Time flew by, and it was the afternoon ten days later.
Shen Hanyu slowly awakened from his deep meditation state.
Due to Tianmeng's negligence, even though the overflowing energy was only a tiny fraction of Tianmeng's total energy, it still caused considerable damage to Shen Hanyu's body.
Things like damaged meridians were minor issues; even his internal organs had nearly been burst apart.
Even in the later stages, when Tianmeng Ice Silkworm attempted to become a ninth soul ring for a mental-attribute Titled Douluo, the terrifying energy directly burst the opponent apart, showing just how terrifying the energy within it was.
Supporting his injured body back to the camp, with Tianmeng Ice Silkworm helping to stand guard, he disregarded the danger and directly entered a state of deep meditation.
He urgently needed to absorb or expel this energy.
Absorbing the residual energy in his meridians was relatively easy, but at the beginning, this energy ran wildly throughout his body, causing considerable harm, and even his internal organs suffered some minor injuries.
Tianmeng expressed its apologies for this.
Shen Hanyu was speechless about it; the improvement from one deep meditation session was too great, and the injuries received were simply not worth mentioning.
His soul power skyrocketed straight to level fifty-six. Tianmeng's body lacked nothing but energy and heaven-and-earth vital force, and it could continuously supply his cultivation. The cultivation speed was nearly fifty percent faster than before, with an effect simply far more powerful than taking immortal herbs.
The increase in mental power was even more terrifying. Tianmeng itself was a ferocious beast with dual ice and mental attributes. Originally, after taking the Look Through Autumn Water Dew, his mental power had already reached a very terrifying level. Now, with the amplification from Tianmeng, Shen Hanyu estimated that it could already rival that of an ordinary Titled Douluo.
As Shen Hanyu exhaled a breath of turbid air and stretched his body, which had already recovered, he asked:
"Tianmeng, were there no soul beasts disturbing me while I was meditating?"
"Aiyo, Hanyu, you've finally woken up. Let me tell you, you're really bold. After you started meditating, quite a few terrifying existences found their way nearby. Luckily, my mental power is unparalleled in the world, so I managed to bluff my way through. Otherwise, both of us would've been done for by now."
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice rang out instantly, its tone somewhat excited. It seemed the past few days had scared it badly.
Shen Hanyu rubbed his brow and said irritably:
"Do you know that your entire body is nothing but energy and heaven-and-earth vital force? If this kind of energy were on an ordinary Soul King, who knows how many times they would've died? I'm still alive now, should I thank you for your great kindness?"
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm chuckled twice and quickly promised:
"I guarantee this absolutely won't happen again. It's mainly because Hanyu, you're too strong, and I got too excited, so I wasn't careful and let the energy overflow. Next time for sure! Next time for sure!"
Shen Hanyu rolled his eyes, looking at the boundless wind and snow outside, and suddenly said:
"A soul beast like you with no combat power at all, why would you appear here? Aren't you afraid of dying?"
Speaking of this, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's talkative nature erupted once again, its voice both indignant and infatuated:
"I was sleeping soundly in my cave, but then the Ice Emperor actually discovered my delicate body and even wanted to make me her food. May I agree to that? I had no choice but to use my mental power to trap her for a while, then I directly ran away."
"Then the Ice Emperor kept chasing and killing me all the way here before retreating. Even after tens of thousands of years, she still wouldn't let it go. I just wanted to rest and catch up on some sleep, but then I ran into that dumb giant from before. I just teased his wife a few times, and this guy started chasing and killing me, too. I had no choice but to prepare to jump into the sea to seek a sliver of survival. But halfway there, I ran into you, Hanyu."
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm paused, then continued:
"The first time I saw you, I was utterly amazed. Although I rarely interact with humans, your brilliance was truly too dazzling. That's why I thought of sacrificing myself to you, cultivating you into a god, so I could bask in your glory and go back to deal with the Ice Emperor properly..."
Shen Hanyu nodded and directly said:
"You're not in love with that Ice Emperor, are you?"
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm quickly denied it, but after a long pause, it still softly admitted with a low hum.
Falling in love with one's natural enemy—how to put it, this kind of love was indescribably strange.
"Alright, alright, Tianmeng, don't be so downhearted. If I remember correctly, the Ice Emperor and Snow Emperor probably don't have much time left, right?"
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was stunned for a moment, then said, somewhat puzzled:
"I remember that you humans fundamentally don't know about these things at all. Could it be that I've been sleeping for a few hundred thousand years, and now humans even know about ferocious beasts?"
"It's not humans only, I know. Or rather, only the top few soul masters of this era know, no more than the fingers on one hand."
Shen Hanyu explained.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm hummed in acknowledgment, then suddenly realized.
"I was wondering, last time I saw humans, they didn't even understand much about a hundred-thousand-year soul beasts. How come in just a short hundred thousand years, they even know about ferocious beasts?"
"However, a few decades ago, I sensed a human aura in the nearby sea that was no weaker than the Snow Emperor's. I don't know which powerhouse among you humans it was. It scared me so much I nearly fainted on the spot. Luckily, that person was just bringing a soul master who seemed to have a dragon-type martial soul to hunt a ninety-thousand-year soul beast and then left directly, without truly entering the Far North."
Shen Hanyu's brows raised. A human soul master no weaker than the Snow Emperor, active over the ocean, that must be the Sea God Douluo Bo Saixi.
As for that Titled Douluo with the dragon-type martial soul, it was probably the Sea Dragon Douluo among the Seven Sacred Pillars of Sea God Island.
"Setting that aside for now, that peerless Douluo is the spokesperson of a god in the human world. If she uses divine power, her strength could probably fight the Snow Emperor in the Far North to a draw."
Shen Hanyu still explained a bit.
This Tianmeng guy, although it did nothing but eat and sleep, undeniably, its mental power was truly strong. In its limit state, it could almost cover half the Far North, so sensing things over the ocean wasn't exactly strange.
"However, Hanyu, I'm very curious. I read your memories, but there was never any information about us ferocious beasts. Yet why do you understand us so well, even as if you were born knowing it innately, with an understanding of many things that have never appeared that transcends this era."
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was somewhat curious. It had indeed accepted almost all of Shen Hanyu's memories from childhood that could be accessed, but it still felt incredibly curious. It seemed that from the moment Shen Hanyu was born, his mind had begun developing at high speed, or rather, he was born with wisdom no less than that of a teenager.
Shen Hanyu was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said:
"Maybe I'm just naturally smart."
He hadn't let Tianmeng Ice Silkworm access his memories from his previous life. It was normal for the other to be curious.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm could also sense Shen Hanyu's resistance to this question and tactfully didn't say more, only adding:
"Hanyu, are you still planning to go deeper into the Far North? Just a hundred li ahead is the territory of the Ice Frost Snake clan. The strongest in their clan, the Ice Frost Snake Demon, has two hundred thousand years of cultivation. Unfortunately, due to heavenly tribulation, it has at most a thousand years of life left. But because its race's ice attribute is second only to ultimate ice, it can be considered a hegemon in the Far North."
Shen Hanyu shook his head, looking at the unpredictable weather, and said:
"My original intention was to pass through here into the Icebound Forest and see if there were any opportunities along the way. Now that I have you, naturally, there's no need to take this risk. I'll detour through the Haagen-Dazs Kingdom instead, and along the way, I'll stabilize my cultivation a bit."
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm acknowledged, then its terrifying mental power subtly extended outward, and it shared it in real-time with Shen Hanyu.
Shen Hanyu only felt his vision brighten, and everything within dozens of li around clearly transmitted into his mind.
"Hanyu, be careful when detouring later. There are still some soul beasts nearby that are unwilling to leave. If we casually provoke one, both of us will have to answer for it here."
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm cautioned.
Shen Hanyu nodded, packed up the camp tent, and his figure quickly disappeared into the wind and snow.