After taking up residence in Xu Tianhao's sea of consciousness, the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's originally loud and proud voice gradually grew weaker as its mental force rapidly contracted.
Its voice carried a hint of the laziness that comes after surviving a disaster: "No matter what, this brother is finally free."
"You bastards who treated me as food, you won't have the chance anymore! Wahaha..."
Its laughter remained wild and chuunibyou-like, but it was tinged with a bit more exhaustion.
Simultaneously, the massive mental force that had covered a hundred-mile radius over the Star Dou Great Forest like a canopy began to dissipate.
At this moment, like a receding tide, it contracted and condensed inward at a staggering speed visible to the naked eye.
Ultimately, it turned into an imperceptible streak of light, merging completely into Xu Tianhao's brow and vanishing without a trace.
Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest lay the core forbidden zone, a place where even Titled Douluo dared not lightly set foot.
Right now, several terrifying auras capable of changing the very colors of heaven and earth fluctuated violently at the same time.
Those auras were ancient and vast, carrying a world-destroying pressure as if slumbering behemoths had suddenly awakened, frantically probing and searching for something in the air.
The air distorted and trembled under this pressure; surrounding towering ancient trees shook, and countless Spirit Beasts prostrated themselves on the ground, not even daring to breathe loudly.
However, no matter how these terrifying existences sensed or searched,
they could no longer capture that terrifying mental fluctuation, as if it had never appeared at all.
Their investigation was ultimately destined to be in vain, leaving behind only streaks of aura filled with resentment and confusion that lingered in the Star Dou core region for a long time.
Within the sea of consciousness, the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's chubby mental body floated in Xu Tianhao's conscious space.
It shook its body triumphantly, its voice ringing out again with an air of seeking credit:
"Now you know how powerful this brother is, right? With that move just now, even those old fogies in the Star Dou core can only stare blankly!"
But after waiting for a while without hearing the wonder and admiration it expected from Xu Tianhao, the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled, its tone becoming confused:
"But why aren't you shocked at all? This brother feels like something is weird... Is my performance not exciting enough?"
Hearing this, Xu Tianhao only smiled faintly: "Your mental Origin and wisdom spirit ring are indeed crucial to me; they are irreplaceable assets."
"But your own combat strength is indeed quite average."
These words were like cold water poured over its head. The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm instantly became unhappy, its chubby mental body puffing up like an angry tangyuan:
"What do you mean? Looking down on this brother? I am a million-year Spirit Beast! An existence that has lived for a million years!"
"Even if I can't beat those Vicious Beasts, I'm not someone you can underestimate!"
Xu Tianhao shook his head helplessly, his consciousness gently touching the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's fleshy mental body, his tone peaceful: "That's not it."
"While your individual combat strength is average, your mental force, your wisdom, and your million-year foundation are unique in this world."
"And I happen to need these. When you and I combine, you will no longer be average; we will achieve greatness together."
"This is a powerful alliance. There's no such thing as looking down on anyone. From now on, we share a life-and-death relationship; we rise and fall together."
Hearing the words 'life-and-death relationship,' the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's anger dissipated instantly, and its chubby mental body relaxed.
The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm nodded with satisfaction, its tone softening considerably: "That's more like it. You're quite sensible."
"As long as you know my value, follow me in the future, and I'll ensure you live the good life!"
With those words, Xu Tianhao's consciousness slowly withdrew from the sea of consciousness, regaining control of his body.
He opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the ground in front of him, where a thin, lustrous white membrane remained—the sloughed-off skin left behind by the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm.
Xu Tianhao picked up the membrane; it felt slightly cool to the touch and had a tough texture, containing pure ice-attribute spirit power and mental force fluctuations.
The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's voice rang in his mind again, carrying a hint of reluctance and instruction:
"Hurry up and put it away. This is my million-year sloughed skin, a top-tier treasure. Even those ninth-level soul tools might not compare to it, so don't lose it."
Xu Tianhao nodded and, with a slight movement of his fingertips, stored the million-year sloughed skin into his spirit tool.
Xu Tianhao said, "Don't worry, I will make good use of this million-year sloughed skin; I won't waste a single bit of it."
As soon as Xu Tianhao finished speaking, the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's voice became much weaker, carrying a heavy weariness:
"Alright, alright, I'm exhausted. To get away from those guys, I used up a massive amount of mental force."
"I'm going to rest well for a while, slumbering to recover my Origin. I'll leave everything else to you."
Xu Tianhao understood. The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm had been treated as a power bank and fed upon by the Vicious Beasts in the Star Dou core for so many years that its Origin was already severely depleted.
Now that it had finally found a safe place to reside, it naturally needed to sleep and recover.
He replied softly, "Then rest well in my sea of consciousness and recover in peace. You don't need to worry about the rest; I will handle everything."
After that, the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm didn't waste any more words. Its mental body slowly curled up, its aura gradually becoming steady and faint as it fell into a deep slumber, showing no further movement.
Having settled the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, Xu Tianhao turned around, casting his gaze toward his teacher, who had been guarding him closely without leaving his side.
Kong Deming's nerves had been tight as he kept his eyes locked on Xu Tianhao, fearing any accidents.
It wasn't until he saw Xu Tianhao successfully complete the Fusion, his aura stabilizing and the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's mental force completely withdrawing,
that his heart finally settled, and his tense body relaxed slightly.
Seeing Xu Tianhao look over, Kong Deming immediately stepped forward, his face full of concern as he asked urgently:
"Tianhao, how is it? Did everything go smoothly? That Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm didn't have any negative impact on you, did it?"
Seeing his teacher's worried expression, a warm current surged in Xu Tianhao's heart. A gentle smile appeared on his face as he shook his head slightly:
"Teacher, I'm fine. Everything went very smoothly."
Subsequently, Xu Tianhao explained the situation of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm and its role after residing in his sea of consciousness in detail to Kong Deming.
He hid nothing, informing him of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's million-year foundation, its advantages in mental force, and his plan to use it as his seventh spirit ring in the future.
Kong Deming listened quietly, his expression shifting from initial concern to shock, and then being replaced by sheer disbelief.
A million-year-level seventh spirit ring?
What did that mean?
It meant that in the future, Xu Tianhao's Martial Soul True Body would be a million-year-level Martial Soul True Body!
In the entire history of the Douluo Continent, no Spirit Master had ever possessed a million-year spirit ring.
Let alone having it as a seventh spirit ring to achieve a million-year Martial Soul True Body.
This had already exceeded common sense and broken the cognitive limits of the Spirit Master's world!
Even with Kong Deming's vast experience, at this moment, he could hardly imagine what kind of terrifying power a human Spirit Master would unleash after possessing a million-year Martial Soul True Body.
Just hearing this information made him feel it was inconceivable; his mind was racing, and he couldn't calm down for a long time.
Amidst his shock, Kong Deming remembered that strange grey airflow from before. He quickly composed himself and asked again:
"The issue with the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm is resolved, but what about that grey airflow? What is its Origin, and does it pose a threat to you?"
Xu Tianhao naturally knew he was asking about Electrolux. After a moment of deliberation, he explained truthfully:
"That Senior has also fallen into a slumber. However, I can feel that his aura is peaceful, without the slightest malice. Instead, it carries a hint of compassion and the vicissitudes of time; he shouldn't be harmful to us."
Hearing this, Kong Deming finally felt completely at ease. He nodded and said, "As long as there's no malice, it's fine."
"We'll wait until the other party wakes up. As long as your safety isn't threatened, everything can be discussed."