Inside Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness.
Huo Yuhao sat on an ice chair, his head lowered in thought. Beside him, Tian Meng rode the children's bicycle made of ice, making it creak and clatter.
Tian Meng seemed to be a silkworm who was very easily satisfied. A little tasty food or something fun could keep him happy for ages; his mental age was only one hundred-thousandth of his actual age.
Seeing Huo Yuhao sitting silently and looking glum, he asked in confusion, "Yuhao, what are you thinking about?"
Huo Yuhao replied, "I'm thinking about what I saw and heard today."
"Today was our first day of class, yet Teacher Zhou Yi told me that anyone who doesn't dare stir up trouble is a mediocrity. Do you think that makes sense?"
"This afternoon, we were minding our own business selling grilled fish, and someone came over and smashed our stall. Do you think that kind of troublemaking deserves praise?"
Tian Meng said indignantly, "That's outrageous! Yuhao, why didn't you let me teach him a lesson? Once Lord Tian Meng makes his move, I guarantee he'll... ow, ow, ow..."
Before he could finish, Huo Yuhao had pinched his cheeks again.
"Are you really stupid, or are you just pretending?" Huo Yuhao wondered whether Tian Meng had spent that million years without developing any intelligence. "Letting you come out and move around is already an act of great mercy. If you draw a Titled Douluo here and they see through your identity, we'll both be in more trouble than we can swallow!"
Tian Meng wriggled free of Huo Yuhao's hands and said without much confidence, "My disguise is amazing. I guarantee even a Titled Douluo can't see through it..."
"Don't guarantee that! Guarantee me that unless I'm about to die, you absolutely won't make a move!"
"Yes..."
"Ugh, you really make it hard to rest easy."
Huo Yuhao sat back down on the ice chair and resumed studying his miraculous power of creation.
With a slight movement of his hand, a cluster of ice and snow appeared out of thin air in his palm. Under his control, it kept changing shape, turning into all sorts of objects and tools...
"What exactly is going on here?" Huo Yuhao glanced at Tian Meng beside him.
Tian Meng could freely enter and leave his Sea of Consciousness, and everything he touched here felt very real.
Yet things from outside could not be brought in, and things inside could not be taken out.
"Is this really my Sea of Consciousness? Or is it an independent space?"
Just as he was murmuring his questions to himself, an aged voice answered him.
"This is both your Sea of Consciousness and an independent space. To be precise, it is a plane."
"It exists in the gap between reality and illusion, blanketed by the power of endless bitter cold. You could also call it an ice seal demi-plane."
The owner of the aged voice appeared. He was none other than the Gray Figure who had previously merged with Huo Yuhao alongside Tian Meng in the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Ah-it's you, you rotten old man! What are you trying to do to Yuhao?" Tian Meng eyed him with hostility.
"Keep your mouth shut!" Huo Yuhao rapped Tian Meng on the head with a knuckle, then addressed the Gray Figure respectfully. "Thank you for helping us in the Star Dou Great Forest, Senior, and for answering my questions today."
The Gray Figure said calmly, "Think nothing of it. Our relationship is mutually beneficial."
"All I have left now is a wisp of Divine Sense that could scatter at any moment. Had you not given me a place to stay, I might already have vanished like smoke and clouds."
He surveyed the world of ice and snow around them and sighed in wonder. "What a miraculous place. My Divine Sense is actually recovering slowly here. You truly are an extraordinary child."
Huo Yuhao asked, "Senior, you said this place is a plane. How should I understand that?"
The Gray Figure replied, "Every planet, every world, is a plane. Your Sea of Consciousness is an independent plane, and everything within it is real."
"But this plane depends entirely on your Sea of Consciousness for its existence. Once your spiritual power dissipates, this ice seal plane will crumble apart as well."
At that, Tian Meng exclaimed, "Spiritual power made tangible? How could Yuhao's spiritual power possibly have reached that level?"
The Gray Figure said, "This is different. His spiritual power cannot affect the outside world. Things outside cannot enter, and things inside cannot leave. Apart from Huo Yuhao, only you, you great big worm, and I can come and go freely."
"If not for this plane, you wouldn't even be able to retain that human form, big worm."
Huo Yuhao nodded, having gained a rough understanding of the situation here.
There was actually a little world inside my head? How ridiculously cool was that?
Could... could this have something to do with my ice Martial Soul?
"If your Sea of Consciousness grows strong enough, it will be able to affect the real world, and my Divine Sense will continue recovering as well. At present, I have forgotten many things and lost most of my power."
"I won't take advantage of you, either. If you can help me recover my memories and power, I will tell you how to attain godhood as my repayment."
Tian Meng froze, then asked, "You know how to attain godhood?"
"Heh, what's so difficult about attaining godhood?"
"Hmph, big talk. With that tiny scrap of Divine Sense?"
"Heh, my Divine Sense is on a level countless times higher than yours," the Gray Figure said calmly. "Though I have lost many memories, I still remember that in my previous life, I could have attained godhood whenever I wished!"
"What?" Tian Meng stared blankly.
What on earth had this old man done in the past?
"Big worm, I won't waste any more time with you." The Gray Figure turned to Huo Yuhao. "Child, you have surprised me greatly. May I speak with you?"
Huo Yuhao said, "Please go ahead, Senior."
"Both when we first met and today, your actions far exceeded my expectations. I would like to hear your true thoughts. May I?"
Rather than the impatience he had shown toward Tian Meng, the aged voice now carried a hint of kindness.
"Please, ask away."
The Gray Figure said, "You are a brave, resolute, and tenacious child, with a pair of steadfast eyes. I once met two children with the same look in their eyes as yours."
"They were just as determined as you, willing to give their lives for what they wanted to protect."
"You are like them, yet also unlike them."
"Their persistence and stubbornness, though filled with conviction and unwavering resolve, were sometimes blind, even a little foolish and heedless of the consequences. Fortunately, however, they succeeded."
"But you are different."
"I can sense that everything you do follows rational, calm consideration. You know full well the consequences each step might bring, whether good or bad."
"Just like when you encountered that dragon brat in the forest. You knew the consequences of failure, yet instead of thinking about running away, you thought about having this big worm fight back..."
"You knew full well that you were no match for that turtle-shell brat, yet you still dared to speak so brazenly."
"And all those things you did in your memories..."
"With the calmest expression, you speak the most extreme words. With the most rational methods, you do the craziest things."
"Can you tell me why you do this?"
Having finished speaking, the Gray Figure watched Huo Yuhao with his hazy, not-yet-formed features.
"No particular reason." Huo Yuhao chuckled. "I'm nothing more than a madman who knows how to think."
"Is that so? That certainly sounds like your usual answer." Having examined Huo Yuhao's memories, the Gray Figure knew he probably would not get anything out of asking.
"With sun and moon in my grasp, I pluck the stars; nowhere in this world is there another like me! Hahahaha! Huo Yuhao, I eagerly await what surprises you will bring me next!"
Amid the aged laughter, the Gray Figure turned back into a bead and disappeared into the boundless ice fields.
"With sun and moon in my grasp, I pluck the stars; nowhere in this world is there another like me..." Huo Yuhao savored those two arrogant, domineering lines from the Gray Figure. "Fine poetry, fine poetry~ But now it belongs to Brother Hao."
The Gray Figure never could have imagined that, from that moment onward, a certain man surnamed Huo would brazenly plagiarize his entrance speech.
Seeing the Gray Figure disappear, Tian Meng said timidly, "Yuhao... he's right. Sometimes your actions really are a little too crazy..."
Huo Yuhao shrugged helplessly. "It's not that Brother Hao is crazy. It's that other people insist on coming over to disgust Brother Hao. But Brother Hao can do anything except kneel! Besides, would kneeling and begging for mercy really solve anything?"
"Then... then you could try something else... like running away..."
Huo Yuhao suddenly asked, "Tian Meng, have you heard the saying that a gentleman never stands beneath a crumbling wall?"
"What does that mean?"
"It means that when faced with a place they know might be dangerous, anyone with a brain will take the initiative to stay away."
"Are you saying you've already tried to stay away from danger, but danger still came knocking at your door?"
"No. I mean I'm no gentleman."
Huo Yuhao shook his head and gave a savage grin.
"I'm the crumbling wall!"
Tian Meng: "..."