Tian Meng's Death

Zhao Ming and the Puppet shared a special connection.

After all, the Puppet relied on Soul Power supplied by Zhao Ming to launch attacks. Put simply, Zhao Ming's body was like a large reservoir, connected to the Puppet by a water pipe. There was no rule saying that pipe could only transport Soul Power.

The immense Spiritual Power Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had injected into his body could be partially transferred into Flame Spirit Princess's body.

Some might ask: Spiritual Power was something meant for Soul Masters, so would it be useful for a non-Soul Master like Flame Spirit Princess?

In truth, all paths shared common ground. In a world like Flame Spirit Princess's, where people cultivated inner force, they also cultivated "spirit."

Moreover, Zhao Ming had learned from the system that energies such as Soul Power, inner force, and demonic power could all be converted into one another. Whenever Puppets like Flame Spirit Princess and Tu Shan Ya Ya attacked, Zhao Ming converted Soul Power into inner force and demonic power before channeling it into their bodies. This energy conversion fully complied with the law of conservation of energy.

As Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Spiritual Power flowed in, a small pool suddenly appeared in Zhao Ming's mind and continued expanding outward. However, it was not water, but liquefied Spiritual Power—the Spiritual Sea.

Although Zhao Ming was not a spirit-type Soul Master, Spiritual Power was still extremely important to him. It might not be obvious during the early stages of cultivation, but once Zhao Ming broke through to Soul Saint or even Titled Douluo, he would understand the benefits of possessing powerful Spiritual Power.

As his Spiritual Power reached saturation, Zhao Ming's fire-attributed Soul Power and Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's ice-attributed energy finally began to clash.

The Ancient Immortal Bird possessed the Undying Flame. This flame could be called the absolute Extreme Fire. Within the plane of Douluo Continent, it was absolutely impossible for any Martial Soul or Soul Beast to produce a flame more extreme than it.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, on the other hand, was a spirit-type Soul Beast. Though it possessed an ice attribute, it was not particularly strong.

Thus, when Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's ice-attributed energy surged into Zhao Ming's body, it was like a mouse encountering a cat. It curled up within Zhao Ming's meridians and cowered there, utterly unable to resist.

Before long, that energy was covered by Black Flame. Tian Meng's ice did not even have the strength to resist within Zhao Ming's body and was directly swallowed by the Black Flame.

At the same time, Zhao Ming's Soul Power rapidly surged. If the Soul Power within his body had once been nothing more than a small stream, it was now evolving toward a small river.

"Ah!" A miserable scream rang out beside Zhao Ming's ear, making goosebumps rise all over his body.

Looking up, he saw Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

As the Spiritual Sea expanded, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had appeared within Zhao Ming's Spiritual Sea.

However, his condition seemed far from good.

Tian Meng's enormous white body was already covered in black flames. Black Flame burned wildly across him, producing sharp sizzling sounds. To escape the burning flames, Tian Meng rolled madly through the Spiritual Sea while constantly trying to extinguish the Black Flame with ice-attributed energy.

Could the Undying Flame be extinguished by such ice? Not even ordinary Ultimate Ice could accomplish that.

By now, Tian Meng's sacrifice to Zhao Ming was already more than halfway complete. How much of his energy he could mobilize was no longer entirely up to him. Besides, Zhao Ming had previously made him seal away most of his strength. Now, escaping the burning Undying Flame was difficult.

"My lord, hurry and help me!" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm pleaded with Zhao Ming. His voice was extremely weak; it seemed the Undying Flame had dealt him considerable damage.

"Help you? How?" Zhao Ming shrugged, indicating that there was nothing he could do.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's expression changed upon hearing that. "My lord, didn't you say—say that you had a way to resolve the conflict between ice and fire? My lord, surely you weren't joking with me?"

"I can indeed resolve the conflict between ice and fire. Look, aren't I standing here perfectly fine?" Zhao Ming smiled faintly.

"But what about me?" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's face drastically changed. He thought of a very bad possibility.

"I said I could help myself resolve the interference your ice attribute caused me. I never said I could help you resolve the suppression my fire-attributed energy has over you." A teasing smile appeared on Zhao Ming's face.

From the very beginning, he had never intended to let Sky Dream Ice Silkworm live. He was not Huo Yuhao; there was no way he could allow someone else to settle down inside his mind. Setting safety aside, Zhao Ming could not keep him over the issue of privacy alone. After all, if he were getting intimate with his wife, Tian Meng could watch it live inside his mind. Anyone would be annoyed by that.

Everything Zhao Ming had done earlier had merely been meant to deceive him. After all, a million-year spirit-type Soul Beast that could repeatedly escape from Ice Empress and the Star Dou Ferocious Beasts was definitely no fool.

Zhao Ming's success in tricking Tian Meng into sacrificing himself could truly be attributed to the right time, place, and people.

Tian Meng's life as a Soul Beast had been far too tragic. In the Soul Beast world, he was treated as a supplement. As for the human world, there was even less need to mention it: a Soul Beast that could produce a Million-Year Soul Ring yet possessed low combat strength—what powerful person would not want one? There was no place for him anywhere on the continent. That was why he had been so desperate to find someone capable of becoming a god and escaping his predicament with him.

Originally, after seeing that Zhao Ming possessed a fire-attributed Martial Soul, Tian Meng had not planned to place his hopes on him. But Bi Ji's timely assistance changed everything. The words of a Soul Beast with 570,000 years of cultivation and immense prestige made Tian Meng firmly believe in Zhao Ming's identity. Without Bi Ji, no matter how convincingly Zhao Ming spoke, Tian Meng would never have believed him.

Finally, Zhao Ming had deliberately stirred up Tian Meng's desires. Every living being in the world had an intense desire for something. What Tian Meng wanted was love and status, and Zhao Ming had promised him those things through the identity Bi Ji had helped create for him. Blinded by intense desire, Tian Meng naturally did not think too deeply.

Ice and fire counteracted each other—how could Zhao Ming possibly know how to resolve that?

The reason Zhao Ming could eliminate the effects of Tian Meng's ice-attributed energy was that Tian Meng's ice simply could not restrain the Undying Flame. One was ordinary ice, while the other was Extreme Fire. How could it possibly restrain it? Thus, Zhao Ming could easily deal with Tian Meng's ice-attributed issue.

But Tian Meng's situation was the exact opposite of Zhao Ming's. The easier it was for Zhao Ming, the harder it was for Tian Meng.

"You... you..." Under the burning Black Flame, Tian Meng's body had shrunk by more than half. By now, he could no longer speak and could only glare hatefully at Zhao Ming with wide eyes.

"Go in peace. I'll take care of Ice Empress for you."

Thanks to Young Dragon Emperor for 100, I'm a Man for 100, It'll Be Fine Soon for 200, Immortal Fox Descends for 588, Harem Novel Fan for 100, Number Ending in 390 for 200, Er Dong Xiao Tu for 100, and Bing Ling v Yu for 100 book coins.