Huo Yuhao had not made a choice yet. Instead, he asked a question first.
"Teacher, this won't have any effect on you, will it? After all, in our previous life..."
The few Soul Beasts also came to their senses from their excitement. Hadn't Elder Yi left behind his third Martial Soul just before he dissipated in their previous life?
Would this plan now make Elder Yi burn up his fragments of divine consciousness again?
Huo Yuhao did not dare think about it. If he had to lose his teacher again, he would never agree to it.
Seeing the serious look in Huo Yuhao's eyes, Electrolux patted him on the head.
"I came to you ten thousand years early, avoiding ten thousand years of wear on my soul. I'm confident I can do this now. At most, I'll just have to sleep for a while."
"Don't worry. In this life, your teacher won't leave you again."
Huo Yuhao gazed intently at the kindly smiling face before him.
He stepped back, bent his knees, and knelt.
"I will never forget your kindness, Teacher."
The others watched without a word. On the vast ice field, time seemed to stand still in that moment.
Looking at Huo Yuhao kneeling before him, Elder Yi's gaze grew even gentler.
"What teacher wouldn't do everything in his power to help his student? Get up."
"Have you decided which one you want?"
"The second."
Elder Yi nodded. He had wanted Huo Yuhao to choose the second option all along. It could be said to represent infinite possibilities.
Then he beckoned to Tian Meng and the Ice Empress, explaining some things they needed to pay attention to.
A while later.
The Ice Empress walked over, looking hesitant. "Yuhao, because we need to leave room for your Martial Soul to change, I have to further compress the power that will become your Martial Soul..."
"Is there anything I need to do?" Huo Yuhao asked.
"It will be excruciating. The pain is expected to be several times worse than what you experienced in your previous life..."
Huo Yuhao understood and smiled faintly. "I got through it in my previous life. Besides, I've already become a god. People always grow. Don't worry. I'll bear it."
The Ice Empress nodded slightly.
As Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged, the ritual began in earnest. The Snow Empress waved her hand, and Huo Yuhao felt a bone-deep cold sweep over him.
His thoughts began to slow. The Snow Empress was dulling the sensitivity of his nerves.
The Ice Empress moved as well, flashing behind Huo Yuhao. Her emerald tail stabbed viciously into his back. In his previous life, that blow had left him writhing in agony, but now Huo Yuhao only furrowed his brow, the veins on his body bulging slightly.
"He really has changed..."
Tian Meng sighed. The little boy he had once known had grown to this point.
Emerald light surged from the Ice Empress, slowly penetrating Huo Yuhao's body and continuously flowing into his vertebrae and ribs.
If he had not been wearing clothes, one could have seen that Huo Yuhao's bones had already taken on an emerald hue.
Huo Yuhao trembled slightly. Without the aid of the Secret Method Soul Soul Bone, even the pain of fusing with a Soul Bone was far worse than in his previous life.
Seeing Huo Yuhao still handling it with ease, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm marveled, "You're really tough..."
Electrolux nodded as well. It seemed the spiritual power of a Godking was helping a lot. Huo Yuhao was suffering, but his sea of consciousness had not been greatly disturbed. That proved he was still far from his limit.
"Maybe he really can do it..."
To be honest, Electrolux had not thought Huo Yuhao would be able to endure it at first. But judging by his performance so far, he could see hope.
Half a day later, the Soul Bone fusion was complete.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was dumbfounded. Huo Yuhao's condition had remained stable from beginning to end. Tian Meng had not needed to intervene; he only had to guide the fusion. It had been so easy that he almost felt embarrassed.
Seeing Huo Yuhao let out a soft breath, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm asked cautiously,
"Do you want to rest? The main event is coming next."
Huo Yuhao shook his head.
"If we wait, the Ice Empress's condition will become dangerous. Let's start now."
The Ice Empress had already transferred the Soul Bone fusion to him. Without an energy vessel, every minute they delayed was dangerous.
Tian Meng pressed his lips together and nodded.
Golden patterns appeared on Tian Meng and bound the Ice Empress, spinning continuously. Then the Ice Empress quietly melted like a crystal, turning into wisps of icy mist.
As the golden patterns shrank, the mist was compressed again and again, becoming liquid. Finally, it slowly seeped into Huo Yuhao's back.
Electrolux acted then, too. Gray currents flowed from him, mixing with the Ice Empress's energy as they entered Huo Yuhao's body. Some of the gray currents also poured into Huo Yuhao's eyes.
In an instant, such intense pain struck that Huo Yuhao's eyes flew wide open and he screamed.
But the next moment, he could no longer scream. Only a series of low growls came from his throat as his body writhed on the snow. It was easy to imagine the agony he was enduring.
Tian Meng was startled. This was far more than several times the pain—closer to ten times.
He was about to help, but Elder Yi stopped him.
"Let's wait and see."
Huo Yuhao's sea of consciousness churned violently, but whenever it seemed on the verge of breaking apart, it repaired itself.
In the midst of the unbearable pain, scenes from his previous life flashed through Huo Yuhao's mind.
I've been given another life. If I can't get through even this, how can I go any further? How can I change the fate of the Soul Beasts before the Godkings?
The Snow Empress looked at Huo Yuhao, his throat hoarse and his skin scraped raw by the snow. He looked like a man drenched in blood.
From above, a vivid patch of red stood out against the white snowfield. It was where Huo Yuhao lay.
Thinking of Huo Yuhao's memories, the Snow Empress's gaze softened.
"He's fighting for a future for us... for the Soul Beasts."
Tian Meng froze for a moment. Looking at Huo Yuhao, he murmured,
"Yuhao, choosing you was the most, most, most correct decision I've ever made in either of my two lives!"
Pain! I want to gouge out my own eyes! It's as if my bones are being crushed bit by bit, my flesh ground to powder.
Scene after scene flashed through his mind.
There was that day in the Sea God Pavilion, when Mu En smiled freely and transformed into a white dragon radiating dazzling golden light, intimidating the various factions. The scene froze with the dragon's head turned toward him, its eyes full of reluctance.
There was that day at Shrek Academy, when Sister Xiao Ya and Sister Xiaotao finally returned to their side, and Senior Brother Bei Bei and Dean Yan wept tears of joy.
There was that day in the Valley of Love Inquiry, when Wang Qiu'er pressed her forehead against his. "Even I think I'm so silly. We were never the same to begin with. You're human, and I'm a Soul Beast. We should have been completely opposed... But... I was just that silly... I learned how to love like you humans, but I never learned how to forget... I... I can't forget you."
No... No! I will never let the things from my previous life happen all over again. They shouldn't have to endure this suffering!
Blood tears streamed from Huo Yuhao's tightly shut eyes. He lay facedown on the blood-red snow, convulsing as hoarse, rasping sounds came from his throat. Even so, he did not ask the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm for help.
"His obsession... is even deeper than it was in his previous life," Tian Meng sighed.
"He went through too much in his previous life." The Snow Empress looked at Huo Yuhao's trembling body with a pained expression.
"Poor, foolish child..."
In the midst of the pain, Huo Yuhao lost all sense of time. His dazed mind could only rely on a single stubborn breath to keep him from passing out.
One hour, two hours.
At last, the pain receded like a tide. The feeling of rising from hell to heaven sent him straight into unconsciousness.
"He really managed to endure it..."
"Yuhao, you're a monster now..." Tian Meng murmured to himself.
"All that remains is the Soul Ring. Tian Meng, you take control of the body."
The Snow Empress gave her final instructions. The Ice Empress and Elder Yi had both already fallen asleep.