Huo Yuhao's Scheme

"Who exactly are you?" Ice Empress demanded, her voice striking directly at his soul.

"I came from ten thousand years later—that is, the future!" Huo Yuhao remained as calm as still water, faint light flickering in his Spiritual Eye.

Ten thousand years later?

Ice Empress was somewhat dazed, but she remained vigilant.

Just because he knew about Xiao Bai, he thought he could trick me? Dream on.

"How can you prove it?"

"Ten thousand years from now will be your four-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation," Huo Yuhao said calmly.

"That's it?" Ice Empress sneered at once.

"Do you think you survived it?" Huo Yuhao countered, his gaze icy and his expression dark.

Ice Empress froze for a moment.

Could it be that I didn't make it through?

"If Snow Empress hadn't helped you with your three-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation, could you have endured it?" Huo Yuhao asked.

Ice Empress immediately fell silent.

Snow Empress had helped her through Heavenly Tribulations several times. Only Snow Empress knew of that.

So, I died in the four-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation.

Ice Empress silently thought to herself.

She knew her own strength well. She knew she most likely would not survive the next one.

"Do you think Snow Empress would stand by and do nothing while you faced your Heavenly Tribulation?" Huo Yuhao asked.

The moment he mentioned Snow Empress, Ice Empress jolted.

"What happened to Xue Er?!"

She feared that Xue Er would be injured while resisting the Heavenly Tribulation for her sake, affecting her own tribulation.

Naturally, Huo Yuhao knew what she was thinking.

To Ice Empress, the person she cared about most was Snow Empress; the same was true for Snow Empress.

To steady Ice Empress, he could only start making things up.

"To help you, she was injured at the root by the Heavenly Tribulation. In the end, she chose to be reborn and cultivate anew to save herself, but she was taken away by humans who ventured deep into the Far North Land," Huo Yuhao said mournfully.

The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion released intense emotional fluctuations. In an instant, she transformed into a pretty twin-tailed girl and rushed forward, grabbing Huo Yuhao by the collar as she demanded, "What happened next?"

Huo Yuhao leaned back slightly as he looked at the Ice Empress so close to him.

"Snow Empress was sent to an auction as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast embryo. I took the opportunity to save her amid the chaos," Huo Yuhao said.

Ice Empress immediately sighed in relief.

No, wait!

"Did you kill her?"

Ferocity flashed in Ice Empress's eyes as she stared fixedly at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao could not help but smile bitterly. "How could I bear to hurt her?"

"What happened to Xue Er afterward?" Ice Empress pressed.

She had not even realized that she was gradually beginning to believe the "future" Huo Yuhao had fabricated.

Whenever Snow Empress's safety was involved, her intelligence immediately dropped to negative one hundred.

Moreover, as she questioned him, she had already subconsciously shifted Huo Yuhao's image from a "human butcher" to a "chaotic neutral" figure.

"Snow Empress damaged her origin in that battle. Without a physical body to contain her power, she would soon dissipate."

Ice Empress's heart tightened. Grabbing Huo Yuhao by both shoulders, she shook him back and forth as she demanded, "What happened after that? What happened to Xue Er afterward?"

Huo Yuhao was shaken so badly that he felt dizzy.

"Fortunately, with the help of you, Brother Sky Dream, and Old Yi, I used myself as a vessel to receive Snow Empress's soul."

"With me? What do you mean?!" Ice Empress immediately caught on.

"Brother Sky Dream chose me back then, convinced that I could become a god. So he Sacrificed himself to become my soul ring, becoming a Soul Spirit and residing in my Sea of Consciousness. You failed to survive your four-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation, so you chose me and became my Second Martial Soul. Your Soul Spirit was thus able to reside in my Sea of Consciousness," Huo Yuhao explained.

Ice Empress immediately spotted two problems.

"I have two questions."

"First, you said Tian Meng Sacrificed himself for you? That guy is terrified of death. He would rather cling desperately to life than Sacrifice himself for a human like you for no reason."

"Second, I chose to attach myself to you? Life and death are determined by heaven. If I truly could not survive that Heavenly Tribulation, then so be it. Why would I drag out a miserable existence just to live a few hundred more years?"

With her pride, how could she choose to reside within a human body, leaving only her Soul Spirit to linger miserably?

Huo Yuhao was not angered.

"For the first question, Brother Sky Dream was in the Star Dou Great Forest at the time. He was captured by Di Tian, Bear Monarch, and the other Ferocious Beasts, who absorbed the million years of cultivation within him. He was not free, and after breaking through to a million years of cultivation, his lifespan had reached its end. When he escaped and encountered me, he chose to make one final gamble."

"As for the second question, you chose me for Snow Empress's sake," Huo Yuhao said calmly.

He knew that Ice Empress was shrewd as a Ghost when it came to her own affairs, but whenever anything involving Snow Empress arose, she would fill in the gaps and convince herself.

Ice Empress fell silent and gradually released Huo Yuhao's shoulders.

Her four-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation would cause Xue Er to be injured and bring her misery. She absolutely could not allow the tragedy to repeat itself.

Huo Yuhao remained calm.

If no one interfered, he should be able to win over Ice Empress smoothly.

Not far away, Brother Sky Dream rubbed his eyes. Seeing Ice Empress actually talking to that human boy with such intense emotional reactions, he was alarmed.

Did that guy bully Bing Bing?

Brother Sky Dream immediately transformed into a righteous dog-headed man.

"You mentioned Di Tian just now?" Ice Empress looked up at Huo Yuhao.

"What, do you know him?" Huo Yuhao asked somewhat doubtfully.

"I met him roughly tens of thousands of years ago. He came to the Far North Land, intending to conquer the Soul Beasts here and gather the faith of Soul Beasts," Ice Empress said calmly.

Huo Yuhao: ???

That happened?

By now, Ice Empress believed seventy to eighty percent of what Huo Yuhao had said.

Whether it was the Golden Eyed Black Dragon King Di Tian or Ice Bear Xiao Bai, both could corroborate the source of everything he had said.

"I have the ability to change all of this." Huo Yuhao looked calmly at Ice Empress before him, his tone filled with confidence.

"Really?"

Ice Empress abruptly raised her head and stared at Huo Yuhao.

Just as Ice Empress was about to speak, fine snow began drifting down from the sky, and faint ripples appeared on Jade Ice Lake.

Ice Empress and Huo Yuhao looked up at the same time, only to see a peerlessly beautiful white figure.

She was a tall woman of flawless, breathtaking beauty, dressed in a simple white gown like snow. Her snow-white hair fell smoothly to her knees, and her eyes were a pure azure blue. Her long jade feet were bare as she floated Soaring in the Sky above the snowstorm.

"Xue Er, why are you here?" Ice Empress asked in delighted surprise, immediately stepping forward to greet her.

Snow Empress.

Huo Yuhao gazed at that familiar figure and murmured inwardly.

Snow Empress stepped through the falling snow and gently descended onto the ice. Ice Empress immediately threw herself into her arms and hugged her tightly.

"Ice." A gentle smile appeared on Snow Empress's face before her gaze fell upon Huo Yuhao.

"Snow Empress." Huo Yuhao's heart stirred, his expression somewhat complicated.

It was so good to see you all again. It had been so long...

"You said just now that you could change everything. What exactly did you mean?" Snow Empress looked coolly at Huo Yuhao with her azure eyes, as though trying to see through his thoughts. A trace of hostility lingered in her gaze.

Feeling that hostility, Huo Yuhao felt somewhat bitter inside.

She was not Snow Woman, nor did she know him. It was only natural for her to be wary, doubtful, and hostile.

"Snow Empress." Seeing Snow Empress arrive, Brother Sky Dream immediately gathered his courage and hurried over.

He was deeply shocked as well. Snow Empress had actually come. It seemed she had been drawn here by the aura Ice had released.

Brother Sky Dream merely offered Snow Empress a polite greeting before standing beside Ice Empress.

From their positions, they subtly formed a three-pronged formation against Huo Yuhao alone.

"I have an Immortal Herb that can help Ice Empress successfully break through her four-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation," Huo Yuhao said calmly.