"Little Yuhao!"
"Little Yuhao, wake up!"
"Do you know what happened? Why did that old man and I suddenly lose consciousness?"
In a small inn in Shrek City, Huo Yuhao awoke amid the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's incessant chattering.
His consciousness appeared in his Sea of Consciousness, and the scene before him was vastly different from how it had been before the swap.
The little lake had grown wider, and a layer of golden light covered its entire surface. Its rippling waters gleamed with a sacred, radiant presence.
Tian Meng's chubby figure bobbed back and forth before him, while the gray pearl Electrolux had transformed into rested peacefully in the sky above.
Huh? What's that ball of blue-gold light? Is there a person in it? It looks like it's being suppressed by a force of space and time, too?
Huo Yuhao was curious.
Just then, as his consciousness awakened, an incomparably pure essence filled with a sacred, radiant presence melted deep within his soul and merged into his body, soul, and Martial Soul.
It was the Six-Winged Angel essence the mysterious voice had spoken of.
The Spirit Eyes quickly turned a dazzling gold. After Qian Renxue's soul had departed, the Gold-Level Second Awakening had lost the support of the sacred essence, leaving its awakening grade teetering on the brink. At this moment, it stabilized completely and even rose to a higher level.
Buoyed by this essence, Huo Yuhao found his Soul Power cultivation rising rapidly. It climbed straight from rank nineteen to rank twenty before stopping.
The essence transformed into an Innate Soul Ring, its color a brilliant golden yellow, and merged into the Spirit Eyes.
At that moment, Huo Yuhao reached rank twenty-one.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's little eyes widened into circles. He leaned close to Huo Yuhao, as though trying to see through him inside and out.
"Yuhao, what happened? How did you suddenly break through and even condense a Soul Ring yourself? Don't tell me you're a Soul Beast that underwent Soul Beast Transformation?"
Huo Yuhao said irritably, "Brother Sky Dream, what Soul Beast have you ever seen that looks like a pair of eyes?"
"I have seen one. The Evil Eye Clan," Tian Meng said. "All right, I know you didn't undergo Soul Beast Transformation. Tell me what happened already. And what's with this Soul Ring?"
It looks like Tian Meng and Electrolux both lost consciousness after the swap.
Huo Yuhao guessed the situation in an instant. He glanced at the unknown ball of blue-gold light and shook his head. "I don't know what happened either. Just like you, I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found that I'd broken through and gained an Innate Soul Ring like this."
"But that should be a good thing, right? I've grown stronger, and the Innate Soul Ring can improve as my cultivation rises."
"Hehe, that's no good thing."
A soft chuckle came from the ball of blue-gold light. Tang San's Divine Sense's voice was full of wisdom.
The moment Huo Yuhao's soul changed, he had detected something amiss.
He couldn't be certain what had happened, but he was sure that the soul controlling the Child of Fortune's body had changed. It was no longer Qian Renxue.
Now, hearing Huo Yuhao's words, he understood.
So he had guessed wrong all along. Qian Renxue hadn't been reborn at all!
Instead, just like him, she had set her sights on the Child of Fortune of this era. To that end, she had even descended in divine soul form and possessed the Child of Fortune for a time.
Then what exactly was Qian Renxue trying to do?
He hadn't been certain before, but when he saw the Six-Winged Angel essence that had fused with Huo Yuhao, his world-shocking wisdom brought him another revelation.
Qian Renxue must have wanted to possess the Child of Fortune, but her divine soul was incompatible with him, making possession difficult. So she had no choice but to alter him step by step, turning him into a suitable vessel.
The Six-Winged Angel essence was the best proof.
Tang San's Divine Sense secretly regretted it. He should have killed Qian Renxue back then instead of sparing her to save face.
But it wasn't too late, even now.
Tang San's Divine Sense couldn't help feeling thankful that he had been one move ahead, planning long ago and placing a world-shaking masterstroke on the Child of Fortune.
Otherwise, if Qian Renxue really succeeded in possessing him, ascended to godhood again, and entered the Divine Realm to oppose him, she really would cause his original body considerable trouble.
Come to think of it, the Child of Fortune ought to thank him. Otherwise, he wouldn't even know if the inherently evil Qian Renxue possessed him.
For the grace of saving his life, it should be no problem to make the Child of Fortune kneel and become his dog, right?
But there was another problem now: he didn't know what despicable means Qian Renxue had used to suppress him, and he couldn't send a message to his original body.
Tang San's Divine Sense turned his thoughts to the "innocent"-looking Huo Yuhao.
"And who are you?" Huo Yuhao asked curiously, secretly on guard.
"Hehe, who am I? You'll find out in due time. But what's more important now is that you're going to die, and after you do, someone will take everything you have."
Huo Yuhao snorted. "That's just alarmist talk."
"Exactly!" Tian Meng chimed in.
Hearing that Huo Yuhao hadn't readily believed him, Tang San smiled faintly. "What merged with your body was the Six-Winged Angel essence. I'm very familiar with it-"
Tang San seemed to feel he had misspoken and changed the subject. "The Six-Winged Angel-you've surely heard of it. Back then, Sea God Tang San defeated the evil Spirit Hall, and the Angel God's Martial Soul was the Six-Winged Angel."
"As far as I know, after that battle, the Sea God spared the Angel God Qian Renxue because she still had a shred of conscience. Who could have known that, after ten thousand years, even that last shred of conscience would be extinguished?"
"She has set her sights on you! She gave you the Six-Winged Angel essence to make you more compatible with her soul, so that one day she can completely possess you and take everything that is yours!"
Huo Yuhao was shocked.
He wasn't shocked that Qian Renxue wanted to possess him, but by the world-shocking wisdom of the person before him.
A statement so full of wisdom, and that distinctive blue-gold color-could this be Tang San's Divine Sense?
Huo Yuhao felt strange and almost couldn't keep a straight face.
Is Tang San praising himself now? What a shameless man.
At the same time, he was very curious how Tang San's Divine Sense had ended up trapped in his Sea of Consciousness.
Did Old San crash-land?
Huo Yuhao wasn't panicking, but the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was already in a panic.
"Then what do we do?" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm asked anxiously.
Tang San's Divine Sense said nothing.
He wanted to wait for Huo Yuhao to beg him before telling him the solution.
Huo Yuhao, however, remained calm and composed. Instead, he sneered. "Hmph, as far as I know, the Angel God Qian Renxue died long ago. There's no way she could still be alive ten thousand years later. You're lying to me! Speak, who are you really? I won't believe a word you say until you prove your identity."
Tang San was helpless.
Why isn't this Child of Fortune as easy to fool as Qian Renxue? Has he become enlightened?
He let out a long sigh and said compassionately, "In that case, for the sake of your life, I have no choice but to tell you who I am."
"I am actually a strand of Sea God Tang San's Divine Sense. I descended this time to thwart Qian Renxue's plot to return and bring disaster to the continent, but who could have known she would use despicable means to imprison me here?"
"Ah! You're the Sea God!" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm let out a shriek, so excited that his whole body twisted into the shape of the character 区.
He dreamed of becoming a god, and now a true deity was right before him. How could he not be excited?
"Yuhao, come and pay your respects to the Sea God! If the Sea God can give you some pointers, there'll be hope for our plan!"
Huo Yuhao looked at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, disappointed.
He would surely become Tang San's enemy one day, and there was even a strong possibility that he wouldn't be able to become a god. With the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm behaving like this, would he really stand firmly by Huo Yuhao's side in the future?
Huo Yuhao lowered his eyelids slightly, hiding the gloom in his eyes. Acting as though nothing were amiss, he cupped his hands toward the air.
"I admire the Sea God! But how are you going to prove you're the Sea God?"
The corners of Tang San's mouth twitched.
Now there's a problem. How do I prove that I'm myself?