"Skydream? You're finally awake!"
Huo Yuhao immediately entered his spiritual sea with an elated expression.
His spiritual sea's vastness was far greater than before, his boundless abyssal spiritual sea had seemed to transform!
It seemed to have shrunk, yet it gave a more grandiose and divine aura. The formless spiritual power had solidified and converged most of its energy in the core area, where the false Lake of Life was.
There besides the enormous tree on which his second spiritual sea was situated, a magnificent palace was beginning to slowly manifest.
But Huo Yuhao wasn't paying attention to the changes in his spiritual sea. He smiled as he stopped midair.
"Hehe. That's right! I, your great Brother Skydream, have awakened!" Skydream's voice was tinged with deep emotions.
Specks of golden light gradually rose up from Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea immediately afterwards, and combined to form Skydream's frame once more. However, it wasn't his enormous worm form but his human form.
Huo Yuhao flew up before the Skydream Iceworm in a flash, and opened his arms wide before hugging his old iceworm brother.
"Ayo? No homo bro!" Skydream said with a smile.
"Brother Skydream."
"Yeah?"
"Shut the fuck up," Huo Yuhao chuckled with tears in his eyes.
Skydream chuckled and hugged back tighter. "Yeah, sorry about that. But I'm glad to see you again, brother."
Besides Huo Yun'er and Indra, Huo Yuhao considered Skydream as a close family, almost like a brother. He did consider Ice Empress and Electrolux as family as well.
But Skydream had been there for him since the beginning and was one of the foundations that made him who he is right now.
A unparalleled genius that can look down upon Gods.
"Alright, what happened? Last I recall, we were facing a heavenly tribulation to a last stand and then...blank." Skydream took a step back and furrowed his brows, trying to recall the fragments of what had happened.
Huo Yuhao's expression softened as he looked at his old companion. He patted his shoulder and explained the events of how he, and the others in his spiritual sea, had survived that heavenly tribulation and the following events of two years that Skydream and the others were asleep.
Obviously to say that, Skydream was shocked.
"That was a lot to unpack. Us surviving because of some innate power of a Necromancer, eh, I'm not surprised. You do defy the laws of life and death." Ever since he first met Electrolux and learned about his background, Skydream always had a deep impression of him.
"But to convince Beast God and the other Great Beasts to cooperate with you is honestly a freaking miracle! That's just..." Skydream muttered, shaking his head as the expression on his face turned conflicted.
Beast God and the Great Beasts had captured, imprisoned, and absorbed his essence for thousands of years! When he had escaped, he'd sworn never to forgive them.
The memory alone made his glorious skin crawl. "Just thinking about those bastards still makes my core itch," he muttered through clenched teeth.
Huo Yuhao laughed and said, "Skydream, did you think I forgot about your revenge?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Answer me this. Would you like to take revenge with your own hands?"
Skydream was stunned, as his wisdom soul ring, he knew that he was being serious.
He fell silent for a moment, head down, and looked back up straight at his eyes.
"I would like nothing more than to see them get the beating of a lifetime. My own fists on their faces, turning black and blue until tears come out of their eyes."
Huo Yuhao raised his eyebrows. "A beating? Just that? After all you've been through, you only want to beat them up? What happened to killing them and harvesting their soul rings and soul bones?"
Skydream wryly smiled and shook his head. "And sour your relationship with them? Especially with the Auspicious Emperor and Yin-Yang Saint Crane? C'mon man. I'm a worm of many titles, but a bad brother? Never!"
He shot him an odd glance and grinned. "Plus, judging by your emotions when you spoke about them, I could tell that you care about them greatly."
"It's not just that. Yuhao, you're not an ungrateful person and I'm glad that you would unhesitatingly help resolve the resentment of this brother of yours, but I also care about you. Beast God and the Great Beasts had helped train you, you guys had definitely formed a bond."
"If I took my vengeance, would it really sit well with you?"
Huo Yuhao thinned his lips and shook his head. "No. It definitely won't."
Skydream nodded, expecting the answer. "It would likely become an inner demon, obstructing your future cultivation. I won't let that happen to my good brother!"
He let out a deep sigh, and turned his head to the 'sun' high in the spiritual sea.
He gave off a serious air, like an immortal who had gained enlightenment through the viscous flow of time.
As a million year old soul beast, he does qualify for such a description.
But Huo Yuhao's eyes, he just looked like he was trying too hard to look cool.
"A great man takes revenge for those who wronged him... But a greater man knows how to compromise for the sake of his brother."
"....When the hell did you become so eloquent?"
Huo Yuhao was stunned.
Skydream turned to him angrily, raising his fist. "What do you mean 'when?' This good brother of yours is always eloquent! Heck! How'd you think I managed to woe Bing'er?"
'Woe her? I don't even think she ever looks at you with anything but disdain.' Huo Yuhao slightly curled his lips.
"Oi. What's with that look?"
"I'm just amazed at how good of a brother you are, Skydream."
"Hehe. Really?" Skydream chuckled, scratching the back of his head.
"Yuhao. I didn't want to mention it before, but I'm curious. What happened to your eyes?" A moment passed and Skydream asked the elephant in the room. His golden eyes narrowed, a hint of fear appeared as he stared at his friend's deep purple eyes.
It was as if looking into the abyss.
Huo Yuhao blinked slowly and he conjured a mirror in his hand.
This was his spiritual sea, he was basically a God here.
"The Rinnegan..." Huo Yuhao muttered in shock.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The Rinnegan was the final evolutionary form of the Sharingan! The eyes of the Six Paths Sage.
It wasn't his first time seeing it, his Eye of Destiny was a mutation of the Rinnegan mixed with the Life Gold and has the ability to glimpse at fate and destiny. It lets him use most of the original six paths techniques, although some had mutated due to the mixture of the Life Gold.
But Huo Yuhao used those techniques sparingly. One was because of the enormous energy consumption. He used one of the techniques in the past and it drained him about 30-40% of his energy(soul and spiritual powers combined).
The other reason was also because he never had the right opponents to use it on.
The Six Paths Techniques are extremely powerful and a single one of these techniques can obliterate a Titled Douluo's body and soul!
Now, his two eyes, his main martial soul, had evolved to its final form—he didn't know what to do!
One of the disadvantages of having the Rinnegan was the constant passive energy consumption that only an Uzumaki or a Jinchūriki could use the Six Paths Techniques easily.
Even in his spiritual sea, he could tell that from the real world his body was slowly consuming his soul power and spiritual power.
'This was going to be a problem.' But Huo Yuhao was contemplating something else.
"How is this possible? The Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew was described to only increase the spiritual power of a soul master. I had expected it to at least be the catalyst to wake you and the others up. I didn't think it would skip past the Eternal phase and straight to the final form!" He couldn't figure out how the effects of the immortal herb was so exaggerated.
There was no denying the medicinal effects of the immortal herb increasing his spiritual power. With just a simple scan of his spiritual sea, he could tell that it had increased so tremendously that it cracked open the door towards the next stage.
By his own estimation, if he were to encounter the Sea God's Apostle once more he wouldn't be so helpless. At the very least, he wouldn't freeze up.
"Hm. Could it be because of luck? You have shared the strong luck, fortune, and destiny of the Auspicious Emperor and the Yin-Yang Saint Crane after all." Skydream added.
Huo Yuhao shook his head. "That shouldn't be possible. The power of the Eye of Destiny doesn't work like that. Its impressive powers manipulate destiny and fate in the favor of myself and others of my choice, increasing fortune and luck—but only within the boundaries of existing probability. It doesn't create impossibilities."
Skydream shrugged. "Why think so deeply about it? It's impossible, but it could also be possible. Who knows. Your Eye of Destiny probably chanced on some hidden power in the essence of the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew and pulled it into your martial soul, thus triggering its evolution."
Huo Yuhao furrowed his brows. "I want to believe in such a crazy coincidence but..."
Something was off. Deep within his heart and his instincts, developed with his own experiences and accumulated memories of his previous lives, was calling for him to be cautious.
But what?
He just couldn't figure out the reason behind the leap of evolution of his martial soul.
Huo Yuhao gave up for now and asked, "Skydream, what about Ice Empress and Snow Empress? Do you know how we can awaken them?"
"Ah. It's simple. You just gotta absorb that Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass essence and an enormous amount of ultimate ice-cold water spring." Skydream said.
Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow, surprised by the simple solution. But then again, thinking about it, it truly was simple.
Skydream might be from the Extreme North, but he's entirely a spiritual-type soul beast. While both Ice Empress and Snow Empress are on the extreme attribute of ice and snow.
"I understand."
"Out of curiosity, why didn't you take the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew as your seventh soul ring or your second spirit soul?" Skydream tilted his head.
Huo Yuhao explained, "In both attribute and cultivation, the immortal herb is certainly qualified to be my new spirit soul. But unfortunately, I need a seventh soul ring. Skydream, do you understand how important the seventh ring is to a soul master?"
The seventh soul ring position is special due to the prefixed soul skill they obtain; regardless of the type of soul ring they acquire, their own martial soul will undergo a qualitative transformation, truly merging with their body, allowing them to unleash their Martial Soul True Body.
Once the Martial Soul True Body is activated, their body will completely transform into the form of their martial soul, resulting in a tremendous increase in power.
Huo Yuhao wanted the best seventh soul ring for his Sharingan, or Rinnegan, that the world could offer.
The Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew was certainly good, but its origin is that of a plant. It wasn't truly the best one for his martial soul.
No. Huo Yuhao had his "eyes" on a certain species of soul beasts in the Evildemon Forest—the Evil Eye!
Truly, if he wanted the best seventh soul ring to exert all of the potential and abilities of his martial soul, then the Evil Eye was certainly the perfect one for him.
"Hey, Yuhao."
Huo Yuhao snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Skydream. "What—"
He stopped, noticing the changed look on his friend's expression.
A serious expression formed on Skydream's face. A shimmering golden aura emanated from him as he looked down at the shore of the lake below them.
"That Yin-Yang Saint Crane, was it a he or she?"
"...She. Her name is Jianxin." Huo Yuhao replied, following Skydream's line of sight and his eyes widened.
A figure stood on the shore, giving off a seemingly ordinary presence at first glance—nothing more than a young man in a simple white kimono, hands tucked loosely in his sleeves as if he were merely observing the lake for fishes.
He had long, smooth white hair cascading down his back like a waterfall, his white skin almost translucent under the soft radiance. His bare feet touched the shimmering water without sinking, ripples forming in perfect concentric circles around him.
His posture was relaxed.
His aura was quiet.
His expression was unperturbed.
One might even mistake him for a young master from some illustrious noble house. That was the impression one would have upon seeing him at first glance.
But Huo Yuhao tensed up.
He did not recognize him.
What set him off even more was that he couldn't "see" his eyes! Within his spiritual sea, as its creator, he could see everything.
And yet, he couldn't see this stranger's eyes?
"...Who is that?" Skydream asked nervously.
"I don't know." Huo Yuhao said, gritting his teeth. His pupils contracted and the spiritual sea trembled, calling upon all of the powers he could use.
He was circulating his spiritual power to its highest limit.
"But I don't want to find out."
Just as he was about to utilize the Deva Path.
The man slowly raised his head, his eyes were shut.
"Well, as expected of one of my most gifted descendants. No hesitation."
As he spoke, he raised his hand.
"But still..."
His left eye opened, revealing it to be completely white except for an infinity-shaped sigil rotating slowly in the center.
Silent, immaculate, and impossibly profound.
Immeasurable and everlasting, thus is infinity.
The moment it appeared, Huo Yuhao's Deva Path crumbled before activation, his spiritual power collapsing like a wave struck by a greater tide.
"Brat, respect your elders."
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AN: Who?!
Also! I'm back! School's out and summer vacation is here!!