"It actually worked!"
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was ecstatic as it smoothly entered Romantina's Spirit Sea.
In the vast Star Forest, it had encountered many Soul Masters who instinctively resisted it. Once Tianmeng Ice Silkworm entered their Spirit Seas, obstacles would arise—any forceful move would scramble their minds into mush.
But entering Romantina's Spirit Sea was surprisingly effortless, as if the young girl didn't resist it at all.
"So, your name is Romantina?"
At that moment, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm accessed Romantina's memories, learning her name and the wild, twisted fantasies stored in her mind.
Pure and innocent, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm eagerly absorbed all the human knowledge she possessed, suddenly enlightened: "This woman's memories are quite useful… but isn't mating just for reproduction? And she has no experience at all—what a strange creature."
Slightly "corrupted" by these risqué thoughts, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm turned to Romantina's consciousness and spoke bluntly:
"Your body's too weak. It can't handle my—"
"Even if you enter my mind, you'll never get my heart!"
Before Tianmeng Ice Silkworm could finish, Romantina's spiritual form blushed deeply and shouted loudly.
The Ice Silkworm realized it might have made a mistake—it should have first chosen someone whose Martial Soul was a heart, or a child with twin Martial Souls.
In two years, it had met many human Soul Masters, but Romantina was truly one of a kind.
"Let's get serious! I'm not in heat right now, and you're just a spirit form. Besides my secret crush Bingbing, I have zero interest in twisted humans like you."
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm growled.
"Ah~ So filthy! You toy with me and then toss me aside. No wonder you're such a heartless beast!" Romantina blushed fiercely. "Well, don't blame me if I find other men! Yohoho!"
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's segmented body twitched in a "井"-shaped pattern:
(へ╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬)
Romantina, however, couldn't read the meaning in the eyes of this golden-eyed Ice Silkworm and continued spouting outrageous things about "finding men" and "threesomes."
"Believe it or not, I'm leaving right now," Tianmeng Ice Silkworm threatened.
"Hmph, typical scumbag! No, a scumbug!" Romantina put her hands on her hips and sneered.
"What do you mean 'scumbug'?" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was annoyed, though it had some understanding of human slang. "I'm pure with Bingbing!"
"Who's Bingbing?"
"Bingbing is... none of your business!"
"Fine. You have Bingbing, yet you still want me? If you're not a scumbug, then who is? Men and male bugs are the same always wanting what they don't have." Romantina seemed to see through everything.
"Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, your sacrifice was successful," it decided not to waste time arguing with this crazy human, speaking to itself, "but your body is too weak. You can only bear soul rings up to about 600 years old. So, your soul skills' power is limited to that level. Fortunately, you've been boosting your physical strength through self-abuse, and your Martial Soul is a brain, which provides positive feedback—otherwise your body would deform from your recklessness."
"The soul rings and skills I give you will grow stronger as your soul power and mental strength improve, reaching up to a million-year level. Plus, you've obtained your first Intelligent Soul Ring."
"I'm giving you four soul skills. Test them yourself later. As for names, you can name them. We soul beasts aren't as poetic as humans we usually don't bother naming our skills."
"Besides, your second Martial Soul is Ice, residing within you. I'll decide the form of that second Martial Soul later I don't want you wasting the source of my ice power by letting some trash soul beast shape it."
Romantina's eyes widened in surprise.
Just as Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was feeling proud of impressing her with its power, Romantina suddenly asked, "So, besides that Bingbing, am I your third lover? Do soul beasts keep human women as mistresses? This feels—"
"Really exciting!"
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm: "..." Hoping Bingbing won't get mad about this later...
Outside:
Romantina slowly opened her eyes and saw Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu gathered around her. Sitting up, she curled inward weakly and said, "My body's unclean now—invaded by a flesh bug!"
Tang San was speechless: "That's a million-year soul beast!"
Xiao Wu looked at Romantina's back with complicated feelings—this journey to the human world had been incredibly intense. She had witnessed human diversity and now the diversity of soul beasts.
But judging from what Tianmeng Ice Silkworm had said earlier, its fate was even worse than hers. She and the others had only been driven out of the core lake area—though she hadn't grown up there.
And that Ice Silkworm's cultivation was being sucked dry by ferocious beasts!
By comparison, she was truly lucky.
Zhou Qing picked up the bug's shed skin—smooth, soft, yet very resilient, though it was now void of any internal organs or moisture.
Is the sacrifice process a transformation of matter into energy?
In the original story, after Xiao Wu's sacrifice, the Soft Bone Rabbit left behind was about the same size as a normal rabbit. The Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape were similar—they left behind their original bodies, greatly shrunk.
Also, after the Blue Silver Emperor's sacrifice, a seed was left behind... So, sacrifice may be the process of converting matter into energy to infuse the soul ring, shrinking the form.
Plant soul beasts leave behind seeds that can regrow.
Animal soul beasts leave behind their original forms, which theoretically can cultivate again. But animal soul beasts aren't as resilient as plant ones. For example, Xiao Wu's rabbit should have died, unable to root and regrow like a plant seed, but its vitality was maintained by a special red flower.
The Titan Giant Ape and Azure Bull Python couldn't preserve their bodies after sacrifice, partly poisoned by the Death Spider Emperor.
"Can I buy this skin?" Zhou Qing thought the value of the shed bug skin far exceeded the soul bones from the Moo Chun Bull's head.
"Oh, no problem," Romantina said casually. The skin seemed useless to her.
But inside Romantina's Spirit Sea, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm shouted anxiously:
"No! That's my molted skin a priceless memento! How can you sell it so easily? Even if those two kids are under my protection later, I can't give it away!"