"Spectator" Huo Yuhao

The Divine Realm, the Sea God's residence.

"Third Brother!" Xiao Wu called from behind him. "What happened on the Douluo Continent?"

Clad in luxurious blue robes, Tang San's eyes flickered, his expression shifting uncertainly:

"That rising star born in answer to destiny-his fate has undergone a bizarre fluctuation! Whoever wants to ruin my ten-thousand-year plan has already earned themselves a way to die!"

A vicious gleam appeared on Tang San's face as he made a ruthless decision. "Xiao Qi must descend to the lower realm immediately and cross paths with the Child of Destiny!"

"But Xiao Qi is still young," Xiao Wu said hesitantly.

You sword sheath, why must you be so troublesome? Invite them to dinner, behead them, or take them in as dogs-isn't that good enough? Tang San looked displeased and said bluntly:

"Don't worry. I have thorough arrangements for Xiao Qi. I'm her father. Would I ever harm her?"

That was true. Xiao Wu nodded. Third Brother was doing this for Xiao Qi's sake, too.

Tang San's doubts lingered. No, although my interference means the Child of Destiny is bound to cross paths with the Tang Sect, that still isn't safe enough. Raise the stakes-send an avatar!

He pressed his fingers to the point between his brows. A wisp of his divided consciousness drifted out and headed straight for Douluo Star.

Suddenly!

A bolt of purple-black lightning spread with a crack, striking first despite being unleashed later. It pierced the divided consciousness on impact. Wisps of gray smoke drifted away, its divine power ground down to nothing.

A God King had definitely intervened!

Tang San grunted and waved Xiao Wu away, then looked up at the gray-robed figure standing in midair:

"Destruction, I'm conducting reasonable technical adjustments to Douluo Star's destiny. What are you doing?"

"'Do not interfere arbitrarily with the lower realm,' heh." The God of Destruction pointed at Douluo Star and asked mockingly, "So you aren't interfering arbitrarily—you're going straight for a divine descent?"

"So what if I am?" With Xiao Wu gone, Tang San simply dropped the act and sneered. "My beast slaves are still on Douluo Star. What's wrong with looking after them?!"

The God of Destruction clicked his tongue in wonder. "Someone who can't even be bothered with his own teacher actually has the leisure to look after his beast slaves?"

Destruction, you're courting death!

Tang San's eyes nearly split with fury. He seized his trident and began battling the God of Destruction.

Beside the corpse of the Godslayer Wind Baboon, a boy in ragged clothes lay unconscious on the ground. An enormous, fat silkworm over ten meters long studied him:

"At last, I've found a Soul Master with a mental attribute! Too bad I can't shed tears, or they'd be streaming down my face!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had only just let out his wild cry when a gray current tore through the sky and plunged straight into Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness without another word!

An aged voice rang out with an indescribable majesty:

"With sun and moon in hand, I pluck the stars; beneath the heavens, none compares to me. To think a wisp of this old man's remnant soul could still survive."

"What dares to fight me for him?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm flew into a rage. Vast spiritual fluctuations surged out instantly as he tried to drive the gray current out of Huo Yuhao's body.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Soul Shock had no effect whatsoever on the figure, while his rapidly shrinking physical body reminded him that he had little time left.

Before he could make his next move, a strangely colored drop of liquid appeared from nowhere. As though it had no substance, it passed straight through his spiritual barrier and dripped into Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness from outside.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was dumbstruck. "Oh no. One shout, and I've dropped to third in line?"

Despite his grumbling, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm did not slow down at all. He cut off every route of retreat and poured his spiritual origin into Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness.

A lustrous white Soul Ring appeared soundlessly. It circled Huo Yuhao's body three times before fading again, merging into his body and vanishing.

The Sea of Consciousness.

Huo Yuhao scratched his head and reached out, trying to cup the falling droplet in his hands. But it passed through them without resistance and fell into a small puddle.

Suddenly, golden light thrust into the space, rapidly forming ten balls of light. Like little suns, they frantically tried to drive away the small gray orb gradually approaching the puddle.

The gray orb remained unaffected. Undeterred, the golden light worked hard to illuminate the little puddle beneath Huo Yuhao's feet.

Yet the puddle seemed to have merged with the tiny, illusory droplet. It remained clear and translucent, showing no reaction!

A flash of understanding came to Huo Yuhao, and a piece of information rose in his mind.

Spectator: Possesses exceptional spirituality and keen powers of observation. Like a bystander, scrutinizes the "actors" of worldly society, glimpsing their true thoughts through their expressions, their behavior, their habitual turns of phrase, and their unnoticed movements.

Each time the other party's true thoughts are grasped, chaos qi can be condensed.

Chaos qi: Can be merged into the Sea of Consciousness to strengthen it, evolve it in a certain direction, and advance the ability to its next stage.

Spectator?

Does this mean I already have this ability? Unable to make sense of it, Huo Yuhao ventured a question:

"Uh, what happened? Am I dreaming?"

"Your name is Huo Yuhao, right? I'm the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. If you could have a dream this good, wouldn't you die of delight?" As he imprinted memories, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm formed an enormous silkworm body and spoke irritably.

Then he hurriedly explained the Sea of Consciousness, the Wisdom Soul Ring, and the second Martial Soul to Huo Yuhao, as well as how lucky he was to have caught the eye of a million-year Soul Beast. Finally, he assumed an air of profundity:

"From now on, just listen to me, and I'll lead you to victory three hundred and sixty-five times in three hundred and sixty-five days a year!"

"Relax. I've got the strength. I just finished playing a ten-thousand-year game with Di Tian and the others at the Lake of Life in the heart of the Star Dou Great Forest."

Huo Yuhao tried hard to watch his entire performance quietly, like a proper Spectator. Suppressing all the delighted surprise in his heart, he thought for a moment before saying:

"Brother Sky Dream-that's what I'll call you. What role did you play in this game?"

"Ahem, those are minor details." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm gave an awkward chuckle. "Just remember to give Di Tian a good, hard whipping once you've made it."

"The most practical thing right now is the first Soul Ring I've added to your Spirit Eyes Martial Soul!"

"An unprecedented million-year Soul Ring-a Wisdom Soul Ring."

"One ring, four skills!"

One ring, four skills! That number surpassed even the legendary Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!

Huo Yuhao drew a deep breath. "Brother Sky Dream, what are the four Soul Skills?"

This kid just saw right through me. I need to salvage my dignity now. The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm began a detailed introduction to the four Soul Skills: Spiritual Detection, Spiritual Sharing, Soul Shock, and Mental Interference.

Huo Yuhao discovered that after gaining an understanding of the Spectator ability, he thought faster and considered problems more comprehensively.

"Brother Sky Dream, I have a general understanding of these four Soul Skills now."

"I understand pairing Spiritual Detection with Spiritual Sharing, but Soul Shock and Mental Interference seem very similar."

"Not at all!" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm immediately protested like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, but his voice gradually weakened. "One clearly focuses on inflicting damage, while the other can make a target's Soul Skills lose accuracy."

Huo Yuhao asked in confusion:

"When a target is hit by Soul Shock, can they still use Soul Skills accurately?"

"Well... no." To cover his embarrassment, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm simply said, "Hurry up and tell me what Soul Skill you want instead, while the skills haven't fully set!"

Huo Yuhao began thinking seriously.

Spiritual Detection could reveal everything down to the finest detail, Spiritual Sharing could grant benefits to his companions, and Soul Shock was a powerful offensive Soul Skill.

He still needed a Soul Skill that could serve as a fallback-or rather, one suited to running away.

"Brother Sky Dream, would you mind if I asked, um, what you relied on to end this game that lasted ten thousand years?"

Huo Yuhao worked hard to approach the question indirectly, doing his best to spare the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's feelings. But the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had already realized that he had guessed his humiliating past and said in grief and indignation:

"Fine, fine. It was my Ice Silkworm Clan's innate Soul Skill, Simulation. Mental Interference should be replaced with Simulation before you wake up."

"Right, your body is far too weak. I've sealed an enormous amount of power inside you. But that power can only help increase the age of your Soul Rings once your cultivation reaches the required level-in other words, the strength of your Soul Skills."

"The power of your first Soul Ring's skills will increase along with what your body can withstand. Right now, with your first Soul Ring, your body can withstand a Soul Ring from a four-hundred-year Soul Beast at most, so the actual power of your first Soul Ring is four hundred years. Once you make another breakthrough and can withstand a Soul Ring from a thousand-year Soul Beast, your first Soul Ring's power will become one thousand years. In other words, your first Soul Ring can evolve at any time, and the same goes for the other Soul Rings you obtain later. Of course, the evolutionary power I can grant you is limited. The stronger the other Soul Rings you obtain, the more of my power you'll save. The power I've sealed inside you can support at most ten of your Soul Rings reaching the hundred-thousand-year level."

"Of the four Soul Skills I've given you, only Soul Shock has any direct offensive power. So you still need to play it sneaky and become strong one step at a time!"

Huo Yuhao drew a deep breath and said earnestly:

"Brother Sky Dream, although my innate Soul Power is only rank one, I'll work hard to become strong. I won't let your choice go to waste!"

"Good. Still, your aptitude really is rather poor. Sigh... Your Spirit Eyes Martial Soul came from a mutation. Its potential is good, but the mutation also had a considerable effect on your bodily functions from childhood."

"On top of that, you've had a miserable life. Your body is frail, and your meridians are narrow and sluggish, making cultivation somewhat difficult. Take it slowly. This isn't something you can rush. Oh, right, there's something else I must tell you."

"Did you see that tiny, illusory droplet that merged into your Sea of Consciousness earlier, and the gray ball of light beside it?"

"I did," Huo Yuhao said. "Are those your power, too?"

"No," the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said. "I don't know what those two are either, but one thing's certain: they have nothing to do with each other. That gray ball of light is a wisp of a remnant soul, from who knows where. Don't worry. I can protect you without any trouble."

"That droplet is very strange. It gives me an uncanny feeling of reality and illusion existing together. It doesn't seem harmful to you. It's like the seed of some kind of power. I'm sure you've sensed it, too."

"All right, you should head out now. Those two humans outside have been waiting for you. They don't mean you any harm."

"Two humans?" Huo Yuhao's vision blurred, and his consciousness soon returned to reality.

"Why hasn't he woken up yet?" Tang Ya patted Huo Yuhao's face and cast a questioning look at Bei Bei beside her.

An unfamiliar voice came from the other side, accompanied by footsteps growing steadily clearer:

"Disordered Soul Power caused by absorbing a Soul Ring whose attribute conflicts with his Martial Soul. He looks about ready to wake up."

Tang Yin approached, dressed in the luxurious clothes of a Star Luo Empire noble, his bearing serene and refined. He glanced casually at the Wind Baboon's corpse.

That remark was his conjecture.

The divine power in the divided consciousness had long since been blasted away by the God of Destruction. Formed by the surviving fragment of consciousness accidentally manifesting as an avatar, he was merely an ordinary eleven-year-old Blue Silver Grass genius with rank twenty-nine Soul Power.

What concerned him more now was: who exactly was the Child of Destiny?

With the God of Destruction keeping him in check in the Divine Realm, and Douluo Star's world consciousness deliberately concealing things, looking into it was like viewing flowers through mist or gazing at the moon reflected in water. Even now, he knew only that the Child of Destiny was bound to have some connection with the Tang Sect.

He could only judge from his own experience. After all, he had once been Douluo Star's Child of Destiny himself.

This little beggar in front of me?

His meridians were narrow and sluggish, his constitution so weak that he seemed to have suffered prolonged malnutrition.

What Child of Destiny could end up this miserable? It definitely isn't him!