Chapter 4: The Million-Year Soul Ring

Huo Yuhao listened to Tianmeng Ice Silk Worm’s narration and suddenly had a strange feeling. Could it be that its name, Tianmeng Ice Silk Worm, was given because it dreams every day?

"That cave, although I couldn’t leave it, the feeling of the ten-thousand-year-old cold marrow was really too comfortable. Later, I simply stopped looking for a way out and just crawled around inside, eating the ten-thousand-year-old cold marrow. When I found a large piece, I would sleep. Eventually, even I didn’t know how long I had slept until the first golden pattern appeared on my body."

"The golden pattern is extremely important to us ice silk worms. It symbolizes that my cultivation has entered the ten-thousand-year level. In my memory, our ice silk worm clan has never had a ten-thousand-year-old existence. I am the unprecedented first one! At that time, I evolved into a golden-patterned ice silk worm. I already had enough strength to break through the ice and go out. At that time, I didn’t know that becoming a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast would come with great restrictions, making it very difficult to improve further. Perhaps my luck was good, and our ice silk worm clan’s combat ability is relatively weak, so I miraculously didn’t attract any heavenly retribution. Since I slept a lot, I was lazy to go out. I simply continued to sleep in the ice cave. Because my cultivation was higher, I could break through the ice and enter places I couldn’t before. This allowed me to discover more high-quality cold marrow in the depths of the ice cave, which became my food."

"Thus, I ate and slept, and time passed without me realizing it. Only the golden patterns on my body could measure the time of my existence."

"Finally, one day, I ate all the cold marrow in the ice cave and directly drilled out from the bottom of the ice cave, reaching the sea. I drifted along the sea, following the edge of the continent towards the south. During this process, I encountered my first enemy."

"At that time, I already had nine golden patterns, making me a powerful ninety-thousand-year-old soul beast. I thought I should be an invincible existence in this world. But..."

At this point, Tianmeng Ice Silk Worm clearly seemed a bit embarrassed, "But, it seems that apart from sleeping, I don’t know how to do anything else, and I’m not very good at fighting. In the end, I scared away the enemy with my immense mental power. This finally made me realize the need to cultivate my offensive abilities. However, I discovered that a long cultivation period does not necessarily mean great strength. I am a ninety-thousand-year-old soul beast, but my combat ability is actually inferior to some ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts. Those ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts who are skilled in combat are even more impossible for me to defeat. The outside world is really too dangerous. But, I couldn’t find my way back."

"The sea is dangerous, perhaps the land would be safer. So, I went to the land. But, I found that the land was not peaceful either. Perhaps because I absorbed too much cold marrow, my body had a special smell that could attract the attention of all soul beasts, making them see me as food."

"Finally, I was captured by a powerful ten-thousand-year-old soul beast in the Star Dou Great Forest. However, it didn’t kill me immediately but took me to the Star Dou Great Forest. I only learned from it that I possessed a lot of natural energy. As long as it could absorb and convert my energy, any soul beast could become a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast, and a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast could transcend the limits of cultivation. However, because my energy, cultivated for a million years, was too immense, it needed a long time to absorb me, so it took me back to its lair."

"But, that guy underestimated me. Although I’m not very good at fighting, I can strengthen my aura. So, I attracted all the ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest. Hehe."

"That great battle involved almost all the soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest that were over ten thousand years old. They fought fiercely! I thought I had a chance to escape. But, these guys were cunning. When they were almost done fighting, they stopped to negotiate. In the end, I was the tragic one. They decided to absorb my energy together, as my soul power was immense. Then they trapped me in the center of the Star Dou Great Forest, forcing me to release my natural energy for them to absorb. The stronger the soul beast, the closer it was to me, and the more benefits it received. These bastards treated me like food."

"Alas, I couldn’t resist and could only let them do as they pleased. While they were exploiting me, I thought about how to escape their control. My soul power is very pure, enough for them to absorb for ten thousand years. After thousands of years of thinking and observing, I realized that to escape their control, I not only needed to run away but also hide my aura. Humans gradually appeared in my sight. A few times, some particularly powerful humans entered the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt those ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts. Unfortunately, they met with tragedy. Under my nourishment, the high-level soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest were definitely among the most powerful on the Douluo Continent. Although those humans had very powerful weapons, they still suffered great losses. But, it also made me recognize the strengths of humans."

"I am a mental and ice dual-attribute soul beast. After much thought, I decided to try to become a human’s soul ring. This way, that human would definitely be very powerful. With my mental attribute, I could maintain my consciousness and become an unprecedented intelligent soul ring for humans. Hmph, at that time, I would definitely take revenge and help that human kill all the bastards who persecuted me. So, I started to try. But, the first attempt failed. The one I chose seemed to be a Sealed Title Douluo among humans. His strength was quite powerful, but he was a waste. He was immediately burst by me, and he didn’t even see my true form; he couldn’t withstand the mental impact. I realized that it wasn’t easy to find a host for me. First, they must have a mental attribute, and then they must have the ability to carry my soul power. This was even harder. So, I searched for thousands of years without success, and my soul power was almost completely absorbed by those ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts. I was about to be drained."

"Fortunately, heaven still favored me. Just when I was in despair, the tenth golden pattern appeared on my body. I finally became the unprecedented million-year-old soul beast. With the appearance of the tenth golden pattern, I finally had the strength to fight against those combat-type ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts and could hide my aura. So, I named myself Tianmeng Ice Silk Worm, no longer just a golden-patterned ice silk worm. But, I definitely couldn’t fight against so many ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, and the natural energy in my body had been almost completely absorbed by them, leaving only my life force, which is my two major attributes, unabsorbed. I couldn’t take revenge myself. So, I found an opportunity and finally escaped by hiding my aura and burrowing underground with the power I gained after breaking through."

"Alas," Tianmeng Ice Silk Worm said, "Unfortunately, I am still a tragic figure. Breaking through to a million years was a double-edged sword. Although it allowed me to勉强摆脱它们的控制，但我的寿命却因为突如其来的天谴而走到了尽头。如果不能以其他方式生存，很快我就会生命衰竭而亡。也就是在这个时候，我遇到了你这个小家伙。虽然你弱得可怜，但我没有别的选择！好歹你也是精神属性。于是，我只能勉强与你融为一体了，无论如何，那些混蛋是得不到我最珍贵的东西了。"

听着天梦冰蚕的讲述，霍雨浩早已忘记了恐惧，义愤填膺地道：“它们太可恶了，怎么能这样，居然囚禁了你近万年之久。”

天梦冰蚕同仇敌忾地道：“可不是么。虽然哥长得可爱一些，帅气一些，实力强大一些，它们也不能把哥当食物啊！这下好了，总算是跑出来了，没让它们得到哥的身体。霍雨浩啊，你虽然年纪小了点，能力差了点，但好在还算单纯，哥就当是养成计划了，等你以后强大了，一定要替哥报仇啊！它们不是依靠吸收我的魂力进化么？以后把它们都变成魂环、魂骨，哼哼！”

“好，等我长大了一定要帮你报仇。”霍雨浩毫不犹豫地答应了下来。一人一兽之间的关系在这个有些离奇却又神奇的故事中迅速拉近。

其实，这天梦冰蚕虽然已经活了百万年，但它接触到的毕竟只有少量魂兽，智慧虽然不逊于人类，可却怎知人心险恶？如果是人类遭遇它的这种情况，绝对不会将自己的故事轻易示人。选择霍雨浩这个同样是一张白纸的孩子，其实是它的幸运。

“天梦哥，我还有些不明白，你这么强大，成为我的魂环又要封印自己的力量，这究竟是怎么回事？那你还能赋予我魂技么？”失去了恐惧后，霍雨浩心中拥有的是更多的好奇。

天梦冰蚕嘿嘿一笑，道：“哥自然有办法。我琢磨了这么多年，早已有了妥善的安排。有了之前撑爆人类的经历后，我就明白，对你的帮助一切都要以你的安全为主。我现在已经没有退路了，如果你死了，也就意味着我也要完。我原本的魂力已经被那些星斗大森林的魂兽们吸收得差不多了。否则，就算我封印自身力量你也一样承受不起。而我融入到你体内的，更多的是我的本源力量和精神力量。你看到这十个光球了吧。它们就是我设下的十层封印。从另一个角度来看，也可以说是赋予你这第一魂环的力量。只不过你暂时还无法使用罢了。”

“也就是说，你的第一魂环虽然是百万年级别的，但现在却没有百万年魂环的威能。但随着你修为的提升，我封印在你体内的力量就会逐渐解封，增强你这魂环的威力。甚至也可以增强你以后其他魂环的威能。毕竟，我积蓄了百万年的力量对你来说实在是太大了。”

霍雨浩眨了眨眼睛，道：“我还是有些不太明白。”

天梦冰蚕没好气地道：“笨蛋。我再说得简单点，你现在拥有第一魂环的身体，最多只能承受四百年魂兽的魂环，那么，你这第一魂环实际的威能就是四百年。等以后你再有突破，能够承受一千年魂兽的魂环了，你这第一魂环就变成了一千年。你的第一魂环的威能是随着你身体的承受能力而提升的。也就是说，你这第一魂环可以随时进化，就连以后获得的其他魂环也是如此。当然，我能赋予你的进化之力是有限的，你获得的其他魂环越强大，对我的力量节省也就越多。以我封印在你体内的力量，最多支撑你有十个魂环能够达到十万年级别。”

“啊？这么多？我们魂师最多不也只能拥有九个魂环么？”霍雨浩吃惊地问道。

天梦冰蚕冷哼一声，傲然道：“那是普通人。有了哥的融合，你就已经不是普通人了。单一武魂当然只能吸收九个魂环。但你现在已经不再是单一武魂。杀死十万年魂兽，必然能够获得一块魂骨和一个带有两个魂技的十万年魂环。这个你应该知道吧。”

霍雨浩点了点头。

天梦冰蚕道：“作为百万年魂环，更是史无前例的第一个智慧魂环，我当然要比它们强得多。我所化身的第一魂环不但可以根据你的身体状况进行无限进化，更会赋予你四个魂技。不过，我没有魂骨给你，但可以给你增加一个武魂。”

尽管霍雨浩已经猜到百万年魂环对自己的作用会很大，却也没想到会大到如此地步。一个能够无限进化的魂环就已经令他惊喜莫名了。但更大的惊喜居然还在后面。四个魂技加一个武魂，这是什么概念？

四个魂技既然都是第一魂环带来的，那么，毫无疑问，它们的威能也必然会伴随着第一魂环的进化而进化。是可以一直使用下去的能力啊！而增加一种武魂简直可以用神迹来形容。相当于将只有灵眸武魂的他变成了一名双生武魂的天才强者。增加的一个武魂，至少也能附带九个魂环，也就是增加九种魂技。这样的增幅又岂是十万年魂环所能比拟的？尽管得到这些增幅后他自身实力依旧很弱，需要一点点的提升，但无疑为他打开了一扇通天的大门，令原本资质平庸低下的霍雨浩有了无限可能的