CH 53: Captured Prize

- (1 months later: Star Duo Great Forest)

[Arachnid Age: 1,464,843,700,000,000,000-years (5M) (one quintillion four hundred sixty-four quadrillion eight hundred forty-three trillion seven hundred billion)]

Stretching, Ah Li exited the makeshift house made out of his webbing. He couldn't just stay out in the open while in the forest, so he had made a house of his own using his webs.

... It worked great in keeping bugs away.

(A/N: Dad jokes *Leonardo DiCaprio smug face*.)

After a month of hard work, cultivating day in and day out, even using his Abyssal Centipede's boost in cultivation in full force, he had managed to break through 2 full Levels, finally reaching Lv 30.

He was happy and excited, but he had to sigh at his trashy talent. 2 Soul Power Levels in a single month was monstrous, but that was disappointing since he worked so hard and even used his boost in cultivation, which boosted his cultivation speed by 7 times.

'Oh well, why bother complaining? It's going to change entirely from now on anyway.' Thinking about his plans, a giant grin appeared on his face. "You seem excited." Bibi Dong's amused voice came.

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm finally going to become an actual fucking genius!" He laughed :"The best one history will ever see! The biggest dick genius in the world! My big dick energy will be unfathomable! Mwahahaha!"

Bibi Dong couldn't help but facepalm :"Ever since we've revealed our secrets, you have completely stopped holding back with the vulgar language. But anyway, what are we going to do now? Find your worm?"

"Find my 1,000,000-year-old worm, to be exact." He smirked smugly, making Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes go wide open :"One mil- what?! A-are you serious?! An actual 1,000,000-year Soul Beast?!"

Ah Li, laughing :"Yup, an actual damn 1,000,000-year Soul Beast! Didn't expect one of those to be around, did you?"

Bibi Dong :"I didn't think one even existed... 100,000-year Soul Beasts are already extremely rare after all."

Ah Li :"Yeah, those suckers are rare."

Nightmare, in the Spiritual Sea :"Oi."

Ah Li :"Sorry. I mean, yeah, they're rare, but it's just that 100,000-year Soul Beasts don't go out much, and they really know where to stay to keep quiet. I think there are around 10 of them in the core of the Star Duo Great Forest."

Bibi Dong :"What? How's that possible? I've been to the core, you know that. The only 100,000-year Soul Beasts there are the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python."

Ah Li :"Nah, those are just some of them. And they're freeloaders compared to the other 100,000-year Soul Beasts there. I mean, the youngest Soul Beasts among those guys is 200,000-years-old and the oldest is 800,000-years-old! And there's a literal fucking god sleeping in the core of the Star Duo Great Forest, in a giant ass lake!"

Bibi Dong :"Wait, what?! A god?! You mean an actual god?! But that shouldn't be possible. Gods can't stay in the mortal world for long after reaching godhood. They're forcibly transferred to the God Realm if they stay long enough."

Ah Li :"This one's a special case. For her, she can't GO to the God Realm. Don't worry, I'll explain later. She has nothing to do with us, so let's forget about her for now. *Smirking* We have important matters at hand, and that's finding that pretty little 1,000,000-year worm."

Bibi Dong :"Yeah, you're right. That god didn't interfere in my original timeline, so I don't think we need to worry about her. Alright, so where do we look for this worm? Is it in the core of the Star Duo Great Forest as well?"

Ah Li :"Nope, it's actually in the outer parts. In fact, haven't you already noticed it?"

Bibi Dong :"Huh? Wait, have you already found it?"

Ah Li :"Nope, it found us. He's been keeping himself hidden using his Spiritual Power."

Bibi Dong :"Really? Ugh, how could I not have noticed him?"

Ah Li :"The Spiritual Power of a 1,000,000-year-old mental attribute Soul Beast is no joke, Sister Goddess. Also, would you really expect for a 1,000,000-year Soul Beast to be in the outer parts of the Star Duo Great Forest of all places?"

Bibi Dong :"Yeah, fair enough. So why has he been watching you?"

Ah Li :"Probably keeping an eye on me because he finds me a suitable host since you, my second Martial Soul, can be regarded as a mental attribute Martial Soul because of being a conscious Martial Soul. It hasn't noticed that I've noticed it because I've sealed our conversations with Soul Power so it wouldn't notice us."

Bibi Dong :"Wait, what? So... it WANTS to become someone's Soul Ring?"

Ah Li, smirking :"I'll let him explain it himself instead."

With a smirk, he jumped down from the tree he had built his house on. And since he was no longer going to stay there, he unfolded his webbing and took it back. The moment he landed, an excited laughter echoed in his mind :"(Finally, I've met a spiritual-type human! What a pity that this brother can't cry! If I could, my face would definitely be covered with tears!)"

Bibi Dong and Nightmare were alarmed. They didn't know what could speak into other people's minds directly. Moreover, into Ah Li's mind at that. But knowing it was Ah Li, and knowing it was under control if that smirk said anything, they both relaxed. But they were still vigilant so they could help if things went south.

As Ah Li waited, the ground a few meters away from him began to crack and gradually expanded until it turned into a crevice. A dim golden-white light faintly shone from within it.

An icy chill was released from the crevice, causing the surrounding temperature to drop. The area of the crevice gradually increased, and after a moment, its diameter had reached five meters wide, revealing the true appearance of the golden-white light to finally be revealed.

It was a plump and fat-looking head with a diameter of over one meter. After it slowly wiggled its body and managed to climb up, its entire body was revealed. Its body was over seven meters long. Following its appearance, the surrounding temperature became so cold that Ah Li could see his own breath.

But through protecting his body with Soul Power, he didn't feel cold. The appearance of the Soul Beast was that of a silkworm. An Ice Silk Worm to be exact. Its body was the same color as white jade, sparkled, and was translucent. Although it had dug itself out from the earth, there wasn't any dirt on its brilliant skin at all.

Halos of light moved about underneath its epidermis, and it unexpectedly had a small pair of eyes on its head that flickered with a golden light. Strangest of all, golden patterns were engraved on its body at certain intervals, starting half a meter from its head. From head to tail, it had a total of ten golden patterns.

"(Don't be scared, don't be scared. This brother won't harm you!)" The voice from before echoed out in Ah Li's mind once again, and the enormous silkworm nodded its head. Its huge head then dropped downwards, before stopping a meter away from him. It even emitted a faintly fragrant odor from its body.

Ah Li of course had to act a little to fool-... Ahem ahem, negotiate with Tian Meng, the famous 1,000,000-year Skydream Ice Worm who helped bring Huo Yuhao, the second protagonist of Douluo Dalu, to godhood.

Quickly getting ready to fight, he looked at the giant silkworm vigilantly :"Who are you?! Are you the one speaking to me?" The enormous silkworm nodded its head in response, and its voice continued to echo out inside of his mind :"(It's obviously this brother that's speaking. Did you get captivated by my beautiful body?)"

Putting his guard down, he raised an eyebrow :"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Ah Li could swear he saw him smiling :"(No hurry, no hurry. First off, let me introduce myself. I am the embodiment of heroism and chivalry!

A king of kings amongst soul beasts, who is both equally smart and good-looking! I'm an absolute expert, one who has cultivated for a million years! I'm the Skydream Ice Worm who's set the record for the longest lifespan in the Douluo Continent! Yup, you can call me Brother Skydream!)"

"This guy is bragging too much." Bibi Dong groaned, but the noiret had to keep his act :"Mil- 1,000,000-years?!" He grew shocked :"Brother Skydream, are you really a 1,000,000-year Soul Beast?"

Tian Meng, pleased :("Aren't you in awe? Aren't you really excited? You're the first human who's seen my almighty figure.)"

Ah Li :"Then... what do you want, Brother Skydream?"

Tian Meng, serious :"(This brother wants to become your Soul Ring, the Douluo Continent's first ever intelligent Soul Ring.)"

Ah Li :"What?! You... Brother Skydream, you want to be my Soul Ring?"

Tian Meng :"(Hm, that's right. You see, because of certain reasons that I'll explain in the future, I'm going to die. So I've decided to become a human's living intelligent Soul Ring.)"

Ah Li :"Oh... well, okay? But, then why me? I'm sure every person would fight to have you as their Soul Ring. Even Titled Douluos wouldn't be exceptions. So why me?"

Tian Meng :"(Sigh, it's not like I wouldn't want to become a strong person's Soul Ring instead. It's because I can't. I've found out that to become someone's Soul Ring, I not only must seal my strength, but that person needs to be a spiritual-type Soul Master. Otherwise, it won't work.)"

Ah Li :"Oh, I see. But... Brother Skydream, my Martial Soul isn't spiritual-type though."

Tian Meng :"(I'm not talking about your centipede Martial Soul, I'm talking about your second Martial Soul!)"

Ah Li :"Oh, that one..."

Tian Meng :"(Hm? What's with that reaction?)"

Ah Li :"Sigh, you see, Brother Skydream, my second Martial Soul is weird. Even though I've cultivated for so long, I've never managed to use it even once. It's a really useless Martial Soul."

Bibi Dong :"Li'er, do you want to die?"

Tian Meng :"(Hm, don't worry, that's not an issue. I've noticed that it's sealed, and it's probably because it's very strong. I mean, I could sense it even though it was sealed. So it must definitely be an awesome Martial Soul!)"

Bibi Dong, smirking :"This worm really knows how to talk."

Ah Li :"But how are you going to become its Soul Ring then? I can't use or even try to pull Soul Rings towards it when I tried."

Tian Meng :"(Obviously you wouldn't be able to do so. How are you going to attach Soul Rings to it when you can't even release it because it's sealed?)"

Ah Li :"Then... how are you going to do it?"

Tian Meng, smug :"(Simple, by forcibly attaching my Soul Ring! The Soul Ring is absorbed by the Martial Soul attracting the Soul Ring and then absorbing it. But in this case, since you can't use it to attract Soul Rings, you can't attach a Soul Ring. Then in that case, I'll just forcibly attack my Soul Ring instead!)"

Ah Li :"Huh? W-will that work?"

Tian Meng :"(Of course, of course. Who do you take me for? Obviously the amazing me would be able to do something easy like that! It's just reversing which attracts which, after all. Even normal Soul Rings could forcibly attack themselves if they had intelligence.)"

Ah Li :"Oh, I see! Wow, you're amazing, Brother Skydream!"

Tian Meng, laughing proudly :"(Of course, I'm the awesome 1,000,000-year Skydream Ice Worm, after all! Now, ahem ahem, we should start. But before that, I need to take a look at your Spiritual Sea and you Martial Soul first.)"

Ah Li :"My Martial Soul is in my Spiritual Sea?"

Tian Meng :"(All Martial Souls are in the Spiritual Sea. I need to take a look at it since it's sealed at the moment. If it was like your other Martial Soul, I wouldn't need to. But I have to go to your Spiritual Sea first before starting.)"

"Oh, I see. Alright then, I'll do whatever you say." He smiled, and Tian Meng nodded as he didn't waste a moment before entering Ah Li's Spiritual Sea. While his huge body laid on the ground, Ah Li smirked at the horrified scream that sounded in his now locked Spiritual Sea.

"1,000,000-year Soul Beast, captured!"