Tianmeng's glowing eyes flickered. "God beast…?"
Qian Renxue nodded slowly, her expression composed and regal, but a glint of steel lingered in her golden irises. "Yes."
She stepped forward, gesturing lightly toward Qian Daoliu. "My grandfather is the High Priest of the Angel God on this continent. He has guided the faith of Spirit Hall for decades. And …" she paused, raising her head, "My talent is one that appears only once in a million years. I will become the next Angel God."
Tianmeng trembled faintly, uncertain.
Seeing his hesitation, Qian Renxue exhaled, then raised her hand. A radiant light burst out.
Twelve ethereal wings unfolded from behind her back, blazing with pure divine light. The entire cavern lit up with golden radiance, washing over the crystalline walls and reflecting like a holy dawn breaking through eternal ice.
Tianmeng recoiled, stunned.
'What… what kind of martial soul is this?!'
Even with his formidable spiritual power, he could not clearly see the true form of her angelic manifestation. All he could see were the wings, twelve wings, vast and transcendent, pulsing with godly might.
"That's… not a normal angel. That's not even a seraph… just twelve wings… and I can't see the angel itself…" Tianmeng muttered to himself, awe and confusion battling within him.
Qian Renxue smirked slightly. "And when you become a god beast, obviously you can go and propose to your Bing Bing (Ice Jade Scorpion Empress) without fear of getting eaten."
That made Tianmeng's eyes widen slightly.
But still, he hesitated, a rare moment of serious doubt in the usually comedic worm. Something flickered in him, maybe fear or mistrust.
Qian Renxue's patience snapped.
Her wings flared once more, and her voice turned cold, no longer coaxing but commanding. "Tianmeng, Don't think I need you to sacrifice willingly."
The air around her grew heavy, divine pressure condensing.
'With Electrolux's help, I can forcibly strip away his soul and make a soul ring . '
A silence fell.
Even Guang Ling Douluo, who had been casually watching from the side, quietly stood straighter.
Qian Daoliu, still standing tall with his hands folded behind his back, was startled not by the silkworm's power, but by his granddaughter's unshaken composure.
'She truly has the bearing of someone fated for godhood', he thought.
'But how does she know so much about the Angel God... even beyond what I've shared?'
Then he recalled—'she spent a whole year buried in the Holy Spirit Library… perhaps she found something even I overlooked.'
Tianmeng, meanwhile, let out a long sigh. "Your proposal is good, very good. However, the problem lies with me."
He waved one stubby little limb and began his tale, his voice drifting like the soft snowflakes around them.
"You know… I was just a regular silkworm once. Nothing special. I crawled around, ate leaves, lived peacefully. Then one day, I fell into a deep ice crack which was, really deep. Thought I was gonna die."
He chuckled wryly.
"But the place was filled with something… miraculous. Pure snow essence. So I ate a little and fell asleep. Then woke up… digested it… ate more and Slept again. This cycle repeated for who knows how long."
His translucent, jade-like body shimmered as he spoke.
"Eventually, I ate all the snow essence in that cavern. Every last bit of it. And… here I am. A million years old." He laughed awkwardly. "But don't be fooled. It's not that I can't cultivate further… I've got enough energy in me to match a 5 or 6 million-year-old soul beast. The problem is… this world. The Douluo Continent itself limits soul beast evolution at one million years."
He looked solemnly at Qian Renxue. "You… you'd explode if you tried to absorb all that energy. Even he"—he nodded at Qian Daoliu—"wouldn't dare."
Qian Renxue's eyes narrowed in thought. It made sense.
In the Douluo Dalu 2 timeline, Tianmeng had acted as an energy bank for many fierce beasts in Star Dou Forest for ten thousand years. If he hadn't been overflowing with power, such a feat would've been impossible.
She closed her eyes briefly and spoke mentally with Electrolux.
"He's right. Taking everything is suicide."
"Then split it," Electrolux answered calmly. "You only need the first million years of his power to form the soul ring. The rest can become his wisdom soul projection. With my help, we'll create the container."
She opened her eyes again, golden light glinting within them.
"I have a solution," she said.
Tianmeng looked curious.
"I'll only absorb part of your energy, the first million years, to form the soul ring. The rest, your spirit and wisdom, can be retained. You'll become my spiritual companion, residing in my sea of consciousness. With that, you'll survive and eventually ascend with me."
Tianmeng hesitated, looking visibly moved.
After a few moments, he nodded. "Deal. I trust you… somehow."
Qian Renxue sat cross-legged on the icy cavern floor, her twelve wings slowly unfurling behind her, casting a divine glow.
Tianmeng floated up, his massive silkworm body shimmering. He closed his little golden eyes.
And then, it began.
A pure white radiance poured out from his body, rising like a holy mist. Slowly, that light condensed into rings, not red, but a shining platinum gold. It pulsed with a million years of accumulated strength, serene and overwhelming.
His voice echoed in the air, sorrowful yet proud:
"I, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, willingly offer my soul and power to Qian Renxue. Let my essence become her strength."
As his body faded into light particles, an enormous ring descended—golden, translucent, rimmed.
At the same time, another stream of light—gentler, shimmering like flowing—was guided by Electrolux's mental array into Qian Renxue's spirit sea, where it took the shape of a chubby, floating silkworm avatar.
Outside, the true soul ring landed on her body with a boom, started to merge with her martial soul.
Qian Renxue's aura exploded outward, the cavern walls shaking from divine pressure. She opened her eyes, now brighter than ever before.
"Thank you… Tianmeng."