Electrolux (Part One)

The three of them had set out from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect for Shrek Academy. Ning Tian happened to break through to level thirty along the way, so they decided to detour through the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain her third Soul Ring.

Wu Feng turned her face away, her cheeks puffed with anger. Nezha could not be bothered to tease her anymore. Leaning against a tree trunk, he narrowed his eyes and took advantage of this lull while standing guard to silently review what he had achieved over the past six years.

He had already cultivated the Great Firmament Celestial Art to its third stage.

This was fast-unnaturally fast, even-but Nezha understood why and was not worried in the slightest. This was a stripped-down version of the Great Firmament Celestial Art, specifically adapted to the Douluo system. If it had been the original, the first stage alone would have been enough to steamroll the Douluo World.

His body had also been continuously tempered during cultivation. Its strength far exceeded that of Soul Masters at his level, and his recovery was several times that of an ordinary person.

Of the spells, however, he had only learned Three Heads and Six Arms. He had not grasped the others at all, especially Heaven and Earth Manifestation.

Even so, Three Heads and Six Arms alone was enough to make him invincible among his peers. Once he used it, he could instantly manifest three heads and six arms, each face covering a different angle and each arm wielding a weapon. With both offense and defense covered, he had no blind spots.

What was more, he had discovered something else.

He could actually use both Martial Souls at the same time.

He did not have to switch back and forth between the Fire-Tipped Spear and the Sky-Mending Silk. He could release them simultaneously, with the spear handling offense and the silk handling control and defense. One attacked while the other defended, one hard and one soft, their coordination seamless.

After learning this, Ning Zhiyuan had fallen silent for a long time. In the end, he had said only one thing: "Heaven has been generous to our Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect."

Of course, the sect had not treated him poorly either.

On Ning Zhiyuan's personal instructions, the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had custom-made a pair of Level 4 Soul Tools for him-the Universe Rings.

Each golden ring was cast entirely from crimson-gold Soul Tool alloy, its surface engraved with intricate amplification patterns. Every pattern had been individually calibrated to the fluctuations of his Soul Power.

The Universe Rings could be worn around his wrists or used in conjunction with the Fire-Tipped Spear. When thrown, they could lock onto targets on their own, following elusive trajectories that were all but impossible to guard against.

The Wind Fire Wheels, the Universe Rings, the Fire-Tipped Spear, and the Sky-Mending Silk-with Soul Tools and Martial Souls at his command, Three Heads and Six Arms to wield them simultaneously, and the Great Firmament Celestial Art strengthening his body, Nezha silently weighed his combat strength.

A level thirty-seven Soul Elder, Twin Martial Souls, the ultimate fire attribute, Three Heads and Six Arms, and the support of two Soul Tools.

He should have been able to fight someone an entire major rank above him.

Against a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, he was confident as long as his opponent was not some freakishly gifted monster.

And that confidence would only grow.

An hour later.

"Nezha, Feng, I'm finished."

Ning Tian stood up, brushed off her skirt, and walked toward Nezha. A faint smile bloomed on her pretty face. Clearly, she was very pleased with the third Soul Skill the Wind Spirit Bird had given her.

Sensing trouble, Wu Feng immediately jogged over and forced herself between them. With a swish of her fiery-red ponytail, she blocked Nezha behind her.

Nezha paid no mind to Wu Feng's little schemes. After all, what was his would be his sooner or later; there was no need to fight over a single moment. He tilted his head and asked over Wu Feng's shoulder, "Tian, what's your third Soul Skill?"

"Guess?"

Ning Tian answered with a question of her own, her lilting voice carrying a hint of playfulness.

"Your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda already has strength and Soul Power attached to it, and the Wind Spirit Bird is a Soul Beast known for its speed. So your third Soul Skill is most likely speed."

As an ancient sect with a ten-thousand-year legacy, the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had developed a Soul Skill system best suited to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda-strength, speed, attack, defense, Soul Power, and enhancement. These corresponded to the amplification directions of the first six Soul Rings, comprehensively improving teammates' combat strength through strength, speed, attack, defense, Soul Power, and attributes.

"Third: speed."

Ning Tian revealed the answer, her eyes curving with her smile. She was clearly delighted. From this point onward, her amplification had reached forty percent, boosting strength, speed, and Soul Power all at once. Nezha was confident that with Ning Tian supporting him, he could fight across a gap of one Soul Ring-though he could do that without support, too.

Ning Tian looked up at the sky. The patches of sunlight between the trees had already slanted considerably. "We've lost several days taking this detour to hunt Soul Beasts. It's time to report to Shrek Academy."

The bond between the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and Shrek Academy could be traced back ten thousand years to their ancestor, Ning Rongrong, the Nine-Colored Goddess. For ten thousand years, every generation of the sect had sent a direct-line disciple to study at Shrek Academy, and that disciple would eventually become the sect master.

Ning Zhiyuan had only one child, Ning Tian, so this legacy naturally fell to her.

The group prepared to leave.

However, at that very moment-

An immense, invisible spiritual pressure spread from somewhere nearby. Like an unseen tide, it silently swept across the entire woodland.

The instant that spiritual power swept over them, Ning Tian and Wu Feng froze almost simultaneously. Their pupils lost focus, and they stood motionless in a stupor. Wu Feng's face still held her earlier puffed-cheeked expression, her crimson ponytail fixed in midair, not even a strand stirring. Ning Tian remained poised midstep, one foot suspended above the ground, her azure eyes utterly blank.

It was not just them. Every living thing around them seemed to have had its pause button pressed by that spiritual power.

But-

Nezha was not among them.

Nezha stood where he was, staring dumbfounded at the white bead slowly materializing before him. Its entire surface gleamed softly, with a thin veil of mist flowing over it.

Wasn't this the bead that had burrowed into my head when I was six?

I always thought it was a one-use thing that disappeared afterward. It was still here?

He looked at the bead, then turned to look at Ning Tian and Wu Feng standing dazed beside him. How could he fail to understand what was happening? A sense of absurd astonishment welled up within him.

Could it really be such a coincidence?

He had happened upon the famous scene in which the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm voluntarily sacrificed himself to become Huo Yuhao's million-year spiritual Soul Ring.

If Nezha was merely surprised, then the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's feelings at that moment could only be described as "the sky had fallen."

Several kilometers away, an enormous, plump, milky-white silkworm hovered in midair, his round body just about to burrow into an unconscious boy's head. His spiritual power spread outward, enveloping several kilometers around him. Everything had been under control, but when that power swept over a certain spot, the spiritual feelers he had extended abruptly recoiled. His entire body froze in midair as though struck by lightning.

His spiritual power locked onto that direction, onto the white bead floating in the air.

Then he saw the boy.

A boy who looked no older than twelve, his black hair tied in a bun, stood atop the Wind Fire Wheels with a crimson spear in his hand. He was lifting his head and looking straight toward him across several kilometers. His gaze was clear, his expression alert, without the slightest sign of being affected by the spiritual power.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's mind exploded with a buzz.

"Good heavens, how is this possible?!"

If he still had a physical body at that moment, his round eyes would surely have popped out of their sockets.

"How could such a weak Soul Master withstand my million-year spiritual power?"

Meanwhile, Nezha naturally knew nothing of the storm-tossed waves raging in the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's heart.

He withdrew his gaze from the distance and looked again at the white bead before him, a thoughtful glimmer passing through his eyes.

In the original story, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's sacrifice to Huo Yuhao had been the greatest opportunity of Huo Yuhao's life. A Million-Year Soul Ring had transformed him from an obscure, ordinary Soul Master into a monster with a heaven-defying trump card. If Nezha remembered correctly, next-

He raised his head and looked at the sky.

Sure enough.

In the next instant, the sky suddenly darkened.

The sky, clear just a moment before, seemed to have had a curtain abruptly drawn across it. The light faded rapidly at a rate visible to the naked eye, and an eerie gray gloom enveloped the entire outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest. The air suddenly grew heavy, and even the wind stopped.

It was here.