Brother Sky Dream, Watch from the Side. Come, Ice Empress, Open Your Mouth—I've Got Something Good for You to Eat

Ice Empress looked at Xiao Qiang and nodded. "All right. What did you want to say?"

"You're right, Ice Empress. With only my far-above-average spiritual power, it would indeed be difficult for me to become a god. But spiritual power was never what I relied on."

As he spoke, Xiao Qiang unleashed his Sharingan. "When I first awakened my martial soul, my spiritual power was only about on par with that of an ordinary Mental Type soul master. Spiritual power was never my greatest reliance—my martial soul was. The Sharingan martial soul was not inherently powerful. My initial Soul Power Level was only five, but it possessed a special ability: it could occasionally let me see things beneficial to me."

"I'm from the Sun Moon Empire. Normally, given the distance between where I lived and the Star Dou Great Forest, Brother Sky Dream and I would never have crossed paths in our entire lives. Yet after I awakened the Sharingan, even when it only had a single tomoe, I could already see certain things that would benefit me."

"Following the Sharingan's guidance, I arrived at the Star Dou Great Forest when I was fourteen. That day, I encountered Brother Sky Dream. A portion of Brother Sky Dream's spiritual essence allowed me to gain spiritual power far beyond that of Mental Type soul masters at the same level. And now, Brother Sky Dream has brought me to find you."

Ice Empress frowned, seeming not to fully trust Xiao Qiang's words. "Are you saying you can see Fortune?"

"Brother Sky Dream was able to live to the million-year level as an Ice Silkworm. That was his powerful Fortune. I happened to encounter Brother Sky Dream when he needed to become someone else's soul ring, and Brother Sky Dream found me while he was at his weakest. That was Brother Sky Dream's Fortune, as well as the guidance brought to me by my Sharingan. Perhaps my Fortune isn't especially strong, and the Sharingan can only help me find those with great Fortune, but there are some things I can see."

"There are things I can't explain clearly right now, but judging by how much your Fortune has declined, Ice Empress, you should only have around a hundred years left to live, right?"

"What?! Bing Bing only has around a hundred years left?! No! Bing Bing, don't die!" Tian Meng threw himself around Ice Empress's leg. In response, Ice Empress sent him flying with a sweep of her tail, not even sparing him a glance.

Ice Empress turned her gaze to Xiao Qiang. "Continue."

"So long as you join this God Creation Plan, you should know that becoming a Super Douluo is the bare minimum. That means a lifespan of over three hundred years. That is an almost certain future."

"Besides that, there are things I can't prove for now, but I know there is something that can extend my lifespan to the thousand-year level, as well as another opportunity I still can't fully explain. Those are all resources and safeguards within the God Creation Plan."

"If the God Creation Plan succeeds, then everyone will be happy and gain eternal life. If it fails, even if you don't believe I have a way to let us live for over a thousand years, a three-hundred-year lifespan is guaranteed."

Ice Empress did not remain silent for long. "All right. Since you can see how much life I have left, I'll trust you this once. I'm joining Tian Meng's God Creation Plan."

"Ah! Bing Bing, you really—"

"Get lost!"

Just as Tian Meng tried to seize the chance to hug Ice Empress, she sent him flying with another swipe of her tail.

"Wuwu... Bing Bing..."

Ice Empress ignored Tian Meng as usual and turned her gaze back to Xiao Qiang.

"Tian Meng's plan is quite good, but it still has some flaws. My power is also too overwhelming for you. Therefore, I've decided on bone first, then ring. You likely won't obtain a stronger soul bone than mine in the future, so I've decided to become your most important Torso Bone."

"Wait, Ice Empress. I said I can see certain things related to fate. A 400,000 Years Torso Bone isn't my best choice. Please believe me. I wouldn't joke about something as important as my own future."

Ice Empress gave Xiao Qiang a surprised look. When he had mentioned her lifespan earlier, she had already started believing that he could see some aspects of fate. Now, it seemed that everything he had said before might actually be true.

"All right. Then where do you think I should become a soul bone?"

Xiao Qiang raised his right arm. "My right arm—the External Soul Bones of my right arm and right hand."

In the original Douluo II, Ice Empress had given these to Huo Yuhao. However, at the time, only the Torso Bone possessed a soul skill. The two External Soul Bones connected to the torso seemed to have no effect other than slightly enhancing his physique.

With that precedent from the original story, Xiao Qiang was not worried that Ice Empress would be unable to produce two soul bones. Compared with the two soul bones Ice Empress had given Huo Yuhao in the original story, which had no soul skills, soul bones in the palm were more likely to possess soul skills.

"There's no problem with two soul bones for your right arm and palm, but..." Ice Empress looked at Xiao Qiang with concern. "If it's only one hand, your physique won't be enough to bear my soul ring."

"Then what if it's both hands? Soul bones and External Soul Bones for both hands?" Xiao Qiang asked.

He did not say this without reason. In the original Douluo I, Bibi Dong's two leg bones had come from a single Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. One Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had dropped two soul bones for Bibi Dong. It could practically be considered repaying a favor.

The setting that one soul beast could drop two soul bones had not been overturned by San Shao in the second, third, and subsequent books, so Xiao Qiang was fairly confident about it.

With that precedent, there was no reason Ice Empress, with her 400,000 Years cultivation, could not produce two soul bones and two External Soul Bones.

Ice Empress pondered for a moment. "It can be done, but your will probably won't withstand it. Absorbing one soul bone is excruciating. Absorbing another would be even more painful. Your consciousness would likely collapse first, and then we'd both be finished."

"If that's the issue, there's no need to worry. My consciousness collapsing is impossible. I naturally have my own methods. The Sharingan had already given me some sense of this kind of pain that would clearly kill me, so I made preparations for it long ago."

"You can even solve excruciating pain through preparation?" Ice Empress was utterly baffled.

"Of course. Brother Sky Dream gave me four soul skills: Mental Probe, Mental Share, Mental Interference, and Soul Impact."

"Over the past six months, I've carefully studied Mental Interference. Pain itself is merely a spiritual signal transmitted to the brain. As long as I use Mental Interference, the issue of pain can be resolved."

Ice Empress: "..."

"All right. It seems Tian Meng isn't completely useless after all."

"Wuwu... Bing Bing praised me! I'm so happy!"

"Shut up!"

"Since you have a way to overcome the pain, there shouldn't be any other problems afterward. Then..."

Just as Ice Empress was preparing to inject the soul bones into Xiao Qiang's body, Xiao Qiang spoke to stop her.

"Wait a moment. Brother Sky Dream, check that there's nothing wrong with the surroundings. Before we fuse the soul bones, Ice Empress, eat this first."