In this exact instant, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but widen his eyes after thinking of a certain possibility.
With their current combination, coming to the Extreme North would undoubtedly pose an enormous danger to them. Though the Skydream Iceworm was powerful, he was currently attached to Huo Yuhao after becoming his first soul ring. Even if he was an intelligent soul ring, he was still a part of him. He still relied mainly on Huo Yuhao's strength to determine whether they were strong or weak.
Under a situation like this, the Skydream Iceworm's best option should've been to make Huo Yuhao stronger by obtaining his other soul rings first. Once he was strong enough, they could've come to the Extreme North to find this so-called Ice Emperor in order to awaken his thirrd martial soul!
However, the Skydream Iceworm had impatiently decided to come here and find the extremely terrifyingly strong Ice Emperor right after he'd gotten to Rank 20. Was it even possible for there to be no danger involved in this journey? Regardless of how meticulously the Skydream Iceworm had planned everything out, he and Huo Yuhao might be buried eternally in the Extreme North if he made a single mistake.
Just what made the Skydream Iceworm insist on him coming here, even if there was an enormous risk involved in doing so? Was it just to make him become even stronger? After hearing its gentle voice, it really didn't seem like the case!
After this thought flashed through Huo Yuhao's mind, he unexpectedly went silent. He didn't have any other choice but to believe in the Skydream Iceworm. More than that, he prayed that the Skydream Iceworm hadn't come here due to the reason he'd thought of. Right now, he could only patiently wait and observe silently.
"Skydream, you're courting death." The Ice Emperor's clear voice was suddenly filled with killing intent, and the jade green sky instantly turned dark green. An intense killing intent descended from the sky, and the originally protected hundred meter diameter around the Skydream Iceworm's body instantly shrank to a diameter of ten meters.
However, the Skydream Iceworm wasn't scared of the Ice Emperor in a simple contest of spiritual power. Smiling, he spoke in a very unhurried and graceful manner, "No, I'm just expressing my true feelings. I've lived for a million years, and I've spent a large majority of them sleeping. However, the only thing within the depths of my heart that I can't control is you. Ice Emperor, do you know why I've chosen to come back at a time like this? It's because I've calculated that you're about to reach your limit and reach a dead end within a hundred years. At that time, you won't be able to break through to the next rank. Then, you'll disappear in this icy world. That's why I've come back. I can't wait anymore, and an endless life has no more meaning to me. I don't have much longer to live anymore. I've come back to let you continue living and let us truly be together."
Inwardly sighing, Huo Yuhao shut his eyes. Sure enough, that was the case! The Skydream Iceworm had really tricked him; he truly had his own motives for coming here.
From the moment he'd met the Skydream Iceworm, Huo Yuhao had trusted him unconditionally from the bottom of his heart. The Skydream Iceworm had given him a million year soul ring in addition to four soul skills, which was equivalent to giving him a brand new life.
In Huo Yuhao's heart, the person he'd felt the most grateful to was this fellow, this intelligent soul ring of his. The Skydream Iceworm had a higher position in his heart than Tang Ya, Bei Bei, and even Wang Dong.
At this moment however, Huo Yuhao felt as if something within his heart had shattered. The emotions he'd repressed since his youth suddenly exploded out like a dam bursting. He lied to me, he actually lied to me!
An unprecedented amount of grievance turned into a river of teardrops that flowed down his cheeks before rapidly freezing into chunks of ice that gathered by the corners of his eyes. After all, Huo Yuhao was only twelve. Just as he'd believed that everything in front of him was filled with hope, the Skydream Iceworm's betrayal had instantly shattered his tenacious heart.
Huo Yuhao wasn't scared of hardships, nor was he scared of any difficulties. As long as he saw hope in front of him, he was willing to give it his all.
His one year in Shrek Academy had changed his personality drastically. In Shrek Academy, he had friends, teachers, and companions. From another standpoint, this had all been given to him by the Skydream Iceworm. It was precisely because of the Skydream Iceworm's existence that he had confidence and faith in his heart. However, the Skydream Iceworm's betrayal had practically cut off the root of his faith, brazenly uprooting the tall, confidence-filled tree from his heart.
This feeling could no longer be described using the word 'painful'. Huo Yuhao's hope had been completely obliterated.
Though the Skydream Iceworm's spiritual power was extremely powerful, he had focused all of his energy on the Ice Emperor's reaction; he didn't notice the heaven-shaking, earth-shattering transformation in Huo Yuhao's heart.
Hearing the Skydream Iceworm's words, the Ice Emperor turned silent. As if the Skydream Iceworm had precisely called out the worries in its heart, it pondered silently.
Somewhat nervous, the Skydream Iceworm said, "I've come back, Ice Emperor. We haven't seen each other for so many years, but you're not even willing to come and see me in person?"
The Ice Emperor's cold voice rang out again. "Skydream, don't you know that my tribe is a predator of your tribe?"
The Skydream Iceworm laughed indifferently, "I know that of course, but why does that matter? Is there a rule that states that one can't like their own predator? And it's precisely because of that that I like you even more."
The Ice Emperor said disdainfully, "Unfortunately, you don't have the qualifications to like me. However, I'm very touched. You've actually agreed to bring yourself back as food for me to eat. How could I not help you accomplish your goal to fuse our bodies together like this? You should be able to sense that I'm approaching you right now. Just wait for me, I'll get to you within fifteen minutes. I'll take all of your love, and I'll treat you well. I'll slowly eat your body and energy bit by bit and make you a part of my body."
The Skydream Iceworm seemed to already be familiar with the Ice Emperor's way of speaking. Somewhat helpless, he said, "Can't you be a bit gentler? You're always so cold and overbearing. It's no wonder you're still single. Right, I've always wanted to ask you this: is that joke going around the Extreme North true? Did you like the Snow Emperor back then?"
"Skydream, I'll definitely rend your body into ten thousand pieces!" The Skydream Iceworm's words seemed to have touched upon the Ice Emperor's most sensitive feelings, causing its voice to instantly become hysterical. At that moment, the dark green sky suddenly turned a deep black.
The smile on the Skydream Iceworm's mouth had never disappeared, as if it was purposely trying to rile up the Ice Emperor. On the other hand, there were no longer tears flowing from the eyes of the hiding Huo Yuhao. Only, he felt his heart go somewhat cold.
From their conversation, it was obvious that the Skydream Iceworm and the Ice Emperor had many grudges and emotions between them. It was definitely not as simple as the Skydream Iceworm had said. The Skydream Iceworm had purposely riled up the Ice Emperor, which meant that he definitely had his own motives; he definitely had a move he was planning to unleash.
However, did this really matter to him? Was the Skydream Iceworm still deserving of his trust? He had lied to him, bringing him to this danger-filled Extreme North. Was his only objective to help him awaken his third martial soul? No, that was definitely not the case. In the end, he had still lied to him.
Taking a deep breath, Huo Yuhao's face gradually turned chilly. The grief in his heart had caused a violent change to occur in his mental state. His nervousness and excitement had disappeared, and only a patch of ice remained in his heart.
As if it had sensed the change in Huo Yuhao's emotions, the gray pearl located within the depths of his mind shook lightly. However, it quickly returned to normal.
A voice that Huo Yuhao couldn't hear muttered to itself within the gray pearl, "The personality this kid's cultivated since his youth goes to extremes too easily. His greatest weakness is his own heart. To him, this could be considered a form of training. Otherwise, how will he be able to mature? It's better for me to not interfere. However, that large worm's made me look at him with a completely new light than before!"
The gray pearl then quieted down. In this exact instant, the Skydream Iceworm's voice rang out in Huo Yuhao's mind, "Yuhao, the preparations are all ready. When I give you the signal, you'll have to endure the cold. You'll have to persevere, got it?"
"I will." Huo Yuhao replied coldly.
Possibly due to the nervousness he felt, the Skydream Iceworm didn't notice the change in Huo Yuhao's mental state.
After fifteen minutes passed, the Ice Emperor who said that it'd take fifteen minutes to appear finally showed itself.
The dark sky turned jade green, and a jade green light streaked across the sky. With that flash of jade light, another soul beast appeared in front of the Skydream Iceworm.
Huo Yuhao was also concentratedly observing what was going on. Though he hadn't personally seen the third-ranked Titan Ice Devil King, he'd seen its terrifying footsteps before. In his opinion, the Ice Emperor who was also a member of the Three Emperors shouldn't be much smaller than the Titan Ice Devil Emperor.
However, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel somewhat stunned when the Ice Emperor finally appeared in his perception. He couldn't help but inwardly sigh in admiration, It's really too pretty.
Right, the Ice Emperor was very beautiful. Though it was just a soul beast, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
The Ice Emperor was roughly 1.5 meters long, which meant that it wasn't even as big as the Skydream Iceworm's previous body. Huo Yuhao had made lots of predictions towards the Ice Emperor's race, but they were all wrong. The Ice Emperor was a scorpion, a scorpion whose beauty had reached the pinnacle.
Could the words 'scorpion' and 'beautiful' even be used together? Huo Yuhao was now certain of his answer to this question.
The 1.5-meter-long Ice Emperor had two colors on its body. One was the color of ice, and the other was a jade green color.
The front end of its body had four layers stacked above each other, and each layer was longer than the previous one by a third of a meter. Its head lay on the frontmost layer, and its silver-white mouth shone with an ominous, cold light. The front of its body was covered a type of special scale that Huo Yuhao had never learned of in Shrek Academy. No, instead of call it a scale, it was more accurate to say that it was protruding outwards.
They were shaped like hexagons and shone with an incomparably bright luster, and were akin to a diamond in shape. They covered the front section of its body, and its six slender legs. Beneath the green sky, they emitted an incomparably brilliant luster. It was almost as if they'd become another source of light as it reflected all a myriad of rays of light.
Its two pincers were both a meter long, and they were both covered with the strange diamond-like hexagonal protrusions. Only, the foremost parts of its pincers were covered in a mirror-like silverish-white color just like its mouth.
However, the things Huo Yuhao paid the most attention to were its eyes. Its eyes were yellow, as if two yellow diamonds had been embedded within its sockets. They were also hexagonal, and the flickering of their crystal-like yellow light gave off a feeling similar to that of a gem glistening.
If its upper body could be considered sufficiently resplendent, its lower body–the long, yet upward pointing tail, was the core that dazzled everything around it.
Unlike the finely segmented tail of an ordinary scorpion, the tail of the Ice Emperor only had five segments. Each segment shone with an alluring jade-green light that was filled with luster. Its five segments were identically colored, and the segment nearest to its upper body was the widest of the five; the further away from its body, the narrower it got. The last segment was also inlaid with the diamond-like protrusions, and the very tip of its tail similarly flickered with a mirror-like, silverish-white luster.
How could a soul beast with a gem-like resplendence like this not be deserving of the title of 'beautiful'? Furthermore, merely describing it with the word 'beautiful' didn't seem to do it justice.
As the Ice Emperor appeared, the Skydream Iceworm unconsciously let an intoxicated look appear on his face. Staring at the Ice Emperor with a passionate gaze in his eyes, he said, "You've come."
Seeing the Skydream Iceworm's bright-gold body which was created by spiritual power, the Ice Emperor seemed to be taken somewhat aback. A trace of astonishment appeared in its crystal-yellow eyes.
"Skydream, did you think that I'd be unable to find your true body just because you hid it and used your spiritual power to create a virtual body to come see me? Even if your spiritual power's strong enough to create a body for yourself, you're still using the appearance of a human. You can't be too far away from your true body." The Ice Emperor said icily.
The Skydream Iceworm smiled slightly. His eyes were filled with an infatuated look, and he nearly started drooling, "You're still as charming as ever. I remember the last time I saw you, you still had six segments on your tail. However, they've already fused to five segments! I just love this attractive shade of green that you have. It seems like I wasn't wrong; you're not too far away from your limit."
Snorting disdainfully, the crisp, female voice of the Ice Emperor rang out again, "Useless words like that will only hasten your death. You've been hiding so well all these years, but you've suddenly come back now. Did you only come here to get yourself killed?"
With an adoring voice, the Skydream Iceworm said, "I've naturally come to let you live on! My suffering from the one-sided love I've had will finally come to an end. During these long years, I've always dreamt of you during my deep sleep. My beloved, we can finally stay together forever."
The Ice Emperor was no longer able to tolerate the Skydream Iceworm's infatuated appearance. Her tall, pointed tail suddenly lit up, and a spotlessly white beam of light instantly pierced through the Skydream Iceworm's body.
Huo Yuhao felt the Skydream Iceworm's spiritual power surging violently, and even his vision became somewhat fuzzy.
"I don't know what plans you have, but since you've come all the way here, you have to die. After absorbing your energy, I'll become the strongest soul beast in the entire continent."
After piercing through the Skydream Iceworm's body, the white ray didn't disappear. On the contrary, it started spreading through the Skydream Iceworm's golden body, destroying it in a berserk manner.
However, the Skydream Iceworm didn't reveal any signs of pain. Somewhat regretfully, he said, "I was originally planning to chat with you for a while, since I didn't want to be so heartless. However, I'll have to start it now, so that we can truly be together."
Having cultivated to its current level, the Ice Emperor could discern danger very well. She instantly felt that something was wrong, because the Skydream Iceworm's body had suddenly turned blurry. Right after that, he suddenly appeared right in front of her.
There was no need to doubt the Ice Emperor's speed, but she suddenly felt herself slowing down in this instant. The air around her seemed to have suddenly turned viscous, and the Skydream Iceworm's terrifying spiritual power had become a vast ocean that trapped her within it.
The Ice Emperor's gaze instantly turned ferocious. Forcefully waving her jade green tail, it erupted with a brilliant light.
"Skydream, you're courting death. You actually dare to use spiritual power in this manner? Aren't you scared of being unable to return to your original body? Moreover, regardless of how hard you try, it won't change the fact that you're trash. How long can you even keep me here for? One or two seconds?"
The Skydream Iceworm said gently, "Not much! One second's more than enough!"
At this moment, a membrane made of a pale white light slid across the ground noiselessly. No matter how strong the Ice Emperor was, she hadn't noticed it.
On the other hand, the hidden Huo Yuhao felt his body shake violently. Clenching his teeth, he concentrated all his soul power to defend against the extreme cold that had abruptly arrived.
Though he had the ice room, which was able to block out the outside cold, as well as the warmth created by the Skydream Iceworm's ignited shedded skin, he was still frozen solid instantly. He didn't know how low the temperatures here had reached, but it seemed as if his heart could stop beating at any time. He could only urge his soul power as if his life depended on it, maintaining the trace of warmth in his heart.
Right, a single second was enough for the Skydream Iceworm. The Ice Emperor was releasing all of her strength in preparation for the Skydream Iceworm to waste all of his spiritual power, but she suddenly felt her body tighten. Unexpectedly, she had lost the ability to move.
Astonished, the Ice Emperor immediately twisted about madly. White and green intertwined and flickered as she released all of her tyrannical skills without holding anything back.
However, this powerful several hundred thousand year-ranked soul beast who'd roamed about the Extreme North unhindered felt fear in the next instant. No matter how hard she struggled, it was unexpectedly to no avail.
The sensation of constriction was strengthening at an astonishing rate, unexpectedly causing a gurgling sound to ring out. Regardless of how she struggled, the strength of her bindings continued to strengthen unceasingly. Unexpectedly, she had no way to resist it.
The frontal pincers she'd raised up into the air were gradually pushed downwards, and her raised tail was pressed up against her body. The Ice Emperor, one of the Extreme North's Three Emperors, had actually been constricted this rigidly.
"No, no! This isn't possible. Skydream, how could trash like you be able to tie me up? What skill is this? Why can't I use my energy?"
The golden light vanished, and the Huo Yuhao-shaped Skydream Iceworm reappeared in front of her. With an indifferent smile on his face, he said, "I've truly waited for this day for too long already. You don't know what's happening? Right, I'll give you an explanation, but not now. Once we've left this area, I'll have a good chat with you. Right now, we should be on our way."
With that, he raised his right hand and pointed towards the Ice Emperor. Amidst the flickering golden light, the Ice Emperor's body vanished into thin air.
Facing the sky, the Skydream Iceworm let out a sigh. "I didn't think that I'd be able to use the few abilities I wouldn't have dared to use in the past after losing my body. Unfortunately, that was my only chance to use them. Ice Emperor, oh Ice Emperor, I really hope you won't disappoint me."
The pale white membrane reappeared, but the Ice Emperor had already vanished. The membrane slowly fell through the ground, re-entering Huo Yuhao's body, which was located within the ice room.
The extreme cold was instantly isolated from the ice room, but Huo Yuhao's body remained as hard as steel. A layer of frost had covered the surface of his body.
The golden light vanished into his forehead, and the Skydream Iceworm called out to him softly, "Yuhao, Yuhao, how are you? I've succeeded."
Though Huo Yuhao's body was frozen solid, he was abnormally clear-headed.
"Why?" Within his spiritual world, Huo Yuhao asked coldly.
Puzzled, the Skydream Iceworm asked, "Why what?"
Huo Yuhao's icy voice rang out, "Why did you lie to me? Did you really come here just to awaken my third martial soul? If so, how can you explain what you just did?"
The Skydream Iceworm fell silent.
His voice filled with grief, Huo Yuhao said, "Skydream, you know, after leaving the Duke's Mansion, you're the first partner in my life who'd given me hope. I considered you as a teacher, as well as my closest friend. You're the person who's finally given me a target I can work towards, but why did you have to lie to me? Why? Did you just want to use me as a puppet to come here? I used all of my energy to come here, but the only thing I saw was the love you had towards the Ice Emperor. I don't mind taking risks with you. If you had told me in advance, I would've been willing to follow you all the way, even if I had to climb through mountains of blades or swim through seas of fire. However, you shouldn't have lied to me."
The Skydream Iceworm let out a long sigh, "Sorry, Yuhao. I did lie to you. I didn't fully trust you. I didn't know whether you'd still be willing to follow me if I told you everything. You're not wrong, I had my own selfish motives. I hope to be with the Ice Emperor forever. Ever since I was born, the only person I've liked is the Ice Emperor. It's just like the 'love' you humans have. Even if she only treats me as food, I'll still love her without any second thoughts."
"I didn't realize that doing things this way would hurt you. I don't wish for you to look down on me. It's just as she's said, I'm a piece of trash and a coward. The Ice Emperor's full name is the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, and she's one of the true rulers of this freezing earth. The Ice Jade Scorpion tribe she belongs to takes my Iceworm clan as food, but I've loved her incorrigibly since I the first time I met her two hundred thousand years ago."