CH 54: 1,000,000-year Soul Ring

"Waaah, how could this happen to me?!" (A/N: I've made my mistakes!) Tian Meng the Skydream Ice Worm cried, tied up and imprisoned in Ah Li's Spiritual Sea. His blue body (A/N: I changed that part to the anime version.) was tied with dark ropes made by Bibi Dong's Spiritual Power and he couldn't free himself no matter what he did.

Even his Spiritual Power was sealed.

"Calm down, you overdramatic worm." Bibi Dong glared, making Tian Meng angry :"Worm?! How dare you call me a worm?! I'm the most special Soul Beast in the world! I'm a Soul Beast who has reached 1,000,000-years-old!"

Ah Li :'And I'm 1,464,843,700,000,000,000-years-old. I'm basically older than any Soul Beast there was. Who are you bragging to?'

"Yeah, yeah, we got it already. Now stop overreacting." She groaned :"Why are you even acting like this? The method you came up with is similar to ourselves, so stop acting like this."

Tian Meng :"I-I just don't want to be imprisoned, alright...?"

Ah Li :"We didn't want to imprison you. We just wanted to negotiate with you."

"Then couldn't you do that without tying me up?! It's not like I would run away!" He cried out, but instead of answering, Ah Li raised an unamused eyebrow and looked around at the place and its inhabitants.

Tian Meng :"... Uh, oh, o-okay, point taken. No need to be passive aggressive about it..."

Ah Li :"Yeah, you get it now? It would be weird if you didn't try to run away. Are you calm now? If you are, and if you don't try to escape, I'll free you. As I said, I just want to negotiate."

"... Ugh, okay, fine. I'd rather at least talk while being free." In the end, the giant silkworm sighed weakly. And with a smile, Ah Li nodded at Bibi Dong. Snapping her fingers, the binding disappeared and Tian Meng floated happily in freedom by himself :"Huhuhu, sweet freedom!" And after his small celebration dance, he flew to stand in front of Ah Li calmly.

Tian Meng :"Ahem ahem, okay then, what should we do? What do you propose?"

Ah Li :"Simple, exactly what we talked about. You want to live, right?"

Tian Meng :"Yeah."

Ah Li :"But your death is approaching and you'll die if another Soul Master finds you."

Tian Meng, depressed :"... Yeah."

Ah Li :"Then as you were going to do so from the get go, become my intelligent Soul Ring! Do you see that Flying Nightmare Centipede? You'd be blind if you don't. He's also an intelligent Soul Ring who has been with us since I was six."

Tian Meng :"Huh? Really?"

Nightmare :"It's true. I was like you, I was going to die. But one thing led to another, and I became Xiao Li's intelligent Soul Ring. And I can promise you wouldn't be making a mistake if you chose to as well."

Tian Meng :"Well, I was going to do this anyway..."

Ah Li :"Listen, I'll let you in on a secret, I actually know about the future and you. I know how you cultivated to 1,000,000-year, why you're in the Star Duo Great Forest instead of the Extreme North, how you were imprisoned by the Great Beasts in the center of the Star Duo Great Forest, and that you love the Ice Empress, and how you were planning to have her become my intelligent Soul Ring as well."

Tian Meng :"Wait, what?! H-how do you know all that?!"

Ah Li :"I know the future, I just told you. It's why I deliberately came to find you. Well, here's my proposal. I'll help you in staying alive, in taking revenge against the Ten Great Savage Beasts who tortured you for so long, and in getting Ice Empress. And in exchange, you'll become my Rakshasa Goddess Martial Soul's 1,000,000-year Soul Spirit, and will help us in the future. And most importantly," Ah Li smiled genuinely, reaching out a hand for him to take :"You'll join our little family."

Looking at the stretched hand, Tian Meng was touched. In all his long life, he never had a friend or someone close for that matter. Hearing someone wanting him not because of his cultivation, but for joining their family, was something that warmed up his lonely heart.

Thinking about it, he found out he wouldn't suffer any losses. He was going to do this anyway, so why not accept? This deal was even better than what he had planned. Making up his mind, he got closer and took Ah Li's hand :"Deal. I'll... I'll join your family too!"

"Welcome to the family." The three of them smiled, making Tian Meng's eyes tear up before he even realized it. "Come on, don't cry on us now." Ah Li chuckled, coming to his side to nudge him :"We're supposed to feel happy, not sad! You're not supposed to feel sad with family around!"

"Hm, you're right!" Quickly wiping his tears, Tian Meng nodded excitedly :"I just got emotional. But now, we have important matters to do! Let's quickly finish the process of me becoming your Soul Spirit so I can move here too!" Looking at how happily and impatiently he got out, they couldn't help but chuckle :"Guess the family grows." Before they also got out.

Tian Meng's plan was like the original, but they went with Ah Li's method instead. After all, in the original, Tian Meng gave only a single Soul Ring, because he had become an intelligent Soul Ring instead of a Soul Spirit who could give multiple Soul Rings.

"(Alright, are you ready?)" The giant silkworm asked, trying to sound calm, but his excitement leaked through. Smiling, Ah Li nodded confidently :"Let's begin." Nodding back, Tian Meng got closer as they closed their eyes and (A/N: kissed) pressed their (A/N: lips) foreheads against each other. The ten golden patterns on the Skydream Ice Worm's body moved rhythmically, almost as if they were alive.

They rapidly enveloped Ah Li's, lifting him into the air, and the Skydream Ice Worm slowly turned itself halos of white light that unceasingly surged into his body. Almost instantly, a layer of incorporeal spiritual undulations spread out from his body, instantly covering the area in hundreds of miles.

Wherever the spiritual undulation passed through, all living beings would immediately fall into a momentarily sluggish state. Although the spiritual attack hadn't been too damaging and wasn't meant to be, it still caused all living beings to lose their ability to think for a short period of time. At this moment, a large portion of the southern area of the Star Duo Great Forest had become frighteningly quiet.

Dense white light gradually condensed and poured into Ah Li's body, while the Skydream Ice Worm's worm's body both gradually turned more transparent during the process, and rapidly decreased in volume.

Amazingly, Ah Li's body and skin was becoming even more beautiful with each passing second. His already jade-white skin was becoming even more beautiful thanks to the Skydream Ice Worm's previous appearance and beauty adding up to his. Bibi Dong couldn't help but feel jealous.

"(Wahaha, this brother is finally free! You bastards who took me as food no longer have any chance, wahaha!)" Tian Meng's voice, who was clearly pleased with himself, gradually turned softer and softer. The huge spiritual energy that had previously covered hundreds of miles proceeded to shrink at a frightening speed, then gradually disappeared.

Several terrifying auras from within the depths of the Star Duo Great Forest simultaneously let out violent undulations, as if they'd sensed something. However, they were fated to to not have any success in their endeavors.

He was slowly lowered, and once his feet touched the ground, a terrifying Soul Power wave escaped him as his Soul Ring was released. Smirking, his eyes opened, glowing a golden light like his white gold 1,000,000-year Soul Ring rotating around him.

"Hahaha, hahahaha, ahahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHA!" Unable to contain himself, his laughter echoed out. He didn't expect to be so excited about having a 1,000,000-year Soul Ring.

Bibi Dong watching him was shocked :"1,000,000-year Soul Ring... an actual 1,000,000-year Soul Ring... and this... another Martial Soul... a 3rd Martial Soul... you knew this would happen, didn't you, damn brat?"

Ah Li, laughing :"Of course I knew! Why do you think I would be so excited about finding Skydream? And the plan was also a success. By letting my Spiritual Sea and Spiritual Power take the toll and keep the Soul Ring, we didn't need to seal the Soul Ring at all! Letting it be a genuine 1,000,000-year Soul Ring! And with the help of Skydream as the catalyst, we managed to do the same to Nightmare's Soul Rings as well!"

Smiling, he released his two other Soul Rings as well. The moment the two new Soul Rings which were originally black, but now turned to orange 200,000-year Soul Rings appeared, the terrifying Soul Power wave would have gotten even more out of hand if Ah Li didn't contain it. Looking at them, he couldn't help but laugh again. Today was an extremely fruitful day.

"Yup, yup!" Tian Meng, in his mini version as a small silkworm, appeared smugly, now a soul like Bibi Dong and Nightmare :"Just as you'd expect from me! But still, I'm surprised too. Originally, it was supposed to be like this, I'd sacrifice the two Soul Bones I would have dropped, and would have given you a new Martial Soul instead.

But surprisingly, I only needed to sacrifice a single one! And good for you, Xiao Li, you managed to acquire my 1,000,000-year Skull Bone! The best Soul Bone you could have gotten from me since I'm a spiritual-type Soul Beast!"

Ah Li :"Yeah, that part is really surprising. Huh, a 1,000,000-year Skull Bone, the second most important Soul Bone. People would lose their shit over it."

Tian Meng :"Heh, just shows how amazing I am. Oh, by the way, we also worked together to store the Soul Power you could have gained from my Soul Ring, Soul Bone, and the Soul Power provided by Nightmare's Soul Rings reaching 200,000-years. Your Soul Power Level just reached Lv 33. But why do you want that to happen? Wouldn't you rather just absorb it all in one go? Just my Soul Power was courageously huge, you know? Your Soul Power Level would have risen by leaps and bounds."

Ah Li :"It's simple. To be a true, profound asshole, you have to have some patience."

Tian Meng :"Huh? Can you explain?"

Ah Li :"You see, there's going to be a continental competition in a year or so. An event that happens every 5 years. And there, some people I despise will participate. I want to become a Lv 50 Soul King till then, but no more. Because the people I hate will work hard in the next 5 years, and wouldn't expect me to get a lot stronger. But then the next competition comes, and boom! Titled Douluo, bitches! I'll thoroughly destroy their minds then! Hahahaha!"

Tian Meng :"..."

Bibi Dong :"..."

Nightmare :"..."

Ah Li :"What? Why aren't you laughing?"

Tian Meng :"Wow, Xiao Li... you're an asshole..."

Ah Li, smirking :"Exactly. That's why I have to be patient about growing stronger. Now let's check my Rakshasa Goddess Martial Soul to see if any changes happened to you, Sister Goddess-"

Suddenly, Bibi Dong's body glowed. "What the hell?!" They all grew alarmed, but Bibi Dong herself looked at her body in wonder. Moments later, she grew to her original size, before glowing a dazzling light. Bright enough to make the other three cover their eyes.

When the light disappeared and they looked, they saw that Bibi Dong's body had lost that light ethereal texture to it. All of their eyes went wide open in shock, because that ethereal-ness was something all three souls shared, and was the indication of a fact.

That they were souls. Spirits without physical bodies.

But now, she had lost it. Standing on the ground, she could feel the wind blowing her beautiful hair, the ticklish grass under her bare feet, and the inability to float and fly like always.

"I... I've recovered?"