The flight from Dragon City was a silent, purposeful retreat. They did not linger on the road, nor did they stop for pleasantries. They moved with the swift, focused energy of a group that knew a storm was gathering at their backs. The ten frozen statues they had left at the city gate were a monument to their victory, but also a ticking clock. Sooner or later, the Heavenly Dragon Sect would discover the fate of their elite squad, and the fury of a Titled Douluo Patriarch was not a thing to be trifled with, even for a group as powerful as theirs.
Huo Yuhao, his heart still thrumming with the lingering echo of his domain and the cold, sorrowful power of his newly awakened third soul, felt a grim satisfaction. They had not started the fight, but they had finished it, decisively and absolutely.
Their journey south was a blur of motion. They bypassed the slower soul-powered carriages, opting instead for their own formidable speed. With their Ice-Claw Lynx mounts, they were a whisper on the wind, their passage through the northern plains swift and unnoticed. In just under four days, the rugged, windswept landscape of the north began to soften, the air losing its biting edge, the greens becoming richer, deeper. The imposing, familiar silhouette of Heaven Dou City once again rose on the horizon.
As they dismounted at the edge of the sprawling capital, releasing their lynx mounts with a grateful pat, Xue Nu paused. She stood at the crest of a hill, her serene, sky-blue eyes taking in the sheer, overwhelming scale of the city before them. Her expression was one of deep, analytical contemplation.
"This city…" she began, her voice the soft murmur of a winter stream. "It breathes differently, Yuhao. Dragon City was a beast sharpening its claws on a whetstone. Its power was loud, aggressive, worn on the sleeves of its disciples like a gaudy piece of armor. It was a border city, a place of constant, overt struggle."
She gestured towards the sprawling metropolis below, towards the distant, majestic spire of the Imperial Palace and the grand, ancient walls that had stood for millennia. "This… this is an ancient serpent, coiled and sleeping in the sun. The power here is deeper, quieter. It is hidden behind the walls of great clans, within the shadowed halls of the royal court, woven into the very fabric of its ancient lineage. It is far more dangerous."
Jin Xi, who was stretching her arms after the long ride, let out a dismissive snort. "Dangerous? Or just more boring? In Dragon City, if someone dislikes you, they challenge you to a fight. Here, they probably smile at you and try to poison your tea. I much prefer the honesty of a punch to the face." She grinned. "Still, their food is better, and the spinning toys are much more amusing. That makes it a superior city in my books."
Huo Yuhao chuckled, a warm, easy sound. "You're both right. The power here is more entrenched, but the city itself is more… civilized. And Xi'er is right about the food." He looked at them, a genuine warmth in his eyes. "Shall we?"
They entered the city, the familiar chaos of its streets a strange kind of homecoming. The memory of the Heavenly Dragon Sect's fury was already beginning to fade, replaced by the simple, immediate reality of the bustling world around them.
This time, Jin Xi, armed with her previous experience and a newfound, almost comical sense of worldly authority, insisted on being their guide.
"Alright, you two," she announced, her ruby eyes sparkling with a proprietary glee as she herded them through the crowded streets. "As the most experienced traveler among us…"—Huo Yuhao had to physically bite his lip to keep from laughing—"…I shall show you the wonders of this great nest. First, to the right, you will see the Street of a Thousand Silks, where we purchased our magnificent new clothes. Over there," she pointed with a dramatic flourish, "is the Alley of Savory Delights, where we tasted the strange, sweet bread-on-a-stick. It was adequate."
She led them with an infectious enthusiasm, a golden-haired queen showing off her newfound kingdom. Her tour eventually brought them back to the familiar, bustling market square in the outer district. She stopped, pointing proudly at an empty spot between a vegetable vendor and a pottery merchant.
"And this," she declared, her voice filled with a strange, nostalgic pride, "is the hallowed ground where our financial empire was first founded. This is where we sold the Heavenly Grilled Fish and acquired our very first shiny metal circles." She looked at Xue Nu, her expression dead serious. "It was a glorious and prosperous enterprise."
Xue Nu looked at the empty patch of dusty ground, then at Jin Xi's beaming face, and offered a small, polite, and utterly bewildered smile. "I see. A truly… historic location."
As his companions reminisced, Huo Yuhao's gaze drifted across the square. The familiar sights and sounds, the memory of their simple, happy days running the stall, brought another memory to the surface, a loose thread he felt a sudden, compelling need to check.
'Jiang Nannan,' he thought, the image of her tear-streaked face flashing in his mind. The frantic desperation in her eyes, followed by the profound, soul-deep gratitude. It had been nearly two weeks since they had left. 'I wonder if she is well. Her mother… I hope the recovery was complete. It would be a small comfort to know that one mother, at least, was spared the fate of my own.'
He felt a quiet sense of responsibility. He had intervened, changed the course of her life. A part of him needed to know that the change had been a lasting one, that the miracle had held.
"Come on," he said, his voice pulling them from their reverie. "There's one more place I'd like to visit."
He led them through the now-familiar streets, back towards the quiet, clean-smelling medical district. They stopped a short distance from the Spring Dew Pavilion, its familiar wooden sign a beacon of his recent past.
"I want to check on Miss Jiang's mother," he explained quietly to his companions. "Just to be sure."
"A fine idea," Xue Nu nodded, her sky-blue eyes soft with approval. "It shows a commendable sense of responsibility."
"But," Huo Yuhao added, his expression turning serious, "I cannot go in myself. The physician, Elder Zhao, saw me activate my Spirit Eyes. He knows I have a rare Body Type Martial Soul. I cannot risk him remembering me, getting curious, and inadvertently drawing the attention of the Body Sect. They are based in this empire, after all."
He turned to Jin Xi, a pleading look in his eyes. "Xi'er, could you…?"
Jin Xi's eyes lit up. A secret mission! A task of subterfuge and information gathering! It was far more exciting than selling fish.
"Of course!" she said, puffing out her chest. "Leave it to me. I shall be as silent as the night, as cunning as a fox. I will extract the information and be back before you can even miss my dazzling presence."
She straightened the veil on her face, adopted a posture of demure, ladylike grace that was completely at odds with her personality, and glided towards the entrance of the medical pavilion.
Huo Yuhao and Xue Nu waited in the shade of a nearby willow tree, watching her go.
"She is… enthusiastic," Xue Nu commented, a faint, amused smile touching her lips.
"That's one word for it," Huo Yuhao sighed, a fond smile on his own face.
Jin Xi was gone for less than ten minutes. She emerged from the pavilion, her graceful, demure posture immediately replaced by her usual confident, bouncy stride. She practically skipped back over to them.
"Mission accomplished!" she announced proudly.
"What did you find out?" Huo Yuhao asked, his voice eager.
"I spoke to one of the little human healers in the white coats," Jin Xi reported, leaning in conspiratorially. "A very bored-looking one. I told her I was a distant relative of the Jiang family and had heard about a miraculous recovery, and had come to pay my respects."
She grinned. "The bored healer became much less bored when I 'accidentally' dropped a gold coin. Suddenly, her memory was excellent."
"What did she say?" Huo Yuhao pressed.
"She said that the patient, a Mrs. Jiang, made a recovery so complete it baffled the entire pavilion. She said Elder Zhao himself called it a 'divine intervention'. After a few days of observation to make sure she was stable, she was discharged. That was ten days ago."
A wave of profound relief washed over Huo Yuhao. The healing was permanent. He had truly succeeded.
"Did she say where they went?" he asked.
Jin Xi shook her head. "No. The bored healer said that for patient privacy, they cannot disclose addresses. She only knew that they returned to their family home, which is somewhere here in the city."
Huo Yuhao nodded slowly. That was enough. They were safe, they were together, and they were healthy. The loose thread was tied. He felt a quiet sense of closure. He had no need to seek Jiang Nannan out again. Their paths had crossed, a debt had been formed and settled, and now, their lives would continue on their separate tracks. Perhaps one day, they would meet again, but for now, it was enough to know that his intervention had brought lasting peace.
"Well then," Jin Xi said, clapping her hands together. "Now that your mind is at ease, what's next on our grand tour of human nests? I saw a shop that sells nothing but candied fruits. Hundreds of different kinds! I feel it is our sacred duty to sample every single one."
And so, their days in Heaven Dou City continued, a peaceful, pleasant rhythm of exploration and discovery. They feasted, they shopped, they wandered, three strange and powerful beings simply enjoying the vibrant, chaotic beauty of the human world, the memory of battles and the weight of their quests temporarily forgotten.
It was on the third night, back in the quiet luxury of their suite at the Dragon's Rest Inn, that Huo Yuhao's peaceful interlude came to an end.
He lay in the large, comfortable bed, the steady, rhythmic breathing of Jin Xi beside him a soft, comforting sound in the darkness. He was just on the cusp of sleep, his mind calm and his body relaxed, when a familiar, insistent voice echoed in his soul.
'Kid. It's time.'
It was Brother Skydream. His mental voice was not loud or frantic, but held a deep, serious gravity.
Huo Yuhao's consciousness shifted, descending into the shimmering expanse of his Spiritual Sea. Skydream's crystalline form floated before him, pulsing with a steady, potent light.
'Brother Skydream?' Huo Yuhao projected, a flicker of anticipation stirring within him. 'What is it?'
'Your cultivation has stabilized,' Skydream stated. 'The breakthrough to Soul Grandmaster, the cleansing from the pills, the constant nourishment… your spiritual foundation is now solid. More than solid. It is time for the next step. It is time for me to grant you your second Soul Ring for your Spirit Eyes.'
Huo Yuaho's spirit jolted with excitement. He had expected this, hoped for it. As his Soul Spirit, it was only natural that Brother Skydream could provide him with more than one ring. The thought of new, powerful abilities made his heart race.
'I am ready,' he declared, his mental voice firm.
'Good,' Skydream replied. But then, a flicker of something uncharacteristically solemn, almost regretful, entered his mental tone. 'But you must understand something, kid. This… this will be the last one.'
Huo Yuhao nodded. 'The last one? Alright.'
A deep, weary sigh seemed to emanate from Skydream's spiritual form. 'If I were at my peak, I could probably give you six or seven rings all of them would be Million Year Old Soul Rings without breaking a sweat. But I am not at my peak. Far from it.'
He pulsed with a faint, sorrowful light. 'Those thousands of years I spent being fed upon by Di Tian and the others… it took a terrible toll. The vast majority of my origin energy, the very essence of my million years of cultivation, was drained away. What you see now, what I am, is but a magnificent, intelligent, and incredibly handsome remnant of my former glory.'
The boast was automatic, a reflex, but the underlying sadness was real. 'The power it took to grant you your first ring, to awaken your second Martial Soul, and to provide that initial burst of spiritual energy… that was a significant portion of what I had left. This second ring… it will take almost everything else. After this, I will still be your Soul Spirit, your partner, your brilliant guide, but I will no longer have enough concentrated origin energy to form another ring for you. One more Soul Ring. That is my limit.'
Huo Yuhao listened, his initial excitement completely extinguished, replaced by a deep, aching concern for his first friend. He had never considered the cost. He had just greedily accepted the power.
'Brother Skydream, no,' he said, his voice firm. 'Don't do it. If it will harm you, if it will weaken you so profoundly, then I don't want it. We will find another way. I can find another spiritual-type beast for my second ring.'
A warm, genuinely touched light pulsed from Skydream's form. 'Heh. You're a good kid, Yuhao. A good partner. But don't be foolish. Finding another compatible spiritual-type soul spirit is nearly impossible. And even if you did, what could it give you? The paltry skills of a ten-thousand-year-old beast? Or a single, million-year-old one?'
His form pulsed with a renewed, fierce pride. 'I am the Skydream Iceworm! The one and only! The skills I can grant you are unique, born from a million years of existence! They are the keys to your future, the tools that will keep you alive, the very foundation of my grand plan to make you a god! To not give them to you would be the greatest waste in the history of the universe! Don't worry about me. I will be fine. A little tired, perhaps. But my consciousness will be alright. I will still be here to offer my brilliant advice and bask in your inevitable glory.'
'He is correct, you know.'
The Ice Empress's cool, elegant spiritual form materialized beside them. Her golden eyes held a rare, almost imperceptible glint of respect as she looked at the buzzing, crystalline worm.
'For all his insufferable noise and foolish posturing,' she said, her mental voice a smooth, cold current, 'this worm's abilities in the spiritual attribute are… unique. The skills he can grant you from his origin are not focused on direct combat, but on subterfuge, control, and defense. They will complement your own growing power perfectly. To refuse such a gift out of sentiment would be… illogical.'
Huo Yuhao looked from his proud, insistent first friend to the cool, logical empress. He knew they were right. He let out a deep, grateful sigh. 'Alright, Brother Skydream. If you are certain.'
'Of course, I'm certain!' Skydream declared triumphantly. 'Now, prepare yourself! This is going to be good!'
Huo Yuhao settled his consciousness, his spirit becoming a calm, receptive vessel. He felt Skydream's origin energy surge, a vast, potent wave of pure, ancient spiritual power. It was different from the first time. It was more refined, more focused. It wrapped around the core of his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul, feeding it, nurturing it.
A new Soul Ring began to form. It rose from his soul, shimmering with a deep, vibrant purple light. A thousand-year Soul Ring. But then, as more of Skydream's origin poured in, the purple deepened, darkened, until it became a profound, abyssal black. A ten-thousand-year Soul Ring.
But it did not stop there. The black ring pulsed, and a faint, yet distinct, crimson sheen began to form around its edge. A hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring.
And then…It started to become gold color. It was the million-year-old Soul Ring.
The ring settled below his first, a perfect, gold circle of immense spiritual power. The process was complete.
Four new, complex streams of information, four powerful abilities, bloomed in Huo Yuhao's mind, their functions and applications instantly, intimately understood.
The first was Imitation. It was a skill of profound deception. He could use it to perfectly mimic the aura, the size, the voice, even the very shape of another being. More than that, he could use it to alter the appearance of his own soul rings, changing their number, their color, their intensity, hiding his true power behind a veil of mediocrity. And he could also use it to blend with the surroundings around him, effectively becoming invisible, not just to the eye, but to any sorts of spiritual detection itself.
The second was Spiritual Illusion. This was not a simple mental trick that affected himself or just a couple of individuals. This was an ability that affected an entire area-like ability that warped perception on a grand scale. He could project an illusion so powerful, so detailed, that it would alter the very landscape for anyone caught within its range. He could turn a bustling city street into a dense, silent forest. He could make a solid wall appear as an open gateway. He could conjure phantom armies from thin air. It was a power to control the battlefield.
The third was Spiritual Beacon. A subtle, insidious ability. He could infuse a tiny, almost undetectable wisp of his own spiritual energy into a person or an object with a simple touch. This beacon would then act as a permanent marker, a spiritual signature he could track from vast distances, a homing signal that would never fade. He could mark an enemy, an ally, or a lost item, and always know its location.
And the final, fourth ability was a power he had desperately needed. Spiritual Barrier. It was a defensive skill of the soul. It manifested as a passive, multi-layered, invisible shield around his own Spiritual Sea, constantly protecting him from mental intrusions, spiritual shocks, and charm-type abilities. He could also actively flare it, creating a potent, temporary barrier that could deflect even a powerful, direct spiritual assault. His mind, once his greatest strength and his greatest vulnerability, was now a fortress.
Huo Yuhao's consciousness reeled with the sheer utility, the sheer, game-changing potential of these four new skills. They were not abilities of brute force. They were the abilities of a puppet master, a shadow, a survivor. They were perfect.
He opened his spiritual eyes, his heart filled with a profound gratitude. 'Brother Skydream…' he projected, his voice thick with emotion. 'Thank you.'
Skydream's crystalline form was noticeably dimmer now, its vibrant light faded to a soft, gentle glow. He looked tired, but his mental voice was still puffed up with an unshakeable pride.
'Heh. Don't thank me, kid,' he buzzed weakly. 'This is all part of the grand plan. Now… if you'll excuse me… all this genius is exhausting. I think I'll… take a little nap… for a month… or two…'
His form flickered and then dissolved, retreating into the deepest, quietest part of the Spiritual Sea to begin his long, slow recovery, his work, for now, complete.
Huo Yuhao stood in the silent sea, looking at the two shining soul rings now circling his Spirit Eyes, and then at the new, potent abilities nestled in his mind. He felt a profound sense of security, of power, of readiness.
The path to the north had been a success.