Chapter 140: The God of Destruction Strikes
As Huo Yuhao relinquished his conscious control, the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's spiritual power began to quietly assume partial command of his body. Deep within Huo Yuhao's eyes, a faint yet crystalline layer of ice-blue luster gradually surfaced. Under Tianmeng's meticulous guidance, the aura circulating within Huo Yuhao's body began to undergo subtle yet orderly changes—the fluctuations of his three fundamental powers were deliberately adjusted and amplified.
In the state of deep resonance that was martial soul fusion, when one party's aura exhibited an actively guiding shift, the other party would inevitably produce a corresponding chain reaction. True to form, the aura within Wang Dong fluctuated and intensified in response, as if drawn by invisible threads.
At the very instant their aura resonance reached a critical threshold, an extraordinarily forceful wave of spiritual energy—sourced from the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's vast spiritual origin—abruptly erupted from Huo Yuhao's body.
Weng—
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong simultaneously felt their minds shudder. A powerful wave of vertigo swept over them, and in nearly the same moment, both lost consciousness. Still wrapped in each other's arms, they collapsed onto Wang Dong's bed, which was spread with a soft, fur-lined blanket.
As the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm took control of Huo Yuhao's body, it naturally perceived a few more details. It remarked with mild surprise, "Oh? This little fellow... is actually a girl? Why disguise herself as a boy? Well, no matter. It's not important. Since she's a girl, I'll have to be even more mindful of propriety while guiding the fusion process. Can't take too many liberties—that would just bring unnecessary trouble for Yuhao later."
At the same time, from the very tips of Huo Yuhao's ten fingers, strands of translucent, crystalline ice-blue silk—reminiscent of the finest ice silkworm thread—began to drift out. These threads were nimble and swift, rapidly entwining and enveloping both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
Anyone present with a discerning eye would have instantly recognized that these threads were entirely composed of highly condensed, nearly materialized soul power! With Huo Yuhao's current cultivation, such a feat would be absolutely impossible. It was clearly a miraculous technique executed by the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, using its own fundamental origin power as the catalyst.
Watching this spectacle, the Ice Emperor turned to Electrolux and asked, "Elder Electrolux, you were also a human during your lifetime. Do you know why this girl would disguise herself as a boy? This Emperor finds it quite puzzling."
Electrolux stroked his phantom beard and reflected, "Ah, as for that... in the world where this old man lived, such a widespread custom of women disguising themselves as men did not seem to exist. However, the human heart is complex, and the ways of the world are ever-changing. Perhaps it is to evade certain dangers. Perhaps it stems from some childhood experience or unique mentality. It could also involve family interests or personal ambitions. For any choice a human makes, there may exist reasons that outsiders find difficult to comprehend. Therefore, for someone to choose to present themselves under the identity of the opposite sex is not entirely beyond understanding."
"I see," the Ice Emperor nodded, half-comprehending.
Gradually, the mutually embracing Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were completely wrapped by the ever-increasing ice-blue threads of soul power, forming an enormous cocoon of light, roughly the height of a person, that radiated a soft glow.
Cocoon-spinning was an innate talent instinct of silkworm-type soul beasts, and for the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm in particular, it was a skill mastered with practiced ease. Once the light cocoon had taken shape, all the auras of both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were completely contained within it. Their soul power, spiritual energy, and even those three fundamental auras began, within this sealed space, to circulate at an accelerated rate, intermingle, and mutually permeate one another, engaging in an even deeper level of fusion.
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice, tinged with a hint of self-satisfaction, resounded in the spiritual sea: "The initial guidance is complete. Let them now fuse naturally within the cocoon. Perfect compatibility—one hundred percent. The process of triple martial soul resonance and fusion has been stably initiated. Elder Electrolux, Ice Emperor—conduct another thorough sweep and see if there is any other abnormal energy intruding or lying dormant."
In truth, there was no need for Tianmeng's reminder. The vastly experienced Electrolux and the keenly perceptive Ice Emperor had long since focused their attention with the utmost intensity on every minute change occurring within Huo Yuhao's body and spiritual sea.
Suddenly, Electrolux's phantom form gave a faint jolt. His tone instantly sharpened to the utmost severity: "There is something! Extremely subtle, deeply concealed—attempting to infiltrate along the fusion channel right now! Originating from deep within the little girl's third martial soul origin... carrying the aura of divinity! It shares the exact same root and origin as that force which caused your spiritual backlash last time! This old man can now confirm it: it is a strand of foreign divine sense, belonging to a certain deity!"
"WHAT?!" Tianmeng and the Ice Emperor simultaneously cried out in shock and fury.
"Do not panic yet!" Electrolux said in a heavy voice. "For now, it appears to be merely lurking and observing, not yet exhibiting any overt aggressiveness. This old man will attempt to expel it. No matter the circumstances, a normal martial soul fusion absolutely cannot permit a foreign strand of divine sense—one bearing a clear master's imprint—to take up long-term residence within the core of the other party's spirit!"
Just as Electrolux gathered his vast, pure divine power of light and prepared to launch a purification and expulsion against that strand of concealed divine sense attempting to take root—
An unforeseen change erupted!
A deep, majestic purple divine seal, brimming with an infinite will of destruction, manifested without the slightest warning from the very depths of Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea.
The divine seal blazed with dazzling light and unleashed a blast of pure, tyrannical destructive power. Like raging fire consuming paper, it instantly tore apart and annihilated that strand of covertly invading foreign divine sense, leaving not even the faintest trace behind.
"What in the world is THAT?!" The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was stunned yet again. The appearance of this divine seal was something even it, as the "temporary landlord," had been completely unaware of.
The Ice Emperor was equally taken aback: "You actually didn't know? Your spiritual power blankets the entire spiritual sea—how could you have missed when this thing appeared?"
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm hastily denied it: "I truly had no idea! It was hidden far too deeply. Or rather... its level of existence likely far exceeds the scope of my perception!"
Electrolux, meanwhile, focused intently on carefully sensing that purple divine seal. After completing its cleansing task, the seal's radiance swiftly withdrew inward, concealing itself once more in the depths of Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, as if it had never appeared at all.
"...It seems that the child Yuhao has long since received the favor and protection of yet another deity," Electrolux said slowly, his voice carrying a note of dawning understanding. "The power just now—its essence also belongs to the divine tier, and moreover bears the distinct characteristic of 'Destruction.'"
"What?! Yuhao has also received a deity's favor?!" Tianmeng and the Ice Emperor exchanged stunned glances once more. The shocks just kept piling up today, one after another.
"This is just... following Furina—can one truly feast four times a day on sheer good fortune?" Even the normally aloof Ice Emperor couldn't keep the astonishment from her voice.
Electrolux shook his head slightly: "This old man is not entirely clear on the reasons behind it. Big Worm, you continue maintaining and guiding the martial soul fusion process. Should that strand of divine sense—the one bearing the nature of surveillance—appear once more, this Destruction divine seal will presumably react again. When that time comes, this old man will investigate it more closely."
"Alright! Leave it to me!" the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm replied, throwing itself even more earnestly into maintaining the stability of the light cocoon and the smooth progression of the fusion process.
The Divine Realm, Sea God's Temple.
Tang San, who had been covertly observing the lower realm all along, suddenly felt his expression darken drastically. He had sensed with absolute clarity that the faint strand of his divine sense—the one he had planted deep within his daughter's origin to observe and, when necessary, exert influence—had just been utterly and completely erased by a wave of tyrannical, unstoppable destructive power!
What shook him even more was the source of that destructive power. Its aura was all too familiar to him. It was none other than his old nemesis—the God of Destruction!
"The God of Destruction?! How could he have interfered? Could it be... he has chosen that Child of Destiny as his inheritor? But even if that were the case, why would he plant such a deeply hidden, protective divine seal in advance? I clearly detected no sign of that brat formally undertaking any divine trial!"
An ominous foreboding surged through his heart, and Tang San's eyes clouded over with gloom. "Damn it... this move has disrupted my arrangements. Now I have no choice but to accelerate the plan. I must have Xiao Qi quickly establish a deeper emotional bond with that Child of Destiny—best case, to thoroughly bind him to our faction. Only..."
He recalled the utterly unrestrained destructive will that had erupted from that divine seal moments earlier, and his brow furrowed deeply. "This time, having my divine sense destroyed has likely alerted the God of Destruction, putting him on guard... The plans ahead will, I fear, be far more troublesome."
Meanwhile, in another part of the Divine Realm—the Temple of Destruction.
The dark-violet arcs of electricity coiling around the God of Destruction crackled faintly. He slowly opened his eyes, and within them flashed a cold, piercingly sharp glint.
"Tang San... as expected, you couldn't resist in the end. You truly did make a move against the Child of Destiny."
"That girl Furina's intelligence was accurate in absolutely every particular. This hypocrite—scheming and manipulating fate with such meticulous, malicious intent."
A trace of icy coldness surfaced at the corner of his mouth. "It's fortunate that I took precautions well in advance and placed a protective divine seal within that youth's spiritual core ahead of time. And thanks must also go to that girl's warning. Otherwise, there was a very real chance he might have succeeded with these covert methods—planting the seeds of control without anyone ever being the wiser."
He gazed into the void, as if his sight could pierce through all barriers and see the direction of the Sea God's Temple. His low, murmured soliloquy carried unconcealed contempt and fury:
"Hmph... Tang San, just you wait. Conduct such as yours—you are utterly unworthy of standing among the ranks of God Kings. You are unworthy of even holding the Sea God's seat! The true reckoning will come, sooner or later."