This vision vanished, but it was not over. Another golden-white ball of light flew toward his hand, and the scene before him changed again.
Huo Yuhao saw the little silkworm trembling beneath a pitch-black layer of ice thirty thousand feet thick, untouched by the outside world for millions upon millions of years, sensing everything around him with his feeble spiritual power.
Who knew what dangers lurked in that pitch-black ice cavern? Before moving his body each time, he would hesitate for a long while.
Suddenly, a faint crystalline blue glow appeared not far ahead of him. Hope seemed to light up the little silkworm's eyes, and he crawled toward that glow with every ounce of strength he had.
At last, he saw the source of the light.
It was a frigid spring radiating blue-white fluorescence. Countless heavenly treasures-the ten-thousand-year cold marrow that hundred-thousand-year soul beasts above the ice fought over like mad-covered the entire cavern.
But the little silkworm knew none of that. He only knew that it was food.
And so, he settled down there.
"Eating, sleeping, sleeping, eating. You really had the good life..."
Huo Yuhao was amused by the sight.
He understood now, too. The scenes before him were the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's memories.
There was no danger in the ice cavern, and heavenly treasures were abundant. The little silkworm slowly grew there, through a hundred years, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, evading the heavenly tribulations.
The scenes sped forward. His body grew larger and larger, and more and more golden markings appeared on him, until he finally took on the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's current appearance.
Then, one day, all the ten-thousand-year cold marrow there had been eaten.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hesitated, unwilling to leave this safe refuge. The world outside was full of danger. Still, he made up his mind, summoned his courage, and used his spiritual power, cultivated over hundreds of thousands of years, to break through the ice and return to the surface.
At last, he saw the sky again after hundreds of thousands of years apart. Clear skies were rare in the Far North, but the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm felt no joy, because a murderous presence had been waiting nearby for a long time.
The source of that murderous presence was a scorpion radiating an enchanting emerald light.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's flight began...
From the Far North to the ocean.
One ball of light after another landed in Huo Yuhao's hand, and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's memories flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.
The lure of a million-year soul beast's primordial energy was enough to draw every greedy creature. Huo Yuhao had never seen so many bizarrely shaped soul beasts, nor had he ever imagined that this world held so many hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.
Finally, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's flight reached its last stop-
The Star Dou Great Forest.
Was it about to end?
Huo Yuhao raised his eyebrows. Only one ball of light remained before him.
"Please, just that one... don't look at it, okay...?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's head no longer hurt, but he did not forcibly stop Huo Yuhao. He merely lowered his head and pleaded bitterly in a voice stripped of all dignity.
Huo Yuhao fell silent for a moment and intended to withdraw his hand, but the ball of light landed in his palm without giving him a choice.
The scene changed again.
This time, however, Huo Yuhao no longer wore the indifferent expression of someone watching a spectacle. His brows knitted, and his gaze turned cold.
He saw other soul beasts repeatedly tear open the skin of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's enormous body and suck up the escaping primordial energy.
He saw other soul beasts repeatedly slash the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body and lick up the white-jade fluid, which rivaled heavenly treasures.
He saw...
Powerful soul beasts that should have been enemies actually suspended their battles because of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. They gathered around him, sharing his power with an unspoken understanding.
Yet none of the soul beasts cared about the wails of the spoils lying between them.
He was nothing more than a lamb on the chopping block, bleating as he awaited slaughter.
The torn wounds healed quickly, but new ones immediately appeared. Not for a single moment was the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body left whole and unharmed.
For ten thousand full years...
"Please... don't look..."
Huo Yuhao already knew everything, but the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm kept repeating his choked pleas.
He felt that he had no dignity left at all.
So what if he was a million-year soul beast?
He was nothing but a fatty piece of meat, good for nothing except being carved up and devoured.
The memories ended.
"How disgusting..."
Huo Yuhao spoke quietly, making no effort to conceal the disgust in his voice.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm knelt on the ground, his tear-filled eyes unable to meet Huo Yuhao's gaze.
Perhaps that pitiful, utterly undignified state of his really did look disgusting to him.
"I've memorized pretty much all those soul beasts," Huo Yuhao's voice drifted over. "Which ones do you want revenge on someday? I'll help you deal with all of them when the time comes."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm raised his tearful golden eyes in astonishment and met Huo Yuhao's gaze.
Huo Yuhao was smiling. In his blue eyes were a reassuring resolve, confidence, and a trace of... contempt.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm stared blankly, feeling something tremble again and again within his heart.
He could sense that Huo Yuhao was not comforting him. He truly intended to do it.
He was still only a soul master! Yet he dared to make such a bold declaration, dismissing those powerful ferocious beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
He did not doubt for a moment that he would have the ability someday!
"Yuhao..." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's eyes shimmered with tears, and a smile broke through his weeping.
This seemed to be the first time he had ever felt warmth in his life. He suddenly rose and hugged Huo Yuhao tightly.
"Thank you!"
"I promised you I'd bring you to godhood." Huo Yuhao did not reject his embrace and said with a smile, "Brother Hao never breaks a promise."
"Since you haven't lied to me, naturally, I won't lie to you either."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm released his arms from around him and hopped back a few steps. All the gloom and dejection vanished from his face.
"Yes~ Brother Hao-"
With tears still wet on his cheeks, he revealed an innocent smile.
"From now on, just call me Tian Meng."
"Tian Meng, Tian Meng, dreaming every day..." Huo Yuhao could not help wanting to laugh. "Don't tell me you gave yourself that name because you slept for all those tens of thousands of years."
Tian Meng pouted. "Hmph, you're mean. Coming up with a name is hard work, you know."
"Speaking of which..." Huo Yuhao said, "A few of those soul beasts were crooked melons and cracked dates. I can't remember them too clearly, so you'll have to point them out when the time comes."
"Hmph, those big bullies who picked on me! One day, I'll make them regret it and turn every last one into soul rings and soul bones!" As though a knot in his heart had come undone, Tian Meng felt that his bond with Huo Yuhao had deepened. Now he revealed a mischievous side much like a little girl's. "Especially that rotten bear with the really sharp claws, and that one..."
Tian Meng chatted freely with Huo Yuhao.
He felt an emotion he had not experienced in so long that he had almost forgotten it-happiness.
"Tian Meng, where are we, anyway?"
Huo Yuhao finally could not help asking.
Wasn't he on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest? Why was he on an ice plain now?
And it was not cold at all.
Tian Meng replied, "This is your Sea of Consciousness. Inside your head."
"A sea?" Huo Yuhao looked around. "Then why isn't there a single drop of seawater? It's all ice. Why not call it an Ice Plain of Consciousness?"
He snapped his fingers, producing a crisp sound.
"And everything feels so real."
Unlike the visions he had just experienced, everything here was incredibly real.
This did not seem like a sea of consciousness, but more like an independent space.
"I don't know either. I'm surprised, too." Tian Meng lowered his head in thought.
But he could not figure it out either.
"You have too many secrets. I barely understand any of them. But one thing's certain: you're an absolute freak of nature!"
"I've staked my whole future on you, so don't let me down!"
Huo Yuhao's face held only a confident smile.
"Of course."
Suddenly, he caught sight of something strange on the ice plain.
A gray ball of light floating in midair.
"That is...?"
"It's that Gray Mysterious Man from earlier. He seems to come from another world, just like you, except all he has left is a wisp of a remnant soul. I don't know why he merged with your Sea of Consciousness either, but he means no harm."
"Oh."
Huo Yuhao nodded with only a hazy understanding, then suddenly asked solemnly.
"How do you know I'm not from this world?"
"Uh... actually, I looked at your memories just now, too."
"Forget it. What's seen is seen. After all, I looked at yours, too. We're even."
Huo Yuhao did not mind Tian Meng knowing that he had transmigrated.
He had many questions he wanted to ask now, but Tian Meng suddenly said, "Yuhao, it's time to go out. Two humans are approaching outside."
"Two humans? How do I get out?"
"You're the master of this place. You only have to want to."
"Got it."
With a thought, Huo Yuhao withdrew his consciousness from the Sea of Consciousness.