutong's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Ye Tianming looked anxiously at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

Under that icy stare, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm grew awkward and quickly said,

"She'll be fine. I have another way—we can coexist!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm turned into a streak of light and entered the space between Dai Yutong's brows.

"Ah, forget it. Whatever happens, I'm finally free."

"You bastards who treated me like food have missed your chance~ Hahaha!"

Inside her Sea of Consciousness, Dai Yutong looked around in confusion.

"Is this a dream?"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm suddenly appeared before her.

"You little dummy. This isn't a dream—it's your Sea of Consciousness!"

"And from now on, it's my home too~"

Dai Yutong ignored his explanation and exclaimed in surprise,

"Wow! You're that big, adorable baby silkworm from earlier!"

Anger marks sprang up on the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's forehead. He stretched out his tiny arms and pummeled Dai Yutong.

"You're a baby silkworm! Your whole family's baby silkworms! I'm clearly so mature and commanding—what's adorable about me?"

"I'm the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, you dolt!"

"You still haven't figured out what's going on, you dummy!"

Dai Yutong covered her head against the flurry of tiny fists and said pitifully,

"I-I'm sorry!"

But the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm only grew angrier as he spoke.

"You wretched girl! Honestly!"

"'Rotten wood cannot be carved'—that describes you perfectly!"

"Don't you want to know why someone as powerful as me insisted on entering the body of an idiot like you?"

Still shielding her head, Dai Yutong said plaintively,

"Brother Tian Meng, you never gave me a chance to ask."

At those words, it was as though someone had flipped a strange switch inside the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

"Oh, the tale of my struggles~"

"It could shake heaven and make ghosts weep!"

Dai Yutong stared at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, whose manner had changed completely, and muttered,

"Why did you just start telling it on your own?"

Unbothered, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm went on.

"I was born in the Land of Extreme Cold on the Northern Continent. Later, a natural enemy chased me, and I fell into a pool of ten-thousand-year Cold Marrow."

"So I ate and slept, then slept and ate."

"And in the end, I became a mighty nine-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast!"

Dai Yutong cautiously raised a hand and ventured,

"In other words, Brother Tian Meng, you spent your entire life sleeping?"

"Uh..."

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm froze like stone. Then he appeared behind Dai Yutong, seized her cheeks, and kneaded them mercilessly.

"What's wrong with sleeping? What?"

"Sleeping takes dignity, skill, and talent!"

"Why don't you try sleeping for that long?"

"You little girl, you're awful, awful, awful, awful!"

Her cheeks red from his pinching, Dai Yutong could only whimper through squashed lips,

"Wuwu, I was wrong! I was wrong, Brother Tian Meng!"

Still indignant, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm continued,

"But after I ate all the Cold Marrow and slipped out through a crack in the seabed,"

"a pack of despicable Soul Beasts caught me and tried to absorb my Heaven and Earth Origin Energy!"

"Then, just when I had given up hope, a tenth golden stripe appeared on my body!"

"I became the first Million-Year Soul Beast in history."

"With the power I gained from breaking through, I concealed my presence, burrowed underground, and escaped."

"Then I thought of something very, very, very, very important!"

Dai Yutong cried out excitedly,

"To get revenge on the ones who drained you dry!"

At that, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wriggled bashfully.

"I gave myself a magnificent name."

"I changed my name to..."

"Sky Dream Ice Silkworm!"