"Then from now on, you're my disciple. Get up. You have a senior brother and a senior sister before you, though I don't know whether you'll ever have the chance to meet them. That will depend on fate. But now that you've become a disciple of mine, Electrolux, you'll have to work hard. Don't tarnish my illustrious name as the Holy Necromancer." Smiling, Electrolux helped Huo Yuhao to his feet.
"Yes." Huo Yuhao nodded firmly.
"Then what should we do next?" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm asked about their next steps. According to his original plan for creating a god, he would wait until Huo Yuhao reached rank twenty, then go to the Far North to find the girl he liked-the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, seventh among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts-and have her become Huo Yuhao's second martial soul.
But now that the planetary consciousness was here, she should have a better idea.
"First, we'll train Yuhao until he reaches rank twenty, then go to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. That's where the Fire Dragon King and Ice Dragon King fell long ago, and their remnant souls are there. As long as Yuhao absorbs the Ice Dragon King's remnant soul, his second, soulless ice-attribute martial soul can become the Ice Dragon King martial soul. That's a top-tier divine ice-attribute martial soul, one that can greatly increase Yuhao's combat strength.
"And that way, Yuhao will have three paths to choose from if he wants to become a god," Huo Yun said.
After thinking it over, she ultimately decided to make the Ice Dragon King Huo Yuhao's ice-attribute martial soul. It was far stronger than his original Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, a divine martial soul in the truest sense.
"Huh? But I don't have a second martial soul!" Huo Yuhao was bewildered. Since when had he possessed a second martial soul?
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. When I became your first soul ring, I didn't just give you four soul skills. I also gave you a soulless ice martial soul. In other words, you now possess twin martial souls." Only now did the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm remember that, because Da Ming and Er Ming had interrupted earlier, he had yet to tell Huo Yuhao about the benefits he had brought him as a million-year soul beast.
"Not twin martial souls-triple martial souls. Your teacher has now become one with you as well, so the Holy Necromancer is your third martial soul. And with your Brother Sky Dream's help, your original Spirit Eyes completed the awakening I initially designed for your martial soul. They should now be called Origin Spirit Eyes. They're the top-tier martial soul I prepared for you, with a little added ability that can even rival the Dragon God. Your martial soul also has a second form that hasn't awakened yet. That's the third path to godhood I prepared for you. It requires someone else's help to awaken, so we'll discuss it when you reach rank thirty," Huo Yun added.
"Triple martial souls..." Huo Yuhao was nearly reeling from the barrage of information. He really had learned a little too much today; his mind simply couldn't keep up.
"Triple martial souls correspond to the three paths to godhood you prepared for him-or rather, three different divine seats," Electrolux said, understanding what Huo Yun meant.
Huo Yun nodded. "Yes. Your Holy Necromancer is a divine seat that doesn't currently exist in the Divine Realm. If he condenses it and becomes a god, he won't fall under the Divine Realm's jurisdiction.
"Then there's the Ice Dragon King's ice-attribute path. Although there was once an Ice God divine seat, that god fell many years ago. Besides, Yuhao would be becoming a god through the Ice Dragon King, who likewise isn't under the Divine Realm's jurisdiction now."
"What about the third path? Spiritual power?" Electrolux asked curiously.
Huo Yun held nothing back. "The third path is called destiny. It's one of the highest laws, and it likewise has no divine seat. It's also the path I think will be easiest for Yuhao to follow.
"Whether he becomes a god through the Ice Dragon King or through you, those other paths are essentially cases of earlier generations planting trees for later generations to enjoy their shade.
"But the third is the origin I designed for Huo Yuhao from the very beginning. He has a natural affinity for it. It's innate, while the other two are acquired, so I think this is the path he'll find easiest to complete."
The path of destiny was what the original Douluo Consciousness had prepared for Huo Yuhao, and it was also the path he had hoped Huo Yuhao would take. No god or divine seat currently occupied it, and the law of destiny was so powerful that truly mastering it would put him at the God King level at the very least.
Did they know the saying: time reigns supreme, space rules as king; when destiny remains absent, karma claims the imperial throne!
No matter where it was, destiny ranked among the very highest laws.
"Destiny!" Hearing that word, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm seemed to remember something and suddenly blurted out, "The one you want to help Yuhao master destiny wouldn't happen to be the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, would it?"
"Exactly!" Huo Yun nodded.
"Is that really a good idea...? If you lay a hand on her, the entire Star Dou Great Forest will go mad." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hesitated, but ultimately said it.
"What's the Three-Eyed Golden Lion? A soul beast?" This was Huo Yuhao's first time hearing the name, and from what the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had said, she seemed to be a soul beast.
"She's a soul beast, the Emperor Auspicious Beast. An ancient auspicious beast is born with intelligence unlike that of humans, and she bears the fortune of the entire Star Dou Great Forest. Wherever she is, the soul beasts in that region cultivate twice as fast. Even hundred-thousand-year soul beasts have a greater chance of breaking through their bottlenecks.
"She can also be considered a child of fortune of this plane, but she's the darling of the Star Dou Great Forest. Yuhao, you're the darling of me, the planar consciousness, so you could call yourself the darling of the entire world-within my jurisdiction, of course," Huo Yun explained to Huo Yuhao.
Beyond that, only after becoming the planetary consciousness had she learned that auspicious beasts like the Three-Eyed Golden Lion were actually created when the Dragon God gathered fortune to strengthen soul beasts back then, even forcibly altering the environment in certain places.
Unlike with Huo Yuhao, the Douluo Consciousness had not participated in the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's creation. Although she carried fortune, it was the fortune of soul beasts, which the Dragon God had taken away long ago. It was outside the Douluo Consciousness's control.
Huo Yuhao was the planetary consciousness's own son, while the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was the Star Dou Great Forest's own daughter. In terms of closeness, the Emperor Auspicious Beast couldn't even compare to the Dragon God; at most, she was closer to the Douluo Consciousness than other people were.
"If you need her, why didn't you agree to cooperate with the master of the Star Dou Great Forest earlier?" Electrolux asked in confusion. Cooperation would actually benefit them more.
"Because I can't afford the price right now." That was the reason, simple and direct. If she paid it, she would work herself to death.
"Mm. Oh, right. When I fought Tang San earlier, I took this thing from him. It should be yours, shouldn't it?" Electrolux nodded, then remembered something and took out the Blue Chains he had put away earlier.
"This thing is..." Huo Yun stepped forward to examine it. Then the multicolored orb representing her spirit suddenly trembled, and she exclaimed, "Ocean authority! Tang San was ruthless enough to take out part of the ocean authority. Wasn't he afraid he'd be throwing a meat bun to a dog, never to see it again?"
"Ocean authority?" Huo Yuhao tilted his head, not understanding a word. It really was a little too early for him to encounter this knowledge.
"It's essentially divinity. When a god ascends, their divine seat takes possession of certain powers. Tang San's Sea God godhood, for instance, holds control over the oceans of my world. That was forcibly taken from my hands.
"As a result, I have no way of controlling the oceans now. And this is the authority the First Generation Sea God took from me, though it's only a small portion, not all of it.
"And from what I've observed, this thing may slowly merge back into the sea over time and be reclaimed by him. It's no use to us now, even in our hands. I got excited for nothing." Huo Yun explained while examining the blue chains, only to discover that her excitement had been in vain.
It was authority, certainly, but the problem was that it was only a small portion. As long as the ocean's faith still belonged to Tang San, he would reclaim this thing sooner or later if he acted. She couldn't stop him even if she wanted to; her control over the oceans was still paralyzed.
It was the sort of thing the other party could snatch back with a slap before she had even warmed it in her hands. No wonder he wasn't anxious.
"That thing cost me four hundred thousand years of spiritual origin, and in the end we took it for nothing? Doesn't that mean I wasted those four hundred thousand years of spiritual origin?" Hearing this, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was rather dejected. He had definitely suffered the greatest loss this time. He had thought they had seized something good, but it turned out to be useless.
"This time... wait!" Huo Yun was just about to sigh as well, but then she seemed to remember something and examined the chains before her.
"Have you thought of something?" From her tone, Electrolux guessed that she seemed to have another idea.
"Tang San might take this thing back, but perhaps we can have this authority do us a huge favor... We'll cooperate with the Silver Dragon King." With that, Huo Yun left Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness.
She left behind three bewildered people-or, more precisely, two people and a worm.
"Di Tian, let's go back. I agree to cooperate with your master." Outside, Huo Yun informed Di Tian of her decision.
Di Tian: ...
Di Tian looked at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, now right before them. Behind him lay the quiet forest, and ahead stretched an endless plain. Although he would have to fly back in a moment anyway, surely she didn't have to make him fly another round trip? Was she making a monkey out of him?
Honestly, if it had been anyone else, Di Tian would definitely have shown them the price of making a fool of him, the Beast God.
Unfortunately, he truly couldn't afford to offend this one.
"Very well." Di Tian took Huo Yuhao back to the core of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Di Tian was fast; the round trip took only an instant. He had already brought Huo Yuhao outside earlier, but seeing him standing there in a daze, he had known he must be talking to Huo Yun, so he hadn't interrupted.
When they returned to the Core Area of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Silver Dragon King also knew that Huo Yun had thought it through and wanted to cooperate with them.
"You came around much faster than I imagined," the Silver Dragon King teased as she looked at Huo Yuhao, who had returned after leaving.
Huo Yun didn't respond to that. She really didn't want to say that she had lacked bargaining chips before, but now that she had some, she would naturally cooperate.
"Let's dispense with the jokes. Our previous arrangement was that you would provide resources and protection, while I would minimize the harm to your soul beasts during their tribulations. But I need to make some changes to those terms.
"The resources and protection remain unchanged. I need the Three-Eyed Golden Lion of your Star Dou Great Forest to help me. I need a little of her origin power."
"Wait, what do you need the Auspicious Beast's origin for?" Huo Yun hadn't finished speaking, but the moment she mentioned the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, all the ferocious beasts present grew wary.
They knew all too well how important the Emperor Auspicious Beast was to the Star Dou Great Forest. Even though the world consciousness was the one making the request, they couldn't help becoming wary.
"Quiet." The Silver Dragon King's voice was very calm, yet it carried unquestionable authority, forcefully suppressing every ferocious beast present.
Only after they had all fallen silent did the Silver Dragon King look at Huo Yun and say, "My apologies. Please continue."
"In return, I'll do what I can to modify your original heavenly tribulations. Surely you still remember that soul beasts' heavenly tribulations were originally sent down by the Dragon God to test them. They weren't meant to kill soul beasts. Failing only left them severely injured, while passing brought a tremendous increase in strength.
"Although I can't remove them completely, I can make them temper soul beasts' strength as they undergo them, turning heavenly tribulations that offer certain death into ones with one chance of survival in ten. What do you think?" Huo Yun laid out her bargaining chip.
"Is that true, boss? Heavenly tribulations used to be trials that helped soul beasts grow?" Hearing this, Xiong Jun couldn't help looking at Di Tian. In their era, heavenly tribulations had already become something whose mere mention struck terror into soul beasts.
He hadn't expected that they had once truly been a hurdle that helped soul beasts strengthen and temper themselves.
"That's right." Di Tian didn't deny it. He truly remembered that era. "It may be a rule the Divine Realm established afterward. I mean no disrespect, but I'm afraid you don't have the strength to change this rule set by the Divine Realm."
"I don't have the strength to change it, but someone does. And that person will bear the price of changing the rule. So? Will you cooperate?" Huo Yun said.
"Of course. If you have that ability, nothing could be better. But I have a condition as well: you must not harm the Auspicious Beast." Naturally, the Silver Dragon King agreed.
Originally, she had hoped Huo Yun would provide some protection, giving the soul beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest a greater chance of surviving their heavenly tribulations. But if Huo Yun changed the rule outright, their chances of survival would be even higher than if Huo Yun, the world consciousness, intervened herself. It could also strengthen their soul beasts in every respect.
After all, as one of the Dragon God's halves, the Silver Dragon King knew what heavenly tribulations had originally been like.
"Of course. I only want a little origin power. At most, she'll be weak for a while."
"Then here's to a pleasant partnership."
Just like that, Huo Yun and the Silver Dragon King settled their cooperation.
"Then go find the Three-Eyed Golden Lion first. I'll take care of the matter of the rules."
"Agreed!"
With their cooperation settled, Huo Yun promptly got to work.
Although the Dragon God had betrayed the Douluo Consciousness in the past, there was one thing about cooperating with soul beasts: they kept their word. This was especially true of dragons, who considered the blood in their veins incomparably precious and disdained lying.
That meant she could rest easy after agreeing to cooperate, without worrying about being stabbed in the back.
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