The massive head of the Tianmeng Iceworm turned warily toward the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest. After a brief glance, it turned back to look at Huo Yuhao and said, "I'm going to begin now. Don't worry, I'll be gentle—it won't hurt too much."
"You—"
Before Huo Yuhao could voice his objection—
The Tianmeng Iceworm had already leaned its head forward, pressing its forehead against Huo Yuhao's. At the same time, its body began dissolving into streams of white light that surged continuously into Huo Yuhao's body.
At that very moment, the sky suddenly darkened. A thunderous boom echoed across the heavens, and the massive body of the Tianmeng Iceworm, which was in the process of merging with Huo Yuhao, violently trembled at the deafening sound.
Its two golden eyes rolled upward, staring into the sky, instantly filled with fear and confusion. Clearly, this oppressive aura descending from above had nothing to do with it—and was far beyond its comprehension.
A wisp of gray air current, as if drawn by some immense gravitational force, plummeted from the sky. In a flash, it quietly burrowed into the back of Huo Yuhao's head.
"What dares to snatch him from me?!" the Tianmeng Iceworm roared in fury. Its immense spiritual power surged wildly as it tried to expel the gray stream from Huo Yuhao's body.
A vague silhouette appeared behind Huo Yuhao. An ancient voice, filled with indescribable majesty, echoed:
"Wielding the sun—"
But before this figure could finish its grandiose speech, an even more terrifying force descended.
BOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!
In that instant, the entire world trembled!
An intangible rumble blanketed the entire planet. That oppressive, apocalyptic pressure weighed down like the end of days, leaving countless living beings prostrated on the ground, filled with dread and fear!
At the same time, the surrounding stars quaked violently!
The sun in particular reacted most intensely, unleashing unprecedented blinding light. Nearby planets were incinerated on the spot, vaporized into nothingness.
The disturbance was so massive that even the Divine Realm felt its effects. Numerous god priests screamed in agony as their bodies disintegrated into dust and vanished!
All gods below the level of God King suffered varying degrees of injury. At this moment, the entire Divine Realm teetered on the edge of destruction. Faced with this invisible, incomprehensible pressure, these deities—who once believed themselves to stand above all—finally understood what it meant for divine might to be like a prison and divine grace to be as vast as the sea!
They had always seen themselves as gods.
Now, under the weight of this unknown force, they could only tremble and bow, unable to rise.
[So close… yet so far?]
[…Interesting.]
A voice seemed to echo across the hearts of all living beings in the universe—like the sigh of the heavens, like the whisper of the Dao—filled with an indescribable holiness and grandeur.
As the words fell—
The pressure that had almost engulfed the entire universe receded like a tide.
Everything seemed to return to normal.
Yet in the minds of all living beings, that voice—like that of a heavenly lord—remained deeply engraved, impossible to forget.
Star Dou Great Forest.
"So terrifying!"
"That scared the hell out of me."
"What just happened?"
"And that voice… was it a god?"
The Tianmeng Iceworm's tiny golden eyes stared reverently into the sky. Then, out of nowhere, it noticed a small, blazing fireball in the distance hurtling straight toward them.
Before it could react, the fireball whooshed and vanished into the back of Huo Yuhao's head.
"What the hell?"
"Another one?"
The Tianmeng Iceworm realized that just like the gray stream, the fireball settled silently inside Huo Yuhao's mind. It didn't clash with the Iceworm's energy, nor did it get influenced by it.
"This can't be happening. After all the trouble I went through to find a spiritually compatible human, and now all these bastards want to steal him too? So pitiful…" Though it grumbled, the Tianmeng Iceworm didn't slow down its movements, continuing its incomplete process.
After all, the moment it began injecting its power into Huo Yuhao's body, there was no turning back.
"Wahaha! No matter what, I'm finally free. All you bastards who wanted to eat me—your chance is gone! Wahaha!" The Tianmeng Iceworm's triumphant voice grew fainter, and its once-massive spiritual energy shrank at an astonishing rate until it eventually faded completely.
In the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, several terrifying auras began to ripple violently, as though they were sensing something. But ultimately, they gained nothing.
Not long after, two figures came rushing from the distance at high speed.
"Damn, we're too late. Little Yuhao seems to have been attacked. These soul beasts are getting more and more arrogant—they've already come out of the Star Dou Great Forest!" Tang Ya carefully lifted Huo Yuhao from the ground, looking worried and upset.
Bei Bei walked over to the baboon's corpse, flipping it over. "This is a Wind Baboon. Judging from its size and muscle strength, it should be a ten-year soul beast. Already dead."
After some investigation, the two concluded that Huo Yuhao must have used a soul tool to kill the Wind Baboon. They decided to stay and wait for him to wake up.
…
Huo Yuhao felt like he was dreaming. In the dream, he found himself in a vast, pure white space filled with countless motes of light stretching as far as the eye could see.
The most striking feature was the enormous sun suspended high above—radiating endless light and heat, filling Huo Yuhao with a nearly irresistible urge to kneel in worship!
"So your name is Huo Yuhao," a sudden voice rang out. Huo Yuhao's vision immediately contracted, and he exclaimed in shock, "Where is this? Why am I here?"
"This is the sea of consciousness in your brain—your spiritual world. From now on, this will also be my home. The place was too small, so I expanded it a bit. But your body's too weak, so we'll have to make do for now," the voice replied.
"You're… the Tianmeng Iceworm? So I'm not dreaming?" Huo Yuhao asked in disbelief, recognizing the tone and voice.
What he was seeing completely shattered everything he thought he knew. He was only eleven years old, and even an adult would be terrified to encounter something this extraordinary.
"Dreaming? If this were just a dream, you'd be thrilled, wouldn't you? Of course it's not a dream—I already told you, this is your spiritual world," the Tianmeng Iceworm said irritably.
"My spiritual world? What's that supposed to mean?" Huo Yuhao asked blankly.
The Tianmeng Iceworm sighed. "You really are clueless." It hadn't expected its chosen host to be so ignorant. Looks like it would have to start from the very beginning.
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