"Okay."
Whenever it came to cooking, Huo Yuhao always took it seriously.
He had all the ingredients and a grill he could need. They were standing on frozen ground, yet there wasn't the slightest breeze.
Huo Yuhao couldn't help glancing at the Snow Empress. When he met her smiling eyes, he could only sigh helplessly. It seemed she had prepared everything in advance.
By the time the Ice Empress returned to Huo Yuhao, she had already been drawn in by the aroma.
"So this is the food from my memories? It smells pretty good..."
Watching the meat roast, the Ice Empress swallowed and muttered.
Before long, the two strongest beings in the Far North were eating barbecue. The Snow Empress ate elegantly, savoring each bite.
The Ice Empress, on the other hand... held a skewer in each of her two great pincers, brought them to her mouth, and pulled. All that remained was the bamboo skewer.
"My Bingbing looks beautiful even when she eats."
At some point, Tian Meng had popped out again. His golden, humanlike form gazed at the Ice Empress in a daze, then tried to sidle closer and touch her tail.
Still affected by her memories and unsure how to deal with Tian Meng, the Ice Empress reflexively released a burst of energy, blasting him away.
Watching Huo Yuhao's mouth twitch, she couldn't help wondering whether Elder Yi had done the right thing.
"Enough! Keep this up, and you won't see me again!"
Unable to take any more, the Ice Empress shouted at Tian Meng.
"I've seen the memories too. I can give you a chance, but if you dare take advantage..."
After seeing Tian Meng's actions in their previous life, the Ice Empress had been deeply moved.
But she couldn't make things too easy for that big bug, so she could only resort to this.
Tian Meng was overjoyed and agreed repeatedly. The past was the past; in this life, he hadn't done anything yet, so making this much progress was already a rare blessing.
Watching the two fools, the Snow Empress couldn't help laughing. Her teasing gaze made the Ice Empress want to dig a hole and bury herself in it.
Once they had nearly finished eating, the group sat facing one another.
Xiao Bai had joined them too. The mountain-sized creature lay on the ground, its shiny black eyes fixed on Huo Yuhao with curiosity.
Huo Yuhao affectionately stroked the tip of Xiao Bai's nose. He couldn't reach its head, after all.
Xiao Bai hadn't seen the memories, but judging by the Snow Empress's attitude toward Huo Yuhao, it knew they must be friends. It nudged him with its nose in return.
"What have you decided? What will you choose?" Tian Meng asked first.
Though Xiao Bai didn't understand what was going on, it rumbled, "Wherever Mom tells me to go, I'll go."
The Ice Empress also looked toward the Snow Empress, apparently hoping to hear her opinion.
"You still have ten thousand years. Even if you choose not to stay with me, I'll bring you to the Divine Realm after I become a god. That's my promise."
Huo Yuhao spoke first, without the slightest intention of using this to pressure them.
"Bing'er, this is something you have to choose for yourself. I can't tell you what to do." The Snow Empress shook her head.
The answer didn't surprise the Ice Empress. She had known the Snow Empress would say that. The Ice Empress's gaze settled on Huo Yuhao.
"Yuhao, did you mean what you said to that little girl who had taken human form?"
Huo Yuhao didn't answer. He simply nodded, meeting the Ice Empress's eyes with unwavering resolve. Any promise would ring hollow; since they had seen those memories, they must have understood how firm his resolve had been back then.
After a moment, the Ice Empress looked away.
"Then I'll help you."
"Bingbing! I knew it!" Tian Meng suddenly wrapped his arms around the Ice Empress. This time, she didn't pull away.
"Since we've all decided, then, Dad, I'll be counting on you from now on."
The Snow Girl clapped her hands and stuck out her tongue at Huo Yuhao.
"Thank you all."
As he watched his former companions choose him once more, without reservation, a surge of indescribable emotion welled up inside Huo Yuhao. His voice even grew choked.
"There's no time to lose. Let's begin."
The Ice Empress was swift and decisive. Once she had made up her mind, she acted at once.
"Wait. Wouldn't it be better to have the Snow Empress become his Martial Soul?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm offered a different suggestion. In his eyes, the Snow Empress, with her greater cultivation, was undoubtedly the better choice.
"No. My power is purer, and Yuhao wouldn't be able to withstand it. Only after Bing'er's Soul Bone improves Yuhao's constitution will he just barely be able to absorb her Soul Ring. My Soul Bone wouldn't improve his constitution enough, so we can't take that risk."
The Snow Empress was the first to shake her head. She understood her own power: it was purely offensive, and even as a Martial Soul, it wouldn't benefit Huo Yuhao as much as the Ice Empress would.
Tian Meng scratched his head. He hadn't considered that.
"Besides, while Yuhao is still growing, I can be his support," the Snow Empress continued.
Huo Yuhao and Tian Meng's eyes lit up. That was true. No one knew what changes might come later. With the nearly seven-hundred-thousand-year-old Snow Empress backing him, at least she could intimidate any opponents and make them wary of acting rashly.
"Everyone, I have an idea," an old voice said.
Huo Yuhao's eyes brightened. A swirl of gray air emerged from his chest and landed on the ground, where it took the form of a gray-haired old man.
"Elder Yi."
The Snow Empress and Ice Empress nodded in greeting. They held this old man, who had given everything in their previous life, in the highest regard.
"Old man, what's your idea? Hurry up and tell us."
Tian Meng was still the same as ever. After all, he and Electrolux were the ones who had spent the most time together.
Electrolux didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Huo Yuhao. "Yuhao, do you remember the third Martial Soul I gave you in your previous life?"
Huo Yuhao nodded. Of course he remembered. It was the final legacy left behind when his teacher burned his fragments of divine consciousness, creating an unprecedented third Martial Soul.
"When I entered your spiritual sea in this life, I immediately gained your memories from your previous life. I couldn't help becoming curious about the Martial Soul I had left behind."
"It meant that, at the very end, I had finally deciphered this world's Martial Soul system. Sadly, by the time I consciously began working on it in my previous life, it was too late."
"With those memories from the start of this life, I deliberately studied your Martial Souls from the beginning. A year ago, when Tian Meng merged into your body and gave you a second, soulless ice-type Martial Soul, my research made a breakthrough. So now I can give you two choices."
Electrolux paused, drawing it out.
"First, you can obtain the same third Martial Soul you had in your previous life."
"Second, I can divide your previous life's third Martial Soul and distribute it between your two Martial Souls. The part related to necromancy will merge with your Spirit Eye Martial Soul, evolving it toward darkness. I don't know exactly what it will become, but in my theory, you'll be able to use necromancy through your Spirit Eye Martial Soul."
"The part that serves as the vessel for necromancy will merge with your ice-type Martial Soul, giving it the ability to change. It will continually evolve based on the Soul Rings you absorb."
Silence! Everyone was stunned, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information.
After a long while, Tian Meng's trembling voice broke the silence. "Old man, are you saying the second option can help both of Huo Yuhao's Martial Souls evolve?"
"You're not as foolish as you look. Simply put, in my theory, the Spirit Eye can evolve into a Spirit Eye with a dark attribute, possessing both darkness and spiritual attributes. As for the other Martial Soul, if it first absorbs the power of Little Scorpion, it'll take on Little Scorpion's form. If it then absorbs the power of the Heavenly Snow Woman... heh, perhaps it'll become a Snow Woman Martial Soul with pincers and a scorpion's tail?"
At the end, Electrolux even made a joke.
"Th-this..." No one knew what to say. If it worked, it would be unprecedented, with no one before or after to match it.
"All right, Yuhao. Choose."