"The aura of a deity?!" These five words rang like thunder in Huo Yuhao's mind.
"That's right. In the world I came from, gods were intangible. Once someone broke through to that level, they had to abandon their physical body, relinquish everything, their divine consciousness dispersing between heaven and earth, controlling everything yet unable to directly manipulate anything. This was a major reason why people from my world were reluctant to become gods," Electrolux said solemnly.
"But your world differs from mine. I vaguely sense that gods in your world can exist physically. Regardless, as long as one reaches the level of a deity, they will condense divine consciousness. And with my own divine consciousness, I can't be mistaken about this," Electrolux said gravely.
"Yuhao, my Bone Spirit Cold Fire senses another type of exotic flame," Yao Lao's voice echoed in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea. "And just as they said, there's a powerful force at the end of this cave. Are you sure you want to go further?"
Although Yao Lao longed for a body to be reborn, his first concern was still Huo Yuhao's safety. After all, he was just a soul and his power might not be enough to fully protect Huo Yuhao against that force.
"Teacher, we've come this far, there's no reason to turn back," Huo Yuhao said with a smile. "Better to die trying than to live without purpose."
With those words, Huo Yuhao fearlessly strode deeper into the cave. As a top assassin in his previous life, he wasn't afraid of death.
Now, he had things he must accomplish and people he had to protect. He had to pursue greater strength and had no reason to retreat!
After walking several hundred steps, the scenery opened up before him. At the end of the cave was a room of several hundred square meters.
The room glittered brilliantly, the floor smooth as a mirror, and it was furnished with various pieces of furniture. To Huo Yuhao's astonishment, everything in the room, from the floor he walked on to the furniture, was made entirely of Ice Extreme Divine Crystal.
On the walls of the room grew many clusters of Ten Thousand Year Mystic Ice Marrow, roughly counting to over a dozen. The sheer quantity of Ten Thousand Year Mystic Ice Marrow made the room's temperature almost unbearable. Even with the double protection of the Tianmeng Iceworm's remains and the Bone Spirit Cold Fire, Huo Yuhao felt an intense cold.
What drew Huo Yuhao's attention the most was something on the floor in the center of the room.
It was an ice-blue lotus platform with eight petals, looking like the finest blue sapphire, naturally perfect and crystal clear, making it irresistible.
On the ice-blue lotus platform, there was a small ice-white flame flickering slightly, drawing the icy power of the surrounding Ten Thousand Year Mystic Ice Marrow into the lotus platform below.
Sensing Huo Yuhao and Yao Lao's presence, the ice-white flame buzzed with agitation and then, like a startled kitten, spewed white flames at them as if to threaten them to leave.
As a fellow exotic flame, it sensed the power of the Bone Spirit Cold Fire on Yao Lao, so it did not attack immediately.
"It's indeed an exotic flame, one similar to the Bone Spirit Cold Fire with both cold and hot properties!" Yao Lao said excitedly. "An exotic flame will burn everything that approaches to nothingness, including energy. Apart from some special objects, it can only be taken by enveloping it in a steady stream of energy and forcibly bringing it away. Although collecting it will consume some of my soul power, I can make up for it later with soul-nourishing elixir. The cost is worth it."
Huo Yuhao nodded in agreement and took a tentative step forward. This step triggered a change in the room.
An ice-blue energy ripple suddenly spread from the ice-blue lotus platform, instantly enveloping Huo Yuhao. Even Yao Lao couldn't react in time before Huo Yuhao was sent flying.
"Poof!"
A mouthful of bright red blood sprayed out, landing on the ice-blue lotus platform. In an instant, countless golden light spots emerged from the lotus platform, forming a passage of text in mid-air.
"Those who enter my abode, whether soul beasts or humans, shall be my inheritors. Sit on the lotus platform and comprehend the essence of my power, and there shall be an opportunity to become a god."
"The white flame in the abode was inadvertently created after I became a god, using the endless cold power of the Ten Thousand Year Mystic Ice Cave as the foundation. Its childlike nature should be treated kindly by my successors."
"Ice God,"
With Yao Lao's support, Huo Yuhao stood up, reading the words in mid-air with astonishment. The Ice God's abode, the place of worship for the many soul beasts of the Extreme North!
According to the text, sitting on the ice-blue lotus platform could grant the Ice God's inheritance?!
Did that mean the vessel for his second martial soul was the Ice God?!
"Ice God," Tianmeng Iceworm murmured in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea.
"Tianmeng, you were also a soul beast of the Extreme North. Are you familiar with the Ice God?" Huo Yuhao asked.
"The Ice God is the common faith of all beings in the Extreme North. As a million-year-old soul beast of the Extreme North, I was naturally one of her followers," Tianmeng replied softly. "But now, the Ice God no longer has a place in the divine realm."
"Why?" Huo Yuhao asked, curious about a history even the original work didn't reveal.
"The Ice God's species was very unique. Like the strongest among the current three great kings of the Extreme North, the Ice Empress, she was also from the Snow Lady race," Tianmeng explained.
"The Snow Lady race is blessed by nature, beings born from the purest ice elemental power in the core region of the Extreme North. After countless years of gestation, they gained thoughts and wisdom, becoming intelligent beings."
"The Ice God was the first Ice Empress from countless years ago. After unknown years of cultivation, she ascended to the divine realm. But for some unknown reason, she later fell in the Extreme North."
"As believers in ice and snow, we could naturally sense the Ice God's fall. But despite searching for countless years, no soul beast of the Extreme North found the place where the Ice God fell. Unexpectedly, it was here."
Tianmeng's tone was somewhat melancholic, and Huo Yuhao did not interrupt him. After a while, Tianmeng spoke again.
"Yuhao, since fate has led us here, you should try to see if you can accept the Ice God's inheritance. Initially, I planned for your second martial soul to be the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, the second-ranked among the three great kings of the Extreme North. But now, if you can inherit the Ice God's legacy, your second martial soul won't just be an ordinary ultimate ice martial soul but a god-level ultimate ice martial soul, the Ice God Martial Soul!"
"At that point, you will become the overlord of the soul beasts of the Extreme North! Whether it's the three great kings or other soul beasts, all will revere you!"