*Roar!*
A terrifying, two meter tall, white leopard let out a deep roar that shook the thick snow around it. It had fierce white fur that seemed like it were deadly needles, frost covering its body.
"To think I'd encounter a five thousand year old Blizzard Leopard on the way," Huo Yuhao clicked his tongue as he brandished several explosive kunais out of his storage belt, soul power circulated intensely in his body. "get out of my way!"
*Roar!*
Soul beasts who reached a thousand years would start to develop a bit of intelligence and being five thousand years old, the Blizzard Leopard could somewhat understand Huo Yuhao and it did not like his tone.
Blizzard Leopard are quite well known in the soul master world, especially those dealing with ice type soul beasts. The Blizzard Leopard is known for two things, their speed and ice control. They move around like a shadow and capable of conjuring a blizzard in an instant.
With it being five thousand years old, its strength was something not even a Soul Ancestor would underestimate it.
The Blizzard Leopard bared its sharp, icy fangs, its eyes glinting with malice. It leaped forward, its powerful limbs propelling it with tremendous speed towards Huo Yuhao.
Anticipating the leopard's attack, Huo Yuhao swiftly threw his explosive kunais, aiming for the leopard's legs to hinder its movements. The kunais exploded upon impact, causing the leopard to stumble momentarily.
Seizing the opportunity, Huo Yuhao's body flickered and appeared before the Blizzard Leopard and unleashed his Absolute Domain.
Space distorted above its head and an overbearing invisible weight descended upon the Blizzard Leopard, suppressing its movements. The powerful soul pressure caused the leopard to freeze in place, unable to counterattack.
Pressed for time, Huo Yuhao didn't hold back and executed a series of handseals.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique"
"Raaaaauuugh...!" The Blizzard Leopard let out a tremendous roar as a searing stream of fire erupted from Huo Yuhao's mouth. The flames shot straight at it, like a dragon's fire breath, it quickly engulfed the leopard's body. The intense heat melted the ice on its fur, causing it to sizzle and steam.
The Blizzard Leopard desperately tried to escape but Huo Yuhao was ruthless as his soul ring flashed and his fourth soul skill, Flame Control, activated. The flames wrapped tightly around the leopard, preventing it from breaking free.
The white leopard's icy blue eyes widened in pain and panic as the flames continued to consume its body. Its once fearsome aura weakened with each passing second.
Huo Yuhao's eyes narrowed as he watched the leopard struggle, showing no emotion.
Huo Yuhao normally wouldn't be so callous towards another living being, he would've just scared it away as its soul ring wasn't compatible with him, but he was currently on the run from the Ice Jade Scorpion tribe! Letting the Blizzard Leopard live would pose a potential threat to his safety.
In just a few seconds later the flames finally claimed the Blizzard Leopard, its huge body slumped into the hole that the flames created from melting the thick snow and a purple soul ring slowly formed above its carcass.
From the start to the end, it didn't manage to show off its prowess and died a fiery death.
But by the time its soul ring appeared, Huo Yuhao was already gone.
"Brother Skydream, how much further?" Huo Yuhao asked aloud as he slid down a slope.
"Just a few meters down northeast and we'll be safe." Skydream Iceworm's replied, sounding relieved.
"Roger that," Huo Yuhao replied, his voice filled with determination. He continued to navigate through the snowy landscape, his movements swift and agile. Despite being on the run, he refused to let fear cripple him.
A few minutes passed by and they arrived at an empty snowy plain. Nothing seemed different except that the falling snow was less thicker and less colder than before.
After surveying his surroundings, Huo Yuhao then asked with a heavy breath. "Brother Skydream...?"
"Yup, this place should be good enough." Saying that, Skydream Iceworm's spiritual contruct, which now took on his original form of when he was alive, appeared by his side. "Alright Yuhao, be ready because what comes next is the deciding factor of completing your second martial soul and making you stronger; it's time to negotiate with her."
"However, even though my spiritual power is my origin energy, I won't be able to maintain the binding on her for too long. The Ice Empress's so strong that I can't truly trap her for long."
"Which is why I'll be joining in as well," Ancestor appeared like a ghost, shocking both Huo Yuhao and Skydream as he slowly floated beside Huo Yuhao like a guardian. "I'm a man of my word. If things goes south, I will step in and try to stop her. Even if I have to destroy myself alongside her."
"Ancestor..." Huo Yuhao couldn't help but be moved by his ancestor's words.
Ancestor waved his hand. "Enough. I'm already dead anyway. What manners most to me is you. If you die, then my existence would have been for naught.
Huo Yuhao nodded and turned towards Skydream. "Do you really think the Ice Empress would agree?"
Skydream nervously chuckled. "Well, I'm gonna need to calm her down for a while so she would listen to me. But trust me, if she hears about my proposition, she'll agree."
"But, why? What makes you so confident that she would?" Huo Yuhao was stunned. "Also, couldn't you just say that to her in the first place instead of pissing her off and kidnapping her?"
"First off, Bing'er and like most femme fatales, they would only truly listen to you if you could back up your claims with your strength. Bing'er wouldn't have listened to what I would say if I didn't do this and dominate her a bit." Skydream began to smile mysteriously.
"Secondly, even though we've lived for so many years, we're actually more afraid of death than you humans. After all, is anyone truly willing to give up an extremely long life? No matter how much she looks down on me and how unwilling she is, preserving her own life is still more important!"
He began to wiggle his body and said with a playful expression, "Now then, watch me. You just need to lie down and stay still for a moment."
Huo Yuhao's eyes slowly lit up, while a strong golden light flickered within them. Immediately afterwards, he felt the mind-numbing cold.
Even though it wasn't as intense as the freezing cold of the core region of the Extreme North, he shivered instinctively, and quickly circulated his soul power. The Skydream Iceworm had evidetly taken his shedded skin away.
A ball of golden light emerged from in between Huo Yuhao's brows, then slowly rose into the air. It was only a golden dot when it emerged, but it gradually expanded as it rose. In the blink of an eye, it had become a disk of light with a one meter diameter.
A light flashed, and a figure emerged from the golden disc. The instant it appeared, the golden light in the air disappeared. A fist-sized ball of golden light surged out from Huo Yuhao's forehead and proceeded to float in midair. The trapped figure within was the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion.
And no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't get free.
What followed next were a few words of... profanity.
"YOU C**** SUCKING B**** MAGGOT! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I'M GONNA *#*#@ @#*@# AND *#@%@# @#**@!!!"
Both Huo Yuhao and Ancestor stared, their eyes flat and dead, as they then turned towards Skydream who had a...strange look on his face.
"Ahh, isn't she so majestic?" Skydream said with a dopey grin. "Such a fiery personality, isn't she so great"
"...Yeah..." Huo Yuhao replied with a forced smile, moving back a bit from Skydream.
"Ice Empress, stop resisting. You've already tried so many times, you should know that it's useless by now."
Ice Empress let out an angry growl, her body contorting within the golden light. But no matter how hard she struggled, she remained trapped.
After a few seconds of struggling, she finally and reluctantly calmed down. With a cold snort, she asked. "What do you want?"
The Skydream Iceworm gently replied, "I only want to stay with my beloved forever."
"And this is your way of showing me your love?" Ice Empress hissed, her body shone a bright green color.
After thinking it over for an entire day or so, the Ice Empress had already come to the understanding that she'd been duped. At that time, if she hadn't been so close to Skydream, his plans would definitely have failed.
But could anyone not get infuriated with Skydream after spewing all those words? Ice Empress was a soul beast of many things but being calm and composed?
Skydream nervously chuckled. "I'm sorry! I'm so, so, sorry! I admit that saying all those words was indeed awful and this as well but I have no choice! I need you to listen to me."
"Hmph! You said you loved me, right? If you really love me, then why haven't you released your true body? I've already fallen into your trap, so what do you have to be afraid of?"
Skydream sighed. "I'm naturally not afraid of you, it's just that there's no way for me to let you see my true body! My true body no longer exists. Haven't you realised that you've been looking at my spiritual origin all this time, not a virtual body? After ruling over your domain for so long, you've lost your cautiousness. If you hadn't, I definitely wouldn't have succeeded so easily."
The Ice Empress was stunned. Astonished, she replied, "What? You only have your spiritual origin? So your body..." At that moment, she finally noticed Huo Yuhao, who was sitting on the ground, and the ghostly Ancestor floating behind him.
"You couldn't be referring to this human, right? Even though you've trapped me, I can easily tell how insignificant he is, just by using my eyes. Is he your puppet?" Her huge gem-like eyes narrowed. "And that remnant spirit behind the boy..."
"Ignore the ghostly apparition for now. As for the human, he's my host, or rather, he's my master. The current me is a soul ring that belongs to him; the continent's first ever intelligent soul ring!" He proudly proclaimed.
Ice Empress cried out, dumbfounded, "What? You've actually become a human's soul ring? How can this be?! Even though you're a piece of trash, you've still lived for this long. How could a human's fragile body withstand your enormous energy?!"
Skydream smiled bitterly. "Don't bring that up. My tragedy began with you. At that point in time, you were so persistent on eating me..." Skydream used the most miserable voice he could muster as he recounted his experiences from the past hundred thousand years. Huo Yuhao had already heard his story, but Skydream used a much more sorrowful tone as he explained it to the Ice Empress. Making him seemed more pitiful.
'Bro, what happened to that previous attitude you had before?' Huo Yuhao stared at Skydream with flat, dead eyes.
Is this what love does to someone? That's it then! Until he accomplishes his revenge, he will not fall in love with anyone!
....For some reason, Huo Yuhao felt a sudden chill down his spine.
"–I naturally don't want to die! I believe that you feel the same as I do. I can sense that your limit will arrive within a hundred years. Because of that, you're extremely worried." Skydream said with the most serious and convincing voice he could muster.
"You and me, we both don't want to die. We've already lived this long; how could we be willing to simply turn into pile of dust? As such, I've found the best way to get past this."
"...How?"
Skydream grinned and said, "By creating God."
'Creating what, now?!' Huo Yuhao was stunned. He didn't hear anything about this! He turned towards Ancestor and the latter didn't react, having already known about it from the start.
The Ice Empress was stunned, a strange glint flickered in her eyes. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.
"Simple, do you still remember that incident that happened ten thousand years ago?"
The Ice Empress replied, "The Heavens and the Earth changed color; a God had been born."
Skydream nodded, "Right. At that time, I sensed the appearance of at least five Gods. Moreover, two of the Great Star Dou Forest's Great Beast Kings fell. They were both powerful existences who resided within the core regions of the Great Star Dou Forest, and even though they were somewhat inferior in terms of cultivation to those sleeping fellas who absorbed my energy, the races that they belonged to were extremely domineering."
"One of them had the same Titan bloodline that the Titan Ice Devil King has, while the other had the bloodline of dragons. Despite this, they both still fell. However, they didn't fall because they were killed by their enemies, but because they were used to complete the most powerful human who existed ten thousand years ago—the person who later became the most powerful God."
'Ten thousand years ago? Is Skydream talking about... the Sea God?' Huo Yuhao's eyes widened.
He heard the stories, the legends about the original Shrek Seven Monsters! About how after they defeated the evil Spirit Hall, those powerful soul masters at the time had suddenly ascended to become Gods!
And of those seven, was his ancestor, Dai Mubai. But his God title was never stated in the history books so most people didn't believe in the legend that Sea God Tang San's friends had become Gods as well.
Skydream floated closer to Ice Empress, stating in a deep voice, "Ice Empress, we both know the truth. Only Gods have an unlimited lifespan!"
The Ice Empress fell silent. Striking while the iron was hot, the Skydream Iceworm continued, "You know that it's impossible for us to become Divine Beasts ever since the Divine War, all because those stupid dragons went on a rampage. While I did manage to become a one million year old soul beast, which is a fluke, I still didn't manage to attain divinity! Worse still, I could tell that I still have a limited lifespan! So even if by some miracle and some other soul beast manage to reach my cultivation, you'd be some half-baked or fake Divine Beast."
"There's also the option of re-cultivating as a human. But I'm not willing to try that vague and unreliable method, nor am I willing to die a premature death during the process of re-cultivation! I've chosen another method as the next best option. That is, to create a God!"
Skydream's expression turned zealous. "By creating a deity, even though I won't be a God, I'll still be able to follow this God, and will possess an unlimited lifespan by becoming part of this God! As such, I've chosen to become a soul ring. Not just any soul ring either, but an intelligent soul ring. I want to use my power to help him become a God, step by step."
"I know that you'd be doubtful about this human but listen when I say that he is extremely talented, with great characteristics, and his first martial soul is already enough to make him reach the peak of the mortal world! If he has my help as well, why can't he become an existence like that person ten thousand years ago. Why can't he become a God?"
At this point, the Ice Empress was finally moved. She solemnly asked, "How confident are you?"
Skydream replied, "By myself, and with this ghost butt here, 50%!"
Ice Empress was stunned, "So high?! Just who is this spirit that it's making you so confident?"
"...." Skydream was silent for a moment and said, "A fallen god, or close to one, is all I can say. But that should explain why I'm pretty confident in my plan."
His eyes sharpened, "Also, I know what you're thinking right now. You're thinking of finding another human and trying to create a God like me. And you're right to think like that, you'd definitely be more successful than me."
"However, you'd best give up on it. Since it would take time, time you don't have."
"Then what the hell are you trying to say to me?!" Ice Empress flew into a rage.
"My beloved, how could I be willing to let you die? Since I've told you about this method, I naturally have a way to help you! Why did you think I brought you out here with us? You just have to join us, join with Huo Yuhao! With you, our chances of him becoming a God would increase to 70%!"
The Ice Empress blanched and her gaze landed upon the small human, not even two decades old.
Place all her hopes on living a unlimited life on that tiny human?
Naturally she wouldn't! But with her death coming close and the plan she was originally going to do only having 10% of success.
"Accept the deal, Ice Empress." Suddenly, a mysterious apathetic voice entered Ice Empress's head.
'Who are you?!' Ice Empress tensed.
"I'm the... ghostly apparition that you're looking at. And I'm talking to you right now to further convince you."
Ice Empress snorted, 'And how would you further convince me? I'm sorry but talking to another's mind isn't convincing.'
"Naturally. But I'm going to show you the potential of what Huo Yuhao could accomplish with just us and his eyes."
Before Ice Empress could react, a series of memories came flooding her mind.
A memory of a man creating a invulnerable giant avatar that can shoot a lightning arrow and decimate the land.
A memory of a sea of black flames, burning the ocean and turning it into a desert.
A memory of destroying an entire city with a flip of a hand.
A memory of a gigantic tree towering the heavens, a strange red moon with markings over it.
The final memory was of a strange man with a wild mane of white hair, a calm yet craze look on his face, wearing white clothes with strange black markings on it while holding a black staff.
But the most prominent feature of the man was his completely purple eyes with concentric dark circles.
It just but a memory, but the sight of the man with those strange and powerful looking eyes caused the Ice Empress to shiver uncontrollably.
'W-Who is that...?'
"One of the boy's previous incarnations." Ancestor calmly replied.
'Incarnations...?' Ice Empress's eyes widened.
"..." Ancestor didn't reply.
Looking down in thought, Ice Empress let out a deep sigh and nodded.
"Very well, I accept your plan."
"However," Just Skydream let out a sigh of relief and Huo Yuhao pumped his fist up, Ice Empress continued. "This plan wouldn't be just 70% of success."
"Huh? What do you–" Skydream slowly asked when Ice Empress took something out of her mouth.
It was a human femur but instead of its normal color, it looked completely icy blue. As if it were a crystal ice than a human bone but that wasn't the only unexpected thing, as the ice femur seemed to have pulsating golden veins; it looked as if it were still alive!
Skydream's eyes widened in complete shock.
"I-Is that what I think it is?!"
Ice Empress nodded. "Yes, it's a bone fragment of the Ice God."
.....
AN: If you notice any mistakes here, I'm sorry about that. I'll edit it out later. I'm dead tired rn...
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