A good Soul Ring would make a Soul Master's skills even more powerful. The rank of a Soul Ring was determined by the age of the Soul Beast.
Among them, white Soul Rings were Ten-Year Soul Rings, which came from Soul Beasts between ten and just under a hundred years old. Without a doubt, the baboon Huo Yuhao had just killed was a ten-year Soul Beast, and its white Soul Ring now floated clearly before his eyes. Unfortunately, this did not mean he could absorb it.
Although Huo Yuhao had no experience hunting Soul Beasts and couldn't tell what attribute this baboon possessed, he was certain of one thing: it was not a mental-attribute Soul Beast, and its Soul Ring was not suitable for him.
Huo Yuhao wanted to check on the baboon's condition, but the moment he tried to stand, a wave of intense pain washed over his entire body. The extreme tension had drained him of all strength, and the sharp pain radiating from his shoulder made him groan, nearly causing him to black out.
After all, he was only eleven years old! The recent life-or-death encounter caused his resolve to waver slightly. Mental-attribute Soul Beasts were extremely rare. This was only the first Soul Beast he had encountered, and it was merely a ten-year Soul Beast, yet it had nearly killed him. What if he ran into a hundred-year Soul Beast? He would surely die; luck couldn't possibly be on his side every time. Even the miraculous power of the White Tiger Dagger could not compensate for his own weakness.
"What should I do now?"
Huo Yuhao leaned weakly against a tree trunk, panting heavily.
*I cannot die. I must succeed. I have to seek justice for my mother; I cannot let this go.* Huo Yuhao grit his teeth, constantly trying to steel his resolve. However, the battle from moments ago kept replaying in his mind, as if to remind him of his own sheer foolishness and overestimation of his abilities!
Just as Huo Yuhao was at a loss for what to do, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Finally, I've met a mental-attribute human! It's a pity this brother can't shed tears, otherwise my face would be covered in them!"
Huo Yuhao jumped in fright. He had absolutely no idea why a strange voice had suddenly appeared in his head. At the same time, the ground began to tremble. About two meters away from where he stood, cracks started to appear on the earth, gradually widening into a fissure. A faint, golden-white light could be seen flashing from deep within the crevice.
What... what was this? A Soul Beast?
Huo Yuhao instinctively gripped the White Tiger Dagger tightly, staring ahead in tense anticipation. If his body hadn't been so completely exhausted, he would have run away long ago.
An icy chill emanated from the fissure, causing the surrounding temperature to drop noticeably. The crack had now expanded into a deep pit over five meters in diameter, and the source of the golden-white light finally revealed itself.
It was a round, chubby head, about a meter in diameter. It wiggled and slowly crawled out of the pit, its body stretching to a length of over seven meters.
With its appearance, Huo Yuhao's breath began to turn into misty plumes, and the freezing chill made him shiver uncontrollably.
This was definitely a Soul Beast. It looked like an adorable silkworm, except its body was countless times larger than any ordinary silkworm.
Its entire body was translucent like white jade. Although it had crawled out of the dirt, there wasn't a single speck of dust on its skin. A faint glow constantly rippled across its body, and its eyes shone with a glittering golden light. Most peculiar of all, starting about half a foot behind its head, golden rings encircled its body at regular intervals, totaling ten from head to tail.
Looking at the creature's massive body, Huo Yuhao's anxiety turned to utter despair. With such a huge frame and the ability to lower the temperature, it had to be at least a hundred-year soul beast. It was over; everything was finished!
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Brother won't hurt you."
The voice from before echoed in Huo Yuhao's mind once again. The giant worm nodded at him, crawling forward until it stopped about a meter away. A refreshing fragrance wafted from its breath.
Startled, Huo Yuhao asked, "Are you the one talking to me?"
The giant worm nodded, its voice continuing to ring in his mind. "Of course it's Brother. Are you captivated by my soft, beautiful body?"
Sensing no malice from the worm, Huo Yuhao relaxed slightly. "What do you want?"
The worm said, "First, let me introduce myself. I am the embodiment of heroism and chivalry, a perfect combination of wisdom and beauty. I am the King of Kings among Soul Beasts, a peerless powerhouse who has cultivated for a million years, and the longest-living Skydream Ice Worm in the history of the Douluo Continent. You can call me Brother Skydream!"
Huo Yuhao's eyes went blank. "A... a... a million years...? A million-year Soul Beast?"
This was ten thousand times greater than his initial estimate. Did a million-year Soul Beast really exist in this world? Wasn't the strongest Soul Beast on the Douluo Continent only a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast?
The Skydream Ice Worm said smugly, "Are you surprised? Are you excited? You're the very first human to ever lay eyes on me."
Dazed, Huo Yuhao asked, "Then what do you want to do?"
The Skydream Ice Worm's voice suddenly grew solemn. "Brother wants to become your Soul Ring—the very first intelligent Soul Ring on the Douluo Continent."
"Huh?"
Huo Yuhao stared at the Skydream Ice Worm, dumbfounded, completely losing his ability to think.
All of this was simply too sudden. He had indeed yearned for a soul ring, but up until now, his only hope had been a ten-year soul ring; he had never dared to dream of anything more. Yet at this very moment, a giant worm had suddenly crawled out of the ground, claimed to be a great million-year soul beast, and even offered to become his soul ring. Huo Yuhao was completely bewildered, unable to tell if the Skydream Ice Worm's words were true or false.
But regardless, he had no way of resisting the giant worm before him.
The Skydream Ice Worm's massive head cast a wary glance toward the Great Star Dou Forest, then turned back to Huo Yuhao. "I'm about to begin. Don't worry, I'll be gentle. It won't hurt."
"You..."
Before Huo Yuhao could voice his protest, an incredibly icy aura caused him to lose consciousness. He only caught a faint glimpse of a plump, white figure moving toward him before he blacked out.
The golden rings on the Skydream Ice Worm's body seemed to come alive, moving in a rhythmic pattern. The plump, white thing Huo Yuhao had glimpsed was actually the Skydream Ice Worm pressing its head against his forehead.
Ten golden halos rapidly enveloped Huo Yuhao's small, frail body, while the Tianmeng Iceworm itself transformed into streaks of white light that continuously surged into his body.