"Keep dreaming!"
"I, the Ice Jade Scorpion, would never become a human's Soul Ring! Not even a second Soul Ring!"
The Ice Empress flicked her jade-green tail stinger behind her, her face practically screaming, "Don't come near me!"
"And you, you useless silkworm—stop acting so self-important."
"Just looking at your face turns my stomach!"
With her tsundere nature in full swing, the Ice Empress was no less formidable than her Extreme Ice. She berated Sky Dream until he huddled in a corner, drawing circles.
"Looks like reasoning with you won't work."
Gu Yuejin sighed and stepped forward, blocking the Ice Empress, who had been about to continue her tirade.
His once-gentle aura turned razor-sharp in an instant, like a blade drawn from its sheath.
"Ice Empress, get a grip on the situation."
"Snow Empress has already made her choice. If you refuse, she'll face the loneliness of the next ten thousand years alone."
"And you'll turn to ashes in the Heaven's Tribulation not long from now."
"Is this what you call sisterly love? Leaving her alone in this world to eke out a wretched existence?"
His words were like a sharp blade, striking straight at the Ice Empress's softest spot.
She looked at the aura of Snow Empress, sleeping within Huo Yuhao, and watched the pride in her eyes slowly crumble. Deep conflict and reluctance took its place.
After a long while.
"Hmph... I just don't want Xue'er to be lonely."
The Ice Empress turned her head away, her voice as faint as a mosquito's. "That human brat's the one getting a bargain."
Done.
Gu Yuejin's lips curled upward. As expected, when dealing with a tsundere, all you needed was reverse psychology.
The outskirts of the Mixed Zone, Extreme North.
After fusing with Snow Empress's origin and the Ice Empress, Huo Yuhao had become a walking lantern, glowing like a human-shaped lightbulb.
The bitter cold of the Extreme North felt like a sauna to him now.
Ki Mo Ji.
He radiated Extreme Ice, and the Soul Beasts within a hundred meters could smell that "Ruler of the Far North" aura from a great distance.
He was far too conspicuous.
"We need to disguise ourselves."
Gu Yuejin furrowed his brow. "We need a simulated soul skill that can conceal his aura."
It wasn't just to hide his aura. They also needed it for the two Fierce Beast Soul Rings of his Second Martial Soul.
After all, Gu Yuejin understood the principle that a man's wealth was his own undoing.
After fusing with Snow Empress and the Ice Empress, he had gained not only two Fierce Beast Soul Rings, but also the strongest human Soul Bones: a torso Soul Bone and a Head Soul Bone, bestowed by the two of them.
"Easy!"
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm immediately raised his hand, wearing a smile that spoke of righteous self-sacrifice.
"I know there's a colony of thousand-year-old Ice Silkworms nearby. They're my descendants. Borrowing their Soul Rings is absolutely perfect!"
Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched. "Brother Sky Dream, aren't they your kin?"
"Oh, come on. For the grand undertaking of creating a god, it's only right to sacrifice the individual for the greater good!"
With this "guide" leading the way, the three of them soon found an unlucky thousand-year-old Ice Silkworm.
However, as they traveled,
Gu Yuejin suddenly stopped and looked at the snow ahead.
A clear trail of footprints ran across it.
They weren't from a Soul Beast, but from human boots.
"Interesting."
Gu Yuejin narrowed his eyes and concealed his aura. "In all this vast Extreme North, you usually wouldn't see a soul for miles. Yet today, it's bustling."
They'd just seen off a Rank 9 Soul Master. Was another group already here?
"Come on. Let's take a look."
They crossed an ice mound.
The sound of a fierce battle carried over on the cold wind.
In the snowy valley below, a silver-haired girl wielding a pair of slender swords was locked in combat with a Soul Beast over ten meters long.
The beast was dark blue all over, with a single horn and black icy mist swirling around it.
A Thousand Year Magic Ice Flood Dragon.
Though it was only a thousand-year Soul Beast, it was extremely cunning and poisonous, making it every bit as troublesome as an ordinary ten-thousand-year Soul Beast.
The girl looked no older than fourteen or fifteen.
Her short silver hair danced in the blizzard, and her skin was fair as snow. Her wine-red eyes were especially striking, bright with a hint of stubbornness.
She wore a practical white outfit. The Flight Soul Tool on her back shot out blue light, and from time to time she fired Soul Tool Rays to restrain the Magic Ice Flood Dragon's movements.
"She's got decent cultivation, but far too little combat experience."
Gu Yuejin stood on high ground, offering his assessment.
Sure enough,
As she relied on her Soul Tool's firepower to suppress the beast, the girl gradually gained the upper hand. A smug smile crept onto her face.
"Big worm, let this young lady show you what she can do!"
She gave a spirited shout, and the slender sword in her hand blazed with light. She lunged forward, intending to finish the fight in one strike.
But a cunning, almost human glint suddenly appeared in the eyes of the Magic Ice Flood Dragon, which had been retreating and feigning weakness all along.
The moment the girl closed in,
ROAR!
The Magic Ice Flood Dragon suddenly opened its mouth and spewed a cloud of black poison. At the same time, its thick tail lashed toward the girl's waist like an iron whip, cutting through the air with a roar.
A surprise attack!
This was the Magic Ice Flood Dragon's long-planned, lethal strike!
If it hit, the consequences would be unthinkable!
"Not good!"
The girl's face changed dramatically. She tried to dodge, but it was already too late.
With nothing to push off against in midair, she could only watch as the scaly tail grew larger in her eyes.
I was careless!
Am I going to die?
The girl shut her eyes in despair.
But the pain she expected never came.
Instead, she fell into a warm, solid embrace.
Whoosh—
The wind beside her ears seemed to stop.
The girl's lashes fluttered as she cautiously opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was a profile so handsome it took her breath away.
Black hair like ink, golden eyes like the sun.
His eyes held no panic, only a calm, detached composure that seemed to command everything.
Gu Yuejin held her slender waist with one arm, suspended in midair as if he were a god descending from the heavens.
"So... so handsome..."
The girl's mind went blank. Two blushes bloomed across her pale cheeks, and her heart skipped a beat.
Was this the legendary... hero saving a beauty?
"ROAR?!"
The Magic Ice Flood Dragon's attack had missed. It was about to rage when it suddenly sensed the terrifying aura emanating from the man above.
The pressure from deep within its soul made every scale on its body stand on end.
Run!
It had to run!
The Magic Ice Flood Dragon turned and tried to burrow into the snow.
"Leaving already?"
"Too late!"
Gu Yuejin didn't even look at it. He simply lifted his right hand and casually clenched it in the air.
The air hummed.
Space solidified.
The enormous Magic Ice Flood Dragon hung rigidly in midair, as if an invisible hand had seized it by the throat. It couldn't move.
Then—
BANG!
With a casual flick, Gu Yuejin sent the Magic Ice Flood Dragon crashing into the snow before the girl. It rolled its eyes back and fainted.
The whole thing took less than three seconds.
An instant kill.
Only then did Gu Yuejin release the girl, who was still staring in shock, and set her down. His voice was calm as he said,
"Next time you're fighting, don't get distracted. It won't hold back just because you're pretty."
The girl finally came to her senses. Her cheeks burned, and she hurriedly straightened her rumpled collar before bowing deeply to Gu Yuejin.
"Th-thank you for saving me!"
She raised her head. Her wine-red eyes sparkled, and her voice carried a barely perceptible hint of shyness and excitement.
"Um... my name is Meng Hongchen."
"Could you tell me your name?"
Before you continue