The Ice Empress's Choice

"Tian Meng, do you really think you can help me survive the lightning tribulation?"

Ice Empress's voice turned icy in an instant, her blue eyes reigniting with hostility, her tone dripping with disdain and fury.

"Just the two of you? A cripple with no soul power and a good-for-nothing who only knows how to eat and laze about!"

"Bingbing, you have to trust us! My master and I really can help you!"

Seeing that Ice Empress was truly enraged, Sky Dream Ice Worm panicked and accidentally blurted out the one thing Ice Empress despised most: the relationship between soul beasts and humans.

"What master? Tian Meng, I truly misjudged you. You're a million-year soul beast, yet you actually acknowledge a lowly human as your master? You're a disgrace to the Extreme North and a disgrace to all soul beasts!"

Ice Empress's gaze toward Sky Dream Ice Worm and Cao Longyan grew increasingly frigid.

"Bingbing, it's not what you think! Just listen to me explain!"

Sky Dream Ice Worm scrambled toward Ice Empress, frantically blinking his cute, round golden eyes.

Ice Empress didn't indulge him in the slightest; she whipped her tail, swatting Sky Dream Ice Worm away and sending him headfirst into the snow once more.

Watching Sky Dream Ice Worm dive into the snow again, Cao Longyan rested his forehead in his right hand, shook his head helplessly, and sighed.

Tian Meng was as consistently reliable as ever; he truly never failed to disappoint...

"Trash, what is there for a traitor to soul beasts to explain! Human, it seems I won't be leaving your corpse intact today!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Ice Empress swung her pincers, instantly forming two ice blades condensed with Ultimate Ice, which roared toward Cao Longyan and Sky Dream Ice Worm.

The ice blades tore through the ground, carving two deep fissures with terrifying power.

Having learned from the first time, Sky Dream Ice Worm struggled free without needing Cao Longyan's help.

Still dizzy, he saw the two ice blades hurtling toward them and instantly snapped to his senses.

Although he knew he couldn't possibly block Ice Empress's full-force strike, he still stood in front of Cao Longyan, his voice trembling yet stubborn.

"Bingbing, don't be impulsive! Everything I said is true! We really can help you!"

At the same time, Sky Dream Ice Worm leisurely turned his head to wink at Cao Longyan, sending a telepathic message.

"Master, don't worry. With my charm, Bingbing would never actually kill us."

Seeing that they were on the brink of death and Sky Dream Ice Worm was still being this narcissistic, Cao Longyan was speechless.

How did he end up with such a clown...

"Tian Meng, are you sure? Why does it look like Ice Empress just increased her power..."

Cao Longyan pointed toward the incoming ice blades.

Sky Dream Ice Worm looked back, realized Cao Longyan was right, and widened his eyes, his face full of confusion.

Huh?!

"Bingbing, you're serious! Pull back your power!"

Ice Empress didn't respond, only staring at them coldly.

As the ice blades were about to strike, Cao Longyan's pupils constricted, a sense of powerlessness surging in his heart.

At this critical moment, Electrolux's reassuring voice echoed in his spiritual sea.

"Longyan, hand over control of your body to me. Although you lack soul power and spiritual energy, your mental power remains. I can utilize this mental power to trigger that big worm's Million-Year Spirit Head Bone and the 300,000-Year Chi Wang Left Arm Bone. That will be enough to neutralize this attack!"

"Understood, Elder Electrolux."

Sky Dream Ice Worm's round pupils narrowed into rectangles.

They're making me look useless, aren't they...

The next second, gray-black necromantic energy surged around Cao Longyan. The Million-Year Spirit Head Bone operated at full capacity, condensing dense mental power into a sharp black blade that pierced through the mist of ice.

Simultaneously, his left hand glowed with a dazzling crimson-gold light. The power of the 300,000-Year Chi Wang Left Arm Bone erupted completely, weaving scorching dragon power and Ultimate Fire with the necromantic energy to form a piercing ray.

"BOOM—!"

The ice blades and the ray collided violently, the explosion shaking the snowy ground and sending ice shards flying.

Ice Empress's pupils constricted, her body trembling slightly, her face filled with disbelief.

Her Ultimate Ice attack, launched with nearly all her strength, had actually been neutralized by a human with no soul power and seemingly no martial soul?!

As the smoke cleared, Electrolux immediately returned control of the body to Cao Longyan.

Deprived of Electrolux's power, Cao Longyan instantly collapsed, his legs giving way as he fell to his knees. Supporting himself on the cold snow, he gasped for air, his face pale and a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

He had exhausted every ounce of his mental power, but in the end, he couldn't hold on; his vision went black, and he fell completely unconscious.

In truth, the moment the ice blades were about to strike Sky Dream Ice Worm, a sliver of hesitation had already stirred in Ice Empress's heart.

Though she was arrogant and quick-tempered, how could she be unaware of the sincere feelings Sky Dream Ice Worm held for her?

She had been prepared to retract the attack at the last second, but the scene before her left her frozen, her face etched with gravity and disbelief.

At the same time, she keenly sensed that a beastly aura had been hidden within Cao Longyan's outburst.

A fierce beast? How could a fierce beast's aura be on this human? And it seems to have been triggered by a soul bone...

What shocked her even more was that Sky Dream Ice Worm, whose aura had weakened due to Cao Longyan's collapse, was not his true form at all, but merely a condensed spiritual projection.

"Tian Meng!"

Ice Empress roared, her blue eyes filled with fury and confusion.

"What on earth are you playing at? What is the deal with the beast aura inside him? Where is your physical body? Speak!"

Sky Dream Ice Worm shrank his neck, terrified by Ice Empress's roar. No longer daring to be stubborn, he lowered his head weakly and confessed everything, starting from when he and Chi Wang became Cao Longyan's guardian spirits, finally adding with a surge of courage:

"Bingbing, everything I said is true. The Lord Silver Dragon King, the co-ruler of the soul beasts, has also acknowledged Longyan and has staked the entire future of the soul beasts upon him!"

"Silver Dragon King?"

Ice Empress shuddered, the fury on her face instantly fading as she fell into a brief contemplation.

It was hard for her to imagine that this ordinary human before her, who possessed no soul power and had a crippled martial soul, could make a beast like Chi Wang willingly become his guardian spirit, let alone receive such high expectations from an existence like the Silver Dragon King.

What Sky Dream Ice Worm had said earlier, while blunt, was not actually wrong.

Ice Empress knew clearly in her heart that she had only barely survived her last lightning tribulation with the help of Snow Empress, and she had been left with hidden injuries.

Given her current condition, she had almost no chance of surviving the next lightning tribulation and might even perish because of it. With that next tribulation approaching rapidly, it meant her time was running out!

After a moment of thought, Ice Empress raised her eyes to look at the unconscious Cao Longyan, a flash of resolve in her gaze.

She thought of her impending lightning tribulation, then of the unyielding tenacity Cao Longyan had shown just moments ago, and the secrets and trump cards hidden within him.

Rather than sit and wait for death, it was better to take a gamble—to bet that this human, acknowledged even by the Silver Dragon King, could bring her a different future.

"Tian Meng, what must I do?"

Ice Empress's voice sounded slowly, the previous fury and arrogance stripped away, replaced by a touch of determination.

Seeing that Ice Empress had yielded, Sky Dream Ice Worm perked up again and explained the plan to her.

"You want me to become his third martial soul and also his guardian spirit?"

Ice Empress furrowed her brows, casting a hostile look at Sky Dream Ice Worm.

The just-perked-up Sky Dream Ice Worm wilted once more.

"Bingbing, I am currently the Lord's guardian spirit, as is Chi Wang, along with four other generals, and you..."

"Fine, fine, Tian Meng, stop trying to manipulate me. I agree, but remember: if you dare to deceive me, even if I have to shatter my soul to do it, I will never let you go!"

Sky Dream Ice Worm was overjoyed and nodded hurriedly.

"Bingbing, don't worry! I would never lie to you! Who do you take me for? Besides, the Lord is a truly good person!"

Ice Empress rolled her eyes at Sky Dream Ice Worm.

Meeting this guy was truly the worst luck she had had in eight lifetimes...

She even felt a bit of sympathy for the Lord he spoke of, the still-unconscious Cao Longyan...