Elsewhere,
At the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Huo Yuhao stared blankly at the ape-shaped Soul Beast before him, then jolted, and a white Soul Ring flashed past.
Just as he tried to get up and take a couple of steps, his head trembled slightly, and his body toppled straight over.
After a while, a figure slowly emerged from the nearby bushes and dragged him aside, hiding him in the undergrowth.
The newcomer then moved a little farther forward, thinking, According to my memories, it should be around here. Why hasn't he come out yet?
Naturally, the newcomer was Gu Qingnian. After leaving, he had used his Six Eyes to find Huo Yuhao without trouble and knocked him unconscious just before he encountered that Soul Beast.
His gaze remained fixed ahead. Everything around him fell utterly silent, the atmosphere grew unbearably tense, and his heart couldn't help skipping a beat.
"Huh! Two humans with the mental attribute! What a gift from heaven! Especially this boy-his mental aura is so strong!
"Too bad I can't cry, or tears would be streaming down my face!" A voice rang out from nowhere.
Immediately afterward, the ground before Gu Qingnian began cracking rapidly, with streams of cold air pouring out...
"Here he comes!"
Whoosh!
A dark silhouette a little over three meters tall appeared before him. Cold light glittered all around, illuminating the silhouette's form.
It was a silkworm with a body of intermingled snowy white and blue. Two golden, banner-like horns sprouted across his forehead, with several faint rings appearing on them. Farther down, a long golden ring floated before his chest, while golden energy and cold air enveloped his entire body.
"What's wrong? Mesmerized by my beautiful body?" The silkworm transmitted his words to Gu Qingnian through a mental link.
Copying his example like drawing a tiger from a cat, Gu Qingnian replied through the mental link as well, "An interesting creature. A baby silkworm?"
"What? What baby silkworm? Let me introduce myself first.
"I am the embodiment of heroism and chivalry! The king of kings among Soul Beasts, blessed with both wisdom and beauty! An unrivaled powerhouse who has cultivated for a million years, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, holder of the Douluo Continent's longevity record!
"You can call me Brother Sky Dream!"
"Oh, and then?" Gu Qingnian replied blandly, though inwardly he grew a little more excited.
"Huh??? Shouldn't you be shocked and excited? You're the very first human to see this mighty one's true form!"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's formerly confident gaze grew doubtful. The human before him wasn't surprised at all that he was a million-year Soul Beast? Could it be that he didn't believe him?
Had Gu Qingnian known what he was thinking, he would have said without hesitation, I'm not some idiot surnamed Huo. If a baby silkworm suddenly popped out of nowhere and claimed to be a million-year Soul Beast, would you believe him?
Never mind how powerful a million-year Soul Beast might be-he hadn't even seen a hundred-thousand-year or ten-thousand-year Soul Beast. Only Huo Yuhao would believe him outright. Still, foolish children had their own foolish luck; otherwise, none of the later events would have happened.
Perhaps there was also the resolve born of despair...
"Oh, then let me get excited. Ah! A million-year Soul Beast! That's amazing!" At those words, Gu Qingnian put on an exaggerated look of delight, utterly going through the motions.
"...You don't believe I'm a million-year Soul Beast, do you?"
"I do. So, million-year Soul Beast, did you need something from me? Don't tell me you want to become my Soul Ring?"
"..." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm took a deep breath, then turned away, his expression shifting repeatedly. Finally, he turned back and forced a smile. "Yes! I want to become your Soul Ring, the first Wisdom Soul Ring in the Douluo Continent's history!"
"Does that mean I'll become as wise as you?" Gu Qingnian asked instinctively.
"Of course!" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm replied without hesitation, though he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Still, he didn't dwell on it and continued, "I'm going to become your Soul Ring, the first Wisdom Soul Ring ever seen on the Douluo Continent!
"I'm starting now. Don't worry, I'll be gentle. It won't hurt too much!"
With that, his enormous body shifted one step forward, making the earth tremble and the mountains shake, while Gu Qingnian's face came into ever clearer view.
The moment he got a good look at Gu Qingnian, he couldn't help blurting out, "Damn, how can someone be even more handsome than me!"
"What is a Wisdom Soul Ring?"
"Ah, there are really two things about you I envy..."
"What?"
"I envy how you're more... pfft! Nonsense! Getting to meet
"Me makes you so incredibly lucky!" Then, under Gu Qingnian's bewildered gaze, he rammed his head straight toward him.
Gu Qingnian instinctively stepped back.
"Don't be scared~" Seeing him move, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm couldn't help speaking, while inwardly wondering, Did I scare him?
As their heads bumped together, a tremendous pressure suddenly erupted throughout the forest. Soul Power scattered in every direction, and cold air filled the sky!
Everything for hundreds of miles around was affected. Soul Beasts stirred in turmoil, and even Tang Ya and her companion, far away in another direction, felt it and hurried toward the source.
"Yeah, I'm in! Holy crap, this guy's mental power is pretty impressive! But why doesn't he have a Sea of Consciousness yet?
As the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's consciousness entered Gu Qingnian's mind, he couldn't help feeling surprised.
With the mental strength of two lifetimes layered together, Gu Qingnian already far surpassed many others without ever cultivating his mental power. But because he hadn't cultivated it, he had no Sea of Consciousness, so the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could only enter his mind.
There were also parts of his subconscious that had yet to awaken, something the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm didn't know.
While the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was still pondering this, a gaze seemed to watch him from every direction, sending a shudder through his whole body. He searched all around but found no trace of it.
"What the hell was that just now!? I have no other choice. If I wait any longer, I might die first! This guy might have secrets I don't know about."
"Phew... the time has come!" Gu Qingnian's voice rang out within his mind, leaving the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm bewildered.
Immediately afterward, his entire mind shook violently, and a vast sea poured forth, carrying the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's consciousness into another space.
"Open!"
His entire mind stirred in upheaval. Gu Qingnian's mental power trembled and converged wildly, and the surroundings rapidly changed and expanded...
Before long, a realm resembling a world of chaos took shape. Within that chaos, an incomparably enormous divine mill slowly appeared in the air, turning.
Bloodstains speckled the divine mill, as though they were the blood of gods and demons.
Below lay endless nothingness, a single glance at which filled one with an overwhelming sense of death.
Then, at the very top, a pair of azure pupils emerged, giving rise to an azure ocean.
The embryonic Sea of Consciousness had formed!
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's consciousness also successfully arrived in the azure ocean. When he saw the Chaos Divine Mill beneath him, he couldn't help turning pale with shock:
"What is that! How terrifying! Something that can terrify even a million-year mental Soul Beast like me! This Sea of Consciousness!???"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thunderous sounds erupted over the azure sea. Alongside several bolts of lightning, a powerful force surged in as well.
"What a powerful force. It's another power... did I draw it here? Oh my, am I really that charming?" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm muttered to himself.
"Looks like that one was drawn here too... two birds with one stone!!!" Gu Qingnian's consciousness was watching it all as well. Pouring every ounce of his effort into cultivating the Chaos Divine Mill and opening his Sea of Consciousness at the same time had left him mentally exhausted.
He had chosen to open it now to take advantage of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's added power and see whether he could seize the chance to attract that individual.
The next moment, a gray sphere shot toward Gu Qingnian's head.
"It's not coming for me? Gave me quite a fright... huh? Damn it, you dare fight me for my human!"
Suddenly realizing something, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm angrily unleashed all his mental power to resist the gray sphere.
"Let me show you the might of million-year mental fluctuations! Hi-yah!"
The next moment, unsurprisingly, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was sent flying. Utterly bewildered, he watched the gray vapor transform into a black figure standing behind Gu Qingnian.
"With sun and moon in my grasp, I pluck the stars; no one in this world compares to me!
"To think a wisp of this old man's remnant soul could still survive."
"He's getting stronger and stronger. I can't shake him at all!
"I finally found a human with the mental attribute, and some bastard still wants to fight me for him? Is heaven jealous of genius? I'm so pitiful!
"Wait, with such a powerful impact, this guy should have been injured, shouldn't he?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm noticed that Gu Qingnian showed nothing unusual at all; he even had a faint smile.
"Everyone's here, then?"