Leaving the room, Huo Yuhao's eyes flickered slightly. Reviewing his own performance and Gu Yuena's shifting expressions, he felt a solid sense of assurance.
Compared to the Silver Dragon King, where did his advantages lie?
Some intelligence concerning the God Realm and the gods, Elder Yi's knowledge, the imprint of the Divine Throne, and the steady temperament cultivated over ten thousand years... Not much, but enough.
Compensating for weaknesses with his strengths, gambling a small stake for massive returns!
Using the aura of the Divine Throne's imprint and a bit of intelligence to secure an identity as a god capable of conversing on equal footing wasn't bad at all.
As for why he, a reincarnated god, looked so ordinary? Just take a look at the reincarnated Godking Tang, and didn't it suddenly seem entirely reasonable?
There were many problems he could not solve, but the current situation would hardly drive him into a corner.
Moreover, the Silver Dragon King was different from Tang San's divine sense. Huo Yuhao could not be certain of her condition, and he could not gamble on whether she could restore god-level power by paying a price.
After all, even in his own case, if it truly came down to risking his life, bringing out all the Origin from ten thousand years ago would allow him to sustain quasi-god combat power and Divine Origin Realm spiritual power for a short time.
And according to Di Tian, Gu Yuena's strength stood above the Plane Master's and would not be suppressed. If she paid the price to bring out the strength of a first-class god... the consequences could well be imagined. Deterrence was the only option.
The benefits were obvious as well. Moving forward, as long as he didn't blow his cover, Gu Yuena would never carry out the plans from the original storyline under any circumstances—a solid insurance policy.
However, misleading Gu Yuena into thinking he was a god came at a cost; if he were exposed, she would likely kill him outright.
Yet nothing in this world was entirely without trade-offs. To earn the Silver Dragon King's respect in mortal flesh, such a cost was only to be expected.
"Quite a bit of pressure," Huo Yuhao murmured, shaking his head slightly before breaking into a chuckle.
Compared to having a Godking of the God Realm watching his every move ten thousand years ago, what did this bit of pressure amount to?
It was just that the time had come to explain things to them.
Within the Sea of Spirit, the moment Huo Yuhao's spiritual avatar materialized, the complicated gazes of three beings were already fixed on him.
This came as no surprise. After all, he had never mentioned his greatest secrets to them, and with the Divine Throne's imprint shielding him, even Tianmeng had never seen his memories.
"Yuhao, you..." the Ice Empress began, hesitating.
"Bingbing, there's no need to ask."
Before the Ice Empress could continue, Tianmeng cut in solemnly, "I believe Yuhao has his reasons for keeping it from us."
The Ice Empress glared at him. "Hmph, are you saying I don't trust Yuhao?"
She paused, her gaze shifting back to Huo Yuhao as she sighed. "I just don't want him shouldering everything alone."
Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena's exchange had not been long, but it was enough for the three to deduce quite a bit—such as the possibility that he knew matters of the gods, or might even be the reincarnation of a god.
And the imprint deep within the Sea of Spirit—they had known it was extraordinary, but they had never imagined it possessed such an illustrious background, capable of making a god wary.
Thinking back now, Yuhao had never sought to become a god, perhaps because he knew that attaining godhood... would spell disaster for him.
"Because it involves gods, you wouldn't have been able to help him, and he didn't want us worrying."
Electrolux cast a glance toward the Divine Throne's imprint deep in the distance, then looked at Huo Yuhao, his tone carrying a rare hint of reproach. "Yet why didn't you speak to me? Now that you've grown up, do you think your teacher is useless?"
Electrolux was well aware that while Huo Yuhao might have something special about him, he could not be a god; that information likely came from the Divine Throne.
"Elder Yi, I never thought that. I'm still counting on you to take on a hundred foes at once after you're resurrected." Huo Yuhao offered a gentle smile. "Besides, as one grows up, everyone has their own secrets.
"Still, since I'm here, I don't intend to keep hiding things from you. I won't go into the specific sources of my information, but are you all prepared? Our enemies are gods."
Tianmeng Iceworm chuckled. "If you really are the reincarnation of a god, Yuhao, then we naturally have nothing to fear. And if you aren't, we have even less to fear! You tricked a god in mere human flesh—these gods don't seem like such a big deal after all."
"She is the Silver Dragon King, a god of the dragon clan, and the co-ruler of soul beasts."
Tianmeng Iceworm: "..."
*Uh-oh, mocked the wrong god. Feels like I just cursed myself.*
The Ice Empress frowned. "I once heard Xue'er mention that the true sovereign of the Star Dou Great Forest wasn't Di Tian. Is that her?"
"That's right."
Huo Yuhao's eyes gleamed as he spoke slowly, informing them about the existence of the Abyss, Tang San's divine sense, the Plane Master, the Two Great Dragon Kings, the Dragon God, and others.
As for the Great Divine Circle, that was still too far off. If he had the confidence to deal with it, he could bring it up later; if he ultimately lacked the ability to face it, he would make proper arrangements for Elder Yi and the others.
"Meaning... all of them have restrictions?"
Tianmeng, who had assumed their enemies were all maxed-out, unconstrained gods, breathed a huge sigh of relief.
He had worried for nothing. Aside from the Abyssal Monarch, wasn't this just a bunch of cripples?
Totally beatable, totally beatable!
"Yes. In fact, when it comes to the state of Tang San's divine sense, I highly doubt it even compares to Elder Yi." Huo Yuhao glanced at Electrolux's solid spiritual body.
Over ten thousand years of accumulation, Electrolux was now able to perceive the outside world at will, had amassed a substantial amount of divine sense power, and remained awake constantly. Compared to Tang San's divine sense, his condition was vastly superior.
It was likely the Golden Dragon King's God Core that tied down most of Tang San's divine sense's power; after all, every time Tang Wulin broke a seal, it forced that divine sense to treat it like a mortal threat.
The Ice Empress asked, puzzled, "Yuhao, why do you want to appear before the Sea God's divine sense? If he happens to observe the outside world on a rare occasion, or learns of your existence from Tang Wulin, wouldn't that cause trouble?"
"Tang Wulin is on the verge of breaking the seal, so that wisp of divine sense won't dare lose focus. Combined with the trump cards Elder Yi and I have prepared, nothing will happen to me. As for my purpose..."
Huo Yuhao countered with a question, "Ice Empress, between me and the Silver Dragon King, who do you think poses a greater threat? And for me, between the Silver Dragon King and Tang San's divine sense, who is more dangerous?"
"The Silver Dragon King in both cases, of course. Her condition is better than anyone else's. If she becomes dissatisfied with the status quo and takes things to extremes, the Spirit Pagoda could be destroyed because of her."
At this point, the Ice Empress frowned. "You want to expose the Silver Dragon King's existence to Tang San's divine sense?"
Huo Yuhao's eyes flashed. "Precisely. Even if the Silver Dragon King hadn't come to East Sea City, I would have used the window while that wisp of divine sense poses little threat to have her show her face in front of Tang San's divine sense."
Placing the Silver Dragon King out front to draw attention, while using the existence of Tang San and the Plane Master to keep her in check and prevent Gu Yuena from flipping the chessboard—this was the plan he had conceived ever since learning she was in the Spirit Pagoda.
In this life, it was impossible for him to cultivate in seclusion as he had in the past. If Tang San's divine sense gained the capacity to observe the outside world due to anomalies from Huo Yuhao not ascending to the God Realm, the other party would discover his existence sooner or later. Rather than waiting passively for that moment, it was better to step forward proactively and keep the risks to a minimum.
"Besides, now that she has come here on her own initiative, making a trip to East Sea Academy is all the more necessary."
Huo Yuhao smiled. "If that person truly possesses awareness, and the Silver Dragon King and I appear before him together, based on what I know of him, he'll definitely read too much into it."
Without Huo Yuhao needing to elaborate, the Ice Empress and Tianmeng could easily picture the scene.
Huo Yuhao and the Silver Dragon King together—the former not yet a god, clearly recruited by the latter. In Tang San's eyes, the Spirit Pagoda might even look like something the Silver Dragon King had instructed Huo Yuhao to build, all to preserve a foundation for the soul beasts to reign supreme ten thousand years later!
Yet when they remembered that in the Silver Dragon King's eyes, Huo Yuhao was a reincarnated god... the two could hardly keep straight faces.
Chapter 25