You Just Know How to Bully Me!

Seeing the Ice Empress in such a pitiful state, Xiao Jinchen lost all interest in teasing her.

"Ice Empress, I have a question for you," Xiao Jinchen said, slowly retracting the Emperor Flame.

"Wh-what is it?" the Ice Empress asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"You remember what the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm told you in the Far North a few days ago, right?" Xiao Jinchen grinned.

"Are you talking about the God-Making Project?" the Ice Empress replied.

"Then how do you think I compare to the one the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm chose?" Xiao Jinchen chuckled. He took a step forward, his eyes stained with a hint of red, and his soul power surged out from within his body.

Five soul rings—yellow, purple, black, black, and black—rose from beneath Xiao Jinchen's feet and spiraled around his waist.

"Twelve years old! Level sixty!" The Ice Empress felt the aura radiating from Xiao Jinchen, her lips parted slightly, and shock flooded her amber eyes.

"Ice Empress, gambling on that fifty percent chance of becoming a god with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm is not as good as choosing me," Xiao Jinchen said, a confident smile gracing his handsome face. "If even I cannot become a god, who else on this continent could?"

"So you want me to sacrifice myself to you? To become your soul ring?" the Ice Empress asked. "Aren't you a fire-attribute soul master? Wouldn't our attributes conflict if I sacrificed myself to you? Besides, I don't even have a physical body anymore. How am I supposed to sacrifice myself?"

"I will handle the issues of attribute conflict and the sacrifice myself," Xiao Jinchen said with a light laugh. "For now, just act as my bodyguard. When the time is right, I will tell you."

Xiao Jinchen had no intention of having the Ice Empress sacrifice herself; he simply wanted a bodyguard. Possessing the inheritance of the Flame Emperor, he disdained the so-called path to godhood.

The Ice Empress stared at Xiao Jinchen in silence for a long moment before finally speaking. "Indeed, if I choose you, I might truly have a chance to touch that realm."

"But I am only a soul form now, without a body. I fear I cannot fulfill your wish," she said softly.

"You don't need to worry about that," Xiao Jinchen said. With a flick of his finger against his storage ring, the Ice Empress's original body appeared on the ground.

"This is... my body! You actually kept it with you?" the Ice Empress said, looking at the corpse on the floor.

Xiao Jinchen drew a wisp of sub-flame from the Emperor Flame, then took a medicinal pill from his storage ring and tossed it to the soul-form Ice Empress. "Take this, and you will be able to return to your original body."

The Ice Empress stared at the pill, then glanced at her intact physical form on the ground.

"Fine!"

No longer hesitating, the Ice Empress grabbed the pill and swallowed it in one gulp.

The medicinal power melted upon reaching her stomach, turning into a pure torrent that washed over her soul. The Ice Empress dove directly into her original body.

Immediately after, the wisp of the Emperor Flame's sub-flame at Xiao Jinchen's fingertip followed suit and slipped inside.

"Ugh..."

The Ice Empress couldn't help but moan; it was the wondrous sensation of her soul filling her shell once more.

With a flash of light, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion on the ground shuddered violently.

The originally dim crystal shell erupted with a blinding emerald radiance, and a blast of cold air froze the surrounding ground into a layer of white frost.

Within seconds, the five-foot-long scorpion came to life.

Its massive tail swung, kicking up a gust of cold wind. As light and shadow distorted, the Ice Empress's green-haired, petite form appeared once again.

Having regained her body, the Ice Empress shot Xiao Jinchen a glare, clearly still dissatisfied with him burning her earlier.

"Do you believe I could kill you right now?" the Ice Empress said coldly, suddenly pressing her hand against Xiao Jinchen's neck.

"Oh my, it seems you've forgotten the pain once the wound healed," Xiao Jinchen said with a mocking smile. With a thought, a fire lotus pattern lit up on the Ice Empress's forehead, and it began to burn.

A point of red light suddenly ignited on the fire lotus mark between the Ice Empress's brows.

In an instant, the familiar sensation of being incinerated exploded within her.

"Unh!"

The Ice Empress let out a muffled groan, her pretty face flushing bright red.

The fine beads of sweat that had just formed on her temples were instantly vaporized into wisps of white steam by the extreme heat.

"Stop! Stop it!" the Ice Empress pleaded, her voice tinged with a sob.

Xiao Jinchen remained calm, gesturing lightly with his fingertip.

The light of the fire lotus on the Ice Empress's brow grew even more intense.

"Ah!"

The sensation of her soul being scorched swept through her entire body, and the Ice Empress's legs went weak, nearly causing her to collapse to her knees.

"Don't burn me anymore," the Ice Empress hurriedly conceded. "I was wrong."

Watching the Ice Empress, who had now completely surrendered, a faint smile flickered in Xiao Jinchen's eyes. With a slight shift of his will, the terrifying soul-fire instantly retracted and vanished into nothingness.

The scorching pressure faded away completely.

The Ice Empress gasped for air, her body drained of strength, her clothes soaked through with cold sweat.

"You win," the Ice Empress gritted out, her voice muffled. Her originally cold and stubborn tone had softened significantly.

"Still talking back?" Xiao Jinchen raised an eyebrow. In a flash, he was behind the Ice Empress. A mischievous smirk played on his lips as he raised his hand and slapped her backside.

Smack!

The crisp sound echoed through the deathly silent room, striking the Ice Empress's heart like a bolt of lightning.

The Ice Empress froze, her mind going completely blank, followed by a surging wave of shame that washed over her like a tide.

The Ice Empress's face flushed a deep crimson at lightning speed, the scarlet hue spreading from her cheeks down to her neck and earlobes. Her snow-white skin was stained with a vibrant, rosy glow, lending her an unexpectedly moving and delicate charm.

"You... what are you doing!"

The Ice Empress spun around abruptly, hurriedly covering her backside. Her beautiful eyes were wide open, glaring fiercely at Xiao Jinchen.

"Hmm?"

Xiao Jinchen raised an eyebrow, lifting his hand as if to move again.

"You... you only know how to bully me!" A sense of helplessness welled up in the Ice Empress's heart as she looked at Xiao Jinchen, her beautiful eyes already brimming with tears.

"Look, what is this?" Xiao Jinchen swiped his finger across his storage ring, and an ice-blue object landed in his palm.

"This is..." The Ice Empress followed his gaze, and her amber pupils suddenly constricted.

"Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow!" the Ice Empress exclaimed. "How could a detestable human like you possess Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow!"

"How about it?" Xiao Jinchen waved the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow at the Ice Empress and asked, "Do you want it?"

The Ice Empress stared at the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow in Xiao Jinchen's hand without blinking, her beautiful eyes filled with nothing but longing.

If not for her fear of the flames Xiao Jinchen possessed—which could burn her very soul—she likely would have started snatching it already.

"I want it." The Ice Empress nodded very honestly.

"Alright, then I'll give it to you." A wicked smirk curled the corners of Xiao Jinchen's mouth.

The Ice Empress's eyes lit up at these words, but then Xiao Jinchen tucked the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow back into his storage ring.

"You dare toy with this Empress!" The Ice Empress let out a sharp cry, and just as she was about to lash out, she saw Xiao Jinchen suddenly flip his wrist.

A crystal-clear blue crystal, faintly radiating a chill, appeared in his palm once more.

The Ice Empress's scolding was cut off abruptly in her throat, her eyes going straight as she couldn't help but gasp, "Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow?!"

"What's the rush?" Xiao Jinchen couldn't help but laugh out loud as he watched the Ice Empress's adorable expression, which changed faster than turning a page. "I said I would give it to you, so naturally, I will. However—"

Xiao Jinchen shifted his tone, tossing the lump of ice marrow into the air before catching it steadily, and said slowly, "This thing is too precious, and I don't have much of it on me."

"What do you want?" the Ice Empress asked, suppressing the longing for the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow in her heart.