In comparison to Huo Yuhao's weaker body during the trip to the Extreme North in the original work, he had undergone earth-shattering changes.
Normally, before reaching the third-ring soul elder level, a Soul Master's physical strength is not much different from that of an ordinary person. In that sense, a Soul Master who can absorb a thousand-year soul ring at the twentieth level is already exceptional and rare.
However, Huo Yuhao, due to the achievements granted by his system, was completely different. His progress was largely due to the influence of various Gu's and the fusion awakening of his Ice Soul Body.
The latter, in particular, greatly improved his physical body, allowing him to make a qualitative leap in both his soul power's quality and its total amount.
Take his Soul ring as an example—his first Soul ring already exerted power equivalent to a five-thousand-year-old soul ring, and he could even perfectly absorb the second Soul ring of around three thousand years.
He was already superior to Huo Yuhao, who had merged with the Ice Empress Soul bone in the original journey to the Extreme North.
As a result, the pain of soul-bone fusion was much less for him. There were gains and losses—because of his second martial soul, the Ice Empress could not use cold energy to numb Huo Yuhao's pain.
However, after summoning the Northern Dark Ice Soul Domain, Huo Yuhao gained the environmental bonus of the Extreme North and the forced calming effect of the domain. Even the greatest pain could not make him faint completely. It was just pain, but if enduring it was the only way to grow stronger, Huo Yuhao would never give up. His determination to progress was immense.
"Come on, Ice Empress, don't hesitate anymore," Huo Yuhao urged. "If you delay any longer, you might change your mind and back out."
"Then let's proceed," the Ice Empress replied.
Upon hearing Huo Yuhao's firm response, the Ice Empress hesitated no longer. Green light flooded Huo Yuhao's mind, and two beams of green light shot out from his eyes, landing accurately on the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's body. The one-and-a-half-meter-long body trembled violently, especially the tail, where the green halo continued to fluctuate intensely.
Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged, lifted into the air by the green light, while the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion swam swiftly beneath him. The intense green light surged toward the tail hook.
As the green light turned dark green, the tail hook of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion swung up and pierced fiercely into Huo Yuhao's tail vertebrae. It passed through his flesh and fascia, finally embedding itself into his bones.
Severe pain immediately overwhelmed him. Despite his mental preparation, his body couldn't stop trembling from the shock. 'Huo Yuhao, my pain is greater than yours!'
Thanks to the effects of the Northern Dark Ice Soul Domain, although his body endured extreme pain, Huo Yuhao's consciousness was as cold as ice, completely unaffected. His spiritual sea showed no fluctuations. He could even separate his mind and sense the subtle changes in himself.
Skydream couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief. "This is too cruel..."
She had long been ready to assist with soothing his soul but had yet to find the right moment. After a long silence, the Ice Empress finally spoke.
"Perhaps Yuhao really can lead us to eternity."
Skydream beamed with pride. "That's why Yuhao is a candidate for my god-making plan."
"Wait, you just said you chose Yuhao because you were hunted down in the Star Dou Forest and had no other choice."
"Isn't this destiny, Bingbing? Later, we might even be able to bring the Snow Emperor along with us..."
"Go away! I knew you had no good intentions! You were the one who got in the way and ruined my good deeds!"
"Ahaha... how could it be?" Skydream awkwardly laughed. "I did it for everyone's good. It's not what you think, Bingbing..."
"Shut up, Mother."
"..."
As time passed, the green light around Huo Yuhao grew even more intense, and the energy and vitality in his body surged, several times stronger than at the start.
This power stemmed from the original strength of the Ice Empress, one of the three northern kings who had cultivated for nearly 400,000 years. Even though the Ice Empress only separated a small part of her energy, fusing it with Huo Yuhao's blood, it was incredibly nourishing for him.
This was the reason Huo Yuhao had insisted on seeking out the Ice Empress. The sooner he received this cultivation booster, the greater the benefit to his development.
His muscles, bones, and internal organs began to improve, enhancing his physical fitness across the board. Once the bone fusion was complete, the process of fusing his martial soul and Soul ring began.
Although his second martial soul was already decided, Huo Yuhao couldn't afford to miss such a divine opportunity.
With the integration of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion martial soul, Huo Yuhao's Ice Soul Body Martial Soul evolved for the first time, responding better to his body. This improvement allowed him to better utilize his Ice Soul Body talent and transform into the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion form, which could also serve as a disguise.
The twin martial souls—both main martial souls—made the Ice Soul Body a powerful force, representing the ultimate ice. It was somewhat shocking and contrary to common sense. He didn't want to attract the attention of the Body Sect too soon.
That kind of problem could wait until he had gained enough favor from everyone at Shrek before addressing it. When the time came, even if the Body Sect didn't come after him, he'd go there himself.
The biting cold wind continued to blow, and large flakes of snow blanketed the endless ice field. Suddenly, a soft "puff" sound echoed, and the thick snow parted to reveal a naked body.
The flawless form was harmonious and elegant, with coordinated, strong muscles and skin white as jade. His long hair flowed like ink, exuding an air of nobility in the snowy world.
As Huo Yuhao opened his eyes again, two colors of light flashed in his deep blue eyes—first gold, then emerald green, and finally all covered by dark blue. With the Ice Empress completely integrated into his body, his cultivation level remained at level 20. This was the rule of Douluo Continent—his cultivation wouldn't fully be revealed until he absorbed his second Soul ring.
As his soul power accumulated, it would continue to grow, but it would not be manifest until the moment he absorbed the soul ring.
Huo Yuhao waved his hand, and an ice mirror appeared before him. He gazed at his reflection, falling into deep thought. Although he still had long black hair, his appearance was gradually becoming more like the Ice Soul Body. He felt that he could now make his debut with this face.
"It's because of the first evolution of the Ice Soul Body that the effect is so significant," he mused.
Previously, the Requiem Gu had improved his appearance to a level close to Beibei, which had already been quite good. But now, he could see that the changes brought by the Ice Soul Body's awakening and first evolution were far greater.
"If Senior Sister Xiao Ya and the others saw me now, they might not even recognize me." Huo Yuhao thought, though he could still vaguely recognize traces of his previous face.
Shaking his head, he summoned his Ice Soul Body martial soul. A circle of soul rings, shining with dazzling brilliance, rose from under his feet. His whole body emanated a blood-red light, fierce and noble, like a sea of blood, exuding endless majesty. On the blood-red halo, four golden lines could be seen faintly.
During the fusion process, Skydream used her original power to help the Ice Empress break through her bottleneck, strengthening the power of this soul ring to 400,000 years.
The Ice Soul Body, now in Ice Empress Form, was fully possessed by Huo Yuhao.
With a thought, Huo Yuhao's back bore a massive tattoo of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion—its claws glowing with brilliance, its long green tail curling down along his spine. The tattoo covered nearly his entire back, with six long legs wrapping around his ribs and front legs resting on his shoulders.
The biggest change was in his arms, now covered with a layer of diamond-like particles, each the size of a mung bean and hexagonal. His arms shone brightly, complementing the huge tattoo on his back.
"Not bad. The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion is worthy of being the top beast martial soul," Huo Yuhao thought.
If the Ice Soul Body represented ultimate ice, then the Ice Empress State represented ultimate violence and offense—making it excellent in close combat.
"Yuhao, your Ice Soul Body martial soul is abnormal! It can perfectly imitate the Ice Empress martial soul, and it's even stronger than the Ice Empress itself!" Skydream exclaimed, barely able to contain her excitement.
"After all, it's the inheritance of the Great Love Immortal Venerable. How's the Ice Empress now?"
"The Ice Empress is fine. It won't be long before she wakes up."
"Let's go. Now we'll head east to find your second Soul ring and the simulation soul skill we promised. Hehehe."
Looking at the slightly excited Skydream, Huo Yuhao nodded. "With my current physical strength, I should be able to withstand a second Soul ring of around 7,000 years, right?" He then retrieved a new set of clothes from the flower bud Gu and began preparing.
He called out the system.
[Achieved the Ice Empress "I Am Willing" achievement. Reward: Ice Explosion Gu.]
[Achieved Skydreams "God-Making Plan" achievement. Reward: One upgrade opportunity (can directly upgrade any gu to rank five).]
[Skydream]
[Relationship: Confidant]
[Achievement Task: Improve Soul Power]
'Skydream, the first Confidant relationship, was really taken away by you. Not bad, as a mutually beneficial and reciprocal relationship, the favorability had risen quickly.'
'Improve spirit power? This must refer to my spirit power. The task seemed ordinary but was actually the most mysterious. I wonder how much I'll need to upgrade before it's considered complete. Three-ring Soul Elder? Four-ring Soul Ancestor? Maybe not until after the fifth soul ring?
"Forget it. I'll go find my second soul ring first."
...
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