Bullying the Little Scorpion When Bored

"Yes, Lord Ice God. Our ancestor was Mount Tai." The Titan Snow Ape King's attitude was more respectful than ever.

The Ice Dragon King nodded, fluttered her little wings, landed on Gu Yuan's shoulder, and lay down lazily.

"Since you all still acknowledge me as the Ice God, I won't waste any more words."

"This is my son, Gu Yuan. Although he is human, he possesses my purest bloodline."

"Therefore, I have paved a path to godhood for him."

"Snow Empress will serve as the High Priestess of the Ice God and gather the power of faith for my son, Da Gu."

"You will offer sacrifices to provide Da Gu with Soul Rings and Soul Bones, helping him become a god."

"Of course, you will benefit as well."

"Not only will you be able to follow him in ascending to the God Realm, escaping the suffering of heavenly tribulations and attaining immortality."

"The clans you belong to will also receive his eternal protection."

"And after your sacrifice, I can allow you to retain your spiritual origins and live within Da Gu's Spirit Sea in soul form."

"All right, I'm done talking. Who agrees, and who objects?"

The Titan Snow Ape King was the first to agree. "Lord Ice God, A-Tai is willing."

The Ice Bear King glanced at the Snow Empress. After she nodded, he rumbled, "Me too."

As for the Ice Empress, she asked only one question. "Can Snow Empress ascend to the God Realm too?"

The Ice Dragon King replied, "Of course. Snow Empress is the tenth ring I have reserved for Da Gu. At the same time, she is the daughter I just acknowledged, so naturally, she will ascend alongside Da Gu."

After hearing this, the Ice Empress was completely reassured. "In that case, Lord Ice God, I am willing to offer myself as a sacrifice."

A faint smile appeared at the corner of the Ice Dragon King's lips. She had been certain these soul beasts would agree to sacrifice themselves.

There was naturally no need to mention the Titan Snow Ape King. As her most loyal believer, he would certainly offer himself.

As for the Ice Bear King and the Ice Empress, she had deliberately raised their cultivation to levels infinitely close to three hundred thousand and four hundred thousand years.

No matter how hard they suppressed it, they could only hold out for another year at most.

Then they would suffer heavenly tribulation.

They had no other choice.

It was somewhat underhanded.

But it would achieve her goal.

And for the few of them, there were indeed tangible benefits.

It could be called a mutually beneficial arrangement.

"Very good. Then we will proceed from highest cultivation to lowest. You will be first."

"I estimated that with Da Gu's talent, after you offer yourself first, he will break through to Rank 30 within half a year at most."

"Then the little Ice Bear will offer himself."

"After that, A-Tai."

"But remember, you must leave the Soul Bone slots in both arms open."

The Ice Dragon King spoke those final words with unusual seriousness.

The Ice Empress looked at Gu Yuan.

"The Soul Bone most suitable for me is a Torso Bone. Since my cultivation is already close to four hundred thousand years, I am confident I can replace your entire spine, all your ribs, and your sternum."

"But during the process, you will endure tremendous pain. If you cannot withstand it and suffer a mental collapse, everything will have been in vain."

Compared to the Ice Dragon King, her attitude toward Gu Yuan was far less respectful.

"It's fine. Go ahead. Just don't deliberately make me suffer, or my little mother won't let you off."

Remembering how the Ice Empress had nearly tortured Huo Yuhao to death in the original story just to test him, Gu Yuan was speechless.

You're already sacrificing yourself, so why bother with some test? It would be fine if it succeeded, but what if it failed?

"You..." The Ice Empress's face flushed when her little scheme was exposed.

The Snow Empress said sternly, "Bing'er, no fooling around."

The Ice Dragon King's gaze toward the Ice Empress gradually turned dangerous as well. She warned, "If you are unwilling, you may withdraw now."

Facing the double warning from the Snow Empress and the Ice Dragon King, the Ice Empress could only lower her proud head again.

"I understand. I will absolutely not disappoint Lord Ice God's expectations."

As she spoke, brilliant emerald light burst forth from the Ice Empress's body.

The Ice Empress's one-and-a-half-meter-long scorpion body immediately began trembling violently.

Her long scorpion tail in particular rippled with violently surging emerald light.

Then, an emerald beam shot into the sky, stirring the winds and clouds.

Within the pillar of light, the Ice Empress's body quietly began to vanish.

As though she were melting away.

But to the Ice Empress, this was not melting.

It was burning.

Burning her Soul Power origin as an offering to Gu Yuan.

At the same time, a scarlet pillar of light descended from the heavens.

It landed upon Gu Yuan.

Gu Yuan only felt cool all over, his body indescribably comfortable.

This greatly shocked the Ice Empress, whose body was in the midst of melting away. She had believed her Ultimate Ice was already powerful enough that in the Far North, only the Snow Empress could barely suppress her.

Yet she had never expected this human's Ultimate Ice to be even stronger, already infinitely close to Absolute Zero.

If he followed the path to godhood planned by Lord Ice God, he might truly reach Absolute Zero.

And it would be the kind that did not require deliberately using a skill, but was released with every gesture.

A day and a night later, the Ice Empress's body had completely melted away.

Gu Yuan also obtained the Ice Empress's Torso Bone and Soul Ring as he had wished.

Although he endured tremendous pain while fusing with the Torso Bone,

it remained within his limits of endurance.

The Ice Dragon King also upheld her prior promise and protected the Ice Empress's spiritual origin, allowing her to remain within Gu Yuan's Spirit Sea in soul form.

The Torso Bone skills were the same as Huo Yuhao's in the original story: Domain of Eternal Freeze and Wrath of the Ice Emperor.

However, because their martial souls differed, the Soul Ring skills changed accordingly.

One skill changed from Ice Empress Pincer to Ice Emperor Dragon Claw.

It transformed both arms into crystalline dragon claws that could reflect energy attacks and serve as weapons, increasing strength by four hundred percent.

The dragon claws carried the chill of Absolute Zero. Whoever touched them would have their bloodline frozen and Soul Power stagnated.

They inflicted tremendous damage upon enemies.

The second skill changed from Ice Emperor Body Guard to Ice Emperor Dragon Armor.

Any attack whose power did not exceed twice Gu Yuan's could absolutely not break through it.

When restrained by an opposing attribute, an attack five times stronger than Gu Yuan's was required to break through it.

One for offense and one for defense, they were two exceptionally powerful skills.

At the moment the sacrifice succeeded, a long-absent system notification sounded in Gu Yuan's mind:

[Ding, congratulations to the host. Soul Power has risen to Rank 26. You have gained six exchange opportunities.]

"Only Rank 26?" Gu Yuan murmured softly, seemingly dissatisfied with the result.

The Ice Empress spoke resentfully within his Spirit Sea.

"Be content. My spiritual origin has been preserved intact."

"And I injected part of my Soul Power origin into your body, greatly improving your physique."

"Otherwise, there was no way you could have absorbed my Torso Soul Bone so easily."

"Don't be ungrateful."

Hearing this, Gu Yuan carefully sensed his own strength.

He discovered that it had indeed increased considerably.

Even the power of the Ice Dragon King Life Soul Ring had been unsealed from barely reaching the thousand-year level to the ten-thousand-year level.

But the Ice Empress's attitude left Gu Yuan deeply dissatisfied.

Before getting cheats, I had to put up with this. If I still have to put up with it after getting cheats, then what was the point of getting them?