"You're awake."
The two million-year soul rings retracted into his body, and his Soul Power fluctuations gradually settled. As little Yuhao opened his eyes, he heard Baili Du's familiar, concerned voice. A large leaf wrap containing an emerald-green liquid appeared before him, emitting a crisp fragrance mixed with the scent of vegetation.
"Drink it... it will be very beneficial for your body right now."
Baili Du tossed the awkward thoughts of "bathwater" aside. When it comes to natural treasures, there's no such thing as being too dirty.
"Thank you, Uncle." Little Yuhao never doubted Baili Du's words; he took the leaf and drank it all in one go.
Immediately, a rich aura of life filled his entire body, causing him to let out a comfortable moan. This dense Life Force dissolved the fatigue of trekking through the forest and significantly boosted his physical attributes. Even his delicate little face became a few shades fairer and clearer.
"..."
Baili Du's expression was a bit strange—not because Yuhao had drunk Gu Yuena's bathwater, but because of Yuhao's current appearance.
I... didn't accidentally raise him to be a "trap," did I?
The genes of Huo Yun'er and Dai Hao were undoubtedly excellent. In his previous life, Huo Yuhao's initial average appearance was mostly due to malnutrition and stunted development; once his nutrition caught up, he naturally became a handsome man. Even if he wasn't quite on the level of Tang Wulin or Lan Xuanyu, he wasn't inferior to Tang San.
This version of little Yuhao had been nourished by the essence and blood of two God King-level beings. Any congenital deficiencies or weak foundations had long since been repaired, but he had developed perhaps too well...
Naturally shaped soft eyebrows, long eyelashes, a straight bridge of the nose, fair skin, and lips of perfect thickness—especially those clear, large eyes. If he dressed neutrally, one might truly struggle to tell his gender.
...Forget it, stop thinking about useless things.
Little Yuhao smiled excitedly at Baili Du: "Uncle Baili, I really obtained a soul ring!"
Baili Du smiled back. "Mhm. How does it feel to fuse with a million-year soul ring?"
[Holy crap! How can this person know about million-year soul rings?! And that drink just now was...]
Inside little Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, the Skydream Ice Silkworm was struck with terror. As a million-year Soul Beast, his super-perception suddenly caught a scent of something from Baili Du...
He couldn't see the depths of this man's power; the man knew about million-year rings and could bring a cup of the Water of Life out of the Core Area unscathed...
That meant this human was absolutely more terrifying than Di Tian, that big black dragon!
The corners of Baili Du's mouth curled up slightly into a kind smile, devoid of any malice.
"Don't be nervous, Brother Skydream. Just like you, I want little Yuhao to have a good life... We are family now, so please get along well with him from now on."
Perhaps due to Baili Du's approachable aura, the Skydream Ice Silkworm lowered its guard slightly and asked tentatively:
[You... who exactly are you? Why can't I feel any aura from you? And you, how much do you know?]
Baili Du looked at the shocked and confused little Yuhao and shrugged.
"Don't be so tense. Let's explain the whole situation to little Yuhao together."
After nearly half an hour of explanations, science lessons, questions, and answers, Huo Yuhao finally understood what kind of terrifying opportunity he had received.
And he had gained all of this because of Baili Du!
Little Yuhao's eyes turned red as he sobbed: "Uncle Baili, thank you... I, I..."
"What is meant to be in your life will eventually be yours; what is not meant to be cannot be forced. These things belonged to you originally; no one can snatch them away, and no one else can obtain them." As if seeing through Yuhao's thoughts, Baili Du gently stroked his soft hair and spoke first: "If you're thinking about repaying me, don't. Remember what I said: what you should do with the power you possess is what you should always be thinking about."
"Mhm! I will definitely work hard in the future and will not let you down!"
"Good! I'll be watching you closely. If you don't meet my requirements, I'm going to give you a spanking."
"Haha, I won't give Uncle Baili that chance!"
The two of them left the Star Constellation Great Forest laughing and chatting, returning to their home on the outskirts of Star Net City.
On the way, Baili Du also learned about the Soul Skills the Skydream Ice Silkworm had given Yuhao as a Soul Spirit.
Perhaps because Yuhao's Spirit Eye Martial Soul contained the "Power of Emotion," or because the Skydream Ice Silkworm had completed the Soul Spirit ritual ahead of time, the skills weren't the "Skydream Four-Piece Set" he was familiar with.
First Soul Ring: [Gold] Skydream Ice Silkworm (Spiritual Detection & Sharing, Spiritual Interference Domain, Soul Guardian, Spiritual Clone)
Second Soul Ring: [Gold] Skydream Ice Silkworm (Simulation, Spiritual Chain)
Originally, Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing—which had overlapping effects—had been merged into one, occupying only one skill slot.
If you can share it, why wouldn't you be able to detect it? He really suspected that the Skydream Ice Silkworm in his previous life had just leveled up his skill tree poorly.
The original Soul Shock had been replaced by Soul Guardian, which was like a "Lite" version of the Life Reflection Shield; it could only defend against mental attacks. After all, a pure mental attack like Soul Shock could be used by any Soul Master as long as their realm was high enough, even if they weren't a spiritual type.
As for Spiritual Chain and Spiritual Clone, those were techniques the Skydream Ice Silkworm had realized himself—two divine skills for crushing weaker opponents.
Baili Du suddenly felt a bit depressed. Why wasn't I this lucky back in the day...
While leaving little Yuhao to continue practicing how to control his Martial Soul and his two Ultimate Attributes, Baili Du took the opportunity to check the overall situation of the Douluo Continent.
As expected! A certain someone who had also been revived due to the Reincarnation Hurricane and Spacetime Turbulence had already grasped the situation. Baili Du originally thought he would make a move, but surprisingly, the other party had endured it and remained motionless.
That's not right... Although they hadn't officially dealt with each other, as the ruler of a plane, that guy was clearly the proud and arrogant type. After being sabotaged so badly by the Tang Family, he didn't attack?
It was a bit of a pity; Baili Du was actually quite envious of his Ultra-Divine Artifact...
After confirming the movements of the Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Cult, Baili Du turned his gaze toward the Battle Spirit Empire.
When he saw that grandson Lan Xuanyu actually joining the Xuanming Sect as a servant just to awaken his Martial Soul, Baili Du almost burst out laughing.
This time, you don't have Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena to protect you. I hope you can still be as cocky as before.
Baili Du remembered that at a previous Tang Family gathering, Lan Xuanyu had pretentiously and "humbly" said that his strength was already extremely close to the Dragon God's peak.
But when Baili Du first arrived in this era, he had gone to the Dragon Valley to take the Dragon God's marrow from the remains and compared the gap between Lan Xuanyu and the original Dragon God.
Looking at it now, he was just bragging. Catching up to the Dragon God? He'd need to train for another tens of thousands of years.
Leaving Lan Xuanyu aside for now—he'd let little Yuhao deal with him later—there was one place Baili Du was concerned about.
He looked toward the north.
That was... Shrek Academy.
He wasn't looking at the academy itself, but at the Golden Tree within it.
He didn't have much time left to stay on the Douluo Continent. After thinking it over, he felt it would be best to collect a little bit of interest from the Tang Family right now.