Without the Ice Empress, Look for the Ice Silkworm?

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was like a fish in water in this region.

He was originally a million-year-cultivation Ice Silkworm; although only a wisp of his remnant soul remained residing within Huo Yuhao's body, his physical instincts still lingered.

His phantom form writhed on the snow, letting out a satisfied sigh: "This is the feeling. This temperature, this concentration of ice elements—this is the kind of place Brother grew up in back in the day."

Huo Yuhao no longer had the spare strength to respond to his sentimentality. He gritted his teeth, moving forward one step at a time.

"This is it. Brother shed his skin in this area back then. Take out Brother's molted skin, place it in the center of the ice surface, and then retreat a hundred zhang away to wait. Brother will use the molted skin as a medium to simulate the aura of my prime, which will be enough to cover a radius of several hundred li. As long as Ice Empress is still in the Core Area of the Far North, she will definitely be able to sense it."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm stopped on a vast ice plain, his voice finally carrying a hint of solemnity.

Huo Yuhao followed his instructions. He took the molted skin of Sky Dream Ice Silkworm out from his storage Soul Tool; it was a translucent, milky-white membrane that felt cold and smooth to the touch, with wrinkles and patterns still retaining the contours of Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's prime.

Once fully spread out, the entire molted skin was three zhang long and one zhang wide, emitting a soft silver halo on the ice plain like fragments of the moon scattered across the snow. He carefully unfolded it in the center of the ice surface, then retreated behind an ice hill a hundred zhang away and wrapped his fur coat tightly around himself. Without the molted skin to keep him warm, the cold struck instantly.

The power of Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's remnant soul surged from Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness and poured into the molted skin.

The molted skin began to glow—not with the faint silver halo from before, but with a silver-white pillar of light that shot into the sky, illuminating even the lead-gray clouds.

The pillar of light spread out in mid-air, turning into ripples of silver visible to the naked eye that swept in all directions. Each ripple carried the pressure of Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's million-year cultivation, as well as a unique source aura peculiar to ice-type soul beasts that would make any ice-attribute soul beast drool with greed.

That was the essence of a million-year Ice Silkworm in its prime. For ice-attribute soul beasts, this aura was even more precious than Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, because the ice element affinity of an Ice Silkworm shared the same origin as the Ice Jade Scorpion clan and could be directly absorbed and converted into their own cultivation.

Waiting.

The wind in the Core Area of the Far North stopped at some point. Between heaven and earth, only that pillar of light continued to spread silently, along with the sound of Huo Yuhao's own increasingly heavy heartbeat.

An incense stick of time passed.

Ice Empress did not appear.

Half an hour passed.

The Core Area of the Far North still gave no response. Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's pillar of light continued to spread in all directions, but Ice Empress's aura seemed to have vanished into thin air; there was no response, no trace.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice finally changed: "Impossible. It is impossible for Ice Empress not to sense Brother's aura. Back when Brother shed a layer of skin, she could smell it from a thousand miles away and would rush over to find Brother directly. How could she not appear this time?"

The silver pillar of light on the ice plain slowly dissipated.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's molted skin turned back into that translucent membrane, lying quietly on the ten-thousand-year cold ice, its luster a few shades dimmer than before. It wasn't because the energy was exhausted, but because the existence that released the aura no longer had a reason to continue.

Huo Yuhao put the molted skin back into his storage Soul Tool, his movements very slow. His fingers were frozen stiff, and it took two tries before he managed to fasten the clasp of the storage Soul Tool. The cold wind of the Core Area of the Far North began to blow again, carrying fine ice crystals that struck his face, yet he seemed not to feel it.

"Brother Sky Dream," he spoke, his voice sounding somewhat thin in the wind.

"Hmm."

"It's okay. If the opportunity is gone, we can find another. I believe I can do it!"

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

That laughter echoed in Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, carrying an indescribable sense of relief. He had chosen this youth not only because his innate spiritual power was different from ordinary people, but also because of this resilience that could pull himself back from any situation. This temperament was more precious than any heaven-sent treasure.

"Well said. If Ice Empress is gone, she's gone; Brother will find you a better one," Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said.

Huo Yuhao withdrew his gaze from the ice peak in the distance that had been sliced in half and stopped looking. He turned around, facing the direction he had come from once more, his Spirit Eye reflecting the boundless white wasteland under the lead-gray clouds.

"Find what?"

"An Ice Silkworm," Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's tone returned to the certainty of an experienced guide pointing the way for a novice. "In your human soul master system, you need to obtain a second soul ring at level twenty. Your first soul ring is of the spirit type, so your second soul ring should ideally be of the spirit type or a similar attribute to form a complementary soul skill. A thousand-year Ice Silkworm from the Far North shares the same origin as your Brother, and its spiritual attribute is gentle—it couldn't be more suitable for you."

Huo Yuhao nodded. He didn't ask questions like "Where can I find a thousand-year Ice Silkworm?" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was, after all, the ancestor of Ice Silkworms with a million years of cultivation; tracking a descendant of his own kind was a matter of dimensional reduction for him.

"Head northwest," Sky Dream Ice Silkworm began to navigate. "When Brother released his aura just now, I sensed a spiritual power fluctuation of the same origin in that direction. Judging by the intensity, it is between two thousand and three thousand years of cultivation, which happens to hit the upper limit of what you can bear for your second soul ring. The Ice Silkworm clan has a gentle temperament and does not actively attack humans; obtaining its soul ring is much safer than hunting Ice Wolves or Ice Bears. If you're lucky, you might not even have to fight."

Huo Yuhao stepped out and walked toward the northwest. His footsteps remained heavy; after six consecutive days of trekking across the Far North ice plain, his physical strength and soul power were nearing their limits. But those Spirit Eyes remained clear and bright, reflecting the boundless ice and snow ahead without a trace of retreat.

After walking for about half an hour, the terrain under his feet began to change. The flat ice plain gradually rose into low ice hills, and between the hills were crisscrossing ice fissures, from the depths of which came the dull sound of the ice sheet moving slowly. The air was filled with a faint, sweet fragrance—not like a flower, but more like the aura emitted by some kind of ice-attribute heaven-sent treasure.

"It's right ahead," Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice lowered. "Behind that ice hill. It is currently feeding on the Ice Marrow Moss growing in the ice fissure; that is the Ice Silkworm's favorite food. If you walk over now, it won't run. The Ice Silkworm moves very slowly; in its eyes, you are just a walking anomaly of temperature. As long as you don't actively release hostility, it won't bother with you."

Huo Yuhao held his breath and rounded the ice hill.

A milky-white Ice Silkworm was lying on the edge of the ice fissure, its body smaller than any soul beast he had seen before, only as long as an adult's arm.