Huo Yuhao understood very well the vast difference between the Spirit Domain realm and the Divine Origin realm.
Even at the peak of the Spirit Domain realm, the accumulation required to break through to the Divine Origin realm was immense—far from something achieved overnight.
It wasn't just a quantitative change in spiritual power, but a qualitative leap. In fact, this qualitative transformation was even more drastic than the transitions between the previous spiritual power realms.
It was the leap from "spirit" to "divine," requiring the most essential metamorphosis of spiritual power itself—like iron ore needing to be forged into steel, requiring more than just a little heat.
If progressing step by step through accumulation, very few Limit Douluo could reach that level. Among the older generation in this era, in the original story, only Chen Xinjie and Yun Ming—both cheaters in their own right—had reached the Divine Origin realm. The others had no clue.
But for Huo Yuhao, who had already broken through once, this path was one he'd walked before. He no longer needed to start from scratch.
What he lacked wasn't experience, nor an understanding of the Divine Origin realm's essence—it was simply an opportunity.
He had once broken through to that level. Even now, in his reincarnated state, remnants of divine consciousness imprints lingered in his spiritual origin. With the right opportunity, he could use them to break through!
And now, with his peak Spirit Domain-level spiritual power having increased by a thread, the barrier to the Divine Origin realm had loosened. This was an opportunity.
"Snow, temporarily reduce the spirit power connection and strengthen the spiritual connection—help me cultivate!"
Huo Yuhao transmitted this thought through his spiritual power, then multi-tasked, sinking part of his consciousness into the depths of his Sea of Spirit to begin activating the divine consciousness imprints he'd left behind.
Snow Empress didn't hesitate upon hearing this. Knowing Huo Yuhao was at a critical moment, she immediately reduced the spirit power integration and maximized the spiritual connection.
Snow Empress's divine consciousness interwove with Huo Yuhao's spiritual sense, forming an ice-blue river. Her qualitatively transformed divine consciousness led his spiritual sense to strengthen further.
The stronger led the weaker.
Seizing the right moment, Huo Yuhao activated his divine consciousness imprints while also unsealing the Fire Dragon King's origin.
He had only recently reached the peak of the Spirit Domain realm; his accumulation wasn't yet sufficient. If he tried to break through directly, he might run out of steam.
But that was fine—insufficient accumulation could be supplemented by devouring.
Devouring was the great path in Douluo, certified by the protagonist, no false advertising.
As the Fire Dragon King's origin was unsealed, like a semi-divine being performing an empowerment, a vast spiritual origin surged into Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit. A massive amount of spirit power also attempted to flow into his limbs, but he temporarily sealed it off for later absorption.
For now, he needed to focus on his spiritual power.
The Spirit Domain-level spiritual power from the Fire Dragon King's spiritual origin rushed into Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit, causing his spiritual soul core to rejoice and frantically refine this power.
With this new force joining, combined with the divine consciousness imprints in his Sea of Spirit, Huo Yuhao's spiritual power finally underwent a qualitative transformation.
The spiritual soul core hovered at the center of the vast Sea of Spirit. At first, it merely trembled slightly. Then its rotation speed suddenly increased, its light shifting from gold to silver-white, from silver-white to colorless and transparent, eventually condensing into a crystalline, clear crystal at the Sea of Spirit's center.
With a thought, Huo Yuhao shifted his consciousness to the spiritual soul core. The next moment, the core seemed to explode, bursting forth with intense light. Within that radiance, a tiny golden figure slowly emerged, standing at the center of the Sea of Spirit.
The figure was only three inches tall, its body flowing with golden light, its features clearly distinguishable—it was Huo Yuhao himself, shrunk countless times.
He clenched his fist and smiled.
At this point, the spiritual soul core could no longer be called a soul core.
It could be called a divine core—also his divine consciousness true body.
If his physical body met with mishap, as long as this core escaped, Huo Yuhao wouldn't die.
After the spiritual soul core's transformation, Huo Yuhao's originally golden Sea of Spirit took on a crystalline luster. It felt like a century had passed, yet also like an instant. His Sea of Spirit had expanded a hundredfold.
The spiritual power that once filled the entire Sea of Spirit now only formed a thin layer, but its intensity had undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation.
Divine Origin realm—spiritual sense transformed into divine spirit, the origin was newly formed. Spiritual sense became divine spirit; spiritual power had become divine power. This was the world of gods—where thought reached, heaven and earth were laid bare!
The moment divine consciousness coalesced, an invisible spiritual pressure erupted from Huo Yuhao's body like a hurricane, sweeping outward in all directions.
The flat ground beneath his feet rippled in layers. His spiritual power became a surging ocean of light, spreading outward. For Snow Empress, this had little effect. But Alba and Ye Weiyang felt it differently—a spiritual pressure like a mountain weighed on their minds, causing them both to change expression.
"Divine consciousness..." Alba looked at Huo Yuhao with envy.
That was the realm he'd been striving for.
Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes. The light in the depths of his pupils flashed and vanished, and that mountain-like spiritual pressure retreated back into his body. The Undead Plane returned to calm.
Snow Empress looked at him with gentle eyes. "Do you need to rest a while to stabilize your cultivation?"
"No need. For me, this is just returning to a familiar realm. Let's continue."
Huo Yuhao shook his head.
The Divine Origin realm of spiritual power was the easiest part of the divine level for him to break through—he didn't need much adjustment and quickly mastered it.
Hearing this, Snow Empress nodded slightly and resumed her integration with Huo Yuhao in all aspects.
As their divine consciousnesses merged, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but mentally comment.
This truly had become divine intercourse.
And because Huo Yuhao's spiritual power had reached the same level as hers, this fusion gave the Snow Empress another insight—when their divine consciousnesses intertwined, it was no longer a matter of her unilaterally guiding Huo Yuhao's spiritual growth, but rather a balanced resonance. If they maintained this state of fusion over the long term, the rate of their spiritual growth would surpass that of solitary cultivation.
Coupled with the fact that their spirit power cultivation speed would double in this state, Snow Empress said softly, "Yuhao, it seems we'll need to cultivate together often from now on."
If it were just spirit power, that would be one thing—but if it also helped divine consciousness growth, clearly cultivating together was better.
This was for cultivation's sake.
Hearing Snow Empress's somewhat reserved words, Huo Yuhao snapped back to the present and smiled. "Alright, I'll cultivate with you."
Smiling on the surface, his mood was somewhat subtle.
Had he accidentally created the prototype of a dual cultivation technique? And a legitimate one at that.
Not bad.
But the greatest benefit of a martial soul fusion skill clearly wasn't these.
He composed himself and refocused on the main matter.
"Snow, we've basically completed the divine consciousness fusion. Next..." Huo Yuhao paused, "it's time to try the martial soul fusion."
Snow Empress nodded slightly.
Both released their martial souls simultaneously. Behind Huo Yuhao, the Ice Empress martial soul's projection appeared. Behind Snow Empress appeared a projection of her true form—an Ice Sky Snow Maiden, her hair flowing like a waterfall, her skirt billowing, cool and noble, like a goddess stepping forth from an ancient frozen plain.
The moment the two martial souls appeared, they resonated strongly due to the Ice God Twin Lotus they'd absorbed.
A massive pillar of light appeared out of nowhere, enveloping them layer by layer. Within it, their figures gradually blurred and overlapped, finally merging into one.
When the light faded, a figure stepped out.
His appearance was mostly based on Huo Yuhao, but blended with Snow Empress's cool divine charm. His features were distinct, with sharp brows and starry eyes. Ice-blue hair hung to his waist, and a golden divine ring manifested behind him.
The moment he appeared, the Undead Plane's temperature plummeted. The sky changed, and snow silently fell everywhere—like the descent of the Ice God!
The latent power made Ye Weiyang and Alba feel what a true deity was.
And as the users of this martial soul fusion skill, Snow Empress and Huo Yuhao naturally felt the state most deeply.
"This is already a true deity."
Snow Empress's consciousness was full of wonder.
Setting aside divine consciousness, the energy flowing through their current body wasn't spirit power—it was ice-attribute divine power!
The moment fusion completed, Snow Empress noticed that Huo Yuhao had begun converting their spirit power.
With their combined foundation and Huo Yuhao's understanding of divine power, the first strand of divine power was successfully converted. Once they'd gone from zero to one, everything else followed naturally.
For Huo Yuhao, this was a preview of merging his two lifetimes' cultivation in the future.
For Snow Empress, it was undoubtedly an opportunity—experiencing firsthand the process of converting spirit power to divine power and personally feeling divine power. After this, her difficulty in elevating her spirit power to the divine level had decreased significantly.
For a time, the two focused less on the fusion skill's power and more on comprehending divine power.
Using a martial soul fusion skill to explore the path ahead—they were the first in history to do so.
They remained immersed in their comprehension until the martial soul fusion dissolved. Their eyes met, and Huo Yuhao's gaze still held some emotion.
The gains were truly abundant.
"Let's go. It's time to leave."
Huo Yuhao sent Alba back to the Demon Plane with a wave, then led Snow Empress and Ye Weiyang out of the Undead Plane.
Back home, Snow Empress made arrangements for Ye Weiyang. Encountering no difficulties, Ye Weiyang breathed a secret sigh of relief—it seemed Snow Empress and Huo Yuhao's relationship wasn't a secret; she probably wouldn't be silenced.
But this also sparked her curiosity about Snow Empress and Huo Yuhao's situation.
After all these years without the Tower Master Snow Empress being moved by anyone—just who was this Huo Yuhao to have... "won over" their Extreme North Empress?
Unaware of Ye Weiyang's thoughts, Huo Yuhao returned home and released the Fire Dragon King's spirit power origin, gradually absorbing it. His body emanated the aura of ultimate fire.
With three soul cores already condensed, his spirit power cultivation now focused on accumulation—no bottlenecks to speak of. Speeding things up a bit was fine.
Snow Empress, having finished with Ye Weiyang, glanced at him but didn't interrupt.
Though "dual cultivation" was faster, Huo Yuhao was currently absorbing the Fire Dragon King's origin—not suitable for their ultimate ice spirit power fusion state. They could do that later.
"Come to think of it, now when I look at Yuhao, besides the emotional connection, there's also an inexplicable attraction—is it from the mutual attraction of our martial soul origins?"
Snow Empress thought to herself.
No wonder most users of martial soul fusion skills had such close relationships. When martial souls were drawn to one another, it was as if their innate affinity had reached its peak—it was only natural that their relationships grew closer over time.
Of course, if they truly despised each other, this affinity seemed to have limited effect.
Not that Snow Empress had ever seen martial soul fusion skill users who despised each other.
After all, this was the Douluo Continent!
Recently, Gu Yuena felt something was off.
Ever since Huo Yuhao and Snow Empress had taken someone to the Undead Plane, the two had been spending more time together.
That alone wouldn't have been a problem, but the key was that Huo Yuhao and Snow Empress each carried the other's aura, which was growing increasingly intense. Gu Yuena had even wondered if someone was about to make a move.
Wasn't this a bit disrespectful to her? Or had she misjudged?
"No." Gu Yuena set down her teacup, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I at least need to figure out what they're actually doing."
After a moment's hesitation, Gu Yuena directly used her trump card—using her Reverse Scale to secretly observe Huo Yuhao's activities.
Ahem, she usually wouldn't use such means, but there were necessary times—for Huo Yuhao's safety, for instance.
And now was one of those necessary times.
As she connected with the Reverse Scale, the scene of Huo Yuhao and Snow Empress in "dual cultivation" had just come into view when Gu Yuena realized—she'd been caught.
In the scene, Huo Yuhao suddenly looked up, his gaze piercing through space directly at her.
The next moment, he and Snow Empress seemed to exchange a few words and paused their cultivation.
Spatial power rippled, and Huo Yuhao's figure appeared before her.
Looking at him, Gu Yuena tilted her head in confusion, her silver hair swaying slightly, pretending nothing had happened.
"Yuhao, is something the matter?"
"Don't try to cute your way out of this."
Huo Yuhao looked at her helplessly, reaching out to gently pinch her cheek. "I've known you could use the Reverse Scale to spy on me for a while—I just didn't mention it. Don't think I didn't know."
Gu Yuena blinked. "Yuhao, your spiritual power before shouldn't have been able to detect that, right? Did Elder Electrolux or Snow Empress tell you?"
She was confident in her methods.
"Does that matter now?" Huo Yuhao sighed, pulling her into his arms and ruffling her silver hair with his other hand. "You're curious about what Snow and I have been up to, right? We've been cultivating using a martial soul fusion skill."
"I saw that." Gu Yuena thought of what she'd just witnessed. "I didn't expect your martial souls to be compatible for fusion."
"It's thanks to the Ice God Twin Lotus."
Huo Yuhao explained, leaving Gu Yuena feeling somewhat envious.
In a sense, the Extreme North was the starting point for Huo Yuhao and Snow Empress. The Ice God Twin Lotus born there had given them a martial soul fusion skill—there was something romantic about it, like fate.
"Yuhao, could we try too?" Gu Yuena pondered for a moment, then couldn't help asking.
She and Huo Yuhao had many commonalities, and their martial souls were indeed connected.
Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao thought of the original story's Trinity Fusion of Wang Dong'er, Wang Qiu'er, and himself—the Purple-Gold Butterfly Dragon Transformation—and felt somewhat puzzled.
Speaking of which, in the original story, Huo Yuhao had been able to fuse with Wang Qiu'er, whose martial soul manifested as the Golden Dragon. That was either Tang San's handiwork or proof that there was indeed compatibility between them.
With Gu Yuena and himself... it wasn't necessarily certain.
Huo Yuhao was silent for a moment, then said softly, "If you want, we can look into it later. But it'll have to wait until after the meeting with the Federation."
They'd already confirmed that they would be meeting with the Federation, and had coordinated to set it for today.
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!