Part 1
Huo Yuhao is still young. After a short period of anxiety, his mood quickly changed to excitement. After walking so many days, he had finally reached his destination. His blood started boiling the moment he thought about finally getting a spirit ring and becoming a true Spirit Master. Although he was only eleven years old, he had already cultivated hard for more than five years.
In this excited state, Huo Yuhao subconsciously quickened his steps heading into the forest like he couldn’t wait another second.
Going forward, a strange sensation suddenly appeared in his mind. All he could feel were slight piercing pains in his eyes and he subconsciously circulated Spirit Power into them.
The air flowed weakly in spirals as Huo Yuhao seemed to see a fleeting shadow on the road in front.
As an extremely rare variant Battle Spirit, Spirit Eye could give him early warnings of danger. This sense of danger made Huo Yuhao very attentive. He rapidly threw his body to the left and grabbed the White Tiger Dagger from his waist.
A black figure flashed past from its initial position and struck the ground Huo Yuhao had just occupied. Up close, Huo Yuhao could finally see this shadow clearly.
It was a baboon with a height of a meter and a half. His entire body was covered with long brown hair. He had brown eyes and two abnormally long arms with sharp nails on his paws. His mouth showed sharp canines and his eyes shone fiercely. Missing his first strike, he gave a deep roar toward Huo Yuhao and kicked on the ground with his legs, charging forward again.
Although Huo Yuhao’s Spirit Eye had not obtained a spirit ring, its innate abilities were not bad. Under his Spirit Power, the baboon’s lunge was much slower in his eyes. Huo Yuhao was previously lying on the ground but he quickly rolled to the left, jumped up, kicked back a few steps, and held out the White Tiger Dagger in front of his chest.
His nervous heartbeat sounded with clarity as his breathing increased. This was the first time he had ever faced an enemy. No, it was an animal attack. The hand holding the White Tiger Dagger was covered in sweat as he hesitated on how to deal with the threat.
Missing two consecutive strikes, the baboon became angry. He rose and thumped his chest with strong fists while roaring at Huo Yuhao with a wide, open mouth. Suddenly, a ball of white light flew out of his mouth toward Huo Yuhao.
Even if he was inexperienced, he could see that he was facing against a Spirit Beast. The current location was still a way outside of Star Dou Forest and he was not prepared at all. It would be a disaster if this ball of light shooting toward him hit its target.
In this instant, Huo Yuhao’s mind went completely blank. With the Spirit Eye, the ball of light did not look fast, but was really already in front of him.
At the same time the baboon shot out the light, the baboon himself also charged toward Huo Yuhao with a fierce expression.
As the white light arrived in front of him, the nervous Huo Yuhao had lost all ability to think. All he could do was instinctively raise his right hand holding the White Tiger Dagger against the white light.
A miraculous scene happened at this instant. At the same time the white light hit the dagger, the baboon had arrived as well with two long arms extended, claws catching Huo Yuhao’s shoulders.
With the battle having progressed thus far, one would a.s.sume that Huo Yuhao’s fate is already set. Would he really perish under this Spirit Beast’s claws?
Grabbing onto Huo Yuhao’s shoulders, the baboon used his superior strength to spin Huo Yuhao toward the sky, intending to throw him up.
At the same time, a wave of white light flashed next to Huo Yuhao. The baboon’s body suddenly turned stiff. Originally, he was about to throw Huo Yuhao up but somehow, he ended up motionless on the ground.
“Bang—“ Huo Yuhao’s body hit the nearby tree and slid down. He experienced a sudden darkness followed by a severe pain that took away his breath.
At this point, Huo Yuhao looked miserable. Both of his shoulders had a number of long blood trails. His shirt was nearly shredded.
However, he was able to wake from this intense pain. His gaze fell subconsciously on the motionless baboon on the ground.
A faint white light gradually appeared from its corpse. This white light slowly formed into a white ring above the body. The ring isn’t clear and the light flickered but it was still enough for him to be dumbstruck.
Spirit ring… This is a spirit ring? Huo Yuhao was so excited that his body started shaking. Even his wounds didn’t hurt much, anymore.
In Duke’s Estate, he had only learned the most basic method of meditation and had many unanswered questions about Spirit Beasts and spirit rings. Almost every guard in the mansion would talk about it; but this was the first time seeing it himself.
*Could it be that the beast is already dead?* Huo Yuhao thought blankly. Only when a Spirit Beast dies will its spirit ring be released! But… How did it die?
The power of the Spirit Eye appeared in this instant and a flood of memories emerged in his mind.
The baboon’s white light had hit the White Tiger Dagger and the dagger suddenly released a burst of light that absorbed all of the baboon’s white light into it. This was the instant that changed the entire outcome.
In accordance with the baboon’s fighting ability, the weak Huo Yuhao should have lost all ability to fight after receiving a direct hit. Then he was thrown onto the ground and lost at least half of his life. It was unthinkable that the baboon’s spirit ability could have been neutralized by Huo Yuhao’s White Tiger Dagger. Furthermore, the baboon had grabbed onto Huo Yuhao and was about to throw him. Huo Yuhao’s arms had swung out as a natural movement of his body being thrown which made the dagger in his right hand lift up.
Originally, the length of the White Tiger Dagger was not enough to reach the baboon. But in that moment, the dagger suddenly released a radiance that skimmed across the baboon. It seemed as if it had converted the light it absorbed earlier into a sharp edge. Although Huo Yuhao’s mind was blank at the time and he can’t remember, the blade’s radiance must have cut into the baboon’s body.
I actually won? Huo Yuhao looked at the white spirit ring as the excitement in his heart gradually faded.
The importance of a spirit ring to a Spirit Master is like the importance of a certain cylindrical object to a man’s body. It is something a Spirit Master must have to advance. However, not all spirit rings are suitable for a Spirit Master to absorb. Only spirit rings with a high degree of compatibility can be completely absorbed.
Part 2
A good spirit ring can boost the power of a Spirit Master, and the strength of the ring is based on the Spirit Beast’s age of practice.
A white spirit ring symbolizes that a Spirit Beast had lived for ten years. When a Spirit Beast between the years of ten to a hundred is killed, the white ring will be given off. The baboon gave off a white ring. However, it is a spirit ring that Huo Yuhao cannot absorb.
Although Huo Yuhao was very inexperienced in killing Spirit Beasts and could not see what attribute the baboon belonged to, he could still be sure that the baboon is not of the mental attribute. Since only the attribute that is highly compatible with one’s spirit can be absorbed easily, the baboon’s spirit ring does not suit Huo Yuhao at all.
Huo Yuhao wanted to check on the baboon’s condition but he was too weak to even stand. His whole body ached and he might faint if he tried any harder.
After all, Huo Yuhao was only eleven! With the encounter of the baboon, his determination wavered a bit. Mental attribute beasts were extremely rare and Huo Yuhao could not even dare to imagine the consequences if the Spirit Beast he had met was a hundred years old beast instead. He would have died for sure. Luck would not always be on his side.
Huo Yuhao sat up against the tree and became determined once again. *I must not die,* he thought to himself. *I still have to demand justice for my mom. I can’t give up like this.* The fight with the baboon had taught him what is meant by overestimating his own ability.
Just as Huo Yuhao was confused about what to do next, he noticed a voice in his head. “I finally met a human with the mental attribute! Unfortunately, Ge is unable to shed tears. Otherwise, I would be crying a river right now!”
Huo Yuhao was startled. He didn’t understand how and why the voice appeared in his head. Just then, the ground began to shake and cracks appeared two meters in front of him. The cracks became bigger and a faint golden light shone from it.
“What is this? Another Spirit Beast?”
Huo Yuhao subconsciously clenched the White Tiger Dagger as he stared nervously at the expanding cracks. If not for his sore body, he probably would have started running.
Cold chills emanated from the crack in the ground and the surrounding temperature began to decrease significantly. When the crack grew to the size of five meters in diameter, the golden light finally revealed its true ident.i.ty.
It had a round head more than one meter in diameter. Slowly, it squirmed out of the ground and its body reached seven meters in length.
With its appearance, Huo Yuhao felt chills running through his body and his breath began to fog up.
It was definitely a Spirit Beast. However, he looked just like a silkworm; except many times larger.
He had a white body, almost crystal clear. Although it just came out of the soil, there was no trace of dirt on his skin. On his head, there was a pair of golden eyes. But the most unusual thing was that there was a total of ten golden halos that spanned its body starting half a meter from his head to his tail.
Seeing such a large body and the ability to alter temperature, Huo Yuhao’s facial expression showed a hint of desperation. “This is at least a hundred years old Spirit Beast. I guess I am finished.”
“Don’t be afraid. Ge will not harm you”. The voice appeared once again in Huo Yuhao’s mind. The silkworm nodded and moved to about thirty centimeters in front of him.
“Are you talking to me?”
The silkworm nodded. “Of course. Are you mesmerized by my beautiful body?“
Huo Yuhao did not sense any harmful intentions from the silkworm and therefore became more relaxed. “So, what do you want?”
“No hurry,” the silkworm stated. “Let me introduce myself first. I am the embodiment of heroism and chivalry. I am the most intelligent and beautiful Spirit Beast of all times. I have been training for one million years! I am the Daydream Iceworm with the highest life years recorded in the Douluo continent! Ah, and you can call me Daydream Ge!”
“A million years?!” Huo Yuhao could not believe that such an Spirit Beast can even exist. Isn’t the strongest Spirit Beast only supposed to be one hundred thousand years old?
“Surprised? Excited? You are the only human lucky enough to see me.” The silkworm said.
“What do you want from me?” Huo Yuhao asked with a blank expression.
“I want to become your spirit ring! The first ever intelligent mental attribute spirit ring in the history of Douluo continent”.
“What?” Huo Yuhao stared at the silkworm and for a moment, he lost his ability to think.
Everything came so suddenly. Of course he wanted a spirit ring. However, he had never wished for a ring that was more than ten years. Now, there’s suddenly a huge million years old silkworm that was willing to become his spirit ring. Huo Yuhao didn’t understand what was going on and could not be sure whether the silkworm was stating the truth.
However, it didn’t matter what the reality of the situation was. The silkworm was too strong for him to fight against.
Daydream Iceworm glanced at the forest and looked back at Huo Yuhao. “I’m going to start. I will be gentle and I will not hurt you.”
“You…” Before Huo Yuhao could protest, a swirl of cold air had knocked him unconscious. He vaguely saw a cloud of whiteness surrounding him and the next moment, any mental capability had escaped his control.
The golden halos from the silkworm’s body seemed to have come alive and the white cloud that Huo Yuhao saw was simply the body of the silkworm. The ten golden halos quickly surrounded Huo Yuhao’s thin body as the white clouds rushed into him.
Part 3
“Too weak, too weak. This is so pitiful. I’m so cold! How many bindings do I have to put on myself for his weak little body to accept me? It’s so hard being an intelligent spirit ring.”
A layer of formless mental energy fluctuating around the Daydream Iceworm flowed out as he tried to enter into Huo Yuhao’s body. This powerful mental energy instantly covered every corner within a one hundred sixty kilometer diameter.
The accelerating Beibei and Tang Ya suddenly experienced a momentary daze as they were running toward Huo Yuhao. The mental energy did not contain much destructive power, but was enough for all creatures affected to temporarily lose their minds.
In this moment, Star Dou Forest’s entire southern region turned horrifyingly silent.
At the same time, the previously clear sky suddenly darkened and a thunderous roar filled the air. In that instant, the sun’s rays were completely covered by darkness. A pressure that took away one’s breath descended from the sky.
The Daydream Iceworm rolled his eyes upward to the sky as he was struggling to incorporate himself into Huo Yuhao’s body. His two little golden eyes showed a severe fright. With this fear was also bewilderment. Clearly, the pressure from the sky had nothing to do with him and was also outside of his knowledge.
A stream of grey air that seemed to have been produced by a tremendous suction descended from the sky and instantly entered the back of Huo Yuhao’s head.
“Who dares to take this human from Ge?” The Daydream Iceworm became furious. An overpowering mental power instantly surged out, trying to expel the grey air from Huo Yuhao’s body.
A vague figure emerged on Huo Yuhao’s back and said with an ancient, majestic voice, “My hand holds the sun and moon and can pick the stars off the sky. The world does not contain a man like me. I could not have imagined that an old fellow like me could have still retained a shred of soul in this world.”
Facing the attack of the Daydream Iceworm’s immense mental pressure, this vague figure was not affected in the slightest. He simply disappeared into the back of Huo Yuhao’s head.
The Daydream Iceworm was afraid to increase his mental attack more as Huo Yuhao had started bleeding from his seven apertures. He found that after the grey mist went into Huo Yuhao’s mind, it immediately became a pea-sized marble and settled down. It would neither conflict nor be affected by his power.
“How can I be so unfortunate? I had finally found a mental attribute human, yet there is some b.a.s.t.a.r.d who wants to s.n.a.t.c.h him from me. Are the heavens jealous of a genius? Ge is so pitiful!” Although he whined, he had not slowed his movements at all. Thick white light gradually condensed and entered Huo Yuhao’s body as his physical self became more and more transparent and shrank. There was no turning back from the moment he started pouring his powers into Huo Yuhao.
By this point, Huo Yuhao’s body had turned into the color of white jade like the Daydream Iceworm. The wounds on his shoulders also healed.
“Wahaha. No matter what, I’m finally free. Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who had wanted to eat Ge will never get another chance. Wahaha.” The Daydream Iceworm’s satisfied voice gradually faded and the mental power that had covered a hundred sixty kilometers also slowly disappeared.
Deep inside Star Dou Forest, numerous frightening auras fluctuated violently as if sensing their loss. They will have to return unfulfilled.
The moment the Daydream Iceworm’s aura faded, a white ring of light appeared below Huo Yuhao and circled him three times before disappearing within his body.
Huo Yuhao didn’t even know that, unwittingly, he had obtained a spirit ring. And, it was the most unique ring to have ever existed on the Douluo Continent.
The shiny white light gradually faded and a layer of pale, ice blue emerged below Huo Yuhao’s skin for about ten seconds and also faded away. Regaining his skin’s original color, his body tilted and he fell in front of the large tree he was leaning on.
A thin layer of pale gold film silently flew up from the ground and quickly shrank before disappearing into Huo Yuhao. Not a single hint of the Daydream Iceworm’s presence remained.
The big hole on the ground had also closed, unnoticed, some time ago. Other than Huo Yuhao, the only thing left was the corpse of the baboon he had killed. Everything seemed to have returned to normal.
Not long after, two figures appeared, rapidly running toward him.
“Ah!” Gasped Tang Ya as she flew toward Huo Yuhao before stopping at his side.
“We were too late. Brother Yuhao has been attacked. This Spirit Beast is too arrogant. Coming so far out of Star Dou Forest!” Tang Ya carefully helped Huo Yuhao up from the ground with a face full of gloom and worry.
Beibei walked over to the baboon and turned its corpse over. He could see that there was a long, slanting cut on the baboon’s chest. Even its heart was cut. This was obviously a fatal blow.
“This is a Wind Baboon. Looking at its size and muscle strength, it was probably a ten year Spirit Beast. But it’s already dead.” Beibei came over to Tang Ya’s side and knelt to examine Huo Yuhao’s condition with her.
The thing surprising the two of them was that even though Huo Yuhao’s clothes were badly damaged, he was not injured in the slightest.
Beibei pressed on Huo Yuhao’s wrist and the White Tiger Dagger fell into his palm. A layer of pale blue light on his palm flickered and disappeared. Suddenly, the White Tiger Dagger also showed a layer of pale blue light.
“This is a spirit guide weapon. Yuhao had probably used this to kill the Wind Baboon. Even though the Wind Baboon was only a ten year Spirit Beast, its speed and strength is relatively good. It even has an innate spirit ability for attacks. For Yuhao to kill such a beast alone is already quite good. Looks like our evaluation of him was not quite accurate. He was probably already a one ring Spirit Master.”
Tang Ya anxiously checked Huo Yuhao’s body. “It doesn’t matter what you say now. It was my fault that I took so long washing my hands and face. I will never be able to forgive myself. It doesn’t matter what his potential is. I have decided to convince him to join Tang Clan.”
Beibei’s gaze turned soft as he looked at the fl.u.s.tered Tang Ya. What he loved the most was Tang Ya’s genuine kindness. “Don’t worry. He is fine. Don’t you see that he is breathing normally? Furthermore, he doesn’t have any injuries on his body. From his position, he was probably thrown against the tree while fighting the baboon and fainted. He will recover after a short rest.”
Tang Ya paused a second, then lifted her head and glared at Beibei. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?! Making me worry for no reason.”
Beibei responded helplessly, “Who would have known that you wouldn’t be able to discern something so simple?”
“Hmph!” Tang Ya moved Huo Yuhao over to lean on her body and confirmed that he was fine before letting out a relieved breath.
Part 4
Beibei stood up and calmly watched the surroundings as he silently guarded Tang Ya.
Huo Yuhao had fallen into a coma that felt more like a dream. He dreamed of himself entering a clean white s.p.a.ce. In this s.p.a.ce, there were many bright points. He could at the same time not see an end to this s.p.a.ce while also being able to spread his vision to every corner.
Just as he was experiencing this magical s.p.a.ce, a strong wind suddenly picked up and rays of golden light shone through.
These golden lights converged into a huge golden halo that floated in mid-air. All of the bright specks in the air suddenly grew bigger because of the halo.
Ten golden rings began to spin slowly and within each of them, a milky white glow appeared. As they spun, the rings became brighter; and soon they turned into ten huge golden b.a.l.l.s of light. The entire s.p.a.ce also increased multiple times in height and volume.
Around this time, an insignificant grey group of lights appeared near one of the golden b.a.l.l.s. This group of lights was much smaller than the others. The golden b.a.l.l.s also flared with golden light as if trying to get rid of it. However, the grey ball just calmly floated there without any reaction.
Eventually, the ten golden b.a.l.l.s gave up trying to repel the grey one and stabilized more while flashing with pale radiance.
Huo Yuhao’s conscious became clearer as the specks of lights floated down and fused into a sea of pale gold that supported the ten enormous golden b.a.l.l.s of light. Only the small gray globe remained suspended in mid-air, refusing to gather with the bigger globes.
“So, you are called Huo Yuhao.” A voice suddenly called out. Right after, Huo Yuhao subconsciously looked down and saw himself standing on top of this golden sea, surrounded by the ten golden b.a.l.l.s of light.
“Where is this? Why am I here?” Huo Yuhao asked, shocked.
“This is your brain’s sea of consciousness. In other words, the sea of your mind. From now on, this will also be Ge’s home. This place is too small, so Ge helped you expand a bit. But, your body is too weak, so I guess it will do for now”.
“You are the Daydream Iceworm? Am I dreaming?” Huo Yuhao was shocked after hearing the voice. Everything he had seen was beyond what he had known. Not to mention he was only an eleven years old kid. Even an adult would have been frightened by this magical scene.
“Dreaming? If you could have a wonderful dream like this, then you would have died from happiness already. Of course this is not a dream. I already said that this is within your mental world!” said the Daydream Iceworm, annoyed.
“What exactly is that…?” Huo Yuhao asked cluelessly.
“You really are an idiot. How can I explain this to you? Well, you should know your own eyes, right? It is what your mind acknowledges as the Spirit Eye Battle Spirit. I just examined your memories and I know what happened to you. This Spirit Eye is both your Battle Spirit and your physical eye. And the mental sea is where you store your mental power. For you, to use the power of the Spirit Eye Battle Spirit, you will need to convert Spirit Power into mental power; then, release it through your Spirit yee. The place where you store this mental power is your mental sea. The exact location can be said to be the brain behind your pair of Spirit Eyes. Your consciousness is currently within your mental sea. The body you see now is not your actual body. It is simply an image that I have created to make it easier for us to communicate.”
Listening to this detailed explanation, Huo Yuhao finally understood a little better. The fear within his heart had also lessened. Children are sometimes more sensitive than adults. He could feel that this Daydream Iceworm did not hold any ill intent towards him.
“Then why are you appearing in my mental sea?” Huo Yuhao asked again.
Daydream Iceworm responded, “Didn’t I already tell you? I want to become your spirit ring! An intelligent spirit ring. I already am. To be your spirit ring, I had to severely bind my powers. But now you have a spirit ring. And you are now what you humans call a Spirit Master. However, your potential is even worse than I had imagined. It could be the worst possible. I really don’t know if I had made the right choice.”
Huo Yuhao responded with embarra.s.sment, “My potential is not that great, but I will work hard. I only had an innate Spirit Power of one.”
Daydream Iceworm gloomily said, “I will think of something to help you in the future.”
As the conversation went on, Huo Yuhao became braver. “Daydream Iceworm.”
“Call me Daydream Ge.”
“Okay, Daydream Ge. You said that you are a million year Spirit Beast. Is that true? Also, why did you choose me? I heard that a Spirit Scholar cannot take a spirit ring more than four hundred years. But you are a million year Spirit Beast. How could you have become my spirit ring?”
Daydream Iceworm gave a long sigh, “You think I wanted to choose you? I had no choice! If I still didn’t make a choice, my life would have ended. If I died, I fear my body would have become food for all those guys in Star Dou Forest. In desperation, I could only make the decision to depend on you humans. This was the only path left. Do you want to listen to my story? We will be together for a very, very long time. I don’t want to hide anything from you. I might as well tell you everything honestly.”
Huo Yuhao nodded. “Daydream Ge, go on.”
“I was originally a very normal Iceworm Spirit Beast. I was not born in Star Dou Forest, but the frigid continent in the north. We Iceworms naturally possessed the dual attributes of mental and ice. However, our fighting strength is severely affected by our slow speed and can only be counted among common Spirit Beasts. Furthermore, we have a natural enemy. Very few of my species can ever progress over ten thousand years. I was an exception.”
“In my thirteenth year, while hiding from my natural enemy, I accidentally fell into an ice crack. At that time, I thought it was over for me. Who could have known that I had actually fallen into a bunch of ten thousand year old ice essences. Afterwards, I fell into a deep sleep. I was still weak at the time. My body was less than eight centimeters long. This sleep ended up lasting ten thousand years. When I woke up, I found myself in an ice cave. All the ten thousand year ice essences had also disappeared; all absorbed by me. I had also become a ten thousand year Spirit Beast. I was so happy at the time. However, I couldn’t find a way out.”
“The ice cave was surrounded by extremely tough ice. Even though I was already a ten thousand year Spirit Beast, the combat abilities of my species were still too weak to break out. Fortunately, there were a lot of tunnels for me to crawl in. So, I crawled inside the tunnels trying to find a way out. Finally, I discovered that there was no way out; but I did find an even bigger group of ten thousand year ice essences. This meant that I had found food. So, I fell into a deep sleep again. This time, for many tens of thousands of years…”